.

TAX DAY:

There was a taxpayer rally at the Capitol today. From a vantage point in the glass bank building I could see the rally. I estimate perhaps 5000 plus participants. How do I get that number?

Look at the rally. Count out a block of 10 people. Then use that size to create a block of 100. Use that block to estimate the crowd. (How many blocks of 100 do you see.)

Try it for yourself, it's fun.

I'm for Hope and Change!

Submit to the New Order!

Why Did Tommy Thompson's Presidential Campaign Go Nowhere?

There are a few reasons that are obvious to all, but here are our less obvious thoughts.

1. Tommy was a bad fundraiser.

'What?' you say, 'Tommy was famous for his campaign's mastery of raking in campaign cash when he was governor!' ... Sure but he had guys for that. Tommy hadn't had to personally ask anyone for money since 1986. He sucked at it. We're in Milwaukee, there are easily a dozen CEOs here who got calls from Tommy. The calls were worse than bad. When an old donor got a call, if the donor hesitated to open their wallets Tommy went batshit. He probably destroyed more relationships in 4 months than he had built in 8 years.

2. He didn't put his own money into it.

'Sure he did, I read it somewhere.' Well you're right he did put his own money in. He put enough in to fund half of a competitive Wisconsin State Senate race, not enough to begin to be credible in a Presidential. And god knows that (according to his presidential financial disclosure forms) he had more than enough to drop in, if he had wanted to.

3. He didn't give up his day job. (Too lucrative)

4. He refused to follow his owns campaign plan.

5. Tommy started too late.

6. He announced too early.

7. He refuses to acknowledge that his hair color is goofy. (O.K. That is an obvious reason, sorry.)

8. He didn't do opposition research on himself, or if he did he didn't figure out what that meant to the viability of his run.

BUDGET HOLE DISCUSSIONS PROGRESS

Key Senate Democrats are looking at fixes to the $300 million budget hole recently created by the State Supreme Court. One "fix" that has not been ruled out is a surtax on gambling winnings. It is impermissable, apparently, for the state to tax the state's profitable tribal casinos directly. Taxing an individual's personal gambling winnings is entirely fair game though. A 40% to 60% rate has been thrown about.

The fat casino profits and tight financial constraints of the state are promting some to eye gaming as a fiscal target. One northern Democratic Senator reportedly strongly objects to the premise. Others say that even if it wouldn't bring in enough new funds directly from individual consumers, it would force tribes (especially the Ho Chunk) back to the compact negotiating table.

$300 million does tend to focus the mind.

Can't we all just get along?

State Capitol Basement Flooded

Nothing important was lost in the flooding, although Sec. of State LaFollette is missing.

JB VAN HOLLEN HATES GOD!

Yes, Its true!

Prayer nixed at rite for victims
Associated Press — 9/22/2007 9:17 am
The Wisconsin Department of Justice (i.e. JB Van Hollen) has removed religious content from a memorial service for murder victims planned for next week after a
watchdog (read: godless athiests) group complained.
A religious hymn called "This Too Shall Pass" and a closing prayer by a Lutheran
pastor will not be included in the ceremony as initially planned, department
spokesman Kevin St. John said Friday.
...

Pastor Charles Peterson, who had been scheduled to deliver the closing
prayer, said he believed other ceremonies would include prayer. He said
prayer can help mourners discover their spirituality."That's what people are
looking for when they take part in a remembrance like this," he said. "I don't think they are looking for liberal politics." As for the state's (Van Hollen's)
decision to cancel his prayer, he said: "That's fine with me. That's their loss,
not mine."

So, in his first 'at-bat' as Attorney General, JB Van Hollen sides with the
lefty athiests against the mourning families of murder victims. Nice.

But why? Could it be a conspiracy? Hmmmm.:

Eric Petersen Watch

Today the young go-getter and man-about-town seemed to have put on either a shirt that was too small or had shrunk in the wash.

"Okay, you've convinced me. Now go out there and bring pressure on me." President Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin

Here's a question if you move from Executive Assistant at DOA to Deputy Secretary at DNR is is a promotion?

Possibly. Probably.

It is a question though.

------------------------------------
In other news
------------------------------------

Speaker of the Assembly Mike Huebsch needs 24 Dem votes to pass the budget if it includes ANY TAX INCREASE. (i.e. any budget)

Think about this when you ponder why the budget deliberations drag on. The freshman and "no-tax ever" Republicans have delivered control of the budget into the hands of any Democrat that can give the Speaker the votes he needs to pass the budget.

What irony.

So it appears that the Senate Democrats have embarassed the Governor by proposing the largest, most over ambitious universal health proposal in the nation. They did it with no input from the Governor's office, over his staff's objections.

Because the Senators are members of his own party, the Governor has kept silent.

It is a grim and terrible silence.

Apparently, Sen. Erpenbach (the leader in all but name) has forgotten that the Governor has unparalleled veto power.


Hmmm.

BROYDRICK REVISITED:

Thank you for all the disgusting stories about Mr Broydrick that were sent to the comment section. This is certainly why "comment moderation" technology was invented.

If you'd like to add value to this uniquely lame blog (instead of sending in potentially libelous third-party accounts of questionable accuracy) please participate in our NEW GAME!!!

The game is called SPOTTED IN WISCONSIN!
In the comments you may submit a spotting of any notable figure in Wisconsin, when and where that legislative leader or nattering nabob was spotted and we'll post it.

The best 'spotter' will be dubbed Brilliant Detective of the Week! (and will also receive all the benefits associated with that illustious title!)

Go on, anyone can play.

YOU'D BE SURPRISED HOW MANY LEGISLATORS FAIL THIS:

Intelligence test!

DC Madame Has Friends in Wisconsin

We here are convinced that the calls to Bill Broydrick's cell [414 719-1399] are completely innocent.

Other, more cynical, people may have a different view.

Today Eric Petersen's client Equis had their senior Wisconsin executive indicted for corruption related to the sale of a State of Wisconsin building.

Hmmmmm.

This week Tommy Thompson decided to run for President!!!

Don't laugh.

Crazy UW Madison Lecturer

Jessica McBride at WTMJ has a story about the UW hiring some loon who believes the US Government plannned and executed 9/11. He also believes that Osama Bin Laden is dead and his occasional public statements are forgeries by the CIA, which he asserts runs Al-Queda.

Who cares? There is yet another loon in Madison, big whoop. Well this idiot is teaching about 9/11 at both Edgewood and UW Madison to freshman.

Our tax-dollars are being used to mis-educate a generation of students. He is being paid by us to slander America. That's more than stupid, its plain wrong.

There's an article at Badger Blog Alliance that compares Jim Doyle to Tony Earl.

Actually it is apparently a link to an article in the Journal.

Doyle is clearly doomed.


Or not...

FATHERS DAY

George Washington earned the title "Father of the Nation". It is interesting to learn that the Governor of Wisconsin now presides over roughly the same number of people that George Washinton did as our first President.

HERO OF THE AGE

Brian Blanchard's campaign was at the Farmers Market this morning. They were out in force.

It was not immediately apparent if the "volunteers" were still Assembly Democratic legislative staff.

You may recall that Blanchard has convicted Scott Jensen (a Republican) of felonies for the same activities that Blanchard engaged in. You may think that odd, but it is true. Blanchard used state employees to create and run his first campaign. Blanchard is a lawyer but defended his actions by saying he didn't know it was wrong.
He then indicted and convicted Scott Jensen (not a lawyer) for using state employees to campaign. Jensen defended his actions by using much the same defense as Blanchard had.

It didn't carry much weight with Blanchard. Jensen is looking at the end of his career and professional life.

This is not rank hypocrisy. No, this is enlightened, even "progressive" public service on Blanchard's part. The fact that he had even more evidence, including personal knowledge, of the same activities by Assembly Democrats must be ignored.

All hail Brian Blanchard "Hero of the Age"! Never ever whisper "hypocrite and corrupt politician" he might indict.

The first new post in a year and a month.

Wow!

Top 10 Tips for Lobbying Success


1. Schedule! Make an appointment with your Representative or Senator in advance.

2. Be flexible! Members' schedules get juggled at a moment's notice. You may meet with a Member in the chamber lobby, walk with him or her to the Capitol for a vote, or may even meet with a staff person instead.

3. Inform! Let the office know your issues when you call to make an appointment.

4. Be prepared! Know the facts of the issue and both sides of it. Be prepared to discuss the effects of policy changes on the individuals concerned.

5. Take an expert! Members are less likely to "skip" meetings with groups than individuals. Bringing a local expert, community or business leader concerned with your issue helps reinforce your position.

6. Be on time! And, be willing to wait. Delayed appointments can be very beneficial if they give you time to get to know the Member's staff. Keep in mind that meeting with staff can be as productive as seeing the Member personally.

7. Pick a spokesperson! When visiting as a group, one person should start the meeting and be the spokesperson. Before the meeting, decide the key points that should be covered, and who will raise which points.

8. Be positive, friendly and brief! Stick to the issues, facts and don't outstay your welcome. Congressional offices are friendly places, but they are also places of intensive activity.

9. Get a reaction! Ask for favorable consideration of your position, thus seeking the Member's opinion.

10. SEND A THANK YOU! When you get home, write a “thank you” to your Member of Congress and any staff with whom you may have met, and ask them to keep in touch with you on your issues.

From the NY Times:
February 6, 2005

New to Capitol Hill? 10 Tips to Avoid Ruin
By ELISABETH BUMILLER

WASHINGTON
THE start of every presidential term brings to Washington eager new cabinet officers and members of Congress who take the wrong elevators, get lost in the hallways and pop off to reporters. But such faux pas - Senator Ken Salazar, a freshman Democrat from Colorado, says he has not yet found the Senate dining room and is eating ham sandwiches in the public cafeteria - are hardly the worst of it.

As everyone knows, Washington is shadowed by the specters of grand scandals past: Richard M. Nixon and Watergate, Oliver North and Iran-Contra, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. More recently Bernard B. Kerik, President Bush's short-lived nominee for homeland security secretary, jettisoned himself for his troubles with a nanny and then turned out to have a Manhattan love nest, a serious no-no in Washington. Unlike New York, the nation's capital has always had a Puritan streak and remains a curious mix of raging ambition and Midwestern values.

So now that the president's State of the Union address has signaled the official start of the year, here are 10 rules, culled from those who have learned the hard way, for avoiding social, political and legal disaster in Washington.

1. Don't get up in the middle of dinner and announce that you have to run off to do "Larry King Live."

Well-mannered Washingtonians tell hostesses that they will drop by before or after their appearances on nightly programs like Mr. King's. "You should tell your hostess ahead of time," said Sally Quinn, the Washington writer and hostess who is married to Benjamin C. Bradlee, former executive editor of The Washington Post, and the author of a book on entertaining. Otherwise, Ms. Quinn said, there will be a gaping hole at the dinner table. (Mr. King's interview show is on CNN at 9 p.m.) For dinner on big occasions like election night, guests can graze in the shows' green rooms, the lavishly catered holding areas that have evolved into the new Washington dinner parties.

2. Don't use the expression "Do you know who I am?"

The answer from the young woman looking for your lost ticket at the charity dinner check-in table may well be an embarrassing no. Also, the question is generally not effective, unless your goal is frightening her. "It doesn't make your ticket appear more quickly," said Carolyn Peachey, a longtime Washington event planner who has heard the expression for decades.

The only time Ms. Peachey has given a dispensation for the expression's use was last fall, when the music mogul Quincy Jones was prevented from entering a reception at the State Department. A plate in his head from brain surgery had set off the metal detector, Ms. Peachey said, and 20 minutes of talking to the guards made no difference. "Do you know who I am?" Mr. Jones finally asked. The guard replied yes, Ms. Peachey said, but insisted there was nothing to be done. Mr. Jones eventually got in through intervention from higher-ups.

3. Don't withhold information from your lawyer.

Former White House counsels, lawyers for white-collar criminals, and the city's highly paid damage controllers all agree: This is the premier mistake that otherwise intelligent people make in Washington. Cover-ups are often worse than the problems themselves.

"What inevitably happens is that the facts dribble out, compounding the story, because reporters are not going to give up until they beat the competition and dig up something new," said Lanny J. Davis, a Washington lawyer brought in for White House damage control during the Clinton scandals and the author of "Truth to Tell: Tell it Early, Tell it All, Tell it Yourself."

Fred F. Fielding, the White House counsel for Ronald Reagan, who vetted the current President Bush's cabinet nominees during the 2000 transition, heartily agrees. Nominees have to be prepared, he said, honestly to answer the awful questions posed by White House lawyers: Have you ever had an affair? Or used drugs? A yes to either of those questions, Mr. Fielding added, was not necessarily a problem.

"There's a difference between somebody having an affair years ago, before their first marriage broke up, and someone having an affair with someone he supervised," he said. As for drugs, "occasional drug use in college would not be a disqualifier."

4. Don't change your hairstyle too often.

"There is zero tolerance for coif inconsistency," said Mary Matalin, a longtime adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney and a former television talk show host who is, at the moment, a brunette. Over the years she has been blonde, light brown or, as she put it, "hijacked by hyper-highlights ranging from dull orange to bright white." In short, Ms. Matalin said, "You have to pick a color and stick with a color."

5. Don't plan to announce your new nominee before a proper vetting.

This applies more to presidents than to ordinary folk, but it is an important corollary of Rule No. 3. C. Boyden Gray, the White House counsel for the first President Bush, said that he was under constant pressure from the president and his staff rapidly to investigate the background of cabinet nominees so that Mr. Bush could fill jobs.

"I was pounded, relentlessly, when I was counsel," Mr. Gray said. He recalled that in 1988, when President-elect Bush insisted on quickly announcing Carla A. Hills as the United States trade representative, Ms. Hills and Mr. Gray agreed that Ms. Hills's husband, Rod, would have to resign from a steel company board to avoid any conflict of interest with his wife's new job. The problem was that Mr. Hills was on a plane until 4 p.m., and the president wanted Ms. Hills announced at 2 p.m. But she refused to say publicly that her husband would resign from the steel board without asking him first.

So Mr. Gray called the Federal Aviation Administration and got in touch with the commercial plane's pilot, who summoned Mr. Hills to the cockpit, where Mr. Hills gave his O.K. "I think it violated all kinds of F.A.A. rules," Mr. Gray said. "The point of the story is that these are very difficult issues, and you can't back down."

6. Don't wear a beaded Armani to a Friday night dinner in Cleveland Park.

The clean lines of Armani are highly desirable in Washington, and the first lady's white cashmere Oscar de la Renta wowed the town on Inaugural day. But even in a city as formal as the capital, be careful not to overdress. Andrea Mitchell, the NBC correspondent who is married to Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, said she was reminded of that recently when she wore a black silk Armani pantsuit with a beaded top to dinner one Friday in Cleveland Park, an affluent, liberal enclave of faded Volvos in the city's northwest quadrant. Every other woman, she said, was in slacks and turtlenecks.

What to do? "Laugh it off and realize that in Washington what you say and what you know is more important than what you wear," Ms. Mitchell said.

7. Don't think it is your job to educate reporters.

"You just bite your tongue on certain topics," said Ed Rollins, a veteran Republican strategist and the manager of Christie Whitman's successful campaign for governor of New Jersey in 1993. Mr. Rollins did not follow his own advice later that year, when he infamously boasted to reporters at a breakfast in Washington that Ms. Whitman's campaign had paid African-American ministers and Democratic workers $500,000 in "walking-around money" to suppress the black vote.

This statement, immediately recanted, prompted a federal investigation, which found nothing illegal. But Mr. Rollins's words had brought the political establishment down on his head and tainted Ms. Whitman's victory.

8. Don't believe your own spin.

"I was guilty of that," said Mr. Davis, the Clinton defender. Mr. Davis said he first spun out the argument that there was nothing wrong with political donors attending coffees at the Clinton White House because no money was actually collected there. "I tried to believe it, because I was technically correct," Mr. Davis said. "But people were expected to give money before or after the event."

9. Don't forget who your friends are.

"The biggest mistake that people make is that they base their friendships on who is in power and who is not," Ms. Quinn said. "This is short-sighted, because very few people in Washington stay in power for a length of time. In the same vein, people will count people out once they lose power. This is always a huge mistake, because people are never out unless they're in the ground with a stake in the heart."

10. Don't forget where you came from, and that integrity matters.

"People think the values here will be different than the ones they left at home, and they're not," said Robert S. Strauss, a Washington sage who is the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and a longtime Bush family friend. "It's the same damn thing that you have in Dallas or Los Angeles or Houston. People value loyalty here as much or more as they do anywhere else."

If all else fails, Mr. Fielding has the surefire way to avoid social, political and legal ruin in Washington.

"Move to Kansas," he said.

War is less dangerous than ducks.

During the First World War, ducks killed more people than bullets, bombs, mines and tanks combined. Ducks have weak immune systems and carry viruses that can infect humans. They were responsible for the outbreak of Spanish flu that killed 25 million people in 1918, more than died from military causes in the whole of WWI.

VOTE FRAUD MILWAUKEE

Friends in Milwaukee tell me that presidential voter fraud has already begun. The ACT/MoveOn/ACORN/Union team-up is bearing real fruit. Vans and buses pull up all day unloading "voters" at City Hall. The voters stand in line, register, and vote absentee. The line is usually about a half an hour long.

Interestingly the vans have Illinois liscense plates.

Prognostication:

There will never be a news story on this, or an investigation by D.A. McCann. It wouldn't be prudent.

x

Check out this:

Where are we with the Presidential election?

Check these sites out: Electoral-vote.com
Tripias.com
RealClear Politics

"The Smelliest Fundraiser Ever"
--Anonymous Observer of Wisconsin Politics

dan rather as seen in 1984

Well, Campers,

Panzer did get crushed. Fitzgerald is, in fact, the new leader of the Senate and Sen. Gwen Moore's reliance upon the color of her skin has actually won her a Congressional seat.

The last bit is unfortunate for a variety of reasons. The major one is she is a mean-spirited idiot. She may well end up as one of the dimmest bulbs in the US House. ...That is saying something. The other problem is the way her race trumped her other qualities. That is just too bad.

Editor's Conventional Wisdom Watch:

Mary Panzer is doomed. She'll lose the primary election to Spooky.

Fitzgerald is the next Senate Majority Leader.

Kanavas is holding Joint Finance.

Sen. Gwen Moore is (typically) relying on her credentials as a black woman to trump all other considerations in her run for the 4th CD race. Unfortunately for her, Matt Flynn has more announced support in the black community. Unfortunately for both of them, Tim Carpenter is apparently out-working them.

And Shirley Krug?...She's an idiot.

Mary Panzer.

Is she stooopid?

Yes.

Your Editor has heard that Gregg Underheim of Oshkosh will have his Chairmanship of the Assembly Health Committee pulled after the election.

He is not considered a team player.

Tanned rested and ready. 

IMAO: "Only You Can Prevent Terrorism
There are intelligence reports that more big terrorists attacks are coming to America. So what can the common man do?
Well, I now have a holster so I can conceal and carry two full-size .45's on me. If I see anything terroristy around... BANG! BANG! BANG! Everyone's dead.

I also stocked up on bacon. Bacon is to terrorists like garlic is to vampires. Also, it's tasty and good for an Atkins diet.
Of course, terrorists will probably attack with bombs. So, teach your dog to be a bomb-sniffing dog. The way to do that is to buy a bunch of bombs and keep them around your house so your dog can sniff them all the time.

Also, remember to punch hippies. That discourages terror, especially if after you punch the terrorist, you shout out, 'Hey! Any terrorists who are watching! That's what I'm going to do to you!' Terrorists don't like to be punched.
If you have any other ideas of what the average citizen can do to fight terror in America, put it in the comments section.

UPDATE: I was just thinking: What happens if the Muslim terrorists team up with the Irish terrorists? We would then have drunken suicide bombers stumbling around and blowing up in random places! We need to stop that from happening."

The Origin of the Kerry Campaign Slogan

How many rough drafts do you think the Kerry team went through to come with the campaign slogan, "Let America be America again"? It takes a lot of work to boil down an entire political platform into a single phrase of such astonishing meaninglessness. We'll give them this: It does capture the essence of Kerry's rhetorical style -- stilted, yet empty. Maybe Kerry himself provided an early version, something like, "To be sure, I would like it to be known, that who among us does not want this great country, America, to return to a state of being that country which it was and shall be again."

Of course, we heard the first version was just "Let America be France." Whatever. They both boil down to the same thing: "Let John Kerry be a Massachusetts senator again."

` 

. 

. 

Sinister Political Secret Society  

. 

From the Daily Dish: "QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out where the strong man stumbled, or where a doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, and who comes up short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause. The man who at best knows the triumph of high achievement and who at worst, if he fails, fails while daring greatly, so that his place will never be with those cold timid souls who never knew victory or defeat.' - Teddy Roosevelt."

A Frank Guide to Homeland Security Alert Levels

Everyone has heard of the Homeland Security Advisory System by now and its rainbow of colors, but most are confused of exactly what it means to them about how they should act and live when it is at its different levels of alert. That's why I've decided to create this guide make things clearer to the people.

First, here is what the alert levels mean in general:
*Green (Low): All evil had been destroyed. The world is now a peaceful utopia.
*Blue (Guarded): There's still the occasional pickpocket, so show a little caution.
*Yellow (Elevated): Terror lurks in the shadows; be wary.
*Orange (High): The terrorists are out there and they are coming for YOU!
*Red (Severe): The world is exploding around you. The only law is your own gun.

Layout of West Wing of the White House

From ABC's The Note:

NEWS SUMMARY

The only way to get The Note written on time every morning is to give exquisitely precise instructions every evening to the 500 Googling monkeys working the overnight shift.

------------------------------------

This Editor wishes for 500 Googling monkeys.

Look at Lying in Ponds:


This site takes a statistical approach to the biases of columnists. How does Ann Coulter stack up to Paul Krugman? You can evaluate it yourself.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Fact Check:

See the Daniel Patrick Moynihan quote on the main page: "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts."

Fact check is reviewing all election year ads for accuracy..

It is worth a look.

"Anymore questions?" Rumsfeld asked, "Or do all fully understand that Iraq and France will soon be destroyed?"

From a Minnesota blogger: Frozen North

What the truly great politcal divide is this year.

From Vanity Fair: The Ways Blogging Can Ruin Your Life.

Center for Public Integrity has an interesting article on the political destruction and character assassination of Howard Dean.

Remember hearing about those Japanese soldiers fighting on in their jungle islands long after the war had ended? Apparently the instinct lives!

Banzai! Dean Troops in Wisconsin fight on.

Some insanely large portion of the electorate gets its information from comedy outlets: Leno, Letterman, the Daily Show, and the Onion.

Its good to remember that the destruction of our civilization is being overseen by Onion staff who used to work at Badger Liquor on State Street.

Onion Staff worked at Badger Liquor

Matt Pommer: Badger State loves its booze


And politicians have long been known to tour taverns and greet the seemingly captive audience. Former Gov. Tommy Thompson, who worked as a bartender in college, would quip that tavern regulars were a factor in his first election to the Legislature.

Thompson said his father gave him $10 a day to campaign. Going into a small town, Thompson explained, he would stop at a bar early in the day and buy a drink for the town drunk.

"He'd be there all day telling others what a great guy I was."

Your editor has enjoyed the works of author Orson Scott Card for years. Aside from novels he also apparently writes insightful political and cultural pieces.

This timely piece, for example, is about the recent Mass. Supreme Court decision.

It begins:

Civilization Watch --

By Orson Scott Card February 15, 2004

Humpty Dumpty Logic

A little dialogue from Lewis Carroll:

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less."

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean so many different things."

"The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that's all."

The Massachusetts Supreme Court has not yet declared that "day" shall now be construed to include that which was formerly known as "night," but it might as well.

Campaign finance reform laws are the biggest con ever pulled on the nation.

They take as their presumption that speech is dangerous and must be curtailed. It is a "Big Lie" behind which elected officials hide their endless efforts to make themselves immune from defeat at the polls, while at the same time being viewed by left-liberals and self-interested newspaper editorialists as saintly "reformers".

Here is a beautifully argued piece that discusses that flim-flam flummery:


George F. Will: McCain-Feingold pollutes free speech

From Charlie Sykes, In the column he describes the problem of RINOs:


Panzer, RINOs, and TABOR

"But the real problem may be the RINOs.

RINO is an acronym for 'Republicans In Name Only.'

Last Sunday, the Journal Sentinel reported that a handful of RINOs -- Reps. Gregg Underheim (R-Oshkosh) and Michael Lehman (R-Hartford)- were staging a "mini-revolt" over the idea of a spending cap.

Lehmann is reported "to oppose any constitutional amendment that would limit state and local spending."

Underheim complains "There's this assumption out there that there is wanton waste and abuse and fraud in local government. That simply isn't true."

Somebody should give him a bus ticket to Milwaukee. We could show him around."

Your editor found a link on the front page at Slate that read:

"WHY YOU LEMMINGS WILL VOTE FOR KERRY"


It leads to an interesting article that examines why:

"Barring a miraculous comeback by Sen. John Edwards, Sen. John Kerry will win the Democratic presidential nomination-despite the fact that most Democratic voters know little about him and don't like him very much."

Bush begins his campaign.

In this transcript you will find the themes of his re-election campaign.

"I'll be in the bar."

The Willard Hotel is famous for having a lobby which runs an entire city block down the middle of the building. It is one block from the White House and, the story goes, in the 1860's people would wait in the lobby for senior Administration officials to happen by and would accost them with one request or another.

From this came the term, "Lobbyist."

From the great Ober Dicta:

Rumsfeld Fighting Technique


In return we send out to Ober Dicta:

''Skydiver lands on beer vendor at women's cole-slaw wrestling event.''

(thank you Dave Barry)

Holy Cow!!!:

Nader to Jump in Presidential Race

-- courtesy of Fox News

This wasn't in Wisconsin, but it should have been:

Woman Fined for Registering Cows As Voters

Feb 19, 9:50 AM (ET)

LONDON (AP) - Brenda Gould is in trouble again for registering her cows as voters.

For the second year running, the woman from Newmarket, near Cambridge in eastern England, has listed two names on the registration form who turned out to be cows, East Cambridgeshire District Council said Thursday.

The previous year, in addition to registering two cows as "Henry and Sophie Bull," she listed "Jake Woofles," later found to be a dog, as eligible to vote in local government elections, the council said.

WISCONSIN BRIEFING: MILWAUKEE:

Principal used voucher money for two Mercedes cars
A school principal used the proceeds from state voucher money to buy two Mercedes-Benz cars for about $65,000, a newspaper reported.
( 02/18/2004 03:01 AM CST)

From St. Paul Pioneer Press

The best Onion article since "Governor Thomspon changes title to Sexecutioner"

---thanks to andrew sullivan for link

GREAT MOMENTS IN WISCONSIN POLITICAL CAMPAIGNING

[As transcribed by ABC's The Note from a visit by Howard Dean to room 102 at Longfellow Middle School in La Crosse where students were examining water samples under a microscope].

HOWARD DEAN : Which do you think is safer, to drink water from your toilet or from the river? It's true.

STUDENT: I'd rather drink from the toilet.

HD: That's right. . .

HD: Which has more bacteria, dog pee or river water?"

CLASS: Dog pee

HD: I do not recommend drinking urine, but if you drink water straight from the river you have a greater chance of getting an infection that if you drink urine.

This political blog is enormous fun: Wonkette!

GOVERNOR DOYLE HAS A NEWSLETTER The editor has received a copy.

We provide herewith the choice bits of the newsletter:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOVERNOR DOYLE NEWS

Don't Forget to Vote on Tuesday!

The eyes of the nation are on Wisconsin this week. For the first time in decades, Wisconsin will play a defining role in the selection of the Democratic nominee for president. No matter who you support in the presidential race, you need to make sure and exercise your constitutional duty and get out there and vote on Tuesday. Let's show the country that Wisconsin can rise to the occasion.


New GOP Poll Shows Governor Doyle's at 65 Percent Job Approval Rating
Gov's Approval Numbers Jump 14 Points During Concealed Carry Debate

A new poll released this week show Governor Jim Doyle's approval rating hitting a new high, having jumped 14 points over the last three months. During that time, the single issue that dominated the Wisconsin legislature has been the Governor's veto of a reckless GOP concealed carry bill.

Doyle for Vice President?

"What do Bill Richardson, Ed Rendell, Tom Vilsack and Jim Doyle have in common? Well, they are all Democratic governors - serving as the chief executive officers of New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Iowa and Wisconsin, respectively. They are all viewed as highly competent politicians vital to the party's future, let alone this year's elections. And, oh, they are possible vice presidential candidates."

(New York Times, February 10, 2004)

Do You Support Legalizing Prescription Drugs From Canada?


During his State of the State, Governor Doyle unveiled a new website, www.drugsavings.wi.gov, a new resource for Wisconsin citizens to find out information about the fight for access to safe and less costly prescription drugs from Canada. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration is actively fighting against this issue.

You can help make a difference!

Governor Doyle Launches New Website to Fight Concealed Weapons

Last week, Governor Doyle launched a new website, noconcealedweapons.com. The website is designed to help get people active in their local communities - to support legislative candidates that agree with the vast majority of Wisconsin citizens and law enforcement who oppose concealed weapons. Legislative Republicans are counting on you to not take any action to fight for what you believe in. Can we all really afford to allow that to happen?

Also from Slate, a really good summary of Wisconsin's presidential debate:

The Wisconsin Debate
Kerry waffles, Edwards wallops, Dean wanes.

Here is a great article:

Selling Sleaze: A User's Guide
Ten ways to rationalize the publication of infidelity rumors.
By Timothy Noah

Your editor loves this site.

Want to have fun in DC?

The Wisconsin Procurement Institute will help you extract money from the Federal Government and put it in your pocket. What could be more fun than that?

They are having a special shakedown cruise in DC on March 2-4. You should probably attend.

FROM ANDREW SULLIVAN:

Thursday, February 12, 2004

THE CARNAGE IN IRAQ: The news of yesterday's latest suicide bombing is grim indeed. The strategy is so obvious it barely rewards repeating. Al Qaeda and Qaeda-like Islamists target innocent Iraqis involved in the rebuilding of their country's security and infrastructure. They kill dozens. Then they infiltrate and help spread rumors that it was actually some kind of bizarre plot by the Americans to kill people they need to win over. The aim is to keep the reconstruction off-kilter, fuel anti-coalition feeling and destabilize the place enough for it to be used as a base for Islamofascist revolt. Then you have this chorus, as reported in the Washington Post:

"There is no God but Allah. America is the enemy of God," the protesters chanted. "Hell to the Americans. Hell to the Jews."

The Jews? How did they get involved? Ah, yes. Of course they are involved. For fascists, it's always the Jews. If anyone thinks this war is over, they need to get real.

There are 266 days laft till the Presidential Election.

Prediction: One of Governor Doyle's appointees will be indicted this year for improper bid shenanigans. At a guess; someone from the Dept. of Admin.

Here is the graph of the Iowa Caucus' Electronic Market. Dean's numbers are sinking like the Titanic.

Iowa Electronic Markets shows Dean rising further: Quotes

Ten Commandments of Lobbying (Author Unknown)

The ironies of this being on the Bright consulting web page are too rich to be ignored.:

1. Thou shalt speak only the truth, and speak it clearly and succinctly; on two pages and in ten-second sound bites.



7. Study arithmetic, that thou mayst count noses. If thou canst count 51, rejoice. Thou shalt win in the Senate.


10. Be humble in victory, for thy bill may yet be vetoed.

What can you learn from Illinois politics?

Government & politics pays.

No, its not about selfless public service. It is about power and the money that flows from that power.

Its true in Wisconsin too. Citicorp just got a bond deal for one of its affiliates. The rumor is: John Walsh a relative of David Walsh (Doyle advisor) is at Smith Barney. A little elbow grease and voila! Big deal done!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The bonds listed below are municipal issues that include negotiated offerings in which we will serve as a senior or co-manager"
Wisconsin $850 million.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ironically, Michael Bright, who had little (nothing) to do with getting the deal, has possibly (apparently?) pulled in a new-house level payout from the public finance arm for 'getting this done'.

Of course this is all just a laughably humorous rumor on an anonymous blog so there is nothing to it. Go on about your business.

You can learn a lot about politics from reading today's Chicago Tribune. The day is dedicated to frmr. Governor George Ryan's indictment on corruption charges.

(Sorry you have to register for the Trib. but it is free.)

THIS FROM DEAN'S BLOG :
Win Real Money with the Winning Democratic Candidate
in the Iowa Electronic Markets


The Iowa Electronic Markets are real-money futures markets where contract payoffs depend on the outcomes of political events such as elections.

Current prices per share in the IEM 2004 Democratic National Convention Market:

Howard Dean_________59.2 cents
Richard Gephardt____15.4 cents
Wesley Clark________11.0 cents
Hillary Clinton_____6.0 cents
John Kerry__________5.0 cents
Joe Lieberman_______1.3 cents
Rest of Field*______2.1 cents

Note: "Rest of Field" is the combined share price of John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Carol Moseley-Braun, Al Sharpton, plus every unspecified person who might concievably win the nomination.

Put your money where your mouth is and get rewarded if/when your candidate wins.
Each share of the person who gets nominated will be worth one dollar after the nomination becomes official at the Democratic convention

From the Dean weblog:

How to CHEAT and rig the (Iowapolitics.com) poll in Dean's favor!

"1. Vote
2. Tools > Internet Options > DELETE COOKIES
3. Delete Files
4. OK
5. Close Browser
6. Return to IowaPolitics.com
7. Vote again
Kerry is doing this, we might as well do the same!"

Perhaps you should look at this:Iowa Politics

While the editor has been watching 100,000+ people have voted in the Iowapolitics.com online poll.

Either that or the Dean, Kerry, and Clark campaigns keep teams of hackers on staff.

Great campaign finance cartoon by Chris Muir

If you are interested here is a link to:The 50 Most Generous Philanthropists

The editor is not sure how this story was missed:

Madison - Wisconsin unions and businesses gave $1.3 million to a national Democratic Party committee, which then returned much of it to an organization prosecutors say Sen. Chuck Chvala illegally ran to skirt state campaign-finance laws, a new report released Thursday charged.

Using new Internal Revenue Service data, the non-partisan group Common Cause in Wisconsin was able for the first time to list donations from Wisconsin - including $430,000 from the state's largest teachers union - to the Democratic Leadership Campaign Committee in Washington, D.C., before state elections in 2000 and 2002.

Wisconsin contributors gave more to the national committee than any other state and - in a move that Common Cause described as "laundering" - the committee returned $695,470 of it to Wisconsin political groups over a 30-month period.

Of that amount, the report says, $322,000 was sent to Independent Citizens for Democracy, a front group that prosecutors say Chvala used to illegally help fellow Democrats running for the Senate.

The FBI said last month that it was looking into whether the Democratic Leadership Campaign Committee violated federal money-laundering laws in a campaign-finance scheme that led to state felony charges against Chvala.

History's Tea Leaves Point to Bush's Reelection (washingtonpost.com)

Here is what happens when liars convince ordinary people:

Michael Bright uses his wildly innacurate bio to fool Williams Young into an alliance.


According to the Bio:
"Prior to the formation of Bright Consulting Inc. in 1995, Michael Bright was Chief of Staff to the Wisconsin Joint Committee on Finance, Executive Budget and Policy Advisor to the Governor, ..."

Those statements are not true.

There was and is no such post as the "Chief of Staff" to the Joint Committe on Finance and Bright didn't hold such a post.

Michael Bright says he was an Executive Budget and Policy Advisor to the Governor.

That is a lie.

He was, in fact, a junior budget/policy analyst at Wisconsin's Dept. of Admin. and NOT a "Budget and Policy Advisor to the Governor". This is a distinction with a HUGE difference. Those who were on the Governor's policy team are reputed to be steamed about these lies.

The real ex-policy advisors are embedded prominently in Wisconsin's politcal system.

We don't like this kind of garbage in Wisconsin. Bright should clean up his act or leave town.

Some lobbyists suck out loud.

Everyone in the Capitol knows it.

Only by being burned do the clients figure it out, if they ever do.

There are 700+ lobbyists in Madison many try hard, many suck.

--------------------------------------------------------
Here is a lobbyist who is not as well respected as some:
Rogowski

Look at his bio. It says he was the Chief of Staff. It doesn't say which Governor he worked for. (Hint: Scott McCallum) Since the bio only mentions Tommy G. Thompson, a prospective client might be led to believe he was Chief of Staff for Tommy G. Thompson. Not so.

It doesn't say he was fired. It doesn't say he 'slashed the tires' and tried to seek revenge upon his former boss. In politics you don't turn traitor on your boss and mentor. It's considered bad form.

It certainly doesn't say that he is despised in the capitol and is thought by some to have really crappy access. That would be bad advertising.

This editor wouldn't hire him to fetch donuts.

Good article on Lobbyists.

Here are the websites of some of the state's better lobbyists:

McCoshen
Broydrick
Essie
Ray Carey
Schreiber
Pat Osbourne, Jim Hough, & Andy Franken

Here's an interesting site. One of Wisconsin's top lobbyists selling what he does:

"Entering the government maze alone can be an alarming venture. That's why so many people turn to Broydrick & Associates. To get the job done.

Our mission is simple -- to win."

CHARLIE SYKES MAKES A POINT:

THURSDAY, Nov. 6, 2003, 3:29 p.m.
Raw Deal

By Charles J. Sykes

The car that drives Jim Doyle contains ...

NOTE: scroll down to Nov 6th.

STUPID LEGISLATOR OF THE YEAR CONTEST TO START SOON!

Stay tuned.

What is happening with Doyle?

Ok, the Editor can see why one might veto a bill to define marraige as being between a man and a woman.

But to force the state employees union to accept "partners benefits" for gay couples is stupid and worse its bad politics.:

Doyle Vetoes Defense of Marriage Bill, Then Pushes Same Sex Health Benefits

For the Democrats in the crowd, a website to make you happy:

EVIL GOP BASTARDS.COM

From the Hill:

"Democrats throw the spirit of reform out the window."

Basically the reality is this, Democrats have spent years demanding that the election system be changed. In particular they said "the campaign finance system was corrupt and must be thrown out". Now that they have accomplished that feat (McCain-Feingold) the Democrats have rushed into breaking the system they have just created.

The idea was to end soft-money.

The Democrats have now created an array of soft money groups to do just what they said they hated; bring large unregulated special-interest money into politics. They are raising tens of millions to improperly influence the national elections.

The Republicans aren't doing it.

Apparently the Republicans are relying on massive numbers of small individual donors and have decided to stick within both the spirit and the letter of the law they opposed.

The irony is delicious.

Billionaire helps take aim at Bush

$10 million gift goes to Democratic group
Saturday, August 9, 2003

By SYDNEY B. LEAVENS
Monitor staff

Michael Bright is NOT, it turns out, the worst lobbyist in Madison.

No, in fact it may well be that a lawyer with Whyte Hirshboek could be considered the worst lobbyist.

Stay tuned.

SLAM OF THE SUMMER: Frmr. Madison Mayor Paul Soglin

In the great tradition of hitting people while they are down; Wisconsin: A Report will comment on Frmr. Madison Mayor Soglin.

The Mayor believed that the position was his for the asking. He was owed the position. He never wrote a campaign plan and certainly never executed one. He was out maneuvered almost from the get-go.

The great Cheesey-One (as Mayor Dave Cieslewicz should always be referred to) simply out worked and out fought Soglin. Soglin was lazy and deserved what he got.

One final note:

Soglin was often observed purchessing certain racing forms at Pic-A-Book when he was Mayor previously. The Editor is sure he never used those forms for gambling, and rumors to the contrary Soglin has no gambling problem!

RANDOM MESSAGES RECEIVED VIA EMAIL:
HOW CAN YOU LIVE WITHOUT KNOWING THESE THINGS?
In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden....and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coca-Cola was originally green.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It is impossible to lick your elbow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% ( now get this...) The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The youngest pope was 11 years old.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Those San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.
If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle.
If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson.
Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.. (No!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. What occurs more often in December than any other month?
A. Conception.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
A. Their birthplace
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
A. Obsession
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?
A. One thousand
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
A. All invented by women.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. There are more collect calls on this day than any other day of the year?
A. Father's Day
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. What trivia fact about Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny) is the most
ironic?
A. He was allergic to carrots.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q. What is an activity performed by 40% of all people at a party?
A. Snoop in your medicine cabinet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month we know today as the honeymoon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts.. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them mind their own pints and quarts, and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.
~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~
At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

The editor is pleased to announce that this project will now undertake to have a weekly "SLAM" on a randomly chosen political figure in Wisconsin. Following a long tradition in journalism we will try to be largely untruthful, unfair, and rarely humorous.

"Memoirs of an Amnesiac"


An article from the American Prowler suggesting new titles for Hillary's book.

From Online Journalism Review : The most influential blogs.

"The Most Influential Blogs"
It's been a breakout year for Webloggers as they've taken on Trent Lott and The New York Times, as well as put their own stamp on the war in Iraq. Now Mark Glaser tells us who's who in the blogosphere.

A hint, this isn't one of them.

From Politicsonline:

STAT OF THE WEEK
-----------------------------------------
ERRORS RAMPANT ON GOV'T SITES
A Keynote study found that more than two-thirds (68 percent) of the government sites that were evaluated had Web application failures. While the figure may seem high, the government sites actually outperformed a sample of e-commerce sites, which recorded a 72.5 percent failure rate.
-----------------------------------------

This doesn't surprise those of us who have worked in and around government.

News of the Day:JS Online: Norquist leaving early

None to soon if you ask this writer.

News story:

-- Doyle will be getting and giving an award tonight at Madison Magazine's Best of Madison event at the Concourse Hotel. The magazine's reader's poll selected Doyle as the Best Elected Official and the person readers would Most Like to Have Dinner With.

This is stupid. Jim "Lovable" Doyle has hardly been in the Governor's Office long enough to be the "BEST" elected official in the state. He was certainly in the AG's Office a long time but, with all due respect, it was a poorly run and an admittedly error-prone morass of an office.

As to who Madison residents would "most like to have dinner with", that is more believable. A quarter of the citizenry works for the Governor and half of Madison seems to lobby the Governor.

TURNABOUT IS FAIR GAME

For a decade Governor Tommy G. Thompson tied the legislature in knots with his aggressive use of the veto pen. He of course faced a Democratic legisture for most of that time. Now it is a Republican legislature's chance to be quashed by a Governor. I don't think they will like it much. They will also be unsuccessful in overriding any veto. You heard it here first.

From WisPolitics:

-- Gov. Jim Doyle today told reporters he is fairly certain he can use his partial veto power to carve the Republican state budget into a package representing the administration�s priorities. However, he said, a veto of the entire package is still possible. The Democratic governor also said he expects to have his work on the budget within the first couple of weeks in July. The current biennium ends June 30.

�I feel confident that with my veto that we can move this to a budget that is balanced, that does not raise taxes. Obviously, I am very concerned about a number of other areas,� Doyle said.

He repeated his plan to use his veto pen to preserve his budget priorities which are to stop the problem of state overspending, present an honestly balanced budget that does not raises taxes of any kind, and does not do permanent damage to the state�s public education system nor the relationship between the state and local government. When asked if the three-year property tax freeze permanently changes the relationship between state and local governments, Doyle said: �Yes.�

Other likely vetoes will be aimed at the $25 million pork amendment passed as part of the Senate Republican maneuver to secure a "yes" vote from Democrat Gary George of Milwaukee -- notably the land purchase to construct a Hmong cultural center. Doyle also said he would not support any candidate in a recall election against George.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Nuno Crispim's Quotations What is a committee? A group of the unwilling, picked from the unfit,
to do the unnecessary. -- Richard Harkness, The New York Times, 1960

As Wisconsin's Joint Finance Committee completes the budget it is good to remember: " A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured, and then quietly strangled." -- Robert Katz

The Washington Post couldn't just come out and say Hillary Clinton is an inhuman monster, but they come darn close: The Barbara Walters-Clinton Interview: Hillary Has the Chilly Deportment Down Cold (washingtonpost.com)

Despite obvious attempts to do otherwise -- and Walters giving her the benefit of the doubt -- Clinton still comes across as almost chillingly chilly. She may have emotions like normal people, but she doesn't like to admit it and she's scarily proficient at suppressing them. Even during a sequence in which Walters covered the suicide of Vince Foster, friend to both Hillary and Bill Clinton, the interviewee appeared unfazed.

Communications Aides Reveal Tricks of the Trade

By David Perera
Roll Call Staff


Tuesday, Jun. 10; 04:29pm

As much as the media loves leaks, sources have their own reasons for doling out hot scoops. And to be a good press secretary, you need to know how to do it.

For example: �I tend to only do scoops on positive stories,� said John Feehery, spokesman for Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).

That�s just one of the nuggets gleaned by Miami University of Ohio students who attended a panel discussion Monday in which speechwriters and flacks revealed the tricks of their trades.

Feehery told an audience of about 40 that a standard Capitol Hill practice is �to leak to The Associated Press.�

That way the leak will �get The New York Times� and Washington Post�s attention,� but will also likely be on the front page of a Member�s home district newspaper.

...

Meanwhile, the press secretaries talked mostly about their interaction with reporters. �Nothing gets reporters more angry than not returning phone calls,� Feehery said.

At the same time, the flacks said reporters should be careful not to get information wrong.

Trent Duffy, a press secretary for the White House Office of Management and Budget, said, �If a story is wrong, a fact is wrong, I have an obligation to point that out.� For example, he explained, reports that the deficit level is at historically high levels is true in �nominal� terms, but not when measured as a share of the economy.

Feehery said if he believes a reporter is a �jerk,� then he gives the reporter �the bare minimum. Something else I do, I give their competitors as good a story as I can.�

Feehery advised getting friendly with reporters. �They�re people,� he said. �Mostly they�re trying to meet a deadline.�

He said Democrats tend to be better at schmoozing reporters and attending reporters� social events than Republicans, however.

Stonewalling received universal condemnation. Then-Rep. Gary Condit�s (D-Calif.) 2001 interview with Connie Chung is �example 101 of how not to handle a crisis,� said Brendan Daly, press secretary to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). �It basically sealed his fate.�

THE BLACK ARTS OF POLITICS BECOME PUBLIC:

Boston Globe:Opposition research seen as key by presidential rivals

From Politics Online:

INTERNET VOTING TEST SET FOR 2004
The Defense Department, along with 10 states and several counties nationwide, has begun conducting a congressionally mandated Internet registration and voting demonstration for the 2004 election. The Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment (SERVE) will enable thousands of absentee uniformed services personnel, their dependents and other U.S. citizens based overseas to register to vote and cast their ballots from any Internet-accessible, Microsoft Corp. Windows-based computer worldwide.

County election officials will use the SERVE system to receive voter registration applications, provide ballots to voters, and accept voted ballots. These officials will use their existing election administration systems to process registrations and ballots.
See: Federal Computer Week
Related stories:
UPI
GOPUSA

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Law without enforcement is only good advice." -- Abraham Lincoln

Because :"Simply stated, it is sagacious to eschew obfuscation." the Editor will post the link to some darn good quotes: QUOTES

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Being elected to Congress is regarded as being sent on a looting raid for one's friends.
--George F. Will, Newsweek

Interested in politics on the internet? George Washington University has an entire Institute devoted to the subject.The Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet

Here is an article that the Editor loves:
Get bloggers on board

It suggests that newspapers hire bloggers to produce local content for their operations.

Hmmm. Money for writing web logs, what a great idea!

(Thanks to politicsonline.com for the link.)

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign provides a valuabl service in Wisconsin Politics. Unfortunately for the WDC it is not the one the think it is. They believe they are exposing the evils of fundraising. In fact the Editor is reliably informed that the are the biggest single tool for fundraising in the state. Check out this list of donors for example.

From PoliticsOnline.com:

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
-----------------------------------------
SCIENCE CONFIRMS: POLITICIANS LIE
"Politicians need to be more honest about lying."
- After intensive research, scientists have concluded that politicians lie.
In a study described in Britain's Observer newspaper, Glen Newey, a political scientist at Britain's University of Strathclyde, concluded that lying is an important part of politics in the modern democracy.

This from the Capitol Times: BADGER POLL: Feingold no shoo-in for 3rd term

Interestingly the article states:

" On the question of whether Feingold should be re-elected - or whether voters prefer an unspecified "someone else" - 41 percent picked Feingold, compared to 34 percent who chose someone else.

Here's what it doesn't say; elected officials with a 41% re-elect number LOSE.

Here's what it also doesn't say; the Badger Poll sucks, no one in politics trusts or believes it, and the only reason it makes the paper is that the newspaper commisioned and paid for this sucky poll.

Politics is TOO good for something: Antispam bill gains steam in House

--more from our friends at msnbc

The politics of SPAM.

--from msnbc

An interesting article on how game theory influences international terrorism strategy from the Sydney Morning Herald:How to bomb friends and alienate us all - smh.com.au


Al-Qaeda's apparent new focus on soft, even non-Western, targets could be its death knell, writes Gerard Henderson.

Writing in last Friday's Wall Street Journal, Sharon Begley drew attention to work being done by the US academics, Walter Enders and Todd Sandler, in applying game theory to a study of terrorism and anti-terrorism. The theory was invented by the mathematician John Nash and popularised by Russell Crowe, who played Nash in the film A Beautiful Mind. Enders and Sandler are interested in the likely outcome when two rational agents - in this case, the terrorist and the anti-terrorist - make choices as to action.

The evidence suggests that the decision by US authorities to clamp down on terrorism (following the September 11 attacks) has led to a situation where terrorists have decided to choose softer, non-American, targets. Both decisions are rational.

From the weblog Eject! Eject! Eject! comes helpful information on magic and misdirection. It would be good to keep this lesson in mind when observing politics as well.

Now, ask any professional magician how they pull off their illusions and every last one will tell you it�s all about misdirection. Sadly, those boring, insensitive, dead-white-male laws of physics don�t allow for quarters to disappear into thin air. So to make someone believe that precisely this has happened, we need to physically make that coin go someplace where it is not expected. And the way to do that is to make everyone look somewhere else for a moment.

Humans have retained several reflexes, and for good reason too � they keep us alive. All of today�s animals are reflexively attracted to fast motion in their field of vision. There were undoubtedly many animals that did not have this brain wiring, and these extinct animals are known by the scientific name, breakfast. If you�re a two-ounce tree shrew or a one-ton wildebeest, something moves fast in the bushes it would behoove you to give it your undivided attention.

This is hard-wired, and there�s not a damn thing we can do about it. So watch a magician carefully next time he makes a coin disappear. You�ll see one hand move quickly � and that is the hand you will watch. Coin�s in the other hand.

Misdirection

Interesting bit of commentary on a web log apparently written by a baby harp seal: �As soon as someone starts talking about the Nazis, you know they�ve run out of things to say.�

An interesting intersection between Wisconsin politics and Hollywood from Salon.com.:

salon.com | Sept. 14, 2000

"I was giving a phone interview for a fellowship to the American Film Institute in Hollywood when the interviewer asked, "Do you support Jim Doyle for governor of Wisconsin?" I replied that I wasn't aware that our current attorney general of Wisconsin was running. I also told her I was a supporter of our current governor, Tommy Thompson. Silence on the other end. I flew to Hollywood for an interview a few days later. Again my political views came up in the conversation. Needless to say, I was placed as an alternate for fall of 2000 admission. Not only can you not come out of the closet in Hollywood as a Republican, they will close the door before you can come in. Intolerance? You bet. It is the Democrats in Hollywood looking in the mirror. "

-- Frank J. Romano

FROM ROLL CALL

Members Dining on Politics

By Brody Mullins
Roll Call Staff


May 19, 2003

Though the Capitol is considered a campaign-free zone, Federal Election Commission records indicate that some House lawmakers are using the Members� Dining Room for campaign-related meetings.

In campaign reports filed with the FEC for the 2001-02 election cycle, nearly a dozen Members disclosed that they held meetings in the exclusive dining room to discuss �political,� �campaign� and even �fundraising� matters.

The meetings, which were paid for by the Members� own re-election campaigns, do not appear to violate campaign finance law, which bars Members from raising money in the Capitol.

But the fact that the Members disclosed the political meals on their own fundraising reports shows that at least some lawmakers have no fear of infringing on the spirit of House ethics guidelines.

According to the FEC data compiled by a search on PoliticalMoneyLine.com, Members held more than 150 meetings in the Members� Dining Room to talk about campaign activity or fundraising.

Since then-Vice President Al Gore was chastised for making fundraising calls from his office in the late 1990s, Members of Congress have �made an excellent effort to split their official duty and campaign activity,� said Kent Cooper of PoliticalMoneyLine.com. �But in this situation some Members have reported using a government building for campaign activity.�

House ethics rules on the topic are murky at best. According to guidelines published by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, Members are prohibited from using House rooms and offices �for events that are campaign or political in nature,� such as a campaign strategy meeting or fundraiser.

But the rules are loosely enforced. �The way this stuff is written, as long as you don�t receive or make a solicitation, it is OK,� said Meredith McGehee, a former official at Common Cause. �Can you reward donors? Yes. Could you talk strategy? I think that is a little closer to the line, but I don�t know that it constitutes a clear violation.�

Sounds like DC has the same issues that Wisconsin does regarding politics in the Capitol. I am shocked. Shocked! to find politics being practiced in the Capitol.

From Poliglut.org :: Political news and commentaryWill President Bush be on the 2004 Illinois Ballot?

Bush Files Papers for Re-Election Bid

'Missing' Democrats Found in Oklahoma (washingtonpost.com)

Thank God!

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make famous."

--David Broder, Washington Post 5/14/03

Democrats Flee Texas!(washingtonpost.com)

AUSTIN, May 12 -- Moving with exceptional stealth and tactical coordination, more than 50 Democratic state lawmakers in Texas packed their bags and quietly slipped out of the state under cover of darkness late Sunday and early today.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry immediately dispatched police to track down the missing legislators, arrest them and bring them back to do the state's business -- even asking neighboring New Mexico if the Texas Rangers were empowered to make arrests there. (New Mexico's attorney general -- a Democrat -- said no.) But all signs were that the legislators were on the lam -- some, perhaps, fleeing to Mexico -- putting them beyond the reach of Lone Star justice and of GOP ambitions.

Whee Haw! Too bad Wisconsin doesn't practice politics with the same wild eyed wackiness as our friends in Texas.

JS Online: Pawlinski announces resignation: Milwaukee alderman indicted in March on federal corruption charges

NEWS YOU CAN USE:
CBS News | Are 'Mini-Nukes' The New Big Thing?

It turns out that cookies are EVIL!!!!!!

Luckily the trial lawyers are here to help! Having saved America from tobacco they will now save us from fatty foods. Thank you Mr. Trial Lawyer! Lawsuit seeks to ban sale of Oreos to children in California.

Remember: When Oreos are outlawed only outlaws will have Oreos.

If you were ever concerned with free speech and the right to protest peacefully look at this: U.S. News: Taking it off the streets(5/12/03)

From our 'Let's Make Wisconsin Politically Relevant' File: Legislature Passes Bill to Move Up Presidential Primary

From Charlie Sykes this: GAFFE ALERT


"In our ongoing effort to determine whether or not a liberal can ever commit a gaffe, consider this.

Today, during discussion in open caucus of Senate Joint Resolution 24, which commends the families and friends of those soldiers serving on active duty in the Middle East and praying for the prompt and safe return of their loved ones, State Representative Frank Boyle (D-Superior) said: "This [SJR 24] is a stupid, memorializing piece of nothing bullshit; totally unequivocal bullshit."
Even for an inveterate lefty blowhard like Boyle, this was more than a little over the top. But let's see:

Question (1): Will this be reported anywhere?
Question (2): Will it be the subject of any editorial comment?
Question (3): Will fellow Democrats criticize him?"

---Charlie Sykes

Man announces second attempt at political hari kari: Rothbauer to challenge Dave Obey again

Last Time:
"Bloomer native only had about $20,000 to spend on his entire campaign. By contrast, Obey raised nearly $900,000"

Now we are seeing the beginning of Presidential parody sites:Gov. Howard Dean for President: a Satire More to come.

"Compelling Theater" is the Washington Post review of the Democratic Warm-Up Debate

The WisconsinDemocracy Campaign put out a report entitled Graft Tax .

Interestingly, if you read the report, it turns out that ALL public spending is motivated by corruption. Who knew?

[As a side note the Editor points out that the WDC is percieved as a Democratic Party front group. It was embarrassed by its own partisanship for some reason. Tax exempt status, anyone?]

Opposition Research is one of the dark arts of politics. One of the best sources is available in our wonderful state is here: Wisconsin Circuit Court Access

Use it to find every legal proceeding that your opponent Senator Balderdash has been named in. What fun!

NEWS FLASH!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I Own John Gard" Says Obnoxious Man In Bar.

The Editor has just learned that Rep. John Gard, the Speaker of the Assembly has as his most intimate political advisor and kitchen cabinet guru none other than Eric J. Petersen. Those privileged enough to have met Mr. Petersen know that he is the smartest man in any room, and a brilliant political operator, perhaps the most brilliant ever to deign to inhabit the state of Wisconsin. Just ask him.

This page notes that Mr. Petersen has never run or held a significant position in any campaign organization and essentially bought his present position as big-wig Madison lobbyist. Apparently experience is not needed when you are truly a brilliant political mind.

Wow!

Quote of the Year Nominee:

"They're not even [within] 100 miles [of Baghdad]. They are not in any
place. They hold no place in Iraq. This is an illusion ... they are
trying to sell to the others an illusion."

--Muhammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, Iraqi Information Minister
(presently on extended administrative leave)

Sometimes it is helpful to review the basics: How to Pass a Law This is of course the real-deal not the unrealistic pap they put in the blue book.

The only surprising thing to the Editor about McCAIN FEINGOLD LAW DECLARED UNCONSTITUTIONAL is the timing. It went down pretty fast. The ink isn't even dry on the thing yet.

The State Historical Society is hiring a new Director. Their anonymous staff blog leaks the hiring interview questions:Oh, Crap
Ten Questions To Be Asked At Director Interviews

The management team of the society has been building a list of questions to be asked of both candidates for the position of "Director." The draft of the list has been leaked to "Oh, Crap."

1. How do you spell "Potawatomi"?
2. Are you related to the Governor?
3. Are you now, or have you ever been, related to any member of the legislature?
4. Boxers or Briefs?
5. Suits: two button or three?
6. Are you a member of the Society?
7. Are you a member of the secret society?
8. If you re-arrange the letters in "wisconsin history," how many other words can you come up with?
9. Are you gellin'?
10. And you are...?

The Iraqi Information-meister, this must be seen to be believed.

From the Scrum a calendar of the presidential campaign:

Here is the Post again, only this time with the 10 reasons to become a federal bureaucrat.

Your faithful Editor boils it down to this:

FEDERAL GOVENTMENT: The pay is OK and you can NEVER be fired.

From the Washington Post, an article on the 10 reasons to avoid a (federal) government career.

If it looks like it was written by a careerist thats because it essentially was.

Blood in the water at the start of the presidential primary campaign.:Kerry Campaign Blasts Dean's Credentials (washingtonpost.com)

Legislator announces he doesn't have time to legislate: MikePowers.

In a related story the Editor's doctor and plumber also annouce that they have no time to do their jobs either. They also still expect to be paid for not working.

A sad commentary on the changes faced at the capitol. There was a time when four full-time gardeners competed to make the grounds of the capitol inviting and beautiful to behold. Now we have prisoners maintaining the capitol grounds.