Prayers up

I wanted to extend my heartfelt sympathy to the family and friends of Principal Klang.

I would like the entire community of Cazenovia to know that all of us share in your pain.

Rest in Peace Principal Klang.

We're building a fence-

Quite frankly, I did not believe this would actually make it thru. But not only did the proposal to build a fence make it thru the House this past week, but it made it thru the Senate last night.

The final vote was 80-19.

From the Washington Times-

The Senate last night gave final approval for construction of 700 miles of fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. The bill passed on an 80-19 vote. One Republican, 17 Democrats and the chamber's lone independent voted against the measure.

The bill "will have a real impact on our homeland security now and is a vital step toward fixing the problem of illegal immigration," said Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, adding that Congress also has increased the number of Border Patrol agents and detention beds for apprehended illegal aliens.

"This legislation will take us much closer to the operational control of our border that our homeland security requires," he said.

Eight Democratic senators who supported the bill last night switched their position from the previous day, when they voted to block the fence. They are Sens. Barbara Boxer of California, Thomas Carper of Delaware, Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Barack Obama of Illinois and Charles E. Schumer of New York.

Many of the Democrats who joined Republicans on the vote either face close elections this November or represent mostly conservative states.

But for the most part, Democrats opposed the measure.

"We can build the tallest fence in the world, and it won't fix our broken immigration system. Nor will it strengthen security at our borders," Minority Leader Harry Reid said yesterday. "To do that, we need the kind of comprehensive reform that the Senate passed earlier this year."

The "comprehensive" legislation supported by Mr. Reid would grant citizenship rights to about 10 million illegal aliens already in the country and create a guest-worker program that would usher hundreds of thousands of new foreign workers into the country. That Senate-approved bill also would allow illegals to collect Social Security benefits accrued while working illegally.

That Senate bill also has many Republican supporters. But, realizing the comprehensive bill would not pass anytime soon, they supported last night's fence bill with the belief that at the very least the border should be secured.

Sen. Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican, said yesterday that he has long been a supporter of "comprehensive" legislation and still is.

Continued...

Who said this?

This is a quote- who said this?

"calling him a failure and a liar. "Why don't you tell them how many million citizens of America and its allies you intend to kill in search of the imaginary victory and in breathless pursuit of the mirage towards which you are driving your people's sons in order increase your profits?"

Sounds like a Democrat, right?



Nope, this is not a Democrat, it is Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri

Time to expose this fool

I have been getting the normal share of harassing emails. I have ignored them for the most part.

As most of you already know, I moderate all comments. The reason I moderate the comments is because this is my blog and I am responsible for the words on this blog.

As most of you are aware- feel free to disagree with me or my positions. However, I will not post vulgarity, nor will I post comments that are meant to be nothing more than nasty.

Over the past several weeks, I have been harassed by a "anonymous" poster.

What this person does not understand is that once you reach the internet, you are no longer anonymous. You IP address is recorded at every single website you enter.

This person may actually believe that they can block their IP address. Bad news, you cannot!

This website has a variety of ways to track you and your IP address. Blogger.com, Site Meter, Technorati, Google, Yahoo and Feedburner are all tracking you.

Your own server, is tracking every single website you enter.

As I said, normally I ignore this garbage, until I received threatening posts.

This is the first post that I received last night:

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Al Queda in Iraq has a few job openings":

K. Carpenter we are gathering much information about you. Your coward ways of not publishing comments and preforming censorship on your blog has lead us with the need to expose just who you are. You are a coward and a fraud. Stay tuned dipshit.

Publish this comment.

Reject this comment.

Moderate comments for this blog.

Posted by Anonymous to Stepping Right Up! at 9/28/2006 05:21:38 PM

This post was then followed by an additional post giving the name and address of some poor innocent person in Kenosha, who isn't me.

My guess is this poster has now taken to not only attempting to seek out and find me, but now they are harassing an innocent person who happens to have the last name of "Carpenter" and live in Kenosha.

I consider this person who is posting this garbage a threat to me and now this person is also a threat to anyone with the last name of "Carpenter" who lives in Kenosha.


Here are the steps that I have started taking in order to get these type of threats to stop:

1. I have disabled the anonymous feature. Unless you are registered with Blogger, you can no longer post a comment. (my friends who are having trouble registering with Blogger, contact me, I will help walk you thru the process of registering)

2. I have contacted your IP server and given your IP address to them so they can further track your handiwork on the internet. Stalking people and threatening people is against the law, even on the internet.

3. I am contacting my attorneys for further legal advice.

4. I have saved many of these obnoxious and threatening comments to be turned over to authorities if this does not stop immediately.

Here are some of the choice posts that have been sent to me:

Did you suck his neo-con dick too? What you blog about amounts to treason and Bucher doesn't have a shot at winning. Just watch you have no idea what is going on with the grass roots movement. Just thank Paul for his stance on sobreity check points.. You shill you wil be exposed for the liar and sheep you're!! You're complicit to 9-11 too with your other posts. The Dems and Reps pulled off 9-11 it was an inside job you fucking idiot!

--Posted by Anonymous to Stepping Right Up! at 9/06/2006 05:51:08 PM

You don't deserve freedom. You're not an American, you're not even honest to the bill of rights or the constitution. The thing is you stupid ignorant neo-cons fail to understand that giving up your liberty will not get you safety. You can put a check-point on every street in Wisconsin and it will not stop drunk driving nor will it deal with the core issues or reaons there is a drunk driving problem in the first place. Are you sooo STUPID that you don't see why disgusting human beings like Adolf Bucher want this? What will this POS ask for next, maybe a seat-belt check point. Move to Russia and take your tyranny with you. Bucher has no chance in hell in winning and a large grass roots campaign againts him and Falk is already happening on MySpace. The political fight will be taken to you neo-con anti-American scumbags.

--Posted by Anonymous to Stepping Right Up! at 9/05/2006 09:30:29 PM


To this poster- What makes you think you have the right to post on my blog?

And if I don't post your comments, you threaten me.

I will use ever single power at my disposal to stop the harassment and threats.

Al Queda in Iraq has a few job openings

The leader of Al Queda in Iraq is looking for some help. They are looking for help in the explosives field and nuclear scientists.

In a new audio message Thursday, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, called for explosives experts and nuclear scientists to join his group's holy war against the West. He also said that more than 4,000 foreign insurgent fighters have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.


For those terrorists really looking for some excitement, Al Qaida is also looking for kidnappers.

Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq called for the kidnapping of Westerners to swap for a Muslim cleric jailed in the United States, according to an Internet audio tape issued on Thursday.

Wow- it really makes a person wonder where all of the terrorists are disappearing to. I am pretty sure our American soldiers have something to do with the disappearance of the terrorists.

Way to go, American soldiers!

7-11 drops Citgo

I have already dropped Citgo gas on my own about two years ago, but apparently Chavez has ticked off a few more people-

Yahoo News-


"Regardless of politics, we sympathize with many Americans' concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela's president," said 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris.

"Certainly Chavez's position and statements over the past year or so didn't tempt us to stay with Citgo," she added.

Bush's economy stinks!

It's all Bush's fault that the Dow is about to break a record.

Dow just 53.59 from all-time high close

Need some cash? If you are a Democrat, call the tribes

I am shocked, just shocked at this story from MJS-

$5.4 million in political spending tied to Indian tribes

Okay, maybe I am not shocked at all.

Political spending linked to Wisconsin Indian tribes and tribal gambling interests totals at least $5.4 million in the past decade, a review of state and federal donations shows.

That's the sum that can be counted from publicly disclosed campaign contributions and advertising campaigns. The true amount could be much higher because some expensive media campaigns by tribes are exempt from reporting requirements.

The biggest beneficiaries have been Democrats, with Gov. Jim Doyle garnering the most of any candidate - about $926,000, including large sums from tribes funneled through Democratic Party committees in Washington.

Individual donations to Doyle accounted for only about $107,000 of the total. The rest flowed to national Democratic groups, who in turn have given to Doyle or the state party.

U.S. Rep. Mark Green, this year's Republican candidate for governor, has gotten virtually no tribal money. Nor had Scott McCallum, the Republican governor who lost to Doyle in the 2002 election.

How you feel about that likely depends on your politics and your predilection for casinos.

Campaign finance reform advocates and Republicans argue the casino money has a corrosive influence and should be curbed or banned. Doyle has repeatedly said he doesn't base his decisions on who donates.

Republicans note that much of the money benefiting Doyle flowed around the time he negotiated generous new gambling compacts with the tribes and also in connection with off-reservation casino proposals.

Doyle has sole state authority on the compacts and, if federal approval is given, final say on the off-reservation deals.

Tribal gaming interests probably rank just behind the traditional "800-pound gorillas" of Wisconsin special interests, the Democratic-leaning state teachers union and Republican-leaning Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, said Michael McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. But a direct comparison with other interest groups is impossible because the tribes have put large portions of their political spending into efforts that resist detection, said McCabe, whose group monitors political donations and advocates for campaign finance reform.

To Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin political science professor, the rise of Indian tribes as potent political players is an interesting phenomenon but really just another special interest on the scene. The tribal casino lobby is similar to the road builders in that both depend on state officials for their survival, he said.

Still, critics warn of an impending flood of casino-related money swamping Wisconsin politics this fall.

"I think (the tribes) elected Jim Doyle over Scott McCallum in Wisconsin" four years ago, said state Rep. Steve Freese (R-Dodgeville), noting that the Ho-Chunk, Potawatomi and Oneida tribes gave $725,000 to Democratic Party committees in 2002 that was used to help Doyle in the waning days of the race.

What makes the tribal giving unusually effective is tribes' ability to authorize and move large sums at crucial moments in campaigns, Freese said.

"When you have three-quarters of a million dollars at your disposal overnight, it's incredible what you can do with it," he said. Freese predicted tribes would weigh in heavily again in this year's governor's race and perhaps a few legislative races.

Campaign finance reformer Jay Heck said the tribes were "much too politically astute to just sit idly by. They do have all this money; they certainly have political clout." Heck said he feared an expanded use by some tribes of independent "issue" ads that don't require public disclosure of who paid for them.

"My guess is we'll never know how much they spend" this fall, said Heck, the executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin.

State Democratic Party Chairman Joe Wineke defended the tribes' right to donate, saying: "Why is it always that the Native Americans are somehow different? They have a right to participate in the political process." The tribal gaming industry is a major employer in the state and ought to participate in the elections, he said.

The Forest County Potawatomi tribe will continue to air a television ad through the election Nov. 7 that touts the benefits of its casino for the state and the Milwaukee area, said Ken Walsh, a spokesman for the tribe. He declined to say how much the ad campaign would cost.

"The tribe is focusing its attention on strengthening the name of Indian gaming in Wisconsin," rather than launching overt political ads, Walsh said. That could change, however, depending on the dynamics of the fall campaigns, he said.

All 11 Wisconsin tribes have casino operations, but only the most successful have waded heavily into the political arena, according to state and federal campaign reports and donation compilations by the non-partisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and PoliticalMoneyLine.

The biggest political spenders are the Potawatomi ($2.5 million) and Ho-Chunk ($1.98 million) tribes, whose donations to Wisconsin and out-of-state politicians accounted for 83% of the total. Those tribes run the state's top-grossing casinos, including Potawatomi Bingo Casino in Milwaukee, a $300 million-a-year operation.

The drop-off in spending is steep after that.

The Oneida tribe and its members have donated about $357,000. Just 6% of that, or $22,150, came from individual donations; the rest were tribal donations to national party groups. The Oneida tribe has a large casino operation in the Green Bay area.

The Menominee tribe and members have given $14,343. But its allies in a bid for an off-reservation casino in Kenosha have given $411,000. That includes money linked to the Connecticut-based Mohegan tribe, casino developer Dennis Troha and executives from the Dairyland Greyhound Park racetrack, who hope to sell the track for the casino.

The state's remaining seven tribes gave a total of $105,000 - or 1.9% of all Wisconsin tribal-related donations - for the 10-year period reviewed.

Some $3.3 million of the total came in the form of advertising campaigns from the Potawatomi and Ho-Chunk tribes, but the true total could be higher. That's because spending on independent "issue" ads doesn't have to be disclosed.

Though Democrats were favored by tribal givers, Republicans also have benefited from donations from tribes and their members. Walsh said not all donations should be viewed as casino-related and that many Potawatomi tribal members were motivated to contribute over environmental concerns.

When donations from tribes nationally since 1999 are tallied, U.S. Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.), with nearly $82,000, was the biggest beneficiary in Wisconsin's congressional delegation and placed 30th among 511 current and past members of Congress. Kind said his support for tribal sovereignty and membership on a House committee that reviews American Indian issues were likely reasons for the financial support.

The tribal donations were "completely legal, ethical, upfront and completely disclosed," Kind said.

Other Wisconsin House members and their tribal donations: Rep. Dave Obey, a Wausau Democrat, got $28,500; Rep. Tom Petri, a Fond du Lac Republican, got $26,500; Rep. Gwen Moore, a Milwaukee Democrat, got $5,000; Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, a Menomonee Falls Republican, received $3,000; and Rep. Tammy Baldwin, a Madison Democrat, got $2,000.

Green and Paul Ryan of Janesville had no tribal donations. A spokesman for Green said he won't accept any tribal money until legal issues surrounding state-tribal gambling compacts are fully resolved and won't accept money from anyone linked to pending off-reservation casino deals.

Though Ryan had no money from tribes or tribal members, he has received $53,202 from the family of Troha, a business partner in the Menominee tribe's off-reservation casino proposal for Kenosha. Ryan said the Trohas have supported him since his first race in 1998.

Your tax dollars hard at work

From Wigderson's Library and Pub

I am glad to see my tax dollars hard at work.

DOA website




By the way- this is not illegal because it is Jim Doyle's Administration using a State owned website to promote his politics.

However, it this were a Republican administrator doing this- it would be against the law. Using state money and state time for political purposes is against the law.

But hey- it is Jim Doyle, so he gets to do whatever he wants.

Here we go again

One of Jim Doyle's partisan hacks has every intention of going after even more of Green's money-

Robert Kasieta, a Democratic appointee to the Elections Board, said he will ask the full board at its Oct. 4 meeting to order that Green's campaign divest about $775,000 more, in addition to the $467,844. That would leave Green with about $43,000 of the $1.3 million he transferred from his federal campaign account to his state account.

Even though the partisan hacks on the State Elections board have been exposed, they have no problem using their power to continue to destroy Mark Green's campaign.

The ethically challenged board members now have the opportunity to destroy each and every single candidate they want to destroy. Each and every candidate with the (R) after their name; is at risk of being politically and financially destroyed by this State Elections board.

We need to face a few facts, Jim Doyle's thugs run the state of Wisconsin. Jim Doyle and his cronies will bend any law they want to make sure that Jim Doyle wins this election.

Slime-Away

I will take two truckloads, please





H/T Dad29 and NeoConTastic

Stupid question

Stupid question here- Does anyone actually know what our real state election laws are or the State Elections board just "winging" it? Apparently they had no idea of an actual rule that Mark Green did not follow, so they made up their own "Mark Green" rule, when they really didn't have to.

On top of that, Jim Doyle's campaign was manipulating the State Elections board for the outcome that he wanted. Of course, other investigations are going on with the manipulation of the State Elections board.

3 things have come to light with this mess.

1. The State Elections board members are clearly suseptible to manipulation and are by no means bi-partisan.

2. The State Elections board members do not actually know the state elections laws. They actually wrote their own rule to get Mark Green, even though there may have been a rule already on the books.

3. Jim Doyle will tell any lie and manipulate any person he can to win this election.

MJS Daywatch

Madison - A Dane County judge ruled today that the state Elections Board legally ordered Mark Green's campaign for governor to divest itself of $467,844 in out-of-state donations - a decision the Republican said he will immediately appeal.Green campaign manager Mark Graul said the campaign will try to appeal directly to the state Supreme Court in the hopes of getting a decision before the Nov. 7 election. But the campaign will also move $467,844 into a separate fund, in case the campaign loses the appeal, Graul said.Today's decision by Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess was the second straight setback on the issue for Green, who as a member of the U.S. House legally accepted the $467,844 from political action committees not registered in Wisconsin.That amount was part of $1.3 million he moved from his federal campaign fund to his state account on Jan. 25, 2005 - one day before the state Elections Board implemented a rule saying only PACs registered in Wisconsin can donate to campaigns for governor. The board voted Aug. 30 to enforce the rule - an order Green's lawyers asked Niess to block with an injunction.But Niess ruled that the Republican "can demonstrate neither irreparable injury if the injunction does not issue, nor a reasonable probability of ultimate success on the merits of its case."

Niess was appointed by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle.

On Thursday, Niess told lawyers for both sides that the dispute was a "largely uncharted" legal question in Wisconsin, so he would rule quickly to allow the Court of Appeals or Supreme Court to quickly get the case.Green's lawyers had argued that three similar transfers of campaign balances from federal to state accounts had been allowed in the past and that Democratic members of the board ignored those precedents to retroactively apply the new rule to Green.But state Justice Department lawyers, representing the Elections Board, argued that Green's entire transfer of $1.3 million broke both federal and state laws. The Elections Board was only legally trying to enforce its rule against transfer of the $467,844 from out-of-state political action committees, Justice Department lawyers said.In addition, the state lawyers said the current Elections Board is not bound by decisions of previous boards.

Doyle is the "educator's" governor, not the "education" governor

Over this past week, I have spent some time studying up on Wisconsin’s educational system.

Before the next debate between Mark Green and Jim Doyle, I wanted to check into the truths and the realities of how Wisconsin schools are really performing.

One of the most frustrating parts about being a conservative is that we have let the liberals take control of our educational systems. Even worse, we have let the liberals drive conservatives out of the debate all together.

Education is a democratic issue and we as conservatives are not allowed a voice in the educational debate.

Because of the conservative’s inaction, today’s national educational system is severely damage. As a nation, we are way behind other countries in education. Countries like India are beginning to lap us now.

Well, those days are over. President George Bush brought conservatives back into the debate with the bi-partisan legislation known as “No Child Left Behind”.

One of the benefits of having Mark Green run for governor is the fact that Mark Green has no fear when it comes to talking about Wisconsin’s educational system.

Mark Green has made Wisconsin’s educational system a top priority in this election.

One of the biggest failures of this nation and the state of Wisconsin when it comes to education is the fact that education is no longer about students but about educators.

We have let the National Education Association and Wisconsin Education Association Council take over our educational systems in this country.

The problem with letting this happen is that students are no longer the top priority in our educational systems. The priority of WEAC and the NEA are the teachers, not the students.

To be perfectly fair, WEAC does not represent the students in Wisconsin. The job of WEAC is to solely represent their members, the teachers.

Wisconsin’s teachers deserve good representation and that is the goal of WEAC.

However, the problem comes in when WEAC affects policy and education in this state. WEAC’s influence has changed the top priority from Wisconsin students to given the top priority to Wisconsin teachers.

I know Governor Jim Doyle wants to be known as the “education” governor. Clearly, the evidence points to the fact that Jim Doyle’s educational priorities are wrapped around WEAC instead of Wisconsin’s students.

At the bidding of WEAC, Governor Jim Doyle vetoed legislation that would have expanded the school voucher program in Milwaukee for low income and minority children.

MJS-

At the urging of the state's largest teachers union, the Wisconsin Education Association Council, Doyle blocked a move to expand the program that lets poor Milwaukee children attend private schools at state expense. WEAC endorsed Doyle and played a critical role in his election victory over then-Republican Gov. Scott McCallum in November.

Many of Milwaukee's political and civic leaders had asked Doyle to approve the removal of the limit on choice students, which is 15% of Milwaukee Public Schools children. But Doyle called for a "full and open" debate on that change.

Even as political leaders were pleading with Jim Doyle to help Milwaukee schoolchildren, Governor Jim Doyle chose to support WEAC instead of supporting Milwaukee students.

Just last week, Mark Green proposed improvements to our educational system that would actually help Wisconsin students get a better education.

Mark Green proposed:

• expanding the school choice program that would give low income children opportunity to receive a better education
• merit based pay for teachers. Teachers that do a good job teaching will get a pay raise.
• raising the percentage of state aid for public schools that must be spent on classroom programs to 70%.
• raising the math and science credits required for high school graduation and allowing any four-year University of Wisconsin System campus to establish its own independent charter school.
• giving school boards new authority to save money with competitive bidding.
• eliminating the residency requirement for Milwaukee Public Schools teachers

Each one of these proposals goes to improving the quality of our children’s public education.

What was Governor Jim Doyle’s reaction to these proposals?

Doyle’s campaign had this to say:

Anson Kaye, spokesman for the Doyle campaign, said Green's plan would "cut thousands of teachers" and "force school districts to cut things like school nurses and school buses."

As you can clearly see, Jim Doyle’s primary reaction is to protect Wisconsin teachers, school nurses, and school bus drivers.

What you do not see from Jim Doyle’s reaction is someone who puts Wisconsin’s children and their education first.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Jim Doyle would put Wisconsin’s children at the top of his priority list instead of putting WEAC at the top of his priority list?

Governor Jim Doyle has clearly shown that he is the “educator’s” governor and not the “education” governor.

Another Loony liberal...

Okay, now the liberal party is really starting to lose it. Former Presidential candidate Gary Hart has joined the Cindy Sheehan/Arianna Huffington wing of the Democratic party.

Gary Hart is currently theorizing on what Karl Rove has planned for a "October surprise".

I remember the during 2004 election, the Democrats and their theories over a "October surprise". The real surprise was on them- there was no October surprise.

However there was a November surprise in 2004- BUSH WON!

Here is what Gary Hart believes the October surprise will be:

It should come as no surprise if the Bush Administration undertakes a preemptive war against Iran sometime before the November election.

Were these more normal times, this would be a stunning possibility, quickly dismissed by thoughtful people as dangerous, unprovoked, and out of keeping with our national character. But we do not live in normal times.

snip-

In more rational times, including at the height of the Cold War, bizarre actions such as unilateral, unprovoked, preventive war are dismissed by thoughtful, seasoned, experienced men and women as mad. But those qualities do not characterize our current leadership.

For a divinely guided president who imagines himself to be a latter day Winston Churchill (albeit lacking the ability to formulate intelligent sentences), and who professedly does not care about public opinion at home or abroad, anything is possible, and dwindling days in power may be seen as making the most apocalyptic actions necessary.

for more- follow this link...

Yep- Gary Hart has joined the loony left.

Packers win?

Yes! Packers win!

Did anyone else's heart skip a beat when Green fumbled the football?

That's okay- we will take the win any way we can get them this year.

Packers 31, Lions 24

Spivak and Bice: Getting at the truth the Wasserman way

As I first started reading Spivak and Bice's article on Les Wasserman, I felt bad for Les Wasserman. Spivak and Bice were prying into Wasserman's private life. Normally the private lives of all candidates should be kept private.

However, now I can see why Spivak and Bice did not keep this private. This whole article started off with one point of contention that the authors had-

On Thursday, we wandered over to the downtown law office of Lew Wasserman, the independent candidate for Milwaukee County district attorney, who faces prosecutor John Chisholm in November. We wanted to ask the long-shot candidate, among other things, why his campaign Web site said in his bio: "Family: Married to Attorney Jean M. Kies; 2 children."

We were curious because we knew, after talking to several family members, that Wasserman actually has six children with three women.

So, Wasserman actually has 6 children, but he only speaks of 2 on his website.

How do Wasserman's other 4 children feel about this? One of them had something to say-

Martin Wasserman, the candidate's 25-year-old son, was alerted to the discrepancy by a friend a couple weeks ago.

"It didn't completely surprise me," said Martin Wasserman, who has not had any contact with his father in 10 years. "It also bothered me at the same time."

What brilliant reaction did Wasserman have to the discrepancy on his website?

On Thursday, Lew Wasserman said he was bewildered that his estranged children are upset that he didn't remember them in his campaign biography.

"I can't imagine why they would be upset," he said. He added later, "Everyone associates Jean and me with two kids."

Good grief!

Les Wasserman just went from being a "long-shot candidate" to a "no-shot candidate".

As if we are not already upset enough at Mr. Wasserman- Spivak and Bice found out more information on Mr. Wasserman's military service.

Again- GOOD GRIEF!

Nice try Dems

Nice try Dems- but this won't fly-

MJS/AP-

Meanwhile, Republican Party executive director Rick Wiley said Friday that he spoke with Elections Board member John Savage, a Republican who was selected to serve by the party, on the day before the vote. Wiley said he called Savage to consult with him after hearing that Savage told people at a GOP fund raiser that he did not believe the vote was going to go in favor of Green.

Wiley said Savage told him that given the partisan makeup of the board - which has four Democrats, three Republicans, one Libertarian and one non-partisan appointee - it was unlikely Green's position would win out. Wiley said he told Savage he had to agree, but they didn't discuss any other strategy about the vote.

A call to Savage's home late Friday rang unanswered.

"For days Republicans have been pointing fingers at everyone but themselves to distract voters from the simple fact that Congressman Green violated state and federal laws with his illegal transfer," said Melanie Fonder, Doyle's spokeswoman. "What's wrong here is the Republican hypocrisy has been exposed."

As you Dems are well aware, it is not the contact with the board that anyone has a problem with- it is the MANIPULATION of the State Elections Board that is a problem!

In fact, it is you Doylies that have been telling us for days that it is perfectly acceptable for people to contact the State Elections Board- so accept it!

Unless you can prove that Wiley did more than just talk to Savage- then this does not fly. Unless you can prove that Wiley plotted and planned with Savage- then you lose this argument also.

This is about manipulating the board. This is about Doyle's lawyer using the State Elections Board to help Jim Doyle win the elections.

As Kevin at Lakeshore Laments has already pointed out- State Elections Board member, Savage, has voted consistently on this issue. Savage was part of the board that approved Democrat Tom Barrett's tranfer of his federal funds.

It is awful fun to be a conservative right now. We get to spend the next 6 weeks looking into every single aspect of how Jim Doyle has manipulated this election.

Jim Doyle and his cronies have been manipulating state contracts for his buddies for huge campaign contributions.

Jim Doyle has manipulating this state's finances to cover up for mistakes and to hide his deficit spending.

Jim Doyle has been manipulating this state's transportation fund and swiped over $1 billion and to pay off WEAC.

Jim Doyle has manipulated state contracts to pay off Wisconsin's Indian tribes.

Jim Doyle's continuous vetoes of any type of Voter ID is another form of manipulating this year's election.

Watch out Democrats and Jim Doyle, Wisconsinites don't like to be manipulated.

I have no proof yet, but I am convinced that Jim Doyle and his cronies at WEAC are manipulating Wisconsin residents into believing that everything is just fine with Wisconsin's education system.

I am not sure what the problem is right now, but Wisconsinites are dumping more money into our educational system than most other states are paying for their systems.

Consistently, one national and federal educational board after another are claiming that Wisconsin is way below average. Yet, we as taxpayers pay way above average for our student's education.

The truth about Wisconsin's educational system will come out.

When it does- will Jim Doyle be so thrilled as to continue to call himself "the educational governor"?

Jim Doyle will do anything and everything his can, whether or not it is legal or ethical, just to win this year's election.

What does a teacher have to do to actually be fired from their job?

I did not know it was even possible to fire a teacher anymore.

Apparently, the Cedarburg school board is trying to do just that. They are attempting to fire a school teacher for viewing pornograghy on the school's computer.

I have a question- If anyone of us regular smucks were using our work computers to view pornograghy, would we be fired?

YES- I KNOW I WOULD BE FIRED!

MJS- DAYWATCH

The School Board decided today to go to court in an attempt to keep out of the classroom a fired high school teacher who admitted viewing pornography on his school computer.

The 7-0 vote at a special meeting directs attorneys for the School District to ask an Ozaukee County Circuit Court to overturn an arbitrator's decision on science teacher Robert Zellner. The School Board fired Zellner in January and he appealed. Last week, an arbitrator ruled that Zellner should be disciplined but not fired and ordered that he be given his job back.

It is still possible that a court fight could be avoided, because the board's vote also direct its attorneys to try and reach a settlement with Zellner.

Zellner's lawyer, Jina Jonen, said he would consider settlement offers.

She also warned that the School District could be ordered to pay Zellner back pay plus 12% interest if its court fight is determined to be frivolous.

The School Board's action does not rule out the possibility of Zellner being rehired in a different position. But School Board President John Pendergast said "99 percent" of the Cedarburg community does not want Zellner back in the classroom. "We have an obligation to carry out what the public wants," he said.

More than 100 people attended the special meeting. Most who spoke said they don't want Zellner, an 11-year teacher at the high school, back in the classroom.

Good grief

Bill Clinton freaks out



The docudrama "The Path to 9/11" really got to Clinton. He has done a interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News.

Clinton's rant:

"But at least I tried. That's the difference in me and some, including all of the right-wingers who are attacking me now," Clinton said when asked whether he had failed to fully anticipate bin Laden's danger. "They had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed."

8 months?

Clinton had 8 years!

That was at the time that Bin Laden was not really in hiding!

Uh Oh! Bucher is on the case

Whoopsie! Hindsight is 20/20, eh?

The State Elections Board should have held it's partisan meeting in someone else's district. When Paul Bucher says he will investigate, that means he will investigate.

AP story via Kenosha News


An investigation will be launched into alleged improper lobbying by an attorney for Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, a district attorney said Friday.
Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher said he believes he has jurisdiction to look into the allegations surrounding an Elections Board meeting.

The meeting that spurred the lobbying in question took place in Brookfield, which is in Bucher's county.

Bucher, a Republican who lost the Sept. 12 primary for attorney general to J.B. Van Hollen, said he plans to look for violations of the state's open meeting laws, ethics code and lobbying statutes.

His investigation stems from revelations on Thursday that Doyle attorney Michael S. Maistelman lobbied three Democratic members of the Elections Board prior to its 5-2 vote on Aug. 30 to require Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green to divest of nearly $468,000 in campaign donations. The three Democrats who were lobbied, along with another Democrat and a Libertarian board member, voted in favor of the order against Green. Two Republican members voted against it.


Of course the liberal DA in Dane County is being a typical liberal patsy-

State Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, the chairman of the Senate Ethics and Campaign Finance Committee asked Bucher to investigate. Ellis also asked Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard, a Democrat, to look into the issue.

But Blanchard told Ellis on Friday that he did not believe district attorneys have enforcement authority in this case.

Armitage again, huh?

Richard Armitage sure made it a habit to flap his gums and then sitting back and watching other people get into trouble for his actions.

Yahoo News-

In an interview to air Sunday on CBS-TV's "60 Minutes" program, Musharraf said that after the attacks, Richard Armitage, then deputy secretary of state, told Pakistan's intelligence director that the United States would bomb his country if it didn't help fight terrorists.

He said that Armitage had told him, "Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age."

Armitage has disputed the language attributed to him but did not deny the message was a strong one.

The former senior U.S. official told Associated Press Radio on Friday: "There was no military threat and I was not authorized to do so."

"It did not happen," Armitage said.

I got to say, Armitage may be totally innocent in this and he never did threaten Pakistan, but after the whole Plamegate debacle, I no longer believe anything Armitage says.

Interesting take on Doyle's manipulation

Hum- when scanning the blog world yesterday looking for news on Doyle's manipulation- I found this blog-

Shark and Shepherd

Rick Esenberg is a attorney. Check out his take on the Doyle mess.

More interesting news

Michael S. Maistelman- the attorney hired by the Doyle campaign, seems to have quite a background with the Democratic part in Wisconsin.

Michael S. Maistelman is the treasurer for the Jim Sullivan campaign. Sullivan is the person running against Tom Reynolds in the Wisconsin Senate.

Here is what WisPolitics said about Michael S. Mailstelman-

MICHAEL S. MAISTELMAN, a Milwaukee Dem lawyer, was tabbed a "Rising Star'' recently by Campaign & Elections magazine in D.C. He has helped Gov. JIM DOYLE, U.S. Sen. RUSS FEINGOLD, the state Dem Party, various Dem-leaning groups and state Rep. TOM NELSON, a freshman Dem who scored an upset in 2004.

Edited to add: I know the governor is trying to distance himself from one of his campaign's attorneys. Clearly, Maistelman was not some slug in the Democratic Party. He is one of their high profile attorneys.

Governor Doyle and the State Elections Board

Owen at Boots and Sabers has the latest details on the contact between the State elections board officials and the Doyle camp.

Owen has a copy of the emails sent between the State Election board members and Doyle's lawyer.

Let's just say, these are very damaging.

Check it out-

Michael Maistelman(Doyle's lawyer) wrote the following to Carl Holborn(State Elections Board member) and Kerry Dwyer(State Elections board member):

"I have also been told that the Gov's Campaign and the Dem party and others will give you cover on this in the media-not like what happened on HACA same day registration."

Not only was the governor's campaign and the state elections board in on this- but it appears that the Democratic party of Wisconsin were also in on this.

No shock here, how will the rest of Wisconsin react?

MJS has discovered that the Doyle camp was contacting the democratic members of the State elections board before the vote to force Green to return legally collected campaign funds!

The State Elections Board is working with the Doyle campaign to get Doyle elected!

I will comment later as I have more time.

A lawyer for Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's campaign repeatedly lobbied three Democratic members of the State Elections Board before they voted with the majority to order Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Green to divest $467,844 in donations from out-of-state political action committees, records show.

Attorney Michael S. Maistelman bluntly told Democratic Party members of the board he contacted why they should publicly sanction or punish the Green campaign, according to documents obtained by the Journal Sentinel under the state's open records law.

"Even if this ends up in Court it is a PR victory for us since it makes Green spend money and have to defend the use of his Washington DC dirty money," Maistelman said in a 9:31 a.m. e-mail one day before the vote. He sent the message to Carl Holborn and Kerry Dwyer, board members appointed by Democratic leaders of the Legislature.

Holborn, Dwyer and another Democratic appointee, Robert Kasieta, were part of a five-vote majority that gave Green's campaign 10 days to divest itself of $467,844 in donations from political action committees not registered in Wisconsin - an order the Green campaign will fight in a Dane County courtroom today.

continued...

Voter ID bill passes in the House!

I know that even though this passed in the House, the chances of the Senate doing anything with a voter ID bill are pretty slim. I am excited anyway!

Just once I would like to have the confidence in knowing that my voter really and truly counted. I justed don't trust what we have right now.

Thank you, Congressman Ryan!!

House Passes Bill Requiring Photo ID to Vote

Legislation that would require individuals to present a government-issued, current and valid photo ID in order to be eligible to vote in federal elections passed the House today by 228-196. Wisconsin's First District Congressman Paul Ryan voted in favor of this bill, the Federal Election Integrity Act (H.R. 4844), which will help prevent voter fraud and uphold the integrity of elections.

Under this legislation, the photo ID requirement would take effect beginning with the November 2008 general election, and an additional criterion would apply as of November 2010, specifying that voters must provide a photo ID that could not have been obtained without proof of U.S. citizenship.

"In order to make sure that legal votes are not cancelled out by illegal votes, it makes sense to ask for proof of identity and citizenship from voters," Ryan said. "This is a simple step that we can take to guard against fraud at the polls and help restore citizens' confidence in the electoral process. Today, we are asked to show ID before we can board a plane, cash a check or, in some cases, make a credit card purchase. We should verify identity when it comes to voting too. "

To ensure that all citizens have access to the necessary ID, the bill requires states to set up a program to provide photo IDs which may be used to meet the bill's requirements to individuals who do not possess a government-issued photo ID but who want to vote in elections for federal office. In addition, states must provide this photo ID free of charge for those who cannot afford to pay the fee, and the bill authorizes funds to reimburse states for this cost.

Chavez calls Bush 'the devil'

I am guessing quite a few Democrats would agree with the dictator of Venezuela

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took his verbal battle with the United States to the floor of the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday, calling President Bush "the devil".

The impassioned speech by the leftist leader came a day after Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sparred over Tehran's disputed nuclear program but managed to avoid a personal encounter.

"The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Bush's address on Tuesday and making the sign of the cross. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world."

Standing at the podium, Chavez quipped that a day after Bush's appearance: "In this very spot it smells like sulfur still."

Chavez held up a book by American leftist writer Noam Chomsky "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance" and recommended it to everyone in the General Assembly.

continued...

I bet the lefties in this country are very proud of their leader, Chavez.

Wednesday night Green phone banks

From Tom De Fazio, Green team phone bank coordinator-


The first debate is over--and we should be gratified;
Mark Green did very well--but we must not be satisfied;
There's more work to do, more phone calls to voters;
We must continue to be the top GOP promoters!

Wed. night remains our organized phone bank time,
And this is the main topic of our weekly rhyme.
But you can make calls (at our office or at home) on your own,
Just use the script and some lists with a cell phone.

If you can come Wednesday, 5 to 8:30, please do,
For as long as you can, join our friendly phone crew;
Come for a snack or come for a dinner;
We need your calls badly--our troop numbers are thinner!

With over 1300 calls our goal for just this week;
Your continued or new help is what we seek.
A ticket in the 2-week drawing for each 100 calls;
A Reagan DVD movie set to the winner befalls.

Merit pay for teachers

Imagine this- actually paying teachers based on merit. Just like the rest of us.

Patrick McIlheran cracks me up sometimes-



Mark Green, apparently figuring that if you’re going to tick off the teachers’ union, you might as well fire for effect, proposes some pretty cool ideas for education.

He suggests expanding school choice, raising the income limits so even more parents can take their state school aid with them when they opt for something other than the local government-run school. He suggests expanding it to all of Milwaukee County.

He also suggests letting MPS teachers live outside Milwaukee if they’d like, finding a way to pay teachers based on how well they teach, and letting any UW campus set up a charter school.

Look for gasping outrage, of course, from those who dislike the idea of parents in charge of education. Doyle’s spokesman — Doyle, in case you didn’t know, has long been a favored client of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the teachers’ union that ran ads for him and has endorsed him — anyhow, his spokesman knee-jerked that Green’s ideas would “cut thousands of teachers.”

Uh, no. If parents can take their state school aid with them to some other school, there will be teachers there, as well, teachers the parents prefer. The only ones who really have to worry are teachers that parents don’t prefer.

Green's education reform

I was planning on posting the info about Mark Green's plan for education reform.

However, it appears that the blog world has it covered-

Charlie Sykes

Jessica McBride

31 press releases?

Clearly, the Doyle camp must have been freaking out about something during and after Friday night's debate.

In a complete and utter panic, they dumped 31 press releases to the media after the debate.

31 press releases in three hours!

31!

From MJS- All Politics Watch

In the war of press releases, Gov. Jim Doyle was the clear winner of Friday night's debate.

The Democratic governor's campaign issued seven press releases while Doyle and Republican challenger Mark Green debated. Afterward, the campaign issued two more, and Assembly and Senate Democrats put out an additional 20 releases. They were joined by a release from the state Democratic Party and Democratic Senate candidate Pat Kreitlow. In total, Doyle and his allies released 31 statements between 7:15 and 10:07 p.m. Friday.

That's 10 times as many as those released by supporters of Green, a U.S. representative from Green Bay. Green's campaign issued one release, and the state Republican Party put out two.

Obviously, the Democratic establishment in the state of Wisconsin was desperately trying to fix some of the major mistakes Governor Doyle made during the debate.

IMO, the biggest mistake that Governor Doyle had the night of the debate- he is pinning his entire re-election on WEAC and the educational system in this state.Governor Doyle made it perfectly clear during Friday night's debate, that he will sacrifice everyone (including Wisconsin's seniors) and everything (even if it raising means taxes and raiding other state programs) and hand that money over to WEAC.

Unfortunately, for Governor Doyle, Wisconsin schools are failing. Teachers are angry, school administrators are angry and the taxpayers are angry over the continuous failing school systems in our state.

I am all for giving our students every tool necessary to succeed in life. However, I want to see positive results. Anyone paying attention over the last few years realize that the taxpayers in Wisconsin are not getting the positive results we are paying to get.

Voice of the People-printed Kenosha News 09/08/2006

We call it "Voice of the People" here in Kenosha, most of you would call this a letter to the editor.

The author is Tom De Fazio from Kenosha. Alot of work went into the letter and the Kenosha News made Tom edit it from the original form.

I promised Tom, once this had been printed in the Kenosha News, I would post the original letter in it's original form. This is probably one of the best, most well thought out, letters to the editor that I have ever read.

Note: V-O-T-E M-A-R-K G-R-E-E-N

Here it is, enjoy:

Jim Doyle has unleashed negative ads completely distorting Mark Green’s record and views (on stem-cell research, education, energy costs, and jobs), trying to paint him as an extremist. In stark contrast, Mark Green is running a positive campaign. Dirty campaigning often comes from the challenger trying to make inroads against the incumbent. This time it’s reversed. Let’s hope integrity in campaigning means something. You may not agree with Mark Green on every single issue, but I would guess that Green’s real positions, which follow, are a lot closer to most Wisconsin citizens’ than are Doyle’s. Check out the website at www.votemarkgreen.com.

Veterans’ benefits: increase funding;

Ownership of homes: increase by
cutting red tape, excessive
regulations, property taxes;

Tuition to UW that is affordable
for Wisconsin residents;

Educational opportunities (more
money for the classroom, less
for administrative costs).

Money back in the hands of parents
and students through tax holiday;

Affordable health care (Co-op Care
for farmers & small businesses;
Health Savings Accounts);

Reduction of taxes (or he won’t run
again);

Keeping good jobs in WI and
attracting new businesses

Genetic stem cell research with a
moral basis;

Respect for human life (pro-life,
anti-cloning);

Election system reform (including
voter ID);

Environmental Quality Department;
and Conservation, Forestry, and
Outdoor Recreation Department
to replace overextended DNR;

New energy policy: lower gas tax;
reduce expensive fuel blends.

Al-Qaida warns the pope that he and the West are doomed

First they demanded a personal apology, which they get, now what is the problem?

The group said Muslims would be victorious and addressed the pope as "the worshipper of the cross" saying "you and the West are doomed as you can see from the defeat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and elsewhere. ... We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose head tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion (to Islam) or (killed by) the sword."

Head tax? Oh, I see, now they are demanding money.

Islam forbids drinking alcohol and requires non-Muslims to pay a head tax to safeguard their lives if conquered by Muslims. They are exempt if they convert to Islam.


Where is Russ Feingold now? Is it okay to call these guys "Islamic fascists" now?

I wonder...

I wonder exactly how many people who have watched "The Path to 9/11", if all of the Clinton and media drama had not happened.

Really, the media and the Clinton's turned the lives of the writers, directors and actors into a living hell.

Their crime?

The writers, directors and actors had the audacity to participate in "The Path to 9/11" which did not depict the Clinton administration is a good light.

Still, no matter how miserable the media and the Clinton's made the lives of "The Path to 9/11" participants, there are still many undeniable facts that no one can ignore.

The undeniable facts are, we were attacked by terrorists on a number of occasions before 9/11, and we ignored all of those attacks. These attacks were early warning signs of something bigger to come.

Clinton and the media may try and deny that we had early warning signs, but tell that to the people who lost their loved ones on 9/11.

The following is a excerpt from today's Wall Street Journal written by CYRUS NOWRASTEH who wrote the screenplay for "The Path to 9/11".

In July a reporter asked if I had ever been ethnically profiled. I happily replied, "No." I can no longer say that. The L.A. Times, for one, characterized me by race, religion, ethnicity, country-of-origin and political leanings--wrongly on four of five counts. To them I was an Iranian-American politically conservative Muslim. It is perhaps irrelevant in our brave new world of journalism that I was born in Boulder, Colo. I am not a Muslim or practitioner of any religion, nor am I a political conservative. What am I? I am, most devoutly, an American. I asked the reporter if this kind of labeling was a new policy for the paper. He had no response.

The hysteria engendered by the series found more than one target. In addition to the death threats and hate mail directed at me, and my grotesque portrayal as a maddened right-winger, there developed an impassioned search for incriminating evidence on everyone else connected to the film. And in director David Cunningham, the searchers found paydirt! His father had founded a Christian youth outreach mission. The whiff of the younger Mr. Cunningham's possible connection to this enterprise was enough to set the hounds of suspicion baying. A religious mission! A New York Times reporter wrote, without irony or explanation, that an issue that raised questions about the director was his involvement in his father's outreach work. In the era of McCarthyism, the merest hint of a connection to communism sufficed to inspire dark accusations, the certainty that the accused was part of a malign conspiracy. Today, apparently, you can get something of that effect by charging a connection with a Christian mission.

continued...

An invitation from Sheriff Dave Beth

I would like to invite you and a guest to please join me, Sheriff David Beth, on September 18, 2006, for an evening of:

Great food at the classic Colony House
Meet new friends and see old ones
Meet some incredible people currently in office
And some wonderful ones running for office

A few of the invited guests:

˜ Mark Green – Candidate for Governor
˜ JB VanHollen – Candidate for Attorney General
˜ Samantha Kerkman – State Representative
˜ Allan Kehl – Kenosha County Executive
˜ David Beth – Kenosha County Sheriff
˜ Jeff Kehl – Candidate for County Treasurer
˜ Brenda Maurer-Witthun - Candidate for County Clerk of Courts
˜ Elected Officials from County, City, Town and Village Government


This event will take place at the Colony House in Salem, Wisconsin.
25811 119th Street (Take Hwy JF south from Hwy C)
Monday, September 18, 2006
6:00 PM Cocktails
7:00 PM Appetizers

Rightroots

Normally I am not the type of person that will tell you to support Republicans at all times. Clearly we have seen the likes of Congressman Ney and Senator McCain in the Republican party and I want no part of any of these types of people.

However, with all the talk of the Democrats taking Congress this year, we have heard very little about strong Republican candidates with a chance to either hold the seat or pick up the seat for Republicans.

With the help of Sean from The American Mind and Right Wing News, I have discovered Rightroots!

Rightroots is a broad coalition of conservatives joining together in support of a solid slate of Republican candidates for the US House and Senate.

Rightroots is currently raising money thru the ABC Pac.

They are supporting and raising money for Wisconsin Republican candidate for the 8th district congressional seat, John Gard.

All of the interesting candidates that Rightroots is supporting have a real chance of winning.

Here are a few of candidates of note that Rightroots is raising money for:

John Gard is running for the WI-08 seat that has been vacated by Mark Green, who is running for Governor of Wisconsin.




Diana Irey who is running against John "Bash America First" Murtha.





Van Taylor who is running against incumbent Democrat Chet Edwards in a district that went 70% to 30% for George Bush. Taylor is a Iraqi war veteran and a Harvard grad.



For my friends and co-workers in Illinois, former CNN anchor Andrea Zinga is running to pick up a seat formerly held by Democrat Lane Evans.



Support your favorite Rightroots candidate or support all of the Rightroots candidates.

Do our enemies prefer us weak or strong?

I was reading an article by Adam Brodsky of the New York Post a few minutes ago that asks the question:

Do our enemies prefer us weak or strong?

You would think that this question would be easy enough to answer, right?

Apparently there is no easy answer for the Democrats. If you have been watching the Democrats for the last 5 years since 9/11, clearly you can tell they are struggling with the answer to this question. The Democrats are literally all over the map when it comes to dealing with terrorism.

The struggle to answer this question is highlighted in the article:

WHEN President Bush said the War on Terror would be difficult, he wasn't kidding: Ever since the invasion of Iraq, critics have said our pectoral-flexing has enraged our enemies and given them a new recruiting tool. But they also said Israel's weak showing in the Lebanon war encouraged Hezbollah terrorists and those who might join them; the war proved Israel can be beaten, and that created a new recruiting tool for terrorists.

I would love for someone like Ted Kennedy or John Kerry to point blank answer this question.

Mr Brodsky appears to have found the Democrat's answer for them:

talk a good game, but do little

Mr. Brodsky also makes a very good point:

In waging war, the United States theoretically can make two possible mistakes: It can fight too aggressively - or not aggressively enough.

The question for America now becomes:

During this war on terror, would you rather make the mistake of being too aggressive or make the mistake of not being aggressive enough?

We know how the media would answer this question judging by this article released by AP a little over an hour ago. The media believe we are being too aggressive.

We have listened to the Democrats talk for over 3 years about Abu Ghraib and the war in Iraq. Clearly they too believe we are being too aggressive.

We know the President would prefer to make the mistake of being too aggresive than to continue on the path of the pre-9/11 mindset.

But what about the rest of us? What do you believe?

During this war on terror, would you rather make the mistake of being too aggressive or make the mistake of not being aggressive enough?

Candidate pays himself for campaigning

This guy thinks he has a chance against Sensenbrenner.

As reported by Spivak and Bice


Candidate pays himself for campaigning

The last guy you'd expect liberal congressional candidate Bryan Kennedy to take his campaign cues from would be Alan Keyes, the onetime presidential candidate from the fringes of the Republican Party.

But records show that Kennedy paid himself a salary of $4,100 in July and again in August from his campaign - just as Keyes, the conservative extremist, did infamously during a failed U.S. Senate campaign in Maryland in 1992.

Kennedy, a long-shot Democrat running against House Judiciary Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner, confirmed Friday that he made another $4,100 payment to himself from his campaign fund on Sept. 1 and will continue to do so each month through December.

Total projected campaign dollars he plans to pocket: $24,600.

Federal Election Commission spokesman Bob Biersack said that in 2002 his agency made it kosher for candidates to dip into their campaign funds. But the vast majority has avoided the practice out of fear of giving opponents ammunition.

"It's not typical by any stretch," Biersack said. "It's relatively unusual."

Kennedy is not the only one to have benefited from his campaign's fund-raising prowess. Since January 2005, Kennedy's team has paid $73,185 in salary and expenses to Democratic Consulting, a one-man shop run by Kennedy's buddy and ex-student Bill Elliott. That works out to 40% of the campaign's spending.

Elliott recently failed in his bid to win a seat in the state Assembly. He said Kennedy has been his only paying client during the past 1 1/2 years.

In a Friday interview, Kennedy defended using his contributors' generosity to put food on his table, suggesting that this is the only way a middle-class guy can run for federal office.

"I'm not sure I took it from Alan Keyes," Kennedy said. "I can't stand to listen to him talk for more than a minute."

Rather, Kennedy is taking a leave from his job as an assistant professor of Portuguese at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. State records list his base salary at UWM at slightly more than $48,000, but he said with summer school and other teaching gigs, he typically collected from $55,000 to $60,000 annually in the past couple years.

After looking at their family budget, Kennedy said, he and his wife settled on the $4,100-per-month figure, roughly the same as his base UWM pay.

Under federal regs, a congressional candidate can use campaign funds to pay himself no more than what his salary was the year before he began running for office, said Biersack. Though it doesn't affect Kennedy, this amount is capped at the current pay for congressmen.

Kennedy used questions about his salary to toss a couple of salvos at Sensenbrenner, a kazillionaire from Menomonee Falls. Besides, Sensenbrenner - like all incumbents - gets paid year-round, whether he is sitting in a hearing or is on the campaign stump.

"Why are we paying Sensenbrenner a salary the whole month of August when he's out campaigning?" Kennedy asked.

Kennedy is using his contributors' cash for more than salaries. His team, which has raised about $200,000 since the beginning of last year and hopes to bring in a like amount before November, is planning a TV ad blitz this fall.

The campaign just dropped about $10,000 for a poll that showed Sensenbrenner has a 49% positive rating in the district and a 29% negative rating. Fako & Associates, a Democratic pollster, said Sensenbrenner's positives dropped nine points and that Kennedy was within striking distance of the incumbent. The poll, taken Aug. 28-30, had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.3 points.

The bad news: Despite being on the ballot against Sensenbrenner in 2004, Kennedy was known by only 31% in the suburban district.

The campaign quickly posted the poll results on the Daily Kos, the hugely popular Democratic blog that delights in taking shots at Sensenbrenner.

"We wanted to activate the netroots and get them giving to the campaign," Kennedy said.

With a little luck, he might collect enough to give himself a raise.

In case you missed it

Here is the link to the debate.

Analyzing the debate

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had done a pretty good job in analyzing last night's debate.

First things first- In part of his opening statement Mark Green stated:

"I think you're going to hear a lot tonight of pointing fingers toward Washington, toward the Legislature, toward past governors. But when you're governor, you're CEO. I think when a governor spends more of his time pointing the fingers elsewhere, it says more about him than it says about me," said Green.

And Governor Doyle walked into this trap over and over and over again. He blamed Washington, he blamed the legislature, and he blamed past governors.

The fact the Congressman Green brought this out at the very beginning of the debate was perfect. True to form, Governor Doyle continued to blame Washington.

Do you remember how Doyle kept telling us to "look it up" when he talked about the state's budget deficits?

Well apparently the MJS did look it up and this is what they discovered-

Doyle and Green sparred continuously over the tax and spending picture in the state, which has changed in these ways since the Democrat took office:

Property taxes: About $8.3 billion was levied in property taxes last December, although tax credits offset $586 million of that, which lowered the total actually paid by property owners to $7.7 billion. That is a $1.3 billion increase from December 2001.

But Doyle said he rewrote the state budget in 2005 in a way that froze property taxes on the median-valued home - a tax bill that was $2,730 last December. And because of his budget vetoes, that $2,730 bill will not go up this December, the governor added.

State spending: Spending in the state's general fund, which is state government's main checking account, totaled $12.74 billion last year - up $1.4 billion, or about 13% - since Doyle took office, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

State debt: State government's general debt, which is borrowing not guaranteed by specific fees, now totals $5 billion - up about $750 million, or 17%, since Doyle took office, according to the Fiscal Bureau.

This is not exactly the pretty picture that Doyle wants voters to know this November.

Governor Doyle actually admitted last night to increasing the state's debt:

But Doyle said he issued more debt to protect schools and provide a 16% increase in transportation spending.

The best question of the night came from Mr. Orville Bean:

One of the most pointed questions came from Orville Beene, 67, of Brown Deer, who asked the candidates what they would do to help reverse Milwaukee County's loss of manufacturing and other high-paying jobs. Beene said he worked for Pabst Brewery when it cut back its Milwaukee brewery in the 1997. He said plants "are closing all over the place."

Doyle cited the nationwide erosion in manufacturing, blaming policies of the Bush administration and Congress. He called for tax breaks for employers to move to high unemployment areas.

"I spend a lot of time in Milwaukee," Doyle said. "We have worked hard in Milwaukee to turn it around."

This came at a time right after Doyle was bragging about creating 170,000 new jobs in Wisconsin. Doyle's answer to Mr. Beene's question- it is someone else's fault and he is working hard in Milwaukee.

Unfortunately for Governor Doyle, he provided no answers to Mr. Beene about what he plans on doing to fix the problems in Milwaukee.

The Debate

Did anyone catch the debate?

Some highlights-

Green slaps Doyle on taxes.

Governor Doyle slaps at Washington DC- it's their fault.

Green slaps Doyle on $1 billion dollar raid of transportation fund.

Governor Doyle blames previous governors- it's their fault.

Green slaps Doyle on the cost of UW tuition going up 50%.

Governor Doyle blames Washington again.

Congressman Green slaps Doyle $26 million computer fiasco. Wasted money.

Governor Doyle talks about stem cell research???

The most memorable line- "If you think you taxes are about right or you feel you pay too little in taxes, then I am not the candidate for you"


It was a good debate for Mark Green. Doyle was on the defense most of the night. Of course- who was Doyle defending? Answer: WEAC!

Ney pleads guilty

A crook is a crook. I am tired of the liars and thieves in elected positions. Republican or Democrat- lock them up.

MSNBC-

Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, pleaded guilty Friday to making false statements and conspiracy to commit fraud and violating post-employment restrictions for former congressional aides.

Hey Congressman Ryan, why are you smiling?

Hey Congressman- why are you smiling?

Oh, I see- House Passes Earmark Reform

Woo! Hoo!
Now I understand! I am smiling too!!!

The House of Representatives today approved a House rules change co-authored by Congressman Paul Ryan that will shine sunlight on the process known as "earmarking" to bring greater accountability and transparency to Congress and deter wasteful pork-barrel spending.

By passing the rules change by a vote of 245-171, the House altered the rules under which it operates to require that all reported bills and conference reports considered in the House include a list of earmarks (funds allocated outside the normal formula-driven or competitive bidding process and targeted to a specific entity, state, or congressional district) and the name of the representative requesting each earmark. This applies not only to appropriations bills but also authorization and tax legislation.

In May, the House passed a broader lobbying accountability bill that contained similar reforms advocated by Ryan and other congressional activists for fiscal discipline and openness in the budget process. Unfortunately, the House and Senate haven't yet been able to resolve their differences on the lobbying legislation, so the House moved forward on its own to enact today's House rules change.

"This unilateral action by the House shows that we are getting serious about cleaning up pork-barrel spending. We are not going to wait for the Senate to act. We are going to reform the broken spending process in the House today," Ryan said. "We need to bring earmarks out into the open, where they will be subject to the full scrutiny of the public and members of Congress," Ryan said. "Until now, wasteful pork projects could be slipped anonymously into large spending bills without accountability to other members of Congress or taxpayers. Today's rule change puts an end to that in the House by making sure that everyone will know about proposed earmarks and who requested them. It's a common sense step in our push to end waste and abuse in government and shine the light of day on federal spending practices."

Under the new House rule, in order for the House to consider a bill, the committee of jurisdiction must list all earmarks included in the bill and committee report along with the names of the representatives who requested each earmark. If the committee fails to include a list of earmarks, a member of Congress can raise a procedural objection on the House floor against consideration of the bill or conference report.

Fiscal hawks in the House advanced today's rule change as part of the ongoing drive to rein in unnecessary federal spending and improve transparency and accountability. Congressman Ryan's legislative line-item veto bill, which the House approved in June, is part of this larger effort.

Earlier this week, the House also passed S. 2590, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, to require the Office of Management and Budget to establish a searchable website, accessible by the public at no cost, that lists all recipients of federal grants, loans, and all contracts over the $25,000 reporting threshold. This site would enable the public, the media, and Congress to easily track who is receiving taxpayer funds and doing business with the government.

This is a great new step toward fiscal responsibility! It is about time we are able to see what our government is wasting so much money on.

How did Mark Green vote on this? He voted for fiscal accountability, of course!

Roll call