Eugene Kane- McGee's enabler

Over a year ago, red flags were going up all over town.

People knew it. Michael McGee Jr. was trouble.

We knew over a year ago, Michael McGee Jr. had already been arrested twice.

We knew over a year ago, that McGee had two names, two driver’s licenses, two social security numbers and two passports.

We also knew over a year ago that McGee was threatening physical violence against a pregnant women and many others.

We knew over a year, that Michael McGee Jr. had committed perjury when testifying in court.

We knew over a year ago, that Michael McGee Jr. was a serious threat to his community.

Even though all of the warning signs were there, many in Milwaukee’s black community still vigorously defended Michael McGee Jr.

What do these leaders have to say now that they know that McGee Jr. has been federally charged with extortion and bribery. McGee Jr. has also

Now it is time to start holding the leadership in our communities responsible for not protecting the people in Michael McGee’s district.

Near the top of the list is those leaders that should be held responsible is Eugene Kane.

Kane is a writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the largest and most read newspaper in the state of Wisconsin. As a writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Eugene Kane has the largest audience in the state.

Kane has the perfect platform in which to move the black community forward in a positive direction. Instead of using this perfect platform as a positive leader in Milwaukee’s community, Eugene Kane further enabled Michael McGee’s criminal behavior against Milwaukee’s sixth district residents.

Even though Eugene Kane knew perfectly well what criminal behavior McGee Jr. was displaying a year ago, Kane continued push how wonderful the Michael McGee Jr. was.

Almost exactly a year ago, Eugene Kane smugly defended Michael McGee Jr. This is what Kane had to say about McGee Jr. on May 27, 2006-

The reason McGee - with all his flaws - is necessary in this city is that he is the embodiment of representative government. He stands for a group of angry young black people everybody else ignores. These are young African-Americans who have chosen to participate in the system partly because of his presence.

Even knowing that McGee Jr. was an admitted criminal a year ago, Kane actually defends McGee’s continued criminal behavior. Kane even went so far as to call McGee “the embodiment of representative government”.

Articles like the one Kane wrote a year ago in support of McGee Jr. actually further victimized the people of McGee’s district.

It now appears that many business owners and residents may have been forced to tolerate another year’s worth of extortion and threats. Whether Eugene Kane wants to admit it or not, he became Michael McGee’s enabler.

Let me be clear, I am not saying that Eugene Kane is responsible for Michael McGee’s crimes. He is not. McGee is responsible.

The people of the sixth district in Milwaukee deserve good government. They deserve an honest government. They deserve a government that works for them.

Even though no one blames Kane for McGee’s crimes, we do expect Eugene Kane not to blindly defend a person who showed signs of serious criminal behavior a year ago.

Today, Eugene Kane says-

As for the voters in the 6th District who were called dupes and worse for their decision to keep McGee in office, this latest development represents either an extreme betrayal of trust by the alderman or yet another unwanted episode in his calamitous career that must be endured. In any case, they deserved better in return for their loyalty to McGee and will likely learn from the experience.

All I could think about when I read these words is that the handwriting was on the wall over a year ago, well before the recall election, and still Eugene Kane defended McGee.

Kane could have used his column to help the sixth district community rid themselves of the criminal they have for an alderman a year ago.

Once again- Eugene Kane has the power of being a columnist for the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin. It is time for Mr. Kane to lead the community in a positive direction instead of blindly following a leader in the wrong direction.

Don't follow Mr. Kane, LEAD.

By the way, I loved the following paragragh from Kane's article in today's paper. I wonder if Eugene Kane was exclaiming "innocent until proven guilty" when writing about the Jude case.

Also troubling is how many folks are willing to throw "innocent until proven guilty" out the window simply because McGee is a public figure they never liked and always wanted to see meet a bad end.

ACLU- no longer stands for Americans

Quick- answer this question-

What does the ACLU stand for?

Most of us are lead to believe that the acronym ACLU actually means for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Well, not any more.

The ACLU is suing an American company on behalf of three terror suspects-

A Boeing Co. subsidiary that may have provided secret CIA flight services was sued Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of three terrorism suspects who claim they were tortured by the U.S. government.

None of the three terrorism suspects are Americans-

The cases involve the alleged mistreatment of Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian citizen, in July 2002 and January 2004; Elkassim Britel, an Italian citizen, in May 2002; and Ahmed Agiza, an Egyptian citizen, in December 2001, ACLU officials said at a Manhattan news conference.

Now that the ACLU has stopped defending American's civil liberty rights, perhaps it is time to disband them. At the very least- it is time to remove the word "american" from it's title.

McGee discussed murder

Murder?

Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee and two other men discussed killing a man and settled on a "beat down," District Attorney John Chisholm said in court today.

McGee's attorney, Glen Givens, said prosecutors are confused about street language and at worst the trio were guilty of planning a battery, which is a misdemeanor.

It was not revealed who the intended victim was, but it was over an alleged burglary.

At one point, the men talk about "peeling back his wig" and "sew his cap together," Chisholm said.

The judge allowed the case to move forward but refused to unseal the complaint, pending a preliminary hearing.

Is Fred in?

The blogosphere is a buzz right now.

The question most asked is whether or not Fred Thompson is in the race for President-

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0507/4243.html

http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/05/the_fred_has_landed.html

A couple of weeks ago, at the Republican convention, we had been told that Fred Thompson would be forming his exploratory committee in June and announcing his candidacy in July. It appears my sources were correct.

Wow- this is huge!!!!

McGee has been charged with extortion and bribery.

These are big time criminal charges!

Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee has been charged federally with extortion and bribery. He is accused of using his position to solicit bribes from businesses in his district under the promise of using his influence in licensing matters.

U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic announced the charges at a press conference this afternoon.

Biskupic said the charges come after a yearlong investigation, prompted by complaints from business owners.

Biskupic said the allegations involve "multiple business owners on multiple occasions."

McGee was also charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, but District Attorney John Chisholm said that state law requires that those charges remain sealed for now.

The Common Council has the power to award, suspend and revoke liquor licenses, which are often the subject of heavy lobbying and neighborhood discussion. But the council also controls other licenses, such as taxicab licenses.

Police moved to arrest McGee over the Memorial Day holiday weekend "on public safety concerns," Chisholm said.

If McGee is convicted of all the allegations against him, he could face up to 30 years in prison, Biskupic said.

Chisholm said two other individuals have been taken into custody in connection with the case.

McGee is beings held in Milwaukee County Jail on charges related to substantial battery and conspiracy, according to a booking sheet obtained from jail records today.

Police said this morning that McGee was arrested at 5:30 p.m. Monday. A clerk at the jail today declined to release McGee's arrest and detention report for the booking saying that all information would be redacted from it.

A mug shot, however, shows that McGee was booked in on felony charges for:

* Substantial battery/intend bodily harm, party to a crime.

* Substantial battery-intend bodily harm.

* Conspiracy.

McGee is expected to appear in court this afternoon at the Milwaukee County Courthouse, where a small group of people sat waiting for more information. One carried a sign asking to free McGee while another woman wore a hat that read "McGee for Me."

They declined comment, however, saying they wanted to learn more information on charges pending against the alderman.

McGee is being held on $250,000 cash bail.

How in world does this guy keep getting elected? For pete's sake, haven't the people in his district had enough?

More tax increases

We know the day was coming and here we are.

The tax increases are here.

I know many of them made promise after promise that if you voted for them during this last election, they would not increase your taxes.

Just a few short months ago, when running for re-election, Governor Doyle stated, “…we should not, we must not and I will not raise taxes."

One look at Governor Doyle’s budget and we can clearly see that the taxpayers have been royally slammed!

Tax and fee increases totaling $2.9 BILLION have been proposed by Governor Doyle.

Here is a small list of Governor Doyle’s tax and fee increase proposals-

If you own a home, you will pay higher property taxes.

If you sell your home, your transfer fee will be doubled from $498 to $996.

If you own a car, your vehicle registration will go from $55 a year to $75 a year.

If you live in a nursing home, your bed taxes will go up by at least $312 in 2007-2008 and go up again in 2008-2009 by $600 per year.

If you get sick and end up in the hospital, your taxes will increase by over $300 for a hospital stay.

If you get married, give birth or you die, your fees will increase for marriage, birth and death certificates.

Even as high as gas prices are today, if you drive a car, your taxes will go even higher.

Estimates are that the price per gallon will go up another $.07.

Do you like downloading music and videos from the Internet onto your I-Pod? Well, the governor plans to tax you for this, also.

As I said, this is only a small portion of the tax and fee increases proposed by Governor Doyle. They are just too numerous to list here.

So how do the rest of the Democrats in the state feel about Governor Doyle’s tax increases?

Well, one of the Senate Democrats realized that the governor forgot one tax, so he decided to write a bill to fix the problem.

Senate Democrats are proposing a tax increase on beer!

What do Representative Kreuser and Senator Wirch think of Governor Doyle’s tax and fee increase proposals?

Representative Kreuser is ferociously defending the increased taxes on Wisconsinites. In fact, he appears to be mad at Republicans for making such a big deal over the $2.9 Billion in tax.

Clearly, Kreuser is firmly backing Governor Doyle’s taxes

Senator Wirch is so supportive of the governor’s tax increases he actually called Governor Doyle’s budget “visionary”!

Visionary? I do not think so.

It takes absolutely no vision whatsoever to increase taxes and fees on ordinary Wisconsinites.

A real visionary would have come up with creative ways to cut excessive government spending.

A real visionary would have figured out a way of balancing a budget without raising taxes.

Real visionaries do not make promises to taxpayers and then break those promises as soon as they are elected.

Instead of being visionary, the Democrats and the governor have taken the easy way out and raised taxes and fees on already overtaxed Wisconsinites.

McGee arrested

I am neither shocked or surprised that McGee Jr. was arrested again-

Ald. Michael McGee was arrested Monday by Milwaukee police in a case that is being jointly investigated by federal and state authorities, officials said Monday.

McGee is under investigation on potential public corruption charges, according to sources familiar with the probe, which has been placed under seal. Further details are expected to be announced today during a joint news conference by U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm.

Of course, we have seen Milwaukee alderman Michael McGee arrested on several occasions with no repercussions.

The first question I asked myself was "How would McGee Jr. get away with it this time?"

The McGee's always get away with it.

Of course, the federal government is involved this time. I am not certain McGee will be able to shake this as easy as he has shaken all of his other arrests.

Today's press conference should be interesting.

Memorial Day prayers

In remembrance...

Has the world gone mad?

Okay, this stuff is ridiculous!

Life term for killing teen who walked on lawn

Prosecutors alleged Martin had confronted the teen earlier in the day when he walked into Martin's yard on his way to a friend's house, then loaded his .410-gauge shotgun and waited more than three hours for him to return.
When the boy stepped on the lawn again, Martin fired at him twice, according to testimony. He then called police, telling a dispatcher: "I just killed a kid."

continued...

Officials: Fisherman shoots away competition

GREENSBORO, Georgia - An 86-year-old Georgia man did not want anyone getting too close to his fishing lines, so he took a few shots at a pair of fishermen competing at a tournament, authorities said. One of them was hit in the arm.

John Burke Yearwood was jailed on a charge of aggravated assault and later released on bond.

continued...

More tax inceases from the Democrats

Great article from the Wall Street Journal today.

The hottest domestic political issue of the coming two years will be federal income taxes.

The Democratic Party is for a big tax increase, via repeal of the Bush tax cuts. Its three major presidential candidates are for it (Hillary Clinton and John Edwards voted against the 2003 Bush tax cuts and Barack Obama against their extension). House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are for it. Bill Clinton is for it because he believes the 2003 Bush tax cuts were "way too big to avoid serious harm." And the party's newspaper, the New York Times, is for it, stating that the 2003 tax cuts were "economically unsound" and would "increase the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars."

Republicans, arguing that the 2003 tax cuts have helped the economy grow, created jobs, increased federal tax revenues, and thus reduced federal deficits, are mostly against raising tax rates.

The truth about Bush's tax cuts-

So what are the facts? Did the tax rate reductions of the Bush administration spur or diminish economic growth? Grow or diminish federal tax revenues? Were they good or bad economic policy?

Economic indicators show that since the 2003 tax cuts the GDP has grown an inflation-adjusted average of 3.3% a year, and eight million new jobs have been created over 44 consecutive months of job growth. Unemployment has fallen 25%, from 6.1% to 4.5%, with strong declines across all ethnic groups. Productivity growth has expanded 2.8% a year since 2001, outstripping the past three decades' average. So according to all these economic indices, the 2003 tax cuts have strengthened the American economy.

The tax cuts have also produced substantial tax revenue increases--14.5% growth in 2005 and 11.7% in 2006. For the first seven months of the current fiscal year, total revenues were up 11.3% over last year, and individual income tax receipts were up by 17.5%. Total tax receipts in April were $70 billion higher than in April 2006.

The Congressional Budget Office and the Congressional Joint Tax Commission estimated that a reduction in the capital gains rate to 15% from 20%, which was passed in 2003, would cost the U.S. Treasury some $5.4 billion over three years. But actual revenues exceeded expectations by $133 billion, so the government profited substantially from our strong economy and the tax rate reduction. In fact, the tax cuts have actually expanded revenues as a percentage of gross domestic product. Over the past 40 years, federal tax receipts have accounted for 18.3% of GDP. That figure was 18.4% in 2006, and the CBO projects it at 18.6% in the current fiscal year.
These revenue increases have also had a positive impact on the federal deficit. Since the 2003 tax cuts the deficit has declined from $413 billion (3.5% of GDP) in fiscal 2004, to $318 billion in 2005, then $248 billion in 2006, and an estimated $150 billion to $200 billion (1.1% to 1.5% of GDP) in the current fiscal year.

Lower tax rates have also produced another important economic change: fewer and shorter recessions. As economist Brian Westbury noted in the Wall Street Journal last month, in "the high-tax, highly regulated years between 1969 and 1982 the economy was in recession 32% of the time. Since then, following Ronald Reagan's tax cuts, and deregulation . . . the U.S. economy has only been in recession 5% of the time."

So Bill Clinton and the New York Times have it backwards; there was serious economic improvement, rather than harm, produced by the tax cuts, and the deficit decreased rather than increased. The truth is that tax rate reductions have been good for the American economy and the American people.

continued...

Remember all of the hysterics from the Democrats about deficits in 2004?

The federal deficit has actually dropped since the tax cuts. It is possible that the federal deficit will be paid off before Bush leaves office.

President Bush and the Republicans win this round.

Since they have taken over Congress, the Democrats have already signaled what they plan on doing as far as taxes and spending is are concerned.

The Democrats plan on increasing spending and increasing taxes-

Ryan: Higher Taxes and Spending, Raiding Social Security Are No Way to Balance Budget

The Democrats recently passed the 2008 Budget in the House.

Here are a few details about this budget from Congressman Ryan's office-


-Includes a tax hike of at least $217 billion by fiscal year 2012 – the second largest tax increase in U.S. history. This includes increases in marginal rates, capital gains rates, dividends taxes, and others.

-Contains a tax hike “trigger” to automatically raise taxes even higher if surpluses do not materialize – in other words, if Congress spends too much. The majority claims their budget plan will maintain certain popular tax relief provisions, but the trigger automatically turns off this tax relief – reimposing the marriage penalty, cutting the child tax credit in half, among others – if Democrats spend too much and future surpluses fail to materialize. This would raise the budget plan’s tax increase right back to the initial House-passed amount of nearly $400 billion – the largest tax hike in American history.

-Fails to protect Social Security. Despite massive tax increases, the Democrats’ budget plan fails to provide a surplus large enough to halt the government’s raid on Social Security – contradicting House Members’ commitment last week to do so when they voted for Ryan’s motion to instruct budget conferees.

-Increases non-defense appropriations spending by $22 billion in the next fiscal year (FY08) alone. To put this in context, this is on top of the $6 billion the Majority in Congress added to the omnibus and the more than $20 billion of extraneous spending they are pushing for in the war supplemental.

-Abandons the emergency set-aside fund that Ryan had helped secure in last year’s budget resolution, and drops any limitation on what Congress can call an “emergency,” exempting the spending from any limits. Without an emergency set-aside fund and a clear definition of what counts as “emergency spending,” there’s nothing to prevent non-emergency, pork-barrel items from being included in “emergency” bills.

-Contains 23 reserve funds that include promises of more than $190 billion in additional spending – without providing any means to pay for it. If these promises are kept, it will almost surely lead to even more tax increases.

-Ignores non-partisan experts’ repeated warnings about the unsustainable rate of entitlement spending and puts off any significant entitlement reform for at least five years.

-In addition, this budget plan fails to comply with the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rule that Democrats adopted, with much fanfare, at the beginning of this Congress.

It may just be easier to hand over our wallets and our bank books to the Democrats.

Say a prayer

I just wanted to send out my heartfelt sympathies to the family and friends of a Lakeview Technology student who took his own life on Tuesday afternoon.

I do not want to give more details until the Kenosha News releases the information. I have not checked today's paper, but there was no information available yesterday.

God bless Kenosha County Sheriff Deputy Frank Fabiano Jr

A wife lost a husband.

A daughter lost a father.

Kenosha County Sheriff's Department lost a brother and a friend.

Kenosha County residents lost a defender of our freedom.

God Bless Kenosha County Sheriff Deputy Frank Fabiano Jr.



Kenosha News-

Frank Fabiano Jr., an 18-year veteran of the Kenosha Sheriff’s Department, died early Thursday after being shot during a traffic stop in the town of Somers.

The deputy was taken by Somers Rescue Squad to St. Catherine’s Medical Center where he died.

A massive manhunt ensued for about three hours after the shooting as police helicopters and K-9 units sought the suspect.

Residents in the area also were notified by law enforcement with a phone recording and several residents called in with tips, Sheriff David Beth said during a Thursday morning press conference.

The suspect, Ezequiel Lopez, 45, was found 15 blocks away in the 3200 block of 15th Street. He was found armed and hiding behind vehicles in an apartment complex parking lot.

Beth said Lopez has several aliases and Social Security numbers. He is in custody and being held at a facility outside of the county.

According to court records, Lopez in March 2006 was placed on 24 months of probation by Kenosha Circuit Court Judge David Bastianelli for battery. A disorderly conduct charge was dismissed. A nine-month county jail term was stayed.

In an earlier case, Kenosha Circuit Court Judge S. Michael Wilk, also in March 2006, revoked Lopez’ 18-month probation and sentenced him to 12 months in jail for battery and disorderly conduct. Wilk had placed Lopez on probation in that case in November 2005.

Fabiano was shot at 11:37 p.m. Wednesday in a subdivision south of 12th Street (Highway E) and Green Bay Road (Highway 31).Beth said Fabiano was attempting a traffic stop on a red 1996 Chevy Astro.

The van initially did not pull over but eventually stopped in the neighborhood. A short time later, UW-Parkside officer Jimmie Spino arrived for backup.

Beth said Spino found Fabiano had been shot and returned fire. The suspect fled into a wooded area and Spino called for help.

Sheriff’s officials announced about 5 a.m. that Fabiano had died.

Fabiano was also shot in the line of duty during a domestic dispute on August 10, 1991.

Fabiano, 48, a 1977 graduate of Bradford High School, is survived by his wife Amy and a 7-year-old daughter.

The death came barely a day after the Sheriff’s Department gathered with other county law enforcement agencies for an annual ceremony to honor officers who have died in the line of duty.

“Less than 36 hours earlier at the law enforcement memorial, I asked for all of law enforcement to work together to never add another name to the monument,” Beth said. “I believe we attempted to hold up that end of the request. Unfortunately, I did not make it known to the criminals that have no regard for the life of others. In a few days we’ll add the name of Frank Fabiano Jr. to the law enforcement memorial, one more name too many.”

Click here for a look at Kenosha County police officers, deputies and firefighters who have died in the line of duty.

I have opened up the comments so anyone can post their condolences to the family and friends under "anonymous". You will not need an account to post.

Bumping this to the top.

Are the Democrats really claiming victory on this issue?

Even as they were caving in, the Democrats are claiming a victory on the Iraq war spending bill-

Pelosi's declaration of victory was in spite of her inclination to vote against the war funding measure because it does not include a timetable for troop withdrawals. Other House Democrats said they too would oppose it.

"I'm not voting for anything unless it ends the war," said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

In order to secure the bill's passage, House leaders are planning to orchestrate two votes on Thursday. The first vote will be on war funding, while the second will decide whether extra money should be spent on domestic emergencies, military base closures, veterans care and other projects.


While Pelosi, Waters and other like-minded Democrats are expected to vote against the first amendment on war funds, GOP members will likely make up for the losses. On the second vote, it is anticipated Democrats will be unified in their support for the measure and overcome GOP objections to the extra spending.

You gotta love the fact that the Democrats still insisted on spending an extra $17 billion.

Democrats just cannot help themselves- they must spend and spend and spend.

You have to love this statement-

"It's a lot more than the president ever expected he'd have to agree to," Reid, D-Nev., told reporters.

Huh? Yes, the bill does include a threat to reduce aid to Iraq if they fail to meet certain guidelines. However, the bill also states that the President can completely ignore these guidelines and still continue to aid the Iraqis.

I am not sure what Reid believes he won in this debate with the President.

I would like to ask what Harry Reid and the Democrats succeeded in doing. Apparently, Senator Feingold wants that question answered also.

Russ Feingold: This situation is a collapse for Democrats.

The Democrats betrayed American troops in Iraq and succeed in delaying much needed money for those troops. Money was taken from other areas in the military to provide basic equipment, such as bullets, to American troops in Iraq.

Kenosha honors fallen hero, Fabiano Jr.

Kenosha honors fallen hero, Fabiano Jr.

This is the scene outside Piasecki's Funeral home.

If you missed today's service, you will have a chance tomorrow to offer your condolences and your prayer's for the Fabiano family.

Carthage visitation: 10 am Wednesday at Carthage College 2001 Alford Park Drive in the AF Siebert Chapel. All members of the public and law enforcement are invited.

God bless Deputy Frank Fabiano Jr.

Most U.S. Muslims reject suicide bombings

Most????

I don't know about the rest of you, but these numbers do not make me feel safe-

While nearly 80 percent of U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam can not be justified, 13 percent say they can be, at least rarely.

That sentiment is strongest among those younger than 30. Two percent of them say it can often be justified, 13 percent say sometimes and 11 percent say rarely.

"It is a hair-raising number," said Radwan Masmoudi, president of the Washington-based Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, which promotes the compatibility of Islam with democracy.

So the question is- how much damage can be done by 13% of the Muslim population here in the US?

Funeral Services for Fabiano

Piasecki visitation: Begins today at 4pm at Piasecki-Althaus Funeral Home, 3720 39th Ave. Kenosha

Special Visitation- 8:30am Wednesday at Piasecki for Kenosha Police, sheriff's deputies and fire-fighters. A short prayer will follow the service

Carthage visitation: 10 am Wednesday at Carthage College 2001 Alford Park Drive in the AF Siebert Chapel. All members of the public and law enforcement are invited.

That didn't take long

She is back.

Welcome back, Jessica.

WTMJ has some explaining to do

I am not buying WTMJ's excuses for the firings of Jessica McBride.

Station manager Jon Schweitzer said WTMJ executives already were planning to cancel McBride's program when her Tuesday night show included what Schweitzer termed the "inappropriate" use of Owens in criticizing Milwaukee Journal Sentinel liberal columnist Eugene Kane. McBride, a conservative and a journalism instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, had worked part-time at the station for more than one year. Her show ran mostly on weeknights after sportscasts.


Clearly, WTMJ was only interested in changing their format and used Tuesday night's incident as an excuse to do this.

I have now have reason whatsoever to listen to WTMJ. I would live to listen to Charlie Sykes. However, I am 90 miles away when Charlie's show airs. My tiny little radio, sitting on my desk, does not pick up WTMJ.

Now they are moving to all sports at night and then picked up Dennis Miller to compliment the Brewers?????

I still have no idea what was said that WTMJ deemed as inappropriate.

WTMJ just lost a regular listener.

WTMJ radio drops McBride for Dennis Miller

I don't know what happened Tuesday night or why it happened, but I wanted to wish Jessica the best of luck. In fact the first time I heard anything about this was yesterday.

We learn from the positive things that happen in our lives and the negative things that happen in our lives.

Jessica is a intelligent and hard working woman- she will learn from this and land on her feet.

In the meantime, she is a wife, a mother, a journalist, a teacher and a blogger. She has had a positive influence on me and many others, including her students that created FrontPage Milwaukee.

I am looking forward to her next endeavor.

O'Donnell equates U.S. troops to terrorists

On Scarborough Country last night-

O'Donnell equates U.S. troops to terrorists

May 17: Rosie O'Donnell equates U.S. troops to terrorists on "The View." Joe Scarborough asks commentator John Ridley, investigative journalist Jane Valez-Mitchell and analyst Steve Adubato if O'Donnell has finally gone too far.

Check out the video.

Does this shock anyone?

Flip flop???

I am not sure if you can even call this a flip flop, still the Democrats are confusing the country.

Yesterday, the Senate decisively defeated Feingold/Reid’s demands to cut off funds for troops in Iraq.

There is an incredible amount of spin taking place right now.

I really thought this statement that I read in the Washington Times was weird-

Sen. James H. Webb Jr., a Virginia Democrat who voted against the amendment, said a majority of lawmakers oppose the war, but cutting off funds and pulling out troops undercuts the Bush administration's diplomatic efforts.

I thought this is exactly what the Democrats are trying to do. The sole purpose for the entire Iraq war debate for the Democrats was to undercut Bush’s diplomatic efforts in Iraq.

Harry Reid has gone so far as to say that Americans have lost in Iraq and they should come home now.

If this statement does not undercut the Bush’s Iraq war effort, what does?

This appears to me that the Democrats want to lose the war in Iraq, but they do not want to be blamed for losing the war in Iraq.

Shocker!

Perhaps the Senate Democreats were looking at yesterday's Gallup poll numbers and realized they might be headed in the wrong directions themselves.

The Senate on Wednesday rejected legislation that would cut off money for combat operations in Iraq after March 31, 2008.
The vote was a loss for Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., and other Democrats who want to end the war. But the effort picked up support from members, including presidential hopefuls previously reluctant to limit war funding _ an indication of the war's unpopularity among voters.
The proposal lost 29-67 on a procedural vote, falling 41 votes short of the necessary votes to advance.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democratic presidential front-runner, previously opposed setting a deadline on the war. But she said she agreed to back the measure 'because we, as a united party, must work together with clarity of purpose and mission to begin bringing our troops home and end this war.'
Sen. Barack Obama, another leading 2008 prospect, said he would prefer a plan that offers more flexibility but wanted 'to send a strong statement to the Iraqi government, the president and my Republican colleagues that it's long past time to change course.'

continued...

The gig is up for Kenosha’s auto workers

In 1986, Chrysler purchased American Motors/Jeep/Renault.

At that time, over 5500 people worked for AMC. AMC had been seriously deteriorating over the years, but somehow they hung on until Chrysler stepped in.

However, about a little over a year after purchasing AMC, Chrysler dealt a serious blow to our Kenosha engine plant. The plant was almost closed entirely- 4500 people were laid off.

Kenosha’s economy was devastated. At the same time, we were dealing with the autoworker layoffs, Snap On, Mac White and several other major employers were really having difficulties.

It took years for Kenosha’s economy to recover, but it finally did recover. Chrysler managed to maintain about over 1000 employees for years.

Now we have been clobbered again.

Over the last several years, both the media and our local politicians have been pumping Kenosha residents with thoughts of the Kenosha plant expanding and that Chrysler would be building a new plant in Somers.

All of these pipe dreams have since been smashed. The plant is down to 850 employees, with more layoffs coming in September.

Several months ago- Chrysler announced they were discontinuing the main engine line that Kenosha had been building for years. The line will be ended by September of this year.

Then we received word that the Somers plant that was needed to build the new engines, would not be built.

The Kenosha plant had hoped that they would get to build the new line.

After this recent announcement, it appears that the plans for building the new engine line in Kenosha are also in smashed.

I talked to several current and former employees at Chrysler. No one has a positive outlook. The consensus is that it is only a matter of time before the Kenosha plant is gone altogether. Now we know it will happen sooner rather than later.

Monday night, one of the current employees said that Chrysler has been trying to buy out all of the skilled labor positions for a long time. Their union has resisted the buyouts. Now , what reason does the union have to resist the buyouts?

The priority now should be protecting the Chrysler retirees. We have thousands and thousands of retired autoworkers living in Kenosha.

If the pension plans and the health care plan collapse, thousands of retired autoworkers will be financially devastated.

Not too long ago, Congressman Paul Ryan forced legislation thru Congress that would ensure that employers pay out the pension plans they had promised their employees.

I hope that this is enough to protect Kenosha’s retired autoworkers. If not, Congressman Ryan, Kenosha needs you more than ever.

Most in Kenosha are shocked that Chrysler engine plant has last 20 years. We expected the collapse to happen sooner.

It is time for our governor and our local political leaders to face reality.

The gig is up for Kenosha’s auto workers

Rest in Peace

Rest in peace, Reverend Falwell.

The Rev. Jerry Falwell, the television evangelist who founded the Moral Majority and used it to mold the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University. He was 73.

Just embarrassing

Am I the only conservative that is embarrassed by Tommy Thompson continuous excuses on his statements about gays in the workplace?

The latest is that he had to go to the bathroom.

Tommy Thompson cited a dead hearing aid and an urgent need to use the bathroom in explaining on Saturday why he said at a GOP presidential debate that an employer should be allowed to fire a gay worker.


In Thompson's defense- he was also quite ill.

However, the excuses need to end.

By the way, I missed most of Thompson speech at the convention this past week. I had to go to the bathroom.

The Life of the Party

Originally, I had hoped to live blog some of the convention.

However, I was a little busy.



I was thrilled to find this great picture of the "Symbol of the GOP"







His name is Dutch.

Currently, Dutch lives at the home of First District Vice Chair, Bob Geason.

Dutch and Bob travel from event to event and party to party. Both are real party animals.

Along with the rest of us, Dutch proudly displayed his "no tax increases" and "no fee increases" stickers.

As I worked in the registration area, I was thrilled to be able to take photograghs of Dutch and other party members.

There was a slight bit of concern that Dutch may have been abducted and moved to an "undisclosed" location.

Actually, Dutch just need a little help up the stairs so he could join Congressman Paul Ryan's hospitality suite. Dutch heard that thetr were Jelly Belly beans, Nestle's chocolates, and beer being served at Congressman Ryan's suite, and he insisted on going.

Now Dutch has returned to the safety and security of Bob's garage.

Now Dutch and Bob are waiting for next party. Both are willing to travel.

A great big hat tip and thank you to WisPolitics for joining the party this weekend and posting these great photos!

Convention time

I will be blogging about the convention thru-out the weekend.

See some of you there!

Is Wisconsin ruled by a dictator?

I know Daniel Bice is having a blast beating up on new Attorney General JB Van Hollen. The article is full of the typical nastiness from Bice.

Ignoring his nastiness for a moment, Bice brings up a point that really has me bothered.

Bice points out that JB Van Hollen promised to drop all of the frivolous law suits that cost taxpayers millions of dollars a year.

As it turns out, our state's Attorney General does not have the power to decide what cases to prosecute and what cases not to prosecute. One person has that power- the governor.

As it turns out, the first-term Republican doesn't even have the authority to dismiss pending state cases. He must go to Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle for permission.

So wasn't it just a little misleading for Van Hollen and his team to make dropping frivolous suits a centerpiece of the campaign?

"I can't speak for the campaign," Van Hollen spokesman Kevin St. John said this week.
In March, Van Hollen's top aide, Ray Taffora, asked the governor if the state could pull out of a lawsuit brought by Lautenschlager that accuses cranberry grower William Zawistowski of destroying Musky Bay with runoff from his farm. The governor rejected the request, allowing the suit to proceed.

Doyle appointed a private law firm to argue the case.

This is wrong on so many levels. Now we find out that the governor controls what cases get prosecuted and what cases do not.

Today we also find out that only do taxpayers pay for our state judicial offices, but Governor Doyle can hire an outside private firm to prosecute cases he wants to prosecute. I am sure our tax dollars are also paying for the private firm also.

Ask yourself a few questions-

What if a case is brought against the governor himself? Can the governor block this case from going forward?

What if Attorney General Van Hollen attempts to prosecute a democrat for anything? Can Governor Doyle over-ride the Attorney General?

Is this constitutional?

So much for separate but equal branches of government. So much for the balance of power in the state of Wisconsin.

Is Wisconsin ruled by a dictator?

Right now- it sure looks that way.

The Governor holds all the power in the state of Wisconsin.

Currently, our state legislators have no power over the budget. The Governor can make the budget say whatever he wants it to say with the Frankenstein Veto.(By the way- yesterday, the spineless Democrats in the Senate, have once again put off voting on the Frankenstein veto)

Now we find out that the Attorney General is also subject to whims of the Governor.

Basically our justice department and our state legislators are controlled by Governor Doyle.

Whatever Governor Doyle wants- Governor Doyle gets!

I'll ask the question again-

Is Wisconsin ruled by a dictator?

Wasting more taxpayer money

From today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-

The Racine Unified School District, which already has paid a private consulting firm more than $620,000 for finding savings that don't yet exist, will pay the firm nearly $700,000 more over the next five years, district documents show.


Smartest suggestion I have heard yet-

Jim Morrison, president of the Racine Taxpayers Association, said Tuesday that his organization will send e-mails to the Internal Revenue Service and the state Justice Department in support of Lucas' request for an investigation into the firm's relationship with the Racine district.

Morrison also said he will ask Racine Unified School Board members "to commit themselves wholeheartedly to getting this situation investigated fully."

The taxpayers group has asked the board to delay actions relating to the renewal of Hicks' contract until an inquiry into the firm is completed. The School Board had planned to vote on the contract this month.

Pardon for Paris?

I am not kidding folks. Apparently Paris is gunning for a pardon from Governor Schwarzenegger-

Paris Hilton is now part of a grass-roots campaign to keep her out of jail.

Violence at Milwaukee Public Schools

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is running a 4 part series on violence in the Milwaukee Public Schools.

So far, part 1 and part 2 are out-

MPS violence intensifying

Behind knockout of principal lies a sad tale

So far, from what I can see- we have only seen excuses being made, with very few solutions offered up.

The problem at Wisconsin's public schools is massive and getting larger every single day.

Dozens of teachers, administrators and staff are getting attacked. In the first semester of this school year alone, at least 127 MPS employees reported being physically assaulted by students or outsiders coming to campus.

Far more Milwaukee students were expelled for bringing firearms to school last year than in all of the Chicago Public Schools, a district more than four times the size of MPS. In Chicago, unlike Milwaukee, high school students walk through weapons scanners every day, and handguns have virtually disappeared from the schools.

The problems are getting worse and worse. We know that. Where are the solutions?

Where is leadership?

Where is Governor Jim Doyle?

Where is WEAC?

McGee Sr. Suspended indefinitely

There have been so many folks who have worked hard over the last few days to bring attention the McGee Sr's outrageous behavior.

Here are some of the links so you can get caught up-

Marquette Warrior McAdams has the latest on the McGee suspension.

Patrick at Badger Blogger has the latest on everything posted at these links-

Michael McGee Sr is a horrible vile person
and
Michael McGee Sr and his despicable comments

Patrick at Badger Blogger has some race baiters commenting and trolling on his site. Just ignore these folks- do not even comment about them.

Pete at Pete Republic. org is keeping up with the national coverage this is receiving.

Casper at Ask Me Later is also keeping up with the national coverage.

Fred at Real Debate Wisconsin has done his part.

I know the McGee Sr. has been suspended indefinitely, but continue to contact the FCC and the radio station. The word "indefinitely" has got me a little nervous. That means that their is still a chance that for McGee to be back on the air, after this dies down. Make sure your voice is heard and continue to fight the good fight.

Peter at Texas Hold Em blog is monitoring the situation.

There are more- I will back later to update

Paris Hilton- jail?

Wow- the judge gave Paris Hilton 45 days in jail.

I wonder what Paris will complain against first? Perhaps the drab clothing, tap water, the bathroom facilities????

I wonder if they will film the next installment of The Simple Life from a prison cell?

Boy- I would be willing to spend 45 days in jail just to see Paris's reaction.

Senior Care extended to the end of this year

Thanks Congressman Ryan-

At a news conference today in Madison, First District Congressman Paul Ryan shared a letter he just received from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt which states that the federal government will grant a six-month waiver extension to allow Wisconsin's SeniorCare program to continue to the end of this year, instead of letting the state's SeniorCare waiver expire as originally scheduled on June 30, 2007.

Democrats fighting for tax and fee increases

Look how staunchly the Democrats are fighting for Jim Doyle's tax and fee increases-

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's plan to double the fee paid by sellers of homes and other property - a fee increase that would cost sellers of property $142 million over the next two years - survived the first attempt by Republicans to kill it Thursday.

The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee also kept intact another important provision in Doyle's budget: allowing most cities, towns, villages and counties to raise their tax levies for 2008 by 4%, or about twice the increase allowed over the past two years.

continued...

More later- I have got to run.

Get active!

More appalling behavior from Michael McGee Sr. and Jr.

This time the have crossed a sacred line.

From Real Debate Wisconsin-

Quote from RDW: This is 1,000 times worse than anything Imus did to be thrown off the air.

Patrick at Badger Blogger was the first to call attention to the disgusting comments by the McGee's. Patrick has now posted the audio by the McGee's.

My opinion- It is time to get active!

I am horrified. Even out Jr. and Sr., I did not expect this.

Remember the comment at the Blog Summit about how the democrats use the Internet to become activists and Republicans do not.

Well- the time has come to change that. It is time for conservatives to become active.

Call the advertisers. Keep calling the advertisers and let them know you will never bring your business to their establishment until McGee is off the air. Also demand a written apology from the advertisers directly to the Sykes family. Because of these advertisers, McGee stays on the air.

Write the FCC over and over again.

Write all of the local chapters of the NAACP demanding they denounce McGee's comments.

Call TMJ4 and let them know what is going on.

Call and write each and every single alderman in Milwaukee and demand that they get McGee under control. Let them know what a bad reflection this is on all Milwaukee alderman.

Call the radio station and demand an apology and that McGee be suspended. Also let them know you are calling all of their advertisers to encourage them to stop advertising.

Yes- we all have freedom of speech. However we are all responsible for what we say.

There is very little any of us can do to ease the Sykes family's pain.

What we can do is hold the radio station and the McGee's responsible for their words. We MUST hold them responsible.

Get active!

Update: Milwaukee Channel 12 has picked up the story. Keep making phone calls, keep writing in.

Update II: Michelle Malkin is now on this story.
The Drudge report has also linked to the story

Slowing the wheels of government

I know the wheels of government move very slowly. In Milwaukee, the wheels of government may slow even more.

From MJS-

Four years after Milwaukee restricted its clothing purchases to companies with "clean" records, some want to extend the wage and working condition requirements to bidders on dozens of other city contracts.

I appreciate the comment made by the MJS. They captured the essence of the debate perfectly-

The debate, playing out before a Common Council committee, pits the goal of promoting "ethical purchasing" against the practical concerns of monitoring compliance and holding costs down for city taxpayers.

Basically what the Common Council in Milwaukee is attempting to do is restrict all the purchases made for government to a select few companies that can prove that the items they are selling come from companies that pay more than poverty level wages.

In theory, this sounds great, right?

To call this a logistical nightmare would be putting it lightly.

One Milwaukee alderman explains-

"In principle, I think this is good," said Ald. Jim Witkowiak. "Logistically, I think it's a nightmare."

He noted that a company that hopes to sell the city, say, a firetruck, might have to chase down "not hundreds, but thousands (of affidavits) for every switch, hose, belt."

To say that this will be very costly to is a mild statement. Taxpayers will be paying for all of the extra cost involved.

Since I do this for a living, it is very easy to see what a mess this will become for the buyers attempting to purchase items for city employees.

Think about this for a moment. Take something as simple as buying paper. It is easy to assume that purchasing paper for all of the offices throughout the city would cost at least $30,000.

Every buyer would have to ensure that they are purchasing the item thru a distributor that can verify they are paying above poverty level wages. Then they would then have to ensure that the original manufacturer of the paper is paying above poverty level wages.

Then the buyer would have to ensure that the company that shipped the item to their warehouses is also paying above poverty level wages. They may actually have to do this twice. Once for the shipping bringing it in from overseas and once for the trucking company bringing the paper across the US.

As you can imagine, it will take a large amount of time and labor (money) involved to fill this order for something as simple single item as paper.

Now imagine purchasing a fire truck will tens of thousands of different parts from different manufacturers. Each manufacturer of each item would have to ensure that all employees are paid above poverty level wages.

The cost to taxpayers would be astronomical in labor alone. This would also eliminate a ton of competitive bids. Only the very large suppliers would be able to meet the demands of government. This would force any of the medium size companies out of the bidding. They would not have the manpower necessary to verify all of the new paperwork requirements.

Once these large companies had control of the new government process, they can charge whatever they would like to charge and the taxpayers would have to pay the bill.

Buyers for local government would lose their negotiating power.

This idea is bad on so many levels. Even the Milwaukee government that is debating this subject is well aware of the cost increases-

"I think anyone who votes for this understands it is not a cost-savings measure," said Ald. Mike D'Amato, a committee member. "What I would like to know before I vote on it is the true cost."

My company would not dream of restricting our purchasing power for this. Regular businesses would go under if they attempted to do something like this.

Of course, government likes to do this kind of stuff all the time. Government holds a checkbook full of taxpayers dollars. They do not have to worry about going out of business- they just charge the taxpayer more and more and more.

I cannot believe that the Milwaukee government is even thinking about doing this. Do they even care that the taxpayers are overtaxed as it is?

Until we start holding our government responsible for these types of decisions, the government will never stop increasing our taxes.

My Condolences

My condolences to the Sykes family.

KATHERINE B. SYKES 1919-2007

WTMJ’s Charlie Sykes confirmed that his mother, Katherine B. Sykes, died in afire at her home in Mequon this afternoon. She was 87 years old.

Kay Sykes was a warm, intelligent, and generous woman who took great pride in her son’s work as a writer and broadcaster. She delighted in her three grandchildren and was very proud of their academic, athletic, and artistic achievements. She loved books, music, and nature. She lived a full life, and her family and friends will deeply miss her.

Charlie wishes to thank his listeners for their thoughts and prayers at this difficult time. And he wants to express his deep gratitude to all of you who have offered your condolences.

His email address is sykes@620wtmj.com

Please continue to pray for the Sykes family and they attempt to understand this terrible tragedy over the next few weeks and months.

Real Debate Wisconsin: There is a reason....

Real Debate Wisconsin: There is a reason....

I originally had planned on commenting on Eugene Kane's article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel yesterday. However, it appears that Fred has got things covered. So I will just mention a few of my observations.

I have to say that I am really surprised at Eugene Kane's reaction to the Blog Summit. Everyone was polite and respectful. Not a single person launched into Eugene Kane.

Not a single blogger, liberal or conservative, had anything negative to say about Eugene Kane at the Blog Summit.

This kind of elitism from Eugene Kane was uncalled for.

Threat of terrorism

There is an interesting article by Tony Blakely today. In this article he talks of the war on terror and the road forward.

Let us, at least, now be resolved to not permit any candidate for president -- Republican or Democrat -- get away with merely criticizing past decisions and policies or offering simplistic slogans on the War on Terror (or whatever other term people prefer for the global jihad threat to the West). Let's insist that they each discuss in depth their understanding of the threat and their considered and detailed strategy for protecting us in the future.

Whenever any Democrat is asked a question about terrorism, they immediately launch into a tyrade about George Bush and Iraq. That is just not good enough any more.

Because the media is so quick to latch on to any Bush bashing they can- the candidates never really answer the question.

Even when questioned about Iran, every candidate is willing to spout the standard generic answer calling for "diplomacy".

Diplomacy brought us 9/11. Diplomacy was the number one priority. The safety of Americans was not at the top of the list.

When it comes to the safety of Americans, there should be no diplomacy. Caving in to terrorist nations should not be the top priority.

I am not advocating war. Far from it.

I am advocating a tough stance. The safety of Americans should be the top priority. When the safety of Americans is assured, then there can be diplomacy.

No more 9/11! The safety of Americans needs to be the top priority, not diplomacy!!!

It's WMC's fault?

One of Doyle's new lackies, Department of Revenue Secretary Roger Ervin, is blaming Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce for the tax problems in Wisconsin.

from MJS-

Ervin was critical of the leaders of WMC for repeatedly saying that Wisconsin ranks among the high-taxed states nationally and that Doyle's proposed budget would worsen its ranking because it includes $1.7 billion in tax and fee increases.

"We need to have WMC in here as a positive partner that's willing to have a public debate about the economy in a very rational and mature way . . . ," Ervin said.

He said Wisconsin ranks in the middle of all states in taxation when factors such as low fees and relatively low college tuition are considered.

WMC's hammering on the message of how high taxes are in Wisconsin hurts his ability to get businesses to locate or expand here, Ervin said.

What does Ervin think? People won't notice the high taxes in Wisconsin if WMC would just stop talking about it?

Really- this notion is ridiculous!

People notice that they are paying high taxes because they are the ones paying the high taxes. Duh!

Jim Doyle and his lackies can continue to spin and spin. The fact of the matter is that Wisconsinites pay way too much in taxes!