Now where have I heard this storyline before????

To be sure, we have heard this same story over and over and over again. It goes as follows:

1. Big Government Contract to be awarded

2. Marc Marotta has meeting with contractors bidding on the contract

3. Big checks given to Doyle's campaign

4. Company awarded big government contract

5. Doyle's people deny anything improper is going on

Does anyone else see a pattern here in this story?

A Republican legislative leader Thursday accused Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's former top aide of violating the law when he met with the head of a company that was bidding on a $68.7 million building project.

State Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee, said then-Administration Secretary Marc Marotta violated the state's procurement law in April 2004 when he met with Weas Development Co. founder Doug Weas because Weas was trying to land a contract to refurbish the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Kenilworth Building. State law says all bidders must be treated equally.

Weas' firm was part of a team that ultimately got the project.

Thad Nation, a spokesman for Marotta, said Weas was not treated differently. Marotta gave similar information to the other bidders, he said. He noted that Marotta's calendar showed he also spoke by phone with a lobbyist for another bidder.

Nation said Fitzgerald's comments amounted to a political attack lodged as the Nov. 7 race heats up between Doyle and his Republican opponent, U.S. Rep. Mark Green of Green Bay.

When the project first went out to bid in 2003, UWM favored Prism, a three-member partnership that once included state Rep. Curt Gielow (R-Mequon). But competitor J.P. Cullen & Sons of Janesville alleged Prism was improperly allowed to change its proposal and threatened a lawsuit. Shortly thereafter, the state Building Commission - which is led by Doyle and includes several Republican legislators - unanimously voted to restart the bidding process, Journal Sentinel columnists Cary Spivak and Dan Bice reported this June.

The work then went to a team made up of Weas, KBS Construction and Hammel, Green & Abrahamson. Employees of those firms have given Doyle $51,000 since late 2003, records show.

Prism is now suing the state in Ozaukee County Circuit Court alleging Marotta improperly intervened in the contract. The state Department of Justice said last month that it was reviewing how the contract was handled.

Marotta stepped down as administration secretary last year. He now is chairman of Doyle's re-election campaign.

Fitzgerald said the meeting with Weas violated a state statute that requires all bidders to be treated equally. He said investigators should look into that meeting.

"I think there is one piece of overwhelming evidence, circumstantial as it might be, but it's still an appointment calendar that verifies there was an illegal meeting between the secretary and a person involved in the bidding process," Fitzgerald said. "It happened. That's a fact. It's been confirmed. It's clear to me that is a violation of the (bidding) process."

Fitzgerald leveled the charge a day after Madison's WKOW-TV reported on the meeting.

Weas and David Cullen of J.P. Cullen & Son did not return calls Thursday. Weas told WKOW he sought out Marotta because he wanted to find out whether it was worth it to go up against much bigger competitors.

Marotta did not return a phone call, but Nation said Marotta directed bidders to procurement officials if they raised questions about how the bids would be evaluated, but that Marotta told them what the state hoped to achieve.

"That's his job as secretary of DOA, is to talk about things like that," Nation said.

Fitzgerald said the disclosure of the meeting raised questions about Marotta's June testimony before the Joint Finance Committee about how he handled the procurement process. Marotta said then that once the bidding process started, he referred calls from people vying for business to procurement staff.

Marotta was called before the committee after state procurement supervisor Georgia Thompson was convicted of steering business to Adelman Travel, whose employees gave $20,000 to Doyle.

From the Aug. 18, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

New Poll is out- Bucher is within striking distance of Peg and Kathleen

A new poll was just released. Both Bucher and Van Hollen have a ton of work to do on their name recognition. The winner of the primary race will get a boost and help close the gap on name recognition with either Falk or Lautenschlager.

That being said, Bucher is within stricking distance of both Falk or Lautenschlager. JB Van Hollen is not even close. JB may be able to change some of these numbers, but it will be difficult.

Lautenschlager vs Bucher

Lautenschlager 41%
Bucher 35%

Falk vs Bucher

Falk 43%
Bucher 36%

Lautenschlager vs Van Hollen

Lautenschlager 42%
Van Hollen 22%

Falk vs Van Hollen

Falk 45%
Van Hollen 21%

We are three weeks away from the primary and Bucher clearly has an advantage. However, neither of these men will help their cause, if we have another week like we had last week in the debate debacle.

Link to the poll results

H/T Boots and Sabers

Ringside seat

Yes, we are very lucky to have a ringside seat for the Republican AG race. Living in southeast Wisconsin, we are getting a good view and regular visits from all of the politicians in this year's political races.

James Wigderson from Wigderson's Library & Pub gives us a blow by blow of this year's political race between candidates Paul Bucher and JB Van Hollen. Wigderson's article is in GM Today.

Even the bloggers got a mention in Wigderson's article and it is not exactly a pretty display of conservative political blogs in Wisconsin.

Seriously, was it necessary to call the wife of Paul Bucher a "Jezebel" just because a person may support her husband's opponent?

Good grief!

Let’s act like grown ups here folks! Comments like these are just nasty politics.

Let us leave the cat fighting to Peg and Kathleen. These two women can claw away at each other for all I care.

Halt to war on terror?

No, there is not a halt to the war on terror, YET. If the ACLU and the Democrats had their way, it sure looks there would be a halt to the war on terror.

Just about everyone has heard that one of Jimmy Carter's appointed judges ordered a halt to the NSA wiretapping. Of course, the order to halt has now been suspended and will be reviewed by a higher court. None of this was unexpected.

However, what I do find surprising is how easily and fully the liberals exposed their views on today’s ruling. Clearly, these liberals are interested in doing two things. First, they want to stop Bush. Second, now they want to stop the war on terror.

Why else would the head of the ACLU exclaim with joy:

“yet another nail in the coffin of the Bush administration's strategy in the war on terror. . .”

Clearly hurting the Bush administrations strategy in the war on terror, is exactly what the liberals want to do.

Josh Schroeder: Baghdad Burmeister

More honesty from the Democrats?????

Well, not quite- check out Josh's blog for details

Josh Schroeder: Baghdad Burmeister

Here is a snip-

Two stories of note, but there is ABSOLUTELY no cause and relationship here whatsoever!

Story One: The Federal Department of Education released a report on Wisconsin's standing with the No Child Left Behind Act. According to this press release, 9 states satisfied the department's six criteria, 39 states partially satisfied the six criteria, and Wisconsin was one of four states to satisfy none of the requirements. The other states were Hawaii, Missouri, and Utah. (For those of you counting at home, Puerto Rico and D.C. count as states under NCLB.) If you want to see Wisconsin's report card, follow this link and check out the Reviewer Comments. Fox News carried this more detailed AP Story here, and Kevin gives it some good analysis here.

Honesty from a Democrat

Patrick at Badger Blogger notes Democratic honesty with this photo-

Click on image to enlarge.

Racial Profiling

Read this article if you believe it is wise for government officials to conduct racial profiling.

Read this article if you believe it is wrong for government officials to conduct racial profiling.

Read them both if you are just looking to educate yourself on this issue.

Now this is more like a debate should be held

This is exactly what we want our AG candidates to be doing-they are back to debating the issues and the Democrats.

From the AP-

Republican attorney general candidates Paul Bucher and J.B. Van Hollen focused on criticizing Democrats during a debate Tuesday - their first meeting since Van Hollen told Bucher "you suck" during a break in a heated radio debate.

Van Hollen said after the debate that he has concentrated on what he sees as Democrats' shortcomings, rather than on his Republican opponent.

"Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the time that has been my focus," Van Hollen said in an interview after the debate during a Brookfield Rotary Club meeting at the Western Racquet Club.

He said he had gotten off track in his remarks Thursday about his GOP opponent.

Bucher said in an interview that he and Van Hollen do disagree on some issues and he will talk about them when asked, but he was not asked about them at the gathering attended by about 50 people.

The two did not criticize one another or speak over one another as they answered prepared questions posed to them by a moderator.

Both said Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager should have gotten involved in the process of negotiating Indian gaming compacts, and made greater efforts to expand the work of state crime laboratories.

"Where's our attorney general? Out to lunch," Bucher said.

Lautenschlager said her attorneys have offered opinions on problems they saw in Gov. Jim Doyle's compact negotiations in 2003. The crime labs have been swamped with an unpredictable 62 percent increase in DNA submissions from 2003 through 2005, she said. The agency has since hired four more DNA analysts and plans to have robotic tests online by fall.

The GOP candidates also said that Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, who is challenging Lautenschlager for the Democratic nomination, lacked sufficient law enforcement experience.

But Falk campaign spokesman Adams Collins noted Falk had spent 14 years as an assistant attorney general.

Van Hollen made the "you suck" remark after Bucher interrupted him on the air during their debate on "Mid-Day with Charlie Sykes on Newsradio 620 WTMJ" and called one of Van Hollen's statements stupid. Later in the debate Bucher boasted Van Hollen was getting his "behind kicked" in the polls.

Van Hollen, a former U.S. attorney, sent Bucher an apologetic e-mail Friday saying neither of them should be proud of their performances in the debate and asking Bucher to abide by rules to make future debates more civil. Van Hollen said he meant that Bucher's leadership style sucks because he doesn't listen to people.

Bucher, the current Waukesha County district attorney, responded by saying both men were passionate about the issues and that's healthy in an election.

Also Tuesday, Falk released a four-pronged plan to fight gangs.

It calls for bringing additional charges against gang members under the state's little-used organized crime statutes and creating a statewide task force to share information on gangs and come up with local solutions.

She also pledged that, if elected, she would lobby to maintain federal law enforcement grants to Wisconsin and make weekly visits to Milwaukee, where she said homicides saw a 40 percent jump between 2004 and 2005.

"Wisconsin residents are looking to the attorney general for leadership in resolving the gang problem, and Lautenschlager has been missing in action," she said.

Lautenschlager countered that Falk doesn't understand the state's organized crime statutes.

Typically the sentence for a gang member's original offense is stiffer than the 15 years the organized crime statutes lay out. As a practical matter, it's not worth the extra effort and expense to prosecute the organized crime charge, Lautenschlager said.

"If we thought it gave us a stronger bang for our buck, we'd certainly be using it," Lautenschlager said. "The fact that she believes this to be a logical solution speaks to ... lack of understanding of criminal law."

Lautenschlager lobbies for federal grants through the National Association of Attorneys General. According to a statement from the Department of Justice, agency narcotics agents work "constantly" with the department's Milwaukee office.

According to the state Office of Justice Assistance and Milwaukee police, the city saw 87 homicides in 2004 compared with 122 in 2005. This year has seen 67 murders, compared with 81 over the same period last year.

Falk and Lautenschlager will face each other in Democratic primary Sept. 12. Van Hollen and Bucher will square off in a GOP primary the same day. The winners meet in the November general election.

---

Associated Press writer Todd Richmond in Madison contributed to this report.

Senator Big Oil Barack Obama

This story is for my Illinois friends and co-workers. Check it out- Senator Barack Obama was lecturing folks at a town hall meeting about gas guzzling vehicles, then promptly hops in is own SUV, a GMC Envoy, and drives away.

IL: Obama Warns of Gas Guzzling Cars in Town Hall Meeting

Staff Report

Monday, August 14, 2006

Illinois Senator Barack Obama warns citizens at his 50th Town Hall meeting about gas guzzling. It was among many points made to the standing room only audience at the Metropolis Community Center. Obama spoke on everything from DC politics to global warming. He says part of the blame for the world's higher temperatures rests on gas guzzling vehicles. Obama says consumers can make the difference by switching to higher mileage hybrids. Today the Senator said, "It would save more energy, do more for the environment and create better world security than all the drilling we could do in Alaska."

After the meeting... Obama left in a GMC Envoy after admitting to favoring SUV's himself.

For the record- a GMC Envoy has a 8 cylinder engine and gets 15 mpg city/21 mpg highway. Unless, of course, the Senator has the smaller two door version that gets 16 mpg city/22 mpg highway.

Can we now call the Senator "Big Oil Barack"?

H/T Drudge Report

Kenosha News covers opening of Kenosha GOP Headquarters

For those who missed the Kenosha News coverage of the Headquarters grand opening, here is a scan to the article.

Click on photo to enlarge-

Extremely Green!

Mark Green's first TV commercial is out. Check it out!

The Republican View

The Republican View- written by Jan Anderson and printed in the Kenosha News on Saturday, August 12th.

All around America, Wisconsin is famous for a few things. Cheese and brats, for example, come to mind. And now as election season heats up, so do politicians.

Our Congressional representative, Paul Ryan, is running for reelection. We need to reelect him. Policy differences aside for a moment, it’s hard to imagine a better representative-from anywhere in the country. Let’s look at why.

Paul is hard-working. There are few representatives who contribute as much to the deliberations of Congress as Paul, all the while he is accessible to you here in Wisconsin. He is somewhere in the District often, very often. He recognizes the importance of your opinion and is eager and available to hear it.

Unlike many members of Congress, Paul understands, as Edmund Burke said, that “government and legislation are matters of reason and judgment, and not of inclination…” He recognizes that governing by sentiments or feelings is a rickety and short-lived endeavor, and will hurt more than help. In other words, he is intelligent and deliberate.

He has given a Herculean effort to save what can be saved of Social Security and provide a framework for long term fiscal sanity for younger taxpayers in this country. This is a big deal. Social Security, if left alone, will become a crushing burden, impossible to maintain in its present form. It must be changed, and Paul has been a keen and persuasive force in getting people to realize the need for change and he has provided a sensible plan, not just words of warning.

Paul understands, more than most Representatives, that Congress should not be a club of “ambassadors” from various and hostile interests, competing with each other for their share of the public’s tribute. He recognizes that it should be instead the deliberative assembly of America, interested in the good of the entire nation, and not the individual intrigues of the representatives or their districts. Amid hostility and indifference, he has persevered in the passage of his legislation to rein in some of the wild misappropriations of your tax dollars. He wants to save your money.

He doesn’t listen to the bleating voices of those who would gut the defense of America, nor to those whose fanfare is retreat and narcissistic cowardice. He is proud to be an American.

You may disagree with him on policy issues, but you cannot deny his earnest service to this District and to all of America.

Besides, who is running against him? The five candidates vying in the Democrat primary are nowhere to be seen. These aspirants are highly inexperienced but haven’t countered with persuasive rhetoric, either for themselves or against Mr Ryan. They offer nothing but partisan pap, hoping voters will suppose that their mere distinctions will be sufficient substance.

It isn’t.

We tend to think that our representative is “ours”, there to serve our needs or desires. While that’s true, we also send our representative to Washington to serve America. Let’s send Paul Ryan back to serve all of us, all of America. There are none more qualified or able, and in the important things, he beats cheese and brats by a mile.

Thank you Democrats!

Conservatives got exactly what they needed out of the Lieberman and Lamont battle. Republicans needed two high profile Democrats to clobber each other during this election cycle and now it is happening.

Lieberman is blasting Lamont over his weak stance against terrorists. The fact that this story is headlining in the NY Times makes it even sweeter.

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut seized on the reports of a terror plot yesterday to attack Ned Lamont, his Democratic opponent for re-election, saying that Mr. Lamont’s goal of withdrawing American troops from Iraq by a fixed date would constitute a “victory” for extremists.

Is it just me or have the Democrats been attacking Lieberman for almost a solid year and yet, check out what the Democrats are whining about now-

Mr. Lamont denounced Mr. Lieberman’s remarks, and some other Democrats and political analysts questioned the senator’s use of a national security hazard to buttress a political attack, especially against another Democrat.

"Especially against another Democrat"??????? The Democrats must be goofing around, right? Lieberman has been under continous attack by Democrat Lamont and Democrat bloggers for almost a year. Now they are whining because Lieberman is attacking Lamont. Good grief!

Voter Fraud

It appears that Spivak and Bice have uncovered a case of voter fraud.

Probably the most stunning part of this story is that, Donovan Riley, the man accused of voting twice in the November 2000 general election, is actually a Democratic candidate for State Senate running in this year's election.

The complaint by All Children Matter, a proponent of private school vouchers, cites documents that suggest that Riley, a 69-year-old former CEO of the University of Illinois Hospital, voted twice in the 2000 general election, once in Chicago and then again in Oconomowoc. A well-heeled liberal Democrat, Riley is running a vigorous primary campaign against state Sen. Jeff Plale, a conservative Dem from South Milwaukee.

Even more pathetic is the fact that Mr. Riley is not exactly denying the charges.

"My best recollection is that I was splitting my time between Wisconsin and Illinois, and it's possible I made a mistake. If the Elections Board decides to look into this matter, I will gladly assist."

How is it possible to mistakenly vote twice on the same day? Voting once in Illinois and once in Wisconsin on the same day is not a mistake.

It is stunning to me how the Democrats continue to deny that there is a problem in Wisconsin with voter fraud.

I live in Kenosha, the closest city to Illinois. If this can happen in Oconomowoc, is it possible that there might be a problem in Kenosha also?

We cannot get a single person's attention long enough, to even look to see if their may be a problem in Kenosha. Every time someone tries to check and see if there is a problem, the Democrats scream "voter disenfranchisement".

Can you imagine what the Democrats would have said if anyone would have attempted to stop Mr. Riley from voting in Wisconsin that day? Technically, he was a resident of Wisconsin and Illinois and could legally vote in either state. What appears to have happened is Mr. Riley chose to vote in both states.

According to the Mr. Riley's campaign site he looks like a very respectable man:

According to his campaign Web site, Riley has over the years taught at Loyola University, practiced law for Michael Best & Friedrich's Chicago office and was the CEO of the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago and the associate chancellor of the University of Illinois Medical Center. His campaign manager, James Chiong, said he held all of these jobs at various times between 1988 and 2000.

Can you imagine what the Democrats would have said if anyone attempted to stop this so called high profile, respectable Democrat from voting in the state of Wisconsin on Nov. 7, 2006?

This incident is further proof that there is a problem in Wisconsin. Governor Doyle's continuous vetoes of any kind of voter ID in this state are further adding to the problems we have with voter fraud in Wisconsin.

We need real election reform in the state of Wisconsin.

Kenosha GOP Headquarters Grand Opening-Today!

Jay will be dragging out his grill, so come and join us. Gubernatorial candidate Congressman Mark Green will be there.

If you have never met your own congressional representative, Paul Ryan, he will also be joining us. All state and local candidates have been invited to attend.

See you there! Click on flyer to enlarge for details.

Following the money trail????

Yep- it looks like the Brits, the US, and many others are using the money trail to catch more terrorists.

USA Today headline:

Police eye money trail in airliner plot

Thank goodness the NY Times and the ACLU did not find out about this ahead of time. They would have splattered it all over the headlines and destroyed any chance of catching these terrorists.

Of course the NY Times and the ACLU would have had their normal pompous excuses about "whistleblowers", but in truth, the folks exposing these secret programs are just idiots, not whistleblowers.

Terror scare sends a blunt message to '08 candidates

Interesting article from the Houston Chronicle.

One second we are talking about the Lieberman primary loss in Connecticut and the very next, the all but carried out plan by al-Qaida to blow up multiple passenger jets over the Atlantic Ocean. What is the lesson in such a drastic change of subject from the innocuous to the terrifying?

For a number of people in the business of preventing terrorism, it says the 2008 presidential election has to be about electing the candidate most qualified to ensure the national security of our country. It says that ignorance is far from bliss, and potentially suicidal.

Al-Qaida and its twisted imitators will not stop, will not go away, and will not veer from their No. 1 target — the United States. To think otherwise is to endanger our national security.

In various discussions I've had with friends in the military and intelligence services, one point and worry keeps being repeated. Those in the business of protecting America, whether they agree with all of his policies or not, are grateful to have George W. Bush as president.

Their point in expressing such gratitude is that — like him or not — since Sept. 11, 2001, Bush has committed to hunting down and destroying cowardly terrorists who have not only hijacked a religion but, as we have seen in Lebanon, hijacked whole countries in the name of killing the innocent.

These members of the military and our intelligence services know that, in concert with a number of allies including the United Kingdom, Israel and a few Arab nations, the "Bush Doctrine" is to exterminate the threat before it can once again reach our shores.

While the ACLU and some politicians and members of the media on the left may strongly disagree with a number of the tactics employed, they get to live, thrive and complain under the very blanket of that critically important policy.

With the latest plot exposed to blow up these airliners, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) put out the predictable statement that, "We once again urge law enforcement authorities and elected officials to caution against stereotyping entire religious or ethnic groups based on the alleged actions of individuals."

It is not stereotyping if these growing threats continue to come from only one source — a minuscule, twisted segment of the Muslim community. It is a fact that law enforcement has to take into consideration.

With this obviously growing threat in mind, the worry of those entrusted to ensure our safety is this: What if the next president of the United States, for political or "moral" reasons, finds the tactics employed by Bush to be abhorrent or uncivilized.

What if the next president, because of his or her own beliefs, or the beliefs of supporters and others in the administration, deems it unseemly or illegal to hunt down and destroy those who mean to decimate our nation.

Over and over in Washington and New York, you hear, "Gee, I'm always amazed that the terrorists have not hit us again since 9/11." To that, those who protect us would answer, "It's because we have not given them time to breathe. With no publicity, with no fanfare, with no regrets, we hunt them down, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We find them and we neutralize them. As we have been authorized to do."

Should the next president not rigidly adopt this policy, then those who protect us predict that the terrorists, in very short order, will reconstitute themselves and hit us harder and in a much more lethal way than 9/11.

Those who would be president need, at least in this one area, to cast aside the partisan spin, the rose-colored glasses and the advice of the appeasers. They need to assess the growing threats in a factual and honest manner.

Those threats come from the Middle East, where there is an assembly line of Islamists being supplied by the likes of Iran, Syria, China and Russia, Each distinct terrorist organization has the same tired and hackneyed slogan: "Death to the United States, Israel, and all nonbelievers." It is a threat made all the more serious with the realization that in the current war with Israel, Hezbollah has missiles much more powerful than previously thought. If they do, who else does, or is ahead of schedule?

Then there is North Korea. No matter the failure of its 4th of July missile launches, by the time the next president is sworn in North Korea will have a missile capable of reaching our west coast.

In our own hemisphere we have Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, an unhinged megalomaniac who is not only doing all in his power to destabilize South America, but is working bloody hand in bloody hand with the regime in Iran to import weapons and manipulate oil prices in an effort to cripple the United States.

Lastly, looming larger than all, is Iran.

Republican or Democrat. Liberal or Conservative. Man or woman. The next president of the United States has to carry on the Bush doctrine against terrorism or all of us could pay an unimagined price.

Surely, going from the innocuous to the terrifying in one news cycle tells a candidate at least that much.

MacKinnon was press secretary to former Senator Bob Dole and is a former White House and Pentagon official.

Way to go fellows!

Yesterday was the big debate between AG candidates Paul Bucher and JB Van Hollen.

I have not heard the debate yet, instead I have been cruising around the blog world looking for the reaction out of conservatives. It has been an ugly sight having to read the conservatives reaction to this debate.

The question I have is what in the world happened? It appears that two schoolyard boys showed up to this debate and were rolling around in the mud, beating on each other.

What an embarrassment to conservatives this debate turned out to be. As we can see from the reaction of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, both men screwed this debate up.

According to the paper, Paul Bucher would not stop interrupting JB Van Hollen. JB Van Hollen then proceeded to tell Paul Bucher "you suck".

When Van Hollen tried to explain his position and Bucher interrupted, Van Hollen responded: "Will you ever listen? That's why you suck, Paul, because you only listen to people who agree with you."

According to Charlie Sykes, the clear winners of this debate were Peg and Kathleen. I agree with Charlie.

My advice to Paul Bucher- let JB talk. JB has a right to be heard on his politics and policies. Listen to JB's position before attacking them.

My advice to JB Van Hollen- please stay away from the childish insults. You would think with the high priced education you have, you would not need to insult a person to make your point. Further advice for JB, you need to issue a real apology. The apology that you issued was not really an apology at all. Instead, you chose to further insult your opponent when you spoke of "lowering yourself to his level". This is nothing more than another insult against Paul Bucher.

To Paul Bucher's credit, he accepted this as an apology and moved on.

I am not impressed by what I have heard about this debate. I expected better behavior from both men.

One of these two men will probably have another debate with either Peg or Kathleen. I hope that neither of these two men will bring these types of debate tactics to their next debate.

Rest in Peace Carol Lothian

I wanted to take a moment and pass on my condolences to a friend. Rep. Thomas Lothian recently lost his wife, Carol, to a long illness.

The entire 1st District GOP would like to extend their heartfelt sympathy and prayers to Representative Lothian and the entire Lothian family as they go thru this very difficult time.

Isaiah 40:31

But those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

War on terror

Despite what we may think of George Bush, Jim Doyle or Mark Green- we all need to understand that we are in the middle of the war on terror.

My fear is that we, as a nation, will forget about the war on terror, and another 9/11 will happen again.

Today-British police arrested 26 people suspected of an involvment with plotting to plant bombs on a plane. This plot was very serious and involved flights heading to the US from Heathrow Airport.

Here is the story from USA Today.

British authorities said Thursday they had thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up several aircraft to the U.S. using explosives smuggled in hand luggage, averting what police described as "mass murder on an unimaginable scale."

Officials raised security to its highest level in Britain — suggesting a terrorist attack might be imminent — and banned hand-carried luggage on all trans-Atlantic flights. Huge crowds formed at security barriers at London's Heathrow airport as officials searching for explosives barred nearly every form of liquid outside of baby formula.

FYI

Reince Priebus has pulled his name out of the running for RPW chair. Reince's future is bright and he is a true leader in the Republican Party. However, there is a time and place for everything. Right now is not the time.

I hope this signals the fact that he is thinking about another run for public office. He has my support and my vote when he chooses to run again.

Game on!

This morning, ousted Democrat Joe Lieberman told the Today show that he will run as a independent candidate.

Any thoughts that anyone might have had that this race will disappear quietly are in for a shock. This race will be staying on the front pages of the nation's newspapers for the next 3 months.

Yahoo! News story.

Asked Wednesday if there was anyone who could call and persuade him to drop out, Lieberman told NBC's "Today" show:

"Respectfully no. I'm committed to this campaign."

More evidence of staged photographs

As if the discovery of the previous problems with photoshopped photos were not bad enough, now evidence of staged photos are showing up in the internet.

From the WSJ's Opinion Journal Best of the Web Today has the story-

The same scam seems to be popping up in Lebanon--quite literally. Look at this July 30 photo, shot by the Associated Press's Lefteris Pitarakis:

The caption reads: "Bodies of Lebanese residents of the southern village of Qana near the port city of Tyre, Lebanon, are laid covered after they were removed from under the rubble of a demolished building, background, that was struck by Israeli war plane missiles Sunday, July 30, 2006. At least 50 people, including scores of children, were killed Sunday in an Israeli air strike on this southern Lebanon village--the deadliest attack in 19 days of fighting."

The death toll subsequently declined, and a close look at this photo shows that the Hezbollah side of the conflict was exaggerating it with images as well as words. Note the "victim" denoted by the arrow here:

It's a little hard to see exactly what's going on at this size, but as luck would have it the Washington Post used the photo on its July 31 front page, and a sharp-eyed reader scanned it for us. Here's an enlargement of the portion in question:

It's a bit reminiscent of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (The Dead Body That Claims It Isn't: "I'm getting better.")

Plainly this scene was staged for the benefit of the cameras, though it is important to note we know of no evidence that the photographer was complicit in the staging. It is, however, a clear example of how terrorist groups use journalists to spread their propaganda.

Speaking of which, TimesWatch.org's Clay Waters notes that Saturday's New York Times featured a front-page photo from Adnan Hajj, the Reuters photographer who was fired the following day after it turned out he doctored photos to make Israel look bad. The photo ran four columns, at the top of the page.

Yet while Reuters says it has purged Hajj's photos from its database, the Times has not even covered the scandal. At this writing, the only mention of it on the Times Web site is Reuters' own coverage of it.

Lunch Break- The MSM have no idea which side to pick

I found this little tidbit in USA today. You can tell they have no clue how the Lieberman/Lamont primary will affect the GOP.

As I pointed out earlier this week, this will be a fun day for conservatives as we watch this ordeal play out.

Check it out-

Some argue the GOP would be better off if Lieberman wins, on the theory that anti-war activists would become discouraged and stay home in November.

Others argue that Republicans will be better off if Lamont prevails. That way, the argument goes, they can try and win over voters by telling them the Democrats have been taken over by an anti-war fringe and can't be trusted to protect the nation's security.

The Propoganda war

Do you folks remember this headline blaring across the world yesterday?

From the AP-

40 Killed in Strike on Lebanese Village

By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer
BEIRUT, Lebanon - An Israeli attack on a Lebanese border village killed more than 40 people Monday, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said. Saniora disclosed the attack in the village of Houla, where heavy ground fighting between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli has been raging in recent days in a speech to Arab foreign ministers meeting in Beirut.

"An hour ago, there was a horrific massacre in the village of Houla in which more than 40 martyrs were victims of deliberate bombing," he said.

Local TV stations had reported that about 40 people were buried under the rubble of houses that collapsed after being targeted by Israeli airstrikes.

From Reuters via the Washington Post-

Lebanon PM says 40 killed in Israeli strike

Reuters
Monday, August 7, 2006; 8:06 AM

BEIRUT (Reuters) - An Israeli air strike on the southern Lebanese village of Houla killed more than 40 people on Monday, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said.

"An hour ago, a horrific massacre took place in Houla village as a result of the intentional Israeli bombardment that resulted in more than 40 martyrs," Siniora told an Arab foreign ministers meeting in Beirut.

As it turns out, it was not true.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora Monday retracted an earlier declaration claiming that 40 people had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Houla in southern Lebanon.

Speaking to reporters after the latest Lebanese police reports said only one person was killed, and that 65 people had been removed alive from rubble, Seniora said: “The information which was given to me earlier was not accurate.”

Now, I do not blame the media for getting the story incorrect. This is what they were told by the tearful PM of Lebanon, Siniora.

However, when I do a Google search with the words "40 killed in Lebanon" and click on "top stories", I get 9,970 hits.

When I do a Google search with the words "40 killed in Lebanon retracted" and click on the "top stories", I get 7 hits.

After seeing the huge disparity between 9970 stories and then the corrected version of 7 stories, it is a little tough to understand how so many folks cannot see and understand that there is a huge propaganda war by the media against Israel.

I truly wonder how many people after seeing yesterday's headline; have absolutely no clue that it was not true. The media has the responsibility to get the truth out to the American people. As you can see, getting the truth out is not something the media want to do.

How many more of these types of stories have not been true? Perhaps many of these stories are not true that are coming out of Iraq. Will the media correct themselves if they find out they are not true? Will they blare the corrected version across our TV screens and the front pages of their newspapers?

Of course not. We have already seen the evidence that they will not.

Photogate

This time it was Reuters with a photoshopped photograph. Of course, several bloggers noticed it right away. See Little Green Footballs.

24 hours later, Reuters pulled the photo and made some silly statement implying this was the only photo that was fake. Bloggers took this statement to be a challenge and are finding photographs everywhere that have been photoshopped. See Powerline.

Even after reading all of this, you still feel that you lack the proper information; the rest of the blogosphere world is going nuts. Check Real Clear Politics and click on a link.

I am sure this is President Bush/Mark Green's fault

Alaskan Pipeline is closed, gas prices spike-

I am not sure how it is their fault, but it is definitely their fault.

I am sure the liberals will be along shortly to tell us exactly how this is the President's fault and Mark Green's fault.

This Tuesday should be interesting

This should be an interesting week for Democrats. This Tuesday is a primary election between liberal incumbent Senator Joe Lieberman versus super duper liberal Ned Lamont. The question that will be somewhat answered this Tuesday is whether the super duper liberals will take control of the Democratic Party. Will Connecticut liberals pick a Cindy Sheehan type candidate or a John F. Kennedy type of Democrat? Who knows?

I find it very interesting that one of the biggest newspapers in Connecticut is actually supporting BOTH candidates. Interesting!

Check out today's Hartford Courant-

Supporting Lieberman

Supporting Lamont

If you are a conservative, this will be an enjoyable week watching the Democrats tear each other apart. If Lamont wins, Lieberman will run as an independent candidate, which means we can spend the next three months watching the Democrats tear each other apart. Very interesting indeed!

Debate set for Bucher and Van Hollen

Radio debate-

The two Republican candidates for attorney general will meet on the air next week.

Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher and former U.S. attorney J.B. Van Hollen are scheduled to appear on the Charlie Sykes Show on WTMJ-AM (620) on Thursday, Aug. 10 from the State Fair, according to Rick Belcher, the station's vice president of operations.

Belcher said the Democratic candidates Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk have also been invited to debate on a different day, but haven't yet accepted.

Sykes works at the same radio station for which Bucher's wife does an evening talk show.

Voter ID- better, but still nowhere close to where it should be.

There were some election laws passed in 2002, called the "Help America Vote Act". Even though these laws are very liberal and easy to conform to, for some reason the Wisconsin Election Board has been having alot of trouble conforming to these laws.

The law that seems to stump our state elections board is the one that says a voter must ID themselves before they can vote. Our state elections board has done everything they can over the last four years to skirt around this law.

It finally took some pressure from Congressman Mark Green and Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner to force the state elections board into actually following the law of the land.

Here is the AP story-

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Voters without a driver's license will be able to cast a ballot on Election Day under a state rule that received federal approval.

The U.S. Department of Justice gave its OK in a letter dated Thursday to the rule that the state Elections Board passed last month.

It allows voters without a driver's license to cast a provisional ballot that would only count if the voters can produce their license by 4 p.m. the following day. To cast a provisional ballot they would have to give the last four digits of their Social Security number or present a state identification card.

People who wanted to register to vote at the polls would have to have their driver's license.

The board reached the approach as a compromise after an earlier rule drew criticism from U.S. Reps. Mark Green, R-Green Bay, and Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Menomonee Falls, and the state Republican Party, which said it would violate 2002's federal Help America Vote Act.

Green issued a statement Friday saying the rule has the potential to complicate the election process but it's better than the previous version. He called the compromise a "step in the right direction."

Officials with the state Elections Board could not be reached for comment late Friday.

The new rule will be in effect for the Sept. 12 primary.

Republicans who control the state Legislature have been pushing for voters to present photo identification at the polls, saying the move would prevent voter fraud.

But Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle has vetoed their attempts three times, saying an ID requirement would keep poor people and the elderly who lack identification from the polls.

Green is running against Doyle for governor.

To all Wisconsin voters, bring ID to the polling stations, your gonna need it!

Of course lobbying funds went up 23 % in the state

Of course lobbying funds went up 23 % in the state. Under Doyle's leadership, Wisconsin is now for sale!

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Madison - If elected officials wonder why the public is increasingly cynical about their motives, they might only have to look at how much was spent to influence them the past 18 months - $47 million.

State organizations paid that much to lobbyists in the current legislative session, a 23% jump from the previous session, according to a report issued Friday by the state Ethics Board.

The lobbyists were employed by nearly 750 organizations and spent 393,000 hours lobbying the Legislature and state agencies on bills and administrative rules from January 2005 to July 2006. That's equal to a person working eight hours a day every business day for 188 years, the report says.

The total amount spent on lobbying this session is likely to be the highest to date, said Jay Heck, executive director of clean-government watchdog Common Cause in Wisconsin. In the first 18 months of the 2003-'04 legislative session, organizations spent $38.3 million on lobbyists.

"Money and connections have never played a larger role in shaping public policy," Heck said.

Six lobbying firms earned $1 million or more, according to the report:

• Capitol Consultants/Wimmer and Co. - $2.13 million; among its major clients are the Forest County Potawatomi tribe, Georgia-Pacific Corp. and the Dairyland Business Association.

• Broydrick & Associates - $2.11 million; some clients include Wisconsin Energy Corp., Aurora Health Care Inc. and the American Cancer Society.

• The Hamilton Consulting Group - $1.47 million; clients include Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and Xcel Energy.

• Quarles & Brady law firm - $1.15 million; Wisconsin Hospital Association.

• Foley & Lardner law firm - $1.13 million; Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and Aurora.

• Martin Schreiber & Associates - $1.12 million; Forest County Potawatomi, Philip Morris Inc. and Miller Brewing Co.

R. Roth Judd, executive director of the Ethics Board, said that the money paid to lobbyists was for preparing and carrying messages to public officials and that grass-roots organizations increasingly have joined the process.

"Lobbyists and the firms that employ them cannot provide anything to elected officials, even a cup of coffee," Judd said, adding that Wisconsin's system is more transparent than others. "Among our objectives is putting an end to stealth lobbying so every organization knows the identity of every other organization lobbying and what they're lobbying about."

Heck said lobbyists have a huge advantage over average residents because of the access they command in the Capitol, enhanced by special interests' ability to donate campaign funds. "That almost inevitably comes at the expense of the great body of taxpayers who don't have special-interest representation," he said.

Citizens sense that, too. Recent surveys have shown that Wisconsin residents believe elected officials are more concerned with representing their own interests or those of special-interest groups than they are with serving the public good.

Lobbyist Bill Broydrick said Heck was off the mark, arguing that lobbyists play an important role in public policy because they ensure that key groups are heard.

"You want to avoid the tyranny of the majority, and to avoid the tyranny of the majority, you need to have intense minorities," he said.

Broydrick criticized the report, saying it wrongly listed his company in second instead of first place. Broydrick said the top listing - Capitol Consultants/Wimmer and Co. - is actually two distinct firms that share office space. Erik Hayko, lobbying disclosure administrator for the board, said Capitol Consultants and Wimmer and Co. are listed together on lobbying reports.

William McCoshen and Eric Petersen of Capitol Consultants/Wimmer and Co. could not be reached Friday.

Broydrick became a lobbyist nearly 25 years ago after serving almost four years in the Assembly. He said he focused much of his lobbying efforts the past 18 months on keeping the state from cutting Medicaid reimbursements on behalf of Aurora Health Care and Children's Hospital and Health System. That fight was successful, as was his work for the American Cancer Society to keep a statewide smoking ban at bay that the group saw as too weak.

Schreiber, a former Democratic acting governor, represents the Forest County Potawatomi, among other clients. The Potawatomi operate the state's most lucrative casino in Milwaukee and failed in an effort to give the Legislature a say in approving new casinos, which the tribe hoped would block the chances of a proposed Kenosha casino.

But Ken Walsh, a lobbyist for Schreiber & Associates, said the effort had an upside because it boosted public support for legislative oversight of siting casinos. He said not all lobbying is for narrow interests, noting that his firm represents the Wisconsin Troopers' Association, which supported a law for children up to age 8 to use booster seats in cars.

"I don't consider the troopers a special-interest group," he said. "They're out there advocating for highway safety."

Theocracy? Well, not exactly.

I read an interesting piece from Kathleen Parker and the "Theocracy" theories rumbling around.

Check it out-

WASHINGTON -- These are rich times for conspiracy theorists, and the mother lode these days may be found in the fevered minds of anti-Christianists.

Among paranoiacs who see a Jerry Falwell or a John Hagee in every burning bush, U.S. support for Israel isn't about protecting the only healthy democracy in the Middle East, but about advancing Armageddon and, yes, the Second Coming.

At last, we'll get to know what Jesus would drive. Most likely, he'd drive out the conspiracy theorists on both sides of this imagined apocalypse.
For those who do not spend their days pulling imaginary bugs out of their eye sockets, "Christianist'' is a relatively new term that roughly refers to a virulent strain of right-wing political Christianity that, supposedly, parallels Islamist lunacy.

Although both groups may be "true believers,'' those who try to connect the dots of Christian belief, specifically evangelical Christianity, to Islamism seem willing to overlook the fact that Islamists praise Allah and fly airplanes into buildings while Christianists praise Jesus and pass the mustard.

And though both groups of people may use scripture to shape their approach to the public square, Islamist interpretation of doctrine permits religious expression through suicide-murder, beheadings, public stonings (preferably of women) and Jew-hating, while Christianist doctrine deals in such wimpy notions as forgiveness, tolerance, redemption and cheek-turning. Weirdos.

A slew of new books have emerged with titles like "American Theocracy,'' and "Kingdom Coming,'' that tackle the perceived emerging Christocracy, while op-ed-ists opine that right-wing evangelicals are directing foreign policy through the White House. Words like "theocrats'' and "American Taliban'' have become commonplace in describing those who fill televangelism's La-Z-Boys.

Certainly, there's an element among some Christians who believe that Armageddon and the Second Coming are related to current events in the Middle East. For instance, John Hagee, televangelist and pastor of an 18,000-member mega-church in San Antonio specifically believes that Israel has to strike Iran's nuclear facilities in order to move things along toward Jesus' new millennial reign.

And though life may get messy for a time, all's well that ends well. Once Jesus gets back on board, Russia and China will have been dealt with, the Garden of Eden will reopen for business, and the righteous will rule the nations of the Earth. ACLU, beware.

Doubtless Hagee holds his audiences in thrall, but that audience does not happen to include George W. Bush or even (cue thunderclouds) Karl Rove. Nor millions of other Christians. Despite what the anti-Christianists seem to believe, the evangelical movement is not monolithic on such issues and Hagee doesn't have an office in the State Department.

In fact, at one White House meeting with about 35 evangelical leaders, one participant told me Hagee said nary a word. Even if he had, no one in the Bush administration is listening.

"You can be sure that Condi Rice is not reading Tim LaHaye books,'' says Michael Cromartie, vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and director of its Evangelicals in Civic Life program. LaHaye is author of the best-selling apocalyptic "Left Behind'' series.

The Armageddonists, meanwhile, are suffering from what Cromartie calls "overheated eschatological expectations.''

"That means, they're always looking through world events for some signs of the End Times. ... If they want to spend their time worrying about that, fine. I'm pretty content to sit here and wait it out.''

At least part of what's behind the anti-Christianist movement, of course, is dislike of Bush, who happens to be a born-again Christian, combined with angry opposition to the war in Iraq, as well as contempt for the anti-intellectualism of some on the Christian right -- a perfect storm of secular disgust.

What's missing, however, is a basic understanding of reality: the fact that those who preach an End Times scenario also voted for Bush does not necessarily mean that they have Bush's ear. When someone like Hagee sends a smoke signal to the White House about Israel and Armageddon, the attitude at Pennsylvania Avenue is, "Oh yeah, John, we're aware of that, thank you.''

In other words, pro-Israel policy decisions are based on our long-standing support of America's democratic ally in the Middle East, not some theological imperative as divined through an eschatological grid. Or even an "8'' ball.

Nevertheless, Republicans are happy to get votes where they can. Which is to say: If Hagee were urging his congregation to tithe money to fight global warming based on some apocalyptic interpretation of Scripture, does anyone really think that Al Gore would decline the check?

Voice of the People

This was a "voice of the people" sent into the Kenosha News that was printed on Monday. This letter was written in response to very angry anti-war letter written last week.

Written by another one of Kenosha's conservative teachers.

Thanks Tom, you did a great job. Very well thought out and very well written!

It was revealing to read Marvin Martin’s recent letter blaming everything on Bush. In foreign policy, when one blames the President, one blames the nation he represents. Marvin’s premise, “Bombs can’t kill an ideology,” is essentially true. However, he uses that premise to imply that military action by the United States is unwise, that the US action in Iraq has caused all the present-day violence. The rise of Muslim extremism and tensions in the Middle East didn’t emerge with the election of Bush.

That the US should withdraw from military action in the war on terrorism reflects the same mentality that would have left Hitler unchecked in Europe. Our “bombs” in WWII may not have destroyed Nazism, but they saved the world from those who would impose it. In the words of Edmund Burke, “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing.”

One must confront the evil of terrorism on two fronts—first, for the short term, with military, diplomatic, intelligence-gathering, economic, and humanitarian efforts. But there is a second thrust which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses: “We must do more than just capture or kill individual terrorists, and we’re doing that. We’re striking at the very source of terror itself by summoning a vision of hope that outshines any ideology of hatred. The United States is supporting the democratic aspirations of all people.” This effort to transform the Middle East is the long-term goal and is difficult. Yet it’s necessary precisely because it’s the only way to defeat the ideology of hatred and violence.

The insurgency in Iraq should increase our resolve. Tony Blair delivered a brilliant speech to this point. “The question is not whether the fight for democracy in Iraq is worth it. The question is why is it so important to the forces of reaction and violence to halt Iraq in its democratic tracks? The answer is that the reactionary elements know the importance of victory or defeat in Iraq.” Our cause is noble--helping people in pursuit of liberty--and self-serving, for in their freedom lies our security.

Democrats prove they have no character and no principles

Democrats just proved to America that they want to protect their tax dollars more than they want to increase the minimum wage.

The Senate needed 60 votes to pass the bill, they only got 56-42.

There went the minimum wage increase, just to make sure they can continue to stick the Paris Hilton's of America and protect their taxes.

How did we get stuck with Feingold and Kohl?

Seriously, I just do not get it. Why vote against this bill when you support 99% of it?

Both Feingold and Kohl have every intention of voting against the minimum wage/estate tax cut bill.

AP story

Both men say they support reform of the estate tax and both men support a increase in minimum wage. Yet, both men will vote against the current bill that has both a minimum wage increase and will reform the most outlandish tax every created by our government- the estate tax.

Kohl seems to understand that the estate tax is hurting the middle class Americans who own a small business and farms, etc...

Kohl called it a "tough vote," because he supports the minimum wage increase, as well as raising the exemption on the estate tax so that virtually every farm and business is exempt.

Even so knowing this, Kohl will vote against the bill because in the year 2015, the estate tax rate will go from 37% down to 30%.

We are talking 7% tax break for a tiny minority of Americans, and Feingold and Kohl stick every single middle class and lower class American.

Kohl's response-

"Where this proposal falls short is it's extremely expensive because of the reduction of the rate at the top," said Kohl, a multimillionaire.

"Big Government" Feingold on the other hand, says he supports estate tax reform, but refuses to give estate tax cuts to anyone, including farmers and small business owners. Feingold wants his tax dollars from anyone he can get them from and he will stick it every single person working at minimum wage today in order to keep those tax dollars piling up 9 years from now.

Feingold's response-

In his statement, Feingold said that increasing the minimum wage was "long overdue," but said the estate tax cut would saddle the country with debt.

If either of these two men were men of principles and character, they would stand up for the little guy making minimum wage, the farmers who have dedicated their lives to growing food for Americans, and the small business owners that keep Americans employed.

Instead, these two men are willing to sacrifice all of these people in order to stick Paris Hilton with an extra 7%. If these two men really cared about the minimum wage as they say, they would take the high road instead of worrying about the fact that Republicans wrote the bill and they will not get credit for it.

Do they have any principles left or do they just care about the politics now?

These two are so busy playing politics that they completely ignore the people they say they are fighting to protect. If they truly cared about a "living wage", they would ignore the politics and just get the job done that they were sent to Washington to do.

Lunch Break- Per Peter at the BBA- 9/11 as a comedy skit

Peter has posted a blog on the Badger Blog Alliance- apparently, the BBC believes 9/11 is a joke.

Check it out.

Thanks for the post Peter.

Pizza at Luisa's for Jeff Kehl

Here's another party!

Pizza at Luisa's with Kenosha County's next Treasurer, Jeff Kehl.

Click on photo to enlarge flyer-

Lunch break- Senate passes bill to increase drilling in the Gulf

Some folks are really ticked, but I think this is great news, from the Washington Times-

The Senate yesterday voted to open up 8.3 million acres of ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and natural gas exploration, but that sets up a tough negotiation with the House, which wants to expand exploration to an area almost 100 times that size.
With a vote of 71-25, many senators feared a political backlash in the November elections if they blocked a bill that promises to lower gasoline prices.
For the first time, lawmakers from Florida accepted a deal for exploration in the Gulf. The legislation grants the state a 125-square-mile buffer until 2022.
"This bill will have, I think, an almost immediate effect on gas prices, certainly on the futures markets, and I think we will be able to get that oil and gas out of the Gulf of Mexico sooner than most people think and in larger quantities," said Sen. Trent Lott, Mississippi Republican. "I am tired of these political arguments and egos about 'this bill doesn't go far enough' or 'it goes too far'; this bill is good enough."
A House version of the bill that passed last month includes the same acreage of Gulf waters, but also opens virtually all of the nation's Atlantic and Pacific coasts to exploration. It also includes provisions to alter the federal-state split of oil and gas revenues that would net the highest-producing Gulf states -- Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas -- as much as $600 billion over the next 15 years.
The Senate legislation was praised as a way to immediately increase domestic oil supplies, lower gas prices and protect national security by reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil.
Democrats, however, complained that the bill did not include incentives for new energy resources, and some Republicans said it wouldn't open enough of the outer continental shelf to oil and gas exploration.
"We've finally decided enough is enough and shown the courage to use our own natural resources, and this is only the beginning, a good start to opening up more," said Sen. Pete V. Domenici, New Mexico Republican and chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
He said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada kept Democrats from approving an expansion of the bill to include all coastal waters beyond the shelf.
Mr. Reid said the House bill or any version of it will never pass the Senate.
"Senator Domenici should declare victory and keep quiet," he said. "The Democratic caucus is very committed that there will be no more offshore drilling; this is it."
He said the United States "cannot drill its way out" of 60 percent dependence on foreign sources of oil and natural gas, but must look to renewable sources such as wind and solar power, ethanol and hydrogen fuel.
Democratic staffers said they have secured a deal with Senate Republican leaders to ensure that the Senate bill is the only version considered for final passage and that those sentiments have been conveyed to the House, but Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican, gave no indication that a deal had been made.
"We haven't laid down any law or told the House what to do with its bill," Mr. McConnell said. "We just want to get the best bill we can out of the Senate, and we'll talk about how to go forward; but that'll be after the recess."
Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, Maine Republican, warned that the House bill "could lead to drilling off of Maine's shores," and said oil spills would threaten the state's fisheries.
Sen. John W. Warner, Virginia Republican, said states should be able to decide whether to allow drilling but that the rights of neighboring states must be protected "in the event of an accident that caused some damage to the shorelines."

Join us at a birthday celebration for Kenosha Sheriff Dave Beth

The great thing about this being a political year is that there is a party to go to every single weekend.

Please join us in celebrating Kenosha County Sheriff Dave Beth's birthday/picnic/fundraiser!

Click on photo to enlarge-

Lunch Time Break- Congratulations, Senator Kedzie

A smidge of Kenosha County is in Senator Kedzie's district. Congratulations, Senator Kedzie on being named to the Conservation Honor Roll.

From WisPolitics-

Sen. Kedzie: Named to the “Conservation Honor Role”
8/1/2006

Contact: Sen. Neal Kedzie
(608) 266-2635

Conservation Group Honors Pro-Environment Lawmaker

Madison – State Senator Neal Kedzie (R-Elkhorn) has been named to the Conservation Honor Role for his continued leadership on groundwater preservation. Kedzie is recognized by the League of Conservation Voters for authoring the Groundwater Quality Protection Act (Wisconsin Act 360) to ensure current and future wells in Wisconsin will receive a higher standard of environmental protection.

“Clean and plentiful drinking water is a vital resource for all Wisconsin residents. This new law will promote a healthier environment, as well as, a more sustainable resource,” Kedzie said. “I am honored to receive this award and look forward to continuing my efforts to protect Wisconsin’s natural resources,” Kedzie stated.

The measure makes several changes to current law. First, it creates a register and licensing system for well drillers and pump installers. Second, it requires well drilling be performed by, or under the supervision of, a licensed well driller, pump installer, or water system operator. Third, it requires educational and testing standards for those wishing to become a licensed well driller or pump installer. And finally, it requires well abandonment to be performed by a licensed well driller, pump installer, or water system operator, or be supervised by any of those individuals.

Kedzie is currently chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Transportation Committee. During his tenure in the Legislature, Kedzie has successfully passed legislation on a number of landmark issues, including two Groundwater Protection Acts, the Wetland Mitigation Act, the Isolated Wetlands Protection Act and the Green Tier Act. He has also authored or co-authored the Lake District Grants and Governance Act, the Drycleaner Cleanup Response Fund Act, and Special Wastes Usage Act, as well as creating a statewide Aldo Leopold Weekend in Wisconsin.

Castro relinquishes power

Should be interesting to watch this play out. I wonder how many of the Hollywood elite will be rushing to Castro's sick bed?

Castro relinquishes power to brother