Ellis Seeks to Kill Expansion of School Choice

Have no doubt, this is intended to kill the bill.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The president of the Wisconsin Senate said Thursday that he will oppose any expansion of school vouchers unless local residents vote on such a move, a proposal that could jeopardize growth of the program outside of Milwaukee and Racine.

Republican Mike Ellis told The Associated Press he has made it known that he will block any growth of the program without requiring a vote of people in the local school district, setting up a conflict with powerful school choice advocates and other party members who oppose such a requirement.

This idea does bring up some interesting balances. On the one hand, Ellis is arguing “local control” - a traditional Republican value. On the other hand, he wants to push the issue to local districts where the teachers unions can dominate such decisions.

It’s worth noting that such decisions have hardly ever been given to local districts. School choice, state tests, sex ed mandates, open enrollment, levy caps, state aid formula, and on and on… these are state mandates. Local districts have no option to vote in or out.

But I’ll take Ellis’ at his word. He wants local control. Let’s pass school choice and give local districts the option to opt out if they want.

Obama’s Orders Applied to the First Amendment

Funny how the mental health orders don’t even have to be modified.

1. “Issue a presidential memorandum to require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal religious check system.”

2. “Address unnecessary legal barriers, particularly relating to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, that may prevent states from making information available to the religious and speech check system.”

3. “Improve incentives for states to share information with the religious and speech check system.”

4. “Direct the attorney general to review categories of individuals prohibited from speaking in public to make sure dangerous people are not slipping through the cracks.”

5. “Propose rulemaking to give law enforcement the ability to run a full background check on an individual before allowing them to speak.”

6. “Publish a letter from FCC to federally licensed broadcasters providing guidance on how to run background checks for private speakers.”

7. “Launch a national safe and responsible speech campaign.”

8. “Review safety standards for microphones and pulpits (Consumer Product Safety Commission).”

9. “Issue a presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace comments spoken in criminal investigations.”

10. “Release a DOJ report analyzing information on political speech and make it widely available to law enforcement.”

11. “Nominate an ATF director.”

12. “Provide law enforcement, first responders, and school officials with proper training for hate speech situations.”

13. “Maximize enforcement efforts to prevent hate speech and prosecute religious intolerance.”

14. “Issue a presidential memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of religion.”

15. “Direct the attorney general to issue a report on the availability and most effective use of new speech suppression technologies and challenge the private sector to develop innovative technologies.”

16. “Clarify that the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about their religion.”

17. “Release a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits them from reporting threats of political speech to law enforcement authorities.”

18. “Provide incentives for schools to hire school indoctrination officers.”

19. “Develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education.”

20. “Release a letter to state health officials clarifying the scope of mental health services that Medicaid plans must cover.”

21. “Finalize regulations clarifying essential health benefits and parity requirements within ACA exchanges.”

22. “Commit to finalizing mental health parity regulations.”

23. “Launch a national dialogue led by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan on mental health.”

Supporting the 2nd Amendment

If you have to say it...

“The president and I support the Second Amendment,”  Biden said definitively.

Not Capable of Doing the Job

Makes sense.

A state legislator is calling on the University of Wisconsin System’s acting senior vice president for administration and fiscal affairs to withdraw his name from consideration for the job on a permanent basis in the midst of a probe into the UW’s overpayments of nearly $33 million for health insurance premiums and retirement benefits.

Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), chairman of the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee, issued a statement Thursday criticizing Michael Morgan’s administrative oversight of a new human resources system, which has been implicated in the overpayment errors.

As vice president for administration and fiscal affairs, Morgan was the top administrator responsible for implementing the new system, which went active in 2011, Nass said. The overpayments happened during that transition.

An audit released last week by the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau revealed the overpayments publicly and prompted leaders of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to call for a more comprehensive review, which UW System President Kevin Reilly promised would occur.

Outsourcing

That’s one way to do it.

The company’s security team eventually found that someone was logging in from Shenyang, China with the American employee’s credentials—while that employee was staring at a computer monitor in his U.S. office.

In his blog, Valentine described the employee as being in his mid-40s with a “relatively long tenure with the company, family man, inoffensive and quiet. Someone you wouldn’t look at twice in an elevator.”

A search of the employee’s computer found hundreds of PDF invoices from a third party contractor/developer from Shenyang.

Eventually, it was discovered that the employee had outsourced his own job to a Chinese consulting firm, paying about $50,000 to the firm out of his salary of several hundred thousand dollars.

Navy Ship Runs Aground

Built in Wisconsin.

U.S. Navy minesweeper, the USS Guardian, ran aground in the Sulu Sea off the Philippines on Thursday, and was stuck on a reef, the Navy said.

No one was injured in the incident, which occurred at 2:25 a.m. local time (1:25 p.m. Wednesday ET) on Tubbataha Reef about 80 miles east-southeast of Palawan Island, in the Philippines, the Navy said.

Sheriffs Refuse to Enforce Unconstitutional Gun Laws

We need more sheriffs and other LEOs like this to speak out.

Denny Peyman didn’t watch President Barack Obama’s gun-control announcement Wednesday. But the Jackson County, Ky., sheriff said he already knows how the proposals will affect the way he does his job: not one whit.

Peyman is one of several sheriffs across the country who are vowing not to enforce new firearms restrictions that could be imposed by Congress or by executive order.

“Kentucky is a sovereign state,” Peyman told NBC News. “The federal government is coming in and saying, ‘This is what you’re going to do.’ We’re not going to do it.”

The White House’s wish list includes an assault-weapons ban. Peyman said if it comes to pass, he won’t be part of any crackdown.

“Let’s say I know there’s a thousand assault weapons in my county ... I’m not going to be a witch hunter and go door to door checking,” he said.

“I just happen to see someone with one?” he added. “He’s hunting? He’s on his own property? I’m not going to do a thing to him.”