Wisconsin Recall Candidates

Since California may very well end up with another actor for governor (not that that’s a bad thing!), I put some thought into a Wisconsin recall.  If we should recall our governor, here are the top 10 actors born in Wisconsin who could replace him:

1. Willem Dafoe (most recently in Spiderman)
2. Max Hardcore (Ranked #28 in AVN’s Top 50 Porn Stars of All Time)
3. Kato Kaelin (of OJ fame)
4. Chris Noth (Law & Order)
5. Ted Nugent (rocker and gun nut)
6. Charlotte Ray (Mrs. Garrett from The Facts of Life)
7. Kathy Kinney (Mimi on The Drew Carey Show)
8. Jane Kaczmarek (The mom on Malcolm in the Middle)
9. Bradley Whitford (#8’s husband)
10. Kurtwood Smith (Red Forman on That 70’s Show)

It’s a tossup for me between Red Forman and Mrs. Garrett.

Conan the Gov?

He’s going to run!

Arnold Schwarzenegger, 56, announced Wednesday that he will run for California governor in an October recall election.

Boy.  Federal politics may be dull right now, but State politics are a carnival.  The Texas Dems are fleeing the state.  California is in the midst of a recall.  There’s a taxpayers’ revolt in Wisconsin.

The Party Never Ends....

Payoff?

As many of you know, I’ve been harping on the tax freeze here in Wisconsin.  Here’s one of my posts on it. 

Now it’s crunch time.  The State Senate will call an override vote next week.  The Republicans need 4 Democratic votes to pass the override.  One of those Democrats who’s leaning toward an override but not committed to one is Jeff Plale in South Milwaukee.  His district is the one where the electorate voted in their first Republican Assemblyman in 75 years over this issue. 

So, I’m browsing through Jim Doyle’s (governor) appointments and whose name do I see?  You guessed it:

Jeff Plale of South Milwaukee was appointed to the College Savings Program Board for a term to expire May 1, 2007

Hmmmm…. could Jim Doyle possibly be trying to buy off Jeff Plale’s vote?

Jim Doyle Supports Voter Fraud

Doyle is vetoing the voter ID bill.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle today planned to veto a bill that would require people to present state-issued photo identification to vote at the polls or to get an absentee ballot, his office said.

Currently, in Wisconsin, we only have to verify our address to vote.  I walk into my polling place, tell them my name, they look me up on the list, and I vote.  If I’m not on the list, I give them my address (no proof required) and then vote.  As you can see, it is VERY easy to commit voter fraud in Wisconsin.  This has been shown to be a problem in the past few years.

The Dems, and the governor, are saying that requiring an ID to vote would disenfranchise poor folks and old folks because they are less likely to have an ID.  What a crock.  If you are too poor to get a state ID (which is $10, I think), the bill provided a free ID for you.  If you are too restricted in movement to go and get an ID, then how the hell are you going to make it to the polling place to vote anyway?

The truth is that you have to have an ID to function in today’s society.  You have to have one to cash a check, buy a gun, buy cigarettes, buy booze, get welfare, get a job, get a video, and on and on and on.  I don’t buy the argument that since voting is a right and these things are not, then requiring an ID to exercise a right is an unconstitutional impediment.  Buying a gun is a right that is subject to reasonable restraints.  Publishing a newspaper is a right that is subject to reasonable restraints. 

Furthermore, if voting is a right, then it in incumbent on government to make sure that it is done in a way where people are not denied a voice.  If the rules are so lax that voter fraud if rife, then all of the people who legally voted are disenfranchised by the fact that they only got one vote while those who fraud the system get several, or dozens, or hundreds of votes. 

The truth is that, at least in Wisconsin, the Dems oppose requiring voters to accurately identify themselves because they use holes in the election process to fraud the system in their favor.  Think I?m exaggerating?  Look at this story, or this one, or this one, or this one, or this one, or this one, or this one.  Need I go on?  These are all examples of voter fraud.  They were all committed by Democrats.  There are no incidents of Republicans attempting this kind of stuff. 

There is a problem in Wisconsin with corruption in the Democratic Party, and they are pushing hard make sure the rules keep it easy for them.

Senate

Although not unexpected, this is good news.

HOLLINGS: “With all of this attention, radio, tv and press, I’m constrained from changing my mind. I want to confirm what you have all suspected, that I will not be opting for re-election this next year.

Like most of the South, South Carolina has been shifting more Republican for years.  Assuming that the Republicans put up a halfway decent candidate (always a risky assumption), this seat will become Republican in 2004.

On another note, you should read this whole speech.  Here’s a great part:

“I had to make a talk on trade last week, and I looked it up and found out that at the end of World War II we had 40 percent of our workforce in manufacturing. And now we’re down to 10 percent. We’ve got 10 percent of the country working and producing, and we’ve got the other 90 percent talking and eating. That’s all they’re doing.

According to Hollings, if you aren’t in manufacturing, you’re not really working.  This is a man who is stuck in the past.  The world is changing and it has left Hollings behind.  It has left him a bitter, confused, and spiteful old man.  It’s hard to feel anything but pity for such a creature.  

Thank you for your service, Senator.

NY Times and Discrimination

The NY Times has come out against the gay-only High School in New York.  There are two excellent money quotes:

The city should never suggest that the solution to problems of discrimination and persecution of students who are perceived as different is to segregate them from the rest of the population.

And…

In the long term, though, history has taught us the best way to fight discrimination is to dismantle it where it occurs.

There’s virtually nothing that I can disagree with in this editorial.  My only question is, if discrimination should be dismantled wherever it is encountered, why does the same editorial board support affirmative action (especially within its own ranks)?

Property Taxes

Do you really think that local officials will hold the line on property taxes in Wisconsin without being forced to by the state?  Their record on the issue doesn’t support such a conclusion.

More than 80 percent of the communities in the 11 southeastern counties raised property taxes by more than the 12.5 percent rate of inflation from 1997 to 2002, a Milwaukee newspaper reported Sunday.

Of those communities, 89 increased property taxes by more than 50 percent, and 12 more than doubled their taxes, the newspaper?s analysis showed.

School districts, restricted by state-imposed revenue caps, typically had smaller increases, but 69 percent had levy growth beyond the inflation rate.

 

Government officials have come to feel immune from public retribution.  They have much more concern for the bureaucrats who spend the money and the people who take the money than for the taxpayers who pay the bills.  They have gotten this way because we, the public, have let them.  It’s time to take our government back and remind the government officials for whom they work.

Smoking Ban Results

These results were completely predictable:

Since the ban went into effect, bars and restaurants along the New York state line say they have seen more New Yorkers looking to light up, creating a boon for establishments in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

New York’s statewide smoking ban became law July 24, following a New York City ban. In addition to bars, restaurants and nightclubs, the state ended smoking in off-track betting parlors, bowling alleys and company cars. The ban is among the toughest in the nation.

Some New York smokers, like the Langs, have simply left the state for more hospitable locations.

Energy Policy

Some folks are upset about the progress of the energy bill. 

      “WITH THIS maneuver, the Senate has cut short needed debate on America’s energy future and failed to provide a responsible energy policy for the nation,” the Sierra Club said shortly after the Senate late Thursday passed the 2002 bill on an 84-14 vote.

      “The Senate neglected to adequately debate and vote on important issues such as reducing global warming pollution; closing the light-truck fuel economy loophole; requiring increased use of clean, renewable energy sources; and providing consumer protections against energy market manipulation,” the Sierra Club added.

The environmentalists are complaining that the energy bill didn’t get enough debate.  Does anyone really buy that?  This issue have been debated, passionately and with a high profile, for years.  Not all debate on an issue takes place on the floor of the House and Senate.  We’ve had a very public debate about.  A debate that convinced 84 Senators to vote to pass it.

The Sierra club and their ilk are just being sore losers.  The rule of thumb is: if you can’t win the argument, complain about the process.

Trouble Ahead

For Democrats:

The United States has found evidence of an active program to make weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, including “truly amazing” testimony from Iraqis ordered to dupe UN inspectors before the war, the man leading the hunt said Thursday.

David Kay, a former United Nations inspector who is joint head of the Iraq Survey Group, offered an unprecedentedly [sic] optimistic assessment of the hunt for weapons of mass destruction.

Although he called for patience, he predicted that doubters were in for a “surprise” by the time his work was done.

The problem, of course, is that we may never find a weapons stockpile.  What we will undoubtedly find, however, is substantial documentation and testimony that the weapons did or do exist.  We may also find broken up parts of equipment that was used to produce or contain the weapons.  None of this will be good enough for the liberals who will insinuate that the evidence is forged or fabricated.  Meanwhile, without a sexy picture of a massive stockpile of containers with biohazard stickers on them or nukes on missiles, the media will be starved for images and will start spinning conspiracy theories.

Waste

Here’s another example of your government at work:

Believing the term “food stamps” carries such a stigma that it’s making people reluctant to partake in the program, the state has commissioned an advertising agency to find a new term.

However, it is unclear whether these new names will be implemented, because of differing reports from state and federal agencies.

The state’s Department of Health and Family Services, which spent $10,000 to have a Madison firm craft the new name, had hoped to introduce it soon in brochures, TV advertisements and other promotional materials. The business - Knupp and Watson - has been running several possibilities by focus groups.

All of Wisconsin government is screaming that there isn’t enough money, and yet we can spend $10,000 in an effort to make sure that folks who use food stamps don’t feel bad about doing so and might use them more.

The next time a government official tells you that there isn’t possibly anything to cut from a budget - point to this example.

Economy

Good News:

The broadest barometer of the economy’s shape, gross domestic product, expanded at an annual rate of 2.4 percent in the April to June quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The improvement came after two straight quarters of lousy economic growth. GDP increased at just a 1.4 percent pace in the final quarter of 2002 and the first three months of this year.

And the better part:

Some are predicting a growth rate in the second half in the range of 3.5 percent to 4 percent or more.

I know that my business is really starting to heat up with a lot of people expecting to pull the trigger on projects in the 4th quarter or 1st quarter next year.

More Ammo

The Republicans get another arrow in their quiver for the tax freeze:

Under the GOP plan, property taxes on that typical home would have increased by only 1%, the report said. The limits would have allowed local governments to raise property tax levies only by the amount of new construction in their communities, unless voters approved higher levels in a referendum.

Overall, the report said, the total property tax levy statewide is expected to go up by 7.2% this fall - to a record $7.89 billion - because of cuts in state aid to local governments and schools, the fiscal bureau estimated Wednesday. But the increase on homes will be less - 5.9% - because of tax credits that go only to homeowners.

I’ve been talking about this a lot (go to the search on your right and search for “Doyle” or Tax Freeze”), but here’s the short version.  The Legislature in Wisconsin, run by Republicans, put a property tax freeze provision into the budget.  Governor Jim Doyle, who ran on a “no new taxes” pledge, vetoed the freeze.

Now, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, which does all the budget projections for the government, has said that Doyle’s veto will most result in a 5.9% property tax hike.  Doyle has broken his pledge and there’s a showdown veto override vote coming up in the next few weeks.

The State Senate has to vote for the override first and they need 4 Democrats to join all 18 Republicans to override the veto.  2 Dems have committed to an override and one probably will, though he hasn’t committed.  The Republicans need just one more.

The Tax Freeze is tremendously popular in Wisconsin.  The Democrats would be smart to vote to override it.  At this point, I think Doyle will probably be a one-term governor, if the Republicans can produce a decent candidate.  The Democratic legislators would be fools to support Doyle against the public will. 

Of course, from my point of view, I win either way.  If the Dems vote for the override, I get my tax freeze.  If they don’t, I get a Republican controlled State government after the next election cycle.

Bad Idea

This is a horrible idea.

Mayoral candidate Tom Barrett called Wednesday for an overhaul of how Milwaukee schools are run so that the mayor elected in 2004 would appoint the school superintendent, the president of the school board and all seven members of the board itself.

The answer to the problems with the school district is NOT to remove it from public accountability.  Here is how he spins it:

Barrett said that under the current system, in which an elected nine-member school board appoints a superintendent, there is no one elected official who is accountable to the public for school performance. The high turnover in the superintendent’s office and on the board has meant that middle managers within the school system who do not answer directly to the public have a lot of power, he said.

Guess what?  High turnover is called accountability.  If they were doing a good job, they would keep their jobs.  And regardless of what Barrett says, middle managers are just that - middle managers.  If the board showed good leadership, it could easily exert power over any of the entrenched bureaucrats. 

The problem with making the Mayor the “one person” accountable for the school district, is that the school district isn’t the Mayor?s sole responsibility.  Say, for instance, the Mayor totally screws the school district up, but did a fantastic job at all of the other Mayoral duties?  Will the voters toss him/her out?  Would they be wise to do so in this case?  If, on balance, the voters decide to keep the Mayor, then how will the schools improve?

Tom Barrett is a former Congressman who just unsuccessfully ran for governor.  This is all about him settling for Mayor and wanting as much power as possible.

California

How did California go wrong?  The BBC tries to make a case, but misses the mark.

Here’s one miss:

California is split down the middle between Democrats, including the current governor, Gray Davis, who have some belief in public spending, and Republicans for whom tax rises are anathema.

The California electorate is 45% Democrat and 35% Republican with the Dems controlling every part of the government.

Here’s another miss.

On top of that, any government there has its hands tied by what’s known in America as “direct democracy” - the right of the electorate to petition for ballots and then to vote for specific measures.

[...]

One decision, for example, confined the state’s ability to levy taxes on property; another committed the government to spend 40% of its income on education.

And you don’t need to be a mathematical genius to know that a ceiling on revenue plus an insistence on spending adds up to penury.

Goodness knows we wouldn’t want the filthy masses to tie the hands of government.  That is certainly a cause of bad governance.  And actually, you don’t have to be a mathematical genius to know that it is perfectly possible to spend 40% of the taxes on a particular priority and limit the overall take.  40% is still 40%.

In the end, they get it right:

Perhaps the real problem is not the government but the governed: high public spending plus low taxes is a sum that doesn’t add up.

Californians may want both but they have to make a choice.

However, the article is riddled with as many errors as it is clich?s.