Ryan Wrong on Bailout

Paul Ryan jumps out on the wrong side of a bailout… again.

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said Wednesday he would favor assisting the ailing American automakers immediately, using the $25 billion Congress set aside previously for development of more fuel-efficient vehicles.

[...]

Ryan said he would use the already-allocated energy efficiency money now, and deal with the issue of if or how to replace it later.

Beyond the fact that a bailout for the Big 3 is a bad idea, it’s this kind of “spend now and figure out how to pay for it later” thinking that has resulted in massive spending and waste.  I think that Sensenbrenner might need to give Ryan a call and remind him that he’s a conservative. 

Hat tip Dad29.

Governor Palin’s Unfortunate Turkey Killin’ Backdrop

Hat tip The American Mind.

Bureaucrats On Display

Wow.  There are soooooooooooooo many things to comment upon in this story, but I’ll attempt to be concise.

At least three Wisconsin state agencies say they can’t meet Gov. Jim Doyle’s orders to come up with plans to cut spending by 10 percent

When did Doyle make that request?  A week ago?  And they have already concluded that there’s nothing to cut?  I don’t buy it for a minute.  If these clowns were in the private sector, any responsible CEO would have sacked them immediately because they obviously aren’t even trying. 

Secretary of State Doug La Follette said a 10 percent cut is “simply impossible,” in a letter sent to Doyle’s budget director.

The position of Secretary of State in Wisconsin is pretty meaningless.  It’s a state wide elected position and third in line to replace the governor should the worst happen.  The entire office should have been abolished and rolled into the administration decades ago.  Certainly, it can do with less.  And it appears that the Secretary of State isn’t exactly burning the midnight oil.

La Follette was out of the office Wednesday and did not immediately return an e-mail message seeking comment.

On to the next bureaucrat unwilling to cut spending…

Railroad Commission Secretary Roger Breske said such a cut would reduce his office to a “dog-and-pony show.”

[...]

He said that would amount to a $48,700 cut that would require laying off one of two full-time safety analysts.

The analysts are responsible for investigating rail crossing sites, drainage, bridge, clearance and other safety compliance issues across the state. Laying off one of them, in order to meet the budget cut, would put public safety at risk and “reduce this office to a dog-and-pony show and undermine Wisconsin’s strong railroad tradition,” Breske wrote.

How many new railroad lines are being built in Wisconsin in the next couple of years?  Presumably, the existing lines have already been thoroughly analyzed, so we’re only talking about new construction.  Breske is clearly a bureaucrat of a tiny office and is being fiercely protective of his fiefdom.

Moving on…

And the state Board on Aging and Long Term Care said meeting the governor’s order to cut “makes no sense.”

[...]

Heather Bruemmer, executive director of the Board on Aging and Long Term Care, said the cut would have to come from its ombudsman program, which is state-funded and charged with looking after the rights and welfare of people utilizing long-term care.

“In light of the importance of the agency’s programs to the public health, welfare and safety, it makes no sense to follow through with the plan to reduce this agency’s operating expenses by 10 percent,” Bruemmer said. She asked that the agency be exempted.

While an ombudsman program is theoretically a good thing, the people in the programs are protected by law and have access to the judicial system.  They can sure the state of they are abused.  Also, I find it EXTREMELY hard to believe that the ombudsman program is the only area with room to cut.  This appears to be a bureaucrat trying to scare the public by only offering up the ombudsman program to the public. 

All of this show the worst of government bureaucracy on display.  They are fiercely defending their budgets and territory and don’t give a crap about the taxpayers.  Meanwhile, in the rest of Wisconsin, people have lost HALF of their investments.  People’s homes are worth 80% of what they were a year ago.  Layoffs are becoming more rampant and people fear for their jobs. 

If the bureaucrats under Doyle refuse to cut their budgets themselves, then it’s up to the legislature to do it for them.  In private life, if the money is not there you find a way to make it work.  Government should do the same.  If the people in charge can’t manage their portfolios, then Doyle should sack them and put in place people who know what the hell they are doing. 

Unemployment in Wisconsin

Hmmmm.... here’s an interesting thread.  First, there’s this story.

MADISON — Unemployed Wisconsin workers are being encouraged to go online to file claims for benefits.

A swelling number of claims played a big part in the public request, which came from the state Department of Workforce Development on Wednesday.

“Clearly we have an increase in claims. The claim numbers have risen 30 percent above the same week a year ago,” said Dick Jones, DWD agency liaison.

But then there’s this:

Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman announced today that Wisconsin’s unemployment rate for October was 4.4 percent, unchanged from September. The rate was 0.2 percentage points up from the rate in October of 2007.

What happened to the 30% increase?  Looks like a very modest increase (thank goodness).

It sure seems like the moaning about overworked bureaucrats is a bit premature. 

Body of Copernicus Found

Cool.

Researchers in Poland say they have solved a centuries-old mystery and identified the remains of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

A comparison of DNA from a skeleton in Poland and strands of the astronomer’s hair found in a book in Sweden almost certainly confirm it is his skeleton.

Archaeologists found the skeleton in north-eastern Poland three years ago in a cathedral where Copernicus lived.

Meat Art

I think this one is my favorite.

Get Your Free Dr. Pepper

Sign me up.

Dr Pepper is making good on its promise of free soda now that the release of Guns N’ Roses’ “Chinese Democracy” is a reality.

The soft-drink maker said in March that it would give a free soda to everyone in America if the album dropped in 2008. “Chinese Democracy,” infamously delayed since recording began in 1994, goes on sale Sunday.

“We never thought this day would come,” Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper’s vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “But now that it’s here, all we can say is: The Dr Pepper’s on us.”

Public Service Announcement

For those of you in Blue Bell country…

Try this.

You’re welcome. 

Wisconsin Budget Woes

Here we go.

Gov. Jim Doyle’s administration said today state government now faces a budget deficit of $5.4 billion through mid-2011- $400 million more than the governor estimated only days ago.

“This is the worst deficit in the state’s history,” state Administration Secretary Mike Morgan said in a report to Doyle.

The report documented falling tax collections expected through mid-2011 and state agency budget requests for $62.3 billion over that period - requests that cannot be met.

“For the first time in decades, revenue collections are expected to fall in two consecutive fiscal years,” said Morgan.

He blamed slumping worldwide and national economies, an American financial system that “nearly collapsed,” tighter credit for consumers, businesses and governments, and falling retail sales

Um, and don’t forget our elected officials’ refusal to actually balance the budget for the last several cycles. 

Here’s my favorite part:

The most likely ways to fix the budget deficit are :

• Deeper cuts to state spending, which could include layoffs of state workers.

• Tax increases or other revenue-raising changes - changes that could cancel or delaying tax breaks passed over the past two years. Revoking some of of billions of dollars in tax exemptions that have been on the books for years also would be a possibility.

Anyone want to take a guess as to which solution dominates the next budget?  In other words, dollar for dollar, will we see more spending cuts or tax increases? 

Green Lanes in Illinois

Here’s another $1.8 billion on the altar of environmentalism.

The tollway board approved $1.8 billion in road-improvement spending today that includes funding to set aside carpool lanes along 80 miles of toll roads.

In 2010, crews would start converting one lane in each direction of the state’s tollways to carpool lanes, also known as “green lanes.” Drivers with at least one passenger could drive in the lanes at an established toll rate. Those driving along in hybrid cars or other specific fuel-efficient vehicles would be able to drive in the special lane but would pay more than carpoolers. Solo drivers in regular cars would have to pay even more to drive in the dedicated lane.

The sad truth is that this won’t do anything to make people more green.  Encouraging carpooling with dedicated lanes has failed consistently.  People are already moving to more economical cars and it has nothing to do with which lane they can use.  You can tell what this is really about by looking at the last sentence of the excerpt.  This is about green, alright… money. 

Anyone can use the dedicated lane, but some people pay more.  Sounds like a perfect revenue enhancer for the tollway. 

Civics Test

Dang it, I got pretty close.  How did y’all do?

You answered 32 out of 33 correctly — 96.97 %

Average score for this quiz during November: 79.1%
Average score since November 20, 2008: 79.1%

You can take the quiz as often as you like, however, your score will only count once toward the monthly average.

Denying Open Records Requests

This is outrageous.

Three in 10 requests made under the state’s public records law were not properly fulfilled, according to a statewide audit released today by open records advocates.

Citizens have a right to see what their government is doing. 

MATC Board Voted Against Germantown Secession

Of course they did.

The Wisconsin Technical College System Board voted 12-0 today to reject a request from the Germantown School District to secede from the Milwaukee Area Technical College District.

The secession would have resulted in a tax reduction for Germantown School District property taxpayers because Germantown would have affiliated with the lower-taxing Moraine Park Technical College District.

Screw the customers.  Just take their money.  Such is the attitude of MATC.

Milwaukee County Board Votes to Raise Taxes During Recession

How nice of them.

The Milwaukee County Board today rebuffed most of County Executive Scott Walker’s privatization plans, through a series of veto overrides on the 2009 budget that added back nearly $9 million in spending.

With today’s final budget action, the property tax levy for next year will be $257.6 million. That’s 3.1%, or $7.6 million, higher than this year’s levy.

That will mean a county property tax increase of $12.04 next year, for the owner of a Milwaukee home valued at $150,000.

Overall county spending next year was set at $1.4 billion.

Al-Qaida #2?  Where’s #1?

An al-Qaida person apparently attempted to insult President-elect Obama in a new message.

Why haven’t we heard from bin Laden?  Because bin Laden is dead and has been for a couple years.  They can’t recycle an old message because Obama wasn’t politically significant when bin Laden was alive.  The words “Barack Obama” never passed the lips of bin Laden, so Obama will have to get his insults from the #2 guy.