Boots & Sabers

The blogging will continue until morale improves...

Month: August 2021

Bipartisan Bankruptcy

And our overlords in Washington continue to set fire to our Republic as they glory in spending our children’s future on their cronies and themselves. This is not governing. It’s a sanctioned crime syndicate.

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday handed President Joe Biden a $1 trillion victory, passing the largest infrastructure bill in decades, promising years of investment in roads, bridges and internet access.

 

It passed on a vote of 69 to 30 as 19 Republicans joined Democratic senators in voting in favor of the bipartisan bill.

UW Prof Deletes Violent Tweet

It is very clear that the professor was expressing praise for a violence against Senator Paul. I don’t think he should be fired or reprimanded. He was just a guy on Twitter being a guy on Twitter. Whatever. What is aggravating is the denial and gas lighting he engages in after the fact. Just own it, prof. You made a stupid joke on Twitter that you now regret. Welcome to the club.

A UW-Madison professor apologized on Monday for a social media post that some saw as advocating violence against a U.S. senator.

 

The tweet, by Mike Wagner, a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, was in response to a video posted on Twitter Sunday evening featuring Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky.

 

In the video, Paul encouraged people to “resist” guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on stemming the spread of COVID-19, such as wearing a mask. Paul also plugged amendments he plans to introduce that would defund any government agency that fails to return to work in person.

In his now-deleted post, Wagner wrote: “Where have you gone, Rand Paul’s neighbor, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you.”

 

Paul’s neighbor, Rene Boucher, tackled the senator in 2017, breaking several of Paul’s ribs. Boucher pleaded guilty to felony assault and was sentenced to eight months in prison and six months of home confinement.

Wagner removed the post before 10:30 a.m. Monday.

“I deleted a tweet that could be read as encouraging violence,” Wagner wrote. “I didn’t mean it that way, but I should know better than to say anything that could be misconstrued in a violent direction. I apologize for that.”

Victims ignored in defund the police movement

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a part:

Bob’s story is the kind of story happening all over America and in Wisconsin in cities where politicians and activists are tearing down civil order. Under the destructive belief that crime is a symptom of social ills in which the criminals are the greatest victims, the leftist push for deincarceration, no bail release, decriminalization, record expungement, and, most recently, defunding the police is rotting the core out of America’s cities.

 

The crime issue is not about the criminals. It is about the victims. It is about the vast majority of good people who get up every day, follow the rules, go to work, raise their children, volunteer in their neighborhoods, and write out their story in the history of their community. These are the people who suffer when criminals are loosed to savage cities. These are the Bobs who are the heart and soul of their cities and are being forced to consider leaving their beloved cities to the free-range criminal horde.

 

These are the people who Governor Tony Evers forsook when he vetoed the “Fund the Police” bill passed by the Legislature. In a move to push back against the “defund the police” movement, the bill would have simply reduced state aid to local governments that choose to defund their police by the same amount and redistributing the money to other local governments. While it would not have prevented local governments from defunding their police, it would have discouraged it and prevented state taxpayers from subsidizing local government leaders who are actively turning their communities over to criminals.

 

Wisconsin needs strong cities, but no amount of money or public policy can fix a city that has been eviscerated by crime. When the social fabric is rended and civil order collapses, the good people that Wisconsin’s cities need to thrive will simply leave. All that will remain is a wasteland of missed opportunity.

Evers’ DWD continues to fail Wisconsinites

Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News last week:

Gov. Tony Evers has made it clear through his veto actions that he wants as many people to continue to receive unemployment benefits for as long as possible despite the abundance of available jobs in the state. A report last week from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau demonstrates just how poorly Evers’ Department of Workforce Development is serving the people

 

When the pandemic first took hold and the government forced hundreds of thousands of people into the unemployment line, the wave of people crashing into the unemployment system was unprecedented. We learned last September just how badly the DWD handled the crisis.

 

At the height of the unemployment crisis, only 0.5% of the calls placed by the DWD were being answered. The DWD failed to respond in any meaningful way. They maintained their normal business hours and the call center was only open for 39.58 house per week until late May when it slightly extended its hours.

 

The performance of Evers’ DWD during the governmentimposed unemployment crisis was so bad that even Governor Evers seemed to admit the failure when he forced the DWD secretary to resign last September. One might have taken such an action to indicate that Evers was finally becoming a competent leader and would fix DWD to serve the people of Wisconsin.

 

Unfortunately, if there is anything that Tony Evers has shown throughout the entirety of his elected career, he is not a competent leader. Spurred by complaints to the state’s Fraud, Waste, and Mismanagement Hotline, the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau investigated multiple allegations that the DWD’s administration of unemployment insurance program was still suffering from delays and mismanagement. The hotline reports included many issues including delayed payments, call center wait times, insufficient assistance, and the failure to comply with state statutes and federal program requirements.

 

The LAB found that the issues with the call center’s effectiveness were consistent with their findings in January. Based on the continuing complaints, the DWD still has not corrected for the issues even though they have been continuing for over 15 months.

 

The LAB also dove into the data regarding the DWD complying with certain federal requirements and found that the DWD was woefully out of compliance. One of the requirements imposed by the federal government as a condition for the state to receive funding for the unemployment insurance program is the DWD is required to provide a prompt appeals process for individuals who are denied unemployment benefits. The federal rules require that the state issue appeal decisions for 60% of appeals within 30 days and for at least 80% within 45 days.

 

The DWD met that standard until May of 2020. Beginning in June 2020, the DWD fell to less than 50% of appeals decided within 45 days. That temporary failure to comply was understandable given the crush of unemployment claims at the time. Unfortunately for Wisconsin’s unemployed, the DWD’s appeals process steadily worsened to the point that as of May 2021, only 17.5% of appeals were decided within 45 days and only 10.2% were decided within 30 days.

 

The LAB’s report cites one example of how poorly DWD is managing appeals. In September of 2020, a Wisconsinite filed an appeal after being denied unemployment benefits. The DWD did not schedule an appeal hearing until March of 2021 — 26.5 weeks after the appeal was filed. The hearing partially reversed the denial, but then DWD dragged their feet again and did not issue a payment until May of 2021. For this unemployed Wisconsinite, it took almost nine months for the DWD to fix its incorrect denial and make it right. That is an unconscionable delay that has real consequences for the people on the other end of the DWD’s apathy.

 

Wisconsin’s unemployment crisis has long-since ended. The state is now facing an employment crisis where there are more jobs available than people willing to work them. But if Governor Evers is going to insist that Wisconsinites continue to receive unemployment payments even when there is work available, the least that one should be able to expect is that his DWD would competently run the program. Unfortunately, competence is too high a bar for this governor to meet.

Subway Owners Push Back on Activism

Whether or not one agrees with the activists’ message, there is a time and a place. I don’t want to have to support activism or make a political statement just to order a sandwich. I just want a dang sandwich. Hold the onions.

Owners of Subway franchises are asking the company’s bosses to pull adverts featuring soccer star Megan Rapinoe, because customers are complaining about her political activism.

 

Rapinoe, 36, is as well known for her outspoken views and purple hair as she is for her soccer skills.

 

In Tokyo for her third Olympics, Rapinoe took a knee during the National Anthem, before their bronze-winning game.

 

[…]

 

At the end of July, a Wisconsin franchise operator shared a note from an angry customer with a discussion forum hosted by the North American Association of Subway Franchisees (NAASF).

 

The note, taped to his door, read: ‘Boycott Subway until Subway fires the anti-American Megan Rapinoe, the creep who kneels for our beloved National Anthem!’

 

The Wisconsin owner said: ‘The ad should be pulled and done with. It gets tiring apologizing.’

 

Subway does not own any of its nearly 22,000 locations, but it charges franchisees 4.5 per cent of their revenue for a national advertising fund, and controls how the money is spent from its Connecticut headquarters.

 

An Arizona owner said on the NAASF blog: ‘Spending our money to make a political statement is completely and totally out of bounds.’

Bill to Allow Animals in Stores

I support the pulling back of the regulatory state to allow businesses to set their own policies in this regard, but I also greatly dislike pets in stores (except for pet stores). Leave your dang dog at home. Not everybody wants to be around it all the time like you.

MADISON, Wis. — The general manager of Fleet Farm’s Deforest location Robert Nilo said he gets up to five complaints a day from customers wanting to bring their dog into the store with them while they shop. A sign displayed on the front automatic sliding doors states, “We love your pets. But because we sell food, Wisconsin health laws do not allow them in our store.”

 

Wisconsin follows a model food code put out by the FDA which states animals are not allowed in any food establishments.

 

But, a bill currently circulating through Wisconsin legislature could change that.

 

The idea for the bill was started by Fleet Farm’s Executive Vice President Frank Steeves.

 

“There is no single topic that causes more anguish and anger to our Wisconsin customers than have the Wisconsin laws impacting whether they can bring their dogs into our stores. Regularly we receive letters and calls demanding to know why, when they are able to bring their pets in other stores, dogs are not allowed in our stores,” Steeves said. “Our customers have a hard time understanding, or believing us, when we tell them it is because a small amount of floor space is used to sell pre-packaged snacks.”

Evers Sits on Federal Relief Money

So the property owners and taxpayers are getting screwed by their renters and the federal government as Evers sits on the money?

When it comes to what people are waiting for, it is not a matter of money. The federal government gave the State of Wisconsin nearly $700 million. Part of that money went directly into the state’s largest communities including the cities of Milwaukee and Madison and the counties of Milwaukee, Waukesha and Dane. The rest of the money, $577 million, went to the state to cover renters living outside those areas. Of that amount, only $131 million has been spent. That means there is still almost $445 million in the state’s pot.

 

“We have the ability to serve folks in need. We are going to continue to take applications. We’ll continue to do outreach,” said Susan Brown, administrator of Wisconsin Division of Energy, Housing, and Community Resources for the Department of Administration.

Governor Who?

The media is portraying this as Biden slapping back at DeSantis. I think Biden seriously didn’t know.

The president piled on Thursday during an event at the White House on electric cars. Biden had just finished driving an electric Jeep Wrangler around the South Lawn when he was asked his response to DeSantis’ criticism: ‘Governor who,’ he said and then chuckled.

 

The White House has doubled down on blaming DeSantis and fellow Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas for the rising rates of coronavirus infections in their state.

On another note, Biden has opened the southern border and is dumping thousands and thousands of COVID-infected illegal aliens in Texas, and then he has the stones to blame Abbott for a rising infection rate?

Evers Lures People to Super Spreader Event with Cream Puffs

SMH

“For 52 years, Kathy and I haven’t missed a State Fair—except for last year, of course—and we’ve shared some of our favorite memories here, including eating our fair share of Wisconsin cream puffs,” said Gov. Evers. “Getting shots in arms is a critical part of making sure our state and our economy continue to recover, so we’re thrilled to partner with the folks at DHS and the Wisconsin State Fair to provide cream puffs to all those who get their COVID-19 vaccine at the state fair clinic on-site this year.”

Let me get this straight… Evers is very concerned that people who are not vaccinated will catch and/or spread the virus. So he invites the unvaccinated to come to a massive public event, get a shot, and then wander around before the shot will be effective. Won’t that spread more virus? Shouldn’t he be encouraging the unvaccinated to stay away and get vaccinated BEFORE they go to events like this? Instead, he is encouraging more unvaccinated people to attend the State Fair than might otherwise attend.

74 Advocacy Organizations Push Back on Vaccine Mandates on Behalf of Health Professionals

Keep pushing.

WISCONSIN (August 4, 2021) Wisconsin United for Freedom (WUFF), along with 73 other Wisconsin advocacy organizations have released an open letter to President Joe Biden and Governor Tony Evers urging them to support health freedom and vaccine choice for all Americans and Wisconsinites.
The full text of the letter is below.

President Biden and Governor Evers, Wisconsin United for Freedom, along with 73 other Wisconsin advocacy organizations, on behalf of 4,000 healthcare workers, are committed to health freedom and vaccine choice for every single man, woman, and child in the great state of Wisconsin and across the nation.

We are receiving an alarming number of private messages, emails, and phone calls from working professionals from across the entire state, including IT Professionals, Biopharmaceutical employees, educators, private-sector employees, union members, Registered Nurses, LPNs, NPs, technicians,
therapists, and a very wide range of other healthcare support workers. They are seeking help in fighting for one of their most basic freedoms: control over their own bodies. We are standing for nearly 4,000 of them, some of who are afraid to come forward for fear of retribution, so hear us clearly that we firmly oppose:

1. Vaccine mandates of any kind, including but not limited to:
 Adult employer vaccine mandates and healthcare worker vaccine mandates
 Vaccine mandates in our college institutions
 Childhood vaccine mandates
 SARS-CoV2 vaccine mandates

2. Vaccine passports

3. Policies that include segregation and discrimination based on vaccination status

4. Private medical information, such as vaccine status, being expose

Biden Extends Financial Hardship for Rental Property Owners

The long term impact of this is going to be a severe shortage in affordable rental properties as small and medium property owners decide that it isn’t worth the risk to rent their properties. The larger property owners will jack up rates to build a financial hedge against government intervention.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new eviction moratorium that would last until Oct. 3, as the Biden administration sought to quell intensifying criticism from progressives that it was allowing vulnerable renters to lose their homes during a pandemic.

 

The ban announced Tuesday could help keep millions in their homes as the coronavirus’ delta variant has spread and states have been slow to release federal rental aid. It would temporarily halt evictions in counties with “substantial and high levels” of virus transmissions and would cover areas where 90% of the U.S. population lives.

 

The announcement was a reversal for the Biden administration, which allowed an earlier moratorium to lapse over the weekend after saying a Supreme Court ruling prevented an extension. That ripped open a dramatic split between the White House and progressive Democrats who insisted the administration do more to prevent some 3.6 million Americans from losing their homes during the COVID-19 crisis.

Beyond the real impact, this is flatly immoral. We, the taxpayers, are already providing massive amounts of financial relief to people impacted by the pandemic. It is not unreasonable to expect that they will pay their rent with it. Why are the taxpayers and property owners bearing the burden for people who can, and should be working and paying their bills? If they can’t work, there are ample programs to help them. Either way, people need to pay their rent or move to somewhere they can afford.

Evers’ DWD continues to fail Wisconsinites

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a taste:

Unfortunately, if there is anything that Tony Evers has shown throughout the entirety of his elected career, he is not a competent leader. Spurred by complaints to the state’s Fraud, Waste, and Mismanagement Hotline, the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau investigated multiple allegations that the DWD’s administration of unemployment insurance program was still suffering from delays and mismanagement. The hotline reports included many issues including delayed payments, call center wait times, insufficient assistance, and the failure to comply with state statutes and federal program requirements.

 

The LAB found that the issues with the call center’s effectiveness were consistent with their findings in January. Based on the continuing complaints, the DWD still has not corrected for the issues even though they have been continuing for over 15 months.

 

The LAB also dove into the data regarding the DWD complying with certain federal requirements and found that the DWD was woefully out of compliance. One of the requirements imposed by the federal government as a condition for the state to receive funding for the unemployment insurance program is the DWD is required to provide a prompt appeals process for individuals who are denied unemployment benefits. The federal rules require that the state issue appeal decisions for 60% of appeals within 30 days and for at least 80% within 45 days.

 

The DWD met that standard until May of 2020. Beginning in June 2020, the DWD fell to less than 50% of appeals decided within 45 days. That temporary failure to comply was understandable given the crush of unemployment claims at the time. Unfortunately for Wisconsin’s unemployed, the DWD’s appeals process steadily worsened to the point that as of May 2021, only 17.5% of appeals were decided within 45 days and only 10.2% were decided within 30 days.

 

Parents and Citizens Resist Government Overreach

It is good to see a fair amount of pushback on governments moving to impose mandates and restrictions in response to a resurge of COVID.

We have watched the last week unfold in abject horror – observing our government institutions and leaders failing our children at every turn, again. Your renewed calls for lockdowns, enforced mask mandates, and masking in schools is not rooted in science and is objectively cruel to the most vulnerable
in our society, our children. We believe that you are in fact aware of this and continue to play political games with our children, despite our efforts to work with you over the last twelve months.

We are here to inform you that this ends today.

Effective immediately we will not:

1. Mask our children in schools

2. Allow you to use your private sector counterparts to enforce invasive mask mandates on our children in various stores or at community activities

3. Subject our children to any further local, regional, or national lockdowns or movement restriction

Simply put, these are not your children. They are ours and they too, are Americans with rights. They are
our responsibility and our most beloved. They are not yours.

Given the miniscule chance that children will be significantly harmed by COVID and the proven detrimental effects that masks and lockdowns cause on their mental health and education, it is bordering on child abuse to impose those things on kids.

Federal Eviction Moratorium Finally Nearing End

If you aren’t paying rent, can you really be called a “renter?”

While many landlords say they can only go so long without being paid, some tenants are left worried about what their next move will be.

 

“The moratorium ending, it basically means that at any moment I could end up on the street,” said Heather Waller, a renter who has benefited from the eviction moratorium for months.

 

“I don’t know what tomorrow looks like. So, my anxiety has been really severely bad just thinking about how I might not have a roof over my head.”

Vaccinated Face 0.004% Chance of Serious Breakthrough Case

Once again… if you are vaccinated, then why would you be concerned over the vaccination status of others? You made your choice. They made theirs. Let’s get on with living.

(CNN)More than 99.99% of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 have not had a breakthrough case resulting in hospitalization or death, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

The data highlights what leading health experts across the country have highlighted for months: Covid-19 vaccines are very effective at preventing serious illness and death from Covid-19 and are the country’s best shot at slowing the pandemic down and avoiding further suffering.

 

The CDC reported 6,587 Covid-19 breakthrough cases as of July 26, including 6,239 hospitalizations and 1,263 deaths. At that time, more than 163 million people in the United States were fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

 

Divide those severe breakthrough cases by the total fully vaccinated population for the result: less than 0.004% of fully vaccinated people had a breakthrough case that led to hospitalization and less than 0.001% of fully vaccinated people died from a breakthrough Covid-19 case.

Scarce Ammunition

This is most certainly true.

SEATTLE — The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with record sales of firearms, has fueled a shortage of ammunition in the United States that’s impacting law enforcement agencies, people seeking personal protection, recreational shooters and hunters — and could deny new gun owners the practice they need to handle their weapons safely.

 

Manufacturers say they’re producing as much ammunition as they can, but many gun store shelves are empty and prices keep rising. Ammunition imports are way up, but at least one U.S. manufacturer is exporting ammo. All while the pandemic, social unrest and a rise in violent crime have prompted millions to buy guns for protection or to take up shooting for sport.

Although, I was in Cabela’s in Richfield this morning and they have lots of 7.62, 5.56, 40mm, and others. No 9mm though…

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