Dumb Ron Johnson Blames Obama's No Compromise offer, for not taking his No Compromise Offer. Huh? New Glarus Brewing Featured.

Dumb Ron Johnson has done everything he can to shape reality around his odd little talking point world vision. He doesn't even know it's a party con on the American people. He actually believes their own propaganda.

Penalize the job creators? Did we penalize the "job creators" in the 50's and 60's when the tax rate was 91%? Did entrepreneurship stop working back then? Of course not, because there were other competitors wishing and hoping those in front of them would go away. And that didn't happen.

Another thing, wasn't it the Republicans who wanted to cut, cut, cut? Why aren't Republicans like Johnson coming up with their own list of cuts. Why are they waiting for Obama? It's time RoJo the Clown gave us his list of cuts.

NBC's anchor kept trying, and finally got Dumb Ron Johnson to admit he too had no plans to compromise or raise taxes. In fact, he's proud of signing Grover Norquist's brilliant idea, a juvenile gimmick Norquist came up with when he was 12 years old. Doh!

Watch the accident. Johnson is the most pathetic blowhard to ever embarrass the state:



Real small business owners, and not the kind who married into business success like Johnson, have a grounded and realistic perspective. Oh, and less bombastic. Here's New Glarus Brewing's Deb Carey on Channel3000:

GOP's "base-broadening, rate-lowering" tax reform Big tax increase for many.

This really is an eye opener and must read.

Gov. Scott Walker wants to lower state and property taxes. This is the same disastrous plan George Bush implemented in 2001 when he claimed tax surpluses meant over taxation, and passed the debt swelling tax cuts. Those Clinton surpluses would have wiped out debt and provided funding need to reform out tax code and other costly programs. A simple thing like changing the tax code would cost taxpayer about a trillion dollars, which puts us deeper in the hole. 

But Walker's plans may just collide with congresses plans to rate lowering tax reform and "base broadening." And for those who want to turn Wisconsin deep red politically, aren't going to like how that gets done. Ezra Klein lays it out for us:

Base-broadening, rate-lowering tax reform.” It sounds so good, right? But what if you call it what it really is? Charity-destroying, home-shrinking, state-burdening tax reform.

Doesn’t sound as good, does it?

But that’s really what we’re talking about. The term ”base-broadening, rate-lowering tax reform” has the advantage of vagueness: No one knows what it means. And as former OMB director Peter Orszag points out, 90 percent of the value of those deductions comes from just three categories: “taxes paid (mostly state and local taxes), home-mortgage interest and charitable contributions.”

So when we say “base-broading, rate-lowering tax reform,” here’s what we’re really saying: Tax reform that’s paid for by cutting tax breaks for charities, homes, and state and local taxes.

Then there’s the deductibility for state and local taxes. Removing that deduction will pound taxpayers who reside in high-tax cities or states — which means it’ll hit those cities and states by making them less attractive places to live. And note the political economy: those states and cities are disproportionately blue. All 10 of the highest-tax states went for Obama in 2012, while eight of the 10 lowest-tax states went for Romney.

“Base-broadening, rate-lowering tax reform” isn’t magic. It’s more of a magic trick: It relies on obfuscation and misdirection to distract the audience from the tax increases.

But limiting itemized deductions in order to raise revenues is a tax increase, and we should be honest about where it’s coming from. The answer, overwhelmingly, is charitable deductions, the home-mortgage interest deduction, and the state and local tax deduction. Perhaps it’s better to raise taxes on those activities rather than raise marginal rates. But that’s the conversation we need to be having.

Repeating the term ”base-broadening, rate-lowering tax reform” over and over again isn’t getting us anywhere.

Group looking to hold Charter Schools accountable, too many failing but still taking kids.

While Gov. Scott Walker has already removed accountability measures for voucher schools, parents should be alerted to a rising problem where bad schools continue to remain open. With no way of knowing whether a school is failing, until it’s too late, parents are being sold on the idea that success can be gauged by higher enrollment.

Wrong. That means many are falling prey to a massive nationwide sales pitch, and it’s working. I've mentioned this before, but check out how voucher advocates talk up rising attendance, and never how well those schools are doing. Because they can't.

Supposed "small government" Republicans are fine with creating a defective parallel school system that drains taxpayer’s money and requires costly oversight. But that was their original argument about public schools. 

Things are bad right now, and most American don't know it. I'm hoping this article in Edweek changes a few minds about those "innovative" charter schools: 

As enrollment in charters schools continues to climb, a national organization is urging state legislators to draw a harder line on setting standards for opening those schools and ensuring that weak ones get shut down.

The National Association of Charter School Authorizers, is launching what it calls a "One Million Lives" campaign to press for changes in state law that hold charter schools and their authorizers more accountable for performance. By setting tougher standards for charter schools to open, and remain open, states will set a path for "smarter growth," the association argues, by putting many more high-quality schools in the mix.

By one measure, the number of charter schools going out of business is already on the rise. The rate of charter schools closing during the periods when their contracts are up for renewal has risen recently, from 6 percent in 2010 to nearly 13 percent in 2012 … But despite those shut-downs, the association says there's substantial evidence that many low-performing charter schools continue to skate by.

According to the organization's analysis, between 900 and 1,300 charter schools across the nation are among the lowest 15 percent of academic performers in their states … And the organization's effort will also have money behind it: NACSA officials said that a number of philanthropic organizations are providing financial support, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Robertson Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation. 

Mining Bill all but a sure thing, business "takers" get to trash Wisconsin.

I want to hear the Democratic Party promise they will repeal and replace the mining bill when they have their first opportunity. Start now guys.

Hopefully, we'll still have clean water and breathable air by then. Oh yeah, let's hope we'll still have some value left in our homes, downwind and downstream from the new sand mining/ore mines.

Notice how many times mining advocates mention jobs, just in case people weren't buying their hyperbolic con job. Again, good-bye state tourism, edible fish...Channel3000:

Tax hike only pays for 6 days of government spending? We’re not that stupid.

We all have a way of tolerating really ridiculous talking points from our tea party Republican partisans, but one in particular stands out after getting an urgent call from my conservative friend.

According to the Washington Post's fact checkers, despite having some basis in fact, it really is stupid, as the title above suggests. So the Post decided to expand on the idea:

The GOP’s claim that a tax hike on the wealthy would pay for only a week of spending ...
Over a decade, the rate hikes and other provisions affecting the wealthy would raise $968 billion, which is essentially one year of the current deficit. Republicans proposed raising an estimated $50 billion per year by eliminating deductions and closing tax loopholes. That covers only 4.8 days of government spending.

Republican members of the committee also proposed trimming Medicare and Medicaid spending by about $28 billion per year. That would reduce government spending by only 2.7 days if you use the McConnell-McCarthy metric.

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)  spokesman said: “We are not disputing that raising taxes would decrease the deficit. We are saying it would not generate nearly enough revenue to reverse the dangerous trajectory our government spending is on.”

These are valid points. But just because a rate hike wouldn’t solve the deficit problem on its own doesn’t mean lawmakers should take the option off the table entirely.

Support for Sly strong, mornings without him long.

You can't visit one statewide liberal blog without at least one story urging 92.1 The MIC to hire Sly in the Morning. Even Mayor Paul Soglin chimed in:

Madison radio needs local voices and local hosts.  Sly’s program on WTDY has provided a local forum for politicians and listeners for over 15 years.  No screening of callers to weed out those who disagreed, but a free flow of thoughts and ideas. I was a frequent guest on the program, as was State Representative Glenn Grothman.  There are very few issues on which State Representative Grothman and I agree but Sly treated each of us with respect and had a genuine interest in issues important to us. Local radio promotes and supports local businesses.  Sly had developed long-standing relationships with advertisers and contributed to their success. He continued his work off the air, helping to make this a better city.  He was involved in promoting Monona Terrace when many believed it would never happen. 

From WKOW News:



Sly did very well in the mornings, so it wasn't so much his ratings that tanked the station, but the influence of another radio loser taking control. It's a familiar radio story. The ratings advertisers value most? Adults 25-54  M-F  6a-10a

1. WIBA-FM  8.4  4,100 average person per hr.
2. WZEE        7.8   3,800
3. WMGN      6.8   3,300
4. WJJO         6.4   3,100
5. WMAD      6.2   3,000
6. WERN       5.7   2,800
7. WTDY      4.5   2,200

In the ever important Men's demo (age 25-54), Sly tied WMGN (Magic 98) for 7th place, at 3.7 percent. Sly's show trounced The MIC's Bill Press show, who came in 16th.

Just as interesting, even though WTDY ranked 11th overall, it had slightly fewer listeners per hour than 4th ranked WIBA-AM (includes Rush and Vicki McKenna), 600 to 900 respectively. WTDY also tied with The MIC.

In the meantime, here's the Cap Times editorial:

Madison misses John “Sly” Sylvester.

Sylvester, the veteran morning host on Madison’s WTDY radio, lost his gig last week when the station decided to flip its format. The decision by WTDY to drop Sly, and the station’s able news staff, was a deeply disappointing one.

But Sly’s loyal listeners and advertisers rallied quickly to find the stalwart of the Wisconsin uprising and ardent advocate for working people an on-air gig. On Wednesday they launched a petition drive urging the local progressive talk station, 92.1-The Mic, to consider hiring Sly for an early morning slot.

Before the day was done, close to 5,000 people had signed the petition, emailed or called the station with their message: “Wisconsin needs a progressive host to cover state and local politics from a point of view that only Sly can offer.”

The Clown Show Continues, as Republicans Criticize Obama for selling tax increase “campaign style” to the People.

How unfair of Obama to ask the American voters to send a message to their elected politicians about how they feel about a tax on the wealthy. Oh, the horror of it all.

Even funnier? The GOP is now planning their own campaign tour, but not to the American public. Instead, they’re going to listen to select business owners.  After all, they’re the ones running the country now anyway.

Frustrated Republican leaders took a swipe Tuesday at President Obama, reminding him “the election is over” as he opts for a campaign-style strategy to sell his tax-hike proposal to middle-class America and small business owners – rather than deal face-to-face with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill. “The target of the president’s rallies should be the congressional Democrats who want to raise tax rates on small businesses rather than cut spending,” Boehner spokesman Mike Steel said Tuesday.

I don’t know, I think voters might have to send this message again; elections have consequences. That's what we're hearing here in Wisconsin all the time, as nearly half the state's voters who didn't like Scott Walker get steam rolled with his far right wing agenda. So...

Meanwhile, Republicans will make their own appeal to Americans … House Republicans will take their own message to small businesses across the country … to emphasize “the threat to jobs posed by congressional Democrats’ small business tax hike.”

It's not a small business tax. It's an income tax. Oh boy...

Republican Watchdog Bozell: Free Speech + Money trumps will of the people. Good to know...

Money in politics trumps public policy and governing.

Let’s face it, Republicans have a blind spot when it comes to the power and corrupting nature of money in politics. Heck, the conservative Supreme Court justices couldn't grasp the concept, and they’re part of the intellectual elite legislating from the bench.

So in the most blatant admission yet that money amplifies “free speech,” long time partisan pundit Brent Bozell is now threatening to withhold money from GOP campaigns if they compromise and raise taxes on the wealthy.

Fox News: Brent Bozell, founder and president of conservative watchdog group Media Research Center, sent a letter to Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus on Wednesday promising to advise conservative donors to shun the party if its leaders in Congress sign a deal to raise taxes, The Hill reports.

“Reince, it pains me to say this, but if the Republican Party breaks its word to the American people and goes along with President Obama with tax increases, it will have betrayed conservatives for the final time,” Bozell wrote. “I will make it my mission to ensure that every conservative donor to the Republican Party that I have worked with for the last three decades — and there are many and they have given tens of millions to Republican causes — gives not one penny more to the Republican Party or any member of Congress that votes for tax increases.”

Bozell also sent letters to House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell earlier in the week, pushing them to reject Obama’s call to raise taxes on the wealthy. “…both sides are making opening gambits and the talk so far is alarming,” Bozell wrote.

Bozell thinks the minority party, should be in power, and that money trumps the will of the people. Simple message, isn't it? 

Police Officer's act of Kindness...

From Newsday:

Here's NBC News:

"I had two pairs of wool winter socks and combat boots, and I was cold," DePrimo, 25, said Wednesday, recalling the night of Nov. 14, when he encountered an unidentified, shoeless man on the sidewalk on Seventh Avenue near 44th Street.

DePrimo offered to get him socks and shoes.

"I never had a pair of shoes," the man replied, according to DePrimo, who's assigned to the Sixth Precinct and has been on the force nearly three years.

The officer walked to a Skechers store on 42nd Street and shelled out $75 for insulated winter boots and thermal socks. He returned to the man, knelt down and put the footwear on him.

"He smiled from ear to ear," DePrimo said. "It was like you gave him a million dollars."

The officer asked the man if he wanted a cup of coffee, but he graciously declined and went on his way.

"I didn't think anything of it," DePrimo said of his generosity.

But during dinner that night, he got a text message from a friend. The photo had gone viral.

"I was absolutely shocked," he said.

Historian Whines Tax Increase on the Rich waste of time and too Small. Dem's Conspire to Pit Tea Party against GOP.

They even have tabloid writers doing nonfiction in the tea party movement.

I couldn't resist passing along this “blame game” editorial by a conservative historian, that supposedly brings to light another Democratic conspiracy theory pitting tea party extremists against moderate Republicans. 

It’s almost comical to hear all the Republican excuses as to why we should not cut a $3 billion deduction for private jets, or allow a $67 billion yearly increase in taxes on the wealthy. It’s just not enough money to make a big difference in deficit reduction. Yet smaller amounts, measure in the millions (like funding for PBS), will magically wipe out the deficit.

With that in mind, check out this totally ridiculous editorial that starts with the false premise that any of this makes sense:

Fox News: Historian Arthur Herman: The goal of getting Republicans to agree to raise taxes is not to raise new revenues. After all, allowing the Bush tax rates to expire for wealthier Americans will bring in perhaps $67 billion a year; Warren Buffet’s plan for a thirty percent minimum tax rate for millionaires another $5 billion. That’s spit in the ocean compared to annual deficits of $1 trillion and counting–let alone a $16 trillion national debt.

The Democratic conspiracy theory is just more conservative projection:

The real goal is to detach Republicans from their Tea Party and conservative base, and wreck any chance of a repeat of 2010's GOP surge–not to mention recapturing the White House in 2016. What a Republican capitulation on taxes will really mean is a future of political defeats stretching out beyond the horizon, as a disheartened base either stays home or wages bitter Tea Party versus Establishment primary fights like the ones that cost them the Senate this year. They don’t just want to take away Republicans’ voters.

Yes, it’s the Democratic Party’s fault for pitting tea party extremists against moderate Republicans:

They also want to destroy their sense of honor and integrity. They know it will make Republicans more compliant for future deals, and more alienated than ever from the voters they will need if they ever get another chance to salvage what’s left of this country.

And isn't saving and taking back our country the most insane and authoritarian objective ever?

Grover Norquist is really that stupid....proposes keeping Obama on a short leash!

Grover Norquist's no tax pledge is an idea he hatched when he was twelve. That's how ridiculous and detached from reality his crusade has been, and it's made him millions.

But on top of never growing up, he's really a dumb ass. No, really. Check out how he would keep Obama on "rather a short leash." In another bad 12 year oldish idea, he would have a vote on the debt ceiling once a month if Obama behaved, or weekly if he did not.

If ever there was moment of clarity, this was finally it:

AIDS protesters strip for Boehner!

In one of the boldest protests yet, Rep. John Boehner's office filled up with naked people:

Naked protesters storm House speaker's office in D.C.: AIDS activists demand meeting with Rep. Boehner to discuss potential 'devastating' budget cuts to people living with disease.

The odd part of this story that went unexplained, was the fact that the naked women were the only ones arrested.

Liberal's lobby The MIC to bring back Sly.

Check out this great article on Sly in the Morning at PR Watch. You're not the only one who misses the morning routine of listening to Sly, while pushing the kids out the door. Here's the first paragraph:

As a news hound and a mom, I have an early morning routine for catching up on developments while getting the kid ready for school. I head downstairs, snap on the radio, start making coffee, and packing a kid-friendly lunch. The kitchen radio is permanently tuned to 1670 AM WTDY’s "Sly in the Morning" show because I know that Sly has been up since 4 a.m. reading half a dozen state and national newspapers, scanning the front pages and the classifieds for the critical, the controversial, the funny, and the obscure.

By the time I drag the kid out of bed, I know what is going on in D.C., I know what is going on in Madison, and I have a jump on the day.

This Monday morning, I tuned in as usual and heard Christmas music. I was reminded that it is “Cyber Monday” and the station stands ready to provide “music to power shop by.”

Something was terribly wrong at WTDY.

Republicans have a big problem; instead of treating the disease, they want to simply kill the victim.

We can solve malpractice litigation if on the front end, we reduce medical errors. But Republicans want to penalize the victims instead. Without litigation, they’ll just go away, disappear magically or die.

The same is true of social safety nets, like unemployment, food stamps, Medicaid and other forms of assistance. All we have to do is create a strong well paid middle class…problem solved. But because of the global economy and cheap labor elsewhere, the problem is harder to fix, so throw everybody-the “takers”-off assistance…problem solved?

Check out this incredibly bizarre wrongheaded take on poverty. It’s easy to call it “projection,” because freeloading and not working is the first thing conservatives think of. It also disrespectful of everyone else. But really “IT DOESN’T PAY TO WORK?” Powerline Blog:

IT DOESN’T PAY TO WORK: In the wake of President Obama’s re-election victory, there has been a lot of discussion about makers and takers. Mitt Romney said on a conference call with supporters, among many other things, that Obama bought a lot of votes with “gifts” to various constituencies, an evidently true observation for which he mysteriously was maligned by Bobby Jindal and others. The truth is much worse than Romney suggested or than most people imagine: the middle class is right to feel bitter and betrayed. Those who work for a living have been sold out by federal and state governments that have created a welfare system gone mad.

So instead of solving the problem that causes dependence, just get rid of assistance:

In today’s America, it is reasonable to conclude that unless you make a great deal of money, you are a sucker if you work hard. And, in fact, a great many Americans have concluded exactly that. Each 1.25 Americans working in the private sector is supporting 1.0 welfare recipients and government employees–mostly welfare recipients … We are constantly told that it is difficult to find any state or federal spending that can possibly be cut. This suggestion is, I think, ludicrous. Let’s start by cutting welfare, and cutting it deeply. Not only because it is wasteful, but because by devaluing work it threatens to cripple not merely our economy, but our culture. An America where you are better off cashing welfare checks than working is an America that cannot long survive.

Conservatives in Ecstasy over Obamacare job losses at Meriter Health Services. They really are that stupid?

Meriter Health Services is making quite a splash in the conservative blogosphere.

WSJ: About 50 employees at Meriter Health Services are losing their jobs, others will see their hours reduced, and some vacant positions are being eliminated, Meriter announced Tuesday. The cuts are needed because of reductions in Medicare payments beginning in January, Meriter spokeswoman Mary Reinke said.

Big bad Obamacare is killing Medicare, just like the Republicans had warned. Or…could it be changes in the health care business model, or massive monetary losses by Meriter due to their own managerial mistakes?:

"As we develop new models of care delivery our individual roles and responsibilities will change and some positions will no longer be needed or justified," Woodward wrote in his email. Physicians Plus, Meriter Health Service's insurance company, lost $10.5 million last year and $14.7 million this year through September.

The “I told you so’s” are coming fast and furious from right wing low information losers posting comments and stories heralding the horrors of Obamacare, pointing to the Affordable Care Act’s $716 billion cut to Medicare. Of course Paul Ryan cut the same amount, that would have done the same thing, without rolling a lot of the saved money back into senior’s benefits, but that’s never brought up. Odd? Here's a sample of the witty commentary to the story:

-Let me understand the issue at hand. The hospital is laying off 150 employees and gives a straight forward reason for its business decision , and all of the lefties (no business experience, except as employee) claim it is NOT so! One need not wonder why lefties would vote in an incompetent neighborhood organizer to run a multi trillion dollar organization AND control health care. Yes blame it on the "Health Fairy".

-Thank you Obama care. Now his lies are starting to be exposed. It only a matter of time before the bottom falls out.

What’s also never brought up, and probably never discussed on the only news source for conservative voters, talk radio, is the fact that Scott Walker caused the same kind of problem for local health care providers. Yet no one noticed. If they had, they have to shut their pie holes:

The system of managed care, BadgerCare Plus in southeastern Wisconsin, may be crumbling. At issue: At least three of the four organizations managing the BadgerCare Plus program in the region say they are losing money on it. One of the organizations, United HealthCare, is dropping its contract with the state ... Now a second, Molina Healthcare Inc., is warning it may soon have to do the same, for the same reason: It's losing millions of dollars on the program because the state isn't paying it nearly enough to cover the medical claims filed by its BadgerCare Plus patients. The state cut payment rates to the managed care organizations by 11% in 2011 and then again this year as it struggled to balance its budget.

Funny, conservative must have missed this story. I’ll leave you with this wonderful parting shot from…the Onion?

Scott Walker and WMC carve out destructive path: good-bye environment and state tourism business.

Remember this political cartoon?

Not so funny now?

After looking at the new semi-annual survey conducted by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, they concluded: 

WMC spokesman Jim Pugh said he thinks the concerns business leaders expressed in the survey were about "policies coming out of Washington, D.C.," specifically involving health care, environmental protection and labor union organization. 

Underline “environmental protection” as bad for business. Yet right there on the front page of the Wisconsin State Journal was this headline:

Receding Water Hurting Tourism. Small coastal towns suffer as beaches turn into weedy mud bogs. 

Damn D.C.’s job killing “environmental protection” regulations. And why are the Great Lakes receding? It's due to the drought and rising temperatures…hmm, some call that climate change.

So keep that in mind after the Walker Authority strips environmental protections, streamlines the permitting time, and hands our precious ground water over to the panting mining companies. Can Walker actually bring back “acid rain?” Our nostalgic governor is trying.

Businesses want more from Walker, while Walker puts citizens on austerity diet.

What is Wisconsin like under the Walker Authority’s job creation  plan? Well, after giving away tax cuts, grants, liability relief and more, businesses still aren't happy. In fact, after Walker rammed through business friendly legislation, the end result of our new "Open for Business" climate was less than grateful:

20 percent said they plan layoffs in the first half of 2013, the highest since June 2009.

A "heck of a job" goes out to Scott Walker/Jeff and Scott Fitzgerald!!

It’s like Republicans and taxes; they’re never lower enough.  Businesses want to freeload off the state, plain and simple.

After everything Walker did for these whiners, they've done nothing. While a survey conducted by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce showed business was never so optimistic, giving Walker a thumbs up and his biggest campaign talking point, the latest WMC survey ain't so positive:

Wheeler Report: Wisconsin CEOs say the state is heading the right direction, but taxes, regulations and the economic slowdown continue to hamper growth, a new WMC Economic Outlook Survey found.

These “full of themselves” supposed job creators look to the Republicans for help freeloading off citizen taxpayers. Yet 93% of CEO's are gung-ho about the state is going in the right direction? You'd never know it:

HOW TO HELP BUSINESS – When asked what’s the one thing that state government could do to help your business, CEOs said curb regulations and cut taxes. Twenty-two percent said curb regulation, and 16 percent said curb taxes.

IMPROVING THE BUSINESS CLIMATE – CEOs said a wide range of improvements are needed to improve the state’s business climate. Twenty-two percent said the state should be more pro-business in general, 20 percent said cut taxes, and 17 percent said curb regulations.

Walker has created a pro-business atmosphere that doesn't encourage growth or jobs:

BUSINESS GROWTH – Only 4 percent said they expect good growth at their companies in the next 6 months, and 37 percent predict moderate growth. Sixteen percent predict decline.

NEW JOBS – Only 24 percent of CEOs say they will be creating jobs in the next six months. That’s down from 62 percent from the WMC survey released in June 2012.

And the “skill shortage?” There’s no skill shortage. Instead, hardworking Americans have decided not to take what are now low wage jobs from employers who aren't willing to train people. Normally, worker shortages create demand, resulting in higher wages…but not anymore:  

HIRING TROUBLE – Some 55 percent say they are having trouble hiring, and 67 percent said they cannot find qualified applicants.

And having been a small business myself, where health insurance went up 20 percent every year, I find it hard to believe that a few CEO's (13%) were surprised their premiums went up by that amount. Dropping employee coverage is not a result of Obamacare folks, it's been going on for years, as the current private insurance system spins out of control, gouging businesses:

9 percent say they will end health benefits, and 5 percent say they do not offer it.

When is enough, enough? Never, for these greed based business freeloaders:

Kurt R. Bauer, WMC president/CEO said, “We need to continue to cut taxes, curb regulations, and litigation to make our state more pro-business. We need mining reform now to send a signal that we are serious about improving our business climate. 

Walker's Appearance of "Thoughtful Deliberation" Hoax...on Medicaid Expansion.

Come on, let's stop acting like Gov. Walker is actually considering an expansion of Badgercare (Medicaid), with a chance he might just do that. Not a chance.

By not adopting the expansion, costs will rise, and feed into the GOP meme that government spends too much. When in fact, Walker could have saved the state money and insured more people.

According to the latest research by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Wisconsin is on a course to save money from the expansion due to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), create jobs, help hospitals recoup uncompensated costs, and most importantly, save lives. The charts tell the story, along with selected passages below. Now you'll know more than any of our Republican state politicians:

click to enlarge

If all states implement the ACA Medicaid expansion, the federal government will fund the vast majority of increased Medicaid costs.  The Medicaid expansion and other provisions of the ACA would lead state Medicaid spending to increase by less than 3%, while federal Medicaid spending would increase by a 26% increase. 

Because Wisconsin has been on the cutting edge of coverage, a bragging point ironically made by Republicans, we’ll actually save big money:

Some states will reduce their own Medicaid spending as they transition already covered populations to the ACA expansion. States with the largest coverage gains will see relatively small increases in their own spending compared to increases in federal funds.

A potential problem for state’s who refuse to expand coverage based on ideology:

Even without the Medicaid expansion, Medicaid enrollment will increase due to provisions in the ACA that will lead to increased participation among those currently eligible for, but not enrolled in, Medicaid and CHIP (including children). If no states expand Medicaid, Medicaid enrollment would rise by 5.7 million people, and the number of uninsured would drop by 28%.

The incremental cost to states of implementing the Medicaid expansion would be $8 billion from 2013-2022, representing a 0.3% increase over what they would spend under the ACA without the expansion.

Saving taxpayer money is not the point of Republican politics; power and their belief system is all that matters. Even if Wisconsin spent just a little more, although the charts here assume we’ll spend less, the dollars saved on uncompensated payments is huge. And businesses like hospitals will increase their revenues, creating jobs:

States as a whole are likely to see net savings from the Medicaid expansion.  Combining Medicaid costs with a conservative estimate of $18 billion in state and local non-Medicaid savings on uncompensated care, the Medicaid expansion would save states a total of $10 billion over 2013-2022, compared to the ACA without the expansion.  Net state savings are likely to be even greater because of other state fiscal gains that we could not estimate based on 50-state data.

We also examine state costs given possible savings in other areas and in the context of state budgets as well as effects on hospital revenue … Medicaid coverage to individuals with incomes above 138% FPL could transition this coverage to Health Insurance Exchanges whether or not the states implement the Medicaid expansion.  If these factors were taken into account, many more states could realize net fiscal gains. 

Finally:

These results vary considerably by state and region (Figure 8 above). Most of the net reductions in spending are in New England and Mid-Atlantic states (Wisconsin), many of which provided relatively generous preACA eligibility and consequently benefit from the increased federal match for current eligible … Overall savings in the New England and Mid-Atlantic states (Wisconsin) average 4.6 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.  

Another Day without Sly in the Morning?

Hopefully, these empty days are numbered. Check out the new effort to lobby Clear Channel's The Mic to bring Sly and local coverage back. A nice effort by Uppity Wisconsin and State Rep. Dianne Hesselbein.

Republican to sell “Outrage” and “Democratic Abuse of Power” in Filibuster Rule Changes. Anybody buying it?

Playing off the title, it could also read, Democrats Outraged by “Republican Abuse of Power” Filibustering Everything!!

Who doesn't remember the “nuclear option?” Republicans were once dead set on doing away with the filibuster when it came to judicial nominations. That would mean a simple majority vote of 51. And yes, it walks all over the political minority. 

But what’s the reward for instituting over 300 filibusters in the last six year, an unquestionable abuse of the senate rules? Ending the filibuster after years of abuse would be a bitter lesson for Republicans, and Democrats, to never get that out of control. Those are the consequences, right?

But something has to be done, and now the Republicans are marketing their next move; they’re outraged at the Democratic “abuse of power” when it comes to changing the filibuster rules.

Politico: Republicans are threatening even greater retaliation if Reid uses a move rarely used by Senate majorities: changing the chamber’s precedent by 51 votes, rather than the usual 67 votes it takes to overhaul the rules. “I think the backlash will be severe,” Sen. Tom Coburn, said sternly. “If you take away minority rights, which is what you’re doing because you’re an ineffective leader, you’ll destroy the place. And if you destroy the place, we’ll do what we have to do to fight back.” “It will shut down the Senate,” the incoming Senate GOP whip, Texas Sen. John Cornyn, told POLITICO. “It’s such an abuse of power.”

Republicans have abused the filibuster rule to make Obama an ineffectual leader, and remove him from office. That didn't  work out the way they thought.

“We cannot allow the Senate to be dysfunctional by the use of filibusters,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, Reid’s No. 2. “We’ve had over 300 filibusters in the last six years — it’s unprecedented. What we’re talking about is very basic — you want to start a filibuster, you want to stop the business of the Senate, by goodness’ sake, park your fanny on the floor of the Senate and speak. If you want to go to dinner and go home over the weekend, be prepared, the Senate is moving forward.”

Maybe the Republicans want to begin trashing the old movie, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington?” Oh please, let them try.

CEO "Job Creators" refuse to offer decent pay and job training.

 NY Times article, "The Skills don't pay the Bills," does away with the idea there's a shortage of skilled workers. But we've been warned before about this manufactured myth.

Under my Video History tab, I posted the following CNN News clip from Lou Dobbs back in 2004-
2005. Check it out before reading an excerpt of the Times story:

Running out of skilled workers? The truth is, companies don't want to train employees and pay them more for their skills.

Eric Isbister, the C.E.O. of GenMet, a metal-fabricating manufacturer outside Milwaukee, told me that he received 1,051 applications and found only 25 people who were qualified. He hired all of them, but soon had to fire 15. Isbister’s pickiness, he says, comes from an avoidance of workers with experience in a “union-type job.”
At GenMet, the starting pay is $10 an hour. Those with an associate degree can make $15, which can rise to $18 an hour after several years of good performance. From what I understand, a new shift manager at a nearby McDonald’s can earn around $14 an hour.

The secret behind this skills gap is that it’s not a skills gap at all. I spoke to several other factory managers who also confessed that they had a hard time recruiting in-demand workers for $10-an-hour jobs.

“It’s hard not to break out laughing,” says Mark Price, a labor economist at the Keystone Research Center, referring to manufacturers complaining about the shortage of skilled workers. “If there’s a skill shortage, there has to be rises in wages,” he says. “It’s basic economics.” After all, according to supply and demand, a shortage of workers with valuable skills should push wages up. Yet according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of skilled jobs has fallen and so have their wages. 

This is like an instant replay of the video above.

“Trying to hire high-skilled workers at rock-bottom rates,” the Boston Group study asserted, “is not a skills gap.” The study’s conclusion, however, was scarier. Many skilled workers have simply chosen to apply their skills elsewhere rather than work for less. As a result, the United States may soon have a hard time competing in the global economy. The average age of a highly skilled factory worker in the U.S. is now 56.

One result, Sirkin suggests, is that the fake skills gap is threatening to create a real skills gap.

While Isbister says he thinks that his industry suffers from a reputation problem, he also admitted that his answer to a nervous parent’s question is not reassuring. The industry is inevitably going to move some of these jobs to China, or it’s going to replace them with machines. If it doesn’t, it can’t compete on a global level.

Howard Wial, an economist at the Brookings Institution with the confluence of computers, says increased trade and weakened unions, the social contract has collapsed, and worker-employer matches have become harder to make. Now workers and manufacturers “need to recreate a system,” a new social contract, in which their incentives are aligned. 

Tom Ricks gets Fox News Boot for Benghazi comment.

It seems no ones taking the Fox News crap anymore:

Media Matters: National security journalist Tom Ricks appeared on Fox News to blast the network's incessant coverage of the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. After saying that "Benghazi was hyped, by this network especially," Ricks went on to say that "the emphasis on Benghazi has been extremely political, partly because Fox was operating as a wing of the Republican Party."

Ricks got the boot, fast:

This is another one of those golden Fox News take downs that don't happen enough.

Conservative Constituents not listening to the politicians elected by the people.

The voters have spoken?

We hear that a lot in Wisconsin, especially now after the Republicans successfully gerrymandered the districts to increase their majority, even though that would have never happened without the redistricting. But forget about the overwhelming vote for Obama and Baldwin. That didn’t matter as much, or was just inconvenient.

Like this lunatic in Racine:

Journal Times: Distressed by the results of the election and direction of the county, one Racine man has put his politics on public display. Slowly twisting in the wind outside of Dennis Montey’s home at 939 Marquette St. is the American flag, hung upside down. “For starters, hanging the flag upside down is an international sign of distress,” Montey said. “The reason I have our flag flipped is because our country is broke, we are losing our liberties one inch at a time and our politicians are not listening to their constituents.” 

Oh, but they have listened, and reelected Obama big time in the state with 7 percent margin, and voted for Tammy Baldwin instead of tea party loudmouth Tommy Thompson. They listened, but not to the loony right.

Montey said Sunday that he intends to leave it that way until “the country gets going in the right direction,” adding, “I’m hoping it won’t be four years” … Montey, who describes himself as a conservative-libertarian, said he voted for Republican Mitt Romney.

Hey, that's the “Corporations are people, my friend” guy. Now that’s a real government of the “people.”

Red State Republicans now the front line for attacking Solar and Wind Energy.

I'm posting this piece from Think Progress just for the record. The cost of going green has not resulted in consumer utility bills going up substantially. It isn't bankrupting society, and it's saving the environment. All the naysayers were wrong.

But the conservative forces haven't given up yet, and they're about to push back at a more local level. Public opinion is against them though.

The Heartland Institute, known for its campaigns to cast doubt about the science of climate change, is now teaming up with the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to craft laws repealing state-level renewable energy targets.

So far, 29 states have renewable energy targets in place. And with years of experience, multiple analyses have shown that these laws have had virtually no impact on rate increases. Richard Caperton, a renewable energy finance expert at the Center for American Progress, explained that the studies are based on a number of flawed assumptions. “The Beacon Hill studies arbitrarily choose high-end estimates for the future price of renewables, they wrongly claim there are no environmental benefits to using renewable energy, they ignore the fact that most state targets have price caps built into them, and they ignore the data we already have showing that there is no evidence that state renewable energy targets drive up rates for consumers,” he told Climate Progress.

The non-partisan Energy Information Administration recently modeled the impact of national Renewable Energy Standard and found that it would leave GDP growth virtually unchanged.

Public polling suggests that these groups are on the wrong side of the issue. A recent survey from Harvard, Yale, and the National Bureau of Economic Research showed that Americans would be willing to pay $160 per year more to deploy clean energy. And a pre-election poll showed that 72 percent of swing voters agreed that the government should to more to promote solar energy — illustrating why the millions of dollars in attack ads this campaign season didn’t sway the election.

Private Sector Abuses force creation of "Big" Government Regulations.

Recently my conservative friend whined again about the size of the Affordable Care Act...Obamacare.

I asked him, “Why do you think it’s so long, has so many pages?” When he answered “too many regulations,” I knew he didn't get it.

It’s long because it had to deal with a private sector that had already caused the health care crisis. Government had to reduce, do away with, and guard against private insurers, doctors and hospitals from gaming the system again. Its already forced them to change their comfortable but flawed business model.

But I’m not the only one who blames the private sector. The article below makes my argument, and then some. Government should have a role when it comes to major public concerns, like health care, defense, national security, environment, education, infrastructure and financial regulations. It’s not big government so much as “we the people” preventing interlopers from taking control of our country:

American Prospect-Robert Kuttner: On Saturday, The Wall Street Journal ran one of its trademark editorials making fun of government red tape—the massive regulations required to implement the Affordable Care Act; the 398 different rulemakings necessary to carry out the Dodd-Frank Act, and a great deal more … it makes an unintentional point: Government regulations have become so complex that they can’t do their job.

But were does the complexity come from? It comes from the metastasized abuses of the private sector and the success of the business elite in getting government to pass laws with plenty of room for industry to maneuver.

The Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, by contrast, was simplicity itself. It drew a nice, simple bright line. The trouble crept in when industry lobbying succeeded in blurring the line.

And nations fortunate enough to have single payer, universal health insurance don’t have libraries full of regulations to keep private insurers from fleecing doctors and patients alike—middlemen for the most part don’t exist. Simpler is better.

The Home Owners Loan Corporation of the Roosevelt era, which refinanced one mortgage in five and saved a million homes from foreclosure, did not require the Byzantine rule book of the Obama mortgage relief programs channeled through the private sector. The HOLC used the Treasury’s own borrowing rate and made direct loans to homeowners. No securitization, no Wall Street middlemen, no scandals, no reams of regulations. End of story.

Pop quiz: Which part of America’s pension system is a complete mess, unraveling as large corporations like American Airlines abuse the bankruptcy system to walk away from pension obligations? Which part requires endless regulation that never seems to be sufficient to prevent the latest corporate scam? That would be the private part.

And which part is simple, elegant, scandal-free, and reliable? That would be Social Security.
Where are the gross abuses in student loans? In the private, government-guaranteed part of the system, of course. Where is the system simpler, fairer, and more cost-effective? In the direct loan part.

Does there seem to be a theme here? It’s not just that simpler is better. It’s that public is better, and public is usually simpler and more efficient.

So the next time you read a Wall Street Journal editorial decrying all that government red tape, ask where the complex abuses came from that required all those rules. The answer is pretty simple.

Alert!!! Right Wing wise to Liberal Threat.

We've been found out! Our message of peace and equality, fighting for labor rights and health care, have conservatives cowering in fear. What's next, rampant tranquility and happiness?

Capt. Chris has this amazing 19 minute sales message, edited here to a little over 3 minutes for your safety, to help you defend yourself against liberals, terrorists here on student and work visas, thugs and illegal alien gangs.

The training course is nothing new, and may work for some, but the sales pitch is fear mongering on steroids.

It shows how market research is now blatantly exploiting the paranoid nerve center of the conservative mind. I had no idea that government protesters, like my own family during the Walker protests, were so paralyzingly scary.

We're being told to fear those exercising their First Amendment rights. That's an amazing message:

Sly tours Walmart for Labor.

Sly isn't taking any time off. He's still out there, fighting for workers rights, as you can see in this video recorded by his former radio producer, Morgan. Sly and Morgan continue to post at Sly's Office, which was not a part of WTDY's web site. Check out this shorter version of the Monona Super Wal-Mart protest that made its way loudly inside the store. Sly has the green hat on:

John Nichols had this to say about the gaping hole in radio market and the labor movement:

William T. Evjue, who founded The Capital Times 95 years ago as a radical alternative to the mainstream media of the 20th century, had little taste for most editors, reporters and commentators. They were stenographers to power … These days, there is too little progressive radio, and even less progressive radio in the Evjue tradition. But the loyal listeners to John "Sly" Sylvester's WTDY morning show heard an echo of Evjue.

...Sly drew from the same well of progressive idealism (and anger) as Evjue. Sly railed against Scott Walker from Day One of the Wisconsin uprising, sided unapologetically with organized labor and declared: "I don't want a tax break. I want to pay my taxes and I want those taxes to pay for great public schools and great public services."

Evjue would have appreciated that last line, just as thousands of Sly's listeners did as he uttered variations on that theme over 15 years.

Every guest (including this writer) disagreed with him sometimes. But Wisconsinites recognized that Sly's anger was motivated by a rage at injustice and dishonesty. And they loved him for that, giving his show solid ratings and a loyal listenership that advertisers craved.

Hopefully this void will be filled by the reappearance of Sly's morning show on another, more wisely managed station. The Wisconsin progressive populist tradition remains vibrant and popular, as the Nov. 6 election results remind us. It should continue to have a bold radio voice shouting "Hello Wisconsin" every morning.

Read the whole comment here. 

Conservative Media forced to Acknowledge Walker John Doe Problem.

UPDATE: It looks like the lukewarm admission that Scott Walker might be guilty of campaigning on public time has some of the liberal blogs mad as hell. While we as bloggers have the ability to pretty much assume Walker is guilty, as would any mature adult, reporters are constrained by the facts. The Milwaukee DA doesn't appear to have enough evidence yet to bring charges, and isn't that the problem? But blaming the reporters for digging up the details? Isn't that what we want from the media? Lashing out at Dan Bice and others basically reduces our credibility, and suggests we're just as bad as the right wingers. Personally, I know we're better than Charlie Sykes, Belling and McKenna.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A strange thing is happening. Parts of the conservative media are finally catching on, calling into question Scott Walker's judgment and participation in campaign work on taxpayer time...and dime.

But you'd never know Walker had any problem at all from conservative radio talkers, who never seem to hold Republicans feet to the fire on any questionable activity. It's almost as if they don't want to ruin their ability to get Republican lawmakers as guests on their shows. They fear being cut off, a technique Republicans have been expanding as a way of avoiding the real media. With friendly interviews and softball questions, they don't have to disclose their real intentions.

Here's the headline from today's conservative State Journal editorial:

"Disturbing ways?" Bravo. And this is a piece yesterday from their conservative columnist Chris Rickert, who also noticed what's been obvious to "liberals" for some time: 

Prosecutors had just laid out evidence that Walker knew Rindfleisch was on the taxpayer's time when she worked on behalf of former state Rep. Brett Davis' campaign … You could almost hear the wave of euphoria breaking over the state's Democrats … I ran into a lot of "no comments" and "I don't knows" when I asked attorneys, the Government Accountability Board and others whether behavior like Walker's is illegal.

Rindfleisch's attorney, Franklyn Gimbel, said if an elected official "facilitated" someone else's illegal behavior, he could be considered party to a crime.

Mike McCabe, head of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign said, "What's not clear yet is whether the DA's office has evidence that Walker himself committed crimes, or just had knowledge of his subordinates breaking the law."

Charged or not, though, Walker hardly seems blameless. It might be that Rindfleisch and Walker spent a lot of their time cheating taxpayers. But only Rindfleisch ends up doing any time.

The Great Voter Fraud Caper continues...

In just another demonstration of how the conservative mind works, I found these three amazing examples that will shock the senses. Voter fraud goes well beyond the attempts to suppress voter turnout. After reading the following stories, you'll begin to understand how paranoia is a fever that influence every move and every waking thought of the conservative mind. It's makes you wonder how they even manage to function at all:

Examiner's Dean Chambers caused quite a stir when he talked about polls being skewed for Obama … Chambers is focused on the reason for Obama's victory. The Blaze reported that Chambers' new site,barackofraudo.com, shows that Obama received 80 electoral votes in four states due largely to voter fraud. "Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a trout in the milk," the site says, quoting Henry David Thoreau. "Evidence of vote fraud is very much like that," Chambers wrote on the site. "Such is true of the voting divisions where Obama gets 100 percent of the votes cast. As if anyone REALLY believes that is legitimate."

Chambers admits, however, that right now there is a lot of noise with very little substance. "Things like the 59 voting divisions of Philadelphia where Romney received zero votes," Chambers said. "Even Larry Sabato said that should be looked into."

Weigel said that "57 precincts gave McCain no votes in 2008."

"There's such a thing as a 99% Democratic precinct, and such a thing as a 99% Republican precinct," he added.

Amazing story two:

WND: A forensic profiler whose previous cases have included the Natalie Holloway and the O.J. Simpson double murder says Barack Obama is confessing to stealing the 2012 president election.

“Obama appears to unconsciously confess on multiple occasions that in his secret fury he stole the 2012 presidential election – continuing his attacks on our nation,” Andrew G. Hodges, M.D., told WND in an assessment of Obama.

“But really that is no different whatsoever than in 2008 becoming an illegal president who violated the Constitution. He uses a unique psycholinguistic technique he calls “ThoughtPrint Decoding” to “read between the lines” … Before his anxious and relieved supporters, Obama spoke of his pride in his daughters but commented, ‘But I will say this for now, one dog’s probably enough’ – on the surface referring back to promising his daughters a puppy after his 2008 victory,” Hodges said. “Read his confession that America has just elected a dog of a president – and once was enough,” Hodges said.

“He suggests that he’s dogging it as president, faking it as an illegal president in a second way now with a stolen election. That he’s a real ‘dog’ for such deception. The image of a dog further suggests: a pet favored by the media and blind supporters.” 

Amazing story three:

It may take more than a year before seven Montgomery County residents indicted for allegedly committing voter fraud wind up in court. The indictments stem from the May 8, 2010, election of The Woodlands Road Utility District No. 1. Ten individuals listed their voter registration address as that of a hotel in order to take control of the RUD board. 

According to one comment following the story:

Looks like Republicans are looking at the wrong ethnic and income group for VOTER FRAUD.

Selling Voter Suppression; Walker Authority Fitting legislation around Ideology despite Tax increases, Higher Future Infrastructure costs and ending same day registration.

Selling bad ideas with catch phrases like “making tough decisions,” “courage” and “we need real leaders” has worked well so far, but there’s got to be a point when people start to catch on.

Republicans are devising every excuse in the book to expand government by increasing regulation around same day registration.

The 36 year old same day voter registration law will probably fall under Walker for no other reason than to suppress the vote. Even though it runs counter to the GOP’s most popular talking points; reckless spending and increased government regulation, the Walker Authority is determined to maintain its political majority.

In one of the more surreal, phony and least thought out excuses yet by Walker:

Walker said asking poll workers to also register voters made for too much work, and "it'd be much better if registration was done in advance of Election Day."

Just watch as Walker, Sen. Scott Fitzgerald and Rep. Robin Vos pass repeal in the face of overwhelming opposition:

WSJ: The state's municipal clerks — the ones who run elections — are not looking to be relieved of the extra work, said Diane Hermann-Brown, election communications chairwoman for the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks' Association. In fact, eliminating the practice would create a "heavy burden" on municipalities and the state, said Hermann-Brown, who is the city clerk in Sun Prairie. "There's no way we'd be in favor of that," she said.

If same-day registration were eliminated, the state would no longer be exempt from a whole raft of federal provisions, including requiring state social-service agencies and driver's license bureaus to register voters. Clerks also would be required to issue provisional ballots to voters whose registrations could not immediately be verified … Such ballots require extra effort by both clerks and voters before they can be counted. And large numbers of uncounted provisional ballots means election results could be delayed by days.

Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl said "It takes about a minute to process such a registration, then it's in the system for the next election." Between 100,000 and 450,000 Wisconsinites register at the polls each general election, or between 7 percent and 20 percent of all voters.

The GAB is expected to discuss the issue Dec. 18.

I thought this comment presented the best argument against the whole idea:

Hermann-Brown said "The vote is the single most critical act in our democratic system of government ... (and) voter registration was not intended to and should not prevent voting."

Walker may put the taxpayers on the hook for another $50 million. What, no complaints?

Our brilliant “small business” manager and governor Scott  Walker may just cost the state another $50 million.

Cap Times: Citing budget constraints, the Department of Transportation has proposed scaling back the reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange in Milwaukee, setting back the $1.7 billion project for two years, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The delay would increase the cost of the project by nearly $50 million because of inflation and added maintenance costs, the paper reported.

And the trouble doesn’t stop there:

…could have a domino effect, hampering plans to expand the Milwaukee Medical Center and plans to expand the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Innovation Research Park … It could also mean the closure of the Wisconsin Avenue-Blue Mound Road Interchange for an additional one to two years ... including the reconstruction of Verona Road in Madison and Interstate 39-90 from Beloit to Madison.

“This is a live-within-our-means budget,” Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb said of his department’s 2013-15 budget request. “To be clear, this is not something we are happy to be proposing.”

Don't forget, against the warnings and encouragement of the Obama administration to take advantage of the near zero percent interest rates for borrowing, Republicans like Walker are taking the "penny wise, pound foolish" idea to a whole new level. Of course many of these problems, made worse by Scott Walker, were issues he beat up former governor Jim Doyle for. Now it’s okay?

The request could put the Walker administration in an awkward position. During his 2010 campaign for governor, Walker criticized former Gov. Jim Doyle for not doing enough to make the reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange happen, and he later said the state would step up the pace.

Because highway funds are separate from the state’s general fund, and one can’t help pay for the other, we’re in a real tight fix…if you’re a Grover Norquist Republican:

Options to close the budget shortfall — which over the next decade is estimated to range from $4 billion to $15 billion — include increasing the gas tax, charging a new fee based on miles driven, using income and sales taxes, or borrowing. All those measures are likely to see push-back in the Republican-controlled Legislature.

This is going to be fun to hear their justification for additional funding while they're bragging about a surplus. 

Pretend President Romney, and Obamacare retaliation.

Here are some odds and ends piling up in my video library.

First, the pretend president Romney comedy bit:



And this Hardball review of a few CEO's retaliating against Obamacare, including the guy from Denny's who suggested reducing the tip if you didn't like the increase in food prices. NOTE: A few of these CEO's are franchise owners in specific regions of the country, and may not reflect local owners. Before boycotting any of these businesses, make sure you're not taking it out on the wrong people, a point I haven't mentioned in previous posts.

Rove calls for more Candidate Secrecy. Are Republicans the No Platform Party?

I've been saying it for years and now it's policy; the tea party Republicans new campaign strategy is to hide their candidates from the press, from the voters, all the while offering no specific strategy as as an elected official. Romney and Ryan did that, and lost thank god.

Al Sharpton talked about the Karl Rove memo detailing their plan to keep their repugnant agenda away from voters, knowing full well if anyone knew what they were planning, they'd lose in a heartbeat.