Scott Walker denounces Clinton for making lots of money in private sector. Income control the next target for Big Government Republicans?

I've never understood the level of anger and envy republicans like Scott Walker have when liberals, progressive and Democrats making lots of money. It's as if only conservatives have the formula for success and deserve bigger incomes.

Walker joins the ranks of other conservatives who have denounced the minimum wage, all the while claiming their goal is to give everyone a chance to make lots of money.

Mitt Romney made millions closing down companies and off shoring jobs. I guess he should have been president. But Bill Clinton, a former president, making money doing what he does best, speaking? Outrageous?

Will a "stand with Walker" supporter please tell me why Clinton's speaking fee is a problem for our conservative nanny state busybodies?

Over the top wage envy is clearly a problem for conservatives:

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.

Tea Party Loser Rep. Jason Chaffetz now says government better than private sector. Make up your mind.

Get government out of the way, right? It can’t do anything, not like the private sector can.

But hypocrite and tea party politician Jason Chaffetz apparently doesn’t believe that’s true, especially when he tries to fake outrage over the Obama Administration letting a private sector advertiser work its free market magic. Fox News had a field day twisting into a pretzel trying not to appear to ridiculous:  

The Obama administration paid a PR firm nearly $500,000 in stimulus funds to run a barrage of ads on White House-friendly cable programs promoting its green job training program … a company that negotiated a media buy on MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" and "The Rachel Maddow Show." 

Here’s where suddenly government, under Republicans authority, knows more than a major advertising agencies how to market a specific product or message. And here we thought government couldn’t do anything right.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who sits on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told FoxNews.com … he's writing a letter to the Labor … complained that the federal government already spends "way too much" on advertising as it is. He said the targeting of these ads also raises questions about "political motivations." 

Chaffetz knows much more about advertising and the (agency) McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations. Get a load of the perfectly logical explanation:

The Labor Department defended the expense, suggesting the decisions on placement were largely made by the contractor … relied on an outside contractor and media buying expert to perform research, conduct cost comparisons of media outlets, determine the most cost-effective way to reach the target audience, and create and place the ads," the department said. 

Let's here from an angry conservative special interest group that apparently now believes government is better than the private sector:

Rick Manning, a spokesman with Americans for Limited Government who used to be chief of staff in the Labor Department's public affairs office in the George W. Bush administration, took issue with the department's explanation of the purchase. "The fact that they claim that they delegated this spending authority to a consultant without oversight is outrageous," he said. 

And yet, it's hard to argue with the following bit of common sense:

The official "award summary" on the Labor Department contract explained that the ads were meant for "raising awareness among employers and influencers" about the green job training program and to move a "target audience" to contact the Job Corps Call Center to ask about enrolling. 

Traditional Mifflin Street Party Crack Down; Mayor Soglin and Chief Noble Wray Abuse Power, Act Like Thugs arresting 500 Students.

Grumpy gramps Mayor Paul Soglin got back at those rowdy kids for not obeying his warning, “get off of my street.” Chief Noble Wray brought the heavy hand of justice down on those disobedient students for drinking beer, big friggin’ surprise. Look, another “open container.” Crack! 500 arrests and big fines. Cha-ching. Petty government thugs.

WSJ: Arrest totals from Saturday's annual edition of the Mifflin Street Block Party are expected to exceed 500, said Capt. Carl Gloede of the Downtown district. A majority of those arrested are UW-Madison students, police said. "If there were about 5,000 people there, you can do the math," said UW-Madison Dean of Students Lori Berquam … Attendance was a quarter of last year's 20,000. Scores more were arrested — last year's event netted 167 arrests. The rash of violent crimes didn't return this time.

Despite no violence, no stabbings and a dramatically smaller, more controlled crowd, Wray had nothing better to do than arrest students. Tough guys. The crime….

Most citations were for open intoxicants, followed by underage drinking violations, glass containers in a ban area, trespassing and depositing human waste … Police Chief Noble Wray … was unimpressed by this year's tamer Mifflin, telling the State Journal on Saturday, "I don't think in any measure this could be considered a success."

Bullshit. Wray did just what Soglin wanted. The kind of drinking that was once mostly ignored, wasn’t, and the kids got cuffed. And where was the mayor, conveniently out of town.

Mayor Paul Soglin, who called for the event's end after last year, was out of town Monday and unavailable for comment. Students cited at the event could face additional punishment by the university.

Soglin did what the Fitzgerald’s wanted to do to the protesters at the Capitol; make an example of them. Mayor Soglin ditched his legendary liberal past to follow his new mantra, “with old age comes great irritability.”