Millionaire Republican Mark Neumann grovels & begs for help to pay off a mere $152,000 campaign bill.

The Journal Sentinel’s Dan Bice said it well in his article today about Mark Neumann, former candidate and loser, who won’t do the responsible thing and pay off his own campaign bill. He needs help. Who thinks this would be a good investment? Of course there’s no shortage of conservatives suckers.

Former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann offered a detailed plan to balance the entire federal budget in five years. Too bad the fiscal conservative couldn't avoid a deficit with his own campaign fund.

In an email to supporters, Neumann is asking for help paying down his campaign debts. He said he was hit with more than $152,000 in bills. "I don't have any money left in my campaign account to pay these bills," the millionaire businessman said in Monday's email solicitation. "I must turn to my supporters for help."

I thought guys like Neumann didn’t need anyone’s help? Where’s that rugged individualism, that “I built that myself” mentality?

In the primary, Neumann reported a net worth of as much as $16.4 million. Neumann brushed aside any suggestion that he pick up the tab for the last-minute campaign expenses."I don't think it's your position to evaluate my finances," said Neumann, a Nashotah real estate developer.

It appears Neumann isn’t either.

UPDATE 9/26: You won't believe this one:

Neumann now tries to raise cash for Thompson campaign: After facing criticism for trying to retire his primary campaign debt in the middle of a heated general election, ex-U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann reversed field Wednesday by coming out with a fundraising appeal for his primary foe, former Gov. Tommy Thompson.

Neumann said he didn't see the problem in trying to balance his own books at the same time the Thompson campaign was scrambling for cash. "The same Radical Left that rocked our state with Recalls is now targeting Governor Thompson, doing everything they can to destroy him and elect Tammy Baldwin. He needs your help. Will you join me and back Tommy Thompson today?"

The "radical left," which I assume is Neumann's way of saying Democratic Party, may  have brought us the recalls, but it didn't crash the global economy. Which would you choose?

The Last GOP Debate Highlights-Contraception.

Let's be perfectly clear; businesses are NOT providing birth control to their employees, the insurer is, as part of the insurers basic health care plan. Again, it's a requirement for insurers, not businesses who just buy a total package with basic health care minimums.

And any religious organization that provides a public service to people of other religions, cannot infringe on a customers religious freedom by dictating what they can or cannot receive as treatment.

Eric Hovde and Mark Neumann seem to think businesses are exempt from the constitutional protections they provide people in one instance, and then flip that with claims businesses have constitutional rights and religious freedom like actual people. Ala carting what our tax dollars support based on our conscience or religious beliefs would open up a can of worms Republicans would end up regretting. I would cut funding for the military immediately, along with a legal system that supports the death penalty, the oil industry, statewide projects in Republican districts....etc.

Still, Mark Neumann's theatrics are almost as comical as they are scary. Watch as he whips off his glasses to make his point, "...Barack Obama must be stopped." The teabillies loved it.

Media Still Pushing Phony "You didn't Build it" Outrage! Have they no Shame?

What in god's name was WTMJ's Charles Benson thinking?

President Obama's statement to businesses, that they didn't build those "roads and bridges," is still receiving the phony Republican spin in the media. Benson stumbled badly when he embraced the stupidity of the far right wings manufactured outrage, with an issue fact checkers disproved weeks ago.

But boy, did the GOP senate candidates chew up the scenery with their well rehearsed rants, like Mark Neumann's arrogant chest pounding:

Neumann: "I want to say this loud and clear, Barack Obama, by the grace of God and hard work, and not government, we built out business." 

To keep his tea party cred, Neumann brings up God and religion at the oddest times, and whenever possible.

But after all the phony outrage, leave it to Tommy Thompson to disprove and make Hovde and Neumann look like idiots when he unintentionally reiterates what Obama said. You'll laugh, you'll cry!!!

Mark Neumann on Repealing Affordable Care Act: "No plan B!"

Channel3000 did a piece on the GOP senate candidates plans for the train wreck we know as the U.S. health care system.

By 2021, health-care spending is likely to be nearly a fifth of the U.S. economy, at 19.6% of gross domestic product, up from 17.9%, or roughly a sixth, in 2010. 

The truth is, they have no plan, and wrongly believe health care is like any other consumer product.

The U.S. spends twice as much as other industrialized single payer countries because we allow the free market (private sector providers) the ability to make a profit from sick people, a repugnant idea and the reason why civilized nations won't allow it.

But millionaires Eric Hovde, Mark Neumann and Tommy Thompson have a much simpler answer; do nothing. Just repeal the ACA and increase those profit margins. Mark Neumann said it best:

Neumann: "There is no plan B as far as I'm concerned. My plan is to repeal Obamacare whatever that takes to do."

Just as bad, this response by state representative Jeff Fitzgerald:

Fitzgerald: "We don't have a problem, especially here in Wisconsin with access to health care, we have a problem with the cost of health care." 

Fitzgerald fails to mention that the reason why the state has a higher percentage of insured citizens; our expanded government program, Badgercare (Medicaid).  We don't have an access problem? It's THE MAJOR REASON WHY we have over 50 million uninsured Americans, they can't afford it, and thus don't have access.



Hell, you make your millions, pay your campaign membership dues to win a senate seat, and freeload on the public dollar. Here are the facts and a chart from the WSJ:

Spending would jump 7.4% in 2014 when the health-care law is scheduled to be fully implemented, the analysts predict, as millions of Americans gain coverage through subsidized insurance plans purchased through government-run exchanges or through Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income people. The analysts said most spending increases projected for 2014 would be due to routine doctors' visits and prescription drugs, as the majority of newly insured people are expected to be young and relatively healthy. A bigger reason for projected spending growth is the aging of baby boomers as they make greater use of Medicare, the federal insurance program for the elderly, the analysts said.

Neumann's Dumb Ad.

I tampered with this lying piece of Mark Neumann crap:

Neumann: "We can't let the American dream end with our generation."

Wisconsin GOP Senate Candidates Offer Business Welfare, Cuts to Safety Nets, and Jobs without creating Demand. Wow.

WISC reporter Theo Keith: "It's kinda a catch 22 for these Republicans who don't believe the government can't create jobs, but who know voters are looking for answers want answer to an unemployment rate that's been above 8 percent..." 

Good point. Senate candidate Mark Neumann said it all when he came right out and admitted that once we take the money going to safety net programs, and put it into the private sector, business will spend it on themselves:

Neumann: "When that money is available in the private sector, small business owners like myself will borrow it and other entreprunuers across this country will borrow it, to build and expand their businesses. And when those businesses grow and expand, that's job and job opportunities."

Jobs without demand? Nice trick.

Neumann says Religion First, Family second, and last...Country.

What Democrat could get away with making the following claim:

Is that what voters for Neumann want to see from their senator; more time for him to practice his faith, be with his family and then get around to the business of the country last. Are we crazy to expect their senator to perform their job first? After all, that's why we're paying him. 

The Myth of the Budget Hawk.

Here's the headline, and big lie, that appeared in the conservative rag, the Wisconsin State Journal:

Neumann, like most Republicans, aren't really budget hawks. Their budget ideologues. There's nothing difficult or mathematical about cutting middle class and poor Americans safety nets or handing out tax cuts to needy corporations. There's no give and take, cost shifting or priorities, and certainly no revenue increases.

Like the almost laughable term, "fiscal conservative," budget hawk is another myth pushed by Republicans to a naive media and voting public.

One more thing; the Wisconsin State Journal thinks a digital subscription should cost close to the print edition, that includes printing presses, paper, and delivery, devoid of merchant advertising. They're out of the friggin' minds.

Mark Neumann wants to take Economic Stupidity to U.S. Senate.

Mark Neumann is another one of those millionaire “citizen legislators.” He’s a business man, and as such, knows money inside and out. He’ll bring that business expertise to government.

Problem is, he’s either dumb as a board, or is knowingly lying about finance and his business acumen. According to the headline in Politifact:

If the U.S. didn't borrow $1.2 trillion every year "to fund government operations," that money would be available "for entrepreneurs and business people to put to work creating jobs and building and expanding their businesses." Mark Neumann on Wednesday, June 13th, 2012 in an interview

Keep in mind: Neumann has been in state politics for years, and he liked the freeloading Republican lifestyle of doing nothing hard as lawmakers so much, he wants to do nothing in the U.S. Senate.

   

Since I hate Politifact so much, I’m only going to showcase the economic expert’s opinion of Neumann’s claim to fame about taking his economic business experience to Washington.

Neumann wasn’t shy about putting his stupidity on display:

Neumann: "They (fed) are borrowing that money and that's the point exactly. If they did not borrow that money, that money would be available out here in the private sector for entrepreneurs and business people to put to work creating jobs and building and expanding their businesses.

"As it is -- and listen, I'm a business owner myself, I've been in business for 35 years here in Wisconsin creating Wisconsin jobs -- and the reality is, I understand that I'm now competing against the federal government to borrow money to expand our businesses. We just expanded into the Madison market to the Dane County area with our business and it was a monumental task to arrange the financing to do that because the federal government is taking $1.2 trillion first, before any of us entrepreneurs get to compete to borrow money."

Wrong!!! But hey, he’s a business man and a citizen legislature, say it ain’t so:

"The U.S. government and American entrepreneurs are not running after the same pool of money," said Abdur Chowdhury, chairman of the economics department at Marquette University in Milwaukee. The U.S. borrows largely from overseas -- by selling securities -- while domestic businesses borrow mostly from domestic banks, he said.

That wasn't the only economic expert to trash Neumann:

The notion that the amount of federal borrowing limits money available to be loaned to businesses "is absurd on its face," said Dean Baker, co-director of the liberal Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. "Every single measure of the interest rate (Aaa bonds, Baa bonds, mortgage loans, car loans etc.) is lower today than at any point in the (George W.) Bush administration," he said by email. "If government borrowing were pulling money away from businesses, it would be by pushing up interest rates."

Barry Bosworth, senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, agreed. Neumann’s statement "makes little sense right now because the basic problem is the opposite -- no one wants to borrow, and hence interest rates are near zero.  If we could get more people to borrow and invest, the economy would quickly recover," he said.

Andrew Reschovsky, professor of public affairs and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said that among other reasons, Neumann is proven wrong by "basic economics." Increased federal borrowing should increase demand for money and raise interest rates, which would discourage businesses from borrowing, but interest rates have been at or near historic lows, he said. We rate Neumann’s statement False.

Republican U.S. Senate Candidates Focus like a Laser on Lowering Gas prices at the pump. I wish I were kidding.

Are they kidding us? With all the issues that needs to be debated in the upcoming elections, would our wanna be politicians really promise lower gas prices? Even Fox News has given up, for the most part, on this silly trumped up outrage. Polling shows that most people are onto this scam.

But that can't be said of our Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate seat. Tommy Thompson, Mark Neumann and Jeff Fitzgerald have decided to waste our time bashing Obama for the high gas prices. That would mean doing away with the world oil market and OPEC. My eyes are rolling back into my head typing this.

Thompson: "The failure of President Obama to aggressively address this issue is costing America jobs and national security. It's a choice between more regulation or more freedom."

Neumann: "America's energy crisis harms not only our economy but threatens our national security. We really need a big picture energy plan that ends our dependence on countries whose tyrants want to kill us."

Fitzgerald: "Unfortunately, we've seen things from (the Obama) administration like the Keystone Pipeline that's been killed, and that's killed thousands of jobs that could've come here to the U.S.." 

And instead of any tax increases on the wealthy, supported by a majority of Americans in every party, they want to have "straight talk" about cutting the two life saving programs the elderly count on, Social Security and Medicare. God I hate these people. WISC:

GOP Candidates for Senate Seat Promise Cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Yeah?

Are these guys kidding? 

Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald says he is a fresh face who promises to make the same tough decisions in the U.S. Senate that he made in the Legislature.

Like he's done so well in Wisconsin over the last year? All three candidates plead their case in the short clip below, all promising to shift the cost of "entitlement" programs from the government to individuals with no means to absorb it, and promising tax cuts for Americans who saw their earnings take a hit. Wow, thank you very much. 

But the worst was Tommy Thompson, who sat back in his chair like some fat lazy elitist, suggesting the world owed him the senate seat. What a slob.

jsonline: Former congressman Mark Neumann says if he is elected to the U.S. Senate he will be focused on cutting spending, lowering taxes and balancing the federal budget.

And former governor Tommy Thompson says, if elected, he will be a builder and a doer who will find common ground with Democrats in the U.S. Senate in order to solve the nation's problems.

Appearing separately Thursday before the Wisconsin Newspaper Association/Associated Press Convention and Trade Show, the three Republican candidates skipped personal attacks and instead outlined their political philosophies.

The Irony; Sen. Candidate Mark Neumann opposed stimulus, but took $500,000 of it for Solar Energy.

The biggest whiners about alternative energy now seems to like solar power, and the stimulus money that goes with it. Of course, at the same time, they’re attacking Obama for the Solyndra loan of $528 million that later disappeared due to bankruptcy. Which the hell is it?

Mark Neumann criticized the economic stimulus program since day one, but records now show that Republican US Senate candidate Neumann accepted stimulus funds for one of his companies … the A-P also reports that another renewable energy company owned by Neumann wrote a letter to congressional leaders in November urging them to continue the grant program.

WKOW News: 

No longer embarrassed by its rank hypocrisy, the Club for Growth is all for taking the money, even though it’s an utter waste of taxpayer cash. Hey, I thought they wanted to balance the budget?

He has won the support of national conservative group the Club for Growth. "The Club adamantly opposed the stimulus and continues to believe it is an utterly failed policy," said the group's spokesman Barney Keller. "However, we have never taken the position that a private company that's eligible should reject funding."

Olbermann on Sen. Candidate Mark Neumann's Anti-Gay Past.

With an opponent like Rep. Tammy Baldwin, it'll be interesting to see how homophobe Mark Nuemann  handles his upcoming negative ad campaign against her as he pursues the U.S. Senate seat left open by Herb Kohl.  Keith Olbermann wonders as well:

Possible Senate Candidate Neumann Sold Lots with High Pressure Gas Pipelines in Yard, didn't tell Home Buyers.

There's a real chance former congressman Mark Neumann will run for Herb Kohl's open senate seat.

jsonline: Neumann had been considering running against Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl … Neumann said Friday: "We haven't ruled it out and it's certainly something Sue (his wife) and I want to think about and pray about."

If he does, he'll probably run on his credentials as a successful business owner, a point he brought up countless times during his recent run for governor. 

Big problem! Neumann's real estate business appears to have gotten caught up in the greed of the once booming mortgage bubble, where home buyers reached for the American dream, and developers couldn't wait to help them build. This might not look good on his resume. According to WITI TV:

Here's the incredible story from Fox 6 in Milwaukee:
Homeowners in Oconomowoc fear that one wrong move could blow up their neighborhood. They tell FOX6 Investigator Bryan Polcyn the prominent developer who sold them their lots is ducking responsibility for a major mistake. They say he originally promised to "do the right thing."

Oconomowoc Homeowner Pat Voss bought a lot in Lakeridge West in 2002. Two years after she moved in Voss got a letter from the gas company about a 20 ft. easement that cut right through her yard. Buried a few feet underground was a pair of high pressure gas pipelines.

The next letter was from the developer, Former Congressman Mark Neumann, explaining that errors had been made. Voss says, "I had a horrible time getting an attorney. Nobody wants to touch it, because it involves Mr. Neumann." Neumann wrote that he'd never had a problem like this before, and he vowed to "do the right thing". According to Voss, all he did is steer her toward the title company that offered $14,000 to be released from any liability.

Voss says, "Nothing was marked on the plats. Nothing was indicated. There were no easements. "My only assumption to that is the boom that was going on...it was for...greed."

If Neumann wasn't aware of the pipes, he certainly should have been. When his company bought the land in 2002, the easement was listed. Before dirt started moving WE Energies warned Neumann to watch out for a pair of high pressure gas mains. When Neumann submitted his final plat to the City of Oconomowoc for approval, the pipes were somehow left off. In other words, Neumann had to be aware of the pipes. So why did he develop an entire row of homes on top of those lines.

Neumann dodged FOX6 for weeks, but we eventually caught up with him in our own building after he finished an interview for FOX News. He said … the title company should have caught it either way. During his seven minute interview Mark Neumann referred to the insurance company 34 times. 


Attorney Klein says, "It was just dumped on the title companies, which basically shielded him."