Noted but not in the least surprising:
“While Kennedy was in Santiago he made arrangements to ‘rent’ a brothel for an entire night. Kennedy allegedly invited one of the Embassy chauffeurs to participate in the night’s activities.”
At the time, 'Waitress-Sandwich' Kennedy was around 21 years of age.
Evidently Rep. Hintz thinks that a faint imitation will get him someplace.
A few hundred million dollars of rum-running profits and a Daley machine would be more useful.
Wisconsin native. "The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."--GKC "Liberalism is the modern and morbid habit of always sacrificing the normal to the abnormal" --G K Chesterton "The only objective of Liberty is Life" --G K Chesterton "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." -- Rudyard Kipling
Monday, February 28, 2011
More Jobs Disappear Due to "Green" Jobs
This time, in the UK.
HT: AmSpec
A study by consultants Verso Economics found there was a negative impact from the policy to promote the industry.
It said 3.7 jobs were lost for every one created in the UK as a whole and that political leaders needed to engage in "honest debate" about the issue.
As you might expect:
The Scottish government called the study "misleading" and said 60,000 jobs could be created by the sector by 2020.
Right-o. Taxing the daylights out of industry ALWAYS "creates" jobs. Many of them are moving firms who move the company out of the tax-zone to places like, say, PRChina.HT: AmSpec
Mass Attendance
A most interesting contrast:
Nationwide, Mass attendance is about 35%. In the Diocese of Rochester, noted for its widespread liturgical abuse and dissent from Church teaching, Mass attendance is now running at 23%. Contrast this with the 62% Mass attendance rate in the Diocese of Lincoln, known for its fidelity to Rome. --Mike, quoted at Ten Reasons
No, it's not a co-incidence.
Nationwide, Mass attendance is about 35%. In the Diocese of Rochester, noted for its widespread liturgical abuse and dissent from Church teaching, Mass attendance is now running at 23%. Contrast this with the 62% Mass attendance rate in the Diocese of Lincoln, known for its fidelity to Rome. --Mike, quoted at Ten Reasons
No, it's not a co-incidence.
Ableson: 'We Give Them Money and Get It Back'
Abelson is honest:
"It's very simple," said Richard Abelson, executive director of District Council 48 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "We have interests and because of that we attempt to support candidates who support our interests."...
He was 'splainin' how come is it that the Flee Party members got 20% of their campaign dollars from AFSCME/WEAC/SEIU bloodsuckers.
"It's very simple," said Richard Abelson, executive director of District Council 48 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "We have interests and because of that we attempt to support candidates who support our interests."...
He was 'splainin' how come is it that the Flee Party members got 20% of their campaign dollars from AFSCME/WEAC/SEIU bloodsuckers.
Fifty Eight Percent: "Shut It Down!!"
Some think that Obama really, really, really WANTS a Gummint shutdown so he can emerge as a hero, recalling the Myth of Clinton.
(Read history: Clinton, not Gingrich, "shut down" the Gummint, and he capitulated to (R) demands, too.)
Anyhoo, Obama could get his wish. Fifty-eight percent of the electorate would love it.
...most voters would rather have a partial shutdown of the federal government than keep its spending at current levels.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 33% of Likely U.S. Voters would rather have Congress avoid a government shutdown by authorizing spending at the same levels as last year. Fifty-eight percent (58%) says it’s better to have a partial shutdown until Democrats and Republicans can agree on what spending to cut.
Think we'll miss it?
(Read history: Clinton, not Gingrich, "shut down" the Gummint, and he capitulated to (R) demands, too.)
Anyhoo, Obama could get his wish. Fifty-eight percent of the electorate would love it.
...most voters would rather have a partial shutdown of the federal government than keep its spending at current levels.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 33% of Likely U.S. Voters would rather have Congress avoid a government shutdown by authorizing spending at the same levels as last year. Fifty-eight percent (58%) says it’s better to have a partial shutdown until Democrats and Republicans can agree on what spending to cut.
Think we'll miss it?
Rep. Hintz's Idea of "Consumer Protection"
Perhaps Rep. Hintz's idea of "consumer protection" is a rubber.
It sure as hell isn't what YOU think it might be.
WKOW/27 of Madison ran a long investigative series on the WI Department of Consumer Protection and determined that in a lot of cases, the Department is useless.
Because Department officials gave them the runaround, WKOW called Rep. Hintz (D-Happy Palace) and chair of the Ass'y Consumer Protection committee.
We sent him a DVD of our November investigation about that hot-air balloon company.
"People sometimes call and complain about the number of chicken McNuggets they get at McDonald's," said Hintz, who declined our second request for an interview. He said he rejects the premise of our story.
Then we obtained e-mails he exchanged with his aides through Wisconsin's Open Records Law.
Nice, Mr. Hintz. Concerned, caring, and spot-on, Mr. Hintz. Were you pre-occupied when you responded? Thinking of the happy-spot? In need of tension release???
The emails are a lot of fun to read.
It sure as hell isn't what YOU think it might be.
WKOW/27 of Madison ran a long investigative series on the WI Department of Consumer Protection and determined that in a lot of cases, the Department is useless.
Because Department officials gave them the runaround, WKOW called Rep. Hintz (D-Happy Palace) and chair of the Ass'y Consumer Protection committee.
We sent him a DVD of our November investigation about that hot-air balloon company.
"People sometimes call and complain about the number of chicken McNuggets they get at McDonald's," said Hintz, who declined our second request for an interview. He said he rejects the premise of our story.
Then we obtained e-mails he exchanged with his aides through Wisconsin's Open Records Law.
Nice, Mr. Hintz. Concerned, caring, and spot-on, Mr. Hintz. Were you pre-occupied when you responded? Thinking of the happy-spot? In need of tension release???
The emails are a lot of fun to read.
"Generous" Not Even Close to State Health Plan Terms
The JS article describes the State health-plan's terms as "generous."
But by any measure, as Walker has noted and most state employees acknowledge, the state will continue to provide rich health-insurance benefits compared with the private sector, where nearly 40% of employers don't offer health benefits at all.
You have to read a few more grafs to get to this:
State employees still would have no annual deductible, and they would have a choice of plans carrying average price tags of $8,112 for single coverage and $20,220 for family coverage.
"Generous"? "Rich"?
Does Fort Knox have "a little gold"? Does Queen Elizabeth occupy a "cottage"? Is Obama's party-budget "comfortable"? Is Wisconsin's $43 Billion total debt "a bit of a drag"?
I remind you that the typical private-sector health insurance plan carries a $1,000.00 individual/$3,000.00 family deductible.
Those deductibles are paid with AFTER-TAX dollars. In other words, State employees do NOT pay ~25% in Social Security, Federal, and State income taxes on money they earn before handing it over to the docs, pharmacies, and hospitals, like you working schlubs in the private sector. Instead, the taxpayers fund those twice: once for State employees through premium payments, and once through the sweat of their own brows.
Generous, indeed.
But by any measure, as Walker has noted and most state employees acknowledge, the state will continue to provide rich health-insurance benefits compared with the private sector, where nearly 40% of employers don't offer health benefits at all.
You have to read a few more grafs to get to this:
State employees still would have no annual deductible, and they would have a choice of plans carrying average price tags of $8,112 for single coverage and $20,220 for family coverage.
"Generous"? "Rich"?
Does Fort Knox have "a little gold"? Does Queen Elizabeth occupy a "cottage"? Is Obama's party-budget "comfortable"? Is Wisconsin's $43 Billion total debt "a bit of a drag"?
I remind you that the typical private-sector health insurance plan carries a $1,000.00 individual/$3,000.00 family deductible.
Those deductibles are paid with AFTER-TAX dollars. In other words, State employees do NOT pay ~25% in Social Security, Federal, and State income taxes on money they earn before handing it over to the docs, pharmacies, and hospitals, like you working schlubs in the private sector. Instead, the taxpayers fund those twice: once for State employees through premium payments, and once through the sweat of their own brows.
Generous, indeed.
The Problem With Obama
Mike McDaniel eviscerates Michael Medved's WSJ essay in which Medved postulates that Obama is a good guy who simply seeks re-election by any expedient.
...The problem, for Mr. Medved, and the nation, is that mere incompetence cannot adequately explain away Mr. Obama’s background, his expressed and implied beliefs, or his associations, appointments, and official actions. Believing that he actually wishes America harm is, in light of the voluminous and growing evidence, not unfounded but logical — not a reactionary, emotional conclusion but a reasonable one based on objective evidence, most of which has been provided by Mr. Obama himself.
McDaniel provides a short list (only 17 examples) of Obama's problematic actions. There are lots more he could have used.
...The problem, for Mr. Medved, and the nation, is that mere incompetence cannot adequately explain away Mr. Obama’s background, his expressed and implied beliefs, or his associations, appointments, and official actions. Believing that he actually wishes America harm is, in light of the voluminous and growing evidence, not unfounded but logical — not a reactionary, emotional conclusion but a reasonable one based on objective evidence, most of which has been provided by Mr. Obama himself.
McDaniel provides a short list (only 17 examples) of Obama's problematic actions. There are lots more he could have used.
PCE Up, Kinda, Mostly
The mostly-good news:
Personal income increased $133.2 billion, or 1.0 percent ... Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $23.7 billion, or 0.2 percent.
Moderated by this:
Real PCE -- PCE adjusted to remove price changes -- decreased 0.1 percent in January, in contrast to an increase of 0.3 percent in December
OTOH, personal savings is now at ~6%, and the trend-line of PCE is up, solidly, over the last several quarters.
HT: CalcRisk
Personal income increased $133.2 billion, or 1.0 percent ... Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $23.7 billion, or 0.2 percent.
Moderated by this:
Real PCE -- PCE adjusted to remove price changes -- decreased 0.1 percent in January, in contrast to an increase of 0.3 percent in December
OTOH, personal savings is now at ~6%, and the trend-line of PCE is up, solidly, over the last several quarters.
HT: CalcRisk
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Henninger the Prophet: January 2010
I was reminded of this post by (of all things) a reference to Capper, the professional Walker-hating Lefty. In the post is a link to an editorial by Henninger, which lede is this:
Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts will not endure unless Republicans clearly understand the meaning of "the machine" that he ran against and defeated.
He discusses the situation in Massachusetts:
But here's the [Democrat] party's self-destroying kicker: Feeding the public unions' wage demands starved other government responsibilities. It ruined our ability to have a useful debate about any other public functions.
And to you Righties out there: Capper is good for something, eh?
Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts will not endure unless Republicans clearly understand the meaning of "the machine" that he ran against and defeated.
Yes, it is about a general revulsion at government spending, what is sometimes called "the blob." But blobs are shapeless things, and in the days ahead we will see the Obama White House work hard to reshape the blob into a deficit hawk. Unless the facade is ripped away, the machine will survive.
Followed by this:
The central battle in our time is over political primacy. It is a competition between the public sector and the private sector over who defines the work and the institutions that make a nation thrive and grow.He discusses the situation in Massachusetts:
But here's the [Democrat] party's self-destroying kicker: Feeding the public unions' wage demands starved other government responsibilities. It ruined our ability to have a useful debate about any other public functions.
Massachusetts' spending fell for mental health, the environment, housing and higher education. The physical infrastructure in blue states is literally falling apart. But look at those public wage and pension-related outlays. Ever upward.
Evidently Scott Walker keeps a bound set of Henninger editorials. Good thing he does!!And to you Righties out there: Capper is good for something, eh?
Actually, Nobody Really Backs WI Unions
Jacobson has the story.
Outside of Madison, there were no reports of sizable crowds. And if you read the news reports, almost all the protesters were other union members. Despite the efforts, the organizers failed to motivate significant numbers of non-union members to come out for protests.
The 50-state protest was a failure, plain and simple, although the images from Madison may create the false impression of massive nationwide protests.
And in Madistan, there were a LOT of bussed-in marchers.
Earlier this week, a "BIG DEMONSTRATION" was called for at UW-Stevens Point. According to the news story I saw, nobody---nobody---showed up except the lonely co-ordinator.
Outside of Madison, there were no reports of sizable crowds. And if you read the news reports, almost all the protesters were other union members. Despite the efforts, the organizers failed to motivate significant numbers of non-union members to come out for protests.
The 50-state protest was a failure, plain and simple, although the images from Madison may create the false impression of massive nationwide protests.
And in Madistan, there were a LOT of bussed-in marchers.
Earlier this week, a "BIG DEMONSTRATION" was called for at UW-Stevens Point. According to the news story I saw, nobody---nobody---showed up except the lonely co-ordinator.
600 Rogue Cops in Capitol?
I've been telling you to buy more ammo. You may need it for local patrolling: it appears that the cops are about to go rogue.
“Police have just announced to the crowds inside the occupied State Capitol of Wisconsin: ‘We have been ordered by the legislature to kick you all out at 4:00 today. But we know what’s right from wrong. We will not be kicking anyone out, in fact, we will be sleeping here with you!’ Unreal.
We'll see what actually happens. This could be some big-mouth/low-mental-wattage Chicago/Detroit/Minneapolis local yokel who has nothing to say about it anyway.
OTOH, if the cops decide that they aren't subject to legitimate State authority, then they're asking for a lot more trouble than they ever want to handle.
Jacobson editorializes:
More than anything, this shows the dangers of public sector unions. Those who work for the state occupy a different position than those who work in the private sector because they carry the weight of state authority. When those state workers are in law enforcement, they carry special obligations not to use their positions for political purposes.
A friend of mine has argued that there's no reason not to privatize fire, ambulance, and police services. Well........I have no problem with privatizing fire/ambo; after all, that's what volunteer FD's are all about. National "fire code" regulations--written by full-time fire-department personnel--have made volunteer FD tasks more challenging (you can guess why), but training is provided.
Cops? Not so easy to do, and Jacobson nailed the reason: "....they carry the weight of State authority." And as he also mentions, that implies--explicitly--a non-partiality which can be difficult to maintain. Difficult, but not impossible.
Granted, the partiality in the Madistan Mess is not germane to traffic tix, criminal apprehension, and DV affairs. But explicitly breaking the chain of authority will create a shadow-of-doubt in the minds of citizens.
That is not good, period. It's worth remembering that when they are in trouble, the cops expect citizens to step up and help. It's what good citizens will do. That's why the "Buy more ammo" meme--it's part of what citizenship is all about.
Somebody over the age of 25 should have told that cop to STFU.
HT: BBVWRC
“Police have just announced to the crowds inside the occupied State Capitol of Wisconsin: ‘We have been ordered by the legislature to kick you all out at 4:00 today. But we know what’s right from wrong. We will not be kicking anyone out, in fact, we will be sleeping here with you!’ Unreal.
We'll see what actually happens. This could be some big-mouth/low-mental-wattage Chicago/Detroit/Minneapolis local yokel who has nothing to say about it anyway.
OTOH, if the cops decide that they aren't subject to legitimate State authority, then they're asking for a lot more trouble than they ever want to handle.
Jacobson editorializes:
More than anything, this shows the dangers of public sector unions. Those who work for the state occupy a different position than those who work in the private sector because they carry the weight of state authority. When those state workers are in law enforcement, they carry special obligations not to use their positions for political purposes.
A friend of mine has argued that there's no reason not to privatize fire, ambulance, and police services. Well........I have no problem with privatizing fire/ambo; after all, that's what volunteer FD's are all about. National "fire code" regulations--written by full-time fire-department personnel--have made volunteer FD tasks more challenging (you can guess why), but training is provided.
Cops? Not so easy to do, and Jacobson nailed the reason: "....they carry the weight of State authority." And as he also mentions, that implies--explicitly--a non-partiality which can be difficult to maintain. Difficult, but not impossible.
Granted, the partiality in the Madistan Mess is not germane to traffic tix, criminal apprehension, and DV affairs. But explicitly breaking the chain of authority will create a shadow-of-doubt in the minds of citizens.
That is not good, period. It's worth remembering that when they are in trouble, the cops expect citizens to step up and help. It's what good citizens will do. That's why the "Buy more ammo" meme--it's part of what citizenship is all about.
Somebody over the age of 25 should have told that cop to STFU.
HT: BBVWRC
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Gaylord Nelson's "Co-Incidence": Not.
Gaylord Nelson famously created "Earth Day."
Less famously--until recently--he signed public-employee-union legislation for Wisconsin.
But about "Earfff Day":
'It is no accident it is on Lenin's birthday, April 22,' he said. 'It wasn't a coincidence. I knew some of the kids involved . They thought, "What better day than Lenin's birthday because capitalism destroys the environment?" Most environmental ecologists believed the source of environmental degradation was the selfishness of capitalist owners. So we had to have a socialist system with a manager instead of an owner.'
And that manager would be the State.
Nelson, of course, laid the date off to 'co-incidence.'
Now you know better.
HT: AmSpec
Less famously--until recently--he signed public-employee-union legislation for Wisconsin.
But about "Earfff Day":
'It is no accident it is on Lenin's birthday, April 22,' he said. 'It wasn't a coincidence. I knew some of the kids involved . They thought, "What better day than Lenin's birthday because capitalism destroys the environment?" Most environmental ecologists believed the source of environmental degradation was the selfishness of capitalist owners. So we had to have a socialist system with a manager instead of an owner.'
And that manager would be the State.
Nelson, of course, laid the date off to 'co-incidence.'
Now you know better.
HT: AmSpec
Reporter NAILS It
One phrase from Glauber's short report nails this whole thing:
creating a scene that’s like a throwback to the 1960s
Other observers, Madistan natives, have made the same remark. This event is all about the War Protests; it's a second childhood for many.
For some, childhood is permanent.
creating a scene that’s like a throwback to the 1960s
Other observers, Madistan natives, have made the same remark. This event is all about the War Protests; it's a second childhood for many.
For some, childhood is permanent.
What Walker Didn't Say--But Could Have
Different State, different personality, but the very same message.
“The argument you heard most vociferously from the teachers’ union,” Christie says, “was that this was the greatest assault on public education in the history of New Jersey.” Here the fleshy governor lumbers a few steps toward the audience and lowers his voice for effect. “Now, do you really think that your child is now stressed out and unable to learn because they know that their poor teacher has to pay 1½ percent of their salary for their health care benefits? Have any of your children come home — any of them — and said, ‘Mom.’ ” Pause. “ ‘Dad.’ ” Another pause. “ ‘Please. Stop the madness.’ ”
“The argument you heard most vociferously from the teachers’ union,” Christie says, “was that this was the greatest assault on public education in the history of New Jersey.” Here the fleshy governor lumbers a few steps toward the audience and lowers his voice for effect. “Now, do you really think that your child is now stressed out and unable to learn because they know that their poor teacher has to pay 1½ percent of their salary for their health care benefits? Have any of your children come home — any of them — and said, ‘Mom.’ ” Pause. “ ‘Dad.’ ” Another pause. “ ‘Please. Stop the madness.’ ”
By this point the audience is starting to titter, but Christie remains steadfastly somber in his role as the beseeching student. “ ‘Just pay for my teacher’s health benefits,’ ” he pleads, “ ‘and I’ll get A’s, I swear. But I just cannot take the stress that’s being presented by a 1½ percent contribution to health benefits.’ ” As the crowd breaks into appreciative guffaws, Christie waits a theatrical moment, then slams his point home. “Now, you’re all laughing, right?” he says. “But this is the crap I have to hear.” --NYT (!!!) quoted by AOSHQ
Oh, yes, there's more.
Leaders of the teachers’ union, meanwhile, are apoplectic about Christie’s proposed changes to their pension plan, which they say will penalize educators for the irresponsibility of politicians. After all, they point out, it wasn’t the unions who chose not to fund the pension year in and year out, and yet it’s their members who will have to recalibrate their retirements if the benefits are cut.When I made this same point to Christie, he simply shook his head. What’s done is done, he told me, and it’s time for someone to tell these workers the truth, which is that the state is simply never going to have the money to make good on its commitments. “Listen, if they want to travel in the Michael J. Fox time machine and change time, I guess we could try that,” he said. “We could get the DeLorean out and try to go back there. But I think realistically that that was just a movie and make-believe. So we’ve got to live with what we’ve got.”
He's really, really, good at this 'governing' stuff.
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Shutdown: Who's Who
RedState tells is like it really is.
Again, the White House and Democrats are desperate for a shutdown so Barack Obama can, like Bill Clinton in the MythTM, be transcendent and leader looking.
Reid has his instructions: refuse the spending-reductions in the House CR, and make Obama a Hero!! Obama needs it. He muffed Egypt and Libya. He muffed Cap-n-Trade. He shredded himself with ObamaCare. His approval is LESS than 50% in 38 States (of the 57) and that's "all adults" not "likely voters."
The White House hallways reek of desperation.
Oh, by the way, remember what happened last time when the rubber hit the road?
[The GOP got] a balanced budget and welfare reform by forcing a shutdown and gaining seats in the Senate while holding their own in the House
It's about time that a few good men on the (R) side of the aisle imitate Scott Walker.
Estote viri.
Again, the White House and Democrats are desperate for a shutdown so Barack Obama can, like Bill Clinton in the MythTM, be transcendent and leader looking.
Reid has his instructions: refuse the spending-reductions in the House CR, and make Obama a Hero!! Obama needs it. He muffed Egypt and Libya. He muffed Cap-n-Trade. He shredded himself with ObamaCare. His approval is LESS than 50% in 38 States (of the 57) and that's "all adults" not "likely voters."
The White House hallways reek of desperation.
Oh, by the way, remember what happened last time when the rubber hit the road?
[The GOP got] a balanced budget and welfare reform by forcing a shutdown and gaining seats in the Senate while holding their own in the House
It's about time that a few good men on the (R) side of the aisle imitate Scott Walker.
Estote viri.
Cops Getting Uppity
Looks like the Governor should have simply put the bulls in a cage earlier.
Authorities at the State Capitol are planning an operation this afternoon to start clearing out the building, but the Wisconsin Professional Police Association says they stand with the protesters.
Palmer said he had asked members of his group to come to the Capitol to sleep amongst the throngs of protesters.
I'm sure the cops will really enjoy the experience of co-sleeping with the Commies.
By the way, is Palmer begging the question of "Violence" like the 2 AssDems mentioned below?
Authorities at the State Capitol are planning an operation this afternoon to start clearing out the building, but the Wisconsin Professional Police Association says they stand with the protesters.
Jim Palmer, executive director of the WPPA, said in a statement released Friday morning that Gov. Scott Walker should keep the building open and allow the protesters to stay.
..."The fact of that matter is that Wisconsin's law enforcement community opposes Governor Walker's effort to eliminate most union activity in this state, and we implore him to not do anything to increase the risk to officers and the public. The costs of providing security can never outweigh those associated with a conflict."Palmer said he had asked members of his group to come to the Capitol to sleep amongst the throngs of protesters.
I'm sure the cops will really enjoy the experience of co-sleeping with the Commies.
By the way, is Palmer begging the question of "Violence" like the 2 AssDems mentioned below?
It's Not Really the CURRENT Taxes....
Good news!!
Some six businesses in the northern Chicago suburbs already have met with officials from the Milwaukee 7 economic development consortium, said Pat O'Brian, director of business strategy at the seven-county M-7 group.
Indeed....
Some six businesses in the northern Chicago suburbs already have met with officials from the Milwaukee 7 economic development consortium, said Pat O'Brian, director of business strategy at the seven-county M-7 group.
At an M-7 meeting Friday, O'Brian noted that Illinois recently hiked personal income taxes from 3% to 5% and corporate tax rates from 4.8% to 7.0%, representing increases of 67% and 46%, respectively. M-7 staffers believe that Illinois business leaders have a sudden new reason to take a hard look at Wisconsin's housing and land costs as well as its workforce.
Of course, Wisconsin's tax rates are not exactly........ahhh........miserly.
But it's not 2012 these businesses are looking at.
It's 2014, 2026, and 2020.
"Many businesses are saying, 'Why would I want to invest in a state that is bankrupt?'"Indeed....
WI AssDems Start Violence-Talk
Interesting, and reported by a national source:
...Assembly Democrats attempted to block the vote with "a motion to remove Republican Rep. Bill Kramer as speaker pro tem," reports Dave Weigel, but the motion failed. Democratic Rep. Gordon Hintz then suggested that if the budget repair bill passed, protestors might get violent. "Never underestimate the will of someone when their back is against the wall," he said. Democratic Rep. Terese Berceau took the threat a step further, "I think tonight we had a Gabrielle Giffords moment. I don't know if you heard that outside, but it shook me up." ...
It is imprudent (to say the least) for AssDem members to even HINT at the possibility of violence from the Left. Yes, it's happened in the last 2 days in Virginia and in Massachusetts. And it could happen in Madistan.
But making the suggestion is stupid. Of course, we're talking about AssDems...
...Assembly Democrats attempted to block the vote with "a motion to remove Republican Rep. Bill Kramer as speaker pro tem," reports Dave Weigel, but the motion failed. Democratic Rep. Gordon Hintz then suggested that if the budget repair bill passed, protestors might get violent. "Never underestimate the will of someone when their back is against the wall," he said. Democratic Rep. Terese Berceau took the threat a step further, "I think tonight we had a Gabrielle Giffords moment. I don't know if you heard that outside, but it shook me up." ...
It is imprudent (to say the least) for AssDem members to even HINT at the possibility of violence from the Left. Yes, it's happened in the last 2 days in Virginia and in Massachusetts. And it could happen in Madistan.
But making the suggestion is stupid. Of course, we're talking about AssDems...
Egyptian Army Fires (a Lot) on Coptic Catholics
This is "democracy", eh?
For the second time in as many days, Egyptian armed force stormed the 5th century old St. Bishoy monastery in Wadi el-Natroun, 110 kilometers from Cairo. Live ammunition was fired, wounding two monks and six Coptic monastery workers. Several sources confirmed the army’s use of RPG ammunition. Four people have been arrested including three monks and a Coptic lawyer who was at the monastery investigating yesterday’s army attack.
Army personnel were shouting "Allahu Akhbar" during the assault on the monestary.
Perhaps Obama and HRC--who both encouraged the revolution--weren't thinking a few steps ahead.
HT: Zippers
For the second time in as many days, Egyptian armed force stormed the 5th century old St. Bishoy monastery in Wadi el-Natroun, 110 kilometers from Cairo. Live ammunition was fired, wounding two monks and six Coptic monastery workers. Several sources confirmed the army’s use of RPG ammunition. Four people have been arrested including three monks and a Coptic lawyer who was at the monastery investigating yesterday’s army attack.
Army personnel were shouting "Allahu Akhbar" during the assault on the monestary.
Perhaps Obama and HRC--who both encouraged the revolution--weren't thinking a few steps ahead.
HT: Zippers
What Jon Stewart Did NOT Ask Rummy
Smitty chides Stewart for missing the 800-lb. gorilla in the room when Stewart interviewed Rumsfeld.
And yes, I'm going to get the book.
The interview, by the way, is pretty good regardless of missing the issue...
And yes, I'm going to get the book.
The interview, by the way, is pretty good regardless of missing the issue...
There Was Nothing More to Say
Bill Kramer, (the Clapper), bless his soul, just shut it down.
...Just minutes before the vote on passage, Kramer fielded a question from Democrats about how many lawmakers were waiting to speak and if they would all be allowed to make remarks. Kramer only said he could not guarantee that would happen, and pointed out that many of the comments were ones that had already been repeated several times. When the vote came, it happened so quickly that many lawmakers were not even on the floor at the time. Several Democrats and a handful of Republicans did not even get to cast a vote on the bill.
Last November, the Conservatives won and the LeftOWackies lost.
Get over it.
...Just minutes before the vote on passage, Kramer fielded a question from Democrats about how many lawmakers were waiting to speak and if they would all be allowed to make remarks. Kramer only said he could not guarantee that would happen, and pointed out that many of the comments were ones that had already been repeated several times. When the vote came, it happened so quickly that many lawmakers were not even on the floor at the time. Several Democrats and a handful of Republicans did not even get to cast a vote on the bill.
Last November, the Conservatives won and the LeftOWackies lost.
Get over it.
What K-Hammer Did NOT Say
This guy gets it, but doesn't follow through on his logic.
Obama's Democrats have become the party of no. Real cuts to the federal budget? No. Entitlement reform? No. Tax reform? No. Breaking the corrupt and fiscally unsustainable symbiosis between public-sector unions and state governments? Hell no.
Along the way, he makes another point which cannot be repeated too often--and here's where he pulls a punch:
In the private sector, the capitalist knows that when he negotiates with the union, if he gives away the store, he loses his shirt. In the public sector, the politicians who approve any deal have none of their own money at stake. On the contrary, the more favorably they dispose of union demands, the more likely they are to be the beneficiary of union largesse in the next election.
By inference, it's the Party of Government (POG--or more accurately, PIG). K-man did not say that "managers" get the same bennies that union members do, but he could have.
He did NOT say that Government is a monopoly. He did NOT say that only Government provides Government "services." He did NOT say that Government gets what it wants at the point of a gun.
He did NOT conclude: "The beneficiaries? Government employees. All of them."
He could have.
Obama's Democrats have become the party of no. Real cuts to the federal budget? No. Entitlement reform? No. Tax reform? No. Breaking the corrupt and fiscally unsustainable symbiosis between public-sector unions and state governments? Hell no.
Along the way, he makes another point which cannot be repeated too often--and here's where he pulls a punch:
In the private sector, the capitalist knows that when he negotiates with the union, if he gives away the store, he loses his shirt. In the public sector, the politicians who approve any deal have none of their own money at stake. On the contrary, the more favorably they dispose of union demands, the more likely they are to be the beneficiary of union largesse in the next election.
By inference, it's the Party of Government (POG--or more accurately, PIG). K-man did not say that "managers" get the same bennies that union members do, but he could have.
He did NOT say that Government is a monopoly. He did NOT say that only Government provides Government "services." He did NOT say that Government gets what it wants at the point of a gun.
He did NOT conclude: "The beneficiaries? Government employees. All of them."
He could have.
Is Jonathan Alter REALLY This Stupid?
Someone named Jonathan Alter dashed off a piece on the Madistan Mess. Evidently, he was assigned to write something--ANYthing--so that his employer 'covers the news.'
Too bad that a 5th-grader coulda fact-checked the column and pulled it before it hit the 'net.
...That means that in the ailing communities of Wisconsin and other states, teachers and social welfare workers are often the best- paid people in town. Because they are compensated the same whether they work in Milwaukee or Eagle River, their paychecks go further in rural areas with lower costs of living.
State of Wisconsin employees are paid uniformly, of course.
Teachers? Not so much.
He also repeats the puke-a-points of the Committed Left:
...Wisconsin is in better shape than most states -- or was, until Walker rammed $117 million in tax cuts for corporations through the legislature, now controlled by the GOP. Those tax cuts take effect in July, making a difficult budget outlook even worse.
Sure. $117M is SUCH a HUGE NUMBER, whereas $3.6 BILLION (the structural deficit) is so tiny, so....manageable.
ZERO, Jonathan!!
...Walker’s true intentions were made clear by his hands-off treatment of those police and fire unions that supported his candidacy last year
Four of three-hundred fourteen cop/fireman locals supported Walker. OK, Jonathan, that's another ZERO.
...The billionaire Koch brothers, whose organization Americans for Prosperity spent $40 million nationwide in the 2010 elections on behalf of the GOP, are pumping money into Wisconsin
Here Jonathan gets half-credit. The Koch brothers ARE spending money on this campaign. But how much? If the total cost on the issue is, say, $100 million, did they spend $100 million? $50 million? $10 million? $1 million?
Here's the converse, phrased just the way Jonathan would approve:
Several national unions are pumping money into Wisconsin. In addition, organized labor has sent thousands of its members into the State to chant and holler in Madison, Milwaukee, and the Fox River Valley. Remember that the AFSCME alone contributed $80 million to the Democrat Party in 2010, and that Unions compose 5 of the 10 largest (D) contributors in the last few election cycles.
Sorry, Jonathan. The 5th-grader wins this round.
Too bad that a 5th-grader coulda fact-checked the column and pulled it before it hit the 'net.
...That means that in the ailing communities of Wisconsin and other states, teachers and social welfare workers are often the best- paid people in town. Because they are compensated the same whether they work in Milwaukee or Eagle River, their paychecks go further in rural areas with lower costs of living.
State of Wisconsin employees are paid uniformly, of course.
Teachers? Not so much.
He also repeats the puke-a-points of the Committed Left:
...Wisconsin is in better shape than most states -- or was, until Walker rammed $117 million in tax cuts for corporations through the legislature, now controlled by the GOP. Those tax cuts take effect in July, making a difficult budget outlook even worse.
Sure. $117M is SUCH a HUGE NUMBER, whereas $3.6 BILLION (the structural deficit) is so tiny, so....manageable.
ZERO, Jonathan!!
...Walker’s true intentions were made clear by his hands-off treatment of those police and fire unions that supported his candidacy last year
Four of three-hundred fourteen cop/fireman locals supported Walker. OK, Jonathan, that's another ZERO.
...The billionaire Koch brothers, whose organization Americans for Prosperity spent $40 million nationwide in the 2010 elections on behalf of the GOP, are pumping money into Wisconsin
Here Jonathan gets half-credit. The Koch brothers ARE spending money on this campaign. But how much? If the total cost on the issue is, say, $100 million, did they spend $100 million? $50 million? $10 million? $1 million?
Here's the converse, phrased just the way Jonathan would approve:
Several national unions are pumping money into Wisconsin. In addition, organized labor has sent thousands of its members into the State to chant and holler in Madison, Milwaukee, and the Fox River Valley. Remember that the AFSCME alone contributed $80 million to the Democrat Party in 2010, and that Unions compose 5 of the 10 largest (D) contributors in the last few election cycles.
Sorry, Jonathan. The 5th-grader wins this round.
ObamaTaxes: So Nice You'll Pay Them Twice!!
Geithner, who didn't know how to pay his own taxes a few years ago, has a new proposal for other US taxpayers:
"Pay twice!! And by the way, we have a lot more paperwork for you to fill out and maintain!!"
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the Senate Finance Committee Feb. 15 that Congress should “revisit” long- standing rules that give businesses a choice of paying taxes as a corporation or through a structure such as a partnership through which they can report business income on individual tax returns.
Umnhhhhh....
'S Corporations' and proprietorships are organized so that income from the business is taxed to the individual(s) who own the business. The rate is about the same, ~35% for individual and corporate tax.
What Geithner is proposing, however, is to force S Corps and proprietorships to:
1) Incorporate, and then
2) Pay corporate income taxes on the business' income AND
3) Pay individual income taxes on earnings taken by the owner(s).
Incorporation is a pain in the.....umnnnhhhhh.....patoot; there's plenty of paperwork which must be completed (and, of course, maintained every year). States, of course, have their OWN paperwork requirements for corporations, too--which calls for another layer of administrative time.
To people such as Geithner, "adding paperwork" is no big deal. First of all, HE won't do the paperwork; YOU will. Secondly, cluck-bureaucrats such as Timmy (and the ConLaw Perfessor) think that Paperwork Is Life.
But then, they've never sold, or manufactured, a damn thing--except paperwork.
"Pay twice!! And by the way, we have a lot more paperwork for you to fill out and maintain!!"
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the Senate Finance Committee Feb. 15 that Congress should “revisit” long- standing rules that give businesses a choice of paying taxes as a corporation or through a structure such as a partnership through which they can report business income on individual tax returns.
Umnhhhhh....
'S Corporations' and proprietorships are organized so that income from the business is taxed to the individual(s) who own the business. The rate is about the same, ~35% for individual and corporate tax.
What Geithner is proposing, however, is to force S Corps and proprietorships to:
1) Incorporate, and then
2) Pay corporate income taxes on the business' income AND
3) Pay individual income taxes on earnings taken by the owner(s).
Incorporation is a pain in the.....umnnnhhhhh.....patoot; there's plenty of paperwork which must be completed (and, of course, maintained every year). States, of course, have their OWN paperwork requirements for corporations, too--which calls for another layer of administrative time.
To people such as Geithner, "adding paperwork" is no big deal. First of all, HE won't do the paperwork; YOU will. Secondly, cluck-bureaucrats such as Timmy (and the ConLaw Perfessor) think that Paperwork Is Life.
But then, they've never sold, or manufactured, a damn thing--except paperwork.
"It's Fair" Say Vast Majority of WI Likely Voters
Well, hey. I'm filling a little space here.
Most Wisconsinites believe that Governor Walker’s proposed budget changes that include unions to pay 5.8% of their salary toward the cost of their pensions plans and double their contributions for health care premiums to 12.6% are fair, according to a new poll sponsored by WisconsinReporter.com
Here's the fun:
Governor Walker is asking unions to pay 5.8% of their salary toward the cost of their pensions plans and double their contributions for health care premiums to 12.6%. Is that fair? 71% Yes
The other poll questions resulted in dead-heat answers.
Most Wisconsinites believe that Governor Walker’s proposed budget changes that include unions to pay 5.8% of their salary toward the cost of their pensions plans and double their contributions for health care premiums to 12.6% are fair, according to a new poll sponsored by WisconsinReporter.com
Here's the fun:
Governor Walker is asking unions to pay 5.8% of their salary toward the cost of their pensions plans and double their contributions for health care premiums to 12.6%. Is that fair? 71% Yes
The other poll questions resulted in dead-heat answers.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Number 4 in Tax Burden. Still Think WEAC Will Win This?
Movin' on up!
...because Wisconsinites pay 11.0% of their incomes in state- and local-level taxes, we had the fourth-worst tax burden in the nation as of last year. ...By contrast, the average American paid 9.8% of his or her income in state- and local-level taxes in 2009, a drop of 1.2% from the 9.9% of income paid in 2008.
Not exactly a surprise, and that doesn't count the $$$BaZillion in tax increases jammed through in ....what.....3 hours of Leggie Time by The Doylet last year.
This certainly helps WEAC and AFSCME, doesn't it?
No?
C'mon.
Hey: if they win, we COULD be NUMBER ONE!!
HT: Steve
...because Wisconsinites pay 11.0% of their incomes in state- and local-level taxes, we had the fourth-worst tax burden in the nation as of last year. ...By contrast, the average American paid 9.8% of his or her income in state- and local-level taxes in 2009, a drop of 1.2% from the 9.9% of income paid in 2008.
Not exactly a surprise, and that doesn't count the $$$BaZillion in tax increases jammed through in ....what.....3 hours of Leggie Time by The Doylet last year.
This certainly helps WEAC and AFSCME, doesn't it?
No?
C'mon.
Hey: if they win, we COULD be NUMBER ONE!!
HT: Steve
John Paul II on Unions
Think this will get played big by the AFL-CIO? WEAC? AFSCME?
“In this sense, union activity undoubtedly enters the field of politics, understood as prudent concern for the common good. However, the role of unions is not to ‘play politics’ in the sense that the expression is commonly understood today. Unions do not have the character of political parties struggling for power; they should not be subjected to the decision of political parties or have too close links with them. In fact, in such a situation they easily lose contact with their specific role, which is to secure the just rights of workers within the framework of the common good of the whole of society; instead they become an instrument used for other purposes.” --John Paul II, Laborem Exercens
That was quoted by Bp. Morlino of Madison in his essay regarding the current situation.
“In this sense, union activity undoubtedly enters the field of politics, understood as prudent concern for the common good. However, the role of unions is not to ‘play politics’ in the sense that the expression is commonly understood today. Unions do not have the character of political parties struggling for power; they should not be subjected to the decision of political parties or have too close links with them. In fact, in such a situation they easily lose contact with their specific role, which is to secure the just rights of workers within the framework of the common good of the whole of society; instead they become an instrument used for other purposes.” --John Paul II, Laborem Exercens
That was quoted by Bp. Morlino of Madison in his essay regarding the current situation.
Analysis by Jesse James
This is rich.
Spending cuts approved by House Republicans would act as a drag on the U.S. economy, according to a Wall Street analysis that put new pressure on the political debate in Washington.
The report by the investment firm Goldman Sachs said the cuts would reduce the growth in gross domestic product by up to 2 percentage points this year, essentially cutting in half the nation's projected economic growth for 2011.
In other news, Jesse James' James & Co. issued a white paper decrying the use of "vaults" in banks. James & Co. said that such vaults will reduce the economic growth of the bank-robbery industry and force bank robbers to fleece taxpayers instead. He predicted that this would occur in late 2008.
Spending cuts approved by House Republicans would act as a drag on the U.S. economy, according to a Wall Street analysis that put new pressure on the political debate in Washington.
The report by the investment firm Goldman Sachs said the cuts would reduce the growth in gross domestic product by up to 2 percentage points this year, essentially cutting in half the nation's projected economic growth for 2011.
In other news, Jesse James' James & Co. issued a white paper decrying the use of "vaults" in banks. James & Co. said that such vaults will reduce the economic growth of the bank-robbery industry and force bank robbers to fleece taxpayers instead. He predicted that this would occur in late 2008.
Truck Tonnage Up, Again
A bit of good news:
The American Trucking Associations’ advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 3.8 percent in January after rising a revised 2.5 percent in December 2010. The latest jump put the SA index at 117.1 (2000=100) in January, which was the highest level since January 2008. --ATA quoted by CalcRisk
ATA is worried about fuel prices--not so much for their own members, which will take a hit, but for consumer spending purposes.
The American Trucking Associations’ advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 3.8 percent in January after rising a revised 2.5 percent in December 2010. The latest jump put the SA index at 117.1 (2000=100) in January, which was the highest level since January 2008. --ATA quoted by CalcRisk
ATA is worried about fuel prices--not so much for their own members, which will take a hit, but for consumer spending purposes.
Tom Barrett: About 50 Years Late
Milk-Carton Tom declares that Scott Walker 'created an ideological war.'
"I think he's loving the fact he's created this ideological war," Barrett said. Barrett was Walker's Democratic opponent in last fall's governor's race. "The whole purpose is to pit people against one another," the mayor said in an interview afterhis annual "state of the city" speech.
Nope.
That war was started, technically, in 1959, with the State's authorization of public-employee unions.
And their ideology has been forced on taxpayers ever since--at the point of a gun.
"I think he's loving the fact he's created this ideological war," Barrett said. Barrett was Walker's Democratic opponent in last fall's governor's race. "The whole purpose is to pit people against one another," the mayor said in an interview afterhis annual "state of the city" speech.
Nope.
That war was started, technically, in 1959, with the State's authorization of public-employee unions.
And their ideology has been forced on taxpayers ever since--at the point of a gun.
Langyel Makes a Fool of Himself
Obviously, the Milwaukee Teachers' Union president doesn't care to answer a question.
And the poor fool thinks that people are stupid enough to swallow his foofoodust.
And the poor fool thinks that people are stupid enough to swallow his foofoodust.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Racism of the Unions
History:
...organized labor’s rise to power typically came at the expense of black workers. Consider collective bargaining, the legal arrangement whereby a union selected by a majority of employees receives the monopoly bargaining power to exclusively represent all employees. This valuable union tool first became part of federal law under section 7A of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. Since blacks were barred from the vast majority of unions at that time, collective bargaining served as a de facto ban on all black workers in unionized shops.
...leading black newspapers like The Chicago Defender attacking the pro-union NRA as the “Negro Removal Act,” “Negro Run Around,” and "No Roosevelt Again." According to the left-wing sociologist and historian W.E.B. Du Bois, "the most sinister power that the NRA has reinforced is the American Federation of Labor."
...collective bargaining promptly reemerged via section 9 of 1935's National Labor Relations Act (also known as the Wagner Act, after its sponsor, Democratic New York Sen. Robert Wagner). That law originally contained a clause forbidding union discrimination against blacks, but the clause was dropped at the insistence of the American Federation of Labor—which then enjoyed state-sanctioned monopoly powers and continued its long tradition of excluding and mistreating black workers until the passage of federal civil rights laws in the 1960s.
Shouldn't be a surprise. Most "gun ban" laws were written to disarm blacks in the South after the Civil War, too.
HT: Hit and Run
...organized labor’s rise to power typically came at the expense of black workers. Consider collective bargaining, the legal arrangement whereby a union selected by a majority of employees receives the monopoly bargaining power to exclusively represent all employees. This valuable union tool first became part of federal law under section 7A of the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. Since blacks were barred from the vast majority of unions at that time, collective bargaining served as a de facto ban on all black workers in unionized shops.
...leading black newspapers like The Chicago Defender attacking the pro-union NRA as the “Negro Removal Act,” “Negro Run Around,” and "No Roosevelt Again." According to the left-wing sociologist and historian W.E.B. Du Bois, "the most sinister power that the NRA has reinforced is the American Federation of Labor."
...collective bargaining promptly reemerged via section 9 of 1935's National Labor Relations Act (also known as the Wagner Act, after its sponsor, Democratic New York Sen. Robert Wagner). That law originally contained a clause forbidding union discrimination against blacks, but the clause was dropped at the insistence of the American Federation of Labor—which then enjoyed state-sanctioned monopoly powers and continued its long tradition of excluding and mistreating black workers until the passage of federal civil rights laws in the 1960s.
Shouldn't be a surprise. Most "gun ban" laws were written to disarm blacks in the South after the Civil War, too.
HT: Hit and Run
Spotted Owl Good. Barred Owl?? Shoot It!!!
It's not hard to believe, given that it's the Left...
...According to the Oregonian, the spotted owl (Strix occidentalis) ...has continued to die off. Turns out the major culprit in its demise was evolution — in the form of the barred owl, a closely related species that is bigger, more omnivorous, and generally all around superior to the spotted owl. Barred owls (Strix varia), also native to North America, seize spotted owl habitat and out-compete the endangered species.
Well, there's a solution!!
Barred owls attack other owls that invade its territory. So steely eyed, shotgun-toting environmentalists plan to play owl calls over loudspeakers, and when the evil barred owl comes to investigate — pow!!
Barred Owl: It's What's For Dinner!
HT: MoonBattery
...According to the Oregonian, the spotted owl (Strix occidentalis) ...has continued to die off. Turns out the major culprit in its demise was evolution — in the form of the barred owl, a closely related species that is bigger, more omnivorous, and generally all around superior to the spotted owl. Barred owls (Strix varia), also native to North America, seize spotted owl habitat and out-compete the endangered species.
Well, there's a solution!!
Barred owls attack other owls that invade its territory. So steely eyed, shotgun-toting environmentalists plan to play owl calls over loudspeakers, and when the evil barred owl comes to investigate — pow!!
Barred Owl: It's What's For Dinner!
HT: MoonBattery
It's the Money, Honey
PowerLine has a very revealing chart of the Top 20 electoral donors (1989-present).
Twelve of the top twenty are unions: AFSCME, UAW, Teamsters, IAMAW, SEIU, NEA (etc., etc.)
ACT Blue occupies the #1 slot at $50 million.
Somehow, the Koch Bros' $2 million seems..........ahhhh..........miserly.
Twelve of the top twenty are unions: AFSCME, UAW, Teamsters, IAMAW, SEIU, NEA (etc., etc.)
ACT Blue occupies the #1 slot at $50 million.
Somehow, the Koch Bros' $2 million seems..........ahhhh..........miserly.
Next Up: The UN "Green Tax"
It's entirely possible that Obama will sign on to this.
It's very unlikely that the U S Senate will ratify.
The United Nations yesterday called for 2 percent of worldwide income to be invested in the green economy. The investment [sic], which would amount to $1.3 trillion a year, will pay for itself by providing millions of new jobs, developing new industries, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, saving money and providing health benefits from cleaner air, the United Nations said
Pigs fly, rain falls up, and UN programs 'pay for themselves.'
This demand is set to emerge in a treaty I have noted here before, plans for which include springing it on us three weeks before an event in Rio, in the Spring of our 2012 presidential election cycle, which President Obama will attend.
A nice place to visit, Rio.
HT: AmSpec
It's very unlikely that the U S Senate will ratify.
The United Nations yesterday called for 2 percent of worldwide income to be invested in the green economy. The investment [sic], which would amount to $1.3 trillion a year, will pay for itself by providing millions of new jobs, developing new industries, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, saving money and providing health benefits from cleaner air, the United Nations said
Pigs fly, rain falls up, and UN programs 'pay for themselves.'
This demand is set to emerge in a treaty I have noted here before, plans for which include springing it on us three weeks before an event in Rio, in the Spring of our 2012 presidential election cycle, which President Obama will attend.
A nice place to visit, Rio.
HT: AmSpec
Liturgy's "Styles"
Jeffery demonstrates that skipping a lot of paragraphs can produce the results one wants.
While discussing an article by Fr. Ruff, OSB, Jeffery shows us that Fr. Ruff is being disingenuous:
Section 116 famously said that Gregorian chant is to have first place. But to get to section 123, you have to move past the section on music and here you discover that the sage statement about style concerns architecture and furnishings, not the core music of the Roman Rite
In fact:
...Gregorian chant is not a style. It is not music that is identified with a particular time or place or people. It is the foundational music of the ritual itself, the music that has lasted throughout the whole history of the rite. It can be substituted with another form but its status as the core, the model, the ideal, never changes.
Nice clarification!
While discussing an article by Fr. Ruff, OSB, Jeffery shows us that Fr. Ruff is being disingenuous:
Section 116 famously said that Gregorian chant is to have first place. But to get to section 123, you have to move past the section on music and here you discover that the sage statement about style concerns architecture and furnishings, not the core music of the Roman Rite
In fact:
...Gregorian chant is not a style. It is not music that is identified with a particular time or place or people. It is the foundational music of the ritual itself, the music that has lasted throughout the whole history of the rite. It can be substituted with another form but its status as the core, the model, the ideal, never changes.
Nice clarification!
Clarifying Abp Listecki's "Labor Letter"
From Bp. Morlino of Madison:
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) has chosen a neutral stance because the present dilemma comes down to either a choice for the common good, of sacrifice on the part of all, at times that pose immense economic threats, both present and future on the one hand, and on the other hand, a choice for the rights of workers to a just compensation for services rendered, and to the upholding of contracts legally made. As Catholics, we see both of these horns of the dilemma as good, and yet the current situation calls many of us to choose between these two goods. Thus the WCC has taken a neutral stance, and this is the point of Archbishop Listecki’s recent statement, which I have echoed. --quoted at Badger Catholic
Note well: the Wisconsin Catholic Conference issued the memorandum, not Abp. Listecki (although he did sign it as Chief of the Conference.)
Evidently, Bp. Morlino plans to release a much longer letter tomorrow.
There is one clause which raises a question: "....upholding contracts legally made." The good Bishop implies that such contracts will be broken, and that is NOT the case. The legislation will allow changes to bargaining when current contracts expire, not before.
And of course, he brings up "fairness" (in the context of 'just compensation.'
That longer 'splanation will bear study.
The Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) has chosen a neutral stance because the present dilemma comes down to either a choice for the common good, of sacrifice on the part of all, at times that pose immense economic threats, both present and future on the one hand, and on the other hand, a choice for the rights of workers to a just compensation for services rendered, and to the upholding of contracts legally made. As Catholics, we see both of these horns of the dilemma as good, and yet the current situation calls many of us to choose between these two goods. Thus the WCC has taken a neutral stance, and this is the point of Archbishop Listecki’s recent statement, which I have echoed. --quoted at Badger Catholic
Note well: the Wisconsin Catholic Conference issued the memorandum, not Abp. Listecki (although he did sign it as Chief of the Conference.)
Evidently, Bp. Morlino plans to release a much longer letter tomorrow.
There is one clause which raises a question: "....upholding contracts legally made." The good Bishop implies that such contracts will be broken, and that is NOT the case. The legislation will allow changes to bargaining when current contracts expire, not before.
And of course, he brings up "fairness" (in the context of 'just compensation.'
That longer 'splanation will bear study.
Obama Decides that DOMA Is "Unconstitutional"
That decision is not a surprise, of course. It's politically expedient. Clinton signed it, after all, and what does HE know about "the Constitution"?
Some sort of "scrutiny" incantation.
So the Congress will be required to defend DOMA.
Article II, Section III does not apply to The Won, eh?
HT: Lonely
Some sort of "scrutiny" incantation.
So the Congress will be required to defend DOMA.
Article II, Section III does not apply to The Won, eh?
HT: Lonely
What "Rights" Do (Monopoly) Public Employees Have?
Patrick gets to the heart of it and provides a very provocative link, too!!
Unions and their allies complain that [Walker] secretly hates unions and that allowing only some collective bargaining will destroy unions. They have so far failed to provide any rational support for this.
Public-employee unions were created by the Legislature (and Governor) of Wisconsin. There is nothing which prevents the same bodies from UN-creating them.
There is, as Patrick (and FDR) allowed, a 'right' to organize. That is exactly what the Catholic Church teaches. That 'right' is most compelling if (and only if) the workers are not treated with dignity and respect.
But the Church and FDR also stipulate that unions may NOT interfere with the common good; and in the case at hand, it is clear that the State's financial survival is contingent on serious changes in union-members' privileges.
But the question is a bit larger. Is "the common good" at stake when monopoly-services are involved?
Patrick also linked to an article whose author raises, arguably, the most important point:
...The very nature of many public services — such as policing the streets and putting out fires — gives government a monopoly or near monopoly; striking public employees could therefore hold the public hostage. As long-time New York Times labor reporter A. H. Raskin wrote in 1968: "The community cannot tolerate the notion that it is defenseless at the hands of organized workers to whom it has entrusted responsibility for essential services."
The "Big 3" were an oligopoly through most of the '50's and '60's--and even THEY could not sustain labor's demands into the 21st Century.
The only reason that Public Employee Unions have succeeded to this point is that they are able to collect their wages, benefits, and privileges at the point of a gun. That's what 'taxation' is, folks.
So we have a monopoly Government with a monopoly Union; the Government provides armed support for the demands of its union employees.
Sheriff of Nottingham, you have a call holding on Line One.
Unions and their allies complain that [Walker] secretly hates unions and that allowing only some collective bargaining will destroy unions. They have so far failed to provide any rational support for this.
Public-employee unions were created by the Legislature (and Governor) of Wisconsin. There is nothing which prevents the same bodies from UN-creating them.
There is, as Patrick (and FDR) allowed, a 'right' to organize. That is exactly what the Catholic Church teaches. That 'right' is most compelling if (and only if) the workers are not treated with dignity and respect.
But the Church and FDR also stipulate that unions may NOT interfere with the common good; and in the case at hand, it is clear that the State's financial survival is contingent on serious changes in union-members' privileges.
But the question is a bit larger. Is "the common good" at stake when monopoly-services are involved?
Patrick also linked to an article whose author raises, arguably, the most important point:
...The very nature of many public services — such as policing the streets and putting out fires — gives government a monopoly or near monopoly; striking public employees could therefore hold the public hostage. As long-time New York Times labor reporter A. H. Raskin wrote in 1968: "The community cannot tolerate the notion that it is defenseless at the hands of organized workers to whom it has entrusted responsibility for essential services."
The "Big 3" were an oligopoly through most of the '50's and '60's--and even THEY could not sustain labor's demands into the 21st Century.
The only reason that Public Employee Unions have succeeded to this point is that they are able to collect their wages, benefits, and privileges at the point of a gun. That's what 'taxation' is, folks.
So we have a monopoly Government with a monopoly Union; the Government provides armed support for the demands of its union employees.
Sheriff of Nottingham, you have a call holding on Line One.
So You Wanna Do Radio News?
Under some interpretations of the Interstate Commerce Clause, 'thinking' is an economic activity.
Similarly, in the world the FCC would like to create, news outlets should:
“...prove they have made a meaningful commitment to public affairs and news programming, prove they are committed to diversity programming (for instance, by showing that they depict women and minorities), report more to the government about which shows they plan to air, require greater disclosure about who funds political ads and devote 25 percent of their prime-time coverage to local news.”
If you think otherwise, the Commerce Clause kicks in and you go directly to jail.
HT: Moron
Similarly, in the world the FCC would like to create, news outlets should:
“...prove they have made a meaningful commitment to public affairs and news programming, prove they are committed to diversity programming (for instance, by showing that they depict women and minorities), report more to the government about which shows they plan to air, require greater disclosure about who funds political ads and devote 25 percent of their prime-time coverage to local news.”
If you think otherwise, the Commerce Clause kicks in and you go directly to jail.
HT: Moron
Public Employee Unions Losing the Battle
Well, well.
Zogby queried likely voters:
Two-thirds of likely voters agree that state legislatures have the authority to cut state employee salaries and 52% agree they can void collective bargaining agreements to reduce spending.
Zogby queried likely voters:
Two-thirds of likely voters agree that state legislatures have the authority to cut state employee salaries and 52% agree they can void collective bargaining agreements to reduce spending.
Voiding collective bargaining agreements is also seen as preferable to continuing to pay state employees at current levels or layoffs of state workers in order to reduce spending and control deficits.
The key is "likely voters." There are other polls--but the money is in 'likely voters,' not disaffected students or no-permanent-address types.
SEVENTY ONE PERCENT of Independents agreed that Legislatures have the authority to cut State salaries/wages to reduce spending. 67% of all polled also agreed.
Remember that Independents control election results, not (D) or (R) types.
Up the Tuition at Marquette U!!
Think about this when you write that check for MU tuition: the "Academic Senate" has approved, 26-0, 'domestic benefits' for homosexual faculty members.
HT: The Warrior
HT: The Warrior
Surprise! Union Public Employees DO Earn More
As one might have suspected, the EPI "wage survey" didn't paint the whole picture.
“And that doesn’t even include other unaccounted for factors, like the ironclad job security in the public sector and the fact that most teachers’ full-time salary covers a work year only 36 weeks long.
You can access the study at the link.
Today, the Center for Union Facts released a new analysis proving that public sector employees, on average, earn five percent more in wages and benefits than their counterparts in the private sector. This flies in the face of data from the Economic Policy Institute (EcPI), a “think tank” that has taken millions from labor unions and has released a series of studies making the counterintuitive claim that public sector employees are underpaid by four percent when compared to those in the private sector.
Redoing the same analysis from EcPI’s study, the Center for Union Facts controlled for two key factors that EcPI improperly accounted for: private sector business size and the treatment of full-time, part-year workers (a category that includes roughly one quarter of all teachers). When those two factors are properly considered, the results reverse themselves: public sector, taxpayer-funded employees actually enjoy a compensation bonus of at least five percent.
Actually, there are more factors which should be taken into account:“And that doesn’t even include other unaccounted for factors, like the ironclad job security in the public sector and the fact that most teachers’ full-time salary covers a work year only 36 weeks long.
You can access the study at the link.
Logical Consequences of the DC ObamaCare Decision
Malor of AOSHQ:
...if Judge Kessler is correct, then every "mental activity" that has an economic effect is subject to regulation by the federal government.
Kessler found that ObamaCare is perfectly Constitutional under the Commerce Clause.
Her dicta:
As previous Commerce Clause cases have all involved physical activity, as opposed to mental activity, i.e. decision-making, there is little judicial guidance on whether the latter falls within Congress’s power…. However, this Court finds the distinction, which Plaintiffs rely on heavily, to be of little significance. It is pure semantics to argue that an individual who makes a choice to forgo health insurance is not “acting,” especially given the serious economic and health-related consequences to every individual of that choice. Making a choice is an affirmative action, whether one decides to do something or not do something. They are two sides of the same coin. To pretend otherwise is to ignore reality.
The Government menu--which is the ONLY menu--mandates broccoli today. You may NOT choose not to eat it, for that is a violation of the Commerce Clause.
Somehow, that doesn't ring very well.
More from Insurrection:
Our thoughts are now actions. There literally is nothing the federal government cannot regulate provided there is even a hypothetical connection to the economy, even if the connection at most is in the future.
...More analysis by Aaron Worthing at Patterico, where Patrick Frey has decided to take a short break from blogging, which means he has decided not to engage in economic activity and thereby subjected himself to federal regulation.
And even more analysis at Volokh Conspiracy, where Orin Kerr has decided not to take a break from blogging, and thereby subjected himself to federal regulation.
Easy solution: stop all that damned THINKING!
...if Judge Kessler is correct, then every "mental activity" that has an economic effect is subject to regulation by the federal government.
Kessler found that ObamaCare is perfectly Constitutional under the Commerce Clause.
Her dicta:
As previous Commerce Clause cases have all involved physical activity, as opposed to mental activity, i.e. decision-making, there is little judicial guidance on whether the latter falls within Congress’s power…. However, this Court finds the distinction, which Plaintiffs rely on heavily, to be of little significance. It is pure semantics to argue that an individual who makes a choice to forgo health insurance is not “acting,” especially given the serious economic and health-related consequences to every individual of that choice. Making a choice is an affirmative action, whether one decides to do something or not do something. They are two sides of the same coin. To pretend otherwise is to ignore reality.
The Government menu--which is the ONLY menu--mandates broccoli today. You may NOT choose not to eat it, for that is a violation of the Commerce Clause.
Somehow, that doesn't ring very well.
More from Insurrection:
Our thoughts are now actions. There literally is nothing the federal government cannot regulate provided there is even a hypothetical connection to the economy, even if the connection at most is in the future.
...More analysis by Aaron Worthing at Patterico, where Patrick Frey has decided to take a short break from blogging, which means he has decided not to engage in economic activity and thereby subjected himself to federal regulation.
And even more analysis at Volokh Conspiracy, where Orin Kerr has decided not to take a break from blogging, and thereby subjected himself to federal regulation.
Easy solution: stop all that damned THINKING!
$165 Million: Will "The 14" Pay Us Back?
There IS the matter of $165 million.
Walker's budget repair bill includes authorization for refinancing some State debts. That re-fi is projected to save the State's taxpayers $165 million.
But the 'borrowing window' closes soon; if the bill doesn't pass by the weekend, it's not likely that the State will be able to re-fi the debt.
So.
Will the 14 runaway bozos cough up the $165 million from their own pockets? THEY are responsible, individually and as a group, for the money, after all.
Walker's budget repair bill includes authorization for refinancing some State debts. That re-fi is projected to save the State's taxpayers $165 million.
But the 'borrowing window' closes soon; if the bill doesn't pass by the weekend, it's not likely that the State will be able to re-fi the debt.
So.
Will the 14 runaway bozos cough up the $165 million from their own pockets? THEY are responsible, individually and as a group, for the money, after all.
How About a General Strike-Breaking?
The final paroxysms of the corpse:
As the Wisconsin Legislature reconvened this morning, a key federation of nearly 100 labor unions in the state is calling for a general strike for about 45,000 people if Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill is signed into law. The South Central Federation of Labor is calling for a general strike if the bill becomes law. --RedState quoting BizTimes
About 97 union locals in the Madistan Provincial Area--Dane, Sauk (etc.) counties.
There will be a lot of jobs available!
As the Wisconsin Legislature reconvened this morning, a key federation of nearly 100 labor unions in the state is calling for a general strike for about 45,000 people if Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill is signed into law. The South Central Federation of Labor is calling for a general strike if the bill becomes law. --RedState quoting BizTimes
About 97 union locals in the Madistan Provincial Area--Dane, Sauk (etc.) counties.
There will be a lot of jobs available!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Fugitive Can't Vote: No Valid Excuse
The fugitive, Erpenbach, demands to VOTE (!!!) on voter-ID bill.
By telephone, of course. He's hiding from the State Fuzz.
Gee. There's nothing in the rules which allows fugitives to vote in the Wisconsin State Senate.
So sorry, Erpie.
By telephone, of course. He's hiding from the State Fuzz.
Gee. There's nothing in the rules which allows fugitives to vote in the Wisconsin State Senate.
So sorry, Erpie.
A Bit of Philosophy Regarding "Live Action"
Peter Kreeft doesn't need introduction. Here he argues that "Live Action"'s actions were not only not lying--but that they were CLEARLY not lying.
(These are excerpts. You can read the entire argument here.)
The question of method in moral reasoning has a long and heavy history. Beginning with Ockham (Nominalism), exacerbated by Descartes (Rationalism), and even more by Kant (his ‘Copernican revolution in philosophy’), our concept of ‘reason’ has been increasingly separated from experience and narrowed to something more and more resembling what computers do. The Aristotelian and Thomistic (and, more generally, pre-modern) meaning of ‘reason’ is broader. It had to be, to justify the definition of man as ‘the rational animal.’ It included the immediate, intuitive understanding (‘the first act of the mind’ in Aristotelian-Scholastic logic) and intuitive judgment (‘the second act of the mind’) as well as inductive or deductive reasoning (‘the third act of the mind’).
It's useful to recall that "ordering" is important, so "first, second, and third" denote (to some extent) the right-ordering of 'reason' in the Ari/Thomist tradition. IOW, "immediate, intuitive, reasoning" is more weighty to Ari/Thom than is "inductive/deductive".
This is not simply a case of altered conventional usage, but of real error. Since we are not angels, all our knowledge begins with experience, and our moral knowledge begins with moral experience—experience of concrete cases. Before we reason about these (by ‘ratio,’ the ‘third act of the mind’), we understand them (by ‘intellectus,’ the ‘first act of the mind’) and judge them (the ‘second act of the mind’) by the ‘habit’ of moral judgment. In other words, we begin with the concrete, not with the abstract. Only after experience do we rise to the level of abstractions...
Immediately following that, Kreeft demolishes "Symbolic Logic"--which was inflicted on Phil 101 students at Marquette U a few decades ago, despite the evident distaste for the course by MU's Chair/Philosophy at the time.
Another wonderful digression:
When morally sane human beings hear the very clever and intelligent arguments of a philosopher like Peter Singer for ascribing more rights to whales than to babies and no more importance to your own family than to anyone else, they do not begin by looking for his logical mistakes. They say something like: “That idea is so stupid that you have to have a Ph.D. to believe it.” They have moral common sense.
And: any argument that begins by contradicting our moral common sense is almost certainly going to be wrong
Read the whole thing. It's worthwhile.
(These are excerpts. You can read the entire argument here.)
The question of method in moral reasoning has a long and heavy history. Beginning with Ockham (Nominalism), exacerbated by Descartes (Rationalism), and even more by Kant (his ‘Copernican revolution in philosophy’), our concept of ‘reason’ has been increasingly separated from experience and narrowed to something more and more resembling what computers do. The Aristotelian and Thomistic (and, more generally, pre-modern) meaning of ‘reason’ is broader. It had to be, to justify the definition of man as ‘the rational animal.’ It included the immediate, intuitive understanding (‘the first act of the mind’ in Aristotelian-Scholastic logic) and intuitive judgment (‘the second act of the mind’) as well as inductive or deductive reasoning (‘the third act of the mind’).
It's useful to recall that "ordering" is important, so "first, second, and third" denote (to some extent) the right-ordering of 'reason' in the Ari/Thomist tradition. IOW, "immediate, intuitive, reasoning" is more weighty to Ari/Thom than is "inductive/deductive".
We moderns have narrowed ‘intuition’ as we have narrowed ‘reason,’ so that ‘intuition’ now means ‘irrational feeling.’ ‘Intuitive reason’ or ‘rational intuition’ sounds to us like an oxymoron. When we read Pascal’s famous saying that ‘the heart has its reasons, that the reason does not know,’ we think he is exalting something else against reason, when he is saying exactly the opposite: that the heart, the faculty of immediate intuition, has reasons. It sees. It has eyes. It is a crucial part of ‘reason.’
...Thus we no longer see ‘moral intuition’ or its application to our moral judgment of concrete situations like Live Action’s ‘sting’ as part of ‘reason,’ as Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas did. (Aquinas called this moral intuition ‘synderesis.’)This is not simply a case of altered conventional usage, but of real error. Since we are not angels, all our knowledge begins with experience, and our moral knowledge begins with moral experience—experience of concrete cases. Before we reason about these (by ‘ratio,’ the ‘third act of the mind’), we understand them (by ‘intellectus,’ the ‘first act of the mind’) and judge them (the ‘second act of the mind’) by the ‘habit’ of moral judgment. In other words, we begin with the concrete, not with the abstract. Only after experience do we rise to the level of abstractions...
Immediately following that, Kreeft demolishes "Symbolic Logic"--which was inflicted on Phil 101 students at Marquette U a few decades ago, despite the evident distaste for the course by MU's Chair/Philosophy at the time.
Another wonderful digression:
When morally sane human beings hear the very clever and intelligent arguments of a philosopher like Peter Singer for ascribing more rights to whales than to babies and no more importance to your own family than to anyone else, they do not begin by looking for his logical mistakes. They say something like: “That idea is so stupid that you have to have a Ph.D. to believe it.” They have moral common sense.
And: any argument that begins by contradicting our moral common sense is almost certainly going to be wrong
Read the whole thing. It's worthwhile.
Obama-Selected Loser
Gee. Too bad. The taxpayers just ate ~$390 million.
Just a co-incidence that the majority owner was an Obama donor, of course.
Solyndra, Inc. was supposed to have showcased the effectiveness of the Obama administration’s stimulus and green jobs initiatives, but instead it has become the center of congressional attention for waste, fraud and abuse of such programs.
$535 million in taxpayer-guaranteed loans.
...Instead, Solyndra announced on Nov. 3 it planned to postpone expanding the plant, which cost the taxpayers $390.5 million, or 73 percent of the total loan guarantee, according to the Wall Street Journal.
It also announced that it no longer planned to hire the 1,000 workers that Obama and Biden had touted in their speeches and that it planned to close one of its older factories and planned to lay-off 135 temporary or contract workers and 40 full-time employees
Oh, yes, it can (and did) get worse:
...Solyndra’s auditor declared that “the company has suffered recurring losses, negative cash flows since inception and has a net stockholders’ deficit that, among other factors, [that] raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a growing [sic] concern” in a March 2010 amendment to its SEC registration statement.
The 'going concern' statement is generally interpreted as "this outfit is dead, dead, dead."
Just a co-incidence that the majority owner was an Obama donor, of course.
Solyndra, Inc. was supposed to have showcased the effectiveness of the Obama administration’s stimulus and green jobs initiatives, but instead it has become the center of congressional attention for waste, fraud and abuse of such programs.
$535 million in taxpayer-guaranteed loans.
The Energy Department estimated in a March 20, 2009 press release that the loan guarantee would create 3,000 construction jobs and a further 1,000 jobs after the plant opened.
And President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden each personally showcased Solyndra as an example of how stimulus dollars were at work creating jobs, during appearances at the company over the course of the following year...Instead, Solyndra announced on Nov. 3 it planned to postpone expanding the plant, which cost the taxpayers $390.5 million, or 73 percent of the total loan guarantee, according to the Wall Street Journal.
It also announced that it no longer planned to hire the 1,000 workers that Obama and Biden had touted in their speeches and that it planned to close one of its older factories and planned to lay-off 135 temporary or contract workers and 40 full-time employees
Oh, yes, it can (and did) get worse:
...Solyndra’s auditor declared that “the company has suffered recurring losses, negative cash flows since inception and has a net stockholders’ deficit that, among other factors, [that] raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a growing [sic] concern” in a March 2010 amendment to its SEC registration statement.
The 'going concern' statement is generally interpreted as "this outfit is dead, dead, dead."
A Reminder to the Packer Union-Backers
I think it's fine that Woodson et al. are sympathetic to unions.
There is NO provision in the Wisconsin Constitution or statutes which prevents them from making contributions to State and Local taxing bodies.
None.
Go ahead! Help out!!
There is NO provision in the Wisconsin Constitution or statutes which prevents them from making contributions to State and Local taxing bodies.
None.
Go ahead! Help out!!
Politicians v. The Real World
Whaddya think the chances of this are?
...[it's common among politicians of both parties.] There is a prevailing belief that the interest-rate environment will remain stable, that inflation will remain low, and that we can continue to place our debt at low rates of interest.
Not to mention "grow" the economy at more than 4%/year over the next 3-5 years or longer.
Uh-huh.
And you thought all the dope-smokers are sleeping in the Capitol building in Madison...
Monty/AOSHQ
...[it's common among politicians of both parties.] There is a prevailing belief that the interest-rate environment will remain stable, that inflation will remain low, and that we can continue to place our debt at low rates of interest.
Not to mention "grow" the economy at more than 4%/year over the next 3-5 years or longer.
Uh-huh.
And you thought all the dope-smokers are sleeping in the Capitol building in Madison...
Monty/AOSHQ
Obama to MD's: "Obey MY Law!"
There never was a doubt that Obama is the most pro-abortion (babykilling) President in the history of the US.
Now he's putting on the finishing touches.
On Friday the Health and Human Services Department under Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, issued the new “final rule,” which leaves health-care workers of federally funded entities a narrower conscience exemption that only protects them from having to participate in abortions or sterilizations
The original rule included "Plan B", "ella", and other abortifacients in conscience-protection.
Now he's putting on the finishing touches.
On Friday the Health and Human Services Department under Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, issued the new “final rule,” which leaves health-care workers of federally funded entities a narrower conscience exemption that only protects them from having to participate in abortions or sterilizations
The original rule included "Plan B", "ella", and other abortifacients in conscience-protection.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Woopsie!! That's Not What They Wanted, Part 2
Not only are the union folks finding that Wisconsin taxpayers do not like their attitude problem.
Now they're finding that the US political landscape has moved. Hard and fast.
Gallup found that 14 states could be considered solidly Democratic in 2010, down from 30 in 2008. Over that time span, vastly more states also gained the label of competitive — with 18 states now holding that designation, up from 10 in 2008
That includes a 9.2% loss of self-identified (D) types in Wisconsin.
Further,
In 2010, 31% of Americans identified as Democrats, down five percentage points from just two years ago and tied for the lowest annual average Gallup has measured in the last 22 years.
Ruh-roh.
The Pubbies shouldn't go all googoo over that, though; their number is only one point ABOVE its 10-year low.
But that Gallup calls another poll into question. Capper, a mind-numbed Union robot, posted a "poll result" in my combox from some outfit called "Shop Consulting." I'm not a pollster, but it's interesting that the Shop Consulting poll utilized a mix of 36% (D), 33% (R), and 22% (Ind) in its poll--which Capper claims "supports the unions".
Gallup, as you notice, shows 31% (D), 29% (R), and 38% (Ind).
Yes, this is Wisconsin and Gallup is national. Maybe that accounts for the different mix.
Now they're finding that the US political landscape has moved. Hard and fast.
Gallup found that 14 states could be considered solidly Democratic in 2010, down from 30 in 2008. Over that time span, vastly more states also gained the label of competitive — with 18 states now holding that designation, up from 10 in 2008
That includes a 9.2% loss of self-identified (D) types in Wisconsin.
Further,
In 2010, 31% of Americans identified as Democrats, down five percentage points from just two years ago and tied for the lowest annual average Gallup has measured in the last 22 years.
Ruh-roh.
The Pubbies shouldn't go all googoo over that, though; their number is only one point ABOVE its 10-year low.
But that Gallup calls another poll into question. Capper, a mind-numbed Union robot, posted a "poll result" in my combox from some outfit called "Shop Consulting." I'm not a pollster, but it's interesting that the Shop Consulting poll utilized a mix of 36% (D), 33% (R), and 22% (Ind) in its poll--which Capper claims "supports the unions".
Gallup, as you notice, shows 31% (D), 29% (R), and 38% (Ind).
Yes, this is Wisconsin and Gallup is national. Maybe that accounts for the different mix.
The Usual ("Catholic") Suspects and the Madison Protests
Badger Catholic observed that The Usual Suspects are banging drums for Union 'take-yours' types.
As people of faith, we oppose Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s plan to deny collective bargaining rights for public employees. Our religious traditions are very clear that workers, as human beings that have inherent dignity, have the right to form associations to improve their conditions at work
.....blah blah blah....
7. Sister Barbara Pfarr, SSND, School Sisters of Notre Dame,53235, bpfarr@ssnd-milw.org
18. Sister Mary Catherine Jarema, SSND School Sisters of Notre Dame, 53235
19. Rev. Gregory J. O’Meara, S.J. 53203 gregory.omeara@marquette.edu
21. Sister Janet Gregorcich, SSND Director, Global Partners Program, School Sisters of Notre Dame, 53235, jgregorc@ssnd-milw.org
28. Fr. Mike Berthram, St. Francis of Assisi, 53212, BerthramM@ArchMil.Org
29. Fr. Art Hei, St James, 53051, heinzea@archmil.org
30. Jim Zalinski OFM, Capuchin Justice Peace and Ecology, 53233, Zelito@Juno.Com
38. Rev.Jerry Schroeder, St. Benedict the Moor Parish, 53233, benspastor@sbcglobal.net
39. Rev. Bryan N. Massingale, Associate Professor/ Marquette University, 53201, bryan.massingale@marquette.edu
40. Fr. Mike Michaeliski, Catholic Priest on the East Side of Milwaukee, michalskim@archmil.org.
44. Sister Ruth Poochigian, O.P. Dominican Sister (Sinsinawa),53716, RuthOP@aol.com
51. Rev. Msgr. Thomas F. Baxter, St. James and St. Joseph Catholic Parishes, 53715 and 53713, tbaxter@straphael.org
Some of those folks need no introduction whatever in Milwaukee.
Given the parallel between TARP recipients and public-union people, one wonders if the same bunch of signatories approve the bailouts of Goldman Sachs and Citibank.
Hmmmmmm?
As people of faith, we oppose Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s plan to deny collective bargaining rights for public employees. Our religious traditions are very clear that workers, as human beings that have inherent dignity, have the right to form associations to improve their conditions at work
.....blah blah blah....
7. Sister Barbara Pfarr, SSND, School Sisters of Notre Dame,53235, bpfarr@ssnd-milw.org
18. Sister Mary Catherine Jarema, SSND School Sisters of Notre Dame, 53235
19. Rev. Gregory J. O’Meara, S.J. 53203 gregory.omeara@marquette.edu
21. Sister Janet Gregorcich, SSND Director, Global Partners Program, School Sisters of Notre Dame, 53235, jgregorc@ssnd-milw.org
28. Fr. Mike Berthram, St. Francis of Assisi, 53212, BerthramM@ArchMil.Org
29. Fr. Art Hei, St James, 53051, heinzea@archmil.org
30. Jim Zalinski OFM, Capuchin Justice Peace and Ecology, 53233, Zelito@Juno.Com
38. Rev.Jerry Schroeder, St. Benedict the Moor Parish, 53233, benspastor@sbcglobal.net
39. Rev. Bryan N. Massingale, Associate Professor/ Marquette University, 53201, bryan.massingale@marquette.edu
40. Fr. Mike Michaeliski, Catholic Priest on the East Side of Milwaukee, michalskim@archmil.org.
44. Sister Ruth Poochigian, O.P. Dominican Sister (Sinsinawa),53716, RuthOP@aol.com
51. Rev. Msgr. Thomas F. Baxter, St. James and St. Joseph Catholic Parishes, 53715 and 53713, tbaxter@straphael.org
Some of those folks need no introduction whatever in Milwaukee.
Given the parallel between TARP recipients and public-union people, one wonders if the same bunch of signatories approve the bailouts of Goldman Sachs and Citibank.
Hmmmmmm?
Green Bay Diocese News
Interesting, but not surprising at all.
Green Bay Bishop David Ricken has ordered Catholic parishes in the diocese to cut corporate ties to JOSHUA and other non-Catholic social justice organizations.
A very well-informed and smart move.
HT: Jester
Green Bay Bishop David Ricken has ordered Catholic parishes in the diocese to cut corporate ties to JOSHUA and other non-Catholic social justice organizations.
Ricken complimented the work being done by the Green Bay-based JOSHUA and the Appleton-based ESTHER, but he expressed concerns that, without Catholic oversight, the groups’ political positions could stray from Catholic teachings.
“An undesirable result of dual affiliations could be that a conflict could place our parishioners in a very difficult position of having to choose between their Catholic Church authority and another parallel organization,” Ricken said in a prepared statement. “Therefore, I am directing our parishes to withdraw their corporate membership in these organizations, effective July 1, 2011.”
They are both part of "WISDOM" which is State-wide.A very well-informed and smart move.
HT: Jester
Meantime, In Ohio
The "Nazi, Draconian, Union-Busting, Fascist"...Scott Walker...takes a distant back seat compared to the Ohio proposal.
1. Eliminates collective bargaining for state employees and employees of higher education institutions.
2. Eliminates salary schedules and step increases and replaces them with a merit pay system.
3. Eliminates continuing contracts for teachers after the bill’s effective date – All teachers would receive a single year contract year after year.
4. Eliminates seniority as a sole criterion for Reductions In Force (RIFs).
5. Requires employees to pay at least 20% of their healthcare costs.
6. Allows public employers to hire permanent replacement workers during a strike.
7. Limits bargaining for local government employees (including school districts) to issues of wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment.
Looks like Walker could add a few provisions, eh?
HT: RomaLocuta
1. Eliminates collective bargaining for state employees and employees of higher education institutions.
2. Eliminates salary schedules and step increases and replaces them with a merit pay system.
3. Eliminates continuing contracts for teachers after the bill’s effective date – All teachers would receive a single year contract year after year.
4. Eliminates seniority as a sole criterion for Reductions In Force (RIFs).
5. Requires employees to pay at least 20% of their healthcare costs.
6. Allows public employers to hire permanent replacement workers during a strike.
7. Limits bargaining for local government employees (including school districts) to issues of wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment.
Looks like Walker could add a few provisions, eh?
HT: RomaLocuta
Capper's Pals
A video montage of the pot-smoking/semi-drunks in OUR Capitol building, featuring signs from some of the active groups: Commies, LaRaza,......
And what's with the mestizo drumbeat?
HT: Zippers
And what's with the mestizo drumbeat?
HT: Zippers
Madison: Obama's Waterloo?
Pollock of Pajamas agrees with Belling that the Madison Stand is a horrendous error for Obama & Co. But the last graf of his essay seems to contradict the thesis. I think the last graf's implicit conclusion is the right one.
It is becoming clear that the Wisconsin battle was a strategic political blunder for President Obama and the Democratic Party. The decision by the Democratic Party and its allies to draw a line in the sand in Wisconsin was the wrong strategy, in the wrong state, at the wrong time, on the wrong issue, and executed in the wrong way.
And Pollock then goes through the thought-process which led Obama & Co. to use Wisconsin as the battleground. The usual: Progressive State, heavily unionized, yada yada. He also offers the counter-arguments, including the shift towards blue highlighted in the last election.
Finally--and to be fair, added as an "Update":
Politico’s Ben Smith and Maggie Haberman report this morning how the union’s high risk Wisconsin strategy may come at a potentially steep cost: “Some strategists and labor officials watching the protest conflagration from the outside are beginning to fret that a large-scale defeat in Wisconsin will have a devastating ripple effect, weakening labor state by state throughout the rest of the country.”
That happens to correspond with my thoughts on the matter. Wisconsin is a "must-win" for Obama (although he could have selected Ohio or Missouri instead.) But now that he's in, he must win.
No coincidence that SEIU will be in Madistan today.
It is becoming clear that the Wisconsin battle was a strategic political blunder for President Obama and the Democratic Party. The decision by the Democratic Party and its allies to draw a line in the sand in Wisconsin was the wrong strategy, in the wrong state, at the wrong time, on the wrong issue, and executed in the wrong way.
And Pollock then goes through the thought-process which led Obama & Co. to use Wisconsin as the battleground. The usual: Progressive State, heavily unionized, yada yada. He also offers the counter-arguments, including the shift towards blue highlighted in the last election.
Finally--and to be fair, added as an "Update":
Politico’s Ben Smith and Maggie Haberman report this morning how the union’s high risk Wisconsin strategy may come at a potentially steep cost: “Some strategists and labor officials watching the protest conflagration from the outside are beginning to fret that a large-scale defeat in Wisconsin will have a devastating ripple effect, weakening labor state by state throughout the rest of the country.”
That happens to correspond with my thoughts on the matter. Wisconsin is a "must-win" for Obama (although he could have selected Ohio or Missouri instead.) But now that he's in, he must win.
No coincidence that SEIU will be in Madistan today.
How to End an Interview
Great story.
In the years previous to running MCSNet I had the opportunity to interview with a recruiter for a Fortune 50 company based in the Chicago suburbs. The recruiter informed me of the firm's policy, allegedly due to government mandate in that they supplied a LOT of government hardware, to perform drug testing of all applicants. I pointed out that (1) the law did not actually require this as the mandate was for a drug-free workplace; the only actual legal mandate for drug testing was in CFRs for truck and airplane operators and similar employees; I was not applying for such a position and (2) I would be happy to provide the urine sample requested if the recruiter was willing to collect it in his mouth.
In the years previous to running MCSNet I had the opportunity to interview with a recruiter for a Fortune 50 company based in the Chicago suburbs. The recruiter informed me of the firm's policy, allegedly due to government mandate in that they supplied a LOT of government hardware, to perform drug testing of all applicants. I pointed out that (1) the law did not actually require this as the mandate was for a drug-free workplace; the only actual legal mandate for drug testing was in CFRs for truck and airplane operators and similar employees; I was not applying for such a position and (2) I would be happy to provide the urine sample requested if the recruiter was willing to collect it in his mouth.
The interview was, of course, terminated.
Evidently the recruiter was one of them new-fangled wussy "HR Specialists."
The (R) Big-Spending Coalition
We note that Jim Sensenbrenner, Paul Ryan, and Sean Duffy joined with the Left to preserve Federal spending in this vote.
RedState's comment:
...The most egregious defection came Friday afternoon, when 92 Republicans helped defeat an amendment sponsored by the RSC that would have cut an additional $22 billion in non-defense discretionary spending. Evidently, $61 billion is all they can extirpate from the $3.7 trillion dollar beast.
Sensenbrenner will not retire. Maybe he needs a shove from the Conservatives.
RedState's comment:
...The most egregious defection came Friday afternoon, when 92 Republicans helped defeat an amendment sponsored by the RSC that would have cut an additional $22 billion in non-defense discretionary spending. Evidently, $61 billion is all they can extirpate from the $3.7 trillion dollar beast.
Sensenbrenner will not retire. Maybe he needs a shove from the Conservatives.
A Report From the Front
OpenBlogger/AOSHQ posted the following report from his daughter.
Hear the whistle blowing in the background through the whole thing? That would be the teachers and union protestors trying to interrupt or interfere with the the Pledge of Allegiance.
...But then there was the mob that everyone had to go through to get to and from the area for the support rally. I wish I had video taped trying to leave. I had no sign, and was not an active participant - but I experienced first-hand the intimidation and hostility of either union mercenaries, or even worse, of the good people who have been getting whipped into an exhausted and desparate state by the union sponsored liberal rhetoric and atmosphere.
Hear the whistle blowing in the background through the whole thing? That would be the teachers and union protestors trying to interrupt or interfere with the the Pledge of Allegiance.
...But then there was the mob that everyone had to go through to get to and from the area for the support rally. I wish I had video taped trying to leave. I had no sign, and was not an active participant - but I experienced first-hand the intimidation and hostility of either union mercenaries, or even worse, of the good people who have been getting whipped into an exhausted and desparate state by the union sponsored liberal rhetoric and atmosphere.
They stood blocking the way, leaving only a narrow two-person-wide space for thousands to funnel through. It was scary, claustrophic, and made me feel panicked. They glared, yelled, and one guy pushed me so hard I flew two feet forward. I thought my husband was going to lose it, so we stopped and just stood to the side where we were. I watched a lot of people from the rally pass in front of me experiencing the same thing. I saw middle class, working class people who looked liked my sister, my mother, my son or daughter, my neighbors... being taunted and intimidated by a mob hoping to provoke mayhem or violence. I looked for police help to secure a path or help with our exit, but I only saw them standing in isolated clusters amongst themselves, the nearest over 50 feet away from the crowd.
...and she's a member of WEAC.
MATC Union Guy is Half Right
MATC's union and "management" jammed through a new contract because they knew that when the Walker bill passes, the party will be over.
Even a union-guy thinks it stinks:
“I said, ‘if we approve this, we’re going to be perceived by the public as arrogant snobs,’” he said.
He's half-right.
Arrogant, yup.
PIGS is the right noun. Snobs is not.
Even a union-guy thinks it stinks:
“I said, ‘if we approve this, we’re going to be perceived by the public as arrogant snobs,’” he said.
He's half-right.
Arrogant, yup.
PIGS is the right noun. Snobs is not.
The "Have-Yours" Class: Bankers and Government Workers
The 'Madison Protests' are very significant, and will soon be copied by similar actions in Ohio, Missouri, and a few other states (perhaps including California and New York.)
I had mentioned that, since public-employee unionization was granted ex nihilo by the State (1959 in Wisconsin, 1962 nationally), the State could also remove that privilege. While total removal is not likely, others have had similar thought patterns.
Anyone who responds to the current crisis by anointing unionized employees of the government as the epitome of 'the working man' is placing themselves, and I really do not say this lightly, at the mercy of socialism -- not just as an intellectual theory, but as an emotional promise of happiness. There has never been a viable, durable Labor Party in the US. But neither has the government class ever been so big or faced such an existential threat --Poulos, quoted by Freire
Freire connects TARP to the Madison protests:
Being a Wall Street banker may have some whiff of sin to the working man, but the loathsome element isn't merely the wealth of the AIG or Goldman Sachs executive, but that it has been compensated with taxpayer subsidies when taxpayers themselves are struggling to make ends meet. It's not so much about haves and have nots. It's about haves and have yours.
Indeed. "Too-Big-to-Fail-Land" is occupied by the same sort of folks who occupy the bureaucracy in Governments: those who are using taxpayers as their life-support system.
Taxpayers are becoming acutely aware of the have-yours as a class -- something like Angelo Codevilla's ruling class -- whose gains in salaries and benefits aren't associated with harder work and important innovations but political access. Public-sector unions rallying in Madison aren't even taking a hit for their political activism, given that their protest is made possible by paid sick days, negotiated for them by their collective bargaining units who, it must be said, donate to the very people with whom they negotiate.
It should come as no surprise that the Unions cannot find support for their position. That's evidenced by: 1) the "we'll make concessions" announcement of Saturday and 2) the "Go back to the classrooms" order from WEAC HQ on Sunday. What the unions suddenly realized is what Cuomo (NY) and Brown (CA), Walker (WI) and Kasich (OH) also figured out: the taxpaying public did not like TARP and does not like its cousin, Government Unions.
Yes, it's a watershed.
I had mentioned that, since public-employee unionization was granted ex nihilo by the State (1959 in Wisconsin, 1962 nationally), the State could also remove that privilege. While total removal is not likely, others have had similar thought patterns.
Anyone who responds to the current crisis by anointing unionized employees of the government as the epitome of 'the working man' is placing themselves, and I really do not say this lightly, at the mercy of socialism -- not just as an intellectual theory, but as an emotional promise of happiness. There has never been a viable, durable Labor Party in the US. But neither has the government class ever been so big or faced such an existential threat --Poulos, quoted by Freire
Freire connects TARP to the Madison protests:
Being a Wall Street banker may have some whiff of sin to the working man, but the loathsome element isn't merely the wealth of the AIG or Goldman Sachs executive, but that it has been compensated with taxpayer subsidies when taxpayers themselves are struggling to make ends meet. It's not so much about haves and have nots. It's about haves and have yours.
Indeed. "Too-Big-to-Fail-Land" is occupied by the same sort of folks who occupy the bureaucracy in Governments: those who are using taxpayers as their life-support system.
Taxpayers are becoming acutely aware of the have-yours as a class -- something like Angelo Codevilla's ruling class -- whose gains in salaries and benefits aren't associated with harder work and important innovations but political access. Public-sector unions rallying in Madison aren't even taking a hit for their political activism, given that their protest is made possible by paid sick days, negotiated for them by their collective bargaining units who, it must be said, donate to the very people with whom they negotiate.
It should come as no surprise that the Unions cannot find support for their position. That's evidenced by: 1) the "we'll make concessions" announcement of Saturday and 2) the "Go back to the classrooms" order from WEAC HQ on Sunday. What the unions suddenly realized is what Cuomo (NY) and Brown (CA), Walker (WI) and Kasich (OH) also figured out: the taxpaying public did not like TARP and does not like its cousin, Government Unions.
Yes, it's a watershed.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
The Fake-Excuse Docs, Named
Well, well. Didn't take long for this to happen.
This brings me to Dr. Lou Sanner. He is a family practitioner whose ego, no doubt, precedes his intellect. I have seen his type before as I meandered through medical school and residency. He is the doc who looks down his nose at you as you struggle for the esoteric answer to some zebra diagnosis, all the while pretending to know the answer himself. Well, I am not a resident anymore and what this fellow has done is professionally obscene. He has abrogated his professional responsibility for political expediency.
Sanner not only sounds like a pretentious snot, he looks like one.
He and his colleagues, Anne Eglash, Hannah Keevil, and James Shropshire should know better. Undoubtedly they do know better, but let political emotion trump professional integrity.
Update: I think I found another "physicina" and from the video it would seem that there were nearly a dozen of there. In this case it seems to be Dr. Patrick McKenna who is freely giving out notes for activitis. Fortunately, for him he is a 3rd year resident!
That means that the Medical Society will not have any impact on his license after the investigation proves that he's faking.
What sort of problems could these swamis have?
If I was an employer who received one of these sick notes, I would demand proof of a billing statement from the doctor's office before I would let it slide. There is no place for this in the work place. And those doctors should be sanctioned by their state certifying organizations for not having adequate documentation of their confidential patient interactions.
Happy trails!!
This brings me to Dr. Lou Sanner. He is a family practitioner whose ego, no doubt, precedes his intellect. I have seen his type before as I meandered through medical school and residency. He is the doc who looks down his nose at you as you struggle for the esoteric answer to some zebra diagnosis, all the while pretending to know the answer himself. Well, I am not a resident anymore and what this fellow has done is professionally obscene. He has abrogated his professional responsibility for political expediency.
Sanner not only sounds like a pretentious snot, he looks like one.
He and his colleagues, Anne Eglash, Hannah Keevil, and James Shropshire should know better. Undoubtedly they do know better, but let political emotion trump professional integrity.
Update: I think I found another "physicina" and from the video it would seem that there were nearly a dozen of there. In this case it seems to be Dr. Patrick McKenna who is freely giving out notes for activitis. Fortunately, for him he is a 3rd year resident!
That means that the Medical Society will not have any impact on his license after the investigation proves that he's faking.
What sort of problems could these swamis have?
If I was an employer who received one of these sick notes, I would demand proof of a billing statement from the doctor's office before I would let it slide. There is no place for this in the work place. And those doctors should be sanctioned by their state certifying organizations for not having adequate documentation of their confidential patient interactions.
Happy trails!!
Ruh-Roh: Egyptian Rebellion, Stage Two (Muslimist)
Legal Insurrection reports the news that the MSM doesn't.
...over a million Egyptians turned out in Tahrir Square last Friday to cheer the vile anti-Semitic Sunni cleric Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who had been exiled by Mubarek, and who espouses the fundamentalist Islamic view that Jews must live as Dhimmis under Islamic control. Instead of accurately reporting the significance of this event, The New York Times whitewashed the cleric as someone who supports a "a pluralistic, multiparty, civil democracy."
You remember the Google exec who went over there to help?
He wasn't allowed on the stage to speak at the rally.
...over a million Egyptians turned out in Tahrir Square last Friday to cheer the vile anti-Semitic Sunni cleric Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who had been exiled by Mubarek, and who espouses the fundamentalist Islamic view that Jews must live as Dhimmis under Islamic control. Instead of accurately reporting the significance of this event, The New York Times whitewashed the cleric as someone who supports a "a pluralistic, multiparty, civil democracy."
You remember the Google exec who went over there to help?
He wasn't allowed on the stage to speak at the rally.
Woopsie! That's Not What They Wanted!!
A big Thank You to WEAC and Obozo!
Do you think government employees should be represented by labor unions that bargain for higher pay, benefits and pensions ... or do you think government employees should not be represented by labor unions?
Response?
A full 64% of the respondents said "no."
(Clarus Group poll reported at Politico)
BTW, 42% of Democrats (!!!!!!!!) agreed with "no."
Keep up the good work, WEAC! And thanks!!
HT: JustOneMinute
Do you think government employees should be represented by labor unions that bargain for higher pay, benefits and pensions ... or do you think government employees should not be represented by labor unions?
Response?
A full 64% of the respondents said "no."
(Clarus Group poll reported at Politico)
BTW, 42% of Democrats (!!!!!!!!) agreed with "no."
Keep up the good work, WEAC! And thanks!!
HT: JustOneMinute
Why Union Leaders (and Obama) MUST Win in Wisconsin
John Fund summarized the dispute neatly without too much detail.
The line which caught my attention:
..."Ending dues deductions breaks the political cycle in which government collects dues, gives them to the unions, who then use the dues to back their favorite candidates and also lobby for bigger government and more pay and benefits," Mr. Siegel told me. After New York City's Transport Workers Union lost the right to automatic dues collection in 2007 following an illegal strike, its income fell by more than 35% as many members stopped ponying up....
That number could have grown quite a bit more, except that NYC re-instated the automatic collection process in 18 months.
What if union-dues collections drop?
That dues income supports only two entites: union leadership and the Democrat machine. All the rest is dross.
Yes, there are other changes in Walker's proposal, which will abrogate some current practices in bargaining.
But what the union folks don't want to tell you is this: those practices (not "rights") were granted ex nihilo in 1959 (in this State). They are not 'natural' rights, like life and liberty. They are State-created.
What the State creates the State can take away.
Or, in the words of President Obama: "We won."
The line which caught my attention:
..."Ending dues deductions breaks the political cycle in which government collects dues, gives them to the unions, who then use the dues to back their favorite candidates and also lobby for bigger government and more pay and benefits," Mr. Siegel told me. After New York City's Transport Workers Union lost the right to automatic dues collection in 2007 following an illegal strike, its income fell by more than 35% as many members stopped ponying up....
That number could have grown quite a bit more, except that NYC re-instated the automatic collection process in 18 months.
What if union-dues collections drop?
That dues income supports only two entites: union leadership and the Democrat machine. All the rest is dross.
Yes, there are other changes in Walker's proposal, which will abrogate some current practices in bargaining.
But what the union folks don't want to tell you is this: those practices (not "rights") were granted ex nihilo in 1959 (in this State). They are not 'natural' rights, like life and liberty. They are State-created.
What the State creates the State can take away.
Or, in the words of President Obama: "We won."
Friday, February 18, 2011
Brookfield Central HS: 37 Absent Staffers
Not too surprising, really.
Thirty-seven Brookfield Central HS staffers were "sick" today.
There are a total of 89 on the staff; school was held.
Thirty-seven Brookfield Central HS staffers were "sick" today.
There are a total of 89 on the staff; school was held.
Which Daughter for Ramen, Gwen?
We note that Gwen Moore has two daughters and eight siblings.
Just a little while ago on the floor (at approx. 9:05pm Eastern), Wisconsin Democrat Rep. Gwen Moore argued that abortion was better for unplanned babies than a life “eating Ramen noodles” or “mayonnaise sandwiches.”
Question: which of those children or siblings would you trade for steak and potatoes, Gwen?
Just a little while ago on the floor (at approx. 9:05pm Eastern), Wisconsin Democrat Rep. Gwen Moore argued that abortion was better for unplanned babies than a life “eating Ramen noodles” or “mayonnaise sandwiches.”
Question: which of those children or siblings would you trade for steak and potatoes, Gwen?
Finally!
Lakeshore notes that at least one US Senator doesn't want to force poison lightbulbs onto our children.
On Thursday, Republican Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming introduced legislation to reverse a 2007 ban on incandescent light bulbs that is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2012.
Where are all those Lead-Paint-Lawyers?
On Thursday, Republican Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming introduced legislation to reverse a 2007 ban on incandescent light bulbs that is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2012.
Where are all those Lead-Paint-Lawyers?
National Security, PRChina, National Debt
The rubber is hitting the road, and the matter of national security is emerging.
The concern in certain influential Washington and Wall Street circles is that Beijing would leverage its position as the main enabler of U.S. overspending. And the cables provide a glimpse into how much politics inform relations between the world’s two largest economies. One cable cites Chinese money managers expressing concern that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan — a major, longstanding irritant in the relationship — could sour the Chinese public on Treasury purchases --CNBC quoted at Captain's Journal
Not only that, China more or less demands that its plan to buy over $1 Billion of Morgan Stanley shares get immediate Treasury Department approval (rather than wait the customary 2-week review period) and, magically, the approval is obtained the next day, without any formal application having been filed.
Some people are more equal than others.
Understand this: the Obozo-Deficit financing requirements are now, and will continue, to seriously limit the options of the US in national security matters. It's no longer just 'whether teachers get pensions.' It's not 'whether Granny gets her meds.'
It's whether this country can act in its own interests in the Far East--or can afford to buy the bullets for M-4's.
The concern in certain influential Washington and Wall Street circles is that Beijing would leverage its position as the main enabler of U.S. overspending. And the cables provide a glimpse into how much politics inform relations between the world’s two largest economies. One cable cites Chinese money managers expressing concern that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan — a major, longstanding irritant in the relationship — could sour the Chinese public on Treasury purchases --CNBC quoted at Captain's Journal
Not only that, China more or less demands that its plan to buy over $1 Billion of Morgan Stanley shares get immediate Treasury Department approval (rather than wait the customary 2-week review period) and, magically, the approval is obtained the next day, without any formal application having been filed.
Some people are more equal than others.
Understand this: the Obozo-Deficit financing requirements are now, and will continue, to seriously limit the options of the US in national security matters. It's no longer just 'whether teachers get pensions.' It's not 'whether Granny gets her meds.'
It's whether this country can act in its own interests in the Far East--or can afford to buy the bullets for M-4's.
What Walker Did NOT Do...
Esenberg notes that some things are missing.
I hadn't appreciated that Scott Walker has proposed a totalitarian state or anything like it. I did hear that he wants public employees to pay amounts toward their retirement and health insurance that are higher than current levels but still much lower than the average for the rest of us. I guess I missed the part where people were going to be dragged from their homes and sent to concentration camps. I read that he has proposed a modification of the authority of state and local governments to enter into collective bargaining agreements and collect dues on behalf of unions, but must have overlooked the abolition of the rights of free speech and association. I saw that he wants voter approval of raises above the cost of living for unionized public employees (i.e., those represented by the unions that he hasn't abolished). But who knew that this was somehow the equivalent of forced sterilization and extermination camps?
I hadn't noticed that the budget adjustment bill sets up a WalkerJugend in which all children must be enrolled or that it establishes a paramilitary organization - maybe called the Leibstandarte SS- Rebecca Kleedfisch - to intimidate political opponents and "undesirables." I'll have to read it again.
In fact, any broken windows will have been broken by the Statist mobs--the true descendants of Hitler and Stalin--now assembling in Madison.
I hadn't appreciated that Scott Walker has proposed a totalitarian state or anything like it. I did hear that he wants public employees to pay amounts toward their retirement and health insurance that are higher than current levels but still much lower than the average for the rest of us. I guess I missed the part where people were going to be dragged from their homes and sent to concentration camps. I read that he has proposed a modification of the authority of state and local governments to enter into collective bargaining agreements and collect dues on behalf of unions, but must have overlooked the abolition of the rights of free speech and association. I saw that he wants voter approval of raises above the cost of living for unionized public employees (i.e., those represented by the unions that he hasn't abolished). But who knew that this was somehow the equivalent of forced sterilization and extermination camps?
I hadn't noticed that the budget adjustment bill sets up a WalkerJugend in which all children must be enrolled or that it establishes a paramilitary organization - maybe called the Leibstandarte SS- Rebecca Kleedfisch - to intimidate political opponents and "undesirables." I'll have to read it again.
In fact, any broken windows will have been broken by the Statist mobs--the true descendants of Hitler and Stalin--now assembling in Madison.
First the Thug-chers. Now, the Violence
We mentioned yesterday that there's a lot of pushing-and-shoving (literally) going on in the Capitol, as reported by Wendy at Owen's place.
We also learn that Trumka, whose Mineworkers' Union has been linked to outright violence and murder, will belecturing on "persuasion" "speaking" to the thug-chers tomorrow.
That's not all. The thug-chers, 500 or so, showed up outside Walker's residence in Tosa to intimidate his wife and children. And the Corner reports:
...Hopper [a Pubbie legislator] has received threatening phone calls and e-mails. These are threats of a physical nature. “We are working with law enforcement in my district. They are watching my home and my business.” Other Republicans have had their homes and businesses threatened, too. The unionists have demonstrated outside those homes and businesses.
...I ask whether he is going home tonight, to sleep. He says, “We’re not disclosing that. My colleagues and I are not talking about that. We’re working with law enforcement” on the matter.
I have advice for Mr. Hopper:
We also learn that Trumka, whose Mineworkers' Union has been linked to outright violence and murder, will be
That's not all. The thug-chers, 500 or so, showed up outside Walker's residence in Tosa to intimidate his wife and children. And the Corner reports:
...Hopper [a Pubbie legislator] has received threatening phone calls and e-mails. These are threats of a physical nature. “We are working with law enforcement in my district. They are watching my home and my business.” Other Republicans have had their homes and businesses threatened, too. The unionists have demonstrated outside those homes and businesses.
...I ask whether he is going home tonight, to sleep. He says, “We’re not disclosing that. My colleagues and I are not talking about that. We’re working with law enforcement” on the matter.
I have advice for Mr. Hopper:
BUY MORE AMMO!!!!