Kathleen Falk Should Challenge Governor Walker In Recall Election
There is no doubt concerning my long-held feelings for Kathleen Falk.
She is smart, dedicated to her ideals, and highly engaging when dealing with people one-on-one.
Over the past weeks there has been constant conversations about the possibility of Kathleen Falk entering the political fray if a recall election is scheduled against Governor Walker. There is more and more reason to suggest Kathleen Falk will be a candidate for governor.
If Kathleen Falk were to enter that race she would have my strong support.
A strong and sensible candidate with the best interests of the state at heart will best provide a foundation for a winning race that both Democrats and independents can be proud of. For those who wish to push back the rigid and harmful policies of Walker and Company there can be no better choice to lead the charge than Kathleen Falk.
I would be most proud to stand with this strong and determined woman if she throws her hat into the ring.
Comment On Herman Cain And Newt Gingrich Hits The Mark
Yesterday a most perfect comment was left on my blog by Solly, a long-time reader. The comment rises to the level of getting posted all by itself. That rarely happens on CP.
Kinda ironic that Romney and Huntsman are the Mormons, and yet Newt’s the one who’s had 3 wives. I guess they don’t love and are not as passionate about their country as Newt is, as that was his excuse for serving his first wife with divorce papers as she was in her hospital bed with cancer, while carrying on an affair with soon to be wife #2. And then when wife #2 was diagnosed with MS, he was having an affair with eventual wife #3, while tut tutting Bill Clinton (who as I recall, is still married to wife #1) and stage managing Clinton’s impeachment. We can’t have that, what will the children think! Quite a quandry for all of the evangenical Christians in Ioway and South Carolina. Of course they can always go for Cain, oh yeah, nevermind. But make sure you get rid of that damn gay marriage Iowa, it’s endangering traditional marriage and family values.
“Dick Wheeler Press Room” In The Works At Wisconsin State Capitol
There is a bi-partisan movement underway to name Room 235 SW in the Wisconsin State Capitol the “Dick Wheeler Press Room.” It would be a most appropriate tribute for a most respected reporter , and political fixture for decades at the Capitol.
A Senate Joint Resolution is being drafted that will include the honor for Dick Wheeler who passed away last Friday at the age of 67.
Video: More Embarrassment For Herman Cain In Front Of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board
Where does one start?!
There are times I really feel sorry for those who venture so far out of their comfort zone in search of a goal that is way beyond their abilities.
Such is the case with Herman Cain.
I do not like how he treated women, and do not think he is telling the truth. I have no problem truly disliking that part of the man.
Then there are times like that which took place today before the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editorial Board where I feel sorry and embarrassed for the guy. He is just not ready for anything more than to be a lobbyist.
Which leads me to the question of what type of person gives money to this man who can not seem to answer his way out of a wet paper bag?
Businessman Herman Cain stumbled and appeared confused Monday when asked to describe where he disagreed with President Obama on his handing of the Libyan
revolt during an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board.
“President Obama supported the uprising, correct?” he asked. “President Obama called for the removal of (Moammar) Gadhafi – just want to make sure we’re talking about the same thing before I say yes I agree, or no I didn’t agree. I do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reason – nope, that’s a different
one.”
He then paused and said “I got to go back and see, I’ve got all this stuff twirling around in my head.”
And then there was this….
He also appeared confused when asked whether federal workers should receive
collective bargaining rights.
“They already have it, don’t they?” he asked, and then said they should as long as it doesn’t cause a significant burden on taxpayers.
Herman Cain Tumbles In CNN Poll, Thrice-Married Newt Gingrich Bounces Up
The flavor of the week for conservative Republicans seems to be cheating red as many are now floundering towards Newt Gingrich in the latest CNN poll.
This is a riot, as reported by CNN.
When all is said and done Mitt Romney will be the nominee. There is little doubt about that. All this back and forth between the lastest fads among conservatives is just amusing to watch.
A new national poll released today shows former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
vaulting into a virtual tie with front-runner Mitt Romney over the last month in
the Republican presidential race.
The same survey indicates businessman and former talk show host Herman Cain’s
numbers falling during the same period. Cain has been mired in controversy for
the past two weeks over allegations from four women that he sexually harassed
them in the late 1990s them when he was head of the National Restaurant
Association.
According the the CNN/ORC International poll, 24% of Republicans or
GOP-leaning independents say Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is
making his second presidential run, is their most likely choice for the party’s
nomination. While Romney’s numbers have remained fairly steady, Gingrich surged
14 percentage points in popularity, up to 22%, since October. That 2-point
difference is well within the poll’s sampling error of plus or minus 4.5
percent.
At the same time, Cain has fallen 11 percentage points from 25% in October to
14% now. The poll was conducted from Friday through Sunday, well after the news
of the Cain controversy broke.
King Abdullah Of Jordan Shows Leadership
There needs to be more frank talk in the Middle East like that which came from King Abdullah.
Jordan’s king has become the first Arab leader to openly say Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should stand down.
King Abdullah told the BBC that if he were in Mr Assad’s position, he would make sure “whoever comes behind me has the ability to change the status quo”.
He urged President Assad to launch dialogue with the opposition to effect an orderly transition.
Arab leaders have increasingly criticised the crackdown in Syria after months of violence.
Both the Saudi and Qatari ambassadors left Damascus in protest at the repression. The Arab League voted on Saturday to suspend Syria’s membership.
However King Abdullah went further than other Arab leaders in his exclusive
interview with BBC World News television.
“That’s the only way I would see it work and I don’t think people are asking
that question,” he added.
Rick Perry Takes Poll Plunge After Worst Debate Gaffe Ever Seen
Everyone knew these poll numbers were coming for Rick Perry, and now we have an authoritative poll to prove it. The Wall Street Journal/NBC News polling team late last week re-interviewed likely Republican primary voters who had participated in a poll they conducted earlier this month.
Mr. Perry’s memory lapse at last week’s debate in Michigan may have taken an
even greater toll. He asserted he would eliminate three cabinet agencies, then
after naming the first two spent nearly a minute trying unsuccessfully to
remember the third. Some seasoned commentators called it the worst debate gaffe
they had ever seen.
Of those contacted a second time, only 4% said they supported Mr. Perry, down
from 8% less than two weeks ago. Republican primary voters now have more
negative feelings about the Texan than positive feelings. A week earlier, 38% felt positively toward the governor, while 24% felt negatively. In the latest poll, 28% felt warmly toward Mr. Perry; 33% said they felt somewhat or very negative about him.
“If it was not a good week for Herman Cain, it was an absolutely horrendous
week for Rick Perry,” wrote Peter Hart, the Democratic co-director of the
Journal poll, who led the recontact effort. “There has been some mild decline in
the standing of Herman Cain, but there has been a precipitous drop in the
standing for Rick Perry.”
Newsweek Gives Up On Presidential Election Special Reporting
No shock here given how Newsweek has slipped.
Every presidential election season, the magazine detached a small group of reporters from their daily jobs for a year to travel with the presidential candidates and document their every internal triumph and despair — all under the condition that none of it was to be printed until after the election.
Newsweek’s election issue in 2008, containing the yearlong story of the Obama campaign.
Then two days after Election Day, the sum of their reporters’ work would appear in the magazine. But the ambitious undertaking, known inside the magazine simply as “the project,” is no more. Newsweek, bleeding red ink and searching for a fresh identity under new ownership, has decided the project would not go forward this election season.
Chelsea Clinton To Work For NBC News
I trust she is far better than Luke Russert
NBC is to announce on Monday morning that it has hired Chelsea Clinton to become a full-time special correspondent for NBC News.
The appointment is immediate. Ms. Clinton will show up at the news division offices on Monday morning, said Steve Capus, president of NBC News, and will begin work on stories that NBC expects to use as part of its “Making a Difference” series, which runs on “NBC Nightly News.”
Ms. Clinton has been a national figure since her father won the presidency in 1992, but she has remained — first by her parents’ request and then by her own choice — largely out of the public eye.
Governor Walker Making Hay While The Sun Is Shining
In too many instances over the past ten months Governor Scott Walker’s administration, and his fellow Republicans in the State Legislature, have worked in one way or another to ram legislation through the process. In so doing they have bypassed the more practical way of showing a need for a policy change, or the benefits that would be noticed by the general public with a new law.
From the changes to voter ID, which district lines will be observed in recall elections, or allowing for uncased firearms to be carried in vehicles there has been a mad rush to get as much of the conservative agenda passed as quickly as possible.
One might recall that the entire dismantling of the collective bargaining law originally was to have been dealt with in one week. Why have a full-out debate about the merits of a policy change when the clock is ticking? After all, once citizens find out what is happening it may force a more pragmatic way of legislating. The Republicans have taken the slogan ’make hay while the sun is shining’ and turned it into an assembly line of bad laws for Wisconsin.
The problem that is being demonstrated by the fast-track approach to everything is that short-sighted legislation makes not only the GOP look bad, but also leaves the impression that the entire process is unprepared to deal with poorly constructed ideas. That the process has been tampered with by Walker and Company (the way administrative rules are now handled being one) is not clearly understood by the average voter. Republicans are counting on that lack of knowledge to allow them to continue in the fashion they are now operating.
But there are those who are calling attention to the lack of a more open and honest process of governing, and showing with data why a truncated process makes for bad policy.
The latest example is the new law allowing for uncased firearms to be carried in vehicles.
Patrick Durkin made it quite clear in Sunday’s Wisconsin State Journal that the rush to pass that bill, and have it signed by Walker in time for opening weekend of the upcoming deer hunt is fraught with negative side-effects.
In the article Durkin points to the flaw in the process that allowed for this careless change to be made to the existing law which had been on the books since 1917!
A previous attempt to pass this law failed 18 months ago after hunter education instructors, the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, and Chief Warden Randy Stark of the Department of Natural Resources opposed it for safety reasons and for bypassing the Congress’s statewide spring hearings.
But the agency no longer takes positions and spreads the word on pending legislation. That’s been DNR policy since Gov. Scott Walker appointed Cathy Stepp as DNR secretary in January.
The reason the uncased firearm law changed was due to how the DNR operates now that Cathy Stepp is in charge. She has a very limited background in natural resources, no experience dealing with a huge complicated state agency, and pardon me for saying it– but it matters–no college degree.
The Sunday article points out–with facts–why having more time and statewide dialogue on the uncased gun issue matters.
For instance, the International Hunter Education Association – with Lawhern serving as its president — recently reviewed hunting-related firearms accidents involving motor vehicles in the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin from 1998 through 2007. Of the five states’ 47 vehicle-related shootings those 10 years, South Dakota had 26 incidents, 56 percent; North Dakota, 13, 28 percent; Iowa and Minnesota, three each, 6 percent; and Wisconsin, two, 4 percent.
Why such differences? The Dakotas allow uncased firearms in motor vehicles. South Dakota even allows them to be loaded. In contrast, Iowa and Wisconsin had nearly identical gun-casing requirements, as did Minnesota until its Legislature scrapped the law in 2009 to copy North Dakota’s uncased/unloaded law.
Realize, too, Wisconsin’s accident rate is 1.1 per 100,000 hunters. The IHEA data show Iowa and Minnesota had similar rates, while North Dakota’s rate was about 10 per 100,000 and South Dakota’s about 15 per 100,000.
No one thinks that any data on any issue will slow down the reckless way Walker and Company are strategizing over policy changes, or make them consider the long-term effects their changes to the law will have on Wisconsin. None of that matters to those who now have the power in the statehouse, and are hell-bent on using it.
Dam the facts as the sun is high and there is haying to be done for every conservative cause in the state. There is no room for sanity, and clearly no time for a fuller examination of the issues.
After all—tick–tick–tick–a recall is coming.
Nicest Paragraph in Sunday Paper About Dick Wheeler
One paragraph jumped from the pages of today’s Wisconsin State Journal. It was a sad one, and yet it was tone perfect for the man it was meant to describe.
There may be one less person in the office situated between the Senate and Assembly chambers, but his honesty, professionalism, and contribution to journalism will linger, as will the smell of sweet pipe tobacco at the entrances to the state Capitol.
What a perfect paragraph.
There are many who come and go from the statehouse, but few have ever had such an outpouring of deep and sincere respect as that which Dick Wheeler’s death has released over the past few days.
Rick Perry Has No Understanding Of Foreign Aid, Or Of Leadership
If you want to know what a ‘bang for your buck’ means take a look at the foreign aid budget that has been a credible component of our foreign policy for decades. In times of peace, and in times of conflict the monies that are used for a variety of ideas and causes has solidified America’s position in the world while assisting those around the globe who need support and guidance.
Foreign aid is an essential aspect in our relationship with the world. Too few, I suggest, understand that fact.
That would include Rick ‘Oops’ Perry. Perhaps Perry might want to consider another Republican who actually sat in the Oval Office, something that Perry will never do.
As RN penned in “The Memoirs of Richard Nixon” his own polling showed that 75% of his constituents were “resolutely opposed” to foreign aid. that would become the Marshall Plan. But Congressman Nixon understood the facts, and the needs for economic aid to Europe. He prepared newspaper columns and went out on the hustings to promote the issue of foreign aid. It made sense then, and history of course shows RN was correct.
The question is not where Perry stands on foreign aid, but where does he stand on the matter of leadership?
From the CBS News debate Saturday night of the GOP presidential candidates.
PERRY: “The foreign aid budget in my administration for every country is gonna start at zero dollars. Zero dollars. And then we’ll have a conversation.”
[TIME PASSES]
PELLEY: “Governor Perry, we just got a question via Twitter … And Barbara asked this question of you: ‘Does Governor Perry’s ‘foreign aid starts at zero’ include Israel?’
PERRY: “@GovernorPerry would tweet back to her that: absolutely. Every country would start at zero. Obviously, Israel is a special ally. And my bet is that we would be funding them at some substantial level. But it makes sense for everyone to come in at zero and make your case. As a matter of fact, we oughta try doin’ that with some of those agencies that I was tryin’ to think the name of the other night.”
