• Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for April 18th on 10:17

    April 18, 2011 /

    These are my links for April 18th from 10:17 to 11:28:

    • President Barack Obama coming to Reno on Thursday – President Barack Obama is making a three-day swing to explain his vision for reducing the national debt and it concludes Thursday in Reno.

      The White House issued a press release that day Obama will come to Reno to discuss " the ways the leaders in Washington can come together and meet the expectations of the American people."

      It follows town hall meetings on Tuesday in northern Virginia and on Wednesday in Palo Alto, Calif.

      ======

      Hitting all of the key battleground states – Virginia and Nevada.

      Plus, fundraising in California.

      Obama does know how to run a campaign. Too bad he sucks as a President.

    • Former Sarah Palin aide Frank Bailey writing tell-all book – Due Out in May – When a book is called "Blind Allegiance to Sarah Palin," you can guess it's not a happy story.
      An imprint of Simon & Schuster announced Monday that it had signed up "Blind Allegiance," a long-rumored tell-all by former Palin aide Frank Bailey. The imprint, Howard Books, will release Bailey's book May 24. Excerpts from an early draft were leaked to reporters earlier this year.
      Bailey worked with Palin while she was governor of Alaska and when she was John McCain's running mate on the Republican presidential ticket in 2008.
      Howard Books is calling "Blind Allegiance" a "chilling expose." Author Ken Morris and Alaska political blogger Jeanne Devon helped write the book.

      ======

      Now, this should be interesting summer reading – but only if Sarah is running.

    • Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Election Snafu Is a National Wake-Up Call – It's been over a decade since the Bush-Gore recount in Florida was supposed to spur a wholesale modernization of our election systems. But a stunning mistake made by a Wisconsin county clerk in a nationally watched state Supreme Court race reminded us of how far we have to go.

      Wisconsin voters went to the polls on April 5 in an election that could have flipped the state Supreme Court's majority from conservative to liberal. On the morning of April 6, liberal challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg declared victory by a margin of some 200 votes. But the next day Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus announced that she had excluded some 14,000 votes from the city of Brookfield when she gave her final tally to the Associated Press on election night. The revised tally put conservative incumbent David Prosser more than 7,000 votes ahead of Ms. Kloppenburg, and he has since been verified the clear winner.

      Ms. Nickolaus's error could have been easily avoided through transparency. She had ended the prior clerk's practice of reporting election results for individual cities because it was "not her responsibility" and she didn't "have the staff to enter all the data"—an absurd statement given that many smaller counties post such data on their websites. Many states, such as Kentucky, offer user-friendly websites to track returns statewide.

      Not so in Wisconsin—and if we don't view this month's mess as a wake-up call, we'll have only ourselves to blame if next year's presidential election turns into a rerun of Florida 2000. Americans know it could happen: The Brookings Institution reports that in a 2004 poll of 37 nations, Americans were more likely than citizens of any country save Russia to say that their elections are "very dishonest."

      Mexico—which has a national photo ID requirement for voting—spends roughly 10 times more per capita than the U.S. and has virtually eliminated charges of voter fraud or incompetence. We can vastly improve our system with much smaller investments.

    • Why California Should Tax Online Sales? Or Not… – On this “Tax Day” and throughout the year, millions of Californians do their part to sustain the schools, health care, public safety, and other foundations of a healthy state. But projections show today’s collection will come up at least $1 billion short of what is due because most Californians won’t add the sales tax they owe on online purchases to the bottom of their California income tax form. With the state once again facing tough budget times, these dollars could go a long way to close our gaping budget gap.

      Most Californians may not realize that if a retailer fails to collect the sales tax due on a book, a pair of shoes, or other purchase made online, the purchaser still owes the tax. This requirement is nothing new – it’s been part of state law since 1935. The hitch comes in trying to collect the tax. In fact, only 1 percent of those who buy online from out-of-state companies like Amazon.com currently pay the taxes due. As online sales soar, they also take a big, and growing, bite out of the state’s revenue collection.

      =======

      There is NO good reason and these leftists use the fairness argument to justfy their redistribution schemes and the right of the state to YOUR money.

      One problem which I have written about extensively is the loss of jobs and the fact the state of California really won't realize any more revenue.

      Oops….

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for April 7th on 17:48

    April 7, 2011 /

    These are my links for April 7th from 17:48 to 17:52:

    • Prosser Vs. Kloppenberg – Wild One in Waukesha, Wisconsin – At a press conference just moments ago, Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus explained how “human error” caused nearly 15,000 votes from the city of Brookfield to be excluded from early county tabulations.

      A clearly nervous Nickolaus said that she first discovered that data for Brookfield was missing when she uploaded a database of county votes  to a state system, and noticed that all rows and columns for the city contained zeros. On Wednesday, the county’s bipartisan canvassing board began reviewing those unofficial results — which didn’t contain the Brookfield numbers — with official tape totals from voting machines throughout the county. They found a discrepancy.

      “I discovered that the data that was sent to me from the city of Brookfield was not transferred to the final report that was given to the media on Tuesday night,” Nickolaus said. Heavily red Brookfield, she said, had cast 10,859 for Prosser and 3,456 for Kloppenberg, netting the incumbent over 7,000 votes and a lead that could put him beyond the legal trigger for a mandatory recount.

      Nickolaus assured reporters repeatedly that “This is not a a case of extra votes or extra ballots being found.” The canvassing process is a standard part of election results certification in the state, and its purpose is to catch errors just like this one.

      ======

      Wow, what a fortuitious error.

    • House passes funding bill that could get Senate majority – President Obama in the Box – The House of Representatives did its job, passing a funding bill to keep the government open a week and cover the Defense Department for the balance of the FY 2011. A senior Senate source told me flatly, “I am confident all members of the caucus would support House bill.” It is inconceivable to me that a few Democrats wouldn’t go along. But Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid is likely to refuse to bring it to the floor. Why? He won’t say. Well, because the president said he’d veto it. Why? He won’t say. The bill is precisely the “clean bill” he wanted.

      Obama has backed himself, and now Reid, into a corner. Are the Senate Democrats and the White House going to shut down the government for no good reason? Perhaps. What we see here is a transparent and slightly pathetic attempt by the president to take charge. Maybe he should have been paying attention for all of 2011 when the Democratic-controlled Congress didn’t do its job. Maybe he should have gotten into the negotiations sooner. But for now we’ll wait and see.

      ======

      The Senate is working on it – so wait and see.

  • David Prosser,  Joanne Kloppenburg,  Scott Walker,  Wisconsin

    Video: Backlash Against Wisconsin Supreme Court Attack Ad?

    April 1, 2011 /
    Remember Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser being accused of refusing to prosecute a pedophile priest?

    Well, in response the victims of the pedophile priest have gone  “on air” defending Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser – being victimized again. See the video above.

    Organized labor has pulled out all of the stops to defame the incumbent Justice so that they can elect their hand-picked minion, Joanne Kloppenburg and repeal Scott Walker and the Wisconsin GOP’s public employee collective bargaining reforms.

    Will there be a backlash by the voters of Wisconsin against the union’s lies.

    I guess we will see next Tuesday.

  • David Prosser,  Scott Walker,  Wisconsin

    Video: Wisconsin Reforms in Peril – The Wisconsin Supreme Court Election on April 5th

    April 1, 2011 /
    On Tuesday, April 5, Supreme Court Judge Dave Prosser — the swing vote on the court — is up for re-election in Wisconsin. If he loses, the Walker reforms on collective bargaining and education reform die with him. The liberals are in the lead with ads saying Prosser=Walker and phony allegations that he did not prosecute a child molestor. We need to get involved, active, and engaged to save Prosser!

    So, if you live in Wisconsin vote and if you do NOT, then go here and contribute a few bucks.

    “Citizens for Impartial Justice” was formed to insure that the Wisconsin Supreme Court remains impartial and does not become an activist court. Our independent PAC is committed to support the voters in recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of David Prosser, and returning him to the Court for another 10 years. He has established a record of strict construction and adherence to well developed precedent. Justice Prosser does not work to expand the court’s role in our lives; he rejects extreme positions.

    Prosser’s fair and impartial service on the Wisconsin Supreme Court over the past 12 years is a credit to Wisconsin’s long tradition of scholarly and well balanced development of the law. He works to instill collegiality on a Court in the face of an aggressive and manipulative bloc of Justices intent on rendering decisions based on personality and power aggrandizement. He deserves reelection!

    His record is impressive:
    – 12 years –Supreme Court appointed in 1998 by Governor Tommy Thompson
    – 2 years Wisconsin tax Appeals Commission
    – 18 Years Wisconsin State Assembly; 2 years as Speaker.
    – Outagamie County District Attorney
    – United States Department of Justice Attorney
    – Staff of the Honorable Harold Froehlich during the Nixon Impeachment

    A vote for Prosser is a vote for fair and impartial justice with no gimmicks
    and no personal agenda.

  • David Prosser,  Tea Party,  Wisconsin

    Video: The Tea Party and the Wisconsin Supreme Court Race

    March 31, 2011 /
    State Tea Party Express reminds Wisconsin residents to vote on April 5th. Big union bosses are trying to defeat Justice Prosser and elect their own environmental activist judge. Justice Prosser is fair-minded and principled.

    Political pundits have been wondering if the Tea Party was going to lay down in Wisconsin after the Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Vs. Democrat Legislators Fleebaggers Flap.

    The ansewr is NO.

  • David Prosser,  Scott Walker,  Wisconsin

    What Is at Stake in Wisconsin Supreme Court Election on April 5?

    March 30, 2011 /

    Mickey Kaus gives the run down as to what is at stake in the April 5 election.

    In a counter-intuitive way, the RIGHT should hope for a Democratic victory and an overturning of the Wisconsin labor reforms?

    Walker’s (and Kasich’s and Daniels’) anti-union reforms are having an effect nationwide, even in states where unions are strong. In Los Angeles, for example, a coalition of unions just agreed to non-trivial increases in health and pension contributions for existing workers that will save $400 million. One reason they agreed was undoubtedly the fear that anti-union fever might spread even to California. If Walker gets beaten, public employee unions all over the country will stop being so amenable. (Maybe that will be good for Republicans, in a dialectical way,  because government will become more unaffordable and the “blue state model” will move closer to total bankruptcy. The contradictions will be heightened, if you will. But it will be bad for anyone who wants a working government and lower taxes.)

    And, the Democrats politicizing the Wisconsin Supreme Court might actually help Scott Walker as well – giving Walker a political foil.

    We will see.

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 27th on 17:45

    March 27, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 27th from 17:45 to 19:17:

    • Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in Trouble? – Like Ann Coulter, Higgins worries that Walker isn’t doing enough to get his message across. … What would that require?

      1) Pointing out the growing disparity between cushy union contracts and the working situation of average American taxpayers. Horror stories are useful here;

       2) Noting that eliminating government workers’ ”collective bargaining rights” doesn’t mean taking away employee’s free speech rights, or the right to have an organization that advocates for them. It means taking away specific, monopoly-like special privileges granted to unions during the New Deal and Great Society years (including the right to be the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for workers, a requirement that employers bargain “in good faith”–whatever that means–and for many government workers the automatic deduction of dues from paychecks).

      3) Pointing out that government unions aren’t like private unions, in that there aren’t any profits in the government to redistribute, union work rules tend to reinforce government’s inherent tendencies toward inefficiency, governments don’t have to stay competitive, the threat of a legal or illegal strike is close to blackmail, and unlike in private industry workers get to try to choose and then buy off the bosses who negotiate with them by donating money and manpower to campaigns.

      ======

      Read it all.

      I don't think so.

      When the television ads start – when the elections count – voters will understand these points and if they vote Walker et. al. out of office, they do so at their own peril.

    • The Paranoid Style in Liberal Politics – The left’s obsession with the Koch brothers – David Koch’s secretary told him the news. This was in February, during the rowdy standoff between Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and demonstrators backing 14 Democratic legislators who’d fled to Illinois rather than vote on a bill weakening public employee unions. Koch’s secretary said that an editor for a left-wing website, the Buffalo Beast, had telephoned the governor posing as David Koch and recorded the conversation. And Walker had fallen for it! He’d had a 20-minute conversation with this bozo, not once questioning the caller’s identity. But then how could Walker have known? Sure, David Koch was a billionaire whose company had donated to his campaign. But Koch (pronounced “Coke”) had never talked to Walker in his life.

      ======

      Read it all

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 24th on 14:42

    March 24, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 24th from 14:42 to 19:10:

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 24th on 14:28

    March 24, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 24th from 14:28 to 14:31:

    • Democrats Call Koch Industries ‘Extreme,’ but Justify Taking Their Money – Ben Smith reported this morning that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sent out a fundraising email, signed by Harry Reid, that tries to ride the anti-Koch bandwagon. Here's the relevant part of the email:

      Senate Democrats are fighting back each and every day. But with only a slim four-seat majority, we have no margin for error. If Republicans can knock just a few bricks free from our firewall, they’ll force through their extreme agenda faster than you can say “Koch brothers.” With the GOP on the attack and with 23 Democratic-held seats to defend, we have no time to spare. We must act now to keep our majority standing strong. I need your help!

      The DSCC must raise $150,371 by our March 31 FEC deadline to keep the Republicans at bay.

      Smith notes the DSCC got about $30,000 from the Koch family in the last election cycle. He also reported back in September that a limited number of Democratic candidates have also received Koch money, including sitting senators Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. New York's Charles Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, also received $1,000 from Koch Industries in the last election.

      =====

      How do you spell HYPOCRITE?

    • Madison Wisconsin teachers given until April 15 to rescind fake doctors’ notes – Madison teachers who missed school last month to attend protests and turned in fraudulent doctor's notes have been given until April 15 to rescind those notes, officials said Thursday.
      The district received more than 1,000 notes from teachers, human resources director Bob Nadler said. A couple hundred of those were ruled fraudulent because they appeared to be written by doctors at the Capitol protests against Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to limit collective bargaining.
      Teachers who don't rescind fraudulent notes could receive a disciplinary letter of suspension, the most serious form of discipline aside from termination, Nadler said. The suspension would be considered already served — the time missed during the protests.
      "We didn't want to give anybody more time off," Nadler said. "They can't afford it. We can't afford to have them gone any more. I don't think kids need their teacher gone another two days."
      Teachers who rescind their note would receive a more minor "letter of expectation" and be docked pay at the end of the school year for the four missed days.
      Nadler said the majority of notes came from doctor's offices and the district doesn't plan on calling each one to determine if the excuse was legitimate.

      =====

      Slap on the wrist and if they are honest get docked pay.

      what a system! NOT

  • Pinboard Links

    Flap’s Links and Comments for March 15th on 14:23

    March 15, 2011 /

    These are my links for March 15th from 14:23 to 14:54:

    • Poll Watch: Boulder, Colorado, Leads U.S. Metro Areas in Wellbeing – Community leaders stand to learn a great deal from cities like Boulder, Lincoln, and Washington, D.C. where wellbeing is the highest.

      Boulder, for example, is second in the nation in opportunities for its residents to "learn something new or interesting," a common feature of the highest wellbeing metro areas in America. Book stores, museums, art exhibits, and non-traditional learning environments, such as topical community seminars at local colleges or Elderhostel programs, could all contribute to enhanced opportunities for residents to learn and grow, which can lead to higher wellbeing.

      Lincoln is third in the nation in having workplaces with supervisors who engender high-trust environments, a characteristic of top management talent and a vanguard of a highly engaged and productive workforce.

      The Washington, D.C.-Arlington-Alexandria metro area has one of the lowest smoking rates among large metro areas in America, at 15%, and a high percentage of residents who visit a dentist at least once per year (72%). Smoking and choosing to skip the dentist are both lifestyle choices that have substantial negative health outcomes downstream.

      ======

      Not really shocking but read it all.

    • On Wisconsin! How Republicans Won the Battle of Madison – It was Wednesday, March 9, and Governor Walker had decided to visit the Wisconsin State Capitol before he headed off to give his “Ag Day” speech that afternoon.

      Walker figured he had been very patient. Four weeks earlier he had proposed his budget repair bill, and he had the votes to pass it. But one week after that, all 14 Democratic state senators fled to Illinois to deny Republicans the quorum they thought necessary to hold a vote on the legislation. In the days that followed, top Republican legislators and senior aides to Walker spoke regularly with Democrats in an effort to forge a compromise—several times believing that they had reached a tentative understanding that would allow the senate to take up the controversial measure, only to have the agreement collapse. The more this happened the less likely a compromise seemed. 

      So, shortly before 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Walker addressed a meeting of the senate Republican caucus. It was time to end the standoff and move forward, he said. The world didn’t know it, but Republicans had been given the tools to do that two days earlier, in rulings from three nonpartisan bodies that allowed them to tweak the bill slightly and pass it with only a simple majority present in the senate. But Walker kept his comments general. He said that while Wisconsinites were divided about the wisdom of his proposals, there was widespread agreement that the stalemate had to end.

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      Read it all.

      A good piece on the last days of negotiations with the Wisconsin Fleebaggers

    • Wisconsin Dem Senator Wants to Ban Tactic Used to Hold Up Budget Bill – Democrat Tim Cullen, one of the 14 Wisconsin state senators who fled to Illinois in order to prevent a vote on Scott Walker's budget repair bill, wants to make sure that the tactic he employed cannot be used in the future to hold up state business. The Wisconsin State Journal reports:

      One of the Wisconsin 14 is working on a law that would prevent other lawmakers from stopping legislation by running away and hiding — a move that could be seen as an olive branch to angry members of the GOP.

      Sen. Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, a key member of the Democratic senators who fled the state in a failed effort to stall Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill, said Tuesday he was drafting a state constitutional amendment that would allow the Legislature to vote on and pass fiscal bills with a simple majority. The constitution requires each house to have three-fifths of all members present to vote on bills that have a fiscal impact.

      “I was part of creating this divide,” Cullen tells the Journal. “I need to be part of fixing it.”

      ========

      Should have been banned long ago. What about initiative and referendum?