Supreme Court gives Green green light to spend illegal money

From Wispolitics:

A split state Supreme Court decided late today to wait until after the election to take up Mark Green's direct appeal of a state Elections Board decision requiring him to dump some $468,000 of PAC contributions that he converted from his federal account to his gubernatorial fund.

The court ruled 4-3 that factual disputes between the parties impinges upon the court's ability to decide whether to take up the case.

Today's wimp out by the Wisconsin State Supreme Court means one thing - Congressman Green is going to spend every dime of that illegal money he transferred from his federal account.

Anyone out there believe he won't spend it this week? Or should I say spend it again?

Kagen up

The latest poll posted on Majority Watch has Democrat Steve Kagen up 51% to 45% for Republican John Gard. Go here to see the poll results. And for the true geeks out there, click on the colored horizontal bars for cross tabs.

-By Rob Rogers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Van Hollen's tough talk on terrorism should lead to questions

Remember when the Republican candidate for Attorney General, J.B. Van Hollen, said this:

"I say, as the chief law enforcement officer in the state, terrorism should be one of your top priorities." (The Chetek Alert. March 15, 2006)

Or better yet, remember when he said this:

"We have in Wisconsin terrorists who are training and raising funds. We don't need to be paranoid, but we need to be vigilant...If people believe we do not have terrorists in Wisconsin, and they believe we are not at risk for terrorist attacks in Wisconsin, they are uninformed." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. April 26, 2006)

The fact that the latter statement was called "completely inappropriate" by the FBI aside, isn't it odd that Van Hollen didn't prosecute the one terrorism case sent to his office when he was the U.S. District Attorney for the Western Wisconsin region?

You can find the rest of the report that the link above is from here. I'll admit I haven't read the whole report yet, but I thought the chart was interesting enough to pass along for discussion. Perhaps the press will find it interesting.

The silent referendum

If a city holds a school referendum and no one knows about it, will it pass?

They city of Madison has a $23.5 million school referendum on the ballot on November 7th and there hasn't been much coverage of it. Does that make it more or less likely to pass? I'm guessing less likely given the recent history of school referendums here.

I read the paper every single day and until about three weeks ago, I had forgotten that we were even having a school referendum in Madison. Today's article in the Wisconsin State Journal is the first real article I've seen on the topic in a while and it was not exactly a ringing endorsement of the plan.

Before that I had seen three "Vote Yes" yard signs and a display at my public library with information about the referendum. There have been some information meetings on it that have attracted a handful of people as well, but in this cluttered election with numerous things on the ballot, is that enough?

Granted, Madison is a progressive town that generally supports education and there is no organized opposition this time. However, the last school building referendum here in 2005 failed so without some sort of organized campaign to pass the referendum, the question "What has changed since last time?" will be hanging in the air of the voting booth for many people next Tuesday.

If people get into the voting booth and know nothing about a tax referendum, chances are a lot of them are voting 'no' rather than vote for something they know nothing about.

Tom Reynolds' new program

Just when you thought the campaign might slip by without hearing another looney statement from Senator Tom Reynolds (R-West of Reality), he offers up a new amnesty program. Amnesty for single mothers...if they get married.

Here is a recap of what happened at a candidate forum last week from the Milwaukee County Democratic Party.

West Allis - Jim Sullivan, candidate for the 5th State Senate, took last night's opportunity at the West Allis/West Milwaukee School District candidate forum to continue his conversation with the voters about the issues that are important to them.

Sullivan addressed questions about school funding, maintaining local control, and creating a safe learning environment. Meanwhile, his opponent constantly veered off topic to further his own narrow agenda, showing again he has no interest in talking about the issues that concern the 5th District.

Instead of using his time to propose real solutions for K-12 education, Tom Reynolds continued to insist that school violence exists because "families barely even exist on the north side of the city of Milwaukee." Mr. Reynolds even went so far as to suggest legislation that would offer single moms "amnesty" if they enter into a marriage.

Martha Love, Chair of the Democratic Party of Milwaukee County released the following statement today regarding Reynolds' comments: "Tom Reynolds would like to offer an "amnesty" program to women who have children out of wedlock, if they agree to get married. Amnesty from what exactly?"

"This is a truly offensive statement that not only insinuates that single mothers have done something wrong, but their children are destined to be criminals. Tom Reynolds constantly speaks out on the importance of family values, and he should understand that marriages should be entered into out of love, and not to gain 'amnesty' from some sort of government penalty.

The 5th Senate District should ask for amnesty from the state for inflicting this lunatic on us by voting Jim Sullivan into office next week.

Color me surprised

So the city's Halloween plan worked really well. Hats off to all involved.

They had State Street lit up so bright it looked like you were in Times Square. No, I wasn't out partying with the college kids on Saturday. I was downtown on Friday night for dinner and the Capitol Steps show. Very funny and I highly recommend it if you ever get a chance. Where else can you see Vice President Dick Cheney combined with Sir Mix A Lot?

Van Hollen's new found concern for crime victims

It's just a little disingenuous for J.B. Van Hollen and his supporters to be crying foul about using a crime victim in a campaign ad isn't it? I know the long hours campaigns require can make your brain fuzzy, but is their memory so short that it doesn't even cover August of this year? From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 8/22/06:

ELECTION 2006; Candidates keep sparring over ads; Agent's slaying

Debate continued Monday about how a state Justice Department officer's murder is being used in the race for attorney general, with incumbent Democrat Peg Lautenschlager's campaign saying her Republican opponents hadn't responded properly to objections from the officer's family.

Republican candidates Paul Bucher and J.B. Van Hollen both have statewide radio ads that mention the murder of agent John "Jay" Balchunas in late 2004, but not his name. Last week, the Journal Sentinel reported that a DNA sample from a rape earlier that year wasn't matched by the State Crime Lab to the rapist for seven months and during that period the rapist helped kill the agent.

So Van Hollen thought crime victims were ok in campaign commercials when it benefited him, but now mentioning a crime victim is just outrageous.

And let's remember the justification Van Hollen's team offered for his ad. The same justification seems to apply to the ad he is complaining about this week.

Van Hollen campaign spokesman Brian Fraley said it was understandable that the family wouldn't want to be reminded of the killing, but he said the underlying issue is a relevant one in the campaign.

And Van Hollen's own words at the time ring true in this instance also:

Van Hollen said that too often crime victims can get caught in the bureaucracy, but he noted that one of the best ways to serve them was through better management of the Crime Lab to speed cases toward resolution.

Better management of the case the current ad is talking about would have helped as well. Better management will be needed at the DOJ than Van Hollen can offer.

Halloween on State Street starts tonight

The Wisconsin State Journal story about Halloween on State Street is calling tonight the dress rehearsal for the main event on Saturday. But if the lagging ticket sales for Saturday and my college-aged babysitter are correct, everyone is heading down tonight. The crowds in the past might have been smaller on Friday, but this year could be different. Students may protest the bizarre plan for the event laid out by the city by simply changing the date.

Only about 10,623 tickets have been sold according to the State Journal and we all know about four times that are really heading down to State Street at some point this weekend. I'm guessing the Madison Police Department is prepared for the fact that the real Halloween Party on State Street could very well be tonight instead of Saturday.

The kids that are looking to cause trouble are probably going down tonight. Or maybe both nights. Or maybe they are going to try to get in without a ticket on Saturday. But let's face it, no matter what the city tries to do, there is going to be a group of kids that has the goal of getting gassed. So the mayor's goal of trying to have a night where no one gets gassed is a pretty unrealistic goal for the police to attain.

The mayor's tantrums about Halloween night for the past couple of years aside, I think the police have done an incredible job containing the crowd. Yes, some students were gassed, but the event has been pretty well controlled by the police for the last couple of years. Screaming about the crowds and threatening to shut the whole thing down have only made enemies out of a lot of students and is pretty much the equivalent of a double-dog dare to out of town students.

Here's hoping the event goes well, there is no major property damage and no one gets seriously hurt.

Assembly races to watch, part two

The two races that the Assembly Republicans talk the most about as opportunities to pick up seats for their side is the open seat vacated by Rep. John Lehman in the Racine area and Rep. Tom Nelson's seat in the Green Bay area. I don't think they will pick up either seat.

The Democrat running to keep Lehman's seat in the Dem column, Cory Mason, has been running a good campaign for quite a while now. His family has deep ties to the community, he has been doing a lot of doors and has run up an impressive fundraising total. The average Democratic performance for this seat is nearly 55% which means it is pretty unlikely that the Republican in this race can convince that many Democrats to vote for him this year of all years.

It would be tough for the Republicans to beat Rep. Tom Nelson even if they had a good candidate. I don't think Nelson stopped doing doors from his first campaign. He has been working tirelessly in his district from the moment he got into office and people respond well to that even if they don't agree with everything a politician says. Nelson's opponent's campaign pretty much consists of painting his name on big bus and driving around in it so I think it's safe to say that Nelson will win his election.

So let's move on to the other five races where Democrats are making some waves.

The 29th District - Open seat with Democrat Kerry Kittel running against Republican John Murtha. This is a Democratic seat with an average performance of just under 52%. This seat used to be held by Democrat Joe Plouff until 2004. The area is trending Republican but a bad Republican year combined with a good Democrat candidate can bring this seat back into the Dem column. Kittel is a long-time teacher that has been very active in his community that has turned out to be a very strong candidate.

The 49th District - Gabe Loeffleholz defending against Phil Garthwaite. This seat is trending Democrat. In the last Presidential election, Senator John Kerry got just over 51% of the vote here. That's bad news for Loeffleholz because he has been voting like a strong conservative. Loffleholz is a pretty low-member, but he is so low key that he just goes along with everything his leadership tells him to do. That includes voting against things when he should know better. He voted against allowing more family farmers into the BadgerCare program even though he is a farmer himself and should know how tough it is for farmers to afford health care. He is endorsed by Pro-Life Wisconsin which means he doesn't support abortion even to save the life of the mother. He also sponsored and voted for a bill to criminalize some of the scientific techniques used by stem cell researchers and supported the concealed carry bill while refusing to vote for amendments that would have kept them out of places like Chuck. E Cheese. That place needs a lot of things (to help parents keep their sanity), but guns is not one of them. The Democrat in the race, Phil Garthwaite, also has a family farming connection and was the Farm Director at a local radio station so he had some name ID coming into the race. Loeffleholz has raised a decent amount of money to protect himself, but Garthwaite just might squeak by him giving the trending of the seat and the anti-Republican mood of the country overall.

The 23rd District - Open seat with Democrat Stan Templin running against Republican Jim Ott. This is the seat being vacated by Republican Curt Gielow. And while the Republicans have recruited someone with built in name ID (Ott is a former TV weatherman), the Dems have recruited a fantastic candidate that has outraised Ott so far. Templin is a former Mequon Alderman and he has a really good field operation in place for election day. The area is trending Democratic so this could be an upset.

The 90th District - Republican Karl Van Roy defending against Gary Froseth. The 90th is a classic swing district. It has a Democratic performance of 50% on the nose. So having a good Dem candidate running against someone that has been voting very conservatively creates all the makings of a possible pick-up for the Dems. Froseth is a Lutheran Pastor and former union guy that has been very active in his community. Van Rooy has been voting like he comes from a district that is about 80% Republican and this could be the year that record catches up with him.

The 93rd District - Republican Rob Kreibich defending against Democrat Jeff Smith. This race is rematch from 2004 and Smith pulled in 48% of the vote last time. Kreibich must have been uncomfortable with how close Smith came because he went out and gathered a huge sum of money to protect himself. No doubt Kreibich will be tough to beat, but this seat has a Democratic performance of about 53% and Senator Russ Feingold pulls in about 60% here. Smith name recognition from last time and combining that with a bad year for Republicans could put this one in the Dem column this time with the right voter turnout.

A criminal mind

As the women in Wisconsin head to the polls soon, there is a comment from the Republican candidate for Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen that they should keep in mind. He equates women protecting their reproductive health with the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer. From the Capital Times in December of 2005:

During a debate with Bucher, Van Hollen was asked whether "government should be involved in the personal decisions as to whether somebody should have an abortion."

Van Hollen replied, "You are not going to find me saying that I believe that that is something that should be the choice of an individual any more than I believe that homicide in any other circumstance should be the choice of a specific individual."

Van Hollen's statement caused a public outcry and he was forced to acknowledge that, under the law of the land, women have a right to make decisions about what happens with their own bodies. But he did not back off his comparison of such women to murderers. Nor did he suggest that he believes anything different.

That's right ladies. If you need to get an abortion because your life is in danger, you are guilty of homicide in Van Hollen's mind.

Let's not send a guy to the run the Department of Justice who believes every woman out there is a potential criminal.

Frivolous complaint against Progressive Majority without merit

This didn't take long. The State Elections Board has issued an opinion that a group that is legally doing exactly what it said it would do hasn't broken any laws. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today:

Madison - The State Elections Board's staff lawyer on Tuesday found no evidence that the campaign arm of state Senate Democrats illegally conspired with private groups also working to elect as many Democrats as possible on Nov. 7.

Elections Board attorney George Dunst said in an advisory opinion that a Senate Democratic election strategy, obtained by Senate Republicans months ago, did not show that Democrats had broken any laws or rules against collusion.

State Republican Party officials had asked whether references in the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee document to Progressive Majority, an independent group also supporting Democrats, and other groups showed an illegal pattern of sharing polls or other research that was either illegal or must be disclosed on campaign-finance reports.

Progressive Majority did not break any laws. But someone did:

Also Tuesday, Roth Judd, executive director of the state Ethics Board, said he was reviewing a complaint by Sen. Mark Miller (D-Monona), whose campaign committee report was stolen from his belongings when he left them in a copy room adjacent to his Capitol office.

No more mister nice guy

Rumor has it that Senator Mark Miller is going to file a complaint about someone going through his things and stealing some documents from his bag.

It's the right thing to do because no matter how much the Republicans want folks to believe otherwise, it really is what happened.

And for those that want to believe otherwise, ask yourself why the Republicans didn't call in the authorities and let them know that they found the document in the copier in the Capitol? There is nothing in the document that is so earth shattering that it would be better to keep a possible case of campaigning on state property a secret. When this whole episode happened, it would have been easy at that time to figure out who made the copies since the copiers require a code to use so the Senator's office making the copies can be billed.

But that little investigation didn't happen because the document was not found on the copier. It was stolen from a binder in Senator Miller's bag.

Calling all polling junkies

There are no races from WI listed here in the latest polling batches, but if you are a junkie, check out the TPM Cafe poll tracker. The Republicans are in serious danger of losing the U.S. Senate too if these poll numbers are correct.

Assembly races to watch, part one

It's hard this year to predict what will happen in the Wisconsin State Assembly. We can take the Democrats gaining control of the body off the table, but after that, it becomes trickier to guess because there are so many races and this is an unusual year for Republicans in general. It's safe to say that the Democrats are going to pick up seats this year to start building back to a majority. The only question is how many?

The Republicans are only playing defense this year. They may be out there talking about some Dems that they are going to defeat, but that is just a smoke screen trying to hide the fact that there are fires burning in every part of the state for the Republicans to put out.

If you look at the races where the Republicans say they are on the attack, it's hard not to come away laughing. Rep. Donna Seidel's (D-Wausau) opponent lives in his mom's basement. Probably not going to win an election from the rumpus room. Rep. Amy Sue Vruwink's (D-Milladore) opponent seems to be in complete agreement with her on nearly every topic except that the legislature shouldn't pass so many bills. A theme of, "I agree with her but will do less" seems unlikely to win. Rep. Terry Van Akkeren's (D-Sheboygan) opponent received five votes when he ran for Mayor. Not five percent, five votes. Let's put that on in the win column for the Dems right now, shall we?

It should also be noted that the only two groups running ads for Assembly Democrats are the Farm Bureau (in the 37th) and All Children Matter (in the 25th) so this is anything but a typical year. Those are two groups that do not usually line up with the Dems.

And the Assembly Democrats have done a great job recruiting top notch candidates. Combine that with the fact that they have candidates on the ballot in every potentially competitive race in a year when Republicans on are the defensive and you have the makings for some surprises.

The 28th Assembly District - Incumbent Republican Mark Pettis (R-Hertel) defending against Ann Hraychuck. Ann Hraychuck is going to beat Mark Pettis. I know we always say we are going to beat Pettis and he manages to get by, but this time our candidate is just too good. Hraychuck is an experienced candidate that Pettis will not be able to dismiss as too liberal like he always does. Hraychuck is the former Polk County Sheriff and she actually has a picture of herself with a bear that she shot. She is also the former president of the Polk County Sportsman Club, the first female to hold that position. So, guns and hunting, the center of just about every attack Pettis made on his former opponents, goes out the window this time. Hraychuck also shut down about 15 meth labs during her tenure as sheriff. She comes off great in person and has been raising money and campaigning since the summer of 2005. Put this one down as a win for the Dems.

The 54th District - Open seat with Gordon Hintz running against Julie Pung-Leshke. This is a seat the Dems will also probably pick up this time around. The seat used to be held by a moderate Republican, Greg Underheim, and it is ripe for the picking. Hintz ran against Underheim last cycle and probably would have beat him if the Green Party candidate was not in the race. There is no Green Party candidate on the ballot this time and Pung-Leshcke comes with some baggage from her days on the Winnebago County Board. Pung-Leshke was the only one to vote against funding to expand the number of COP slots for seniors (a program that helps them stay in their home instead of being forced into nursing homes) and actually said she did so because she was afraid more seniors would want the services. She also quit the board in frustration saying she didn't realize how much work the job was going to be. Not a great place to start from if you want to be hired for a tougher job that is farther away.

The 80th District - Republican Brett Davis (R-Davis) defending against Janis Ringhand. It's time for a correction in this seat. This seat votes Dem just over 55% of the time and Davis has voted the way John Gard wanted him to vote lock, stock and barrel. If Davis had moderated his voting more than he had, he could have locked up this seat for the Republicans again with an entrenched Republican like they did with former Rep. Powers. But Davis voted for concealed carry, voted to criminalize some of the techniques used by stem-cell researchers, voted to put the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and civil unions on the ballot, and voted against requiring hospitals to carry emergency contraception for victims of rape or incest. And those are just the appetizers. A side note on his concealed carry vote - Davis did vote for an amendment to prohibit the weapons from being carried into banks, but voted against amendments that would have prohibited them in places where kids go like Chuck E. Cheese. So the banks deserve to be protected from guns, but kids don't. Ringhand, the former Mayor of Evansville, is a strong candidate that is doing well fundraising and has a strong background to run on with deep ties to the community.

The 37th District - Open seat formerly held by Republican Rep. Ward. Democrat Andy Jorgensen running against Greg Gasper. This is a Republican leaning seat that could be picked up by the Dems because they have a good candidate. Jorgensen comes to the race with some name ID because he is a former radio personality from the area. He also has a strong blue-collar background many in the district can identify with as their own. Gasper's primary victory was impressive given that the powers that be had decided they didn't want a Capitol staffer as the candidate. But I'd really like to think that you can't win a race if you don't say how you stand on any of the major issues. He may be reluctant to take a stance on much after he lost the Farm Bureau endorsement over the one thing he did take a stand on - the ethanol plant. Gasper was initially against a plant in the area, but has since come out for it. But the damage was done and the Farm Bureau is backing Jorgensen.

The 67th District - Rep. Jeff Wood (R-Chippewa Falls) defending against Roberta Rasmus. This district votes Dem almost 51% of the time and Rasmus is a strong candidate. She has been on the Chippewa Falls School Board for over a decade and is very active in her community. She is keeping up with Wood in the fundraising department as well. Wood is far too conservative for a swing district and this could be the year he pays the price for his voting record. He votes for school cuts in his own district but fights to expand the School Choice program in Milwaukee because he takes thousands of dollars in campaign funds from a group that wants to expand it. Wood was also given a 100% rating in 2002 from Pro-Life Wisconsin, which means he does not support abortion rights even if the life if the mother is at stake or for victims of rape and incest. He didn't get the endorsement from them this year so must have moderated somewhat on this issue. But not enough for a swing district for this issue to be off the table for him. And let's not forget the debacle of the Taxpayer Protection Amendment. It's an unpopular issue and Wood led the charge on it, right into a brick wall called reality. Wood came away from that whole mess looking like he had no idea what he was doing.

Part two, with five more races to watch coming tomorrow.

Republican National Committee goes off the deep end

Start your week out with a laugh.

The Republican National committee has completely lost it. Check out the ad they are running against Democrat Harold Ford in the race for a U.S. Senate Seat in Tennessee.

It might be the most ridiculous ad ever. It blows the Mark Neumann ad about catching cow gas out the window. And that is saying a lot.

Hat tip: Talking Points Memo

Appleton Post Crescent endorses Charlie Most in the 1st Senate District

The Appleton Post Crescent is endorsing against long-time incumbent Alan Lasee in the 1st Senate District. They are urging voters to pick the Democrat, Charlie Most.

They have a good reason. Even if you agree with Senator Lasee on many issues, the tactics Lasee and his colleagues have chosen to pursue just don't get things done.

The Appleton Post Crescent is hardly a liberal rag that the Republicans can dismiss, so anyone looking for the sleeper race in the Wisconsin State Senate should keep an eye on this race. Charlie Most is picking up steam every day.

Alan Lasee is a straight shooter. Whether he's talking about the need to cut state spending, the death penalty or the faults of the Department of Natural Resources, the 1st District state senator is blunt. We appreciate that. But we frequently don't agree with him.


Lasee, a Republican from Rockland, has been in the Senate for almost 30 years, the last four as Senate president. For better or worse, he's unlikely to change. On balance, that's a negative.


Charlie Most, a Democrat from Liberty Grove, is a better choice than Lasee or Green Party candidate Jill Bussiere.


As the chairman of the Door County Board and Liberty Grove town board, Most knows about the effects of government on residents - and the effects of state government on local government.


He says that, as part of the budget process, the state needs to have a frank discussion with citizens about what services they want the state to provide. He says the Legislature hasn't done nearly enough to reduce health-care costs and favors opening the state employees' health plan to all. He cites the school-aid formula and land-use policies as other priorities.


Lasee wants to reduce spending by cutting University of Wisconsin administration and employee insurance costs, but also by cutting funding for 4- and 5-year-old kindergarten. He would consider some form of campaign-finance reform but opposed the bill to add enforcement power to a combined ethics-elections board.


As for the DNR, Lasee appears to be on a vendetta, convening a Senate committee with the sole purpose of bashing the agency. That's not an effective way to solve what, in some cases, are legitimate problems.

Most has better answers for the district and the state."

Ooops! Van Hollen goes down the rabbit hole

J.B. Van Hollen, the Republican Attorney General candidate, officially went down the rabbit hole on Friday. Van Hollen actually put out a press release on Friday criticizing Kathleen Falk, the Democrat in the race, of not taking enough environmental protection cases when she was working at the Department of Justice after months of saying she took too many.

Too few, too many. Which is it Mr. Van Hollen?

This ridiculous attack in which Van Hollen appears to be advocating that Falk should have given people false hope by starting cases she knew she couldn't finish, really illustrates that Van Hollen has permanently moved into desperation mode.

He's realized that his repeated bleating that Falk doesn't have experience has made the press look into his experience and they've found some unsettling things.

For example, in today's Wisconsin State Journal, an article on the Attorney General's race catches Van Hollen in one of his grand exaggerations. He has been running around telling everyone how great he did prosecuting the Stoughton mall rapist. Except that he didn't handle the case. His assistant did.

And I'm sure that that little white lie is the tip of the iceberg with Van Hollen.

Nationals still trying to prop up Gard

Yep, that poor John Gard is in this race all by himself.

How mad do you think the NRCC is that they have to spend this kind of money on a Republican seat simply because the candidate has soooo much baggage?

STRATEGIC MEDIA SERVICES
1023 31ST ST. NW
4TH FLOOR
WASHINGTON, DC 20007

Purpose of Expenditure: Issue Ad Placement
This Committee OPPOSES The Following Candidate: KAGEN 4 CONGRESS
Office Sought: House of Representatives
State is Wisconsin in District 08
Date Expended = 10/20/2006
Person Completing Form: CHRISTOPHER J. WARD
Date Signed = 10/20/2006

Amount Expended = $121814.05
Calendar YTD Per Election for Office Sought = $826863.23

Debate number three

So the gloves came off a little bit in the third and final debate in the governor's race.

And at first I thought Congressman Green was going to flat out win the debate. He looked and sounded better than he has in the past. But Green lost the debate on the health care issue big time.

Green did a better job of getting his point across by using more a story telling format, which is much easier to follow for that average voter that doesn't know all the minor details of programs and issues.

At one point Doyle was even using the dreaded alphabet soup of abbreviations for programs like Health Savings Accounts. He used HSAs instead of saying the words. Using those abbreviations makes it much harder for viewers to follow along.

Doyle totally blew the question about ethics by not calling the Green money transfer illegal and failing to even mention that a court agreed that the transfer was illegal. Doyle's answer focused on how he can't take that DC money and it made it sound like the only reason he didn't like the policy was because he couldn't have the money too. This is an issue where Doyle is completely right and could have scored some points.

Doyle did bounce back a little later by pointing out that Green's criticisms of Medicaid funding are ridiculous since the federal government is the one that funds Medicaid. You know, the federal government that has been run solely by Green's team for the last six years.

And then two punches were landed that kept Green from winning this debate. When Doyle said Green was the ONLY person in the WI delegation, Democrat or Republican, to vote against letting folks import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, even I sat up and took notice. Prescription drug prices impacts millions of wallets in this state each and every day of the week and Green tried to stop people from getting them at a lower price. That fact really does make Green look very, very extreme. Direct hit.

The second punch that scored big time for Doyle was actually a Green self-inflicted wound. Green started his response about a health care question by saying health care is the most important issue we face and then actually said he wanted to keep talking about energy (from the previous question) first. You could almost hear the record needle scratching to a halt. He says it is the most important issue, shifts to another issue and then gives a lackluster response on the health care question because he has no time to address it.

Health care is the most important issue and Green fell flat on his face numerous times on that issue during the debate.

Honestly, Green looked a little better than Doyle last night on style and started out strong. But Doyle got enough of his points across, especially on health care, to keep Green from scoring a knock out at a time when Green desperately need a big win.

Senator Miller's stolen items

So the question many people in the Capitol are chewing over today is: Who rifled through Senator Mark Miller's belongings and then took the SSDC strategy documents?

Interestingly, Senate Dems think they know. Mark Miller might be too nice of a guy to file a criminal complaint--or he might think justice should be served.

But from what I've heard, the staffer/intern in question works for a Senator who is seemingly surrounded by people who like to lift things. Will he/she come forward based on the strong family values the Repubs love to talk about? Or will he/she try to wait it out and hope Senator Miller is too nice to file a complaint?

A sign of just how bad it is for the GOP now

This article really sums up just how bad things have gotten for the GOP in the race for control of the House of Representatives.

He noted that the NRCC paid for a poll in Idaho's 1st District race a few weeks back, then immediately started developing the TV commercial, launched an automated phone call campaign against Grant and flew in Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman to speak at a hastily arranged Boise rally for Sali.

That's right, the NRCC is being forced to spend money to save a seat in IDAHO!!!

President Bush beat Senator John Kerry by more than a two-to-one margin in 2004. In fact there are some counties in Idaho where Bush tallied over 80% of the vote! But even though Bush got almost 70% of the total votes in Idaho, the NRCC is struggling to win a congressional seat there. What a crazy year.

Osama campaigning for GOP

Not surprisingly, the GOP has pulled out the Osama Bin Laden card in an ad from the RNC. TPM Cafe has the story here.

Polls polls everywhere

This is a banner day on the left. Both Xoff and I agree with Congressman Mark Green on something.

By JAMES A. CARLSON
Associated Press Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Gov. Jim Doyle leads Republican challenger Mark Green by 13 points in a new poll released Thursday that was immediately disputed by a Green campaign spokesman as "flat out wrong."

There is no way that Governor Doyle is 13 points up on Green. But I do think this poll and the poll released this week by One Wisconsin Now shows some troubling things for Team Green.

The results from the St. Norbert poll do suggest that Doyle that is gaining ground, but Green doesn't seem to be picking up support. This seems to be the case in numerous polls.

And the One Wisconsin now poll results show something that is even more troubling for the Green Team. The conventional thinking in elections is that undecided voters break 2-to-1 for challengers and the One Wisconsin now poll had ten percent of the state undecided. But with either the 47% to 41% margin for Doyle or the 48% to 41% margin for Doyle if you limit the poll to just those that are definitely going to vote, there aren't enough undecided voters left for him to win even if Green does get the 2-to-1 ratio.

UPDATE: Slate.com's election site has Wisconsin listed in the Dem momentum shift column too.

Green ethics emphasis wise?

The poll results from One Wisconsin Now that were released yesterday brought up something I've been wondering about for most of the election season. Is Congressman Mark Green's emphasis on ethics a wise move?

The poll showed undecided voters want to hear more about health care, jobs and education. But they really don't care about campaign donations and the Georgia Thompson case that Green and his friends like to bring up instead of bringing out real plans to deal with the issues facing our state. Green's whole theme for this campaign seems to be "I'm not Jim Doyle" and so far voters aren't really latching on to that message.

And it's really not surprising that undecided voters are not that concerned about the "scandals" is it? The undecided voters are mostly the ones in the middle that don't like either party enough to join them. They are suspect of all politicians and believe that they are all corrupt. That means they base their vote on something other than ethics.

Until fairly recently, Green has been focused on ethics and not really giving the undecided voters much to go on for other issues. His focus on ethics combined with his name has being in the paper often as he gives back thousands of dollars from his colleagues in DC probably leaves many voters wondering if Green has anything to offer except more of the same stuff they see in DC. You know, the stuff they are currently unsatisfied with if the polls are any indication.

And with each new scandal that comes out of DC, Green takes a hit whether or not he was involved in it. It doesn't even matter that Green taking money from former Representative Mark Foley doesn't make him more or less involved in what happened with the Foley cover up. By the time he gave back the Foley money, he had already given back thousands in other campaign contributions, so it just feeds into the feeling that Green is part of a corrupt team.

Of course part of Green focusing on ethics is about trying to muddy the waters so all of the bad news about ethics is not about the mess in DC that Green has been part of for the last eight years. But with the FBI recently being forced to triple the number of squads looking into Members of Congress, Green focusing on ethics for his election keeps stories going in the press that normally would have had a short life here in Wisconsin.

Green going to court trying to preserve the ability to spend that big bag of tainted money from DC he transferred into his state account and running ads on it makes people focus on it and keeps connecting him back to the mess in DC. He even has a section on his website highlighting the Elections Board decision that says he has to give up the money he transferred in illegally. Is this smart? Make your arguments to the press when you need to, but even if you are spinning the arguments your way on your website, does it make sense to bring up the issue yourself?

It kind of reminds me of 1994 when then Speaker Wally Kunicki made the entire election about property taxes. Whether or not it was good policy didn't matter since he was focusing the debate on an issue that was not a strong one for Dems. That emphasis helped the 1994 landslide against Democrats in Wisconsin.

And really, there is no good outcome for Green at this point now that he went to court over this. If he wins, he keeps the money and all the baggage that comes with it after weeks of negative press about it. He gets to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars raised by his corrupt friends in D.C. Friends that soon will be able to fill a wing in a federal prison .

If he loses, he loses the money and the ability to even talk about ethics at all. And he will still have the baggage from the funds that come from jailbirds.

Of course soon we'll all know whether or not it was a smart move because with only three weeks left, Green doesn't have much time to start focusing on something new and actually get the message across to voters statewide.

Union doesn't let John Gard use them in photo op

A great story out of Green Bay about the 8th Congressional District can be found here at Daily Kos.

This time when John Gard wanted to pretend the workers of his new found home support his bid for Congress, the workers took a stand.

Last week in Green Bay, the big chiefs at the Georgia-Pacific paper plant thought they had the picture perfect photo op for Republican 8th Congressional District candidate John Gard--a plant tour where he could mingle with a bunch of happy workers.

So far so good for Gard. But then Dan Vandenbush, USW District 2 staff rep, got wind of the trip about two hours before the scheduled visit.

We got out a whole bunch of Kagen stickers out to everybody. Jeff (USW Local 9 president Jeff Welhouse) ran across town for signs. When Gard got there, there were about two dozen people with Kagen signs to greet him and when he got into the plant almost everybody was stickered up. I don't think they wanted a picture of their guy surrounded by Steelworkers covered in Kagen stickers.

Guess Gard is going to have to work harder next time to trick people into being in his campaign commercials.

All Children Matter in the 5th SD

Watchdog Milwaukee thinks the group All Children Matter might be colluding with Senator Tom Reynolds in the 5th State Senate District. You can find the post here.

It's possible, but it depends on how they got the photo being used in the literature.

Voters want more information on issues

Go figure. Wisconsin voters want to hear more about the issues that are important to them.

One Wisconsin Now conducted a poll earlier this month and it showed some interesting things about "undecided" voters in the governor's race.

Percentage Saying Issues Receiving "Too Little" Attention Among Voters Undecided in Governor's Race

Health Care 58%
Jobs and Economy 42%
Education 42%
Campaign donations 15%
Georgia Thompson/Travel case 8%

It would be nice if these results compelled more newspapers and television stations to do in depth coverage of the health care crisis facing our state and nation. But I'm not going to hold my breathe.

Newspapers and TV go for the racy headlines of trials and campaign donations when it comes to front page news. And while I would say some papers are doing better than they have in past for volume of election coverage, most of the issue articles are page three in the local section and only run for a day. Trials or campaign donations generate a new story every time someone new issues a statement on the topic.

And while readers may very well read the stories with the racy headlines, they usually want more on issues like health care.

Unfortunately, if they want more information on where the candidates stand on the issues they care about, they have to go and find it themselves. They rarely get it from reading the newspaper or watching TV news. Each race for the senate and assembly in this area is given one story where the candidates are sort of compared to each other. The only way other stories make it into the paper is if there is some sort of scandal in the race.

For example, today the Wisconsin State Journal has a small article about the candidates in the 44th Assembly District. It has about eleven paragraphs and I'm sure that's all we will see on that race before election day. But an article about a Packer being on probation warranted about nineteen paragraphs.

Until the press starts really covering the elections that will determine the makeup of an entire branch of our government, you can't really expect the voters to be well-informed or happy about the decisions they are making when voting.

But the newspapers won't cover that scandal.

Hold the phone!

Seriously, Bill McReynolds should just put the phone down. His phone calls just keep turning up more and more problems.

Check out this post by Progressive Majority Wisconsin. Seems McReynolds may have been dialing for campaign dollars on the county dime as well as running his own private business.

Poor John Gard

I had to laugh when I read this version of what is going on in the 8th CD in Wisconsin in the Wisconsin State Journal on Sunday (it is from Wispolitics).

Kagen, of Appleton, appears to hold just a narrow margin in the polls despite continuing to heavily run ads through his largely self-funded campaign.

Yeah, poor John Gard hasn't been running any ads and the NRCC hasn't been beating the crap out of Kagen on a daily basis. Never mind that it is a Republican district so it's big news that Kagen is up at all.

And I guess the $675,000 spent by the NRCC and the millions John Gard has raised to spend promoting himself and beating up Kagen just don't matter as much as the money Kagen is spending.

STRATEGIC MEDIA SERVICES
1023 31ST ST. NW
4TH FLOOR
WASHINGTON, DC 20007

Purpose of Expenditure: Issue Ad Placement
This Committee OPPOSES The Following Candidate: KAGEN 4 CONGRESS
Office Sought: House of Representatives
State is Wisconsin in District 08
Date Expended = 10/13/2006
Person Completing Form: CHRISTOPHER J. WARD
Date Signed = 10/13/2006

Amount Expended = $90752.80
Calendar YTD Per Election for Office Sought = $675061.64

How low can it go?

-By Rob Rogers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

WIWJC?

"If we are really to be light for the world, if that's true, then we cannot sit out of moral debates, ethical debates, spiritual discussions or even political trends. And there's probably no greater question on the table than the question of same-sex marriage." -Rev. Bill Bartz, Monona Oaks Community Church

Right. Which issue would Jesus choose to work for if he could only choose one in Wisconsin right now? The one where couples just want to love each and have be treated with respect or the one where our state might start putting people to death with a flawed justice system?

Seems to me there is a commandment about one of those issues. And it's not same-sex marriage.

Janie's got a gun(man pinned down in school)

Just when you think Rep. Frank Lasee is the craziest person in the room on school security...

A school district in Texas is actually teaching children to attack a gunman that walks into a classroom. From the Mercury News:

Youngsters in a suburban Fort Worth school district are being taught not to sit there like good boys and girls with their hands folded if a gunman invades the classroom, but to rush him and hit him with everything they have -- books, pencils, legs and arms.

The school they started with is a high school, but the article says they intend to teach this to all of the district's students.

This is the plan now? Tell third graders to run up to someone with a gun and try to take them down?

Perhaps Lasee has just found the town he should move to next. He would be elected mayor there no problem.

You can find the story here.

Wal-Mart finally held accountable

A court in Pennsylvania finally held Wal-Mart accountable for violating labor laws.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, must pay at least $78.5 million for violating Pennsylvania labor laws by forcing employees to work through rest breaks and off the clock, a jury found Friday.

Similar abuses are found in Wal-Mart stores across the country:

The Bentonville, Ark.-based company is facing a slew of similar suits around the country. Wal-Mart is appealing a $172 million verdict in a California case and settled a Colorado suit for $50 million.

It's about time our justice system starts trying to force Wal-Mart to clean up its act. Wal-Mart has built a multi-billion dollar company by shortchanging workers like Dolores Hummel:

Lead plaintiff Dolores Hummel, a single parent, said she worked at a Sam's Club in Reading for 10 years to support her son. Over the years, the pressure to get more work done intensified, she said. Hummel said she worked eight to 12 unpaid hours a month, on average, to meet work demands.

"It had to be done, all these class actions, to show how we were treated working at Wal-Mart — working off the clock and not getting paid," said Hummel, 53. "It was all about production."

She was fired in 2002 after complaining about working conditions, she said.

The Wal-Mart attorney gets the brass balls of the year award for the arguments he used against punishing Wal-Mart. He actually had the nerve to argue that employees are working without breaks because they want to.

Wal-Mart attorney Neal S. Manne said the company plans to appeal both the class certification and the jury's findings.

"I think a lot of employees who had short or missed breaks did it by personal choice," Manne told jurors in closing arguments Friday.

Oh yes, there is nothing more a parent would rather do than make more money for one of the richest family in America. I'm sure Dolores was happy to work for free instead of spending time with her son.

You can find the rest of the story here.

Mark Green auditions for Saturday Night Live

The Wisconsin State Journal has been running a series on the governor's race in which a reporter poses questions about an issue to each candidate and gives them an opportunity to lay out his vision on that issue. Last Sunday the issue was school funding.

When the Congressman Mark Green said he would rewrite the school funding formula in a more equitable way, the reporter asked him how he would change it. Green's response? "It's not fair to require a candidate to put together a thousand-page document..."

His response brings to mind the Saturday Night Live skit The Whiners doesn't it?

It's not fair. I don't want to have to do the hard and risky work of actually laying out a plan for people to look it and I want macaroni and cheese for dinner.

Is that really what Congressman Green thinks the voters of this state are entitled to for an answer on how he would change the funding for the single largest state budget item? Keep in mind that it was Congressman Green that brought up the fact that he would change the formula. From the way the article reads, the reporter didn't spring the formula question on Green and expect a thousand-page document out of him.

But was an outline of how he would change the formula too much to ask? Congressman Green used to serve in the state legislature so it's not outrageous to expect that he is pretty familiar with the state school funding formula. And if he's not, he has NO business running for governor.

Imagine if you came home from work one day an announced to your spouse that you were taking a new job and when your spouse asked you what the new job was you busted out this reponse: "Honey, it's not fair that you expect me to come up with an exhaustive list of my new duties or my new salary. Don't worry, we'll be fine. You don't need to know where I go everyday."

That's pretty much how Congressman Green is treating the voters of this state right now when it comes to his plans on how he would change the education formula.

And really, it's not fair.

Freese and stem cells

If you have even wondered why stem cell researchers are getting more involved in political campaigns by speaking out and supporting candidates that support their work, look no further than news stories from 2001 about Rep. Steve Freese (R-Dodgeville) for their motivation.

Freese actually compared the potentially life-saving research on a ball of cells to Nazi experimentation on the Jews. From the Capital Times on 8/9/01:

"The Nazi Holocaust arose from small beginnings," Freese said. "Technology has been advancing incredibly fast ... Clearly, we need to have a debate."
Freese compared the scientific arguments for embryonic stem cell research to the propaganda in Nazi Germany that led to the extermination of millions in the 1930s and 1940s.

He also planned a bill to ban the research, throw people in jail providing embryonic cells to researcher and clamp down on all those renegade fertility clinics having the never to try and help couples have babies. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on 8/10/01:

Freese said the bill he and Sen. Bob Welch (R-Redgranite) would introduce within a week was more comprehensive than the stem cell research ban proposed by Assembly Republicans during budget negotiations but later rejected.

Freese said the bill would allow research on adult stem cells, but not cells taken from embryos 6 to 8 days old. The University of Wisconsin-Madison has been the leading research institution on embryonic stem cells. Freese said UW researchers should work on adult stem cells, not embryonic cells.

Freese said the bill would make the intentional destruction of a living human embryo a crime. Anyone providing researchers a human embryo, knowing it would be destroyed, also could be prosecuted, he said.

The legislation also would prohibit cloning. Finally, it would call for a legislative council study on ways to regulate infertility clinics and the production of embryos, and to facilitate adoption of spare embryos.

In an opening statement, Freese talked about the medical experiments the Nazis conducted during the Holocaust and the United States' Tuskegee experiment, in which the U.S. Public Health Service withheld penicillin and watched poor, uneducated African-American men die of syphilis.

In drawing the comparisons, Freese said later, he was only attempting to illustrate a need to understand the consequences of research and have controls in place.

Not surprisingly, Freese's comments were not well received by the Jewish community. Also from the Capital Times article:

Steven Morrison, executive director of the Madison Jewish Community Council, said those who died in Nazi death camps should not be used as political fodder.

"It's just utterly disgusting when one uses the Holocaust and uses murdered individuals for political gain," he said today. "If someone wants to make a political point, leave the memory of dead people out of it."

Perhaps it's time the voters of his district left Freese out of the decision making process in the legislature.

Stupid campaign tricks

A former contestant from The Apprentice running for Congress in Pennsylvania must miss the TV spotlight he had on the show. He took an elephant and a mariachi band through the Rio Grande near Brownsville trying to prove his point on how bad border security is in Texas.

The candidate complained that even though they made about 15 laps back and forth, no one stopped them. Of course what he doesn't realize is that the U.S. border probably thought they were doing that congressional district a big favor by letting him go into Mexico.

Surprise Senator Alan Lasee, you've got an election

Could the perfect storm be brewing the 1st Senate District? Senator Alan Lasee (R-De Pere) has found himself short on campaign cash while on the receiving end of a major TV ad blitz against him with an energized opponent in an anti-Republican year.

And really, could Lasee's crazy relative Frank have picked a worse time to make the headlines scream "Lasee wants more guns in schools" than a month out from an election the senator wasn't even planning on running?

Senator Lasee's opponent, Charlie Most is doing well in the first Senate District and the Republicans are making some mistakes that could cost them more than they thought.

For example, the EMS Center in Sister Bay was instrumental in saving the lives of 7 people in the recent propane gas explosion in Ellison Bay. Charlie Most was instrumental in having that center built and properly equipped. Because of that, the EMT's were able to respond quickly and do an excellent job of saving lives. Lasee and the GOP are attacking Most for the vote he took that resulted in the EMS center being built - a major misstep for Lasee at a time when the tragedy is fresh in the minds of 1st Senate District residents.

And the people really seem to like Charlie Most. He recently stopped by the Wagon Wheel for a meet and greet coffee and was surprised to hear people that were not even there for the event break out into applause when he walked in the door.

Perhaps the people of the 1st Senate District are looking for someone that will come out and listen to their concerns, or at least show up when they are scheduled to be somewhere.

So far, Lasee is 0 for 4 in attending forums that were all arranged to accommodate his schedule. In fact, he has already told the organizers of one forum in Manitowoc that he's going to skip that one too.

Lasee also still has major damage repair to do for some pretty harsh remarks he made about prison guards and more or less saying he was tired of taking their calls.

From what I hear, Charlie Most has a calendar full of events and meetings throughout the parts of the 1st SD in Brown, Kewaunee, Calumet, Outagamie and Manitowoc Counties while still making appearances in Door County.

Most is a sharp candidate who is very personable and in tune with the district on the issues. With every day that he has to increase his name recognition - he gains votes and comes closer to winning. If he can get the name recognition he needs, he can win on November 7th.

Want to dig into Congress?

TPMmuckraker has links you can use to find out more on federal contracts, congressional travel and the net worth of your Congressperson. You can find them here.

Greg Gasper has met the enemy

Because he used to work for them.

Greg Gasper is the Republican canidate for the 37th Assembly District. I find it funny that he is running against Madison since he used to be part of how Madison works. If only he had once had a job where he could have influenced how Madison works...say like being an aide to a legislator.

But, he keeps putting out campaign lit yelling at himself for his former job.

gasperlit3.JPG

New Cook political report is out

MSNBC has a new article out by Charlie Cook of the National Journal. The title is says it all - Grim Days Ahead for the GOP.

You can find Charlie Cook's latest political report on the Congressional races here. Note: Rep. John Gard has managed to put the 8th CD into the Republican toss up category. His bid to keep this seat in the Republican column will be hindered by polling Cook mentions in his article that says Republican voters are looking lethargic and disillusioned while the Democrat voters are energized and angry.

A picture is worth a thousand words

And sometimes it costs thousands of bucks. But one blogger thinks Congressman Mark Green might be taking some liberties with photos he shouldn't be using. The post can be found here.

Garey Bies' lonely campaign

Rep. Garey Bies (R-Sister Bay) must be feeling pretty lonely these days. He only raised $100 during the last campaign reporting period. You read that right. An incumbent legislator in the summer before an election only had one contribution for $100 to report.

Maybe Bies feeling like he is doing this all alone can explain why the biggest expenditure he had for this reporting period was to himself. When you have an election in a few months and you have less than $6,000 in the bank, perhaps a check to yourself for almost $650 is not a wise move. If your fundraising for that period doesn't even cover your gas expenses, it's time to rethink your campaign.

Is nothing sacred?

I watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central to escape Wisconsin politics and get a good laugh. So it really sucked to see Rep. Frank Lasee's mug on The Colbert Report tonight!

But then they took him apart for his stupid proposal on guns in the classroom for the segment called "The Word" so it was ok. They do put some of those segments up online so you might be able see it there if you missed it tonight.

Green's brain drain trip

Isn't it just a little bit funny that Congressman Mark Green goes on and on about trying to keep young people here in Wisconsin after they graduate when he left the state right after graduation himself? From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today:

Now, in 1987, Green had completed law school and, since he had not yet joined a law firm, decided it was time to make the trip. He considered the Peace Corps, but it wanted to steer him to New Guinea, and Mark's heart was set on Africa.

"I just had a taste in the blood," Green said. "We discussed a plan to live overseas. I think Sue supported Brussels, Paris, London. I don't think she supported a small village in West Kenya."

I don't see any mention of taxes driving him to move though.

McReynolds abuse of taxpayer resources continues

As I've said before, the Republicans that think Bill McReynolds will win the 21st Senate District easily this fall just don't know Mac. Luckily, Progressive Majority does and they have introduced the local newspapers to McReynolds' rampant abuse of taxpayer resources in order to make money for himself.

A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story and a Racine Journal Times story today begins to look at how McReynolds spends his time in the office while supposedly working for the Racine County taxpayers. In the Racine Journal Times story McReynolds tries to brush off all of the phone calls he made from his Racine County phone to benefit his private popcorn business by saying doesn't buy that all of a sudden he is unethical because he has been in politics since 1992.

Sorry Mr. McReynolds. You are not all of a sudden unethical. You've been unethical all along. You just got caught all of a sudden. Big difference.

NRCC dumps another round of cash into the WI 8th CD

The National Repbulican Congressional Committee(NRCC) dumped another $83,985 in negative ads against Democrat Steve Kagen to try to help Republican John Gard hold onto Congressman Mark Green's old seat in Congress. TPM Cafe has the breakdown of where the rest of the $7.8 million is going to be spent. Hint, it's almost all in defense of seats they currently hold and it's almost all negative.

Congressman Mark Green thinks women are just dumb

One of the reason Congressman Mark Green is not doing well with women voters is his arrogant attitude toward them. He seems to think we are just dumb when it comes to our reproductive health and we all need him to teach us.

In the debate last Friday, Green said:

"I'm compassionately pro-life, I want to reach out to women and help the realize there are alternatives and choices out there."

Realize? Are you kidding me? Does he honestly believe any woman out there has an abortion because they just haven't thought enough about it? When Congressman Green talks about abortion, you get the feeling he thinks women all over the country schedule abortions because they have nothing better to do on a Friday night.

There is nothing compassionate about telling a fourteen-year-old girl who has become pregnant because her father or uncle raped her that she must have a baby because politicians she has never met says she must. She had no choice in the rape and will spend the rest of her life trying to get past that horrible incident. The compassionate thing to do would be to let her have abortion if that is the decision she comes to after talking it through with people she trusts.

How is it compassionate to force a women to go through with a pregnancy that might prevent her from having any more children? This is one of the many health options that Congressman Green's "compassion" on this issue would prevent.

Come November, women should send Congressman Green and his arrogant "compassion" looking for new options in the job market so they can preserve all of their options to protect their reproductive health.

Upside to Frank Lasee's dumb proposal

There is a plus worth noting about Rep. Frank Lasee's dumb proposal to arm teachers. That congressional bid he was planning for 2008 after Rep. John Gard blows the race this November is officially over.

If a Congressman yells...

I did not watch the debate this time, but I did notice something after reading a couple of the posts from bloggers that did a "live-blog" style commentary that I found interesting.

When a woman (Anne Quimby Mathias of Pundit Nation) saw Congressman Mark Green look straight into the camera and forcefully answer a question she said this:

Anne: Stop yelling at me, Mark Green. Why did he start yelling at the camera? Is he gonna go SpottedHorse2 on our ass?

But when a male (Brian Fraley of DailyTakes) saw him do the same thing, he said:

Green looks right into the camera here and nails this answer.

Now I know the response is from people of two different parties, but I found it interesting that the female found the move to be overly aggressive and the male found it to be an excellent way to answer a question. Why? Because it's safe to say that Congressman Green has the "young angry white male" group locked up, but he has serious work to do with female voters.

Of course, I'm sure almost no one watched the debate so it probably doesn't really matter unless that is how Congressman Green comes off in person as well.

-By Ann Telnaes via Slate.com

All campaign laws matter, part two

There is another piece to the puzzle with All Children Matter.

Below you will find a link to the All Children Matter 990 form that they filed with the IRS to get a tax exemption. Go to page three where you will find the group's statement of purpose. They state they are organized to support non-federal committees and candidates, which can only means they are trying to influence elections and requires a lot more disclosure than this group has done here.

And since they have put out a piece of mail asking people to vote against a specific candidate, I think we can all agree that they are indeed trying to influence elections in Wisconsin.

alllchildren2.pdf

All Children Matter breaks the law

The people funding the group All Children Matter must not think that all campaign laws matter. Unfortunately for them, they do.

We may soon get to see who is pulling the strings behind this front group that claims to be fighting for children and education, but isn't running ads about children or education.

The group is supposed to be running issue ads because of the way they have organized themselves. Running issue ads means you can't say certain words like "vote for" or "vote against" in your TV ads or mailings. If you do, you are subject to much stricter disclosure laws under the following (pay particular attention to 2c):

ElBd 1.28 Scope of regulated activity; election of

candidates. (1) Definitions. As used in this rule:

(a) "Political committee" means every committee which is

formed primarily to influence elections or which is under the control of a candidate.

(b) "Contributions for political purposes" means contributions

made to 1) a candidate, or 2) a political committee or 3) an individual who makes contributions to a candidate or political committee or incurs obligations or makes disbursements for the purpose of expressly advocating the election or defeat of an identified candidate.

(2) Individuals other than candidates and committees other than political committees are subject to the applicable disclosure− related and recordkeeping− related requirements of ch. 11, Stats., only when they:

(a) Make contributions for political purposes, or

(b) Make contributions to any person at the request or with the authorization of a candidate or political committee, or

(c) Make a communication containing terms such as the following or their functional equivalents with reference to a clearly identified candidate that expressly advocates the election or defeat of that candidate and that unambiguously relates to the campaign of that candidate:

1. "Vote for;"

2. "Elect;"

3. "Support;"

4. "Cast your ballot for;"

5. "Smith for Assembly;"

6. "Vote against;"

7. "Defeat;"

8. "eject."

(3) Consistent with s. 11.05 (2), Stats., nothing in sub. (1) or (2) should be construed as requiring registration and reporting, under ss. 11.05 and 11.06, Stats., of an individual whose only activity is the making of contributions. History: Emerg. cr. eff. 8−25−76; cr. Register, January, 1977, No. 253, eff. 2−1−77; am. (1) (b) and (2) (a), Register, February, 1986, No. 362, eff. 3−1−86; am.

(2) (c), Register, May, 2001, No. 545, eff. 6−1−01.

ElBd 1.29 Scope of regulated activity; referenda.

The requirements of disclosure and recordkeeping of s. 11.23, Stats., are applicable to individuals and groups other than groups formed primarily to influence the outcome of a referendum as to contributions, disbursements and obligations which are directly related to express advocacy of a particular result in a referendum.

Nothing contained herein should be construed to exempt groups formed primarily to influence the outcome of a referendum from the requirements of disclosure and recordkeeping of s. 11.23, Stats. History: Emerg. cr. eff. 8−25−76; emerg. am. eff. 9−7−76; cr. Register, January,

1977, No. 253, eff. 2−1−77.

But, check out the mailing All Children Matter sent out against Rep. John Lehman regarding his race for the state senate. The words "vote against" jump off the page. I'm guessing the Wisconsin State Elections Board is going to be interested in this.

allchildren.pdf

Lasee gets his fifteen minutes

What great press for our state. Why does the press insist on giving the crazy people the attention that they want?

Foley source was a Republican

Sorry Brian Fraley and the rest of the Republican crew trying desperately to convince people that a Democrat dropped the Foley mess now to influence the election...the source was a Republican.

Better come up with some new talking points.

Republican's new nemesis - Republicans!

The Wisconsin Builders have launched a radio campaign touting their candidate John Murtha, running in the 29th Assembly District. In the ad, they say, "John Murtha will bring real common sense values and small business know how to the not so real State Assembly".

That's funny. The Wisconsin Builders have been big supporters for the Republican leaders in the Assembly. In the past year, they have made the following contributions.

Wisconsin Builders
Friends of Scott Gunderson $500.00
Sheryl Albers for Assembly $100.00
Citizens for LeMahieu $500.00
Citizens for Gundrum $500.00
Friends of Steven Wieckert $500.00
Friends of Kitty Rhoades $500.00
Friends of Scott Suder $500.00
Citizens for Lothian $500.00
Friends of Mark Pettis $500.00
Friends of Terry Moulton $500.00
Friends of Lee Nerison $500.00
Krawczyk for Assembly $500.00
Friends of John Townsend $500.00

Is the environment so bad for Republicans and their allies this year that they have to run against themselves?

Or are the local Republicans taking cues from Fox News? Fox News yesterday ran a photo of former Republican Rep. Mark Foley with notation below his picture that said he was a Democrat from Florida. So after the talking heads couldn't convince people that the Foley scandal was caused by Democrats holding the information back, they simply decided to try to make Foley a Democrat.

Maybe local Republican groups have decided that since they can't defend the Republican record, it might just be easier to make people think that the Democrats have been in charge this year.

Good luck with that.

UPDATE: Assembly Republicans are running against themselves all over the state. I just saw a piece of campaign lit from the Republican candidate in the 37th Assembly District with a title proclaiming he is running to reform the way Madison does business. Pretty funny since the candidate, Greg Gasper, is a former staffer to the group currently running the legislature.

Coalition for America's Families making up news stories

The Coalition for America's Families has a new ad out that stoops to a new low. They are making up news stories that never existed.

The ad recycles the same garbage that failed Attorney General candidate Paul Bucher had out there about drug offenders. The ad claims Kathleen Falk wants to release violent drug offenders, which is absolutely false. If fact, the still in the ad looks like they lifted it right from Bucher's old website.

But the Coalition for America's Families doesn't cite Bucher's website when they are making their ridiculous claim. They list an article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that ran on August 24, 2002 as the supposed source.

I searched for a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article during that whole week of 2002 that said what the ad claims it says and I couldn't find it. Reporters should demand to see the article and TV stations shouldn't run the ad until they do.

Paul Bucher's wife may have once worked for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, but that doesn't mean the crap that she helped Bucher put out for his failed campaign is from that paper.

Assembly Republicans clueless on school violence

Rep. Frank Lasee has said and proposed some pretty dumb things in his day, but his latest proposal still made me do a double take. Lasee wants to let school personnel carry concealed weapons.

The public doesn't support the idea of concealed carry in general, so I'm guessing this idea is going to go over with parents like lead balloon.

Since Lasee doesn't have an opponent, perhaps the Republicans put Lasee out there with this crazy idea to draw attention away from the fact that many of them have already voted to let concealed weapons be carried on playgrounds. (Voted to table AA2-SSA2-SB403, 12/13/05)

SD 5 all tied up

Bob Dohnal's strange piece yesterday painting Senator Tom Reynolds (R-West Allis) as some sort of victim came into focus a little better yesterday when I learned that both the Democrats and the Republicans have tracking polls showing Jim Sullivan is tied with Reynolds at 40 percent each. Dohnal now knows he really needs to go out there to try to save Reynolds.

At one point, Dohnal says:

If you meet Reynolds, you would find a very quiet, personable gentlemen that is totally honest and ethical. This is why it is not surprising when you hear of him holding out for legislation that is for the benefit of the citizens of his district instead of the special interest.

I'm curious as to why Dohnal classifies children as a special interest group. How else do you explain Reynolds being the ONLY person to vote against the School Indoor Air Quality Act? (SB325, 2/28/06)

And which special interest was Reynolds fighting by being the ONLY one to vote against Renewable Energy Bill? (SB 459, 2/21/06)

Dohnal even tries to paint Reynolds as someone who doesn't wear his religion on his sleeve. Perhaps not, but that's only because he has it tattooed on his forehead. Reynolds is constantly trying to insert God into his state work. Not long ago he said:

"If I'm going to have somebody working in my office, it's nice to know where, how they view their relation to God, whether entrance into heaven is something they earn or if it's a free gift," he added. (Capital Times, 9/30/05)

And does anyone remember the title to the campaign literature he handed out in his 1996 campaign for Congress? It was a 24-page booklet called "Family Faith and Freedom".

Dohnal does get one thing right about Reynolds in his column yesterday though. Dohnal wrote:

He defies description.

Foley's parting gift to the Republicans

Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Republican) gave his Republican colleagues a gift on his way out of town. News stories out there now are saying that Foley wants people to know he was sexually abused as a teenager himself and he wanted to publicly announce that he is a homosexual.

The last part that he announced is not relevant to his scandal at all, but I'm willing to bet his Republican colleagues in the House pressed him to add that part. It was well known on Capitol Hill when I was there that Foley was gay. He did not need to announce that now except for the fact that his Republican colleagues are desperate to be able to pin this scandal on anything other than themselves.

Having Foley announcing he is gay lets part of the Republican base that hates homosexuals excuse this whole episode in their mind. A number of state have gay marriage and civil union amendments on the ballot this fall and this announcement will feed into the sick thinking in some minds that equates homosexuality with pedophilia.

Foley's action are not because he is a homosexual, but the Republicans are hoping his announcement yesterday that he a homosexual will let many believe that they are linked.

A New Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy

You just can't underestimate how much the Republicans will not take the blame for anything that has happened under their watch. Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) is now saying that somehow the Democrats made the Republicans try to hide Rep. Mark Foley's (R-FL) scandal until right before the election. I'm not making this up.

Hastert says someone had this and dropped it on the last day of session. Hmmm, someone, someone. Who had this last year but didn't come forward with it or tell the ranking minority member of the panel that oversees the House pages? It's right on the tip of my tongue. Oh, wait, that would Rep. John Shimkus and Speaker Dennis. The two guys who thought the best way to investigate this was to ask Foley if he had done anything wrong and then said "good enough for us" when he told them not to worry.

Think Progress has the story here.

Wedded to bad policy

The crash and burn of the Taxpayer Protection Amendment(TPA), or the Bride of TABOR, last session might leave you to think that the Republicans don't want to talk about that issue on the campaign trail. But, here is a list of candidates that are embracing the policy no questions asked as they hit the campaign trail.

These candidates aren't afraid to admit they support ideas that have failed. Oh no. They boldly look up to defeat while lying on the mat after the last punch and ask for another round.

They dismiss reports with lines like "Colorado Business and Community Leaders Now View TABOR as Deeply Flawed" and "TABOR Has Played a Major Role in the Significant Cuts Made in Higher Education Funding" and happily sign a pledge to support the TPA so they can have a nice little bullet on their campaign lit. They ignore news stories with fiscal experts from Colorado who now say passing a TABOR bill was a mistake for their state.

Why let a little reality get in the way of campaign literature?

No doubt they are hoping most people have forgotten all of the news stories about the TPA by now and will only see the title of the proposal and think it is a good thing. But I'm betting the voters in some of those districts are going to ask a few questions about it.

NRCC also thinks Gard is struggling

The Wispolitics Report this week has Rep. John Gard in the falling category in the political stock report. The blurb about Gard mentions that many people think Gard is acting like a candidate that is trailing badly in the polls.

The National Republican Congressional Committee must believe this because they just dumped $89278.40 more in negative ads against Steve Kagen. (The ad buy is the 24th one on the list)

Hat tip: Talkingpointsmemo.com