Hack Job
If there's ever been a situation where one can find a little bit of wrong in everyone, this is it.
The Elections Board finally came out of the closet, proving to the world what everyone had suspected for years: that when push comes to shove, a board packed with members appointed by political parties will act like... well... a board packed with members appointed by political parties.
One can certainly argue that Mark Green was being a schmuck by trucking into Wisconsin hundreds of thousands of dollars given to him by Washington fat cats to curry favor with him in Congress. In fact, I invite you to use that argument. However, whatever we think of it, it wasn't illegal at the time Green did it. For the Elections Board to try to apply a law retroactively is absurd.
Doyle... hmmm... well, Green only needed this cash because Doyle's got Stan Johnson and Chief Soft Money bankrolling his campaign. And of course, WEAC and the tribes don't have any agenda at all. They're benevolent societies and their giving is entirely charitable.
Whatever. Either they're rewarding the governor for past actions or they're trying to influence future actions. All money in politics is dirty. It all comes with an agenda. I've never been a huge proponent of public financing but this may well be the election that changes my mind. It shouldn't only be rich guys like Herb Kohl who can proclaim their independence from special interests because they're loaded enough to self-finance.
Tommy's Boy
Speaking of self-financing, "Two Mortgages" Van Hollen continues to prove his commitment to serving this state by dumping more and more of his own money into the Republican AG primary. Now, I'm not trying to sound like a shill for Jessica's Husband here, but if Van Hollen liked his internal numbers, he probably wouldn't be loading up like this in the primary. That he's throwing this much on the table this soon is likely a sign that his own polls are either close or have him trailing. I'm not going to get involved in this discussion until the Playground primary endorsements are released later this week. I also don't have any interest in hosting the ridiculous conversations between the online supporters of Bucher and Van Hollen.
One can only wonder what Two Mortgages' personal finances will look like in November if he does manage a primary win. Did someone pencil an extra zero onto the AG's salary when trying to convince him to run?
Yeah, well Falk You
Kathy Falk says Peg's a drunk. Meow! Let the games begin! Again, interesting strategy. Peg goes negative first, but Falk goes negative harder. My guess is that both sides think this is close and the Falk folks have a feeling this issue still has some salience. Time will tell.
Assembly GOP "Secret" Caucuses Aren't So Secret
Someone should really tell Assembly GOP legislators that their staff find out everything anyway, usually in advance because legislators are TERRIBLE at keeping secrets. Not telling staff about "secret" meetings only pisses them off. Funny how GOP leadership constantly talks about the "team." But really, they've completely disenfranchised staff, relegating them from skill player to water boy in just four years. Scott Jensen knew that staff could be a powerful weapon and worked to include staff in the policy making process. Under the current leadership, many of the building's best and brightest minds have resorted to leisure reading and three hour lunches because members steadfastly refuse to acknowledge that their staff, by and large, are smarter than most of their own colleagues. Staff have figured out that "team" is just code for "please drop lit and do doors for members who, in many cases, are entirely too damn lazy to get out and work for themselves." I mean, isn't everyone just waiting for the last-minute "help Carol Owens" plea to go out? It always does.
Who said I'm not constructive?
Word is that the Assembly budget is in good shape for the first time in ages. So it's understandable that many offices are grumbling about the fact that John Gard has reportedly refused to authorize the General Wage Adjustment for Assembly employees. For those playing at home, this is the raise that all other represented state employees get, usually on July 1. You know, all one percent of it? Speaker Kreuser would authorize it, and Republican staff know it. Perhaps Republican leadership could boost their drooping staff morale by signing off on this rather inconsequential increase. After all, sometimes it's the small things that do wonders to improve people's outlook.
We're Number Three! We're Number Three!
Congratulations to the U.S. men on their third place finish in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. That's a couple of places better than I had you pegged for.
If there's ever been a situation where one can find a little bit of wrong in everyone, this is it.
The Elections Board finally came out of the closet, proving to the world what everyone had suspected for years: that when push comes to shove, a board packed with members appointed by political parties will act like... well... a board packed with members appointed by political parties.
One can certainly argue that Mark Green was being a schmuck by trucking into Wisconsin hundreds of thousands of dollars given to him by Washington fat cats to curry favor with him in Congress. In fact, I invite you to use that argument. However, whatever we think of it, it wasn't illegal at the time Green did it. For the Elections Board to try to apply a law retroactively is absurd.
Doyle... hmmm... well, Green only needed this cash because Doyle's got Stan Johnson and Chief Soft Money bankrolling his campaign. And of course, WEAC and the tribes don't have any agenda at all. They're benevolent societies and their giving is entirely charitable.
Whatever. Either they're rewarding the governor for past actions or they're trying to influence future actions. All money in politics is dirty. It all comes with an agenda. I've never been a huge proponent of public financing but this may well be the election that changes my mind. It shouldn't only be rich guys like Herb Kohl who can proclaim their independence from special interests because they're loaded enough to self-finance.
Tommy's Boy
Speaking of self-financing, "Two Mortgages" Van Hollen continues to prove his commitment to serving this state by dumping more and more of his own money into the Republican AG primary. Now, I'm not trying to sound like a shill for Jessica's Husband here, but if Van Hollen liked his internal numbers, he probably wouldn't be loading up like this in the primary. That he's throwing this much on the table this soon is likely a sign that his own polls are either close or have him trailing. I'm not going to get involved in this discussion until the Playground primary endorsements are released later this week. I also don't have any interest in hosting the ridiculous conversations between the online supporters of Bucher and Van Hollen.
One can only wonder what Two Mortgages' personal finances will look like in November if he does manage a primary win. Did someone pencil an extra zero onto the AG's salary when trying to convince him to run?
Yeah, well Falk You
Kathy Falk says Peg's a drunk. Meow! Let the games begin! Again, interesting strategy. Peg goes negative first, but Falk goes negative harder. My guess is that both sides think this is close and the Falk folks have a feeling this issue still has some salience. Time will tell.
Assembly GOP "Secret" Caucuses Aren't So Secret
Someone should really tell Assembly GOP legislators that their staff find out everything anyway, usually in advance because legislators are TERRIBLE at keeping secrets. Not telling staff about "secret" meetings only pisses them off. Funny how GOP leadership constantly talks about the "team." But really, they've completely disenfranchised staff, relegating them from skill player to water boy in just four years. Scott Jensen knew that staff could be a powerful weapon and worked to include staff in the policy making process. Under the current leadership, many of the building's best and brightest minds have resorted to leisure reading and three hour lunches because members steadfastly refuse to acknowledge that their staff, by and large, are smarter than most of their own colleagues. Staff have figured out that "team" is just code for "please drop lit and do doors for members who, in many cases, are entirely too damn lazy to get out and work for themselves." I mean, isn't everyone just waiting for the last-minute "help Carol Owens" plea to go out? It always does.
Who said I'm not constructive?
Word is that the Assembly budget is in good shape for the first time in ages. So it's understandable that many offices are grumbling about the fact that John Gard has reportedly refused to authorize the General Wage Adjustment for Assembly employees. For those playing at home, this is the raise that all other represented state employees get, usually on July 1. You know, all one percent of it? Speaker Kreuser would authorize it, and Republican staff know it. Perhaps Republican leadership could boost their drooping staff morale by signing off on this rather inconsequential increase. After all, sometimes it's the small things that do wonders to improve people's outlook.
We're Number Three! We're Number Three!
Congratulations to the U.S. men on their third place finish in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. That's a couple of places better than I had you pegged for.
3 comments:
I assume Speaker Gard will report the Assembly Staff General Wage Adjustment as in-kind contributions to his Congressional Campaign, because clearly he's the one benefiting this decision.
What, do you actually think that $15 a week is going to buy John Gard an army of in-house volunteers who are willing to drive 3 hours every weekend to drop lit?
Besides, if this were the case, then surely you would want Gov. Doyle to report the raises that all the other state employees got a few months ago. And that just seems absurd. This isn't any sort of special bonus. It's just a cost of living adjustment.
3 hour lunches and surfing the web at work...seems like staff deserves a raise to me.
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