Arizona Candidate Challenged Over English Skills

Barring a citizen from holding public office because a judge doesn't think her English is good enough?  Yikes.

SAN LUIS, Ariz. — When Alejandrina Cabrera speaks English, her face takes on an expression somewhere between deep discomfort and outright despair. Her tongue, which darts around her mouth in her native Spanish, slows to a crawl.

“I speak little English,” she said in a hesitant and heavily accented interview in her lawyer’s office. “But my English is fine for San Luis.”

Mrs. Cabrera may be able to get her point across in English, but whether she is proficient enough in the language to serve on the governing board of this bilingual border city has deeply divided the 25,000 residents.

What began as an effort by political opponents to block Mrs. Cabrera from the ballot for a seat on the City Council has mushroomed into an uncomfortable discussion of just how fluent Arizona officeholders need to be. Like many other states, Arizona has long required politicians at all levels to speak, read and write English, but the law fails to spell out just what that means. Is grade-school knowledge enough? Must one speak flawlessly? Who is to decide?

For the record, Arizona law states that "the ability to read, write, speak, and understand the English language sufficiently well to conduct the duties of the office without aid of an interpreter shall be a necessary qualification for all state officers and members of the state legislature."

Can't wait to watch a lawyer defend this in court.

Why I'm okay with Rick Santorum.

I don't agree with Rick Santorum on a lot of things. I respect his opinions on most social issues since it's easy to tell that they're sincerely held and, unlike a lot of people who express those feelings, Santorum is more than willing to walk his talk. But I disagree with those opinions all the same and that alone would likely preclude my ever voting for him.

However, there have been a number of times in the debates where I have spoken to friends afterwards and said something that I never thought I would say: Rick Santorum is the smartest guy up there. Whether it's defending the fundamental fairness of a progressive system of taxation, or his belief that corporate tax breaks are best when targeted at those businesses actually capable of leaving the U.S., Santorum sounds like he's actually put some care and thought into his proposals.

If you put aside the positions on social issues which are dictated by his faith, Rick Santorum comes off as being pretty reasonable. At least, as reasonable as it seems to get in the GOP these days.  He's the Mike Huckabee of the 2012 cycle. He won't win, but the process will have been better for his participation. And that's something we can't say about too many of the others.

Cain endorses Gingrich; America shrugs

Does this make Gingrich more electable or less electable?

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Businessman Herman Cain threw his support to Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich late Saturday.

The move by the former GOP candidate and tea-party favorite comes three days before the Florida primary, at a moment when Gingrich is badly in need of something to rekindle the momentum he gained in the wake of his South Carolina primary victory.

Since then, polls have shown that he is losing ground against former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in this state, even as Gingrich has gained a lead in national surveys.

“I had it in my heart and mind a long time,” Cain said of his endorsement, appearing with Gingrich at a Republican fundraiser. “Speaker Gingrich is a patriot. Speaker Gingrich is not afraid of bold ideas.”

Herman Cain, Rick Perry, the Wasilla Grifter and her husband - the list of Gingrich endorsements looks less like one filled with competent, capable leaders and more like the roll call for the Island of Misfit Toys.

Update: How could I have forgotten to include World's Worst Presidential Candidate® Fred Thompson on this list?  He took some time away from swindling seniors with reverse mortgages a few weeks ago to endorse Newt and temporarily become the World's Worst Surrogate®.

Pay what you owe.

The first step towards revenue stability is creating a tax system that your government is capable of enforcing.

Evading taxes is almost a national pastime in European nations such as Greece, Spain and Italy, and for years their governments largely looked the other way.

On Monday, the 27 nations of the EU will meet in Brussels to focus on how to boost growth and jobs. But as the southern European nations struggle with a debt crisis that threatens to overwhelm the European Union, their recently installed governments feel they must become more like their more solvent northern neighbors, where the crime of tax evasion is taken seriously.

Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and other countries are raising taxes and clamping down on those who have found creative ways not to pay them. Many people admit they cheat, but the wealthy say they are being unfairly singled out to cover for government overspending — and people in the middle class, who have seen their household incomes crumble, are bitter about losing even more to taxes.

As a former resident of Spain, it didn't take long to figure out that cash was king - or why.  Southern Europe is Northern Europe's deadbeat friend.  It wants all the nice things but is always looking for a way to cheat on the bill at the end of the night.

Farewell to the Wasilla Grifter

So delightful watching Sarah Palin's relevance disappear over the last year.  Now she's fighting a losing battle trying to prop up Newt Gingrich's self-destructive campaign and forcing her husband to endorse the guy because she's too big of a coward to do so herself.

What does this even mean?

“I think what Rick Perry having dropped out and that patriot having done well for the front-runner, whom I will call Newt Gingrich now, being the front-runner, having endorsed him, was a good smart move.  He kind of took one for the team there, the conservative team, when he dropped out.”

 Paging Miss South Carolina Teen USA...

When's Brett Davis getting thrown under the bus?

In response to the criminal complaint filed against Brett Davis' former fundraiser Kelly Rindfleisch, that's the question I've heard asked more than any other in the last 24 hours.

If Davis was paying Rindfleisch a meager $1,000 a month, and he seemingly had unfettered access to her during regular office hours, are we really supposed to believe that Davis had no idea how she was spending her weekday mornings and afternoons?  Did he think she was working third shift at a Kwik Trip to pay her bills?

Brett Davis is a smart guy.  He's too smart to be that stupid.  The fact that his fundraiser was allegedly doing her work out of an office that wasn't even 25 feet away from where Scott Walker was doing his work as County Executive is a big problem.  Perhaps not for Walker, yet.  I think it's too soon to presuppose what Walker knew of the coordinated campaign activity that was going on underneath his nose.

But surely, Brett Davis is now a political liability, and Scott Walker is not in a position to coddle people who were either breaking the law or aware of people who were.  Especially when those people are serving in his administration.  And given the abundance of written evidence that Rindfleisch left behind for prosecutors, there's zero doubt that her case is ending in either a conviction or a plea deal.

There is no benefit of the doubt to give Davis.

Newt Gingrich, downballot disaster

It was only a matter of time before GOP Members of Congress began raising these concerns more publicly.

Newt Gingrich’s former Republican colleagues in the House are more than a little nervous about the prospects of sharing a ticket with him in November.

They think he’d run weakly in the suburbs. And among women. And independents. And especially in the Northeast.

To some of them, he’s a disaster in the making, a potentially combustible nominee who could, in a worst case scenario, cost the GOP its newly minted majority.

The concern is serious enough, one freshman Republican told POLITICO, that on the bus ride back from the House GOP retreat in Baltimore last week, Gingrich’s electability was the prime subject of discussion among nearly a dozen members — many of them first-termers.

Worst. Negoation. Strategy. Ever.

If anyone ever wonders how Madison obtains a reputation outstate for being arrogant and a little clueless, look no further than the current negotiations with the WIAA over the state high school basketball tournaments.

(Madison Mayor Paul) Soglin, UW senior associate athletic director Tim Wise, Dane County Coliseum executive director Bill DiCarlo and Greater Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau officials Deb Archer and Bill Haight spent about 45 minutes trying to convince WIAA officials to keep the tournaments in Madison. The city has been home to the boys tournament for 90 of the last 91 years and the girls have played their state tournament in Madison every year since it debuted as a WIAA sport in 1976.

WIAA executive director Dave Anderson told the representatives he is looking for a long-term commitment to hold the girls and boys tournaments on the second and third weekends of March, respectively. Anderson said the UW Field House and the Dane County Coliseum are the only Madison venues available those weekends and that the Kohl Center, even if UW works out its hockey issues with the Big Ten, would be unavailable in 2013 and 2014 due to possible WCHA and NCAA events.

It also appeared UW made no promise of improvements to the Field House. Asked if anyone in the Madison party spoke to the idea of renovating Madison's two aging buildings, Wise referred that question to Soglin.

Soglin said Dane County "long-term is committed to making significant improvements to the ... Coliseum" and that the city is "very supportive of that." However, Anderson said afterward that the Madison group did not share details of any planned renovations to the Coliseum in their presentation.

Allow me to translate.

"We would love for the WIAA high school basketball tournaments to stay in Madison.  The University of Wisconsin is unwilling to give you the Kohl Center in 2013 and 2014.  It's also not willing to renovate the ages-old Field House, which would've been broadsided with a wrecking ball years ago if it weren't for the nostalgic value.  And while we recognize that the Dane County Coliseum is outdated and has no adjacent dining or entertainment options, we don't have any plans to fix that either.  Perhaps the state will give fans access to the cafeteria at the Department of Revenue building across the street.  In summary, stay in Madison because we're so much cooler than everyone else."

I grew up in Green Bay and spent most of my twenties in Madison.  Given a choice of moving back to either, I would choose Madison, hands down.  But Madison really needs to get over itself sometimes.

Do State of the ____ speeches have any relevance?

In a modern world with a 24/7 news cycle, is there any purpose to bringing executives into a legislative chamber and allowing them to bloviate?

Frank Lasee is wrong once again.

No surprise there.

The long stalemate over windmill siting rules could become a moot point if the Legislature approves a new bill that keeps the power over turbine placement in the hands of local officials.

Sen. Frank Lasee, R-De Pere, late last week introduced a bill that would allow officials in cities, villages, towns and counties to establish the minimum distance between a wind turbine and a home — even if those rules are more restrictive than any the state tries to enact.

"The situation now is sort of lawless," said Rob Kovach, Lasee's chief of staff. "Townships don't really know where they stand."

New statewide wind siting rules, more than a year in the making, were suspended just before going into effect last March. Lawmakers sent those rules, which dealt with wind farms of less than 100 megawatts, back to the state Public Service Commission, where they have stayed as officials worked to reach a compromise between industry supporters and their critics.

Conservatives bemoan complex regulatory schemes that make it difficult for businesses to invest money in Wisconsin.  And then on the flip side, when it's a green business, conservatives are happy to endorse a system which would allow each of Wisconsin's nearly 2,000 municipal governments to create and enforce its own unique regulatory standards.

Stupid.

Boehner thinks GOP will rule House for eternity

Or something like that.

Republicans will hold the House next year and for the next decade, House speaker John Boehner told POLITICO in an exclusive interview.

Boehner dismissed Democratic claims that House control is up for grabs and argued that the once-in-a-decade redistricting process has made the GOP’s hold on the majority ironclad.

Redistricting “gives us a very strong foundation for the decade,” Boehner said.

“I think it will be nearly impossible” for Democrats to win back the House in November, Boehner said. “I think our freshman members are doing a good job preparing themselves for the upcoming election. I would also note that redistricting across the country has helped those freshman members and others in tough seats who will now have better seats. So I think we’re in pretty strong shape for the year ahead.” Boehner said he thought it “quite likely” the party would maintain control of the House through at least 2020, “as long as we listen to the American people and follow their will.”

Because this kind of arrogance and overconfidence never comes back to bite legislative leaders.

Tightrope Tommy walks the line.

Thompson's doing a good job of saying the right things to appease the base without appearing too cozy with fringe conservatives.

Former governor Tommy G. Thompson said Monday that he would not second-guess Gov. Scott Walker for taking steps to greatly limit collective bargaining for most public employees.

Thompson, who is running for the Senate seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), also indicated he would not support so-called right-to-work legislation in Wisconsin.

Right-to-work legislation forbids forcing workers to join a union or pay dues in order to get or keep a job. It has emerged as an issue in other states, including Indiana.

"I think that right now we do not need any further deterioration of labor-management relationships in Wisconsin. And I'll leave it at that," he said.

Asked at a Milwaukee Press Club Newsmaker luncheon about Act 10, the bill signed into law by Walker that curbed most collective-bargaining rights, Thompson said he supported the governor.

"I was not there when he was making his decision based on the facts and evidence that he had," Thompson said. "I'm not going to come now and Monday (morning) quarterback and say I would have done it different. Probably would have, but I don't know. . . . I was not privy to that knowledge base. You've got to realize, I'm not going to be up here and criticize another office holder who succeeded me as governor and say what he did was wrong."

Romney's tax problem

It's not reality.  It's perception.

Mitt Romney offered a partial snapshot of his vast personal fortune late Monday, disclosing income of $21.7 million in 2010 and $20.9 million last year — virtually all of it profits, dividends or interest from investments.

None came from wages, the primary source of income for most Americans. Instead, Romney and his wife, Ann, collected millions in capital gains from a profusion of investments, as well as stock dividends and interest payments.

The couple gave away $7 million in charitable contributions over the past two years, including at least $4.1 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Romney’s family has for generations been among the Mormon Church’s most prominent members.

The Romneys sent somewhat less to Washington over that period, paying an estimated $6.2 million in federal income taxes. According to his 2010 return, Romney paid about $3 million to the IRS, for an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent.

There are a lot of middle class families out there making $80-100k a year who are paying a higher marginal rate than Romney.  It isn't Romney's fault that our tax rate on long-term capital gains is lower than it's ever been in modern history.  But it isn't going to make his political situation any easier.

People dislike Gingrich. And Romney. But differently.

So concludes Charles Pierce, in a dead-on post over at Esquire.

GREENVILLE, S.C. — There's one basic thing about the electability argument. At its essence, electability is not about who is better suited, better financed, and better able to beat somebody else. Electability is about whether or not you will vote for me. Electability is about whether you and you and you will vote for me. Electability is about whether All Of You — or, at least, Most Of You — will vote for me. This sounds very simple, but it is a lesson that Willard Romney quite obviously never has learned. It is even possible that he doesn't realize it even now that he has been beaten like a drum by Newt Gingrich in every part of this state...

Romney has a problem: People don't like him. Not only that, but the more people see him, the more they dislike him. The panel on MSNBC was particularly keen on pointing out, as the results came in, that Newt Gingrich's unfavorability ratings in this country at large are whopping, and indeed they are. But Willard's unlikability is of a different sort. It is chronic and general. Gingrich, at least, for the several moments when he goes into highest dudgeon and starts raving about "elites" and Saul Alinsky, can give you a few seconds of pure entertainment for which you might briefly wish to thank him. (emphasis added)

And this is the GOP's problem.  Gingrich's unfavorable numbers are abhorrent.  Obama's plus-minus number, favorable minus unfavorable, is effectively neutral.  He's polled anywhere from +5 to -3 as of late.  Romney has polled between +7 and -18.  And Gingrich?  -29 to -34.  America might be indifferent about Obama and cool to Romney, but America hates Newt, and that's not going to change in nine months.

However, as Pierce goes on to say later, "If he is to be nominated — and I still think he probably will be — Willard Romney will be nominated by a party that would move en masse to the other end of a subway car rather than listen to him talk any more."

So there you go. America hates Newt Gingrich but finds him somewhat entertaining, and so will suffer him on a grand stage where he will provide us with many interesting stories.  But Romney, increasingly, is just that insufferable rich douchebag that everyone just wishes would go away.

Anyone want to get Mitch Daniels on the phone and start begging for a brokered convention?

It's working? - American Family Insurance

AmFam looks to "trim payroll."

Madison-based American Family Insurance says it will continue to reduce its employee count companywide this year. It has reduced employment by more than 700 positions over the last four years, primarily through attrition, the company said in a statement Friday.

(It's Working? is a counter to our friends at the MacIver Institute who believe that Scott Walker's proposals are succeeding by simply telling themselves over and over again that the numbers are lying and that, in fact, It's Working!)

It's working? - BMO Harris Bank

200 more jobs!

BMO Harris Bank announced today it is eliminating 350 jobs over the next three months, including about 157 in the greater Milwaukee area.

In total, about 200 Wisconsin employees of the company will lose their jobs.

(It's Working? is a counter to our friends at the MacIver Institute who believe that Scott Walker's proposals are succeeding by simply telling themselves over and over again that the numbers are lying and that, in fact, It's Working!)

Solidarity Singalong, the CD?

Put this on the list of things I will not be buying.

Wisconsin's Solidarity Singalong - it's not just for the state Capitol anymore.

Singalong leader Chris Reeder said the singalong crowd, which has been gathering each week since March to sing protest songs weekdays in the rotunda or on the State Street steps outside the Capitol, is branching out with a CD recording of its songs.

One recording session was held earlier this week with nine musicians and nine singers, Reeder said, and another bigger session is planned for Saturday, Jan. 28, at the James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Church in Madison.

It's Working? - Mayville Products Corp.

130 new jobs lost!  A triple win for Governor Walker and the both the Brothers Fitz, in whose districts Mayville Products resides.

Mayville Products Corp. plans to close its factory in Mayville in Dodge County, leaving 130 workers without jobs.

The layoffs are expected to occur between March 19 and March 30, according to a plant closing notice filed Thursday with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

The sheet metal fabricating plant, 403 Degner Ave., is expected to permanently close on March 30.

(It's Working? will be a new feature here on the blog to counter our friends at the MacIver Institute who believe that Scott Walker's proposals are succeeding by simply telling themselves over and over again that the numbers are lying and that, in fact, It's Working!)

Peggy Noonan is right. For once.

Such an apropos description of the GOP primary:

If you are a Republican who hates a mess, or if you are a member of that real but elusive and hydra-headed thing, the GOP establishment, you are beside yourself with anxiety and unhappiness. You think: "They're losing this thing! They're going to limp out of South Carolina, they'll limp through Florida, they're killing each other and killing the party's chances. How will they look by the fall? What are independents going to think of the guy we finally put up? We all know politics ain't beanbag, but it's not supposed to be a clown-car Indy 500 with cars hitting the wall and guys in wigs littering the track!"

There's been a lot of damage. We lose sense of it in the day to day, but in the aggregate it's going to prove considerable.

At this point, the GOP has a comfortable but milquetoast candidate in Mitt Romney and a narcissistic loose cannon in Newt Gingrich.

Romney can win, but may not.

Newt can't win, and will not.

And yet, just as with Sharron Angle or Christine O'Donnell, people on the far-right of the party can't see the forest through the trees.  They'd rather lose with a reckless, self-absorbed faux ideologue than win with a more pragmatic choice.

To borrow from The Wall Street Journal, it's time for the Tea Party hobbits to return to Middle Earth.

Newson: Job creation = listing jobs on websites

From the WSJ:

Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, who also faces a recall, emphasized that the unemployment rate was down and job creation is up since Walker was elected and the GOP took control of the state Legislature.

"We're going to continue fighting for jobs this coming year," he said.State Department of Workforce Development Secretary Reggie Newson said in a statement that challenges remain but it is encouraging that more people are working than a year ago and there are more than 151,000 job openings posted on DWD's website. Higher state sales and withholding tax collections also point toward more economic growth for the state, Newson said.

Two thoughts.

First, how many of those 151,000 jobs are postings for secretaries and executive assistants at DWD?

Second, how exactly does Senator Fitzgerald believe that job creation is up in Wisconsin if the actual number of people working is going down?  Is it job creation if you simply say you want to hire someone?  If that's the case, I'll tell my mom to put an ad on Craigslist for 100,000 people to run errands and, between that and the DWD website, Walker will have hit his goal of 250,000 jobs.  Or is job creation the GOP's version of the Big Lie?  Can you just say you're creating jobs and then accuse the data of lying?

Wisconsin loses still more jobs.

This Walker guy is finding his job-creating mojo.

The unemployment rate in Wisconsin fell to 7.1 percent in December, down from 7.3 percent in November, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the state Department of Workforce Development.

However, the state lost 1,700 jobs during December, on a seasonally adjusted basis. The state has now lost jobs for six consecutive months. The state lost 35,600 jobs during the last six months of 2011.
The 1,700 job loss for the state in December was a significant improvement from the 13,600 job loss in November.

The state’s job market is in better shape than it was a year ago. In December of 2010 the state had a 7.5 percent unemployment rate. The state gained 3,200 jobs during all of 2011, but all of the job gains were posted in the first half of the year.

So let's see.  Net job gain of 3,200, but all of the gains were posted in the first half of the year, before Walker's policies were even in place.  Six consecutive months of job losses while the unemployment rate goes down, which means people are getting discouraged and giving up their job searches. 

If Walker's motto from 2010 was "Believe in Wisconsin again," he must have been referring to the belief in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny or, like Walker's 250,000 new jobs, something that doesn't  exist in a material sense.

Good luck running from these numbers, Governor Walker.

You take the good, you take the bad...

... you take 'em both and then you have the life of Newt.

The good.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Texas Gov. Rick Perry ended his campaign for president Thursday morning and endorsed Newt Gingrich.

“I believe Newt is a conservative visionary who can transform this country,” Perry said.

The bad.

Marianne Gingrich says her ex-husband Newt Gingrich wanted an “open marriage” in bombshell interviews out Thursday.

“I said to him, ‘Newt, we’ve been married a long time’ and he said, ‘Yes, but you want me all to yourself. Callista doesn’t care what I do,’” she told ABC’s “Nightline,” referring to a staffer with whom her husband was having an affair.

“He was asking to have an open marriage and I refused,” she added.

So one the one hand, Perry drops out, which reduces competition in the anyone-but-Romney camp.  On the other hand, a big story that reinforces every skeezy suspicion everyone has about Newt's character - or lack thereof.

Obama to "reject" Keystone XL pipeline

Have your cake and eat it too.

The State Department on Wednesday will reject the Keystone XL pipeline, multiple sources following the project told POLITICO.

The formal announcement is expected at 3 p.m. from Deputy Secretary of State William Burns. Although the permit would be rejected, TransCanada would still be allowed to continue to work on and pitch an alternative route through Nebraska.

Not a surprising choice.  TransCanada has already agreed to reroute the pipeline and plans to submit a new proposal in a few weeks.  This announcement is nothing more than a bit of political theater to appease environmentalists who were concerned about the pipeline's original proposed path through Nebraska's Ogallala Aquifer.

Kathy Falk to run for Governor

Jump on in, the water's warm.

In one year, Scott Walker has torn apart our state: months of job losses,the biggest cuts to education in Wisconsin's history, painful cuts to health care. We face serious challenges that we must solve together but Scott Walker has instead chosen to drive people apart.

Thanks to the inspiring grassroots movement that has bloomed in Wisconsin, we have shown we can stand up to Scott Walker's extreme agenda when we do it together. Now, it is time to show how we can govern, together.

My choices as your governor will be different than Scott Walker's. I know Wisconsin is a place where we can have good paying jobs, a clean environment, successful schools and affordable health care. We can have workers and management talking and working together to solve tough problems.

I know we can, because I've done it as a chief executive, and when I'm governor, we will do it again.

I'm a big fan of Kathy Falk.  Problem is, she's never figured out how to leverage what should be her obvious appeal as an articulate woman with a fiscally responsible record and convert it into a win on a statewide level.  She even lost in 2006, a year when a Boston Store clerk with a D next to her name managed to get elected to statewide office. 

That's no small obstacle.  You can be the greatest candidate in the world on paper, but if you can't execute the campaign and get the votes, it's not worth much in the end.

1 zillion signatures turned in for Walker recall

Or something like that.

Madison - Democrats and organizers filed petitions Tuesday afternoon with more than a million signatures as they sought to force a recall election against Gov. Scott Walker - a massive number that seems to cement a historic recall election against him for later this year.

It would mark the first such gubernatorial recall in state history and would be only the third gubernatorial recall election in U.S. history. Organizers Tuesday also handed in 845,000 signatures against Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch as well as petitions against four GOP state senators including Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau.

Personally, I fall between the "signatures are commitments" crowd and the "people will sign anything" crowd.  Like yard signs, signatures don't vote.  But people with yard signs for Candidate A almost never vote for Candidate B.  The number of signatures gathered can also be a sign of intensity of support.  Conservatives aside, I certainly think it's fair to assume that Democrats will be more motivated for a Walker recall than they were in 2010 when it was obvious that they were going to get tarred months ahead of the election.

Considering the near impossibility of the Walker campaign getting 450,000+ signatures voided, I suppose the next question is how long Walker will spend trying to delay the coming election through legal means.  It might be a better strategy for Walker to decline to challenge and just say "bring it."