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Thomas Friedman is a joke.

Any intelligent person figured this out years ago, but please enjoy this interview of author Belén Fernández regarding her new book about how Thomas Friedman is a joke.  (h/t Blogging Blue)

To my mind, Friedman's the only bigger waste of space in the NYT than Paul Krugman's attempts at social commentary.

Joel Kleefisch's week of fame

I don't even disagree with Joel about the voting, but the best part is his whiny, Nancy Kerrigan-esque "Why me?" whining.

And to top it off, a little Worst Person in the World recognition from the largely irrelevant Keith Olbermann:

A suck-up staffer becomes a worthless member, his wife becomes the most impotent Lieutenant Governor ever (Walker lets her do even less than Tommy let McCallum do), and now when people begin to clue into their taxpayer-fleecing canard, poor Joel plays the victim card.

That his district traded Mickey Foti in for him remains one of the best examples of how the Assembly Republican Caucus has continuously traded down over the last two decades in terms of the quality of its members.

More GOP fearmongering on defense

As I watch the four-ring circus that is tonight's GOP primary, I've been struck by one grossly inaccurate position to which three of the four candidates cling mightily.

Why is it that so many politicians proclaim, without any evidence, that our world is becoming increasingly more dangerous?  If anything, history indicates that our world has become increasingly more safe.

The last decade has seen fewer war deaths than any decade in the last century.

Deaths from terrorism have been nearly constant for over a generation, even as the population of our planet has increased by over 30 percent.

25 years after the end of the Cold War, any nuclear threat that still exists is far smaller and more regional in nature.

World governments devote greater resources to intelligence and counter-terrorism now than ever before.

And yet, to continue feeding the beast that is the Department of Defense, and to pander to hawkish conservatives who aren't happy unless we're fighting someone or blowing up their stuff, Republicans continuously promote this flawed vision of a world that is eternally one step away from Armageddon.

The absurdity of the argument, to any rational thinker, is positively flabbergasting.

Her focus is admirable.

Try again?

I love a judge with a good sense of humor.

In a surprise move Tuesday, a federal three-judge panel told Republican legislative leaders they should consider drawing new election maps taking into account challenges from Democrats and Latinos.

The court gave the Legislature until 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to decide whether it wants to revisit the maps it approved last summer. If it does not, the trial challenging the maps will resume Wednesday. If lawmakers agree to take up the maps anew, the court would give them until mid-March to approve them.

The order, coming just after the trial began Tuesday, sent the 16 attorneys in the courtroom scrambling to consult with their clients and make overtures to lawmakers and GOP Gov. Scott Walker.

Given how badly these maps are drawn, complete with all kinds of technical issues from hastily using census block data, a do-over probably wouldn't be a bad idea if only to clean things up around the edges.

That, however, puts the matter squarely in the hands of Dale Schultz (R - Editorial Boards), or any other GOP senator that doesn't like what they're getting.

Solving redistricting in two easy steps

It's not necessarily about who's drawing the lines, but rather the criteria they have to consider.

A bipartisan pair of state senators has offered legislation to take redistricting out of the hands of state lawmakers and give it to an independent, nonpartisan commission.

Sens. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, and Tim Cullen, D-Janesville, are circulating the bill for co-sponsorship.

The proposal would create a commission appointed by lawmakers to redraw legislative and congressional districts every 10 years. The commission's work would require ratification by voters and would, if passed, first be used for the 2021 redistricting.

The bill would change the state constitution, requiring passage in two straight legislative sessions and approval by voters in a referendum.

Iowa is often touted as a model for redistricting, but much of what makes Iowa's process even-keeled isn't who does the drawing, but these two simple rules set forth in state law:

4.  Districts shall be reasonably compact in form, to the extent consistent with the standards established by subsections 1, 2, and 3. In general, reasonably compact districts are those which are square, rectangular, or hexagonal in shape, and not irregularly shaped, to the extent permitted by natural or political boundaries.  If it is necessary to compare the relative compactness of two or more districts, or of two or more alternative districting plans, the tests prescribed by paragraphs "a" and "b" shall be used.

a.  Length-width compactness.  The compactness of a district is greatest when the length of the district and the width of the district are equal.  The measure of a district's compactness is the absolute value of the difference between the length and the width of the district.  In general, the length-width compactness of a district is calculated by measuring the distance from the northernmost point or portion of the boundary of a district to the southernmost point or portion of the boundary of the same district and the distance from the westernmost point or portion of the boundary of the district to the easternmost point or portion of the boundary of the same district.  The absolute values computed for individual districts under this paragraph may be cumulated for all districts in a plan in order to compare the overall compactness of two or more alternative districting plans for the state, or for a portion of the state.

b.  Perimeter compactness.  The compactness of a district is greatest when the distance needed to traverse the perimeter boundary of a district is as short as possible.  The total perimeter distance computed for individual districts under this paragraph may be cumulated for all districts in a plan in order to compare the overall compactness of two or more alternative districting plans for the state, or for a portion of the state.

In other words, assuming that doing so doesn't violate federal law, districts need to be as close to square as is reasonable.

2011: The year that didn't exist?

In discussing the mining legislation he is precariously close to screwing up, Papa Fitz has a curious sense of time.

When it comes to jobs, Wisconsin has been hurting.

Every corner of the state has its own story. In Sheboygan, Thomas Products left for Louisiana in 2009, taking 300 jobs with it. General Motors closed its Janesville plant in 2008, wiping out 5,000 more and devastating the local economy. The year before that, Tecumseh closed its doors in New Holstein and laid off 320 workers. Even Miller Brewing moved its headquarters to Chicago.

Overall, Wisconsin lost a staggering 150,000 jobs between 2007 and 2010.

Between 2007 and 2010?  What about 2011?  Why aren't we talking about the GOP's resounding success at creating jobs last year?  Or has the year 2011 fallen into the same numeric purgatory occupied by the 13th floor at many hotels?

Illinois bill to make sex with the dead illegal.

Who knew it wasn't?

ALTON • Spurred by cases in which bodies of overdose victims were moved to thwart investigations, Illinois state Rep. Dan Beiser, D-Alton, is sponsoring a bill to make unauthorized movement of a corpse a felony.

It also would criminalize something that even Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn thought was already illegal — having sex with the dead.

Beiser said he introduced the legislation at the request of Madison County State's Attorney Tom Gibbons and other law enforcement officials. Gibbons called the relocation of overdose victims an "impediment to investigation" in several cases.

Prohibiting sex with a dead body corrects an obvious omission in the law, Beiser said.

I worry, however, that further restricting the movement of corpses might make it harder for Illinois politicians to get them into the voting booth.

It's Working? - Cardinal Glass Industries

But these don't count since they're green jobs, and Wisconsin doesn't want those.  Wisconsin's future is digging rocks out of the ground!

MAZOMANIE - Cardinal Glass Industries reports it will lay off 53 workers at its Mazomanie plant effective tomorrow.

Cardinal Solar Technologies notified the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development with a filing last week. The plant makes tempered glass used in solar panels. It opened in 2009 to take glass made at the company’s factory in Portage and grind, drill and use heat to strengthen the glass.

(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!)

How much do I not like Mitt Romney?

This much.

Elections have consequences.

The return of the one-man majority.

(AP)  MADISON, Wis. — Republicans in the Wisconsin Senate abruptly split Wednesday over competing legislation that would clear the way for a giant iron mine in Wisconsin's north woods, jeopardizing the chances of anything passing before the legislative session ends next month.

Assembly Republicans and a special Senate mining committee have both offered bills that would reform the state's mining permit process to help Florida-based Gogebic Taconite dig an open-pit mine in the Penokee Hills just south of Lake Superior.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald hand-picked the mining committee, but he caught members by surprise Wednesday when he threw his support behind the Assembly bill...

The Assembly bill, though, doesn't appear to have enough support among Senate Republicans to pass. With just a 17-16 majority, everyone in the GOP caucus would have to back it to pass. One of them, Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, told The Associated Press Wednesday he would not vote for it.

How fun to once again watch the majority party screw around all session, then try to desperately ram their big ticket items through at the end of session.  Some people never learn.

Economic "development", Wisconsin style

Yuck.

City, county and business officials cooperated on a strong effort, including over $100 million in public financing assistance, to try to draw Kohl's Corp.'s headquarters to downtown Milwaukee's Park East strip, Mayor Tom Barrett said Wednesday morning.

"I couldn't be prouder of the effort we made," Barrett said...

The Menomonee Falls Village Board in August approved plans to spend up to $41 million in village funds to help finance new development, including a possible Kohl's headquarters, at Woodland Prime Business Park. It is located north of Good Hope Road between Appleton Ave. and Highway 45, about five miles northeast of the current Kohl's complex.

If you want another look at why the economic development climate in Wisconsin is so rotten, see how aggressively local governments are willing to spend your money in at attempt not to bring in new businesses from out of state, but rather retain the businesses they already have.  Or in Milwaukee's case, steal a business from a neighboring community.

The template for corporations is plain as day.  Threaten to leave, even if you don't really want to, and see how many millions local governments will throw at you.  Then decide to stay.

Just another reason we need to start making these decisions (and sharing the burdens and benefits) on a broader, more regional basis.  Having communities in Waukesha and Milwaukee counties doing battle with each other is a waste of economic effort that brings little net benefit to the region or to the state.

Democracy, Norquist style

Points for honesty.

The most quoted speech at CPAC this year was Mitt Romney's, but my vote for the most significant goes to Grover Norquist's. In his charmingly blunt way, Norquist articulated out loud a case for Mitt Romney that you hear only whispered by other major conservative leaders.

They have reconciled themselves to a Romney candidacy because they see Romney as essentially a weak and passive president who will concede leadership to congressional conservatives:

All we have to do is replace Obama. ...  We are not auditioning for fearless leader. We don't need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. ... We just need a president to sign this stuff. We don't need someone to think it up or design it. The leadership now for the modern conservative movement for the next 20 years will be coming out of the House and the Senate.

The requirement for president?

Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared.

If you're playing at home, Grover Norquist would like to defeat a guy with a 49 percent approval rating so that a guy with a 39 percent approval rating can serve as a rubber stamp to a bunch of GOP congressmen with a 19 percent approval rating.

It's NOT working.

An anonymous reader left me a question that I think is fair: what about Walker's policies, wither things he did or did not do, that you specifically disagree with?

To be clear, I'm not the one who told Scott Walker it would be a brilliant idea to promise a defined number of jobs during his first term.  That person should be fired.  And Walker should have his head checked for promising voters something he could never realistically deliver.  By his most important measure in the campaign, Walker's first term in office - if he even completes it - will be an abject failure.

But beyond the job numbers, let's take what the Philadelphia Fed had to say about Wisconsin's economy earlier this month.  For those of you who don't know, the Philly Fed releases leading indices, which are six-month economic forecasts for the 50 states.  Wisconsin is one of only four states on the mainland 48 projected for economic contraction in the next six months.  The others are Wyoming, Louisiana, and Rhode Island.

Here's a graph of the leading index measures for Wisconsin for the last three years.  We see steady improvement into early 2010, a plateau, and then a precipitous decline immediately after Walker's inauguration, with further worsening predicted.

The Philly Fed also releases a measure called a coincident index - a numeric measure of nonfarm payroll employment, average hours worked in manufacturing, the unemployment rate, and wage and salary disbursements.  Here, Wisconsin is one of only four mainland states whose score is still dropping - the others being Wyoming, Minnesota and Rhode Island.

Using the coincident index, one also notices an interesting phenomenon.  Scott Walker is the opposite of Barack Obama.  Obama inherited an economy that was tanking, and after about two or three quarters, things turned around and have been improving ever since.

By this measure, Walker inherited a state economy that was on the uptick from late 2009 through mid-year 2011, when suddenly things began turning south once again.

Is the argument going to be that things would've been worse under Tom Barrett?  Conservatives have refused to accept that argument when Obama makes it, so surely it can be no more acceptable in this context without exposing an inherent hypocrisy in their ability to process information.

So as it goes, Wisconsin is one of the worst economic performers in the country right now, and using two major measures of economic performance, things have gotten measurably worse subsequent to Scott Walker's election.

Coincidence?  Maybe.  Correlation?  Maybe.  Different from what Scott Walker promised?  Absolutely.

In my mind, the failure is simple.  When an economy is weak, don't take spending out of it and don't severely diminish the spending capacity of many of its participants.

Walker's proposals are failing for the same reason that Obama's Making Work Pay tax credit bombed.  The theory behind Making Work Pay was that people would be more inclined to spend their additional money if they got it a little bit at a time instead of in one lump sum.  But what behavioral economists found is that if the money received on an incremental basis is relatively insignificant, it doesn't get spent at all.

So while some conservatives are wildly rejoicing at a  $20 or $30 savings on their property tax bills courtesy of Governor Walker, the reality is that their $20-30 came at the expense of many public employees losing their jobs, or the tens of thousands of public employees who are now taking home thousands of dollars less each year as the result of higher health insurance and pension costs.

In other words, less economic activity is generated in Wisconsin by 200 people with 20 extra dollars than is generated by one person in Wisconsin with 4,000 extra dollars.  Not really rocket science, but we should note that the Obama administration got this one wrong as well.

Furthermore, you can throw all the tax cuts you want at producers, but if there's no demand, they're not going to take advantage of them.  The problem is with consumption, not production.

I'm firmly for balancing budgets, paying for what you buy, running surpluses in good economic times, and spending those surpluses in recessions.    But if government hasn't been responsible in that regard, cutting spending in a recession is the wrong way to start.

It's Working? - Frontier Airlines

Everyone saw this one coming after Frontier announced reductions in service at Mitchell.

Frontier Airlines will cut nearly 500 Milwaukee employees - nearly half of them flight crew members based at Mitchell International Airport - as a result of a major service reduction here.

Those job cuts will occur in April, according to information Frontier filed Monday with the state Department of Workforce Development under the state's layoff notice law.

Frontier said 446 employees will be affected by the cuts, to occur between April 15 and April 30. About 230 employees are flight crew members who will be reassigned to bases outside Milwaukee, the company said in its filing.

Severance will be paid in stale chocolate chip cookies.

(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? - Thermo Fisher

Damn Lithuanians.

MILWAUKEE -- Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. said it is cutting nearly half of its workforce in Milwaukee.

The company said Thursday it is eliminating about 43 of 100 jobs at its Milwaukee location.

Thermo Fisher makes laboratory reagents and performs product development in Milwaukee. A company spokesman said the work is being transferred to other Thermo Fisher locations, including a plant in Lithuania. The company said the affected Milwaukee jobs will be gone by August.

(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!)

Overheard in the Capitol

"We have to stop hiring at the Argus." - Eric Schutt, Chief of Staff to Governor Scott Walker

RIP Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston was one of the greatest voices of her generation.  Here's hoping that in death, she found the peace that seemed to escape her here on Earth.

25 years ago...

 

It's Working? - Milwaukee's Brown Deer Road

More like Dead Deer Road...

This is what one of Milwaukee's major shopping areas looks like when the nearby regional mall disappears: big empty stores, buildings with marginal tenants, and the world's largest retailer fleeing the neighborhood.

The Brown Deer Road retail strip, which runs from roughly N. 60th St. to N. 91st St./N. Swan Road, lost its biggest draw in 2003, when Northridge Mall closed after years of declining sales. There was some hope that the street would improve when new retailers later opened, including a Pick 'n Save supermarket and Menards home improvement store, which replaced part of Northridge that was demolished.

But the recession and lackluster recovery have added to Brown Deer Road's problems.

In October, a 139,600-square-foot Lowe's home improvement store at 6300 W. Brown Deer Road, in Brown Deer, closed as part of that chain's shuttering of 20 poorly performing stores.

In January, a 26,300-square-foot Stein Gardens & Gifts, 8801 W. Brown Deer Road, shut down, with the company citing unspecified challenges from operating stores in Milwaukee, Germantown and Mequon that are relatively close to one another.

Now, Walmart confirms it will close its 140,000-square-foot store, south of Brown Deer Road and west of N. 76th St., by this fall.

"With Walmart moving out, and Lowe's moving out, it's a complete disaster," said real estate investor John Josephitis, who operates two nearby strip shopping centers. "Who's next?"

(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!)

Good riddance, Newt.

This...

While billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson may have rescued Newt Gingrich’s campaign in its early days, today, he may have just buried it.

Bloomberg News reports that Adelson, who has donated $11 million to Gingrich’s Super PAC, does not plan to send any more money Gingrich’s way. Bloomberg is citing an anonymous source “familiar with their deliberations,” though an Adelson spokesman declined to comment.

The move seems to be weeks in the making. After poor showings by Gingrich in the last several races and the re-resurgence of Rick Santorum, the former House speaker has once again been pushed to the back of the Republican field. And Adelson may be shifting his focus. According to CNN, Adelson met with Mitt Romney in Nevada last week and “assured Romney that he will be behind him 100 percent should he become the nominee.”

Plus this...

Newt Gingrich offered something for everyone as he struggled to revive his floundering presidential campaign at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday.

But for Gingrich, it may have been too little, too late.

The former House Speaker hit every strong note he could, railing against President Obama and Democrats on the economy, foreign policy, entitlements, energy, taxes and religion.

The audience offered Gingrich polite applause and even a standing ovation or two, but his address had none of the rabid energy enjoyed by Rick Santorum earlier in the day.

Even Mitt Romney, in a perennial struggle to appease conservatives, had lines of activists snaking around a Washington hotel hoping to get into his speech. For Gingrich, the room barely filled at this convention of Republican Party faithful.

...equals the end of the line for Newt.  That is, unless he thinks one can fuel a campaign with the insanity of people on conservative message boards.  In a week or two they will have gone nearly full circle, from Bachmann to Perry to Cain to Gingrich and finally to Santorum.

Hard to convince people your cause is principled when you've whored out your support to virtually every candidate that set foot in the contest.

Those nuns sure are strong!

Once again, they throw the bishops under the bus.

WASHINGTON — President Obama, seeking to dampen a runaway political furor over birth control and religious liberty, unveiled a plan on Friday that is meant to calm the right’s ire about a new administration rule that would require health insurance plans — including those offered by Roman Catholic hospitals, universities and charities — to provide free birth control to female employees.

Casting himself as both “a citizen and a Christian” trying to balance individual liberty versus public health, Mr. Obama announced what administration officials called an “accommodation” that they said sought to demonstrate respect for religious beliefs. It will be similar to the path taken in several other states — particularly Hawaii — that have similar rules, but would require that insurance companies, and not religious institutions, offer contraceptive coverage at no cost...

The administration’s move won an important endorsement from Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, whose support the White House sees as essential to show that the policy is backed by some religious organizations. In fact, Sister Carol’s endorsement was so important that Mr. Obama called her Friday morning — along with Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York and Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood — to inform her of the compromise.

“The Catholic Health Association is very pleased with the White House announcement that a resolution has been reached that protects the religious liberty and conscience rights of Catholic institutions,” Sister Carol said in a statement. “The framework developed has responded to the issues we identified that needed to be fixed.”

The nuns aren't with you.  Your congregations aren't with you.  To the guys in the fun costumes I say: you and what army?  Free Republic?  John Boehner?  Misogynists?

More from the Office of Tone Deaf Policy

*Facepalm*

Wisconsin will use a chunk of its $140 million share of a national settlement over foreclosure and mortgage-servicing abuses to help the state budget rather than assist troubled homeowners, Gov. Scott Walker and state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said Thursday.

Walker and Van Hollen said the majority of the settlement amount earmarked to Wisconsin under a $25 billion proposed nationwide agreement announced Thursday still would go to aid consumers in Milwaukee and other communities struggling with the specter of home foreclosure.

But of a $31.6 million payment coming directly to the state government, most of that money - $25.6 million - will go to help close a budget shortfall revealed in newly released state projections. Van Hollen, whose office said he has the legal authority over the money, made the decision in consultation with Walker.

"Just like communities and individuals have been affected, the foreclosure crisis has had an effect on the state of Wisconsin, in terms of unemployment. . . . This will offset that damage done to the state of Wisconsin," Walker said.

It's the tobacco securitization all over again.  "Oooh, the AG has one-time money?  GIMME!"

First-time unemployment claims sink to early-recession levels

More good news for GOP presidential candidates to spin negatively.

Reporting from Washington— In another sign that the job market is gaining momentum, the number of workers filing for unemployment benefits fell further last week — down to levels last seen in the early months of the recession.

The Labor Department said Thursday that first-time jobless claims dropped by 15,000 to 358,000 last week, although week-to-week changes can be volatile.

Initial jobless claims averaged 418,000 in the same four-week period last year. The decline reflects the slowdown in layoffs at companies as the economy has improved and employers have shown a greater willingness to hold on to their existing workers.

Earlier this week, the Labor Department reported an increase in job openings. And last Friday, in the single most important monthly gauge of the economy, the government said employers across a broad spectrum of industries added a net total of 243,000 jobs in January, the most in nine months.

They'll never learn, will they?

I remember when we used to house staffers outside the building to work on projects.  It didn't end so well.

Madison - Two taxpayer-paid legislative aides who were responsible for drawing new election maps continue to work out of a law firm instead of the Capitol, even though lawmakers approved the maps six months ago.

Tad Ottman and Adam Foltz were responsible for drawing new district lines last year, and they did that work out of the Madison office of Michael Best & Friedrich, across the street from the Capitol. Those maps were approved in August, but they continue to work from there.

Foltz makes $50,000 a year and works from the law office most of the time. Ottman makes $79,236 a year; he declined to say how often he works at the law office. Taxpayers are paying their wages no matter which office they work from...

Ottman said Thursday he was working part of the time in Michael Best's offices because legislators continue to have questions about the new maps and that is the only place where they can be printed. He declined to say how often he worked there.

"I don't keep track of how much of the time I'm in the (law) office," Ottman said.

Ottman's boss, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), gave a different reason for Ottman working from Michael Best's offices, saying it was necessary because of the litigation. Fitzgerald said Ottman also has duties unrelated to the maps that he performs.

Some time after the maps were approved in August, Foltz returned to the Capitol for about a month, said John Jagler, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon). Foltz now works at the law office most of the time, Jagler said.

Like the legislators, Foltz and Ottman signed confidentiality agreements, which became public on Thursday. The two signed the agreements in July 2010, six months before Republicans took over the Legislature.

It said any documents they produced had to be marked as confidential and could not be shared with others. Since then, however, the panel of federal judges has ordered what they produced to be turned over to the Democrats suing them.

Their agreements say they were working at the direction of Michael Best attorneys. But Scott Fitzgerald contended Ottman answered to him.

"He does what I tell him to do and when to do it," he said.

Continue to work?  The bill passed six months ago!

Some questions:

- Have the Brothers Fitz so crammed their offices with overpaid "talent" that they have to outsource workers across the street?  Are we short on office space in the Capitol?  Have they considered having someone work out of the Speaker's closet?  Wouldn't be the first time.

- Isn't turning over direction of your employees to outsiders a little fishy?  Although Fitz the Greater's condescending answer to that question is pretty awesome.  Guess we should start calling him Massa' Fitz and referring to his office as the plantation.  "He does what I tell him to do and when to do it."  Nice.

- Is this not the finest example of out-of-their-league political hackery in a decade?  Stamping something confidential makes it confidential.  Signing a sham document with a lawyer that asserts  attorney-client privilege, and then arguing that the equivalent of drafting notes and documents can be kept confidential after a bill is introduced and passed.

Functionally, this is no different than Scott Walker's county staff setting up a separate internet network in the County Executive's office to shield their work from the Open Records Law.  It smells to high heaven and will get GOP legislators further crucified in the court of public opinion.

Compare and contrast.

Compare...

Over most of the past decade, budget deliberations in Michigan have taken on a glum and familiar monotony: What do we cut now?

But the state that experienced an economic downturn earlier, deeper and longer than most of the rest of the country has made an unlikely discovery as its officials closed out its latest financial books: Michigan has a $457 million surplus.

Even more surprising: Revenues, which had sunk or had been mostly flat for all but one year since 2000, have grown. Not a lot, but grown.

And contrast...

The cost of new legislation, a massive reduction in tax revenues and a series of outstanding debts has (Wisconsin) facing a potential $143.2 million shortfall in 2013, according to numbers released Thursday by the state's Legislative Fiscal Bureau.

According to the annual analysis of the state's finances, decreases in employment, consumption and expected revenues from home sales led to a thinner-than-expected year for Wisconsin, costing state coffers more than $272.8 million.

That money, along with losses in other areas, has left the state budget more than $208 million short of the constitutionally mandated $65 million balance lawmakers are required to maintain. This could mean the state faces another budget repair bill.

Nine straight quarters of economic growth, the national job outlook is improving, the Dow is at 4-year highs, the NASDAQ is at 11-year highs, and Wisconsin's economy keeps getting worse.  Betting on Wisconsin's recovery is like trying to catch a falling knife.

Why are Wisconsin politicians so stupid?

To the litany of terrible strategic decisions by the GOP as of late, add this doozy by Wisconsin's tone-deaf union leadership.

Union leaders are asking Democratic candidates for governor to veto the next state budget if it doesn't restore collective bargaining for public workers, and one leading candidate - Kathleen Falk - has agreed.

Such a veto could lead to gridlock with the Legislature, particularly if Republicans continue to control one or both houses, and to possible layoffs of state workers, officials warned. Nonetheless, the move is a key strategy that union leaders are considering for undoing Gov. Scott Walker's repeal last year of most collective bargaining for public employees.

Falk, the former Dane County executive, has committed to restoring collective bargaining in the next state budget and vetoing the budget if those provisions come out. Four other Democrats, including Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, said they wouldn't commit to any one strategy to accomplish that.

Falk, who received the state teachers union endorsement Wednesday at an event in the Madison suburb of Monona, said Walker used a budget-repair bill to pass the repeal of most union bargaining so it was appropriate to use a budget bill to undo it.

"I have said that I will veto a budget bill if it does not have collective bargaining," Falk said. "The way you undo (Walker's) damage is the same vehicle by which he did the damage."

Everyone knows the unions will have a role in this recall, but trying to corner candidates with pledges only serves to highlight the tactics that so many moderate and independent voters find objectionable.

Scott Walker is eminently beatable, but not if the unions are so arrogant as to turn the race into yet another narcissistic referendum on collective bargaining.  If they'll recall from last year, those races didn't turn out so well.  Justice Prosser was re-elected.  Alberta Darling, Rob Cowles, Sheila Harsdorf, and Luther Olsen all won their recall elections, in some instances winning by even larger margins than in 2008.  Jessica King could barely beat World's Worst State Senate Candidate® Randy Hopper.  Walker has a number of weaknesses, but the unions boisterously reminding everyone of the things that often make them so unpopular isn't going to help their cause.

And to Kathy Falk, the lapdog-like eagerness with which you are willing to please Mary Bell and Marty Beil is precisely the kind of stupidity that has plagued your other statewide candidacies.  Maybe throw a couple of people into your inner circle who aren't total yes men for the progressive agenda?

More proof that, no matter who wins elections in Wisconsin these days, residents are almost certain to be governed by idiots.

Obama's birth control mandate is shrewd political calculus

While there is much gnashing of teeth occurring among the leadership of Catholic institutions regarding the pending implementation of the PPACA birth control mandate, one must stop to admire the shrewd handiwork of the Obama administration in their rollout and implementation of this policy.

Let us count three of the ways...

1. The polity of the Catholic church is so completely divorced from its membership on the issue of birth control that provoking its leadership merely serves to highlight the church's internal dysfunction on matters of reproductive health.  It's not every day you can play the right side of a 60/40 issue that also, according to polls, makes Catholic voters less likely to support GOP candidates who are defending the position of the Catholic church.  There's a reason you don't see a lot of Catholic families with seven or eight or nine kids anymore, and it sure as heck isn't because of natural family planning.  Most Catholic women liberated themselves of the church's position on birth control years ago.

2. By going big, Obama gives himself the ability to backpedal into a position where Catholic employers are offered the ability to avoid paying for contraceptive services by using a contraceptive rider on insurance policies that employees can self-fund or have subsidized in other ways.  It'll be the insurance equivalent of the funding shuffle the federal government goes through with abortion.

3. Obama has handed the four remaining GOP presidential candidates an opportunity to further bludgeon themselves with another red meat issue that encourages pandering to the far right.  Already, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are in a contest to see who can whack Mitt Romney the hardest over his enforcement of a law requiring emergency contraception (EC) be provided to rape victims.  Of course, the EC for rape victims law is overwhelmingly supported by independent and moderate voters and 80% of women, which is the cherry on top of the sundae.

Hot mess.

Is there even a frontrunner in this primary anymore?

Reporting from Washington --— Rick Santorum won the Colorado GOP presidential preference straw poll, according to the Colorado Republican Party.

The victory means a trifecta tonight for the former Pennsylvania senator, who also won in Minnesota and Missouri.

It is a significant defeat for front-runner Mitt Romney, who took 60% of the vote in the Colorado’s 2008 nominating contest. John McCain, the eventual nominee, won just 18%.

The results were announced late Tuesday on CNN by Colorado Republican Party Chairman Ryan Call. Santorum was expected to finish with about 40% of the vote.

Mitt Romney's looking less convincing than ever.  Hillary may have gone until June with Obama, but at least the Democrats were motivated and able to unify behind Obama.  Can anyone realistically see the GOP unifying behind any of its four options?  Is it possible that Rick Santorum would be the best possibility for the GOP in that regard?

Prop 8 ruling: Pretty brilliant.

Craft a ruling on a controversial issue so conservatively that the Supreme Court has a clear path to punt on it entirely.

(02-07) 12:34 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court declared California's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional today, saying a state can't revoke gay rights solely because a majority of its voters disapprove of homosexuality.

In a 2-1 ruling, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Proposition 8's limitations on access to marriage took rights away from a vulnerable minority without benefiting parents, children or the marital institution.

"Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples," said Judge Stephen Reinhardt in the majority opinion.

If there's one thing the Supreme Court loves to do, it's not involve itself in controversy.

Opponents of gay marriage are undeniably on the losing side of this issue. The biggest driving factor on this issue is age. Many older people have always opposed it, and most younger people have always supported it.  Those opinions don't change as people get older. They're merely artifacts of the generation in which people were raised.

As Justice Kennedy said in Board of Trustees v. Garrett:

Prejudice, we are beginning to understand, rises not from malice or hostile animus alone. It may result as well from insensitivity caused by simple want of careful, rational reflection or from some instinctive mechanism to guard against people who appear to be different in some respects from ourselves.

Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.

Many things are stupid about this arrangement.

Madison - Legislative leaders secretly developed new election maps last year to strengthen their majority, Republican lawmakers were told to ignore public comments and instead focus on what was said in private strategy sessions, according to a GOP memo that became public Monday.

Other newly released documents also show almost all Republican lawmakers signed legal agreements promising not to discuss the new maps while they were being developed...

Republicans had the maps drafted in Michael Best's Madison offices and believed the process they used granted them attorney-client privilege that would keep their communications from being disclosed publicly. But the three-judge panel has rejected that argument and said lawmakers were trying to keep too much under wraps. McLeod and two other attorneys in the case were ordered to pay nearly $17,500 last month after the court found they had filed frivolous motions trying to keep information secret.

Senate President Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) said Monday he had never before been asked to sign a confidentiality agreement during his four decades in office.

He said he visited Michael Best's office to review his map last year but those at the office would not permit his aide to see it. He said the meeting lasted about five minutes.

First, asking legislators to sign extra-legislative legal agreements to not discuss in public what amounts to public business is a disturbing request.  It'd be interesting to know what the consequence would have been for violating the agreement.  It certainly looks terrible, if nothing else.

Second, that Eric McLeod was a signatory to the agreement, and also Justice Michael Gableman's legal counsel, is probably unwise.  One would presume this would require Justice Gableman to recuse himself from any potential discussion of the matter, since it would directly involve his personal attorney.

Finally, while the courts have traditionally granted wide latitude to the Legislature in terms of ignoring the laws that govern the public meetings of other legislative bodies, these meetings as described likely resulted in a rolling quorum.  If you're bringing a majority of the members in to discuss the same business and sign the same legal agreement, the nature of the meetings is substantially similar.  Will that matter to a six-person Supreme Court in which Gableman doesn't participate?  Who knows?

If there's one word we can use to describe the GOP legislative leadership in the first year of their newfound majority, it's sloppy.  That, or arrogant.

Maybe the Mayans were right.

The way social conservatives talk, this might be the end of the world.

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court is ready to announce its ruling on whether California’s same-sex marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday a three-judge panel plans to publish its long-awaited opinion on Tuesday.

Pretty please, with sugar on top?

When your tax policy depends on letters like this, it's time to think about whether you need to do things differently.

Wisconsin taxpayers could find themselves digging through more receipts than usual this tax season as the state Department of Revenue makes another effort to collect taxes on out-of-state purchases.

In a letter, the department is asking taxpayers to look through their records from 2007 to 2010 to find any taxes on out-of-state purchases that may have been overlooked and send in payments by Feb. 17.

"The real mission is to help make sure (taxpayers) understand tax law and to remind taxpayers about their responsibility to pay the use tax," said Jennifer Western, executive assistant at the Department of Revenue.

Western also said the goal of the annual letter is to gain more voluntary compliance when it comes to paying sales and use tax. This latest effort comes simultaneously with a modified state income tax return. The new form notes that taxpayers are required to pay tax in cases where sales taxes were not collected at the time of purchase from an online retailer.

States either need to harmonize their sales tax laws or flip the bricks and mortar businesses the bird once and for all.  Sending out letters asking taxpayers to make payments on shipments the state can't track of taxes the state can't figure out how to collect isn't exactly a shining example of government efficiency.

GOP to get whacked on payroll tax. Again.

More proof that these guys backed into their gains in 2010.  They can't strategize their way out of a paper bag.

Republicans, once again, face a defining choice less than a month before the payroll tax holiday expires.
Should they extend the tax break for workers and blunt President Barack Obama’s campaign plan to tag them as a band of out-of-touch, intransigent do-nothings?
Or should they stiffen their collective spine and end a tax cut that many of them consider fundamentally bad policy?

It’s a dilemma that’s splitting the party and threatening to give leadership another bout of migraines.

I'm sure they'll also do as they did last time, and lose additional points and credibility by trying to glom on a bunch of controversial, unrelated pet projects and half-baked ideas.

I don't think the payroll tax reduction, especially the funding mechanism, is exceptional policy.  Far from it.  But the GOP would be better off politically passing a clean extension to the end of the year and getting it off the table.

Need help with voter fraud?

Ask a Republican who holds statewide office and is in charge of maintaining the integrity of elections.

(Reuters) - An Indiana jury convicted embattled Republican Secretary of State Charlie White in the early hours of Saturday on six out of seven felony charges including perjury, theft and voter fraud.

The jury reached its verdict at 2:28 a.m. after deliberating for about 12 hours. They acquitted White on charges of fraud on a financial institution.

White was indicted last year on seven counts stemming in part from accusations that he lied about his home address while serving on the Fishers Town Council so that he could retain a stipend.

Council members are elected to represent a district and must resign if they leave that area.

When an endorsement isn't an endorsement.

No surprise here.  Getting endorsed by a guy most people dislike doesn't help the cause.  And I doubt a more scientific poll would move the needle much.

Donald Trump's endorsement of Mitt Romney may have consumed the news cycle on Thursday, but Nevada Facebook users see the endorsement as a net negative for Romney, according to a Facebook/POLITICO poll.

Forty-one percent of those surveyed said Trump's endorsement gave them a more negative view of Romney, compared with just 10 percent who said they now view him more positively. Forty-nine percent said the endorsement had no effect.

Appeals Court smacks Judge Mac Davis

Reversed and remanded.  Try again, old GOP friend.

MADISON, Wis. -- A state appeals court has overturned a ruling by a Waukesha County judge that requires the Government Accountability Board to search for fake or duplicate signatures among the recall petitions targeting Gov. Scott Walker and other Republican lawmakers.

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals vacated an order that would require state election officials to be more aggressive in ferreting out fake or duplicate signatures on recall petitions.

The decision released Friday reverses a Waukesha County judge's decision and hands a victory to Democrats who wanted to intervene in a lawsuit related to recall signatures.

Walker, lawyered up, to meet with prosecutors

I bet they're exchanging cupcake recipes.

Madison -- Gov. Scott Walker will be meeting with Milwaukee County prosecutors about the John Doe investigation into his current and former aides.

Walker said in a statement Friday that he has hired two attorneys to represent him as he talks with Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm but he will not use any public money to pay for them.

Komen for the Cash pisses off everyone

Worst PR move since Netflix thought Qwikster was a smart idea.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure is backing off of its decision to cut off grants to Planned Parenthood, announcing in a blog post that the organization will continue to be able to apply for future grants.
“We urge everyone who has participated in this conversation across the country over the last few days to help us move past this issue,” Komen’s founder and CEO, Nancy Brinker, says in the statement. “We do not want our mission marred or affected by politics — anyone’s politics.”

Here's what we've learned this week.

If you're pro-choice, you've learned that Komen will throw its so-called mission under the bus in order to address the principles of its leaders.

If you're pro-life, you've learned that Komen will throw its principles under the bus in order to keep the checks rolling in.

If this is the type of cause that appeals to you, do yourself a favor and find another non-profit that addresses the issue without the BS in which Komen is clearly mired.  Komen would rather sell you a t-shirt than cure breast cancer, since that would be killing the goose that lays their golden eggs.

Nevada to reprise Freaks and Geeks

In the four-ring circus that is the GOP primary, here comes the bearded lady and the combover in the clown car for a couple more meaningless endorsements.

Former Nevada Senate hopeful and tea party favorite Sharron Angle is endorsing Rick Santorum, according to reports from NRO's Robert Costa and Fox News's Greta Van Susteren.

"Rick Santorum and I have known each other for years," Angle told Van Susteren in a statement she read on "On The Record. "He is a strong fiscal and social conservative," she said, who puts "principles above politics."

She added he is a "perfect fit ... (for the) tea party movement."

And...

Word started leaking out in Las Vegas earlier that Donald Trump's "major announcement" is to back Newt Gingrich, and sources are confirming it to POLITICO.

The announcement is expected to come at an 12:30 p.m. press conference tomorrow that The Donald is holding.

Mitt Romney: Inartful dodger

If he wasn't a millionaire a couple hundred times over, maybe the jerkface quotient on this comment wouldn't be so high. As it is, remarks like this one only further the impression that Romney lacks a human touch.

It's Working? - Sub-Zero

Another 100 bite the dust.

Sub-Zero said 100 workers at its Madison plant will lose their jobs by the end of June.

The privately owned company, which makes upscale refrigerators and stoves, sent a letter to state and city officials Tuesday saying it will close operations at 4717 Hammersley Road on June 29.

(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!)

Newt Gingrich campaign paid own company, self

Nothing classier than a millionaire candidate cutting himself reimbursement checks out of his campaign account.

Still, even as the (Gingrich) campaign professionalized, it continued to lean on the network of companies and non-profits Gingrich built after leaving Congress.

For instance, it paid $67,000 for web hosting to Gingrich Productions, which had previously received payments for web development totaling $8,400.

The campaign also paid Gingrich himself $47,000 for a list of supporters, plus another $206,000 for travel.

It’s not unusual for for campaigns to pay rent or buy lists from political committees or non-profits affiliated with the candidate, and it’s fairly common for campaigns to reimburse staffers for travel or other expenses.

But it’s unusual for a presidential candidate personally to be paid significant amounts for travel or lists — both because candidates can contribute an unlimited amount in cash or services to their own campaigns and because campaigns typically foot travel costs directly. And the Gingrich campaign did not immediately respond to questions about the payments.

Who knew that being a bold Reagan conservative meant padding your wallet with your donors' money?