But I thought government didn't create jobs?

It's funny how we always hear from conservatives and their assorted interest groups that government spending doesn't create jobs, until it comes to our bloated defense budget, in which case WHAT ABOUT THE JOBS?

Unless Congress and the White House can agree on a plan to reduce the federal deficit, Wisconsin stands to lose more than 11,000 jobs from military spending cuts scheduled to begin in January.

That's according to a new study by a national manufacturing trade group, which says many of the job reductions could occur at big defense contractors, compounded by losses at hundreds of smaller companies that supply products and services to the defense industry.

In a fragile economy, policy makers should take steps to prevent $500 billion in defense spending cuts that, nationwide, could result in the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs, according to the study from the National Association of Manufacturers and the University of Maryland.

"Congress needs to make the tough decisions on spending to address our debt crisis. But these decisions cannot be made at the expense of our economic and national security," said Jay Timmons, president of the Washington, D.C.-based trade group.

More pro-business action from Wisconsin conservatives?

So much for streamlining regulatory and approval processes for businesses.  I guess that doesn't count when the business produces something conservatives hate, like renewable energy.

Despite state rules that eliminate virtually all local control from the application process, state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) said Thursday he thinks there’s “a fairly good chance” that Town of Sherman officials can stave off development of a wind farm in their community that seems almost universally opposed by residents.

“I think there’s a fairly good chance that they can keep this from moving foward,” Grothman said. “They have to provide an avenue for some windmills, but it doesn’t have to be easy. Ultimately, companies don’t like to set up shop where they don’t feel welcome.”

Grothman suggested, as did many of those who spoke before the Town Board on Tuesday night at the Silver Lake Fire Hall, that town officials impose bonds and fees and stretch out the process as long as possible in hopes the state Legislature may revisit rules that govern wind farm development.

“In January, (when the Legislature reconvenes) we may be able to make it more difficult,” Grothman said.

Yeah, this is exactly the kind of certainty businesses need to be getting from GOP officials.

This is why you can't give Senate Democrats nice things.

They just break them as soon as they get them.

Madison - State Sen. Tim Cullen quit the Senate Democratic caucus Tuesday, saying Senate Democratic leader Mark Miller had snubbed him by refusing to give him a meaningful committee chairmanship.

"It's an insult to my district," Cullen of Janesville said. "I'm going to leave the Senate Democratic caucus. I will be bound by nothing they decide."

Cullen said his relationship with Miller has long been rocky, and that at one point recently, Miller hung up on him when they discussed committee assignments.

Miller declined interview requests but issued a statement saying he was disappointed in Cullen's action.

"Senator Cullen turned down the chairmanship of the Committee on Small Business Development and Tourism," Miller said in his statement. "He told me that if that was the committee offered to him, he would rather chair no committee at all. It was an important committee as small business is the economic engine for Wisconsin."

First of all, Miller's full of garbage. Small business is notoriously one of the worst committee assignments in the Legislature because everything important to small business can (and will be) routed to another committee with overlapping jurisdiction.  Health care?  To Health.  Health insurance?  To Insurance or Health.  Job training?  To workforce development.  Tax policy?  To Finance.  Regulations?  To JCRAR.

Tourism is the better end of that deal because then you get access to their lobbyists.  But given Cullen's district, what does that get him?

Second, could Miller really not keep Cullen happy? As I talked about last week, every Senate committee is like a church potluck of random, unrelated goodies.  How hard is it for Miller to say "you know what, let's work with your interests and see what we can do?"  If Miller couldn't fix this situation it's because he was choosing not to fix it. 

The thing that blows my mind is that during my time in the Legislature, Miller always seemed like a smart and reasonable (albeit progressive) guy. Is he getting browbeaten into making these idiotic decisions by the intractable and obnoxious loudmouths on the fringe of his party? Or is he coming up with this stuff on his own?

Palin family values

From one generation to the next... 

Bristol Palin’s son Tripp is 3 years old. And at an age when most children are mastering bowel control, the correct application of the indoor voice, and the distinction that Cheerios go in the mouth and not up the nose, young Master Palin has also clearly been working on his vocabulary. In a new clip from his eponymously titled Lifetime reality show “Life’s a Tripp,” Tripp pitches a meltdown as only a 3-year-old can, smacking his Aunt Willow, declaring “I hate you” to her and his mother, and capping it off by telling Willow, “Go away, you faggot. I don’t like you.” You what?

It’s a word the Palin family already knows its way around. We noticed it nearly two years ago, when the sisters Palin leapt into a Facebook fight to defend her family’s honor after a mutual friend named Tre critiqued “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” as “failing so hard.” First, Bristol declared Tre a “typical shit talker.” Then, the then-16-year-old Willow had a few choice – and misspelled – words of her own, informing him that “Haha your so gay. I have no idea who you are, But what I’ve seen pictures of, your disgusting … My sister had a kid and is still hot … Tre stfu. Your such a faggot.” See, when you lob the word “faggot” at someone on Facebook, eventually, someone who sleeps on Bob the Builder sheets is going to throw it right back in your face.

Tommy's convenient chronology

On July 20, we get this from Tommy Thompson:

July 20, 2012

Eric Hovde
Mark Neumann

Dear Messrs Neumann and Hovde,

Every single dollar in advertising my campaign has spent to date has been solely about my record and my vision for the country. Only Jeff Fitzgerald and I could say that.

In the last few days I see the attacks flying on television. Yesterday, not only was I falsely attacked by you, Mr. Hovde, in a television ad, but then you personally questioned if I am even intelligent enough to be a U.S. Senator. And after all of that, today you absurdly claim to be responding to me. Clearly you made your new attack ad against me well before any of this happened, and you did not let the truth get in the way of your consultants’ carefully laid schedule to create a wholly made for TV myth.

Gentlemen, this brand of politics is what is wrong with this country. 

On July 21, we get this from Tommy Thompson:

Are we really supposed to believe that what was said on July 20 was said without knowing what would happen on July 21?

Hovde to MJS: Waaaaaaaaah nobody is nice to me!

Hovde: I'm too busy for democracy

This guy can't explain anything without sounding like an arrogant prick.

"I'm a person that's spent 75% of my life in an airplane, flying around the U.S., flying around the globe," Hovde, a community banker and hedge fund manager, told the Journal Sentinel last week. "You know a lot of what I've been up to. I built homeless shelters for street kids in Kigali, Rwanda; Mombasa, Kenya; Winneba, Ghana; Mexico City; Huanuco, Peru."

Records show that Hovde registered to vote in Washington, D.C., in 2004, two years after he built his 7,700-square-foot mansion there. Of the 11 elections held in D.C. since he registered, Hovde voted in just two of them - the 2004 and '08 general presidential campaigns.

In the last presidential contest, Hovde said he voted for Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona. He did not vote in the GOP primary between McCain and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

It's not just his busy schedule that has kept him away from the ballot box. He also pointed to the dearth of conservative Republicans in elections in the nation's capital.

"I'm a conservative in D.C. Do you understand that?" Hovde asked. "When it comes to a vote in Washington, D.C., and you're a conservative and your only choice is a liberal Democrat and a liberal Democrat; it's a little discouraging."

First he was gloating about how his charity work made him better than you.  Now he's using it as an excuse for not voting, like the guy never heard of an absentee ballot.

If Hovde plans on winning next month's primary, he's going to need to improve at responding to negative attention.  His willingness to empty his own bank account in an attempt to reinvent himself has Thompson's attention, Neumann's attention, and the attention of the press, who will continue to rough Hovde up because he gift wraps them a story every time he opens his mouth.

Fox Poll: GOP voters want Condi as VP

And, just like last summer, we learn that almost nobody wants Tim Pawlenty.  Still.

Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is the top choice as Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate among both American voters overall as well as among Republicans. 

Thirty percent of voters would like to see Rice on the ticket with Romney, according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday. 

She receives the same level of support among Republicans -- 30 percent select her as their top choice for Romney’s running mate. 

That far outdistances the number of Republicans who choose Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (19 percent), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (8 percent) or Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan (8 percent). 

Fewer still would pick Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (5 percent), Ohio Sen. Rob Portman (3 percent), Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (3 percent), New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez (3 percent) or former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (2 percent).

Nobody wants Sen. Portman either, but my bet is that either Pawlenty or Portman is the choice.  Pawlenty has been extremely loyal to Romney and Portman has a free pass.  Portman's shared downside with Rice is his extensive history and involvement with the Bush family, which Romney may not be eager to re-litigate as part of his campaign.

But I know it won't be Rice because that's who I'd like, and the GOP hasn't done anything I'd like since around 2000, when it began its deficit loving, war mongering, gay hating descent into anti-intellectualism.

Senate Democrats kick off majority with unnecessary, wasteful spending

Seriously?  Office moves?  Three-and-a-half months before an election?

Control of the state Senate could flip again in less than four months, but that's not stopping Democratic leaders from having a dozen senators - more than one-third of the body - move offices.

Republicans groused that the moves would cost taxpayers and disrupt staff, only to spark a new round of office moves after the Nov. 6 election if the GOP retakes the majority. Democrats countered that the costs are minimal and switching offices is routine after control of the chamber changes hands.

Office moves in the Capitol are common, but they usually happen after regularly scheduled elections every two years.

This time, Democrats are taking power because of a wave of recall elections, and they are doing so just 3½ months before the regular fall elections. Sixteen of 33 Senate seats are on the ballot in that election, meaning control of the Senate is up for grabs. The Republicans appear to have the advantage because the districts that are up tilt to their side.

"I don't understand why we'd do that," said Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin), whose staff is packing up so that Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) can move into her office. "It's quite an interruption to what we have to do the next two weeks, but that's what they're forcing us to do."

Congratulations, taxpayers.  That's the sound of you wasting money on staffers and pages who are needlessly moving stuff and offices that are paying to have dozens of phone numbers rerouted.  Sadly, I called this the day after the election.  Idiots with power can rarely help themselves.

On the plus side, kudos to Pat Marley for providing readers with a bit on insight on Capitol life.

Vinehout, for instance, is considered to have one of the least favorable offices. It is on the ground floor next to a restroom frequently used by homeless people and rafts of schoolchildren getting tours of the Capitol.

The majority party has the first pick of offices, with decisions made by individual senators on a seniority basis. The minority party gets the leftovers, with senators again picking spaces based on seniority.

I spent two-and-a-half years working in ground floor offices with direct access to the hallway.  I routinely had to field questions from lost visitors and always went upstairs to use the restroom for precisely the reason Marley mentions.

Senate Democrats take majority, pretend they're doing something

In what is a laughable and stupid reorganizing of the Titanic's deck chairs, Majority Leader (for now) Mark Miller has reshuffled all the Senate standing committees.

Now, Senate committees are always absurd, because the small number of majority party senators  invariably requires the combining of disparate subject areas.  That politicians are parochial and selfish creatures with pet interests doesn't help.  But Sen. Miller has upped his game to a whole new level with some preposterous subjects that might as well be campaign props.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...

the Senate Committee on Health, Revenue, Tax Fairness, and Insurance!

I'm pretty sure that anything you could bring up under the guise of "tax fairness" is also a revenue issue, which makes the tax fairness part of the committee name superfluous and redundant unless you think naming a committee is to be confused with actually doing something on the issue.

the Senate Committee on Job Training, Technical Colleges, and Workforce Development!

Perhaps the chair of this committee, Sen. Julie Lassa, can tell us what part of job training isn't workforce development.

the Senate Committee on Labor, Consumer Buying Power and Consumer Protection!

Seriously, SMH.  "Consumer buying power?"  What part of that isn't economic development, which is in a different committee altogether?

the Senate Committee on Seniors, Public Health, and Human Services!

There are 36 other subject headings appended to committees.  What, pray tell, falls under an age-specific category like seniors that couldn't fit under one of the other three dozen headings being bandied about?  And how is Working Families not one of these subject headings?!?  That's a political gold mine!

Here's a better idea, Sen. Miller.  Since you're fishing for campaign fodder, let's create a different committee.  We'll call it the Senate Committee on Seniors, Consumer Buying Power, Job Training, Tax Fairness, and Working Families.  You can parade it around the state in a bunch of pointless informational hearings where you do invited testimony only by people who will more or less spout your campaign talking points.  Legislative staff back in Madison will pump out mindless releases talking about what great action your newfound Senate majority is taking to solve everyone's problems.

And maybe - just maybe - it would keep Sen. Miller from coming back in January as one of the 15 in an 18-15 minority.  Maybe.  But I wouldn't bet on it.

Why is Eric Hovde shooting campaign commercials in South Carolina?

I was watching this online spoof that the Hovde campaign is running.  It's cute.  They even bought a website for it.

 

Notice something interesting?  Go back to around 50 seconds, and look at the door on the left, where it says "In Case of An Emergency."  Look at the phone number.   See that?  The phone number is way offset to the right.  Why is that?  Hmmm, looks like the area code is blurred out. Now, why would you blur out the area code?

I don't know.  Maybe if you were trying to conceal something?

So I did what any curious person would do.  I googled the rest of the phone number.  For a guy running for Senate in Wisconsin, it's interesting that the Hovde campaign is filming campaign ads at American Engineering Consultants in Cayce, South Carolina, just outside of Columbia.  Here's a screenshot of the building from Google Maps.

Is shooting the commercial in South Carolina supposed to lend some kind of authenticity to the whole production?  Am I supposed to believe that all Washington lobbyists sound like casting rejects from the Talladega Nights sequel?  If that's the case, why blur out the area code at all? Because his campaign didn't want people to see that it wasn't a Wisconsin area code?  After all, if you're trying to protect the privacy of the business, why wouldn't you blur the whole number?

Then again, Eric Hovde barely lives in Wisconsin, so why would he use a consulting firm based in Wisconsin?  He probably doesn't know any media consultants in Wisconsin.  So he'll spend all his money in South Carolina, thanks.  But for a guy who gets dinged relentlessly for being a carpetbagger, you think maybe Richie Rich would have the political savvy to spend his millions in the Badger State instead of in the Palmetto State?

Guess not.  Now I'm going to sit back, wait for Hovde to call me out in a press release like he did with Arianna Huffington, and then challenge me to 17 debates in which he will prove that he kicks my ass at philanthropy.

UPDATE: Courtesy of JB, "Wouldn't you know it, but the American Engineering Consultants happen to share a building with Capitol Consultants, a firm that proudly brags about being run by the "#1 lobbyist in South Carolina."

Richard Davis has also been the recipient of the "Order of the Palmetto," which doesn't sound at all like some nonsense award politicians hand out to their benefactors at the end of their terms in office."

Now we can all sleep better at night.  Nothing like perhaps using connections to a lobbyist to cut a commercial making fun of lobbyists.  Those lobbyists, man - talk about having their cake and eating yours too!

RIP, MSNBC

If only some of the programming would've died with it - looking at you, Ed Schultz.

On Sunday night, MSNBC.com did something that successful Web sites almost never do: it renamed itself.

The site became NBCNews.com, signifying the end of a relationship between NBC and Microsoft that dates back to the earliest days of the commercial Web. Early next year, MSNBC.com will be reborn as a stand-alone site for the cable channel MSNBC, ending the brand confusion that has plagued the site in the past.

With the changes, “we will fully own our digital businesses,” said Steve Capus, the president of NBC News. That’s because the company that controls NBC, Comcast, is acquiring Microsoft’s 50 percent stake in the joint venture that brought MSNBC.com to life in the mid-1990s — in effect, a big investment by Comcast in the news division’s future.

New Berlin splash park runs over budget

Isn't this how it always goes?

New Berlin - The complete cost of a splash pad for New Berlin children to run past structures that squirt or pour water on them has welled up from an estimated $400,000 to more than $1 million.

New Berlin officials are thinking of creating a splash pad in Malone Park. The New Berlin Junior Woman's Club has pledged to raise the money needed to pay for it.

Actually, the estimate for splash pad itself remains in the realm of the original target. Its cost is coming in higher because bathrooms were added to the plan, helping boost the splash pad cost alone to more than $425,000.

"Some of the numbers were a sticker shock," admitted Mark Schroeder, parks, recreation and forestry director.

No word on whether the cost of the "whites only" signs are included in the overrun.  The signs are reportedly needed so that residents of the new workforce housing project don't, you know, feel too welcome.

In the end, is it just about likeability?

Interesting to contemplate.

Back in 2004, I debated Jonah Goldberg about the presidential election. Bush will win, Jonah said, because after sniffing both of these guys for a while, Americans have simply decided they don’t like Kerry very much. Nonsense, I said. Likeability is in the eye of the beholder. Most Americans think the country is on the wrong track. Democrats have the demographic advantage. But I was too clever by half. Jonah was basically right...

The contrast with Mitt Romney could not be starker. According to the June Pew, while Romney leads on the economy, Obama enjoys a 31 point advantage on “connect[ing] to ordinary Americans.” He leads by 19 points on being “willing to take [an] unpopular stand.” By a 14 point margin, Americans consider him more “honest and truthful.” According to Gallup, Americans deem him more “likeable” by a whopping 17 points.

This 2012 election may, in fact, be the most personality-driven in recent memory. For several presidential election cycles now, Pew has been asking voters why they support their favored candidate: “Leadership,” “Experience,” “Stand on Issues,” or “Personality.” Among Romney supporters, 4 percent cite personality, the same percentage as cited it for Al Gore in 2000. For John McCain in 2008, the figure was 3 percent. For George W. Bush and John Kerry in 2004, it was 8 percent each. For Obama this year, it’s 18 percent.

I'm not sure Obama to Bush is necessarily the most congruent comparison, but there's a lot to be said for Mitt Romney being the Republican version of John Kerry.  Rich guy from Massachusetts, awkward on the stump, Kerry windsurfs, Romney owns a dressage horse, neither comes across as terribly empathetic, both seem to struggle connecting to regular people on a human level.

There are a lot of Democrats I know who think John Kerry could've won in 2004 had he just been easier to like.  Come November, it's very possible Republicans will be saying the same thing about their guy.

(Oh, who am I kidding?  If Romney loses they'll just delude themselves into thinking it's because he wasn't conservative enough.)

Quote of the week: Bush 41

"The rigidity of those (tax) pledges is something I don’t like. The circumstances change and you can’t be wedded to some formula by Grover Norquist. It’s—who the hell is Grover Norquist, anyway?" - George H.W. Bush

Club for Growth helps Tommy by helping Neumann

Do they think they're accomplishing something else?

The national Club for Growth today announced a new TV ad targeting GOP Senate candidates Tommy Thompson and Eric Hovde on tax issues.

The group, which has endorsed former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann in the GOP primary, says the 30-second spot "Only Worse" will run in all Wisconsin cable and broadcast markets beginning today.

The ad says Thompson "pushed for nine different tax hikes" as governor, singling out raising the gas tax and the tax on nursing home beds.

Later, an announcer says Hovde, a Madison businessman, "said he had no problem with raising taxes" in a TV interview and "supported tax-raising Governor Jim Doyle."

"On taxes, Hovde's like Thompson, only worse," the spot ends.

I'd bet that Tommy has a core vote of about 30-35% that he's going to get no matter what.  The only way Tommy loses is if the so-called conservatives are able to coalesce around one alternative to the Thompson candidacy.  By painting Hovde as worse then Thompson, CFG makes Thompson seem like a guy in the middle.  So now Tommy's argument becomes "everyone hates Neumann but even Neumann agrees that I'm better than Hovde."

Neumann's not winning this primary, but CFG's hard-nosed approach might help assure that Hovde doesn't either.

Oh no, they're speaking Spanish!

Cue the xenophobia... now.

The government has been targeting Spanish speakers with radio “novelas” promoting food stamp usage as part of a stated mission to increase participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps.

Each novela, comprising a 10-part series called “PARQUE ALEGRIA,” or “HAPPINESS PARK,” presents a semi-dramatic scenario involving characters convincing others to get on food stamps, or explaining how much healthier it is to be on food stamps.

The majority of the episodes end with the announcer encouraging the listener to tune in again to see if the skeptic applies for benefits or learns to understand the importance of food stamps to their health.

HOW DARE WE CREATE PROGRAMS AND THEN TELL PEOPLE THEY EXIST!

And sorry for linking to Daily Caller.  I feel like I need to shower after touching Tucker Carlson's website.

Where's Black Waldo?

My money is on rehab.  Or hanging out with Carmen Sandiego somewhere.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) joined calls Wednesday for more information to be released about the medical condition of Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.).

“Let me just deal with this briefly in this way: I think Congressman Jackson and his office and his family would be well advised to advise his constituents of his condition. He’s obviously facing a health problem,” he said. “We have many members who are out right now. … This is not an unusual circumstance. People get sick, and when people get sick, they miss work. Everybody in America understands that. But I think his family would be well advised to give his constituents as much information as is appropriate.”

Hoyer made the statement at a press conference after two questions from the press urging him to comment on the issue.

Jackson’s home-state senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) had called for more information on Monday, saying “he will have to soon make a report on what he’s struggling with, the physical condition he’s struggling with.”

Mittens in the Lion's Den

I'll give him credit for going.

HOUSTON — Mitt Romney drew boos, shouts and jeers from attendees speaking here to the NAACP convention, who balked at his claim that he — not the country’s first black president — could best represent black America.

“If you want the president who will make things better in the African-American community, you’re looking at him, Romney said, as he was immediately met with loud shouts.

Take back Washington?

I didn't know he ever left.

Joe Walsh can't talk right now...

... he's got both feet in his mouth.

Rep. Joe Walsh on Wednesday called his Democratic opponent, double-amputee combat veteran Tammy Duckworth, a “hero” but added that he believes she talks too much about her military service.

“Our true heroes, it’s the last thing in the world they talk about. That’s why we’re so indebted and in awe of what they’ve done,” the Illinois Republican said on CNN’s “The Situation Room.” “I continue to salute her service, but if that’s all she runs on, voters are going to find that offensive.”

Though he conceded that Duckworth was a “hero,” he said that she talked too much about her time in Iraq — which led to the loss of both her legs and the use of one arm when the Black Hawk helicopter she was piloting was shot down in 2004.

“She is a hero, and that demands our respect, but it doesn’t demand our vote. All she does, guys, is talk about her service,” Walsh said.

I've never believed that military service was some kind of special qualifier for elected office.  One type of public service isn't necessarily a qualification for another type of public service.  Then again, I'm also not representative of a movement that flogged President Obama for not engaging in symbol worship by wearing a flag pin. 

What intensifies the hypocrisy is that Walsh later salutes John McCain as one of these heroes who doesn't talk about his service.  Is that parallel universe John McCain to whom he's referring?  Because the one I know has made an entire political career out of exploiting his time as a POW.  If I had a dollar for every pseudo self-deprecating joke McCain made about the Hanoi Hilton, I'd be a millionaire.

I guess a real national hero is a tea party loudmouth who's a deadbeat dad in his personal life - a guy like Joe Walsh.  Because nothing's more American stiffing your kids on $117,000 in child support and forcing your ex-wife to go to court to get the money.

Mitt Romney's health care conundrum

In a nutshell, and in the candidate's own words:

“Actually, the chief justice in his opinion made it very clear that at the state level, states have the power to put in place mandates. They don’t need to require them to be called taxes in order for them to be constitutional. And as a result, Massachusetts’ mandate was a mandate, was a penalty, was described that way by the Legislature and by me, and so it stays as it was.”

Republicans were right.  The court's ruling could be the nail in the coffin on this race.  Problem for them is that it's the nail in Romney's coffin.  He can't talk about his own health care reforms vis-a-vis the Affordable Care Act without sounding like a two-faced hypocrite.

Romney's got a decent record as a good government, Midwestern/New England-style Republican.  Except now the base wants some fire-breathing, government-hating madman that typically only wins in the South, and Romney is stuck being someone he's not in an attempt to pander for votes.  Mitt Romney from ten years ago would be a much more difficult general election opponent for President Obama.  Too bad the GOP is too blind to see it.

Will ETF report stop GOP lawmakers from tinkering with WRS?

I wouldn't count on it.

A much-anticipated report on the Wisconsin Retirement System cautions that making major changes to the highly rated fund could create greater costs for taxpayers while undermining benefits for hundreds of thousands of current and future retirees.

Authored jointly by Walker administration appointees and the semi-autonomous Department of Employee Trust Funds, the report released Monday morning warns against creating two new alternatives for public sector workers.

Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-led Legislature last year mandated the study of system finances and structure, including the possible addition of a 401(k)-type option and the option allowing state and local workers to stop paying into the system.

Extensive actuarial studies over the last year indicate that either option would be costly and inefficient, while posing legal problems, according to the report, delivered to the Legislature's powerful budget committee Monday morning.

So what's the response?

Huebsch pointed out a passage in the report pointing out that a defined contribution alternative would decrease risk for taxpayers because it would not guarantee a minimum benefit.

"The state will continue to look at potential options for reforming the current system because the work force of the future may not look like our current work force," Huebsch said.

And then...

Leaders of the Legislature's finance committee, Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, issued a statement lauding the pension system strengths:

"This review is extremely helpful as we begin to work on the next state budget and continue to make sure our retirement system is fair to the taxpayer and competitive in the global marketplace."

And worst of all...

Earlier this year, Rep. Pat Strachota, R-West Bend, sponsored a bill that would have opened the door to 401(k) option for new hires that she said could make Wisconsin universities more attractive to top academic talent...

Strachota's bill failed to gain support, but she has said she hopes to revive it in the next legislative session.

Someone should start by informing Rep. Strachota that a employee that is covered by WRS but isn't eligible for an annuity is still eligible for a retirement benefit at age 55, and for the vast majority of employees is the equivalent of the value of the employer and employee contributions, plus interest.  Unless one is hell bent on self-directing their retirement account, there are no portability issues.  The money doesn't go anywhere.  There are vesting issues now for new employees - they must spend a minimum of five years in WRS to receive the employer contribution - but those are issues Strachota helped to create by supporting Act 10 and Act 32.

Wisconsin doesn't have a pension problem like other states because, to their credit, Wisconsin politicians have always been smart enough to fully fund the system and, unlike Illinois, never borrowed money to make the state's contributions.  Wisconsin also allows retirement benefits to decrease to correct for the market's bad years, which keeps the system from overpaying retirees when the market dips.

It's a good system.  Let's see if Wisconsin Republicans are smart enough to allow facts to trump their own blind ideology.