Another Stem Cell Add...

Not the Michael J Fox add, but another as effective.

This shows how Republicans are willing to risk all of out lives, simply to hold on to their majority.

The New Ford Edge: An Argument for Healthcare Reform?

This statement is buried in a review of the new Ford Edge. In one sentance, it almost perfectly states what is wrong with our current health system and why we are losing good manufacturing jobs. Oh, and the car looks cool, too.

The vehicle is built at Ford's factory in Oakville, Ontario, where because of savings afforded by Canadian healthcare, labor costs are approximately 25% cheaper than in a comparable U.S. plant.

Quote of the Day: Bush Popularity Denial Edition

Fom MSNBC's First Read:

Asked yesterday why Bush isn't doing more campaign rallies and other events, spokesman Tony Fratto replied that Bush is ahead of his event pace in 2002, but that because of new campaign finance laws, rallies cost candidates a lot of money. Fratto had no good answer for why Laura Bush is doing so many, then. But he argued that Bush's lack of rallies is no reflection of his popularity.

Pung Leschke on Ethics Reform: It's Your Problem Not Mine

Last spring Assembly GOP Leader Mike Huebsch – who has personally campaigned for Julie Pung-Leschke – led an effort to kill an important government ethics bill. In doing so, Huebsch declared on the floor of the Assembly that there was no need for reform because Wisconsin ’s laws were a “model for the nation.”

All while Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen had been sentenced to prison for felony misconduct in office just days later.

What Huebsch essentially said was that sure we’ve spent the past five years reading about; pay for play, kickbacks, campaign on state time, sure we’ve seen five legislators convicted in the past year, but it’s really not our problem.

For this Huebsch was lambasted in newspapers from Beloit to Green Bay, but that didn’t stop him from passing the talking points onto his hand-picked candidates.

Case in point, Julie Pung-Leschke, who thinks that the best way to clean up the system is for voters to do a better job of paying attention.

Rather than strengthening the law, Pung-Leschke would rather have voters “sift through the multitude of information available to them.” She also would rather see unethical lawmakers answer to the “electorate” than prosecution. ( Oshkosh Northwestern 9/1/06)

Please.

Lets set aside the fact that the same person who quit the county board because it was “too much work” thinks voters need to devote time to “sifting through the multitude” and just focus on some of the other problems with this argument.

- How are people supposed to know where candidates stand when candidates, such as Pung-Leschke herself, wait months to turn in questionnaires or don’t turn them in at all?

- Unregulated special interest groups spend thousands – or in the case of Pung-Leschke $70,000 – on negative ads meant to distort the record and confuse voters.

- If Pung-Leschke had her way Scott Jensen would be lining up lobbying contracts instead of awaiting a prison sentence.

Is the Republican Party of Wisconsin Supporting Tasteless Ads in Sheboygan?

The Sheboygan Press has the story out today about Republican Assembly Candidate Job Hou-Seye and his tasteless if not racist ad and actions in his campaign.

Here is what the Press says about the ad:

A racially-themed radio ad and posts to an online political forum have raised questions about Job Hou-Seye's campaign for the 26th Assembly District.

The radio ad, running on WHBL-AM (1330), is a conversation between a man with an exaggerated Mexican accent and a woman about who they'll vote for in that race. Hou-Seye, a Republican, is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Terry Van Akkeren for the state Assembly seat. Both are from Sheboygan.

In the ad, which began running Oct. 18, the man, voiced by Hou-Seye, says he'll vote for Van Akkeren because Van Akkeren voted against preventing illegal aliens from receiving welfare. The woman - the voice of Hou-Seye's wife, Wendy - counters that Van Akkeren voted 100 percent for pro-choice issues and asks whether welfare for illegal aliens is more important than the lives of the unborn.

Other examples of Hou-Seye's behavior include:

In a posting to sheboygantalk.com dated Sept. 14, Hou-Seye jokingly refers to the mother of another contributor as "more of a mattress-back than a wet-back."

How does this come back to the RPW? It is true that the parties do not chose who runs under their banner, anyone who collects thnecessaryry signatures can claim any party as they run.

But, the RPW does choose who they fund. And in Hou-Seye's last report, he lists a $500 contribution from the RPW.

PAC and Political Committee Contributions* to:
Job E. Hou-Seye (R) - Assembly District 26
January 1, 2005 through August 28, 2006
PAC - Interest - Amount
Republican Party of Wisconsin - Political/Ideological - $500.00

They have chosen him. He's their guy. They are financing his statements.

They should be ashamed.

Two Paragraphs That Sum Up Iraq...

From Nicholas Kristoff in the NYTimes:

For every additional second we stay in Iraq, we taxpayers will end up paying an additional $6,300.

So aside from the rising body counts and all the other good reasons to adopt a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, here’s another: We are spending vast sums there that would be better spent rescuing the American health care system, developing alternative forms of energy and making a serious effort to reduce global poverty.

New Element on Periodic Table

From Altercation:

New Element on Periodic Table

A major research institution has just announced the discovery of the densest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Bushcronium." Bushcronium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 311. These particles are held together by dark forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. The symbol for Bushcronium is "W".

Bushcronium's mass actually increases over time, as morons randomly interact with various elements in the atmosphere and become assistant deputy neutrons in a Bushcronium molecule, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to believe that Bushcronium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass".

When catalyzed with money, Bushcronium activates Foxnewsium, an element that
radiates orders of magnitude more energy, albeit as incoherent noise, since it has 1/2 as many peons but twice as many morons.

Speaking of Open Secrets....

This is why you always want to run in every district. Want to know how the NRCC (National Republican Campaign Committee is paying for those slime adds against Dr. Kagen?

Here is one way (from Tom Petri's expenditure report):

Recipient - Amount - Date - Description
NRCC, Washington, DC - $150,000 - 7/13/2006 - TRANSFER OF EXCESS FUNDS
NRCC, Washington, DC - $75,000 - 6/9/2005 - TRANSFER OF EXCESS CAMPAIGN FUNDS
NRCC, Washington, DC - $50,000 - 3/6/2006 - TRANSFER OF EXCESS CAMPAIGN FUNDS
NRCC, Washington, DC - $39,500 - 7/11/2006 - TRANSFER OF EXCESS FUNDS
NRCC, Washington, DC - $15,000 - 7/31/2005 - TRANSFER OF EXCESS CAMPAIGN FUNDS

A total of $329,500 - of which $204,500 came in the month he found out he would not have competition.

He only gave $90,294 to the NRCC in 2004.

Where's Tommy?

It was suggested in comments to last night's post that I use a different source than Wikipedia to assert Tommy Thompson's home address.

So I dug a little over lunch.

Well, Open Secrets has him living in many different places!

For a contribution to Gard, he was a Wisconsin Resident:

THOMPSON, TOMMY - MADISON,WI 53718 - AKIN GUMP/CONSULTANT - 2/21/2006 - $2,000 - Gard, John

But, when contributing to his office's PAC, he lived in DC:

THOMPSON, TOMMY - WASHINGTON,DC 20036 - AKIN GUMP/ATTORNEY - 3/22/2006 - $1,000 - Akin, Gump et al

Yet, in an even more recent donation to Orrin Hatch, he lives in Virginia:

THOMPSON, TOMMY G - ALEXANDRIA,VA 22302 - AKIN, GUMP, STRAUSS, ET AL/PARTNER - 6/21/2006 - $1,000 - Hatch, Orrin G

Someone make sure he only votes in the place he lives 10 days before the election. Wouldn't Voter ID bills allow him to easily vote in all 3 places if he had 3 driver licenses?

Am American Car Company (Ford) Finally Gets It

In a conference call with reporters and industry analysts, Mulally called the latest earnings results unacceptable, but said he was encouraged by Ford’s progress in turning itself around by emphasizing more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Mulally seems to be putting Ford on a correct course. Let's hope it works.

Mulally said there’s a clear opportunity to return to profitability by building more vehicles that will sell across the globe, increasing productivity and quality, more collaboration with parts suppliers and unions, and accelerating efforts to reduce plant capacity to match lower consumer demand for Ford products.

Suburbs are a battle ground?

An interesting point from David Brooks in the NYTimes:

But the suburbs happen to be where this election is being fought — around Philadelphia, New York, Denver, Minneapolis and Columbus. The general rule is that Democrats win in the more densely populated suburbs close to the cities and the Republicans win the more sparsely populated ones farther out. The central fight in American politics now is over where the line is demarking the two zones, and the central Republican problem is that every time the party mobilizes its exurban base it further alienates the marginal voters in traditional suburbs where Congressional elections are won or lost.

The Problems With the Republican/Conservative Movement

The (always insightful) Plaground Politics blog has a great analysis of what is wrong with the rights movement today here.

It is a great lesson for anyone interested in politics, and something we should think of with the coming Democratic majority...

Isn't it Ironic?

Don't you think?

Funny statement out of Tommy T on why he is campaigning for Mark Green and Julie Pung Leschke...

He says he is doing it to make sure "our young people will stay in Wisconsin and not move on after graduation."

Sounds great, except for his very first statement in the video:

People ask him, "what are you doing back in Wisconsin" campaigning?

You see, Tommy left. He doesn't live here anymore.

According to Wikipedia, he works in DC now.

That's OK, Tommy, stay out.

Post-Crescent Endorses Doyle, Says Green Lacks "either credibility or accountability"

Editorial: Doyle deserves vote
Gov. Jim Doyle inherited a fiscal mess when he took office in 2002 — a $3.2 billion budget deficit. Four years and two budgets later, there's less of a mess. The budget is still a problem, but Doyle has made strides in fixing the problem.

At the same time, he has — working with and against the Republican-led Legislature — protected K-12 education funding, accommodated rising medical assistance costs and functioned as a goaltender to stop some bad legislation from becoming law.

Republican challenger Mark Green, the House 8th District representative, blames Doyle for anything and everything. From rising health care costs to instances of job losses to rising college tuition to the Green Bay Packers' slide — just kidding about that last one — Green pins it on the current governor, conveniently avoiding the Legislature's shared responsibility.

But many of Green's proposals for fixing Wisconsin's problems lack either credibility or accountability. Obviously, he's never been through the budget process as governor, but he doesn't offer a clear picture of what he would have to do to make the budget balance.

Read the rest here.

Also recomended:

Herb Kohl

Kathy Falk

Doug LaFollette

Dan Naylor

Charlie Most

Tom Nelson

Richard Lieffring