Joe Manske in Takes Lead in Winnebago County DA Race

He turned in the most signatures.

It means he & his supporters are willing to work the hardest.

Candidate - Signatures
Joe Manske - 750
Michelle Pennewell - 710
Christian Gossett - 576

Go Joe!

Signature Updates:

Lots of them are in - here are some notes:

Doug LaFollette only turns in 2178 of 2000 minimum.

Terry McCormick only racks up 1128.

Penny Bernard Schaber gets 400!

John Daggett has 0 vadlid signatures. How does that happen? He had to turn in something to be on the list.

Dick Spanbauer hass 255 for a primary (wish we would have found a Dem) - Owens got 278.

Dick Langan's on! Great guy.

Ann-Marie Woznicki's on - 329!

Mark Westphal - 261!

Stellmacher only has 179 - I hope they are on the doors today.

Dawn Marie Sass got her's - 2246!

Frank Lasee only gets 220 - I hope we look at those...

Larry Didlo turns in 202 - want to bet at least 3 get challenged?

Others too look at:
James Peterson, Republican for Dunn DA - 201
JP Drengler - 6th Assembly - 213
Scott Harold Southworth - Juneau DA - 201
H. Craig Haukaas - Bayfield DA - 209
Todd P Wolf - Wood DA - 197 - not enough!
Dan Long - 48th Assembly - 207

Can't wait to check again tomorrow!

A Post-Script to the Last Entry:

If current trends hold, tobacco will kill a billion people this century, 10 times the toll it took in the 20th century, public health officials said Monday.

Tobacco accounts for one in five cancer deaths, or 1.4 million deaths worldwide each year, according to two new reference guides that chart global tobacco use and cancer. Lung cancer remains the major cancer among the 10.9 million new cases of cancer diagnosed each year, according to the Cancer Atlas.

Reducing tobacco use would have the greatest affect on global cancer rates, health officials said.

An Odd Investment...

I wouldn't do it, but it shows what some people will think of:

MORE than 150 mutual funds call themselves socially responsible, investing only in companies that meet a series of ethical standards set by their fund managers. Then there's the Vice Fund.

Its prospectus says it favors "products or services often considered socially irresponsible." The fund has fulfilled that promise under several different fund managers, investing mainly in companies involved with alcohol, tobacco, gambling and military contracting. This politically incorrect approach has helped the Vice Fund outperform the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index from its inception in 2002. But the fund has had more than its share of management turmoil.
...
Lately, the approach has again been paying off. Gambling and hotel casino stocks returned 25.3 percent this year through Thursday and 28.9 percent, annualized, in the last five years , according to Morningstar. The S.& P. 1500 Casino and Gaming Index, which tracks 10 stocks from the 1500 index, was up 10.1 percent through Thursday and 21.4 percent, annualized, over the last five years.

Tobacco stocks posted annualized five-year gains of 20 percent, while those for alcoholic beverages gained 12 percent a year and the aerospace and defense sector, including military contractors, climbed 11.8 percent, according to Morningstar.

The Vice Fund returned 9.2 percent this year through Thursday, compared with 3.1 percent for the S.& P. 500. Over the last three years, the fund's return has been 20.6 percent, annualized, outpacing the 10.9 percent of the S.& P. 500. The fund has no load, or sales charge, and has an expense ratio of 1.75 percent. Its allocations as of May 31 included roughly 27 percent to casinos, gambling and lotteries; 24 percent to aerospace and defense; 24 percent to alcohol; and 21 percent to tobacco.

Winnebago To Study Shrinking County Board?

Details here.

The $2500 Sales Presentation

Here is a new post on my County Board blog about wasted time and money in Winnebago County.

No Wonder Green Wants Bush to Come...

Remember the WPRI Poll?

Is Green trying to get his 26% favorable rating all the way up to Bush's 37%?

How does that make Green feel that more people in Wisconsin approve of the most unpopular president in modern history than approve of him?

Blackwell Owned Diebold Stock...

Secretary of State Ken Blackwell made an embarrassing announcement Monday: He accidentally bought stock in Diebold Inc., a voting machine maker that benefited from decisions made by his office.

In a required filing with the Ohio Ethics Commission, the GOP gubernatorial hopeful said his hefty portfolio included 178 shares of Diebold stock, which sold for a loss.

"While I was unaware of this stock in my portfolio, its mere presence may be viewed as a conflict," Blackwell wrote in a letter that accompanies his annual financial disclosure statement.

In his duties as secretary of state, however, Blackwell's staff narrowed the list of companies eligible to replace Ohio's antiquated voting equipment with more modern technology. The Green-based Diebold made the cut, and a rival firm accused Blackwell of improperly favoring the Ohio company.

Diebold also drew the ire of critics after then-CEO Wally O'Dell sent a fund-raising letter in which he committed to deliver Ohio's electoral votes to President Bush in 2004.

LoParo maintains that Diebold's machines are safe and reliable and he described Blackwell's Diebold holdings as an honest mistake.

Gov's Against the Amendment - Where's Tommy?

Opponents of a constitutional amendment to ban all civil unions and same-sex marriages in Wisconsin scored a significant boost this past week when four former state governors issued a bipartisan letter against the proposed amendment.

Patrick Lucey, Martin Schreiber, Lee Sherman Dreyfus and Tony Earl banded together to reject calls for the amendment, which would prevent heterosexual civil unions as well as homosexual unions.

"When people realize that this amendment not only bans gay marriage but also bans civil unions and jeopardizes existing legal protection, public opinion shifts to a 'no' vote," said Josh Freker, spokesman for Fair Wisconsin, a group organized to defeat the amendment.

The former governors' statement issued Wednesday urges voters to reject the measure on grounds that it would be the first time the constitution would be amended "to limit freedom" instead of expand it.

Lucey served from 1971 to 1977; Schreiber, 1977 to 1979; Dreyfus, 1979 to 1983 and Earl, 1983 to 1987. Lucey, Schreiber and Earl are Democrats; Dreyfus is a Republican.

Where's Tommy? His brother is against it...

Ed Thompson says the No. 1 issue in Wisconsin this year is defeating a Republican-backed constitutional amendment that would emphatically ban same-sex marriage and similar civil unions.

The proposed amendment is an "evil thing" that is "so incredibly wrong" it amounts to "lunacy," Thompson declared last weekend at the state Libertarian political convention in Madison.

Green Hitching to Bush Wagon...

President George W. Bush will be the main attraction at a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser for Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Green next week.

Green's campaign confirmed today that Bush will head the Milwaukee event on Tuesday.

Republicans are hoping that the event will raise about $1 million for Green's effort to unseat Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle.

Although Bush narrowly lost Wisconsin in the 2004 election, recent polls show his popularity lagging among state residents.

The conservative Wisconsin Policy Research Institute last month found that only 37 percent of state residents approved of Bush's performance, while 68 percent said they believe the nation is heading in the wrong direction.

Here's our take on it:

Democrats plan to contrast Doyle's efforts to balance the state's budget, provide health care, fund education and support embryonic stem cell research with Green's support for Bush administration policies.

"The larger question in all this is: Does Mark Green support the job this president is doing for the people of Wisconsin and the American people?" said state Democratic Party Chairman Joe Wineke.

"Only 37 percent of the people in this state think (Bush) is doing a good job and yet Mark Green has voted with him 93 percent of the time," Wineke said. "They're twins."

Wineke charged that the Milwaukee event "is clearly designed to raise boatloads of cash and Mark Green is willing to do deals with the devil to do so. This shows how desperate he is."

Simple Question...

Why are they advertising 'Real California Cheese' on TV in Wisconsin - and during our own native son's show 'Monk'?

It just isn't right.

CIA Stopped bin Laden Search Last Year

The Central Intelligence Agency has closed a unit that for a decade had the mission of hunting Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants, intelligence officials confirmed Monday.

The unit, known as Alec Station, was disbanded late last year and its analysts reassigned within the C.I.A. Counterterrorist Center, the officials said.

The decision is a milestone for the agency, which formed the unit before Osama bin Laden became a household name and bolstered its ranks after the Sept. 11 attacks, when President Bush pledged to bring Mr. bin Laden to justice "dead or alive."

Jeff Hall, Gorilla Heart Surgeon...

Veterinary surgeon Doctor Jeffrey Hall, a cardiac specialist, says the gorilla's cardiac function decreased from the time doctors put him on the operating table.

Different Priorities for Democrats and Republicans

In Effect has a great opst on why Liberals priorities are better for society.

Click here.

BusinessWeek: Detroit Execs Abandon the GOP

Consumers matter...

Detroit's White House Problem
The UAW has always voted Democratic, but as the current Administration continues to alienate Detroit executives, will carmakers abandon the GOP?

Relations between the Bush Administration and Detroit have grown so frosty that some Motown executives privately say they are looking to the Democrats for help. In some cases, they are even supporting them.Perhaps we are seeing a change of heart.
...
Under President Bush, working-class Americans have lost 3 million manufacturing jobs. While Bush pushes through tax cuts for wealthy people, inflation, rising energy and health-care costs, and higher interest rates are squeezing the middle class. Under Bush, average household income has declined 4% and household debt is now 120% of after-tax income—the highest level of indebtedness in history, says the Washington-based Economic Policy Institute.

All of those factors have conspired to squeeze average middle-class families—Detroit's core buyer. More-affluent folks tend to buy cars from Honda, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW. Some Big Three marketing executives say the financial weakness of their core buyer has hurt sales.

I believe some smart guy said something similar two years ago:

It has been said that what is good for business is good for America. I disagree. I believe that what is good for Americans is good for business. The main consumers and producers of our economy are the workers and the middle class. You can sell neither product nor service without a vibrant, empowered marketplace and consumer base. If you want to support business, support the consumer.

GOP Activist That Blames Lost Jobs to High Taxes Actively Works to Raise Them:

In this press release by WMC, Todd Lohenry of LoPresti Aviation blames Wisconsin's tax environment for jobs being lost (jobs that never existed - Xoff has the fishy story here):

Manitowoc County lost 300 high-paying manufacturing jobs when LoPresti Aviation, an airplane manufacturer, announced Wisconsin is out of the running for a new plant. The reason: high taxes and less-than-friendly business environment.

“There is a snowball’s chance in a Wisconsin summer of it landing here,” LoPresti business development manager Todd Lohenry said.

Well, we can thank Lohenry for the rise in taxes - look here:

A grassroots campaign by the Yes Committee over the past three months played a role in the YES vote for the Algoma referendum at the ballot boxes, according to Chair of the group Todd Lohenry. The referendum asked voters for permission to exceed the state-spending limit by $355,000 for the next five years. That will mean a bump in taxes for everyone living in the school district.

I'm ok with school referendums and educating our kids, but come on Todd, you can't have it both ways...

UPDATE: Xoff has more here

Great Cartoon

Ben Stein's Money Is Where His Mouth Is

For those that do not know, before he ever said "Beuller? Beuller?" Ben Stein was an economist, speachwriter for Nixon and remains unapologetically Republican.

That said, in a column today writes this open letter to Henry (not Robert) Paulson:

May I respectfully suggest that in this environment, ending the estate tax is not a major sensible priority? May I suggest that having the lowest taxes in 65 years on high-income taxpayers is not really as prudent as it might be if we were not running stupendous deficits, with far worse in the future?

I know you are a Republican, and so am I. Now and then, scornful fellow Republicans ask me what kind of Republican I am, since I'm for higher taxes on the rich. I tell them that I am an Eisenhower Republican, the kind who wants to leave a healthier America to posterity. That includes an economy not headed for the status of a banana republic's economy.

While Plants Close in Wisconsin, Green Parades With Canadian Paper...

Grumps at the The Happy Circumstance has the scoop on Green's parade activities:

Team Green had lunch-size bags for the kiddies to put their swag in (and the swag at Oregon was plentiful and rich. The hockey organization was pitching pens. At least two groups had freeze pops.) The Green swag-bags were a little lightweight but you wouldn't expect heavyweight from Green to be given away. What did surprise me, though, was that Team Green was giving away Canadian-made and printed paper bags. A quick search on ThomasNet shows a dozen or more Wisconsin bag makers listed, a fair share of them in the 8th Congressional District.

"A conservative in America, in short, is someone who advocates ends that cannot be realized through means that can never be justified..."

A MUST READ!!!

Alan Wolfe in the Washington Monthly:

Why Conservatives Can't Govern

12 pages long and worth every bit.

Quote of the Day - Privatization Edition

Frnak Rich in the NYTimes:

Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration, the very model of big government that the current administration vilifies, never would have trusted private contractors to run the show. Somehow that unwieldy, bloated government took less time to win World War II than George W. Bush's privatized government is taking to blow this one.

Good things Happen to Good People

Rammelt named register of deeds

MADISON - Gov. Jim Doyle announced today he has appointed Jeff Rammelt to the position of Jefferson County Register of Deeds.

Rammelt will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Larry Eckert. Rammelt will serve a term ending Jan. 1, 2007.

“Jeff Rammelt will be an excellent register of deeds,” Doyle said this morning. “He is passionate about his commitment to civic involvement and serving the people of Jefferson County.”

A Few Thoughts on the WRPI Poll

Five months before the next gubernatorial election, Jim Doyle has a substantial lead over Republican challenger Mark Green. In a head-to-head race, Doyle leads Green 49% to 37%. These are among the key findings about politics from the most recent survey of 600 Wisconsin residents conducted by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, Inc. and Diversified Research between June 18 and June 19, 2006.

Doyle’s lead over Green changes in some regions of the state. Doyle leads Green in the City of Milwaukee by 60% to 29%. In the Madison area he leads by 63% to 21%. In La Crosse, 62% to 26%, and surprisingly in outstate Wisconsin by 52% to 34%. Green’s strength lies in Green Bay where his lead is 49% to 39%, and in the Milwaukee suburbs where he leads 47% to 35%. In Waukesha County his margin is 46% to 37%. The core of Jim Doyle’s support comes from Democrats (84%), Liberals (80%), Blacks (87%), and people who describe themselves politically
as “middle of the road” (53%). One of the other things that is clearly developing in this race is a gender split. Green actually leads Doyle among male voters by 46% to 40%, while Doyle has an enormous lead among women, 57% to 30%.

Another finding in this survey, however, is how this head-to-head would play out among residents who have an opinion of both candidates. Among residents who have an opinion of both Mark Green and Jim Doyle, Green actually leads Doyle 52% to 42%. These numbers seem to be at cross-purposes until one examines Issues and long-term trends in the state.

Myth #1 - 'Doyle is in trouble'.

I disagree on this. If you look at the larger poll numbers, you will see why.

First some addition: Let's assume that the 'undecided' are also a cross section of the electorate. If you look at who supports Doyle by large margins - Liberals, Women, African-Americans and the 'middle of the road' the projected support should carry Doyle over the top.

But, Doyle is an unpopular Governor, they say. Tommy Thompson could have easily walked back into the Governor's office if he ran...

Except, lets look at their numbers:

Name Favorable Unfavorable
Doyle 44% 38%
Thompson 49% 36%

Margin of error: plus or minus 4%

That means that Doyle popularity is within the margin of error with St. Tommy's, even though the press has constant scrutiny of the Doyle record now, and nothing but flowery retellings of the Thompson days for the last few years.

If Doyle is in trouble with these numbers, I guess we can see why Tommy didn't run.

Meanwhile, to know Mark Green is to dislike him. 55% did not know him in this poll vs 66% in the last. As 10% of Wisconsin has learned about him, his Unfavorable rating went up.... 10%!

Bring on the fall. And let's make sure people keep getting to know Mark Green - especially women and minorities.

Twin NYTimes Editorial Headlines Say It All

A Look at Republican Priorities: Comforting the Comfortable
The estate-tax cut passed by the House of Representatives would put $760 billion in new debt on the backs ofAmericans in the name of making a handful of extremely rich people even richer

A Look at Republican Priorities: Afflicting the Afflicted
At the same time that Republicans are fighting to exempt the richest estates from taxes, they are blocking a raise for the nation's poorest workers.

Today's Sign of the End...

Why wouldn't this be a superstar event in the USA? We need science as well (not that the Bush Administration is pushing at all).

Hawking's ability to explain abstruse scientific concepts to laymen has given him a worldwide following. In China, whose communist government regularly preaches that scientific prowess is crucial to the country's future power, Hawking has near-superstar status.
When he was wheeled onstage 20 minutes into the event, the audience rushed forward, taking pictures with their mobile phones.
Many stood and craned to see him better throughout the talk, and one man in the fifth row watched Hawking through binoculars.
Xu Fanrong, a 23-year-old student at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Physics in Beijing, praised Hawking's pithy and humorous remarks during the 90-minute public event. He said Hawking's appearance could help inspire more young Chinese to study physics.
"Our country needs science," said Xu. "No basic science means no basic technology and no economic development."
Other speakers at the seminar included Edward Witten, winner of the Fields Medal in mathematics in 1990; David J. Gross, winner of the 2004 Nobel Prize for physics; and Harvard University physics professor Andy Strominger.

And one of Hawkings comments:

Asked about the environment, Hawking — who suffers from a degenerative disease, uses a wheelchair and speaks through a computerized voice synthesizer — said he was "very worried about global warming." He said he was afraid Earth "might end up like Venus, at 250 degrees centigrade [482 degrees Celsius] and raining sulfuric acid."

We need a focus on science here, not on Inelligent Design.

LTTE: Kaufert Out - Westphal In -

Letters: Kaufert's loyalties need rearranging
Wisconsin badly needs ethics reform for our troubled state government. State Sen. Mike Ellis proposed a bill (SB1) that would remedy some of the problems. Republicans in the Assembly killed that bill.

In the commentary written by State Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, in the June 15 Post-Crescent, he claims he supported Senate Bill 1, which would have strengthened state government ethics oversight.

Only if you carefully read the article would you see that he voted to kill the bill by denying a floor vote in the Assembly. His reason for doing this? He didn't want to embarrass Republican leadership in the Assembly (John Gard, Assembly speaker, and Mike Huebsch, majority leader).

Shame on John Gard and Mike Huebsch for blocking a vote on this ethics reform bill. And shame on Dean Kaufert for putting the feelings of Gard and Huebsch above the interests of Wisconsin citizens. I found his efforts to convince us of his support for this bill, in spite of his role in killing it, disgusting.

Republicans like to brag about how loyal they are. Unfortunately, most show more loyalty to their Republican leaders than they do to the citizens they were elected to serve.

Dean Kaufert ran unopposed in the last election. It's a bad thing for our government when incumbent politicians don't have to worry about winning elections. Why worry about serving your constituents if they have no other choice?

Kaufert serves Gard and Huebsch, not us, because he wants their approval and doesn't need ours.

This next election will be different. Kaufert will have a Democratic opponent, Mark Westphal. Finally, we get a choice.

Let's elect someone who will be more loyal to us than he is to the likes of John Gard.

Max E. Brown,
Neenah

I am very excited about Mark's Campaign. I will have all the info on how to get involved soon.

His contact info ant that of other Winnebago Candidates are in our last newsletter.

Scott Walker Knows Better Than Milwaukee County Voters

He will not allow a vote to raise taxes by referendum - wasn't that the point of TABOR?

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker vetoed a proposal to have county residents vote on a quarter of a percent sales tax hike. Supporters claim the sales tax could've generated millions of dollars of much need revenue for the cash strapped county.

Budget problems could force the parks department to shut down the Lincoln Park pool and 42 others. Some county leaders want to fund the parks system by raising the sales tax a quarter of one percent.

But Wednesday County Executive Scott Walker shot the tax increase plan down. He said a tax increase would drive middle income people to other communities. "I've got too many people, and potentially too many employers leaving this county," Walker said. "The last thing I wanted to do was pour fuel on the fire and raise taxes."

Pensions are almost bankrupting the county costing $59 million this year. Health care costs will run $29 million next year. The county is bleeding money.

Some believe the tax hike would have stopped the hemorrhaging.

Walker's hypocricy on this issue is amazing. He said that we need to empower voters, through TABOR to vote for their own tax increases. But does not allow voters in his own county to do that.

One Week in GOP Washington - No To Minimum Wage Raise, Yes to Paris Hilton Tax Repeal

Despite Democratic attempts, Green and the GOP leadership refused today to allow an up-or-down vote on an increase in the federal minimum wage, which has not been raised since 1997 and is at its lowest level in 50 years, when adjusted for inflation

Instead, Green and Republicans passed an estate tax bill that benefits the wealthiest and adds nearly $800 billion to the already burgeoning federal deficit over the next 10 years. While 6.6 million workers would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage – including 760,000 single mothers – less than 1 percent of all Americans would benefit from the GOP estate tax plan.

How did Mark Green vote?

While Green blocks efforts in Congress to increase the federal wage, Governor Doyle raised the minimum wage last year for an estimated 150,000 Wisconsin families for the first time in eight years. In June, it went up again – making Wisconsin’s minimum wage $1.35 higher than the federal minimum wage.

What really get me about this is:

The Medicare Part D law requires our seniors to spend most of their life savings before they qualify for real savings in the program. So the GOP is saying that the ability to pass wealth on to your children is important, but not more important that passing your wealth on to drug companies.

Kodos to the Northwester on Medicade Opinion Piece

Editorial: The real Medicaid crisis
This nation has such a knack for getting sidetracked by one issue to the exclusion of a more important matter.

The issue of distraction is the provision in Medicaid budget cuts enacted by President Bush in February that prevent illegal immigrants from getting benefits. That emotional issue has obscured the real effect of other Medicaid budget cuts that will hurt more, and especially hurt children.

Congressional Budget Office estimates show that 66,000 children will lose coverage after Medicaid premiums increase in 2010 and then again in 2015. The lack of self-honesty in the CBO estimate is disturbing. It doesn't owe up to 66,000 children. It merely refers to "60 percent of those losing coverage (110,000) would be children."

A society should be rated according to what it does for the most vulnerable. The "standard" of ending the basic medical coverage for 66,000 children is a value worth nothing. Our society must be trending downhill quick if we in 2006 can view children – some of whom haven't been born yet – as an acceptable "loss" in our long-term picture.

All of this is why we need to get our public discussion about Medicaid cuts away from the fixation on illegal immigrants. The distraction from the real effects of Medicaid cuts should offend the values of every American. Again, we're a pretty lousy society when we view the poor children in our future as expendable.

Must Be Election Season Again

Seven men were charged Friday with conspiring to work with al-Qaida to blow up Chicago's Sears Tower and a federal building. Court documents obtained by NBC News said the ringleader boasted of wanting to "kill all the devils we can" in a
mission "just as good or greater than 9/11."

However:

“There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations,” said Richard Kolko, spokesman for FBI headquarters in Washington. He declined further comment.

Have we even had an Orange Alert since Nov 2004? Look for more as the elections approach.