On the way to Lambeau Field to bring my special kind of karma to my beloved Packy-derms your irascible Squire saw some great billboards along U.S. Highway 41. One of them asked "which one is Steve Kagen?" he being the incumbent U.S. Rep. from the upper Fox Valley, apparently. The billboard pictured three choices: Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, and some guy I never saw before.
It's the three Rs in the 8th District, folks: Reid Ribble, Republican. Oshkosh is also home to Ron Johnson, so they're doing something right in the valley.
But about the picture, above? How did the photographer manage to get today's photo? Was he shooting through the windshield from the hood? And why did John Boehner and Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Tea Party, allow Nancy Pelosi to drive in the first place? Do they carpool? You can tell Nancy is drifting to the left. Is Dennis Kucinich tailgating? Is that a 1954 Ford Fairlane they are riding in? Did they miss the Cash for Clunkers deadline? Maybe they'll take control of the car before it crashes. Maybe this November? Any thoughts?
Really, how bad is it that Democrats are running from Pelosi/Obama/Reid? Democrats!
Sean Duffy in the 7th is likely to join Ribble in the House. Even Ron Kind is in trouble in the 3rd. That would put Wisconsin's delegation from 5-3 Democrat-Republican to 6-2 Republican-Democrat. Both Scott Walker and Ron Johnson look good for governor and U.S. Senate. A new broom is sweeping clean.
Blaska's Blog is not a triumphalist. And Democrats always finish strong. But this state and nation have taken a major swing toward conservative values.
More from Marj
Let's make this a regular feature from our school board L-I-B-E-R-A-L, Marj Passman:
On Oct 17, 2010, at 12:30 PM, Marjorie Passman wrote:
Dave,
I don't usually reply to these but I am having a good time with this so here goes again.
I am honored and humbled by being put into the same sentence as John Matthews, Dave Zweifel and John Nichols. Let's go all the way and actually call me, OMG, a L-I-B-E-R-A-L.
I was speaking to the Community participation in the writing of MMSD's Strategic Plan. MTI was not at the table for this. However, if you meant all that respect and support I have for those incredible Madison teachers then I am guilty as charged!
On Oct 18, 2010, at 10:13 AM, David Blaska wrote:
Thanks, Marj! I'm glad the teachers love you. Me, I would try to please parents and taxpayers, but that's just me.
On Oct 18, 2010, at 11:33 AM, Marjorie Passman wrote:
How about working with the entire community to benefit our children?
On October 18, 2010 12:41:29 PM CDT, David Blaska wrote:
Good idea! Why don't you give it a try?
The union Fix is In
We pay them to campaign against us? Patti Wenzel in Third Coast Digest explains:
I know unions lobby for candidates who will vote pro-labor, so I wasn't surprised when I received e-mails showing an AFSCME Council 24 union representative encouraging fellow members to take "lost time" to campaign for Tom Barrett. "Lost time" is essentially time taken of the job to do union work, which is paid by the union. By taking lost time, an employee preserves their seniority, sick and vacation time and retirement benefits with the state.
ObamaCare could send insurers packing
CNN reports that more insurers will drop coverage or go out of business when they are required to boost the money devoted to providing health care. "Let's pass ObamaCare so we can see what's in it," indeed!
It IS a government takeover, as Patrick McIlheran explains:
... it's a takeover. Feingold argues that because ObamaCare does not employ doctors and directly fund all care via taxes, like in Canada, it's not a takeover at all. Why, insurance companies are even allowed to live!
But those insurers will be instructed precisely what their plans must and must not cover, their every decision minutely determined by authorities. Millions of people will be rolled onto single-payer Medicare, while we will all be instructed what to buy so that some are subsidized and others milked in whatever way authorities prefer. Doctors will be directed by scores of new regulatory bodies, told what treatments they may offer, to whom and when.
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A blind squirrel catches an acorn: Paul Soglin's blog cites another university town's empty-headed liberalism: Ann Arbor struggles with homeless influx.
Ann Arbor - This progressive city, long known for embracing the poor and destitute, is learning that its support has a price.
For several years, homeless from around the state have descended upon the city because of a largesse that ranges from social services to the generosity of U-M students toward panhandlers, said city police, social service agencies and transients.
Says our Paul:
There need(s) to be rules: rules as to the operation of shelters, where people can sleep, and how they can occupy public space that belongs to the entire community.
Like, no pissing in public, Brenda?
Hotter than a pepper sprout? Politico names Wisconsin's 7th (the Obey seat) a "barn burner" as one of the 12 "hottest" in America.
It's not my fault. A Fortune editor exclaims ...
the blame-avoidance culture in this country has finally jumped the proverbial shark. ... Before we take the entire banking industry to task on the foreclosure mess, it bears reminding that the source of the problem is people who bought homes they couldn't afford.
If there are "cynical" politicians, could there be cynical editorialists? For instance, the way The Capital Times keeps referring to Ron Johnson, a political neophyte, as a "millionaire politician" but never uses the first term to describe Herb Kohl or the second to describe 18-year incumbent Russ Feingold. Of course, this is the newspaper that endorsed Walter Mondale, Mike Dukakis, and Jimmy Carter. Twice. And hero-worships socialists like Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich.
GOP challenger debates Pelosi stress head doll. The Weekly Standard has the exclusive.
Is even "professional Lefty" Kucinich in trouble?
Hey Kids! Be sure to catch the Squire's well honed act this Friday, October 22, from 8 to 9 a.m. on the Week In Review program on the Wisconsin Public Radio network, 870 on the am dial in the Madison area. A date that will LIVE ... in IN-famy!
Redistribution: 'It's called theft'
Another on the Squire's Must-See List: "I Want Your Money." As of now, the nearest showing appears to be in the south-Milwaukee suburb of Franklin at the Showtime Cinema 12, starting October 29. But the trailer is fun. Michael Moore, eat your heart out.
