Rebecca of Sunnybrook Far, a.k.a. Rebecca Kleefisch, served as Scott Walker's lieutenant governor for 8 years.
Central Casting, a.k.a. Kevin Nicholson, lost to The Leahs in the 2018 GOP primary for U.S. Senate.
"It's Dim Time" sez it all as far as Tim Ramthun is concerned!
And here @wisgop was supposed to have a strong bench.
The water supply for Las Vegas has marked a milestone, with a water intake breaking the surface of drought-depleted Lake Mead and the activation of a new pumping facility to draw water from deeper in the crucial Colorado River reservoir.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority released photos this week of the uppermost intake visible at the lake behind Hoover Dam.
The agency says a deeper intake completed in 2020 that's called the third straw continues to let Las Vegas pump water from its primary supply while the lake level continues to decline.
In this survey, independents — an important swing group, particularly in suburban areas — said they favor Republicans by 7 points, 45% to 38%. There is a significant gender gap overall and in suburbs, with a majority of women favoring Democrats and a majority of men wanting Republicans in charge.
An Ohio lawmaker proposing a near-total abortion ban was given a hypothetical: A 13-year-old girl is raped and becomes pregnant as a result. Would the Republican’s bill force that teenager to have her rapist’s baby?
Yes — and the resulting child would be an “opportunity,” state Rep. Jean Schmidt said this week.
“It is a shame that it happens, but there’s an opportunity for that woman, no matter how young or old she is, to make a determination about what she’s going to do to help that life be a productive human being,” she said.
Republicans don't have a prayer in this overwhelmingly Democratic district.
The 19th District Assembly seat is open, as incumbent Jonathan Brostoff has announced his candidacy for a seat on Milwaukee’s Common Council. “Ryan has a proven track record as an advocate for public education, a legislator, and as someone who will fight for our community,” Brostoff said. “I look forward to seeing him bring that experience to the Assembly.”
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Either that or the Cubs' pitching really sucks.
Tune into any portion of the early-season conversations within the sport and there is likely to be talk of to whether the balls are “de-juiced” and less bouncy off the bat, spherical killers of slugging percentages, or slicker to grip than players are used to.
Nearly all of Nebraska's GOP establishment leaders are lining up behind businessman Jim Pillen, believing he would be the easy favorite to win in November. But no endorsement matters quite like that of former President Donald Trump, who is backing his longtime friend Charles Herbster. And in a twist, a third candidate, state Sen. Brett Lindstrom, is emerging as a strong contender in part because of an endorsement from the mayor of Omaha, the state's biggest city.
For Republican supporters of Donald J. Trump in Michigan, it seemed like a crowning moment: The state party chose two candidates endorsed by the former president, both outspoken preachers of 2020 election falsehoods, as its contenders for the state’s top law enforcement officer and its chief of election administration.
But instead, that move at a convention last weekend — where Republicans officially endorsed Matthew DePerno for attorney general and Kristina Karamo for secretary of state — has ruptured the Michigan Republican Party. After months of strain, it appears to finally be snapping as what remains of the old guard protests the party’s direction.
But the duo's partnership came to a screeching halt last week after the Club for Growth refused to end its negative ad campaign against Ohio Senate candidate J.D. Vance at the former President's behest and doubled down with new ads against the Trump-backed "Hillbilly Elegy" author. The group has backed former state treasurer Josh Mandel in the heated Republican primary for the seat being vacated by Sen. Rob Portman.
Too many voters aren't paying attention. Moreover, corporate media has reduced political reporting to the level of the Daily Racing Form. It's no wonder that Vos and the Wisconsin GOP can get away with their shenanigans session after session after session.
Poll Director Charles Franklin explains. “Despite being such an important government figure and having held that position for a long time 49% say they haven’t heard enough about Speaker Vos to have an opinion. Of those with opinions, 12% are favorable, 29% were unfavorable. Not surprisingly, there’s a pretty sharp party split on that question as well.”
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former assistant to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, identified Boebert as one of a small group of Republican lawmakers who met with Meadows as early as the last week of November 2020 to “raise the idea” of former Vice President Mike Pence intervening to prevent the certification of election results by Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. The ensuing assault on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters that day led to the deaths of five people and Trump’s eventual second impeachment trial.
Hutchinson named Boebert in testimony before the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol in February. Portions of her testimony were made public this week as part of a legal filing made by lawyers for the committee in a lawsuit brought against it by Meadows in an effort to block several subpoenas.
But it’s not just that tens of thousands more youngsters are accessing handguns. The profile of gun-carrying teens has also measurably changed, the researchers found, suggesting that firearm safety and advocacy initiatives may also need to be updated.
“It’s really important for people to not assume they know what kind of kids carry guns, and that goes for pediatricians and public health workers,” said Naoka Carey, a doctoral student in Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Human Development and a coauthor of the study. “You need to be educating families and young people about the risks for carrying a gun, whether they come from a low-income or high-income family.” [emphasis added]
The city’s operating budget cuts funding for maintenance of 208 planting beds in medians from $165,000 in 2021 to $86,422 this year. To lower costs, the city is moving to take 110 beds out of contracted maintenance and covert 89 of those beds to turf or concrete.
The city intends to convert 62 planting beds to grass, mostly in locations where they’re now surrounded by turf that requires some mowing, such as around Northport Drive and Packers Avenue on the North Side. It will convert 27 beds, mostly in high-traffic areas or narrow medians, like those on East Washington Avenue and John Nolen Drive near the Monona Terrace underpass, to colored, stamped concrete.
Recommended reading for the boys:
Mr. Abbott’s plan, however, happens to fit into the Biden administration’s strategy for responding to the surge in migrant crossings, which officials anticipate will increase sharply once a public health rule imposed during the coronavirus pandemic is lifted at the end of May. The Biden plan includes working with state and local governments and nonprofits to provide support, assistance and transportation to move migrants out of border communities and toward their final destinations in a humane and orderly way. [emphasis added]
“In a way, it’s actually perfect,” said Bilal Askaryar, a spokesman for Welcome With Dignity, a collective of about 100 local and national groups that help migrants. “Unintentionally, Governor Abbott sent them to one of the best places in the nation to welcome people.”
"Humane", "orderly", and "dignity" are words you won't find in any GOP immigration agenda.
"Fear", "loathing", and "divisiveness" are much closer to the mark.
Original 4/26/2022 post, "The egregious Rob Portman is proud of efforts to ensure a healthy white Ohio", starts here.
Absolutely clueless.
Talk about a racial divide. Consider this:\
There’s Bexley, which is 87 percent white. Compare it to the Near East Side of Columbus, which is 59 percent Black. They are essentially next-door neighbors. The average lifespan of residents in the wealthy suburb? A little more than 85 years. In the minority community? Try 67 years.\
Think about that. A difference of more than 18 years based on where you live. [emphasis added]
Might as well put up a warning sign: Living while Black in Central Ohio can be dangerous to your health.
The median House GOP member is not a fire-breathing right-winger such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), who attracts a lot of attention; they are quiet, nonideological conservatives most people have never heard of, such as Reps. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina or Michael R. Turner of Ohio.Here's the 'quiet, nonideological' Virginia Foxx on gay marriage.
Here's the 'quiet, nonideological' Virginia Foxx on climate change.
Original 4/25/2022 post starts here.
France elects its presidents using a two-round system. All candidates must compete in the first round, and the two with the most votes advance to the second round if no one reaches 50 percent. Macron won only 28 percent in the first round, hardly a ringing endorsement. [emphasis added]
As you can see from the 2017 results, Macron received 24.01% of the vote. In other words, he boosted his 2022 first-round performance by 4 percentage points.
Between January 2010 and June 2016, payday and auto title loan and check-cashing companies contributed about $344,000 to all Wisconsin legislative and statewide candidates, led by Walker, who accepted about $40,000. Payday lenders gave current lawmakers about $230,600, including nearly $202,000 (or 88 percent) to majority Republicans.
In 2000, 17.8% of all employed Wisconsinites were members of a union — the 10th largest concentration in the country, according to the report. But last year, that percentage fell to 7.9%, putting Wisconsin just below the national unionization activity average of 10.3%.
"The 55.6% decline in the rate of union membership in Wisconsin over the same time period ranked second highest in the country, behind only South Carolina (whose overall membership was lowest nationwide in both 2000 and 2021)," the report states. "Forum research finds that a combination of legislation (like Act 10) aimed at curtailing public unions’ authority and broader national trends impacting private union membership may help to explain Wisconsin’s drop-off."
1/22/2022 update, "Bashing teachers (the story continues)", starts here.
After 8 years as Governor, Walker, the Koch Brothers favorite pet, left the Wisconsin Idea in shreds.
School districts across the state are being pushed to the brink of a crisis due to extreme staffing difficulties brought on by the surging COVID-19 pandemic. District administrators and staff say the recent problems are compounding staffing challenges that began about a decade ago after the passage of Act 10, the Republican law that cut benefits and stripped collective bargaining rights from teachers unions.
[snip]
[White Lake School District supreintendent Nathan Hanson] said Act 10, the 2011 law signed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker, and academic standards implemented across the state around the same time became a “perfect storm” that left teachers feeling disenfranchised.
“I know colleagues that left the state,” Hanson said. “I’ve seen a certain level of demoralization that happened, especially with our veteran teachers.”
He began to see a significant decrease in applicants for teaching roles in 2012, he said.
The supply of substitute teachers — as well as full-time teachers — started to dry up after the Legislature passed Act 10 in 2011, placing strict limitations on teachers' unions bargaining abilities and automatically taking more from teacher paychecks to contribute to pensions, Muenter said.
It wasn't immediate, but over the past decade, there have been fewer people graduating with teaching degrees and fewer applicants for teaching jobs — especially for specialized subjects such as advanced calculus or technical education.
More: 4 things to know about Act 10 and its profound effect on Wisconsin a decade later.
Original 11/15/2021 post, "The Foxconn debacle", starts here.
Kinnard Farms is one of Wisconsin's largest dairy farms. Kewaunee County, in northeastern Wisconsin, is home to 16 industrial farms and has been struggling with agricultural pollution for years after testing showed levels of contaminants in residents' private drinking water wells. The farms are known as CAFOs, concentrated animal feeding operations.
The permit, issued by the DNR at the end of March, said Kinnard Farms could not exceed 11,369 animal units, equating to about 8,000 cows, which is the number the farm currently houses.
"An unreasonably low animal unit maximum of 11,369 animal units will prohibit Kinnard from expanding or even temporarily maintaining its herd size beyond its current level, with a loss of competitive flexibility," the petition says. "If Kinnard is restricted from increasing its herd size, Kinnard may lose revenue associated with the sale of milk from additional dairy cows." [emphasis added]
Tending 13,000 acres of crops and a barn full of cows in the thumb of Wisconsin surrounded by water has plenty challenges.
The agency approved plans by the Kinnard Farms in Kewaunee County to increase the size of its cattle operations from 4,000 milking cows to 6,700 milking cows, according to Lee Kinnard.
[snip]
Kewaunee County has become a focal point of opposition of large dairy farms because of numerous instances of polluted wells in the area. Also, the county has areas of karst geography, which is formed by the breakdown of rocks and contains underground drainage systems. This type of landscape makes it easier for manure to seep through soil and enter the aquifer.
But on Nov. 20, Kinnard, represented by the Madison law firm Michael Best & Friedrich, asked Stepp to “correct” the judge’s ruling, saying the agency lacked the legal authority to impose such permit conditions.
As a result, the most influential three names in state politics, outside of Walker, Fitzgerald and Fitzgerald, just might be Michael Best & Friedrich.
Collective bargaining. Mining. Redistricting. Recalls. Recounts. John Doe. Ethics charges. Michael Best & Friedrich has become the go-to law firm for all of the big issues facing Republicans.
The board left it to schools to notify parents, which they did on Monday via email, KSHB reports. The notice came after last Thursday’s board meeting, but the Safe Space sticker ban was not on the agenda. The board claims it initiated the ban because all classrooms should be safe spaces for everyone.
In a move similar to the “All Lives Matter” retort to the Back Lives Matter movement, the school board wrote to parents:
“Our goal is for every classroom to be a safe place for all students, not just in classrooms where teachers choose to display a particular sign,”
"From an Intel friend: [the Director of National Intelligence] needs to task [the National Security Agency] to immediately seize and begin looking for international comms related to Dominion," Perry texted Meadows on November 12, five days after major news networks called the the 2020 election for President-elect Joe Biden.
A source told CNN that Meadows did not follow through on that request. That same day, Perry also reportedly told Meadows that foreign powers, including the British government, were involved in manipulating US elections, and that CIA Director Gina Haspel was part of a cover-up.
In a Monday letter, the committee said it wanted to interview Perry about evidence that he advocated the late appointment of an acting attorney general who would presumably investigate false claims of voter fraud in states that Trump lost to President Joe Biden.
The apparent goal: Reverse certification of Biden's wins in those states, or prevent the counting of their electoral votes, enabling Trump to somehow prevail in the Electoral College.
It was Mr. Perry, a member of the hard-line Freedom Caucus, who first made Mr. Trump aware that a relatively obscure Justice Department official, Jeffrey Clark, the acting chief of the civil division, was sympathetic to Mr. Trump’s view that the election had been stolen, according to former administration officials who spoke with Mr. Clark and Mr. Trump.
Mr. Perry introduced the president to Mr. Clark, whose openness to conspiracy theories about election fraud presented Mr. Trump with a welcome change from the acting attorney general, Jeffrey A. Rosen, who stood by the results of the election and had repeatedly resisted the president’s efforts to undo them.
Mr. Perry’s previously unreported role, and the quiet discussions between Mr. Trump and Mr. Clark that followed, underlined how much the former president was willing to use the government to subvert the election, turning to more junior and relatively unknown figures for help as ranking Republicans and cabinet members rebuffed him. [emphasis added]
