Retiring Guy's Digest: 2023-07-09

Saturday, July 15, 2023

GET ME REWRITE. Let's call a spade a spade: Freedom Caucus Crazies

The Hill, 7/13/2023

Members of the hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus and their allies had been pushing for votes on the hot-button culture war issues, even as passage of some of those amendments could amount to poison pills for Democrats, and their inclusion may severely complicate House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) task of securing final passage of the annual $886 billion defense bill.

According to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of 'poison pill', as in a financial tactic or provision used by a company to make an unwanted takeover prohibitively expensive or less desirable, occured in 1983.

Other coinages from the same year include:

bullet point
dumpster diving
kettle chip
lap dancing
piehole
yup
zip tie

Eli Crane, Freedom Caucus Crazy from Arizona, is not a happy camper. (6/1/2013)

Florida Governor and former Freedom Caucus Crazy Ron DeSantis stands with the Capitol insurrectionists. (5/26/2023)

SURPRISE! SURPISE! GOP Freedom Caucus Crazy Bob Good endorses emeritus member Ron DeSantis for president. (5/10/2023)

There at the creation: Ron DeSantis and the Freedom Caucus Crazies. (4/2/2023)

GET ME REWRITE: Majority of GOP voters all in for grifter Donald Trump

Source: Real Clear Politics

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Ramaswamy is No. 3: Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy has overtaken former Vice President Mike Pence for third place among potential GOP primary voters, with 8% backing. Trump remains the clear front-runner, with 56% support, followed by DeSantis, whose 17% backing matches an all-time low since Morning Consult began tracking the race in early December.

DeSantis is losing ground to Biden: DeSantis trails Biden by 5 percentage points in a hypothetical general election match-up, and hasn’t outperformed the incumbent since March. Trump trails Biden by 1 point, down from a 3-point lead late last month.

Christie is widely disliked among the GOP electorate: Chris Christie, who’s spent much of his time on the campaign trail criticizing Trump, has an enormous popularity disadvantage. Almost half of potential GOP primary voters (46%) hold unfavorable views of the former New Jersey governor, compared with 26% who view him favorably. He has 3% support against the other candidates.

Related posts:

July 2023

YouGov presents its latest ranking of GOP losers. (7/12)

Apparently, this observation even applies to residents of Florida. (7/10)

Graph supports journalist's assessment of Ron DeSantis. (7/10)

Drooling base of GOP continues to boogie its way to doomsday. (7/9)

June 2023

"Undecided" finishes in 3rd place in latest Marquette Law School 2024 presidential nomination poll. (6/28)

Chris Christie achieves a personal best in latest 2024 presidential nomination poll. (6/27)

More of the same with latest Emerson 2024 presidential nomination poll. (6/22)

Mike Pence punches above his weight in latest CNN 2024 presidential nomination poll. (6/20)

Ron DeSantis appears to have slammed his campaign into reverse. (6/17)

Merrily Trump rolls along. (6/15)

Trump falls well below his average in latest Reuters GOP presidential nomination poll. (6/14)

Yet another 2024 GOP presidential primary poll shows that MAGA loves a loser. (6/11/)

'Not sure' finishes 3rd in Wisconsin 2024 GOP presidential primary poll. (6/8)

Most Americans agree that South Dakota governor Kristi Noem is wholly unqualified to be President. (6/8)

Mike Pence enters the 2024 GOP presidential primary campaign as a certified loser. (6/7)

Trump puts some room between himself and DeSantis in latest Virginia GOP presidential primary poll from Roanoke College. (6/6)

American Greatness pushes Trump candidacy in Nevada with hyper-partisan, biased poll. (6/4)

Professional bloviator Chris Christie finds himself a forgotten man in 2024. (6/1)

Polling at 5%, Mike Pence to announce presidential campaign in Des Moines. (6/1)

May 2023

Among West Virginia GOP voters, if you're not Trump, you're nobody. (5/30)

When it comes to 2024 GOP presidential primary polls, it's the same all over, even in California. (5/30)

Nikki Haley and Tim Scott not doing well in their home state of South Carolina. (5/27)

DeSantis 2024 presidential campaign still spinning its wheels as far as polls are concerned. (5/25)

GOP voters sabotage another presidential election with anti-abortion, homophobic, book-banning clown show candidates. (5/20)

GOP voters have a death wish. (5/17)

Sad sacks yearn for White House address. (5/17)

In Kentucky, if you're not Trump, you're nobody. (5/15)

The sad state of today's GOP, graphed. (5/15)

Latest Florida 2024 GOP presidential primary poll squeezes out anyone not named Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis. (5/14/)

GOP continues to boogie its way to doomsday. (5/10)

GOP continues to boogie its way to doomsday. (5/2)

April 2023

GOP continues to boogie its way to doomsday. (4/28)

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem thinks her virulent anti-abortion stance is just what USA voters want. (4/27)

Apparently, Reuters somehow missed the news that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. (4/25)

GOP continues to boogie its way to doomsday. (4/23)

1.3% of GOP voters are starving for Tim Scott's "optimistic, positive message". (4/20)

Glenn Youngkin, 2024 GOP presidential candidate with zero national appeal, puts campaign on hold. (4/16)

Nikki Haley has a polling average of 3.9% 57 days after her announcing her candidacy for GOP presidential nomination. (4/12)

Welcome to the GOP: Party of batshit crazy. (4/8/2023)

Donald Trump is indicted and GOP voters continue to stand by their man. (4/5)

Liz Cheney goes from 10 to 0 in one day. (4/4)

Disgraced pollster Robert Cahaly has Liz Cheney at 10% in latest Trafalgar 2024 presidential primary poll. (4/3)

Trump crushes DeSantis in latest Fox News 2024 presidential primary poll. (4/1)

March 2023

Quinnipiac releases its 2nd 2024 presidential primary poll this month. (3/29)

Trump the pick of half of respondents in latest Harvard-Harris GOP 2024 presidential primary poll. (3/27)

Trump beats DeSantis by 14 percentage points in Quinnipiac GOP presidential primary poll. (3/18)

February 2023

With all of his grandstanding of late, Ron DeSantis is unable to move the needle in national presidential polls. (2/26/2021)

Another day, another meaningless GOP presidential primary poll. (2/21)

December 2022

Trump 1 and Trump 2 continue to duke it out in 2024 GOP presidential primary polls. (12/20)

Trump nearly laps DeSantis in ourtlier Harvard-Harris poll, maintains comfortable average margin. (12/19)

November 2022

Feast on this pre-Thanksgiving 2024 GOP presidential nomination poll before you chow down on turkey. (11/23)

So at what point do we call it ‘klepto’ instead of ‘crypto’?

Headlines: CNN Business, U.S. Department of Justice, Aljazeera, Reuters

City of Eau Claire might join the group of 36 municipalities and 13 counties that charge a wheel tax in Wisconsin

The numbers are up from 26 municipalities and 12 counties in 2019.

Source: Wisconsin Department of Transportation

Wisconsin Public Radio, 7/14/2023

The Eau Claire City Council is expected to vote on a $24 vehicleregistration fee this month, which would raise around $1 million in new revenue for road repairs. The proposal has changed slightly from a failed February resolution that would have enacted a $30 wheel tax.
City Council Vice President Emily Anderson voted against the wheel tax earlier this year but is now a supporter. She said she hoped a bipartisan shared revenue deal sending more money to local governments would have been enough to cover growing road costs. Instead, the $1.2 million in new money is only expected to cover inflationary cost increases for existing services, Anderson said.

Bumpy ride: an endless quest to fix local roads in Wisconsin No decision on Marathon County wheel tax. (Northwoods Radio, 8/19/2016)
Wausau asks county for wheel tax cash. (Wausau Daily Herald, 8/18/2016)
Milwaukee County. County wheel tax, end to free GO Pass proposed. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8/12/2016)
Green Bay considers road tax to fund roadwork. (Green Bay Press Gazette, 8/2/2016)
Portage council OKs wheel tax; goes into effect Jan. 1. (The Times, 5/5/2016)

Pleasant View Road upgrade to 4-lane urban boulevard, Madison/Middleton WI (July 2023 construction site visit)

Screenshots and photos by Retiring Guy

video here

Related posts:

March and May site visits. (5/22/2023)

June visit. (6/10/2023)

July visit. (6/19/2023)

GET ME REWRITE!!!! GOP culture warriors strive to make Waukesha County Wisconsin a safe place for homophobes and transphobes

Headline: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7/14/2023

The board’s ruling comes at a time when officials at all levels of government are debating what should be presented in schools and how members of the LGBTQ+ community should be treated in schools.
The Waukesha School Board, like many nationwide, is technically nonpartisan — but has become increasingly partisan in recent years.
In Waukesha, there has been heavy influence from the county Republican Party, which spun off the WisRed political action committee — a committee that spent tens of thousands on Waukesha School Board races in 2022, mainly on media and consulting. The group has not contributed to individual campaigns but has endorsed candidates in previous elections.
District officials said Tuesday that 125 teachers resigned in summer 2022. That is more than double the 57 who resigned in 2021. As of June 16, 69 teachers have resigned so far this year. District officials said Friday that they would be able to confirm the number of resignations through mid-July on Monday.

Related posts:

2023

Wisconsin transphobe queen Barbara Dittrich is at it again. (7/14)

Waukesha County Wisconsin shows again it's not a safe place for LBGTQ+. (7/13)

Waukesha County Wisconsin not a safe space for LBGTQ+. (6/29)

Waukesha County Wisconsin not a safe space for LBGTQ+ (6/26)

It's contestant number 3!! Waukesha School District clown show continues apace. (5/19)

The sins of Waukesha school superintendent James Sebert. (4/16)

Welcome to the Waukesha School District clown show, starring superintendent James Sebert. (3/28)

2022

A study in white privilege: Meet the members of the School District of Waukesha Board of Education. (3/11)

Kettle Moraine School District goes viral as school board freaks out over living in the 21st century. (8/22)