Archive for the ‘Cronyism’ Category
August 16th, 2010 | 
Author: Terrence Wall’s departure trims GOP field to 2 in US Senate Race
Article by the Wisconsin State Journal: http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt_and_politics/article_15fb9f3a-699d-11df-92d1-001cc4c002e0.html
Madison-area developer Terrence Wall dropped out of the U.S. Senate race Thursday, saying it was the honorable thing to do, but he stopped short of endorsing any of his fellow candidates for the Republican nomination.
“I’ll continue to be involved in getting our country turned around, but it’s time for me to take a step back and take a hard look at how we move our country and the Republican Party forward,” Wall said in a statement.
His departure leaves two Republican candidates fighting for the chance to face Democratic U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold in November: tea party favorite Ron Johnson and Watertown businessman Dave Westlake. Former Commerce Secretary Dick Leinenkugel dropped out of the race at last week’s GOP convention and endorsed Johnson.
Wall’s announcement comes just four days after he lost the his party’s endorsement to Johnson, an Oshkosh businessman with no political experience. Johnson entered the race less than a week before the convention.
“If you said there was a candidate who entered the race five days before the convention and five days later stood as the odds-on favorite, you would think that candidate was (former GOP Governor) Tommy Thompson,” said Charles Franklin, UW-Madison poltical science professor. “Instead, it’s a guy most of us have not heard of before.”
Despite having a resume similar to Johnson’s, Wall never gained traction with Republican voters and suffered from some bad publicity, Franklin said.
Earlier this year, the State Journal reported Wall, a millionaire real estate developer, paid no net taxes in nine out of the previous 10 years, except in 2005 when he paid $43,520.
His staff accused Democrats of trying to mislead the public and said Wall’s companies paid more than $30 million in taxes over the last five years. Still, many experts felt the issue could haunt Wall during the campaign.
“Not paying taxes is a major issue,” said Jim Klauser, one of Wall’s honorary campaign co-chairs. “I think that threw a cloud over his whole campaign.”
Klauser called Johnson the best Republican candidate this year and said the party should unite behind him. Reince Priebus, Republican Party of Wisconsin chairman, thanked Wall for helping the party spread its message to voters.
“I … respect his decision to exit the race at this time but look forward to continuing together our efforts to elect a new senator for Wisconsin,” Priebus said.
In a statement Thursday, Johnson thanked Wall for running a good campaign and wished him well. Westlake, however, expressed sadness over his opponent’s departure. “He’s put in a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of hard work and a lot of money,” Westlake said. “I am sorry to see his campaign end this way. I truly am.”
Westlake said the chances of him dropping out were “zero, absolutely none.” Too many supporters have bought into his message of smaller government and fiscal responsibility, he said.
Wall, 45, was mounting his first statewide race after failing in both 2001 and last year to get elected to the village board of Maple Bluff. He had called himself a fiscal conservative and said he based his campaign around the need to create jobs, cut government spending and reduce taxes.
“We did show that we could win this race and we did so running an honest, clean campaign,” Wall said. “Last October, the polls showed us down double digits and few had heard my name outside of Dane County. Recent polling now shows that we have closed within the margin of error.”
Feingold has been in the Senate since 1992 following a 10-year stint in the state Legislature. Feingold won his last race in 2004 against Republican Tim Michels by 11 points.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact Clay Barbour at cbarbour@madison.com or 608-262-6129; contact Mary Spicuzza at mspicuzza@madison.com or 608-252-6122.
Posted in Govt_and_politics on Friday, May 28, 2010 6:40 am Updated: 9:37 am. Terrence Wall, U.s. Senate, Ron Johnson, Republican Party, Dave Westlake, Dick Leinenkugel, Jim Doyle, Russ Feingold, Charles Franklin, Reince Priebus
Posted in Candidates, Cronyism, Republican Party | 
Tags: dave westlake, ron johnson, terrence wall, us senate race, wi gop | 
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Careerism, by Reid Ribble
Careerism
by Reid Ribble
WI 8th District Candidate for Congress
Scoop Exclusive!: http://theinsidescoop.us/ribble3510.htm
Everywhere I go people ask why does Congress keep voting to increase the national debt while telling us that the national debt is bad? Why do they challenge us to live within our means while they continue to live outside of their own? And why after spending trillions of dollars on “stimulus” and bailouts do we have so little to show for it?
The simple answer and maybe the most honest answer is what I call careerism. The career politicians in our nation’s capital are trapped between wanting to get re-elected and doing what is in the people’s best interest. This was obvious just this week in the news. Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky, who is not running for reelection, spoke out against extending unemployment benefits and DOT funding. The shockwaves reverberated throughout Washington DC. Both Republicans and Democrats were denouncing his position. With outrage they cried “How can he be so insensitive? Doesn’t he know we are in an economic crisis?”
Senator Bunning was asking a question that rarely gets asked by career politicians. How are we going to pay for this? Just weeks after Congress voted for a “pay-go” requirement in the budget–where any increases in expenditures must be offset with cuts elsewhere or tax increases–they are already ignoring it. What Senator Bunning wanted was for the leadership to explain how the extension was to be funded. He could ask this very important question because he didn’t care about his reelection. The political fallout didn’t matter. What mattered was the principle. We must pay for our services now; we cannot force our grandchildren pay for what we receive. Pretty simple and very honest.
This issue is not about whether or not extending benefits was the right thing to do. There are all kinds of important projects in government and each one has its own constituency. The point I am trying to make is that many members of both chambers, and both parties, feel that they can’t ask tough questions anymore because they become victims of politics – the classic GOTCHA moments. It’s time for these career politicians to step down. These are important issues and how we as taxpayers pay for services and benefits must be part of the national discussion.
The government has no money of its own. Therefore it must take from one and give to another. Since we as taxpayers are the ones the money is taken from we are the primary stakeholder. But career politicians apparently no longer care about that. It’s time to vote them out and not send just another carbon copy to replace them. That’s why I have already gone public by self term limiting my time in DC to four terms. Then I will step down and let another go serve. By doing this I can shield myself, and more importantly you, from the politics that has taken us to this critical juncture in history. By doing this I can remove the insider pressure that is certainly causing some of the problems.
There are other issues in Washington DC, but I believe any measure that forces politicians to do what’s right, not just what’s politically expedient, is in all our best interests.
Ribble is running against Steve Kagen for Congress in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District. For more information go to www.ribbleforcongress.com.
Vilas County GOP held Caucus Monday Feb 22
Monday evening the Vilas County GOP held their Caucus and also regular monthly meeting in Eagle River.
Jim Knuth summarized 2009 highlights by the group:
- Lincoln Day Dinner Feb 6, 2009 had 160 in attendance, Scott Walker was keynote speaker
- Last spring 3 movies were shown and public was invited - the Northwoods Patriots was born out of these presentations
- Independence Day Parades - marched in parades with float and handed out over 8,000 flags with GOP tags attached
- Vilas GOP helped with the Northwoods Patriots with the July 4 Tea Party at the Derby Track - proof that the Tea Party movement is indeed a national movement, here to stay and will be influential in future
- Numerous GOP candidates were present at our meetings during 2009 and spoke to our group
Election of Officers was held and new board is as follows:
- Treasurer: Jim Lynn
- Secretary: Mary Lou Hakes
- Vice Chair #1: Kim Simac
- Vice Chair #2: Jeff Kirschmann
- Chairman: Jim Knuth
There was no group discussion of GOP principles, but our chairman did explain that principles he believed were important were listed on the back of business cards for the group. There was one proposal made that would allow our group to endorse candidates before the primary election in September. After discussion and dissent from members who said they felt the primary elections would serve this purpose and that we did not want a NY-23 situation happening here in Wisconsin, the resolution never came up for a vote.
Jim Lynn listed the 30 delegates and 30 alternates for the Vilas GOP, who has 30 votes to represent our county at the 8th District Caucus March 6 and at the State Convention May 21-23. Any members are invited to attend these functions - please contact a board member if you have interest in attending.
During the GOP Regular Meeting, Knuth reported that 180 were in attendance at the Lincoln Day Dinner Feb 5, 2010 at the Whitetail Inn in St. Germain. Numerous speakers were well received by the group and the evening did turn a profit for the Vilas GOP so thank you to all who attended and helped in any way to make the evening a success!
He asked for assistance with various initiatives including publicity chair, hospitality chair, awards chair (to handle state GOP awards efforts), campaign headquarters leader, and a resolutions committee were all requested to move the group forward in 2010. Jeff Kirschmann came forward suggesting that a membership committee be formed too and he agreed to chair that effort.
Discussion then focused on future efforts of the group and events we would participate in during 2010. Please watch our event calendar for upcoming meetings, events and candidate visits in the coming months!
Kim Simac then spoke and told the group of the Northwoods Patriots meetings every 2nd and 4th Tuesday and that Marc Savard and Roger Roth were two upcoming candidates to attend those meetings. The Republican Women of the North will hold their next meeting March 10 at 9am as a meet/greet with Roger Roth and to conduct a meeting to plan for the May 8 Candidate Debte that the Republican Women will be hosting.
Conflict of Interest Raised at Global Warming Task Force
For Immediate Release January 27, 2010
Contact: Senator Glenn Grothman 1-800-662-1227 - Capitol
262-689-8421 – Cell
One More Time – Stop the Global Warming Committee NOW!
Chairman Thilly’s Conflict of Interest puts Credibility of
Global Warming Task Force in Doubt
Madison: Senator Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) will publicly ask the Chairman of the Clean Energy Committee to begin today’s hearing with discussion as to whether the committee should be disbanded now that efforts of Representative Brett Davis (R-Oregon) have revealed that WPPI Energy of Sun Prairie is a major financial beneficiary of high-priced renewable energy.
“This whole thing smells – Roy Thilly, the chairman of the Governor’s Task Force on Global Warming, made it sound during the initial hearing as if he was concerned about the climate and renewable energy. Now it turns out he has such a financial stake in this matter that he could not possibly be an impartial chair and the Task Force’s work should be promptly dispatched to the wastebasket,” Grothman said.
“The idea we would even consider spending billions of dollars on alternative energy because of the recommendations made by a task force that was run by a man with such a brazen conflict of interest is untenable. He really should have disqualified himself as chairman before the task force started. In the alternative, the Clean Energy Committee ought to at least suspend operations until we get a thorough review of how much money Mr. Thilly and his company would get if this legislation would pass as proposed,” said Grothman.
Senator Grothman reiterated his call to disband the Clean Energy Committee as Wisconsin has had its second year in a row of temperatures below average, calling the whole rationale of the original task force in question. At the first committee meeting Senator Miller adjourned the committee while Senator Grothman tried to get his attention to discuss this fact.
Danny Tarkanian of Nevada pulls from Reagan’s Speeches in effort to Defeat Reid
Danny Tarkanian is running against two other Republicans in the Nevada primary election, for the chance to defeat Harry Reid in the general election.
The American Spectator called me “Harry Reid’s Armenian Nightmare.” Why? Because I’m a true conservative, and in the latest poll, I’m crushing Harry Reid by 14 points.
I’m writing because I need your help - to defeat the establishment in my Republican primary, and then to finish Ronald Reagan’s last campaign mission — to DEFEAT HARRY REID.
I want to put the defeat of Harry Reid in proper historical perspective, so I’m releasing a video about a single, critical day: November 3, 1986. It was the last day… of Reagan’s “last campaign.”
Maybe you remember where you were that day. You see, in 1986, Harry Reid first ran for the U.S. Senate, and on that fateful November day, President Ronald Reagan came to Las Vegas to stop him.
Ronald Reagan always knew Harry Reid was a danger to our nation. He told us Harry Reid was a tax and spend liberal. He told us that he opposed a balanced budget.
It took 24 years, but now we’re only months away from achieving one of Ronald Reagan’s final campaign goals: defeating Harry Reid.
But I need your help today. You see, I’m locked in a pitched battle for the conservative soul of the Republican party against a wealthy liberal establishment Republican who is trying to buy the primary with a million dollars.
My Republican opponent just doesn’t get it. Before running for Senate, she was a regular contributor to Harry Reid’s campaigns, and she actually called Harry Reid a “Reagan Democrat.” Even today, she defends Harry Reid’s vote for the bailouts, saying she might have voted the same way herself. With that attitude, you could argue it’s just as important to defeat her as it is to defeat Harry Reid.
The fact is, we are on the brink of finishing the job Ronald Reagan started on that fateful November day, but it will be a hollow victory indeed if we replace Harry Reid with an establishment Republican who defends the bailouts and the tax and spend establishment agenda of Harry Reid.
Let me be blunt. If you are interested in merely changing the name of Nevada’s Senator, I am not your candidate. If you are interested in standing for something - or fighting for a return to the conservative, Constitutional values that made this country great, then I want your help - I need your help NOW in this primary.
Don’t let a wealthy Republican bailouts apologist buy the Nevada primary, and don’t let Harry Reid’s left wing lobbyist money deny us a conservative victory in Nevada.
Join my conservative campaign to defeat Harry Reid in Nevada and together we will realize the dream of Ronald Reagan’s last campaign.
Please watch the video, and contribute today.
Danny Tarkanian
Paid for and authorized by Tarkanian for Senate
Planned Parenthood’s Sex Ed Bill coming to Vote Wednesday Jan 27 - now’s time to act!
I am saddened to inform you that the Senate Education Committee in Madison is scheduled to vote on Planned Parenthood’s Sex Education Bill – Senate Bill 324/Assembly Bill 458, this Wednesday, January 27th at 9:30 AM. The driving force behind the bill is America’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, which operates 3 of the 4 largest abortion clinics in Wisconsin.
For an indication of how Planned Parenthood intends to discuss sex with our children and their expectations for young people, please see their website at http://www.plannedparenthood.org/teen-talk/. Currently, Planned Parenthood is paid by the state of Wisconsin taxpayers to give free contraceptives to all adolescents above the age of 14 (However, they do not turn away younger boys and girls). SB 324/AB 458 is the most significant change to Wisconsin sex education that we’ve had in a generation and the bills clearly promote that young people are expected to be sexually active. These bills do this in the following way:
1. Currently, school districts can teach abstinence-centered instruction. While SB 324/AB 458 discusses abstinence, it will bar abstinence only instruction. This bill will not let school districts teach abstinence without teaching condom and contraceptive use. (SB 324 page 3, lines 14-17) http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2009/data/SB324-SSA1.pdf
2. Current law dictates that local school districts have committees, which include members of clergy, to decide what is included in their school district’s sex ed curriculum. This bill will require the curriculum be recommended by national liberal groups including the American Public Health Association, which has taken the extreme position of being in favor of partial birth abortion. http://www.apha.org/advocacy/activities/actionissues/legiationactionopposingpartial.htm
3.SB 324/AB 458 requires sex ed instruction to not have a bias regarding sexual orientation/homosexuality or having sex before marriage. Therefore, any instruction that says homosexuality or sex before marriage is considered morally wrong would not be allowed under SB 324/AB 458. Proponents of the bill have indicated this curriculum is appropriate for 6th and 7th graders. (SB 324 page 3, lines 23-25) http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2009/data/SB324-SSA1.pdf
4. Although parents are able to opt their children out, the instruction will influence the next generation of Wisconsin students’ morality and lower the expectations for early sexual activity.
For the current law on sex ed, see the following link: Wisconsin Law 118.019
Your urgent action is requested
- Contact the Senate Education Committee members and ask them to oppose AB 458/SB 324.
- Contact your state senator and ask him/her to vote “no” on Senate Bill 324 and AB 458.
- Forward the information in this email to as many of your family and friends as possible and personally request their help in defeating these morally devastating bills.
- If possible meet with your state senator in person and ask them to stand with life and oppose these Planned Parenthood bills. - This is especially important for people who live in the Democrat districts of the Wisconsin Senate Education Committee members - Green Bay area, Racine area, Madison/Fitchburg/Verona/Waunakee area, and Hayward/Superior/Rice Lake and Cable area.
- Pray that this bill is stopped from becoming law in Wisconsin.
Contributed by: Jim Konowalski
262-375-3930 (Home)
262-377-1902 (RPOC Office)
See us on the web at: www.OzCoRepublicans.com
via Oneida Co Chair
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