GOP races to the Iowa finish line

As the day gets closer, presidential caniddates are racing to meet as many Iowans as possible and show that they have the street cred to be the republican nominee.  Most polls shows that most caucus goers are still undecided. Why?  The candidates fall into two basic camps right now.  Either very conservative but unelectable or electable but not conservative enough.  Charismatic or knowledgable.  The question is who will beat Obama?  I believe that Romney has the best chance for the Republican party.  I was on his steering presidential steering committee. No candidate is conservate, knowledgable or charismatic enough to clearly lead the pack.  Romney has led most of the way.  We have had a president who was very charismatic but clearly cannot get the job done. 

Does Iowa Straw poll really matter?

The field of GOP candidates are racing to the finish line as the Iowa straw poll is expected to take place at Iowa State University on Saturday.  But before that there will be debate on Friday sponsored by Fox News and the Washington Examiner.  Its been debated whether the outcome of this straw poll really does anything.  Minnesota candidates Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann have been pouding the poltiical pavement.  Mitt Romney has been noticeably absent but has been able to support a campaign financial network from his last run for president in 2008. 

Will the State Avoid Government Shutdown/Who will blink first?

I put two titles in here today because there could be two titles. A policy oriented phrase or one that a media group might use to grap your attention.  Yes, I admit that talking about finances is never the sexiest topic to talk about but its also a situation if not dealt with honestly or in a timely manner can bring disasterous result which is why the state is at an impass today. 

I think that if there is a government shutdown the republcans will probably bear the political brunt of it because the governor is not up for re-election for awhile and the republicans are in control of the state legislature.  I always found it interesing when it is reported that the leadership is close to deal. Either you have a deal or you dont.  I guess theres a lot of political posturing on both sides.  They need to convince their base that they fought hard for their values and principles.  a deal means no goverment shutdown.  No deal means government shutdown.

Happy 4h of July Everyone!

Is it tea party time?

The Tea Party movement has become influential.  While Democrats and some liberals lambast their ideology they do it at their own peril.  Most tea party Americans are regular Americans who pay their taxes and expect their government to protect their constitutional rights.  Most Americans do believe that goverments has gotten out of control in their spending.  While most Americans have cut back on their spending as well as business the government has been on a spending binge.  It is time for governemnt to live within its means.  We need to cut back on programs that are no longer useful or beneficial.  Unfortuately for every government benefit there is someone there to defend its purpose.  To be honest even repubicans are guilty of the overspending.  We call this corporate welfare.  We lambast social welfare but everyone seems to be at the public trough now a days.  It needs to stop and needs to stop now.  Its not patriotic to profit in this country and then send it offshore to avoid taxes on it.  The Republcan party tends to defend corporate welfare because these corporations create jobs.

Convservaties still in wait and see mode

There are a variety of narratives so far in the repulibcan primary so far. The Gingrich campaign has an internal implosion as top campaign staff jump ship. Bachmann and Palin vying for similar voting block middle of America. Pawlenty a former governor is a smart guy but strggles for attention in the face of other GOP media heavy weights. Romney is a front runner but has not backed away from his health care bill that he signed as governor of Massachusets. Stated that is appropriate for states to experiment with ideas but not the federal governemnt. Word has it that Huckabee might not really be out of the race however if that were true he probably would still not be hosting his show on the Fox News Channel.


Recent polls have suggested that republican activists are not excited aboout the current field. I think we will have to wait and see. Its too early to tell who will emerge yet. We should give these candidates some time to tell us their story and how they would lead us for the next four years. My personal favorites are Romney and Pawlenty because they seem to be able to balance politics with policy.

Judge issues tempoary injunction for WI law

A WI judge has issued a temporary injunction after a lawsuit was filed in Dane County.  The lawsuit alleges that the law is no good because it violates the open meeting law that requires a bill to be available for viewing 24 hours before a vote is considered.  Republicans were forced to strip away parts of the bill from the original bill because the bill had fiscal implications which means that a super majority is requred to pass the bill.  The bil as re-introduced would simply need a simple majority to pass the bill.  Of course the larger perspertive is that the state legislature must balance its budget. This may be a procedural hurdle but misses the larger point fiscal restrant.  Public unions cannot hold the govverment hostage by demanding unreasonable concessions.  Most public employees unions make a better than competitive wage.  

WI GOP outmaneuver Dems

I dont think that the senate democrats should have been surprised by the legislative procedure that allowed the republicans to vote on the union bill. These Senators should have known the rules and the ramificiations for those rules.
I applaud the Senate republicans for trying to move forward. Do the democrats want what happened to California? Notice that this bill was not aimed at the private unions. Public employee unions have had it good for along time. Their benefits packages are extremely generous. But the ride is over.
The Senate should not have left their posts in the Senate Chamber. They violated their oath of office when they fled Wisconsin and refused to protect and defend the constitution by not voting. The democrats claim they were trying to get more people aware of the bill. The democrats were soundly defeated in November when they lost the majority in the House and Senate and the governors office. The will of the people was clearly spoken. But apparently the demcrats think they have the right to ignore that. Just like the communists in the former Soviet Union, China and North Korea.
Democrats are alway complaining that the republicans dont sympathize with the poor people but we have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on welfare programs and where has that gotten us?