Democrats Challenge Bush Rubber Stamp

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I HAVE no idea why people including rural conservatives keep electing this guy to office. He has brought nothing to southern Wisconsin. Nothing.

He wants to turn Social Security into a private investment retirement account. Never mind that SS’s sole purpose is to protect the participant from the very instability and risks he wants to change it into. Ryan gives credit to the Bush tax cuts for growing us out of the ashes of 9-11, when the tax cuts have actually served as a brake on the economy and put us heavily into debt. Ryan has allowed himself to be used as a tool by the executive branch, authoring wrong-headed presidential veto powers, rubber stamping Bush initiatives and voting along party lines.

TIME AND AGAIN, he votes against civil liberties, the environment, workers rights, unions and decent wages. Ryan is all about profits – he’s all about business. Not bad if you're a banker or a corporate executive, but not good when you're a public servant. He is a very typical run-of-the-mill Republican politician. He has pandered to the workers at the GM plant in Janesville offering nothing, absolutely nothing in legislation to promote good paying union jobs and benefits or consumer incentives of any kind. His energy policy is as bad as his economic policy, built on the status quo, procrastinating the inevitable just to prolong his career. He has brought very little to his district and has recently gone on record he will bring home even less.

Whew! I got that off my chest.

Now, this is the first time Ryan has three serious-minded people vying for his seat. Paulette Garin, Marge Krupp and Steve Herr all appear capable of the job he has not been able to do. But which one is electable? At this point, I’m leaning towards Krupp but it’s still too early early to call. She seems to be tackling Ryan’s position on multiple fronts instead of merely generalizing. The challenger who knows a little about nearly everything and capable of debating Ryan with common sense and confidence will do better than one who sticks with one or two themes, regardless of their depth of knowledge. Remember, Ryan’s been around long enough to have gotten his fingers into nearly everything.

AS A BLOGGER and voter in the 1st Congressional District, I need to hear a lot more from the challengers. No, I want to hear a lot more from the challengers.

We have never seen Ryan respond against a real challenger and I predict this time around we will see a Paul Ryan we have never seen before. When challenged, he will not give up his seat without fierce attacks.

JG Excerpt:
Thomas said he believes his name recognition is what makes him stand out when voters have so many choices, "so the more, the merrier, as far as I'm concerned."

......Jeffrey Thomas.....explaining why name recognition has not helped him defeat Paul Ryan.

Janesville Getting Snow-Jobbed In The Summer

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It all started a few weeks ago when freshman councilman Bill Truman made what appeared to be a simple request at the time. He noticed some city parks and roadway areas were beginning to look unkempt with tall grass and suggested that they receive a little more attention, particularly during the summer tourist season. This request was quickly shut down by the City Manager Steve Sheiffer. He said now is not the proper time to bring this up and advised Truman that his request would be best handled during the next budget.

Last week, the Janesville Police Department requested the addition of a canine unit to the force costing at least $26,000 annually. The Deputy Chief made his presentation using charts and peer city comparisons and said the initial start-up costs could come from some surplus elsewhere in the department. Fair enough. But where was Steve Sheiffer on this matter? The city council made a motion for the canine unit and passed it through.Only one councilman voted against it.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
Councilmen George Brunner, former top cop, voted against the plan because he said the proper time to discuss it is during 2008 budget talks.

Well, well, well. Councilman Brunner was merely following the script laid down by the city manager during the earlier mow-job council meeting. Point is, why didn't the City Manager stop the PD's request in its tracks? What is the difference between the Police Department making this request for additional tens of thousands of dollars in mid-fiscal year or Councilman Truman making a simple request at a previous meeting to have some knee-high grass mowed around the city? At least one other resident noticed something is wrong here.

JG Sound Off Excerpt:
On City Parks Upkeep: At Monday's meeting, council members questioned City Manager Steve Sheiffer as to why parks and roadways were not being mowed. His answer was because of the property tax freeze and money was not available. This was followed by a closed session about acquiring property for recreation. Does this make sense? -- anonymous

In addition, Sheiffer said earlier city budget cuts were the result of the property tax freeze (read republicans) and hoped this time around the senate (democrat) version will pass. Pretty slick.

But I have to blame the council too for these shenanigans. They blinked at the mow-job meeting when they should have merely taken Sheiffers statement as a matter of advice. They should have proceeded to make a motion on Truman's request and bring it to a vote. They failed.

A long, long time ago I recall that the leader of the largest city in the mid-west was canned simply because he couldn't get the snow plowed in the winter. Why should we expect anything less when our leader can't get the grass mowed in the summer?

But we can't vote Sheiffer out for these failures, he's not a mayor.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
But eight of 10 Wisconsin cities with populations topping 60,000 have such (canine)units.

Nine out of 10 peer cities also have a mayor, if you exclude Janesville.

Janesville Presidential Campaign Donors

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Here's a short list of presidential campaign donors from Janesville.

Name----------------------Occupation--------------------Amount--Candidate

David Baum-----------CEO--------SSI Technologies---------$500----Guiliani
John P. Cullen--------Advisor-----J.P. Cullen & Sons-------$1000---McCain
James F. Fitzgerald-------Retired---------------------------------$500----Guiliani
Marilyn Fitzgerald-------------------------------------------------$500----Guiliani
Tom Jeffris----------President--Family Foundation----------$1000---Guiliani
Wade Morris----------Doh – Custom Border Protection----$250----Obama

Click here and find out who is giving to whom in your area. Works by zipcode or city.

When Public Information Becomes Publicized

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A letter writer to the Janesville Gazette thought the newspaper overstepped their bounds when they referenced an informant in a prostitution case involving a local strip-club by her real name.

JG Letter Excerpt:
I give this informant credit for stopping these illegal acts. But why would anyone want to give information to the police when it is going to be publicized by the news as to who the informant is? We need more informants.

I agree, particularly since the case is still wide open. But the Janesville Police Department was sharp enough to use a code name for the informant in statements made to the press. She was known as JP144 until the Gazette thought it better to ignore such trivial police nonsense. Earlier, they referred to the actions taken by the informant with this title Screamin Worker Squealed. Classy.

After the letter the paper offered this explanation.

JG Letter Excerpt:
EDITOR'S NOTE: We used the information because it was included on the criminal complaint, which is a public document available to anyone, including all people eventually charged with crimes and their attorneys. Given that, we saw no reason to withhold those details.

But just because this information is a public document available to anyone, not anyone owns a newspaper. The Gazette cherry-picks public information to whatever fits their agenda and goals. For instance, in a recent county race, they deliberately withheld public statements from an affidavit of a whistleblower in a controversial case because……… the whistleblower happened to be their pick for the office. This information was not flattering but offered history of the candidate voters might want to know. Given that, they saw good reason to withhold those details.

But its much worse than this, you have to begin to wonder where their sense of community cooperation is regarding the wishes of authorities who are not making political decisions or statements, but just people doing their jobs.

In addition, Thursday’s Gazette ran a statement from Halbach’s attorney denying recent allegations that they organized or condoned prostitution despite the fact that police have not made those allegations.

JG Excerpt:
And police have not alleged that Jim and Rebecca Halbach, the clubs' owners, or Kevin Weaver, the clubs' manager, organized or condoned prostitution.

So what gives then? And even though no charges have been filed at the time of this posting, some people including the police find it odd that the Halbachs have to publicize their innocence at all.

JG Excerpt:
"So the public claim of innocence seems a bit curious," Moore said.

Why? What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Well the reality is, the Halbachs ARE being tried by the Janesville Gazette in the public arena with their stories of the allegations well before charges are considered. In Wednesday’s Sound Off column was this little beauty.

JG Sound Off Excerpt:
If you were to look in the dictionary for the term “losers” it wouldn’t surprise me if you found a picture of Jim and Rebecca Halbach. They are a disgrace to our community.

Remember, this has to get past the person collecting the calls and then approved by at least two editors of the newspaper. Whether people feel this way or not is not the issue, its whether it is fitting and proper for a newspaper to allow these flame-baiting comments at all. Apparently they think so.

I certainly don’t expect everyone to agree with my political views, but if there’s one piece of advice here that you should seriously consider is this. When a reporter wants to include you in on a story, ask them what Javon Bea from Mercy Hospital asked. Ask “How will I be represented?” and then say “I want a signed statement giving me full control of the final draft before it goes to print, otherwise adios.” If they refuse, at least you’ll still have your dignity.

Pinnacle Of Privatization: Public School TaxPayers

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If it’s one thing taxpayers can use some relief from, it’s the portion of their property taxes that pays for the local public schools. In his efforts to slash and burn education, one Wisconsin lawmaker proposed an idea that stinks to high heaven simply because it targets a specific group of workers to pay for their own advanced schooling. But upon further examination, if this concept were spread over the entire pool of all employers in the state or even the country – it just might work.

JG Excerpt:
Also on the chopping block is UW-Extension's School For Workers, which has trained union leaders for more than 70 years. Nass (R), whose plan would eliminate its $932,800 state subsidy, said unions should fund the school.

Before you jump to conclusions think about this a moment. Why not push all school funding onto all businesses, organizations, hospitals, retail stores, legal services, corporations, private security firms, you name it, through a new tax on profits. Why shouldn’t all businesses fund the public schools to pay for the education and training of their future employees – why just pick on unions? With the push to privatize everything under the sun, perhaps it’s time to include the paying chores of our public educational institutions onto the same entities that profit from privatization in the first place. It’s time they take direct fiscal responsibility for the training and education of their workers, union members and professionals. If Nass thinks a special interest group like unions can afford to do it, then certainly the rest can too.

Some people might think this a far-left concept. But just ask Nass because fundamentally, it's his idea.

Complicit Democrats Won't Censure?

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Our great Senator Russ Feingold is once again calling on Congress to censure President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and other administration officials for "misconduct relating to the war in Iraq and for their repeated assaults on the rule of law."

What Feingold has been trying to do is highly commendable but I feared that merely censuring George W. Bush might be accepted in lieu of impeachment until I read this insightful posting on Topix.

bottlecap wrote:
The irony of the Iraq War is that Saddam Hussein was the nemesis for wahhabism whose epicenter was in Saudi Arabia. It is wahhabism that fueled the hatred of the 9-11 attackers.
Saddam was a true socialist, who used stalinistic tactics on these religious bigots and was able to control them. Now we have eliminated the wahhabist's biggest enemy and Congress should look into the influence of Saudi money in the Bush war decisions.
The problem is that Pelosi and the democrats are also getting Saudi money as witnessed by Pelosi's warm relationship with CAIR, a Saudi supported legal group.
Because of this the democrats would rather shirk an investigation into the war and hide behind the US attorney firings then have their own financial dealings with the Saudis come to light.

The secular modernist Saddam had nothing to do with 9-11 and wanted to talk directly with Bush months before the invasion. The rest is history. If there is any truth to bottlecaps statements - Bush is safe. He will not be censured or impeached - a genuine embarrassment.

It's getting to a point where people are so upset with Congress and their inability to change course after the recent mid-term election that ordinary people are willing to challenge them for their seats......and thats just the democrats!!! What would people like to do with Republicans? Don't even go there..you...don't....want......to.......know.

Readers Accuse Gazette Of Liberal Bias

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There really has been a lot going on all over the political spectrum that at times I can’t keep up and remain focused on just the local stuff. But every now and then our local newspaper, the Janesville Gazette gets accused of being a liberal left-wing publication which of course, is just too good to pass up.

JG Sound Off Excerpt:
On Scooter Libby case: Anyone who criticized Bill Clinton’s 140 pardons of his brother, Marc Rich, drug dealers, etc. has the right to criticize Bush. -- anonymous

Clinton pardoned lots of people who were convicted of wrongdoing on their own dime and by their own accord. I don’t know how many people Clinton pardoned were convicted of crimes he ordered them to carry out while he was in office. Possibly none. But apparently there was something wrong with the callers statement because the next week the same caller we assume, complained about the Gazette’s editing.

JG Sound Off Excerpt:
On Sound Off Editing:Your triage or cannibalism approach to my Scooter Libby comments is disturbing. My documented facts regarding Clinton’s pardons versus Bush’s was perfectly in line. The Gazette’s true liberal colors are showing, aren’t they? -- anonymous

HAH! For one thing, phone-calling in what now may have been a running list of names and reasons for being pardoned is truly comical. But calling the Gazette liberal because they cut your thesis short to fit in their rant column is just knock-down hysterical.

Look, here’s the deal. You are free to send your documented Bush/Clinton pardon facts and figures essay here where it will appear on the internet unedited forever. Sending it to the Gazette won’t do you much good, they agree with you. It’s us stupid liberals and lefties that need enlightenment. This is not a challenge, it’s an invitation. Just too funny, I can’t help myself.

Today, another Gazette reader sent a letter claiming that the Gazette’s description of illegal immigrants as “hard working and fearful” in a recent article places them in the same category as the New York Times or the ACLU. The illegal immigrant dilemma is one of very few issues that actually transcends partisan and idealogical lines. Most Neo-Cons including Bush have called illegals “hardworking people who just want to work,” while some democrats feel illegals would not be so easily taken advantaged by the corporate neo-cons if they were just made legal. Partisans from both sides of the aisle would like to send illegals back to where they came from as a matter of national security. As far as I'm concerned, this issue is dead because there is no consensus. Playing nice to take further advantage of exploited people does not qualify a person or a newspaper as standing up for civil rights. Accusing the Gazette of standing up for human dignity under these circumstances is just preposterous.

Janesville City Council Polishing Image

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The Janesville City Administration is considering a new water park projected to cost as much as $6 million. It only figures a few residents are concerned how such a large expenditure can be approved without a referendum.

JG Excerpt:
Sound Off: Who gave City Manager Steve Sheiffer authority to budget millions of dollars for the water park? Amounts that size should only be budgeted after a referendum. The city is in dire need of a mayor who answers directly to the people every election. – anonymous

To which the Gazette responded with this note.

JG Excerpt:
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sheiffer and his administration propose the budget; the elected council must pass it

Hopefully we all have the same meaning here of “must pass.” The following Sunday contained this call-in response.

JG Excerpt:
Sound Off: In regard to Sunday’s editor’s note concerning the city budget, while it is true that City manager Steve Sheiffer and his administration proposed the budget, it is equally true the council will approve anything proposed. Check their voting record for proof. – anonymous

I'm not old enough to remember when was the last time the Janesville City Council voted down a proposed city budget. And nearly every time City Staff offers recommendations on various issues whether it be fiscal management or ordinances, the council is nearly ALWAYS affirmative. Sure, council members voice concerns and make a statement with an occasional dissenting vote or two, but for the most part the motion passes, possibly as often as 95% of the time.

Benchmark Pressures Iraqis To Forfeit Oil

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One of the eighteen “benchmarks” Iraqis must achieve as a precondition to U.S. troop withdrawal is the acceptance of an oil franchise agreement authored by the Dick Cheney Energy Task Force. If you recall, this "secret" meeting involved a geological survey of Iraq laid out like a pirate treasure map with Cheney and Big Oil executives placing markers and staking claims years before the invasion.

The Energy Taskforce framework was then used as the roadmap to guide Congress to write the current benchmark for Iraq, loosely referred to as the hydrocarbon agreement. The agreement is expected to achieve the transformation of Iraq's oil system from a nationalized model -- all but closed to U.S. oil companies -- to a privatized model open to foreign corporate control. At least two-thirds of Iraq's oil would be open to foreign oil companies under terms they usually only dream about, including 30-year-long contracts. Most oil-rich countries reject the privatized model for obvious reasons.

AlterNet Excerpt:
With few exceptions, the American press has adopted the administration's language and continually and virtually exclusively refers to the oil law as a revenue sharing measure -- ignoring completely the fact that Iraqis would only be able to share the revenues left over after the foreign oil companies received their very sizable cut.

The sizable cut foreign oil companies expect to receive from the Bush Administration’s hydrocarbon “benchmark” amounts to about 63 out of approximately 80 known mother lode oil fields leaving the Iraqis control of only seventeen.

If the Iraqis don’t sign this agreement, I would expect come November that the Bush Administration will announce that an increase in troops is necessary, either with re-enforcements or another “surge” to put pressure on Iraqis to fulfill these benchmarks.
In America, the corporate-backed government-fed media passes off the troop surge as the only way to defeat the insurgency and stabilize Iraq. While in Iraq, it is becoming increasing reasonable to consider the surge pressure as a form of blackmail to fulfill certain benchmarks, among them of all things - a contract for oil.

Although most of us knew the invasion of Iraq was about oil, it sometimes isn’t enough to just say it. The truth about the Iraq Hydrocarbon Law is just another piece of the puzzle in the avalanche of evidence supporting our worst fears.

Read additional: Expert Opinion On Iraq Hydrocarbon Law

Read additional: Whose oil is it anyway?

City Management Works Magic For Developer

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I’ll start this off by saying that I strongly support inner-city re-investment and development as opposed to the alternative of annexing precious farmland for the sole purpose of sprawl. But sometimes it’s not what is done that is important but the steps some have taken to get it done.

It does seem like the City of Janesville has once again chosen to abuse the TIF economic tool regarding the plans of a local developer. With the Five Points redevelopment plan, at least they placed a TIF where it belongs, in an existing economically depressed area and not in empty fields on the outskirts of town. They got the location right this time around, but again have chosen to ignore some basic TIF principles and have put the buggy before the horse.

JG Excerpt:
The city creates TIF districts and sets existing assessed values and taxes as a baseline. Any increase in property value within the district resulting from development is an "incremental" increase in taxes above the baseline. All or part of the increase is used to pay for infrastructure improvements for that district.

This paragraph has been the Gazette’s cookie-cutter explanation of what a TIF is for the past few years. It explains nothing and doesn’t come close to addressing the larger tax burden placed on those living outside the TIF. It also says nothing about city guidelines or the recipient attributes necessary to qualify for a TIF. Considering how loosely city management uses TIF's, I wonder how much of Janesville is a TIF district?

Not always, but usually an area is chosen for rehabilitation by the city leaders first, AND THEN a TIF district is created to entice entrepreneurs, businesses and developers from outside the city and even the state. The idea here is to bring in NEW jobs that did not exist previously, not merely shift jobs around within city limits. But when a developer buys up properties and businesses first in a non-TIF district and THEN approaches the city for TIF money and gets their way, the city eventually hands over control of its destiny to the whims of the private investor. Allegations of collusion result, insider information is compromised and even blackmail is often assumed.

JG Excerpt:
Councilman Paul Williams was the only council member to vote against the TIF agreement. He said the 15-year TIF payback is too long. He also said he is not comfortable using TIF money for retail development.

Whatever his reasons, once again I am pleasantly surprised by Councilman Williams position on city matters. He is willing to stand up for city taxpayers and has proven to have an excellent command and awareness of important issues. If I had been on the city council, I too would have voted "no" and given the same reasons.

Janesville basically operates leaderless and is democratically dysfunctional, Williams would make a great candidate for mayor – if we had a mayor.

JG Excerpt:
One Fourth Ward resident, K. Andreah Briarmoon, argued that federal block grant money should be used differently to benefit the inner city neighborhoods rather than for Hendricks' development. The neighbors need a community center, not a grocery store, she said. Or the city could buy two windmills to lower the cost of energy in the neighborhood, she said. The money should not be given to a "... dude that's wealthier than Oprah," Briarmoon said.

Although I don’t agree with her in many areas, I have to hand it to her, she is openly playing full-time citizen and not afraid to speak out. That is important.

But a recent letter writer to the Gazette responded to Briarmoon and set her straight about the "dude" Ken Hendricks.

JG Letter Excerpt:
And while he may be worth more than Oprah, he’s just a guy like anyone else, trying to do the world some good, which is more than a lot of people can say. – Letter writer

I don’t know how billionaire venture capitalists working deals for TIF money can be classified as regular guys. On the other hand I also doubt that if Hendricks was just a near penniless regular guy, would he be trying to do the world some good as the letter writer implies. Make no mistake, Hendricks is right there when it comes to turning a deal for a buck, that some good may come out of it all depends on whether others are willing to take a greater risk.

Supporting Gas Guzzler Future A Big Gamble

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On Wednesday, the Janesville Gazette published an open letter by Forward Janesville to the Citizens of Rock County about their position on new CAFE standards and to my surprise, they (Forward Janesville) did not call out politicians or political parties by name. Coming from a heavily politicized right-wing organization such as them, this is a change for the better, but they certainly have not convinced me that gas guzzlers are the way to the future for the Janesville GM plant.

They offered their view that when it comes to purchasing vehicles, consumers control what they buy, and government should not try to change that.

JG Excerpt:
Why have CAFE standards failed? Because consumers control what they buy, not the manufacturerers. — Forward Janesville

Not only does that statement ignore the high cost of gasoline, the entire letter avoided the gasoline price issue.

Sure, politicians will always say that strict mileage standards will lower our dependence on foreign oil because it sounds good, but the average Joe at the pump could care less about the foreign-sourced oil concern. In the past just like now, strict CAFE standards were imposed because of the high price of gasoline, and CAFE standards fail or should I say became irrelevant when gasoline was cheap and plentiful as it was through the mid 80’s and 90’s. People really did buy what they wanted, mileage, foreign oil or automaker be damned. Can anyone in good conscious say that nothing has changed since then?

Although I would admit today we have the added awareness of global warming, pollution, conservation and poor gasoline infrastructure issues, this only adds to the urgency to impose dramatically tougher fuel efficiency standards. But the single biggest reason why we are even talking about CAFE is because Big Oil is woefully inadequate as the vendor of the nations gasoline fuel supply. Gasoline is now expensive. That their ineptness is rewarded by huge profits runs contrary to everything most individuals hold dear as basic fundamentals to prosperity. Our values have been compromised and our stubbornness has turned us into fools.

But I return to this open letter.

Right now, the price of gasoline (not government) is nibbling away at our freedom and changing our buying habits. We can no longer ignore the price of gasoline when we set out to buy a new vehicle. Unless something positive happens on the refinery scene (don’t hold your breathe), light-truck plants like Janesville GM can build the finest most durable trucks in the world using micrometer tolerances on body fit - and market share will dwindle. But don’t take my word for it – look at recent sales reports. Here.....here......and again.....here.

The ups and downs of auto and truck sales closely mirror the gyrations of pump prices. Only the intellectually dishonest will blame politicians and government meddling for these poor sales results.

JG Excerpt:
It’s simply more politically expedient for Congress to force these standards down the throats of auto manufacturerers than entice consumers to make different choices when buying vehicles. – Forward Janesville

I wish I could call them on their position and watch the consequences of weak fuel standards unfold and crush the American light-truck and SUV industry, but I am not a sadist. Those opposed to tough CAFE standards seem willing to ignore recent sale's reports, the current price of gasoline, world history, middle-east instability, global oil supplies, refinery manipulation and consumer trends. It would be funny, if it weren't so true. Just ask Rep. Paul Ryan why he opposes CAFE, he probably won't mention anything from above.

Obviously, there is a lot more politically going on with people when they suggest to others that government should not meddle in corporate affairs, but imply it's perfectly fine for government to offer consumers enticements to make different buying choices. I assume by enticements they mean the government should offer tax credits, rebates and subsidies to encourage people to buy vehicles they supposedly don’t want. But this can work both ways, why not tax people to help pay for the added burden their gas guzzler imposes on the environment and the country's fuel supply? Taxes are enticements too. But enticements as credits or taxes are not the answer to this challenge. In this case they just create another class-dividing bureaucracy that tells people that if they have enough money – they can simply buy the privilege.

Twenty years ago, American automakers lost the auto segment to imports over quality, and if we learned anything from past history and recent trends, they are on track to lose the truck segment by thinking only quality matters. Granted, it's different this time around. If we do nothing, low demand for gas guzzlers will force automakers to shrink the light-truck segment in faster time than Congress is willing to give them to attain higher fuel standards.

I’m not willing to gamble on that, and I have a lot less to lose than many others including Forward Janesville.

Janesville Community Celebration Donor Targeted

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With the high level of negativity, scorn and hate directed at Jim Halbach and his efforts to raise money for the Jaycees Fourth of July Celebration, it should come as no surprise to anyone that his businesses would come under a greater amount of scrutiny than ever before. Fending off allegations of prostitution, owning a strip club puts him at a huge disadvantage if he has to rely on the benefit of the doubt.

JG Excerpt:
Police focused on Screamin' MeeMees because they had no prior information or evidence of prostitution and sexual activity at Diamond Jim's & The Isabella Queen, Moore said. No one resisted or was injured during the searches, and no other contraband was confiscated, Moore said.

Despite this apparent lack of evidence and cause (as reported in the paper), local law enforcement made what appeared to be one of those "slam-dunk" decisions, "Hey it's a strip club, we'll find something if we dig deep enough."

JG Excerpt:
Screamin' MeeMees is a non-alcoholic strip club open to people 18 and older. Performances there feature full nudity.

I’m in no way defending Jim Halbach or his business, but he had to know his type of business is constantly being watched, especially after his generous donation and participation in the city's Fourth of July Celebration.

JG Excerpt:
"We received information within the last two weeks of prostitution and drug sales at Screamin' MeeMees," Moore said. "Most of the evidence was developed in the last week, more specifically last weekend.

The more I read this article the more it sounded like authorities are hoping to turn up evidence they should have had before they acted on the complaints. Either that or authorities held back incriminating evidence and information from the newspaper. Which wouldn't surprise me given the paper's history of trying and convicting people in the public square.

Given the type of business Halbach and Co. is involved in, it will be interesting to find out how his strip club operation compares to others earning a living in these rather questionable yet legal activities.

WSJ Excerpt:
The businesses were apparently unaffected by the police investigation. A recording at Screamin' Mee Mees noted the clubs hours and cover charge, and a woman who answered the phone at Diamond Jim's Tuesday said it was business as usual.

Even though the timing smells like a witch-hunt and the preliminary evidence looks like a witch-hunt and the extent at which law enforcement carried out the raids and investigation walks like a witch-hunt, doesn’t let him off the hook, IF he is guilty of wrongdoing, he won’t survive the witch-hunt.

Republicans Show True Colors With NAACP

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President Bush, doing his Dr. Phil routine diagnosed America as having war fatigue. Not like he had anything to do with the symptoms and besides, if Americans only had his battle hardness and courage and not this inherent psychological weakness, we would not only be supporting this ill-begotten war of his, we would be winning it.

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Democrats: Don’t pardon Libby:
“I am saddened for Scooter and his family," Cheney said. "As I have said before, Scooter has served our needs nation tirelessly and with great distinction through many years of public service."

This is one area where I disagree with my fellow Democrats. By NOT pardoning Libby and only commuting his sentence, Bush has implied that the “wrongdoer” has been tried and convicted and at this point, it is “case closed.”

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The best of the best.
Only one Republican showed up at the NAACP presidential forum in Detroit. Candidate Tom Tancredo was all by himself on the stage even though invitations went out to the entire GOP field. Those who failed to attend showed their true colors when all eight claimed they had scheduling conflicts. Yet all the Democrats who were invited showed up at the NAACP Forum when it was their turn.
Because some feel the NAACP is a left-wing organization (truth be known, real civil rights organizations must be left-wing), right-wing bloggers have defended the no-show republicans by drawing comparisons when democrats refused to attend the Fox news debate. But the democrats were on the level when they gave their reasons not to appear on Fox, not some lame scheduling conflict routine Republicans used to avoid “those people.” The MSM killed this story.

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Soon after a meeting with President Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin feels it is in Russia’s best interests to pull out of arms control treaty.

This stuff just writes by itself.

Milton Ethanol Plant A Real Stinker

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After only four months of operation, the new ethanol plant in Milton’s Eastside Industrial Park is drawing attention to itself in the most obnoxious ways.

JG Excerpt:
What appeared to be ash falling from the sky actually was dried distillers grain -a corn product created during the ethanol production process, Ogren said.

Ohhhh, why didn’t you say so, in that case, ok. In this part of the country, when we see something other than rain or snow falling from the sky, us cheeseheads tend to call it ash. Next time we’ll know that it’s just dried distillers grain.

JG Excerpt:
One of the selling points of the plant was that it would bring at least 30 new jobs to the community, Glorvigen said. "Where are those jobs?" Glorvigen asked. United Ethanol hasn't advertised locally to fill available positions, and most of the people operating the Milton plant have been hired from other states and communities, she said.

I could rant about this for hours. When communities allow this type of growth, it's not enough to make sure locals build the development, there has to be a guarantee that locals receive at least 75% of it's operations payroll. But hey, maybe United Ethanol thought if you’re dumb enough to let them build an ethanol plant in your back yard, you’re certainly not smart enough to work there.

Republicans Serious About Budget Proposal

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After burying the Republican position on the state budget in one of their recent issues, the Janesville Gazette ran three articles about the battle of the two budgets this past Saturday. One was the front-page headline Budget debate turns theatrical, written by a Gazette staffer, the second was an opinion piece by Stan Milam and the third was an editorial. Granted, the writer of the front-page article attempted to use antagonizing quotes from both parties to achieve some balance, but concluded the piece by building up to a solution based on compromise, except for the Republicans part.

JG Excerpt:
Kedzie said: “There’s going to have to be a great deal of compromise, but I don’t see the Republicans working toward higher tax increases.”

So, with that said, what do the Republicans have to offer for compromise at the table? Basically nothing.

Then there was this quote.

JG Excerpt:
"The fact that the Democrats were able to get only one student to speak proves that it's not that big a deal to students", said Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, when asked to comment on the event.

When Doyle gets a standing ovation from BTC students and faculty, it's no big deal. Yet Republicans polished the "crown jewel" of their budget plan by claiming how important it is to bring relief to students who think it's no big deal?

Milam for a change, exposed the Republicans class-war against poor Wisconsinites, no less.

JG Excerpt:
“The state budget is a serious blueprint that must meet the needs of the entire state, yet the Republican lawmakers have deliberately targeted citizens living in Democratic areas as less worthy of service and attention” -- Sen. Bob Jauch, (D) Poplar

But none of this matters to the Gazette editorial staff. They write up the democrats plans as too much tax too late while describing the Republican budget proposal as fiscal prudence. In their editorial titled Budget plans shine spotlight on great divide, they seemed to continue where Kedzie left off, that is, compromise is essential, but only if the democrats concede.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
The budget proposals offer little common ground. But it’s time for Robson to put her money – make that your money – where her mouth is and swiftly lead the conference committee to compromise.

Why is it only Robson’s time? Where is Mike Huebsch? Absent? On one hand, I don't blame the editorial staff for choosing only Robson to cut through the class warfare of the morally bankrupt Republicans and finalize a state budget. But if Huebsch is there and unwilling to compromise, the least he can do is make himself useful and get the coffee ready.

Bush At The Top Of His Game

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Earlier headlines - Al-Qaeda has rebuilt - Stronger than ever.

Who woulda’ thunk it?
The White House said today there is no credible intelligence to support that fear.

Thank goodness they are all on the same page, heh?

Probably the best way to get the facts straight is to ask Condi Rice about all this. If she replies the threat report is merely "historical" information, then we know we are in deep sh_t!

Hours ago, Bush says Victory Still possible

As delusional as Bush is, he has America at that “golden moment.” That is, if Al-Qaeda doesn’t attack the homeland, it’s because of his strategy in Iraq and efforts to “stay the course.” But IF we are attacked, it’s proof the enemy is as vicious as he has been saying all along, and when desperate killers are on the run, they will resort to anything to inflict damage on Americans. This is where Bush shines, wouldn’t you know it, in the worst way.

Republican Crown Jewel - A Lump Of Coal

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The state budget proposed and passed by a Republican majority on Tuesday will devastate health care, the environment and education – including a potential loss of 28 teachers in Janesville schools according to one local Democratic legislator. An area Republican – left unidentified by the newspaper chimes in with this consolation for Janesville schools.

JG Excerpt:(link not available)
But an area Republican pointed to a 4 percent UW System tuition cap and $119 in UW spending cuts as evidence that Republicans “prioritized the ability to pay for students, families, and taxpayers.”

Pardon my french here, but what the hell does Republicans "prioritized the ability to pay for students, families, and taxpayers” mean? Oh wait - students, families and taxpayers make up just about everyone - so lets make the teachers pay.

JG Excerpt:
Nass, chairman of the Assembly College and Universities committee, described the tuition cap as the "crown jewel" of the Republican proposal that will increase tax support for the UW system by 3 percent in two years and bring relief to students who have faced an average of 8.5% annual tuition increase since 1997.

Oh you're soooo generous. Here we go with the "short the schools and more money will flow in" logic, when in fact tuition may have to rise at a faster clip to make up for the state shortfall.

These potential cuts should be BIG news for Janesville. But you never know what Janesvilleans are thinking lately.

To ensure this story was positioned properly, it was presented by the Gazette Staff as low key as possible. The story received some additional consideration in the paper with a supplemental piece detailing differences in the Democratic and Republican budget proposals, but the draconian cuts proposed by the Republicans headlined as “Assembly approves less for education” on page 3 of a 6-page local section. Two weeks ago the Gazette headlined the "Healthy Wisconsin" plan as a Democratic plan - not a Senate initiative.
Although the Republican Assembly budget story was highlighted on several Wisconsin news stations, you wouldn’t know it was even in this newspaper as the Gazette thought it better to keep it out of plain sight, omitting it from the front-page sidebar top story index of their hardcopy. Instead they thought it was more important for readers to know that the local school board may have to cut a sport out unless they raise ticket prices by $2 beginning in September 2008. What can be viewed as an attempt to cover this, they post a different article and headline on the Republican budget written by the AP for their on-line version.

Gazette favorites Mike Huebsch, Brett Davis and Steve Nass all voted "yes" to cut more teachers from schools and essentially destroy Wisconsin.

In The Real World - Don't Get Sick

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What a difference here between newspaper editorials regarding the Healthy Wisconsin Initiative. The first one is a fine example of our very own “beholden to no one” Janesville Gazette. The second one belongs to the LaCrosse Tribune and the third to the Post Crescent.

JG Editorial HealthCare On Life Support:
The haste with which this proposal was introduced and passed makes Sen. Judy Robson's statement above laughable.

"Senate Democrats are completely disingenuous with their rhetoric about an open and accessible legislative process," Kedzie argued.

Actually, by introducing it at the last minute, without giving everyone a fair chance to evaluate it, Democrats will have no one to blame but themselves.

Just another political attack editorial completely dismissing the plan for those "beholden to no one" reasons. Never offering anything on their own.

LaCrosse Tribune Don’t get sick:
The “Healthy Wisconsin” plan is an attempt to provide health insurance for everyone. It divides the state into regions that coincide with the regions that already exist in the state’s employee health insurance plan.

Not perfect, but a personal and yet objective perspective as you can get.

Or even this.

Post Crescent - Appleton Excerpt:
In the real world, a reform plan - even if it's a long shot - can at least be used as a starting point for discussion, as long as it's done honestly.

If only we had a newspaper that wrote editorials like this instead of the GOP shill we read everyday here in Janesville.

Energy Bill Favors GM

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The saga continues, on July 6th, the Gazette published a letter co-authored by Rep. Sheridan, the Janesville GM shop foreman and plant manager.

JG Letter Excerpt:
If the Senate's proposed fuel economy increases are final, the likely result will be auto manufacturing moving to other countries in order to build smaller vehicles that customers don't want to buy.

Huh? I don't mean to poke fun - honest, but you don't have to go overseas to build vehicles nobody wants, according to the latest sales statistics, WE are building vehicles nobody wants right here - NOW.

Certainly, the co-authors of this letter have their reasons to oppose the energy bill but, when American organized labor beats the fear-drum normally employed by the very corporatists who have sold them out, it’s time for a wake-up call.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
Lumping trucks and cars into an overall fleet average is a problem for U.S. automakers in general, General Motors in particular and Janesville plant specifically.

The latter is not quite true. In fact, out of the big three American automakers, GM is by far the best positioned to compete for gas-miser sales in all segments. Since trucks account for 56 percent of GM's sales, they have a better balance to offset mileage requirements within the categories. Trucks account for 65% of Ford's and nearly 75% of the Chrysler Group's. The energy bill could use some tweaking, but the changes will benefit Chrysler, Ford and some of the imports - not GM.

Just consider this supporting information courtesy of Janesville Plant Manager Gary Malkus as posted as a sidebar to their editorial in the Janesville Gazette on Sunday.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
GM offers 24 models, more than any other automaker, getting at least 30 mpg on the highway.

GM is currently the frontrunner in number of fuel efficient models, this alone puts them in an excellent position to attain future mileage requirements and compete for market share.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
GM leads in fuel economy for nine out of 16 models of small cars, seven out of ten models of large pickups and 17 out of 26 SUV’s.

I’ll say this folks, if this information is true, GM has a clear advantage against all the automakers including the imports.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
GM is at the forefront in producing E85 models that burn ethanol.

There is no reason not to believe these statements. GM is holding the best opening hand against ALL the competitors.

Then there's the Gazette.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
It might already be too late for the local GM plant. By voting for the Senate bill, Feingold turned his back on Janesville.

What a pre-mature and shameless thing for a newspaper to say considering the energy bill is not yet finished. But two can play at this game.

If they soften the gas mileage requirements as per Paul Ryan, GM WILL NO LONGER BE AT THE FOREFRONT ON ANYTHING. ANYBODY can build a gas guzzler. If autoworkers really believe gas guzzling trucks and SUV’s are the future, stick with Paul Ryan. If anyone thinks that gasoline will never pop to five dollars a gallon or more within the next ten years, stick with Paul Ryan. Building EnergyStar Trucks and SUV’s will be the future market and to the contrary, Janesville can be the future if we don’t turn our backs on this reality. Don’t be fooled by the satisfaction of complacency or the blindness of a partisan newspaper.

If U.S. automakers outsource overseas to build the EnergyStar vehicles they insist they can’t build here, you can blame Paul Ryan. The fear-mongering is strictly political AND short-sighted if not selfish economics.

Don't be fooled. The U.S. Senate including Sen. Feingold has done GM a big favor.

Bush Unpardonable If Libby Served Sentence

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Seems a lot of people including former president Clinton and even Bush supporters are up in arms over his pardon commutation of loyal subject Scooter Libby. Oh what the heck, we know Bush will pardon him before he leaves office, so lets keep it as pardon.

No-Fault Foreign Policy
July 3, 2007 - When it comes to Iraq, or anything having to do with Iraq, George W. Bush is still running a no-fault foreign policy. Iraq is a quagmire, a tragedy of accumulated human errors that may be unparalleled in American history. Yet the president has not held a single member of his national-security team publicly responsible for any of those errors.

Why should Bush hold anyone accountable? They’re just taking orders.

No-Fault Excerpt:
Is it any wonder that Bush thought 30 months for lying over the case for war was “excessive,” when the executors of that war have completely escaped whipping? George Tenet and L. Paul Bremer III got the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Paul Wolfowitz was awarded the World Bank (until he botched that too), and Donald Rumsfeld was called a “superb leader” by Bush as he was gently ushered off to retirement last November.

Why should the executors of the Iraq War be whipped at all? Whether it be Pentagon civilian officers, generals or frontline soldiers, they’re just taking orders and doing their job to the best of their ability. Our country went to war with the president we had, not the president we wish we had.

Read John Kass from the Chicago Tribune call Bush’s decision to pardon Libby “appalling” while simultaneously ripping Democrats for their reaction and calling Plame and Wilson political opportunists.

Of course Libby’s sentence was excessive. Scooter Libby is just like any other loyal soldier, he was just following orders from Bush and Cheney. To cut back on the President would amount to treason no matter how wrong and treasonous the orders given are to the country. And you can include Colin Powell, Richard Armitage, and “heckuva job Brownie” in with the rest of those serving at the pleasure of this president.

But just for the novelty, let’s pretend their actions were NOT carried out on orders from Bush or Cheney, that these cabinet members and appointees were all acting independently from the White House. Does that make you feel any better?

Free Markets Hurt U.S. Automakers

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On June 22nd , the frontpage headline of the Janesville Gazette was a quote from Rep.Paul Ryan, “This policy hurts GM” in which Ryan voices his opposition to a congressional plan to increase fleet gas mileage standards.

JG Excerpt:
A part of the bill calls for increasing auto fuel economy to a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, a 40 percent increase over current requirements for cars, SUVs, vans and pickup trucks.

Thinking they have a winning combination here to work against the Democrats, the Gazette does a follow-up frontpage story on July 1st titled “It’ll be the demise of the U.S. auto industry” in which they attempt to divide the constituency with quotes from Democratic Local Rep. Mike Sheridan and top GM plant management.

JG Excerpt:
U.S. automakers supported a failed amendment to the Senate bill that would have required 36 mpg for cars by 2022 and 30 mpg for trucks by 2025, a compromise they said would stretch but not break them.

The automakers request would put their fleet average at 33 mpg assuming the car and truck segments are split 50-50 which we know they are not. The democrats are asking for a fleet average of 35 mpg by 2020, a difference of a few years and 2 mpg. Hardly something we can blame for the demise of the U.S. auto industry when we know that the U.S. makers conceded the auto market years ago. Why did the U.S. automakers concede the auto segment to the imports?

JG Excerpt:
Sound Off: Our free market and competition have made America the greatest nation in history. Let the market decide. It has worked very well in the past.

Can you imagine if someone in government proposed workmanship and quality regulations and standards for automobiles back in 1980? The “outrage”, corporatists would say, let the markets dictate. Well, the market did dictate and guess what? U.S. automakers, their workers and customers lost bigtime. They are on track to concede the truck segment just as well, unless something is done. When we begin talking about how great America was, and use what amounts to a loss (manufacturing - auto segment) as a good example to follow, it may be too late already.

On the same day of this article, the Gazette ran a national article on page 4 detailing more bad news about the U.S. auto industry and their soon to be announced poor sales results. In addition, the Gazette posted an article and picture of an electric car on the frontpage. We are in the blame-game now, who’s fault is this?

But the Gazette wasn’t finished here, not by a long-shot. On July 3rd, a Gazette staffer wrote a story about Ryan winning the U.S. Chamber Award that I’ve dubbed the “Business Razzie.” But was the story really about Ryan qualifying for this dubious award or was it just another propaganda piece aimed at splitting the local democratic base once again over the energy/mileage bill? Title says "award," story says "politics."

The Gazette eventually got what it wanted. They stirred up the locals on this issue enough to post six anonymous rants in Thursdays “Sound Off” column about the fuel standards. But this episode is not so much about Ryan as it is about a GOP newspaper eroding Democratic support any way they can do it.

Fortunately there isn’t much the Gazette can do when reality steps in. The latest auto industry report showed GM sales fell 21% in June including sales of full-size trucks and SUV’s while imports posted solid gains.

JG Excerpt:
General Motors Corp. sales tumbled 21.3 percent compared with June of last year, while Ford Motor Co. sales dropped 8.1 percent and Chrysler Group saw a decline of 1.4 percent.
Yet Nissan posted a whopping 22.7 percent increase, Toyota saw a 10.2 percent gain, and Honda sales rose 11.5 percent.

Why are the free markets hurting only U.S. automakers? Why do American consumers continue to favor imports? This is history repeating itself over and over again. The Japanese among others, build gas guzzlers also, why are they still gaining? The U.S. auto industry appears to be on self-destruct. Are they just looking for someone to blame, other than themselves? Or is Ryan just playing politics as usual?

Chicago Tribune Excerpt:
"We build the three biggest gas hogs in the country in my eyes," Van Fossen said. "They were all excited about these vehicles when we started building them two years ago, but I didn't see anything to get excited about. This is not the future."

I think there will always be a market for full-size 7-passenger "stationwagons" on steroids.

But if we believe we can’t do it – we won’t. Ryan and his supporters have been legislating the slow death of the U.S. auto industry through outsourcing and labor busting, and protecting what amounts to low expectations. The imports are now making gains in the truck market without any input from the Democrats. As a Janesville resident, it matters to me. I'm afraid it doesn't matter to anyone else though. History doesn’t lie. How do we stop history from repeating itself?

They have stayed this course too long and it’s time for a change.

Janesville Jaycees And Friends Spectacular

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If I was in charge of a large fireworks display, I would want a 10-minute rain about a half-hour before it began, followed by a part cloud-cover with gentle, gentle breezes. That's exactly what happened during the run-up of the Janesville Jaycees Fourth of July fireworks display at Traxler Park. Although the rain appeared somewhat ominous at first, it stopped like somebody just turned off a garden spigot -right on cue.
We were blessed.
The fireworks display lasted approximately 52 minutes and the grand finale was.....was.....was......AWESOME!!!!!

It made me want to take a step back and think. It made me proud of the people who had the fortitude to put this event together, AND it made me proud to be an American. A warm and welcome feeling of déjà vu.

There were a lot of things to do at this two-day celebration. I cannot do the event justice with mere words or a couple of pictures. You had to be there. It had EVERYTHING.

Ryan Wins Business "Razzie"

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Members of Congress who support the U.S. Chamber Of Commerce position on at least 70 percent of key votes receive the Spirit of Enterprise Award. Last year Rep. Paul Ryan supported business positions 100% of the time.

JG Excerpt:
Ryan, who compiled a 100 percent score last year, joined Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri and Mark Green as Wisconsin delegation winners. During his tenure in the House, Ryan has compiled a 93.6 cumulative ranking in support of key votes established by the chamber.

What else is new? Simply put, nothing compares to an elected representative of the people winning an award like this for rubberstamping business interests, especially by these margins. Ryan, Petri and Sensenbrenner have been winning this award for five consecutive years now and we can see the fruits of their labor in Wisconsin.

In 2006, the only congressmen who voted 100% of the time for business interests were Republicans. One Democrat, Lane Evans from Illinois is listed at 100% but should be excluded from this "Razzie" award because only one key issue received a positive vote from Evans, while the remaining 14 key issues were not addressed.

Healthy Wisconsin Politically Unhealthy

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On Sunday, the Gazette editorialized about the “Healthy Wisconsin” healthcare plan promoted by state democrats.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
No one has had sufficient time to analyze it.

I’ll agree with that.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
When you're talking about a massive new social program requiring a tax…….

Uh-oh. There they go. Lets slam it because it's a democratic plan which means it's obviously a social program and not some well-crafted comprehensive healthcare plan responsibly written by the compassionate conservative wing of the Republican Party. The Gazette then poked fun at the words of Judy Robson, which is fair enough, but fortunately lost all of their standing and reasoning by using the words of R.J. Pirlot, a member of the WMC as supporting evidence. The WMC says so, so there…

JG Editorial Excerpt:
In Tuesday's Gazette, Robson predicted "massive property tax relief" because local governments would be required to pass savings in employee benefits back to residents.

Sounds logical to me.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
Sen. Neal Kedzie, R-Elkhorn, says the nearly 400-page budget amendment was crafted Monday night.

Anytime you can get a group of politicians together to put together a 400-page piece of work about anything in one night, THAT is the real story here. Forget the healthcare program.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
Republicans who control the Assembly say they will reject it.

Simple question here – WHY? Certainly, if a group of democrats can slap something together in one night, a group of Republicans should be able to read it and comprehend it in two. If they vote against it on faults, errors and inconsistency, well, that's different.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
Most business groups criticized it and favor market-driven plans that create incentives for people to be good health care consumers.

I'll make a huge assumption and compromise here, and pretend we have the same definition of market-driven. What's wrong with instituting Healthy Wisconsin and then let the markets drive it? Sure, if it can be abused, it will, but how do people become good healthcare consumers? Why do we expect such careful spending and research from healthcare consumers when our capitalistic society is based on the very freedom to buy and spend on wants and needs as we see fit? Why worry about incentives or disincentives?

JG Editorial Excerpt:
Actually, by introducing it at the last minute, without giving everyone a fair chance to evaluate it, Democrats will have no one to blame but themselves.

When the republicans operated like this, it was ok. Those were bi-partisan times back then, but now it's bickering partisan time with the Democrats in charge. This may be a viable, workable plan but WHAT are the reasons to vote against it? According to the Gazette, if the Republicans vote against Healthy Wisconsin, it’s the Democrats fault. Who’s playing politics?Lastly for good measure, the Gazette pasted this Cagle Cartoon on socialism next to this editorial. Obviously, the first character is a bum and if the third character is meant to be you - the newspaper reader - then who is the middle-man? Only in this case would I say it must be - the publisher.

Republicans Ending Bush War This Fall?

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It’s been over four months since Rep. Paul Ryan gave his Iraq report back in February and so far, things look pretty much the same as they did six months ago or sixteen months ago for that matter. Around February 22nd, Ryan said…..

Ryan Excerpt:
"It's going to be tough. Within three months we'll know whether momentum is headed in the right direction; and we'll know within six months whether the results will begin to materialize or not."

People often ask what victory would look like, but what does right direction momentum look like? We are now closing the books on the deadliest quarter for U.S. troops in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. Is that the right momentum? Both Bush and Cheney tend to view an increase in violence as signs of progress against a desperate enemy. Does Ryan feel the same way?

Over the weekend I received Ryan’s 2007 Constituent Update & Issue Summary and for some reason he has the battle for freedom in the 21th Century aka as the War on Terrorism listed near the bottom of his priorities. He writes…..

Ryan Constituent Report Excerpt:
We must never lose sight of the threat that Al-Qaeda represents to our freedom. I recently visited Iraq and have concerns about the “surge” strategy, but withdrawing now would create a terrorist haven. Regardless of the plan’s success, commanders say U.S. troop withdrawals may begin this fall, as the Iraqis assume control of their country.

Huh? Regardless of the plan’s success, commanders say U.S. troop withdrawals may begin this fall? Ok, I repeated his words, but the second time with a question mark. There’s some double-speak in there and the trends are clear, both the MSM and the GOP including politicians like Ryan and Lugar are back-pedaling away from Bush as fast as they can.

I'm certainly not questioning their patriotism. Heck, they're just as patriotic as I am. But do they know their actions will only embolden the enemy? Why do they want to aid the enemy? They're making a political statement, but is it not wrong for our troops and our country? What does Cheney think of these post-surge defeatists? Why are the Republicans and the commanders setting up our troops for certain defeat?