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Friday, July 09, 2010

Wisconsin GOP: Whitewash, Spin, Rience, and Repeat

A week ago, Wisconsin GOP party leaders must have been licking their chops when a federal agency denied a loan guarantee application that happened to be tied to the retention of about 300 jobs at Bucyrus, a company based in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The GOP figured they had just the perfect red meat to cook up, spoil and serve to an already angered state workforce.

In fact, the politically divisive consequences potentially arising from the Bucyrus gift was looking good for republicans until their little ploy eventually collapsed around them when the Ex-Im Bank reversed their decision. They decided to go ahead and wing it anyways. Lies and all.
Wispolitics Excerpt:
Last week, while Russ Feingold was silent on the issue, hundreds of Wisconsin workers dodged a bullet when the federal government reversed a decision that would have forced Bucyrus International to scale back and slash jobs. -- Republican Party Of Wisconsin

Even Bucyrus CEO Tim Sullivan, someone who was there, couldn't stand the garbage the state GOP chairman, Rience Priebus, had thrown towards Sen. Russ Feingold. Sullivan issued a public statement.
Bucyrus Statement Excerpt:
Dear Chairman Priebus:
It has come to our attention that the Republican Party of Wisconsin has issued a statement saying that Senator Russ Feingold was silent on Bucyrus' effort to obtain U.S. Export-Import Bank approval of a loan guarantee for the sale of machinery to India. The facts do not support this assertion.
Clear as day, I'd say someone owes Russ Feingold a public apology.

Instead of direct and respectful engagement with all the parties earnestly involved to remedy the situation, state republicans used Bucyrus as a springboard to demogogue Obama administration policies in a series of campaign style statements.

As far as employing a strategy to help retain jobs are concerned - republicans definitely have one. But it's for their own.

More Observations On Bucyrus -- from Cognitive Dissidence

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love your blog. I also consider it a must read for anyone who wants to know more about congressman Paul Ryan than what the msm offers.

But this time I think your slip is showing. After whipping Ryan for demanding the Ex-Im Bank reverse their decision on Bucyrus, you then write in favor of Feingold’s effort to do the same. Why is Ryan's position crony capitalist and democrats are not? Have you joined the world of hacks?

Lou Kaye said...

Thanks for the opening words.

Everything about the Bucyrus deal fits Ryan’s definition of crony capitalism. It abandons free market loan guarantees for government backed securities. It has influential private interests using government to leverage itself against the competition and it has high level legislators over-riding policy to gain favor. Doyle, Feingold, Barrett, Kohl, etc., aren’t fighting ideological monkeys because they don’t govern by them. Only Ryan runs on this stuff so he is the only one who must reconcile his ideology on the issues - lest he be the hypocrite.

Ryan too is the only one with a library of rants based mostly on his self-described free market principles. But when it comes time to apply those principles on the big issues in the real world, he abandons them. He did so on TARP and now the Bucyrus deal. He even twists the abandonment into political courage to save face when he votes with the “other side.” Instead of reconciling his position with his own principles, he justifies it by tearing down the principles and policy of the other side. It’s not only the politically expedient thing to do, frauds and incompetents actually have no other choice. People read his political philosphy at his Website and walk away thinking how smart and principled he is without realizing that Ryan doesn’t stand by his own principles. He votes his party first, campaign donors second, and when his vote coincides with ideological opposition, he destroys their principles.

Only the insane can support Ryan. He is a fraud. I hope this answers your questions.

Anonymous said...

Well said Lou. You need to post this stuff on the Gazette web site.

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