Excuses, Fearmongering and Sour Grapes Are Only Certainty In GOP's Response To Health Care Reform

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As a supporter of Medicare For All or a genuine public option at the minimum, I'm still only lukewarm to Obama's health care reform act despite the law being affirmed by the highest court in the land. I also suspect more fall-out from the court’s mixed decision, most notably in its weakening of the law’s Medicaid provisions in the name of states’ rights.

But if I were the republican governor of a state, I'd certainly proceed with the framework of state-run health care exchanges, knowing that the exchanges are a requirement in practically every proposal for health care reform written over the past 30 years.

Gov. Scott Walker however says Wisconsin will not proceed with implementing the Affordable Care Act because the SCOTUS decision he claims, creates uncertainty.

Channel 3000 Excerpt:
In the meantime, Walker says the state will not proceed with setting up a health care exchange as is required.[...]

He said the decision creates uncertainty for Wisconsin businesses and that's bad for job growth. Walker has also said businesses will be bullish about adding jobs since he won a June 5 recall election.

Bad for job growth but businesses remain bullish about adding jobs? Which is it?

But tell that to four (Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois and even Tea Party Mitch Daniels Indiana) of the six midwestern states that have all outjobbed Wisconsin in 2011 while instituting that "uncertainty" by building the framework for the state health care exchanges in the new health care law. Add to that the fact that two (California and New York) of the top three states in the country that have had significant increases in employment from May, 2011 to May, 2012 have implemented the ACA almost in it's entirety. While three states with dismal job growth, North Carolina, Alaska and New Mexico have literally banned the ACA. Beginning this week, New Mexico has finally initiated a task force to develop a proposal for creating a state health insurance exchange. So how can the decision be bad for job growth?

Even more ridiculous is to say the decision is bad for Wisconsin. But we'll have to go in circles here for just a moment to tackle that one.

Walker's belligerent failure to implement the law has the same impact on the state as if SCOTUS struck it down. So the decision can't be bad for job growth or create "uncertainty" for Wisconsin businesses if he refuses to implement it. Without implementing the Affordable Care Act, it's business as usual for the GOP and the state of Wisconsin. With the recalls behind us, the state should be gushing in certainty ...and jobs according to Scott Walker.

Conversely, he could have claimed Obama's health care reform was bad for job growth given the poor state employment results of the past year, but only if he had implemented it. He missed that opportunity by fighting it every step of the way. But this is where the rubber meets the road. The GOP's (and Walker's) biggest fear is not that Obama's health care reform fails - but if it would succeed. The idea of course is to never give it a chance.

So using Walker's fearmongering and certainty logic, only states that implemented the federal health care law have "uncertainty," yet those same states have experienced some of the most significant job growth over the past year AND if Walker was right, that should have translated into businesses and workers fleeing those states for Wisconsin.

But we know that's not happening and Walker is playing politics as usual and fabricating more uncertainty by hedging on not implementing the health care plan, with the intention to blame the health care law for all that fails in the state by not implementing it. That's full circle insanity.

Mitt Romney also found himself in a similar foot-in-mouth position earlier this week by saying if the nation’s highest court overturned what he derides as Obamacare, “then the first 3 1/2 years of this president’s term will have been wasted on something that has not helped the American people.”

Boston.Com Excerpt:
Yet the court, with the vote of conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, today upheld the law’s constitutionality.

Accepting Romney’s logic, that would mean that the bulk of Obama’s first term in office was spent on something that helped the American people.

Roberts is not someone Romney can dismiss, either. On his campaign website, he pledges to nominate Supreme Court justices “in the mold of Chief Justice Roberts,” as well as other court conservatives.

Epic backfire.

ADDITIONAL:

Political Environment - Who Does J.B. Van Hollen think he Is? The Party Boss?

Think Progress - Sen. Ron Johnson thinks freedom means having the freedom to deny health care to cancer patients.

Democurmudgeon - Tea Party Losers Whine, have Temper Tantrum, call for Armed Revolution.

Crooks and Liars - Republicans Biggest Fear: That Health Care Reform Would Succeed

Video: Invaders, Get Out Of Wisconsin

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About the upcoming Recall Elections In Wisconsin.

"It's not just about the people of Wisconsin - it's about America" -- Tea Party Moonbat

THAT'S America? To have a group of out-of-state ideologues ignore state process and stick their nose in the business of others? Whatever happened to state's rights and the will of the people to prevail? According to the Tea Party, the people's constitutional right to recall public officials sidetracks democracy.

Another way to view this is to put yourself in Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly's shoes and think what they would say to an outside national union representative sticking their nose in the people's business of another state. They would've painted it up like Pearl Harbor. Wisconsin Democratic Party Spokesman Graeme Zielinki was rightfully fired up during this interview.

Watch it:



Additional:

Democurmudgeon - Recall Meddling Out-of-State Tea Party Dummy told to "Get out of Wisconsin."

Breitbart Dead

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STOP HATING!!! You'll live longer.

Caustic commentator Andrew Breitbart died in LA at age 43.

NPR Excerpt:
The conservative media publisher and activist who died Thursday was embraced by anti-tax, conservative tea partiers and reviled by liberals for his Internet investigations that brought down politicians and chastised mainstream journalism.

Breitbart, 43, was behind investigations that led to the resignations of former Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York and former U.S. Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod.
More >>>

Scott Walker Asks Political Mercenaries To Invade Wisconsin

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At a Washington DC banquet, Gov. Scott Walker asked a large group of conservative activists from around the country for help in his quest to smash the state's grassroots recall effort to remove him from office.

JS Online Excerpt:
Asked why he came here, Walker said in an interview before his speech, "Oh I think we're going to need the help . . . not just financially but in terms of bodies and people helping us to spread the message."

Walker knows if he has to solely depend on the people of Wisconsin, he will be rejected. He knows the traditional values of progress and unity and the inherent compassionate spirit of the state can only be crushed and defeated from the outside. Walker's big money bosses are angry and refuse to go down without a fight.

During CPAC, Walker delivers his request, "I need your help ... I need people to help us spread that message in Wisconsin ... I need your help with the ground game ... we need bodies ...and need your help financially.

Watch it:
(Warning! - Video contains potential for throwing-up-in-mouth hazard)



Empowered by unlimited financing from billionaires, Walker and his interloping allies are working to roll back 100 years of economic and social progress not only in Wisconsin, but in the entire country!

We've been forewarned!

ADDITIONAL:

Democurmudgeon - Walker, Beggar and Chief, Embarrasses State before a National Audience

Cap Times - John Nichols: Walker’s on out-of-state money hunt

Is The Tea Party Crumbling From Occupation?

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Just an observation. After completing my regular cruising around through various blogs and newspaper comment sections, I'd swear that the few posters that I identify by from their past comments as genuine Tea Party have hinted that they want to join with and march with the Wall Street protesters. I strongly believe the reasons they gave are legitimate and sincere. These are real Tea Party grassroots bottom-rung people who obviously can relate to the economic injustice message of the Occupy movement. Regular folks. Normally I would love to post their comments here but fear they would be attacked and brutalized by web-stalking Tea Party bull whips.

This article from politico also seems to reflect a heightened sense of desperation from Tea Party leadership (they have leaders?) to discredit and de-legitimize the anti-Wall Street protesters in the hearts and minds of those very same mass subscribers. They must know things are going wobbly.

The best thing about the movement so far is that it has not been co-opted like the Tea Party has, that it's fully organic and all inclusive. I think we should cautiously welcome real tea party grassroots folks but reject all overtures from any so-called Tea Party leadership or their interloping allies. In my view, we are not here to fight over the size of government as much as we are here to fight for the restoration of good government. That's one simple test for separating out some of the astro-turfing Tea Party riff raff from the genuinely sincere.

Rep. Duffy Just Another Con-Man

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Titled,"House freshmen push bills that benefit big donors."

USA Today Excerpt:
•Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., is the lead sponsor of legislation that recently passed the House that would curb the powers of a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He has received nearly 40% of his political action committee donations this year from the financial services and insurance PACs. The bureau, which has broad authority to protect consumers from financial fraud, is backed by consumer advocates and opposed by banks.

Duffy spokesman Brandon Moody said his boss wants to rein in regulatory overreach and protect small banks "suffering under onerous rule-making requirements."

Here's the line that all Congressionals and their staff will memorize and parrot. Our own Congressman Paul Ryan has used this expertly in the past to squirm out of accusations of foul play.

So repeat after me...

"Campaign contributions play no role. People give to me because they support my ideas, my principles and my issues. They are not contributing to me because I'm doing what they ask."

Yeah, rrright.

Fitzwalkerstan Loses 12,500 Private Sector Jobs in July

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Fitzwalkerstan's unemployment numbers continue to rise in a free fall under the leadership of Scott Walker.


Government Creates 4,300 Jobs

JS Online Excerpt:
The government sector, which includes state and local public agencies, added 4,300 jobs. And so the cumulative loss of non-farm jobs in July amounted to 8,200.

The state's unemployment rate rose to 7.8% from 7.6% in June. All the figures are seasonally adjusted.

Points to Default Threat By Congress For Job Loss

JS Online Excerpt:
"Wisconsin is not immune to the national economic slowdown this summer, and we are seeing the effects of the national economy in our July numbers," Department of Workforce Development Secretary Scott Baumbach said in a statement. "The wild market fluctuations during the debt ceiling negotiations, the European debt crisis and other factors contributed to a great deal of uncertainty, which may very well have affected Wisconsin's job numbers given our state's ties to the national economy."

National unemployment rate drops from 9.2% to 9.1% over the same period of time.

Would Democrats Gaining The Senate Taken The Steam Out Of Walker's Recall?

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It's possible. I'm certainly not speaking for anyone other than myself, but just throwing that thought out there. Obviously, most Wisconsinites are not comfortable with heavy-handed one-party rule, particularly even more so governed by the party that advocates "no compromise." But knowing the inherent check-and-balance nature of good government Democrats and Progressives, there may have been the possibility that a sense of relief and/or satisfaction would have released some of the pressure to recall Walker had Democrats taken the Senate.

Instead, his recall now seems even more inevitable.

WaPo Blog - Walker’s recall remains goal for Wisconsin Democrats

United Wisconsin - Walker Recall

Scott Walker Watch - Recall Petition

All Six Republicans Appointed To Super Congress Committee Are Norquist Pledgers

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The so-called "super" congressional committee appointed to achieve a bipartisan and balanced approach for driving down the nation's long term debt has been poisoned with Grover Norquist ideologues.

Think Progress Excerpt:
House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today their picks for the fiscal super committee created by the debt ceiling deal, naming Sens. Jon Kyl (AZ), Pat Toomey (PA), Rob Portman (OH), and Reps. Jeb Hensarling (TX), Dave Camp (MI), and Fred Upton (MI) to the body.

All six Republicans have superseded their oath of office with a pledge to Grover Norquist never to raise tax revenue for any reason under any circumstances. All but 13 Republicans in Congress (Senate and House) have signed the pledge.

Pledge Signers

Politico falsely assumes, Super Committee lineup gives hope for deal.

Tea Party Induced Stock Market Crash A Paul Ryan Downgrade

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Give "Capper" at Cognitive Dissidence the credit through all the other distractions for noticing the troubling relationship between the recent Tea Party/S&P driven stock market dive and Paul Ryan's scheme to shift SS payroll taxes to the highly volatile investment markets. That the markets have proven to be susceptible to congressional brinksmanship and political posturing makes it even less the infallible pillar of trust that is crucial to its existence.

Cognitive Dissidence Excerpt:

You will remember that Ryan, the Republicans' shining star, has, as a key part of his budget from hell, privatizing Social Security and allowing people to invest it in the stock market themselves [...]Even the bullheaded Ryan has to realize that only the extreme lunatic fringe would want to invest their retirement into the market right now. Read more here.

Or invest even a year or two ago. That's twice in the past three years and three times over the past ten years that stock market volatility has eaten away at modest gains. These are precisely the economic times Social Security was meant to protect vulnerable seniors from.

If I recall accurately here, Ryan's Social Security proposal guarantees recipients a return equivalent to a minimum standard SS benefit which means that during times like these, not only would participants lose hard-earned dollars to the profit-takers on Wall Street but government will also have to go into more debt and borrow to restore minimum guaranteed benefits. Under this scenario, Ryan's proposal transforms Social Security into a generous subsidy for private investment firms. But with losses like these, its participants would find themselves enrolled in little more than a welfare program.

Video: Former Reagan/Bush Aide Bartlett Recites GOP Debt History

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In just a few short minutes during an interview with Chris Matthews, Bruce Bartlett, a former advisor to Reagan and Poppy Bush, dissected and summarized Bush era "conservatives" who took a surplus from Clinton and turned it into a deficit.

In the video below, Bartlett said when Bush took office we had a national debt of about $6 trillion and at the time, the CBO was projecting a $6 trillion surplus which would have paid off the debt providing Bush and his rubber stamping band of idiots DID NOTHING. Instead they added to that with $3 trillion in tax cuts, lost another $3 trillion in revenue due to the poor economy, a Medicare drug benefit and two unfunded wars. So instead of paying off the debt, we wind up with $12 trillion of debt at the end of the Bush era, with another $3 to $4 trillion in damage control deficits on the way. That they did all this with seven easy one-line “clean” debt ceiling increases for Bush is now apparently irrelevant. Don't pay no mind to any of that. Instead, they now want everyone to keep their eyes on the "socialist" in the White House.

"The Republicans keep saying that the tax cuts are the key to prosperity. Well the 2000's is evidence that that's not true."

Absolutely! After ten years of Bush Club-for-Growth voodoo economics and tax cuts, shouldn't the economy be booming about right now?

Bartlett finishes up with, "I think a good chunk of the republican caucus is either stupid, crazy, ignorant or craven cowards who are desperately afraid of the tea party people - and rightly so."

Watch it.



The Motley Cow, “Reagan adviser Bruce Bartlett destroys Republican talking point.”

The Democurmudgeon's video library is loaded with a nice collection of excerpts and clips from often overlooked interviews like this one with Bartlett. Check 'em out.

Constituents Picture An Earmark - Duffy Draws a Pie Chart Instead

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Brace yourselves for a wave of local tax hikes courtesy of those lovable gun-toting tea party conservatives.

NY Times Excerpt:
Representative Sean Duffy, Republican of Wisconsin, who devoted part of his 2010 campaign to criticizing the penchant of his predecessor, David R. Obey — a Democrat who retired after four decades in Congress — for securing earmarks, said he traveled to his district last week to gently explain to local governments that times had changed. “I am being honest with people,” Mr. Duffy said in a telephone interview. “I draw them a pie chart.”

I wonder if his earmark pie chart has any resemblance to mine.

Across the country, local governments, nonprofit groups and scores of farmers, to name but a few, are waking up to the fact that when Congress stamped out earmarks last week, it was talking about their projects, too.

---

After Giffords, Veiled Threats Of Gun Violence Still Identify Tea Party Conservatives

Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch told tea party activists Tuesday that they have to "get armed" to make sure that Congress tackles the country's debt.

Politico Excerpt:
The soft spoken Hatch usually uses more moderate language when explaining his positions on national debt. Recently, though, the newest member of the Senate Tea Party Caucus has been contacting Utah Tea Party organizations to prove his conservative credentials in an effort to avoid the fate of his former colleague, Bob Bennett, who lost his seat to conservative Sen. Mike Lee in a primary last year.

Republicans Reward Companies Outsourcing Jobs

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Last week, the GOP-majority House once again showed who mattered to them the most, and it certainly isn’t American workers.

Pioneer Excerpt:
GOP Budget Cuts: Members voted, 256-165, to set the stage for votes on a GOP plan to cut federal spending by $60 billion or more in the closing months of fiscal 2011. A yes vote empowered the Budget Committee to define the cuts in a spending bill soon to be debated. (H Res 38)

Sending U.S. Jobs Abroad: Members defeated, 184-242, a Democratic bid to use H Res 38 (above) as a vehicle to curb the practice of U.S. firms sending jobs overseas. A yes vote was to deny federal contracts to any company that the Department of Labor finds to be outsourcing jobs.

The motion to recommit the plan to cut federal spending by $60 billion and use it as a tool to discourage U.S. firms from shipping jobs overseas by withholding federal contracts was defeated along party lines, except for four democrats who sided with the GOP's domestic jobs killing scheme. One of the four democrats was Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin. What was he thinking? Doesn't he know that the Tea Party opposes jobs outsourcing members of congress, but only if they're democrats?

The following Wisconsin congressional representatives voted to continue awarding federal contracts to companies that ship jobs overseas.

They are...

Ryan (R, WI-01)
Kind (D, WI-03)
Sensenbrenner (R, WI-05)
Petri (R, WI-06)
Duffy (R, WI-07)
Ribble (R, WI-08)

Vote Source

Tea Party Protests Against Deficit Boosting Tax Policy

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A typical Tea Party protest near the Capitol against extending the government's deficit boosting tax policies. (Black Muslim Kenyan Marxist Occupying The White House)

A typical Tea Party protest near the Capitol against extending the government's deficit boosting tax policies. (Bush Tax Cuts)

Video: Tea Party Randroids Exercise Freedom

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Outside a Senate debate last night, a progressive activist named Lauren was thrown to the ground by Tea Party thugs holding "Rand Paul" signs. As one held her down, another stomped her head -- producing an audible crunching sound.

Rand Paul's Senate campaign put out a statement condemning the violence on "both sides." What?? That's NOT ok -- we need accountability, not false equivalency.



Sign statement condemning TEA Party violence.

Bill Clinton: Tea Party a Corporate Front

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Big Willie is finally talking...

Salon Excerpt:
Clinton lamented that "a distinguished former governor of Delaware was beaten tonight by the so-called tea party candidate" because enough primary voters had accepted a "new narrative" promoted by the extreme right. "They’re saying that Barack Obama represents the spearhead of this vast socialist conspiracy to have government swallow up the fabric of American life and he’s going to crush our individualism, and our freedom, and the vitality of small business ... "They tell us that they represent America the way it used to be, self-reliant, virtuous individuals and small businesses. And the truth is, what they want to do is dismantle government so corporations, big corporations will control our destiny."

Speaking about the certifiably crazy Christine O'Donnell, conservative Wisconsin blogger dad29 writes, Paul Ryan is Wisconsin's O'Donnell

Tea Party Activists Ignore Hometown Brews

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While local Paul Ryan supporters and other establishments types prepare to foist a $1.5 billion interstate expansion tax hike on Wisconsin for the benefit of their organized business associates and capture millions more in tax shift credits and financial "incentives" for their wealthiest members, Tea Party activists, known for their anti-corporate welfare and tax wary position appear to be looking the other way. The reality is, they have to.

Over the past few months, I've also noticed a few Tea Party gatherings in Janesville near the Milton Ave. Post Office. Upon review I thought, why in the world are these folks marching by the Post Office when they should be in front the Janesville Municipal Building or the county building? I mean, Tea partiers purport to be everyday regular people. So if they really wanted to make a stink about new taxes, higher taxes and corporate welfare, the best way to make a difference is to start local and look to the folks who are capitulating to the tax hike requests. Afterall, all politics is local.

Over the past several years, Janesville city government has handed some of the wealthiest local players substantial awards for their private-for-profit business ventures. One developer received a $2.7 million water tower paid for socially by Janesville water users. Another "connected insider" picked up a soft lease on a city facility. Other crony capitalists have each captured hundreds of thousands in TIF surplus (TIF surplus is tax revenue legally withheld from the general fund) and forgivable loans under the guise of job creation or community development. The most obnoxious breach into modest local taxpayer coffers happened recently when the Janesville city council apologetically rubber stamped without a single question, nearly a quarter million dollar "loan" to another Forward Janesville member, multi-billion dollar corporation W.W. Grainger. The money was gone in sixty seconds.

Through nearly all of these tax-jacking wealth redistributive schemes pitched at Janesville City Hall, few if anyone ever publicly objects. Whether at the hearings, through Web-based social media or through traditional newsprint. (Except here of course) Let alone any objection from the local Tea Partiers. They're too busy protesting the second lowest federal income tax in 50 years.

So, there are several explanations I can offer of the Tea Party folks, both local and national. They are either loyal foot soldiers for the revenue confiscating GOP establishment or unknowning dupes. Probably a little of both. Okay, that's not exactly news. But the lack of a local theme to their anger cannot be ignored and may prove their membership is both utterly insincere and mostly bussed-in astro-turf. If small town corporate welfare and tax hikes are too small for the movement to handle, how do they expect to tackle the bigger picture? That's precisely the point, they don't. With each passing day, their only purpose and intent seems to be built on opposing the radical socialist agenda of the black Muslim from Kenya residing in the White House. I admit, I'm purposely trying to sound a little naive here.

Yet the facts remain. All of these business perks and handouts have directly resulted in incrementally higher local taxes and fees without any credit or definitive proof of creating demand, much less even one new job. While general funds are being looted, services are being cut and public schools are beginning to look for charitable donations. And it doesn't end there. Janesville and county residents can expect higher tax levies and a steady stream of new and creative ways from local government to incrementally confiscate more dollars with more fees. Old standbys like a vehicle wheel tax or a municipal sales tax are just around the corner.

The tea partiers demand the impossible. They expect government on all levels to create jobs in the private sector. While their Republican controllers are protesting every Democratic effort to do so - just to win in November. It is phony outrage.

GOP Playing Tea Card All The Way

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Politico Excerpt:
On Friday, Minority Leader John Boehner put his last hopes on the protesters. "Republicans can't beat this bill, but the American people can. It's not too late to make your voice heard," he said in his weekly address.

On Saturday came the response.

Tea party protesters scream 'nigger' at black congressman

McClatchy DC Excerpt:
WASHINGTON — Demonstrators outside the U.S. Capitol, angry over the proposed health care bill, shouted "nigger" Saturday at U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a Georgia congressman and civil rights icon who was nearly beaten to death during an Alabama march in the 1960s....Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., said he was a few yards behind Lewis and distinctly heard "nigger."....Frank said the crowd consisted of a couple of hundred of people and that they referred to him as 'homo.' A writer for The Huffington Post said the protesters called Frank a "faggot."

Politico Excerpt:
"You represent the people of the United States...Don't be faint hearted, don't be weary of doing well with all your might today. Knock on those doors and make your case!" Rep. Michele Bachmann implored them.

Party From “Hell" An Improvement On "Party of No"

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Tea Party members gathered for a Ronald Reagan seance in the Dells on Saturday. It was reported that the meeting, organized by the astro turf group Americans for Prosperity, was dubbed an unofficial tea party convention.

In attendance were numerous Wisconsin GOP candidates and officeholders such as Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Scott Walker, U.S. Senate candidates Terrence Wall and David Westlake, Supreme Court Justices Michael Gableman and David Prosser in addition to national speakers like anti-American Grover Norquist, “Joe the Plumber,” and Michael Reagan, the son of former President Ronald Reagan. Congressman Paul Ryan appeared in a videotaped message.

As noted at One Wisconsin Now,apparently some editing gremlins at both the Wisconsin State Journal and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel edited the word “zealot” out from a description of Grover Norquist in Saturday’s Associated Press story and replaced it with anti-tax "activist" and "advocate."

One of the bagger's highlights came from Tim Nerenz, a Libertarian candidate for Congress when he said, “We are not the party of no, we are the party of hell no."

Wispolitics Excerpt:
State GOP chairman Reince Priebus made a pitch to the crowd, saying the party is “rebuilding credibility” with near unanimous votes against “PelosiCare and ObamaCare.”

Illusory Tenant -- Prosser delivers magic words to Tea Party

Cognitive Dissidence -- Police called in on reported dispute