Fairly Conservative

Best be careful that your state does not pass a law that the Obama administration disagrees with. Never mind that approx. 68% of those polled in that state approve of the law and about 55% nationwide. Of course I am speaking of Arizona Law S.B. 1070 that recently became effective in reference to illegal aliens. The Obama administration, through the Department of State, recently submitted a report to the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations that included a comment (Paragraph 95 ) on this Arizona Law. However, if one reviews the Justice Department’s suit against the Arizona law there is no mention of the 14th Amendment or human rights at all. The Justice Department argued the 10th Amendment, claiming the state does not have the right to enforce federal laws.

This is just another ill-conceived notion by the Obama administration to intentionally denigrate this country in the eyes of the world. To include the legislated business of an individual state in our country as part of an international report to the UN, where many of the most egregious offenders of human rights hang out, is another example of this administration’s ineptitude in leadership. Maybe a beer summit with North Korea, the Sudan, Saudia Arabia, and Yemen, among others, is in order.

I’m sorry some of the comment are just now being approved. I really appreciate your patience.

It’s been busy here the last couple of days, but it all went well. Of course we’ll have to get it all home in 9 shorts months. I’m trying not to think about that.

Back to the grindstone tomorrow. Thanks again for such thoughtful discussion. I just don’t see this caliber of debate happening anywhere else.

–Cindy

If you didn’t get a chance to watch Wednesday’s talk between Republican gubernatorial candidates Mark Neumann and Scott Walker, you can see the whole thing on the WISN website.

The candidates were seated with moderator Mike Gousha. Both looked a little nervous to me, and I completely get that. A lot is on the line by this point in the race. The format let them speak to more voters than ever before. This was the big time. They both also looked, in Oklahoma terms, bright-eyed and bushy tailed. They were ready.

Although the questions were new to the candidates, early in the hour both tended to slide back to their comfortable talking points. Both stayed positive. Gousha reminded them to talk to the question, not to the campaign points. I do think things loosened up a bit after that.

I don’t fault either candidate for the instinct to stay on message. It’s what you do when you’re on the campaign trail. A candidate who will tell you what they think off the top of their head is extremely rare and tends to get themselves in trouble. It’s one of the complaints campaign watchers are having against Ron Johnson as he runs for Wisconsin’s spot in the Senate. I find it endearing, but I cut candidates a lot of slack. (Knock a few hundred doors of your own and you’ll be more compassionate than you ever thought possible over that candidate gaffe that’s bound to happen.)

Both candidates want to bring jobs to Wisconsin. Neumann wants to integrate that goal with education. He suggests a plan to provide learning triangles to promote business areas. Walker spoke a lot about the past, and then invoked Tommy Thompson. He never lays out a plan to make the promise happen. Listen carefully and all you’ll here is the promise repeated as well as a couple of stories.

Neumann wins the job point. There is a plan. Walker, in my opinion, made a big mistake by bringing Tommy Thompson into the conversation. Thompson may have been popular initially, but lately reminds voters more of Brett Favre than a dynamic leader. He’s not a good ally for Walker.

That question moves into taxing and spending. I covered Neumann’s taxing change yesterday. Neither candidate describes specific spending cuts.

Walker uses the “friendly story” strategy in this town hall. Over and over again he walks away from the point and tells about a couple in a distant part of the state. I think it’s too much.

When they get to Walker accusing Neumann of “fraud” with the tax plan, Neumann scores big with, “I understand you don’t get it, Scott.” Indeed, Scott may not get it. It took me a while, too, but once I started thinking outside the box, it clicked.

Walker was initially more pointed in responding to the question of three places they’d spend and three places they’d cut. Neumann specified his eventually. Neither articulated areas to cut spending.

Another question asks about entitlements in Wisconsin. Neumann promises to meet the need of those who truly can not care for themselves. I saw this as a bit of a slap to Walker given the recent Mental Health Complex problems in Milwaukee County. Neumann also calls education an entitlement.

At 25:00 in this video, Walker makes what the MJS calls an error regarding Badger Care.

“It was supposed to be a temporary step up as they moved into permanent employment,” Walker said of BadgerCare Plus in the debate. “Instead, under this governor, we’ve had the time limits go away and we see a permanent entitlement created, and that’s brought about all kinds of fraud and abuse and problems not only there but in the child care component as well. That will stop when I’m governor.”

But BadgerCare Plus and its precursor never included time limits. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle expanded the program in 2007 but did not make changes affecting how long someone could be on the program. The program costs more than $1 billion a year, with the federal government paying 60% or more.

BadgerCare isn’t popular with Republicans. I see this as a move to satisfy the base by Walker rather than proffer accuracy.

The MJS calls Neumann out, too, on a small issue. I’d say both are an attempt by the MJS to write a story and not really problems in fact.

The train is preferred in the LaCrosse question. Both candidates agree to cut the plan. Neumann wants, if possible to put the money back to the taxpayers in tax relief. Walker wants to assign the money to transportation improvements. Both arguments are likely moot because the federal government will probably take their money and play somewhere else if the plan is scrapped.

At 42:00 they question from Wausau tackles the state’s “energy landscape.” I have to give this one to Neumann. He has effectively shut down the Belling babble that falsely defined Neumann on this subject. It showed in this answer, and more importantly, Walker recognized (in my opinion) Neumann’s superior stance in this answer, because he’s now “all about being green.” Yes, that’s what Walker said.

The next question is about adjudicating 17 year olds as adults. Both candidates appeared to agree to try them as adults. Both seem to take a tough on crime stance.

The last question is how to lower taxes and still pay the bills. Walker answers growth. Neumann answers restricted spending in addition to growth.

—

Walker runs on his record. Neumann runs on 26 years of private business experience. That 26 years is important in looking to a possible Barrett/Neumann match, as Barrett is described as having 26 years as a politician by the Neumann campaign.

Walker runs on his record. Neumann wrote a book detailing his plan for the next four years.

Walker wants you to believe in Wisconsin again, while Neumann tells you he’s always believed in Wisconsin.

Was their a clear winner and loser? I don’t think so. Both candidate’s campaigns appeared pleased with their effort. Neumann’s did keep the buzz going a bit longer and even offered a link to the debate, and that may indicate they were just a little more excited about how things went. Walker, in contrast, skipped right over it all and let you know he’s being endorsed the the Wisconsin Grocer’s Association.

I will say in the end Walker came off more as the polished politician. He kept referring to “when I’m governor” and in the end asked for the vote. Both techniques are generally considered important in the trade. The first allows the voter to better visualize the candidate in the office for which he is running, the second is given to close the sale.

Will it work for him September 14th?

Oh, yes!

Read the details from the Rasmussen site. Here’s the quick summary:

Survey of 750 Likely Voters in Wisconsin August 24, 2010

Election 2010: Wisconsin Governor

Mark Neumann (R) 48%
Tom Barrett (D) 44%
Other 3%
Not sure 4%

Election 2010: Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker (R) 47%
Tom Barrett (D) 44%
Other 4%
Not sure 4%

It looks like Walker supporters are finally having to admit there’s a primary.

Rasumussen says all three candidates are well known in the state. They also measure Walker’s unfavorable return at 24%

Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Neumann’s tax proposal finally clicked last night. He said something along the lines of:

If you choose, you will never pay your 2011 taxes.

And the light bulb went off for me.

Yes, absolutely, for those who choose to keep their money, they can save on next year’s taxes. I’ll use some numbers as an example.

Say you pay $10,000 a year in property taxes at the end of December for 2010. That gives you the opportunity to take $10,000 off of your itemized taxes. A $10,000 deduction will net various amounts based on your income, but it’s not like a credit – it will ever net you $10,000.

However, if you choose to take advantage of the Neumann plan, you can save $10,000 actual dollars for 2011.

I know we’d all spend it differently, but for me, that’s a month of travel.

For Harley-Davidson? They are talking about moving 1800 jobs out of Wisconsin. Would they reconsider if they were given a tax holiday for 2011? That has to be an incredible savings for a business with so many facilities in Wisconsin.

Let me add, for those of you who keep score, I was wrong on this one. I’ll beg leniency as I’m not alone in my initial misunderstanding. A woman in Kenosha is putting up 100 Mark Neumann signs in that area. She eventually got it too, but she’d made a bet. Deborah is now arranging for sign locations in that area.

I think I’d like a woman so true to her word.

—

To make this a bit more personal, I had a similar statement in my mayoral campaign. I’d seen the numbers and knew Brookfield held (and still has!) incredible reserves from overtaxing for a decade. No one believed me. While I knew the numbers worked absolutely, there were plenty who screamed I wanted to trash the city’s AAA bond ranking, etc.

While I don’t absolutely prefer the phrase tax cut, I readily admit the Neumann plan will provide a Wisconsin property owner tax savings the chance to hang on to their money for an extra year.

That’s a whole different story than Walker’s claim of a tax shift or worse, this guy’s disingenuous headline of a tax scam. Judging by the lack of comments, I’d say there’s no Real Debate on his claim.

You may have to wait a couple of days. The domain expired.

(Giggle)

H/T Badger Blogger’s Twitter feed

Go figure. France!

Read the story from Al Jazeera. (Yes, Al Jazeera.)

Some 600 Roma have been repatriated to Romania and Bulgaria since the crackdown was announced in July, while more than 8,000 have been deported since the beginning of the year.

France has also called on the European Commission to force Romania to stem the flow of Roma leaving the country, suggesting it could block Bucharest’s entry to the Schengen border-free zone if it fails to do so.

Scott Walker never finished college and managed to avoid any reference for an hour by diverting any related comment towards his children. I wonder if he thinks they should finish college once they start? How sad that Walker couldn’t capitalize on the fact that he was sitting in a Marquette facility for this event.

His drinking game line: “Like I did in Milwaukee County.”

Mark Neumann would have soused even the strongest with his line, “business 26 years.”

This defines the two candidates: career politician and that means politically experienced Walker; businessman Neumann with political experience. I have to say the non-incumbent atmosphere combined with the way Republican newcomer Ron Johnson is hammering the career politician subject in his race against Russ Feingold, it could fall Neumann’s way.

Super interesting reading can be found on either candidates’ Facebook pages. The tone from Walker’s:

Yo scott, a few of us showed up to the debate with some walker signs outside. Thanks again Nate for the sweet Scott Walker T-Shirt. Debate ended, Mark Neumann walked by, shook my hand, and said: “In 3 weeks we will all be on the same side” whatever that means???

(Frightening the gentlemen doesn’t understand Neumann’s class, huh? And if I remember correctly, that free t-shirt is a violation of the state’s campaign laws.)

Please Neumann, for the sake of the State, back off by supporting Walker!

(Guess he’s not going to get his way.)

Here was a fascinating idea from someone’s page who supports Neumann:

If those buddies live in Milwaukee County, ask them… “How can you vote to send Walker to Madison, leaving the MKE County Exec. seat left wide open for the likes of Lee Holloway? No matter what Walker saves, Holloway will take away in County Property Taxes.” … See the blank “uh oh” look on their face and try not to laugh.

(I hadn’t considered that one. So Walker’s ambition is going to leave Milwaukee County to drop off into Lake Michigan.)

And from Neumann’s Facebook page:

you are very wise Mark Neumann, but, but 26 years in business just isn’t enough for me. If only you had 27 years in business. Oh well.

(Like I mentioned before, maybe you could back off that phrase a wee bit.)

I’m leaning Neumann, and that’s no surprise. You’ll have to watch the debate for yourself to see what you think.

I’d be remiss not to thank WISN and the incredible Mike Gousha for the air time and effort. Gousha has found his place in the world, that’s for sure. The format the station chose with all the outposts really gave this a statewide feel.

Excellent work.

As Scott Walker was debating primary opponent Mark Neumann, the paper was prepping a story.

Milwaukee County officials said late Wednesday that John Chianelli, who oversees the troubled Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex, would be leaving that post Monday.

Scott Walker was never mentioned.

As I’ve managed to remind a few other Cheddarsphere bloggers over the past few weeks, there’s a primary September 14th for the Republican gubernatorial spot. In the past, both candidates sounded rather the same. Don’t expect that to be the case tonight. Indeed, it’s time in the primary calendar to start differentiating yourself as a candidate. I do believe people are now aware it’s time to choose. Now the candidates need to give a reason to pick them instead of the other guy.

I had initially thought I might live-blog the debate tonight, but I’ll confess, my allergies are the only thing winning this afternoon. Instead I’ve decided to wait a bit and provide something of a compare and contrast follow up. Look for that later tonight or tomorrow.

Also look for a glove or two to come off tonight. For me, political debates are better than any boxing match.

Here’s a contrasting example:

Neumann has been doing Freedom Forums across the state. They look to be relatively well attended. Here’s a photo of the one from Watertown today. You can read more about the gathering in Kenosha yesterday from the Kenosha News.

Here’s a photo from Walker’s campaign. They do brown bag luncheons and different businesses. This one’s from Kolb+Co. on the 19th:

Not a brown bag in site. In fact, if you look carefully you’ll see Americana paper plates and napkins. Does Walker feed the workplace crowd in exchange for a few sets of ears? I’ll have to wait for his campaign spending reports to find out for sure.

Contrast: Neumann is drawing crowds daily of people who come of their own free will to get nothing but his message. Walker may be getting business owners to lend him a lunchroom so that he can buy a captive audience lunch.

Neumann’s events are as well attended as Walkers, but how many of the Walker group will actually be voting in the primary? I will guarantee that all of Neumann’s audience will be there.