In Debate, Mandela Barnes Dismissed Union Members in 49 Other States (Analyzing the Lie)

I couldn't let this go without comment. In last night's election debate (October 13, 2022) between U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R) and challenger Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes (D), Barnes began his opening statement with a lie. 

"My story is a Wisconsin story, only possible here, being raised in a union household."  (Emphasis mine; video below.)

Mandela Barnes: "Only in Wisconsin"

WAIT, WHAT? Let's get this straight. NOWHERE ELSE in America, but "ONLY IN WISCONSIN," can someone be raised in a union household? Really? Is it possible that there are no "union households" in other states? Well, no, it's not.

Barnes's lie might seem like an innocent exaggeration. But it's not, really. It shows a willingness on his part to distort the truth, to fabricate his own version of reality, and to knowingly mislead voters. Perhaps the most disturbing thing about it is that some Wisconsin voters heard that lie, raised their clenched their fists in the air over their couches, and screamed, "Yeah, man, only in Wisconsin!"

According to a January 2022 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:

"In 2021, the number of men who were union members, at 7.5 million, changed little, while the number of women who were union members declined by 182,000 to 6.5 million. The unionization rate for men decreased by 0.4 percentage point over the year to 10.6 percent." 

(Source: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/union2.pdf)

UPDATED: Wisconsin Supreme Court Shoots Down Stay-At-Home Order - But Don't Think That's The End Of It

Photo manipulation for Chicago News Bench

Wisconsin state Supreme Court struck down Governor Tony Evers' order "shutting down daily life to limit the spread of coronavirus — marking the first time a statewide order of its kind has been knocked down by a court of last resort," reported The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today.

However, as noted below, at least one county has already picked up the ball and will restrict the opening of businesses. Expect other counties and municipalities to do the same.

UPDATE, May 14: As originally noted, counties and municipalities have issued their own stay-at-home orders in Wisconsin. The Journal Sentinel has an updated "roundup of counties and cities that have announced their own measures, or will be continuing to follow [Governor] Evers' order." None are exactly like the struck-down Evan's order, and no two are exactly like any of the others. Full List.

"The state's highest court sided with Republican lawmakers Wednesday in a decision that curbed Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' power to act unilaterally during public health emergencies.

The 4-3 decision was written by four of the court’s conservatives — Chief Justice Patience Roggensack and Justices Rebecca Bradley, Daniel Kelly and Annette Ziegler." Full Story at Journal Sentinel.

Read the entire 161-page court decision here (includes dissensions):
https://www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&seqNo=260868

There is some confusion as to when the court's decision actually has any effect.

Fugitive Paris Poe Captured in Madison after Day Long Manhunt

Please see FBI Fugitive Paris Poe Captured In Madison...

"Extremely Dangerous" FBI Fugitive Paris Poe Captured

UPDATED Thursday, May 2, 2013 - Paris Poe led federal and local authorities on a day long manhunt. Local schools were locked down as a precaution against this "extremely dangerous" fugitive.

Paris Poe mugshots, 2011 - FBI photo

He was caught early this evening on the east side of Madison, Wisconsin ... in a "high-risk traffic stop." Madison Police Lt. Cory Nelson told The Associated Press that a SWAT team arrested Poe, of Chicago. "Shortly after 7 p.m. Madison Police found Paris Poe on Highway 30 between Fair Oaks and Highway 51," reports NBC15. "Officers were monitoring a car and saw Poe enter with a woman. Because he was expected to be armed officers ordered him from the car at gunpoint and he complied without any incident or injuries. Police say he will be taken to the Dane County Jail before extradition hearings seeking his return to the Chicago area. Investigators there want to question him regarding a gang-related homicide case. They say he is also in violation of his parole."

Previous Reports:
May 2, 2013 - 6:30 PM - The FBI and Wisconsin law enforcement agencies are still hunting for Paris Poe, 33, of Chicago. He is described as "a very dangerous" man on the run from the law in Illinois. After a day long manhunt, the  FBI says that Poe is probably still in the great Madison area. Poe is also known by the nickname "Polerowski."

The search for Poe led to the lock down of several schools, public and private, in the neighboring communities of Verona and Fitchburg to lock down as a precaution. On Madison's south side, Leopold Elementary, was locked down for a while, as was Chavez Elementary School.

Poe on video at Country Inn & Suites,
Nesbitt Rd, Fitchburg WI

Poe was seen at a hotel earlier in the day, causing authorities to concentrate their search in an area just south of Madison, the state capitol. Paris Poe is wanted in connection with a federal murder investigation in Illinois. "The FBI said it was continuing to receive tips suggesting that Poe remained within a three-mile radius of the hotel and was possibly armed with a handgun," reports Seattle PI.

Poe was convicted of aggravated battery and robbery in 2009 and paroled in June 2011, reports the CT Post. A federal warrant for his arrest was issued April 17. He is charged with crossing state lines to avoid arrest for an alleged parole violation.

The FBI offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to his capture (not $5,000 as most media are reporting). Poe is 6 feet tall, 200 pounds. He has a tattoo that reads "Chief Hobo" on his upper right arm and another tattoo that reads "RIP Angie" on his upper left arm.

The Lamest Political Video You Will Ever See: Obama's Election Day Message to Wisconsin

June 5, 2012, 2:00 P.M. CDT - Today is the day that Wisconsin voters take to the polls to decide whether Gov. Scott Walker (R) will stay or be replaced by challenger Tom Barrett (D). The "recall Walker" effort in Wisconsin is well over a year old, and Badger State Democrats have been frustrated by Obama's lack of support for their cause.

In what may be the weakest, lamest and most last-minute effort to show support for a candidate ever, the Obama camp released a pro-Barrett video... today. Yes, on the day of the recall election, they posted it to YouTube. Hell, it's not even last minute: It was posted after the last minute.

The young woman in the video, "Laura," has a voice that can only be described as annoying. Not only is the pitch of her voice hard to take, but she has some kind of weird, quasi-Southern California accent. I grew up in Wisconsin. I know Wisconsin accents. I spent 10 years in L.A., and I know the "Valley Girl" accent. I don't know who this Laura kid is, but she sure as hell isn't a typical Wisconsinite. Her presentation, not just the voice but the what she says - her message - is boring. Painfully, horribly boring. As redalertpolitics.com said, Laura is "lackluster."

Look, I'm only asking you to watch this monstrosity of a video once; I had to watch it repeatedly to get all the words and let me tell you, I'm still feeling a little ill. Democrats in Wisconsin must be throwing up just about the time they get about 19 seconds into the video. That's when Laura urges fellow Walker haters to "sign up for a shift" (phone bank?), "knock doors, make phone calls and talk to your friends and elect Tom Barrett." Ugh. That quivering, cartoon-like voice is telling people to do what they needed to do weeks ago, months ago, and to do it on the day of the election. 

As of 1:50 PM Central Time, the video had only 301 views. That indicates that it was released only within the past few hours, so by the time any significant number of people see this video, the polls will be closed. One can only hope that the Obama camp runs its own re-election campaign as shoddily as they have run their support for Barrett.

This too-late pitiful show of support from Obama must have been hurriedly thrown together and slapped up on YouTube after the polls opened today. It's as though they had a meeting on Sunday and decided that, dear Lord, "we really should do something," and then went out and grabbed the first dumb kid they could find to star in this video. "Hey, you, kid!"  Boring Laura was it.

Too little, too late. h/t PiratesCove
See the actual tweet on Twitter

Of course, there was also the single tweet that Obama wrote on Twitter (left). That was damned lame, too. It said, "It's Election Day in Wisconsin tomorrow, and I'm standing by Tom Barrett. He'd make an outstanding governor. -bo."  That was posted at 6:17 PM Central Time, rather late in the day. An afterthought? It's as though Obama just doesn't care much about Wisconsin - or Barrett.

Why has Obama been AWOL in the hotly contested Wisconsin recall election? Susan Crabtree wrote about that for the Washington Times today. "The president has resisted Democratic entreaties to campaign on behalf of Mr. Barrett," Crabtree said, "in an election where Mr. Walker holds a slight lead and one that many political observers view as harbinger for the presidential election. It may have been a lesson learned the hard way after Mr. Obama waded into the losing Democratic Senate campaign of Martha Coakley, the Democratic candidate to replace the late Sen. Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts in 2010, fueling stories that his support wasn't powerful enough to help Ms. Coakley over the finish line."

In other words, Obama has no guts and has put his own political fortunes ahead of those of his own party. Obama's philosophy in all of this seems to be "No guts, no worries."

Post Script: Crabtree's June 5 headline said "Obama only tweets support for Barrett on eve of Wisconsin recall." Apparently, that boring Laura video was posted - as I theorize - late this morning and after Crabtree's story was published at WashingtonTimes.com.

Walker Ahead of Barrett In Late Polling, But Wisconsin GOP Could Lose State Senate Seats

June 4, 2012 - The New York Times makes note today of two polls that were released last weekend that "suggest that Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin....remains the clear favorite to win Tuesday’s recall election."  Tomorrow is the big day in America's Dairyland.

The NY Times story, by Nate Silver, added that they "have not officially released a forecast for the race," but quickly added that "Although the contest is fairly close, polls of gubernatorial races are ordinarily quite reliable in the late stages of a race."

The two polls that the NYT cited are from Real Clear Politics, which showed Walker ahead of Democrat challenger Tom Barrett by 6.7 points, and Public Policy Polling, which said was Walker ahead by 3 points.

Democrats in Wisconsin who read Silver's column today will likely lose sleep tonight: 

"With that said, recall elections are rare events, and it is plausible that the true margin of error in polls of recall elections is intrinsically higher than in regular contests. The results are worth watching, but it would be a true upset if Mr. Barrett were to prevail."

Then again, Republicans have some reason to toss and turn in bed tonight, as well: A report in The Weekly Standard today says that even if Walker survives the recall vote, the Republicans could lose some seats in the Senate. TWS says that "internal Republican polling shows there's a very good chance that the Wisconsin GOP will lose control of the state senate on the same day."

But Republicans will likely lose much less sleep than the Democrats. Why? Because even if Republicans do lose a few Senate seats tomorrow, says TWS, "they will likely take it back on November 6." Here's the real nightmare for Dems in the Badger State: "For Democrats to have any hope of undoing Scott Walker's reforms," TWS notes, "they'll need to win both houses of the legislature and the governor's seat."

That seems unlikely. Wisconsin is already sick and tired of the recall effort, and many Wisconsinites just might decide to punish the Democrats for acting like petulant children for over a year now.

Wisconsin Democrats Get No DNC Support For Walker Recall

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

May 16, 2012 - The Democrat National Committee (DNC) is not giving enough financial support to Wisconsin Democrats' effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker. 

The recall election will be held on June 5th. In addition to the DNC being MIA in the Badger State, Walker is polling better than his Democrat challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. A poll released today by Marquette University Law School shows Walker ahead of Barrett by 50 percent to 44 percent "among likely recall voters," as reported by NationalJournal.com.

That's according to a report by the Washington Post earlier this week. Henry D'Andrea analyzed the lack of national support in his Washington Times Communities column today.

"In an exclusive report by the Washington Post," wrote D'Andrea, "top Wisconsin Democrats are furious at the DNC for not helping to fund Barrett’s gubernatorial bid against Walker."

D'Andrea notes that the DNC is all talk and no bankroll in the Recall Walker effort.

It's so desperate, it would seem, that Barrett out an odd email on May 8, asking ordinary folks for donations of $12.00. That's an odd number, as pointed out in a great column today by Bill Lueders at WisconsinWatch.org. "Between March 20 of this year, just before launching his campaign, and May 7," wrote Lueders, "the eve of the primary, Barrett raised $1.1 million, including reported late contributions, state Government Accountability Board records show." Walker, in contrast, has garnered more that $25 million in contributions since taking office on January 3, 2011.

According to the Washington Post report on May 14, a "top Wisconsin Democratic Party official said that they are "frustrated" by a lack of support not only by the DNC, but by the Democratic Governors Association (DGA). “Scott Walker has the full support and backing of the Republican Party and all its tentacles. We are not getting similar support,” the Post quoted the official as saying.

That Wisconsin Democrat official (who is apparently too cowardly to allow the Post to use his name), said that the state part requested the DNC for $500,000 to help finance its statewide campaign against Walker. "While the DNC has made generally supportive noises," said the Post, "the money has not been forthcoming, the official says — with less than a month until the June 5th recall election."

Even if the DNC did suddenly infuse half a million dollars into Wisconsin tomorrow, there is not much time left for it to make much difference. "The DNC," said the Post, "did not immediately respond to a request for comment."

Wisconsin Dems are worried about the consequences of their recall effort failing. It could, after all, have national repercussions.

The unnamed Wisconsin Democrat official also told the Washington Post that if Walker survives the recall election next month, "he will turn his victory into a national referendum on his ideas about the middle class. It will hurt Democrats nationally. The fact that [national Dems] are sitting on their hands now is so frustrating. The whole ticket stands to lose."

"Though DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is supposed to host a fundraiser for Barrett," wrote Jonathan S. Tobin in Commentary Magazine today, "the party has yet to respond to a request from Wisconsin Democrats for a quick half million, but the check is apparently still in the mail. The Democratic Governors Association has already spent $2 million helping their union allies to push for a recall, but it’s not clear if they’re going to be throwing more good after bad."

The situation is so bad, noted Tobin, that some Democrats may be just giving up - including the White House. As pointed out above, the recall is just a few weeks away. "If, as now seems likely, Walker survives the recall," Tobin wrote, "it will do more than just strengthen the rising GOP star. It will be rightly seen as a harbinger of other, even more significant defeats for the Democrats later this year. That’s why the DNC and the president are now bailing out of a Wisconsin fight that may turn out to be a huge mistake for the left."

No, Really, Pat Quinn Still Sucks More Than Scott Walker. Really.

April 20, 2012 - There are a lot of news reports out there today claiming that the jobs and unemployment situation in Illinois is better than Wisconsin. Nearly all of them are wrong.

That's not my opinion, it's fact. The numbers in the table below prove it. In what seems to be a conspiratorial attempt by the leftist mainstream media to discredit Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, the employment numbers released today are being spun so much that heads are spinning.

Two quick examples of the liberal media's spin come from NBC Chicago and Bloomberg News.

NBC's Edward McClelland wrote an op-ed piece published today titled "Illinois Beats Wisconsin In Job Creation." McClelland quoted Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (a Democrat) as saying earlier this week that “Since Governor Walker took office, Wisconsin is dead last among the 50 states in job growth.”

Bloomberg's headline today, "Republican Whipping-Boy Illinois Beats Wisconsin on Jobs," caps a piece written by Tim Jones. Jones quoted Quinn as saying this about Wisconsin and Gov. Walker:  "“They have the worst job record in the whole country, dead last,” and  “We certainly don’t want to follow his [Walker's] prescriptions when it comes to economic growth.”

Both Jones and McClelland were, of course, referring to today's jobs numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But let's look at those numbers. They are not difficult to understand, unless you're a liberal buying into the lies of the Democrats and their allies in the media. Here are the unemployment rates (as percentages) for Illinois and Wisconsin for March 2012, February 2012 and March of last year:

Illinois March 2012 .... 8.8 Feb. 2012 ....... 9.1 March 2011 ....9.3

Wisconsin March 2012 .... 6.8 Feb. 2012 ....... 6.9 March 2011 .... 7.6

Look at the numbers. Both states have had a decrease in unemployment. Illinois went from a nightmarish 9.3 percent a year ago down to a still-nightmarish 8.8 percent, a decrease of 0.5 percent. In the same period, Wisconsin went from an awful 7.6 percent down to a still-bad 6.8 percent. 

Compare Wisconsin's lowered unemployment drop of 0.8 to that of 0.5 percent in Illinois and you have to wonder what the hell the media - and geniuses like Gov. Quinn - are talking about when they say that Wisconsin is sucking tailpipes. Wisconsin's drop in its unemployment rate has been, over the past 12 months, faster that in Illinois (0.8% versus 0.5% as shown above). The latest numbers show that Wisconsin's unemployment rate is a full two points lower than in Illinois.  Illinois is called "the Greece next door" by it's neighboring states. Nobody is comparing to Wisconsin to Greece. Not yet anyway.

UPDATED: Are Children Signing Walker Recall Petitions In Wisconsin?

UPDATED: November 23, 2011 - Were these two Recall Walker petition signers underage? Apparently not, according to a report by WISN TV Milwaukee. In a video report, WISN interviewed Lateesah Love, 20, one of the signers who many thought looked too young to sign a petition. Watch the WISN video about the recall petition signers. Our original post appears below, preserved for the record.

November 19, 2011 - Milwaukee - We all know Democrats love voter fraud, but this is over the top. Right out in the open, these two young "ladies" signed a petition to recall Wisconsin's Republican Governor Scott Walker.

Question: Do they look like they are 18, the age you need to be in Wisconsin to vote -- or to sign a recall petition?

The frame to the left was taken from a disturbing new video (below), just uploaded to YouTube today. It was posted by "hawzwood," who titled the video "Occupy Milwaukee - Apparent Recall Walker Signature Fraud." Hawzwood added this description:

"Recall Walker Signature Collection Fraud -- Cigarettes for Signatures. This video and pictures were collected on the corner of 7th and North Ave. in Milwaukee during the "Occupy Milwaukee" protest/takeover of the bridge. These appear to be children under the age of 18. They were also given cigarettes in exchange for their signatures. They were asked if it would be OK to contact them to enlist their help in getting signatures from their friends."

Cliff Hangers In Wisconsin Recall Elections!

August 9, 2011 - Madison WI - The wind was taken out of the sails of Democrats in Wisconsin, who were confident earlier today that they would route Republicans in recall elections. Of the six elections held today, we now know (at 10:40 p.m.) that three Republicans have won their elections and one Democrat has won. That leaves two elections, and those are too close to call at this time.

The undecided races are those in State Senate 08 and 18.  In 08, as of this writing, Darling (R) has 49% to Pasch (D) 51%, with only 63% of the results reported. In 18, Hopper (R) and King (D) are tied at 50% each with 87% reporting.

The Democrats were hoping to take at least five of the six races. To lose at least three, and to have two so close this late in the evening, is a moral blow for them.

At Last, Wisconsin Recall Election Results (Updated)

August 9, 2011 - Madison WI - Results are now coming in from six special elections held today in Wisconsin. TPM's Election Scoreboard is showing at 9:36 p.m. that Cowles (R) is creaming Nusbaum (D), with 59% and 41% respectively in the (State Senate 02). They've declared Cowles the winner.

Another winner has already been declared, too: Harsdorf (R) is bumping challenger Moore (D) in State Senate 10 by 58% to 42% respectively.

Chicago News Bench will call Olsen (R) the winner in State Senate 14. Olsen is trouncing Clark (D) by 54% to 46% with 95% reporting as of 9:53 p.m.

So far, the dancing socialist union thug marxists on the Capitol Square are not having a good start to their festivities. Then again, there are four more races to go.

RELATED:
TPM Election Scoreboard - talkingpointsmemo.com

Margarita in Hand, I'm Waiting For Wisconsin Recall Elections Results

August 9, 2011 - Madison WI - It's 9:06 p.m. and I still have not heard any election results for the six recall elections that could, says the Washington Post, "put a check on Republican power in state government and render an early verdict on the GOP policy agenda across the country." This seems like very wishful thinking from the Democrat-favoring Post.

I just left the Square minutes ago. While hundreds of socialists, union thugs and anarchists chant on the Capitol Square, I am sitting at Frida Mexican Grill, an upscale Mexican eatery half a block away. I thought I'd kill some time with a margarita (on the rocks, salted rim) while I and the rest of the world breathlessly await the results of six special recall elections held today.

There are two groups of anti-Gov. Walker folks gathered on the Square. The big group is at Washington Avenue and North Pinckney Street on the Square, where a brightly lit stage supports local socialist cheerleaders speaking with their lips too close to the microphone. News media are all over the place. Many wear red shirts with "Recall Walker" emblazoned on them. Some carry handmade signs that say clever things like "Walker Hates Living Things," and similarly ingenious political insights. A good number carry pre-printed AFSCME signs.

The smaller group is having a sing-along at West Mifflin Street and North Carroll Street. There seems to be no national media there, and the group seems content to sing standards such as "This Land Is Your Land" with lyrics altered to express their contempt for Governor Walker and for the electoral process that put him in office in the first place. These folks are holding similar signs and wearing the same kinds of shirts.

I considered taking photos of the liberal drones on the Square. No, I thought, my photos would only show the same generic libtards that we've seen a million times at similar leftist rallies. My video would have let you hear the same old tired chants, too. You know, the ones that have some local socialist leader urging the crowd to answer his over-modulated questions that all end with, "... when do we want it?" or "...what do we do?" Eventually and predictably, the whole chanting thing devolves (as it did tonight) into a string of chants that begin with "Hey hey, ho ho..." It's boring and cliche. Besides, someone else will post their boring and cliche video and images later.

The evening here is beautiful, cool but not cold, with a nice breeze coming off of Lake Mendota. It's perfect weather for coached, pre-scheduled non-spontaneous chanting. There is a huge carbon footprint being laid down by the brightly lighted stage set up at East Washington Avenue and North Pinckney Street on the Square, not to mention by the brightly illuminated Capital Building.

The polls closed at 8:00 p.m. I wonder if any of the polling places have electricity. Perhaps the ballots are being delivered on horseback.  Stand by for news.....

RELATED:
TPM Election Scoreboard - talkingpointsmemo.com
Live Recall Election Coverage - WisconsinVote.org
Wisconsin Recall Election Candidates Battle In August 9, August 16 Races - HuffPo

Big Money and Circuses in Battleground Wisconsin

July 31, 2011 - Madison, WI - There is tainted cheese in Wisconsin. Let's call it 'blue cheese' for the blue Leftists who are spreading its stink around the America's Dairyland in the days leading up to Republican recall elections in August. Democrats and the Left are concentrating hard on Wisconsin because it is seen as a test for Obama's own performance in 2012. Of course, conservatives are also pouring money into the recall process.

There are, of course, the traveling political circuses. The Leftist "Truth Tour" promises to spread lies about Republicans. Meanwhile, the buses will roll through Wisconsin as the "Tea Party Express" visits the districts of threatened conservative Republicans.

Below, a TV ad by The Campaign To Defeat Obama highlights the schmear of blue cheese from the Left:



This report from Fox News highlights the huge money being dumped into the Dairy State:

WI Democrat Wants To Smack Her Up (Audio)

Did he mean it literally? "A Wisconsin democrat running in a recall election," reports WISGOP.org, "left a message on a woman’s answering machine," and it was ugly. After speaking with a female constituent on the phone, Rep. Fred Clark of Baraboo said he felt like "smacking her around." Clark who is running in a recall election. Hear the audio in the video below, or click here to listen to an mp3 (40 seconds). According to the WISGOP report, "The comment was recorded on the home answering machine of Sue and John Stapelman of Baraboo. Clark phoned the family while making campaign calls, and had a short, curt conversation with Sue Stapelman. Stapelman then hung up the phone, but her answering machine was still rolling, and caught Clark saying, 'I feel like calling her back and smacking her around'." To be fair, no reasonable person should take Clark's words as meaning that he wants to literally hit Ms. Stapleman. He obviously meant that he wanted to "smack her around" verbally. You cannot, after all, physically beat somebody up by "calling her back" on a phone. Even so, Clark's words were poorly chosen and there is no doubt that this will get a lot of play in Wisconsin during the recall election.

Wisconsin Democrats Flee to Rockford, AWOL on Public Bargaining Vote Today

My favorite headline of the day: "BREAKING: Wisconsin Dems Hiding At Best Western Clocktower in Rockford, IL …Update: TEA PARTY WINS! Chases WI Dems Out of Rockford." That's from Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit, and the story itself is even better. The cheesey, chicken Democrats actually crossed the state line to cower in fear of their own constituents. "The Wisconsin senate democrats fled the state today rather than vote on a budget repair bill," wrote Hoft. "If you are in the Rockford area please go to the Best Western and record video, take pictures and protest these irresponsible liberal politicians." Late news is that the cowards are on a bus heading back to Madison. Gateway Pundit is all over this story, with fast-breaking Twitter updates at http://twitter.com/gatewaypundit. WTMJ News (Milwaukee) is all over this, too. See their story "Budget Battle: Democrats Who Left State are Located." RELATED: Obama Worried About 'Assault On Unions,' But FBI Worried About Union Ties To Terrorists - CNB

Obama Worried About 'Assault On Unions,' But FBI Worried About Union Ties To Terrorists (Updated)

February 17, 2011 - Oh, this is rich. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker wants to take away the "right" of public employees to collective bargaining. The state's legislature will be deciding the issue today. Update, 12:12 p.m. CST: WSJ.com reports that Wisconsin's Democratic legislators "were not present at the start of the state session to vote on the bill." Comrade President Barack Obama, has called Walker's actions an "assault on unions." I'm waiting for someone to characterize the unions' actions as an "assault on taxpayers." Obama is a puppet of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), whose leaders in Chicago are being investigated for links to terrorist organizations such as Iran-backed Hamas and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Greg Sargent, at WaPo's Plum Line, noted that WTMJ-TV (Milwaukee) has an interview with Obama online. Sargent wrote that Obama said "adjustments to new fiscal realities" need to be made, "but insisted it's important not to 'vilify' public employees and described them as 'our neighbors, our friends'." Apparently Comrade Barry does not consider ordinary folks who don't work for the Gubbermint to be neighbors or friends. Has Comrade Barry said anything about the suspected connection of Chicago's SEIU Local 73 to murdering terrorists, people who plan assaults on our neighbors and friends? "Chicago SEIU Local Leaders Probed for Terror Links" is the headling of a February 15 article by Carl Horowitz at the National Legal and Policy Center: "Last September 24," wrote Horowitz, "FBI agents raided residences in Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan of more than a dozen radical activists in an effort to connect them to the Hamas (Gaza and the West Bank) and FARC (Colombia) guerrilla movements. Two of the occupants were SEIU Local 73 chief steward and executive board member Joe Iosbaker and former local board member-steward Tom Burke. Neither they nor anyone else has been arrested. But as the case unfolds, questions have arisen over the extent of involvement, if any, by the Chicago-based radical network that nurtured President Obama's political ambitions from the Nineties onward." More at NLPC... (hat tip to jazusamo at Free Republic) Full disclosure: I lost my virginity to a female WTMJ TV reporter in 1974. This has not influenced my reporting of this story in any way.

Updated: Milwaukee County Supervisor Unaware Arizona Borders Mexico

Update, Feb. 22, 2012: Please also see "Peggy West, the Milwaukee County Supervisor Who Didn't Know Arizona Borders Mexico, Faces Charges of Campaign Violations"

Geography challenged: Peggy West

She is, perhaps, the dumbest person ever to serve in elected office anywhere in Wisconsin. Perhaps in the entire United States, for that matter. That's Peggy Romo West, 12th District Supervisor on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.

In June, 2010, West said that she could not understand why Arizona has such an issue with immigration, and demonstrated her stunning ignorance of geography to boot. The video (watch it below) is amazing. A possible boycott of Arizona was discussed at the June 24 County Board meeting. Here's a partial transcript of what West said:

"If this was Texas," said West, "which is a state that is directly on the border, with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this, saying that they had a major issue with, you know, undocumented people flooding their borders, I would say, I would, I would have to look twice at this. But this [Arizona] a state that is a ways removed from the border, and, uhm, it just, it doesn't make sense to me, that, when, you Google this subject, if you put in 'Arizona SB1070' that you see a picture of the governor of Arizona meeting with President Obama in May of 2010. If you have direct linkage to the President, there are already National Guard troops on the border, in Arizona..."

West is so ignorant that she doesn't know that Arizona shares a long border with Mexico, and she could not fathom why it is that there are National Guard troops stationed there. Fortunately, Milwaukee County Supervisor Joe Rice straightened her out.

Has Peggy West ever seen a map of Los Estados Unidos? 

"I just wanted to assure my colleague that Arizona does in fact share a border with the country of Mexico," Rice says in the video. The proposed boycott of Arizona was tabled for later discussion. West favors boycotting Arizona, but she clearly has no understanding of the Arizona border issues. Sadly, that's typical for many who favor the boycott.

West spoke of searching for "Arizona SB1070" on Google, yet she apparently never actually read any of the results that Google presented to her. No doubt, she's probably never read SB1070, either. West is apparently aware that National Guard troops are "on the border," but which border did she think they were on? Had West simply searched for "Arizona" on Google, she might have seen the pretty pictures (maps) of Arizona that clearly show it bordering Mexico.

West's website brags that she "has the unique distinction of being the first Latino/Hispanic American to be elected to the Milwaukee County Board." She's probably also the first person to be elected to that body who to be unaware that Arizona shares a border with Mexico, which is especially weird for someone who wears their Latino heritage on their sleeve.

Milwaukee radio station WTMJ 620 AM commented, "It's scary that Peggy West is making decisions that impact on the taxes that those of us in Milwaukee County pay. What's even scarier though is that I'll bet at least eight other members of the County Board agreed with her when she said that Arizona doesn't share a border with Mexico."

Scary indeed, but Democrat and liberal voters just love idiots like West. Think of Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Georgia), the brilliant Democrat who told a Congressional hearing that he feared the island of Guam would capsize if more military personnel were stationed there. Sadly, dimwits such as West and Johnson do not stop the libs from claiming to be intellectually superior to subhuman conservatives.

From the Milwaukee County website: Peggy West was elected 12th District Supervisor in 2004 and, after being reelected in 2008, is serving her second term representing 50,000 residents on Milwaukee's south side. She currently serves as 2nd Vice-Chair on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. Supervisor West also has the unique distinction of being the first Latino/Hispanic American to be elected to the Milwaukee County Board.... Supervisor West was named the 2004 Hispanic Woman of the Year by UMOS, Inc.

The local Latino/Hispanic Americans must be very proud of her. And why not? She's a genius with an impressive command of current events and an education that's perfect for a government apparatchik:

Supervisor West grew up in Milwaukee and graduated with a degree in Human Services from the Milwaukee Area Technical College. Prior to her election to the Board, Supervisor West worked for 10 years in the human service field.

U.S. Senator Jon Kyl, (R-Arizona), sent a letter to West with some helpful information:  "You will be interested to learn that Arizona does indeed share a border with Mexico," Senator Kyl wrote. "I have enclosed a map for your convenience. I hope you will take the time to actually read the Arizona law before formulating an opinion about it and become familiar with our country's geography and the challenges that our border states face." Kyl, a conservative, had to school liberal Peggy West on 4th grade U.S. geography.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this entire story is this: West serves as a mentor at Notre Dame Middle School. There, she can indoctrinate young minds into her anti-American socialist way of thinking. Just don't ask the kids about geography at Notre Dame.

RELATED:
Arizona SB1070 (pdf) and Fact Sheet for SB1070 (Arizona State Senate)
Arizona Senator Kyl Confirms His State is on the Mexico Border TMJ4
Spirited Debate In Wisconsin About Illegal Immigration Innocent Bystanders
Arizona Not A Border State??‎ KTAL
Supervisor Gets National Attention For Not Knowing Border WISN Milwaukee
Apology for Milwaukee official's gaffe Arizona Republic
Milwaukee County Supervisor Peggy West on AZ Immigration Law‎ Associated Content
County Supervisor, Peggy West, dumbest poltician east of the Mississippi Tucson Citizen
Senator Kyl Gives Supervisor Peggy West a Geography Lesson‎ Politics Daily
New Info from Milwaukee: Is there a Peggy West Connection to Illegals Before It's News
Cook County Board Approves Arizona Boycott and Contract of Arizona ‎ChicagoNow
LA/Chicago Boycott Arizona… Unless There's Money to be Made‎ Stop the ACLU

Exclusive Interview With Wisconsin Meteor Professor

APRIL 16, 2010 - by Tom Mannis - PROFESSOR JOHN VALLEY IS HAVING A VERY GOOD WEEK. First, the skies over Southern Wisconsin were lit up Wednesday night by a very bright and apparently rather large meteor. The following morning, Prof. Valley and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Department of Geoscience received a gift from the heavens. Literally.

As Prof. Valley told Chicago News Bench this afternoon, "a land owner" personally delivered and donated a "peanut-sized" piece of that meteor to them the on Thursday morning. Pieces of meteors are called meteorites, and Prof. Valley seems 99.99 percent convinced that this is the real thing.

The land owner told Prof. Valley that he heard the meteorite strike his roof on Wednesday night. Although the object is only "7.5 grams, about the size of a peanut in the shell," is was moving at high speed. Additionally, there may well have been other pieces of the same meteor falling on the roof at the same moment.

The land owner wishes to remain anonymous, and Prof. Valley would not even say whether or not the person was a farmer (but he did refer to the land owner as "he" and "him"). The land is near Livingston, Wisconsin (map).

What makes Prof. Valley so certain that this meteorite comes from the Wednesday evening meteor is its pristine condition. "Weathering, like rusting, was virtually non-existent on this meteorite," he told CNB.

He explained that meteors traveling through space are constantly bathed in cosmic rays (fast positive ions), which impart short-lived radioactivity to the space rocks. Once a meteor is inside of the Earth's protective Inner Radiation Belt, and then within our atmosphere, a meteor stops being irradiated by cosmic rays. Scientists can tell how long a meteorite has been on our planet by its "exposure age," Prof. Valley said, "which is a half-life meausurement of trace amounts of short-lived radioactivity imparted by cosmic rays." The radiation from the meteorites is not enough to be dangerous to humans.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin and other institutions are in a rush to comb the Southern Wisconsin countryside for more meteorites from Wednesday night's event. Prof. Valley said that "it's a time sensitive process," because growing vegetation, flooding and other factors can quickly make it more difficult to find the little objects.

If you are interested in looking for meteorits, you should know that it's illegal to trespass on private property or to take anything off of somebody's land without permission. That includes rocks, even if they came from outer space. Prof. Valley said that he and his colleagues always execute "a contract and/or monetary payment" with a land owner when it comes to searching for meteorites on private property.

Meteorites sell on the open market by the gram and can be quite valuable. Price can vary greatly depending on the type of meteorite and its composition. Meteorites from Mars, for example, are the most valuable and also the rarest. "I encourage to bring it to knowledgeable experts before they sell it," said Prof. Valley.

Prof. Valley said that his department has received calls from other people in Southern Wisconsin who think they might have a meteorite from the Wednesday night fireball. He did not say whether they offered to donate the meteorites or merely have them appraised.

RELATED:
UW Has Meteorite Fragment
Meteorite Found in Wisconsin
Videos of the Midwest Fireball...
The Inner Radiation Belt
Meteoroids and Meteorites
How do you know if it's a meteorite?

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Video: Rep Paul Ryan raises a point of order: "This bill is the mother of all unfunded mandates"

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, today made a powerful speech in the House health care session. Here it is. Ryan is suddenly a star of the conservative movement. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/reppaulryan. Leave a Comment * Conservative T-Shirts * Follow CNB on Twitter * RSS Feed

Sen. Heather Steans Lied on Her Resume

Heather Steans has been caught in yet another lie, this time about her past work experience, a lie that she has told multiple times. Steans is the Illinois State Senator from the 7th District, Chicago. Her opponent in the Feb. 2, 2010 primary election, Democrat Jim Madigan, is accusing her with lying and cited examples in a January 14 press release.

Chicago News Bench has confirmed the Madigan claims as accurate. (Click on images to enlarge.)

Also See: Heather Steans Lies About Hubby's Blago Connections

Let's begin this story with a story what-if: Imagine that you are an employer seeking someone to manage an important division of your large corporation. You interview a woman named "Heather", whose resume says "for 4 years I served as the Director of Corporate Mail Operations for Company X." Impressed, and you hire Heather. Two years go by, and Heather's job performance is only ho-hum.

Then the bomb drops: You discover that Heather was never in charge of Company X's corporate-wide mail operations. In fact she was merely clerk in a mailroom at one of Company X's offices, and she only managed that mailroom for a few months. What would you do?

IL State Sen. Heather Steans

You'd fire her, that's what, and give her ten minutes to clean out her desk. Now, suppose that "Heather" is actually IL State Sen. Heather Steans (7th District, Chicago). 

Steans lied about her job experience, and she wants you to renew her contract. The voters and taxpayers (that's you) are her employer you know, and she lying to them about her past experience. She's done it multiple times.

In a campaign flyer that she put out this week, Steans claims that "As the former Wisconsin state budget director, she helped balance the budget by cutting waste while protecting vital services." Sounds nice, but it's a lie by means of gross exaggeration.

The Madigan campaign points in a January 14 press release that Steans is lying about her "budget director" gig in Wisconsin. They included scans of the Steans flyer with their press release and pointed out that Steans was never the "state budget director." (See the full press release here as a pdf. )

In fact, says the Madigan press release, "the title of Budget Director did not exist in that department,” and “Her questionnaire for the Sun-Times endorsement contains another fabrication. Steans claims that ‘for 4 years I served as Budget Director for the Wisconsin Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations’.” (See the questionnaire here.)

Chicago News Bench looked it up and, sure enough, the Madigan people got it right. What we found was that Steans was listed as “director” of “Budget, Bureau of” within the now-defunct Wisconsin Dept. of Industry, Labor and Human Relations (DILHR). That listing was found in the Wisconsin Blue Book 1993-1994. According to the Madigan campaign, Steans only served in that minor position for eight months “until her departure on Feb 2, 1994, but the title of Budget Director did not exist in that department.”

As pointed out above, DILHR never had a “budget director” for the entire department. Steans, however, says she was that director. As also pointed out, she was merely the director of a small portion of DILHR, but instead of saying that she was “Director of the Bureau of Budget,” Steans knowingly misleads by calling herself the former “Budget Director, for the Wisconsin Department of Industry, Labor & Human Relations.”

The “budget director” lie did not start with this week’s Steans campaign flyer. Steans has been lying about this for years. Here’s a sampling of what we found: At the Illinois Senate Democrats web site, the Senator Heather Steans Bio page says that “Senator Steans is a former .... Budget Director for the Wisconsin Department of Industry, Labor & Human Relations.” 

Over at the Project Vote site, we see that she was the “Budget Director, Wisconsin Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations.” 

In a January 23, 2008 interview with the Windy City Times, writer Amy Wooten quoted Steans as saying, “I was the strategic planner and budget director … for the Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations.” [Ellipses in original quote.] Again, her exaggeration makes it sound like she was in charge of the strategy and budget for the whole of DILHR.

In a November 15, 2007 article in the Chicago Reader, Ben Joravsky wrote that “According to Steans” she “worked as director of economic development for the Civic Committee and held the post of budget director for Wisconsin's Department of Industry, Labor, and Human Relations.”

At the Women’s Institute for Leadership web site, she’s listed with other board members. Her little bio sketch says that she’s a “former budget director, WI Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations.”

Vote-IL.org includes “Budget Director, Wisconsin Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations” as part of her “profession [sic] and work experience outside politics.”

The list of places where the lie is repeated goes on and on, and you can see it yourself at a Google web search for “Heather Steans AND budget director”.

RELATED:

• Heather Steans Lies About Hubby's Blago Connections 
• Heather Steans Gets New Contribution from Health Insurance Company 
• Videos of Jim Madigan Owning Heather Steans 
• Jim Madigan on Steans and Blago, Gay Rights, and the Audacity of Arrogance 
• Madigan Calls for Full Steans Investigation, Alleges Corruption 
• Heather In A Corner - Lake Effect News