Saturday, December 30, 2017

It's Time for a Hard Look at How We Pay for Schools

By Kathleen Vinehout 



"It’s important, every so many years, we take a good look at how we fund schools,” said Senator Luther Olsen (R-Ripon). “How do we … make sure our schools have what they need for the next 20 to 50 years.”

Co-chairs Senator Olsen and Representative Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) recently convened a Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding. I serve as the only Senate Democrat on the new Commission.

Wisconsin has seen studies to change the way our schools are funded come and go throughout the years. The co-chairs emphasized they did not want the work of the Commission to sit “on a shelf and collect dust.” The impression that the Commission existed only as an election-year “talking point” was clearly on the minds of some members.

As I mentioned in the hearing, I’ve long been an advocate for changing Wisconsin’s approach to funding schools. We pay for schools, largely, with a combination of property tax and state aid. Schools are paid on a per-pupil basis.

Many school funding problems come from demographic changes happening in our state. Shifting patterns in our population affect schools. For example, Wisconsin has more children living in poverty today, than ten years ago. Rural areas have seen a decline in students.

Not all students have the same needs. Different school districts have different costs. These needs are not adequately reflected in the funding formula.

To add to problems, the fallout from Act 10 and the criticizing of public school teachers had a profound effect on our schools. Teachers left or retired. Fewer college students are going into education. School districts have trouble filling vacancies. Standards for teachers were lowered. Morale is low. Student opportunities were diminished. Cuts in state aid forced taxpayers to pass referenda and raise property taxes just to keep their schools running.

Of the two major problems with our school funding, the first is the level of state aid.
Despite increases in the recently-passed budget, schools haven’t recovered from the massive cuts to state aid in 2011. In real dollars, public schools will be getting less in the next two years than a decade ago.

The second problem with how we pay for schools, is the state aid formula itself.

At the heart of the problem is the economic disconnect between district revenues and district costs. Revenues assume education is a constant cost activity. In other words, you get so many dollars for every student.

Education, however, is not a constant cost activity. Schools have high fixed costs and low marginal costs. Fixed costs are those bills that are the same regardless of how many students attend the school. For example, keeping the building heated or the lights on are costs that don’t change much even as the number of students change. As time passes, this disconnect between the way the state pays for schools and the way the schools incur costs, causes a lot of problems. Difficulties are particularly acute for districts with declining enrollments.

We need to move toward an “adequacy formula” that takes into account fixed costs, recognizes that some students cost more to educate than others, and recognizes that school districts in different situations face different costs.

We also need to reduce our reliance on the property tax to fund schools. The cornerstone of school funding should be state aid.

We must address today’s school funding problems. But we must also plan for how we educate our children of tomorrow.

For too long, rules, regulations and testing requirements stifled the creativity, excitement and challenge of teaching. Our state spends so much time and money on testing and evaluating, that teachers don’t have the time to teach or the resources and energy to try innovative approaches. We need a different plan to meet the needs of tomorrow.

Our children and our schools are our future. A lost opportunity for a child is often forever lost.

Since the formula was first enacted, our demographics have changed and our economy has changed. Tinkering around edges is not enough.

Friday, December 29, 2017

Free Tuition for Two-Year and Tech Colleges Means Freedom to Learn

By Kathleen Vinehout 

 "Every Wisconsinite should have access to education or training past high school… To be pursued at whatever point and pace makes sense for individual workers and industries,” wrote researchers at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) eight years ago.

Long before the current shortage of skilled workers, COWS anticipated the need for additional training. In 2009, the Center teamed up with the Workforce Development Board, Skills2Compete and others to study “Wisconsin’s Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs.”

Middle skill jobs are those jobs that require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year degree. The study I quoted above, found “Middle skill jobs still represent the largest share of jobs in Wisconsin – some 54 percent – and the largest share of job openings into the next decade.”

Georgetown University just released a study that found similar conclusions. “Across the nation, good jobs have shifted toward Associate Degree holders and away from workers with a high school diploma or less.”

In response to the demonstrated need, I am proposing free tuition for Wisconsin residents at our Technical Colleges and University of Wisconsin two-year campuses.

Expanding our skilled workforce is the surest way to grow our economy and raise wages. Raising wages in Wisconsin should be a top priority. We are ranked 18th worst in the nation in average wages and salaries.

My proposal, Freedom to Learn, allows students to learn at their own pace and choose their own course of study.

Long ago, I worried about how to pay for college. My only option was a two-year campus. I know firsthand what it’s like to not know how to make ends meet and also go to college. Many see tuition as an insurmountable obstacle. I want to eliminate any hesitation someone might have in pursuing his or her opportunities and dreams.

I want to make it possible for someone who is already working or has family obligations, doesn’t have the cash and can’t afford to take time off, to get the education and training they want. Freedom to Learn, in allowing students to attend school part-time, and learn at their own pace, goes further than tuition programs in other states.

In 2014, Tennessee became the national leader in eliminating tuition and fees for incoming full-time students. Since then, several states followed including most recently, California.

Like other states, my proposal uses state tax dollars as the last dollar scholarship. This means students apply for financial aid. Free tuition grants kick in after all other federal and state aid are used. Wisconsin already has a similar last dollar free tuition program for our veterans.

My program is modeled after Tennessee. Republican Governor Bill Haslam showed the nation what works. As Tennessee added dollars for tuition, the number of students applying for student loans dropped by 17%. In addition, the number of students enrolled in two-year and tech colleges increased by 30%.

Under the proposal I recently released, the cost of free tuition at two-year and tech colleges is funded by repealing the manufacturing portion of the Manufacturing and Agriculture Tax Credit. This tax credit is one of 43 different tax credits claimed by businesses in the past year. The effect of this specific tax credit is to reduce state taxes owed to near zero.

Corporate profits and corporate cash reserves are at an all-time high, while wages are stagnant. Companies have the money. They don’t have the workers. Trading one manufacturers’ tax break for a pool of skilled workers is a good exchange.

Freedom to Learn is a great opportunity to invest in the potential of our own Wisconsin workers and grow our economy from the inside out. It makes more sense than trying to lure workers from other states or giving billions to one foreign corporation.



Thursday, December 28, 2017

Glenn Grothman Hits The Trifecta Of Stupidity



When Congresscritter Glenn Grothman (R-WI) opens his mouth, it's a very sure bet that something stupid and inane will come out of it. Some of Grothman's greatest hits include his war on Kwanzaa, saying that people who vote "inappropriately" vote for Democrats, and that Planned Parenthood is not needed because he's a guy.

He kept the streak alive just before Christmas by going on CBS58 in Milwaukee and getting a hat trick of absurdity.

First up was his defense of the GOP tax scam, saying it was only the wealthy that were complaining about it:
"The biggest cut was to the average guy," Grothman told the CBS 58 News at 4. "The few people who are complaining are people in high tax states and they're the wealthiest people complaining. Even Barack Obama wanted a corporate tax cut to make us more competitive with other countries across the world."
Yeah, well that sure explains why billionaires were running an ad thanking Trump for the tax cuts. They're just average Joes, right?

Grothman said that his next priority would be to cut welfare and other benefits for the people and then gets confused on who the denizens of Trump Swamp really are:
Grothman says when he returns to Washington after the holiday break, he hopes to see action on welfare. But he's preparing for a fight from those within his own party.

"It will be one more time Donald Trump and a republican like me want to take up welfare reform. Mitch McConnell said he wouldn't. There's going to be a fight, I think, between Donald Trump and reform minded republicans against kind of the republicans stuck in the swamp. I hope I"m able to win on that one and get welfare reform."
It is the third comment that is the most mindboggling and gobbersmacking one. When all of the indictments and convictions from Trump's Russiagate were laid out, the reporter, Michele McCormack, asked Grothman if he still thought that the Russian involvement was no big deal:
Since that time, two Trump associates have been indicted and a third admitted to lying to the FBI about contacts with the Russians.

So, has his view changed?

"We don't feel there's going to be a problem with the Trump campaign," insisted Grothman. "I think the Russian meddling may have been more something for the Clinton campaign. We're not focused on that. It's been weeks since any republican talked about the last campaign.

We've been in meetings looking at welfare reform and doing tax reform."
Say what?

Let's review: Trump campaign - 3 down and more to come; Hillary campaign - No indictments.

I wonder what is the color of the sky on Grothman's home planet.

Cross posted from Crooks & Liars

Janesville Gazette Changes Name to the Paul Ryan Messenger

By Jeff Simpson



Lost in the Magic of the Christmas season, was an apocalyptic op-ed from the Janesville Gazette, which was a jumble of drool over the Boy Wonder child from Janesville - Paul Ryan.  

Politico recently broke a story about how Speaker Ryan was considering retiring at the end of 2018.  As Joel McNally pointed out, the "leaked" retirement story was just a front, to get the national political reporters to talk about what a great guy Paul Ryan (R- Wall St.) is.     

The Janesville Gazette, abandoning all pretense of objectivity, liberality and honesty, took the story - hook, line and sinker.  

Just in time to be buried the day before they reposted - Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus (showing us the best of what an editorial is meant to be), the Janesville Gazette posted - Please Don't Go Paul.  

Let's take a look:

Rumors about House Speaker Paul Ryan possibly leaving Congress next year dampened excitement over passage of the nation’s first tax overhaul since the Ronald Reagan era.
Some athletes try to retire at the top of their games, and maybe Ryan is having similar thoughts as he contemplates this major legislative victory.
The majority of people do not like the new tax overhaul bill, as they know it is a huge give-away to the rich and will increase the deficit approximately $1.5 trillion! 

Despite its depth, the report reveals little about Ryan—“friends say he feels like he’s running a daycare center”—that we don’t already know or suspect. The story highlights Ryan’s torn feelings over his job, zooming in on the dysfunction afflicting our nation’s capital.
Small wonder Ryan should want to leave. He’s endured withering, often unfair criticism from both the left and right not to mention a parade of protesters stalking his home in Janesville.
We can hardly blame Ryan for wanting to escape the spotlight and spend more time with his family. For many politicians, “spending more time with family” is code to cover up their real reason for leaving. But Ryan has been sincere in his dedication to his family, notably insisting on coming home during weekends as a condition of accepting the speaker job.

Can we please stop with the Paul Ryan family man myth?  Does he really come home every weekend to "spend time with his family"?  Or is he running around the country on weekends fundraising and trying to sell The Donalds border wall?   

$10,000 a plate is a hefty price for a kid's meal.  

Ryan exhibits a kind of humanity and decency too often missing in politics today. D.C. lost its way long ago, and much of the cynicism directed at Congress is justified, though Ryan pulled off a minor miracle by shepherding several bills through the House this year.
Like the Obamacare repeal bill, which Ryan passed through the House, but would have left millions of Americans without healthcare but was too extreme for the Senate to pass.   It would have also ended the pre-existing condition clause in the ACA, which means it would have killed me(literally).   

The GOP tax bill is by no means a perfect document, and we cannot claim the middle class emerges as a clear winner. But the bill is a genuine attempt to simplify the tax code, placing limits on, for example, deductions for mortgage interest and paid property taxes. The bill also seeks to make American companies more competitive by lowering the corporate tax rate.
"We cannot claim that the middle class is a winner"?  Yet you declare it a major victory?  What do you think Janesville is made up of?  Will the private jet deduction be a big hit in your circulation area? By the way any responsible journalism, would tell us that the US does NOT have the highest corporate tax rate and a corporate tax cut will not spark the economy

 Under a Republican-controlled Congress and presidency, the tax overhaul should signal greater legislative victories to come. But in this fractured Congress, many Republicans are greeting the tax bill’s passage with a sigh of relief, not so much the jubilation of conquerors.
You are really calling the GOP "conquerors?  I agree but it is hardly a compliment. 
As anyone familiar with Twitter knows, Congress is operating under unusual circumstances thanks largely to President Trump’s unpredictable leadership. Ryan has fortunately avoided getting into a tweet war with Trump, which might explain why Ryan has been spared from Trump’s infamous 140-character assaults. Nevertheless, working with Trump must be exhausting (in the daycare sense).
Paul Ryan(R-Trump's lackey), has not been attacked by The Donald lately because HE AGREES WITH EVERYTHING THE DONALD DOES.   Why would anyone attack a yes man?  

Through it all, Ryan has refused to debase himself by hurling insults at his critics. He reminds the Beltway of what life used to be like before Twitter, and he’s an example of how a leader should behave.
Let's just pretend incidents like this have never happened:

 Or this:


Or This:

“Right now about 60 percent of the American people get more benefits in dollar value from the federal government than they pay back in taxes,” Ryan said. “So we’re going to a majority of takers versus makers in America and that will be tough to come back from that. They’ll be dependent on the government for their livelihoods [rather] than themselves.”
Or this:

 But the reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. And the fight we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism versus collectivism.
Brit Hume, FOX News: What is your view of Ayn Rand? Are you an Ayn Rand disciple? 
Rep. Paul Ryan: No. I really enjoyed her novels, Atlas Shrugged in particular. It triggered my interest in economics. That's where I got into studying economics. That's why I wanted to study the whole field of economics.
I later in life learned about what her philosophy was, it's called Objectivism. It's something that I completely disagree with. It's an atheistic philosophy. But I think what she's done is she's showed -- she came from communism. She showed how the pitfalls of socialism can hurt the economy, can hurt people, families and individuals and that to me was very compelling novels. Which says freedom, free enterprise, liberty is so much better than totalitarianism and socialism. Those novels, I thought were interesting. But her philosophy, which is different, is something I just don't agree with.
There is a reason why Charles Pierce calls Ryan a "zombie eyed granny starver" and the "Biggest. Fake. Ever." 

Charles Pierce describes perfectly, what the folks at the Janesville Gazette think a true leader is:
 As the deciding votes were cast—recorded in green on the black digital scoreboard suspended above the floor—the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, threw his head back and slammed his hands together. Soon he was engulfed in a sea of dark suits, every Republican lawmaker wanting to slap him on the shoulder and be a part of his moment.

His moment. Thirteen million Americans lose their health care.
 Paul Ryan, threw his head back and slammed his hands together.
His moment. Eighty-percent of the benefits going to the top one-percent.
 Paul Ryan, threw his head back and slammed his hands together.
His moment. Millions of dollars shoved upwards to people who already have billions of dollars. A deficit entering the orbit of Mercury.
 Paul Ryan, threw his head back and slammed his hands together.
His moment.
 
William Rivers Pitt @truthout had a similar disgusted reaction: 

When the president of the United States of America signs this bill into law, he will, among many other things, be signing a check to himself and men like Bob Corker. That check has a great many zeroes to the left of the decimal. These are the people the Evangelicals embrace as "theirs," though their pockets will be picked and their futures plundered, once again.

They cheered. It would be bad enough if they did this with their heads hung low in shame, knowing as we all know that this is only happening because the big GOP donors demanded the key to the Treasury and refused to donate again until they got it. We're sorry, they could (but would never) say, but they made us do it. We had to, we're sorry.  
 Instead, they cheered.  They actually cheered.
But Wait there is more:

 It’s not fair to blame Ryan for the antics of a president with little self-control.Congress would lose a great deal—namely integrity—if Ryan were to leave. Paul, please don’t go.
Yes if you were to ignore the career politicians complete record and just be mesmerized the one day a year he graces the Gazette with an interview, then you would definitely think that Paul Ryan was a man of integrity.   

However if you look at his record, listen to his words and as the late great Maya Angelou told us - "When someone tells you who they are. Believe them.".   Then you would know that there is not now, nor has there ever been an ounce of integrity coursing through Paul Ryan's body. 

Please Please Please Paul Go AWAY...and do not let the door hit you on your way out!  


Biggest. Fake. Ever.   

Edit Note:  There are two people running to dethrone Paul Ryan and actually for the first time allow the people of the first CD to be represented in Washington.   

Cathy Myers and Randy Bryce

Let's make sure one of them does! 

 

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Ah Leah!

By Jeff Simpson



GOP Senate hopeful and current WI State Senator Leah Vukmir, is upset.   She is upset because everyone's favorite white supremacist Steve Bannon, has already endorsed in the GOP Primary and it was not for her. 

If anyone is surprised that Bannon would chose a white, ambitious, unintelligent male over anyone else, has not been paying attention.

Leah has never been the brightest bulb on the tree, so she is trying to earn Mr. Bannon's love by jumping to the extreme right to get his attention. 

Ms. Vukmir printed this story telling us what an amazing Christian she is and on the front lines of the "war on Christmas"!

Unfortunately she did not send her column to an editor before hand, so let us here at CogDis help her out:

Christmas often brings out the best in people(but not all of the time, just keep reading), a time of year when we can cherish our loved ones and spread kindness and generosity to those around us(who donate money to our campaign) Unfortunately, too often we forget the intended meaning of the season, and instead find ourselves walking on the pins and needles of political correctness.   

 At what point did saying Merry Christmas become so offensive(It never has)?On more than one occasion, I’ve wished my cashier a Merry Christmas(That will show them), and too often their responses suggest that good tidings and joy are only welcome if packaged in a specific and “proper” manner.  

Sadly, in the conjured-up spirit of seasonal neutrality(the nerve of people for having different beliefs), too many businesses have decided they’re willing to take your money, and in return you won’t be unintentionally offended. They prefer to let dull political correctness determine their choice of words. I have, and will continue to make a point of noticing those companies who are willing to take a stand during this Christmas season and frequent them when possible.(you mean this Holiday season and what stand exactly do you want them to take?) 
I sincerely doubt those celebrating Hanukkah would take offense to being wished Merry Christmas(well you would be wrong). In a similar fashion, I would certainly not be offended if wished a Happy Hanukkah(You are aware right that this whole sham of an article is that you ARE offended when people do not say Merry Christmas). Celebrating and welcoming the traditions of others is part of what makes our country great(when is the last time you wished someone a Happy Kwanza?)
So here we are, another Christmas season in which we are compelled to appease to a manufactured, politically correct society.(Compelled=
force or oblige (someone) to do something. Who is forcing you Leah, to say anything, much less only Happy Holidays.)I, for one, don’t enjoy being told by the liberal media that we should behave in an impartial fashion and be oh-so-careful as not to offend anyone. It’s rubbish. No one is offended when wished a Merry Christmas, except for liberals hoping to check their victim box for the day(No one is offended and as Rabbi Jonathon Biatch says, he is not offended but: 
I think, rather, we are confused and concerned about the inattentive, or sometimes even the stubborn, assumption that someone they casually meet observes the same holidays and traditions. In our diverse state — in these times of growing awareness of different religions and cultures — we should seek sensitivity to the needs of others rather than insist on the need for social homogeneity.)
One of the more refreshing things to me about the Trump presidency is that we have a commander in chief who says what he thinks  
  and isn’t fazed when the media tells the liberal masses they should be offended(So we should not be offended when the President brags about sexually assaulting any woman he chooses?). He refuses to back down and ignores pressures to conform to what elites determine are societal norms(Like for most of us, grabbing woman by the pussy, is something most of us in society have deemed as wrong). We have a president who doesn’t apologize for what we elected him to do and doesn’t apologize for the greatness of our country.(Yes, the "greatness" of our country.)

You can count on me to do the same. In the state Capitol, I have a reputation for being no-nonsense(Ironic to say that in an op-ed that is nothing but nonsense.) and telling it like it is. And if I’ve learned anything, it’s that people respect you(speaking of that this is what people in the Capitol have to say about you:  
many Republican staffers believe that she is so extreme and heartless that she is dangerous.” Not sure that "respect" means what you think it means.) when you’re willing to stand up and fight for those beliefs you hold dear.
Our leaders accomplish the most when they are honest about where they stand and what they believe in(I guess that explains why The Donald and Scott Walker are so unaccomplished). Then, the best ones follow through on their promises. When people start compromising their principles and pandering for attention, that’s what gets them in trouble(Says the person who is perpetually voted one of the worst legislators in the state.  A Republican even had this to say about Leah: 
“It’s all about Leah,” grumbles a current Republican staffer. “Given the choice of reaching a compromise or having an issue to campaign on, she will choose the latter.

So this month, while many will give you their Season’s Greetings or wish you Happy Holidays, I’ll say what I mean: Merry Christmas! (Yes Leah, say what you mean, if only you know what the meaning was).  

Edit Note:  The Op-Ed you put in the paper was dated 12/15 and this was posted on your facebook page on 12/12. 

May the miracle of lights brighten your days and may you celebrate with wonder, thanks and joy.#HappyHanukkah



Leah, who in tarnation forced you to put that up on your facebook page?  Let us know so we can help defend you from these bullies!!   


Sunday, December 17, 2017

Free Tuition for Two-Year and Tech Colleges Means Freedom to Learn

By Kathleen Vinehout


Every Wisconsinite should have access to education or training past high school… To be pursued at whatever point and pace makes sense for individual workers and industries,” wrote researchers at the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) eight years ago.

Long before the current shortage of skilled workers, COWS anticipated the need for additional training. In 2009, the Center teamed up with the Workforce Development Board, Skills2Compete and others to study “Wisconsin’s Forgotten Middle-Skill Jobs.”

Middle skill jobs are those jobs that require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year degree. The study I quoted above, found “Middle skill jobs still represent the largest share of jobs in Wisconsin – some 54 percent – and the largest share of job openings into the next decade.”

Georgetown University just released a study that found similar conclusions. “Across the nation, good jobs have shifted toward Associate Degree holders and away from workers with a high school diploma or less.”

In response to the demonstrated need, I am proposing free tuition for Wisconsin residents at our Technical Colleges and University of Wisconsin two-year campuses.

Expanding our skilled workforce is the surest way to grow our economy and raise wages. Raising wages in Wisconsin should be a top priority. We are ranked 18th worst in the nation in average wages and salaries.

My proposal, Freedom to Learn, allows students to learn at their own pace and choose their own course of study.

Long ago, I worried about how to pay for college. My only option was a two-year campus. I know firsthand what it’s like to not know how to make ends meet and also go to college. Many see tuition as an insurmountable obstacle. I want to eliminate any hesitation someone might have in pursuing his or her opportunities and dreams.

I want to make it possible for someone who is already working or has family obligations, doesn’t have the cash and can’t afford to take time off, to get the education and training they want. Freedom to Learn, in allowing students to attend school part-time, and learn at their own pace, goes further than tuition programs in other states.

In 2014, Tennessee became the national leader in eliminating tuition and fees for incoming full-time students. Since then, several states followed including most recently, California.

Like other states, my proposal uses state tax dollars as the last dollar scholarship. This means students apply for financial aid. Free tuition grants kick in after all other federal and state aid are used. Wisconsin already has a similar last dollar free tuition program for our veterans.

My program is modeled after Tennessee. Republican Governor Bill Haslam showed the nation what works. As Tennessee added dollars for tuition, the number of students applying for student loans dropped by 17%. In addition, the number of students enrolled in two-year and tech colleges increased by 30%.

Under the proposal I recently released, the cost of free tuition at two-year and tech colleges is funded by repealing the manufacturing portion of the Manufacturing and Agriculture Tax Credit. This tax credit is one of 43 different tax credits claimed by businesses in the past year. The effect of this specific tax credit is to reduce state taxes owed to near zero.

Corporate profits and corporate cash reserves are at an all-time high, while wages are stagnant. Companies have the money. They don’t have the workers. Trading one manufacturers’ tax break for a pool of skilled workers is a good exchange.


Freedom to Learn is a great opportunity to invest in the potential of our own Wisconsin workers and grow our economy from the inside out. It makes more sense than trying to lure workers from other states or giving billions to one foreign corporation.

Friday, December 15, 2017

Is Lyin' Ryan Planning On Retiring?



Could it possibly be true?! Is Lyin' Paul Ryan actually planning on retire?! This post from Politico says that it is:
Tinkering with the social safety net is a bold undertaking, particularly in an election year. But Ryan has good reason for throwing caution to the wind: His time in Congress is running short.

Despite several landmark legislative wins this year, and a better-than-expected relationship with President Donald Trump, Ryan has made it known to some of his closest confidants that this will be his final term as speaker. He consults a small crew of family, friends and staff for career advice, and is always cautious not to telegraph his political maneuvers. But the expectation of his impending departure has escaped the hushed confines of Ryan’s inner circle and permeated the upper-most echelons of the GOP. In recent interviews with three dozen people who know the speaker—fellow lawmakers, congressional and administration aides, conservative intellectuals and Republican lobbyists—not a single person believed Ryan will stay in Congress past 2018.

Ryan was tiring of D.C. even before reluctantly accepting the speakership. He told his predecessor, John Boehner, that it would be his last job in politics—and that it wasn’t a long-term proposition. In the months following Trump’s victory, he began contemplating the scenarios of his departure. More recently, over closely held conversations with his kitchen cabinet, Ryan’s preference has become clear: He would like to serve through Election Day 2018 and retire ahead of the next Congress. This would give Ryan a final legislative year to chase his second white whale, entitlement reform, while using his unrivaled fundraising prowess to help protect the House majority—all with the benefit of averting an ugly internecine power struggle during election season. Ryan has never loved the job; he oozes aggravation when discussing intraparty debates over “micro-tactics," and friends say he feels like he’s running a daycare center. On a personal level, going home at the end of next year would allow Ryan, who turns 48 next month, to keep promises to family; his three children are in or entering their teenage years, and Ryan, whose father died at 55, wants desperately to live at home with them full time before they begin flying the nest. The best part of this scenario, people close to the speaker emphasize: He wouldn’t have to share the ballot with Trump again in 2020.
Of course, Ryan is denying that there's any merit to the report:
When asked during a Thursday morning news conference if he was leaving soon, Ryan chuckled and said, “I’m not. No." His comment came before the two stories had been posted.
So, what to believe?

Well, remember, the moniker of "Lyin' Ryan" is one of the few things that Ryan truly earned in his life.

However, the thought of it was plausible enough to get Trump's toupee flapping, concerned that he would lose Ryan before his term was up.

Yes, getting paid $175,000 a year for taking graft and drinking $350 bottles of wine with wealthy lobbyists doesn't seem to be real grueling work, it's chump change for someone like Ryan.

Ryan could easily make at least ten times that much working at some K Street organization or going to work directly for his pay masters, the Koch Boyz. Even better, he wouldn't have to deal with that pesky public that is always demanding the truth and accountability and all that other tiresome stuff.

Ryan has "worked" hard to screw over the American people every chance he got. And even though he's failed more times than he succeeded, thank goodness, he probably feels it's getting time to cash in on that and get his real reward.

Furthermore, Ryan has got to be feeling more than a wee bit nervous. The blue wave that is already crashing across the country is pretty easily seen, even by the most ardent and/or ignorant Republican. And this year, for the first time in his career, Ryan is facing a serious contender in Randy Bryce who has been out fundraising him and is moving up in the polls while Ryan continues to sink in them.

So why shouldn't he be looking at retirement?

But why should we even take the risk that he changes his mind in the next year?

The Blue Wave is growing so strong and Democrats are once again starting to believe, that in the two days following Doug Jones win in Alabama, Bryce has gotten nearly $75,000 in new donations. I say we make sure that Lyin' Ryan gets the clear and undeniable fact that people want to see him go that he starts packing his stuff over the weekend. You can do that by continuing to help the Iron-stached man out in whatever way you can.

Hell, I'm also willing to come and help Ryan pack up his crap for him! And I promise not to slam the door (too hard) on his ass on his way out.

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Lord, I'm So Tired/How Long Can This Go On?

By Jeff Simpson

Yes Scott Walker actually said this:



 If anyone gets millennials it is Scott Walker.  He understands that the reason Wisconsin is experiencing a brain drain, is because there just are not enough mining jobs for the kids. 

With a stroke of the pen, Scott Walker fixed all that, and rightly brags by wanting to name this bill:

"the Keep Our Kids in Wisconsin Act"

Scott Walker knows his history and knows that we have a long history of kids working in the mines!

Here is a group of kids waiting in line to get the first jobs!


By the way, in case you were wondering how proud of this bill that Mr. Unintimidated is?

He edited his original tweet:







We must vote this child out of office ASAP! 

Monday, December 4, 2017

Christine 16

By Jeff Simpson

She's got me dizzy, she sees me through to the endShe's got me in her hands and there's no use in pretending
Christine sixteen, Christine sixteen
She drives me crazy, I want to give her all I've gotAnd she's hot every day and night, there is no doubt about it
Christine sixteen, Christine sixteen
"I don't usually say things like this to girls your age, but when I saw youcoming out of the school that day, that day I knew, I knew, I've got to haveyou, I've got to have you."
She's' been around, but she's young and cleanI've got to have her, can't live without her, whoo noChristine sixteen, Christine sixteen
Christine, Christine, sixteen, sixteenChristine, yeah, yeah So clean, Christine, sixteen, sixteen
While our political system has been crumbling for a while, soon there will be a special election for the US Senate in Alabama that involves a center right Democrat V. a far right wing Republican Judge Roy Moore. 



Prior to this race, Judge Moore was known for actually being kicked off the Alabama State Supreme Court, not once, but twice.   Seriously!  

However, and only in America, the Land of the Free, some women found their voice and told us how the Christian Conservative fired judge had a penchant for young women

More commonly referred to as hebephilia



When the accusations first came out, by numerous women, with even more corroborating witnesses, people were disgusted and pulled their support from Judge Moore. 

They say time heals all wounds.  In this case they did not heal the wounds but they sure numbed them. 



A heavy dose of novocaine, or maybe a too many beers, and it seems the disgust of Roy Moore and his love of 14 year old girls has all but disappeared. 


So much so that The Donald has fully endorsed Roy Moore, and the RNC has started feeding him money again


No word yet on when Roy "Fruit Salad" Moore and the Donald will take the SS Lolita to Jeffrey Epstein's Private Island and partake in the the local pleasures together.   

Once you can get your head around the fact that the party of Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Ike, is working hard to elect someone who has preyed on young teen girls, then sit down because as we know there is always more.   

A former face of the Republican Party and Presidential nominee, Mitt Romney,  the man whose backbone makes jellyfish look like they are rocks, who has never taken a serious stand in his whole life, finally did:


MoreRoy Moore in the US Senate would be a stain on the GOP and on the nation. Leigh Corfman and other victims are courageous heroes. No vote, no majority is worth losing our honor, our integrity.
In Wisconsin, our "friends" at RightWisconsin, have been way to busy obsessing over Gordon Hintz to care that Roy Moore preys on teens. 

The Bradley funded hack columnist at the Gannett Newspaper collection of pamphlets, actually dedicated a whole column on why everyone should vote for Roy Moore. 

To make matters worse, there are Republicans all over the nation, who say, "who cares he is a Republican". 

When Mitt Romney is one of the few who has an actual moral compass and backbone in the GOP, it is time to officially retire the phrase - American exceptionalism

If we do not put an end to this anti intellectualism and complete blindness to every crime done on "your team" the next phrase we can retire is - American Democracy