Paul Ryan's Minimum Knowledge

By Jeff Simpson

GOP Golden boy, and self proclaimed policy wonk Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.) was asked a simple question recently and completely fumbled the answer:

Thank Goodness his staffer knew that it is a measly $7.25/hr .

Hard to fault Ryan though, he does not deal with such piddly amounts of money.  We know that he likes $350 bottles of wine  and has expensive tastes.   After being embarrassed by his lack of knowledge, he then went on to try and redeem himself.

Q: The minimum wage in other parts of the country is fourteen, fifteen dollars. I don't see huge differential in employment in places that have raised their minimum wage to places that haven't.
RYAN: Our poverty rates are among the lowest in the country.

Sure, if by lowest you mean “tied for 18th with Washington state by percentage of population as of 2014.” And one study at the University of Wisconsin last year found that the state's poverty rate grew by 20 percent between 2010 and 2014, to its highest level in 30 years. Also, the gap in poverty rates between whites and blacks is 49th worst in the nation. So clearly Ryan is either not paying attention or lying through his teeth.

If you want to discuss these issues with Ryan, your chance is coming up.  He is hosting a fundraiser with John "the cryer" Boehner.  Boehner is making a rare appearance off the golf course.  Of course the fact it is a tailgate with lots of alcohol available sure helps.  

It is the perfect time for the man of the people, who grew up in Janesville, to really hang out and mingle with the people who he represents.    \

All you need is it be available on Sunday September 24th, to go to Lambeau Field and watch the Packers take on the Cincinnati Bengals and Tailgate with these two former Speakers(no word if Denny Hastert will be making an appearance).  

I forgot one detail, you also need $10,000!  

The Downfall of Paul Ryan

By Jeff Simpson 

Yesterday we brought you the idea that if Democrats get behind Paul Nehlen, Paul Ryan's challenger in the primary, we can rid ourselves of the scourge that is Paul Ryan(R-Wall St.).

I never thought I would be on the same side as Sarah Palin, but politics makes for strange bedfellows and the stakes have never been higher.
With a worthy, well funded  Republican challenger, followed by the November election, the Trump Phenomenon, the Dennis Hastert Hush money, the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs in his district, his high profile role as Speaker of the House and his perpetual declining popularity, this is the year to send Paul Ryan to the place he has helped to send so many of his neighbors, the unemployment line.  
I still think it is important to continue calling out Mr. Ryan's failure be it with your friends and family, via Letters to the Editor or calling radio talk shows, etc...    
However there is one more thing that could be the most important thing you do all summer.    In the August 9th Statewide Primary, Vote for Paul Nehlen.  

Today Public Policy Polling(PPP) came out with their latest poll, confirming everything we said.

Ryan Disliked by Republicans; Trump Could Hurt Down Ballot

PPP's new national poll finds that Republican voters have soured on Paul Ryan nationally. Overall only 30% of voters approve of the job Ryan is doing as Speaker of the House, to 48% who disapprove. What's most noteworthy though is that Ryan is under water even among Republicans, with 40% of them approving of the job he's doing to 44% who are unhappy. In November we found that 69% of Republicans supported Ryan becoming Speaker to only 14% were against it, but that honeymoon has worn off very quickly. The idea of Ryan being a white knight who could have unified the GOP and saved it from Trump is a beltway fantasy out of line with how actual Republican voters across the country feel about him at this point.

Ryan is at least still a lot better off than Mitch McConnell who has just an 11% approval rating nationally to 66% of voters who disapprove of him. What's remarkable in McConnell's numbers is how little deviation there is in them across party lines. He's at 14/64 with Republicans, 10/69 with Democrats, and just 6/66 with independents.

There's been a lot of discussion about the impact that Donald Trump's nomination might have on down ballot races. We find Democrats leading the generic Congressional ballot 46/41 right now. Trump's ascendancy is unlikely to cause Republicans to abandon their own party- we find 86% of Democrats planning to vote Democratic and 86% of Republicans planning to vote Republican. But Democrats do have an edge with independent voters at 38/32. We also asked specifically how voters would respond to a Senate candidate in their state supporting Trump. It's a 19 point net negative, with 45% of voters saying they'd be less likely to vote for a Senate hopeful who supported Trump to only 26% who say that would make them more likely to vote for someone. Among independents it's a 23 point net negative.

By NO means do I believe that this will be an easy task.  It will not.   However this is the year where there are definite kinks in the armor of the Golden Boy.   We may never ever get this chance again.   If Ryan makes it through to the general election in November, expect him to flood the market with ads saying how he is committed to bring jobs back to America.  

Ryan likes to run ads every two years that would make Russ Feingold proud.  forgetting the fact that in 17 years he has done the exact opposite, but 8 million dollars allows you to push a lie that enough people believe to send him back to Congress.  

Let us take advantage of this opportunity that is presented to us.   We must keep the pressure up on Paul Ryan from the left, right and center and then on August 9th vote for Paul Nehlen!    

Democrats for Nehlen

By Jeff Simpson

Janesville's own Paul Ryan (R-Wall St.), has been the elected rep from WI 1st district since 1999.  In that time Ryan's district has seen thousands of jobs disappear. In that time also, inexplicably, Paul Ryan has went virtually unchallenged by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

One year, under the DPW direction of Mike Tate,  John Heckenlively had to string together enough signatures the last weekend to get on the ballot because there was no other candidate.   It was almost as if the DPW did not care too much for the working men and women in WI(but that is another blog).

It is not just the Democratic Party that is in awe of Paul Ryan, the Republican establishment also does.   Paul Ryan as the Vice Presidential pick could not even deliver his own state and yet they still seem to look to him for leadership.

Although that is starting to fade with Ryan perpetually acting like a prima donna.  Ultra right winger Pat Buchanon has some words for Pink Slip Paulie:

Ryan is a congressman from Wisconsin. He has never won a statewide election. As No. 2 on Mitt Romney’s ticket, he got waxed by Joe Biden. He was compromise choice as speaker, only after John Boehner went into in his Brer Rabbit “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah” routine.
Who made Ryan the conscience of conservatism?  Who made Ryan keeper of the keys of true Republicanism?

Then there is the story, that we hope some reporters and politicians follow up on - that Paul Ryan sat on information that former GOP speaker of the House is a child predator.  

Accusation made by attorney and best-selling “Gorilla Mindset” author Mike Cernovich. And he doesn’t imply the accusation, he makes it flat out. One thing we do know is that Ryan seems to have never allowed himself to be photographed with Hastert. Screenshot from Cernovich’s post at “Danger and Play”:

 
As Tom Morello tells us History is not made by the politicians or the billionaires its about the people who rise up.

   This year someone decided to ignore the invincibility of Paul Ryan and the ineptitude of both parties and is stepping up to challenge Paul Ryan from within his own party.   Paul Nehlen has had enough and is stepping into the ring.

Paul Nehlen seems to think he has a legitimate chance to beat Mr. Ryan, and his race has even drawn interest from such high profile Republican celebrities as Sarah Palin.

I never thought I would be on the same side as Sarah Palin, but politics makes for strange bedfellows and the stakes have never been higher.

With a worthy, well funded  Republican challenger, followed by the November election, the Trump Phenomenon, the Dennis Hastert Hush money, the loss of thousands of manufacturing jobs in his district, his high profile role as Speaker of the House and his perpetual declining popularity, this is the year to send Paul Ryan to the place he has helped to send so many of his neighbors, the unemployment line.  

I still think it is important to continue calling out Mr. Ryan's failure be it with your friends and family, via Letters to the Editor or calling radio talk shows, etc...    

However there is one more thing that could be the most important thing you do all summer.    In the August 9th Statewide Primary, Vote for Paul Nehlen. 

Seriously, in a low turnout election anyway, show up to end Paul Ryan's career.   If you are tea party, progressive, independent, Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Libertarian, Green, etc... there is nothing you could do that would be more helpful to America.

This is our one chance to rid the state, country and world of the biggest con man in politics.  You can go back to party purity in the November elections when the fight is fairer and the Republican career politician isn't sitting on millions of dollars to keep his 144k/yr job.

Wisconsin, we CAN unite and do this!!

GOP Speaker of The House Is Child Predator

By Jeff Simpson

Recently, former GOP Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, who actually served as the third in line from the Presidency longer than anyone in our history, is a child predator.  

Mr. Hastert is not only a child predator, but he will never be punished for his actions.   He was recently sentenced to 15 months in prison but it was because Hastert pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges of structuring financial transactions to conceal payments($3.5 Million) to an individual whom he had sexually abused decades earlier, when Hastert worked as a high school wrestling coach.  The Statute of Limitations has expired on his sexual preying on children(assuming he no longer does it).

Being in a 24 hour news cycle, let's take a quick refresher course on Denny Hastert and his career. Mr. Hastert was Speaker of the House from 1999-2007, when he resigned and cashed in for a few years as a lobbyist.   The former ALEC member, was rewarded for his years of service to them by a sweet lobbying job for a few years after he left office.   Has anyone asked if he was alone with any children at the lobbying office?   



Without getting too deep into his horrible political record, lets just take a look at the clues of his sexual preying.  The start of his downfall, was when he covered up the fact that fellow Republican Mark Foley was preying on interns in DC.   The GOP leadership knew what Foley was doing but as always, put party before people and allowed children to continue being prey.   

The interesting thing there, surprise surprise, was as Speaker, Hastert took a serious stand against child predators:

The longtime Republican lawmaker supported the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement Act of 2000 and called for stiffer penalties for sex offenders before his own pattern of abuse was revealed, reported the Chicago Tribune.
“It is important to have a national notification system to help safely recover children kidnapped by child predators,” Hastert said in 2003, after Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart was recovered after a nine-month ordeal of kidnapping and abuse.
“But it is equally important to stop those predators before they strike, to put repeat child molesters into jail for the rest of their lives and to help law enforcement with the tools they need to get the job done,” Hastert said at the time.
The former GOP lawmaker also spoke out against President Bill Clinton’s private conduct during the impeachment proceedings, saying he had abused and violated the public trust.

Yes irony and shame are long gone from our Government these days.   This is why it made it so interesting when Hastert begged for leniency from the judge.  Hastert even had over 60 people write letters of support for him ( although 20 cowards withdrew their letters when the judge said they would be made public).    

Hastert even trumped his own hypocrisy(who knew that was possible) by asking one of his victims brothers to write a letter in support for him.   

A good but really tough read is the judge's remarks in sentencing Dennis Hastert.   

NY Times correspondent @juliebosman tweeted the sentencing and here are some low lights:

Julie Bosman ‏@juliebosman  Apr 27Judge, on Hastert: "The defendant is a serial child molester."

Julie Bosman ‏@juliebosman  Apr 27Judge to Hastert: Any sentence I give you today would "pale" to what you would have received in state court for committing sexual abuse.

Julie Bosman ‏@juliebosman  Apr 27Judge, on Hastert: "If there’s a public shaming of the defendant because of the conduct he’s engaged in, so be it."

Finally this one:

Julie Bosman ‏@juliebosman  Apr 27Judge's final words before exiting: "This is a horrible case.. horrible for our country. I hope I never have to see a case like this again."

One last thought:

Kevin Binversie, Right Wisconsin and Sexual Misconduct

By Jeff Simpson

The Republican party has always had their problems with sexual deviants.   From Bill Kramer and Robin Vos in Wisconsin to Joe Scarborough and Newt Gingrich nationally.  

The Republicans do a real good job of touting themselves as the "family values" party while all of these things are happening.  With a few hundred millions of dollars to advertise, a compliant media and toothless opposition, they are able to actually get away with it.

However there are other skeletons in their closet that they can not always get away with.  This is when Republicans in the inner circle go after young boys.   From former Congressman Mark Foley to Scott Walker's right hand man Tim Russell.

When these stories come out, the right wing echo chamber pounces.  Remember when Jimmy Wigderson defended preying on underage kids by Russell /Pierick ?

Then there is the case of Brian Pierick, Russell’s paramour, who was caught texting with a 17-year-old who claimed he was 19. I think it would be pretty hard to imagine that this crime took a three-year John Doe investigation to solve. Pierick got probation.
It’s hard to imagine that any of these crimes needed the time and resources invested by the Milwaukee district attorney’s office. Unfortunately, we may never know the full cost of the investigation. The district attorney’s office denied a request by the MacIver Institute to find out how many hours staff worked on the investigation.

Now Right Wisconsin and their wingnut welfare employee Kevin Binversie is at it again.  

 We’ve written in the past on multiple occasions about how both Russ Feingold and Tammy Baldwin are clinging to donations from New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez. Menendez was indicted back in April by the FBI for alleged violations of campaign donation limits and the acceptance of illegal gifts.Both Feingold and Baldwin received $5,000 from Menendez in 2010 and 2012 respectively. Baldwin has maintained a stance that she will only return the money if or when Menendez is convicted, while Feingold’s campaign has never responded to press inquiries related to the contribution.
Fast forward to the recent scandal that has surrounded former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert. Like Menendez, during Hastert’s years in politics he maintained a leadership PAC which handed out donations to members of his party.

So Right Binversie has been hounding Democrats to give back campaign donations for the corrupt Menendez.   Hilarious, considering they work for the formerly convicted felon Scott Jensen but Hypocrisy is a value of theirs.  

What sickens me however is this:

 Fast forward to the recent scandal that has surrounded former Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert. Like Menendez,

There is nothing about Menendez that is "Like" Hastert.   Hastert was busted paying off someone who he messed with when the victim was underage, to the tune of millions of dollars.  Menendez is like our former Speaker without the benefit of a Waukesha county trial and a get out of jail free card by Brad Schimel.    

Leave it to the right wing echo chamber, and their win at ALL costs mentality to equate politics with preying on underage children.   

It is rather disgusting when these people use their forum to protect people who prey on children.   

Edit Note:   Just wanted to share some pure delicious irony regarding Dennis Hastert and his recent arrest courtesy of Larisa Alexandrovna Horton: 

Oh the absolutely delicious irony of the Denny Hastert indictment. If you have not heard about this, Google is your friend. For the rest of you, let's just recap the hilarity of this situation:
1. Hastert was hardly investigated let alone indicted for the myriad of allegations ranging from bribery to money laundering.
2. Hastert was hardly investigated let alone indicted for the myriad of allegations involving leaking state secrets to foreign actors in exchange for cash.
3. Hastert was hardly investigated let alone indicted for the myriad of allegations relating to his own days as a lobbyist
4. Hastert was hardly investigated let alone indicted for the myriad of allegations pertaining to his well-timed real estate investments
5. Finally (and according to the indictment of yesterday), Hastert was hardly investigated let alone indicted for alleged improprieties with a possible minor/student of his.4. Hastert was hardly investigated let alone indicted for the myriad of allegations pertaining to his well-timed real estate investments5. Finally (and according to the indictment of yesterday), Hastert was hardly investigated let alone indicted for alleged improprieties with a possible minor/student of his.Yet, Hastert was investigated for withdrawing money from his OWN bank account - the withdrawn funds were NOT used for any criminal purpose. He was indicted because he a). attempted to hide withdrawing money from his OWN bank account (for use in non-criminal purposes) and b). for lying to the FBI about why he was withdrawing his OWN money. Why is this so ironic you ask (ridiculous, yes, but why ironic?). Because thanks to Hastert's own hand at pushing through the infamous Patriot Act, the FBI was able to use provisions in the PA to conduct this ridiculous investigation of Hastert withdrawing his OWN money from his OWN bank account to use for non-criminal purposes. How I love the smell of delicious, oven-baked, irony such as this!
Updated: see here, no really:http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Dennis_Hastert

Edit Note 2 - If some unGodly set of circumstances happen and we elect Scott Walker President, Scott Walker would renew the Patriot Act.