Republican Party

Quote, unquote

September 18, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

The Republicans are now the “How great is it to be stupid?” party-- Maureen Dowd in NY Times.

Scotty Fitz calls the aluminum kettle black

September 13, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

Scott FitzgeraldWith all the problems and challenges facing our allegedly bankrupt state, where joblessness is rampant and major infrastructure projects on hold, why is the Wisconsin Senate planning to "earn" its pay by meeting only one day in the entire month of September?

According to Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, it's the fault of, who else, the Democratic Party.

Fitzgerald, a Juneau Republican, explained it to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this way:

[He] said the Senate is slow to get started because of the recalls. Senators didn't have time to work on legislation as they focused on campaigns, and leaders had to reshuffle committees after the elections reshaped the makeup of the Senate and narrowed the Republican majority to one vote.

You don't need a former TV weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing

September 13, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

Former weathercaster OttFormer Milwaukee TV weatherman Armin (Jim) Ott has some 'splainin' to do. Voters might be surprised to learn an Assembly committee co-chaired by Ott, a Mequon Republican, is busy sneaking through a bill gutting what meager campaign finance disclosure rules are still maintained by the state Government Accountability Board.

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign reported that Ott and other Republicans who control the Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules didn’t stop there. "In addition to rolling back existing GAB rules they handcuffed the agency, prohibiting any future rulemaking requiring disclosure of corporate electioneering."

Because, hey, it wouldn't be good to let the public know who's funding political parties and candidates in Wisconsin, now, would it? Especially if they are corporations and right-wing think tanks who give to Republicans. At least, that's the evident attitude of Republicans now in control of your state government.

Can't watch Obama now, gotta answer the phone

September 8, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

No ringy dingyHow truly freaked out is the Republican Party tonight? This freaked out:

Right in the middle of President Obama's 30-minute speech, in which he quite forcefully touted his new job creation measure, the telephone in our suburban Milwaukee home rang. Here's the conversation that ensued:

ME: Hello?

CALLER: May I speak to [MRs. Man MKE]?

ME: Whom may I say is calling?

CALLER: (After a brief pause) I'm Doug, and I'm calling from the Republican National Committee.

ME to Mrs. Man MKE, who votes regularly, but never for Republicans: Honey, would you like to speak with someone from the Republican National Committee?

MRS. MAN MKE: No. I'm watching the president's speech right now.

ME to Caller: She does not wish to speak with you.

[Caller doesn't respond, but line goes dead at once]

"Why I left the Republican cult": The ultimate self-interest of a working man in peril from the GOP

September 4, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

I left as an act of rational self-interest. Having gutted private-sector pensions and health benefits as a result of their embrace of outsourcing, union busting and "shareholder value," the GOP now thinks it is only fair that public-sector workers give up their pensions and benefits, too. Hence the intensification of the GOP's decades-long campaign of scorn against government workers. Under the circumstances, it is simply safer to be a current retiree rather than a prospective one.

If you think Paul Ryan and his Ayn Rand-worshipping colleagues aren't after your Social Security and Medicare, I am here to disabuse you of your naiveté. They will move heaven and earth to force through tax cuts that will so starve the government of revenue that they will be "forced" to make "hard choices" - and that doesn't mean repealing those very same tax cuts, it means cutting the benefits for which you worked.

-- MIKE LOFGREN, who retired on June 17 after 28 years as a Congressional staffer. He served 16 years as a professional staff member on the Republican side of both the House and Senate Budget Committees.