Gas tax repeal: Winners, Losers and Hypocrites...

Governor Doyle has announced he will sign the repeal of the automatic gas tax increase. Perhaps now a post-mortum will separate the movers and shakers from the pretenders. First, the winners in this saga...

1. Spencer Black and Tim Carpenter. Both of these long-time Legislators have been fighting to repeal this law for the better part of a decade. Black, in particular, has ridiculed both parties for allowing this law to stand for so long.

2. Milwaukee Talk Radio. After a series of disappointments in areas they have tried to flex their muscles ( TABOR and last year's Joint Finance budget meetings come to mind), Sykes, Belling and Wagner finally have another big win. I'm sure their egos are bigger than ever.

3. The Wisconsin taxpayer. This law was inherently unfair and anyone who defended it simply cannot say no to campaign contributions. It's about time.


The losers? Only one...

1. John Gard, who has been put on a pedistal for entirely too long in this state, showed his true incompetance on both Syke's and Belling's shows. Anyone who has spent anytime in the Capitol over the past decade either knows that he is a buffoon or is in denial because "he's on our side". It's simply amazing that the Republicans went from someone the caliber of Jensen to this guy...


The hypocrites? Make room, there's a whole lot of them.

1. The Democrats who voted against this bill. Remember the stink they made when Tommy vetoed a similar provision. To vote against it because "their guy" didn't bring it up underscores the problem we have in Madison.

2. The Republicans posing for holy pictures on Milwaukee Talk Radio. One by one, they all called up, their voice shaking with fear, and stated how outrageous this version of "taxation without representation" was. Well listen , folks. If it is taxation without representation today... it sure the hell was every time you ignored Rep. Black's call for repeal for the last decade. It sure the hell was every time you bottled up Sen. Carpenter's bill in committee the entire session. If just one of these Republicans had the moral compass to simply say "It wasn't on my radar before, but my constituents have spoken and I will vote for the bill... I would have sent a contribution check the next day. Instead, we get a bunch of foot soldiers who never think for themselves... or for their constituents. Their only decision is which master to follow... leadership or Talk Radio. (I really do think they were afraid of Mark Belling).



Lastly, we must admire the two brilliant political moves during this whole scenario...

1. Jim Doyle, for not ending up under the same bus that hit John Gard. It's good public policy, Governor.

2. Tom Reynolds, for grabbing an issue he didn't particularly care about (He voted against it in the past) and using it to become the darling of the blogosphere and talk radio. Two months ago, Reynolds was facing a tough reelection campaign with a probable primary to boot. Now, his seat is as secure as anyones in Southeast Wisconsin, assuming he doesn't do anything stupid in the next year (which may be a tall order for Mr. Reynolds).

Jeff Wagner, All Star Softball Player

I wonder if anyone else was as taken back by County Executive Dan Vrakas' appearance on Jeff Wagner's show today. I have been amazed at the local blogs, which seem to comment on everything from Scott Newcomer's latest whereabouts to Jim Doyle's every sneeze, have been almost dead silent on this huge story. Leave it to WTMJ's Jeff Wagner, however, to clear the air on the radio today.

I happened to be at work... so all you get is a paraphrase.



Wagner: "Welcome to the show, Dan. We have all read the paper over the past few days news regarding the resignation of Jenifer Finley. Some have suggested that there is more to the story. Can you clear things up for us?"

Vrakas: "I'd be glad to. Jenifer has done an excellent job for me. I wish her luck."

Wagner: "Thanks for clearing everything up, Dan."



What?

This guy is a lawyer and now a news commentator and that's the kind of hard line questioning we get?

There's a reason that no one from the right is touching this story.

Here's about the only thing of substance I have found...

The Reggie Bush sweepstakes

Ok... it's getting harder to completely buy into my previous Brett Favre post. But I'm still trying to enjoy every Favre moment. For those of you that have joined the Reggie Bush bandwagon, let me spend a few moments profiling the players the Packers will actually choose between next April.

1. D'Brickshaw Ferguson- The OT from Virginia is quite frankly the best player in the draft. The 6' 5" 295 lb. mamouth of a man is a great athlete who would require Tauscher to go back to Guard next year. An immediate starter and a ten year pro-bowler...

2. AJ Hawk- I know, the Pack's needs are on the lines. But it will be hard to pass on the best linebacker to come out of Ohio State in a decade. At 6' 1" 240, he would cover the entire field with his speed.

3. Mario Williams, Mathias Kiwanuka- These two defensive ends wouldn't help much in the running game but would give the Pack a true pass rushing phenom. Williams, 6' 7" 285, is a bit bigger than Kiwanuka and may not be pushed around as much by a big left tackle.

4. Deangelo Williams- He's only 5' 10" but carries twenty more pounds than Reggie Bush. Perfect for a west coast offense, he may be a poor man's Shaun Alexander. In any event, he certainly is a full-time back, as opposed to Bush (See Warrick Dunn).

The gas tax debate...

My only post on the gas tax issue was more about open governement than anything else. It does, however, seem to be the topic of the hour so I will give my two cents...

I am amazed at how the far right can take any issue and turn it into a bash-fest on public education. Yes, the transportation fund was raided... and I believe we covered that issue at nausea during budget deliberations. Can we stay on topic, folks?

The views of our Legislators are easy enough to figure out. Why walk away from the trough? The Roadbuilder's own much of the Legislature. I simply don't understand, however, how anyone outside the walls of the capitol can support a tax that no one votes on. Yes, I know the income tax goes up as incomes climb.... blah, blah, blah. But seriously, how is this any different than automatic pay raises for politicians? Put aside the politics and the spin... and this is an issue that should transcend liberal and conservatives labels.

My vote for the best "Different Take" on the issue goes to GOP3 for their thoughts on the aftermath of this fight.

Hey! We're on Wisopinion!!

OK.. OK, it's not like being classified a large mammal in the ecosystem. But it's a start. Being completely ignorant about blogging (notice the lack of pictures?), I have no idea how you end up on their list besides swallowing your pride and sending WisOpinion an email on your own behalf. Since I didn't stoop to that level, I'm assuming one of my three readers may have done it on their own. To this good samaritan, a thousand thank you's.

To the rest of you... an extra click here once a day wouldn't kill you and just may do some good to my battered ego.

The last to comment on Syke's show... and blogging in general.

Xoff would not approve (as if he would ever see this) but I must make a few comments about the "big blogging show" from Sunday morning. As you can probably guess from reading below, very few things our local radio heads say make any sense to me but, on Sunday, I thought Charley's show was excellent. Church didn't allow me to see the last segment but the first twenty minutes were very well done. A better analysis than I could ever do can be found on various conservative blogs such as Badger Blog Alliance.

What I didn't hear covered by the panelists is the amount of time and energy that politicians are now giving bloggers. While Some will question the overall importance of blogs, one only has to look at the race to fill Dan Vrakas' seat in the 33rd to see an unprecedented attempt to get on the good side of bloggers. Candidates are tripping over themselves to make sure they are being portrayed as they would like. Will this continue to grow in the future? I would certainly think that in primaries, blogs will have a big impact.

As I read my favorite daily stops on the blogosphere, I can't help but notice how many bloggers are having their biggest month yet as far as hits to the site. Many of these blogs have been up for well over a year. I'm assuming their writings have been solid all along, so even though Sykes and the others have been touting blogs as the alternative media source for quite a while now, we may be witnessing a tipping point of sorts this fall and winter.

On a personal note, I had to chuckle at bloggers pointing to a milestone of 1,000 views a month... or 100 visitors a day. I'd take 10 a day right now...