Huh?

Madison -- The Senate is now scheduled for Wednesday morning to take up a bill on the gathering of racial data by law enforcement during traffic stops.

The Senate's scheduling committee voted unanimously to take up the bill, with the panel's two Democrats voting by teleconference from an undisclosed location in Illinois.

The traffic stop bill, which was passed by Democrats in the last legislative session, aims to gather information on whether law enforcement engages in racial profiling in traffic stops. Republicans have criticized it as a burden on police.

...

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) warned Democrats he might stop extending the courtesy of allowing them to vote by teleconference if they remain in Illinois much longer.

A commenter wonders if a legislator is on the phone, and voting -- isn't that a quorum, then, for all matters?

If Wisconsin law is loosey-goosey with respect to physical presence during votes, why not declare that constructive, telephonic presence is enough for a quorum?

Posted by: Ace at 12:54 PM | Comments (282)
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As prepared.

There's a lot here. I'm only going to quote the passages with broad relevance -- I won't quote Christie describing his own previous actions or his making pledges specific to the 2012 New Jersey budget.

I think the most important thing here is the determination to end the business-as-usual style of baseline budgeting, where a previous budget is mostly just slightly rewritten -- with obligatory spending increases -- and presented as a new budget. Christie here rejects that and says that each year's budget starts at zero, and that every bit of spending must be specifically defended and justified, not just assumed to continue into eternity (with yearly increases of Cost of Living plus 3%, naturally).

He also hints at the sort of president he'd be with regard to tax cuts -- a stance many won't like. He demands that tax cuts be paid for (many conservatives reject that terminology and reject those who accept it). I think I agree with him: He talked about Obama's high speed rail and other giveaways as not the "big things," but the candy of government. I think tax cuts without a determination to actually cut spending are similarly candy -- tax cuts are always far more beneficial than any spending program, but I don't like the idea of the candy of tax cuts without the vegetables of spending discipline, given our horrific financial shape.

That said, he does in fact propose his own tax cuts -- but paid for, he says, by matching decreases in spending. more...

Posted by: Ace at 12:14 PM | Comments (145)
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I guess he really doesn't want to run for the GOP nomination

Gov. Mitch Daniels signaled this afternoon that Republicans should to drop the right-to-work bill that has brought the Indiana House to a standstill for two days and imperiled other measures.

Daniels told reporters this afternoon that he expects House Democrats will return to work if the bill dies. It would be unfortunate if other bills are caught up in the turmoil, he said.

He will not send out state police to corral the Democrats, the Republican governor said.

I said earlier that I thought this would help him but if he's going to declare a truce when he has an advantage, he's off the list.

When I first saw his 'truce' idea my reaction was he's not fundamentally serious about how politics works. I'm standing by that.

Thanks to Slu for the heads up.

MORE: Remember when Obama said you don't deal with hostage takers unless they are going to hurt the hostages? Well, Indiana Democrats took the state's democracy hostage and Daniels just said, "Hey please come back an hurt the hostages (the state's taxpayers) some more".

Absolutely pathetic. He just told them they now have a veto over everything he wants to get done.

UPDATE: Can it get worse? Why yes, yes it can. From Daniels.

Just a couple of quick comments and that’s really all I’ll make. First of all, just to affirm, the activities of today are perfectly legitimate part of the process. Even the smallest minority – and that’s what we’ve heard from the last couple days - has every right to express the strength of its views and I salute those who do.

As the kids say, FAIL.

UPDATE 2: Daniels aides say he's not opposed to the bill, he just doesn't want to deal with it now.

DANIELS: My view on this is well known to the leadership on both sides, well-known to the public. I havenÂ’t changed a single thing. I donÂ’t attempt to dictate the agenda. IÂ’m not in position to, really, of a separate and free-standing superior branch of government. And for that matter, Speaker [Bostwick] canÂ’t always dictate to his members when they have a strong point of view. For reasons IÂ’ve explained more than once, I think there was a better time and place to have this very important and legitimate issue raised.

Um, if not now, when? This is the moment. Democrats are literally on the run. Public attention is focused on this issue in a way it hasn't in years if not decades (if ever). And Mitch "Truce" Daniels wants to defer it?

Sorry, sometimes you have to seize the moment. It's called leadership.

Posted by: DrewM at 12:07 PM | Comments (321)
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Its hard to play a game where you don't know the rules, so this clarification is welcome.

...Killing hostages "has now become part of our rules," said a pirate who identified himself as Muse Abdi and referred to last week's sentencing of a pirate to 33 years in prison for the 2009 attack on the U.S. cargo vessel the Maersk Alabama.

"From now on, anyone who tries to rescue the hostages in our hands will only collect dead bodies," he said. "It will never ever happen that hostages are rescued and we are hauled to prison."...

On Saturday, Ogabe apparently authorized the use of military force in the event of an imminent threat to the hostages. Given recent pirate statements such as the one above, any rational person would conclude in any future incident that the "imminent threat" now begins the moment the vessel and hostages are taken. The only logical thing for the preznit to do in this "new pirate reality" is PRE-authorize local military commanders to strike at will with no concern for the live capture of pirates.

IMO, the pirates made a grave error in judgment here in believing Obama to be weak here. If this were a purely political situation, they'd be right, he is weak.

However, this is a situation where their challenges and threats directly threaten his his personal vanity and narcissism, political concerns are probably going to be secondary now.

Previously, when Obama has been hit on these personality fronts by domestic attackers, the response has been swift, prickly, and on a personal level rarely exhibited by presidents. IOW, this is a situation where Obama may well wind up doing exactly the right thing, albeit for the wrong reasons.

Posted by: Purple Avenger at 12:03 PM | Comments (66)
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Looking for news on this, I clicked over to Voice of America, to discover the website has been hacked by Islamists. Nice. The audio report plays there, but the text-page bears Islamist sloganeering about American "trickery."

Two pirates were killed (the Voice of America says) and 15 were captured. There's a simple enough way to deal with pirates, and it works every time it's tried -- hang 'em. The death penalty is especially well suited for piracy because in most cases there is no question of guilt, no facts in dispute. (The only defense I can think of is claiming one was shanghaied into service on the pirate ship, but I think that's disprovable in most cases and even when it's not, there's hardly any good reason to believe the self-serving tales of pirates.)

I do not believe for one moment that President Prissypants will push for an execution, though. Let alone the punitive raids that Drew suggests.

Here's a bit of information.

They had the 58-foot sloop built in New Zealand for what they had hoped would be an eight- or 10-year around-the-world voyage, according to their website.

And they gave it a good go. From New Zealand to Alaska their first year aboard. Then the Galapagos Islands, Costa Rica, Tonga. Last year, China, Cambodia, Thailand. Dozens of places in between.

...

The couple dedicated part of their journeys to distributing Bibles. They called it "friendship evangelism."

I don't know if that played any role in their deaths.

I don't know if these people were armed and had a game-plan to repel pirates. I think it's worth bearing in mind that most of the world is monstrous and anyone unwilling to kill for their own lives and the lives of those they love should not venture far out into it.
more...

Posted by: Ace at 11:36 AM | Comments (93)
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I look at the Rasmussen Daily Presidential Tracking Poll most mornings, mostly to see what correlation if any there appears to be between current events and Pres. Obama's approval/disapproval ratings. And it seems pretty clear that the Wisconsin debacle has had an impact.

This probably explains why the White House is now denying any involvement in the protests, in spite of Obama's own public statements criticizing Gov. Walker and the evidence that the DNC and Obama's personal campaign action group, Organizing For America, were clearly involved, as the Washington Post itself reported (same article):

The president's political machine worked in close coordination Thursday with state and national union officials to mobilize thousands of protesters to gather in Madison and to plan similar demonstrations in other state capitals.

Their efforts began to spread, as thousands of labor supporters turned out for a hearing in Columbus, Ohio, to protest a measure from Gov. John Kasich (R) that would cut collective-bargaining rights.

Note that all three news sources I quoted -- NY Times, Washington Post, and Politico -- are left-leaning media; I'm not quoting Beck, Rush, and O'Reilly here.

Now as for the impact. If you look at the recent history of the Rasmussen Approval Index (Strongly Approve - Strongly Disapprove), you'll see that Pres. Obama wasn't doing too badly -- for an 11-day stretch there (2/7 to 2/17), his rating fluctuated between -11 and -7. But it was on Thursday, Feb 17th, that Obama spoke out again Governor Walker and in support of the protesting unions. Let's look at how his score changes:

2/17: -9 (Obama criticizes Walker and the Wisconsin Pubs)
2/18: -14
2/19: -15
2/20: -18
2/21: -18
2/22: -20 (White House denies involvement in Wisconsin protests)

Bam! Down 11 points in 5 days, and over a holiday weekend, no less. Note that it's been three (3) months since Obama's index has been down at -20. That makes it hard to explain that as being tied to anything but the Wisconsin kerfuffle. And so now the White House is scrambling on Tuesday to disassociate itself from something it jumped into with both feet on Friday Thursday.

As Ben Smith at Politico puts in, "DNC, under the bus." Smith sounds just a bit ticked that the White House is calling his reporting "overblown", and with good reason. But it is fun to watch. ..fritz..

Posted by: Open Blogger at 11:15 AM | Comments (109)
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They don't say that exactly but their patience is running out, just a bit more slowly than most.

The effort to weaken bargaining rights for public-sector unions has been particularly divisive, with some people questioning the need to tackle such a fundamental issue to solve the stateÂ’s budget problems.

But more often the conversation has turned to the proposals to increase public workersÂ’ contributions to their pensions and health care, and on these issues people said they were less sympathetic, and often grew flushed and emotional telling stories of their own pay cuts and financial worries.

Here in Janesville, a city of about 60,000 an hour southeast of Madison, Crystal Watkins, a preschool teacher at a Lutheran church, said she was paid less than public school teachers and got fewer benefits. “I don’t have any of that,” she said. “But I’m there every day because I love the kids.”

In Palmyra, a small village bounded by farmland and forests, MaryKay Horter remembered how her husbandÂ’s Chevy dealership had teetered on the brink of closing after General Motors declared bankruptcy, for which she blamed unions.

Ms. Horter said she was forced to work more hours as an occupational therapist, but had not seen a raise or any retirement contributions from her employer for the last two years. All told, her familyÂ’s income has dropped by about a third.

“I don’t get to bargain in my job, either,” she said.

Thanks to rdbrewer.

Posted by: Ace at 11:06 AM | Comments (67)
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(See update below)

The fight for the GOP nomination to replace Chris "Shirts Optional" Lee in NY-26 is starting to look uncomfortably like the fight in NY-23 between Scozzafavaasasa and Doug Hoffman.

Once again, it's up to county GOP chairs in the district to name the party's candidate (I don't think there's a provision in the law that would allow a primary even if they wanted to hold one). And once again, they appear to be going with an insider over a slate of outsiders, including Iraq War hero, David Bellavia.

Rus Thompson of Grand Island, a tea party figure who was active in Carl P. PaladinoÂ’s GOP campaign for governor, said Sunday he and others disapprove of the way Republican leaders are rushing toward the nomination of Assemblywoman Jane L. Corwin of Clarence. She remains the GOP front-runner for an anticipated special election stemming from LeeÂ’s Feb. 9 resignation from Congress.

Thompson strongly hinted that the movement might coalesce behind a third-party candidacy by David Bellavia, an Iraq War veteran who mounted a strong effort for the 2008 GOP nomination eventually won by Lee.

“David Bellavia is bound and determined to run a third-party line,” Thompson said Sunday. “Because of the way Republicans have been treating this, people are talking about a third-party line.”

Bellavia would not go that far Sunday, though he questioned the rush to support a “self-funding millionaire.”

“I definitely have a lot in common with the tea party people,” Bellavia said. “But there is a process, and I’m going to be a good soldier for now.”

If you don't know who David Bellavia is, get thee to Blackfive immediately.

I don't know anything about Bellavia's politics but his service, his book and the recommendation of a lot of milbloggers I respect was good enough for me. A district where the Republican won with like 76% of the vote in November seems a pretty safe place to run a guy, for all his impressive accomplishments, is a neophyte when it comes to electoral politics.

But of course, the insiders seem pretty well committed to picking one of their own.

From a purely Republican Party perspective, the upside is it looks like the Conservative Party will cross-endorse the Republican nominee, so we may not see the NY-23 scenario where the Democrat sneaks in.

Any western NY morons around? You might want to call your local GOP and let them know who you'd like to see get the nomination.

Update: Er, never mind about letting them know who you want, they already picked Corwin.

Thanks to "Curious" in the comments.

Posted by: DrewM at 10:08 AM | Comments (70)
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The audio quality of this is poor -- too many people near the camera's microphone chattering and clapping and drowning out parts of the exchange -- but you can still get the overall gist. more...

Posted by: Ace at 10:08 AM | Comments (108)
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Democrats: Fighting Running and Hiding For You!

House Democrats are leaving the state rather than vote on anti-union legislation, The Indianapolis Star has learned.

A source said Democrats are headed to Illinois, though it was possible some also might go to Kentucky. They need to go to a state with a Democratic governor to avoid being taken into police custody and returned to Indiana.

The House was came into session this morning, with only two of the 40 Democrats present. Those two were needed to make a motion, and a seconding motion, for any procedural steps Democrats would want to take to ensure Republicans donÂ’t do anything official without quorum.

With only 58 legislators present, there was no quorum present to do business. The House needs 67 of its members to be present.

You know who this benefits? Mitch Daniels.

The Indiana story is similar to that in Wisconsin.

At issue in Indiana are several bills, but primarily a so-called right to work bill that would give members of private-sector unions the right to opt out of unions and not pay dues. Mr. Bauer said House Democrats met Monday night for about five hours at a time when the full House of Representatives was supposed to be meeting. "We let them think about it already for five hours last night," he said of House Republicans.

They call themselves "Democrats" but refusing to debate and vote is fundamentally un-democratic. In November, voters made it clear business as usual was over and that the public fisc would no longer be the piggy bank for the Democrats coalition and this is how they respond...with contempt.

This is the second state cleared of Democrats. If we can get all state Democratic legislators to flee to Illinois, the other 49 states will be in a lot better shape.

Posted by: DrewM at 08:26 AM | Comments (389)
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