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Charlie Sykes: Sykes Writes

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RECENT POSTS Archive

  • Don't Go back....

    Watch WMC's new ad here. It makes a powerful closing argument: 'Don't Let them Take Us Back."

  • We're Number 4!

    As much progress as we've made, Wisconsin has a long way to go: We still have the fourth highest state/local tax burden in the country.

  • JOBS. Governor Walker at 9:35 a.m.

    I'm not alone is finding it quite revealing how viscerally the left is reacting to Wisconsin's remarkably good jobs numbers. By Any Means Necessary has apparently morphed into No Good News if Good News Helps Walker. Yes, they can be overhyped,but the numbers are striking: 12,900 private sector jobs created... a net increase of 9,500, while the rest of the country is stuck in neutral. Governor Walker will join me at 9:35 to talk about the progress on the jobs front.

  • Obamanomics vs. Reaganomics

    Today's must-see video:

  • Senator Ron Johnson at 8:35 am

    I'll talk to the senator about the latest updates on the debt ceiling talks and the Gang of Six.... Senatorial bonus: Jim DeMint joins me at 9:45 to talk about his new book, The Great American Awakening.

  • Wimpfication Update: Have We Made Playgrounds Too Safe?

    My absolute favorite story of the day: In our bid to bubble-wrap children, we have created super-safe playgrounds that, critics now say, "may stunt emotional development, leaving children with anxieties and fears that are ultimately worse than a broken bone."

  • The Paul Ryan Factor

    From this morning's Wall Street Journal:

  • Contest: Dumbest Line of the Day:

    Other nominees are welcome, but we start off with these two contestants:

  • What the Debt Limit Battle Is All About

    Michael Barone breaks it down.

  • Dems Ignore Capitol Rules

    My former colleague John Jagler emails me: "After being reminded repeatedly by the Sergeant at Arms Office about the rule against displaying political signs in the State Capitol windows, democrats are refusing to take them down. The signs used to be orange union signs. Much like the unions' efforts to stop our legislation here, the orange has all but faded away. They were ugly and disgraceful in this beautiful building before they started to fade and wrinkle. Now they truly are a blemish on this building."

  • A Streetcar Named Boondoggle

    Hey, it's OPM (Other People's Money.) But with their usual indifference to fiscal reality, Milwaukee pols move to ignore warnings from (1) the city's top fiscal watchdog, and (2) local utilities who warn that building the Downtown streetcar will cost tens of millions of previously unreported infrastructure costs., ... i.e. the cost of modifying, moving, tearing out steam, gas, electrical, telecommunications lines currently under the streets or running the overhead wires and in ground power for the rail system.... over and above the reported $64.6 million price tag. The Barrett Streetcar runs up Broadway Avenue, which is a main artery in the city’s downtown steam network and it the single hub for all telecommunications switching for the state – phones, cable, fiber optic, etc. It will take years and tens of millions of dollars to adapt the underground infrastructure. (We Energies alone might to spend more than $40 million). This is not the first time, of course, that city leaders rushed ahead with a massive boondoggle. Here is one blast from the past (and you might recognize the author):

  • What? No Health Insurance? No Pension? UPDATED

    No collective bargaining? No bennies are at all? Who are these enemies of the working man? Apparently this has since been removed, but, this is what passes for "progressive" grass roots activism in Wisconsin these days:

  • And This Has What To Do With the Real World?

    Fond du Lac adopts a trendy new grading system, under which "participation in the classroom, attendance and behavior will not be considered by teachers when giving grades. Extra credit will be eliminated. Homework will be counted as practice and students who cheat will be allowed to take a different test." Note especially the life lesson in allowing kids who "cheated" a second chance.

  • Dirty Tricks? Look For Da Union Label

    You'll recall the JS deep-breathing about the bogus charge that Wisconsin Right to Life was engaging in voter suppression by offering supporters absentee ballots? Media Trackers comes up with an actual dirty trick, courtesy of the AFL-CIO.

  • Here's the Deal, Mike....

    Here's the deal, Mikey: the GOP will pay for the primaries if you (1) pay for the damage to the capitol, (2) pay for the $5 million-plus security expenses for your tantrum, (3) p[ay for the Kloppenburg recount, (reimburse taxpayers for the salaries and bennies of the 14 fleebaggers while they were out of state, (4) pay for the six recalls of GOP senators. Sound reasonable?

  • TV Report: Walker Budget Fix... is Working

    Dogs lying down with cats. TV6 investigates the absolute devastation of state schools caused by the Walker budget and finds... that with only a single exception (guess which one) school districts are actually better off.

  • GE Boss Explodes the Hypocrisy Meter

    Where do you start with a tool like Jeffrey Immelt? How about by pointing out that this poster child for corporate cronyism paid no corporate tax on $5 billion in profits... and has cut 36,000 jobs since the dawn of the Age of Obama. Now he's lecturing businesses that they shold stop complaining about government. How convenient. From Jammiewearingfool:

  • Scaring Granny

    Call it the Audacity of Demagoguery. The president threatens to withhold Social Security checks, thus coming down from the mountaintop of "centrism,' to play the oldest and most cynical card of the left: scaring Granny. Obama knows perfectly well that the government would be able to issue the checks even if the debt ceiling isn't raised, but hopes to raise political pressure on the GOP by frightening millions of senior citizens who are reliant on the checks, and in so doing, exposes the ugly side of the welfare state: make millions of Americans dependent on government and then hold them hostage when it is in your political interest.

  • WEAC: $24 Million in Dues... Just $18.85K in Scholarships

    Interesting analysis of the teachers union's money machine... which helps explain why the union bosses were so adamant in fighting the walker reforms. Richard Moore reports:

  • Other People's Money

    Arthur Brooks asks if it's not simply the decent thing to avoid taking other people's money.

ON NOW: The Wall Street Journal this morning

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