2011 Mar 04 - Headline News

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Whaddya Know Joe??

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http://rightnetwork.com/episodes/whaddya-know-joe-premiere

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BOMB THREAT At Scott Walker News Conference – Leftist Protester Arrested

Far Left protester Patrick J. Knauf, 43, of Eau Claire was arrested on Wednesday for the violation of making a bomb scare under state statute 947.015.

STORY at:
http://gatewaypundit.rightnetwork.com/2011/03/leftist-protester-linked-to-bomb-threat-at-scott-walker-news-conference/

March 4, 2011

The Wisconsin Capitol closes at 6 — no more sleepovers.

With the slumber party over, there's some dancing on the Capitol steps.
Meade gets inside just a few minutes before 6 to check out the
compliance level. He runs into the woman who appears at 3:13 in the "free-speech countervoice" video to suggest that our free-speech hero move his conversation out of the center of the rotunda.

http://althouse.blogspot.com/2011/03/wisconsin-capitol-closes-at-6-no-more.html

Legal Insurrection will be hosting a special series on POLLS & POLLING this next week.

As my readers know, I have taken an interest in polling, primarily because it seems so many polls are agenda driven.

In a post last week, I pointed to a PPP poll on Wisconsin which used sample data which underweighted Walker voters
from 2010 and overweighted union households. I also have focused in the past on health care polling and other pollling used for political purposes.

I'm pleased to announce that next week Legal Insurrection will have a special guest series of posts on polling, written by Matthew Knee, a Ph.D. candidate at Yale (don't hold it against him) specializing in campaigns and elections, ethnic voting patterns, public opinion, and quantitative and experimental approaches to political science.

The posts will run starting Monday, and will focus on polling issues which arise in the political context, such as weighting of samples, framing and sequencing of questions, and other factors.

Matt also will evaluate various public polling on the issue of public employee unions, as that issue has been in the news quite a bit and the various polling results are being used by each side for political advantage.

I hope you will enjoy the series.

http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2011/03/special-series-on-polling-next-week.html

Three union workers who called out sick to attend a labor rally at the New Jersey Statehouse last week have been suspended.

The move comes a day after Gov. Christie told NBC New York in an interview that "people who call in sick better be sick." Christie issued his warning ahead of another labor rally that drew thousands on Thursday.

Monmouth County officials said the three employees suspended without pay Thursday work for the county's Senior Citizen Area Transportation service and are members of CWA Local 1038.

The county said the workers were among 14 in the department who called out sick; officials alleged that 174 developmentally disabled adults who depend on the county's services ended up "waiting for buses that never came."

"These employees are being suspended without pay based on the fact that we have evidence to prove that they were not home sick as they had claimed," said Lillian Burry, a county official.

The union representing the workers, the Communications Workers of America(CWA) put out a statement through its District One calling this a "politically-motivated attack on public workers who perform vital services."

The CWA statement added "When all the facts come out, it will be clear that whatever errors in judgement were made, no one served by the county missed a medical appointment and no one should be fired."

State Sen. Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth), who first complained of a "sick-out," applauded officials for the suspension, noting some workers were "caught on camera" at last week's rally.

He wants officials to keep reviewing video to see "if others were absent without proper excuse."

Meanwhile, thousands more rallied again at the Statehouse -- this time a gathering of police and firefighters protesting job cuts and changes to first responder benefits and pensions.

Labor unions have been riding a wave of national attention on labor contracts and collective bargaining, sparked in part by disputes between Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and public employees there.

Bruce Chester, a Woodbridge police office attending the rally, held up a campaign letter from Christie promising not to touch police officer pensions. When that same letter was shown on a big screen TV, officers and firefighters broke out in the chants of “liar.”

“Enough is enough,” said Tony Weiners, president of the NJ State Policemen’s Benevolent Association.

Irvington Police Officer Jerry Ramos and Irvington firefighter Kevin Franz said they voted for Christie and were experiencing ”buyers remorse.”

At a separate news conference Thursday, Christie called the latest demonstration a "me-first rally" but admitted he made campaign promises he could not keep.

“The situation has gotten significantly worse since I took office,” Christie said “The system could be bankrupt by 2020….I’m not going to let that happen.”

Christie said he tried to meet with the state PBA president and that “the numbers are the numbers.”

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NJ-Police-Firefighters-Rally-at-Statehouse-117321168.html

Here’s what CBSAtlanta is reporting…

Atlanta: The Georgia House has voted to pass a bill meant to crack down on illegal immigration.

The bill sponsored by Rep. Matt Ramsey, a Peachtree City Republican, passed by a vote of 113-56.

Ramsey said the most important section of the bill is one that requires employers to use a federal database called E-Verify to check the immigration status of new hires.

Lawmakers who spoke in support of the bill said it is necessary because the federal government has failed to enforce the nation’s immigration bill.

Many who spoke against it argued that immigration should be left to the federal government and raised concerns that the bill could harm the state’s economy and reputation.

The legislation now moves on to the Senate, where a similar bill passed out of committee WednesdayThe Georgia House has voted to pass a bill meant to crack down on illegal immigration.

The bill sponsored by Rep. Matt Ramsey, a Peachtree City Republican, passed by a vote of 113-56.

Ramsey said the most important section of the bill is one that requires employers to use a federal database called E-Verify to check the immigration status of new hires.

Lawmakers who spoke in support of the bill said it is necessary because the federal government has failed to enforce the nation’s immigration bill.

Many who spoke against it argued that immigration should be left to the federal government and raised concerns that the bill could harm the state’s economy and reputation.

The legislation now moves on to the Senate, where a similar bill passed out of committee Wednesday.

It looks like it won’t have any trouble passing the Senate…..and Nathan Deal, Georgia’s new Governor, will gladly carry it across the
finish line.

The Union bubble:

The unions are underwater financially. They rolled the dice and didn’t make their point. (heh). Now they are coming up snake eyes.

In 2007, the SEIU owed Bank of America nearly $95 Million.

By the end of 2008, SEIU owed more than $156 Million in total outstanding liabilities. Only six years prior, its liabilities were $8 Million. And we’re not even addressing their debts to other banks, like $15 Million with Amalgamated Bank.

http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2011/03/loan-arranger.html

WI Capital FATBOY

“Collective Bargaining Is Not A Right”

http://blog.heritage.org/2011/03/01/collective-bargaining-is-not-a-right/

For all the bragging that Wisconsin students do better in standardized tests, that’s because they have so few minority students:

“To
recap: white students in Texas perform better than white students in
Wisconsin, black students in Texas perform better than black students in
Wisconsin, Hispanic students in Texas perform better than Hispanic
students in Wisconsin.

“In 18 separate ethnicity-controlled
comparisons, the only one where Wisconsin students performed better than
their peers in Texas was 4th grade science for Hispanic students
(statistically insignificant), and this was reversed by 8th grade.

“Further,
Texas students exceeded the national average for their ethnic cohort in
all 18 comparisons; Wisconsinites were below the national average in 8,

above average in 8.”

And the racial gap is SMALLER in Texas.

http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2011/03/longhorns-17-badgers-1.html

The Pence Amendment to defund the abortion industry leader, statutory
rape facilitator, and illegal alien teen sex slavery adviser, Planned
Parenthood, is coming up in the Senate soon.

Contact your Senator http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

What are we doing to our border agents?! Arming them with BEANBAGS against illegal immigrants and drug gang members? What the WHAT?!!!!!

I guess if an illegal or gang member gets a beanbag shot at him/her and drops it rather than catches it, s/he is “out” and has to go back to their side of the border. Seriously, though, this is an outrage! Why is this gov’t sending out brave men and women to their slaughter with tactics like this. Someone has some ‘splainin to do.

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_681d29cf-845a-5aea-9f34-3837d70b8a31.html

Closer to home the ATF has been shoveling guns south to Mexico and MSM is finally starting to notice:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/03/eveningnews/main20039031.shtml

Opinion: Whitewashing Wisconsin's Protests

http://www.aolnews.com/discuss/2011/03/02/opinion-whitewashing-wisconsin-s-protests#gcpDiscussPageUrlAnchor

As SEIU Terrorizes Bank Employee’s Son, HuffPo and MediaMatters Omit Deadbeat Union’s $90 Million Debt

Alinsky Rule #12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.

Nina Easton just became the left’s latest target. Why? So that SEIU can hide from the truth about its financial liabilities to Bank of America.

Easton, a Washington Editor for Fortune Magazine, wrote a column early morning Wednesday, addressing the outrageous protest organized by SEIU and National

People’s Action, where 700 protesters stormed the front lawn of the private residence of Greg Baer, deputy general counsel for corporate law at Bank of America.

As I wrote in my post yesterday, “SEIU Storms Private Residence, Terrorizes Teenage Son of Bank of America Exec,” Easton is actually a neighbor of Baer.

When she was startled by the loud, screaming, bullhorn-rattling protesters, she called Baer’s teenage son to check on him. Home alone, the frightened teenager had locked himself in the bathroom. After witnessing the entire incident as it unfolded on her neighbor’s private property, Easton criticized the SEIU and left wing groups in her article for crossing the line this time.

Alinsky’s Rule # 12 states,

“Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel, but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)”

In almost coordinated lock-step fashion, the 12th Rule was promptly and firmly applied. As Larry O’Connor posted on Big Journalism yesterday, a series of several posts soon followed the publication of Nina Easton’s article:

* Late Wednesday evening, John Vandeventer of SEIU posted “Nina Easton & the Bank Lobbyists: Too Close for Comfort” in response. Conveniently, Vandeventer distracts readers by recounting the sob stories of foreclosure “victims”, then quickly focuses the attention on Easton and polarizes his target. He proceeds to play a guilt by association game to tie her husband to Bank of America through Business Roundtable. You can read my post from yesterday about that here.
* Then came Arthur Delaney’s piece from the Huffington Post, with the headline: “Nina Easton, Fortune Columnist, Compares Bank Protesters To ‘God Hates

Fags’ Group.” He ends his piece with a link to an open letter to Easton penned by Al Marshall, SEIU Local 1021 shop steward in Oakland, CA. Marshall begins his letter by mentioning that he flew out to DC for the protest from CA because “Wall Street caused” his wife to lose her job, and then him and his wife to lose their house. (I’d like to know how he could possibly afford those plane tickets, in that case). The whole tenor of the post is undoubtedly less jovial than his prior day’s, when he gleefully bragged about the whole event.
* And then, the much anticipated and expected Media Matters post: “Attacking SEIU, Nina Easton fails to disclose husband’s ties to Bank of America“.

Of all of the responses, not a single one of the posts actually addresses any of the issues. None will account for the fact that the protesters were on the private property of a private citizen, though Vandeventer tries to rationalize their actions as acceptable because the police supposedly followed the crowd to the location. Then, he paints the picture that Baer is lurking in the crowd trying to blend in; rather, the man was trying to get to his front door without creating a scene so that he could get to his frightened son inside as quickly as possible.

Perhaps the most important piece of information of all that was left out of the posts from SEIU, the Huffington Post, and Media Matters is the fact that Bank of America is one of SEIU’s major creditors.

In 2007, the SEIU owed Bank of America nearly $95 Million.

[document copies here]

By the end of 2008, SEIU owed more than $156 Million in total outstanding liabilities. Only six years prior, its liabilities were $8 Million. And we’re not even addressing their debts to other banks, like $15 Million with Amalgamated Bank.

Perhaps all that campaigning for President Obama has emboldened the union to think that they deserve a free pass on their debts to Bank of America, and encouraged them to employ their usual thuggish shakedown tactics. Typical Chicago political machine style. At the very least, Huffington Post and Media Matters should disclose that their beloved union is part of that machine. And it’s looking more and more every day like there could be validation for suspecting that there’s a bigger reason why SEIU paid Media Matters some nice cash last year.

More importantly though, who could possibly defend this sort of behavior? Let’s review the facts here and remember there’s a teenager home alone inside that house, frightened by all of the screaming crowds on his front lawn. As his father arrives home from his other son’s Little League game, with his younger son in tow, they arrive to this mob scene. The father is forced to park his car around the corner and leave his younger son behind, while he tries to wade through the crowd to reach his teenage son inside the house. He asks the protesters to make way for him to get to his frightened son, but the mob is more concerned about making a scene for their own selfish manufactured rage than they are for the safety of a child.

I lost my job in late 2007 at the start of the crisis, then became ill for over a year and unable to work. I did the responsible thing when I was facing foreclosure: first I called my bank every week. They gave me 8 months of reprieve and worked with me on a plan. And when it seemed I’d be in it for the long haul, I got rid of every luxury – cable, cell phone, car, I sold my furniture. And I even got a roommate. In the end, I made it out of the red. I had to make the effort and sacrifice, but I did it. I know I am not the only one with such a story.

So why do we only see SEIU’s side of the drama playing out in front of the cameras today? We see this intrusion on personal private property all too often nowadays. Have all our left wing “advocates” lost their souls entirely for a cause that is nothing more than a facade? When and where will this madness stop?

http://biggovernment.com/libertychick/2010/05/21/as-seiu-terrorizes-bank-employees-son-huffpo-and-mediamatters-omit-deadbeat-unions-90-million-debt/