Oh, those evil nuns in Sauk County!

Seems the sisters, who have taken vows of silence and spend their days making communion wafers,  are known to vote by absentee ballot in every election.  The ballots are dropped off during each voting cycle by the town clerk, the nuns select their candidates, and the same town clerk then picks them up in a sealed envelope. 

There are 18 nuns living this life of peace and quiet at the Lady of Our Valley Monastery.

Well, seems the Kloppenburg team noticed that the nuns absentee ballots didn't have witness signatures on them.  (Keep in mind that although there are rules on the books dictating that every absentee ballot have a signature from a witness, it is questionable as to whether or not such enforcement - from the Government Accountability Board -  always occurs.)  However, in this case, the Kloppenburg team insisted that the ballots be discounted.  And they succeeded - for the time being.

The canvas board and the town clerk who works with the nuns were disturbed by the unbelievable and distrusting manner in which the Kloppenburg team insisted on disenfranchising the nuns.  After all, anyone think that these nuns belong to moveon.org?  or ACORN?  were they going out and passing out cigarettes in an effort to get people to vote for their candidate?  slashing tires of the opposing party so they cannot get to the polls? falsifying information on their own ballots?  voting twice?  (maybe there are only 9 nuns in the Monastery instead of the 18 mentioned!).  Ridiculous.

The town clerk was adamant that she collected the ballots from the nuns the way she always does.  She stated that their votes were legitimate and should be allowed.  However, the Kloppenburg lawyers prevailed and the canvas board relented, tossing out the ballots.

By the way, 4 ballots were for Kloppenburg, while 14 went to Prosser.

The canvas board has appealed the decision to not allow the nun's votes.

Many seem to feel, and I agree, that the Kloppenburg camp is nitpicking small discrepancies in an effort to make them bigger ones.  When the final tallies come in  - once again showing Joanne Kloppenburg lost - the lawyers for Kloppenburg will then take the matter to court.  The goal - to hold up seating elected Supreme Court Justice David Prosser and keep him from voting on the budget repair bill and other important legislation that may be presented. 

Can the Kloppenburg camp sink any lower?  Nuns?  Sure hope Archbishop Jerome Listecki dotted all his i's and crossed all his t's on his ballot... 

In continuing to point out the alternative universe that exists between how the media and Barack Obama were outraged over high gas prices during the Bush years (reference my previous blog:  "Just a lot of gas..."),  and now how the high cost of gas is portrayed as really no big deal.... let's compare what the media and Obama had to say during the Bush presidency, versus how they view things in a different light during the current Obama reign:

Funny how some are calling  the highest gas prices we have experienced to date a "good thing."  Even the President himself finds it amusing that an owner of an SUV - with Obama pointing out that an SUV gets "eight miles to the gallon" (sorry, Obama, this flippant remark is not true of any SUV's..), jokingly tells this person to get a "hybrid SUV."  No solution to high gas costs mentioned.  Obama just brushes off the question with a few obnoxious chuckles.

During the Bush years, the media and Democrats were outraged when gas reached prices of $2.80 per gallon.  The furor increased when gas prices rose into the $3.00-plus range.  Now we are seeing the cost at the pump in the $4.00 plus area - with the possibility of going to $5.00 per gallon or higher.  Yet, no anger or demands for solutions.  No holding the President accountable.  Why?

Ah, the hypocrisy of the media and the President.  Ya gotta love it. 

After four six-year terms in office, United States Senator Herbie "do nothing" Kohl has announced he will not seek re-election.  His term will end in January of 2013.

Can anyone name any major accomplishment by Kohl during his nearly twenty four years in the Senate?  (Owning an NBA basketball team or hosting a milk stand at the State Fair don't count...)   Besides being able to fund his re-election campaigns, helping to buy his seat every six years, nothing comes to mind.  Oh, Kohl did sponsor some bill that required safety locks on handguns!!!  And Herbie did come up with that slogan "nobody's Senator but yours" (was he referring to the Democratic Party?).

Last fall, the voters decided they had enough of "the maverick" - uber-leftie Senator Russ Finkgold - and gave him the boot.   After 18 long years.  Perhaps Wisconsin voters will continue to exhibit common sense and a desire to kick out the tax-and-spend, pro-entitlement mentality  Democrats -  and elect another strong conservative similar to  Senator Ron Johnson.  By all counts, it sure could happen.  If Governor Scott Walker continues to work to make Wisconsin thrive - despite all the childish antics by the opposing party - and the voters realize how positive and strong our state can become after the dismal Doyle days, all bets are off.

On, Wisconsin!

Wisconsinites have so many reasons to be proud of Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Janesville).  Ryan continues to be a voice of common sense among all the nonsense currently coming out of Washington D.C.    Amid all the smoke-and-mirrors and double-speak from President Obama regarding our economic crisis (while offering no solutions), Ryan understands what the government needs to do in order to return the country to prosperity. 

Recently Ryan wrote a column for Investors Business Daily (5/16/11)  in which he points out what he calls the "Four Pro-Growth Axioms to avert shared scarcity."

They are as follows:

1. We have to stop spending money we don't have, and address the structural drivers of our debt.

2. We have to restore common sense to the regulatory environment, so that regulations are fair, transparent and predictable.

3. We have to keep tax rates low and predictable, so that job creators have incentives to invest in America.

4. We have to refocus the Fed on price stability, instead of using monetary stimulus to bail out Washington's failures. Businesses and families need sound money.

Exactly.

Ryan's article goes on to address the perspective coming directly out of Washington, D.C. - that we must all share in our burdens via, of course, the usual Democratic solution to anything - raising taxes.  This is wrong.  We cannot continue to spend money we do not have and continue to take more money from hard working Americans just to keep spending.  This is a vicious cycle, with no end in sight.  It has to stop.  We need to be fiscally responsible - otherwise America is doomed.  We ARE approaching the tipping point of disaster.

Ryan continues with views shared by most in our country:   that America IS an exceptional nation.  Unfortunately, President Obama, the Democrats, and many liberals seem to have a difficult time understanding this.  They fail to believe that American ingenuity, creativity, hard work, personal responsibility, and jobs are the real answer to our economic crisis - and are part of the foundation that makes the United States a great country.  Instead, many on the left would like to see government grow.  They think that government needs to take care of us - government knows best.  And in turn, the government then perpetuates an "entitlement mentality" that is detrimental to the country (but helps assure votes for those giving the hand-outs.  After all, when government is giving you a check for doing nothing, would you want the gravy train to stop?) 

Let the private sector flourish - don't continue to point to big business - or middle business - or small business - as the enemy.  Private sector jobs make the country successful.  Aside from the public vs. private sector mentality that President Obama is so fond of evoking, he also tends to pit the poor against the rich.  Why?  Why does Obama continue to perpetuate the myth that our economy is some sort of stagnant pie?  If someone has more, they must have taken it from someone else?  That is not true.  As I have stated in several other blogs, the economic pie is not stagnant.  Someone isn't rich because someone else is poor.  Rather, that person who has more has usually worked for it.  They have not "taken" from someone else to get where they are.  What is so great and wonderful about America is that everyone can succeed - if they want to.  There are no limits. 

Representative Ryan is one who really understands what has to happen in order for the United States to return to true economic prosperity and get back on track.  Unfortunately, Representative Paul Ryan probably will not run for the presidency in 2012.   If Ryan did, Obama wouldn't stand a chance.  Obama's fluff wouldn't stand up against Ryan's substance.   However, we should take comfort in the fact that someone of Ryan's intelligence and integrity is one of the real leaders in Washington D.C.  And maybe, just maybe,  he'll change his mind and run for President...

One of my frequent readers and fellow conservatives, who would like to be referred to as "Believer Bee," sent me the following e-mail.  Given that Barack Obama has already decided it's best - and easier -  to start campaigning for 2012, rather than addressing any of the pressing issues currently facing the country, it is a real eye-opener to factually discover how things have "changed" since Obama became President.  In all honesty, how anyone with a shred of common sense could vote for Barack Obama in 2012 - is beyond comprehension.    Here goes:

AFTER TWO YEARS OF OBAMA - Here's your change!

Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation's history.  Over 27 times as fast. Metaphorically speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH and a car rockets past you in the left lane.   27 times faster, it would be doing 1,755 MPH!

Sources:
(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. Of Labor;
(7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC;
(13) Federal Reserve

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What this data doesn't address is President Obama's knack for turning off our allies and allowing the United States to be pushed around by our enemies.  We have a president in office  who doesn't seem to have the best interest of America at the forefront.  Instead he likes to go on apology tours around the globe,  which get glowing reviews from the usual  "blame America first" crowd like the media and other liberals.  In addition, Obama is continually promoting  the "rich vs.  the poor" and the "private sector vs. the public sector" mentality, which only serves to expose Obama as a great divider.  (Wasn't he supposed to be the great  "uniter" as the Obama followers believed before Obama was even elected?)   With a president like this "leading" the country, the future of the United States is clearly on a downward path.  This must end.   We need to elect a  Republican - with conservative values and the best interest of the country at heart come 2012.   The alternative - four more years of Barry O. -  will only serve to perpetuate a crisis from which America,  and the American people,  may never be able to recover.