A very nerdy breakdown of how Walker Admin is moving over $1 billion in debt

Yesterday, Governor Walker was back at State Fair Park to be part of the State Building Commission’s annual meeting at the Fair. And there were a ton of items on the agenda to take care of, as it was also the first meeting of the new fiscal year. This included moving ahead on a number of high-profile building projects, which the Gov was glad to talk about.

Today, the State of Wisconsin Building Commission approved several key projects across the state including, but not limited to:

•Releasing funds for the construction of Eau Claire Confluence Performing Arts Center;

•Design and construction of a Discovery Station at Old World Wisconsin;

•Several projects at University of Wisconsin facilities, such as the Music Performance Building project at UW-Madison, the Garfield Avenue Corridor Improvement project at UW-Eau Claire, the New Soccer Complex project at UW-Green Bay, and the Athletics Complex Buildings project at UW-Whitewater;

You get the idea. Sounds pretty good, right? But then I looked at the agenda, and didn’t happen to see these items listed in the Governor’s Office write-up.

1.General Obligation Refunding Authorizing Resolution -2016 State of Wisconsin Building Commission Resolution 4 authorizes the issuance and sale of General Obligations in the amount not to exceed $595,000,000, in fixed or variable rate form, to refund outstanding general obligation bonds previously issued for construction or improvement of facilities, grants, and acquisition of land for statewide purposes.

2. Debt Authorizing Resolution -2016 State of Wisconsin Building Commission Resolution 5 grants state agencies new debt authority in an amount not to exceed $202,150,000, and continuation of previously approved debt authority in an amount not to exceed $690,140,000, to allow state agencies to enter into contracts relating to various borrowing purposes which will be funded by subsequent issuances of general obligation debt.

3. General Obligation Authorizing Resolution - 2016 State of Wisconsin Building Commission Resolution 6 authorizes the issuance and sale of General Obligations in an amount not to exceed $385,595,000 in fixed or variable rate form, to fund the construction or improvements of facilities, grants, and acquisition of land for statewide purposes.

In other words, these moves authorized and allowed for the moving around of $1.2 billion in debt. So what’s going on?

As I’ve mentioned before, some of these debt moves aren’t surprising, and may well be sensible (interest rates are still very low following the Brexit vote). But I also noticed a change in a bond offering document that was bid on earlier this month, with the total amount of debt being refinanced now raised to over $600 million, and it made we want to go into this a bit more.

Digging into the document indicates that the Walker Administration is trading bonds the state gave out several years ago in favor of a different scheduled of payments in the future. In particular, some of this “refunding” takes care of some of the bonds the state of Wisconsin issued to take in money to pay the bills in those years (there was a revenue problem as a result of Bush’s Great Recession, you may remember the time).

As provided for in the Enabling Act, the 2016 Series A Bonds are being issued for the refunding of the May 1, 2018 maturities of the 2008 Series A Bonds (2008 Refunded Bonds). The aggregate principal amount of the 2008 Refunded Bonds is $363,000,000. Consistent with the expectation of the State at the time of issuance of the 2008 Series A Bonds, the 2016 Series A Bonds are being issued to provide an amortization of the principal of the 2008 Refunded Bonds. The 2016 Series B Bonds are being issued for the advance refunding of all or a portion of certain maturities of the 2009 Bonds (2009 Refunded Bonds). The principal amount of the 2009 Refunded Bonds is $172,250,000. The advance refunding of the 2009 Refunded Bonds is for debt service savings.

I’ll start with the move on the 2009 bonds first, as that is a straightforward and relatively sensible move. Those IOUs were paying between 5.0% and 6.25% interest (they were sold above the $1,000 face value at the time), and all of the bonds sold to replace them were dished out at $1,000 apeice, and will paying significantly lower interest (between 1.44% and 3.29%, depending on when they mature).

This is basically a bond call, defined by TheStreet.com as the following.

Issuers call bonds when interest rates drop below where they were when the bond was issued. For example, if a bond is issued at a rate of 7% and the market rate for bonds of that type drops to 6% and stays there, when the bond becomes callable the issuer will likely call it in order to issue new bonds at 6%. Obviously, callability benefits issuers and hurts investors, who are faced with the prospect of reinvesting their money at lower interest rates.

Issuers entice investors to buy callable bonds by paying higher interest rates on callable bonds than on noncallable bonds. But the price of a callable bond will not rise much above its call price, no matter how low interest rates go, because dropping interest rates increase the likelihood that it will be called.

Most municipal bonds and some corporate bonds are callable. Treasury bonds and notes, with very few exceptions, are noncallable.

This is one the risks you take when you buy a bond- there may be something that says at a future time, the issuer can take it back and basically speed the maturity date if they feel it works. The downside risk to the state is that it’ll be paying bonds and interest for a few extra years (in the case of a couple of the bonds being refunded), and have to see other bonds mature in years they didn’t have before. But it’s likely the state will pay less money over the course of time, and in a less “bumpy” pattern that can disrupt the budget.

And that “disruption” is why the 2008 bonds were being refunded. As you see above, $363 million of those bonds come due on May 1, 2018, which is the next fiscal year. In addition, those bonds were replacements for a number of bonds sent out in 2003, which were intended to

provide funds for payment to the Wisconsin Retirement System (Retirement System) for all or a portion of the State’s unfunded accrued prior service (pension) liability and unfunded accrued liability for sick leave conversion credits, or to refund appropriation obligations issued for that purpose.

That’s where I’ll direct you back to the Department of Administration’s portion of the current budget, and have you look at item Number 4, and you’ll see this the source of a huge bump in costs and lapses for this year.

Provide [an additional] $383,064,900 GPR in 2016-17 to reflect the required debt service appropriation level associated with the appropriation obligation bonds issued to pay the state's Wisconsin Retirement System unfunded prior service liability as well as the accumulated sick leave conversion credit program liability. Under the legal agreements governing the appropriation bonds, the annual debt service appropriation for repayment of the bonds must equal the maximum possible payment that could be made in each succeeding year. Because there are large principal payments currently scheduled in 2017-18 and variable rate debt must be appropriated assuming the maximum allowable interest rate, the GPR appropriation in 2016-17 would be increased, although most moneys would not be expended in 2016-17 and would lapse (revert) to the general fund.

This increases lapses by nearly $371 million for this year, so no problem there, but it also meant there was another $383 million in base costs for the next budget to pay off all that debt in May 2018…without any lapses or new money to bail it out (aka a “balloon payment”). Yeah, big problem.

So that’s where this other restructuring comes in. Instead of having one huge balloon payment in 2018, these bonds mature between 2020 and 2027, with the largest amount of maturity being just over $75 million. It “smooths out” the payments, and takes care of one piece of a huge headache that would have caused further stress to the next budget (and that budget will be bad enough without complications like this).

But that doesn’t mean we should feel comfortable. What these moves have done is switched some money around, and likely raised the debt service burdens for the budgets after the next one (which will likely be the problem of the next governor). And this one “refunding” of $600 million that I described above doesn’t include the other $460 million in debt that was dished out last month, or the future moves that the Building Commission signed off on at its meeting yesterday.

Many of these moves may well be fiscally prudent, but it sure isn’t the act of an Administration whose budget is stable with adequate reserves. I fear that when we see the final revenue numbers in a couple of weeks, we’ll see that the hole continues, and no amount of debt shuffling can hide all of it.
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Wisconsin poll shows big Dem leads, with gender, geographic gaps

A few thoughts from today’s blowout Marquette Poll showing Hillary Clinton up YUGE on Donald Trump and Russ Feingold being up on Ron Johnson by 6 to 11 points (depending on how you slice the sample and if you include 3rd party candidates). In addition, Scott Walker continues to be in the doldrums, with his approval rating staying at 38%, and his disapproval bumping up to 59% among all registered voters.

As usual, the best breakdown can be used by going into the crosstabs, and I’ll use that registered voter sample which has Walker at 38%, Russ up 6 vs Ron Johnson in a 2-way race (Russ is up 9 if you include the Libertarian), and Hillary up 10 head-to-head with Drumpf.

1.There’s an odd difference between those who say they will vote (the “likely voters” figures) and all of the registered voters in the sample.

Clinton vs. Trump
Certain to vote- 51-37 Clinton
Very Likely/50-50- 42-27 Trump
Will Not Vote- 38-3 Clinton
TOTAL 46-36 CLINTON

Feingold vs. Johnson
Certain to vote- 50-39 Feingold
Very likely/50-50- Johnson 41-35
Will Not Vote- Feingold 46-14
TOTAL 49-43 FEINGOLD

This is an interesting matrix, where those who know they’ll vote are even more pro-Dem than all the people sampled (rare in itself), and the casual dope who might vote is the one area that is trending Republican. Then add in the non-voters, who heavily lean Democrat (albeit a very small sample size), and this tells you that the Republicans are in quite the squeeze play. Because if the race tightens, some of those non-voters may have their interest grabbed want to jump in (likely to stop Drumpf). But if it looks like a blowout, then that’ll likely dispirit those pro-GOP group that is deciding whether or not to vote at all.

And note that the less-likely voters have a lot more in the “undecided/not voting for either” categories. I guess not surprising, but it also shows they might be a lot more persuadable.

2.There is a massive gender gap that swings 25-30 points, with Wisconsin women are overwhelmingly favoring the Dems and hating Republicans.

Clinton-Trump
Male- Trump 43-37
Female- Clinton 54-30

Feingold-Johnson
Male- Johnson 50-42
Female- Feingold 55-37

Walker approval
Men- Disapprove 52-43
Female- Disapprove 65-33

3.Maybe it’s this particular sample, but there are even bigger geographic differences than normal, with the state’s east-west split in voting being even larger than normal. There’s also an odd split between north and south, as Clinton is doing better than Feingold in Madison and Milwaukee, but that Russ does better in the rest of the state than Hillary.

Clinton vs. Trump
City of Milwaukee- Clinton 68-17
Rest of MKE market- Clinton 42-40
Madison market- Clinton 60-21
GB/Appleton market- Trump 47-33
Rest of state- Clinton 43-42

Feingold vs. Johnson
City of Milwaukee- Feingold 60-31
Rest of MKE market- Johnson 52-44
Madison market- Feingold 65-31
GB/Appleton market- Johnson 50-39
Rest of state- Feingold 46-40

Walker approval
City of Milwaukee- Disapprove 68-20
Rest of MKE market- 50-50
Madison market- Disapprove 79-19
GB/Appleton market- Disapprove 50-46
Rest of state- Disapprove 59-38

Walker being underwater everywhere but the 262 (and despised in the 414, 608, and 715) indicates to me that things may look very good for Dem candidates trying to flip outstate seats held by Republicans in the State Legislature, as they can run as a “check on Walker.” There are clearly a lot of Trump and Johnson voters who are not happy with Walker at this point, and most Legislative GOPs have fallen in line with Walker’s agenda over the last 5 years, so they can’t play the “I’m not like him” card.

On the flip side, the unpopularity of Clinton in NE Wisconsin may mean it could be a bit more difficult for Tom Nelson to win the open Congressional seat in that area. That is, unless Nelson differentiates himself from Hillary and runs a strong, localized pro-worker campaign (his most recent campaign ad arguing against TPP is a great start). Smart Wisconsinites already count on Russ being an independent voice, and I’m thinking Russ, Nelson and Bernie Sanders appearing in and around Highways 29 and 41 might not be a bad plan at all.

Lots more to dig into, but those 3 big crosstabs give a good indication why the Dems are up as much as they are. And if Dems do indeed statewide by double digits, that gives them a real chance to win a couple of House seats (Sarah Lloyd picking off Glenn Grothman could well be in play, if the Dems work it). More importantly, if the state goes 55-45 or 56-44 Dem, the State Senate will almost certainly flip, and it's very possible the Assembly will too. Even if the Assembly were not go Dem, it would be such a slim majority that it would give Robbin’ Vos nightmares trying to keep all those goobers on board.

Bottom line- this is no time for Dems to let off, but instead they should SLAM THE HAMMER DOWN and go for the landslide that is needed to start recovering from the disastrous Age of Fitzwalkerstan. The Marquette Poll shows that the door is wide open, and the tipping points of a wave are in range.

UW System finally demanding more from state. Will it work?

With the UW System’s Board of Regents set to discuss the 2017-19 budget request that will be sent onto Governor Scott Walker’s office, this two-time Badger was heartened to see this headline story from Nico Savidge plastered atop the local Madison newspaper today.

The University of Wisconsin System is poised to ask lawmakers to lift the cap on in-state tuition and reverse years of declining support for higher education with a funding increase of $42.5 million in the next state budget.

System President Ray Cross said the “modest” two-year budget request that will go before UW’s Board of Regents next week would fund an array of initiatives, such as increased advising services, programs to help students get their degrees faster and better connections between universities and businesses.

“The future of the state depends on a commitment to create an educated workforce, an investment in human capital and the ability to identify innovative, creative ways to help our businesses and communities expand,” Cross said. “We are the vehicle to do that.”

In addition, that $42.5 million increase in funding is on top of the removal of this year’s $25 million lapse, so have that $25 million back over each of the next 2 years, and you’re talking an increase of $92.5 million. That’s nowhere near recovering the amount of state aid that has been pulled out of the UW in the Age of Fitzwalkerstan, but it’s nice to see Ray Cross step up and admit that a strong UW is a huge driver in increasing human capital for the state’s work force, and to admit that this is an investment worth putting up money for.

I also like this part, which comes up later in the story.

[New funding] would also address the issue of college affordability better than a tuition freeze, according to Cross, by bolstering efforts to reduce the time it takes to get a degree, such as dual-enrollment programs that let students earn college credit while they’re still in high school.

UW-Madison and other System institutions have reduced course offerings and class sections in response to the latest budget cuts. Cross and others have said that could mean it takes students longer to get their degrees, which increases the cost of their education even if tuition is frozen.

Posers like Scott Walker don’t seem to understand this part of the higher education funding puzzle, but you can bet Cross has gotten plenty of feedback from UW campus officials on this reality. And I’m betting all of those “no confidence” votes from faculty and staff also got his attention, which at least is making him look like a stronger advocate in public for the System that he works for.

Now, this may all be kabuki theatre, as Savidge notes that the UW asked for a $95 million increase in state funding this time 2 years ago, and instead got a $250 million budget cut from Walker and WisGOP. That was the option chosen due to budget shortfalls and decision s to give money to other right-wing priorities (cough-WEDC-cough-VOUCHER SCHOOLS), and we could well see that pattern repeat itself if we find out later this month that revenues have come up short for FY2016. I also find it ominous that Walker and his representatives continue to talk about tying any UW System increase for 2017-19 to certain performance measures.

[Walker spokesman Tom] Evenson said Walker will include some new funding for the system in the 2017-19 budget proposal he will release early next year. But it's not clear how much new money the governor will seek for UW, and the funding will come with still-unspecified strings attached.

"It will be tied to performance metrics to help ensure students are receiving the greatest value for their hard-earned money," Evenson said.

Walker has not said what criteria would be used to measure UW's performance, although Evenson highlighted a section of a column from the governor last week in which he mentioned tracking data on graduation rates, the amount of loans students take out and graduate employment in certain fields.

That sure seems to hint that Gov Dropout wants to encourage certain majors and ways of thinking over others, and you can bet that'll reflect the wants of puppetmasters like the Kochs and WMC instead of developing ideas that can improve society. I’m afraid that’s not how this “4-year higher education” thing works, Scotty- you must be thinking of the state’s technical schools.

But any aid increases and the conditions put upon them can be discussed more over the coming months as elections and the budget season occur. For now, the UW System's Administration seems to have heard the public’s complaints, and is at least making a show of trying to stand up for itself, which is an improvement over the meek “Yes, Master” act that we have seen from Cross and the Walker-stacked Board of Regents in the last 2 years. Now let’s work to? get a Legislature in power after November that will be more inclined to listen to them.

Trump on taxes = same old GOP crap

So today was Donald Trump's big tax policy speech, and this tweet by Paul Krugman sums it up well.

So Trumponomics is standard voodoo with a squirt of protectionism on top. This is supposed to be exciting and turn around his campaign?

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) August 8, 2016

My favorite is Trump doubling down on the failure of trickle-down economics and other giveaways to the rich is his calls to eliminate the estate tax. It is an absurd idea, as the estate tax only hits married couples if they get assets worth more than $10.9 million. It's no surprise a rich kid like Drumpf who inherited all of his "success" and money would want his kids to avoid the tax bill, but wasn't of the standby principles of this country was "no landed gentry", with your Daddy's and Mommy's backgrounds and assets not being the sole determination of whether you can make it in this country? (OK, it kind of does work this way in 2016 America, but Drumpf doesn't want people to know that).

The thought of repealing the "Eric Trump/Paris Hilton" tax is disgusting, yet all but 3 GOPs in the House voted to do this a year ago, despite the fact that doing would raise the deficit by $269 billion over the next 10 years. For a tax cut that almost none of the no-college, dead-end jobber Trumpkins will ever get a diome from. And that's just the tip of the iceburg of Trump's absurd plans, as the oligarchs at Pete Peterson's organization said earlier this Summer that Drumpf's plans were estimated to cause another $10 trillion in deficits for the next decade.

Oh, and in addition to the tax cuts the military will be STRONG and FEARED and our commitment to infrastructure will be YUUUUGE under Trump! With no problems in any other section of government or the economy as a whole resulting from this! Just believe it, and it'll happen!

Uhhh, no thanks. The jury back on the last 35 years of trickle-down madness, and it doesn't work. And today Drumpf proved he is no different than the other snake-oil salesmen that define the GOP in that time period. I know you have to be a sucker to support a racist dimwit like Drumpf in the first place, but you have to be a special kind of fool to think he's some kind of different Republican when it comes to taxing and spending. Nothing but Dubya-2.

On taxes and dark money, J-S decides "balance" > journalism

Near the end of this month, we should find out the state of Wisconswin's finalized revenues for Fiscal Year 2016. If a revenue shortfall is announced (and from looking at past reports and the latest cash forecast, it seems very possible), you can likely blame loopholes that allow some of Wisconsin’s richest individuals to avoid paying state income taxes. But just like with the antics of certain dark-money groups in tomorrow's primary elections in Milwaukee, it’s funny how the state’s largest newspaper sat on these facts until they could find enough "political balance" to print their story, likely waiting until it was too late for it to matter.

On the tax loopholes, I’m referring to a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article which came out on August 1, with the headline of [Milwaukee County Executive] “Chris Abele hasn’t owed state income taxes for 14 years.” In the article, mega-millionaire Abele is open about the activities he partakes in to avoid paying those taxes, and much of it has to do with his numerous charitable donations.

Abele said his personal income tax liability has been offset by hundreds of thousands of dollars in charitable donations to causes including the Boys & Girls Clubs, the Urban League of Milwaukee and the MATC Promise program. He said he routinely gives more than he can write off and had nearly $1 million of unused charitable deductions at the beginning of 2015….

He also has investments in several companies — another factor that [CPA Christa] Baldridge said contributes to a zero-dollar tax liability.

Because young companies are especially likely to post losses in the early years, an investor such as Abele could use those losses to cancel out income from other investments. The same is true of real estate investments. Losses can be carried forward for up to 20 years.

All legitimate and on the books, as far as I can tell, and in the article, Abele shrugs and says “if people are concerned about it, they should change the law.”

Of course, what's not mentioned is a big reason the laws are what they are is because mega-millionaires have the disposable funds to be able to be part of money-losing activities such as start-up investing, and can give away large amounts of money to charity. It also doesn’t hurt to have the capability give large donations to politicians and political organizations, who can get tax policies passed that are more likely to help the donor class, allowing for exclusive tax write-offs you and I don’t have a chance of taking advantage of.

And speaking of political influence, take a look who is also on the Journal-Sentinel’s list of wealthy Wisconsinites who don’t pay taxes.

Abele, a Democrat and multimillionaire, is among a group of well-known and wealthy people with zero-dollar tax returns, including members of the SC Johnson family and Beloit billionaire Diane Hendricks, the owner of ABC Supply and a key fundraiser for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Yep, there’s Diane “Red State/Divide and Conquer” Hendricks, who has millions to give to Scott Walker and other Republicans throughout the country, but doesn’t have to give a dime to the State of Wisconsin. Not a bad deal for her, eh?

But of course, the Journal-Sentinel article didn’t go into Hendricks or the SC Johnson oligarchs, spending almost all of its time talking about Abele. Also interesting in this article is how the J-S continues its monthlong tradition of avoiding discussion of a likely culprit behind some of these zero-dollar returns- the “Manufacturers and Agriculture” tax credit.

Ah yes, the old M&A Credit. You know, the one that was signed off on by WisGOP legislators and Governor Walker 5 years ago, and one the Wisconsin Budget Project titled “The Big Giveaway” in their report from late June? The M&A write-off is now slated to give out $21 million in tax breaks to 11 Wisconsin mega-millionaires next year, and is among many WisGOP tax measures that have failed to increase jobs and have helped lead to revenue shortfalls that resulted in serious cuts to education, roads and local governments the most recent state budget.

The J-S continues to stand alone in the state’s media in refusing to report on this sellout, which has over 20% of its recipients be Wisconsinites who make $500,000 or more, and 90% of the benefits go to this elite group. And even in an article on millionaires who avoid taxes, the M&A tax credit isn't mentioned in this article either, which sure makes you wonder if there’s an order coming from above in the offices at 4th and State, or even further up in the Milwaukee oligarchy. I have a hard time buying that the reporters and editors at the largest newspaper in the state is ignorant of something that has gotten so much attention from other outlets.

Likewise, I doubt that the Journal-Sentinel was unaware about the right-wing dark money that had been polluting the Milwaukee area ahead of tomorrow’s primary elections (Dom Noth has another excellent article on this today). That is, the J-S had said nothing until Dan Bice ran an article today, well after the attacks had been aired. Bice’s article also happens to mention the relatively small amount of left-wing Greater Wisconsin Committee money as a counterpart to all of the Koch/Bradley money used to attack Milwaukee County DA John Chisholm in a last-ditch attempt to stop the John Doe appeal, along with backing voucher supporters for the Legislature.

This type of reporting gives a false sense of “both sides do it”, much like how the “zero-tax” article focuses in on Abele instead of Hendricks or other right-wing business oligarchs that benefit from these schemes, and allows the typical voter to turn off instead of be outraged by the clear abuse and advantages afforded to the rich and corporate. It gives a good reminder to us that when we try to look for biased reporting, we can’t just look at what is written, but what is not covered, and what events cause an issue to be covered.

And when it comes to reporting on a Wisconsin’s tax and campaign finance system that overwhelmingly favors the connected and the wealthy, the Journal-Sentinel continues to come up short, and we need to ask why.

Dom Noth rightly calls Dale Koo-Koo on K-12

For this weekend ahead of the Wisconsin primary, I highly recommend you click over to Dom Noth's Political site. Not only does he have great, in-depth breakdowns of the many Democratic primary elections in the Milwaukee area on Tuesday (Message to all of you: VOTE ON TUESDAY DAMMIT!), but there's an excellent article on someone I've spoken of on this blog a few times: State Rep. Dale (Koo-Koo) Kooyenga.

Noth's article deals with the Brookfield native's imperial arrogance and crocodile tears regarding K-12 education in Milwaukee, and his threats to ask that the state go further in taking over Milwaukee Public Schools. Noth rightfully calls out this BS'er for the fool that he is.

On Mike Gousha’s TV talk show July 31, Kooyenga totally misunderstood the strong negative reaction toward his and Alberta Darling’s OSPP, the Opportunity Schools and Partnership Program. That fanciful half-baked proposal (now law) would take out of MPS hands a few schools identified as troubled (only it’s getting harder to figure out which are troubled since MPS is actually improving the usual suspects). They would be turned over for private school operation with state money by a commissioner selected by the Milwaukee County executive, currently Chris Abele.

Now every knowledgeable educator says a concept without a worked-out plan – and how about a budget? -- will never fly. That’s OSPP. And that’s why MPS offered an alternative that would benefit its education efforts. Everyone except Kooyenga and Darling (K&D) thinks it’s a great idea and would preserve and enhance the MPS – an early childhood education center in the inner city open to the community and dedicated to best practices.

When Demond Means, that Abele appointed commissioner, learned that not only his plan but also this substitute would not fly with the bill’s authors (K & D), he resigned. Kooyenga on Gousha’s show interpreted this as Means being “run out of town” not by K & D but by entrenched forces at MPS – rather than the thousands of parents and teachers who stood up and shouted OSPP down. At several meetings it was like a Capra film. Seldom has Milwaukee seen such community uniformity and involvement.

This opposition called the OSPP what it is: Ineffective, unfunded and patently a takeover effort – another example of gutting local control and treating citizens as plantation slaves who need the master’s direction before they exercise their mental and moral faculties.

Seriously, read the whole thing for your Sunday knowledge. It points out the lie of tools like Kooyenga, who came back from last week's national ALEC convention promising to be "more aggressive" with oversight and demands being put onto MPS in the next session, if given the opportunity. It shows that Kooyenga and other WisGOPs' real goal is to grab power away from the residents of Wisconsin's largest city, and it goes along the ALEC goal of defunding and deforming public education. These double-talkers couldn't care less about dealing with the real reason for dispairities in public education- POVERTY AND ECONOMIC HOPELESSNESS. In fact, suburban GOPs like Koo-Koo want that crippling ghettoization of poverty to continue, because then they and their Bubble World constituents can continue to claim (white) superiority over "those people", and not have to work harder to improve themselves against tougher competition.

I also give Noth credit for not even mentioning Koo-Koo's finest moment, which came just over a year ago on the floor of the State Assembly, where he gave a shit-faced (and wrong-headed) ramble about the state's revenue picture. I wasn't going to be as classy as Dom and allow you to relieve those "35 seconds?" of glory, but apparently Wisconsin Eye has pulled the video.

A few thoughts on Number 4

With Brett Favre entering the Hall of Fame tonight, a few thoughts from a Wisconsinite in his early 40s.

I think if anyone told soon-to-be 18-year-old Jake when he entered Witte Hall in the Fall of 1992 that the Packers were about to start a run of consistent winning that has made them a model franchsie over the last 24 years. (the only other team that compares is the Pats, and they had more down years in the 1990s than the Pack), I'd have laughed in your face. It would have sounded as unbelievable as UW football and men's basketball becoming national powers with numerous 1st-round draft picks.

But it did happen, and that guy along with the signing of Reggie White in 1993 announced that the Pack was truly back, and it wasn't a joke this time. Within 5 seasons I got to see THIS happen, an image I think most Gen Xer Wisconsinites never thought they'd ever see.



Yes, the Packer thing does often devolve into the type of mulleted redneck that wore Cheeseheads and Zubaz as regular outfits 20 years ago (ah, who am I kidding, they wear them now), and they remind me of the type of meathead who kept Walker in power. Also note the number of Packer jerseys and Cheeshead hats that were broken out by the trash who attended yesterday's Drumpf rally in GB, an act that should not be found acceptable by anyone that is a fan of the Greatest Professional Sports Franchise in America (as I still believe the Pack to be, not only because of their tradition but because of their public ownership).

And yes, Brent had his drama queen elements and bad in-game decision-making that made me often roll my eyes, and he was dead to me for a couple of years when he went to the Vikings as revenge for the Packers (rightly) dumping him at the end of his career for Aaron Rodgers. But he seems to have learned from it, has become kind of a badass in retirement, and I can't deny the greatness of the man's play, and the fact that he truly didn't change who he was, no matter how much success he had. And don't let the "good ol' boy" act fool you- Favre had a football IQ that was off the charts. I've watched this "QB Camp" special with Jon Gruden (former Packer assistant) a couple of times, and love the part where he and Favre are discussing plays and reads of a defense, and it's great stuff to watch. And Brett still looks like he can throw it.



And you know Brett will kill his speech in Canton tonight. Yes, sometime the Packer thing is a bit off-putting, but it's still pretty great to say that they're in my state. And I'm a damn lucky sports fan to be able to have seen Brett Favre's career from start to finish.