WAUKESHA, Wis. – Republican Governor Scott Walker has spent the last year plus defending his decisions to  limit the unions collective bargaining rights and making  members pay more for their health coverage and he was rewarded for it by Wisconsin voters.

When Walker ran for governor of WI he ran on the very policies he ended up implementing, but Democrats and union bosses called his new policies extreme and an attack on working families. As it turned out the working families of WI that pay for the salaries, benefits and lifetime benefits of state employees decided they had enough and sent Governor Walker to a landslide victory over Democrat Tom Barrett.

Since Walker took office on January 3, 2011 he has taken a $3.6 billion dollar state deficient and turned it into a surplus of well over a hundred million dollars all without raising taxes in less than two years.

“This was a referendum on collective bargaining rights, and the unions lost,” said Luke Hilgemann, director of Americans for Prosperity Wisconsin, an issues advocacy group that spent more than $5 million in the campaign. “The taxpayers of Wisconsin made it very clear that they did not support lavish pay and benefits for government workers.”

While Wisconsin taxpayers have benefited from Governor Walkers fiscal policies the states union bosses have not faired so well. Since the new Wisconsin law took effect, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Wisconsin’s second largest union has lost nearly half of its members in the state, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. The documents show that between March 2011 and February 2012, Wisconsin membership in AFSCME has dropped from 63,577 to 34,942.

Many believe that Walkers victory could be just the beginning of similar collective bargaining legislation in other states.

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Ohio Gov. John Kasich Sign’s 56B State Budget While Elimination Estate Tax

With the elimination of the Ohio Estate Tax small business owners, farmers and their employees were given a major victory against big government this past Wednesday when Governor John Kasich signed the states nearly $56 billion dollar budget.

The American Family Business Institute (AFBI), which is a national trade association of family business owners, farmers and entrepreneurs across the country, were very pleased with the Governor and the GOP controlled House for passing repeal of the Estate Tax, which was included in Ohio’s 2012-2013 biennial budget which will go into effect starting January 1, 2013.

Dick Patten (AFBI’s President), who testified before both the Ohio House of Representatives and Ohio Senate in support of the legislation, said: “By repealing and not just ‘reforming’ their state estate tax, Ohio has set an example for the 21 other states and the District of Columbia that still impose these onerous taxes.”

The tax currently goes after estates worth more than $338,333 before distribution to heirs or other beneficiaries. Eighty percent of the tax monies collected go to local governments, which have strongly opposed any changes.

Rep. Mike Foley, a Cleveland Democrat said “it’s basically just a giveaway to rich people.” Foley went on to say “Local governments are getting killed by this budget.” But small business owners and farmers see it differently.

While local Ohio governments were reaping a windfall of tax money which totaled $230.8 million from the tax in the fiscal year that ended last June, those getting hammered by the taxes were losing everything. Even the smallest of family owned businesses and farms are worth more than $338k so when the owner passes away, the survivors of the estate need to pay the taxes. The problem with that is that these people almost never have the funds out of pocket to pay the hefty taxes and must then sell the farm or business. When this happens it forces the surviving members of the family to sell everything to pay the taxes and so farms and previously successful businesses need to shut down. That of course leads to those employed by these businesses and farms to lose their jobs and thus even more tax revenue streams get cut off for the short sighted one time collection of the Estate Tax.

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Right now up and coming competitors to Groupon such as Customer Advantage must be salivating as the uproar the Groupon commercial caused after Sunday’s Super Bowl game between the packers and Steelers.

This was the first time the mega coupon giant decided to go all out and put their brand out there on the biggest stage there is for big companies, the super bowl. Time slots for super bowl commercials runs into the millions per 60 second spot and with Groupon expecting to take in a billion plus dollars this year it was a way to create brand presence in front of a massive audience.

According to Groupon “The gist of the concept is this: When groups of people act together to do something, it’s usually to help a cause. With Groupon, people act together to help themselves by getting great deals. So what if we did a parody of a celebrity-narrated, PSA-style commercial that you think is about some noble cause (such as “Save the Whales”), but then it’s revealed to actually be a passionate call to action to help yourself (as in “Save the Money”)?

Since we grew out of a collective action and philanthropy site (ThePoint.com) and ended up selling coupons, we loved the idea of poking fun at ourselves by talking about discounts as a noble cause. So we bought the spots, hired mockumentary expert Christopher Guest to direct them, enlisted some celebrity faux-philanthropists, and plopped down three Groupon ads before, during, and after the biggest American football game in the world.”

The intent was of Groupon poking fun of themselves while also raising funds for causes such as the Tibet Fund, BuildOn and the Rainforest Action Network. Unfortunately for them they never mention that in their ad and the ads thus incited far more negative reactions then positive ones.

The Groupon commercial is starting to pop up all over Youtube including ones that promote competing deal saving sites in an effort to sway some of those who might have been offended by the commercial to take a look at Groupon alternatives such as Customer Advantage. The Customer Advantage is similar to Groupon, but instead shares the income generated with its members.

In the end the Groupon super bowl commercial might hurt them a little and some people may even take a look at companies like Customer Advantage as a result. But ultimately like most things that upset people it will eventually be forgotten. And while companies like Customer Advantage may make a few gains as a result, Groupon will still continue to plod along thanks to a lot of new publicity.

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Republican’s creating new Contract With America, while Tea Party want Reps. To sign the Contract For America - Photo taken from YouTube video

Republican’s in the House or Representatives have been working on a new Contract With America. However the Tea Party has its own priority list called the Contract For America, and if the Republican contract isn’t close to their own, and Republican’s don’t follow through on their promises then the Tea Party and independent voters will likely make them pay at the polls in the 2012 election year.

The GOP took a lot of heat in the main stream press over simply being the Party of “no” and simply pointing a finger at Democrats over failed policies while not having any original ideas of their own. Of course this wasn’t actually the case, especially in the Healthcare debate where Republican’s had on their site for months an alternative solution that would have solved the healthcare problems of the country for just a few billion dollars compare to over a trillion that the Democratic legislation will now cost the country.

Still Republican’s, while correct in their projections of economic disaster if the many Democratic bills were passed into law they still have not stepped in and clearly stated actual alternatives to Democratic legislation. This may have been a calculated measure on their part to wait since no suggestions they may have had would have been ignored by the Party in power anyway.

Now Republican’s are poised to release a new Contract With American in late September or early October. By waiting the GOP message will more likely resonate with voters, especially fiscally conservative voters, as the November 2^nd elections draw near energizing those who are tired of the Democratic policies that have crippled the U.S. economy.

While no one knows what is in the new contract Republican’s leadership and aides spent many months soliciting ideas and feedback from voters on what mattered the most to them. The drafting of the new Contract With America will most likely be based on the biggest issues those polled had to say. With that said though the question is will it bring the various groups who oppose the Obama, Reid and Pelosi policies together or slip them apart?

It’s the Tea Party voters and independents that have the power to give the GOP big gains in the House this year, but the Post Regan era Republican’s have been anything but conservative in their voting records which is why so many incumbents are losing in primaries across the country to more conservative Tea Party candidates. If the new Contract With America does not hold true to conservative values in its wording then these voters will see the contract as nothing more than a worthless political tool meant to get voters to join them, but containing no substance. If the contract is in line with the Tea Party goals then it is a sure bet Tea Party and independent voters will hold Republican’s accountable for moving these new policies outlined in the Contract With America forward, or pay the price in 2012.

In the mean time Tea Party activists are working on their own contract for any member of congresses who wishes to support called The Contract From America which can be found at http://www.contractfromamerica.org/ that outlines Tea Party voter priorities for the country.

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Republican’s reverse course, pledge support for O’Donnell in Delaware Senate Race - Photo taken from YouTube video

After a stunning victory for Christine O’Donnell in her bid for the GOP Delaware senate nomination over Rep. Mike Castle, Republican Senatorial Committee head Senator Cornyn said that they would not support O’Donnell in the general election if she won.

Less than 24 hours later and with many influential Republican’s pledging their own personal support Committee Chairman Cornyn has reconsidered his previous stance. Sen. Cornyn said in a written statement yesterday that O’Donnell will receive the maximum donation of $42,000 from the NRSC.

“Let there be no mistake: The National Republican Senatorial Committee and I personally as the committee’s chairman strongly stand by all of our Republican nominees, including Christine O’Donnell in Delaware,” Cornyn said.

O’Donnell has received backing since her stunning win from the likes of Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, RNC Chairman Michael Steele, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind. And more, which no doubt put a lot of pressure on the NRSC to follow suit.

Rep. Mike Pence said “I categorically reject that Christine O’Donnell cannot win in Delaware,” he said. “This is a whole new world. We elected a Republican in Massachusetts.”

Brad Blakeman, a Republican strategist said that the Party needs to be united with the Tea Party backed candidate before Nov. or risk not only losing seats they could have won, but also risk the possibility of the Tea Party defecting into a bona fide third Party.

This change of heart by the GOP leadership to now back O’Donnell in the Delaware Senate race now gives the Republican’s a solid chance to capture the seat, even without Castle as the GOP candidate.

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Delaware Senate Primary battle leads to another Republican incumbent falling to a Tea Party candidate - Photo taken from YouTube video

The Senate primary held in Delaware last night featured another long time GOP Rep. in Mike Castle trying to fight off a Tea Party candidate in Christine O’Donnell and ended up falling well short, losing the primary 53-47 percent.

This was a classic battle with Castle being backed by the big money GOP establishment and O’Donnell being endorsed by the Tea Party Express, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Senator Jim DeMint from South Carolina.

Tuesday morning Senator Castle said, “This particular campaign has become a bit of a test.  Can the conservative elements of the Republican Party take out an incumbent with whom they don’t always agree? That’s part of what we are dealing with here, to look beyond just Delaware.”

Castle is just one of many incumbents that are feeling the wrath of conservative’s anger at what they see as liberal Republicans that don’t adhere to the Republican platform they are supposed to stand for. Castle was framed as a moderate by the O’Donnell campaign and used figures from the American Conservative Union that showed Castle only voted the conservative position 52 percent of the time.

If anything the 2010 primary season has shown that the conservative wing of the Republican voting block is no longer willing to simply vote for someone simply because they have an R next to their name and have instead decided to go for candidates they feel truly represent their beliefs, even if it that means their candidate could lose the general election.

O’Donnell’s win could in fact cost the Republican’s the Delaware senate seat in November as the National Republican Senatorial Committee has already stated the will not be funding O’Donnell’s campaign in the general election. O’Donnell will be facing Democratic challenger Chris Coons.

Coons will have a big advantage as the Democratic National Committee will see this as an excellent chance to pick up an open senate seat they had little chance of winning (according to polls) had Castle won the Republican Primary.

Still O’Donnell was a big underdog in her primary bid, and yet with the help of some big names she was able to pull off the upset despite meager financial support, so anything is possible. However in a state where registered Democratic voters out number Republican’s by roughly 329,000 to 179,000, this hurdle is one O’Donnell, especially without GOP funding will be hard pressed to clear come November.

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GOP could lose Alaska Senate seat with split vote if Senator Lisa Murkowski runs - Phot from Youtube video

Alaska has long been a solid GOP strong hold, but could fall to the Democrats in November if Senator Lisa Murkowski decides to run as either a write in candidate or shows up on the ballot as the Libertarian Party’s candidate.

Sen. Murkowski lost a very tight primary election to Tea Party Express candidate Joe Millar this past August by a mere 2,013 votes. Sen. Murkowski’s seniority would be a loss for Alaska residence, but many voters there felt she was too liberal and that they wanted a candidate that would fight the big government expansion that has taken place under the Obama Administration.

“We trust Sen. Murkowski will keep her word that she and Joe gave four days before the election to honor the will of the electorate,” said Miller’s campaign spokesman Randy DeSoto. “Her campaign manager also spoke with one of our staff members about how important it would be to come together after the primary, so the Republicans would have a unified front.”

However Murkowski is seriously considering reneging on that deal as she is currently in negotiating with Libertarian Party officials to back her as their candidate and if that fails, she is also considering allowing herself to be a writ-in candidate.

Many of Senator Murkowski’s supporter’s are happy about the possibilities and someone even started a Facebook page (though it’s not clear if the page was started by a fan or Sen. Murkowski herself), “Write-in Lisa Murkowski for Senator in November,” which has gained more than 1,400 backers thus far.

This past Thursday 10 local GOP officials who signed a letter to Ms. Murkowski Thursday urging her not to run including bank executive Michael Dunton who said “Good Lord, I can’t think of a bigger train wreck than that.”

Senator Murkowski though doesn’t believe that her running as a write-in candidate would split the Republic vote. She stated on the new Facebook page “Ok folks, let’s talk about the word on the street…splitting the republican vote. Writing-in Lisa is NOT intended to do that. We need all the people who did AND did not vote in the primaries. We also need democrats, and there are plenty of them out there who will vote for Lisa.”

While Senator Murkowski’s “intent” may not be to split the vote history has proven that it will do just that. If Senator Murkowski runs, whether as a Libertarian candidate or a write-in, Alaska’s next new senator could very well be Democrat Scott McAdams.

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New England Patriots QB Tom Brady not injured in early morning car accident - Photo taken from Youtube video

New England Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady was involved in an early morning accident in Boston early Thursday morning around 6:30 a.m. at the intersection of Commonwealth Ave. and Gloucester St.

Brady was on his way to the patriots practice when a red minivan allegedly ran a red light leading up to the accident which was only 3 miles from Brady’s home.

A witness to the accident who was out walking her dogs said that Brady, driving in a black Audi S8 sedan was traveling south on Gloucester street on a green light when his car collided with a fast moving red Ford Aerostar minivan that was heading west on Commonwealth Ave. The witness said “The red car went up in the air, sideways. … The tire was half off.”

The crash resulted in heavy damage to both vehicles and while Brady and the driver of the other vehicle appeared to be ok the passenger of the minivan had to be freed using the Jaws of Life and was taken to Brigham & Women’s Hospital in serious condition, though the injuries were not considered life threatening. Mean while Brady was well enough that we was able to participate in the Patriots walkthrough practice later in the day.

No charges have been filed at this time according to Boston Fire Dept. spokesman Steve McDonald.

New England Patriots head coach informed the rest of the team of the accident before practice and said that Brady would arrive a bit late. Brady will lead the Patriots in their season opener against the Cincinnati Bengals in Foxboro this Sunday.

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ICE agency report puts serious dent in Eric Holder’s DOJ case against sheriff Joe Arpaio - Photo is in the public domain from http://commons.wikimedia.org/

On Thursday Eric Holder and the Department of Justice filed suit against Arizona’s Maricopa County Sheriff’s office run by the outspoken and flamboyant Joe Arpaio who’s made it a personal crusade to uphold U.S. immigrations laws when the feds won’t.

Eric Holder and the Obama Administration are applying the full weight of the federal government’s resources into trying to stop the new Arizona immigration law, but that’s only one of the multi-front attacks they’ve setup to make sure states are stripped of their ability to enforce U.S. immigration laws. Now the DOJ is suing the most active and largest sheriff’s office in Arizona (Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s office has 189 officers) by extending an investigation into alleged civil rights violations.

Back in March of 2009 the DOJ informed sheriff Arpaio that a probe was underway to investigate what the DOJ claimed were “alleged patterns or practices of discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures.” This is where things get sticky for Eric Holder and the Obama Administration.

Six months prior to this investigation the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) had already conducted its own investigation of sheriff Arpaio’s office and not only gave it a clean bill of health, they actually gave a raving review. The report said things like “The OI and DRO supervisors consider the conduct and performance of the MCSO … officers to be professional and meeting the requirement of the MOA.” And that they considered the working relationship between the feds and the sheriff’s office to be “excellent” and that cases brought by the sheriff’s office to be “high quality.”

The DOJ then got caught with its pants down when more government documents were uncovered under the Freedom of Information Act that suggests politics may be at the root of the investigation. Sheriff Arpaio’s lawyers found a March 11, 09 e-mail, that was sent just after the Justice Department investigation was announced, from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency employee to John P. Torres who was at the time the acting assistant secretary of ICE. The email said: “Did you see this?” attaching a news report on the investigation. “Yes,” Torres responded a few minutes later. “Interesting politics at play.”

Thursday’s DOJ lawsuit against sheriff Arpaio is for Arpaio’s allegedly failing to cooperate fully in the probe, despite the fact there has already been an ongoing probe for over a year and a half now and not a single charge has been levied against Arapio or his office by the DOJ for violating anyone’s civil rights.

With the new evidence found in the case by Arpaio’s lawyers including the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s raving reviews, emails hinting at this being a politically motivated case and the fact a year and a half investigation has not found one civil rights violation, Eric Holder and the Obama Administration appear to be legally and politically in trouble again.

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Tea Party Express candidate Joe Millar wins Alaska GOP Senate primary

Tea party Express candidate Joe Millar who had the backing of former Alaska governor Sarah Palin has won the Alaska GOP Senate primary as current Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski conceded the race.

With Murkowski trailing by roughly 1,630 votes after more than 15,000 absentee ballots had been counted late Tuesday evening the writing was on the wall. Murkowski said in her concession speech that she didn’t see a scenario in which the primary results would turn out in her favor at this point.

Murkowski said she was proud of the campaign she ran, which she called “honest” and “upright.” And that her campaign had stayed focused on the issues and the “high road.”

“I’m coming back home,” she said. “You all know my heart and soul has always been in Alaska.”

Mean while Joe Millar will now go on to face Democrat Scott McAdams, mayor of Sitka Alaska this coming November in the general election. The Tea Party Express candidate with the backing of former governor Sarah Palin will be a strong favorite to win the general election in the traditional strong Republican state.

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