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Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Press Release

Madison, Wis. – Friends of Scott Walker deputy campaign manager Dan Blum issued the following statement in response to Mayor Tom Barrett’s entrance into the general election.

“As Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett enters the general election in his soon to be third statewide losing campaign, he will surely find that his record of raising taxes and promises to continue to do so will not resonate with voters. While Governor Walker’s term has seen unemployment drop to its lowest rate since 2008, unemployment under Tom Barrett has risen more than 28%. Rather than Tom Barrett’s path of taking Wisconsin back to the days of billion-dollar deficits, double-digit tax increases and record job loss, we are confident that voters will choose to stand with Governor Walker and move Wisconsin forward.”

NEW CAMPAIGN AD HOLDS BARRETT ACCOUNTABLE FOR FAILED LEADERSHIP
Monday, May 7, 2012

Madison, Wis. – The Friends of Scott Walker campaign has released its latest television ad which draws a distinct contrast between the records and leadership of Governor Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.

“Tom Barrett is, for a third time, asking Wisconsin voters to elect him governor of Wisconsin while insisting they ignore his failed record as Milwaukee’s mayor,” said Walker campaign spokeswoman Ciara Matthews. “Barrett’s commitment to undo the governor’s successful reforms, his plan to raise taxes, and his failure to address his city’s unemployment crisis, are exactly why voters will again reject Tom Barrett for governor on June 5.”

In addition to calling Barrett to the carpet for his record as Milwaukee mayor, the new 30 second ad, “Forward, Backwards,” also highlights Governor Walker’s record of lowering unemployment and property taxes as well as saving Wisconsin taxpayers one billion dollars with his successful reforms.

Matthews concluded, “The differences couldn’t be more stark; does Wisconsin go back to failed policies of the past – billion-dollar budget deficits, double-digit tax increase and record job loss under Tom Barrett? Or, do we continue to move forward under the leadership of Governor Walker? Wisconsin voters made their choice clear in 2010, and will reaffirm that decision again in four short weeks.”

(The Founding Fathers who were delegates to the Constitutional Convention are featured in this series of posts starting with number 98. Not every entry after 98 is about the delegates.)

John Lansing, Jr., New York

On January 30, 1754, John Lansing was born in Albany, NY, to Gerrit Jacob and Jannetje Lansing. At age 21 Lansing had completed his study of the law and was admitted to practice. In 1781 he married Cornelia Ray. They had 10 children, 5 of whom died in infancy. Lansing was quite wealthy; he owned a large estate at Lansingburg and had a lucrative law practice.

From 1776 to 1777 Lansing acted as military secretary to Gen. Philip Schuyler. From the military world Lansing turned to the political and served six terms in the New York Assembly–1780-84, 1786, and 1788. During the last two terms he was speaker of the assembly. In the 2-year gap between his first four terms in the assembly and the fifth, Lansing sat in the Confederation Congress. He rounded out his public service by serving as Albany’s mayor between 1786 and 1790.

Lansing went to Philadelphia as part of the New York delegation to the Constitutional Convention. As the convention progressed, Lansing became disillusioned because he believed it was exceeding its instructions. Lansing believed the delegates had gathered together simply to amend the Articles of Confederation and was dismayed at the movement to write an entirely new constitution. After 6 weeks, John Lansing and fellow New York delegate Robert Yates left the convention and explained their departure in a joint letter to New York Governor George Clinton. They stated that they opposed any system that would consolidate the United States into one government, and they had understood that the convention would not consider any such consolidation. Furthermore, warned Lansing and Yates, the kind of government recommended by the convention could not “afford that security to equal and permanent liberty which we wished to make an invariable object of our pursuit.” In 1788, as a member of the New York ratifying convention, Lansing again vigorously opposed the Constitution.

Under the new federal government Lansing pursued a long judicial career. In 1790 he began an 11-year term on the supreme court of New York; from 1798 until 1801 he served as its chief justice. Between 1801 and 1814 Lansing was chancellor of the state. Retirement from that post did not slow him down; in 1817 he accepted an appointment as a regent of the University of the State of New York.

Lansing’s death was the most mysterious of all the delegates to the Constitutional Convention. While on a visit to New York City in 1829, he left his hotel to post some letters. No trace of him was ever found, and it was supposed that he had been murdered.

No governor in recent memory has been so controversial. No governor in America is so polarizing. Everyone has an opinion about Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

Here’s ours: We see no reason to remove Walker from office. We recommend him in the June 5 recall election.

Walker’s rematch with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was prompted by one issue: Walker’s tough stance with the state’s public-employee unions. It’s inconceivable that the recall election would be occurring absent that. And a disagreement over a single policy is simply not enough to justify a vote against the governor.

A Marquette Law School Poll in January showed that many people in the Badger State agree. In that poll, 72% of Republicans, 44% of independents and 17% of Democrats said recalls should be limited to criminal wrongdoing. Republican state Rep. Robin Vos has proposed tightening the recall mechanism; he should continue to push for that after the election, regardless of who wins.

Walker brought some of this animosity on himself. He chose an in-your-face style from the start. To his credit, the governor now acknowledges that he did a poor job of building support for his policies. “The one thing if I could go back in time is I would try to spend a little bit more time building the case,” he told the Editorial Board earlier this year.

Click here to read the rest

Do you remember what happened in financial markets the day Sarkozy lost his bid for re=election in France and the Greek government rejected fixing their economy?

Nikkei down 2.8
Hang Seng down 2.6
Athens down 7
US, Paris and Frankfurt about even

Stocks fell, dragging the MSCI All- Country World index to a three-month low, while Treasuries rose and the Dollar Index advanced for a sixth day after French Socialist Francois Hollande was elected president and Greek voters picked anti-bailout parties.

(VOA News) Europe has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on bailouts – twice for Greece, and once each for Ireland and Portugal – and has a new rescue fund slated to take effect in July.  But to get the money, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund insisted the countries make sharp, unpopular spending cuts.

What does electing the first socialist in 17 years as President say about the French?

(VOA News) May 05, 2012 8:00 PM

Francois Hollande has been elected France’s first Socialist president in nearly two decades, beating incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in a vote marked by anger over austerity measures, high unemployment and the country’s lagging economy.  Initial official results of Sunday’s vote show Hollande winning with 52 percent of the vote.

It says the election was not a clear mandate given the 52 to 48 slim victory. Apparently about half the French do not understand the critical nature of their situation while the other half realize electing a socialist is not the answer. Drawing parallels between the EU and the US is not difficult. The entitlement mentality in both places needs to be cured.

Hollande sounds a lot like President Obama.

(VOA News) Hollande said Europe is watching France and he predicted that his victory would be celebrated in other European countries.  He said it signified that economic austerity is not the final word and that his message is one of growth and prosperity.

Exactly how do this type of leader expect to provide growth and prosperity with their economy in the tank and drowning in debt they cannot afford? Talk about burying your head in the sand.

(VOA News) Hollande’s message for growth has resonated across much of the eurozone, where economic austerity measures have sparked public protests in countries like Greece and Spain.

But financial markets and some European leaders are anxious about France’s president-elect. Critics reject Hollande’s call for more government spending when France and other European economies are already deeply in debt.

Need I remind you this sounds like Obama? Here’s more.

Mr. Hollande’s economic policies include raising taxes on the very rich, freezing fuel prices, increasing welfare payments and hiring 60,000 new teachers. During the presidential campaign, Mr. Hollande’s slogan of “my enemy is the world of finance” raised eyebrows, especially in some European capitals, including London.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

(VOA News) Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng has arrived in the United States, saying he is gratified that the Chinese government showed “restraint and calm” in dealing with his situation.

Chen also thanked the United States for giving him refuge at the U.S. embassy in Beijing and for making it possible for him to leave China and allowing him to live and study in the United States.

That news from VOA could have been written more efficiently but taking it for what it’s worth it appears one more human on the planet has been allowed to find refuge in America. For the OWS crowd’s benefit and liberals everywhere I would like to remind you that no matter what your rhetoric our nation is still the destination of choice for those around the world seeking freedom. My only problem with that is why don’t those from other nations fix their own damn problems rather than coming here?

Yes, I know, you might view that sentiment as un-American. That would be true if it were not for the fact I’m right. It is no different from people already in the United States moving to locations they haven’t yet destroyed. What I mean by that is those who refuse to earn their own way milk one area for all it’s worth and then move to another welfare magnet state to do it all over again.

That which is hailed as ‘diversity’ is nothing more than rhetoric designed to define those who live off the public dole. Others who define themselves as something like human rights organizations or charities promote spreading losers all over our nation in order to accommodate their lifestyle of living off taxpayers.

It is long past time for this practice to be stopped. My own location which my family has lived in for more than several generations is just one more venue targeted by liberals for repopulating with marginal individuals who live off others.

From free healthcare paid for by taxpayers to Section 8 housing to free cellphones and numerous other perqs (perquisites) a network of freeloaders has been organized with the help of religious charities and other welfare advocates.

I do not mean to unfairly criticize the blind Chinese dissident but let’s be honest. What is this man going to do in the United States that qualifies as earning his own way regardless of any worthwhile objectives he may advocate? Will this be one more employee on the payroll of a non-profit solely invented to use government grants funded by taxpayers for mindless liberal purposes?

I would like to be proven wrong as Chen Guangcheng succeeds in reforming China and causing a worldwide trend prompting adoption of republican forms of government everywhere. Sure, like that’s going to happen.

While I’m not in favor of isolationism or other policies to cutoff America from the rest of the world I am in favor of ‘resetting’ how we do things in America. I would like to see foreign aid disappear as well as immigration in the short term. Let us get our things in order before moving ahead. We have so many problems to solve it is dangerous to continue long observed practices. It is time to stop and review everything.

Or we can just continue down this road to ruin.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

(The Founding Fathers who were delegates to the Constitutional Convention are featured in this series of posts starting with number 98. Not every entry after 98 is about the delegates.)

William C. Houston, New Jersey

William Houston was born about 1746 to Margaret and Archibald Houston. He attended the College of New Jersey (later Princeton) and graduated in 1768 and became master of the college grammar school and then its tutor. In 1771 he was appointed professor of mathematics and natural philosophy.

From 1775 to 1776 Houston was deputy secretary of the Continental Congress. He also saw active military service in 1776 and 1777 when, as captain of the foot militia of Somerset County, he engaged in action around Princeton. During the Revolution, Houston also served in the New Jersey Assembly (1777) and the New Jersey Council of Safety (1778). In 1779 he was once again elected to the Continental Congress, where he worked mainly in the areas of supply and finance. In addition to serving in Congress, Houston remained active in the affairs of the College of New Jersey and also found time to study law. He was admitted to the bar in 1781 and won the appointment of clerk of the New Jersey Supreme Court in the same year. Houston resigned from the college in 1783 and concentrated on his Trenton law practice. He represented New Jersey in Congress once again in 1784 and 1785.

Houston represented New Jersey at both the Annapolis and Philadelphia conventions. Though illness forced him to leave after 1 week, he did serve on a committee to consider the distribution of seats in the lower house. Houston did not sign the Constitution, but he signed the report to the New Jersey legislature.

On August 12, 1788, William Houston succumbed to tuberculosis and died in Frankford, PA., leaving his wife Jane, two daughters, and two sons. His body was laid to rest in the Second Presbyterian Churchyard in Philadelphia.

A few interesting reports ‘dealing’ with Facebook’s IPO and performance thus far.

There have been 23 U.S. IPOs over that size since 2007.  Through the first three sessions, only asset-manager Och-Ziff Capital performed as poorly, losing 13% as well, according  to Dealogic. In fact, only seven of the deals ended their first three sessions in the red, the data provider says.

Morgan Stanley  and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.  updated their financial projections for the social network after the company added warnings to its initial-public-offering prospectus about how its user base is increasing more rapidly than the number of ads it delivers. That trend was blamed in part on increased use of Facebook on mobile devices, where it traditionally hasn’t shown ads to viewers.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s chairman said on Tuesday that regulators plan to review allegations that Morgan Stanley shared negative news before Facebook’s initial public offering with institutional investors.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has received a lot of flak for its privacy rules, but Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), for one, thinks they can be looser. Google chief executive Larry Page has hit out at the social network for not allowing the search engine biggie to comb through its data.

U.S. stocks were on track to post two consecutive sessions of gains for the first time this month, after optimism about a coming European Union meeting and better-than-expected housing data sent the blue chips up more than 40 points.

It appears that even giant Facebook makes mistakes when it comes to social media strategy. Its biggest failure, as the Wall Street Journal’s Shayndi Raice reports today, is that Facebook has delayed the launch of a full-fledged mobile app that allows users to play games and take advantage of other popular apps that are available on its desktop version.

The only humor in this post comes from the report that Google accused Facebook of ‘hostage taking’ for not letting the sinister search engine giant have access to their data. The number one ranked internet site is complaining about number two for their own selfish reasons.

The linked excerpts in this post say a lot about what’s wrong with this entire episode. Too bad Facebook users refuse to see Zuckerberg’s kingdom for what it is. Ditto for the number one internet site. The exception to that is the users who joined the dozens of class actions suits filed. We should be a lot further along with technology from where we are. Consumers are just as guilty for the situation by not holding the tech sector’s feet to the fire.

That’s how it is supposed to work. Customer feedback causes vendors to adjust to demand and then supply it. Apparently most people are just fine with the current state of the art.

BTW, Facebook stock is ‘poised’ to take another hit on day three hovering around an 8% loss from the previous day with less than an hour of the trading day to go.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

I’m not a fan of Facebook. Never used it, never will. An earlier post on this blog noted the class action suit users filed against the recent IPO ‘darling’ due to privacy issues related to Facebook recording their internet usage even when they weren’t logged in to the ‘service’. It demonstrates the company’s lack of ethics.

So I wondered if my opinion of the initial public offering being a failure might have been premature when the stock only gained 23 cents on its opening day. After all it was simply day one. Oops, guess not.

“I was stuck for six hours trying to figure out whether I owned this dog or not,” said Mr. Brady. He said he has been in touch with Schwab. Schwab didn’t return a call requesting comment.

Facebook’s offering, one of the biggest U.S. IPOs, was supposed to burnish the reputations of Morgan Stanley, the deal’s lead banker, as an underwriter, and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. as the listing exchange of choice for hot technology companies.

“This has been a train wreck,” said one hedge fund manager, whose fund also decided to sell some of its shares Monday. He said his fund was allotted 500,000 more Facebook shares than he expected.

Is there anything about this deal that was not a disaster?

The following information answers that question:

Facebook Chief Financial Officer David Ebersman was the point person on the deal, while Zuckerberg and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg weighed in on major decisions throughout the process, people said. At Morgan Stanley, Dan Simkowitz, chairman of global capital markets, was one of the main bankers on the offering. Michael Grimes, global co-head of technology investment banking at Morgan Stanley, also played a key role.

Underwriters did accomplish part of what they set out to do: turn paper into cash for pre-IPO holders.

“It was successful for the liquidating owners, absolutely, because they got all that and then some,” said Peter Sorrentino, a fund manager who helps oversee $14.7 billion at Huntington Asset Advisors in Cincinnati.

Did I mention ethics?

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

Grassley, Sessions Express Concern Over Cost of 9th Circuit Judicial Conference in Maui

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, released a letter today to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski concerning a planned judicial conference in Maui, Hawaii.  In their letter, the senators note that the taxpayer-funded conference, scheduled for Aug. 13 to Aug. 16, features opportunities for numerous recreational activities not related to any official judicial business, and that the expense of travel and accommodations will be significant.  Grassley and Sessions requested a full reply to their questions no later than June 15.

To view the senators’ letter, please click here. Statements from Grassley and Sessions follow:

“Technology is so advanced that people are earning college degrees online and soldiers serving halfway across the world use Skype with their families at home,” Grassley said. “Likewise, a judicial circuit court should be capable of using technology to share information without requiring a trip to an island paradise.  It’s especially tone-deaf to plan a pricey conference after the GSA debacle. The taxpayers can’t sustain this kind of spending, and they shouldn’t have to.  The court should re-examine whether this is the best use of tax dollars.”

“This conference is further evidence the federal government is in a state of financial chaos,” Sessions said.  “How can anyone in Washington ask for more taxes when this culture of excess continues? Americans struggling to pay their bills are tired of watching the government throw lavish events on the taxpayer dime. They are tired of watching entire sectors of government behave in a fashion totally disconnected from the reality of our perilous financial state. At this time of fiscal crisis, America needs leadership that will restore accountability and ensure a disciplined budget is adopted at last.”

NOTE: As detailed in the senators’ letter, a previous Ninth Circuit conference, also held in Maui, cost taxpayers more than $1.1 million in travel and accommodation expenses alone. To view information about activities scheduled at this year’s conference, including yoga, surfing lessons, and a Catamaran snorkel trip, please click here.

Next, from the Ninth Circuit comes this curious text from Chief Judge Alex Kozinski especially given the info above from Sessions and Grassley. If you’re so inclined send the judge a note on this.

Welcome to the Internet portal of the United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit. This new website provides access to a wealth of information about the federal courts serving nine western states and two Pacific Island jurisdictions. By default, you have landed on the home page for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Click on the tabs above for information about district and bankruptcy courts in the circuit; the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit, the courts’ governing body, and the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, an annual educational program for judges, court staff and others; and the Ninth Circuit Library. We encourage you to bookmark this page on your web browser and use it whenever you need information about the federal courts of the West.

We count on your suggestions for further resources we should add to the website, and how we can improve it to better serve the public. Let us know what you think of the changes: Click to send us an email with your feedback and ideas.

Alex Kozinski
Chief Judge
from the Daily Caller:

Other circuits are holding conferences in less luxurious places, or canceling their annual conferences entirely. The Eighth Circuit will convene for a three-day conference in Kansas City, the Seventh Circuit will go to Chicago and the Sixth Circuit will hold its event in Lexington, Ky. Districts covering New England, the Rocky Mountains and the mid-Atlantic have cancelled their conferences.

Click on the Daily Caller link above to read the rest of their report. Don’t miss the links in the info from Sessions and Grassley.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com