Spotted in the wild, south of the Illinois-Wisconsin border!

More details coming.

UPDATE: Is this Chris Larson?

UPDATE: We are receiving reports that the police were called out against the Illinois Tea Party members who found the Wisconsin Democrats in a local hotel. From a Tea Party member on the ground in Illinois:

Subject: OUTCOME OF THE CONFRONTATION WITH FLEEING DEMS

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Illinois Tea Party board member Doc got the Heritage Suites in Harvard, and found the fleeing senators in the lobby of the motel. He said that they were laughing like school children. News cameras were there.

Doc confronted the senators, saying, “Do you know any reason why you shouldn’t be recalled for your failure to fulfill the duties of your office?” and the like. They asked him who he was. When he identified himself as a member of Northern IL Tea Party the mood changed. The hotel clerk asked him if he was a paying guest. He/she said, if he wasn’t he would have to leave.

Doc asked if this was still America. The clerk called the police. Three cars pulled up. Doc went outside and said, “I guess I’m the guy you’re looking for.” They said they had to go into the lobby to pick up the complaint against him.

Doc was interviewed by a reporter outside the hotel. The reporter asked for his name, and Doc said, “It’s “Doc” — if they’re going to try to arrest me, that’s all you need.” Then he drove away.

Mary Alger, Coordinator of McHenry County Tea Party was outside the lobby with her sign, “We’re the Tea Party. They’re the Flee Party.” She was interviewed.

UPDATE: Jim Hoft has more pictures

One of the tactics of the Progressive Left is to ridicule their targets. Frequently, the vehicle of that ridicule is the label of ’stupid’ or ‘moron’ or ‘idiot’.

This tactic is on full display in Madison, as sign after sign mocks Governor Walker for not completing college.

Why is the Progressive Left allowed to assert that the lowly uneducated masses of non-degree holders are not fit for office? The implication is that if you do not have a college degree, you are only fit to be governed. That is a very snobbish meme.

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Charter schools are facing increasing fierce attacks by organized labor – because they work.  Most of them are publicly funded and are not bound by inch-thick union contracts that stipulate what teachers don’t have to do and which hoops administrators have to jump through in order to hold their employees accountable.

Some charter schools don’t produce the desired results.  But because of the agreement between the school and their state, if they aren’t up to snuff, they can be shut down.  If only the same could be said of traditional public systems in Detroit, Chicago or Los Angeles.

Watch ‘Reforms That Work’ – Episode 8 – “Kids Aren’t Cars”

Indianapolis Public Schools is a dismal mess.  Leaders there do whatever they can to keep the ship afloat, regardless of the harm it brings to the children of the city. Parents are desperate for choices – and they found one in the Charles A. Tindley Accelerated School.

Tindley Accelerated School was started by education visionaries who bought an old grocery store, put up some walls, hired quality teachers and began educating kids. Today, those kids are out-performing their peers in the very same neighborhood, dispelling many myths.

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Shortly after the Green Bay Packers turned the nation’s attention to the Midwestern state, Wisconsin once again has garnered the nation’s attention.   At stake this time is not a trophy, but a prized retirement package promised to public employees.  Throngs of protesters have taken to Madison, Wisconsin to either show their support or disdain for Governor Scott Walker’s plan to require public employees to pay 5.8 percent (the national average is roughly 12 percent) of their salary as a contribution to their pension.

The looming issue of funding public pensions is not unique to Wisconsin.  Governor Walker’s stand, however, has focused the nation’s attention largely because he is the first Republican leader to propose legitimate legislation designed to address the problem head on.  The debate in Wisconsin is a precursor to one that will be seen New York, California, Illinois, and dozens of other states.  Unfunded liabilities stemming from decades of generous retirement packages for public employees has finally reached the breaking point.  Without reform, state fiscal collapse is inevitable.  Often lost in the debate is a simple explanation of what exactly the problem is with the system today.  Fortunately, a pertinent example helps shed light on the financial precariousness of the situation in Wisconsin, and more importantly, the nation at large.

My mother worked as a public employee when she was a teacher’s aide in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.  She was employed by the state for five years, from 1981-1986.  However, she worked only part-time, so was never credited for a full year of employment by the state for each year she worked.  Instead, she received only partial credit each year.  Fortunately for her, Wisconsin and two other states (Minnesota and South Dakota) allow for full vesting for public teachers after only three years of employment.  Using a deduction for her part-time status, Wisconsin determined her creditable service amounted to 3.07 years.  Had she worked three weeks less during her last year, she would be entitled to nothing.  As luck would have it, she fully vested, and is entitled to receive a monthly check from the state of Wisconsin for the rest of her life. (more…)

John Boyd is the president of the National Black Farmers Association and has been the main media face of the Pigford settlement for over a decade. He’s been featured on numerous TV shows and in print. He’s been lauded by members of the Congressional Black Caucus and often appears beside them in public appearences. He’s been recognized by President Obama and was present at the private signing ceremony when the Pigford II settlement was signed.

Here’s a question that should be simple to answer — does he actually have a doctorate that allows him to refer to himself in professional situations as Dr. John Boyd?

Hours of research show many contradictions in the way Boyd refers to himself but so far, I’ve found no evidence whatsoever that Boyd ever received any degree, either earned or honorary, much less any doctorate.

In testimony before the House of Representatives in 2008, he refers to himself as Dr. John Boyd .

But Boyd’s bio from Gale Contemporary Black Biography says the hollowing.

Education: Attended Southside Community College, 1983, and Clemson Univ., 1984-85.

Boyd’s Wikipedia entry makes no mention at all of any kind of doctorate nor does his biography on The Huffington Post.

Boyd’s own personal page refers to him as Dr. but there’s no mention of a doctorate of any kind on his biography page on the same site, despite a long list of his accomplishments. One of those listed accomplishments is that he was”vetted by President Obama’s transition team as a candidate for Secretary of Agriculture“.

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From The Indianapolis Star:

House Democrats are leaving the state rather than vote on anti-union legislation, The Indianapolis Star has learned.

A source said Democrats are headed to Illinois, though it was possible some also might go to Kentucky. They need to go to a state with a Democratic governor to avoid being taken into police custody and returned to Indiana.

The House was came into session this morning, with only two of the 40 Democrats present. Those two were needed to make a motion, and a seconding motion, for any procedural steps Democrats would want to take to ensure Republicans don’t do anything official without quorum.

With only 58 legislators present, there was no quorum present to do business. The House needs 67 of its members to be present.

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Robert George to discuss politics and Justin Bieber’s pro-life stance, then Pejman Yousefzadeh will talk Libya.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Robert George’s Ragged Thots
The Left’s Union Problem in Wisconsin
Justin Bieber Talks Sex, Politics, Music and Puberty In New ‘Rolling Stone’ Cover Story
The New Normal on Abortion: Americans More “Pro-Life”
Justin Bieber’s Pro-life Stand Spurs Liberal Meltdown
Pej: Not That the Iranian People Need That Much Inspiration . . .

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America faces a fiscal crisis. The burden of federal spending has doubled during the Bush-Obama years, a $2 trillion increase in just 10 years. But that’s just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Because of demographic changes and poorly designed entitlement programs, the federal budget is going to consume larger and larger shares of America’s economic output in coming decades.

For all intents and purposes, the United States appears doomed to become a bankrupt welfare state like Greece.

But we can save ourselves. A previous video showed how both Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton achieved positive fiscal changes by limiting the growth of federal spending, with particular emphasis on reductions in the burden of domestic spending. This new video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity provides examples from other nations to show that good fiscal policy is possible if politicians simply limit the growth of government.

These success stories from Canada, Ireland, Slovakia, and New Zealand share one common characteristic. By freezing or sharply constraining the growth of government outlays, nations were able to rapidly shrinking the economic burden of government, as measured by comparing the size of the budget to overall economic output.

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Well, this last week has been yet another shining example of our public sector employees at work. The unions have overreached by such a wide margin that they can no longer cross back over their self-made chasm. To all of you folks at BigGovernment, I ask you this; please just keep giving them rope. It only helps us. I’m sure that you could already tell as much by the desperate Governor Scott Walker/Hitler comparisons. Those are always a crowd-pleaser, right folks? Regardless, the antics in Wisconsin now have even most blue-collar, union-supporting, red-blooded Americans asking themselves “… Really?!”

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Crossposted: TobyToons.com

Henry David Thoreau in his essay Civil Disobedience wrote, “That Government is best which governs least.” Those particular words, written in 1849, summarize the simple truth that the power of the individual and self-reliance in our free society are what has driven the development of American Exceptionalism.  Unfortunately in the 162 years since, our great nation has fallen prey to the dependency of entitlement programs administered by a suddenly powerful central government.  The cost of all this government in our lives, programs that now approximately 50% of our population has become dependent on, has reached unsustainable levels and our liberty is in peril.

The major entitlements of Social Security and Medicare, which all workers pay for through payroll taxes, are only part of the problem.  The future liabilities of these programs can be managed by restructuring the timing of benefits and the manner in which collected taxes are invested.  Future installments in this series will offer some thinking on these matters.  The other part of the problem is the combination of additional entitlement programs and the cost of the large federal bureaucracies to administer these other programs.

In 2011, we will pay out $385 billion in food stamps, $365 billion for the federal portion of Medicaid (with an almost equal amount due from the states), $200 billion in unemployment benefits and over $100 billion in aid to education.  The total cost of these payments will exceed $1 trillion, but the cost of administering these programs will add approximately $300 billion in expenditures to the federal budget.  The Department of Agriculture, the Department of Labor, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Housing and Urban Development are largely in place to administer the distribution of government aid.  Excluding defense, these departments and their associated costs represent half of our entire non-military federal government.

Without questioning the necessity of the programs, it is reasonable to question why we need all the extra government to administer them.  One solution is to consider localization of the management of these entitlements by transferring that authority to the states.  Private sector experience has proven that more local operations and management results in lower costs and greater efficiency. Decisions made closer to the source of the need are made faster and by fewer employees. Recognizing that there will be a cost to localized administration, the net impact of eliminating these cabinet level departments and their hundreds of thousands of personal and the associated supportive infrastructure will be a significant reduction in overall costs.

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Today, in 1732, George Washington was born.

As the entire nation confronts the problem of unfunded mandates and bloated government spending, individual states are doing the same.

Republican governors Chris Christie (New Jersey) and Scott Walker (Wisconsin) are letting government unions know that they can no longer expect to receive the kind of benefits and pensions they were falsely promised by union leaders and past state politicians whose campaigns were funded by union coffers. These governors are handling the displaced anger of union members who are only beginning to experience a little of what private sector workers have known for years. They know that increasing taxes will only cause businesses to leave their states and wreak further hardship on taxpayers already reeling from a struggling economy. Governors Christie and Walker are letting union members know that they are not entitled to exceptional treatment when the state is “broke.”

Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo (New York) wants to cut his state’s budget for the first time in 17 years. He proposes to fire nearly 10,000 state workers unless they agree to $450 million of savings, and plans to close a $10 billion deficit without raising taxes or borrowing. His proposed cuts include Medicaid spending and aid to schools. Cuomo’s message is clear: the state of New York can no longer spend beyond its means.

On Wednesday, Connecticut’s new governor, Democrat Dannel Malloy, presented his first budget, one that includes a $1.5 billion tax hike in the first year and only slightly less in the second year of the two-year cycle. The tax increase is one of the largest in the state’s history, and one that will hit, primarily, middle class families. The governor hopes to raise income taxes, the state sales tax, and taxes on cigarettes, gasoline, alcohol, and estates. Malloy’s budget would eliminate a $500 property tax credit, a “tax-free” shopping week prior to school’s opening, and a sales tax exemption for clothing, haircuts, pet grooming, non-prescription drugs, car washes, and many other items and services. The governor and his advisers are referring to this tax hike as “shared sacrifice” in a state that is already one of the highest taxed in the nation.

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Seems in this weekend’s House deficit-cutting exercise, public media got a haircut – federal subsidies for PBS will end if the House budget holds sway.  Not surprisingly, PBS (and all its supporters in the media, blogosphere, twittersphere and on Capitol Hill), were freaking out.

As one series of highly organized “grassroots” tweets trilled:

RT @jcstearns: New House budget will NOT fund #pubmedia, #netneutrality, #epa but WILL fund gov sponsorship of Nascar http://nyti.ms/eOEgNk via @aschweig

The DoD’s NASCAR recruiting and marketing campaigns – at about $15 million in all – survives, but PBS’ $430 million gets axed.  “Say, what?!!!”  That just isn’t right, Free Press’ Josh Stearns seemingly tweet-claims.

Perhaps Josh is on to something – that is, what’s right.  Putting on my class warfare hat for a moment, how is it right that the rich have had this subsidy for so long?

Many American’s have long-known PBS’ upper-crust focus.  Inside the beltway, it’s kind of a perennial joke (or thorn in one’s side, depending on your point of view).  The $430 million in annual federal funding – representing about 15% of PBS’ budget (they get most of their support from private sources) – is just one of those subsidies that the media and intellectuals endlessly admonish the rest of us to stop worrying about.  At $1.50 per American, per year, it’s a steal.  And besides, it helps kids, the disadvantaged, minorities, etc.

Yet, when you look at who’s actually watching PBS, and the shows they air, another picture emerges.  According to this document, 73% of the audience watching any given PBS show makes household income of $75,000 or more (with 37% of the audience actually making more than $125,000).  In comparison, Census Bureau statistics show median household income in America is just shy of $50,000.

Of course, if you’re wanting for a diversity of PBS / NPR programming on states’ rights, or the right to bear arms, or the constitutional conflict to our liberties presented by the new healthcare law – you’d be hard-pressed to find much of that there.  I guess that’s what Fox is for.

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The cancer drug Avastin has become ground zero in the debate of the future of our health care system. Will drugs and treatments be rationed under a government-run system? Will patients have the same access and options as they do under our current plan? Will patients be subject to a “cost-benefit” analysis by government bureaucrats – like in other countries — when deciding what drugs the government will cover and what drugs they won’t?

Recent actions by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “de-label” the late stage cancer drug raise these and other issues critical to the future of our health care system. The FDA proposal would essentially allow Medicare and other insurance plans, including private ones – to tell patients they will need to cover the cost of the treatment on their own. There would no longer be an obligation to pay for treatment. If you want Avastin as an option in your efforts to fight breast cancer, you would have to pay for it. And what if you cannot afford the estimated $80,000 a year for treatment? The FDA won’t answer that question.

The maker of the drug has petitioned the FDA for a hearing on their actions and have yet to be granted even the ability to make their case. But they have strong advocates in their corner, including a number of influential patient advocacy groups that fear the FDA’s decision will limit patient and doctors choices in the future.

Among those that have critically weighed in against the FDA include the Susan Komen Foundation, Cancer101, the Colon Cancer Alliance and the Cancer Support Community. They understand the stakes and see the decision as a critical precedent that will change our health care system dramatically – and not for the better — if the FDA moves forward.

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On Saturday, standing on the state capitol steps in Madison, Wisconsin I saw history. I saw the first public, physical manifestation of the great struggle between the tea party movement and the public sector unions. At stake: the future freedom and prosperity of this country.

On one side of the debate, you have freedom loving Americans who are the taxpayers, the ones who fund our government and are the heart and soul of this great nation. On the other, those who would seek to ride on the backs of the taxpayers as they take this country down a path of statism.

This is the great fight right now: freedom vs. statism, and the ones of the front lines for freedom are the tea partiers. They have been, and are continuing to, answer the bell time and time again in this crucial time in American history. They’ve been mocked and reviled, questioned, but they are America’s best hope to turn this magnificent nation back to a path of freedom and prosperity and away from destructive statism.

What I saw in Madison on Saturday was amazing. Thursday morning, the American Majority staff in Wisconsin and some local tea party leaders, Meg Ellefson and Tim Dake, along with Dave Westlake, decided there should be a rally in support of Scott Walker and his Budget Repair Bill. In roughly 48 hours, it went from idea to reality, from a few people talking to 10,000 rallying on the steps of the capitol.

Within hours of announcing there would be a rally, I got a call that Andrew Breitbart was in.

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