13 thoughts on “It’s a post-primary open thread”

  1. Obviously disappointed that the narcissistic Clarke won, but the bigger fight lies ahead.

  2. Zach, thought your summary was excellent.

    If Mr. Abele’s serious about a Senate run against Sen. Sunspot, he’s gotta learn from this. He has to take a populist approach and should learn from the Kennedy’s, develop a “laser focus on policies aimed at broad-based prosperity.”

    1. Federal Job Guarantee

    http://ineteconomics.org/blog/institute/plan-all-detroits-out-there

    That’s the key to automation, which is the key to increased productivity, which is a way to fight inflation. Automation opens up new markets for folks to build and repair robots/labor saving devices. Those higher skilled, better paying jobs are the future. The key is that the wealth from automation cannot end up exclusively in the hands of the elites. Yes, if someone builds a better mousetrap, they deserve to be rewarded. Monopolies and oligopolies, however are the enemies of capitalism.

    2. Legalize pot now. I would never encourage anyone who did not already have a serious illness to use it, but the prohibition against alcohol didn’t work either.

    Legalizing pot will make urban agriculture a lot more profitable. Increasingly homeowners will probably want to lease their back lawn to crews who will manage their garden, (aquaponics inside a greenhouse…, chicken, ducks,….)

    3. Unions, unions, unions….

    He should be proposing RAISES for public sector workers, police officers, DA’s, judges, EMT, school teachers,…. We need more highly skilled people in government, not less.

    4. Go green or go home. Mr. Abele will have to explain why he hasn’t championed solar panels on all county buildings, why he hasn’t championed wind farms in Lake Michigan, why he hasn’t championed increased federal investment in biomass.

    “EPA approves Virent biofuel for use in cars, trucks”

    http://www.jsonline.com/business/epa-approves-virent-biofuel-for-use-in-cars-trucks-b99329549z1-270966421.html

    If the technology’s ready, Mr. Abele should look hard at running every Milwaukee County vehicle on Madison based fuel from Virent (or other Wisconsin competitors). AFAIK, Virent’s in the lead. He should get federal subsidies to do it. That creates demand for Wisconsin biomass.

    If Mr. Abele wants to “reduce the cost of government,” what better way to start than being self-sufficient w/r/t electricity. Whether county/state laws allow government to sell energy at a profit is above my paygrade.

    1. ‘Monopolies and oligopolies, however are the enemies of capitalism.”

      Did you intend to type, “…are the RESULTS of capitalism,” instead of the enemies?

      1. No.

        Oligarchs have seriously misrepresented Adam Smith and “Wealth of Nations.”

        Below is from 2001, but still very good.

        “Economic Scene; The many faces of Adam Smith: Rediscovering ‘The Wealth of Nations.'”

        “Some of Washington’s sentiments were clearly Smithian. In his farewell address, for example, he wrote, ”Even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand: neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences.” Smith railed against monopolies and the political influence that accompanies economic power.”

        …

        “Ms. Rothschild stresses that Smith was sometimes tolerant of government intervention, ”especially when the object is to reduce poverty.” Smith passionately argued, ”When the regulation, therefore, is in support of the workman, it is always just and equitable; but it is sometimes otherwise when in favour of the masters.” He saw a tacit conspiracy on the part of employers ”always and everywhere” to keep wages as low as possible.”

        …

        “At the turn of the 19th century, Adam Smith’s arguments were invoked by Samuel Whitbread in favor of a minimum wage and by William Pitt against it. ”There is something of Smith,” Ms. Rothschild wryly observed, ”on both sides of the parliamentary debate.””

        “…Smith also supported universal government-financed education because he believed the division of labor destined people to perform monotonous, mind-numbing tasks that eroded their intelligence, not because education led to economic gain. His economic policy had social and moral objectives, not just the maximization of national income. To Smith, enlightenment was for the masses. …”

        “Or consider taxes. Dick Armey does not miss an opportunity to enlist Adam Smith in support of his flat tax. Smith did favor low taxes and argued that subjects ”ought to contribute toward the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities.” But he also argued, ”It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expence, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.”

        Would Mr. Armey support a tax on luxury carriages? Smith did.”

        http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/16/business/economic-scene-the-many-faces-of-adam-smith-rediscovering-the-wealth-of-nations.html

        Oligarchies also block technological innovation, unless they own it, in which case they exploit it for their own benefit.

          1. nq, thanks. My apologies for not being more diplomatic.

            The “capitalists,” the oligarchs, Wall Street, Big Oil, Big Pharma both parties, the MSM, have pretty much destroyed the public’s opinion of capitalism.

            The proof is in the pudding. Capitalists either have to deliver a more just and equitable society, or get replaced by socialism. A lot of younger folks I see on Twitter have just written capitalism off. And based on their experience of it, I can’t blame them.

            1. No offense taken. You may have noticed that, ‘Diplomatic,’ is NOT my middle name. 😉

    2. If Abele is going to run for statewide office (and that’s a big if) he’s going to need to work on his public speaking, because I’ve seen him speak multiple times and he never really seemed comfortable.

      He’s also going to have a hard time winning a Democratic Senate primary without the support of Democrats, seeing as how he’s pissed off a bunch of progressives with his treatment towards county employees, as well as his efforts to lessen the importance of the County Board and his support for Republicans like Joe Sanfellipo and conservative Democrats like Dan Adams.

  3. From what I can tell Democratic Women did really well in Democratic Primaries. The NRA members really support candidates endorsed by the organization and its not just about money as the Colorado Recall results show. The 6th CD Republican Primary is interesting too with the geography of the district.

    1. Democratic women did well in the primaries, and that’s a great thing for the Democratic Party. We need more progressive women in office, and that’s why I’m so excited to see what the future holds for women like Sara Geenen. Even though she lost yesterday, she shouldn’t give up, because we need more women like her in office.

  4. A great big tip of the hat and sincere apology to Mary Jo Walters, to whom I was unkind in previous comments here at Blogging Blue. She made a hell of a showing. It makes one wonder if she’d done things just a little differently, maybe she could have won.

  5. I was disappointed or I should say horrified to see that Grothman prevailed in a field of four beating the runner up by a margin of 200 plus votes. What kind of people support that idiot!

    I wonder if the field was limited to only one opponent if Grothman would have lost.

  6. Grothman although I don’t agree with him on a lot politically and he is just plan ignorant on MLK Jr. day, he is at least approachable. He will make every effort to work with Democrats where he can find some common ground. Liebham would have been out of the headlines more and he would be a little less combative but they both voted for Act 10.

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