Berken suffers tough loss in 2nd MLB start

Jason Berken had a strong outing against the Detroit Tigers today, but ended up taking a tough loss.

Jason Berken again pitched well for the Baltimore Orioles today, but he didn’t get any help from his teammates.The former West De Pere High School star left the game trailing Detroit 1-0 after seven innings of today’s game at Camden Yards in Baltimore. He wound up with the hard-luck loss after the Tigers’ 3-0 victory over the Orioles.

The only run Berken allowed came on a solo home run by the Tigers’ Curtis Granderson in the fourth.

“I made one mistake and left the ball up, and Granderson hit it out,” Berken said.

In seven innings, Berken (1-1) allowed four hits, one run, hit a batter, walked two and struck out two. He threw 102 pitches – 61 for strikes – and lowered his earned-run average to 2.25.

Berken was pleased with his performance, but conceded that he wasn’t quite as good as Tigers starter Edwin Jackson.

“Yeah, I mean he threw the ball outstanding, obviously,” Berken said. “Especially against the lineup we have. It’s one of the better lineups, and he threw the ball extremely well.”

He even earned the respect of a poster on Camden Chat with his strong performance.

Jason Berken made his second start of his major league career and pitched a hell of a game. Though he won his first game, he wasn’t that sharp, and I didn’t really have much hope that he’d have another effective outing. Jason, I’d like to apologize for that, because you were straight up awesome today.

One mistake. That’s really all he made. A 4th inning home run by Curtis Granderson put the Orioles in the hole 1-0 and they couldn’t recover. Berken finished with 7 strong innings, giving up just 4 hits and 2 walks. He did all he could do to keep his team in the game and I don’t think we could have asked for any more from him.

Check out Berken’s post-game comments to the media here.

Great job Jason!

While I’m Waiting

more about “While I’m Waiting“, posted with vodpod

 

Recently my wife and I had the opportunity to watch “Fireproof“.  A great, must-see movie for any married couple as well as anyone planning to get married one day.  If you really think about it you can’t love someone until you understand what true love is – which the couple in this movie discovers only after being on the verge of divorce.

Berken’s next start

Jason Berken’s next start come Sunday, May 31 against the Detroit Tigers.  First pitch is 12:35 CST.

If you don’t get the MLB package on cable or satellite TV, check out your local establishment. 

Hopefully Berken will get his second MLB win.

Hansen votes for taxes and earmarks

JSOnline has the dirty details of some of the crap that was in the budget passed at 5:30 this morning.

Cigarette tax: The committee voted to raise the cigarette tax by 75 cents a pack, to $2.52, starting around Sept. 1.

Oil tax: Democrats agreed to impose a new tax on oil companies to help pay for roads. Oil companies would be barred from passing on the tax at the pump, but critics say that measure won’t withstand a court challenge and drivers will end up paying the tax.

An effort to remove the tax failed 6-10, with Rep. Gary Sherman (D-Port Wing) and Rep. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) joining the committee’s four Republicans.

Income tax: The committee voted to raise the income tax rate to 7.75% for the richest 1% of Wisconsinites.

Earmarks: The committee signed off on $28 million in bonds for a School of Nursing facility at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

They also provided: $6.6 million for a Yahara River project in Dane County; $5 million for the Bradley Center Sports and Entertainment Corp.; $4 million for planning a joint museum for the State Historical Society and Department of Veterans Affairs; up to $1.25 million for Manitowoc Road in Bellevue; $1.1 million for the AIDS Network and AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin; up to $500,000 for Washington Street in Racine; $500,000 for an environmental center in a park that borders Madison and Monona; $500,000 for the Oshkosh Opera House; $500,000 for Eco Park in La Crosse; up to $430,000 for Highway X in Chippewa County; up to $400,000 for State St. in Racine; $250,000 for a bridge on S. Reid Road in Rock County; $250,000 for the Madison Children’s Museum; $125,000 to remodel an Eau Claire library; $100,000 for Huron Road in Bellevue; $50,000 for a consortium of seven Dane County schools; $50,000 for the Chequamegon School District; $50,000 for an Eau Claire County shooting range; $50,000 for a playground in the Town of Beloit; $37,200 for the City of Stanley in Chippewa County; $25,000 for the Root River Education Center in Racine; and $20,000 for a pedestrian path in Rock County.

Driver’s licenses: The committee adopted a provision that would allow illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses. The licenses could be used for driving but not for other purposes.

License plates: The committee decided to keep in place a requirement that vehicles display two license plates and that drivers get registration stickers to put on their plates every year. Doyle wanted to eliminate the stickers and allow just one plate to save money.

W-2: The committee agreed to overhaul Wisconsin Works, the state’s welfare-to-work program. Among other changes, the committee approved eliminating a program that reduces parents’ benefits if their children aren’t attending school.

Debt: The state would delay $285 million in payments, helping the budget immediately but increasing long-term interest costs, under the committee’s plan.

Tax credits: Democrats put off scheduled tax breaks for health insurance premiums and child care, having them take effect in 2011 instead of this year.

QEO: The committee voted to eliminate, in July 2010, the qualified economic offer used to settle labor contracts and restrict teacher compensation. Teachers have long argued the policy has kept their salaries lower than their counterparts in other states, while others say the QEO helps keep local property taxes in check.

Hospital tax: The committee agreed to increase an assessment on hospitals and expand it to ambulatory surgery centers. Because the tax increases the state’s Medicaid budget, it draws more federal aid, which helps the hospitals and goes toward balancing the state’s budget.

Health insurance: Health insurance plans would have to cover treatment of autism, mental disorders, alcoholism and drug dependency under the committee’s action.

Auto insurance: The committee recommended increasing the minimum amount of car insurance people would have to buy. People would still have the option to drive without insurance, but if they did buy it, they would have to purchase more coverage than they do now.

Thanks State Senator Dave Hansen, you had no choice but to stick it to the taxpayer and pay back special interests under the cover of darkness right?

Gutting truth in sentencing

In the dark of night while most people were sleeping, State Senator Dave Hansen voted to gut truth in sentencing.

Charlie has the details on the plan:

*An inmate who is sentenced for a misdemeanor or for a Class F to Class I felony that is not a violent offense may earn one day out of confinement for every two days served.

*High Risk or Violent Class F to Class I Felonies, and Class C to Class E Felonies.  Specify that certain inmates who are ineligible under the above provision may earn one day out of confinement for every three days served.

*An inmate sentenced to a Class C to Class E felony may earn one day out of confinement for every 5.7 days served.

and a list of the felonies and misdemeanors under those classes.  Here’s a sampling:

Class C

940.09(1c)(b). Homicide by intoxicated use of vehicle or firearm

940.31(1), (2)(b). Kidnapping

941.327(2)(b)4. Tampering with household products

943.02. Arson of buildings; damage of property by explosives

943.32(2). Robbery

Class D

940.06. Second-degree reckless homicide

940.23(1). Reckless injury: first degree reckless injury

940.285(2) (see statute) Abuse of individuals at risk

940.302. Human trafficking

943.74(3)(b). Theft of farm-raised fish

Class E

940.295(3)(b)1m. (see statute) Abuse and neglect of patients and residents

943.10(2). Burglary

943.32(1). Robbery

Class F

940.11(1). Mutilating or hiding a corpse

940.23(2). Reckless injury: second degree reckless injury

940.32(3). Stalking

941.20(3). Endangering safety by use of dangerous weapon

Class G

940.07. Homicide resulting from negligent control of vicious animal

940.08. Homicide by negligent handling of dangerous weapon, explosives or fire

940.10. Homicide by negligent operation of vehicle

940.43. Intimidation of witnesses; felony

940.45. Intimidation of victims; felony

Class H

940.13. Assisting suicide

940.19(4), (6). Battery

940.201. Battery or threat to witnesses

940.203. Battery or threat to judge

940.30. False imprisonment

Class I

943.01(2), (2d)(b). Damage to property

943.012. Criminal damage to or graffiti on religious and other property

943.017(2), (2m). Graffiti

943.03. Arson of property other than building

943.20(3)(bf). Theft  

Go and check the whole list which also includes drug possession, manufacturing and delivery.

Apparently State Senator Dave Hansen doesn’t feel public safety is important.  How else can this vote in the cover of darkness be explained?

Crap budget deal negotiated in secret

Early this morning the JFC finished work on the state budget.  The vote came at 5:30 this morning at the end of a 12 hour session!

MacIver Institute points out how a major part of what was taken up by the committee yesterday was drafted by Democrats behind closed doors.

But at first blush, this looks to be approximately 70 percent of the entire GPR budget in one, sweeping, secretly-negotiated omnibus motion, on which no public hearing was held.

New taxes. New fees. New fund transfers. New mandates. New policies.

Funny, we can’t remember a lot of these items being discussed at last week’s Doyle/Pocan/Miller press conference. The media focused on the layoffs and furloughs which account for just a small fraction of what’s being done to cover the ever-worsening budget deficit in Wisconsin.

Details can be found on the 65 page document can be found here.

Apparently State Senator Dave Hansen has no problem with a secret budget deal and late night JFC meetings to get that deal passed.

Hey Dave how come you didn’t push for the budget to be voted on in the light of day??  Or would actual public input have interfered with this?

SSDC Golf Outing
5/29/2009
9:30 a.m.

Brute Course,
Grand Geneva Resort,
Lake Geneva.

Join Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, other Senators, and special guests for:
The (Almost) World Famous
2009 SSDC Golf Outing
Gathering 9:30 a.m.
Shotgun Start 10:00 a.m.

Spending instead of cutting …

that’s what State Senator Dave Hansen has been doing as a member of the JFC.

Thanks to Wispolitics Budget Blog and it’s objective reporting we can see what State Senator Hansen has been up to.

On Tuesday he voted to:

• increase DCF spending $7.5 million
• support the collection of racial profiling data
• give the town of Oakland (Jefferson County) a $10,000 generator
• give the town of Wrightstown $46,000 in recycling bins (an earmark in the the DNR omnibus)
• direct the Dept of Commerce to give $2 million in grants to Oneida Small Business Inc. and Project 2000
• to provide $318,300 tribal program revenue in ‘10-11 for a Wisconsin American Indian Tribal Community Reintegration Program

All in addition to the spending he voted in favor of over the holiday weekend.

Granted the budget still has to go before the full legislature but does anyone really think Dave Hansen will vote to cut any of the spending he approves as a member of the JFC?

Way to be conservative and tight-fisted when it comes to spending our tax dollars State Senator Hansen!

Got to be conservative and tight-fisted …

when it comes to spending.  That’s the claim made by State Senator Dave Hansen over the weekend.

Democratic State Senator Dave Hansen said, “We’re trying to do the best we can in a tough situation. As a Democrat we’re working very hard and hopefully in the end we’ll have a product that’s going to be the best that we can do in a difficult time.”

Sen. Hasen said, “The other side has the ability to say we should be spending more money at a time when there is none and it seems kind of different that way, but we’ve got to be conservative. We’ve got to be tight fisted because we are in a very difficult time.”

Dave Hansen being conservative and tight-fisted when it comes to spending your tax dollars?  Bwah-ha-ha-ha. 

Here’s what State Senator Hansen voted for over the Memorial Day weekend as a member of the Joint Finance Committee. Increased spending along with increased taxes and fees.

Let’s see.  They raised taxes and fees.  They increased spending in this budget a whole bunch of times.  How can a state with the worst structural deficit in the nation increase spending in any area?  They voted to increase spending in the next budget even more.  They even voted to undo a spending cut they had previously agreed to adopt.

 

They promised they would protect the middle class – but they voted to raise tuition for middle class families while giving illegal aliens a tuition break.  They voted to increase costs for local governments by tens of millions of dollars so that these governments will be forced to raise property taxes even more. 

 

When they got around to ”cutting spending”  it was usually either a reduction in a previously proposed increase or it was a reduction in one area so they could pay for spending in another area.

 

While the Governor talked about the need to lay off state employees, the committee actually voted to give other state employees additional benefits!  While private sector employees are losing benefits, the committee decided that some state employees should get more.

 

In the middle of a recession, when Wisconsin businesses are struggling to reduce their costs so they can remain competitive, the committee voted to increase those costs again and again.  They increased the use of the prevailing wage laws on government projects and they helped some private sector employees who provide services to state and local governments get unionized.  They voted to increase the insurance costs for private businesses more than once.  The result will be more business closings, greater unemployment and higher property taxes. 

Be sure to read the whole blow-by-blow account.

After reading that check out this recap on the FIFTY-SIX changes voted on Saturday alone.

Saturday’s marathon Joint Finance session featured 56 votes.  That’s 56 changes to state law that likely won’t get even the most cursory scrutiny from taxpayers or the media.  

Within those votes were some pretty serious law changes.  The committee made 9 changes to the state’s prevailing wage law, above and beyond what Governor Doyle had proposed (Motions 473 and 479).  The committee increased the state’s “tipping fee” by $50 million.  They changed the name of the “Wisconsin Election Campaign Fund” to the “Wisconsin Clean Elections Fund” (a meaningless semantic change, but an indication of all the junk they’re willing to throw into the “budget” bill.) They voted dozens of changes in health care, none of which have had any public hearing, and several of which have no state fiscal effect whatsoever.  (For instance, the committee passed Motion #392, which makes several changes to how short-term health insurance plans treat pre-existing conditions.)

Does anyone know what the cumulative effect of all these changes will be?  Anyone?  They were all introduced and passed within minutes, with little, if any, public debate, and virtually no coverage.  The first anyone will have heard of any of these provisions will be after they have long since been added to the omnibus budget bill.

Speaking of “coverage,” one Saturday motion in particular demonstrates why the committee may have been meeting as secretly as possible:

The governor’s budget expanded the Medicaid Family Planning Waiver program to men, and increased spending by $355,000 in 2009-10 to provide these new program participants with condoms.

Um, it looks as though Senator Hansen hasn’t been conservative and tight-fisted when it comes to tightening the belt of state government. Will the MSM call him out on this false claim?

Doyle and the garbage tax

(H/T – Jo)

More exposure of the gimmicks and tricks used by Governor “Diamond” Jim Doyle.  Jim’s raising the garbage tax (which is ultimately passed to the consumer) and using the money in a segregated fund for other purposes.  What a surprise.  State Representative Karl Van Roy (R-90th) provides a great explanation on the slight-of-hand tactics to steal millions for unrelated programs while sticking it Wisconsin businesses and residents.

During the 1990’s, Wisconsin enacted legislation to encourage recycling and waste reduction, including prohibiting certain items from being placed in landfills and establishing financial assistance payments to local governments to operate local recycling programs. To fund these programs, businesses and municipalities pay a variety of surcharges and tipping fees on every ton of solid waste disposed of in landfills throughout the state. Essentially, tipping fees are taxes paid on garbage.

In the 2007-09 budget, the tipping fees were increased from $3.80 to $5.90 per ton, a 55% increase. In the 2009-11 budget that is currently being debated, Governor Doyle proposes to increase [and JFC passed 5/23] the tipping fees yet again from $5.90 to $10.30 per ton, a 75% increase.… According to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau budget summary, the fee increases alone will generate $48.6 million dollars in additional funds above beyond what is currently collected under the current fee structure.

Without a doubt, waste management companies will pass on these tipping fee increases to their customers if they are signed into law. That means municipalities will pay more, which in turn could lead to higher property tax bills; landlords will pay more, which in turn could lead to higher rent being charged; businesses will pay more, which in turn could lead to higher prices customers pay for the goods and services they receive.

These fee increases are unacceptable tax increases on Wisconsin residents and businesses, especially in the midst of a recession.

According to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, between 1991 and 2008, $107.5 million was transferred from the recycling fund to the state’s general fund to pay for programs completely unrelated to recycling, even though it is supposed to be a protected segregated account. In the current budget, an additional $31 million is expected to be transferred from this account to the general fund.

[And how about this?] In his proposed 2009-11 budget, Doyle completely eliminates the Clean Sweep Grant Program, the Recycling Efficiency Incentive Grant Program, and the Waste Reduction and Recycling Demonstration Grant Program. These programs were all funded by the Recycling Fund and clearly relate to the goal of reducing waste in our landfills. Instead, Doyle takes the money from those programs, and uses it to pay for the creation of a new UW System Bioenergy Center. ($8M, $4M each year)

Furthermore, Doyle’s budget proposes to take $27 million collected from the environmental management tipping fee to pay the costs of debt service on outstanding government bonds. Like the recycling and transportation funds, this is also supposed to be a protected segregated account. Yet again, the funds are being used for something other than their intended purpose.

Some justify these exorbitant fee increases as a way to discourage out-of-state waste from being put in our landfills. The facts are that 80% of the solid waste in our landfills is generated from Wisconsin sources, and the fee increases over the years have proven to be ineffective at decreasing the amount of out-of-state waste being imported. In reality, these fees only serve as a punishment to us because the vast majority of the tax increases are being paid by Wisconsin businesses and homeowners without any benefit in return.

During these financially difficult times, government should not be increasing costs for Wisconsin residents and businesses and making it even harder for those who are already struggling to keep their heads above water. Increasing the garbage tax will do nothing to improve our state’s economic picture.

Karl Van Roy is a Republican and represents the residents of the 90th Assembly District.

Yet another reason to recall Doyle?

Wednesday Hero 05/27/09

USS George H.W. Bush

Sailors assigned to the Air Department of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) are silhouetted against the setting sun at the conclusion of flight operations. George H.W. is underway in the Atlantic Ocean conducting flight deck certifications.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.