WHY THIS AREA TEACHER CHOSE THE NON-UNION OPTION

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/130741333.html

JS Online -- 9/28/2011 -- Elija Grajkowski

As a public school teacher, I've thought critically about many unfair policies concerning the teachers union. Why is the Wisconsin Education Association Council granted special access to my paychecks through the school district, when other professional groups don't have this privilege? Why should payroll clerks in school district offices do the job of collecting union dues money and then cutting and sending the union their monthly checks (all on the taxpayers' dime)?
Do other organizations get this privilege? If not, why?

I allowed the union access to my paychecks so that it could turn around and tell me just how bad I had it. It's the union's job to encourage unrest, discontent and unhappiness amongst the rank and file; this is how it justifies its existence.

In my opinion, this has encouraged adversarial interactions with administrations. This is not how I want to live my life as a teacher. I wish to be thankful and grateful about what I have and realize that there are people out there paying taxes to support my position and benefits. Many Wisconsinites don't have the salary, security or benefits that I have. I'm really in no position to complain.

Now that I don't have to pay my "fair share" of union dues, I have been informing my fellow teachers about the premier non-union alternative: the Association of American Educators. AAE is not a union; it's a professional, nonprofit organization. The AAE model sees to it that I am fairly and accurately represented via its membership surveys and protected via an individual liability insurance policy and legal counsel.

AAE doesn't support partisan politics or issues unrelated to education, and its dues are a mere fraction of WEAC's. With AAE, I feel like a professional educator, not a union worker who is forced to pay excessive dues and contribute to controversial issues that don't reflect my beliefs.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

UAW ON THE ROPES AND RUNNING OUT OF MONEY

http://www.coachisright.com/good-news-the-uaw-on-the-ropes-and-running-out-of-money/

Coach is Right -- Kevin Collins -- 9/29/2011

A forensic examination of the financial condition of the UWA revealed, “The UAW is hollowed-out and heading for disaster.” The report continued by quoting an anonymous source (afraid to have it get out that he/she spoke the truth about the ailing union),” The UAW might have three to five years before its budget difficulties forced a financial crunch, absent changes. The “hand-grenade” math of the projection gave the union less than a five-year window of opportunity to turn things around by winning new membership at foreign-run auto plants” the source said.  

Is the ”right to work” catching up to the UAW?
Pressure from “right to work” non union states has siphoned off 75% of the 1.5 million UWA members on the rolls in 1979. Today they have an unsustainable 377,000 dues paying members. Moreover less than a third of them work for Detroit’s Big Three automakers.  

To read more use this link:
 http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2011/09/carpocalypse-now-at-the-uaw/
 CiR.com has added a new video page, stop by and take a look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V18oml5Tn-E&feature=channel_video_title

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

SENATOR RON JOHNSON BIDS FOR GOP LEADERSHIP POSITION

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/130781948.html

Ron Johnson's Bid for a GOP Leadersihp Post is Unusual for a First-Year Seantor -- Craig Gilbert -- 9/29/2011

Johnson said he viewed the position as mainly a communications job, helping the GOP caucus marshal information and arguments.  

“My primary goal in the first two years here is to communicate to the voters of Wisconsin, really to the voters of America, how serious our financial situation is in this country and how urgent it is we address it,” he said in an interview.

“Certainly sitting at the leadership table is going to dramatically increase my learning curve here,” said Johnson, who said his private-sector, non-Washington background would be a good addition to leadership. “I do believe I bring a valuable personal perspective, particularly from a communication standpoint.  I’ve been the audience for what comes out of Washington for 31 years. I hear things differently.”

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND SOLAR LOAN GUARANTEES

Investors.com -- 9/29/2011 -- Editorial

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article/586465/201109291833/More-Green-For-Donor-Energy.htm

More "Green" for Donor Energy

On Wednesday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said his department had completed a $737 million loan guarantee to Tonopah Solar Energy for a 110-megawatt solar tower on federal land near Tonopah, Nev., and a $337 million loan guarantee for Sempra Energy to develop a 150-megawatt solar plant near Phoenix.

According to the Daily Caller, which reports that the White House was asking that inquiries about the new projects be directed to the Democratic National Committee, SolarReserve LLC of Santa Monica, Calif., parent of Tonopah, has ties to George Kaiser, the Oklahoma billionaire who, through his Argonaut Private Equity Firm, was the major investor in Solyndra. Kaiser raised $53,000 for President Obama's campaign in 2008.

Board member James McDermott has contributed $61,500 to various Democratic campaigns since 2008, including $30,800 to President Obama's campaign. Fellow board member Lee Bailey has given $21,850 since 2008 to Democratic candidates including Obama, Reid and California Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

FAST AND FURIOUS -- MISSING GUNS -- BORDER PATROL AGENT MURDER

Right Side News -- 9/29/2011 -- Jim Kouri

http://www.rightsidenews.com/2011092914604/us/homeland-security/mexican-attorney-general-qobama-more-involved-in-fast-a-furious-than-admittedq.html

Mexican Attorney General:  "Obama more involved in Fast & Furious than Admitted"

President Barack Obama appears to be getting it from all sides regarding a government snafu dubbed Operation Fast and Furious. Besides both houses of the U.S. Congress and a number of public-interest groups investigating what is being characterized as a rogue federal law enforcement operation, Mexico's attorney general is infuriated over the allegations that the U.S. was behind the smuggling of weapons into Mexico that ended up killing her countrymen. 

In a statement released by Mexican Attorney General Marisela Morales, she called Operation Fast and Furious “an attack on Mexicans’ security.”

Morales told Mexican reporters that she is demanding a full and honest explanation from the United States government especially since evidence is being gathered that reveals the Obama administration was more involved in Operation Fast and Furious than top officials admitted in their sworn statements.

If what is being reported is true, U.S. Attorney General and other government officials may have committed perjury and/or obstruction of justice if it's proven they lied when testifying before House and Senate committees.

Meanwhile Mexico's Attorney General claims she learned about the operation in the news media rather than being told about it in advance by U.S. government officials, including members of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's staff.

Morales said that if U.S. federal officials were involved, it would be a “betrayal” of Mexico while its police and military were fighting a war against drug cartels. Tens of thousands of Mexicans have been killed since the "war on drugs" began in 2006. Almost weekly, Mexican authorities are finding mass graves of those murdered by the cartels.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the House Oversight Committee’s chairman, recently said that it appears the trail of evidence about who authorized Operation Fast and Furious leads back to the White House.

Operation Fast and Furious began in October 2009 with sales from American gun stores to Mexican cartel members. They allegedly spent over $1 million on the firearms. Then in June 2010, ATF picked up the pace of the smuggling by allowing its agents to sell the guns to gang members, according to government documents obtained by Fox News and Judicial Watch.

CNS News -- 9/29/2011 -- Ben Shapiro
http://cnsnews.com/blog/ben-shapiro/does-fast-and-furious-put-impeachment-table
Does Fast and Furious Put Impeachment on the Table?

In fall 2009, Eric Holder and the Department of Justice decided on a strategy supposedly designed to combat gun trafficking on the Mexican border. They didn't want the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to seize illegal firearms anymore; instead, they wanted them to give firearms to members of the Mexican cartels.
According to the Congressional report, "ATFs Phoenix Field Division began allowing suspects to walk away with illegally purchased guns .... This shift in strategy was known and authorized at the highest levels of the Justice Department." One goal was to identify "straw purchasers" -- legal gun purchasers who hand off those guns to illegal owners. Instead of arresting the straw purchasers and their contacts, however, ATF was to allow the guns to continue to flow to the Mexican drug cartels. "ATF and DOJ leadership were interested in seeing where these guns would ultimately end up," the report states. "ATF would only see these guns again after they turned up at a crime scene."

Pushing an operation designed to undercut American freedoms that ends with the death of Americans is not only illegal, it is unconscionable.
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MAIN STREAM MEDIA IGNORES THE SCANDAL OF THE CENTURY

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/msm-sheep-ignoring-the-scandal-of-the-century/?singlepage=true

Pajamas Media -- 9/28/2011 -- Bob Owens

MSM Sheep:  Ignoring the Scandal of the Century


As William Lajeunesse writes at Fox:

Not only did U.S. officials approve, allow and assist in the sale of more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa cartel — the federal government used taxpayer money to buy semi-automatic weapons, sold them to criminals and then watched as the guns disappeared.

I don’t wish to understate it: elements of the U.S. Departments of Justice, State, Homeland Security, and Treasury are responsible for supplying an arsenal to narco-terrorists waging a civil war against an American ally. Our federal government may bear responsibility for at least 200 murders committed with “walked” firearms, in what Mexican Attorney General Marisela Morales describes as a “betrayal” of her country by the Obama administration.

Are there legal ramifications? Perhaps. According to Title 18, 2331 of the U.S. Code, Operation Fast and Furious may amount to international terrorism, which carries with it stiff penalties for conspiracies that result in homicide. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act — which was originally used to prosecute the mafia — and the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) may also fit, as may assorted state and federal charges. Charges may also result from two investigations launched by Mexican authorities, and Mexico could conceivably file charges with the International Criminal Court.

This is objectively the most important political and legal story in America right now.

perhaps hundreds have died as a result of this administration’s conspiracy to supply weapons to a narco-terrorist organization, and the crack ABC News investigative team at the Blotter can’t be bothered. 60 Minutes is more enthralled by the murder of an American Nazi than the Obama adminstration’s Reichstag fire. CNN may as well be protecting Saddam again. Need we mention PBS or MSNBC?

The Gunwalker conspiracy is the kind of story that journalists dream of breaking their entire careers. It is now in the palms of their hands: a story in which they can make a difference, take down the evil and corrupt, and ensure justice is served.

Instead of reporting, however, they are complicit. They have chosen to acquiesce to a clear and obvious evil, an aberration of our most basic values. They are no longer watchdogs, but docile sheep.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

NIX POPULAR VOTE -- KEE' STATES' WINNER-TAKE-ALL ELECTORAL VOTING

Pajamas Media -- 9/29/2011 -- Tom Blumer
Two Bad Presidential Election Ideas Require Rejection

http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/two-bad-presidential-election-ideas-require-rejection/?singlepage=true
Two separate efforts, the “national popular vote” (NPV) movement and Pennsylvania’s recent attempt to implement congressional district-based electoral voting (which I will call “CEV”), have gained traction. Both ideas recall a pithy phrase attributed to Ben Franklin in 1787 shortly after the Constitution’s adoption. When asked whether the Founders’ handiwork represented a republic or a monarchy, Franklin responded: “A republic, if you can keep it.” I contend that his response would have been the same if the question’s alternatives had been a republic or a democracy. Both NPV and CEV represent dangerous movements towards the latter at the expense of the former.

NPV and CEV should both be DOA — Dead On Arrival. The fact that they aren’t shows how far we have strayed from fundamental constitutional principles and the Founders’ intent.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

U. S. POST OFFICE -- UNIONS DON'T WANT REFORM

http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/30/going-postal-mail-worker-unions-overload-tea-party-group-with-more-than-100-pounds-of-mail/

The bill the unions are adamantly opposing is USPS reform legislation proposed by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa and GOP Rep. Dennis Ross. In a Daily Caller op-ed, Ross said the bill, HR 2309 or the Postal Reform Act of 2011, “would allow the Postal Service to restructure itself and reduce costs by removing unfunded mandates and costly regulations.”

“The cost-cutting structural reforms in the bill would save a bare minimum of $10.7 billion per year,” Ross wrote. “Under our legislation, if the Postal Service cannot meet its obligations to the U.S. taxpayer, the agency would be placed under a temporary receivership-like authority to overhaul its finances.”

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

TAXPAYERS PICK UP $1.18 M IN LAWMAKER PER DIEM

http://www.wisconsinreporter.com/analysis-taxpayers-pick-up-1-18m-in-lawmaker-per-diem

Wisconsin Reporter -- 9/29/2011 -- Kirsten Adshead and M. D. Kittle

The article discusses legislative pay in Wisconsin, Illinois and Alabama.


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AGENDA 21 -- FREEDOM ADVOCATES RADIO PROGRAM -- 9/30/2011

9/30/2011 – Freedom Advocates Radio program

Agenda 21:  Conspiracy Theory or Real Threat, Part II

6-8 p.m. Pacific time -- Click here to listen online

(You may have to hold down the CONTROL KEYas you click here)

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

ONE OF YOUR NEIGHBORS EXPLAINS THE "TEA PARTY" TO BYRON MCNUTT

On 9/28/2011 Byron McNutt’s editorial was published in the Vilas County News Review – United We Can Survive - Divided We Will Decline

Donna Goeddaeus responds with her Letter explaining the "Tea Party"

Dear Mr. McNutt,

I find I must respond to some comments you made in your editorial on Wednesday, September 28th.  You made the statement “Republicans, held hostage by the Tea Party,….”  Later, in the same article you stated “It might be time for the Baby Boom Generation to step up and “Save the World” much like the “Greatest Generation” did during World War II.”

Just who do you think the Tea Party is? 

We are just average Americans, many of us the “Baby Boom Generation” you speak of who are stepping up to try to “Save the World” and more specifically, save America.  We are moms and dads, retirees and working people, students, the unemployed, blue collar and white collar workers, white, black, Hispanic, Native American… you name it… we are a cross section of Americans, most of whom have never been involved in politics before.  And therein lies the problem we are facing today.  Now we are called “The Tea Party” but we are simply what used to be called “The Silent Majority”. However, we are being silent no more because our silence and non-involvement in what has been going on in Washington and in our states has led this country to the mess it is currently in.

We are your friends and neighbors and co-workers who are alarmed at the direction this country is going in and have decided to get involved. How did we get involved? We started paying attention to what was happening. We started to dig into pending legislation so we could understand what it was and what impact it would have on our country and our individual lives and rights. We read the Constitution and Declaration of Independence to find out what they really said.

We started to really listen to and get to know candidates running for office. We started to speak out and let those candidates know what was important to us, like smaller government, a friendlier business climate so private enterprise can thrive, individuals taking personal responsibility for earning an income and providing for their families and their future, a strong national defense, lower taxes so we can all have more control over how and where our money is spent, more state and local control over things like education and health care, restoring pride and patriotism to our country and our schools, strong marriages and families, and respect for the Judeo-Christian values and principles that founded our country. And when we found a candidate who supported and believed in our same conservative values we worked hard to try to get them elected – we donated money, made phone calls, went door-to-door, talked to our friends and neighbors about what these candidates stood for and why they should vote for them, we put up road signs and stamped envelopes, and when we all worked hard enough these conservative candidates were elected.

Now what are we doing that makes you refer to us as “hostage takers”? We are holding those candidates accountable for what they told us they believed in and promised us they would stand for.

We listen to their speeches and interviews, we follow their voting records, we call and email and fax them to tell them our views on pending legislation – and we do not do this as a group, or as a “Tea Party” organization. We do this as individuals who love our country and want what it best for her. There is no “Tea Party” party. There are no members or elected officers, nor is there an organized national group. There are just a lot of like-minded citizens doing what we feel is best for ourselves, our communities, and our country. We are only referred to as a party because there are so many of us - millions of like-minded individuals all across the country all working for the same thing and going about it in the same way. In short, we are doing what every citizen should be doing -  paying attention, educating ourselves, speaking out, working for candidates, and holding them accountable once they are elected. You may call that “hostage taking.”  I call it being a responsible American citizen.

Proud to be a “Tea Party” person,

Donna F. Goeddaeus                  

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

ACTION ITEM: FCC TO CLAIM CONTROL OVER THE INTERNET 11/20/2011

Contact your elected legislators at the link below.  The Senate must take a vote before 11/20/2011 to defeat the efforts of the FCC to control the internet.


http://prosperityactions.com/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=5oJELSPwFhJWG&b=6074153&aid=15343


They actually did it. Last week, the FCC published its net neutrality order in the Federal Register, stating that effective November 20 the federal government will begin regulating the Internet.


Americans didn't want this. Congress rejected it decisively -- it only had 27 sponsors last year.

The courts rejected it -- they said the FCC did not have the power to do this. And voters rejected it, defeating all 95 of the candidates who campaigned on the issue. That's right a perfect zero for 95.


But unless the Senate votes to overturn this order before it takes effect November 20, we will start down the path to a government regulated and government controlled Internet.


Click here now to tell the Senate to STOP this outrageous power grab.

(


Under a special procedure called the Congressional Review Act, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison is committed to forcing a Senate vote. Harry Reid can't keep this off the floor, and it can't be filibustered. We'll need 51 votes to succeed.


This is a key test for the U.S. Senate. Will they stand up to one of Obama's power grabs, or will they sit on their hands? And if they sit on their hands, why should voters re-elect legislators who refuse to legislate?


Click here now to tell the Senate to STOP this outrageous power grab.

(

Yours truly,   Phil Kerpen  VP Policy, Americans for Prosperity
Chairman, Internet Freedom Coalitionhttp://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=kfIJKRNxGdIKL3K&s=bqLOKYNBLjJMKROBIsF&m=kmK0JjP2LnK5JrK)http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=nsJPK0OJIgLRJdJ&s=bqLOKYNBLjJMKROBIsF&m=kmK0JjP2LnK5JrK)
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DOJ: MEXICAN CARTELS OPERATE IN OVER 1,000 U.S. CITIES

http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/29/doj-says-mexican-cartels-operating-in-over-1000-u-s-cities/

DOJ says Mexican Cartels Opeating in over 1,000 U.S. cies -- Daily Caller -- 9/29/2011

Nicholas Ballasy

Mexican-based transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) were “operating in more than a thousand U.S. cities during 2009 and 2010, spanning all nine Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) regions,” according to the U.S. Justice Department’s National Drug Threat Assessment of 2011.

The primary regions where the TCOs have been operating are Florida/Caribbean, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, New England, New York/New Jersey, Pacific, Southeast, Southwest and West Central.

“Conditions within these border communities along both sides of the Texas-Mexico border are tantamount to living in a war zone in which civil authorities, law enforcement agencies as well as citizens are under attack around the clock,” the report says.

“In addition to gun battles and other violence at ports of entry, southwestern border communities have been subject at times to the massive influx of evacuees and casualties from Mexico — a mix of innocent civilians as well as criminals — all of whom may be fleeing violence.”

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PRIVATE SECTOR CREATES WEALTH

http://vcnewsreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5291:private-sector-creates-the-wealth&catid=28:current-users&Itemid=46
Letter to the Editor -- Vilas County News Review -- Charlie Gullan -- 9/27/2011

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

LRB 2691/2 -- OPT OUT OF SMART GROWTH (AGENDA 21)

The following proposal has a short time frame.

Please read and contact your legislator to indicate your support that allows communities to Opt-Out of Smart Growth

From:      Rep.WilliamsM 
Sent:       Thursday, September 29, 2011 3:09 PM
Subject:   NEW BILL - Allowing Opt-Out of Smart Growth

TO:         Legislative Colleagues

FROM:    Representative Tom Tiffany (and others)
DATE:     September 29, 2011

RE:     Co-sponsorship of LRB 2691/2 – Allowing Opt-Out of Smart Growth

SHORT DEADLINE:   Friday, September 30, 2011, 3pm

Our bill does two simple things:  It makes comprehensive planning optional; and it ends comprehensive planning grants.  Any comprehensive planning grants that have already been awarded, however, will continue to be provided under our bill.

In 1999, the legislature passed the comprehensive planning law, also known as “Smart Growth.”  Passage of this law was highly contentious, because it required all local units of government to develop comprehensive plans, which individually cost upwards of tens of thousands of dollars.  State and local taxpayers have been paying for the cost of these plans ever since, through local property tax dollars and state planning grants.

The plans are so costly because of the scope of required planning.  Local governments are required to include all of the following elements into their plans: Issues and Opportunities, Housing, Transportation, Utilities and Community Facilities, Agricultural, Natural & Cultural Resources, Economic Development, Intergovernmental Cooperation, Land-use, and Implementation elements. 

Adding to the complexity and expense of the planning process, each of these elements contain significant requirements and detailed research in terms of what must be included in the final plan.  Most importantly, once the comprehensive plan is in place, nearly all of the local government’s land use ordinances must be consistent with, or in compliance with, the overall plan.  In order to make certain ordinance changes, local governments will sometimes be forced to not only change their ordinances, but their comprehensive plans as well.  This is a lengthy, complicated and costly process, and delays a local government’s ability to quickly respond to certain issues when necessary.

Finally, the comprehensive planning law generally requires compliance by January 1, 2010, and a delayed implementation of January 1, 2012 for the communities that received extensions.  Although a majority of local governments have come into compliance, we are introducing this legislation to allow local governments to opt-out of the Smart Growth law, if they so choose.  This is important for several reasons: 

1) Although most communities have finished their plans, the comprehensive planning law will continue to inflict significant burdens on local governments and taxpayers into the future.  These burdens are financial, legal and time consuming. The bill saves state taxpayer dollars, to the tune of $2 million annually.  Future state and local taxpayer dollars will be saved as well. 

2) The comprehensive planning law includes requirements that nearly everyone agrees are good for local communities.  However, requiring these provisions is largely unnecessary, as many of these functions were, and will continue to be, met by locally elected officials.

3) The comprehensive planning law includes objectionable planning requirements.  For example, the law requires local governments to pick winners and losers in the economy, by identifying “desired” businesses and industries and ensuring that the local government designates “an adequate number of sites for such businesses and industries.”  The state will no longer be requiring these through the comprehensive planning law.

 
4) Finally, this bill does not repeal Smart Growth.  It simply restores local control by allowing communities to opt out if they so choose.  If communities opt out, they can still engage in zoning and other land use functions.

To sign on, please contact my office at 266-7506, or by responding to this email.  The deadline for Co-Sponsorship is this Friday at 3pm. 

Analysis by the LRB

Under the current law commonly known as the “Smart Growth” statute, if a city, village, town, county, or regional planning commission (local governmental unit) creates a development plan or master plan (comprehensive plan) or amends an existing comprehensive plan, the plan must contain certain planning elements. The required planning elements include the following: housing; transportation; utilities and community facilities; agricultural, natural, and cultural resources; economic development; land use; and intergovernmental cooperation.

Also under current law, unless certain conditions apply, beginning on January 1, 2010, certain ordinances enacted or amended by a local governmental unit that affect land use must be consistent with that local governmental unit’s comprehensive plan. The ordinances to which this requirement applies are official mapping, local subdivision regulation, and zoning ordinances, including zoning of shorelands or wetlands in shorelands. Also under current law, beginning on January 1, 2010, if a local governmental unit enacts or amends any of these specified ordinances, the comprehensive plan must contain at least all of the required planning elements.

Under this bill, a local governmental unit is authorized to repeal its comprehensive plan. Correspondingly, the ordinances that under current law must be consistent with a local governmental unit’s comprehensive plan must, under the bill, be consistent with the local governmental unit’s comprehensive plan only if the local governmental unit has a comprehensive plan in effect.

Under current law, the Department of Administration provides grants to local governmental units to assist in financing the cost of planning activities. This bill eliminates this grant program.

For additional information, please contact Senator Glenn Grothman’s office, Jolene Churchill, Jolene.Churchill@legis.wisconsin.gov

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NANCY PELOSI'S BROTHER-IN-LAW AND PCG "CLEAN" ENERGY

Heritage Foundation -- Morning Bell -- 9/30/2011

http://links.heritage.org/hostedemail/email.htm?h=d7b336f12cfd25df80053c2d477cd118&CID=9956431281&ch=60B9A6FE0945E5E3EEF3E17B7A0C4552

Solar Reserve lists PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund (East) LLC as an investment partner. Ronald Pelosi, brother-in-law of the House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, is an executive with PCG. Another investment partner: Argonaut Private Equity, the employer of Steve Mitchell, who served on the Solyndra LLC Board of Directors.

President Obama was reportedly advised by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and then-economic advisor Larry Summers that the loan guarantees were being hastily approved and were too risky. But Obama pressed forward on the countering advice of Chu, then-energy advisor Carol Browner and Ron Klain, then chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden.

When the savings of new, more energy-efficient technologies exceed the costs of adopting those technologies, markets have the incentive to adopt them. But it is the voluntary participants in these market transactions that best know the full spectrum of the costs and benefits that matter most to them.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

GROUPS BEGIN STRATEGIZING FOR POSSIBLE WALKER RECALL

http://www.wpr.org/news/display_headline_story.cfm?storyid=27172 GROUPS BEGIN STRATEGIZING FOR POSSIBLE WALKER RECALL

WPR -- 9/28/2011 -- Rich Kremer

(EAU CLAIRE) Planning sessions are being held across the state to coordinate the recall of Gov. Scott Walker. A group called the Wisconsin Recall Task Force is strategizing the most opportune timing for a recall effort. A handful of Democratic activists met at the University of Eau Claire Tuesday (9/27) night to brainstorm the most effective way to launch a recall against the governor, that outlined pros and cons for beginning the recall process on November 5, the soonest possible date or holding off. keeping up momentum or waiting to raise money and organize. there will be plenty of support for ousting the governor, The biggest question about a Walker recall is timing, when? Nathan Timm is a representative of the Wisconsin Recall Task Force, which is holding eight of these recall planning meetings across the state over the next week and a half. this is an effort to try to balance that with maybe some more strategic thinking, some more thoughtful elements.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

CENSUS DATA -- ONLY 1.7% OF THE POPULATION

From Family Research Council -- 9/29/2011

Back in May, a venerable Gallup poll revealed that most Americans think that over 20 percent of the population is homosexual.

Only four percent believe-correctly--that homosexuals are less than five percent of the population (a leading homosexual researcher puts the figure at 1.7% homosexual and 1.8% bisexual). The percentage of those who are in long-term partnerships is even lower.

The Census Bureau on Tuesday released updated estimates of the number of American households headed by same-sex couples. There aren't many--only one in every 180 households. Maybe the new numbers will help leaders to realize that there's no political gain in pandering to such a tiny population.

Although the Census Bureau referred to some of those couples as "married"--in apparent violation of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (under which the federal government recognizes only opposite-sex marriages)--the data nevertheless reinforced a key argument against same-sex "marriage."

A paper based on the American Community Survey, whose findings were similar to the census count, found that even in the states which allow same-sex "marriage," only 42% of the same-sex couples who lived together identified themselves as "married."

We need to restore marriage as the normative setting for sex, procreation, and childrearing--not redefine it for the benefit of a group that's already rejected that norm.

frc.org

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

PRO-LIFE ACTIVITIES

10/2/2011 – Sunday – 2-3:00 p.m.

Life Chain -- Eagle River -- Signs will be provided; bring a lawn chair if you wish

East Pine Street

, One Block North of McDonald's

Call Tom at 715-362-9384 with questions 

WI Right to Life / Teens For Life Invite you to attend a free showing of "Blood Money" on the Abortion Industry.

Thursday, October 13

Eagle River Inn, Hwy. 70

Doors open at 4:00 for complimentary pizza / beverages

DVD starts at 5:00 p.m.

Pre-register by Oct. 6 at 715-362-6425 with contact and attendance numbers.

Saturday, October 29

Upper level Pole Cat & Lace Restaurant, downtown Minocqua

2:30 p.m.  Complimentary desserts 

Pre-register by Oct. 22 at 715-362-6425 with contact and attendance numbers.

Friday, November 11

Grace Four Square Church, Hwy. 17N, Rhinelander

5:00 p.m. complimentary appetizers

DVD starts at 6:00 p.m.

Pre-register by Nov. 6 at 715-362-6425 with contact and attendance numbers.

Please contact your elected representatives about the following:

Under Obamacare, states are permitted to opt-out of abortion coverage in the health plans offered through the exchanges.  But to do that, the legislature must act to specifically "opt-out" of abortion coverage.

Senator Rich Zipperer and Assembly Representative Robin Vos have authored legislation, Senate Bill 92, to opt Wisconsin out of providing abortion coverage in the plans offered through the exchanges.  The Zipperer/Vos legislation states that a health plan offered through any exchange in Wisconsin may not cover abortion whose performance is ineligible for funding under current Wisconsin law s. 20.927.

Please write or call your state senator, Sen. Jim Holperin and urge your senator vote for Senate Bill 92 because you do not want your tax dollars subsidizing abortion.

Include your home address

Sen. Jim Holperin - (608) 266-2509

P.O. Box 7882

Madison, WI 53707-7882

Send email to Sen.holperin@legis.wisconsin.gov

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

ILLINOIS UNION PENSIONS

For the Good of Illinois --- Check the website to check out pension payments.

http://us1.campaign-archive1.com/?u=a68ef2524fe09d37b09403928&id=8c10c50b04&e=aa53ae82d1

Please register and start searching at openthebooks.com.

As the Chicago Tribune exposé of sweetheart union access to City pensions became a national story, we have the only publicly accessible City of Chicago retirement database. 

Choose RETIREMENT and

CITY OF CHICAGO from the two dropdown search boxes on the homepage,

then click twice on MONTHLY ANNUITY AMOUNT (orders from most to least).

Union Chief, Dennis Gannon has the top city pension of the last ten years. Retiring in 2004, Gannon worked one day for the city and has a monthly pension of $13,583.  He has already collected over $1 million.

If our portal was up five years ago, three years ago, or last year, the sunlight would have made insider union pensions impossible!  In Illinois, transparency is the foundation for good government.

On September 6th, we exposed that the unions also have insider access at the state level.

Read the post, here. Listen to my interview with Big John & Amy on WIND 560AM Chicago, here.

The second highest teacher pension in teacher retirement history ($20,200/month) went to the President of the National Education Association (NEA), Washington DC. 

His Illinois government pension was predicated on his out-of-state union pay and not his earnings as an elementary school teacher from Harvey.

For his earnings, contributions and monthly annuity, click here.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

OBAMACARE'S SOARING PRICE TAG

http://links.heritage.org/hostedemail/email.htm?h=1b82b4c3520268668b21d3da1513862a&CID=9941077398&ch=34A5394E9522189445BF7520C806508B

Heritage Foundation -- Morning Bell -- 9/29/20110

The bad news is that Americans can expect costs to go even higher. For starters, the full force of the law won't even kick in until 2014--in other words, there's an onslaught ahead. And even without Obamacare, premiums are skyrocketing and hitting small businesses. Just imagine what the future will hold. Nix warns that "already-enacted provisions are just the beginning," and just next week, the Institute of Medicine will release its recommendations on what should and should not be covered under Obamacare's "essential health benefits" package. What could be the result? Even larger premium hikes than we've already seen.
Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

PRESIDENT OBAMA IS LOSING HISPANIC SUPPORT

http://www.gopusa.com/news/2011/09/29/obama-tells-hispanics-not-to-blame-him/?subscriber=1

GOP USA -- Obama Tells Hispanics Not to Blame Him -- Julie Pace -- 9/29/2011

A strong majority of Hispanics supported Obama's election in 2008. But his support among Hispanics has declined, as it has in the broader population. A recent Gallup survey found 48 percent of Hispanic voters approving of Obama's job performance, compared with 60 percent in January.

While Obama has made little progress on comprehensive immigration legislation, he has pushed Congress to pass the Dream Act, which would provide a route to legal status for college students and service members brought to the country as children. The bill passed the House last year when it was controlled by Democrats but was blocked by Senate Republicans.

"I think there's been a great disservice done to the cause of getting a Dream Act passed and getting comprehensive immigration passed by perpetrating the notion that somehow by myself I can go and do these things," Obama said. "We have to pass bills through the legislature and then I can sign it."
Democrats view Hispanic voters as a voting bloc in 2012 that could help determine the outcome in swing states such as Florida, Colorado and Nevada. The Democratic National Committee has aired Spanish-language ads in those states in the past week to tout the benefits of Obama's jobs bill for small business and workers in the construction industry, which the DNC said employs 2.77 million Hispanics.

Hispanics accounted for more than half of the U.S. population increase over the last decade, exceeding estimates in most states and totaling 50 million.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

COMPANIES DONATING TO DEMOCRATS RECEIVE FEDERAL LOAN GUARANTEES

http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/29/more-solar-companies-led-by-democratic-donors-received-federal-loan-guarantees/

More Solar Companies Led by Democratic Donors Recieved Federal Loan Guarantees
Daily Caller -- 9/29/2011 -- John Rossomando

A $53,500 Campaign Contribution Sure Goes a LOOOOOOOOG WAY!

These companies have suffered from declining stock prices despite their favored status in the White House. Yet as the end of the federal government’s fiscal year looms on Friday, a new series of loans could be finalized amounting to more than nine times what taxpayers have already lost on the failed company Solyndra

 

“Who was visiting the White House during this period of time?” Texas GOP Rep. Joe Barton asked when contacted by TheDC. Barton is a former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “Who were they talking to and what were they talking about? Are there more loans at risk of not being paid back? Are these good investments or political favors?”

Companies like First Solar, SolarReserve, SunPower Corporation and Abengoa SA have already, collectively, received billions in loans through Obama administration stimulus programs to build solar power plants in the southwestern United States.

Yet each, with the exception of the privately held SolarReserve, has seen its stock price hammered at the same time it was lobbying the Obama administration and Congress for billions in loan guarantees.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

WISCONSIN SCHOOLS AND POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/29/the-costs-of-political-correctness-mounting-for-wisconsin-schools/

Daily Caller -- 9/92/2011 -- Caroline May

The Costs of Political Correctness Mount for Wisconsin Schools

It’s all fun and games until somebody gets offended — at least in Wisconsin, the first state in the country to ban politically incorrect public school mascots, specifically those considered offensive to Native Americans.

The ban, signed into law by then-Gov. Jim Doyle in May 2010, does not take full effect until 2013, but schools are already beginning to change their nicknames if they are deemed to be offensive — due to the law’s provision that provides residents an outlet to lodge a formal complaint with the state superintendent. If a mascot is determined to be race-based, the offending school must cease to use it.

To date five schools have changed their mascots

According to American Indian Cultural Support, there are 45 schools in Wisconsin with mascots offensive to Native Americans.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

EPA -- 230,000 NEW EMPLOYEES -- $21 BILLION -- 6.1 MILLION "POLLUTERS"

http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/29/editors-notebook-230000-reasons-to-get-an-epa-story-right/

Daily Caller -- 9/29/2011 -- David Martosko

On Monday we published a news story by Daily Caller reporter Matthew Boyle about this. Matthew reported that the EPA had found itself in the odd position of admitting that new regulations (as written) would force it to hire those 230,000 new federal employees — at an astonishing annual cost to taxpayers of $21 billion — in order to boost the number of greenhouse gas “polluters” it polices from 14,000 to a whopping 6.1 million.

“[I]n their own words,” Sen. Inhofe wrote Wednesday evening, “EPA will, in fact, regulate even the smallest sources and the nightmare scenario that Congressman John Dingell once called a ‘glorious mess’ will ensue. That could come as soon as 2016.

“Bottom line,” The Washington Examiner’s Carroll added, is that “even the Obama administration admits it would cost $21 billion to regulate carbon using the Clean Air Act.”

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

LEFT PROTESTS AGAINST PRESIDENT OBAMA IN DENVER

http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/28/protesters-attack-obama-from-the-left-at-denver-speech-video/

Daily Caller -- 9/28/2011 -- Kelly Maher

Two-minute video

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

HERMAN CAIN AND PRESIDENT CLINTON

http://www.citizenlink.com/2011/09/27/herman-cain-shakes-things-up/

Citizen Link has a quick discussion about Herman Cain.  What's interesting is the video of Herman Cain as he discusses a tax issue with President Clinton.  The president rolls his eyes as Mr. Cain intelligently discusses the issue.  It's a classic!

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com

HEALTH CARE COSTS RISE -- LOOK TO OBAMACARE

McCaughey:  Surge in Costs Start of Obamacare Disaster
Newsmax.com -- 9/28/2011

http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/mccaughey-healthcare-costs-insurance/2011/09/28/id/412623?s=al&promo_code=D264-1


The survey of private and public employers conducted by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation disclosed that the average cost of a family policy climbed 9 percent to $15,073 in 2011, the largest increase since 2005. Premiums for single coverage rose 8 percent.

The group’s findings also showed that health insurance is consuming a bigger share of employer costs, forcing many companies to eliminate pay raises and pass on more medical costs to workers.

"There are bigger premium hikes ahead in 2014,” she said, explaining that “1,472 employers and unions got waivers from the current coverage requirements because they couldn’t afford them. But in 2014, the waivers expire and mid- and large-size employers will be required to provide the ‘essential benefit package’ or pay a $2,000 fine — a mere pittance compared with the cost of that package.

“That's why McKinsey & Co. found that as many as 50 percent of large employers surveyed are considering dropping coverage in 2014. If that happens, middle and high earners will be forced into the exchanges, and lower income workers will be forced onto Medicaid."
“Medicaid pays about 86 cents for every dollar of care. Doctors and hospitals make it up by charging privately insured patients more, pushing up premiums."

She added: "The impact of Medicaid cost shifting on employer-paid premiums will be far larger in years ahead. The Obama health law will expand Medicaid enrollment by at least one third in 2014. The president promised to solve the problem of the uninsured by making health plans affordable, but in fact, at least two thirds of the currently uninsured will be put on Medicaid in 2014.

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country - northwoodspatriotscomm@gmail.com