Wednesday, October 29, 2014

MARY BURKE: OTHERS COMMENT ON HER COMPETENCE

Trek Sources;  Mary Burke's famiy fired her for incompetence
Wisconsin Reporter - M. D. Kittle

Long article.  Read the comments below first that expose additional character traits worth thinking about as you read the complete article - scroll down.

Comment about Mary Burke: Imagine electing a person for governor who couldn't even handle the pressure of being a manager in a family business for a couple years...before needing 2 year hiatus.... As governor she we melt down in 6 months!

Look at Walker he has stood up to more pressure than anyone could imagine and still gets the job done.

So you don't need to believe this article, because the alternate story the left likes is just as good a reason not to elect this empty head.

Comment about Mary Burke:
"Burke has never married and has no children." - Wikipedia

55 years old with no record of friends or relationships.

There's no indication Mary Burke ever earned anything. She's got family money and bought her way onto the Madison School Board. Titles without substance. Too many indications of hidden failure. No real indication of thinking for herself, of innovation, of creativity. What has she really accomplished without her own money?

Mary Burke exists outside the cultural mainstream. The lack of any personal background is kinda weird.

Put Scott Walker aside for the moment - why would we want this woman to be governor?
Mary Burke is scary.

Comment about Mary Burke: According to Wikipedia, she has never been married, has no children and even though she has an impressive education (Georgetown Undergrad, Harvard MBA, London School of Economics) She has never held a job outside of the family business. A business where she has held nebulous positions with lofty names but little verifiable accomplishment.

There isn't even a mention anywhere of a former boyfriend, or girlfriend for that matter.
She seems strangely devoid of a personal life or personal accomplishment.

Trek Sources;  Mary Burke's famiy fired her for incompetence 
http://watchdog.org/179822/mary-burke-trek-sales/ - Wisconsin Reporter - M. D. Kittle

MADISON, Wis. — In attempting to explain her two-year work hiatus in the early to mid-1990s, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke has said she was just burned out after an intense period of leading European operations for Trek Bicycle Corp., her family’s Waterloo-based global manufacturer.

In fact, Burke apparently was fired by her own family following steep overseas financial losses and plummeting morale among Burke’s European sales staff, multiple former Trek executives and employees told Wisconsin Reporter.

The sales team threatened to quit if Burke was not removed from her position as director of European Operations, according to Gary Ellerman, who served as Trek’s human resources director for 12 years. His account was confirmed by three other former employees.

“She was not performing. She was (in) so far over her head. She didn’t understand the bike business,” said Ellerman, who started with Trek in 1992, at the tail end of Burke’s first stint as a manager at Trek.

Ellerman said Richard Burke, Mary Burke’s father and founder of the family business, asked Tom Albers, Trek president and chief financial officer at the time, to fly to Amsterdam to evaluate Mary’s performance.
 
It wasn’t a pretty picture. The European operations were in disarray, Ellerman said.

Full disclosure: Ellerman is chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. As to the possibility that his accounts are politically colored, Ellerman said, “I was there. This is what went down.”

A former employee with the company told Wisconsin Reporter that John Burke, Mary’s brother and current Trek president, had to let his sister go.

The former employee, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal from the Burke family, said Mary Burke was made to return to Wisconsin and apologize to a group of about 35 Trek executives for her treatment of employees and for the plummeting European bottom line.

Managers in Europe used to call Burke “pit bull on crack” or “Attila the Hun,” one source said.
“She never made money in Europe when she was there Germany was gushing blood and it would take profitability from everywhere else,” the former employee said.

“There is a dark side to Mary that the people at Trek have seen She can explode on people. She can be the most cruel person you ever met,” said Ellerman, who started a consulting business after he was “asked to leave” Trek in 2004 over a difference in hiring philosophy.

As HR director, he said he heard plenty of complaints about Mary Burke, but he said she was “hands off and everyone knew it. She was absolutely bulletproof. She could do anything she wanted.”
To a point, apparently.

In her campaign against Republican incumbent Gov. Scott Walker, Mary Burke has bragged that European sales climbed to $50 million on her watch. She originally said the increase was closer to $60 million in a 2004 resume to officials in Gov. Jim Doyle’s administration, the Democrat who in 2005 tapped Burke to be his secretary of the now-defunct state Commerce Department.

Ellerman and the other employees tell Wisconsin Reporter that Burke’s sales boasts are lies, that the European division did significantly lower numbers — at least $10 million lower — during her tenure as director. Most of the sales increases, they said, were in Trek’s United Kingdom market, which was well established before Burke arrived, and in the Japan operations, which Burke had nothing to do with. Any growth in sales was well offset by the losses sustained in Germany and other European countries, according to the former executives.

Trek is a privately held company and does not disclose its sales or earnings figures. Mary Burke, too, has refused to provide documentation of the numbers.


When asked to apologize to staff before her departure from the company in 1993, Mary Burke struggled and stammered through the apology much as she appears to do in a video clip of the gubernatorial candidate trying to define the word “plagiarism,” according to one former Trek employee. The Democrat has been dogged throughout her campaign by revelations she lifted large sections of her policy plans from other sources.

“She had a list of excuses, but the fact is she made fatal errors. She thought she knew everything,” the former employee said.

John Burke, who at the time was vice president of sales and marketing, was forced to “unravel” the mess his sister Mary made of the European operations,” the former Trek employee said.
The former employees’ recollection of Burke would seem to jibe with Burke’s predecessor at the Commerce Department.

“She’s a disaster,” Cory Nettles, secretary of Commerce under Doyle from 2003 to 2005 told one of Doyle’s top aides in a 2006 email, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story published earlier this month.

Nettles told the newspaper he didn’t remember sending the email, which the Journal Sentinel obtained in an open records request.

Regardless, he said he does not feel that way anymore.

The Burke family, publicly at least, has had nothing but smiles and accolades for Mary Burke, praising her business acumen.

John Burke’s book about his father, published in 2012, refers to Mary as “the brains in the family.” In the book, “One Last Great Thing: The Story of a Father and a Son, a Story of a Life and a Legacy,” John applauded his sister’s performance in Europe.

“I hired my sister Mary, the brains of the family, to move to Europe and run the business. Mary and her team opened Austria, Spain, the Benelux, and France the following year. Trek’s business in Europe took off,” John Burke wrote.

That’s revisionist company history, sources insist.

Following her forced apology, they say, Mary Burke left her family company in a huff in 1993, taking off for the snowy mountains of Colorado and Argentina — her “snowboarding sabbatical,” as some of the candidate’s critics have derisively put Burke’s personal work stoppage.

While Burke told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last month that she wanted to “resolve any inconsistencies” about her time away, the details and the timing remain foggy.

Burke told a Doyle administration official in 2005 that she was burned out from her European Trek stint.

“This had been a very demanding job, and as a result I decided I needed some time off,” Burke wrote, as quoted in the newspaper story. “I joined some Spanish friends of mine and moved to Argentina to snowboard for three months.”

Not true, according one former Trek executive.

“She made the statement that she was burned out. She wasn’t burned out. She was fired. (The firing) was definitely over performance issues and there were major people problems over there,” said the executive who also asked not to be identified because the source believes the extraordinarily wealthy Burke family will “destroy any individual” who brings such information public.

She did some other things during her two-year break from Trek, but full-time employment during that period wasn’t Burke’s scene.

Burke’s resume notes that she returned to Trek in 1995 as director of forecasting and strategic planning.

Not quite true, according to Ellerman and other sources.

“I remember (Richard “Dick” Burke) talked to (John Burke). I was there. Dick said we need to bring her on, so they put her in a marketing role and she worked for the marketing director for a while,” Ellerman said. It didn’t last. “She was creating dissatisfaction in the marketing world so John came to me and asked me, ‘What can I do?’ I said, ‘I can’t touch this.’”

Then, Ellerman said, Burke’s father and brother created the strategic planning role.
Another employee who worked with Burke confirmed Ellerman’s account.
Neither the Burke campaign nor Trek officials returned several calls and emails from Wisconsin Reporter seeking comment.

Ellerman claims that throughout Burke’s tenure with Trek, she showed that she was not a person who could bring people together.

“She is very divisive, very opinionated, but she’s not smart enough to have the right opinion,” Ellerman said. “But she’s a Burke, and she got to do whatever the hell she wanted.”

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country

BRAD SCHIMEL - MEET AND GREET 11/1/2014

Brad Schimel - Candidate for Attorney General

11/1/2014 - Saturday - 7:30 - 8:30 p.m.        
Eagle River Inn - 5260 Hwy 70 - Eagle River
Info:  Carol Cady - 715-356-1950; mlcicady13@frontier.com
 Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country

SCOTT WALKER RALLY 10/31/2014

Walker Rally - Governors Scott Walker, Christie and Barbour

10/31/2014                        Friday - 5:15 p.m. 
Ponsee North America Inc
4400 International Ln, Rhinelander (west on Hwy 8 - just past the airport)
Bring your signs, wear your buttons and tee shirts
Info:  Carol Cady 715-892-4677; mlcicady13@frontier.com
                                           
Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country

SEAN DUFFY - EAGLE RIVER - 10/30/2014



Congressman Sean Duffy - Meet and Greet

10/30/2014 – Thursday - 3:34 - 4:45 p.m
Best Western Derby Inn - 1800 Hwy. 45 N - Eagle River
Info:  Carol Cady - 715-356-1950; mlcicady13@frontier.com
                                           

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

LIBERALS NEED TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS



Here Are The Top 10 Questions To Ask A Liberal
Federalist Papers - Steve Straub  - 7/8/2014
Brian Anderson over at Downtrend has ten questions that liberals can’t answer.

10. How many people should we let into this country? Liberals want amnesty for the 11-20 million illegal aliens currently living in America. Let’s say that happens, then what? Do we grant amnesty to the next 20 million illegals that come looking for a better life?

9. How are rules that apply equally to everyone discriminatory and racist? Liberals say that everything from the justice system to education is racist. They whine that voting laws that apply to everyone equally are somehow discriminatory. Why? I h

8. How are rules that only apply to one group of people not discriminatory and racist?Affirmative Action set quotas for minorities in hiring and college admissions. Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper program gives funds and opportunities to people of color. There are literally hundreds of liberal programs available to minorities only. Do not disadvantaged white people deserve the same help?

7. Do you know what a pyramid scheme is? Wikipedia tells us: A pyramid scheme is an unsustainable business model that involves promising participants payment or services, primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products or services to the public. The people at the bottom of the pyramid do all of the paying and never reap any benefits. (Think Social Security and ObamaCare)  Private sector: fraud / government: progress.

6. Why is it okay to kill unborn children but wrong to kill convicted murderers?  Liberals love abortion but hate the death penalty.The only difference is, unborn children haven’t viciously murdered anyone. Why do liberals deem the life of a killer more important that that of an innocent child?

5. How does stagnating growth stimulate the economy? High taxes and needless regulations are two things liberal lawmakers can’t get enough of. They are also the two things that hurt business growth the most. Businesses are those things that give people jobs. When people have jobs, they have money to spend. Our economy grows when more people have jobs and spend money. This is a fact.

4. Does it make sense to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result?The social safety net, which includes welfare, food stamps, Medicaid, and a whole host of liberal entitlements, has failed in its stated goal to pull people out of poverty. Instead, these programs have had the opposite effect, creating generations of people that are utterly dependant on government handouts.

3. How will punishing law-abiding people stop criminals from breaking the law? Every liberal gun control law either passed or proposed places arbitrary restrictions on law-abiding citizens. These laws don’t apply to criminals because, by their very nature, they don’t follow laws. If someone is going to commit a murder or assault, do you think they care if their weapon of choice isn’t compliant to the local ordinance?

2. How can you count to ten if you skip the number two? The first ten amendments of the US Constitution are known as the Bill Of Rights. These enumerated rights were laid down by our Founding Fathers because they felt each of them was essential to ensure we live in a free society. Liberals are enamored with all of them except the 2nd, which guarantees our right to keep and bear arms. They say all of the other amendments confer individual rights, yet claim the 2ndAmendment is a collective right that allows only the government to possess arms. Why would the Framers list 9 individual rights, and one government right? Liberals also don’t seem to understand that the 2nd Amendment protects all the others. Tyrants can’t take speech and voting rights away from an armed populace.

1. Why was George W. Bush a bad President but Barack Obama is a good one? To liberals, George W. Bush was the Devil incarnate. Their biggest beefs were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bank bailout, and Guantanamo Bay torture. When Obama took office he escalated the war in Afghanistan, gave even bigger bailouts, and after 5 years in office still hasn’t closed Guantanamo Bay. On top of that, Obama ignores the Constitution, spies on every single American, kills women and children with drone strikes, and has saddled the country with a health care law that will bankrupt the middle class and require an insurance company bailout of epic proportions. 


Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country

ACT 10 NEEDS TO COVER MORE STATE EMPLOYEES


Act 10 was no mistake; in fact, it should be expanded 
Journal Sentinal - Edmund Henschel And Russell Knetzger - 10/4/2014
 http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/act-10-was-no-mistake-in-fact-it-should-be-expanded-b99361706z1-278086621.html 

Where bargaining has been especially deleterious for taxpayers is unions began focusing on fringe benefits, which are hidden from public view and often hidden from employees themselves and under-appreciated by them. It is now common for public employees to receive benefits that cost 50% of their total pay, whereas the private-sector ratio is around 25%. This "fringes strategy" has paid excess dividends to public workers in two costly areas: health insurance and pensions. 


In health insurance, public employees were shielded from the huge run-up in health premiums because they were able to bargain 100% employer pickup of the cost. Such premiums between 1978 and the 2008 economic slump rose 600%, or double the 300% rise in general inflation.

For teachers, they achieved an extra bonus from their employer-paid health insurance. The local unions bargained, and won in 60% of Wisconsin school districts, that the no-bid contract for health insurance go to the insurance company owned by the state teachers union.

That insurance can be called "cadillac coverage." Not only did it have five-way coverage — doctor, hospital, drugs, vision and dental — each was top of the line. For example, in private-sector dental insurance, when it existed, $1,000 per year was the typical limit per patient in the family. A few companies offered $1,200, and a very few $1,500. Some teachers' coverage: $2,000 per patient per year.

In pensions, most private-sector employers contribute up to 3% of wages into the company 401(k) plan, and under 401(k) rules, employees may add another 3%, a total of 6% between them. But because the early retirement feature of the Wisconsin plan is so costly, the plan specifies total contributions as high as 16% a year.
 

Northwoods Patriots - Standing up for Faith, Family, Country

WHY DO LIBERALS HATE CONSERVATIVES

Absurd reasons why liberals hate conservatives
Godfather Politics  - Garay DeMar – 10/6/2014

There are so people in the liberal camp that are blinding by their own prejudices that they can’t see any view but their own and refuse to be taught otherwise.
 
Cook mentions a Facebook exchange:

“Republicans hate anything that isn’t white, wealthy, and Christian at least in appearance. They hate the poor, women, and minorities. They hate science and don’t believe that the global warming we clearly are experiencing is man-made.

“They hate any government programs that help the poor and minorities, and the particularly despise immigrants, particularly the illegal kind. They love programs that line the pockets of oil companies, mining companies, and are willing to export jobs with wild abandon.

“They hate public education, and they despise public schools and the public school teachers and public university professors. And since they do not respect the market place of ideas, they hate tenure (that gives teachers academic freedom) because it prevents them from firing teachers who are Democrats and who might infect some student with their liberal ideas.

“They want insurance companies to make a maximum of profit, and are perfectly willing for the health insurance companies to kill people by refusing service to anyone that might cost them a buck more than the median expense. They don’t care about clean food because it might cost the food corporation a little money, and they don’t care about clean water because cleaning up the waste will cost their precious corporate persons a little money.”

Any conservative reading the above characterization would be fuming after reading it. I would love to answer each of the charges, but it would take a book to do so. In fact, books have been written debunking these caricatures of conservatives, but the false narrative continues.

Let me quickly give a series of snapshot responses:

Conservatives hate it when liberals use the poor, women, and minorities as political pawns to further the expansion of the State and make them dependent on government.

Conservatives love science, that’s why they question the man-made global warming thesis.
Conservatives don hate government programs that claim to help the poor and minorities but in reality hurt the power long-term.

Conservatives love immigrants because most of us are descendants of immigrants who followed the rules and came here legally.

Conservatives oppose illegal immigration because they understand that many liberals want to use it to grow the already bankrupt welfare State to empower the Democrat Party.
True conservatives despise corporate welfare or what is often called “crony capitalism,” although it has nothing to do with capitalism

Oil company profits are paid out to millions of stock holders, many of who are liberals.
Companies would not “export jobs” if the corporate tax rate and excessive regulations weren’t debilitating, thus, making it difficult for American companies to compete with foreign companies.

Conservatives who choose to send their children to public schools do not “hate public education” or “despise public schools and the public school teachers.” They hate and despise much of what is taught in these schools and what is not taught.
Conservatives do respect the “market place of ideas.” That’s why they are often critical of university professors who use tenure as a way often to exclude academic competition by a rehearsal of alternative positions and facts.

Insurance companies are generally despised. But we should remember that insurance companies are tightly regulated by government. Our government has often curtailed interstate competition among insurance companies.

It’s absurd that Conservatives “don’t care about clean food” or “clean water because cleaning up the waste will cost their precious corporate persons a little money.”