Called this one back in January. I know wait for the apologies in my comments.

(Yeah, I know, I won't be getting them.)

County Executive Bob Ziegelbauer coasted to re-election Tuesday, as voters rejected challenger Carla Halvorson's offer of "a better way" in favor of the incumbent's career track record of fiscal conservatism.

In winning a second term, Ziegelbauer garnered 7,773 votes, or almost 57 percent, to 5,904 for Halvorson.

Ziegelbauer said he was grateful for the community's support, which he said he never takes for granted.

"A strong support like we're seeing today is especially gratifying in a time that's very challenging and very difficult with lots of issues that cause controversy in state and local government," he said. "It makes the community's confidence in me very humbling."

When Ziegelbauer ran against Michael Thomas in 2006, he garnered 7,114 votes to Thomas' 5,655, or, roughly a 55-45 percent split.

In defeat, Halvorson said she still sees a future for herself in county government.

"We do see a need to continue working for better government, better accountability and more openness," she said.

The Herald Times Reporter of Manitowoc reports that Halvorson will be meeting with her campaign team for "next steps" even after this loss. What that details can only be speculation; but given the cabal that seems to exist in greater Manitowoc against Ziegelbauer, it will probably involve what I've doubted "Phase 2" of the Master Plan: The Democratic Primary for the 25th Assemby District which Ziegelbauer also represents.

It should be a lot of fun to watch that upcoming train wreck from the sidelines.

Finally, it was good to see the people of Manitowoc aren't easily fooled...they voted to still keep left-wing crank Ron Kossik off the school board.

(As always, the disclaimer: Bob Ziegelbauer is my first cousin.)

And people used to laugh at me when I told them the Lakeshore was getting more conservative...

Sheboygan County supervisors, many of them saying government should cut spending rather than raise taxes in a recession, overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to create a half-percent county sales tax Tuesday night.

The vote against imposing the tax, which would have taken effect his fall, was 22-12. The tax would have raised about $8.9 million in the first year, estimates show. About $1.8 million of that would have come from out-of-county tourists, the rest from in-county residents.

The vote came after about an hour of debate, preceded by several residents speaking out against the tax.

"Maybe people won't notice it right away, but we're taking $7.1 million out of the hands of our residents, to spend on local businesses," said Supervisor Devin LeMahieu, one of the chief opponents of the sales tax.

LeMahieu said neighboring Ozaukee County can deliver its services for about $160 less per resident in Sheboygan County, and suggested the county figure out ways to do the same.

"We can still make cuts," LeMahieu said.

Sheboygan County remains one of nine of 72 counties in Wisconsin without a sales tax.

Mick Anic, a supervisor from the Kohler area, said he took numerous calls from people who preferred cutting more county jobs to raising or imposing taxes.

Yes, for those wondering, Devin LeMahieu is son of State Assemblyman Dan LeMahieu (R-Cascade).  And since we're talking about who else voted for this thing, here's the vote as listed by the Sheboygan Press.

A yes vote was to adopt a half-percent sales tax for Sheboygan County.

Yes (12) -- Ziegelbauer, Vandersteen, Procek, Medina, Baumgart, Koch, Dunton, J. Van Dixhorn, Schultz, Schramm, Abler, Riemer.

No (22) -- Winkel, Wheeler, Glavan, Van Der Male, Conrardy, Otten, Holub, Anic, Marthenze, Cary, Epping, Damp, Wegner, Feider, Ogea, Hoffmann, LeMahieu, Bosman, A. Van Dixhorn, Bemis, Goehring, Te Stroete.

Yes, that Baumgart is none other than former State Senator Jim Baumgart.  Thanks for returning to Sheboygan politics to tax us again Jim.  As for the Ziegelbauer, I have no idea how or even if I'm related to Connie Ziegelbauer.

Been thinking about this for some time, so I want to do two sets of predictions for 2010.  One which will be serious, one completely silly and me kidding around.

So first...

The Silly Ones

1) There will still be no flying cars.  Because of this, out-of-work trial lawyers and unemployed recent law school graduates will go to Alabama and for the work, start a class-action lawsuit against the federal government (Owners of GM and Chrysler), Ford, Disney, and Hollywood for "Failure to Make Imagination Real."

By the end of 2010, the suit will go International.

2) Chris "Capper" Liebenthal will be lost at sea pursuing a white whale on The Pequod.

3) Owen Robinson doubles his blogging productivity with two word long posts before he pastes the articles.

4) Apple is declared "The New Evil Empire of Technology" by the Obama Administration at the behest of Google CEO (and Obama Economic Advisor) Eric Schmidt.  At the same time, Google perfects its doomsday device meant to enslave us all in a secret bunker in California.

5) SETI will announce it has indeed finally pulled off its intent and found other intelligent life in the universe, however, they announce it on the very day America loses another celebrity through tragedy and the news gets buried and is soon forgotten.

Ok, that was fun, now on to the Real Ones.

The Real Ones

1) Oil will trade at over $100 a barrel for a portion of 2010, sending gas prices again over the $3 a gallon barrier.  Congress will do nothing to alleviate the price spike (i.e. increase domestic supply) and do the usual (Sue OPEC, Blame Speculators, Hold Congressional Hearings with Oil Copany Executives, etc.) song and dance.

2) No liberal blogger in Wisconsin will predict Scott Walker will win the Governor's Mansion, while no conservative blogger in Wisconsin will predict Tom Barrett will win the Governor's Mansion.

3) Wisconsin's outstanding budget mess is bigger than anyone expects it to be or has been sold in the press.  Due to the manipulation of the 2009-2010 budget by JFC co-chairs Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) and State Senator Mark Miller (D-Madison) to avoid a politically suicidal vote in an election year, the 2011 budget repair bill will be left to the next Governor and Legislature, and hence part of the 2010 Governor's race.

4) Bob Ziegelbauer will be re-elected as Manitowoc County's County Executive to another four-year term.

5) "An Institutional Magazine" like TIME, Newsweek, or U.S. News & World Report will either close its doors and end the magazine or go completely digital.

6) The only Wisconsin sports team (Pro or Division I) to either win or get close to winning a sports championship will be UW-Madison's Women's Hockey Team.

6a) UW-Whitewater will have its third consecutive D-3 Football Championship match-up against Mount Union.

7) The NFL and the NFLPA will not reach a new collective bargaining agreement, increasing the chances of the 201o season being "Uncapped" and the 2011 season being possibly played by replacement players.

Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan stays put and is not removed from office.

9) Neither the Packers or the Vikings are the NFC representative to Super Bowl XLIV.

10) "Iron Man 2" out-performs the original at the box office.

11) For the second straight year, Fox Broadcast wins the ratings battle of the four major broadcast networks.  NBC reconsiders the move of Jay Leno to 10 Eastern/9 Central.

12) Something called "Health Insurance Reform" passes both chambers of Congress, but it never is enacted as it is held up perpetually in the Courts.

13) Justice John Paul Stevens will retire from the Supreme Court of the United States.

14) A major social network (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace) will go out of business.

15) The GOP will capture the State Senate by capturing at least two seats and the State Assembly by capturing five or six seats while losing only the Brett Davis seat.

16) Scott Walker wins the Governor's election 52% to 48% over Tom Barrett.

17) J.B. Van Hollen wins re-election as Wisconsin's Attorney General.

18) Dawn Marie Sass doesn't survive her primary challenger for re-election for State Treasurer.  (No prediction for General election since GOP candidate Joe Punzel just announced he was withdrawing from the race.)

19) Russ Feingold is re-elected to the U.S. Senate.

20) Despite headlines in Politico and the MSM, desires of liberal Democrats, and noise made by fights between the NRSC/RNC/NRCC and the blog RedState and others, no "Civil War" ever materializes between "Establishment Republicans" and "the Tea Party Movement" in 2010.

21) GOP nonetheless captures four to seven Senate seats.  One of them being Connecticut's Chris Dodd who refuses to retire or step aside to help ensure the seat stays in Democratic hands.  The GOP captures between 25 to 30 House seats.  In Wisconsin, history repeats itself, but not in a manner Steve Kagen wants.  Like in 1978, a Roth defeats a two-term Democrat in WI-08 who used two straight cycles of anti-Republican sentiment to stay in Congress.  In WI-03, Kapanke makes it close, but comes up short.  While in WI-07, Sean Duffy fails in his bid, but is close enough he's put at the top of the list of "go-to guys" to run for the seat when Obey final retires.

22) Speaking of Congressional retirements, talk begins to swirl after November about Sensenbrenner, Petri, Obey, and Kohl all being possible retirements.

23) I finally breakdown and buy one of the following tech devices this year: A Digital SLR camera, an HD TV of 720P or more, or the new rumored Apple tablet.

24) There will be more talk about Brewers GM Doug Melvin's off-season moves (or lack thereof) than Packers GM Ted Thompson' off-season moves (or lack thereof).

The Cardinals again repeat as NL Central Champions.  The Phillies win the World Series.

25) Neither Steven Avery or Brandon Dassey will be granted a new trial for the murder of Teresa Halbach.

Just got this via email:

STATE CAPITOL — Auto insurance consumers are seeing their rates rise by as much as 40 percent as a result of major non-fiscal insurance policy changes that were stuffed into the recent state fiscal budget.  In response, State Senator Joe Leibham (R–Sheboygan) has co-authored legislation that seeks to repeal most of the changes so they can be considered as separate legislative bills.

Specifically, Senator Leibham’s proposal will repeal the non-fiscal budget provisions that:

• • Increased the mandatory minimum amounts of liability coverage;
  • Increased the mandatory minimum amounts of uninsured driver coverage;
  • Mandated coverage for underinsured drivers; and
  • Allowed for the “stacking” of up to three auto insurance policies.

Analysts have estimated that, under these new laws, Wisconsin drivers will go from having among the lowest auto insurance rates in the nation to having among the highest.  For drivers, this could amount to premium increases of as much as 40 percent.

Senator Leibham opposes the measures due to the additional financial burdens that they will place on drivers that are trying to be responsible.  “Drivers, small businesses and families across the Lakeshore Area are already struggling to pay their bills,” said Senator Leibham.  “Why the legislature would mandate these new insurance costs at this tough economic time makes no sense to me.”

Senator Leibham also warned that making auto insurance unaffordable to more drivers could cause unintended consequences.  Rising premiums mean that more people may risk driving without insurance – despite the new law requiring it.  The result will be fewer drivers with insurance, and that will lead to greater exposure and risk for insurers who will ultimately be forced to increase rates even more.

The Senator’s bill will not repeal the new requirement that anyone who operates a vehicle in Wisconsin maintain automobile insurance.

In addition, Senator Leibham strongly opposed the process in which the changes were approved.  “These extensive and expensive mandates should never have been debated and approved as a part of the state budget.  Each of them received little, if any, consideration,” said Senator Leibham.  “I would argue that most legislators who voted for the budget still don’t realize what they voted for, if these changes were necessary or what impact these revisions will have on insurance rates.  One of the major reasons why I am seeking to repeal these new mandates is because they should first receive open and honest consideration.”

Today's the last day of the legislative session for 2009 in Wisconsin.  Doyle is on the record as saying he wants to session either extended or a special session in November.

Doyle has made no public comments about the auto insurance changes since signing the budget into law earlier this year.

I'm only posting this because a few months ago, I had some commenter 'with inside knowledge in Madison saying Joe was going to retire from the State Senate.'

(Yeah...of course he is.)

From an email I just got from the Sheboygan County GOP:

You are invited to:

STATE SENATOR JOE LEIBHAM’S COUNT DOWN TO VICTORY

2010 Campaign Take-off

Monday, November 2, 2009 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. The Aviation Heritage Center – Sheboygan Cty. Airport (N6191 Resource Drive – Hwy. 23 West, North on Hwy. TT to Airport)

Celebrate the take-off of Joe’s Re-Election Campaign! Enjoy Good Food, Beverages & Fellowship!

Brian Morgan, of Morgan Aviation, will serve as a special guest and provide a brief introduction and update on Morgan’s effort to bring a new flight vehicle to market and hundreds of new jobs to Sheboygan County and Wisconsin.

A contribution to the Leibham Campaign Committee is appreciated.

Please RSVP by contacting 920-457-7367 or leibham@bytehead.com

You may also contribute on line at: www.leibham.com

Paid for by the Republican Party of Sheboygan County, Diane Kraft, Treasurer

Go Joe Go!

For the moment, I think this is as far as it's going to go until the legal process regarding the sexual harassment charges kicks in.

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) -- The Sheboygan Common Council has censured Mayor Bob Ryan over a sexual comment he made about his sister-in-law that ended up on YouTube.

But aldermen meeting Tuesday night also rejected a complaint from some residents asking that Ryan be removed from office.

A YouTube video surfaced last month showing Ryan making the remark at a Sheboygan tavern. He publicly apologized for the remark and said he had entered an alcohol treatment program, but that he would not resign.

Ryan has also been accused of sexually harassing the city's human resources director. Angela Payne says Ryan fired her after she refused his sexual advances.

This is either the coolest, oddest, or dumbest idea I've seen in sometime.  Is it possible it could be all three?

Well, no doubt this is going to cause a debate of the proposal nonetheless.

A state legislator wants to allow pedal-powered, moving bars on Wisconsin streets and roadways.

Forest Junction Republican Alvin Ott says so-called pedal pubs have been a safe tourist attraction elsewhere and should be allowed in Wisconsin.

The bar is set on four car tires with patrons seated on either side, each with a set of pedals to power the vehicle. One person steers and brakes, which allows others to pedal, quench their thirst and socialize.

Ott says there's interest in starting a pedal pub business in Green Bay with the rolling bars moving around Lambeau Field. Ott's proposal comes at a time when there's pressure on lawmakers to fight problem drinking in Wisconsin and pass tougher laws on drunken driving.

The pedal pubs are already in use in Minneapolis and St. Paul where rental rates start at $150 an hour.

Does it stand a chance in the current make-up of the state legislature?  Frankly, I wonder if it'd stand a chance in any make-up of the state legislature.

You know Jerry, if you wanted the Conservative blogs in Wisconsin to react to this, an email to me could have done wonders since it wouldn't be the first (or last) time I've rung the bell of awareness of news going on in Northeast Wisconsin to those unaware the state goes north of the Ozaukee Co. border.

And frankly, my silence was -- because like you -- I'm a friend of Heather's and I talked to her on Friday about all this.  I sensed, like you Jerry, she just wanted it to go away, to be left alone.

That, or to fire-bomb WGBA's newsroom.  (Wait, that's what I wanted to do...)

But Jerry, what you wrote today was dead on.

This blog posting is going to take the form of a more formal essay than most of my postings. Before I begin I’d like to say two things:

1) In the interest of full disclosure, Heather Blish and I have known each other for several years and I consider her a friend.
2) Heather, I hope you can forgive me for posting this; I know you and your family want this to go away. I know I said I would honor those wishes. But experiences this weekend have convinced me that too many conservatives have bought the lie about you. I know I’ll never convince anybody who gets their news from MSNBC or the Huffington Post. But those who would speak up for what they believe in need to know the truth about what happened to you.

It would be fair to say Heather Blish isn’t comfortable with public speaking or being in the limelight. She's sounded nervous the few times she's called my radio show.  Until early 2008 Heather held various positions with the Republican Party in Wisconsin. Heather walked away because of frustration she felt over the lack of organization in the party. Nonetheless, Heather felt it important that she attend a listening session held by Congressman Steve Kagen just down the street from her home in Kewaunee on August 6th.

This listening session came on the heels of emotionally charged sessions Kagen held elsewhere in Northeast Wisconsin, and similarly contentious sessions held by members of congress throughout the country. This session was mostly civil by comparison. Heather was given the opportunity to speak. She identified herself as an independent, not affiliated with any political party; just a mother of four from down the street. What happened next is nothing short of McCarthyism.

For reasons he hasn’t explained, Kristoffer Engebretson, a reporter for a Green Bay TV station perpetually mired in last place in the ratings which also has a reputation for being the “National Enquirer” station of the Green Bay market, decided to explore Heather’s past. There were numerous others there who spoke, but he was aware that Fox News had spoken with her, and Fox News had checked out her Linked In page, a page Heather hasn’t kept up to date. Engebretson discovered her past affiliations with the party and reported them as current, something he has never corrected as an error. He never contacted Heather to see if the information was current, he just ran with it. So, he reported she was an “operative” of the Republican Party when she hasn’t been a member of the party for a year and a half.

The liberal Huffington Post site quickly picked up the lie and reported it as fact. Soon came numerous other liberal blogs, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC were next, spreading the same lie. Then came the hate mail to Heather and the emails to her boss telling him she was a liar and should be fired. Then came the New York Times (which actually did a better job with this story than the local joke of an NBC affiliate. Let that roll around in your brain for a moment)

Then came the follow-up story on the local TV station, never admitting their very egregious initial error about Heather’s political affiliations, instead congratulating themselves for being told by Rachel Maddow they did a great job. I exposed them for the fraud they are on my show Friday, and by late Friday afternoon  Heather was willing to approach the national conservative talk shows and fight back. By Friday evening Heather and her family were too weary to fight back and I don’t blame them.  Heather, who fears public speaking, had her worst nightmare come true. She overcame that fear to have her voice be heard on a critical issue and was branded a national liar for her efforts.

I told her I would honor her decision to let this story go, although I planned on taking it up one more time on the show on Monday. Then the weekend came.

On Saturday I attended an aunt’s funeral in my hometown of Coleman. A staunch conservative who is familiar with my show criticized “that woman he saw on TV” for lying about not being affiliated with the Republican Party. Why would she hurt the party that way? I corrected him. He was apologetic and frustrated that he accepted an MSM story attacking a Republican as legitimate. I then heard from other conservatives who believed the lies about Heather. And the conservative blogosphere in Wisconsin has done very little to get out the truth.

No liberal who bows at the altar of MSNBC, the Huffington Post and all the other liberal outlets are ever going to believe the truth. But I think it’s important that conservatives do. So here is the truth:

Heather Blish IS a mother of four who learned of the listening session at the last minute. She’s not a Republican operative, a Republican plant, or even a Republican (By the way what’s next at these sessions: are you now or have you ever been a member of the Republican Party? Does that phrase sound familiar?). She is a concerned citizen who decided to let her voice be heard. Nobody asked her to attend.

The local TV station accused her of lying about whom and what she is and has never retracted this allegation, even though they now know the truth.

Heather, I know you’d rather I not do this. But those who agree with you and have condemned you without having the facts need to know the truth. And those who should have defended you but didn’t need to do a little self-examination.

And the next Heather Blish who would be vilified for simply speaking her mind in public, because a trashy, last place TV station is looking for ratings while trying to advance the liberal cause all at the same time, needs to know that somebody will stand up and say:

Heather Blish isn’t a liar.

Heather Blish is a good and decent person.

Heather Blish is exactly what she presented herself as at that listening session.

Heather Blish doesn’t deserve the treatment she received.

Nobody simply speaking out for what they believe in does.

I haven't seen the initial NBC 26 (WGBA) report (apparently Harris Kane gobbled it up, and that's how I first noticed the $#!+ storm going on since I missed the Talking Points Memo regurgitation he linked to) because like most people in Northeast Wisconsin, I gave up watching NBC 26 a long, long time ago.  There's a reason the station is dead-last in the ratings.  They over-sensationalize everything, they are rarely ever correct in their reporting, and the reporters seem more focused on getting out of "Cheesehead Land" than actually reporting the news.  Every time I'm visiting home and my parents will sometimes watch their 10:00 broadcast, I usually have to ask them "Why?," since they usually watch WFRV CBS 5 regularly and share my feelings about the area's most piss-poor newscast.

Frankly, Journal Communications (owners of the station for the past few years) should be ashamed of the product they help produce as news in Northeast Wisconsin.

Finally, it's floating out there that Heather "worked for the Gard campaign."  That's not exactly how it went.  All she did was work (and still works) for the company the Gard campaign contracted out to do its campaign website design; not once was she paid as any sort of 'campaign or political operative' for them.  She was simply doing her job, the majority of which is non-political website design work, if that -- along with asking a question at a town hall -- is all it takes now to demand someone be hung, we sure as hell have fallen far in this nation.

WLUK 11 did a good follow-up on the national attention Blish got, I encourage you all to see their report from Friday.

Wow, the things which come out of the mouths of unprincipled puppets.

State Rep. Ted Zigmunt, D-Francis Creek, called Monday the budget approved by the Assembly "ugly" and one that "nobody likes."

But the freshman politician is not going to apologize for his approval of the 1,743-page document calling for spending of $62.2 billion that the Assembly passed 50-48 Saturday morning.

"I would have loved to have voted no but that would have just been taking the easy way out," Zigmunt said. "The budget has to be balanced and the deficit hole had to be fixed.

"I know this vote could hurt me politically and I understand that," said Zigmunt, in his first two-year term after ousting seven-term incumbent Republican Frank Lasee. "But I couldn't just vote no and walk away."

Actually you could have.  It's not that difficult actually Ted.  In a 52-46-1 Chamber, ever potential vote against a close majority makes that individual lawmaker a king.  He can make his demands enough to change legislation, use his status as "moderate" to create compromise, and be a reasonable deal-maker.

Zigmunt did none of that this past two weeks.  He asked "How High?" when was told to jump, sold out his principles for a couple of roads and some recycling bins for Wrightstown, all the while looking like a total putz in front of the press.

You made your bed Rep. Zigmunt, sleep in it.

I knew there was at least one GOP candidate gunning for freshman Democrat Ted Zigmunt of Francis Creek, but now it appears it's going to be a hunting party of sorts.

Gentlemen, play fair through next September.