tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68724562012-02-16T07:09:18.280-06:00Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.comBlogger4831100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-50724253787275408252009-01-16T15:56:00.004-06:002009-09-21T22:17:48.659-05:00

UPDATE - geez, I should have updated this a long time ago. I'm blogging now over at The TrogloPundit. Come check it out.END UPDATE As noted over at Badger Blog Alliance, LanceBurri.blogspot.com is shutting down for the forseeable future. The reason: I was coming to dread having to come up with something to write over here. It wasn't something I really wanted to do anymore, which led to me -

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-74452356560617648812009-01-09T19:07:00.002-06:002009-01-09T19:11:31.978-06:00

It’s the first salvo of the year from the Wisconsin State Senate and its encouraged Democrat majority. Not likely the last. Three bills, introduced on Thursday: increase the state’s minimum wage and index it to inflation; mandate that bankruptcy-headed businesses pay their employees before paying other debts; and mandate health insurance coverage for autistic kids. Good, populist bills – an

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-30599828050444170662009-01-06T07:04:00.000-06:002009-01-06T16:06:27.931-06:00

New column over at FoxPolitics.net. An excerpt:That won’t please the far – or even the middle – Right, either. Vastly greater government spending; government debt to support that spending; government interference in private business; increased government influence over private business. These are not good things. It doesn't please the Left, either, although their philosophy of

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-72256699606741291372009-01-01T18:11:00.002-06:002009-01-01T18:19:40.355-06:00

Aught-Seven ended "neither with a bang, nor with a whimper, but rather…a bang waiting to happen…Powder’s dry, and it’ll go off soon." Or so I wrote at the time.If 2007 ended with unresolved tension, 2008 ends…well, like a long exhale. So far, 2009 feels like a day-old balloon: still floating, but slack. No longer strained taut from the pressure.Powder's spent, and we've drawn some R&R. Now

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-29529237445227709132008-12-31T08:29:00.000-06:002008-12-31T15:33:17.929-06:00

Writing over at FoxPolitics.net about political dynasties and why they're bad...and why they're not so bad, I spelled Caroline Kennedy's name wrong.The upside is, I can almost guarantee that this is the biggest mistake I'll make for the remainder of the year.Here's an excerpt:We have an aversion to generational politics in this country. It reminds us of aristocracy. Of power handed down by

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-28218124836856339022008-12-23T06:53:00.001-06:002008-12-23T09:50:45.997-06:00

From today's column over at FoxPolitics.net:Imagine for a moment that before your child was born – before your child was even conceived – you knew he was coming. Somebody told you. His name; who he would be; things he would do; and that his birth is of absolute importance to everyone, everywhere. Not only will your baby be special, he’s going to save the entire human race. Now go raise him. Gee,

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-63778738395499203772008-12-16T07:54:00.002-06:002008-12-16T07:59:06.442-06:00

New column up over at FoxPolitics.net (like I post columns anywhere else these days). This time, it's about the upcoming race for Superintendent of Public Schools.I've found, since sending this in, that there are at least two other potential candidates for the seat whom I did not mention*. Sorry about that. I'll likely write about the race again before the February primary. I'm very unlikely

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-58693651388211418042008-12-10T06:55:00.000-06:002008-12-10T08:59:25.513-06:00

That's the topic of my latest column over at Foxpolitics.net. Here's an excerpt:I guess we should be asking – not what if it happened here, but why hasn't it happened here? Why haven't we had suicide bombers in Houston? Car bombs in San Diego? Roadside ambushes, homemade mortars? It's not that hard, really. Not that hard to make homemade explosives. Easy as pie to walk into a crowded mall and

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-58050691099380602902008-12-02T06:46:00.000-06:002008-12-02T08:51:48.604-06:00

According to the anecdotes, hunters are seeing fewer deer this year. Which is a little odd, if the DNR's 1.7 million-head count is accurate.That's the topic of my column over at FoxPolitics today. An excerpt:It’s becoming a pattern: every year, I go hunting. I fire one shot. I bring home one deer.Clockwork. Oh, fine: I’ve only been hunting three years now, so this “pattern” is hardly on par

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-27957009517904510652008-11-26T19:19:00.002-06:002008-11-26T19:22:58.906-06:00

Remember when President Bush pushed that expensive new prescription drug program through Congress? Sure you do. It came straight out of the liberal playbook: people had a need, and government was going to fill that need no matter how much taxpayer money it took. The first cost estimates were $400 billion over 10 years. Then it was $532 billion. Then $720 billion. And remember when Bush

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-19169338199089475222008-11-25T07:48:00.002-06:002008-11-25T07:51:35.651-06:00

From today's column over at FoxPolitics.net:Governor Doyle is calculating the “deficit” as if the agency requests are a done deal. As if state agencies will get everything they want, simply by having asked for it.They won’t, or they shouldn’t. If Governor Doyle simply says “no budget increases,” then boom. Over half the “deficit,” wiped out. Fell swoop.Sure, what’s left is still pretty big, but

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-20966371067604310902008-11-21T19:43:00.000-06:002008-11-21T19:43:00.416-06:00

…and hopefully with at least one deer. This is the year Son #1 gets one.But before I go, I’m going to get this off my chest.On Monday, I wrote a column for FoxPolitics.net called: "Be Honest, Campaign Finance Reform limits free speech." An excerpt:Campaign Finance Reformers say that stricter limits on money are the answer, and they’re right: if we outlaw all third-party spending and force

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-46463795063740845142008-11-14T18:25:00.004-06:002008-11-15T09:09:44.728-06:00

Old and busted: speculation about Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential run. New hotness: speculation about Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential run.Well, no, that's not actually in the news. Pundit-like, though, I warp whatever the news is into what I want the news to be.The story:There's a lot of buzz in DC about the fact that the Obama Transition Team is, according to one knowledgeable source,

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-53866013697274127302008-11-11T07:17:00.000-06:002008-11-11T09:20:37.735-06:00

Jo Egelhoff of FoxPolitics.net has graciously agreed to let me continue writing once a week over there, which means I'll be excerpting what I write over there over here once a week. This week, I'm taking a look at the speculation over Governor Jim Doyle's possible move to a D.C. Cabinet post. I begin:Everybody knows what a “lame duck” is, right? A politician on his way out; just marking time

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-7306685988597068512008-11-06T17:48:00.002-06:002009-02-21T17:02:40.924-06:00

Got Hope?Maybe not: there isn't a lot of doe-eyed hopefulness to be found among conservatives and Republicans these days. And why not, I ask? Why not?Two days after Election Day, and I find myself absolutely full of hope. I'm serious. Having spent much of my time during the election ridiculing Obamaniacs for their insipid faith in Hope and Change, President-elect Obama's victory has, indeed,

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-80599045619441046542008-11-04T07:00:00.000-06:002008-11-04T10:03:00.713-06:00

I'm busy, so instead of excerpting this column I wrote for FoxPolitics.net, I'm re-posting the whole thing here. That means you don't have to click over to read the whole thing, but you should click over anyway, just for the round-ups of news and opinion. It's good.Onward.Wow, November already. Where has the year gone?At least, that's what people usually say. Somehow, people aren't. Not this

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-73650250268074485742008-10-28T20:39:00.002-05:002008-10-28T20:41:24.832-05:00

Is a Republican civil war on the horizon? Well, yes, if we get thumped in this election, or even if we just lose it. Duh. We always do that.Anyway, that's what I wrote about over at FoxPolitics.net today. An excerpt:After the Slaughter of 2006, we had very little time for mourning our fallen comrades. The barbarians were at the gates, and we had to get the oil boiling. If 2008 is similar, we’

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-27259821366623124362008-10-24T17:24:00.001-05:002008-10-24T18:02:53.461-05:00

I voted today. Just after lunchtime. It was easy.Too easy. Gave me ideas. A plan.I'll come back to that.Voting early required several very simple steps: go to the clerk's office; fill out a form, requesting an absentee ballot; give them my name and address, and sign both the form and the envelope into which I put my completed ballot.I thought about just voting straight-ticket, but I didn't.

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-10189820708783464172008-10-21T07:34:00.000-05:002008-10-21T10:19:22.332-05:00

I don't feel pessimistic, but everything I write seems pessimistic to me. Take, for example, this colummn over at FoxPolitics.net. I'm just sounding a warning about what will (might?) happen if Democrats gain complete control over the federal and state governments.I'll skip to the scariest part:...even that isn’t the worst of it. As the Wall Street Journal put it:A liberal supermajority would

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-36673593328797864632008-10-16T21:56:00.002-05:002008-10-16T22:00:55.011-05:00

First things first: let’s not be whiny little liberals.You know who I'm talking about: those Hollywood lefties who so righteously claimed they’d move to Canada, should that Son of a Bush win a first, then a second term.He did, they didn’t. Because that would be stupid. Still, they promised. You won’t have us to kick around anymore! And we’ll hold our breath, too!Yeah. Let's not be

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-12169542407271274102008-10-14T07:25:00.000-05:002008-10-14T08:28:12.919-05:00

My latest column at FoxPolitics.net is about how you should and should not attempt to register to vote in Wisconsin, especially if you're filling out fraudulent registration forms.An excerpt:I downloaded a voter registration form today. Went to the official website, clicked a link, opened a new window, and hit “print.”A word to the wise: choose the “unshaded” option. It uses less ink. So I’m all

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-68901349188394670972008-10-09T17:00:00.001-05:002008-10-09T17:01:48.007-05:00

Twenty-seven days to Election Day, and things are looking down.National polls have Obama up over John McCain. State-by-state polls – and with them, the Electoral College – are shifting Obamaward. Opinion on Tuesday’s debate… well, there is some disagreement in the Right-leaning punditsphere, but whether McCain won it by a lot, or a little, or just on points… so what?McCain doesn’t need to win a

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-65243241854190037562008-10-07T07:56:00.001-05:002008-10-07T08:00:46.501-05:00

New column at FoxPolitics today: at least one liberal pundit is responding to BadgerCare Plus being $25 million overbudget by...not caring.An excerpt:Dave Zweifel makes me wish I was a salesman. Or an auto mechanic, maybe.Why? Because Zweifel, editor of the Capital Times, doesn’t mind when things cost a lot more than promised. We all know the story: you buy something – an airline ticket, maybe –

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-56864988224567498622008-10-03T18:11:00.003-05:002008-10-03T18:44:39.170-05:00

The news is full of all kinds of important stuff these days. The presidential election, and the vice presidential debate last night. The housing bubble that turned into a banking bubble that turned into a $700 billion government bailout, the failure-then-passage of which has the stock market swinging more wildly than my kids on a playground after a double-scoop Culver's waffle cone.Those two

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-53435389711448979572008-09-30T20:54:00.000-05:002008-09-30T20:54:43.953-05:00

She was just padding her stats, really. Just scrambling to meet a quota. You know how it is: when push comes to shove, fudging a few things doesn't seem so bad. Except that when I say “fudging,” I mean “making up.” A paid registration worker for a liberal "progressive" grassroots organization has been caught filling out voter registration forms with fictional names and addresses. Names and

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-3215092259019351352008-09-30T07:00:00.000-05:002008-09-30T10:04:12.395-05:00

...today's FoxPolitics.net colunm is titled "It's Obama's Race to Lose."An excerpt:"The smart liberals are worried. The dumb ones think they've won." - popular quote in the right-leaning blogosphere, source unknown.Two years ago, we thought Republicans would be fine. We thought Mark Green would win the Governor’s office. We thought Republicans would hang onto the Senate. We thought the

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-43584487985587758022008-09-26T19:30:00.002-05:002008-09-28T14:43:56.225-05:00

Election season’s in full swing. I can tell, because I’ve got that good ol' partisan feeling going on. The feeling that my side is right, and their side is wrong. That their criticisms are simply twisted by partisan bitterness, while ours are dead on.Even if we have to do some twisting of our own.I’m motivated by ideology: I want lower taxes, less bureaucracy, a real energy policy and a strong

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-53794573536459992922008-09-25T18:38:00.002-05:002008-09-25T20:45:33.526-05:00

Perennial presidential candidate Ralph Nader - the Progressive progressives love to hate - likes to say that there's no difference between Democrats and Republicans.You want to see some difference? Read this op-ed by Assembly candidate Nathan Russell.The subject: health care. The nutshell: don’t believe the guys who say they’ll give you everything.I’m gonna start with the big finish, because

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-28982029210048647582008-09-24T20:39:00.000-05:002008-09-24T20:39:00.283-05:00

TUESDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Abortions in the United States fell 33 percent between 1974 and 2004, but sizeable differences among racial and economic groups continue to exist as to who gets an abortion, a new report says.While the number of abortions among teens has also dropped dramatically, down 50 percent, abortion rates are still high among older women with children and poor women,

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-66779448232191155672008-09-23T21:44:00.000-05:002008-09-23T21:45:06.222-05:00

My new column is up over at FoxPolitics. In it, I wonder how a guy of average intelligence and education is supposed to know why our current financial unpleasantness is happening:When it comes to finance, I'm an average guy. I understand average things. These average things do not include the vast intricacies of the global financial market, or the slightly less vast intricacies of the recent

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-70225001924208921122008-09-18T19:38:00.002-05:002008-09-18T20:05:31.779-05:00

I’m easily entertained. Life, in general and in detail, amuses me. Especially when Democrats start complaining about election law.The latest: federal and state law both require that mailed-in voter registration forms be checked. That they be verified, somehow. That the person on the form be an actual, legal voter.Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board (GAB) has been performing those

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-51601664816323939862008-09-16T07:32:00.002-05:002009-02-21T16:59:10.221-06:00

New column up over at FoxPolitics: the world demands Barack Obama!I have good news. No, not for Republicans. Not for conservatives, either. Those ugly cousins oughta be kept in the back bedroom and allowed to come out only after the decent company has left.No. My good news is for a much more enlightened group: The Rest of the World! See, the world wants the U.S. to elect Barack Obama. If they

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-32587719815295564502008-09-12T07:25:00.001-05:002009-02-21T17:03:21.722-06:00

You’re hungry. Why are you hungry? Heck, I don’t know. Maybe you forgot your lunch. Maybe somebody stole it. Maybe your buddy skipped out on his turn to buy. Maybe the government soup line ran out of bread.Your fault; somebody else’s fault; nobody’s fault. I dunno. Does it matter? To your stomach, I mean? Are you any less hungry in one case than in another?Some of us would say: yes. In

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-2025855061863779542008-09-09T06:50:00.000-05:002008-09-09T08:50:58.194-05:00

My newest column is up over at FoxPolitics: in it, I explain why choosing a relatively inexperienced governor to run for vice president is, in fact, the responsible thing to do.An excerpt:Choosing Sarah Palin for Veep never thrilled me. I know: conservatives wanted her, and demographic politics recommended her. Still, McCain's most powerful argument against Obama was his experience – or, rather,

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-40216399231619321792008-09-02T09:07:00.002-05:002008-09-02T09:15:48.953-05:00

I'm in St. Paul, and I'll be blogging the Republican National Convention all day, every day, Monday through Thursday over at Badger Blog Alliance.Also, new column up over at FoxPolitics.net: my report on the anti-war protest I watched here yesterday. A bite:See, there were the anti-war protesters, and then there were those for whom such levels of organization totally smacked of the Man, man.

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-55171855017071986402008-08-29T19:32:00.001-05:002009-02-21T13:40:47.400-06:00

Editor's note: Lance Burri is freakishly busy preparing for the Republican National Convention, for a family event over the weekend in Racine, and for his lovely wife's birthday (Happy birthday Mari Jo!).Thus, today we publish from the Best of Lance Burri Collection. Regular posting will continue at Badger Blog Alliance, and at FoxPolitics.net, and will return here next week.The following column

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-22350551398236314492008-08-26T07:13:00.000-05:002008-08-26T15:17:01.492-05:00

I’ve got presidential politics on the brain these days, so naturally my column at FoxPolitics is about why Obama picked Joe Biden. I say he’s just following a winning formula:It may not quite be gravitas. It doesn’t feel like gravitas – although, admittedly, I’m biased. But picking the older, vastly more experienced guy was a winner twice for George Bush and the GOP. Can you blame Barack Obama

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-32974866523085165322008-08-22T19:23:00.001-05:002008-08-22T19:27:38.462-05:00

Something was bothering me about the Saddleback Presidential Candidates Forum. You know: the one-at-a-time forum in California last Saturday in which John McCain did so much better than Barack Obama that Democrats and lefties are sure McCain must have cheated?(Side note: if that’s not a forecast of what'll happen if McCain wins in November, I don’t know what is.)Something was bugging me, and I

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-48092534753470510622008-08-15T21:04:00.002-05:002008-08-15T21:17:19.833-05:00

There's a little game I like to play: take a liberal position, assume that it's based on fact, and logic, and reasoned consideration, and then try to understand it.Try to see their side.I rarely play this game. The mental gymnastics required are…well, let's just call them extensive. Exhausting. They leave me feeling like I pulled a muscle in my brain. Like I got a job as a circus contortionist

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-25793960731298383542008-08-12T07:00:00.001-05:002008-08-12T09:02:11.949-05:00

New column up over at FoxPolitics.net. Here's a blurb:The government health plan refused to cover her treatments. They ran the numbers: the cost, the potential benefit, the woman’s life. They decided it wasn’t worth paying for, and instead offered to pay for doctor-assisted suicide. That’s the juicy, tabloid-y part of the story: that a government bureaucracy would help a patient kill herself,

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-38221090092991861472008-08-07T21:11:00.001-05:002009-02-21T13:41:19.536-06:00

Editor's note: Lance Burri has been abducted by his wife and children, who are holding him in an unknown location and demanding a "vacation" in return for his release. Until such time as Lance has made good on their demands, we will continue to publish from the Best of Lance Burri Collection.The following column first ran on September 4, 2007.In this corner: socialized medicine. Put the

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-83347329504105985612008-08-05T21:08:00.001-05:002009-02-21T13:41:41.327-06:00

Editor's note: Lance Burri has been abducted by his wife and children, who are holding him in an unknown location and demanding a "vacation" in return for his release. Until such time as Lance has made good on their demands, we will continue to publish from the Best of Lance Burri Collection.The following column first ran on October 5, 2007.I am a communist.No use denying it. It’s the simple

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-12326373617359015752008-07-31T21:02:00.004-05:002009-02-21T13:42:05.638-06:00

Editor's note: Lance Burri has been abducted by his wife and children, who are holding him in an unknown location and demanding a "vacation" in return for his release. Until such time as Lance has made good on their demands, we will continue to publish from the Best of Lance Burri Collection.The following column first ran on December 7, 2007.Divorce sucks. Ask most any divorced person, and they

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-54871363797908692322008-07-29T07:31:00.001-05:002008-07-29T08:53:24.096-05:00

New column up over at FoxPolitics.net. Sort of a response to a letter to the editor in my local newspaper (not online, unfortunately) - an interesting and well-written letter, despite its Kucinich-like moonbattery.She's worried about the heat turning up a little more, and a little more, and a little more, until we've got us an Imperial presidency and a police state.Her solution: impeachment. For

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-46777651795816128872008-07-25T21:24:00.002-05:002008-07-25T21:28:30.914-05:00

Barack Obama went to Europe. Perhaps you heard?And, boy, they just love him there. At least, that’s what I heard. And read. And saw. It's all over the news.A very successful trip, in part because of the Obama campaign’s own machinations. For example: that blue flyer, printed in German because it was aimed at Germans, inviting them to come see Obama in Berlin. Hadn’t heard about that? It’s

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-91480108567613193822008-07-22T06:51:00.001-05:002008-07-22T10:24:13.969-05:00

Over at FoxPolitics.net, my latest column: this one about what Europeans think about our presidential choice, and whether we should care.A blurb:With all due respect to Europe’s long history and their literature and architecture and to the fact that the seedlings of modern liberal democracy took root there well before the American Revolution closed the deal: up yours. Up. Yours. If we’d wanted

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-57821539585804463792008-07-18T20:14:00.001-05:002008-07-18T20:17:17.169-05:00

My goodness, but the state’s editorial boards are having the vapors over the Tavern League of Wisconsin lately. Over the course of a few days this week, the Tavern League was the subject of several negative stories in at least three papers, including this editorial in the Appleton Post Crescent:It (the Tavern League) lobbied Wisconsin legislators on 47 bills and proposals last year alone and

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-29905800462840954492008-07-15T20:16:00.002-05:002008-07-15T20:18:15.718-05:00

My latest is up over at FoxPolitics.net. I take a random drug testing program in DePere and turn it into the Great Commie Invasion.It wasn't even really that hard. Go have a look.

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-21190496472291733092008-07-11T21:30:00.002-05:002008-07-11T21:34:29.082-05:00

The usual suspects ought to be pleased.They won’t be for long. They never are. But for the time being…maybe they can spend one pleasant weekend; a day, maybe two, enjoying the summer, taking a swim, popping a couple cold ones. One weekend spent without concern over our general societal decay. Just one.And then it'll be back to the hand-wringing.Four years ago, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-82682810418693924882008-07-08T08:09:00.000-05:002008-07-08T10:12:33.959-05:00

My latest is up at FoxPolitics.net: the whole story about Epic's "boycott" of WMC and its supporters has bothered me for a while, and I finally figured out why.An excerpt:If I ran…oh, say a paper products business: I might find it amusing to make Epic a really good offer, only to mention later that I’ve just joined WMC.Or, perhaps, I could announce that I won't do business with…oh, I don't know…

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-82971188462024687072008-07-01T07:27:00.000-05:002008-07-01T08:28:59.391-05:00

My latest is up over at FoxPolitics.net:Personally, I'd very much enjoy a Lawton candidacy. Heck, I’ll even campaign for her. No, not because her relative inexperience and Garveyesque liberalism will make her an easy mark. No, not because we might get to see Democrat operatives Hillaryize another female candidate. We happily anticipate these things, yes, but they’re not the reason. The reason:

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-77198227606003499652008-06-27T21:05:00.003-05:002008-06-28T09:06:00.095-05:00

Who’s he gonna pick? Who should he pick?Who, as a Veep candidate, gives John McCain the best chance to win?Conventional election wisdom says: first you secure your political base, then you go for the middle. For McCain this would seem to mean: tell conservatives you’re sorry and want them back, and say it like you mean it.And do it by picking a solidly conservative Veep.That’s the conventional

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-55350541150516600292008-06-24T10:56:00.002-05:002008-06-24T10:59:09.135-05:00

...to find that a government-run health care program is going overbudget!That's the gist of my new column, up at FoxPolitics. A blurb:Let this be the last time we are surprised by something like this. That is, if any of us were surprised in the first place. Doesn’t this always happen? Remember the Medicare prescription drug program? Originally, the Bush administration said it would cost about

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-3910080255030149522008-06-20T19:29:00.001-05:002008-06-20T19:31:42.183-05:00

The Freedom From Religion Foundation – the Wisconsin-based anti-faith organization – is back, and they’re mad.Why? Because the State Assembly sets time aside for a prayer at the start of each session.The Freedom From Religion Foundation said its review of 16 prayers led by legislators in the past year found all but one of them were explicitly Christian. The group said some of the prayers

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-68041000053491090392008-06-17T08:09:00.000-05:002008-06-17T14:10:58.247-05:00

My newest column is up over at FoxPolitics. I'm just curious: not that there's no reason for Democrats to be optimistic, but so very optimistic?...why shouldn't Democrats be encouraged? The Great Republican Slaughter of 2006 is still a fresh and heady memory. The war and President Bush remain highly unpopular. The economy is down, and the Dems finally have a candidate who reminds them of Bill

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-85333113232309721482008-06-12T19:10:00.000-05:002008-06-12T19:21:44.682-05:00

Want to know how to make God laugh? Tell him your plans.Replace “God” with “Mother Nature,” if them’s your druthers.Very early Monday morning, hundreds of people were working hard at the dam that makes Lake Delton Lake Delton. Filling and placing sandbags, hoping they could protect the dam and, thus, the lake against the storm-urged waters that are still threatening other dams around the state.

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-8962850085659680572008-06-09T07:05:00.000-05:002008-06-10T08:46:58.779-05:00

My latest column is up over at FoxPolitics. An excerpt:They want higher gas taxes. They want more expensive gasoline. They want SUVs off the road. Thus, they want the Janesville plant to stop making SUVs. Not in so many words, maybe. But that’s the logical end to the environmentalist – Democrat – agenda. Go read the whole thing.

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-48225140625962863602008-06-06T19:32:00.002-05:002008-06-06T19:38:10.120-05:00

Remember Darrell Bevell? Oh, come on, sure you do. Tall. Athletic. A little nerdy. He played quarterback for the Wisconsin Badgers in 1993, when they won the Rose Bowl. Ah. Now you remember. He graduated in 1995, and spent the next few years bouncing from one college coaching job to another. In 2000, he came to Green Bay to coach quarterbacks. Then, in 2006, the Minnesota Vikings made him

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-78023926906668048582008-06-03T20:40:00.003-05:002008-06-03T20:45:28.647-05:00

New column up over at FoxPolitics. Read it here. And for a brief overview of the comedy of error (that's not a typo - it was one error) that led to its eventual posting, click here.A small sampling:In a two-party race, both candidates are going to get…oh, let’s call it 30%. That’s the baseline. The trick is to get more of the remaining 40% than the other guy. How to do it? Turnout. Attracting

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-28573939189446133342008-05-30T22:49:00.000-05:002008-05-30T23:01:32.932-05:00

They grow up so fast. One day, they’re just enormous expanses of unmapped land. The next, they’re states, and a hundred and sixty years old.Wednesday, May 28, was the tenth anniversary of Wisconsin’s Sesquicentennial. The Badger State, Dairy State, home of Titletown and land of LaFollette is 160 years and two days old today.We can all remember moments – in our lives, or in our children’s –

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-33251201433745446782008-05-27T07:25:00.001-05:002008-05-28T16:36:28.538-05:00

My latest column is up over at FoxPolitics.net. I saw the new Indiana Jones over the weekend, and you just know I had to write about it:That's Indiana Jones. The jacket, the whip, the unshaven weather-beaten face and lopsided grin. The snakes. Why did it have to be snakes? The hat. A man's shadow cast on the ground as he stoops to pick the hat up and place it securely onto his head, while a pair

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-74355454649457602312008-05-22T22:19:00.006-05:002008-05-28T16:39:33.242-05:00

Rep. Paul Ryan, Wisconsin’s rising Republican star and conservative barbarian-at-the-gate, has a Big Idea. An ambitious, far-reaching, multi-point plan to deal with impending and interlocked crises in health care and entitlement spending. A plan to save us from ruinous taxes or debt. To rescue staple benefits from certain collapse.A plan that doesn't have a chance.He calls it A Roadmap for

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-88995221143473483542008-05-20T07:02:00.001-05:002008-05-28T16:40:26.699-05:00

My latest column is up over at FoxPolitics.net. A tiny sampling:The irresistible force vs. the immovable object.Both can’t exist at the same time. It’s a logical impossibility: if the force really is irresistible, it can knock down anything, so there can’t be such a thing as an immovable object. And vice versa. Except…well, except in politics. Go read the whole thing.

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-74493382774594501962008-05-16T18:57:00.004-05:002008-05-21T10:44:27.617-05:00

One we're not sure of; one we might lose; one we’d like back; and one we ought to keep.Sauk County, November of '08.Heading into a big election year with a lot at stake, we – conservatives, Republicans – are walking a tightrope, and we know it. Governor Doyle is entrenched; the State Senate is firmly Democrat; the State Assembly is Republican by…well, not quite a razor-thin margin, but not much

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-89167546204967987682008-05-13T06:52:00.000-05:002008-05-13T08:59:49.361-05:00

My latest column is up over at FoxPolitics.net. An excerpt:Look, a bologna sandwich is just a bologna sandwich. I can’t stand it. Wouldn't pay for it. Won’t eat it. But if I’m ever stranded on a desert island, one bologna sandwich will be worth a lot.Restrict supply enough, and anything can be worth a fortune. Read the whole thing.

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-89271519085581574242008-05-06T07:07:00.001-05:002008-05-06T08:40:04.325-05:00

My newest column is up at FoxPolitics. Here's a taste:Instead of choosing to back Obama – or Clinton, for that matter – and possibly ending up on the losing side, Feingold says he's happy either way: he just wants the nomination over and done with, before the bare-knuckle process hurts the Party. Well, gee, he could help that process along…by picking a side. Campaigning for his chosen candidate.

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-74106855160918367122008-05-02T19:44:00.004-05:002008-05-04T11:44:02.351-05:00

Indiana has a law that we don't. In Indiana, before you can cast a vote, you have to prove who you are with a photo I.D.This is embarrassing. We've fallen behind Indiana.Indiana's law achieved rock-like solidity this week, because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is, indeed, constitutional. The vote was 6-3. One of the Court's "liberal" members wrote the majority opinion.He's got faith in

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-49435104444746593782008-04-29T20:08:00.002-05:002008-04-29T20:12:25.699-05:00

How to explain the Democrats' presidential primary?Easy. Tom and Jerry.No, not the drink (although that might help). I mean the old Hanna Barbera cartoon. The cat and mouse. There’s one old scene in particular that I remember: Tom chasing Jerry through the house, smacking him repeatedly with a long metal spatula. Bam! Bam! Bam! Jerry rounds a corner, and once Tom finishes skidding the

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-37939141633575638682008-04-22T20:12:00.002-05:002008-04-22T20:19:15.176-05:00

Let’s say you’ve got a friend who, for whatever reason, likes to buy you lunch once a week. Nothing fancy: just a sandwich and soda at a local diner.One day you also order a dessert. Then you start ordering a bowl of soup to go with your sandwich.Your friend says nothing, generously continuing to pay. Then you wonder: why only a sandwich? Why not a steak?Why this diner? Why not someplace

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-43009731151128960912008-04-18T20:33:00.001-05:002008-04-18T20:34:45.687-05:00

So. You want to run for office.Or maybe not. But maybe so. You might run…it kinda depends.Better make up your mind. Soon.All around the state – all around the country, in fact – a whole lot of people are working on exactly that decision: whether or not to take the big leap.They better hurry. Campaign season begins in earnest in less than three months. If a potential candidate is to dump the

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-84106653212920542252008-04-15T20:02:00.005-05:002009-02-21T16:54:07.019-06:00

Happy tax day! Don’t you wish it were Election Day, too?Today has special meaning for us in Wisconsin. It's a day to reflect on decades among the elite.It’s not easy to stay in the top ten highest-taxed states as long as we have. This is well-documented already, but I’ll document a little more. We were 7th, nationally, in the percentage of our income sucked away by state and local taxes last

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-16080658504034873572008-04-12T16:14:00.004-05:002008-05-27T09:02:52.359-05:00

The Baraboo News Republic: hotbed of social and religious controversy. You wouldn't think that, maybe, but it's true. We'll have a few quiet weeks, and then…bam! A letter to the editor, condemning…something. Homosexuality and those who support it. Christians who want to tell everybody else how to live.It started up again last week. A letter appeared, criticizing a local columnist who writes

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-10348899294297331772008-04-08T20:44:00.004-05:002008-04-08T20:51:18.669-05:00

What’s Aztlan got to do with a little girl wearing a necktie?Timing, outrage, and bad judgment. And this column. That, plus neither story means very much, either in the grand scheme or the humble one. And I’d guess that one of them – the one drawing greater outrage – means even less than the other.That’s the Absolut Vodka ad – the one that shows a Mexico with a northern border up around

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-47708393944537016402008-04-04T19:20:00.003-05:002008-04-04T19:25:09.741-05:00

What do you say to a teenager who asks if you're endorsing a Hobbesian view of humanity?I found out today. You say: um…huh?For crying out loud. My daughter, a high school sophomore, came to the Capitol with her American Government class today. About forty teenagers and their teacher. They had some time between their arrival this morning and their first scheduled activity, so I was asked to

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-65366152860667276822008-04-01T19:52:00.001-05:002008-04-01T19:54:45.848-05:00

So we’re all pretty sick of this Supreme Court election. Am I right?Sick of the negative ads. The gutter politics. The mutually assured destruction of reputation and trust.Me, too. And I’m worried about the effect this all may have on our courts: if the Court simply becomes one more partisan football…I may be worried unnecessarily. Six months from now, the vast majority of us will have

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-68190893262624060232008-03-28T19:58:00.001-05:002008-03-28T19:00:27.656-05:00

We’ve all got our ways of making up our minds.Horoscopes. Gut feelings. Snippets overheard at the water cooler. Long, tedious hours of research.And finding out what others think. If we’ve agreed with someone in the past, or disagreed with them in the past; if they share or oppose our general philosophies, their opinion might – in fact, probably will – influence ours. Hopefully, that’s more

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-91175814445534011962008-03-25T20:43:00.001-05:002008-03-25T20:46:31.725-05:00

There’s an election next week.No, really. One week from today. Kinda snuck up on us. Spring elections do that.Still, you'd think it would have made more noise. There’s a lot on the ballot. A mayoral race here in Baraboo, to start. A constitutional amendment to eliminate the Governor's "Frankenstein Veto." Both are important, in their own way. But neither is as important as the race for

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-50697448595085316472008-03-21T20:42:00.000-05:002008-03-21T20:45:33.622-05:00

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-18428615741392159952008-03-18T18:19:00.003-05:002008-03-18T18:37:26.215-05:00

If you go far enough back in my family tree, third branch from the top, I think – no the little bitty one to the left, there…it's small: careful you don't break it…if you get all the way up to there, you'll find the MacNaughton (or possibly MacNachtan) clan. A Scottish clan, to which I am very distantly related.They sided with the English against Robert the Bruce, if you know that story, but

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-16268102584500680852008-03-14T21:25:00.002-05:002008-03-14T21:32:08.790-05:00

Everybody’s mad at the Wisconsin State Legislature today. They’re mad because the Legislature adjourned with “so much work left to be done.”Well no kidding. They didn't do anything. No concealed carry. No Taxpayer Bill of Rights. No statewide school choice. No elimination of all taxes on business.Oh, right. That's not what they mean.The Legislature finished its regular business this week:

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-64964466911093157422008-03-11T20:48:00.002-05:002008-03-11T20:54:35.403-05:00

Very few things are certain in life: there's death, taxes, and the Wisconsin state budget going into deficit about once every two or three biennia.That's now. We found out in February: the state budget is in deficit by about $650 million. Governor Doyle's first volley of fixes included $100 million in state agency cuts – credit where it's due there – and an accounting gimmick: $125 million in

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-7878034767542987642008-03-07T20:13:00.000-06:002008-03-07T20:18:30.075-06:00

Let’s start by making an assumption: elected officials are smart people, who have reasons for the things they do.Both intelligence and design. Seems a bit of a stretch, in this case but let’s just go with it for now.Why, then, did two Democrat Senators crash a Republican press conference on Photo I.D. yesterday?Here’s the story: Assembly Joint Resolution 17 would, if it could get through the

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-68085262881983852322008-03-04T20:23:00.001-06:002008-03-04T20:25:22.093-06:00

Nineteen ninety-two was a big year.My daughter was born – my oldest child. That’s not why it was a big year, of course: I only mention it for context. She was 134 days old – four months, thirteen days – on September 13 of that year. A button, she was. Bright red curly hair, pudgy cheeks, and a howl that made coyotes cover their ears in pain. That was the day Brett Favre first saw game action

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-69621129208952559982008-02-29T19:56:00.001-06:002008-02-29T19:58:05.166-06:00

What would it take for me to vote Democrat this year?Ha. Trick question. I already did, in the presidential primary. First time since 1988, although I might have voted Clinton in ‘92 if I’d registered in time.That was in California. Yup, liberal California. You had to register in advance – no same-day allowed. But what about November? What would that take?I ask the question only because of

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-57155459098506755762008-02-26T20:43:00.005-06:002008-02-27T08:36:50.977-06:00

Tammy Baldwin: independent maverick.Oh, no, wait. I mean Tammy Baldwin: turning a deaf ear to her constituents.Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin: Superdelegate! You’ve heard of those, of course: mythical beings with supernatural powers, allowing them to nominate any candidate for President, whether or not the wider Democrat electorate agrees.Well, Baldwin is one, and she’s supporting Hillary

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-38561036779376957302008-02-22T21:00:00.006-06:002008-02-23T12:44:46.698-06:00

It was a nasty election. It spent lots of money. It threw lots of mud.It was Ziegler vs. Clifford: last year’s election for Wisconsin Supreme Court. The conservative candidate won so, naturally, Something Had To Be Done!Okay, not really. But close, I think.Special interests – meaning groups of private citizens – thought the election was important enough to spend money, time, and effort to

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-10160231316138916872008-02-19T21:44:00.003-06:002008-02-19T21:53:43.533-06:00

Which of these is not like the other?A law banning the obese from eating in restaurants;Mandating that insurance companies pay for autism services, mental health services, chiropractor services, etc.; The federal government bailing out people who live in flood plains, hurricane coasts, southern California, etc. Forbidding insurance companies from considering credit scores as evidence of

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-76685784477096200902008-02-15T20:30:00.003-06:002008-02-16T09:58:48.927-06:00

The shiny new toy vs. the old and boring toy. The former is new, thus exciting. The latter is old, but known. And it’s at least lasted long enough to become old and known.You wonder: can the new toy do the same?I hope Wisconsin’s Democrats are asking themselves that question. Wisconsin holds its Presidential primary in four days. Senator Barack Obama has the momentum and, possibly soon, the

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-68964690507921663262008-02-12T21:36:00.004-06:002008-02-13T08:59:11.769-06:00

Earlier today, an Assembly committee held a hearing on Assembly Bill 47 – a tax credit for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).In case you don’t already know, HSAs are high-deductible health insurance plans – commonly known as “catastrophic” plans. They’re called that because the policy holder – you or me – has to pay the first couple thousand dollars (or so) of our own medical costs each year.

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-61384108571231725052008-02-08T21:11:00.000-06:002008-02-11T11:06:44.804-06:00

Note: the following is a column published in today's Tomah Journal, in response to editor Steve Rundio's column of January 21.Steve is a native Barabooian whose brother and family lived right next door to mine for a little while. I appreciate him letting me respond.His editorial was a sorta-response to something I wrote back in March, which was itself a response to something that appeared in the

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-81398554207245055132008-02-08T20:37:00.001-06:002008-02-08T21:11:21.298-06:00

The U.S. Senate passed a slightly bigger version of the economic stimulus "rebate" bill yesterday - the bill to send almost everybody in America some free money, because that's the kind of country we are! The bill passed after a brief argument over whether they should spend even more than the House did.Well, duh. Of course they should. But only a little more – at least, “little,” in the

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-20661356432649477932008-02-05T19:42:00.000-06:002008-02-05T19:47:42.075-06:00

It’s not as if we didn’t know it was coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier.Beginnings are exciting. Possibilities stretch out in infinite directions. Anything is possible, or so we believe.Over time, some avenues close, while others loom larger. Possibilities are fewer. Still, there’s always the next step, the next day, the next moment that could bring something completely new,

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-44368503774384598832008-02-01T20:23:00.000-06:002008-02-01T20:33:29.923-06:00

You know what this primary season needs?A car chase. A race against time. Some kind of Manchurian Candidate subplot, with the good guy (a minor campaign staffer) racing madly to file something or deliver something or get away to warn the eventual winner’s campaign.Maybe a fistfight. An explosion or two. And a behind-the-scenes romance, if you’re into chick flicks.Why not? It’s had everything

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-36824567448978361382008-01-29T20:32:00.000-06:002008-01-29T20:35:19.760-06:00

I got a rebate in the mail the other day. Ten bucks. Back before hunting season, I bought a few boxes of ammunition on special, sent in the paperwork, and the little postcard check finally came.That’s a rebate. First you pay the money, then you get some back. Or it’s what you do when the fish ate the worm off your hook.But I might be spelling that wrong.Anyway. The Feds are redefining the

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-85505759134037449422008-01-25T20:58:00.000-06:002008-01-25T21:21:03.600-06:00

Governor Jim Doyle gave his annual State of the State Address on Wednesday, and as such speeches go, this one was……um…Addresses like these – like the President’s State of the Union – are supposed to be big. Important. Indicative of the CEO’s intentions for the coming year.Of course, this year, the Governor’s address was likely to be something less. The Legislature won’t be in session much

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-5051490984622974112008-01-22T21:11:00.000-06:002008-01-22T21:16:23.865-06:00

Yes, let’s invest in the stock market. What could go wrong?That’s the question a Milwaukee-area blogger asks about this story: A plan to borrow money and invest the proceeds as a way of managing Milwaukee County's pension debt - an idea once rejected by voters and reviled by critics as too risky - now appears headed for fast-track approval.Milwaukee County has about $1.6 billion in their

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-44154283688768131332008-01-18T20:45:00.000-06:002008-01-18T20:58:07.032-06:00

It isn’t often that one political side gets to really prove that they’re right. To have the unmitigated proof. The smoking gun. To really rub it in the other side’s face: we’re right, and you’re wrong.Don’t look now, Wisconsin liberals, but Minnesota may be giving you a chance to do just that.They're taking over the health care business there. Two bipartisan panels that Gov. Tim Pawlenty and

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-70805574791005038242008-01-15T21:01:00.000-06:002008-01-15T21:03:05.074-06:00

Big doings around the country these days. Important doings. Doings that will last at least another few weeks. Into February. Maybe longer.Who are you cheering for? More importantly, who do you want moving on to the Big Show? Are you hoping for a specific opponent? Somebody you think your top choice can beat? Or, at least, that you can stand to see win, should your choice lose?Come on,

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-34455892911711817952008-01-11T21:15:00.000-06:002008-01-11T21:20:28.142-06:00

If we raise the minimum wage, people will no longer live in poverty.Until the feds change the definition of “living in poverty,” at least. The Democrat-controlled Wisconsin State Senate is all set to raise the minimum wage again – it’s been a little over a year since the last increase – with Senate Bill 130. That will make the wage $7.25 an hour.No biggie: the federal minimum wage will be $7.25

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6872456.post-68147570793250655262008-01-08T20:20:00.000-06:002008-01-09T08:45:03.018-06:00

Very early this morning, New Hampshire voters started making their disproportionate contribution to American presidential politics.I’m a little too late to add my two cents: by the time you read this, the results will (probably) be in. Sorry, New Hampshire. I know you were waiting to hear from me.Luckily, we’re far from done. Michigan is up in just a few days. Then Nevada and South Carolina.

Lance Burrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17746501103895547057noreply@blogger.com0