Free Republic

Bellevue tax collector Joe Nolan, 53, plans to announce today he's challenging U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, in the 2010 general election. Nolan, a Republican, said he's "become more and more concerned about the path we've taken," specifically bank and insurance company bailouts, he said. He said he opposes the cap-and-trade legislation, which could come up for a final vote in Congress this year, as being too restrictive of energy production. Doyle beat Green Party candidate Titus North in the 2008 election 91.3 percent to 8.7 percent. He ran unopposed in the general election in 2006, in an overwhelmingly...

FOND DU LAC, Wis. – Union workers at Mercury Marine put their jobs at risk Sunday when they rejected a package of wage and benefit concessions the boat engine maker said it needed or it would move their work to a nonunion plant in Oklahoma. Union leaders did not immediately release Sunday's tally but said the vote was "overwhelming" to reject what the company called its final offer. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local 1947, represents 850 workers at Mercury Marine, the largest employer in the eastern Wisconsin city of Fond du Lac and the world's largest...

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, whose approval ratings have plunged as he struggled with a weak economy and a multibillion-dollar budget deficit, will not seek a third term in 2010, a person informed of the decision told The Associated Press. The person, who was not authorized to announce the decision, told The AP on Saturday that Doyle, a Democrat, would make the announcement public in a Monday news conference. The person also said Doyle would serve the rest of his second four-year term. [Snip] Meanwhile, it's been a rough year for Doyle. Faced with a record high $6.6 billion budget shortfall,...

Madison — Gov. Jim Doyle and his staff failed to properly account for 145 travel expenses over two years, including a $5,200 business-class flight to Ireland and a $654-a-night stay in a London hotel. Nearly three-fourths of the time in 2007 and 2008, Doyle and his staff didn't supply receipts as required under state travel policy. By comparison, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton and her staff didn't provide receipts one-third of the time during the same period. Travel records also showed Doyle spent more than $1,500 on two chauffeured vehicles in Canada. That expenditure did not violate state travel policy, however....

Can't post due to copyright, but the story is here.

The game is still afoot. Today is the 150th anniversary of the birth, on Picardy Street in Edinburgh, Scotland, of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle died in 1930, but Holmes and Dr. Watson live on. Every day, some child's imagination vanishes into the foggy depths of Victorian England and accompanies Holmes in pursuit of mysteries and malefactors. Descend just once into that world with Holmes and the memory is marked for life. Some 200 movies have been made starring Sherlock Holmes - he is, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, the most frequently portrayed...

Madison, WI (LifeNews.com) -- Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle is drawing criticism from pro-life advocates upset that he removed health care coverage for poor pregnant women and their unborn children from the state budget. Officials with Wisconsin Right to Life are calling on the state legislature to put the money back in place.Wisconsin had been one of a dozen or more states that had taken advantage of the Unborn Child Rule.During the Bush administration, President Bush displayed his concern for both mother and unborn child by putting an administrative rule in place allowing states to cover unborn children in the...

Easy, ask Gov Doyle of Wisconsin. He did it by overshadowing it with a timely announcement of a proposed executive budget with $1.7 billion in tax and fees increases.

From the Jerry Doyle radio program. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI7rW9-LTQ8&feature=channel_page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSvc5E_UzFg&feature=channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPajr7Oz_pU&feature=channel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8GZkZZvm5o&feature=channel

Gov. Jim Doyle's administration has hired a former legislative aide convicted of two misdemeanors in the caucus scandal to head the state's federal lobbying efforts. Tanya Bjork, 38, was convicted of two misdemeanors in 2005 for her role in the largest political scandal in state history. Bjork served as an aide to former Sen. Brian Burke (D-Milwaukee), who was convicted of a felony and misdemeanor in 2005 as part of a widespread probe that uncovered political campaigning using taxpayer resources. Bjork pleaded no contest to charges that she altered records and illegally solicited campaign funds in the state Capitol. Administration...

One in five state government jobs could go unfilled to help fix a two-year budget deficit of about $5.4 billion, if federal stimulus funds aren't forthcoming, Gov. Jim Doyle told a congressional panel in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. As is, the state will have shed about 3,500 jobs by June 30, or one of every 10 state workers since Doyle first took office in 2002, he told the U.S. House Appropriations Committee. But Doyle added, "The budget deficit we face in this economic crisis stands to, at a minimum, double the number of state workers out of their jobs."New Jersey...

Three US governors join forces with Indonesia and Brazil to keep carbon locked up in endangered tropical forests Though it didn't seems to make an enormous splash in the press, the deal reached this week between three US states, Indonesia and Brazil seems like a fairly big deal in terms of rainforest protection. The agreement was brokered at the climate summit convened by California's ecosavvy governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Along with fellow governors from Illinois and Wisconsin, Schwarzenegger signed an agreement that could see carbon credits earned from forest protection in Indonesia or Brazil incorporated into US emissions trading schemes. Partly,...

A state health insurance program for working poor families would expand to cover adults who don't have children under an agreement Wisconsin officials have reached with the federal government, Gov. Jim Doyle's office said. The insurance coverage would allow those adults who earn wages up to twice the federal poverty level to join the state's BadgerCare Plus program. BadgerCare Plus, which includes federal funding, is designed for the families of children under 19 years old. The state has reached an agreement in principle that would give the state a five-year waiver from those restrictions and allow adults to receive coverage....

Hillary supporters were fuming after Obama's campaign hired her ousted campaign manager........Patti Solis Doyle - a Clinton loyalist who was pushed out after Super Tuesday. Solis Doyle "is the reason we lost," said one Clinton insider, noting the campaign's profligate spending and other problems in the lead-up to the Iowa caucuses, where the one-time front-runner came in third.

Patti Doyle Solis, who's next Mark Penn? THE PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW By Salena Zito The Obama campaign is thanking the woman that helped steer the nomination in the Illinois senators direction by rewarding her justly -- naming her as the chief of staff to the future Obama vice-presidential running mate. In case you wondering who that "architect" is -- it is none other than fired Clinton staffer Patti Solis Doyle. Pretty sure that means that Hillary Clinton is not on that short list for veep for Obama. Solis is a native Chicagoan so I guess her close proximity to the campaign...

<p>A former bundler to Hillary Clinton just called in to tell me that Barack Obama's selection of Patti Solis Doyle as chief of staff to the campaign's eventual vice presidential nominee is the "biggest fuck you I have ever seen in politics."</p>

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Democrat Barack Obama Monday appointed Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager to his own White House campaign as he beefed up his team for November's general election. Patti Solis Doyle, who was ousted from the faltering Clinton campaign in February, will be chief of staff to Obama's eventual pick as vice presidential nominee.That could revive talk of whether the former first lady might become Obama's running mate, although she and Solis Doyle have reportedly not spoken for months and Clinton herself says she is not in the running for the job. Solis Doyle was one of 15 new...

<p>The nomination fight is over, but the warring between the Obama and Clinton campaigns lives on.</p> <p>The Obama team announced today that it had picked former Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle to serve on its general election staff. Fair enough: Solis Doyle is a native Chicagoan with deep ties to many senior Obama aides.</p>

A year ago, Hillary Clinton said she couldn't imagine running for office without Chicago's Patti Solis Doyle at her side. A lot has transpired between the two friends since then -- including a failed presidential campaign in which Doyle was edged out at a tough moment -- and now it's the ousted campaign manager who is back in the game. Barack Obama announced this afternoon that he is hiring Doyle to serve as chief of staff to whomever his vice presidential running mate ends up being. Is it a sign that Sen. Clinton is in the running for that job?...

It was discovered that during the height of the recent flooding in Wisconsin Democratic Governor Doyle spent the whole day a personal campaign fund raiser golfing and banqueting with big money donors and not on the job. Apparently, someone directly involved in supporting the banquet thought it was shocking that Doyle would be spending the day on the golf course while Wisconsinites were fighting and struggling with the state's worst flooding in history. This golf course whistleblower contacted a few media outlets and the only one interested in covering this news was radio host Mark Belling on Milwaukee. Doyle's fund...

Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) has asked to have his name removed from a facility he created because he’s tired of being criticized for building a “monument to me.” Earmark opponents have assailed Doyle for using a $1.5 million earmark to build the Doyle Center for Manufacturing Technology in 2003. The center aims to “become a bridge between the [Department of Defense], its prime contractors” and small businesses, according to its website. “The Doyle Center will revitalize [Pennsylvania’s] economy by providing small local manufacturers with the tools they need to participate in military contracts with big defense contractors like Boeing, Lockheed...

With Wisconsin having some of the heaviest residents in the country, Gov. Jim Doyle challenged the state today to get in shape with a six-week fitness program. "I want Wisconsin to lead the nation in the number of people taking the Governor's Challenge and leading more active, healthier lifestyles," Doyle said in a statement this morning. "This challenge is focused on motivating people of all ages and abilities to find activities they love, and get moving. Physical activity is extremely important for improving the health of our nation, decreasing obesity rates and reducing the risk of many serious diseases." According...

Clinton's campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, left the position today, to be replaced by Clinton's former top White House aide, Maggie Williams. The change formalizes a shift in the campaign's power structure that began to set in after Clinton's win in New Hampshire, I've obtained a copy of Solis Doyle's email to the campaign's staff, sent about 15 minute ago: Over a year ago Hillary launched her campaign for President. Her announcement began a historic effort that has inspired millions and brought hundreds of thousands to their feet all across this nation. I have been proud to manage this campaign,...

Here's more Clinton campaign Kremlinology because, well, it's just so much fun. The following is total speculation, based not on any secret info I have but instead on simple pattern recognition from campaigns past. Here is what is going on inside the campaign: 1.) Kill the Idiot Who Came Up With This Strategy. Clinton campaign chief Mark Penn is not a shy personality. He's ruffled mountains of feathers the wrong way. Now Hillary's poll numbers are bombing and the long knives are out. I'd be more sympathetic to Penn if Hillary's messaging and strategy had not been so bloody awful....

Until he turned himself in Friday on a decade-old warrant, Hsu used his wallet and connections to make friends with Democrats everywhere. Including Wisconsin. While on the lam, Hsu gave $10,000 - the maximum allowed - to the Wisconsin Democratic Party's federal account in October 2004, records show. That's in addition to the already disclosed $2,000 that he gave to Gov. Jim Doyle in July 2005. In addition to Clinton, others who rushed to dump their tainted campaign cash were presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, comedian Al Franken, a U.S. Senate candidate...

Governor Jim Doyle today announced new efforts to keep Milwaukee safe. The Milwaukee anti-crime legislative package will fight crime and get illegal guns off the street by closing loopholes, improving information sharing with law enforcement, and using advanced technology to improve crime tracking. ”There is nothing more important to the future of Milwaukee and the future of this state than ensuring the safety of our kids and families,” Governor Doyle said. All of us must work together to get illegal guns off our street and put a stop to senseless acts of violence in our neighborhoods.” To ensure the safety...

June 28, 2007 Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) will recuse himself should the House ethics committee review Rep. John Murtha’s (D-Pa.) earmark activities. Doyle, who sits on the panel, said through a spokesman that members of the same delegation rarely participate in an ethics inquiry of each other. There is no indication that such an investigation has been launched, and Doyle would not discuss matters before the committee. “It’s common practice for members of the committee who have someone from their home state before them to recuse themselves from taking part in the investigation,” Doyle spokesman Matt Dinkel wrote in an...

We’re starting to find out who will carry water for Governor Doyle’s mega-intrusive plan to outlaw smoking in all public places. One of Doyle’s press releases in January said, “Governor Doyle will call on the Legislature to pass a statewide smoking ban that is fair and equitable – banning smoking in all public buildings, workplaces, restaurants, and taverns. This ban would be in legislation separate from the budget.” Someone in the Legislature had to author and introduce the bill. We now know who they are. State Senators Fred Risser (D-Madison) and Carol Roessler (R-Oshkosh) and state Representatives Mark Gottllieb (R-Port...

Morgan: Profits tax won't hike pump price Madison - Gov. Jim Doyle's top deputy insisted today that Wisconsin can levy a new $272 million tax on oil company profits over the next two years and stop them from simply passing it on to consumers by raising pump prices. "We will make it absolutely clear" that oil companies who simply boost gas-pump prices to offset the tax will be prosecuted, State Administration Secretary Mike Morgan told legislators who opened their review of Doyle's 2007-'09 budget. "You will not manipulate markets," Morgan said, referring to statements from Republican legislators who said oil...

Robbery, assault wave is among worst in U.S.New York - Milwaukee is among the leaders in a spike in violent crime being reported this year in numerous cities across the country, according to figures presented at a conference here this week. In the first six months of 2006, robberies were up 36% and aggravated assaults were up 31.6% compared with the same period in 2005, according to a survey published by the Police Executive Research Forum. Of the 55 U.S. police departments in the survey, only Minneapolis had a higher combined increase in those categories.Certain cities, especially the largest, have...

[snip] The challenger is GOP Congressman Mark Green, who has criticized Democratic incumbent Jim Doyle over his vetoes against tax relief, and has also kicked off a debate on education and tort reform. Or at least those were the issues until Mr. Doyle's allies used the campaign-finance laws to change the subject and create a phony scandal. That story dates back to January 2005 when Mr. Green transferred some $1.3 million from his federal Congressional campaign account into his state campaign account. Legally this was no big deal since the Wisconsin Elections Board has allowed such transfers for some 30...

Actor Fox stars in campaign ad for Doyle A television ad for Democratic Governor Jim Doyle is the latest done by actor Michael J. Fox, who's backing candidates across the country who support embryonic stem cell research. Fox has Parkinson's disease and has recorded other ads on behalf of candidates supporting the research. The issue may have more potency here because University of Wisconsin scientists have been pioneers in the field. Fox speaks directly into the camera, with his Parkinson tremors evident, is asking voters to re-elect Doyle. Fox says Doyle's Republican opponent, Mark Green, has stood in the way...

Casino gambling on American Indian reservations in Wisconsin will continue under a state Supreme Court decision released this morning. The court declined to curtail the Las Vegas-style gambling that is currently legal on land held by 11 tribes in Wisconsin. Those tribes operate 28 casinos. The widely anticipated ruling comes in the case of Dairyland Greyhound Park, a Kenosha dog track, which had argued that the Indian casinos were illegal because of a 1993 state constitutional amendment limiting gambling. That amendment clarifies that all types of gambling are prohibited in the state except bingo, raffles, pari-mutuel on-track betting and the...

MADISON, Wis. -- A new poll shows that Gov. Jim Doyle leads Republican opponent U.S. Rep. Mark Green by 12 percentage points. However, among those polled who said that they had an opinion of both, Green leads Doyle by 10 percentage points.

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle (Democrat) got his veto pen out and, among other bills, vetoed a bill that would require immigrants to prove the citizenship before receiving benefits. The bill, which was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature along party lines, would have required that applicants for state health care, welfare programs and food stamps show proof of citizenship or legal immigration status. Current Wisconsin law requires state workers to ask an applicant if they are in the country legally. If they answer yes no further proof is required. Doyle, in his veto, said the bill "went too far" in requiring...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was arrested Tuesday at his Maryland home on charges he used his computer in an attempt to seduce a child and transmitted harmful materials to a minor, according to the Polk County, Florida, Sheriff's Office. Brian J. Doyle, 55, is charged with seven counts of use of a computer to seduce a child and 16 counts of transmission of harmful material to a minor, according to a sheriff's office statement. In interviews with police, Doyle confessed and has agreed to waive extradition to Florida, Polk County...

Brian J. Doyle, the Deputy Press Secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C., was arrested this evening at his residence in Silver Springs, Maryland, on 23 Polk County charges related to the use of a computer to seduce a child and transmitting harmful materials to a minor. [snip]On many occasions, Doyle instructed the victim, whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, to perform a sexual act while thinking of him, and described explicit and perverse sexual acts he wished to have with her, in addition to sending her numerous obscene .mpg...

Months after landing lucrative state contracts, executives from two out-of-state consulting firms gave donations totaling nearly $45,000 to Gov. Jim Doyle's re-election campaign.The donations to Doyle marked the first time that anyone from either company - Chicago-based Equis Corp. and Indianapolis-based Crowe Chizek - gave significant cash to any candidate in Wisconsin, according to an analysis of campaign finance records by the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.In the case of Equis Corp., the firm's president and his wife gave Doyle nearly the maximum contribution allowed under state law - $10,000 each - less than a year after the state approved a...

Green Bay - This evening, at the Fifth Congressional District Republican Caucus, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker will announce that he is withdrawing from the race for the Republican nomination for governor of Wisconsin. In response to Walker’s announcement, Congressman Mark Green issued the following statement: “Words can’t properly express my appreciation and respect for Scott Walker. “He’s a committed and principled public leader, who always puts the needs of the taxpayers first. “His decision today only confirms that. “More importantly, he’s a good man, wonderful father and husband, and he keeps to his word. “Milwaukee County is very fortunate...

(Angus Reid Global Scan) – Support for Jim Doyle fell this month in the Badger State, according to a poll by Strategic Vision. 41 per cent of respondents in Wisconsin approve of their governor’s performance, down three points since January. Doyle—a Democrat—has acted as Wisconsin’s governor since January 2003. The former state attorney general defeated Republican incumbent Scott McCallum and Libertarian candidate Ed Thompson in the November 2002 election with 45 per cent of the vote. On Mar. 10, Doyle signed a bill which mandates all persons seeking a driving license in Wisconsin to show proof of legal residency. The...

Doyle official charged in travel case A state Department of Administration official has been indicted in connection with a contract awarded to Adelman Travel. Georgia Thompson, 55, of Waunakee, has been charged with two federal felonies: causing misapplication of funds and participating in a scheme to defraud the state of Wisconsin of the right to honest services. Thompson was on a team of evaluators that reviewed bids for a contract to be the state’s “travel partner.” The indictment alleges that Thompson: - Intentionally inflated the scores of Adelman Travel, which was in competition with other agencies to be named the...

MILWAUKEE, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The nine suspects arrested in the beating of a Milwaukee father of 12 include members of a street gang, authorities say. The lineup also includes the younger brother of a man killed after grabbing a deputy's gun in a courtroom in 2002, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported. The suspects, ranging in age from 14 to 22, were arrested in the beating of Samuel McClain, 50. Authorities said McClain was attacked about 11 p.m. Monday when he honked his car horn at a group of about 30 people who were blocking a one-way street. McClain was dragged...

Authorities investigating a state travel contract given to a major donor to Gov. Jim Doyle's campaign are also looking for links between donations from utility executives and state regulators' approval of the sale of a nuclear power plant, sources said.The probe began after a utility company whistleblower complained to the state attorney general's office in November about possibly improper contacts last year between one of the utilities and top aides at the state Public Service Commission. Heading into a re-election campaign next year, the Democratic governor is facing increasing scrutiny over campaign donors' influence.Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager earlier this month...

December 12, 2005--Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle leads two potential Republican challengers in his bid for re-election. Fifty-six percent (56%) of the state's voters approve of the way Doyle has performed his role as Governor.Doyle leads Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker by 11 percentage points 48% to 37%.The incumbent also leads Congressman Mark Green by six, 45% to 39%. Rasmussen Reports will begin coverage of the primary match-up early in 2006.Crosstabs and other information is available for Premium Members.Wisconsin Democrats are evenly divided as to whether they would prefer Senator Russ Feingold or Senator Hillary Clinton as their party's Presidential nominee...

MADISON, Wis. One of law enforcement's biggest objections to allowing people to carry concealed weapons may have been overcome. Sponsors of a Republican concealed-carry bill say they've reached a compromise with police groups. An amendment would allow officers on the road to run checks on cars they stop, to see if the owner has a permit to pack a weapon. Casey Perry is executive director of the Wisconsin Troopers Association. He says the change would protect both people in the car and officers on the approach. The bill's creators have insisted the list of permit holders remain secret to ensure...

Of all the revelations – and there have been many – in our series of articles on the relationship between politics and gaming in the Forest County Potawatomi Community, perhaps nothing is more shocking than the lie told by Gov. Jim Doyle about former Gov. Martin Schreiber’s role in negotiating the tribe’s gaming compacts. That’s not to say there haven’t been other appalling disclosures. There have been. Putting $7.2 million in the tribe’s politics/government account – a 75 percent increase – is startling. It is also outrageous to learn the tribe has paid out more than $1.2 million to Quinn...

OVER THE TOP by Timothy Rollins, Editor and Publisher First of Two Parts October 31, 2005 Once again, Democrat Governor Jim Doyle of Wisconsin (right) has gone over the top in his decision to veto - for the third time - legislation requiring photo ID for voting at the polls. Despite addressing past flaws in earlier versions of similar bills submitted by the Republican-controlled legislature that deservedly died a quick death over failure to have sufficient safeguards, the fact that Doyle was quick at the trigger to veto this latest version only serves to reinforce in the minds of many...

1. Chvala to plead guilty tomorrow 2. Doyle campaign spending under scrutiny Former Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala reportedly will plead guilty to political corruption as part of a deal reached with prosecutors that will be announced tomorrow. It is not yet known which of the criminal charges Chvala faces are involved in the impending plea agreement. He was charged in October 2002 with 20 felonies, including extortion, illegal campaign contributions and criminal misconduct in public office. < snip > Not only has Governor Jim Doyle's fundraising practices led the U.S. Attorney's office, FBI, state Justice Department and the Dane...

MAYPORT, Fla. (NNS) -- USS Doyle (FFG 39) and embarked Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (Light) (HSL) 46 Det. 3 returned in September from a successful six-month deployment in the U.S. Southern Command area of operations. The ship’s crew and helicopter detachment performed a variety of operations including counter-narcotics patrols. Under the leadership of commanding officer Cmdr. Joseph P. Voboril, the ship was involved in numerous counter-narcotics interdictions, resulting in the seizure of an estimated $315 million in cocaine and 28 alleged narco-terrorists. “The motivation of the crew taking part in this important mission, the logistical support received from CTF (Commander, Task...

FORT BLISS, Texas -- An Army officer and two more of his soldiers from a reserve unit have been charged in a prisoner abuse investigation in Afghanistan, the Army announced Tuesday. Capt. Christopher M. Beiring, who led the Cincinnati-based 377th Military Police Company, was charged with dereliction of duty and making a false official statement. He is the first officer to be charged in the investigation. Investigators claim Beiring did not properly train or supervise soldiers under his command in legal uses of force, according to documents released by the Army. He also is accused of failing to take steps...