Bucher Blog

New Web Site and Blog

2005-09-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

The Bucher campaign has a new blog and Web site. The new blog is on the new Web site. Go to www.bucherforag.org to check it out.

Thanks for your interest!

Paul Wins Two Latest Straw Polls

2005-09-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

Paul won the two latest straw polls (in Sheboygan and Kenosha)! We don't put enormous stock in straw polls overall but a few things jumped out at us:

1. Unlike in past straw polls, the general public was allowed to participate in these polls, which were taken at County fairs.

2. On top of the straw polls, Paul has growing momentum in the race, as evidenced by the fact that more law enforcement officials around the State keep endorsing him (more than 20 DAs are already endorsing him around the state - almost all Republicans - whereas his opponent repeatedly cites support from Democratic officials on the stump. More police chiefs and other law enforcement officials are supporting Paul every day).

3. Some really high-profile and respected Republicans have joined Paul's team recently. Steve King was a recent example; he's Paul's co-chair. But expect some other prominent announcements really soon.

The Sheboygan Press article on the Sheboygan results:

Health care tops straw poll at fair

Sheboygan Press staff

In a straw poll conducted at the Sheboygan County Fair by the Sheboygan County Democratic Party, the most important issues according to voters were universal health care, with 377 votes, and maintaining Social Security, with 321 votes, according to party leaders.

The Sheboygan County Republican Party conducted a straw poll at the fair asking voters which Republican candidates should challenge Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager.

In the 79-ballot straw poll, Scott Walker topped Mark Green to challenge Doyle, 68 percent to 26 percent; and Paul Bucher beat out J.B. Van Hollen to challenge Lautenschlager, 65 percent to 35 percent, according to the group’s news release.

Before voting for governor or attorney general in the straw poll, each elector had to show a valid ID, according to Drew MacEwen, chairman of the Sheboygan County Republican Party.

“We believe that elections should have integrity and be fair,” MacEwen said. “Obviously we weren’t worried about fraud in the straw poll, but it’s just to illustrate that we are committed to having ethical and fair elections.”

In the Kenosha County poll, Paul won with 52% of the vote.

New pic

2005-09-03T16:10:00.000-07:00

New pic of Annie. Taken today. She looks a lot like Paul!!

Law enforcement endorsements continue rolling in...

2005-08-31T16:55:00.000-07:00

The latest: Chief Rob Dahms from Greendale PD

Wagner praises Paul

2005-08-25T20:45:00.000-07:00

In a lengthy discussion Thursday about the John Mercure investigation into men who allegedly showed up at a house rented by Channel 4 thinking they were meeting up with teenage girls, Milwaukee talk radio show host Jeff Wagner strongly praised Paul. Paul issued felony charges against three of the men this week. The charges continue Paul's long standing practice of not shying away from tough cases when charging them is the right thing to do. Mercure had previously rented a house in Milwaukee County but no charges resulted from that County.

Wagner, a former Republican candidate for Attorney General himself and a former federal prosecutor, praised Paul as a true "law-and-order prosecutor." Wagner noted that Mercure made the right decision to rent the house in Waukesha County, saying that any person who would want to maximize the impact of charges would know to do so in Waukesha County because of Paul's strong reputation as an aggressive prosecutor who does the right thing.

Another law enforcement endorsement

2005-08-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

"I have had the opportunity to hear you speak at several conferences that I have attended over the years and have always been impressed with your character and prosecuting abilities," said CHIEF OF POLICE DAVID D. BEAL, EMMET-LEBANON POLICE DEPT, referring to Paul. Beal became the latest in a long list of law enforcement officials statewide to endorse Paul. While Paul's primary opponent repeatedly cites the endorsement of 16 Democratic DAs in the state, Paul has received the endorsement of more than 20 REPUBLICAN DAs in the state (not to mention other law enforcement officials).

Mercure's investigation

2005-08-24T22:35:00.000-07:00

Paul charged three men today for allegedly going to a house rented by Channel 4 in Milwaukee, thinking they were going to meet underage girls for sexual purposes. Investigative reporter John Mercure has publicly stated that he rented the house specifically in Waukesha County because of Paul's reputation as a tough prosecutor. Mercure previously rented a house in Milwaukee County and did a similar sting there but the Milwaukee County DA's office wouldn't issue charges against the men who showed up.

In the TV account tonight, Mercure stated:

Criminal charges were issued today. Indeed, they were serious penalties, felonies….

DA Paul Bucher said something we all agree on, hopefully this is a wake up call to parents...

Paul stated in the report that the cases will be difficult ones to prove in court (then again, Paul has never shied away from a case because it's difficult if bringing it to a jury is the right thing). But he stated that he analyzed the circumstances and the backgrounds of the individuals before making a decision on charges. Mercure pointed out that two of the men have allegedly fled the state. Said Paul, "If they flee, we'll pick them up in another jurisdiction... you can run but you will not be able to hide..."

This case is indicative of how Paul has always run his office. He holds people responsible for their misbehavior. Period. Read the story on the case in the Journal Sentinel.

Common Sense

2005-08-20T14:24:00.000-07:00

A photo ID for voting is common sense, writes a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel community columnist. The column is right on target.

The 2005 Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics

2005-08-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

Paul, who has completed 9 marathons, ran with law enforcement officers as part of the 2005 Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics. He has participated in this event for a decade. Here are some pics.

Campaign Trail

2005-08-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

Paul has been really busy the past few weeks. Among other events, he attended:

Dane County Republican picnic
Milwaukee County Republican picnic
Marinette County corn roast
New Berlin Police Department's girls Youth Citizens Academy (there was a nice picture of him in the New Berlin Citizen newspaper)
Wisconsin State Fair
Washington County Republican women Italian dinner night
Ozaukee County fair
Kenosha County social
Racine County Republican Women's picnic
Waukesha County picnic
Open Records presentation to Waukesha School Board
Outagamie County corn roast
A speech at a Waukesha high school to more than 500 people

Among other events... but you get the idea! Plus, he was in court, etc.

Another law enforcement endorsement

2005-08-09T10:14:00.000-07:00

Big Bend Police Chief John Hefley said of Paul in endorsing him recently:

"You've definitely earned my respect because you've never backed away from taking on tough cases or taking a stand on issues. You're the person that we need to get the State Department of Justice back on track."

Racine County

2005-08-09T07:21:00.000-07:00

Paul has been really busy on the campaign trail lately. Among many other campaign activities, he and wife Jessica and daughter Annie went to the Racine County Fair recently. Here they are outside the Republican campaign tent. Paul is recognized by pretty much everyone he goes up to at these events in Southeastern Wisconsin due to his longtime media exposure. The reaction has been really positive.

Open records seminar

2005-08-08T23:09:00.000-07:00

Paul has been one of the most active District Attorneys in the State in prosecuting and reviewing Open Records and Meeting violations. But what is rarely reported is how much community educational work Paul also does in this and other areas of the law. The Waukesha Freeman recently ran a nice story on an open records seminar Paul gave to school officials to better ensure they follow the law in complying with open records requests.

Memo to Law Enforcement

2005-08-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

Charlie Sykes made this posting on his blog, reporting on a memo that Paul sent out to all law enforcement in Waukesha County. For years, Paul has routinely sent out memos for local cops that summarize Court decisions that affect the way cops have to do business. The memo reprinted on Sykes' blog was one of three recent memos Paul sent out to County police chiefs explaining recent Court decisions that have infringed on police powers in Wisconsin.

From Sykes' blog:

FRIDAY, Aug. 5, 2005, 6:49 a.m.

BUCHER WARNS THE COPS

While the media continues to ignore the magnitude of recent state Supreme Court decisions on crime, Waukesha County District Attorney (And AG candidate) Paul Bucher is warning local enforcement just what they mean:

TO: ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT

FROM: PAUL E. BUCHER, DISTRICT ATTORNEY

Unfortunately, this is the third memo I have had to write due to the fact an activist Supreme Court has taken over in the State of Wisconsin. As I stated in my last memorandum, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has now seen fit to ignore and disregard the teaching of the United States Supreme Court and has decided that the citizens of this State wish to give criminals greater protection than those required by the United States Constitution. In doing so, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has reaffirmed its adoption of a concept called New Federalism. “New Federalism” can be described as several things, but, in this case, it’s simply designed to give criminals in the State of Wisconsin greater protections than criminals in other states and criminals who are prosecuted by the Federal government in this State.Justice Butler, of the Supreme Court, has indicated his desire to bend over backwards for individuals who violate the law and use the Wisconsin Constitution as a guise to expand his liberal judicial philosophy in giving convicted criminals greater protection under Wisconsin law, than under the United States Constitution. This should, once again, give all law enforcement officials in the State, great concern regarding where the Supreme Court is headed.

In particular, Justice Butler and Justice Crooks make it very clear they support the adoption of a radical concept that has long been opposed in this State. The central holding of the case in State of Wisconsin v. Knapp, 2005 WI 127 is that the Wisconsin Constitution will grant greater rights to a criminal defendant than the United States Constitution when it deals with use of physical evidence that was discovered or derived as a result of an intentional violation of the Miranda Rule. The initial decision of the Wisconsin Supreme Court indicated that the State could not use physical evidence it had discovered following an intentional violation of Miranda. This matter was appealed to the United States Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court reversed, telling the Wisconsin Supreme Court that they were in error when they determined that criminals deserve to have evidence suppressed when there is an intentional violation of Miranda. The well-developed law in the United States does not require that. The United States Supreme Court went to great lengths to instruct the Wisconsin Supreme Court on the requirements of the United States Constitution.

By the way, the Wisconsin Constitution and the United States Constitution are almost identical.Notwithstanding this reprimand from the United States Supreme Court following remand, the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided that they were going to grant criminals greater rights by using the Wisconsin Constitution, not the United States Constitution, as the basis to do so. This is called “New Federalism.” The bottom line of the Knapp decision is that, in Wisconsin, State law enforcement officials cannot utilize physical evidence that is a derivative of an intentional Miranda violation. This is in direct contradiction to what Federal agents may do, as well as what most other states require. Justice Butler wrote this decision, joined in by Justice Crooks, Justice Abramson and Justice Bradley to form a majority of the Court. Justice Butler indicated that he did not feel he should allow those we entrust to enforce the law to intentionally subvert a suspect’s constitutional rights. The United States Supreme Court (the highest court in the land) indicated that they did trust law enforcement to be able to use physical evidence discovered as a direct violation of the Miranda Rule. The reason for that is simple. The Miranda Rule is a prophylactic rule. It protects suspects from the use of “incriminating statements” against them when the traditional Miranda warnings did not precede them.Physical evidence, however, is an entirely different subject. It does not fall within the exclusionary rule that was carved out to deal with Miranda violations. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is definitely out of lock step. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has created its own, very narrow reading of the Wisconsin Constitution to grant criminal defendants greater rights. This is a very disturbing decision, as well as a concerning trend of the Wisconsin Supreme Court to use the Wisconsin Constitution to grand defendants greater rights than those required by the United States Constitution....

Wasting Taxpayers' Money

2005-07-30T00:11:00.000-07:00

Peg Lautenschlager's announcement that she is holding informational hearings on eminent domain around the State shows how out of whack her priorities are.

I'm also concerned about the effect the federal Court’s ruling involving a Connecticut lawsuit will have on private property rights. But it's a waste of time for the Wisconsin Attorney General to hold informational hearings on eminent domain when the hearings will have no effect on the Court’s decision. The expenditure of any money on the hearings at a time when the State budget is so tight simply can not be justified. It’s a complete waste of money on hearings that have no purpose – other than political. The Attorney General should release the detailed cost of the hearings, including for staff time and other expenses. Citizens want the Attorney General to focus the resources and power of the Department of Justice on areas of pressing concern in Wisconsin, such as election integrity and gun violence.

The AG’s priorities should be on the issues that matter. If she wants to hold hearings, she should come to Milwaukee and hold them at the spot where our latest young person was gunned down in a senseless homicide. Of all the issues to focus on, she chooses a US Supreme Court ruling that has already been decided and that involved another State. While that ruling has an effect on Wisconsin, holding informational hearings on it is a waste of time and taxpayer money. It’s clear what she’s up to. This is a headline grab designed to get her positive press for her re-election campaign.

AG Lautenschlager on Tuesday announced the dates and locations of four hearings around the state in Janesville, Wausau, Oak Creek, and Eau Claire. Those sites are conveniently within the state’s major media markets.

~Paul

Lautenschlager's "Bad Call"

2005-07-27T21:49:00.000-07:00

A "Bad Call by Lautenschlager," editorializes the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The newspaper says Lautenschlager should have "backed out" of a recent rally when she learned that plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the State were also speaking. The lawsuit seeks to force the State to pay domestic partner benefits to state workers. The Green Bay Press Gazette also takes her to task.

Interesting Insight

2005-07-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

The Stalwart blog has an interesting posting on Peg Lautenschlager and the domestic partner benefits case. The blog notes the following of a news article on the case:

The ACLU of Wisconsin is involved in the case on the plaintiffs' side. The Alliance Defense Fund has filed a motion for the legislature seeking to intervene in the case. The article describes these organizations thus,

... the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, which advocates for individual freedoms.

... The Alliance Defense Fund, a non-profit legal firm in Scottsdale, Ariz., that is linked to evangelical Christians ...

Paul notes:

Seems like quite a different tone...

Here is how the ADF defines itself on its Web Site: "ADF was founded for a unique purpose: to aggressively defend religious liberty by empowering our allies, recognizing that together, we can accomplish far more than we can alone."

So why was the group not identified in the paper as a group that advocates for religious freedoms?

Essentially, the reporter basically adopted the ACLU's description of itself but did not adopt the ADF's description of itself.

After all, here's how the ACLU defines itself on its Web Site: "The ACLU is our nation's guardian of liberty. We work daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States."

Impartiality?

2005-07-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that critics are starting to question whether Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager can be impartial in the suit the ACLU filed against the State trying to force the State to allow domestic partner benefits. Paul spoke on this same topic last week on the Charlie Sykes show. Everyone in professional life has personal opinions that must be set aside at times. But the difference here is that 1, Lautenschlager spoke at a rally right after the plaintiffs in the very same case had advocated for the benefits and her comments intimated support for their stance and 2, Lautenschlager has already demonstrated that she is not vigorously on the side of the State by agreeing with the plaintiff ACLU that the Legislature (the People's Representative) has no right to intervene in the case to make its opinion known.

Read the Journal Sentinel article here.

Read postings on Boots and Sabers and Lakeshore Laments blogs raising similar questions.

Read Paul's column on this topic from the wisopinion.com site

Radfest

2005-07-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

Peg Lautenschlager was a featured speaker at an event called "Radfest" last month. Check out their Site and you will see what it's all about and how being an "Activist" is the goal.

Red Meat

2005-07-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

The blog Red Meat argues that Peg Lautenschlager is one of the most Activist Attorney Generals in Wisconsin history. Read the post here.

Goofy article

2005-07-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

Paul just sent this letter to the editor of the Waukesha Freeman responding to a goofy article they wrote:

July 18, 2005

Editor
The Freeman
810 North Barstow Street
Waukesha, WI 53186

Dear Editor:

I am contacting you relative to an editorial that your paper ran relative to my denial of a request for prosecution for an alleged violation of the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law by the Waukesha School Board. Your opinion in the headlines has very little to do with the actual facts of that case. Obviously, you must not have read the material that was submitted to me by Ms. Lufter, because if you did you would realize that the information that was submitted was woefully insufficient to justify any allegation of an open meetings violation. When a complaint is filed for an open meetings or open records violation I make my decision based upon the materials supplied. The materials supplied by Ms. Lufter did not even demonstrate that any of the School Board members were talking to one another. In essence, Ms. Lufter wanted an open meetings violation complaint filed because of an e-mail that had been sent between one or two board members discussing some of the tactics that were being utilized by the Waukesha Taxpayers League relative to the referendum. In fact, at best the materials supplied by Ms. Lufter showed that Superintendent David Schmidt was discussing some of the tactics with one board member and was expressing his concern or displeasure relative to those tactics.

Your editorial and your article gives the “impression” to your readers that members of the School Board were exchanging a variety of e-mails discussing school district business and coming to conclusions or making decisions amongst themselves in the e-mails that were being sent back and forth. You know that is not the case. If you, at least, would have read the materials submitted to me by Ms. Lufter you would have realized that was not the case. This was not even a close call. This office has been more aggressive than the Attorney General’s office has ever been as it relates to open meetings and open records violations. I spend more time carefully reviewing and reading open meetings and open records requests than any District Attorney in the entire state. In fact, I have launched one of the few prosecutions for open meetings and open records violations of any District Attorney. In addition, this office, in conjunction with a local law firm, holds an Open Meetings/Open Records Forum every year to make sure our local officials are up to speed on the laws as it relates to open meetings and open records.

Your editorial is disappointing because it is not reflective of the truth. We are very aggressive on open meeting violations and will continue to do so. Before you launch into an editorial tirade you should take the time to review the material that was submitted to me before you criticize my decision. I can’t imagine any individual coming to any other conclusion after reviewing the material submitted to me by Ms. Lufter. Perhaps, if the materials submitted were more in-depth and more complete I might have come to a different conclusion. When you come to the conclusion that it appears that the law has been broken, I challenge you to justify that to your readers. At best, you can find in this case that the Superintendent and, perhaps, one School Board member were discussing tactics utilized by the Waukesha Taxpayers League. I am also offended by Ms. Lufter’s statement that I have a tendency to align myself with the School District. That is absolutely false. In fact, based on some e-mails I have read in another investigation from the School District, the School District apparently feels I align myself with entities outside the School District and have “no soft spot” in my heart for the School District.

If you or Ms. Lufter feels strongly on this issue, you have the ability to bring a lawsuit on your own behalf in the name of the State of Wisconsin. If you feel so strongly about this (and your paper is such an advocate for open government) why don’t you utilize that in this particular case and bring this matter to the attention of the Circuit Court? The reason you can’t do that is you know, as well as I do, that the evidence will not sustain the violation. Nonetheless, I spend a great deal of my valuable time investigating these matters. I will continue to do so. I would hope in the future you might take a few moments to review the facts and report them fairly and accurately. You owe that much to the public. I certainly think you owe that much to local officials, such as myself. In addition, your comment giving credit to Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager is laughable. The Office of the Attorney General has done nothing to enforce the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law. In fact, I have taken cases back from the Attorney General’s Office because of the inaction that has occurred in that particular office. I defy you to point to one prosecution that the Attorney General’s office has filed for an open meetings violation during the tenure of our current Attorney General. Our current Attorney General has done little to enhance open government. While one can talk tough, when it comes to actually acting and following through, my record speaks for itself.

Very truly yours,

_________________
Paul E. Bucher
District Attorney
Waukesha County

Democrats Eat Their Own

2005-07-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

Spivak and Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel are reporting that Democrats are so unhappy with incumbent AG Peg Lautenschlager that they have stabbed her in the back by commissioning a poll to test her support - which is dismal. On top of it, none of the Dems will own up to who comissioned it. With friends like those, who needs enemies?

Our chief strategist, RJ Johnson, is quoted.

Sykes Interviews Bucher Tuesday on Our Activist AG and Activist Supreme Court

2005-07-19T14:53:00.000-07:00

Milwaukee radio talkshow host Charlie Sykes interviewed Paul today about an outrageous decision by Peg Lautenschlager, who filed a legal brief arguing that the Legislature should not be allowed to intervene in an ACLU lawsuit that is seeking to force the state to pay domestic partner benefits to state employees. Amazingly, Lautenschlager is supposed to be DEFENDING the state in the case, but her brief sided with the plaintiffs - the ACLU. Read Paul's news release at the Wispolitics news site.

Here's what Paul had to say:

Charlie commented that this lawsuit could in theory establish a major precedent in having the courts order local governments to extend the benefits to domestic partners.

Paul responded: No doubt about it, whose side is she (Lautenschlager) really on? And why is she doing everything she can in concert with the ACLU to try to keep our elected representatives out of a lawsuit that could cost the state millions of dollars? This isn’t the first time. She did this previously in a lawsuit (side with the plaintiff when she's supposed to be representing the State). You don’t have to look far to see that this is a major issue that could really cost taxpayers and set policy and Legislators should be allowed to intervene.

Charlie said that activist courts in issues like this are trying to do an end run around elected officials and basically order an expenditure of tax money.

Paul agreed. He said: You saw in the last budget cycle that the governor thinks this is a good idea. It's a slippery slope the state shouldn’t go down (domestic partner benefits). Right now we have an activist State Supreme Court, and everyone needs to realize where the current court is going. Also, the AG is supposed to be the lawyer for the State. We don’t have a lawyer on this issue. She is basically siding with the ACLU in agreement that the State of Wisconsin Legislature should not be able to come in. We don’t have any representation. The Legislature should be able to voice its concern.

Charlie said that the Legislature is hiring an outside lawyer and trying to intervene because Legislators don't believe that Lautenschlager is really on the State's side.

Paul responded that intervening in law suits like this, such as the Legislature is trying to do, is very common. Look at State Supreme Court decisions, you will see all the individuals who file briefs as friends of the court. The Legislature is saying to Peg, I don’t trust you, and we need other individuals giving information before this Court makes a policy decision that affects all taxpayers. Unfortunately we don’t have anyone representing us.

Charlie turned the conversation over to the new activist state Supreme Court and asked Paul his opinion about how far the Court has gone in recent decisions on malpractice and police matters especially.

Paul said, It's amazing how important one vote is. This current Supreme Court adopted what's called New Federalism. Shirley Abrahamson has been chomping at the bit to institute it but she didn’t have the votes. She does now with Louis Butler. The Court said we don’t care what the US Supreme Court says, we're going to use the Wisconsin Constitution.

Charlie asked Paul how he would define New Federalism, saying it's an important issue a lot of people don't understand.

Paul said, It basically states that this state is using its own Constitution rather than the US Constitution. The wording is almost the same (in both Constitutions). But the Court has in recent decisions used the State Constitution to give criminals more rights than the US Supreme Court says is required. For example, if an individual is arrested in a bank robbery both federal and state, the individual would have greater rights if you prosecuted them in State Court than if Biskupic prosecutes them in Federal Court.

Charlie said, Educate the public. When courts begin to impose their ideas on the Legislature, where do you draw the line?

Paul said, The physicians and doctors are aware of that, they have woken up to the power of the Supreme Court (in the medical malpractice case) and we will hopefully have a race soon - people are saying that one Justice will retire. That would be a huge, huge race to pull power from the current chief justice and rather than an activist court to return back to a court that will interpret the law. We have seen the activist court in the malpractice case and the police showup decision. The result of that is that an individual who didn’t do a crime may be retained for a show up. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is snubbing its nose at the US Supreme Court.

As Attorney General, I will do everything I can to reverse that trend quickly.

CHARLIE then wrapped up the segment saying the situation is strange because everyone knows the governor and AG both want to extend benefits to same sex couples. And however people feel about that, he argues it's a decision that elected officials should make. It's a benefit that should be negotiated and approved by the Legislature. The problem is they have their lawyers but our lawyer is Peg Lautenschlager, who's not on our side on this issue. So the Legislature is going to hire outside lawyers to make sure it's heard. But now Lautenschlager has joined with the ACLU to say, tell the Legislature to shut up on this case. It's outrageous. He said Paul made the point well that, given the legal climate, the next time we have a 4-vote majority on the state Supreme Court, local goverments may no longer have any choice and state government will no longer have the choice on this issue because judges just order this. This is legislating from the bench. This is what we mean when we talk about activist judges.

Lakeland Times

2005-07-14T10:44:00.000-07:00

Read a front-page story that ran on Paul recently in the Lakeland Times newspaper of Minocqua.

Excerpts of Paul's remarks:

“Handgun violence in the City of Milwaukee is absolutely out of control,” he said. “The wholesale slaughter that’s going on in the City of Milwaukee needs to be dealt with in an effective fashion. It’s not that the Department of Justice has to go in and take over the enforcement efforts in the city. That’s not their role. Their role is to have a presence in the city and to partner with current enforcement authorities.”

“It’s as if there was an intentional decision to allocate that enforcement effort to other agencies, most notably the United States Attorney in the eastern District, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department and the city’s police chief,” he said. “But they can’t do it on their own.”

Among other things, Bucher said, too many felons who should not be voting are voting and it has become too easy to commit voter fraud.

“It impacts all of us, because if you vote once and somebody else votes twice, your vote has been canceled,” he said. “Restoring that integrity, whether it is real – and in some cases it is – or whether it is perception needs to be dealt with, but the only time the current attorney general had any presence was this last election cycle when she sent out about a half dozen assistants to monitor polling places.”

It was a nice gesture, he said, but too little, too late.

The Waukesha prosecutor did point to one area in which he said Lautenschlager had made her presence felt and that was in pursuing an anti-business agenda.

“In business, for whatever reason, the attorney general’s office has taken the power and the resources, which are diminished because of significant fiscal issues, and it was designed to intentionally (pit) them against the business community,” he said.

Steve King

2005-07-12T00:47:00.000-07:00

We're thrilled to have such a respected and prominent Conservative as Steve King chair Paul's campaign (announced by the campaign Monday). This is a man of enormous character and experience. He doesn't need much introduction. But nonetheless, here's his very impressive bio:

Steve King was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 4, 1941 and was raised in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated in 1963 from Western Illinois University with a bachelor of science degree in social science, then earned a masters degree in political science in 1966 from the same institution.

During 1963-67, King served three years as a social science teacher in Rushville, Illinois followed by a year as Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools in the same school district.

In 1967, he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After training, he was assigned to Jackson, Mississippi to investigate civil rights violations. He investigated Ku Klux Klan activity and other racially motivated crimes, including homicide, arson, bombing and bank robbery.

He received three special commendations from then FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover for excellent performance.

King was transferred to Washington, D.C. in 1969. He resigned the FBI in 1970 to take a position as Legislative Assistant to Republican Senator Edward J. Gurney of Florida. As Gurney's representative on the U.S. Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, King became an investigator for the U. S. Senate.

He participated in the investigation of General Dynamics for cost overruns on the F-111 fighter/bomber. This resulted in resignations by top management at the company, as well as recommendations from the committee for improved military procurement procedures.

He also investigated black market corruption in Army-Air Force Exchanges in Vietnam. This results in the dishonorable discharge of a Sergeant Major who was, at the time, the highest ranking non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army. Other investigations covered organized crime infiltration of labor unions in New York and loan shark operations in Boston.

In 1972 King was named Special Assistant to Earl Butz, the Secretary of Agriculture. For four years he traveled with the Secretary and served as liaison between USDA and the agriculture committees of both the House and Senate, assisting in legislation to help American farmers. The early to mid-70's proved to be one of the most prosperous times in U.S. farm history.

In 1976, King left Washington to become Director of Development at his alma mater Western Illinois University. But a year later, he decided to fulfill a lifelong dream to go into his own business.

He moved to Whitewater, Wisconsin as general manager of Carlson's Miniatures, a woodworking firm in Delavan, Wisconsin. Then in 1979, he became a part owner and manager of Tomah Products, a small chemical manufacturing company in Milton, Wisconsin. The company was sold to Exxon Chemical Company in 1984. In June, 1994, King led a management buy out of Tomah and since that time has served as owner, President and CEO of Tomah³ Products, Inc.

In 1980, King was elected to the Walworth County Board of Supervisors. He was re-elected in 1982 for two 2-year terms. Always active in Scouting, he received the District Award of Merit in 1982 from the Boy Scouts of America, the Silver Beaver in 1991 and the highest volunteer award given by the BSA, the Silver Antelope, in 2001. He remains active as an adult volunteer leader.

In 1985, after several years of work as a political volunteer, he was elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. His tenure as Chairman of the State GOP was marked by financial development, organization and membership growth, and political success. In 1986, U.S. Senator Robert W. Kasten, Jr. was re-elected. Governor Tommy Thompson, Lt. Gov. Scott McCallum and Attorney General Don Hanaway also won their first statewide offices in 1986. Then a year later, the Republicans won seven out of eight special elections.

On February 6, 1988 King resigned as Party Chairman to campaign for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.

Being elected State Chairman was the culmination of a lifetime of Republican volunteer work, which started with membership in the College Young Republicans and as a precinct worker for the 1964 Goldwater campaign. Awarded highest Volunteer Awards (Bashford and Bovay) in 1996.

As a Wisconsin resident, King was a Reagan delegate to both the 1980 and 1984 Republican National Conventions, was a member of the 1984 National GOP Rules Committee and was one of 11 Wisconsin Presidential Electors in 1984. King has been a delegate to every Wisconsin State GOP convention since 1978. He was also a Bush delegate to the 2000 AND 2004RNC convention.

King lives in Janesville, WI with his wife, Karen. They celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary on June 1, 2004. They have three children. Kristen Robinson, nee King, is a mother and physical therapist, residing in Janesville, WI; Stephen, Jr., is employed at Tomah Products. Russell is also employed at Tomah Products in Milton, WI. The Kings worship at the Rock Prairie United Presbyterian Church in Janesville, WI.

Busy Weekend

2005-07-10T20:18:00.000-07:00

Paul had a busy week and weekend the past couple days. Highlights:

He attended a Walworth County Republican Party training session for Republican volunteers for the upcoming election. It was very successful. His daughter, Breanne, accompanied him. She is a pre-law student at Arizona State who is home for the summer. He picked up several volunteers.
Paul attended a Waukesha County SE Branch Club Republican Party picnic. He signed up some more volunteers and supporters.
Paul's primary opponent publicly conceded at the event that Paul has more support in this part of the state than he does.
That's a big concession, although it's something we've long known, because 43% of the GOP primary vote comes from the 4 county Milwaukee metro area. That means Paul is strategically positioned to win and to deliver the AG's office back to Republicans.
Paul gave out awards to special athletes, continuing his longstanding support of Special Olympics, at a Special Olympics softball tournament in New Berlin.

Oh, and he found time to work on his deck!!

Dean returns

2005-07-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

So, Howard Dean is returning to Wisconsin. Reminder: The current AG said he represents the soul of the Democratic Party. We think he doesn't represent the soul of this country or state, so we welcome his return to hob-nob again with top Dems, thus underscoring how extreme they are. Dean is extreme. Lautenschlager is extreme. They are political bedfellows who are both out of touch with mainstream Wisconsin sensibilities.

Listen to Howard Dean scream remixes.

TV appearance

2005-07-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

Paul's wife Jessica will be on the Charlie Sykes' Sunday Insight TV show Sunday morning.

New Leadership Needed On Meth

2005-07-08T00:39:00.000-07:00

It is with a great deal of irony that both of Paul's opponents - the current AG and his Republican opponent in the primary - have run around the state touting their records on meth and promising to combat the methamphetamine epidemic if elected AG in 2006.

Why is it ironic? Because both held the US Attorney's position that oversaw the western and northwestern part of the state as the methamphetamine epidemic took root and grew in that portion of the state, where it is concentrated.

That's right. They already had their chance to prove their leadership on this issue, but meth has continued to spiral out of control under both of their watches. Hardly something to be proud about. Six years ago, the current AG acknowledged meth was an "epidemic" in the press. It's a growing one today, unfortunately.

Paul will take real action to halt meth. He won't just hold summits. He will divert real resources to combat the problem, rather than wasting money on informational meetings.

The facts:

"According to state figures, meth cases reported in Wisconsin nearly quadrupled from 83 in 1999 to 314 in 2003, and involuntary placements for treatment for methamphetamine use reached 347 in 2003, up from 194 in 2001." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

"Meth samples sent for testing to the State Crime Laboratory grew from 101 in 2000 to 545 last year (2004)." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).

Meth is still largely a problem in the northwest and western sections of the state over which both of Paul's opponents had jurisdiction as US Attorneys. "St. Croix County, bounding the Twin Cities, has over recent years led the state in all things meth. According to Justice Department figures, the county, with a population of some 71,000, submitted 300 cases to the State Crime Laboratory between 1998 and 2004. In Milwaukee County, with 933,000, that number was 39." (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Numbers tell the story. For a graphic, see: http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/mar05/307310.asp

In March 2005, Paul's Republican primary opponent told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he would make fighting the spread of methamphetamine a priority as AG.

One wonders why it took a campaign for AG to make meth a priority.

Waste of Money

2005-07-08T00:29:00.000-07:00

Peg Lautenschlager has a habit of holding hearings rather than showing leadership or taking action. First, tasers. Then, meth. Now, eminent domain.

Paul is very concerned about the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on eminent domain. But he thinks the AG's recent announcement to hold hearings around the state to "explain" the ruling is a colossal waste of cash and a blatant headline grab.

He also thinks the money could be far better spent on such pressing issues as actually fighting the meth epidemic in NW Wisconsin or fighting gun violence in Milwaukee or on preserving election integrity.

Waukesha County Repub Party Chairman Praises Paul as County Party Endorses Him

2005-07-06T06:50:00.000-07:00

Paul was honored to receive in June the unanimous endorsement from the Republican Party of Waukesha County Executive Committee for his AG campaign. Paul is the Republican candidate whom Republicans should rally around, according to the state's largest County branch of the Republican Party.

Here's the quote from longtime, highly respected County Party Chairman Don Taylor:

“We who know him best have seen first hand Paul's outstanding leadership as a prosecutor and community leader. That’s why the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Waukesha County unanimously endorsed Paul at its June Meeting for state Attorney General,” Taylor said. “Coming from the state's population base, and with exceptionally high name recognition in the state's most expensive media market, Paul Bucher is our Party's best chance to take back the Attorney General's office. He's earned the respect of law enforcement both here and around the state as an aggressive prosecutor with an extremely high conviction rate, and as an innovator, and hands-on DA who gets the job done.”

Another Police Endorsement

2005-06-22T12:40:00.000-07:00

The endorsements of the law enforcement officers who serve alongside Paul mean so much to him. Here is the most recent one, in a letter dated June 17, 2005.

BROOKFIELD POLICE ASSOCIATION ENDORSES PAUL FOR AG..................."Paul, you are a champion for justice and a seeker of the truth. You show compassion for victims of crimes and are a wealth of knowledge for all officers in the county. I know that when you are elected as Attorney General, you will restore Honesty and Integrity to the office. The members of the Brookfield Professional Police Association stand behind you." - Ronald Bethia, President, Brookfield Professional Police Association.

One Democrat Finally Admits What All Republicans Know

2005-06-21T20:17:00.000-07:00

Democratic Party spinmeister Bill Christofferson - who's worked for Doyle, among other prominent state Libs - finally has come out and admitted what all Republicans know about Dems, writing on his blog:

"I prefer to denigrate and demonize all religions equally..."

And he's proud of that? Oh, wait, that's right. The Democratic Party is the tolerant one that embraces diversity.

Support

2005-06-21T19:53:00.000-07:00

Today, as we were driving out of a downtown Milwaukee parking garage after an event, the parking attendant paused as he took Paul's parking stub and said, "You're Mr. Bucher, right?" Paul said, yes he was. "You do a great job," the man said. "I'll vote for you."

This kind of chance meeting with average citizens is common for Paul and it means a lot to him. His support is made up of this kind of man - an average citizen concerned about his or her community, who has watched Paul's career over the years through the media and who likes what Paul stands for. This happens a lot, especially in the Milwaukee metro area.

Democratic Logic

2005-06-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

Isn't it funny how Democratic logic is pretty... well... illogical. Democrats argue that:

Democrats are always operating from a sense of goodwill or because they have strong beliefs... Republicans are always operating from ill intent, political motivation, hidden agendas, or religious "zealotry."
That means Democrats always really believe what they say but Republicans never do.
Democrats can get away with saying anything about Republicans (comparing them to Nazis, comparing Guantanamo Bay to a gulag, etc.) because they, the Democrats, are the "open-minded ones." But those darn Republicans are so divisive and mean-spirited.
Democrats are the party that believes in diversity, except when it comes to Republicans, the military or Christians.
Democrats say Republicans are stupid and bigoted, but the Democrats can't formulate more sophisticated arguments than ad hominem attacks calling people stupid and bigoted (note to Democrats and their media apologists: John Kerry's grades just came out and they were lower than the grades of guess who... you got it... Bush).
Democrats say the Republicans are the Party of Hate, and then proceed to call the president and everyone else associated with him names.
Democrats care about the disadvantaged, unless they are unborn.

Dean's Scream Part Deux

2005-06-09T11:55:00.000-07:00

You can tell a lot about a person by who their friends are. The current AG was the first AG in the country to endorse Howard Dean for president (Journal Sentinel, 12/13/03). She also served as Dean's campaign chair in Wisconsin (Wispolitics, 12/16/03). "What you see is what you get" she said about Dean. She even introduced Dean at an event by saying he has "restored the soul of the Democratic Party." (www.alaskafordean.com 2/18/04)

We agree with President Bush, who said on the campaign trail that he considers the heart and soul of this country to be in small towns all across America.

Well, Dean continues to reveal his true colors. As National Democratic Party chairman, he's continued to make outlandish, divisive, and offensive comments. That's the "soul" of the Dem Party? For the sake of everyone in it, we hope not. Some examples from Dean's recent "open-mouth-insert-foot" run:

Dean: Republicans are "not very friendly to different kinds of people, they are a pretty monolithic party... it's pretty much a white, Christian party."
(um, Mr. Dean, which party was it again that named the first African-American secretary of state, the first African-American female secretary of state, the first Latino attorney general, etc... and which party was it again that tried to block the appointment of an honorable African-American federal judge, Janice Rogers Brown? It goes without saying that the Repub. Party is increasingly the home of Latinos, African Americans and so on, and the last election is proof because Repubs. increased their numbers in both categories. Also offensive in this statement is the implication that there's something wrong with holding Christian values. But wait - it's the Republicans who aren't friendly to different kinds of people, just the Dems, at least in Dean World. I guess to Dems like Dean "Christians" don't count as different kinds of people. Anyway, the GOP Party Chairman is Jewish.)
Dean told a group of progressives recently that Republicans "never made an honest living in their lives."
(No sarcastic comeback necessary).
Dean stated that Tom DeLay, House Majority Leader, should go back to Houston to serve his jail sentence.

(DeLay, of course, has not been convicted of any crime. Contrast this to Dean's infamous comment that Osama bin Laden should not be presumed guilty until a trial. So, I guess in Dean World, bin Laden deserves more respect and due process than the House Majority Leader? And, remind me again: This is the man the AG thinks has restored the soul of her party?)

Ronald Reagan

2005-06-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

We saw a really powerful film about Ronald Reagan sponsored by the Fond du Lac Republican Party yesterday. It was IMPOSSIBLE to miss the analogies between Reagan and Bush. Among them:

Like Bush, Reagan was derided by liberals as an unintelligent simpleton (an amiable dunce). Why do liberals always call Republicans stupid rather than engaging them on ideas? People who can't win the war of ideas always reach for namecalling next. Well, this "simpleton" won the Cold War. It didn't just happen. Reagan and others in his administration were architects of a multiple-pronged strategy designed to do just that. And Bush is winning the war against Islamo-fascism, despite what the media would have us believe.
Like Bush, Reagan believed the world needed to see evil for what it was. While his predecessors busied themselves trying to "understand" the Soviet Union and "reach out" to it through detente, Reagan gave the world moral clarity. We couldn't win this great fight if we didn't call the enemy for what it was, he believed. Evil Empire.... Axis of Evil... there is a clear analogy.
Like Bush, Reagan believed that, as he said in the movie, freedom needed to go on the offensive.
Like Bush, Reagan believed that no one could win a Nuclear War. Thus, we had to take offensive action to prevent our enemies from getting to that point. What liberals just don't seem to understand is if we waited until Saddam (or those of his ilk) got nukes and became an imminent threat... it would be too late.
Like Bush, Reagan's predecessors allowed the enemy to grow in strength through appeasement. It's amazing how wrong liberals have consistently been on these issues. Regarding al-Qaeda, the USS Cole, the African bombings, Somalia... they all occurred on Clinton's watch and he did... pretty much nothing. Likewise, the Soviet Empire was on the offensive and was engaging in a major military buildup under the watch of presidents before Reagan.
Reagan understood that the Russians historically understood one thing: Strength. Bush understands that al-Qaeda understands one thing: Strength. It's been documented that bin Laden believed our retreat from Somalia demonstrated the true nature of American resolve and it emboldened him.
Like Bush, Reagan was reviled and second-guessed by the liberal establishment and the media and protestors. There were times his approval ratings sunk. How offensive it is that Amnesty International recently likened Guantanamo Bay to a gulag. This movie made it clear what gulags really were... and there is no comparison.
Like Bush, Reagan's policies were not always understood at the time. History will likely see Bush well, just as Reagan's derided Star Wars plan is now widely understood to have been key in the defeat of the Soviet Empire.
Like Bush, Reagan was not afraid to inject God into his speeches. He did not believe in moral relativism. This helped him to draw the line between good and evil that was so important in defining the terms of the Cold War.
Like Bush, Reagan did not stick his finger in the wind to see which way the wind was blowing. He followed up his words with action and they were consistent.
Like Bush, Reagan came to politics later in the game.
Like Bush, Reagan was accused of running up big deficits. But, without that military spending, we would not have won the Cold War.

The lesson for all politicians: Know what you believe and stick to it.

Heroes

2005-05-31T21:01:00.000-07:00

Paul was honored to be invited to give the keynote speech for Waukesha's Memorial Day ceremony this Monday. In the speech, surrounded by veterans, Paul encouraged people to appreciate and honor the sacrifices and service of those who died in combat but he also said people should take time to reach out to the "heroes walking among us" - fathers and grandfathers and brothers and sisters and so forth, who have quietly served and who are a fading away testament to our past.

Paul's father Erv was a World War II vet. Paul was raised by a single mother and his father came back into his life only shortly before he died a couple years ago. In that time, Paul told the crowd, he was able to learn about his own father's service for this country. Erv Bucher personally arrested and interrogated one of Hitler's top henchman, Julius Streicher, a man later hung at Nuremberg. Because he was of Swiss German descent, the Army recruited Erv, who spoke fluent German, to work as an interrogator and to do undercover missions in Germany at the height of the war. Erv didn't talk about this much, but as he was fading away, he told Paul a little about his service.

In his speech, Paul praised the service of all veterans, including those in the war in Iraq. As they say, freedom isn't free.

The Left and Criminals

2005-05-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

Why is the Left so quick to play the violin strings for criminals? Shouldn't we feel sorry for the victims of heinous offenses, not the defendant who pulled the trigger? Paul fights for victims.

It's becoming obvious that the left's spinmeisters have decided that Paul is the front runner in this race and are threatened that they will lose the AG's seat to him because of his strong record as a prosecutor winning cases and because of his longtime visible position in the population base/media market of SE Wisconsin. Case in point: Fringe hardcore leftie Joel McNally recently wrote that he feels sorry for convicted cop killer Ted Oswald. No one was thrilled about the verdict except Paul, he writes.

Note to Joel: The list of other people thrilled with the verdict include the widow of the heroic police captain slain by Oswald in cold blood, the heroic police officers on Oak Street who endured a barrage of bullets from the Oswalds' guns, and pretty much the rest of the community. Ted Oswald admitted shooting Capt. Lutz in the head - executing him. Yes, he had a bad childhood, but so did pretty much every homicide defendant who ends up in court. As Paul said in his closing argument, the person who didn't have a choice that day was Capt. Lutz, who never even got his foot off the brake when he was ambushed.

This sort of mindset - turn the criminal into the victim - is pretty laughable and is expected from the left. But it's important only for one reason: It underscores why we need to get a Republican in the AG's office.

More Police Support Paul

2005-05-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

Law enforcement officers have always been big supporters of Paul. Adding to a long list of endorsements: The Elm Grove Police Association just endorsed Paul.

Mention the drunk driving?

2005-05-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

A local columnist raised questions about Paul raising the current AG's drunk driving incident in a fundraising call. Paul believes the current AG's behavior is a campaign issue (not only the drunk driving but the questions about the state car and how she handled the aftermath of the incident by refusing to take a blood test, etc.) because it speaks to leadership and integrity. As he said at the Republican convention, she sent a devestating message to all our kids when she chose to get behind the wheel of a state car and drink and drive. She mentioned in a press conference that a lot of people had said, "There but the grace of God go I", but that's not true. Drunk driving is a choice. She's the state's top cop and as a result needs to set a standard of leadership.

In addition, drunk driving has always been a big issue for Paul, something just recognized with a MADD award. As noted in an earlier posting, he helped form a task force to combat the problem back in 1998 because drunk driving is one of the biggest crime issues Waukesha County faces. He's also attended literally HUNDREDS of Dare graduations and created innovative programs in his office to deal with the problem. Paul has sat across the table from way too many grieving families who lost loved ones in drunk driving crashes to not take a stand on this now or to ignore it as an issue.

New Column

2005-05-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

Read a new column by Paul's wife Jessica at www.wispolitics.com, Milwaukee Insight. It's on Sheriff Clarke's reemergence on the political scene.

Let retired cops carry guns?

2005-05-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

So the current AG thinks that retired cops have to be trained and meet a state standard before the state should comply with a federal law that allows them to carry concealed weapons (like they may do in almost every other state).

As AG, Paul would not be an impediment on allowing this already federally-granted right.

Paul Gets "rising" mention

2005-05-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

Wispolitics.com named Paul's political fortunes as "rising" this week due to his win in the Ted Oswald case.

More Oswald Reax

2005-05-17T16:34:00.000-07:00

Charlie Sykes writes of the Oswald verdict: "A victory for common sense."

Paul will be on Sykes' show live tomorrow morning at 8:30 a.m.

Ted Oswald Found Sane

2005-05-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

A jury just found Ted Oswald sane in the trial Paul prosecuted for killing a Waukesha police captain, bank robbery, hostage taking, and numerous other charges.

Talk show host Mark Belling just interviewed Paul live. Belling called the verdict an "absolute defeat for Ted Oswald..." and "an absolute total victory... a total victory for Paul Bucher."

The widow of the heroic police captain said at a live press conference: "I want to thank Paul and the team. It's fantastic. I witnessed their endeavor and dedication above and beyond the call of duty. We're lucky to have people like that..."

Conservative Public TV: Oxymoron?

2005-05-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

So, one of our Congressmen is upset because he thinks the new head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting is trying to bring in Conservative programming.

This is the kind of Liberal handwringing that makes Conservatives laugh. They see Conservative Public TV as an oxymoron and wonder why Liberals aren't worried about the much more apparent Liberal programming on TV. Could it be because they are Liberals?

http://www.businessnorth.com/kuws.asp?RID=1141

The guv's flip flop

2005-05-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

So now Gov. Doyle is suddenly open to a proposal for requiring a Voter ID (sort of) at the polls. Three thoughts on this blatant flip-flop:

Like he did with the property tax freeze, Doyle is trying to take just enough of the Republican proposal to blunt voter anger in the gubernatorial race. He's also only supporting a very watered down proposal that doesn't accomplish enough. In other words, he's trying to have his cake and eat it too and he's hoping voters won't notice that the version he's supporting doesn't go far enough. After all, the proposal he's considering supporting would allow things without photos at the polls too - like utility bills.
How come the media only deride Republican politicians as flip-floppers (and unfairly so)? But when Dems flip blatantly they aren't called on it?
The Repubs continue to set the political agenda in the state as yet again Doyle is forced to acknowledge they are on the right side of the issues with citizens. He keeps trying to take the Repub playbook - without the meat.

Go figure

2005-05-12T16:42:00.000-07:00

So Gov. Doyle supports a Photo ID for buying pseudoephedrine... but not for voting?

Go figure.

The criminal investigation into voting in Milwaukee found numerous areas of fraud this week. If that's not a case for a photo ID, what is? Contrary to the Democratic line, a photo ID WOULD have prevented (or made it harder to commit) some of the instances of fraud outlined, such as people voting under the names of dead people and from communities outside Milwaukee and with false names, etc.

It's getting more and more humorous watching the Dems twist themselves into pretzels to continue not supporting a Photo ID as all of their stated reasons for opposing it continue to evaporate.

John Mercure

2005-05-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

John Mercure of Channel 4 TV in Milwaukee ran a really powerful investigative piece on Wednesday. He staked out a house where men showed up who allegedly had expected a teenage girl to be home alone. The men allegedly had been communicating with the girl - really Mercure - over the Internet in a sexual nature.

Anyway, Mercure in a radio interview on Thursday stated that Channel 4 purposely did the stakeout in Waukesha County. Why? Because of Paul. Several months ago, Channel 4 did the exact same story in Milwaukee County.

But Mercure said the Milwaukee County DA wouldn't prosecute. Mercure praised Paul and said that Channel 4 believes that Paul is far more likely to prosecute such offenses, basically because of his strong record as a prosecutor.

TV appearance

2005-05-12T16:35:00.000-07:00

Paul's wife, Jessica, will appear on Charlie Sykes' TV show this Sunday on Channel 4. She is a regular panelist on both the Sykes and Belling TV shows.

Photo ID

2005-05-03T18:12:00.000-07:00

So Gov. Doyle vetoed the photo ID bill practically in the dark of night (everyone knows you dump decisions you don't want media attention on at 5 p.m. Friday). Now, the Legislature has failed to override the veto. This is good for the Republican candidates for governor, but bad for election integrity in the state.

Doyle must not get how much this issue is resonating statewide. We hear it constantly on the campaign trail and not just in the Milwaukee area, either. Paul is a big supporter of photo ID. As AG he would make election integrity a PRIORITY. The Democrats keep trouncing out arguments against photo ID that have already been taken care of. For example, they say it will hurt poor people, but the bill would have allowed poor people to get free IDs, and so on.

BTW, there is an interesting article in this week's Time mag on photo ID measures nationally. In the past 2 weeks, says Time, Georgia and Indiana both signed photo ID bills into law. Seven states this year alone, including Arizona and Texas, have considered/are considering implementing photo IDs in voting.

MADD honors Paul

2005-05-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

Paul is to get the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers "difference maker award" Saturday in Madison for being the key safety advocate in his community...

Paul has been very proactive on the issue of drunk driving and alcohol-related crashes. For example, several years ago he created a task force to deal with the problem that brings together various segments of the community, including representatives of local business, taverns, hospitals, schools, law enforcement, and so on.

You can learn more about PARC at http://www.parctaskforce.org/.

Double jeopardy claim tossed

2005-04-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

Still nothing in the Journal Sentinel on the federal judge dismissing a double jeopardy claim filed by defendant Ted Oswald this week. The judge's decision found absolutely no wrongdoing by Paul. This decision was expected but should have been reported since the allegations were reported earlier. A state judge made the same decision this week and said that Paul was simply being a vigorous advocate for the state and to get a guilty verdict against the accused killer of a police officer. That's Paul's job, and he'll continue fighting for the safety of the community and to bring justice to victims.

You can, however, read a story in the Waukesha Freeman.

http://www.gmtoday.com/news/local_stories/2005/April_05/04292005_01.asp

Paul Gets Wagner's #1 Right Stuff Award this week

2005-04-29T10:04:00.000-07:00

Talk show host Jeff Wagner (620 AM - Milwaukee) just named Paul the recipient of his #1 Weekly Right Stuff Award. These awards are designed to recognize people who do the right thing in the community.

Wagner said he was giving Paul the #1 award for his handling of the Ted Oswald case, noting that two big decisions went Paul's way this week:

-Federal judge Lynn Adelman soundly rejected Oswald's double jeopardy motion against Paul (as did a state judge earlier in the week). Adelman and the state judge both said it had no merit.

-The state appeals court ruled that the state can use Oswald's past testimony, overruling a circuit judge.

Amazingly, the Journal Sentinel didn't report either of these developments, even though the paper has written many stories about Oswald's double jeopardy allegations, now soundly rejected.

Note: The paper retracted its false reporting this week that stated that Adelman overturned the case on judicial and prosecutorial error. This is totally false, as the paper admitted in a correction that ran Thursday. No court has overturned the case on prosecutorial error of any fashion - there has never been such a finding. It was overturned on judicial error only.

WMCS

2005-04-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

Paul was featured this week on Milwaukee's WMCS radio. Several Milwaukee TV stations also ran stories about Paul's interview, and it was mentioned in the newspaper.

WMCS is a prominent radio station with a predominant African-American listening audience.

Paul was born and raised in Milwaukee. He is defined in some people's minds with Waukesha County because of his long tenure there. And while that's true, he is also very familiar with the concerns and history of Milwaukee. He went to Pius high school, UW-Milwaukee, and Marquette University. His brother runs a theater in the city, etc. He has garnered very strong support in the Latino community in particular. A friend of ours called Paul a "blue-collar Republican" and that is really true. Paul is a self-made individual.

Correx

2005-04-28T09:13:00.000-07:00

MJS had to run a correction regarding Paul in today's (4/28) paper. If you read yesterday's story on a case of Paul's, the Oswald case, make sure to read the correction in today's paper, on the back of the front page.

We don't mind fair criticism. We do mind it when people don't get the facts straight. But at least they corrected it right away.

Paul's wife

2005-04-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

You can read the latest political column by Paul's wife Jessica at www.wispolitics.com. Charlie Sykes read it on the air this week. Jessica Bucher uses the pen name McBride - her maiden name - because people got used to the byline. Her column is about the increasing power of talk radio. We can really see that power play out on the campaign trail. We can't count how many times members of the GOP faithful have mentioned talk radio at Lincoln Days around the state.

It's a girl!

2005-04-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

It's a girl!

Anne Catherine entered the world 4/23. She is 7 lbs 9 ou. and joins 3 brothers and one big sister!!

Paul gets another award

2005-04-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

Paul just was notified that he's receiving the Kids Day America Children's Empowerment Award!

The award is presented to "individuals who have clearly demonstrated their commitment and dedication to the children of Waukesha." It says, "We feel that you have exemplified the spirit of this award through your involvement with the DARE organizations, Child Fatality Review Team, Tobacco Free Coalition, PARC (Preventing Alcohol-Related Crashes task force), and Invest in Kids program."

Republican Dream Team

2005-04-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

At the Kenosha County Lincoln Day dinner, Congressman Paul Ryan labeled the candidates for governor and attorney general as a Republican "dream team."

He's right. The Republicans have a slate of exciting candidates this year. It's the best chance we've had in years to take back both the governor's and AG seats.

Paul Gets an Award

2005-04-15T15:46:00.000-07:00

I am really proud of Paul. He and his office received a state award this week for his office's crisis response unit. The award was presented by the current AG. This award really tells you a lot about who Paul is and what drives him - he really believes in being a voice for victims. That's what moves him and that's what he's most passionate about. It's why he has embraced tough prosecutions in the past that a lot of prosecutors might shy away from. His crisis response unit assists victims and others affected by tragedies by responding to scenes immediately. Most DA offices in the state don't have crisis response units. Paul has worked hard to make the justice system work more for victims.

(This posting was made by Jessica).

Our New Baby

2005-04-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

It's official! Our new baby will be here by April 23. That's the date labor will be induced if the baby does not arrive by the due date of April 19. We don't know the gender.

If it's a girl, she will be named Anne Catherine, after Paul's deceased mother (Anne) and grandmother (Catherine). Paul's mother in particular was an incredibly strong force in his life. She raised six boys basically on her own.
If the baby is a boy, we are leaning toward Andrew William. The William is after Jessica's grandfather, a now 93-year-old blue collar gentleman who used to make maple syrup in the woods and instilled his love of reading in her.

We will let you know when the baby arrives.

The baby will join four siblings: Breanne, Tim, Chris, and Matty.

Meeting The Maestro

2005-04-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

We met Karl Rove twice recently - at the Lincoln Day dinners for Waukesha County and Walworth/Rock counties. Here are some impressions:

Rove should run for office himself! He is a great stump speaker. Everyone knows he's a political genius but he has a personal charm on the stump that would make him a good candidate.
We got our picture taken with him.
He was most interesting when he provided personal anecdotes about the Bushes, like about how Laura would lie on the sofa pretending to read during campaign strategy talks when everyone knew she was taking in every single word!
His analysis of Wisconsin's presidential race was interesting. He correctly pointed out that Wisconsin, despite going for Kerry, actually helped give the election to Bush. The reason: In the waning days of the election, Kerry was spending his time and resources in Wisconsin, once a reliably blue state -- time and resources he might otherwise have been spending in Ohio and Florida.