31st Senate district candidate Ed Thompson (R-Tomah) has been diagnosed with cancer. Thompson’s policy preferences range from quite reasonable to completely abhorrent, but I respect the man for speaking his mind.
Plus I got a personal grudge against cancer so I’d like to see him whip it. He’s an old boxer after all. Good luck Ed.
Filed under Politics
Ed Thompson, former Libertarian candidate for governor and current Mayor of Tomah and Republican candidate in the 31st Senate District, re-signed the Americans for Tax Reform “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” vowing to vote against any tax increase. ATR is headed by Grover Norquist, unabashed government hater (two more OWN takes).
Thompson traveled to the (partially) taxpayer funded University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire to sign the pledge. College Republicans taking advantage of state subsidized education were there to cheer him on and provide ill-informed quotes to the college newspaper;
“A major reason why people leave Wisconsin is because of the high taxes.”
“A recent alumnus of UW-Eau Claire said it’s too expensive to do business in Wisconsin so alumni relocate elsewhere. He described this shift as an “exodus of revenue.”
“One of the main reasons Wisconsin is kind of falling behind the curve is because they [sic] have such high property taxes, and people move out after they graduate from college.”
Unfortunately the article reads like a Republican press release. Note the statements above are essentially the same claim three times, accepted without question or any further exploration.
More on Ed…
The conservative blogosphere discovered another Thompson flaw — credence for 9/11 conspiracies. Wigderson must have heard sometime after shaking Ed’s hand at Saturday’s Whacky Teabagger Conference, as evidenced by a late night blog comment and tweet.
Nobody likes paying taxes, so despite Grover Norquist’s downright awful rhetoric at times, Thompson isn’t going to catch any hell for signing the ATR pledge at a state university. The 9/11 statement, though made a few years ago, could prove damaging for Thompson by fall.
Yesterday Tomah Mayor and former Libertarian candidate for Governor Ed Thompson declared his candidacy (as a Republican) for the 31st Senate district seat Kathleen Vinehout currently occupies. I heard rumors last week so I’m not surprised, just excited for this campaign to get underway. It will be a good show.
Ed Thompson is a straight-shooter, and I like that. I don’t like the “Wisconsin’s economy is tanking and the state is losing jobs because of taxes” rhetoric in his press release. I just don’t buy it. Taxes in our state are never going to be the lowest in the nation, because Wisconsinites enjoy our quality of life. However Thompson raises one good point–the legislature needs to watch new taxes in this economy. Especially if the Dems want to stay in power.
As for the accuracy of the rest of Mayor Thompson’s statements, a study by the Workforce Alliance projects 426,000 mid-level job openings in Wisconsin by 2016. Mid-level meaning education exceeding a HS diploma, but less than a college degree (essentially tech school). This includes skilled manufacturing jobs, the type right-wingers claim are leaving Wisconsin in droves. (Note: Workforce Alliance appears to be an advocacy group for exactly the kind of education its study claims WI will need)
Sen. Kathleen Vinehout is a wonderful, progressive Senator, she’s got my vote. Check out her speech at Fighting Bob Fest. Ed Thompson still has the website from his 2002 gubernatorial campaign up, so check that out before it becomes Ed for Senate.
Like I said, this is going to be a great race. I can’t wait to see Vinehout and Thompson debate (neither can Vinehout). And when Vinehout wins next November, I hope this means the return of “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted For Ed” bumper stickers.
Filed under Politics
