Short Takes

by Ken Van Doren

• WOW! Leinenkugel pulls out, endorses Ron Johnson, and so does the convention. Is Ron the Real Deal? I like what I read but have been burnt before, so I am less likely to kiss on the first date. But I will be watching and listening…

And Terrence Wall resigns the U.S. Senate race as well, after coming in a distant second in the endorsement process. I wonder how much that truncated race cost him? Thank goodness for Wall that his judgement was not overridden by his ego.

By the way Terrence, thanks for the ice cream and doughnuts at the convention. * * *

• How about that Governor Chris Christie? Standing up to the demagoguery of the teachers’ union, and defending the taxpayers in New Jersey. If you have not seen the Youtube presentation, you should (search “NJ Governor tells teacher she can quit”). A Christie quote from that adventure:

A retired teacher paid $62,000 towards her pension and nothing— yes, nothing— for full family medical, dental, and vision coverage over her entire career. What will we pay her? $1.4 million in pension benefits and another $215,000 in health care benefit premiums over her lifetime. Is it “fair” for all of us and our children to have to pay for this excess? [Is it] fair to have New Jersey taxpayers foot the bill for 100 percent of the health-insurance costs of teachers and their families from the day they are hired until the day they die? Is it fair that teachers have a better, richer health plan than even state workers and pay absolutely nothing for it?

If there were more Republicans like Christie, I would have joined the party long before I did. * * *

• He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance. ~ Declaration of Independence.