Wisconsin

Scott Walker: 'I'm A Know-Nothing.'

The Political Environment — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:03:00 -0600

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker finally admits he's not a real manager, leader, thinker or risk-taker.

He has shown that he is over-matched by circumstances and expectations basic to his job by explaining away his breathtakingly ignorant position against accepting federal stimulus money - - this time by likening it to taking a $1,000 gift and using it to buy a $60,000 sports car.

What kind of absurd math and financial analysis is that?

Weirdly, Walker thinks he can manipulate the economic collapse into a personal, political advantage - - that somehow there is merit in letting a severely-challenged county do without federal investments and better public services.

Walker is letting doctrinaire, discredited Republican ideology and his 2010 Gubernatorial scheming dictate an 'approach' to a Recession/Depression.

Imagine getting a diagnosis of treatable cancer and being told by the oncologist assigned by your HMO that you can't have the latest and best medicine available - - because the doctor has decided that you should tough it out on your own.

If Walker were able to decline federal funding, Milwaukee County would further position itself negatively against surrounding counties and cities.

Wisconsin

New Great Lakes Blog, Diversion Watch, Has Been Launched

The Political Environment — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:49:00 -0600

Looks good to me. I hope people sign in, read, link and otherwise use it.

Wisconsin

Dow Chemical Gets Minor Wrist Slap

The Political Environment — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:47:00 -0600

Dow Chemical owes the State of Michigan $1.8 million for some dioxin cleanup and related paperwork.

So? The company had 3rd quarter revenues, in a down economy, of more than $15.4 billion.

Hard to tell which is the greater outrage: the toxic pollution, or that the company gets away with a bill, as if that was a big deal.

I see something of a trend - - companies like Dow and Enbridge wreck the environment and get the equivalent of a speeding ticket.

And if not for pressure from environmentalists, the companies would make a clean getaway, so to speak.

Wisconsin

Scott Walker Blows Off Constituency

The Political Environment — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:34:00 -0600

Walker says he doesn't want stimulus funding for Milwaukee County.

Easy for him to say: He has a big salary, fully-paid health care and a great pension.

Talk about a craven and cynical pre-2010 gubernatorial election ploy.

Update: Some Walker supporters think he's off-base, like business leader Tim Sheehy.

I predict the Journal Sentinel will editorially spank Walker, too.

Isn't it time to find a new County Exec, particularly one who will also help break the local and regional transit funding logjam?

Wisconsin

Intoit Improv this Friday--1/9

KickTime — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:21:50 -0600

Nice poster tells the details...actually a few more details are in the full story....

Wisconsin

Looks Like We Can't Afford To Get Repeat OWI Offenders Off The Roads

The Political Environment — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:15:00 -0600

A report says tougher penalties for repeat OWI offenders will break the bank.

And what are the costs to families, employers and society-at-large of not removing multiple-offense OWI defendants from the roads?

Maybe we should put new signs at the state's highway border crossings that say "Welcomes Repeat OWI Offenders, You Misdemeanant Rascals!"

Wisconsin

Walker to Milwaukee County: Drop Dead!

Uppity Wisconsin — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:54:44 -0600

Herbert Hoover Walker, the Man Who Would Be Governor, wants to stick it to Milwaukee.

Trouble is, Walker is the Milwaukee County executive, not some two-bit political hack from Elroy, as one of his GOP opponents once called Tommy "Stick it to 'em" Thompson.

Walker's already said county taxpayers shouldn't pay for programs that only help the city of Milwaukee.

In the name of holding the line on property taxes, he's decimated public services in the county, with deteriorating parks, and a bus system being purposely killed by neglect, just to cite the top of the list.

He's vetoed an attempt to ask county voters whether they would favor a half per cent sales tax to reduce property taxes and fill some of the county's financial hole.

Now he's turned his back on potential federal economic stimulus money, too.

The Journal Sentinel reports:

The only federal economic stimuli Walker endorses are tax cuts...

"The last thing you want to do is put money in hands of government," if the goal is to pull the economy from recession, Walker said.

Wisconsin

Bar License Suspension: Video And More Information

The Political Environment — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:09:00 -0600

The Franklin tavern that lost its license for 90 days admitted it thought a heavy drinker they repeatedly served would leave the premises and sleep it off out in his van - - as they knew he had done previously, according to a Milwaukee television station.

Story and video, here.

Instead, the inebriated patron drove away, 18 drinks later, and killed two people.

For those of you who think this was all an "accident," feel free to read the criminal complaint in the case - - a 19-page history of the defendant's behavior, including multiple OWI convictions as well as the events that led up to the double-fatal crash.

That won the tavern a 90-day suspension, the first of its kind in state history.

And you think the state doesn't enable drunk driving? (Wisconsin has the highest rate of drunken driving in the nation, and national estimates put your chances of being in an alcohol-related traffic crash sometime in your life between 30-60%.)

Two lives lost.

A 90-day suspension.

Wisconsin

National Effort To Direct Stimulus Spending Away From New Highways

The Political Environment — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:13:00 -0600

In other words, away from adding at least $200 million in unnecessary and wasteful new lanes on I-94 from Milwaukee to Illinois, and towards repairs of roads and bridges first.

The coalition Transportation For America makes this salient point:

"Now is not the time to squander money on wasteful projects or to give states a blank check for new road construction. We must demand accountability and transparency from the states. We simply cannot afford to build new roads to crumbling bridges."

I'd add transit to the to-do list, especially rail, where Wisconsin is deficient, and where rail-oriented development would add long-term benefits at stations and along routes.

The I-94 plan is part of a $6.5 billion, 25-year, seven-county regional freeway expansion and reconstruction plan, with 127 miles of new lanes added to several major highways.

The plan was crafted by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC), an unelected body, and on which the City of Milwaukee, with a population larger than five of the seven individual counties, has no direct representation.

Wisconsin

Clean Waters In Wisconsin?

The Political Environment — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:05:00 -0600

There's the myth, the picture postcard memories of canoeing, fishing and swimming - - and there's the reality.

Every two years, the state's must compile a list of so-called "impaired" bodies of water that fail to meet clean water standards.

I find this long list from 2008 depressing and alarming.

Context here, from Midwest Environmental Advocates, a public interest law firm.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Is At Ground Zero For Coal Ash Dumping

The Political Environment — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:59:00 -0600

The New York Times front page story today about the dangers inherent in piles of burned coal by-products (fly ash) shows Wisconsin with a big concentration of fly ash dumps.

Here's the map.

Anyone keeping an eye on these dumps, and the hazards they pose to groundwater, air quality and other public health issues?

Michigan media are already tracking dumps near the Great Lakes, including in Wisconsin, and all this comes in the wake of a disasterous spill in Tennessee.

Wisconsin

Supreme Court candidate courts the gun lobby

Uppity Wisconsin — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:50:50 -0600

Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson's opponent, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Randy Koschnick, had barely filed his nomination petitions when he began pressing the flesh -- at a gun show in LaCrosse.

Koschnick told WXOW-TV the gun show gave him a chance to meet voters. It was such a good chance he campaigned there two days in a row.

It speaks volumes about the candidate and his candidacy.

And, yes, the gun nuts at the National Rifle Assn. do endorse in Supreme Court races.

If Koschnick doesn't advertise the inevitable NRA endorsement when it comes, the Abrahamson campaign should. The Gableman race notwithstanding, the NRA's track record is pathetic. The vast majority of Wisconsin voters
support reasonable restrictions on firearms, which is why the NRA is so ineffective politically.

Doubt that? Ask Gov. Jim Doyle, who was the NRA's number one national target for defeat when he ran for re-election in 2006. How'd that turn out?

Wisconsin

Progressive Infrastructure Hacked

Uppity Wisconsin — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:00:05 -0600

A large part of the U.S. progressive blogging infrastucture was hacked overnight and is currently down or defaced. Many of the blogs in the 50-State Blog Network are hosted on the SoapBlox platform. At least one of the SoapBlox servers was hacked overnight, and the sites hosted on that server have been defaced or are down currently. This includes sites such as

Blue Hampshire
Blue Jersey
Blue Mass Group
MN Progressive Project
My Left Wing (site loads w/o diaries)
Never in our Names
Pam's House Blend
Swing State Project
West Michigan Rising

Personally I have always thought that having large amounts of the progressive infrastructure hosted with one small company was a mistake, which is why we've developed Uppity Wisconsin on it's own open-source platform, Drupal.

Our condolences go out to the various sites that are down, and we hope they'll recover soon.

Wisconsin

Overture: Now Is the Time To Act

Waxing America — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:30:09 -0600

The offer from the Madison Culture Arts District (MCAD) board to turn the Overture Center over to the city of Madison is the best start possible to resolving the issues confronting the performing arts center. As the Wisconsin State Journal reported,

Owner wants to give Overture Center to city; not a good idea, mayor says

Overture Center's owner wants to give the $205 million arts facility to the city of Madison or another entity for $1 as part of a complex deal to secure its long-term future, a letter obtained by the Wisconsin State Journal shows.

City officials are balking about taking responsibility for the gleaming but financially strapped facility on the 200 block of State Street.

The alternative may be a bank foreclosure on the building, the letter says.

The next step is to create a city commission to look at the the three fundamental issues: resolving the debt related to construction, a new structure for Overture, and a long term planning regarding finances and programming.

Wisconsin

Tar Sand Oil Hitting The Fan

The Political Environment — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:00:00 -0600

Environmental costs, financial costs, political costs - - you name it and it's causing tar sand exploitation to slow down in Canada and come under greater scrutiny on both sides of the US-Canada border.

That doesn't mean that Murphy Oil still isn't dreaming of that $6-$7 billion expansion to accept and refine tar sand oil at its Superior facility, a project that some state elected officials tout as compatible with a pristine Lake Superior, unpolluted wetlands and clean air, too.

One report predicted inevitable Great Lakes pollution from the tar sand industry, as refineries sprout and expand on the shorelines.

Extracting oil from tar sand is extremely energy/water/land-intensive, hence the product's reputation as dirty and expensive.

Refineries in Indiana and Michigan are also slated to accept tar sand oil shipments for refining.

There are 30 additional posts on this blog about tar sand oil. Use the search box on the left at the top of the homepage.

Wisconsin

RNC Chairman Fears Minority Party Status

The Political Environment — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:58:00 -0600

Has be been chaneling this blog?

Wisconsin

Vernon Vineyards story at January 13th I&E Club

KickTime — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:23:31 -0600

The next Vernon Crawford Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club meeting is Tuesday, January 13th at the Gays Mills Community Building, 212 Main Street. Program starts at 6:30 pm, doors open at 6:00 pm.  Everyone is welcome! The speakers this month will be Bob Starks and Loren Cade, co-owners of Vernon Vineyards Winery.  They established the vineyard in 2001 and the winery in the summer of 2006 as the first winery in Vernon County.  They will share what they learned through their experience on "How to Survive as a New Business" including researching your idea, risk management, marketing, budgeting and finances.  According...

Wisconsin

This Gun Owner/Wielder Should Have Called The Police

The Political Environment — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:25:00 -0600

Store owner gets ten years for shooting and wounding a suspected 'burglar.'

Two lives ruined.

Wisconsin

Geothermal Energy Tapped For New UW-Madison Building

The Political Environment — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:36:00 -0600

Pretty cool, so to speak.

Wisconsin

Ladies and Gentlemen - I Give You The Next Senator from Minnesota!

Uppity Wisconsin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:47:56 -0600

As I am sure you all now by now, Al Franken was recently declared the victor over Norm Coleman for the senate seat from Minnesota. What you may not know is that at least at one time, Al looked really good in tights. This is a video from Solid Gold, some time in the eighties, of Al Franken and Tom Davis, impersonating the Stones - I'd like to see Norm Coleman gyrate like this- proving again that Democrats are much sexier than Republicans:

Wisconsin

Rep. Zepnick Gets It Right On Tavern License Revocation

The Political Environment — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:15:00 -0600

State Rep. Josh Zepnick, (D-Milwaukee), makes the right suggestion when calling for license revocations from two bartenders and a Franklin tavern where a "blitzed" patron drank heavily, then killed two pedestrians nearby on Christmas Day, 2007.

Update: Franklin, tavern agree ti 90-day closing.

Some history, here.

Records cited by the Journal Sentinel alleged "the bartenders continued serving alcohol to [the defendant] - including at least nine 12-ounce beers and nine shots of alcohol over 6.5 hours – even after they knew he was intoxicated."

More information, and the criminal complaint, here.

Like all licensed businesses, a tavern exists only because local officials approve.

Tavern operations are a privilege, not a right.

Other taverns have had their licenses withdrawn or not renewed following public safety threats and incidents, such as shootings or repeated police calls, and in this case, two people died in part because of the tavern's behavior.

Wisconsin

JS Editorial Blog Delivers Kevin Fischer Smackdown

The Political Environment — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:49:00 -0600

As the kids say in text, LOL.

Wisconsin

Kutler on Blagojevich, Burris, and the Constitution

Waxing America — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:15:50 -0600

The nice thing about reading Stanley Kutler's* commentary on national affairs that have their roots in thorny Constitutional issues is that he informs, he educates, and he knows the topic. It's like going back to school. I did take four courses from him as both an undergraduate and graduate student at the University of Wisconsin.

Writing at Truth-dig, he cogently outlines the political and legal issues facing the United States Senate and the Democratic Party with the appointment by humbled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich of his nominee, Roland Burris (Burris refused seat in US Senate.):

Understanding the Constitution sometimes is like interpreting the Talmud. Two scholarly readings bring forth three opinions. Article I, Section 5, of the Constitution is rather straightforward: “Each House shall be the judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualification of its own Members..."

Nice. Now what do they do? For the full story, go to Kutler's article: Blagojevich vs. The Senate:

Wisconsin

Add Phoenix To Cities Overcoming The Light Rail Phobia

The Political Environment — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:51:00 -0600

Phoenix... and Dallas, Norfolk, Denver, St. Louis, Baltimore, Portland, Minneapolis, Memphis, San Diego, New Orleans, Charlotte, Houston, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, Cleveland, Kenosha.

Red states. Blue states. Cold states. Warm states. Big cities. Small cities. Aging cities. Booming cities. Conservative cities. Liberal cities. East, west, north, south, coastal, Midwestern.

(Maybe I missed a few, so here is a list.) And many have commuter rail, subways, and other coordinated rail systems.

But not Milwaukee. Or Madison - - for three reasons: Fear of talk radio, business community passivity, and lack of political will at the state and local level.

There is nothing meritorious about being the exception. The message we send is that we are stubbornly content to be left at the station with clean, city-friendly and job-creating transit options declined.

Wisconsin

Milwaukee Shut Out Of Assembly Urban Affairs Committee

The Political Environment — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:12:00 -0600

Well, Madison's got two of five Democratic appointments, with the rest to even smaller municipalities, like Manitowoc, so I guess that covers it from The One Big Wisconsin City's perspective.

Reminds me of the dealing that went down after the November elections, which saw Dems win both houses but leave Milwaukee without a legislative leadership position.

Hat tip to Michael Horne.

Wisconsin

Why We Lost The Cold War

Waxing America — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:08:00 -0600

As a child growing up in the nineteen fifties there were plenty of reminders about the never-ending battle against Soviet Communism.

In and out of the classroom we knew of the value of our democracy, the freedoms we enjoyed as Americans. We had open and free elections, though blacks could not vote in the South where the poll tax ensured the rule of whites. We could travel across our great country without having to show identification or answering to anyone as to our purpose, so long as there was no probable cause to stop us.

The differences were not limited to democratic values.

The virtues of capitalism were everywhere. In Poland, peasants stood in line for hours for a loaf of bread. In Moscow it took weeks, no months, to have a telephone installed. And the Soviet airline Aeroflot was a joke, United States Airlines Compete With Aeroflot - And Win :

Wisconsin

Peace in 2009: Finding the Connections Between Faiths

KickTime — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:21:09 -0600

Please join us for Peace in 2009: Finding the Connections Between Faiths, Friday, Jan. 9 and Saturday, Jan. 10 at the Spirituality Center. Presenters are Michael Sersch - Quaker, Sanna Walters - Mennonite, June Kjome - Christian, Daoud Jandal - Muslim, Simcha Prombaum - Jewish, Tom Roberts - Buddhist. They will describe how the teachings of their religion give them personal support in bringing peace into their own lives and extending it out into the world. They will each offer a prayer for peace from their tradition. Following the presentations will be an introduction to compassionate or nonviolent communication. This...

Wisconsin

Rail Clicking Along...Elsewhere

The Political Environment — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:51:00 -0600

When I was a kid growing up in Washington, DC, the notion of a city subway system was a dream.

Now the Metro could find its stations linked by a separate train system, the Purple Line, for which campaign-style signs have sprouted in neighborhoods in the Maryland suburbs and on lawns within walking distance of the only home my parents ever owned in Somerset, near the District line.

Part of a national rail trend, though still stymied in Wisconsin - - but achievable if federal stimulus funding coming our way is invested properly.

Wisconsin

Sure To Be The Perpetually-Victimized Right's Next Fake Controversy

The Political Environment — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:57:00 -0600

Hate-monger Ann Coulter gets cut from an NBC interview, and cyber-gossip extraordinaire Drudge is reporting that she is banned from NBC is for life.

Don't media have the right to pick their interviewees?

Don't all authors have to work and earn their way onto these shows, and if their statements are repeatedly reprehensible thus talk their way out of return visits - - as Coulter has apparently done?

Her schtick is to be outrageous. It sells books, but also creates blowback.

She dishes it out, as do her champions, so let's see how loud they cry about the consequences and what they think it reveals about the fake siege righties are under.

Wisconsin

Brown County Joins Milwaukee/Dane/Racine/Waukesha Counties, Et Al, On Dirty Air Indicies

The Political Environment — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:11:00 -0600

More evidence that Wisconsin has a great deal of work to do getting its major population centers on to the clean and healthy air lists.

One 10-county DNR non-attainment list here.

Dane County's situation, here.

Wisconsin

It's 2009 - - Still No Meeting Date For SEWRPC Housing Study Committee

The Political Environment — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:36:00 -0600

SEWRPC 'rushed' the naming of the committee to mollify its federal recertification evaluators in the fall of 2008, but the committee has yet to schedule its first meeting, according to the SEWRPC website.

Remember that SEWRPC last completed a regional housing plan in 1975.

And has been promising since 2004 to fix this oversight.

So let's be generous and say this study get started sometime this year, wraps up in 2010 and is published in 2011.

Pretty timely for a state and region with a full-blown housing crisis unfolding right now.

Wisconsin

Krugman Right Again

The Political Environment — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:44:00 -0600

An earlier post that referenced Paul Krugman set off some interesting comments, as have other posts about the economy and public spending.

Krugman won his Nobel Prize for his academic work, but is better known through his New York Times' columns, so here is his thinking about the stimulus planning.

Republicans who are already laying traps for the Obama initiative might take Krugman's political and economic opinions to heart, since I think we're all still in this together, right?

Wisconsin

Don't Have A Cow, Man!

The Political Environment — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:40:00 -0600

This ain't goin' nowhere.

Wisconsin

Al Franken's US Senate Career Is About To Begin

The Political Environment — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:33:00 -0600

Norm Coleman's term has expired, along with nearly all his reasonable options to hold his seat.

A Republican, Coleman was always an odd pick to replace the more liberal Paul Wellstone (D), a plane crash victim.

Wisconsin

Kickapoo Reserve Winter Festival in La Farge 1/10

KickTime — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:21:14 -0600

Saturday January 10, 9 am - 4 pm: Chili & Bread Contest, Kickapoo Quick Auction, Mutt Race, and much more. All the details at their website (pdf download.)...

Wisconsin

Stimulus Funds Can Get Madison, Milwaukee, Kenosha, Racine And Chicago On Track

The Political Environment — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:43:00 -0600

There's been so much talk over the decades - - but little action - - about the wisdom of better cooperation involving Madison and Milwaukee, so here's a modest proposal:

The city councils and mayors of both jurisdictions sign letters or resolutions urging Gov. Doyle to elevate local and inter-city rail projects as top priorities for the spending of transportation stimulus funds from the federal government after the inauguration of Barack Obama.

This list would include rail to connect the two largest cities in the state, the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter line connecting SE Wisconsin to the Chicago market, and local trolley or additional commuter rail systems, so that both cities and their respective counties are not only linked together but can construct integrated, 21st century transit systems that augment their rather static bus operations.

This would be a state-defined-and-sponsored program that much more-tightly knits together Madison with the industrial and commercial centers in SE Wisconsin all the way to Illinois, and that induces transit-oriented development along the right-of-way and the creation of permanent, transit-system employment.

Wisconsin

Small Wind Turbines Could Work In Downtown Milwaukee

The Political Environment — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 07:00:00 -0600

I see no reason why developers in Milwaukee couldn't use this emerging technology.

An item for Mayor Barrett's Green Team, perhaps?

Wisconsin

SEWRPC Leaves Out-Dated Information On Its Website

The Political Environment — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 06:45:00 -0600

Four weeks ago, I noted that the economic profile linked at the economic development button on the home page of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission was so out of date that the top bank in a list of the three largest banks, Bank One of Wisconsin, didn't exist anymore after a take over by Chase Morgan.

And that the phone number in the disappeared bank's information now belonged to Kincaid's, a downtown Milwaukee chophouse.

Doesn't the menu look more mouthwatering that SEWRPC's water supply study?

But seriously, here we are a month later, and the same stale data is still on the SEWRPC website.

What gives? No delete button on SEWRPC's computers?

Wisconsin

Commuter Rail Fast Facts, FromTransitNow,org

The Political Environment — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 06:36:00 -0600

This blog often carries items and comments about commuter rail and the proposed Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) line.

From its lead advocacy group, here are some useful fast facts.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Supreme Court: WMC (And the rest of us) are watching

Waxing America — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:39:00 -0600

You can get all of the details in an excellent article by AP reporter Ryan J. Foley, Case could rewrite corporate law in Wisconsin.

A case before the Wisconsin Supreme Court could have a major impact on the power of corporations and their relationships with unions, banks and vendors.

The court will decide whether owners can make business decisions for their personal benefit at the expense of creditors, workers and the corporations themselves or whether they have obligations to those interests. Oral arguments are set for Jan. 7.

This is a case where you need a scorecard to keep the players straight. Let me summarize:

Wisconsin

Obama Eyes Huge Tax Cuts; Right-Wing Will Be Confused

The Political Environment — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 18:48:00 -0600

Tax cuts? Really? Keeping a campaign promise?

Really?

How will the right complaint about this?

Wisconsin

Economic Downturn -Environmental Effects?

Uppity Wisconsin — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:15:21 -0600

The continuing economic downturn is having growing effects in many areas. One of them is the declining revenue most municipalities are receiving from recycling, which is endangering recycling programs across the country.

Most of Outagamie County currently has no recycling at all , since the contracted recycling vendor has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and can no longer afford to handle the county's recyclables. This could easily just be a temporary oddity, but a continuing decline in recycling revenue could make this a common occurrence, filling our landfills with even more needless junk.

H/T to TrulyTerrie

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Republican Legislators: Sykes or rationality? What now?

Waxing America — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:35:56 -0600

When the Democrats gained a majority in the Wisconsin Assembly, giving the party control of both houses of the legislature, the sweetness of victory was salted by the pending budgetary problems.

As I noted in November, Charlie Sykes's Newest Rule: Never Grow Up, some, like right-wing radio gossip Charlie Sykes breathed a sigh of relief, were pleased with the outcome for shallow politcal reasons:

For the first time in more than two decades, Democrats now control all the levers of state government, which means that it falls to them to single-handedly solve the state’s massive (and ever-growing) budget hole...

and then expressed joy, given the horrific crisis facing the state:

For their part, Republicans have the luxury of sitting back and watching all of this from the sidelines.

Wisconsin

Franken's MN Senate Vote Lead Widens

The Political Environment — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:29:00 -0600

He'll be certified the winner.

Wisconsin

No Prevent Defense

Uppity Wisconsin — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 09:23:00 -0600

President-elect Obama and Congress should charge forward, think big, and run roughshod over Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky).

McConnell is the main obstacle now between enacting a progressive public policy in multiple spheres, promising obstruction and more of Bushism.

Now is not the time for the prevent defense.

That’s a football metaphor for a defensive posture intended to protect a lead that usually allows opponents to rack up yardage and score points, often resulting in losing a game. [My boyfriend tells me football has changed somewhat, but this metaphor still works].

In any event, Obama and Congress should think big, and let us see the uglier side of Rhambo (Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel) and Reid (Senate majority leader from Nevada).

Blasting away every Republican screw-up, and every tool they use to obstruct and lie is what most Americans want.

We got here to fix the disasters of the Republicans and change the country to help people.

So, let’s not pretend that the last election was an electoral mandate for McConnell.

It's the two-minute warning, and it's time to pull out all measures to move.

Wisconsin

The Road To Sprawlville, Chapter XXIV - - A National Route

The Political Environment — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:45:00 -0600

Right through the pristine western Montana forests, courtesy of George W. Bush and the timber lobbyist making policy.

Wisconsin

When Wisconsin Blows Its Stimulus $$ On Highways: A Prediction

The Political Environment — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 22:13:00 -0600

Here's the prediction:

The State Department of Transportation will not have enough engineers and managers to get the work done efficiently.

So more of the management and oversight will be jobbed out, enriching the contractors by putting them in the driver's seat.

K-ching, k-ching. Just think of the work order changes coming down the pike - - those paperwork adjustments to contracts that build up the bottom line after the cobntract has been let.

Wisconsin

Milwaukee's Seth Foldy Named Wisconsin's Chief Doctor

The Political Environment — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 16:40:00 -0600

The Doyle administration has named Dr. Seth Foldy the state government's chief doctor.

This is an excellent appointment; we served together in the administration of former Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist, and I can say with total assurance that Dr. Foldy is a true believer in public health.

And is a genuine practitioner in proactive parternships between people and agencies in health care policy-making and provision.

Wisconsin

The Pinery Boys

Chippewa Guide — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:32:48 -0600

Menomonie Public Library's "The Big Read" presents The Pinery Boys. Journey back in time where you will hear authentic, "a-capella" logging-era music sung in four-part harmony. Songs reflect the dreams, joys, sorrows, work and play of the everyday life of the logging camps. The performance also includes dialogue, skits, slide images and period costumes which help complete this vivid picture of the hard-working lumberjacks.

Wisconsin

Namji Kim & Paul Kosower

Chippewa Guide — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 12:31:13 -0600

Eau Claire pianist Namji Kim and cellist Paul Kosower perform a variety of classical masterpieces.

Wisconsin