Requests For Expression

by 3rd Way



Even after taking my love for the tuning fork proposal into account I am still pleased with the stance Chris Abele is taking against the fat sculpture commission the county was contemplating. Awarding a three quarter of a million dollar commission to a small team for a single work is a terrible idea during tough times for local labor. I love a government that makes grand expenditures on artistic amenities, but such amenities should be utilitarian and targeted to employ local labor and talent.

The county should spend the sculpture money by accepting proposals from local artists and designers and awarding commissions based on proposals artistic merits, benefit to community and ability to employee local labor and talent.

A series of artfully designed benches sprinkled along the lakefront that could serve as both playthings for skateboarders and resting spots for walkers would be great. A series of inspired bus shelters aligned down one of the city's busy thoroughfares could greatly enhance a neighborhood. A multi-flight urban exercise/observation stair tower with an awesome long slide down would be a landmark worth erecting. A cleverly designed renovation project to a County Park owned structure converting it to leasable space able to house a small establishment like the Alterra by the lake or the Northpoint burger place could turn a building maintenance liability into a revenue generating asset. Carving up a parking lot sea of asphalt with imaginative ribbons of runoff absorbing plantings would be a good thing.

Giving out seven $100K projects to local teams of aspiring artists would be far more beneficial to the city than one big chunk going to a single team of established art professionals. Seven $100K creative construction projects would help keep locals employed and make our community a more desirable place to reside.

I am sure that if the county sent out a “Request For Artistic Expression” other hungry locals would come up with better ideas for projects that would improve Milwaukee while providing a little boost to local construction firms and the art/design communities. Abele could probably even find donors willing to put up matching funds. Turn the thing into a yearly competition à la the Marcus Prize and within a few years Milwaukee would be a more interesting and vibrant place.

$50 billion is not enough

by folkbum

Believe me, I appreciate that President Obama came to visit and stump and drop a plan for some infrastructure spending. None of those things present a problem. This does:

President Barack Obama will announce on Monday a six-year infrastructure revamp plan with an initial investment of $50 billion to jump-start job creation, a white house official said. [. . .]

With a jobless rate near 10 percent, Democrats are facing predicted losses in the November 2 congressional elections and the Obama administration is trying to convince voters that Democratic policies can lead the way out of the country's deepest recession in 70 years.

$50b? That's a drop in the bucket. As I have noted before, the current recession has sucked an annual $1.2 trillion, with a T as in Trouble, out of the economy. The stimulus passed so far has amounted to a paltry $150 billion, with a B as in Baloney, annually. Even my readers who listen to Glenn Beck can do math well enough to know that $150b is a lot less than $1.2t, even if the decimals make it confusing.

Another $50 billion, spread out over six years, is a pittance. It's laughable. It's embarrassing. Unless this week brings some additional announcements about additional stimulus, the game is over. Obama and the Democrats had a choice to go big or go home. Apparently, they want to go home.

Shovel Ready BS

By Keith R. Schmitz

Always a marvel to watch how purposely planted mis-information courses through the conservative body politic like ptomaine poisoning.

Local right wing sheep herder Charlie Sykes has this charming little habit of drive-by dropping bits of invective. This is sorta like one of the features on the Crazy World of Arthur Brown's performances where his roadies would stir up the crowd by dropping rubber bands on them and shouting "worms."

At the end of a January 26th post slamming the economic stimulus proposals, Sykes salts the end with the comment, "Apparently, Democrats also want to bail out ACORN." This links to his whacko gal pal Michelle Malkin, she the defender 0f America against the threat of keffiyehs.

Malkin parrots Cong. John Boehner's (R-Crybabyland) charge "that the left-wing voter fraud/illegal alien/housing entitlement racketeers at ACORN “could get billions” more in federal taxpayer funding from the Democrats’ stimulus bill."

She makes the jump from "apparently" to "to the victors go the spoils. Stolen from the pockets of your children and grandchildren." As if her Bush buddies have left kiddie pockets unmolested.

Limbaugh also carries the water on this point. At this point I have run out of high-blood pressure meds and you'll have to find the rest of the yodeling yourself.

Media Matters spoils the party and points out:

Limbaugh's claim that pursuant to the economic recovery plan, $4.19 billion "is going to ACORN" is false. The false claim is based on a misrepresentation of a provision that would appropriate $4,190,000,000 "for neighborhood stabilization activities related to emergency assistance for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes as authorized under division B, title III of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008." The provision requires that money to be distributed through competitive processes.

Competitive bidding? Wow! What a concept!

We certainly saw nothing like this during the conduct of the "reconstruction" of Iraq or the rebuilding of the Gulf following Katrina. Maybe Malkin and others of her ilk expect that this is the typical way to conduct government.

But for those of you who fret there is going to be this flood of stimulus ear marks should get used to this bizzare competitive bidding behavior on the part of the Obama administration. Bear in mind they won on a campaign that was rolling in cash yet compelled us volunteers to find donated canvassing space and whose staff largely worked for free.

Habits are hard to break no matter the party.

UPDATE -- The Brawler delves into more of Sykes' lies about the stimulus. 

Brace yourself.  A lot more of this will be rolling down the chute as the GOP gets desperate as they see their fantasies come to an end.