Friday Random Ten

The I go away for a week and this place falls apart Edition
I mean, there's record-breaking snow, Don Imus gets fired, Kurt Vonnegut dies, the Thompson-Biskupik show goes national . . .

1. "The Dream" Peter Mulvey from Rapture
2. "Do You Remember" Jack Johnson from In Between Dreams
3. "If This Were a Movie" The Nields from Bob on the Ceiling
4. "He Never Mentioned Love" Kirsty MacColl from Electric Landlady
5. "Holy Now" Peter Mayer from Million Year Mind
6. "Standing" Patty Griffin from Impossible Dream
7. "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" Dar Williams from My Better Self
8. "Will I Be Married" The Jayhawks from Blue Earth
9. "Laughlin Boy" Tracy Grammer from Flower of Avalon
10. "Little Martha" The Allman Brothers Band from Eat a Peach

Too Close for Comfort

by krshorewood

The suspicion about the Georgia Thompson conviction and its proximity to the November election has oozed past the lefty Badger blogs to the op-ed pages of today's New York Times.

The editorial Another Layer of Scandal raises the point:

"The prosecution was a boon to Mr. Doyle’s opponent. Republicans ran a barrage of attack ads that purported to tie Ms. Thompson’s “corruption” to Mr. Doyle. Ms. Thompson was sentenced shortly before the election, which Governor Doyle won."

Fortunately the fact that Doyle was running against an empty suit and the Rush Limbaugh buffoonery regarding Michael J. Fox on the stem cell issue enabled the campaign to climb over this obstruction.

On the opposite page Paul Krugman as usual nails it:

"...[I]n Wisconsin, ... the Bush-appointed U.S. attorney prosecuted the state’s purchasing supervisor over charges that a court recently dismissed after just 26 minutes of oral testimony, with one judge calling the evidence “beyond thin.” But by then the accusations had done their job: the unjustly accused official had served almost four months in prison, and the case figured prominently in attack ads alleging corruption in the Democratic governor’s administration."

We in Wisconsin know cheesy. And when the aroma equates Limburger and wafts all the way to New York, you know that we are on to something.

More and more it appears that the federal prosecutor's office, which is supposed to be a tool for justice, seems more a means of extracting Democrats from office.

Good Cause, Bad War

By Bert

This story earlier this past week about the war widow Penny Splinter impressed me. I'm giving a little to her project, which encourages mutual support to those who loved a soldier who has died in our current wars.

Being There-Reaching Out is different from American Gold Star Mothers and Gold Star Wives in that it's open to anyone who was close to a person who lost his or her life in a combat zone far from Wisconsin. Of the 80 or so people expected at this month's gathering in Madison, five are fiancées.

Donations to Being There-Reaching Out can be sent to TCF Bank, 7617 W. Blue Mound Road, Milwaukee, WI 53213. Disclaimer: Neither I nor the Folkbum media empire as a whole can vouch for the integrity of the account or the program.

The Slumber of the Journal Sentinel

by krshorewood

Those who anguish over the so-called "liberal media" should take solace in the editorial staff at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. They were strangely somnolent during the Tommy Thompson/Scott Jensen reign when Madison quickly drove away from it's clean politics image and drove over our proud progressive tradition.

Of course this reality will not muzzle Charlie Sykes over at the Journal broadcast division but hey, he has a mob to run.

So now the watchdogs rummaged around and found their dentures to sink into Jim Doyle's behind. With the gallons of ink breathlessly splashed on the front page -- usually -- of the Journal recounting Doyle's supposed corruption, you'd think the current administration stumbled out of the woods and discovered every angle possible to corrupt our government.

While most if not all of the cases against the Doyle administration are literally so flimsy you can see through them, the Georgia Thompson by-stander shooting was the most gossamer of them all.

You don't need to read it here because it is all over the place, but there wasn't much of a case adjacent Thompson as evidenced by her springing from prison this week. This was so much so that Federal Prosecutor Steven Biskupic failed to show up to defend what he did last year.

No matter for the Journal. Every detail real and imaginary was without fail reported as the trial against Thompson unfolded.

Don't get me wrong. I am all for crusading, bold, deep digging journalism. But at the Journal it only goes half way. They seem to run out of gas when it comes to Republicans.

Witness the screaming outrage in the Journal about supposed deals of disgraced business man Troha and Doyle over campaign contributions. This torrent becomes a trickle when it comes to any relationship with Congressman Paul Ryan and Troha.

Sorry George Stanley. We do have the internet and despite your protestations it is easy to verify the coverage in the Journal news-hole lists seriously to the right.

Now this morning we read in the Journal that their victim Thompson, as I had thought, is hundreds of thousands in debt thanks to this fizzled prosecution. This is no get out of jail free card.

When civil servant Thompson washed up on the shore she would be economically ruined. But as usual she is one of the many eggs the right wing breaks when it makes another of their omelets.

When are people going to wake up to the notion that if you yank in under a quarter of a million in annual income, you are just so much detritus to those on the right?

Want more proof? Look at another story that details how after FOUR YEARS an upset father of an Iraq US military fatality forced the Dept. of Defense to finally greet the bodies of returning soldiers with an honor guard, rather than unloading the body "like so much luggage."

Millions in this country see their life-savings sacrificed on the altar of our "free enterprise" healthcare system. But no matter. We somehow vaguely benefit from right-wing business as usual.

I hope someone starts a fund to pass the hat for Thompson.

As for the editors at the Journal, how do they sleep at night? File this whole thing under disgusting.

Friday Random Ten

The Spriiiiiiiing Breeeeeeaaaaak!!!!! Edition

1. "Breaking Through the Radio" Ellis Paul from The Speed of Trees
2. "Spring Street" Dar Williams from The Green World
3. "Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart" Whiskeytown from Faithless Street
4. "Spring Wind" Greg Brown from If I Had Known
5. "Spring & All" Mary Chapin Carpenter from Going Driftless
6. "I'm Not Going to Let You Break My Heart" Carrie Newcomer from The Bird or the Wing
7. "Southland in the Springtime" Indigo Girls from Nomads Indians Saintd
8. "Piper Road Spring Boogie" Dan Frechette from Lucky Day
9. "Postcards from Mexico" Girlyman from Remember Who I Am
10. "Breakdown" Jack Johnson from In Between Dreams

Thursday Thumbs

Another in a series wherein I express my approval or disapproval concerning news of the week, happenings, or other trivia through a cute graphic, rather than with my usual long, hard-to-follow, and humorless rants and rambling.

Thumbs down to Jessica McBride. Someone needs to tell her that the elections this week were non-partisan. She called it for Republicans on the radio; she thinks the fact that no Democrats won (in a non-partisan race) is bad for the Democrats; and she's giddy that a Democrat didn't win Milwaukee County in a non-partisan race. (Oh, and Jessica: City of Milwaukee turnout will be double or triple next year, as we'll be voting for mayor. Unless you think "ominous" means something else entirely.)

Thumbs down to Mark Belling, who is clearly dumber than a box of hammers, and only half as pretty.

Thumbs up to new and improved Hellfire and Damnation Tommy. (I think they airbrushed out the spittle.)

Thumbs up to Paul Soglin, who made my endorsement record look good.

Thumbs down to cancer. The folkbum household extends its condolences to Ken.

Thumbs down to the Bush Administration for killing SeniorCare. I'm not going to blame you, my readers, for not clapping hard enough. What's funny is how some people are the guy who tried hardest to save it.

Thumbs up to Georgia Thompson. And her attorney. And the appellate judges who saw through the crap.

Hm. Seems like mostly downers this week. Sorry bout that.

Wispolitics.com Blog Summit: What do you want to see?

by folkbum

Given the, um, consternation surrounding this year's Blog Summitt, Jeff Mayers and the WisPolitics crew is actively seeking your feedback, not only for this year but for future summits. You can take the survey now, and the results will help inform not only the content of the panel I'm doing with Owen, but also the shape of summits to come. And see you on the 28th!

Who's "sloppier," Ziegler or Zellner?

by folkbum

I was originally working on this as an update to the post below, but it kind of grew too big. And since I'm really curious for an answer to the question above (and as phrased below), I thought I'd pull it out and give it its own post.

I'm not sure how Patrick McIlheran can say that Judge Ziegler's ethical lapses are just "evidence of her sloppiness" and that we merely "conflate[d] it into a scandal." This is not sloppy, unless you mean that kind of sloppy wherein someone deliberately chooses not to follow the rules--think McGuire and steroids, Troha and campiagn finance, Paris Hilton and good taste.

An interesting parallel might be the case of Robert Zellner, the Cedarbug teacher who violated his code of conduct, once, for 67 seconds, on a weekend. There is no question that Zellner was wrong, and yesterday a circuit court agreed that the school district should have fired him.

Ziegler has violated her code literally scores of times, in the direct execution of her duties--not just on a weekend with no one around. But to the righties commenting on Zellner's case--and to many at the same time defending Ziegler--he should be run out on a rail.

So here's my question: Are those defending Ziegler willing to give Zellner a pass for his sloppiness? Or, conversely, are people condemning Zellner willing to accept that Ziegler deserves the scrutiny that Zellner got?

Quick Reactions

by folkbum

• Well, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (and the Club for Growth) have now shown us their playbook. As disappointing (and frustrating) as Linda Clifford's loss was last night, we can feel somewhat reassured by knowing that the balance of the court has not shifted (Ziegler's win maintains the status quo), and we now the hand WMC will be playing next year against Louis Butler. (See Jim Rowen.)
  
  There also remains the possibility of the complaints against Ziegler working their way far enough up that she may have to resign; remember, we're talking now upwards of 100 or 150 cases in which she violated both the spirit and the plain letter of the state's judicial code of conduct. I realize that chance is remote--and, if it happens, it will look unfortunately like partisan wrangling rather than a necessary step against an unethical judge--but that's one small light we can cling to.
  
  UPDATE: Welcome, McIlheran readers. My response to him is here.
  
  
• Not all of the school board races turned out as I wanted them too, but the one I helped with did (and that never happens). The next few weeks, before the new board is seated, will be interesting just in terms of what kind of maneuvering will be done before the old board expires. And the new board will have quite a challenge, integrating three newbies (and one oldbie) into the game. My prediction for new board president: Peter Blewitt, again.
  
  
• The folkbum endorsement proved to be the kiss of death as well for Vicky Selkowe in a Madison city council race. Maybe I should just endorse Rudy Giuliani now?
  
  
• There's some very interesting discussion about the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's last-minute hating on Linda Clifford. I don't have a lot to add to what Michael (twice), Xoff, and the Brawler have to say, though I'm curious what you all think.
  
  
• You may have noticed the list of guest-bloggers is getting longer. I'm hoping at least one more person will accept my invitation. I need to rest up my blogging muscles between now and when the state budget fight heats up, so you'll see more posts from other people in the coming weeks. Be nice to them.

Vote Today!

Here's where I'll be tonight, assuming my insides are not still trying to rip themselves out of my body:

Please join Terry Falk, candidate for School Board District 8, on Tuesday, April 3rd, 8-10:30pm for a Victory Party at The Highbury Pub, 2322 S. Kinnickinnic (Lincoln and KK).

Join supporters in toasting a new era when Milwaukee children's interests will prevail over the inte rests of out-of-state contributors who are pro-privatization and pro-voucher.

Raise a glass with Terry in support of art, music and physical education programs within our public schools.

Let's look forward to having a school board representative who welcomes your phone calls in regard t o concerns that some of our high schools are plagued with disorganization and violence.

At least she got second place

by folkbum

Looks like Mandy Jenkins will take home the $80 consolation prize, since Florida seems to have won last night. Sorry, Mandy.

The folkbum endorsement: Una Van Duvall for Milwaukee Common Council, 6th District

I don't live in Michael McGee Jr.'s district, so I have not been following the recall election as closely I could. And, again, since I'm not feeling well, I will let two others make the case for Una Van Duvall here that persauded me:

I am hoping that Una VanDuvall replaces Michael McGee as Alderman in the 6th district. I support her candidacy because Una is a strong and dedicated woman who is committed to the betterment of her community. I happen to know that first hand. Though I don't live in the area, I do go to a church in the neighborhood, and understand on some level the challenges of the people in that area. Una's and my paths have crossed a couple of times over the years, and she has shown passion and leadership in facing the challenges in our community. I think she would be a good representative for the neighborhood, and work to improve the lives of her constituents.

She is currently seeking support from educators. Below is a letter from School Board member Jennifer Morales, also seeking your support for Una's candidacy, as well as some of Una's position statements on education issues.

Thanks, Kris Collett

Dear Educator and Friend,

As an educator, you know well that the strength of our commitment to our students at a young age directly and dramatically affects their likelihood of success in life.

Una Van Duvall, candidate for Alderwoman in the 6th District, is a strong believer in public education. Una grew up in Los Angeles, California, graduating from a public high school there. Her daughter, Ife, attended Milwaukee Public Schools during the years she lived in Milwaukee, first as a student at Oliver Wendell Holmes Elementary School and then at Hartford Middle School.

Please join the growing list of EDUCATORS FOR UNA, Milwaukee educational leaders and teachers who support Una Van Duvall for 6th District Alderwoman.

Together we can elect a Milwaukee Common Council that advocates for our students and works hard to improve their chances for success... starting with Una in the 6th.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Morales, Milwaukee Public Schools Board of Directors

***

Una believes that Community Learning Centers (CLCs) keep students off the streets and wanting to go to school the next day, improve grades and behavior, and enrich students' lives in immeasurable ways. She wants the city to fund help more CLCs, as their benefits contribute to a safer and better city.

Una sees truancy as a city problem as well as an education problem. She does not think that it is effective to criminalize truancy by issuing tickets for which most do not appear in municipal court. Rather than backlogging the district attorney's office with habiltual truant charges, we need to look at community efforts like teen court programs and other preventative measures that have proven effective but have gone unused.

Una knows that employment for students who are old enough and for parents of students who may be out of work is critical. Offering accessible job placement and training programs to MPS parents would relieve a major stress on families of MPS students.

Una will work with school officials, students, teachers and parents to come up with comprehensive solutions to address the safety concerns that we all share. Una believes that the security problems facing MPS are monumental and it will require the full commitment of both the public and private sector to produce a safe and productive learning environment.

The folkbum endorsement: Linda Clifford for Supreme Court Justice

I have done something unholy, it seems, and angered the gods of good G-I health. So I'll be brief, and let Linda Clifford speak for herself.

This Tuesday, Wisconsin will select our next Supreme Court Justice for a ten-year term. As you compare the candidates' backgrounds and qualifications, consider who offers the principles and values you envision for the Supreme Court.

I come from modest beginnings. My father was a factory worker and my mother, who dropped out of school at the age of 16 to help support her nine siblings, was a homemaker. My parents couldn't have provided better lessons – the value of hard work, the importance of integrity, and the need for fairness. These are the values I will bring to the Supreme Court.

I also will bring 32 years of quality experience and leadership in the law. I have served as an Assistant Attorney General and as a lawyer in private practice for more than three decades, representing the State of Wisconsin, municipalities, individuals and businesses in a variety of practice areas before state courts and agencies. I understand the job of Supreme Court justice because I've handled more than 30 appellate cases. I'm the only candidate who has argued before the Supreme Court.

My work as a lawyer has earned awards and recognition such as “Leader in the Law,” “Wisconsin SuperLawyer,” and “Best Lawyers in America.”

My candidacy has earned the endorsement of some of the most independent-minded leaders in the state: Democratic Senator Russ Feingold, former Republican Governor Lee Sherman Dreyfus and independent Ed Thompson.

I believe that the cornerstone of our justice system is public confidence in the integrity of the lawyers and judges who serve it. That's why for nine years I served the Supreme Court by investigating grievances against attorneys and recommending discipline for ethical violations.

And that's why I'm so troubled by the disturbing facts disclosed about my opponent’s performance as a judge. Court records in 46 cases reveal her conflict of interest involving a bank that loaned her over $3 million, that rents space from her family, and where her husband serves as a paid director. In each case, she failed to recuse herself or disclose her conflict of interest to the parties as required by the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Judge Ziegler has yet to take responsibility or explain whether she just didn't know about the rule -- or knew about it but decided not to follow it. Instead, she claims that discussing this serious issue with Wisconsin voters is “mudslinging.” I think Wisconsin voters are smart enough to see past Judge Ziegler’s rhetoric and understand the seriousness of her conduct.

People who come to our judicial system to resolve disputes deserve a level playing field free of favoritism – free even of the appearance of favoritism. That fundamental principle will drive my service as a Supreme Court Justice, as it has my legal career.

Judge Ziegler and big-business special interests have spent an unprecedented $2 million trying to mislead voters about her record on the bench, including a claim that she's “tough” on sex offenders. Putting aside the reality that Supreme Court justices don't sentence criminals, the public record shows that Ziegler actually has a record of leniency on sexual predators. In more than half of her cases, she let off child sex predators with a year or less in jail.

Wisconsin voters deserve to know the truth.

On Tuesday, the choice will be clear. I will bring the high ethical standards, integrity, quality experience, legal scholarship, independence, and commitment to justice you deserve on Wisconsin's highest court. I would be honored to have your vote.

April Fool's headlines

by folkbum

ZIEGLER ENDS CAMPAIGN, ADMITS ETHICS VIOLATIONS

That one's a hoot, no? Of course that would never happen. Despite years of violating both the spirit and the letter of the state code of judicial conduct, Ziegler campaigns on. Wisconsin Manufacturer's and Commerce is dumping more than half a mil on this race in the last week, and who knows how much the Zieglers' $2m loan from West Bend Savings Bank is going to end up in race, too. Linda Clifford could use your help this weekend.

Also, see Mike Plaisted.

MMAC SENDS OUT TRUTHFUL MAILER

If I were Terry Falk, I would sue for libel. The mailer that arrived at my house yesterday from the Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce about the 8th district Milwaukee Public Schools is incredibly misleading. It reads,

As a Milwaukee teacher's union member, Terry Falk filed a grievance against the Milwaukee School District. Why? Because a memorial service celebrating the lived of two Juneau High School students who had passed away happened to cut into Falk's lunch break by minutes.

If that makes you scratch your head, there's good reason--and not just because MMAC doesn't seem to know the name of the Milwaukee Public Schools and is playing dumb about how every MPS teacher is a member of the union. No, if you actually read the decision (.pdf) by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission referenced in the mailer, you'll see that the grievance Terry Falk filed over the lost lunch time was resolved without resorting to a WERC hearing, and Falk, in the "Findings of Fact" section, is found to be right about the contract violation. What did go the the WERC was the subsiquent retaliation Falk suffered by the principal after that grievance. Apparently Charlie Sykes and Mark Belling have been hyping this, too.

Speaking of misleading about Terry Falk, the incumbent Joe Dannecker's latest mailing trots out both a misleading statement about Juneau High School (debunked by Alan Borsuk) and a misleading statement about what Terry said concerning a tax cut Joe voted against. Terry said the board (of which Joe is president, remember?) never should have let the budget get to the point where it needed a 7.7% tax increase, but with a gun to his head he'd rather have programs than not.

This is one reason why I will not run for office: People suck.

TOMMY! GETS REPUBLICAN NOD

An article not written by Kathy Skiba tells us that Tommy! is making his entry in the presidential race official this week. Good luck with that.

Pot, Kettle

by folkbum

And to think I was going to give her a "thumbs up" today for being the only one who's making sense on Mayfair mall . . . Oh, well.



. . . Updated to add: My prom-date Owen (and non-panelist Nick) makes the same points I do, but I'm the one who's arrogant?

And, while I'm at it, I didn't ask for this. I am a horrible self-promoter. If I'm in somebody's rolodex, it's not because I'm doing anything to get there. The media people who've had me on--and this is not as regular an occurrence as some might think--have all called me, because someone else recommended me. I got invited to BlogFest 06 in the first place because other people complained that WisPolitics hadn't invited "real" bloggers, not me. (I hadn't even really been aware of the Summit until the invite to be a panelist hit my inbox.) Owen and I were WisOpinion's first blogs of the month (a feature now discontinued), but not--at least in my case--because I submitted my name or lobbied for the recognition. And so on--I don't turn down the spotlight when it comes my way but I basically never, ever go chasing after it.

In fact, I have waged exactly one campaign for blogging honors of any kind in four years, and, perhaps, it's who I beat out in that competition that has Jessica McBride so steamed.

Look, if somebody wants a "summit" of all real citizen bloggers all the time, there's a simple answer: Organize one. (Perhaps the MyFoxMilwaukee people are a good bet to be your media partners.) Seth gives a good description of how interesting such an event could be. So plan it; I'll attend it and promote it and, if you ask, even be a panelist. Until then, I'd appreciate it if you stop blaming me.

Vouchers, Hypocrisy, Issues: The Supreme Court Race

by folkbum

Question: What do the following quotations have in common?

• One problem with the "whack 'em all" approach the Wisconsin Supreme Court took toward lead paint companies last spring is you never know where the hammer's going to fall next.

• School choice needs clarification from the court? In what possible way? [T]he matter is crystalline. School choice is constitutional. The matter is settled.
----------• [The Wisconsin Supreme Court] announced that it would apply rational basis scrutiny "with teeth" and proceeded to, essentially, substitute its own judgment for that of the legislature

• The court also rejected establishment clause challenges to school choice in Jackson v. Benson. Would Justice Clifford like to revisit those decisions? There is no way to know. But it does make for interesting speculation.
----------• The poll also found widespread disapproval for many of the Court’s most egregious acts of activism, including the lead paint and med mal caps decisions.

• If the case came up again, and one can imagine ways it could arise, with Linda Clifford on the Court, it is possible that Jackson could get reversed.----------• The court struck down limits on medical malpractice non-economic awards, opened the door to massive punitive damage awards, and, in a case involving lead paint, adopted an unprecedented and radical theory that will allow businesses to be sued for things they may not actually have made.

• A. Because it’s important to thousands of families in its audience.
Q. Why is it news that Linda Clifford wants to re-open the school choice case?

Each set of quotations is from the same author. Each author insists that recent Wisconsin Supreme Court cases--medical malpractice and lead paint, specifically--were wrongly decided, that the court went off in an errant and bizarre direction that needs serious correcting. There's just no way that those cases could possibly be considered settled law.

And each author is then duly shocked--just shocked!--that candidate Linda Clifford would indicate that school funding and school choice decisions of a decade ago "interested" her and might need further "clarification." That, they all say, is settled law.

As it turns out, the definition of settled law certainly seems to be "court decisions I agree with"--in much the same way judicial activism often turns out to mean "court decisions I disagree with." But I don't bring this up merely because I enjoy these kind of juxtapositions that make plain the other side's hypocrisy (though it does make me giggle on the inside). No, I bring this up because I keep getting criticized--from the left as well as the right--to write about something other than Judge Annette Ziegler's, whaddyacallit, blatant disregard for the judicial code of conduct, namely issues.

Well, here's one that I actually know and care about--the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, or, as it's known in the vernacular, vouchers. And there's a very good reason why Linda Clifford might think that the issue is somewhat less than settled, and it's known in my house as Article I, section 18:

[N]or shall any money be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of religious societies, or religious or theological seminaries.

The question is whether or not the voucher program, which sends 80% of its taxpayer dollars (money "drawn from the treasury") to religious schools, violates Article I, section 18. The original court in Jackson v. Benson held (not without dissent) that the MPCP's expansion to include religious schools was not sufficiently "to the benefit of" the "religious societies" running the schools.

But that was in 1997 before the expansion actually happened; the court really had nothing to go on but its gut intuition about what might happen should the program be expanded. We've had a decade of data since to weigh, and it may be worth revisiting the question.

There is little chance that the United States Supreme Court would revisit the issue, since it found no conflict with the First Amendment and, frankly, I don't see much of one, either. That leaves just the state court, and the distinctly different clause--the benefits clause, as it's known. (Despite the reflexive criticism Clifford got from the right for saying so, it's true that the state and federal courts don't always have to "march in lockstep.")

Among the best collectors of data on the MPCP is the Public Policy Forum. It released its 2007 report on the program in February. It received no fanfare and, as far as I can tell, one single mention in the media, by Sarah Carr on the Journal Sentinel's education blog. I haven't written about it yet because I've been pretty busy--still am--but I'm surprised no one else has, because its conclusions are striking and bear a direct relation to this issue.

I made some predictions last year about what would happen once the increased enrollment cap came to be, with its attendant easing of financial restrictions on participation. I missed some of them and others it's too early to tell on, but there was one that I nailed:

A significant portion of the increase--I'm going to guess at least 1000, if not a full 2/3--will be moderate-income white students. Changes in the law will allow many currently ineligible students to slip right into the program without even having to change schools.

I wrote that in stark contrast to the people trumpeting the compromise as a way to help out poor minority students stuck in dead-end MPS schools. Their concern is touching, but I would bet almost all of them knew what time it was. The PPF report tells us:

The 17,951 students using vouchers represent an increase over last year of 2,516 voucher users. However, the growth in total enrollment in these schools was much less, at 620 students; almost 60% of the new voucher users were therefore not new to the private schools. [emphasis in the original]

As you dig deeper into the report, the ramifications of this become obvious:

But upon closer analysis, it appears that MPS may not be feeling the competition that voucher advocates had hoped. In 1998 and 2006, the two years in which the program had structural changes to allow thousands more students to be eligible to receive vouchers, more private school students took advantage of the changes than public school students. The new voucher users tend to already be in private school; 58% of new voucher users in 1998 and 60% in 2006. [. . . I]n the Catholic and Lutheran schools in particular, new voucher users tended to be students that were already attending these schools.

If you look at the accompanying graphs, you'll see that Catholic schools enrolled about 150 more students for this year, but added 950 to their rolls of voucher students. The Lutherans' total enrollment was up by only a handful of students, but 450 students started using vouchers this year.

Supporters of the program--the former Dennis York Christian Schneider, for example--should be confounded; Schneider writes about the Supreme Court race with exactly this issue in mind, asking to know what the candidates think about "Wisconsin’s school choice program, which gives low-income African American children a chance to escape Milwaukee’s failing schools." But now we know--and should have known back in 1999 or so, after the expansion to religious schools--that the big benefits are going to students who wouldn't be in MPS anyway; the money is propping up the Catholic and Lutheran schools who spent the 1990s hemorrhaging students and seeming doomed to failure.

If I were calling it, knowing what we know now, this seems like a "benefit" to "religious societies" that comes straight out of the state's treasury. For all I know, Linda Clifford doesn't see it as an Article I, Section 18 violation, even with the new information. And prehaps Annette Ziegler would call it a conflict. Neither one, as part of that same judicial code of conduct that Ziegler occasionally ignores, can say specifically how they'd rule.

But to say that a decade later, with a decade's worth of information about how the MPCP is using tax dollars "for the benefit of religious societies," the case cannot be reconsidered is ridiculous. It can be, and should be, and someday, I hope, it will be.

Another get-rich quick scheme: three-ounce plastic bottles

by folkbum

Long-time obsessive readers may recall that in the middle of the night between August 9 and 10, I was in the Ted Stevens International Airport, watching CNN as they broke the story of the liquid carry-on bomber plot from London.

Since then, TSA has instituted rules about how much liquid you can carry on and in what configurations. This includes the rule that any liquids or gels--shampoo, lip gloss, toothpaste--must be in three-ounce bottles (or smaller). Trouble is, you can't buy three-ounce bottles. Anywhere. Not at Target, Walgreens, Amazon, travel websites, anywhere. You can get four-ounce bottles all over. Even kits with four- and two-ounce bottles together. But no threes.

On the flights I've taken since then, I've just checked my liquids. But I have a flight coming up that, for connection reasons I want to carry on only. But I lack . . . three-ounce bottles.

If anyone can get a plant up and running soon making those suckers, I promise I'll buy a bunch. There's a whole untapped market out there, people.

Mary Tillman and Cindy Sheehan

By Bert

If they were consistent, conservatives pundits would now proceed to open up a can of Cindy Sheehan on the mother of Pat Tillman.

Like the mother of Casey Sheehan, Mary Tillman lost her son while he was fighting a war for the U.S. But never mind that. Since Mrs. Tillman criticizes the lie the military told about Pat Tillman's death, you would think that she too must be destroyed.

"That's not a misstep, and that's not an error," Mary Tillman said on NPR News' "Morning Edition." "They made up a story. It was presented on national television. And we believe they did that to promote the war."

But I honestly don't think right-wing talkers will gang up on Mary Tillman. This time they won't open up the phone lines to allow the other mothers of soldiers to turn on this woman in her hour of darkness.

The public mood has shifted, and the appetite has soured for the p.r. stunts like "Mission Accomplished", Pvt. Jessica Lynch's bogus rescue, or the story that Tillman was killed while charging the Taliban.

Since this enormous mob of right-wing media did a hit job on Cindy Sheehan only because they thought they could get away it, it shows that they kind of liked it.

Wednesday Briefs

by folkbum

Speaking of Michael Mathias: You must read this post.

There's Drinking Liberally tonight.

Question: In the state supreme court race, you have one candidate who has repeatedly violated the code of judicial conduct over the last decade, perhaps more than 100 times; and you have another candidate who hired someone who sent a couple of photographers (that the candidate never hired or met) to Washington County where they (allegedly) lied to the cops about why they were there. Guess which one Jessica McBride thinks is "The real ethical scandal"?

And as long as we're talking about ethical standards and the state supreme court, the person who incurred the biggest campaign finance penalty ever for the way he ran his last campaign--the retiring Justice Wilcox--has endorsed Ziegler.

For the record, while I was the first (media?) outlet to run the Annette Ziegler conflict-of-interest story, I didn't get it from this guy. Never met him, never want to.

McIlheran Watch: Mike Mathias Owes Me $20

The male half of Pundit Nation offers,

I’ve got a crisp $20 bill and a beverage of choice for anyone—liberal, conservative, or Althouse—who can tell me what the hell Patrick McIlheran is talking about in this post.

The "this post" that Michael is referring to is another in Patrick McIlheran's "Pity the Poor Rich People" series. We last had a visit from that series last December, when McIlheran complained that the amount of taxes collected from those rich people keeps going up. He neglected to tell you that the amount of money earned by those rich people keeps going up at about the same rate.

We have a similar bit of misdirection here as well. This is the current complaint:

Our government is massively redistributing income already, to the tune of more than a trillion dollars a year, despite the nonsense you hear about how the rich are making out like bandits.

Yeah, those lucky duckies who are so poor they don't even earn enough to pay taxes on, they're just raking in that taxpayer dough! Wish I were one of them!

To explain all of this to Mike, I'll use some pretty pictures. The chart below breaks the United States population down into fifths, or quintiles in statistician-speak.The light blue represents the 20% of US households earning more than $88,000 a year; the red represents the 20% of US households earning between $55,300 and $88,000 a year; the yellow represents the 20% of US households earning between $34,750 and $55,300 a year; the green represents the 20% of US households earning between $18,500 and $34,750; and the dark blue represents the 20% of US households earning less than $18,500 a year. Easy enough, right? Well, this next graph explains what's got McIlheran so upset:This represents the percentage of total federal taxes paid by those same quintiles. In other words, even though the light blue and dark blue sections of the above pie contain the same number of households, the light blue people pay way more of the taxes (57% vs. 2%). Hardly seems fair, does it? And even worse--and this is the lucky part for all those people barely scraping by with poverty wages--is this chart:This represents how much of the federal spending benefits each of those same quintiles. Yes, it's true boys and girls, even though the light blue and dark blue areas have the same number of households, the dark blue people get more of those benefits (26% vs. 19.5%). But let me throw in one more chart:This pie represents all of the income earned in the United States--and, because I couldn't google up the data I really wanted, I'm settling here for after-tax income. And, yes, you are reading that right: Even though the light blue and the dark blue have the exact same number of households, the light blue people are actually earning 49% of all the after-tax income in the United States compared to just 5% for the dark blue quintile.

Let me rephrase this all, since it's important to understand why McIlheran is once again full of economic crap: Despite what McIlheran sees as some "massive" income redistribution scheme, the wealthiest 20% of people are earning--after those redistributionist taxes--half of all the income earned in this country. The richest 20% of people, in addition to earning half the money, are still getting about 20% of the benefits paid out by the feds, so they get a disproportionate share of the income and a fully proportionate share of the federal spending. This, somehow, is the equivalent of highway robbery for Patrick McIlheran. It is not.

Look, I'm not advocating any specific taxing or spending policies--for that matter, neither is McIlheran--but I do find it important to consider all of the data before making that next step. If you only listen to McIlheran's whining about how hard those poor, poor rich people have it, you won't get anything like the full story.

My source for the first chart was the Census Bureau, via Wikipedia, where you should check the "Household Income Over Time" section as a verification that the rich are, indeed, getting richer: The top quintile has doubled their income since 1967 while the bottom has increased only $3000.

My source for the second and third chart was the study (.pdf) McIlheran cited.

My source for the last chart was this study (.pdf) from Stanford.