A Souter-able Conundrum

by folkbum

Let's all remember that not too long ago Republicans were telling us that filibustering Supreme Court nominees was akin to treason or something.

Movie-related film-post diversion

by folkbum

JB (no relation--that I know of!) at The Chief offers a challenge:

"What's the Most Important Year in American Cinema in the Last 20 Years?"

I'm having an ongoing feud with a friend of over this issue, so I thought I'd throw it out there for public consumption...

Friend X says its 1993. [. . .] But I'm still leaning toward 1999.

Trouble is, I don't want to play that game. The last 20 years have been reasonable--and, hell, all I remember, really, except for an Indiana Jones or two. Let's make it longer. I submit 1971. Consider:

• Harold and Maude, one of my favorites from my formative years--literally 20 years after its release, of course.
• SciFi classics like The Andromeda Strain and A Clockwork Orange
• Three words: Make. My. Day. Dirty Harry was 1971.
• Diamonds are Forever, among the best Bond films.
• The French Connection and The Last Picture Show.
• The film version of Fiddler on the Roof.
• Roman Polanski's dark Macbeth.
• Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
• George Lucas's pre-Star Wars THX-1138.

Is it cheating to change the rules? Sure. But that's why I brought the party here.

So tell me where I'm wrong.

Put this lie to rest, please!

by folkbum

Among the plaints in the McKinsey & Co. report on MPS finances and the hand-wringing that followed were dozens of variations on or repetitions of one misrepresentation in particular that is just bugging the mess out of me. This is taken from this morning's Alan Borsuk story on new Milwaukee Board of School Directors President Michael Bonds, my emphasis:

[Bonds] said he is working with several state Assembly members from Milwaukee on a proposal that would let MPS give financial incentives to employees who select the cheaper of two major health plans offered. Family coverage under one plan costs more than $7,000 a year less than under the other plan, but employees have no incentive to choose the lower-priced plan. The consultant's report urged such a step.

Borsuk has thrown that line into a number of stories lately, and even repeated it on WUWM's "Lake Effect" earlier this week. But it's not true.

In fact, MPS employees do have incentive to choose the lower-priced, more restrictive HMO plan over the less-restricted PPO. And you don't have to be some kind of insider or expert in legalese to learn that fact, as all the information anyone needs to learn the truth of the matter is publicly available on the website of the MTEA, Milwaukee's teacher union. Seriously. Go to mtea,org, click on "Insurance Benefits," then "Health," and then you get directed to a .pdf called, of all things, "heatlhplancomparison2007.pdf." (2007 was the year the current contract was signed.) Among the incentives to choose the cheaper and more restrictive HMO:

• The HMO has no deductible, while the PPO has a $100 (individual) or $300 (family) deductible.
  
• The HMO has a coinsurance limit of $150 (i) or $450 (f) while the PPO has a coinsurance limit of $200 (i) or $600 (f)--up to $500 (i) and $1500 (f) for out-of-network services.
  
• A number of the services covered at 90% by the PPO are covered at 100% by the HMO.

Plus, the McKinsey report itself does not say that there is no incentive to choose the cheaper plan. It reads, "[T]he HMO has a slightly lower deductible and co-insurance rate," suggesting reasons why employees might choose the HMO--and then the report notes that employees who are paid less (and for whom the difference might be significant--are more likely to opt for the HMO after all. "[O]nly 33 percent of food service workers opt for the PPO, while 65 percent of central administration employees do," the report notes as an example.

I'm not so naïve as to suggest that selecting the PPO plan creates such an incredible burden on the average family that they have to choose the cheaper plan--in other words, I know that most of you reading would probably kill to have the PPO plan even at its higher cost. (MPS needs math, science, and special education teachers, so, technically, you don't have to kill to get the benefits, you just have to get into a program.)

However, it is pretty clearly false to suggest that there "is no incentive" for employees to choose the cheaper plan. So put that one out to pasture. If you must, you can say something like, "There is no great incentive to choose the cheaper plan"--a thousand bucks or so isn't a lot, I know--which would be much more honest while still getting your idea across.

My Secret Double Life?

by folkbum

Having a google news alert for my name leads me to all kinds of interesting things. Today, it's this:

Prosecutors claim slaying fueled by gang argument

A gang disagreement sparked the 2007 slaying of a Rocky Creek man, state prosecutors said Tuesday, the opening day of Jeremy Pitts' murder trial.

Pitts, who was 27 at the time, is accused of fatally shooting 21-year-old Matthew Rogers, who was a fellow member of the newly formed Simon City Royals gang, District Attorney Tony Lawrence said.

Rogers was found dead in an upstairs bedroom at an Old Mobile Highway residence about 3 p.m. on April 2, 2007. He had bled out from a gunshot wound to his left shoulder, Lawrence said.

An internal disagreement between Rogers and the gang's leader, Jay Bullock, led Pitts, who was second in command, to shoot and kill Rogers, prosecutors argued.

And the moral of the story is ... don't make Jay Bullock mad!

"Specter's Switch a Wake-Up Call for the GOP..."

By Keith R. Schmitz

...according to the Huffington Post.

Bet they roll over and hit the snooze button.

GOP Self-Inflicts Wound

By Keith R. Schmitz

You bet Arlen Specter jumped the GOP for political reasons. Conservative Congressman Pat Toomey was ahead of him by at least 20 points in the polling, and it looked for certain Specter would not survive the primary.

But the primary is the primary presented for the inspection, as Rod Serling would say, of an increasingly right wing party.

A growing segment of not only Pennsylvania but of the rest of the USA is walking away from the policies which have proven to be disastrous for the country and for individuals smart enough to recognize when they are being smacked around by the system.

But why did the GOP make it so easy for Specter? This is a party that has gone away from practicality and now thinks politics is some rite of purity. For all of our faults, many Democrats have become cognizant of what the average thinks like, not supposed to think like.

Paul Ryan this morning on Scarborough was decrying the Democrats for being far left. But when you are so far to the opposite side as he is and so many in the GOP, everyone looks like a Red.

Specter wants health care reform. The GOP is deluded into thinking we have the best health care system in the world and would do all they could in the Senate to block it or water it down. Now it appears we can get that reform without the taint of reconiliation, but a plan voted by the full Senate.

Meanwhile, the GOP has gone for Stalinistic purges. Just ask Mary Panzer. It wasn't too long ago when during the state GOP convention that the right wing blogs were agog when the party came out and said they would only support only true conservatives.

It's their party, but now this kind of hubris has led to today's news.

But it happens. The GOP was once riding high, but gravity always reminds you where the ground is.

The Democrats of course could screw up, but that won't happen any time soon. To their benefit the GOP is still intoxicated with sophomoric economic fantasy that the cushion is there if the Democrats stumble.

Happy 100 Days Barack Obama.

Balkanization Update -- Now that Arlen Specter has come out as a Democrat, GOP Party Leader Rush Limbaugh has told John McCain and his daughter Meghan to leave as well. Better listen!

The Half-Price Myth

by folkbum

Home sick today (and still laptopless), but there's a new Compass to be had, including a column by your humble folkbum.

Panning Pandemic Preparedness = Poor PR Planning

by folkbum

Your Republican Party has some 'splaining to do:

When House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, the Wisconsin Democrat who has long championed investment in pandemic preparation, included roughly $900 million for that purpose in this year's emergency stimulus bill, he was ridiculed by conservative operatives and congressional Republicans. [. . .]

The attack on pandemic preparation became so central to the GOP strategies that AP reported in February: "Republicans, meanwhile, plan to push for broader and deeper tax cuts, to trim major spending provisions that support Democrats' longer-term policy goals, and to try to knock out what they consider questionable spending items, such as $870 million to combat the flu and $400 million to slow the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases."

Famously, Maine Senator Susan Collins, the supposedly moderate Republican who demanded cuts in health care spending in exchange for her support of a watered-down version of the stimulus, fumed about the pandemic funding: "Does it belong in this bill? Should we have $870 million in this bill No, we should not."

Even now, Collins continues to use her official website to highlight the fact that she led the fight to strip the pandemic preparedness money out of the Senate's version of the stimulus measure.

With luck and some hard work by public health officials (not to mention lots of hand washing--I want to see suds, people!), the current Swine Flu outbreak will not become pandemic, as 3rd Way fears it might. However, as John Nichols points out in the piece quoted above, the effect of precautions or recovery from an outbreak may well be to slow economic recovery in parts of the country--something that a boost in spending months ago might have prevented.

What's Good for the Gipper

By Keith R. Schmitz

Let's see if the Gipper worshippers go all the way, or if agile minds will find a way to finesse this.

Andrew Sullivan recounts how President Ronald Reagan signed and championed the UN Convention on Torture. The payoff pitch reads in Article 2:

2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.

Sullivan proposes:

Just ask yourself: reading this language and knowing that president Bush ordered the waterboarding of a man for 83 times to get evidence linking Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda, is it really a matter of debate whether the last president of the United States is a war criminal? How is one able to come to any other opinion?

How can you if that is true? Why not find out if it is with an investigation? Might be a good way at this point as evidence mounts to clear George Bush's good name.

Swine Flu

by
3rd Way

I am not afraid to admit that I am a junky that needs a news fix at least once a day. As the banking crisis was unraveling my addiction got the best of me and I was up into the wee hours of the morning trying to understand as much as I could about financial obscurities.

The latest influenza scare has sent me on a new bender. I now know more than I probably should about genetic recombination and the 1918 pandemic. The most interesting things I have found about the current outbreak are this doctor's blog and his scary map that he keeps updating as cases are confirmed. And this page from the BBC which invited people in Mexico to e-mail descriptions of their experiences dealing with the outbreak.

People have e-mailed some pretty scary stuff to the BBC. It is somewhat surprising that a major media outlet like the BBC is willing to publish unconfirmed reports of fatalities more than double the "official" tally. If this situation continues to worsen it will be fascinating to see what role citizen journalists like this doctor and these anonymous e-mailers play in shaping public perception.

Coincidentally my sister, who holds an advanced degree in public health and has studied epidemiology, is currently in Mexico on vacation. If she has any interesting observations I will be sure to share them.

Three posts I'm not writing while I'm laptopless

by folkbum

1. The two most important MPS elections you don't know are happening. One, over the next week, MTEA (the teachers union) members will be electing a new president. Mild-mannered, two-term president Dennis Oulahan is wrapping up his term, and the two candidates vying to replace him offer two very different potential leadership styles. The firebrand, the likely winner, will not offer any kind of conciliation toward the board and the administration. Speaking of the board: Two, the board will be electing a new president, too, when the new members are sworn in later this spring. Current president Peter Blewett has been a student-focused leader putting the quality of the schools first. There are other strong personalities on the board that might push things in a different direction. How these two votes end up will tell us a lot about the next two years at MPS.

2. Walker-Neumann Cage Match. My esteemed liberal blogging colleagues are pretty gleeful at the grudge match growing among the right over the gubernatorial primary shaping up between Scott Walker and Mark Neumann. I seem to recall that Republicans were all quite giddy at the prospect of a bloody, protracted fight between Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton--and look how that turned out.

3. Torture. Murder is a pretty effective way to get rid of the neighbors who honk their horns at all hours of the night, but that doesn't make it moral. That whole discussion is just depressing.

Also: Don't forget your chance to see me and my pals in the Portage Road Songwriters Guild this Saturday May 2 at the Coffee House: 8 PM, $5. And you'll also note the solo show I have booked at the FIXX on July 24.

The Hand Cheney Dealt Himself

By Keith R. Schmitz

Tough time for someone not only to be a liberal but a fan of rule of law.

Check out the dilemma laid out by Ron Suskind on Salon.com.

In talking about the possibility of impeaching torture enabler and now federal judge for life Jay S. Bybee, Susskind notes that torture that was sanctioned is a violation of treaties not only negotiated by this country, but by the Reagan administration.

Accordingly, Article VI of the U.S. Constitution states that "(A)ll Treaties made ... under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land. This country's authoritarian conservatives therefore who cavalierly feel that we should disregard these treaties are insisting we violate the Constitution.

Certainly Barack Obama as a Constitutional law professor, is painfully aware of this fact. Barack Obama as President of the United States however, also has to deal with the massive junk heap of problems left behind by Cheney's administration, further complicated by the prospect of an investigation into these abuses being incredibly distracting from the heavy lifting at hand.

But there is the possibility of crimes being committed by Cheney and others and the law being flaunted, especially if, as Suskind pointed on Rachel Maddow's show the other night, torture was used to construct an Iraq/Al Qaeda connection. Then the case to move forward is compelling.

What to do? Maybe put the investigation in the hands of Attorney General Eric Holder and have him conduct low level probes until the major problems Obama is dealing with subside a little bit, then put it on all cylinders. But, at the same time, liberals and others who hold our legal system important should continue to push on the issue.

JCI: Poor Or Just Poor To Employees?

by capper

While Jay is out of commission for a while yet, I thought I'd put this up here.

It was reported today that Journal Communications, Inc. had a 98% drop in net income.

It was also reported today that the newsroom union at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which is owned by JCI, agreed to take a 6.6% cut in salary in exchange for a no lay off clause, which only lasts for five months.

But if things are so bad for JCI, just how did they afford to buy yet another TV station, in a market where it already owns one TV station and six radio stations?

Further MacBook update

by folkbum

Well, the one part that they knew was broken turned out not to be the only problem. So I'm just upgrading to a new machine. Sigh.

What that means for you is that blogging will still be slow from me. If any of the other 700 or so people who have the keys to this place want to run wild for the weekend, be my guest.

MacBook Update

by folkbum

A key member of the folkbum production team went down last night, but this morning went in for treatment. The folks at Sieve Networks have been kind, thoughtful, and incredibly helpful. Of course, I don't have my machine back yet, but all indications are it will be ready to go tomorrow. Assuming the problem is what they diagnosed, I will be a happy man and the folkbum blogging team will be back to full strength just in time to take the weekend off.

(Insert sad Mac face here)

by folkbum

My near-indestructible MacBook had a close encounter with some concrete this afternoon. The backlight is presently not working, though everything else seems okay for now.

Long story short, I will probably not be blogging or doing much of anything else on line for a little while. :(

I don't ever beg, but if you want to hit the "donate" button above to help defray the inevitable, I'd appreciate it.

UPDATE: A couple pictures:

Barack Obama shakes the hand of a South American dictator

by folkbum



(via)

I go away for a few days, and the WPRI goes off the deep end

by folkbum

Not that WPRI was that many centimeters away from the edge to begin with. But seriously, consider that on just one day, you get both Christian Schneider blaming Wisconsin's high income tax rate (which is not that high comparatively--I mean, we're not so bad as those liberal havens of Arkansas and Nebraska, thank jeebus!) is to blame for the Packers' dismal season and this piece of drivel from WPRI honcho George Lightbourn.

In that piece, Lightbourn goes ridiculous in a number of different ways. First, he insists that reforms to the Milwaukee Parental Choice (voucher) Program are "onerous enough for the choice schools that they will be forced to opt out of the choice program." You know what regulations he's talking about? These (.pdf):

• adopting academic standards,
  
• scheduling the same number of hours of instruction each year as required in public schools,
  
• administering state standardized tests,
  
• requiring all teachers and administrators in Choice schools to have a bachelor's degree
  
• developing written policies for promoting a student from one grade to another and granting a high school diploma,
  
• maintaining student progress records,
  
• requiring all participating schools to attain accreditation by August 1st, instead of December 31st, of the school year in which the school first participates in the program, and
  
• increasing transparency and disclosure of information about the school to parents and the public.

I'd like Lightbourn to explain exactly which of these are "onerous," and why, if they're so awful, voucher proponents like Howard Fuller support most or all of them. Also, then, if they're so "onerous," why should every public school in the state have to do these (or requirements more strict, like having licensed teachers, not just teachers with a bachelor's degree). And, frankly, if I were a parent and my child attended a school where these things were not already true (with the exception of high-stakes testing), I would be incredibly worried and consider pulling my child out.

So, on top of disparaging these "onerous" requirements that will send voucher schools into a death spiral, Lightbourn also feels the need to dump on MPS:

Why the push to move these children back into Milwaukee Public Schools? [. . .] To make matters more confusing, last week Governor Doyle and Milwaukee Mayor Barrett released a consultant’s report that detailed just how grim fiscal condition of Milwaukee Public Schools is. In releasing the report, the Governor and mayor said, …the unfortunate reality is that academic outcomes throughout MPS remain unacceptably low.” They added, “MPS has serious academic challenges at the same time it is facing a serious long-term financial problem.”

This is rich, considering that the financial problems of MPS are in large part caused by the existence of the very voucher program Lightbourn extols. Even beyond the obvious--the voucher program leaves MPS with a higher concentration of more-difficult students), the very same report that Lightbourn cites credits the voucher program with sucking funds away from MPS through the various funding flaws and contributing to the district's declining enrollment.

I think what makes me most angry about Lightbourn's drivel, though, is the way he couches himself as the Protector Of The Poor And Minorities. "[T]his group of poor, minority parents is being treated quite shabbily," he opens, and he continues to talk about these parents as if he knows them personally: "They are confused as to why the Governor wants to take away their ability to choose." Doyle wants to do no such thing, of course, but that doesn't stop Lightbourn's Green Lantern fantasy. In reality, he can't wait for MPS to fail and dissolve into bits, which is the last thing an already struggling city full of the kinds of people Lightbourn wants to protect really needs.

Staycation, tomorrow's a day of mine I'll try real blogging

by folkbum

How's everybody else's staycation working out?

I was actually at this show; Rhett broke a string.

Joint Finance Committee Asked to Include 1% Sales Tax For Milwaukee County in Budget

by capper

As previously posted by Dan Cody and Jason Haas, the Quality of Life Alliance, another group I have ties to, have released the following press release:

The Quality of Life Alliance, a group I’m a part of, released the following press release today asking for the Joint Finance Committee to include the voter approved 1% sales tax for Milwaukee County in the upcoming budget.

For the sake of our Park System, Transit, and Emergency Medical Systems, we are asking the Joint Finance Committee to include in the next State budget what the citizens of Milwaukee County have already approved: a one percent sales tax increase that will provide sustainable, dedicated funding for Parks, Transit and EMS.

“Please don?t continue to allow the voices of the 400,000 people who voted in November?s referendum to be ignored”, remarked Cheri Briscoe of Sierra Club-Great Waters Group and Quality of Life Alliance member. The referendum was advisory and requires action from the state to be enacted.

“Our Milwaukee County Park System, once proud and strong, is now limping along with an ever decreasing staff to perform daily maintenance and a log of deferred maintenance for its facilities of nearly $275 million,” added Jim Goulee, a QLA member who is also on the Board of Directors for Preserve our Parks.

This group’s attempt to gain local legislative support for enabling legislation from our state legislators was unfortunately, a tough sell. The Governor instead inserted the creation of RTA for Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Racine and funded by a sales and use tax in his proposed budget, leaving out any support for Milwaukee County Parks.

It is now becoming apparent that the proposal for the creation of the Southeastern Wisconsin RTA is not finding the necessary support from the Joint Finance Committee and may not be included in their version of the state budget. Instituting the sales tax increase in Milwaukee County would, in fact, provide the source of funding needed for a Milwaukee County RTA and could easily accommodate a broader RTA if and when it is created.

“Milwaukee County needs property tax relief and we need a solution to our looming transit and parks crisis,” commented County Supervisor Chris Larson, Quality of Life Alliance spokesperson. “Milwaukee County needs the 1% sales tax that was passed in referendum nearly months ago. Property tax payers can?t wait any longer, transit riders can?t wait, any longer, and all our neighbors who love our parks shouldn?t have to wait any longer to see these problems fixed.”

Quality of Life Alliance (QLA) is a grassroots organization made up of representing a wide swatch of Milwaukee County?s concerned citizens set out to improve our community for a stronger future. Members of the Quality of Life Alliance include transit riders, union leaders, parks supporters, and business men and women, and everyday citizens who are deeply concerned about the future of Milwaukee County and all of Southeastern Wisconsin. Quality of Life Alliance provided the advocacy effort that led to the passage of the sales tax/property tax relief referendum last November. The Quality of Life Alliance is a registered political action committee based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

It’s important the members of the Joint Finance Committee understand the importance of this dedicated funding source to the regions well being for decades to come. All we’re asking is to let the voices of the people of Milwaukee County be heard on this issue.

If you know any of the members of the JFC from the Milwaukee area like Rep. Tamara Grigsby, Rep. Pedro Colon, Sen. Lena Taylor or Sen. Alberta Darling, please contact them to voice your support.

Crossposted at Whallah!, Cog Dis, and Uppity Wisconsin.