The Milwaukee County House (In Need) Of Corrections

by capper

Last August, a full seven months ago, I wrote about the House of Correction, and the troubles that were occurring there. Most of these problems stemmed from the simple fact that HOC was overfull with inmates and that there was a severe shortage of correction officers. This caused a lot of burn out, and mistakes were made, repeatedly. Correction Officers were getting so desperate for time off, that they would use and abuse the sick leave and Family Medical Leave Policies. They would also openly defy superior officers in order to get suspended. They eventually went, as a group, to the County Board. Most of the County Board Supervisors weren't aware of what was going on, and were moved to tears to hear of the officer's desperation.

Yet Walker was in complete denial about it.

Now the Journal Sentinel is reporting that a county audit shows--gasp--that there were a lot of problems due to too many inmates and not enough guards. This comes on the heels of a federal audit showing a laundry list chock full of problems, most of them dealing with insufficient staffing patterns and not enough resources.

The county audit shows that HOC was originally supposed to have been authorized for 349 guards in Walker's 2007 budget. He then remembered his one trick pony act, and decided to cut $1.5 million dollars from their budget. HOC ended up with only 318 correction officers. Due to this deficit in the work force, officers were forced to work up to 800+ hours of overtime, each, that year. A full 75% of that was forced overtime.

The cost for all that overtime was $4.2 million. That means for every dollar that Walker tried to save the tax payer, that same taxpayer ended up paying three times as much. How is that being fiscally responsible?

The audit goes on to recommend that the County hire on an additional 23 officers. This would cost $1.3 million, but would have more than half off set by the savings in overtime benefits.

Walker's response is not to hire all of the staff needed. Gotta save that money, you know. Well, not really. He is considering giving them a pay raise. (On a side note, while this is a good thing, odds are that Milwaukee County Corrections Officers pay will be still be way behind that of other counties across the state.)

So Walker tries to find ways to sweep this under the rug, and again avoid responsibility for a mess he has created, I would point out that not only does Senator Taylor have experience as a successful businessperson, she is the Chairperson for the State Senate's Committee on Judiciary, Corrections, and Housing. She has the experience, the knowledge, the education, and the willingness to fix what Walker has wrecked. For more information, please go to her website.

SIDENOTE: Some Walker apologists have started to say that MSJ is anti-Walker. This is laughable. MSJ recommend Walker in 2004. But if that is not sufficient evidence, compare the articles that appeared on Monday's Newswatch and the article that appears in Tuesday's paper.
Especially the headline of Tuesday's article, which reads:

Lockup criticized for forced overtime

Audit finds House of Correction staff exhausted

Not only does it not mention the staff shortage, but the lockup that is supposedly criticized doesn't even appear until the second from last paragraph. Nope. No bias here in favor of Walker. Give me a break.

Holding The Line On Taxes And Responsibilities

by capper

Walker is so very proud of his debatable claim on holding the line on taxes. Of course he's proud of it, as that it is the only thing he can claim, without being laughed out of the room. In fact, he is so proud that he has a new commercial touting that claim, showing that he is the reason Miller Brewing would stay in Milwaukee. Unfortunately for Walker, Miller has most recently indicated that they are still going to leave.

But what cost do we, the taxpayers really pay, for his holding the line on taxes?

I have pointed out previously that the transit system is on the verge of going belly up and that the parks look like brownfields, especially if you happen to live in the wrong neighborhood.

We have also seen, via Gretchen Schuldt, that Walker is shifting the cost on to the City of Milwaukee taxpayers to do county work, like shoveling out bus shelters.

In this morning's paper, we see it's just not the City of Milwaukee that Walker is giving the shaft to. He is screwing over all of the suburbs as well. The paper reports that due to Walker's short-sightedness, there aren't enough psychiatric beds in the County to meet demand. This forces the police, who are called on to deal with incidents in which people are having a psychotic episode, and are in danger of hurting themselves and/or others, to have to provide an officer or officers to watch over these people to ensure safety, while they wait for a bed to open up. This is costing the suburbs a lot of money.

I won't kid you and say that psychiatric care is cheap. It can be very expensive. You have to have social workers, nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists and all sorts of other support staff. And psychiatric medications are very expensive, and there often is not a generic alternative to help allay the costs. But as I have also pointed out here, that having people going untreated for mental illnesses and/or alcohol and drug addictions can have much higher costs, in more ways than just money, than any moderate tax increase would have.

It's not that Walker is necessarily anti-tax, it's just that he is against taking on the responsibility of doing the right thing, or doing his job.

Common Courtesy

by capper

Life happens to everyone. People get sick, family members get sick, snowstorms block travel, garages fall on cars, all sorts of emergencies can happen. When they do, most people will apologize, and give as much warning as possible. Others don't show that same level of consideration.

All Politics, the political blog at JSOnline, reported this afternoon that Senator Taylor has notified them that she is unable to attend tomorrow's forum. She notified people a full day ahead of time. Compare that to Walker, who notified people that already trundled out into a very cold night, ten minutes before the debate, via a gofer. No explanation except for an undefined "scheduling conflict."

Furthermore, Senator Taylor is not going to be able to attend due to the fact that she will be doing the job she currently has, has a state senator. When Walker was running his failed bid for governor in 2006, he was not keeping up on his duties to the county. I remember all the shootings in the park on Memorial Day weekend. I remember the reports of the mentally ill living in squalid conditions. I remember budget crises (well those are an annual affair for Walker). What I don't remember is Walker being here to address any of these issues. He was too busy campaigning.

And while I'm making comparisons, there are a lot of right wingers, including the troll who only identifies itself as "GO LENA", that likes to link to a YouTube video of Senator Taylor having a lapse and some confusion during a session in the Senate. Here is a video showing Walker at his finest, demonstrating his oratory deftness:





And I would be remiss not to show this photo, from Milwaukee Rising, showing Walker in all of his statesman-like elegance:

Funny, but I always thought one grew a long nose when lying. I didn't know they grew horns.

And When He Grows Up, He Wants To Be A Talk Radio Host

by capper


Maybe I am just an eternal optimist, or maybe it's just that I'm not as worldly as I would like to think, but sometimes even I can still get dumbfounded by some people. Maybe it's just that I've been so focused on local issues lately, that I haven't been paying enough attention to the national news.


Whatever the cause may be, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw some of the quotes that have been attributed to U.S. Representative Steve King (R-Iowa):

An Iowa Republican congressman said Friday that terrorists would be "dancing in the streets" if Democratic candidate Barack Obama were to win the presidency.

Rep. Steve King based his prediction on Obama's pledge to pull troops out of Iraq, his Kenyan heritage and his middle name, Hussein.

"The radical Islamists, the al-Qaida ... would be dancing in the streets in greater numbers than they did on Sept. 11 because they would declare victory in this war on terror," King said in an interview with the Daily Reporter in Spencer.

*************************

"There probably are not 72 virgins in the hell he's at," King said about al-Zarqawi, in a recording transcribed by Radio Iowa. "And if there are, they probably all look like Helen Thomas."

*************************

I also say we need to do a few other things on top of that wall, and one of them being to put a little bit of wire on top here to provide a disincentive for people to climb over the top or put a ladder there. We could also electrify this wire with the kind of current that would not kill somebody, but it would simply be a discouragement for them to be fooling around with it. We do that with livestock all the time.

You can read the rest of his comments and the links to their sources here.

I can't help but wonder if it's a sign of my naivety, or that of Iowa voters, but I am bemused that this guy even got elected in the first place. Hopefully, he will lose his bid for re-election. The sad part is, he'd probably become a radio talk show host.

And remember, this is a guy that backs McCain, whether McCain likes it or not.

H/T to The Chief

Big Brother And Blogging

by capper

There is a politician that would like to see me arrested, and no, I'm not referring to Walker, although I'm sure he wouldn't be sad to see me go away.

I am referring to Kentucky Representative Tim Couch who wants to outlaw anonymous blogging. He would require site owners and operators to ensure that anyone posting a comment files their full real name, street address, and email address. Anytime someone would post a comment, their real name is attached to the comment.

And if the blogowner refused? The consequences are not slight:

If the bill becomes law, the website operator would have to pay if someone was allowed to post anonymously on their site. The fine would be five-hundred dollars for a first offense and one-thousand dollars for each offense after that.

Even Couch admits that enforcing this would be challenging. I would say so. After all, even our founding fathers and local talk radio show hosts could be considered criminals under this law.

H/T to The Chief

And here we are again

by folkbum

Another day, another post from Dayton International Airport. I never did get out, and they closed the interstates so I couldn't even get a ride home so I could spend the night at my mother's. The Airport Travelodge did not have the promised free high-speed internet (but it did have a big sign advertising that it would be sold at auction later this month; my staying there last night probably increases its value exponentially).

Anyway, flights seem to be coming and going just fine today.

Dad may get out of the Neuro ICU soon; they've been running more tests the last couple of days to try to get at the root of his problems.

Milwaukee in the Bronze Age: The Fonzie Controversy

by bert
An enemy of the Fonz, Mike Brenner, says he is closing his Hotcakes Gallery in protest.

It is with great sadness that I announce that on July 3rd, Hotcakes Gallery will close it's [sic]doors for good. I cannot see running a contemporary art gallery in a city who's [sic] "leadership" is so eager to invest it's [sic] limited resources in garbage instead of fostering it's [sic] burgeoning arts community.

Call me wishy-washy on this burning issue, but I'd like to see more of all kinds of art.

Give me both Happy Days characters in bronze and a Hotcakes Gallery.

You see, I am grateful to my wife, a sculptor, for my personal evolution from a small-town Midwestern meathead -- who once in college hung one of those carpet tapestries of an elk on my wall -- to a lover of good art.

I like ballsy, challenging art, most of it beyond the Third Ward galleries: Walkers Point Center for the Arts, Inova at UWM, the Kohler Arts Center. At the Milwaukee museum I love their big, honking Anselm Kiefer and the recently death-defying GUY WITH THE CHAIR ON HIS HEAD.

Blue Shirt? Heck ya.

I predict that what Mike Brenner considers the city's small-town cretinism will show itself more, not in paying for Jerry Sawyer's lifelike bronze Fonzie sculpture, but in the tone of the comments on air and in blogs by our conservative cretin pundits. They will gloat and celebrate and use the word "elite" as they note that Brenner's gallery is closing.

To Be A Republican

by capper

From the email, slightly modified for spelling errors, etc.

To be a Republican you need to believe:

1. Jesus loves you, and shares your hatred of homosexuals and Hillary Clinton

2. Saddam was a good guy when Reagan armed him, a bad guy when Bush's Daddy made war on him , a good guy when Cheney did business with him, and a bad guy when Bush needed a "we can't find Bin Laden" diversion.

3. Trade with Cuba is wrong because the country is Communist, but trade with China and Vietnam is vital to a spirit of international harmony.

4. The United States should get out of the United Nations, and our highest national priority is enforcing U.N. resolutions against Iraq.

5. A woman can't be trusted with decisions about her own body, but multinational drug corporations can make decisions affecting all mankind without regulation.

6. The best way to improve military morale is to praise the troops in speeches, while slashing veterans' benefits and combat pay.

7. If condoms are kept out of schools, adolescents won't have sex.

8. A good way to fight terrorism is to belittle our longtime allies, then demand their cooperation and money.

9. Providing health care to all Iraqis is sound policy, but providing health care to all Americans is socialism. HMO's and insurance companies have the best interests of the public at heart.

10. Global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools.

11. A president lying about an extramarital affair is an impeachable offense, but a president lying to enlist support for a war in which thousands die is solid defense policy.

12. Government should limit itself to the powers named in the Constitution, which include banning gay marriages and censoring the Internet.

13. The public has a right to know about Hillary's cattle trades, but George Bush's driving record is none of our business.

14. Being a drug addict is a moral failing and a crime, unless you're a conservative radio host. Then it's an illness and you need our prayers for your recovery. (Capper here-This should include adultery.)

15. Supporting "Executive Privilege" for every Republican ever born, who will be born or who might be born (in perpetuity.)

16. What Bill Clinton did in the 1960's is of vital national interest, but what Bush did in the '80's is irrelevant.

17. Support hunters who shoot their friends and blame them for wearing orange vests similar to those worn by the quail. Friends don't let friends vote Republican

Cross-posted at Whallah!

Frustrated Update

by folkbum

There is so much that is frustrating. Most immediately, there's this, which caused my flight out of Dayton to be canceled this morning (after last night's flight was canceled due to weather). The Dayton Int'l Airport has free WiFi, which is how I can do this blogging now. But there is kind of a blizzard going on here. Apparently, some airlines are shutting down operations from DAY, but the airport may remain open long enough for my Midwest Connect flight to get in from MKE and back out.

We still don't have a diagnosis for my father. The best his original docs could come up with was possibly encephalitis, but with no clear cause. He is now at the University of Cincinnati in the Neuroscience ICU. He's lucid (mostly), and aware, but not whole yet. That's also quite frustrating.

So it's been a long week, and I just want to go home and crash before work Monday. But I may not ever get out of here.

Where's the Fat?

By Keith Schmitz

Not that I personally can use any more.

The tax hackers are always claiming under the guidance of towering intellectual Grover Norquist and other fans of the fantasy works of Ayn Rand that government is larded with gobs of fat.

Let's take a peek into the lab, that being Milwaukee County.

To whack off the so-called chunks of that fat it now looks like limbs and other parts seems to be getting in the way of the ax. In the process we have seen our once admired county parks and bus system go down hill, cut-offs for vital drug treatment programs -- a far cheaper means than the jail -- and even circuit court judges having to scrub out their own toilets. This is the short list.

Point being is that if we are attacking vital services, the fat really doesn't exist in large buckets full, otherwise this important stuff would be left alone. More conservative myths at work.

Oh in a bit we will read about this or that $1,000 program, but come one guys. We're talking about a $1 billion plus budget, so don't waste our time.

Milwaukee county and other units of government are having revenue problems, and not so much in terms of spending especially here in Wisconsin where we rank about dead average.

Were can we get more revenue? Start here.

It's A Good Thing, So, Of Course, Most Republicans Hate It

by capper

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed the Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act by a large margin. (Not surprisingly, U.S. Representative Paul Ryan (R-Troha's Wallet) was one of the few who voted against the bill.) The Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act, otherwise known as Mental Healthy Parity, basically would force insurance companies to cover mental illnesses on the same level as they do other illnesses. The bill is named after the late Senator Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) who was a great advocate for equity for those suffering from mental illness.

The House of Representatives have a similar bill that they have recently passed, but it would allow insurance companies to still greatly limit the diseases that they cover. The Senate's version would allow coverage for all diseases listed in the DSM-IV, which is the diagnostic guide used by psychologists and psychiatrists.

The conservatives biggest objection to the Senate's version of the bill has to deal with, what else, profits. They argue that it will cost insurers and employers more, which in turn, will pass the cost on to the employee. However, the cost of the bill would come out to be minuscule:

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that an earlier version of the House bill would increase premiums for group health insurance by an average of four-tenths of 1 percent. Some of the cost could be passed on to workers.

This bill needs to be passed, as it is, under the Senate's version. If you don't have a mental health related issue or an addiction, or know someone one close to you who has a mental illness or addiction, you are either a very lucky person, or are in total denial. The cost of untreated mental illnesses and addictions, both monetarily and socially, far outweigh, any costs that would be imposed by this bill.

Two other things of interest, as sidebars, popped out at me from the article.

One was that Bush's true colors again shown through, when he made it clear what his priorities really are (as if we didn't already know):

President Bush endorsed the principle of mental health parity in 2002. But on Wednesday, the White House opposed the House bill, saying it “would effectively mandate coverage of a broad range of diseases.”

The other was the reasons why advocates want the Senate's version to be the final version (emphasis mine):

Three factors contributed to support for the legislation. First, researchers have found biological causes and effective treatments for numerous mental illnesses. Second, a number of companies now specialize in managing mental health benefits, making the costs to insurers and employers more affordable.

Finally, some doctors say that the stigma of mental illness has faded as people see members of the armed forces returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with mental disorders.

If nothing else, maybe some good did finally come out of that damn war.

McSame As Bush

by capper

I pilfered this video from Brew City Brawler, who writes:

People have grown to hate George Bush. Give them time -- and a few more Bush-McCain photo opps -- and they'll come to feel the same for Mr. Straight Talk.

I would humbly suggest McSame use the campaign slogan of "We're not done spending your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren's money yet."

Might Be Staying Home

By Keith Schmitz

Bummer. The dollar has hit a new low and now you need to pay a buck 53 cents for every Euro.

My daughter's German host sister is getting married in August and the dropping Bush Bucks is making us think hard if we can afford the trip. We're close to the family, but paying $300 a night for a hotel room might be appealing.

Thanks George for your economic non-management, deficit spending, oil dependence and your idiotic occupation of Iraq hemorrhaging money for making this trip possibly not possible. All I know when my wife and I visited there in 2002 a dollar was equivalent to 1.15 Euros.

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

by capper

My grandfather was born in Upper Michigan, but when he was still a baby, his family moved back to the Marche Region of Italy. When he turned 18 years old, he moved back to the United States, just in time for the Great Depression. Those years taught him to be frugal, to a fault.

One of the favorite family stories is how Grandpa bought some frozen pizzas that were on sale for 50 cents each. He was so proud about the money he saved. But after he ate the first one, he found out that they tasted terrible. He ended up going back to the store to buy mozzarella, pepperoni, and onions to put on the others, to make them tolerable. He ended up spending a lot more than if he had bought a more expensive, but better tasting pizza.

In other words, he was being penny wise and pound foolish.

This story came to mind when I read a comment from "Andy" who was expressing his opinion on one of my many posts on how Scott Walker has been ruining the transit system in Milwaukee County:

Ideally, I don't want any of my tax dollar to go to support the bus because I never use the bus system. Plus, If I ever do have a need to ride a bus, I would rather pay my fair amount that keeps the bus running at that time. I know this doesn't help those who use the bus now, but if you were in my shoes, you would understand my view.

I would also like to add my theory about why ridership is going down. I drive through the Marquette interchange every day on my way to and from work for the past 10 years. I have found that traffic flows very nicely most of the time. The only exceptions is when the weather kicks up and when there is a crash. I would have to say that rush hour in Milwaukee is better for drivers than in most other major cities. I'm also sure that it will get even better once the construction is over later this year. Combine that with the facts that a car is more comfortable, more personnel, and faster at getting you to your destination (especially if it changes for some odd reason) are good contributing factors in the drop in ridership.

Andy Homepage 03.05.08 - 7:53 am #

In other words, Andy didn't want his tax dollars go to something he doesn't use, and sees no value to him in having to sustain it. He is being penny-wise.

What Andy doesn't see, is that a healthy transit system helps get people to jobs, where they can earn a living, and not have to take government hand-outs. He also doesn't see that having a supply of workers would be attractive to a business, which would also help the local economy, and make things better, and less expensive for everyone. As in my previous post, I would refer the reader to mid coast views for a very well done explanation of how this works.

Another fine example of what can happen when a transit system isn't properly maintained and operated is laid out by Rob Henken at Milwaukee Talkie. For those who aren't familiar with his name, Mr. Henken was the director of Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services for several years. He was then promoted to Walker's inner circle as the administrative services director. After a short time, he left the County altogether and became president of the Public Policy Forum. (Rob's leaving the county puts a chill through my spine, especially if Walker were to win again. He pulled Walker's budgetary bacon out of the fire on many occasions.)

Another example would be set forth by Brew City Brawler, who compares our broken parks to the broken windows philosophy of policing. This again shows us where Walker saves a buck or two in the short term, but costs us much, much more in the long run.

Of course, Walker might very well be aware of the folly of his chosen course of action. If he is, he is probably hoping to be out of here, maybe in the Governor's Mansion, maybe in Washington D.C., if Sensenbrenner ever retires, before the fecal matter comes in contact with the air propulsion device. And then, it will be us that will have to clean up the mess, and that is a very expensive prospect.

The Truth Hurts

by capper

The Milwaukee County Executive race is starting to heat up. In one of the few debates that Walker has bothered to show up for, the congeniality that was present in earlier debates, is starting to slip. Steve Schultze, posting at the All Politics Blog on JSOnline, reports:

The temperature rose during the final moments of an otherwise cordial candidate debate tonight at the Jewish Community Center in Fox Point between Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and state Sen. Lena Taylor, the challenger in the race.

Walker lashed out at Taylor in his closing remarks, bristling at her characterization of his job performance as mismanagement.

"One candidate likes to throw a lot of mud and talks a lot like a partisan lawmaker, without giving a whole lot of concrete answers," Walker said.

While Milwaukee County showed a surplus last year and enjoyed a stable bond rating under his watch, the state of Wisconsin while Taylor has served on the Joint Finance Committee faces a $650 million deficit, he said.

Taylor said her criticism was only "telling you what is real. I'm the only one who comes to the table with skills," she said. "The present county executive doesn't finish what he starts. He didn't finish college, he never ran a business," Taylor said. "And frankly, I don't think he wants to finish a second term as the county executive."

She said the county owes its 2007 surplus in part to her ability to obtain state funding.

Walker's aborted bid for governor in 2005 and early '06 has fueled speculation he may want to run again in 2010, though Walker has not publicly stated whether he's pondering that move.

As noted above, Walker is also starting to skip out of debates. Ken Mobile reports about Monday night's non-event that Walker blew off, and wonders why:

My Question to Scooter is what was more important than a debate in which you committed to weeks in advance? Only things that would excuse him would be that a family member is gravely ill, he was in an accident, or was subpoenaed. But to say you had another commitment and don’t explain yourself is a slap in the face to the organizers of the forum and to the voters of Bayview and Milwaukee County who took time out of their busy evenings to listen to a debate that was important to them.

Maybe Walker didn’t want face ordinary folk and explain how he has mismanaged transit to the point of death or why he refuses to invest in Milwaukee County’s infrastructure. Maybe he didn’t want to explain how our parks system, the once jewel of Milwaukee County, is deteriorating. Whatever the reason, Walker needs to come up with an explanation other than a “scheduling conflict;” especially in a forum in which he had knowledge of and was committed to weeks in advance.

I personally am not surprised. He debates the same way he has run the county for the past six years--in absentia.

Adding more painful truth for Walker, Gretchen Schuldte points out how Walker is trying to wreck more than the transit system in Milwaukee, by refusing to meet more of his obligations. This time, he's neglecting the bus shelters:

And there the matter sits. The county may be reviewing the matter again, but for now its attitude seems to be" To hell with Milwaukee County Transit System customers. Let 'em slip and fall.

So it's not just transit the County Executive Scott Walker's administration is trying so hard to cripple; it's transit riders, too.

ADDENDUM: I also forgot to mention this fine posting by Dan Cody, who highlights what can happen when a government gambles our futures and the futures of our children, like Walker is so eager to do.

Momentum

By 3rd Way

In 2004 4,518,491 Texas Republicans voted for Bush. Last night approx. 100,000 more Texans voted for Clinton than voted for Obama. More than twice as many people showed up to vote in the Democratic primary than showed up to vote Republican in one of the reddest red states. Is it possible that approx. 7.2% of Bush voting Republicans gave the victory to Clinton by agreeing with Limbaugh and voting for Hillary yesterday? If Hillary had lost Texas would she have ended her campaign? It is conceivable that die hard Republicans just swung the momentum to Clinton.

If that is the case did Rush Limbaugh just succeed in undermining the will of the majority of primary voting Americans?

Saying Goodbye Is A Hard Thing To Do

Thanks for all the years and all the memories, Brett.

This Module Is Closed

RIP, E. Gary Gygax, the ultimate dungeon master.

A bit of an update

by folkbum

I have no idea who will win the primary fights here in Ohio today. The little bit of TV I've seen suggests that Obama* is winning the air war. In terms of yard signs, it's all Ron Paul all the time.

My dad is doing better. He's breathing on his own again and responsive and alert and recognizing people. He was even able to point when his doctor asked him where it hurt. We're still in the woods, but everyone is so much more upbeat today. We have no diagnosis yet, though.

* I'm in Panera for some soup and some WiFi, and there's a woman in an Obama shirt who seems to be coordinating volunteers or something, also having some WiFi, on her phone talking about the Clinton campaign's attempts at voter misdirection at the polls. The things you overhear ...

Taylor vs. Walker: Bus Wars

by capper

This is almost becoming painful to watch. Walker is becoming more desperate as his chickens are coming home to roost. He made some poor decisions, trying to pander to his base. He probably knew that things would blow up, but he was expecting to be living in the Governor's mansion by now, and didn't care.

His continuing paring down of the transit system as led to a massive decline in riders, to a tune of 4.1 million riders, in just one year. This happened under his watch while the rest of the country is seeing a boom in ridership.

Last night, Walker's campaign sent out a newsletter, which read (with my observations):

Don't be fooled by the smear piece printed in Saturday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Watch the video below to hear Scott set the record straight. The link is to his home page.

In 2008, regular riders of the bus continue to pay the same amount as they did in 2007 (weekly passes did not go up). And even though the transit system originally proposed eliminating a series of routes, Walker put them back in his 2008 budget. In fact, Scott Walker has not vetoed out improvements to the transit system that were included in the various versions of the county budget passed by the County Board in previous years. He in fact tried to raise all the rates and it was the county board that stopped him. Just like it was the county board, not Walker, that restored the routes he had cut. They were able to restore the routes due to the millions of dollars Senator Taylor brought to Milwaukee County. Even Walker grudgingly has admitted that in the BlogTalkRadio debate.

The long-term success of the transit system is based on lowering costs and stabilizing state support. Scott has a plan to lower costs by operating transit on a regional basis and getting employees to pay a reasonable amount for benefits. In addition, Scott has a plan to identify a stable form of support for transit from state government that does NOT include a sales tax increase. He wants tax support from the rest of the state. Why is bad if Senator Taylor would suggest something like that, but OK for
Walker?

Scott's plan takes the growth in the current sales tax collected on automobile purchases and applies it to transit statewide. This amount exceeds $100 million during the budget and about 60% would come to the Milwaukee area. Overlooked by the media is the fact that the state government covers 40% of the costs of the transit system while the county tax levy covers just 14% (a few years ago, the state covered close to 44% and the county just 14%). Steady support from the state will stabilize the transit system. See what I mean?

Finally, Scott wants to use all of the $91.5 million in federal money to enhance our current system and to develop a regional form of transportation that will grow this community and attract employers - not develop a downtown streetcar line or a new light rail system. And if he doesn't get his way, he won't play.

UPDATE: MSJ is now reporting that the $91.5 million is now being blocked, and is in jeopardy of being lost forever, due in no small part, to Walker's shenanigans. How much more of this guy can we afford?

Today, I received an email from Senator Taylor's campaign. This too was about the transit situation:

Over the weekend, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that our "Transit System ridership plunged to a 33-year low in 2007. . .[and the] ridership drop may have been the biggest decrease of any major U.S. bus system," (3/1/08). Across the nation, the rise in gas prices has boosted public transportation ridership. But here in Milwaukee County, Mr. Walker cannot deny that the decisions he has made-raising fares and cutting routes-have made our public transit inefficient and cost-ineffective. For example, the cost of a ride here is as expensive as one in Chicago, New York, or Philadelphia (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9/18/07).

To read the full text of this weekend's article, click here.

Just recently Lena rode bus route 15 from downtown Milwaukee to Bay View to hear and see the effects of the transit situation firsthand. Bus route 15 is one of the bus routes that Scott Walker had wanted to cut.

Lena was privileged to speak with several riders who, like so many of us, depend on public transit to access their work and get around. Reality hit home when one resident from Oak Creek stated that if Mr. Walker cuts this bus route, he will be forced to quit his job. He is not alone. And of on top of service cuts, riders agreed that the fare increases have put a pinch on their already-thin wallets.

Another great take on this issue comes from Michael Rosen, author of mid coast views:

Milwaukee County Executive, Scott Walker, says government needs to be run like a business.

But there’s not a business anywhere that would succeed if it was mismanaged the way Mr. Walker has mismanaged the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS)!

Walker, who has no private sector experience, has raised prices, while cutting service- a recipe for failure!

************************

Walker doesn’t grasp rudimentary economics. You can attract riders/customers with low prices. Or you attract them by offering high level (quality) services. But no enterprise, public or private, can raise prices and slash service and operate successfully.

Yet, this has been Walker's strategy for the Milwaukee County Transit System.

************************

Does the County Executive really believe Milwaukee can attract and retain jobs and corporate headquarters without a viable public transit system?

Does Mr. Walker really think we can connect the unemployed with employers experiencing labor shortages without affordable and efficient mass transit?

When you put a fox in charge of the chicken coup, the feathers fly.

My own view is that I'm sure glad Walker didn't take up medicine. If he were a doctor, he would be pinching off the oxygen tube, saying he was trying to help the patient breathe.

Ron Reagan -- The Working Man's Friend

By Keith Schmitz

Oh woe is the GOP. Rudderless without Reagan.

Nostalgia over The Gipper is understandable among those making over $250,000 a year and sitting on a ton of investments.

For the rest of America, not so smart.

Case in point. An MSN article reminds about what happened in 1986 (see myth #4) with the disappearance of the deductibility of sales taxes and consumer/student loan interest on the old 1040. Of course that made room for upper income tax breaks.

Fortunately many of us are waking up to the burdens we all have to carry under conservatism. Great time for William F. Buckley to take his leave because the roll-back is coming.

Your good thoughts would be appreciated

by folkbum

The good news is that I will be in Ohio for the Democratic primary Tuesday.

The bad news is that I am going because my dad is in the ICU. At this point, he's been unconscious and unresponsive since Saturday, but every test has come back negative. The doctors are stumped.

I fly out tomorrow; expect my posting to be spotty for the next little while.

UPDATE, MONDAY AM: Thanks for all your kind words, below in comments and in emails.

Lying About The Lies

by capper

This morning's edition of the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal has an article updating us on the race for Milwaukee County Executive. The focus of the article is that Walker has unleashed some of his special interest money to run some TV commercials. Big whoop.

But buried in the article is this little nugget:

Tim Russell, Walker's campaign chairman, said the special interests referred to in the ad were the ones that sponsored a series of anti-Walker billboards and a poll.

The "tons of money" line used by Walker in the race was based on news accounts that estimated the billboards cost $20,000 to $40,000 and the poll about $40,000, Russell said.

Now I presume the poll he was referring to was the one done by Progressive Majority Wisconsin, and not the poll done by Walker's friends the month before PMW's. But considering that even if what Russell said was true, it would come out to be about one eighth of what Walker has already gotten from his cronies. Not exactly a ton of money or a convincing argument. More of just a cheap ploy.

As I pointed out earlier, Walker has no shame, and even has his wife lying for him. Now his campaign chairman is doing it.

The billboards that Russell is complaining about were put up were first noticed January 29, 2008. The poll that was done was late November, but the results weren't released until December 17, 2007.

However, in an email from Walker's own campaign, dated November 12, he was already stating the dreaded special interests that were going to be flooding money into the race:

There are less than five months to go until the April 1 election for County Executive. The special interest groups in Madison are rapidly collecting money to attack Scott. You can help. Visit ScottWalker.org to donate to our efforts today!

So he was whining about the special interest money before the billboards and the poll results were even done, much less reported on.

To recap, Walker has lied about running again, about raising taxes, about privatization, about his educational career, and who knows how much more. Is there anything he won't lie about, just to keep his career as a professional politician alive?

Case in point

by folkbum

Number of predictions by wingnut hacks that the Wisconsin Democratic presidential primary would riddled with voter fraud: Countless
Number of complaints by the Democratic campaigns of vote fraud: Zero

The Fallacy Behind Voter ID

by capper

It's another election year, and the calls for voter ID have been ringing out like never before. This din has only increased when the Special Investigations Unit of the Milwaukee Police Department came out with a report that basically said that they couldn't find any specific cases of fraud, but that there still should be something done about it. For further examination of this report, I would suggest going to look at Xoff's analysis, as well as that of the mighty Brawler. The Brawler takes another look at it and finds that not even the Milwaukee Police Department refuses to take an official stand on the report that it's own members created, raising even more suspicions about the validity of said report.

Now, I haven't chimed in on this subject, since the notable and worthy gentlemen, among many others, have already done a far better job of covering the report than I could. But there is something that bothers me.

The right claim that voter fraud is rampant and that the only way to stop it is through voter ID. But I recalled that good old grandpa capper, when he was alive, voted via absentee ballot. They would mail him the ballot, and like the wise old man he was, he would dutifully check off his choices (usually democratic, hence the wisdom) and I would sign off on it as a witness, and write down my address.

This always struck me as odd, since there was no way for them to readily verify who grandpa was, or even who I was. (Even more so for me, as that I am unlisted and unpublished.) It always seemed to me that it would be very easy to commit fraud, either by faking signatures, or by someone tricking or coercing someone to sign off on the ballot, even though they didn't do the voting.

So I poked around a little and found this article, written by Garrett Epps. Epps covers the issue of voter ID in general and gives us some history, including the fact that voter fraud is not a recent crisis, as those on the right would have us believe, but actually has been around for generations:

Folklore pervades the history of voter fraud in the United States. During the era of "live voice" voting, when voters shouted their choices in front of their neighbors, there was rampant bribery, intimidation, miscounting and voter impersonation. Roving gangs of ringers, plied with whiskey and $2 bills, voted in multiple locations under false names.

During the Gilded Age and the Progressive era, as Alex Keyssar documents in his monumental study The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States, the idea of the fraudulent voter coincided with social anxiety among the "better sort" about the political influence of the uneducated and recent immigrants. Whether or not they were legally entitled to vote, their votes were seen almost as fraudulent per se. In the turn-of-the-century South, voter restriction was a keystone of the burgeoning segregated system. "Voter fraud" meant votes cast by black and poor white voters. In the West, fraud meant voting by Native Americans.

Epps also succinctly agreed with my own suspicions regarding the real area of voter fraud:

No one on either side of the issue disputes that voter fraud occurs. But study after study has made clear that documented fraud is almost exclusively confined to absentee ballots. Absentee voting is one area where Republicans have traditionally out-organized Democrats; the new voter ID laws make almost no reforms to the absentee-vote system.

The voter-fraud argument comes down to a kind of duel over common sense. Voter ID proponents dismiss the lack of evidence; it stands to reason, they say, that if requirements are not strict, ineligible people will vote. Opponents counter that if it's hard to vote, some legal voters won't go to the polls. Whose votes matter? In recent years, conservative groups have insisted that precedence should go to "legitimate" voters, the kind of people who have ready access to ID. After all, Posner notes, "try flying, or even entering a tall building such as the courthouse in which we sit, without one." The roughly 18 percent of Americans who have never flown on a commercial airline are less worthy of concern.

Even conservative writers like John Fund at the Wall Street Journal note that there is a high potential for fraud with absentee ballots:

It's certainly true that voters like no-excuses absentee voting for its convenience. "Forcing voters to go to the polls to cast their ballots is an antiquated, outdated, absurd practice," says Oren Spiegler, a Pennsylvania voter. But it comes at a price. Simply put, absentee voting makes it easier to commit election fraud, because the ballots are cast outside the supervision of election officials. "By loosening up the restrictions on absentee voting they have opened up more chances for fraud," Damon Stone, a former West Virginia election fraud investigator, told the New York Times.

It's so easy to cheat you'd be surprised who's been caught at it. In 1998, former congressman Austin Murphy of Pennsylvania, a Democrat, was convicted of absentee-ballot fraud in a nursing home, where residents' failing mental capacities make them an easy mark. "In this area there's a pattern of nursing home administrators frequently forging ballots under residents' names," Sean Cavanagh, a former Democratic county supervisor from the area, told me. He says that many nursing home owners rely on regular "bounties" from candidates whom they allow to enter their facilities and harvest votes.

Absentee voting also corrupts the secret ballot. Because an absentee ballot is "potentially available for anyone to see, the perpetrator of coercion can ensure it is cast 'properly,' unlike a polling place, where a voter can promise he will vote one way but then go behind the privacy curtain and vote his conscience," notes John Fortier, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, in his new book, Absentee and Early Voting.

If the right is so genuinely concerned about voter fraud, why are they consistently demanding an expensive, immoral and unconstitutional version of a poll tax, instead of going after the area where the highest level of voter fraud is committed? Oh yeah, because of which side usually votes which way. But there's no effort to disenfranchise voters--yeah, right.

The Death Of Transit?

by capper

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported that the number of riders taking Milwaukee County Transit buses has dropped by 4.1 million riders from 2006 to 2007. That is 4,100,000 less riders, in just one year. The paper goes on to report that the number of passengers last year was the lowest number since the County took over the transit system in 1975.

This decline is happening while almost every other major city is seeing the highest number of riders in two generations. Oil prices are regularly breaking record highs and analysts are predicting that gasoline could reach $4 a gallon this year. That combined with the other growing costs of operating a car, traffic congestion, and parking headaches, adds up to the logical conclusion in higher amounts of people riding public transit.

The article goes on to report that the increased costs of bus fares, as well as severe cuts in routes and schedules for the routes remaining are major factors into the reduction in riders in the Milwaukee area. We all know who is responsible for those decisions.

But what is interesting is the response around the blogosphere regarding this news. Gretchen Schuldt and Ken Mobile both point out the article and ask if anyone is really surprised. Bill Christoffersen sees this being the death knell for public transit, if something drastic isn't done soon.

However, those on the right are circling the buses and are in full mode to protect their boy, Walker. The defenses they are offering to try to warp the reality of the situation would be funny if they weren't so pathetic.

Over at Badger Blogger, they are saying that it isn't Walker's fault, but that all 4.1 million passengers stopped riding because of urban sprawl and crime. I reckon that in their skewed view of the world no other major city in the country has a problem with crime or urban sprawl. What they also don't mention is the fact that without sufficient access to public transit, people will be forced to drive, even when they can't or aren't allowed to drive legally. That not only drives up the cost of our insurance rates, but can have much more deadly consequences.

And Owen at Boots & Sabers, is taking the predictable approach of "it's my tax money, dammit."
He writes:

If only everyone would ride busses (sic), they say, then there’d be less congestion on the roads, less pollution, and the people of the community would be forced to mix and understand each other. Of course, that comes at the expense of less choice, less liberty, and higher taxes.

What Owen doesn't appreciate is that by cutting all of these bus routes and schedules, it limits the choices and the liberties for those that are dependent on them. He also seems to fail to understand that all of the roads that he and his kind advocate for doesn't come for free, but are paid for by our tax dollars, and at much higher levels than public transit is taking.

Not only that, but as mentioned before there are higher costs, such as insurance rates, with all of the unlicensed drivers taking to the streets again. And while I am not an economist, it would seem to me that if more people had access to transportation, more people would be able to get to where the jobs are, make more money, and help defray the costs of taxes among more people.

But I guess to some people on the right side of the sphere, their rights are more important than other people who might not be of the right socioeconomic class. And they support Walker because he promises to maintain the status quo of steady decline in the quality of life for the majority of people in Milwaukee County.

I have even seen arguments that people need to vote against Senator Taylor because she wants to take Milwaukee's fair share of tax revenues back from the state. As the MSJ article shows this is a lame argument, as that Walker wants to do the same thing:

But because state aid provides more transit funding than the Milwaukee
County levy, Walker said the focus should be on earmarking more state dollars
for transit.

Their argument against Taylor and their vehement opposition to raising taxes is also refuted by the article which reports that on a national level, 70% of ballots seeking to raise taxes to improve transit systems were approved by the voting public.

My biggest fear is that Xoff may be right. Walker may get re-elected, and that would mean the demise of public transit. Has anyone ever heard of a major city that has survived without some sort of public transit? I know I haven't. Even smaller cities like Stevens Point and Wausau need public transit systems.

Please vote for Taylor. There is a lot more riding on this election than just a buck two eighty in taxes.

A Funny Thing happened on the Way to the Forum

by folkbum

Candidate Forum
General Election, April 1
Monday, March 3rd—7pm
Humboldt Park School Auditorium, Second Floor
3230 S. Adams Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53207

(Please use south entrance on the west side of the building on Adams Avenue. You may park on street and in the adjacent parking lot. Bathrooms are located on first and second floors. Doors open at 6:30pm.)
Schedule:
7:15-7:35 Seat: Milwaukee County Executive
Candidates: Lena Taylor, Scott Walker (inc.)
7:40-8:00 Seat: County Supervisor District 4
Candidates: Marina Dimitrijevic, Jason Palmatier
8:05-8:25 Seat: County Supervisor District 14
Candidates: Steven Kraeger, Christopher Larson
8:30-8:50 Seat: Milwaukee Mayor
Candidates: Tom Barrett (inc.), Andrew Shaw
At time of publication of this notice, Tom Barrett’s campaign has not stated that Mayor Barrett will participate.
8:55-9:15 Seat: Aldermanic District 14
Candidates: Andrew Reid, Tony Zielinski (inc.)
9:20-9:40 Seat: Judge, Milwaukee County Circuit Court, Branch 40
Candidates: Rebecca Dallet, Jeffrey Norman


Format: Each pair of candidates will be asked six questions and invited to respond to each in one minute or less. A moderator will ask the questions, selected from among the audience questions and other questions submitted by area stakeholders. A timer will indicate when 30 seconds of response time remain and when it is time for respondents to conclude their one-minute remarks. Seating order for candidates will be determined by drawing lots. Each question will be first directed to one candidate and then to the other. Candidates will each be afforded one minute for opening remarks and 30 seconds for closing remarks. Candidates' campaign materials may be found on a table for that purpose. If you don't know what district you live in, please consult the maps provided by the Compass for that purpose that will be available at the event.


Moderator: Virginia Cassel

Sponsored by Bay View Compass, Bay View Neighborhood Association and the League of Women Voters, and Hosted by Humboldt Park School

Fact: Hillary Clinton will not win the Democratic nomination by running like a Republican

It's true.

Far Out Pictures

by capper

I realize that this probably has been around the internet a few billion times, but I just got it today and thought it was really stunning. Here are a series of pictures taken from one of the Endeavor's space missions. I was just struck by the brilliance and sharpness of the pictures.

Betcha We Don't Hear About This From Certain People

by capper

When a private printing company had people's Social Security numbers printed on the front of state mailings, the right was screaming murder and calling for people's heads, and rightfully so.

I wonder if we will hear the same kind of calls for action now that a private insurance company released the personal information for more than 100,000 people?

Hillary Channels Bill

We Are Only As Good As Our Sources

Buckley was before my time, but his passing has led me to review some of his commentary.   He was as wrong as Limbaugh, but at least he had class and respect for his debate partners.  The political environment in which I became aware featured no one as eloquent.  I was never well acquainted with his commentary, but I nostalgically miss it.

The media I grew up with has far less to do with substance and everything to do with style.  "News" outlets are far more concerned with the latest gotcha headline than they are with covering issues that matter.  How can we expect a competent political system if we don't demand a competent and responsible media to inform the voters?

You can sense that all sides are fed up with it, but no one speaks out against it until a good shot of gotcha smacks them in the face.  Clinton has a legitimate grievance against the glowing coverage her opponent has received, but she has been an eager participant in the media's nonsense.    I recently thought the media would pounce all over the hypocrisy of Clinton repeating the ridiculous charges of plagiarism leveled at Obama during the Texas debate, then moments later play off Clinton's and Edwards comments as her own.  If we have to play the gotcha game we should at least evenly apply the rules.

Journal Sentinel Still Behind On Stories

by capper

In today's JSOnline Newswatch, they have this little blurb:

Have county transit changes affected you?

How have you been affected by Milwaukee County Transit System fare increases and service cuts? Please contact Journal Sentinel reporter Larry Sandler at lsandler@journalsentinel.com to let him know, and please include your name and a telephone number where you can be reached.

I'm sure that it's not Mr. Sandler's fault that this story is so slow in the making for MSJ, but they are several months late, just like they were on the pension scandal. Actually, both of them.

I would kindly suggest that Mr. Sandler take advantage of Gretchen Schuldt's hard work as his launching point.

Hillary Clinton Borrows Edwards Finishing Line

Taylor vs. Walker: BlogTalkRadio Debate

by capper

There was a debate Tuesday between state Senator Lena Taylor and County Executive Scott Walker, via BlogTalkRadio. The debate was hosted by Kyle Duerstein and he has it up on PantherTalkLive. Be advised, it is almost two hours long.

Listen to it without any of the heavy editing by Sykes, or any of the right wing echo chamber. And to be fair, I will not influence you with my astute observations and keen insights in this post. However, the comment thread, if one forms, is fair game.

There is also a blurb about it at JSOnline.

This is all via the Thoughtful Conservative. Many thanks, TC.

John McCain, Fear and Lying

via MAL Contends

Update: McCain buddy Bush picks up the lying talking point.
BUSH: It's an interesting comment. 'If Al Qaida is securing an Al Qaida base'?Yes, well, that's exactly what they've been trying to do for the past four years. That's — their stated intention was to create enough chaos and disorder to establish a base from which to either launch attacks or spread a caliphate.

From the inception of the Bush presidency which effectively began on September 12, 2001, the war paradigm and fear have been its trademarks.

In policy and politics, Bush and neocons have transformed this country into a permanent culture of fear while claiming to be the sole instrument to provide security.John McCain has picked up the torch, and is now lying, howler after howler, on the campaign trail with impunity.

The question is: Will the media that credulously reported the weapons-of-mass-destruction and al-Qaeda/Saddam lies [“allowed to stand unchallenged,” it was later reported with regret] continue to let John McCain lie with the newest iteration of the al-Qaeda will strike us from Iraq fable?“(Al-Qaeda in Iraq) if we left, they wouldn’t be establishing a base. They’d be taking a country, and I’m not going to allow that to happen,” John McCain tells us.Ludicrous.

As Juan Cole writes:

The allegation that (McCain) makes about there being ‘al-Qaeda in Iraq' that could well take over the country is part lie and part insanity. ... The idea that this small minority of violent Muslim fundamentalists could take over Iraq is completely crazy. They haven't even been able to keep their toehold in Baghdad-- the Sunnis have been largely ethnically cleansed from the capital by Shiite militias.

In GOP political rhetoric, al Qaeda has become inclusively the Islamofascists—the coming caliphate composed of everyone in Iraq and the Middle East who raises a gun or thought against foreign invaders, though Pakistan and Saudi Arabia (and assorted other authoritarian states) remain our steadfast, democratic friends.

And McCain is taking his fear show on the road as he looks to the general election, blasting Barack Obama for answering Tim Russert’s hypothetical question about reinvading Iraq should America withdraw in the future.

Asked Russert: ". . . do you reserve a right as American president to go back into Iraq, once you have withdrawn, with sizable troops in order to quell any kind of insurrection or civil war?"

Obama: . . . Now, I always reserve the right for the president -- as commander in chief, I will always reserve the right to make sure that we are looking out for American interests. And if al Qaeda is forming a base in Iraq, then we will have to act in a way that secures the American homeland and our interests abroad.

That’s just too much for McCain.

“Al Qaeda is there now,” Mr. McCain said today in Houston, with a tone of belittlement in his voice. “So to state that somehow if Al Qaeda were there that he would consider going back militarily is really a remarkable comment, and I don’t think displays an understanding of the size of the threat and what’s at stake in Iraq.” (Bosman, NYT)

But as Juan Cole points out: “Note that Obama was simply responding to Russert's hypothetical, which assumed that the US was already out of Iraq but that in the aftermath, there was ‘insurrection’ or ‘civil war.’ The world that Russert imagined was presumably one in which Iraq had firmed up enough for the US to get out ... "

There are two blatant lies that McCain peddling:

- That Al Qaeda, such as is, can take over Iraq and pose a danger to the United States

- McCain's failure to acknowledge that Obama’s statement to which McCain has now spent two days misrepresenting was based on Russert’s hypothetical question

There is nothing “remarkable” about Obama’s comment, except in the disingenuous manner that McCain, Mr. straight talker, is presenting it.

But McCain’s blatant lying is remarkable and ought to be challenged by someone besides Juan Cole.

John McCain’s character, specifically his willingness to lie, is on display, and every journalist ought to be reporting on what is happening.

Instead, the newest media narrative, as I write, is: Can Obama withstand this McCain attack, and is he seasoned enough on military and foreign policy?

Let's hope that the media will heed the lesson of its admitted failure before the Iraq invasion.

From The Times and Iraq (New York Times, May 26, 2004):"We have studied the allegations of official gullibility and hype. It is past time we turned the same light on ourselves."

Good idea.

The Rorschach Reports

by folkbum

The last couple of days have seen two "big" reports released that at the same time tell us nothing we didn't already know and provide all sides with new stores of ammunition. I doubt anyone's mind changed about anything as they read these reports; their reactions almost certainly reflect what they already believe rather than anything about the reports themselves. They become mirrors, or Rorschach tests--what people say about the reports tells us more about those commenting than about the content of the reports.

The first is the report out on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, or the Voucher Program, as it's usually called. The report notes that comparable samples of students from the Milwaukee Public Schools and from voucher schools perform about the same. There's one reaction from people who dislike the voucher program, such as this conservative MPS teacher who, like me, has seen the effects of these schools on MPS first-hand. He writes,

So the kids are not doing better, but you are hurting the big schools on a number of factors. Bigger schools have more money and therefore have more programs and more opportunity. You have all these kids going to small schools all over Milwaukee with the bare minimum. And obviously they are not learning more. Cut cut cut cut cut is what happens all over MPS, so kids can leave and parents can pretend their kids are getting a better education.

On the other hand, you get a predictable reaction from people who support the voucher program; Owen Robinson comments, "So… same performance for a fraction of the cost of MPS. Sign me up." (We've talked before about how specious the doing-more-with-less argument is.)

A third predictable reaction was Mayor Tom Barrett's jumping all over the reports notes about the funding flaw. Barrett claims the flaw costs Milwaukee taxpayers $47 million extra this year. I think that number may be high; apparently, the mayor is basing the figure on the researcher's belief that perhaps 90% of the students currently taking a voucher would be in MPS without the program. That number seems high to me based on recent data from the Public Policy Forum. I wrote about the 2006-2007 PPF report here, and noted that almost 60% of the new voucher users that year were not new to the schools the attended; i.e., they were students who would be in private schools regardless of voucher availability. The 2007-2008 report confirms this trend, noting that this year 44% of new voucher students were already enrolled in voucher schools before joining the program. (I meant to write more about this when the PPF report came out earlier this month, but I did not; you can hear an enlightening interview with Anneliese Dickman of the PPF on "Lake Effect.") Barrett still has a point; whether Milwaukeeans are being screwed out of $47 million or $24 million, we're still getting screwed.

The second report was the long-awaited Milwaukee Police Department investigation into the 2004 election in Milwaukee and allegations of "vote fraud." The report confirms what everybody already knew--the Milwaukee Election Commission in 2004 dropped a massive turd of a mess. Sloppy record keeping and incompetent (or willfully blind-eye-turning) poll records cast doubt over the whole affair and likely allowed a few bad seeds--felons or out-of-state ACORN volunteers--to cast votes illegally. The number of bad votes that could have been prevented by a photo ID law seems minimal, and the report reaffirms US Attorney Steven Biskupic's previous assertion that there were no organized attempts at fraud.

But a quick tour around the blogs this morning will show you, again, that those commenting have had their previously-held views firmly reinforced by the release of this report. Liberals and liberals like Bill Christofferson and the Brawler point out--rightly so, I think (I'm not above being a part of the Rorschach crowd)--that requiring an ID at the polls would solve virtually none of the problems in the report and likely cause more disenfranchisement than bad votes it would prevent. Conservatives see justification for such draconian measures.

To an extent, I think these reports encourage the Rorschach response in their refusal or inability to take any kind of a firm stand. The voucher report is very cautious about how this is the first year and we can't make any judgments yet. The voting report does nothing but identify what we already knew about the Election Commission three years ago--and much of that has changed since with the installation of a new boss and a crackdown on sloppiness. At least Biskupic took a stand on vote fraud, saying in the face of right-wing pressure that there was no organized fraud--but, then again, that almost got him fired. Maybe there's something to that . . .

Can We Have A Little HIPAA Over Here? Revisited

by capper

A couple of weeks ago, I had already pointed out how Walker and his administration doesn't only ignore state law, but has a high disregard for federal laws as well. Being the astute observer that I am, I wrote (emphasis mine, now):

It appears that Walker's acting director of the Department of Administration, didn't bother checking the law, or running this past the Clerk of Circuit Courts, John Barrett. Instead, she just went ahead and released this information. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, Walker is mum on the subject.

Chris Kliesmet, spokesman for CRG, wrote a letter to the editor at MSJ, trying to foist the blame on John Barrett. In this morning's paper, Mr. Barrett answers those accusations, in his own letter to the editor:

Chris Kliesmet, spokesman for Citizens for Responsible Government, recently criticized my concern over the release of confidential information in a letter ("Clerk to blame for mishandling release," Feb. 21).

Evidently in his world, responsible government does not expose mistakes made by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's administration. What is mystifying is why CRG is so angry about transparency in government - a concept it claims to stand for. Transparency should include all government and not just the party one favors.

What Kliesmet's letter didn't say was that the Walker administration had input and released this data. It violated "the fundamental rule of secure record keeping that demands public and private information be kept separate." This whole debacle has cost the taxpayers money. County employees had to scour 188,000 invoices to remove confidential information. I hope CRG will pay the taxpayers back for this cost.

I do not believe confidential information should be made public. Not surprisingly, the law agrees with me. I was not consulted about the release of confidential information. I did not grant and will not grant anyone the authority to publish such information. It was only when the Journal Sentinel exposed the problem that the data was finally removed. I call that service.

John Barrett
Clerk of Circuit Court/Register in Probate,
Milwaukee County
Milwaukee

The question that remains is: Does this fall under Safety (violating people's privacy), Affordability (sticking taxpayers with the bill to correct yet another one of his blunders) or Pride (not following the law)?

Weak Arguments

Walker and the usual suspects from the right are starting to pour it on in his efforts to win the re-election bid he promised he would go after.

So far, their efforts have been rather feeble.

They try to argue about Senator Taylor's competence, highlighting a YouTube video lifted off of Eye on Wisconsin WisconsinEye, in which, during a moment of frustration, she states that she is "utterly confused." Of course, these are the same people that had no issue at all of Bush's ability to speak in public, which I highlight in this post at my other home away from home. That makes that point moot.

Next, they try to build up Walker with some silly video in which Walker is touting his ill-conceived plan to gut the Parks Department. Ken Mobile cites Mark Maley of the Parks People who highlights how dumb this idea is:

- Seasonal employees require copious hours of training before they are effective. In fact, nearly all of their training is currently conducted by a full-time Park Maintenance Worker, the same position that is proposed to be cut. The responsibility for competent training will fall to a greatly reduced force of full-time employees who will be asked to train an even higher number of these transitional employees. This is a recipe for further dysfunction.

- These temporary staffers require much more supervision than dedicated full-time staffers. In keeping with the continual reduction in field staff, the supervisory ranks are at an all-time low and struggle to keep a watchful eye on their charges while keeping up with their myriad other duties. A good work force is one that has a stake in providing a quality product while keeping on task. With an even greater dependence on a transitional workforce that has no real stake in the operation, creating that “buy-in” is a harder sell and keeping them on task over the long term is a wish.

- Because of low wages and lack of benefits a high percent of seasonal employees are college and high school students who are not available during the school year. This is especially problematic during the early- to late-fall period when park personnel have the task of mending the hundreds of athletic fields that were tortured during the main sporting season. Local sports enthusiasts have already taken note that their “fields of dreams” have turned into nightmares over the last number of years due to lack of maintenance. This bad dream will only be exacerbated by this further reduction of available, competent full-time staffers.

Then we have the usual mantra of she's gonna raise our taxes. Yawn. If one would look at the JSOnline bit on today's debate, they would have read this (emphasis mine):

After the forum, Taylor said she would look first at eliminating inefficiencies and mismanagement in county government as a way to come up with money for transit. She'll consider a sales tax later, in the context of a larger discussion about all county needs, Taylor said.

Of course, don't forget who already debunked that bit of humdrum weeks ago. Thank you very much.

What Walker's supporters don't mention is that Walker has already acknowledged that there is a need to increase taxes to save the parks. He does it every time he and the handful of friends he has left in Madison try to get the parks district off the ground. Nor do any of them ever mention the fact that Walker has yet to have a budget that didn't blow up by midyear, if not sooner.

I did find irony in the news tonight, that showed a clip of Walker speaking of the importance of education. I hope he was sincere in his statements, because he sure had shown that in his own academic career. I recognize that losing an election for student president, even if the loss was a landslide decision favoring a write-in candidate, Walker could be upset and even embarrassed. But to quit college over that doesn't show a lot in the way of personal fortitude.

The thing that bothers me the most is how low this race has already gotten, when I saw that someone had used a racial slur against Senator Taylor. I will not name or link to the site, as it is a respected conservative site, and I respect the proprietor of that site. But as disappointing that there are still such ignorant people out there, I am just as disappointed, if not more so, that the proprietor didn't even admonish the commenter for their vulgarity.

And, of course, I would be remiss, if I did not encourage you to show your support for Senator Taylor. You can help bring sanity back to Milwaukee County in many different ways. Please visit her website for more information.

Clinton's Hail Mary

via MAL Contends

Let's put tonight’s democratic presidential debate in football terms.

Hillary is down by 13 points, her team has the ball on her own 30-year-line with four minutes to go in the fourth, having displayed no ground game and an inconsistent passing attack.

Her opponents’ defensive cornerbacks are Lester Hayes and Mark Haynes (of Raiders fame), the pass rush is the 1985 Bears, and the linebackers are a bunch of LTs.

MSNBC bills the debate as Hillary’s Last Stand. The debate’s headline ought to read: Abandon hope, Hillary, if ye enters here.

It would take a hail Mary pass, an immaculate reception, a drive to end all drives, and Barack Obama's invoking the name of Satan for Hillary (the let's-trust-George W. Bush-to-do-the-right-thing-on-Iraq Hillary (Vote: Oct. 11, 2002)) to win this game.

The Winter Of My Discontent

by capper

I usually enjoy the winter. The cold doesn't bother me and I only get annoyed with the snow when it hampers travel plans. But the last couple of years have really caused me to start rethinking my attitude towards winter.

Last year, on Valentine's Day, the wonderful and beautiful mrs. capper, on her way to work, hit a patch of black ice and lost control. She spun out and went down a steep hill, driver's side first, towards a small copse of trees. Fortunately, she didn't roll the car and it stopped snug up against a tree, instead of into it. She was shaken but not hurt, but the car was totaled. When I got to the scene of the accident, I literally became ill, because I saw how close I came to losing the love of my life. I've been on edge whenever she has to drive in winter weather since then.

Fast forward to this year. This past weekend, my bride and I went up to our home away from home, our place up north. It was the first time in three weeks that we got the chance to go, because of the weather, and we were both anxious to get back there. When we arrived, we found snow drifts that were four to five feet deep in places, not to mention the end of the drive where the plow placed another four foot tall wall of snow.

Even with the snow blower snapping two shearing pins, we managed to get all the snow cleared out of the drive. The next day we dug out the mailbox and I cleared the three feet of snow off the front porch. I figured I'd do the garage and the main roof Sunday morning. I obviously thought wrong.

Sunday morning, we heard a muffled "whoompf" and ran outside to find this.




That's the inside of what was our garage. To make it even worse, my Highlander was parked in the garage.




And to make sure I got the point, or maybe just to add insult to injury, the garage also took out "the Lambeauni," my Packer-orientated lawn tractor.

Then, as I was scurrying in and out of the garage trying to salvage things before it collapsed, I had a rafter fall on my head given me a slight cut and a large lump. Oh, I'm telling you, this is not going down as one of my better weekends.

The construction crews should be out tomorrow to try to peel the garage door out and hoist the roof enough to get my vehicle out, then we have to wait and see if it salvageable or not. The Lambeauni probably can be fixed, if we can get it out of there.

Everyone tells me that we should be grateful that no one was in the garage at the time, and no one got hurt. I know that they are right, and I am glad that we are OK. Things can be replaced, but people can't. But still, this sucks. Considering the amount of time that the garage sits empty, why did it have to pick one of the rare occasions by car was inside of it before collapsing?

And no, I wasn't doing this to make Bill feel better, and I am not going to blame Walker.

UPDATE: They got the car out of the garage, and to the body shop. It still runs, but the amount of damage vs. the worth of the vehicle makes it still iffy whether or not they decide to total the car.

Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts.

Be very, very quiet

by folkbum

At least that's my plan. There will be daylight sometime ahead, but I don't know when. The rest of the gang will keep you entertained, though, I'm sure.

Clinton Rules -- McCain Edition

By Keith Schmitz

This week the New York Times committed the effrontery, the utter effrontery, of emitting a whiff of scandal over the possibility that GOP presumptive presidential nominee John McCain would be too cozy with lobbyists. The Times did however sexed it up with the hint that McCain was having an affair with one of the lobbyists.

But the result of The Times releasing the article unleashed the predictable firestorm from not only the right wing blogs but also the mainstream media, particularly Chris Matthews on Hardball, who has an almost embarrassing man-crush on McCain.

The incident prompts Media Matters to lay out the contrasting coverage afforded the Clintons by the press.

I'm no fan of Hillary Clinton but the unfavoritism press attention given her and the President is glaringly obvious. The New York Times in particular led the pack, putting out the slightest hint of scandal during WhiteWater.

Take the case of Katherine Willey. When the widow leveled her charges of foundling against Bill Clinton she got full treatment on 60 Minutes and splashy coverage days afterward. Her story, it turned out to be bogus and so fake that Ken Starr's successor Robert Ray in his wrap up report hinted that she purgered herself and could have been charged. The only coverage that got was in the back pages of USA Today.

So for your edification, here are the Clinton rules as spelled out by Media Matters:

1) If any part of an alleged scandal turns out to be true, the media behaves as though the entire story is true.

2) Media parse every statement by progressives in response to controversy, looking for something to ridicule -- whether the ridicule is fair or not.

Think the so-called Kerry botched joke, which Charlie Sykes tried to ride for all it is worth (hard because it was worth nothing).

3) Media parse every statement by progressives in response to controversy, looking for something to ridicule -- whether the ridicule is fair or not.

That is pretty much the way the mainstream media delivers it. And yet the ingrates on the right continue to attack the press.

Fortunately some in the press are taking a fresh look at McCain's relations with lobbyists. Hope they won't be scared off from the job.

Your Liberal Media In Action

by capper

I just posted on the first debate between Senator Taylor and Walker. It was difficult to do this post. Not because the results weren't to be as expected, with Taylor winning, but because the local media did such a lousy job covering it.

First, they gave two different reports. There was the immediate JSOnline Newswatch report that was posted yesterday afternoon. Then there was the one that was heavily edited and put in this morning's paper. Go ahead and compare the two.

And while you're at it, count how many times they highlight Walker against how many times they mention Senator Taylor.

And to top it off, check out the last part of the edited version:

Both Walker and Taylor said they'd be advocates for education, another area not directly under the county's purview. Both said they were backers of school choice, though Taylor later qualified her stance. She said she favors requirements that choice teachers and administrators have state certification, a stand not shared with many choice proponents.

Some choice advocates have viewed Taylor as anti-choice, particularly for her lack of support for a plan last year to provide additional state funding to offset property taxes paid for the Milwaukee choice program.

Not only do they report on something that has absolutely nothing but then gets it wrong. With reporting like that, Senator Taylor will have to beat two opponents.

To help Senator Taylor get her message out, please go here and help anyway you can.