August 2009 Archives

From Milwaukee County First, of which I am the Chair:

For many years, riders of the Milwaukee County Transit System has seen its routes get cut and the fares go up, as less and less money is available for it. Once a standard for the nation, it has been in steady decline. This year, it has been recommended by the current administration, contrary to all advice, to again slash routes by up to 40% and raise fares by charging a quarter for each transfer. This will have a devastating effect on the local economy, not just of Milwaukee County, but for the entire southeast region of Wisconsin.

Likewise, the Milwaukee County Parks System has seen cuts for each of the past 27 years. This year will be no different, except that it appears that the parks will suffer the most severe cuts yet. Some of the options being considered by the current administration is closing ALL of the outdoor swimming pools, closing both community centers, and cutting maintenance at the senior centers.

Corporate-accountability foe and GOP darling ABC News 20/20 Host John Stossel has been slithering around our great state with a traveling rumba of rattlesnakes from Republicans for Prosperity.

One Wisconsin Now has dubbed these “Republican Rallies for Failure,” as part of a Republican strategy, financed by Republican special interests to defeat Democratic President Obama no matter the cost.

Owen Robinson from Boots & Sabers was on WPR's Week in Review to defend JB Van Hollen's refusal to represent the state in its efforts to extend basic legal protections, such as hospital visitation rights, to domestic partners in Wisconsin.

A packed house of progressives, advocacy groups, community activists, labor unions and faith-based organizations joined Rep. Steve Kagen, M.D., (D-WI8) in calling for Congress to pass real health care reform that improves access and affordability and includes a public option to end the monopoly enjoyed by the health insurance industry.

For over three decades, I have been listening to people as their doctor, said Rep. Kagen. I am on the side of my patients and working hard for the 700,000 constituents I have the honor of representing. I know your doctor wants to do what is best for you " not a corporations bottom line. It is time to kick the insurance companies out of our examination rooms. This will not be an easy fight, but it is a fight worth fighting. Together, we will win.

The rally, held at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bays student union, included a number of speakers offering stories about the critical importance of passing federal health care reform this year.

We are advocating health care reform that is quality, affordable and accessible for all, said Rev. Marian Boyle of Green Bays West Side Moravian Church and a member of JOSHUA, who served as the rallys master of ceremonies. Efforts made toward that end we affirm and celebrate.

Among the speakers at the rally was woman with a continuing heart ailment who told her health care story. The health insurance company was charging her employer $10,000 a year just in premium costs for her pre-existing condition. She lost her job and could not afford to go on COBRA at the $10,000-a-year premium cost. She is unable to purchase insurance on an individual policy because no company will insure her.

Americans for Prosperity's ‘Republican Rally for Failure’ is central in the Republican strategy, bankrolled by Republican interests, to defeat the Democratic President at any cost. They don’t care about lying to us. They don’t care if our health care costs keep skyrocketing. They don’t care if Americans die due to lack of health insurance coverage – they just want President Obama to fail.

 

Eight hundred miles away in our nation’s capital, someone’s looking to stimulate Milwaukee County’s economy as County Executive Scott Walker chooses not to. Yesterday, U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Recovery Act funds in the amount of $27.4 million to pay for Wisconsin transit improvements, most of which are heading to Milwaukee County.

“Young Gun” Paul Ryan is at it again – paid off to do the bidding of the health insurance lobby.

A report using stats from the Center for Responsive politics showed that big interest group donor to Ryan during his ten years in office is… you guessed it, health insurance.

Half a million bucks.

We have all seen the misleading smear ads Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce runs each election cycle, and WMC consistently ranks at or near the top in lobbying expenditures each legislative session.

But what does WMC get in return?

The short answer: anything it wants from the corporate-lapdog Republicans it helps elect to the Wisconsin Legislature.

The long answer? After the jump.

With Attorney General JB Van Hollen announcing last week he is refusing to perform the duties for which he was elected, four critical considerations must be made in judging his decision:

1. This is the opposite of what Van Hollen asserted during the campaign. When Van Hollen was defending the marriage amendment, he said it wouldn’t apply to domestic partnerships. In a press release from the 2006 campaign, Van Hollen wrote: “The Legislature or the governing body of a political subdivision or local governmental unit is not precluded from authorizing or requiring that a right or benefit traditionally associated with marriage be extended to two or more unmarried individuals; for example, family health insurance benefits, certain probate rights, or the ability to file joint tax returns.” He added, “But it’s also clear that if elected [my opponent] intends to interpret the laws as she sees fit instead of executing the role of attorney general.” Doesn’t Van Hollen’s legal flip flop compromise his and the Department of Justice’s credibility?

On Sunday, August 30th, 2009, Campaign Against Violence (CAV) will cap off its summer initiative with their 5th annual 'Put the Guns Down Festival', at Washington Park starting at 11am.

The non-profit group known for its leadership development and civic engagement efforts will keep things on a lighter note with this gathering.  The festival will be a family friendly event, aimed at bringing together and empowering community members.

Rep. Paul Ryan released an open letter to the public this morning. He wants Wisconsin’s 1st District to know that he will be changing the venues of some of his listening sessions in anticipation for larger crowds. Cool. But he also wants you to know that he condemns the “widespread disrespect, and even violence” coming out of the health care debate and is disappointed by the attacks… coming from the left.

On this past weekend’s Wisconsin Public Television Here and Now show, viewers were treated to a discussion about a proposed 36 percent interest cap on payday loan sharks between the bill’s author, Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh) and payday industry lobbyist Erin Krueger.

Responding to Rep. Hintz’s observation that Wisconsin is the only state without a rate cap and how the bill mirrors similar protections extended federally to military families and personnel, Krueger snapped back with this gem (at 7 minute mark):

“They’re not giving advances to military under that 36 percent interest rate cap,” she said.

With today's official announcement by Gov. Jim Doyle that he won't be seeking re-election next year, he showed he's no dummy. Mounting failures and plunging popularity numbers made this an extremely easy choice for the two-termer. Unfortunately for Democrats, Doyle has put his party's wannabees in an unenviable position of having to defend the policies of a very poor eight-year run. At least the Dems have a chance with someone else on the ticket -- if Doyle had tried for a third term, you'd be looking at a landslide win for the GOP.
Good luck, gov, wherever you end up.

Let's list the reasons why US Attorney Steve Biskupic could have been put on the firing list by Karl Rove:

1. Georgia Thompson

2. 14 indictments, just 5 convictions

3. One of the double voters was a conservative...

But he probably got two gold stars for these brilliant convictions:

43 year old grandmother who mistakenly thought she could vote, and even tried to rescind her vote when she discovered she couldn't...

...and this 23 year old who will probably never vote again...

 

Just all in a good day's work for the "Grand Ole Party." 

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker’s opposition to the $7 billion in stimulus funds allotted for Wisconsin under President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has drawn scorn inside and outside of Milwaukee County.

The criticism has become more acute due to drastic cuts Walker is proposing for Milwaukee County he says are necessary. Let’s not kid ourselves – this is the same guy who spent thousands of dollars to announce his second campaign – including spending that money for in neighboring states whose television stations penetrate Wisconsin media markets. As Cory Liebmann laid out at Eye on Wisconsin, after using Milwaukee taxpayer funds previously, this time he had friendly corporations which do business in Milwaukee County finance the trip.

And conservatives are still arguing for more tax cuts...when is enough enough? A new report tells the story:

Income inequality in the United States is at an all-time high, surpassing even levels seen during the Great Depression, according to a recently updated paper by University of California, Berkeley Professor Emmanuel Saez.

Though income inequality has been growing for some time, the paper paints a stark, disturbing portrait of wealth distribution in America. Saez calculates that in 2007 the top .01 percent of American earners took home 6 percent of total U.S. wages, a figure that has nearly doubled since 2000.

"The top 1 percent incomes captured half of the overall economic growth over the period 1993-2007," Saes writes.

"...while the bottom 99 percent of incomes grew at a solid pace of 2.7 percent per year from 1993-2000, these incomes grew only 1.3 percent per year from 2002-2007. As a result, in the economic expansion of 2002-2007 [George Bush's tenure], the top 1 percent captured two thirds of income growth."

What does this tell us about conservatives' values? Profits are more important than families. And buy, buy, buy at all costs.

It's not even about the health care bill for most of these people.

Like myself, I could really care less if this bill gets passed or not, because I'm enrolled in the VA health system for life. And, I'm also an insensitive prick who only cares about himself.

Just like all these people who bring loud signs to these town halls that say something vague and over-interpretable like "Uphold our Freedoms!" or "Stop Socialism Now!".

Side note: do people in 'socialist' countries carry around signs reading "Stop Democracy Now!"?

When are citizens going to realize that socialist or democratic, the make up of your government does not matter, only the currency rules supreme.

The currency that was given to people to sit in some of those first town hall meetings across the country and do nothing but yell and scream.

And now ordinary idiots who have a completely disorganized value set see that kind of stuff on TV and figure they can get just as much attention if they show up to their local town hall meeting and do the same thing, but even louder and with even less intelligence. Fuck yeah, I'm on CNN!

The person who amused me the most at the health care forum I went to yesterday, was the woman with her sign that read: "Kill the bill, my NOT mother!" Too bad for her, Obama's 'death panel' has decided that people with dyslexia are going to be gassed and shot and then buried underneath Guantanamo Bay. And the suspected 'terrorists' that live there will still get their free health care.

Then some bonehead rushed up to this woman before she made an epic fool of herself and told her to rearrange the words. Which she did. And then she ended up on the front page of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

What was I writing about earlier with the whole 'currency rules all' thing? Because it seems to me of all the people at this town hall I went to who had signs that made sense the first time, this idiot woman gets on the front page because it's going to sell subscriptions.

And that's news you can rely on.

My Not Mother?

This protestor, with a cleaned up sign, made the cover of today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

With today's assertion (August 11, 2009) that Scott Walker has some "splainin" to do regarding details about campaign contributors, it highlights the countless occasions when our state's politicians are too often caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

To be fair, Gov. Doyle has yet to provide accurate accounting for many of his travel expenses lately. Until that happens, how can one throw stones at somebody else's house? In this unprecendented era of political gall, we need to hold EVERY ONE of our elected official's feet to the fire in all they do when representing their constituents. Remember...they work for us.

As Mark Twain once said, "If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." And, perhaps more than any other profession, politicians must be made to understand this.

Scott Walker got called out recently for sitting by and watching as Wisconsin and the U.S. stimulate Milwaukee County’s economy for him. Now the conservative MacIver Institute has created a project called the Wisconsin Stimulus Watch that will also pay close attention and put its spin on the jobs coming to Wisconsin via the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

Heather Blish introduced herself to Rep. Steve Kagen's Town Hall last week in true Sarah Palin fashion -- holding her baby as prop and claiming she is "just a mom" with real concerns about health care reform. Her 'regular mom' act was so authentic she even got on the teevee news! You could almost hear the Alaska in her voice as she insisted “I’m not a member of the Republican Party.’ All she needed to add was a ‘doncha know.’

Someone should remind Heather Blish that in the age of the Internets, it’s pretty easy to uncover a whole heap of lies with a couple of clicks. Yeah, so regular-mom-not-GOP-operative Heather Blish was vice-chair of the the Kewaunee County GOP until 2008. She currently works for Maelstrom Solutions, a GOPer web design firm that designed the WISGOP site, the campaign sites for JB Van Hollen, John Gard, Paul Ryan, and Leah Vukmir, and the site for Coalition for America's Families. Maelstrom also offered a $500 discount to any right-wing pro-life site in ‘honor’ of President Obama’s inauguration.

But she's not affiliated with the GOP. Right.

You'll remember One WI Now's ongoing coverage of Milwaukee County Exec Scott Walker opposition to accepting federal stimulus dollars to help Milwaukee County provide vital services to its residents. Then you’ll recall Walker’s ridiculous budget proposal that slashed funding for programs serving seniors, the disabled and at-risk youth. Further, Walker’s insane budget proposal went directly after the homeless in Milwaukee County—he proposed eliminating the ENTIRE county budget for supporting homeless shelters.

Now, Scott’s crusade against the poor in Milwaukee has taken a turn for the even worse. Turns out, part of the stimulus Walker was so adamantly opposed to receiving is going to be used to build a home aimed at serving homeless vets.

Walker’s stubborn insistence on cutting services for those most in need in Milwaukee County just to score political points underscores his utter failure as leader of Milwaukee County.

Here's a look at the birthers and mobs who are disrupting health care town halls around the country.....

The Republican Party of Wisconsin still features the anonymous blogger “Dad29” as a featured contributor, almost a week after the blog’s author angrily responded to comments on "his” blog with the homophobic retort: “Typical fag lobby.”

Dad29 is able to take nasty, homophobic pot shots from a coward’s vantage point cloaked in anonymity. That the Republican Party of Wisconsin continues to prominently feature and support his work even after this inexcusable slur shows just how extreme the party has become.

Click and watch:

http://playgroundpolitics.blogspot.com/2009/08/compare-and-contrast.html

Well said.

This past weekend was a busy one for consumer protection news in Wisconsin. As a part of a new regular installment, I’ll bring you a roundup of the most important news in consumer rights, better business accountability and highlights & lowlights from the view of the consumer.

AG Van Hollen drags feet while CA-based ‘mortgage modification’ company bilks desperate WI homeowners.

A company called 21st Century Legal Services has been working over Wisconsinites trying to stay in their homes by offering a “mortgage modification” service for a flat, up-front fee and then disappearing with the money. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did an interview with Helen Gibas of South Milwaukee who gave 21st Century $3,500 for a mortgage modification that would lower her interest rate to 4%. Eight months later, Gibas has yet to hear back from 21st Century.

Attorneys General in three states have brought suits against 21st Century for their dishonest business practices, but here in Wisconsin, AG Van Hollen has yet to act. Van Hollen needs to step up to protect vulnerable Wisconsin consumers from predatory companies like 21st Century – but since Van Hollen won’t, we will. Here’s the first official OWN Consumer Alert: DON’T DEAL WITH 21st CENTURY. If you do come into contact with a representative from 21st Century, take their name and call the Wisconsin Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-800-422-7128 or file a consumer complaint online here.

Hard times have fallen on Journal Communications and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Thirty-four more buyouts, Editor and Publisher reports. More layoffs are likely.

 The Newspaper Guild already had accepted 6.6% wage cuts in April to try to save some jobs, after nine people accepted buyouts in the spring.

 Steve Smith, chairman of the board and CEO of Journal Communications, also imposed a 6% wage cut on executives, managers and others not represented by the union. Like the Guild members, they got 10 "personal days" off per year in return. Said Smith:

As we manage for the long-term success of the company, we must identify constructive ways to continue to reduce costs.

In late April came this announcement:

Citing “the challenging economic environment,” the board of Journal Communications Inc. said Thursday it will suspend the dividend on Class A and Class B shares of its stock. Quarterly dividends on the shares had been cut to 2 cents from 8 cents in February.

"While we regret having to make this difficult decision, we believe this is the prudent choice in order to maintain financial flexibility,” said Steven J. Smith, chairman of Journal Communications. “Given the continued challenging economy and business conditions, we believe that this will allow the company to continue to direct a significant portion of its cash flow to debt reduction.”

Things haven't gotten any better. In the second quarter of this year, the company lost $4.8-million. It's hard to find a silver lining -- unless, of course, your name is Steve Smith. A March 19 report from the Journal Sentinel business page:

Total compensation increased almost 22% last year for Journal Communications Inc. chairman and chief executive Steven J. Smith, according to a regulatory filing by the company Thursday.

Smith earned no bonus, but his salary rose 3.7% to $798,077. He received stock awards worth $1,672 and option awards valued at $397,003, a proxy statement for the Milwaukee-based media company and publisher of the Journal Sentinel said. The biggest change in compensation was in the value of Smith's retirement benefits, which grew to $233,110, compared with $74,782 in 2007. He received other compensation last year worth $16,095.

Journal Communications posted a $224.4 million loss in 2008, largely due to $228.7 million in non-cash charges in the fourth quarter as the company wrote down the value of goodwill and some of its television and radio licenses. The company's newspaper, radio and TV operations also saw declines in revenue because of the recession and the ongoing migration of ads to the Internet. Its stock price fell 72.6% during 2008.