December 2009 Archives

As is the tradition, a tour through the best and worst of the year.

The Best

The year started off on the high note that was watching the Worst President Ever leaving the White House for the last time, which brought with it another yearly best: the endless video compiliations of the worst Bush moments. YouTube never had it so good. 

Here in Wisconsin, decisive and effective action from Madison earlier this year is leading Wisconsin out of the worst of the Bush recession. Unemployment here has been dropping since June and is lower than the national rate, and despite the worst rhetoric from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce bashing Wisconsin’s economy, business are opening and relocating here and bringing jobs to the state. 

For sheer entertainment value, President of Teabag-istan Sarah Palin’s descent into madness during 2009 is second to none. Remember when she quit being governor on July 4th weekend? What a patriot! Remember how she doesn’t even ride in that stupid bus on her stupid book tour? Or how she still demands to be called governor and requests English-only reporters? 

Combining two of her most juvenile and irritating hobbies, namely lying and facebooking, she launched the Lie of the Year: Death Panels. And at her no cameras, no cell phones, no media, no nothing event in Milwaukee for Wisconsin Right to Life on November 6, she floated another whopper, suggesting that President Obama and “teh libruls” conspired to move “In God We Trust” from the new dollar coin when in reality it was the previously mentioned Worst President Ever. 

Multi-millionaire developer Terrence Wall, who gained notoriety for his $34,000 pumpkin patch property tax dodge and his phantom Delaware post office box to avoid taxes on his millions in development assets, is laughably trying to link U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold to the aborted airplane attack from last week.

What Wall’s breathless press release fails to mention is that President Obama’s nominee to head the Transportation Safety Administration, has for months been held up in the Senate by the obstruction of lunatic South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint.

So the next time Wall is limosened from his multi-million dollar home and shuffled through security at the airport to board whatever private plane or charter he’s taking to visit the post office box of “corporate headquarters” in Delaware, he can stop by DeMint’s office in Washington, DC and encourage him to stop compromising our homeland security by ending the obstructionist hold on the President’s nominee.

"It's a Festivus Miracle."

Turns out Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's fight to dismantle the rights of all public sector employees in Milwaukee was big, giant George W. Bush-sized lie.

Walker has made a career of blaming working men and women for his mismanagment of county government. His nonsense escalated exponentially as he continued his near-decade long run for governor.

Wisconsin’s unemployment rate continues to drop, and while the economy still has a ways to go before it’s fully recovered from the disastrous economic policies of George W. Bush (worst President ever), we’re getting there, thanks in no small part to the Recovery Act and steady leadership from democrats in Madison.

Let’s go back, gentle reader, to the state budget debate earlier this year. Democratic leaders in the Senate and Assembly made it clear that corporations would no longer have the luxury of a truck-sized loophole in order to avoid paying their fair share.  Closing the Las Vegas loophole was a top priority and was included as part of the final budget package signed by Governor Doyle.

After decades of trying to spin outsourcing as good and natural in a capitalist economy, and after perpetually labeling Wisconsin a “Tax Hell,” Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) is now complaining—and seems somewhat surprised—that our state government is employing more workers than manufacturers.

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler is under attack from a septic tank full of conservative slags. Among them, unindicted Jack Abramoff cohort Grover "Bipartisanship is a form of date rape" Norquist and, Family Research Council President Tony "I paid David Duke $82,500" Perkins, who authored a letter objecting to Butler's nomination to the federal bench.

Another one of the most prominent signers of the anti-Butler letter is Alfred Regnery, publisher of the lunatic American Spectator and former head of Regnery Publishing, the kind of right wing conduit for books that make “Going Rogue” seem like “A People’s History of the United States.”

Here's the latest WisOpinion feature 'That's Debatable' in which One WI Now Executive Director Scot Ross takes on Brian Fraley from the conservative MacIver Institute. This week's topic is the most hyped story of 2009 -- check it out!

You can also keep up on the latest from 'That's Debatable' on Facebook here.

The Oughts.

We started with Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Lieberman throwing in the towel before Al Gore had given up the fight... and ended with JoeParty "President" Lieberman deciding he simply would not allow actual health insurance pass.

And he got his way on both.

On the scale of horrors, we were pummeled over and over again. We had the inconceivable evils of 9/11 and the war of choice in Iraq. The rise of Hannity, Malkin, Beck and O'Reilly. Hell, a major television network's White House correspondent is Chuck Todd. Baconnaise. The economic collapse. "Flavor of Love" and "Jersey Shore."

Truly, the history books may conclude that when George W. Bush punctured the infant lungs of the 21st century, the first casualty was shame. 

But what do you think? Was this the worst decade in American history? Post a comment below and say yes, no, and let us know why. Bonus points for sarcasm.

You lie!

Jayme Montgomery, head of the state's Campaign Against Violence is reporting from the front lines in Copenhagen. A must read/watch:

Link

While you're there, sign up for additional alerts, reports and information about ongoing efforts to stop global climate change.

Dear Mr. Walker,

Yes, jobs are the top concern for people all across the state of Wisconsin. But unlike you, who didn’t start addressing job creation until after your announcement for Governor earlier this year, Wisconsin families have been concerned about losing their jobs in this Bush-created recession for nearly two years now.

It’s great you finally joined President Obama’s bandwagon in recovery dollars for its intended purpose: creating jobs and boosting local economies, like Milwaukee County’s. It’s also great you created a new marketing scheme within your office to “boost economic development.” I am curious, however, about why you booted the Office of Community Business Development Partners out of your office in your 2006 budget, and eliminated the Department of Administrative Services Economic & Community Development division right when the economy was collapsing. I can’t even believe an elected official would so completely abdicate his responsibility to help create jobs right when such efforts are needed the most.  

Here’s what you said in October of 2008, during the worst economic collapse since the Great Depression:

The state and municipalities play larger roles than the county in shaping development, Walker said. They have access to more incentives that developers want and, in the case of cities, control zoning decisions. Often, firms interested in a deal mistakenly assume the county has a grab-bag of incentives, he said.

County Supervisor Toni Clark said she would oppose Walker's move, calling economic development "probably the most important division of county government."

The county needs to redouble its efforts at marketing its Park East holdings and hire more experienced development staffers, not downplay its development role, said Clark, the chairwoman of the County Board's Economic and Community Development Committee.

Walker's last two choices to lead the county economic development office, Bob Dennik and Tim Russell, came from his campaign and lacked depth in the development business, Clark said. Dennik left the post this week to become an executive with a Pewaukee construction company. Russell is now Walker's community relations director.

"Walker chooses folks who don't have (the necessary) experience," she said. (MJS, “Walker Budget Adjusts Priorities; He would lower profile of development efforts,” 10/3/2008)

Your change of tune now that you’re running for governor in what the county can do to spur economic development is hypocritical at best.

I’m also curious about what “Milwaukee County Works” will be marketing – your campaign for governor? It seems to me economic growth and job creation should have been an every year, year-round effort for an elected official with your responsibilities, not just in years leading up to an election. “Milwaukee County Works” sure is a great marketing ploy for campaign television ads though.

And then let’s review your stance on federal recovery funds, and whether you were for or against, or was it you were against it before you were for it?

First of all, aren’t federal dollars really taxpayer dollars that we sent to Uncle Sam out of our paychecks? And if Wisconsin is getting federal dollars, aren’t we just getting back our own money? And if so, wouldn’t we want to get back as much of our money as possible? So why would an elected leader take a stance in which he’s refusing to accept our own money? Especially when he doesn’t even have the authority to reject this return of our money.

Mr. Walker, your “criteria” are nonsensical and ridiculous and it’s fortunate for Milwaukee County residents that the Board ignored you and did what is best for the taxpayers. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board rejected your arguments (“Just Plain Wrong,” 1/8/09) in favor of the best interests of residents of Milwaukee County. So do your constituents.

Voter rights and expanding access to the polls are the main topics of the Institute for One Wisconsins second annual Protect Wisconsins Vote Education Summit, set for Tuesday at Madisons Museum of Contemporary Art on State Street. Among the speakers will be Adam Skaggs, Counsel in the Democracy Program at New York Universitys Brennan Center for Justice.

The multimedia program will include a panel discussion, video presentations and speakers on a host of voter rights issues, including: Early voting and voter registration modernization, strengthening and protecting absentee balloting, accessibility to the polls, ex-offender re-enfranchisement, pitfalls of voter ID and benefits of preserving same day registration.

The corporate shills at the right wing Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, which is headed by former GOP Gov. Scott McCallum’s top economic advisor George Lightbourn, has a typical corporate response to the skyrocketing costs inflicted on Americans by the profit-vacuums that comprise the health insurance industry: cut funds for the kids of Milwaukee Public Schools.

Knowing that Lightbourn’s most notable achievement is having served as a principle architect of the then-largest budget deficit in Wisconsin history, one would think that between that and WPRI’s pro-corporate agenda, the latest WPRI “report” on Milwaukee Public Schools would raise more than a few skeptical eyebrows. (h/t Eye on Wisconsin)

A graphic in a front-page story in Monday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel including a stunner of a question from the most recent UW Badger Poll, which may give pause to elected officials who put health insurance gangsters ahead of the people.

The question: "How responsible should the federal government be in making sure that all residents of Wisconsin have access to both high quality and affordable health care?"

Once again, Scott Walkers desire to score political points with his right-wing teabagger base rather than act as an effective and responsible leader leads to a black eye for Milwaukee County.

A revealing, albeit stomach-turning video at WISN.com shows overflowing trash bins, plugged toilets and at the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Just last month, Walkers county budget called for layoffs of the county workers in charge of housekeeping at the court house in favor of a contract to a private cleaning company, the owner of which just so happened to give Walker $1,000 donation.

Here's the latest WisOpinion "That's Debatable" featuring One WI Now Executive Director Scot Ross.

This week's topic is ACORN - check it out!

   The Terracotta Warriors vary in height (183–195 cm - 6ft–6ft 5in), according to their role, the tallest being the generals. The figures include strong warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 100 chariots with 400 horses and 300 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.

The employment outlook for Milwaukee County snowplow drivers? Like many other Milwaukee County employees, layoffs. Fully half of all the drivers in the county could be laid off in the next year unless the County comes up with more money. Milwaukee County might have enough funding to get through this winter, but next summer and winter are already looking like rough roads ahead. mmmmmm. Potholes.

Here's the latest WisOpinion "That's Debatable" exchange featuring One WI Now's Executive Director Scot Ross.

http://www.wisopinion.com/index.iml?mdl=article.mdl&article=25053

This week's topic? Climate change. Check it out!

You may haveheard that national Republicans are considering a litmus test to see if the party's candidates are conservative enough to call themselves Republicans and get backing from the party. 

To qualify, a candidate needs to agree on 8 of the 10 points.  Bonus if you think the world is flat and/or was created in a week.

So here's the question.  Will anyone -- perhaps a reporter -- ever ask Scott Walker and Mark Neumann to take the test?  And if not, why not?

 Here is the list:

(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill;

(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run health care;

(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;

(4) We support workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing card check;

(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;

(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;

(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;

(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;

(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing and denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and

(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership.

Imagine just for a moment that you live in a state where traffic congestion is significantly reduced, your environmental footprint becomes smaller each day and travel time to other states is more of a commute than a trip.  This can all become possible if a high speed passenger rail system is introduced to the United States.  Nearly every fully industrialized country around the world has a high speed rail system, including Japan, France, China and even South Korea.  Although the United States is behind compared to the rest of the world on this project, elected officials in states like Wisconsin are leading the push to receive federal stimulus funding to begin construction and should be congratulated.  Senators Kohl and Feingold have already asked for a large chunk of the $8 billion set aside in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to begin this shovel-ready project. 

The U.S. Senate is a serious place, where serious people tackle serious issues in a serious way.

No, seriously.

Consider the most important issue of our time, health insurance reform. Whether you support expanding health insurance to every American, or you support the rights of health insurance companies to take billions while they deny coverage to millions, one thing we can all agree on: lets at least have a debate, a serious debate, where both sides can offer ideas and solutions.

Good or bad, President Obama’s decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan was sure to incite some hilarious responses from teevees finest talking egos. Media Matters and Huffington Post did a great job tracking them down. Without further ado:

A prominant Milwaukee business leader garnered a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel yesterday for calling for the dismantling of Milwaukee County's governemnt at a Rotary Club meeting.

While I fail to see why a conservative calling for the dismantling of government is news, the story did reveal that a new study will be coming out in January from the Public Policy Forum that "will analyze the problems the county faces in providing some key services." You might remember some of these: the mismanaged call center and state takeover of public assistance programs, child care services fraud, the House of Correction crisis, just to name a few.

Each of these massive failures were in part the result of mismanagement or ineptitude by Scott Walker and his administration, yet Sheldon Lubar, a former president and chairman of Charlie Syke's ultra right-wing Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, is putting the blame on the board, workers and unions -- the same groups Walker has scapegoated in budget after budget, and is threatening to continue doing so if elected governor.

Sheldon Lubar is living in a different universe (one apparently solely populated by Scott Walker and their rich friends) if he thinks a lack of leadership, continual underfunding and depriortizing of vital public services that created all of these failures is the fault of the county's workers.

It's not exactly man bites dog -- maybe it's more like dog bites itself -- but Milwaukee Democrats will join peace activists Wednesday in expressing their concerns about President Obama’s plan to send additional American troops to Afghanistan, and Sen. Russ Feingold already has weighed in against the Obama plan.

A rally and response to Obama’s speech is planned at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2, in front of the “blue” federal building at 3rd Street and Wisconsin Avenue.

Speakers will include the new chair of the Democratic Party of Milwaukee County, Sachin Chheda, as well as representatives of Peace Action Wisconsin, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), and UW-Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).   State and local Democrats have passed resolutions against sending Wisconsin National Guard troops to fight in undeclared wars.

The event is sponsored by the Milwaukee Coalition for a Just Peace, which, in addition to Peace Action, SDS and IVAW, also includes local chapters of U.S. Labor Against the War, Progressive Students of Milwaukee, National Lawyers Guild, Casa Maria Catholic Worker, Green Party, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Socialist Party, Iraq Moratorium, Voces de la Frontera, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Faith Community for Social Justice, Service Employees Local 1, Democracy Matters, Citizens for Global Solutions, Milwaukee Impeachment Committee, Arab Students Assn.-Marquette, American Muslims for Palestine, Catholics for Peace and Justice, and United Nations Association.  The Democratic Party of Milwaukee County and Progressive Democrats of America Southeast Wisconsin are co-sponsors.