Walker

SE Wisconsin Regional Transit: Stability, Instability And Insanity

October 18, 2011 by The Political E...

We offer you The Good, The Bad and The Ugly that passes for a transportation system in Southeastern Wisconsin.


First the stability:

Both Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele are trying to work their way around state budget cuts to keep Milwaukee's bus system afloat by supporting a County plan from Abele to fill part of the funding gap with one-time federal financing amounting to a few million dollars - -  including transferring to bus services a relatively small amount of money that could have helped Barrett get a City streetcar Downtown moving towards its long-delayed start-up.

Give them both credit for cooperation, and to Barrett for giving ground on the streetcar, as it no doubt will give a few hours comfort to his rabidly anti-rail, anti-city talk radio critics.


But now the instability:

Republican-based democracy: America is a club you can't afford

October 15, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

As the nutball legislation dispensed by the Republican caucus in Madison continues apace, it's good to take the 10,000-foot view and consider what the overall GOP asgenda means for average state residents. When you look over the list, one theme emerges: It's all about money.

If you don't have any money or an insufficient amount of it, you simply are not going to be able to afford the new GOP flavor of democracy. America is rapidly being transformed into an exclusive club, whose members are wealthy and whose dues are paid by the rest of us.

Here's a brief but not totally inclusive rundown exemplifying this bold new GOP world:

Injured by a corporation? Too bad, because you no longer will be able to afford the cost of suing.

Buying a product or service? Risky! You won't be able to complain if something goes wrong, unless you first sign the seller's "compulsory arbitration clause" signing away your remaining rights to sue in court. 

Get sick? You won't be guaranteed paid days off.

Michael Bloomberg Should Not Be Playing Scott Walker To Occupy Wall Street Demonstrators

October 8, 2011 by The Political E...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's statement that was self-destructive, ignorant and demagogic.

Does he want to argue that Wall Street is where the job-creators hang out? Only if you think their bonuses and golden parachute payments trickle down, and then - - where are the jobs?

Like a misguided dictator, Bloomberg is giving the demonstrators momentum with thoughtless moves and words, just as the movement goes national. Is that his goal?

We saw this in Wisconsin, too.

When his fraudulently named "Budget Repair Bill" was unmasked for the union-stripping measure it really was, and demonstrations broke out in Madison, Gov. Walker mischaracterized the demonstrators as mostly out-of-staters - - a statement rated "false" by PolitiFact.

But...unlike Bloomberg, at least Walker didn't have law enforcement pepper-spray and arrest non-violent people by the hundreds, as has Bloomberg's NYPD.

Easing Mining Laws Puts Wisconsin At Odds With Powerful Opponents

September 29, 2011 by The Political E...

The Ashland Current has published the most detailed mainstream media account of the legal, scientific and procedural objections made by the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians to the efforts of state legislators and Gov. Walker to fast-track mining permit approvals.

You can read the paper's account and a full text of the Band's statement, here.

I wonder if the Walker administration and its legislative lieutenants read and fully absorbed it.

The Band's full statement gives get a better sense of the depth and sweep of the opposition, and the legal challenges facing the state if it proceeds against the Band on behalf of mining companies who want the permit procedure streamlined and eased.

And you wonder if these state officials also have read the US Army Corp of Engineers communication about the broader consequences of meddling with existing mining procedures?