Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Celebrating the Fourth of July while California Drowns: Jarvis and Norquist Win

In 2007 I wrote The Tragedy That is California Education and Now Wisconsin

...since the adoption of Proposition 13. The enactment of that law after a 1978 referendum created an unfair tax system...The result not only creates an imbalance in taxation but it strangles deprives government of needed revenues.... (ed note: he reference and strike out of the word strangle was deliberate)

Now comes this analysis from Kevin O'Leary writing for Time Magazine How California's Fiscal Woes Began: A Crisis 30 Years in the Making

The seeds of them were planted more than 30 years ago. They begin with the 1978 property tax revolt and the victory of Proposition 13...Proposition 13 further altered California politics by requiring a two-thirds majority for tax increases either at the state or local level...

For more than 30 years California has been living with a system of minority rule in which 34% of the legislature or a local community can stonewall the majority.

In 1978 when Howard Jarvis launched the campaign to destroy government in California he made it possible for Grover Norquist to realize his dream is to shrink government ot the size where he can drown in a bathtub.

Soglin two years ago: In the three decades following World War II, California public schools were the best in the nation. Now they are among the worst.

O'Leary today:  For example, pre-Proposition 13, California public schools were among the finest in the nation. After Proposition 13, education spending per pupil dropped to 48th in the nation.

Tragically the courts upheld the provisions that require a two thirds majority to undo this mess created by a majority vote.

If California is to survive, Democrats and Moderate Republicans need to disassemble the present system.

Wisconsin Obesity. Who Cares? You Do.

The latest report from theTrust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) on obesity shows Wisconsin has the 25th highest rate of adult obesity in the nation, at 26.0 percent and the 12th lowest of overweight youths (ages 10-17) at 27.9 percent.

That prompted one Boop to comment, "This is still a free country (I think). People are still responsible for their own choices of food and beverages they consume."

Yes it is a free country but your neighbors' dietary habits have a major impact on your pocketbook. Even if you have little regard for their health, disease and disability associated with obesity is a cost you share, whether it is lost productivity, increases in the cost of health care or tending to orphaned kids you pay.

It reminds me of the motorcycle helmet debate - a rider should be free to ride helmetless and become a vegetable. And then when the insurance runs out after hundreds of thousands of dollars in surgeries, we contnue to pay for the expensive life time of nursing care.

Paddling the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi to Look for America

Madison's own Intrepid Traveler, Nina Camic, back from the Isle of Skye, is kayaking closer to home than usual: the Wisconsin River. Accompanied by her Huck Finn-like "occasional traveling companion," Ed, Nina is slowly paddling to the Mississippi, seeking food, drink and Wi-Fi along the way, as well as a good place to camp by the River each night.  Blogging every day, her photos and essays are treats for us armchair travelers. She was in  Muscoda Thursday. Don't fail to check out where she makes her landing next.

- Barry Orton

Private Parties Right To Plan and Strategize - It Works Both Ways

Brenda Konkel takes exception with the notion that the owners of the Edgewater, who have spent months preparing a submission to the city of Madison for public review. Edgewatermania:

So, lets be clear, there was not a transparent, elaborate community process where input was gathered and responded to and changes were made to the project as a result...

Opponents to projects are not required to post every meeting and invite the developer. The opponents are not required to open up the discussion every time they meet or place a phone call to an alder.

But it appears that if a property owner wishes to contact a neighbor, that lacks transparency. Or if the owner wishes to meet with the alder and not invite the opponents that is a subterfuge.

As for process, the Edgewater will probably spend well over another 100 hours in public meetings before this matter is resolved.

In her 2000-word post Konkel has room to note that I represent some property owners, who like the Edgewater owners have concerns about city height restrictions. She did not have enough space to make it clear that as public official and as a citizen I have taken a range of positions from opposing Randy Alexanders' 17-story proposal for State and Lake Street many years ago, to supporting greater flexibility in other areas.

 

 

A View of the Milwaukee Brewers From the Right Field Bleachers

Last night's Brewers win over the hapless New York Mets was undoubtedly the best game of the season. As Bill and I move around Miller Park for each game we found ourselves in row 2 of section 103 lurking over right fielder Cory Hart.

The fourth inning was a delight. The first highlight of the game was Hart's lofty fly ball which stumbling Mets center fielder Fernando Martinez misplayed into an embarrassing double.

Then with the bases loaded and an 0-2 count, Ryan Braun reached out three feet to the other side of the plate and smacked a liner scoring all three base runners. The Mets, doing their best to imitate the local Little League team, then made a series of bad throws allowing Braun to take third and finally score as the ball sailed into left field.

In the seventh inning Prince Fielder launched a home run that we watched sail over our heads into the upper deck. 458 feet. Enough said.

The fan are younger, not as knowledgeable, and are accompanied by more dates than our older fellow travelers who sit behind the on-deck circle, along the left field line or above the screen, but they are more enthusiastic and simply more fun.

We sat next to one young man, fresh from the emergency room after taking a golf ball to the skull earlier in the day. Two young men sat behind us with their friends, very cute identical twins (one had painted toes; one did not)  and they were fully involved - in the game.

A party of eight, mostly family, entered the section, planted themselves in the first row and then migrated around the section as more and more legitimate ticket holders claimed their rightful seats.

We all enjoyed good-natured heckling of Cory Hart, with constant inquiries as to the number of outs. It is clear that Hart plays virtually every hitter from the same warn bare outfield spot. We chattered and urged him to cheat -- move in a few feet.

In the fourth inning we yelled at him to move 10 feet closer to the right field line. Two pitches later Ryan Church doubled sharply down the line and the ball passed Hart by only one or two feet. If he had been there, Church would have been held to a single. Fortunately, no damage.

Mike Burns, the Brewers starting pitcher, picked up his first career victory outpitching Santana. Very nice.

I did miss heckling batters from seats along the infield.

Obama Administration Nails One: Stan Gruszynski Appointed USDA Rural Development Director for Wisconsin

The Obama Administration is finally getting around to filling some very important federal jobs that have big impacts at the state level.  Stan Gruszynski is a great choice for US Department of Agriculture Director for Rural Development for Wisconsin. Gruszynski should be a great help in funneling federal dollars to worthwhile rural development projects in Wisconsin. For over 25 years, his work at UW-Stevens Point and in the legislature has been significant for the people of rural and urban Wisconsin.

Gruszynski is currently the director of Rural Leadership and Community Development for the Global Environmental Management Center at the University of Wisconsin's Stevens Point College of Natural Resources. Prior to that position, he served as the Director of Public Affairs for USDA Rural Development in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, for seven years. While at Rural Development, he promoted rural program initiatives and fostered working relationships with community groups, Indian Tribes and underserved populations. Gruszynski was also appointed acting State Director for several months in 2003. From 1984-1994, he represented the 71st district in the Wisconsin State Assembly and served on both the rural affairs and natural resources committees.

Back in the eighties in the Assembly, Gruszynski was often a guy who stood up in the Democratic Caucus and argued for doing the right thing instead of the expedient alternate. He usually lost those arguments, but he never stopped making them.

Good for the Obama Administration. Good news for Wisconsin.

- Barry Orton

Disclosure by Paul: Barry is not aware of all of the relationships between Energies Direct LLC a company that designs and builds biodigesters and in which I am a part owner and the USDA. It is possible that the Wisconsin USDA office will make decisions on grant appliations that our customers submit or in some way make decisions about biodigesters in Wisconsin that impacts our company.

It is my intention to post on this subject in the future.

Edgewater Hotel Proposal Is Environmental and Sprawl Test for Madison

The plans for expansion of Madison's Edgewater Hotel offers a real challenge to the city: A new city living room: Massive Edgewater redevelopment proposed.  As the Wisconsin State Journal reported:

Ledell Zellers, former president of Capitol Neighborhoods and a steering committee member, called Dunn’s maneuvering behind the scenes “disheartening” and said the project could harm the neighborhood by inspiring owners to let properties decline so they can be demolished for big buildings. (emphasis added)

Madison is going to have to come to grips with its future and face an environmental land use challenge.

Either we fight sprawl with higher densities. Or not.

The city made a commitment forty years ago to fight the decline of downtown. As enclosed shopping malls populated the landscape ofthe 1960's and suburbanization spread across the country, Madison made a commitment to a thriving downtown with a mix of residential, commercial, retail, and governmental uses.

This commitment meant higher densities. Those densities would mean more efficient use of infrastructure, avoiding the Washington D.C. syndrome of a dark desolate city after 6:00 pm. It meant less reliance on the automobile and greater utilization of public transit. It meant a commitment to encouraging student housing closer to campus, taking the pressure off adjacent family neighborhoods from Vilas to Tenney Park.

Madison has to choose.  It can have leadership that concludes that the Edgewater expansion will lead to the deliberate deterioration of property.

Hopefully it chooses leadership committed to slowing suburban sprawl and efficiently using the infrastructure of an urban community, and new and innovative designs that are energy efficient.

The place to start is to repeal the well intentioned but poorly designed five-story cap on construction in the Langdon Street area. When one developer proposed an overly ambitious seventeen story building a few years ago, the city overreacted with the five story cap. The cap is in an area that already had close to a dozen buildings eight to twelve stories or higher, most of which are over forty to fifty years old.

As for "maneuvering behind the scenes " Zellers is probably referring to meetings that were held and she was not invited.

Disclosure:for close to forty years as both a public and private citizen I have advocated new construction and higher densities in the downtown area. That led to my consulting business contracting with two developers who have an interest in new construction in downtown Madison. The same difficulties facing the Edgewater Hotel development face my clients. 

Tammy Baldwin Looking Out for Us On Bailout

Waxing America readers know of my concern that stimulus money not work its way into elections for Members of Congress who voted on the bailouts. While individuals and corporations may have protected rights of free speech, they do not have the right to use public money for electioneering. If they do not like the rules attached to the stimulus funds, they can refuse to accept the money.

Our congressional representative Tammy Baldwin (D-2) is keeping an eye on this matter. Last spring she wrote to Elizabeth Warren, chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel, and received this response:

Dear Congresswoman Baldwin:
Thank you for writing the Congressional Oversight Panel about your concems
regarding financial institutions' use of funds dispensed through the Troubled Asset Relief
Program (TARP). The Panel shares your belief that the TARP was intended to strengthen
financial institutions in order to restore economic stability - not to further interests of
individual banks - and that using TARP dollars for lobbying or electioneering would not be
appropriate.

To that end, the Panel has pressed Treasury from its very first report, issued on
December 10, 2008, to describe how the money that it has provided to financial institutions
through the Capital Purchase Program (CPP) and other programs has been used by those
banks to further the goals of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA). Since then,
in numerous letters and reports, we have reiterated our belief that it is indeed possible to
track TARP dollars as they move from the financial institutions into loans, dividend
repayments, executive compensation, or the purchase of other assets.

The issue of tracking specifically how TARP funds have been utilized by financial
institutions is one that most closely falls within the domain of the Special Inspector General
for the TARP (SIGTARP). On February 5, that office began sending letters to recipients of
TARP funds, asking the firms to document how they are spending the money they received
through the TARP. As of March 23, SIGTARP had received responses from all TARP
recipients. While SIGTARP continues to analyze the responses it has received, among its
more significant preliminary conclusions is that complaints that it is impractical or
impossible for banks to detail how they used TARP funds were unfounded.

While an outright ban on lobbying or electioneering on the part of companies
receiving TARP funds raises potential conflicts with the First Amendment rights of those
companies, we agree that taxpayer dollars should not be used for these purposes. In the
weeks and months ahead, the Panel will continue to work with Treasury, SIGTARP, and
others in order to ensure that funds provided to frnancial institutions through the TARP are
used for their stated pu{pose - to stabilize the financial system and to promote an economic
recovery that benefits Americans from Wall Street to Main Street.

 Let's all join Rep. Baldwin and keep our eyes on how the TARP recipients lobby and politically advertise, and not forget to include their use of sock-puppet "grassroots" organizations (aka "astroturf"). Don't just leave this issue to the SIGTARP.

Jealousy Over The Week in Review - Missing A Great Discusssion

Every few months WHA radio invites me to appear on Joy Cardin's Week in Review for Wisconsin Public Radio. When I appear we talk about things like the Wisconsin budget, war in the Middle East, and President Obama's economic policies.

If I am lucky we discuss the White House puppy or a Wisconsin legislator picked up for drunk driving. When I am invited to participate, the night before each broadcast I review the stories and assign them stars based on importance.

Here is what they will probably discuss the morning of Friday June 26, 2009 :

• The Milwaukee Police Chief having an affair with a reformed journalist. ***
• Mark Belling saying that by definition, anything dealing with gays is pornographic.****
• Shaq is traded to Cleveland upsetting balance of power in the East.***
• Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says that in the name of discipline school officials can strip search 13 year old girls with no probable cause. It may be titillating but it is not porn. *****
• South Carolina Governor has an affair with torrid South American beauty from Argentina. ***
• GM makes logical choice to open plant in Michigan, its home state with the worst unemployment, not Janesville, WI. Republicans blame Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle*
• Major debate erupts as to whether the Michael Jackson death and funeral will eclipse Elvis'.*****
• China and the United States consider whacking Kim Jong Il on his ass upsetting the balance of power in the Far East ***
• South Carolina Governor, known for fiscal prudence, pays back state treasury for trip to Argentina. Remains silent as to who paid for condoms.*****
• The Wisconsin legislature may adopt a budget before July 1, 2009. *
• Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle cancels trade mission to Argentina.*****
• Farrah Fawcett a decent, kind celebrity who balanced her work and generosity, is dead. **

Belling on Censorship, Pornography, Love, and Romance

Mark Belling is attempting to become the most outrageous self-centered Wisconsin hypocrite. It's a touch competition, but Belling is succeeding.

This week it is A dual dose of double standards where he goes off the chart about the efforts of some of his friends to pull a book from the shelves of the West Bend Public Library. The book deals with among other things, gays. Yes, it  addresses homosexuality and the imagination of a young gay man who is beaten by thugs and his subsequent dreams or visions after he passes out.

Belling finds it pornographic.

 It all started when a pair of grandparents in the Bend found some gay porn in the children’s section of the library. The stuff was so raunchy I couldn’t even read from it on my radio program without jeopardizing WISN’s broadcast license...

The book, which Belling never identifies, is Baby Be-Bop, deemed appropriate for ages twelve and up, and is the story of the gay closeted fifteen year old.

 

Publishers Weekly :

Embroidering her prose with lushly romantic imagery, Block returns to the world of Weetzie Bat for this keenly felt story. A prequel of sorts to Weetzie Bat, the novel opens while Weetzie's best friend Dirk is still a child, lying on his mat at naptime. "Dirk had known it since he could remember" - known, that is, that he is gay. Tenderly raised by Grandma Fifi, famous for her pastries and her 1955 Pontiac convertible, Dirk struggles with love and fear: "He wanted to be strong and to love someone who was strong; he wanted to meet any gaze, to laugh under the brightest sunlight and never hide." After his first heartbreak, with his closest friend (who cannot accept Dirk's love nor his own for Dirk), Dirk battles more fiercely for identity; beaten up by a gang of punks, he slumps into semiconsciousness and is visited by his ancestors, each telling a haunting, lyrical tale of love, faith and self-acceptance. What might seem didactic from lesser writers becomes a gleaming gift from Block. Her extravagantly imaginative settings and finely honed perspectives remind the reader that there is magic everywhere. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc

 

Belling concludes

that the standard for censorship is majority rule

: "...This is what America is supposed to be all about – citizens petitioning their government to respect the public will..." I wonder if he would respect the will of a majority of Milwaukee residents if they voted him off the air?  

At that point he would start bellowing about the Constitution. For once he would be correct.

 

 

 

A Conservative, and Sometimes Even Liberal Contradiction

Targeting poor performance in government is a common sport. These days public safety and issues regarding law enforcement are receiving a lot of attention in Wisconsin, especially in Milwaukee and Madison.

The small government advocates, especially doctrinaire conservatives, often note that government is not the answer to everything. They are correct when it comes to law enforcement and public safety.

Study after study, going back to Kansas City in the 1960's, reveal that only adding more police officers does not lower crime.

Adding more police officers and a solid community backing does lower crime and make law enforcement far more effective.

There is an element of public safety that by the very definition of the task, cannot be provided by government. It is the community and neighborhood support  by leaders who will both stand up to crime and work for neighborhood interventions-- yes, the social services.

Government cannot do everything. Nor should it. And one thing government and the police department cannot be is be the neighborhood leadership.

Shootings In Iran, Kent State, Jackson State - Painful Then, Painful Now

Hopefully the painful, tragic loss of life will lead to freedom in Iran.

Last  night's news reports reminded me of the shootings almost forty years ago on the campuses of the Unites States.

    "Armed soldiers opened fire on  protesters....

Kent State : For an unknown reason, during their retreat, nearly a dozen National Guardsmen suddenly turned around and began firing at the still scattered students. In 13 seconds, 67 bullets were fired. Some claim that there was a verbal order to fire. Four students were killed and nine others were wounded. Some of the students who were shot were not even part of the rally, but were just walking to their next class.

Jackson State Accounts disagree as to what happened next. Some students said the police advanced in a line, warned them, then opened fire. Others said the police abruptly opened fire on the crowd and the dormitory. Other witnesses reported that the students were under the control of a campus security officer when the police opened fire. Police claimed they spotted a powder flare in the Alexander West Hall third floor stairwell window and opened fire in self-defense on the dormitory only. Two local television news reporters present at the shooting agreed that a shot was fired, but were uncertain of the direction. A radio reporter claimed to have seen an arm and a pistol extending from a dormitory window.

A Radical Remedy for Gang Violence: No Need in Madison. Been There, Done That.

The current issue of the New Yorker (June 22, 2009) features an article by John Seabrook: Don't Shoot. A radical remedy for gang violence.

The article describes the successful  efforts led by David Kennedy, a professor from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice whose work led to sharp declines in violence, including homicides, in Cincinnati; Providence, Rhode Island; and High Point, North Carolina, where it was most successfully used to deter public drug dealing.

From the abstract of the article (full article only available online to New Yorker subscribers):

...the police would identify gang members who were on parole or probation and compel them to attend a meeting. There, the cops would demand that the shootings end, and promise that, if they did not, the punishment would be swift and severe and target the entire gang. The city would also make life coaching and job counseling available to those who wanted out of the thug life. The police were initially skeptical about the program, but in 2007, they began implementing Ceasefire with a team that included social workers and academics. Describes how information about gang activity was gathered and organized by the team.

Kennedy's  program starts with the assumption that law enforcement alone cannot thwart gang activity. It is based in part on theories of community policing developed by many, including University of Wisconsin Professor Herman Goldstein and Madison Police Chief David C. Couper.

The program, Ceasefire, is predicated on the assumption that an attack on gang violence must be swift and effective with a clear message sent to members that there will be consequences, and that a social service component in the program will provide openings into family services, job training, and other basic links to transportion, child care and health services.

The work began when Kennedy first received a grant to develop the program in 1994.

The city of Madison  Neighborhood Resource Teams (NRT) were already in existence in 1992. Actually the first teams were organized in 1990. Think about it - almost twenty years ago.

For those interested in learning more about how the now moribund NRT might be used, here are some links to posts I wrote over the years:

• How to Improve the Prospects for Madison and Milwaukee September 21, 2007
• Solving Milwaukee's Gang Problem June 2, 2006
• Madison's State Street - Wasting Over $3 Million a Year December 15, 2008

When the NRT's were formed, they provided the coordination of law enforcement and social services. The Blue Blanket was formed at the same time as the concentrated law enforcement element needed to provide a safe and healthy community.

Both programs still exist today. Neither is as effective in tackling gang-related drug trafficking and the accompanying violence as they might be if the NRT existed as orignally designed.

Now the Madison NRT's exist in name only.

In 2000 their effectiveness was diluted as the teams were reworked citywide. This of course defeated the entire concept and purpose of the teams - targeting the most violent areas. Subsequent restructuring of the teams did nothing to return them to their original mission and effectiveness.

In the fall of 2000, Mayor Susan J. M. Bauman created an initiative to make the benefits of these cross-functional teams available to all areas of the City... The Mayor and the Guidance Team worked with NRT members and leaders to help the teams begin to operate in larger geographical areas containing approximately 20,000 to 25,000 people. (emphasis added)

The original teams worked in concentrated areas of 800-2000 residents. As the teams languished so did the potential effectiveness of the law enforcement component.

While the rest of the nation watches the wheel reinvented, nothing happens in Madison.

A note about crime data. When inital efforts are made to combat gang crime, there is a drop in reported offenses. Then there may be an increase followed by another drop. The increase is a reflection of effectiveness as trust is built. It does not mean there is actually more crime committed but that more crimes are reported. To examine crime statistics, two comparisons must be made. First, over a period of time - at least a decade; secondly, local rates must be compared to national trends.

Who Is Paul Ryan and Why Is He Saying TheseThings?

Paul Ryan is the congenial representative from Wisconsin's first congressional district. The district was badly hit by the implosion of the automobile industry, with scheduled closures of automobile production in both Janesville and Kenosha leaving thousands of workers and their families in dire straits.

Now Ryan is joining with Democratic colleagues to try and save the Kenosha plant. Wis. lawmakers to meet with top Chrysler exec

MILWAUKEE - The future of the Chrysler engine plant in Kenosha is on the minds of Wisconsin lawmakers scheduled to meet with a top executive of the automaker.

U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl's office said Kohl, Sen. Russ Feingold and Reps. Paul Ryanof Janesville and Gwen Moore of Milwaukee plan to meet with Chrysler Group LLC Deputy CEO Jim Press at Kohl's office in Washington Thursday afternoon. Ryan is a Republican and the others are Democrats.

This is the same Paul Ryan who characterized President Obama's budget plan and fiscal rescue plans as "European Socialism."

This is the same Paul Ryan who was the featured speaker at the April 15, 2009 "Tea Party" attacking opposing tax hikes.

Ryan says frustration is running high among many of his constituents. 

"I think the message is people are fed up with this notion of chasing ever-higher spending with ever-higher taxes.  There's a limit to how much you can soak the taxpayer."

This is the same Paul Ryan who voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 - The Bailout.

Who is Paul Ryan and why is he saying these things?

WMC Speaker: "cheap skilled labor" - Go to Eastern Europe. Screw Milwaukee

Every so often Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) holds a Leadership Summit to educate and guide the members on improving their business practices.

Last week they gathered at Chula Vista resort for a presentation from Rick Graber, the former Bush ambassador to the Czech Republic.

According to WisBusiness.com's Tracy Will -  Former Ambassador Graber touts Europe as positive option for state firms:

Graber told the summit that businesses will find “cheap skilled labor in already-industrialized countries.''

"They remain ripe for foreign investment," he said. The former Wisconsin Republican Party chair pinpointed Romania and Bulgaria for basic manufacturing and assembly, adding that the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary are more advanced and offer higher-skilled workers.

If that was not enough, Graber boasted: "'Among my proudest achievements were getting the Czech legislature to pass bills permitting location of missile defense radar in the Czech Republic,' Graber said, adding, 'thanks to the efforts of President George W. Bush.'"

While the rest of the state and the UAW is working to elevate the educational and training opportunities for GM and other displaced workers, retaining and growing existing Wisconsin industrial and business opportunities, WMC, as usual, is riding off in another direction.

This is the same Rick Graber who was chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party and is sometimes mentioned as candidate for governor who plans to represent US businesses who wish to do business in Eastern Europe.

He sees his experience as an opportunity to move US investments to Europe (again the YouTube link).

The future of the Republican Party - "Paul Ryan is a prime example of what the Republican Party needs."