Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Remembering Those Who Cared - Med Flight

As the bodies of Dr. Darren Bean, nurse Mark Coyne, and pilot Steve Lipper are returned to Madison, I am struck by how wrong it is that people who care so much die while they are helping others.  The city of La Crosse sent them back to Madison with deserved recognition. 1,000 turn out for memorial convoy:

More than 1,000 community members watched today as La Crosse County firefighters and emergency medical personnel joined by the Madison Fire Department and Wisconsin State Patrol escorted the hearses of the three victims of a Saturday medical helicopter crash as a tribute to those who lost their lives,  photo by Dick Riniker, La Crosse Tribune

On Monday when I read the lede to Dave Wahlberg's article in the Wisconsin State Journal, Med Flight Tragedy,

More than 75 doctors, nurses, pilots and patients have died in medical helicopter crashes across the country in the past decade as the workers risk their lives to transport patients in need of medical care.

I don't know the period of time that covers, but whether it is ten years or twenty years, It is too many deaths.

I do not know that an investigation can accomplish anything. Perhaps the standards and the codes regulating these flights are as stringent as is reasonably possible. But here is one instance where an investigation, a study, of all of the crashes, not just this one, could be fruitful.

Wahlberg and Patricia Simms reported on Tuesday that,

• The Med Flight helicopter that crashed into a wooded hillside near La Crosse on Saturday night, killing its crew of three, did not have night-vision goggles and terrain warning technology as recommended.

• "The fact that they did not have this equipment did not compromise their ability to perform these missions safely," said Aaron Todd, chief executive officer of Denver-based Air Methods.

• Night-vision goggles could have helped pilots take action in 13 of the 55 medical helicopter crashes from 2002 to 2005, the NTSB said. Terrain warning systems, which can alert pilots 25 seconds before an impact, could have helped prevent 17 of the 55 crashes, the agency said.

Three wonderful men who were devoted to assisting others in the most critical moments cannot be returned.  We can make every effort to ensure that they and the 75 others who have died are not joined by other caregivers and patients.

Everyone deserves some answers.

Zilber's Gift: It Is More Than The Money

When it was announced that Milwaukee business and civic leader, Joseph Zilber, was giving $50 million to fund neighborhood initiatives the response, as expected, expressed gratitude and hope.

Zilber gives $50 million Philanthropist hopes to revive low-income areas in city, encourage others to give

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett called the action "an unbelievably generous gift from Joe Zilber to this city."

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article focused on something just as important as the size of the gift, it's scope:

The Zilber Neighborhood Initiative, as the effort will be called, will work with local organizations to support specific efforts to improve the quality of life in up to 10 neighborhoods...

...A key early step will be creating or selecting a "central intermediary," an organization to oversee the effort and make decisions on where money should go, while giving neighborhood organizations and representatives a strong voice in what goes on.

The gift to the people of Milwaukee measured in dollars is obvious.  Not so obvious is the thought and planning that went into the structure of the gift. As Zilber noted:

...There are a great many individuals and foundations prepared to invest resources to strengthen our community. For months I have worked behind the scenes with these entities. My mission is to mobilize them with good ideas, strong proposals and the promise that our shared commitment to our great city will yield positive results...

Joseph Zilber and his advisers gave careful thought to the structure of neighborhoods, how neighborhoods change, and the importance of building upon neighborhood assets:

We can (and must) act quickly and decisively to support programs that work, replace those that don't, bring proven and promising solutions to scale, sustain them long enough to gain traction and provide them with sufficient resources to get the job done.

The selection of Susan E. Lloyd of the Program on Human and Community Development to direct the effort is just one more indicator that this is a well planned gift. The money is important, but the context makes it even more valuable.

Brittany Zimmerman Phoned - Reach Out And Touch Someone

Before Brittany Zimmerman died, her last effort was a telephone call. Brittany tried to reach out and touch someone.

The most important domestic function of government is to safeguard the innocent: those who need assistance when they cannot protect themselves. To establish justice and promote the general welfare.

Society tries to prevent crime. When it cannot, it offers assistance in many forms, including 911 services which we all pay for, in part, through taxes and special fees.

I cannot imagine a more poignant example of a 911 call than a person, life at risk, dialing for help, dialing for that life.

It is the very instant where they manage to dial the number but cannot speak out that we are expected to listen and respond. It makes for gripping stories and haunting movies.

For Brittany Zimmerman it was a cold, lonely reality.

Now comes the blame. First there is the dispatcher who became too busy and moved on to other calls and forgot about Brittany. Them comes the director of the 911 Call Center who did not help his agency's stature by implying there was no reason to apologize.

The fault is more complicated than that. There are a lot of capable 911 dispatchers who could fail under the same circumstances.  It is reminiscent of the constant reminders of problems in our nation's skies. Air traffic control: Safety concerns on the nation's radar: As controllers keep their eyes on the skies, mistakes and cover-ups are surfacing.

The system did not function:

• an overworked dispatcher.
• a policy that police only automatically respond to a silent 911 call from a land line, not a cell phone.
• a lousy system for linking cell phones to their location - with all of the telephone company/government spying, you would think that emergency dispatch centers could have the primary address of every cell phone number.
• underfunded critical government services (the 911 center is just one of many).
• a desire for simple solutions like blaming the dispatcher.
• and do not forget the morons who deliberately call 911 unnecessarily.

Government failed Brittany Zimmerman. Government failed all of us. In turn, the time consuming, boring task of making systems work, focusing on public management and administration does not appeal to either politicians or the public. 

In 2004 Dane County conducted a study of the dispatch center and the 911 system.  That study predicted significant failures if reforms were not instituted. That study is one of thousands floating around city and county halls, state capitols, and Washington D.C.

They still float.

We all failed Brittany Zimmerman.

More on Colorado As Budget Role Model For UW

For several years, Republican leadership in the Wisconsin legislature led by Assembly Speaker Michael Huebsch (R-West Salem) and architect of the attack on the University of Wisconsin, Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater), used Colorado as a role model. When they wanted to drive Wisconsin into economic ruin by adopting TABOR, they used Colorado's adoption of deadly spending restraints as their example of horrible fiscal management.

Now we get word from Denver that, Regents hike CU-Boulder tuition 9.3%

The decision for undergrad residents comes atop a 14.6 percent hike last year. A lack of state funds is cited:

University of Colorado Regents approved the tuition hike Tuesday, saying they had no choice but to raise the price instead of cutting programs. "None of us likes to increase tuition," Regent Paul Schauer said. "But in light of the situation we are in now, we are not left with too many options."  Last year, tuition increased 14.6 percent....

...University of Colorado Regents approved the tuition hike Tuesday, saying they had no choice but to raise the price instead of cutting programs...

... Evan Dreyer, spokesman for Gov. Bill Ritter, said the state and the university need to do more to increase higher-education funding.

None of this is new to UW students. As we noted last week, Republican Party Winning Battle To Destroy University of Wisconsin System.

Wisconsinites have two options.  The first is send a clear unequivocal message to the leadership in the state legislature that we understand the value of education and want the UW System properly funded. The other option is to hope that other states outperform us in the race to the bottom.

Tax Nonsense Coming Your Way

In the coming weeks, Wisconsinites will be inundated with misinformation, bad math, and assorted ideological drivel from snake-oil salesmen purporting to be experts on taxes. You can expect to hear from the groups ranging from the phony "non-partisan" Tax Foundation to our own Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC).

The theme will be simple and misinformed. The public will be told that sometime in early May they are finally working for themselves, that until then, their year's income went to government. Wisconsinites will be reminded that while residents of other states will heave earned enough to pay the tax bill by April 22nd or 23rd, Badger state residents will be working until at least the first of May for the governement.

We will be told that in Wisconsin we suffer the seventh or perhaps, the fifth highest tax burden in the United States.

And the facts are:

• All of these studies are flawed, badly flawed. When it comes to total government revenues Wisconsin ranks around 23rd or 25th, depending upon which study you use. Wisconsin collects very little of its revenues in fees and these studies do not include that less progressive revenue collection. Other states may have lower tax collections than Wisconsin but their heavy reliance on fees takes a bigger bite from the taxpayer.
• Theses studies never look at results  -the quality of the public service.
• These studies never examine the externalities of public service. The city of Madison operates Monona Terrace at a loss. But while the revenues do not show up in the Monona Terrace ledger, the facility brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales taxes and tens of millions of dollars that stimulate the regional economy.
• These studies overlook obvious differentiations between governments. For example, a comparison of per capita spending between Milwaukee and Madison is meaningless unless the author factors in that public transit is in the Madison municipal budget, while in Milwaukee, the county operates the transit system.

Republican Party Winning Battle To Destroy University of Wisconsin System

It was a struggle to maintain the great faculty assembled by the University of Wisconsin - Madison and its sister campuses throughout the state. In the early 1960's state budget deliberations over the higher education budget were peppered with such homilies as, "A champaign university on a beer budget."

While the UW salaries ranked at the bottom of Big Ten universities, it managed to assemble and retain an outstanding faculty. Despite the lower than average salaries, the UW retained many wonderful teachers and researchers. Then two things changed:

• Leaders in the legislature launched relentless attacks on the faculty.
• Then other institutions with big dollars like the University of Texas, decided to enter the marketplace with a commitment to upgrade their institutions.

When new UW Chancellor Donna Shalala and her successors, David Ward and John Wiley, committed to recognizing the importance of a quality faculty, the trend slowed and reversed.

But even the best of intentions cannot undo the damage of a hostile legislature, attacks on academic freedom, a refusal to provide benefits to partners, and a general nastiness led by the Assembly Republican leadership.

All of which has now received prominent notice in the latest issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education:

Wisconsin's Flagship Is Raided for Scholars

The problem is money. Wisconsin's stagnating state higher-education budget has forced the university to keep faculty salaries far below average. When professors get feelers from elsewhere, they learn that a move can easily mean a whopping 100-percent salary increase — sometimes more...

...As the faculty pay gap between public and private institutions widens nationwide, lots of public universities are having a hard time competing. But Madison is having particular problems, losing faculty members not only to well-off private institutions, like Chicago, but also to lower-ranked public universities. In the past few years, professors in a variety of disciplines have left Madison for Arizona State, Florida State, and Rutgers Universities and the University of Minnesota, among others.

As the article notes, the UW is at the bottom in average salary ranking of the twelve universities that are in its peer group. In addition, every time a faculty member leaves there is the additional cost of recruiting and finding a replacement. That can be as much as 25% of the annual salary.

How not to grow a state's economy.

Why not let Speaker Michael Huebsch and his co-pilot in bombing the UW, Representative Stephen Nass, know that they are succeeding and you do not like it.

The Real Reasons to Buy A Supreme Court

When Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) and its cohorts, the Club for Growth Wisconsin and the Coalition for America's Families, spent an estimated $3-4 million to buy their second seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the message was crime.

The advertisements focused on distortions and falsehoods about the record of Justice Louis Butler in an effort to entice voters to select a new justice, Michael Gableman, who would follow their right-wing agenda.

The conventional wisdom was that the real issue was so-called tort reform.

Wrong.

While there are a small minority of WMC members, concerned about their liability in tort cases, that issue was of minimum concern to the coalition established to control the Supreme Court.

One need go no further than WMC's own surveys of its members to see the irrelevance of tort reform. In its 2006 survey of its members, when asked, "What is the top business concern facing your company?" the  lowest response polled was lawsuit abuse with a measly response of 1.23%.

One look no further than the legislative agenda of these three organization (WMC, WCFG, CAF ) to get a real understanding of why they want to own a Supreme Court:

• Health Insurance. Health care is the single, most significant cost facing employers, if it is part of benefit packages. The standard for coverage is set by labor unions, particularly public employee and teachers unions. When buying a court, WMC and its friends are trying to gain favorable rulings against labor agreements in general, and and legislation in specific, that might require them to pay a fair share of the cost of health care.
• Unions. Because of their bargaining power in the marketplace, WMC needs a court that will weaken the power of unions. Unions are an impediment to exporting jobs overseas, hiring immigrant workers with H-1-B visas, outsourcing, and lowering safety standards.
• The Environment. As the public becomes more conscious of global warming, the significant monetary value of fresh water, calls for clean air and water, increase. This results in more regulations, particularly on manufacturers, who subsequently need a Supreme Court that will take an activist position and overturn progressive legislation designed to ensure the publics health and safety.
• Education. Long ago, convinced that public schools produce a liberal and progressive citizenry, these reactionary organizations want to get more and more children into private and religious schools where they can be indoctrinated into conservative values. To do this, public monies are needed. The problem is that there are serious constitutional problems in funneling money into private schools, particularly if they teach religion. These right wing extremists need a Supreme Court that will open the door for public money to be used for private education.
• Privatizing government. These right wing organizations do not want to stop public services, they just want to be able to make a profit offering them. Whether it is outsourcing wars to Blackwater and Halliburton or having private companies provide fire departments and water, the idea is to crush the local governments and their public employees as a first step towards a feudal system of governance. Note that when no-bid contracts, landed with fraud and mismanagement, are offered to the private sector, these organizations never protest or complain.

Over the past year, I have met with dozens of business leaders who I would describe as moderate and thoughtful in their approach to government and public policy. When asked what are the most important issues facing their companies and the state, they respond, "A trained and educated workforce, as well as a satisfactory resolution to the health care problem."

As you might expect, these business leaders are not comfortable with many left leaning Democrats.  But they are just as uncomfortable with the kind of Republicans that presently control the Wisconsin Assembly. These business leaders are going to play a critical role in solving Wisconsin's problems if they can wrest control of the public policy discussion from WMC and its collaborators, and then fashion solutions with organized labor.

Overture's Problems Start With the Structure

It is not a surprise that the Madison based Overture Center is in financial trouble. Anyone who follows the stock market would suspect that the first quarter of the year was not kind to the trust fund established by benefactor Jerome Frautschi. The Capital Times noted Overture trust fund falls below $100M:

Frautschi, whose original $205 million gift to the city was the foundation for the world-class arts facility, agreed to fund the center's debt service if the amount of the trust fund dipped below $100 million. At the end of March, the fund stood at $98.9 million, down from $106 million at the end of 2006.

There is a group of civic leaders who will meet on their own time at their own expense to work on the problem:

A group of Overture patrons is in the process of organizing a panel with expertise in financing and public funds to come up with recommendations to tackle Overture's financial woes. Mark Bugher, former state Department of Administration secretary and current director of the University Research Park, said he was asked to get the effort off the ground.

That is a sound contribution to the community, but it does not get at the inherent problem, the structure of Overture. It is neither fish nor fowl, nor mammal for that matter. Cobbled together to meets the needs of a community that wanted Overture, but with no government wanting responsibility, the structure is not conducive to day to day management nor for long range planning.

There is no chief executive responsible to the public for the management of the facility. There is an executive director, who reports to a board, but the board is neither elected itself, nor do they report to any one chief executive.

The staff is hired by one agency, the city who handles hiring and firing. But that staff is directed, not by the city, but rather Overture.

None of this really makes sense.

Any long range solution to financial or management problems will come with an improved structure.

Superior Linens Racine County Contract Needs Airing

Superior Health Linens has contracts in Wisconsin with a number of public and private health care providers.

It once had a contract with Dane County but no more. There were allegations of unsafe working conditions and that resulted in the finding of three 'serious' OSHA violations. Then there were the problem of wages - Superior did not pay a living wage. Dane County dropped the contract in 2006 for the Badger Prairie Heath Care Center.

Now Superior is embroiled in a debate in Racine County over services related to the Ridgewood Care Center. What is curious about all of this is the conduct of certain public officials who are less than forthcoming about the contract. From the Racine Journal Times:  County's top lawyer berates supervisor over contract allegations

It’s not unusual for county staff to talk to the county board, but what was unusual Tuesday evening was Corporation Counsel Jonathan Lehman chastising Supervisor Diane Lange for her comments about a contract he reviewed.

In addition to the rather uncivil discussion there is a series of postponements and delays in reviewing the contract details. All of which makes us wonder if Diane Lange loses her re-election bid, will all of this be hidden with the rest of the dirty laundry?

Needless to say, many of Superior's employees are in low skilled jobs; some have limited knowledge about their rights as workers. Thankfully, that is changing thanks to the efforts of Unite Here  - the result of the merger between the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (my grandparents union) and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union.  As Unite Here states:

UNITE HERE boasts a diverse membership, comprised largely of immigrants and including high percentages of African-American, Latino, and Asian-American workers. The majority of UNITE HERE members are women.

WMC Reversal on Hospital "Tax" - Now They Must Apply Pressure

As reported in The Capital Times: WMC now backs hospital tax.

As Waxing America observed two weeks ago: Hospital 'Tax' Supported from Left to Right, Except WMC

...if two opponents changed their minds, resolution would be forthcoming. The first is the Republican leadership in the Wisconsin Assembly, the second is their puppetmasters, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC).

OK, we got the order wrong.  But moving on...

If adopted by the Wisconsin legislature, the assessment will bring in over $420 million in additional federal Medicaid payments to Wisconsin.

Our original WMC Watch* program raised this issue with individual members of the WMC board for the last eight months; since January 1, 2008 I spoke to a half a dozen of the WMC board members about the need for them to learn more about the plan. I asked them to look beyond the limited information provided by the WMC staff, which recommended the organization oppose this excellent plan introduced by Governor Doyle almost a year ago.

The reversal of position, which must have been difficult for WMC, has implications that go far beyond this immediate issue:

• It demonstrates that WMC board members need more information on public policy issues than the limited details they get from their own staff.
• Second, it is evident that many WMC board members make sound decisions when given access to information.
• Third, our original WMC Watch* program was correct in its premise that ratcheting up the public discussion in the Wisconsin press, blogs, and among the WMC members will continue to advance the discussion of public policy.
• Fourth, the editorials in Wisconsin newspapers had an effect in isolating WMC and causing the reversal.
• Last, while the WMC endorsement is important for passage, there is still critical work needed to gain the support of the Republican controlled Wisconsin Assembly, where the conservative leaders remain steadfast in their opposition.

Now WMC must show this new enlightened position is not just for show. We all know that if they exert the same pressure they apply when getting their way on tax issues for their members, enough Republican Assembly members will support this measure for passage.

*There is a new WMC Watch operated by One Wisconsin Now (OWN) which is not to be confused with our program - thus the sporadic reference to the "original WMC Watch."