Paul Soglin: Waxing America

What Scott Walker Does Not Say About Public Employees

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker issued a press release on Monday,  The Cost of Public Sector Benefits. This document of over 500 words and all sorts of data began:

Madison–In an effort to raise awareness about the cost of public sector employee benefits today Governor Walker’s office released the following fact sheet.

The 'fact sheet' never once addressed the cost of employing a public worker in Wisconsin. The 'fact sheet' provided information about the cost of the retirement system, how much taxpayers pay for public employees health insurance and the cost of HMO co-pays.

The 'fact sheet' never gave the total cost to the taxpayer of a public employee.

WISCONSIN WORKERS ARE NOT OVER PAID OR OVER COMPENSATED

For the millionth time --- Wisconsin public employees do have better fringe benefits than the public employee in other states. That is because everyone from the firefighter to motor vehicle workers, teachers to snow plow drivers, choose to take their compensation in health insurance and retirement contributions.

For example Wisconsin teachers rank 20th for average teacher's salary among the states . Add in the fringe benefits and Wisconsin may be as high as 17th or 16th, not an outrageous ranking for a state that values education.

NO BONUSES

The Wisconsin public employee who receives a bonus is a rare exception. Yesterday GM announced that all hourly workers will receive a $4000 bonus. Private sector employees receive bonuses, at times stock options, and many other privileges not afforded he public employee. II never met a public employee who's golf outing was paid by their employer.

EFFICIENCY OF OUR STATE WORKERS

Wisconsin is the 20th most populated state but we rank 27th in number of full time employees.  We get more productivity from Wisconsin public employees. Wisconsin state workers are doing more than their counterparts in other states.

Some People Do Not Know How To Read

Recently, Waxing America editor Barry Orton wrote a post, Consider Voting In The Wisconsin Republican Primary. In it he said, "Here are three good reasons to vote in the Wisconsin Republican primary if there are no real important Democratic primary races in your area..." and he signed it clear as day, "Barry Orton."

Now comes the WTMJ of Milwaukee Walker Says Democrats Trying To "Hijack" Republican Primary.

In the story there is a statement with no quotations saying, "Some left leaning bloggers are encouraging their fellow democrats (sic) to cross over and vote in the republican (sic)primary for Mark Neumann. Among them is former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin."

Not true, not now, never was.

Surprise! "Fortunate Son-In-Law" Ron Johnson Took Government Help To Expand Business Set Up By Father-In-Law and Also Failed To Graduate From High School

"Tea party" favorite Ron Johnson, who is trying to leverage his marriage to the "shrink-wrap princess" to unseat Senator Russ Feingold, had better be kept away from microphones for the rest of the campaign. WKOW-TV yesterday broke the story that, despite Johnson's insistence that ""I have never lobbied for some special treatment or for a government payment," his company (Pacur, Inc., named for Pat Curley, Johnson's brother-in-law and the real founder of Johnson's business) took a $2.5 million loan at a highly favorable interest rate in the form of an industrial revenue bond from the City of Oshkosh in 1985.  D'oh!

The whole WKOW interview is here. No real surprise that Johnson is saying one thing and actually did another; that's normal for this candidate. Here's the curious part:

He attended Edina High School but he did not graduate, saying he was told by officials there that he could go straight to college. According to school records he did graduate with distinction from the University of Minnesota in 1977 with an accounting degree.

Since when did the University of Minnesota eliminate the requirement that its students graduate from high school? Did Edina education officials really say "Don't bother completing your high school requirements; go straight to college" to young Johnson?  Or is this another example of Ron Johnson's version of "American Exceptionalism" where exceptions are made for those with connections?

UPDATE: There was also a federal grant that helped build a rail line to the Pacur plant. WKOW had this today:

A railroad line to Senate candidate Ron Johnson's plastics factory was built with the assistance of a federal grant.

According to documents from the Oshkosh city clerk's office, an Urban Development Action Grant in the amount of $75,000 was used to build a rail spur to Pacur, a plastics manufacturing company owned by Johnson.

The city resolution approving the grant was passed on March 15, 1979, the year the Oshkosh factory was built.

The money for the line went to Wisconsin Industrial Shipping Supplies, owned by Johnson's brother-in-law, Pat Curler. Months later, WISS changed its name to Pacur and the plant opened.

A federal grant this time, not a local government bond or loan. The Fortunate Son-In-Law took a terrible "government payment."

So some federal money to build a rail line is good, as long as it helps the private sector and doesn't carry those inconvenient people.

- Barry Orton

Ron Johnson Tapdances on Great Lakes Oil Drilling; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Applauds His Pirouettes

Question: When does "yeah" at one point mean "no" subsequently? 

Answer: When Ron Johnson, the Republican Party's anointed primary candidate for US Senate, says "yeah" in a response to a WisPolitics question about whether he supported drilling for oil in the Great Lakes, and then issues press releases and TV ads saying he's against it. See Xoff here, here, and here.

Question: How does Johnson get away with it?

Answer: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial page helpfully ignores the "yeah" and selectively quotes Johnson to make his position(s) less contradictory, and then blames both Johnson and Feingold for slinging mud.

Question: When are Lake Erie and Lake Ontario not part of the Great Lakes?

Answer: When Ron Johnson's TV response ads claim that Russ Feingold was the only Great Lakes Senator to vote against banning oil drilling in the Great Lakes, when, in fact, New York's two Senators, Schumer and Clinton, voted no along with Feingold, all three because the bill's Great Lakes protections were too weak.

Question: When Ron Johnson later claims that "he did not think he ever heard the Great Lakes portion of the question," why doesn't the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel or WisPolitics call him on it?

Answer: Johnson's campaign must be supported for its entertainment value until November.  Dave Westlake is too dull and too consistent on conservative issues, and the Tea Party folks seem too willing to go over the cliff with their Republican "kingmakers" and talk radio blowhards.

- Barry Orton

Behind the Ron Johnson Website SNAFU: Campaign Used Texas Firm Run By Students

Today everyone in Wisconsin politics had a good laugh at Ron Johnson's latest campaign blunder: for a short time Johnson's website featured a "tourism policy" that was word-for word that of Wyoming Republican governor candidate Colin Simpson, including many references to Wyoming and handing the problem of wolves.

...As governor, I will continue to lead the effort to work with the federal government and to convey the significant economic impact of limiting snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park and carry Wyoming’s argument through both courts of law and public opinion.

...I have the right plan to deal with the wolf problem and bring management of these predators under the control of the people of Wyoming.

The blame quickly fell on Harris Media, a Texas-based firm working for both Simpson and Johnson, as well as several other Republican candidates, such as Rick Scott in Florida and Brian Dubie in Vermont, both running for governor. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel cutely headlined the story "Johnson throws Web vendor to the wolves."  Haas414 showed a bit of the screen capture and wondered "where are Ron Johnson’s web people? Looks like they’re not in Oshkosh, or Wisconsin."

No, they are mostly students at the University of Texas, from the bios on the Harris Media website. The firm's founder, Vincent Harris, was on the online staff of Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign, and then was Internet Director of Texas Senator John Cornyn's re-election campaign. Now Harris is working on a Master's in Government at UT-Austin. Some of the Harris staff are still undergraduates at UT-Austin and elsewhere; others have actual degrees in hand and are working on multiple campaigns. The staff seems spread pretty thin between all the campaign work and their classes, and their other campus activities, such as "College Republicans," "Student Senate," and "Zeta Tau Alpha sorority," so mistakes can happen.

Speaking of mistakes, this week alone Ron Johnson had to reverse himself on drilling for oil in the Great Lakes as well as on wolf management in Wyoming. Let's keep guns out of Johnson's hands for the sake of his feet, and the Senate seat out of his grasp for the sake of all Wisconsin citizens.

- Barry Orton

Ben Masel Settles With UW & State of Wisconsin; Gets Some Money But No Apology

Only $7,500? And Ben's attorney probably gets half. This is a bargain for us taxpayers, considering the facts of the case and the costs of another trial.

Over a year ago, Waxing America concluded:

• The UW and the Wisconsin Attorney General's office should offer a sincere apology and a reasonable settlement to Masel before the jury awards him everything they legally can.
• The UW-Madison police need upgraded training in alternatives to using force and in community policing techniques.

I hope the training's been done or is ongoing. The settlement is more than reasonable. Masel probably got no apology though.

So, as a UW employee of long standing with free speech rights and no official standing whatsoever, I'll say it, since apparently no one else will: "Sorry, Ben." 

- Barry Orton

Bizarre Positions Taken By Wisconsin Political Candidates (First In a Series)

This campaign season in Wisconsin should be interesting, with the open-seated Governor's race, two wealthy and never-been-elected-to-anything Republican challengers to Senator Russ Feingold, fights for control of both houses of the legislature, and "tea-party" inspired hopefuls for Congressional seats held by Democrats.

One such challenger (probably one with no chance whatsoever) is Jennifer London, running for Representative Gwen Moore's 4th District seat. As is often the case with "tea-party" folks, the candidate's website barely mentions the Republican Party, except for a link to "a great group of ladies I'm involved with," who turn out to be the Suburban Republican Women's Club. The problem for Ms. London is that the Suburban Republican Women's Club candidate page only lists Dan Sebring for the 4th. D'oh!

Bigger problems for Ms. London are her weird positions on issues. Her solution to Social Security/retirement problems: retirement savings accounts run only by private institutions "that must back all savings by gold. Yes, gold....the only sound alternative to Social Security is to protect our futures with something tangible."

OK, that's strange, but London's environmental posture is even odder: she wants to close the St. Lawrence Seaway to keep the Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.

The one area of environmental stewardship that I am passionate about is the Great Lakes. The protection of the Great Lakes is something nearly everyone can agree upon, from the avid sport fisherman to the hippie activist. I will work to strengthen protections of the Great Lakes, including introducing a bill that closes access to the Great Lakes through artificial canals, namely the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Chicago Sanitary Canal. I do not believe the legislation we currently have goes far enough to protect or ecosystem or the industries that rely on the vitality of the lakes.

...The tens of millions taxpayers must pay every year in the clean-up of our waterways and restocking fish populations that are hurt by the invasive species are not balanced by the industries that are serviced by transoceanic ships.

It is important to maintain an active shipping industry in our lakes. To remedy the obvious harm that will be done to Great Lakes ports due to the closure of the St. Lawrence Seaway, I would further propose a transit port at the point of cut-off where ocean-bound ships would transfer their loads to ships that only sail the Great Lakes. I do not believe the livelihoods of port employees need be disregarded in order to achieve a better stewardship of the Great Lakes. We can achieve a balance in the two through my plan, and the investment in a transfer facility would, in the long run, save taxpayers untold billions that we are throwing at what seems in the present to be a losing battle.

So the "transit port at the point of cut-off where ocean-bound ships would transfer their loads to ships that only sail the Great Lakes" would be where?  Canada near Montreal? Or upstate new York somewhere? Let's ask the folks who work in the Port of Milwaukee how that would work out for them.

Chances of such a plan being ever seriously considered? Zero to none. Chances of Jennifer London replacing the terrific Rep. Gwen Moore? Less than zero.

- Barry Orton (former avid sport fisherman and former hippie activist)

Yahoo Provides Links to Olympic Rubbish

I still use Yahoo. Well, I did.

While I switched search engines long ago, I use the internet service as my homepage because I like the access to sports, business news, and my email accounts.

Not any more. Several months ago I noticed the flamboyant and exaggerated headlines 'above the fold' usually accompanied by pictures. The link usually was to the silliest and least important news of the day.

Exaggeration and hyperbole are the words that come to mind.

Saturday and Sunday Yahoo went over the top. Here are a collection of a few of the rotating stores Yahoo provided regarding the Olympics. Often the subject mentioned was the topic of just one paragraph in a much longer, but still irrelevant story. Notice that three of them involve security issues and have nothing to do with athletic achievement.

Bye Yahoo.

 Tense moment after first US gold  -her father, Tom, who couldn’t wait to celebrate with her. Doing so proved treacherous. As he bounded the gate, a security guard tackled him, unaware who he was.

Skier's husband detained -Hormell went to Cypress to watch his wife train for moguls and was turned away at a security checkpoint for not having proper credentials. He then snuck around security and into the venue so he could see the training. Shortly thereafter was found and detained by security for over an hour.

Serious threats made against Johnny Weir Though there are no indications that any of the verbal and written threats from extremists were credible, Weir's decision to stay in the more secure village was an obvious choice. 

On Air gaffe confuses Canadians    Terry Fox is a Canadian legend whose cross-Canada run, the Marathon of Hope, inspired Canadians while raising money for cancer research. Michael J. Fox is a Canadian actor who starred in the legendary "Back to the Future" trilogy and has become an advocate for Parkinson's disease research. They're pretty easy to confuse for each other. Right, NBC?

Olympian defends swimsuit photos   U.S. Olympians Hannah Teter and Lindsey Vonn...they train like madwomen to be the best in snowboarding and skiing respectively. A nice byproduct of that training is that they have gorgeous, athletic bodies, and both women are comfortable showing off those bodies.

Democrats Fail Again - 36% Cap On Interest Rates Is Obviously Too Restrictive

For years I refused to contribute to both the Democratic Assembly and Senate Campaign Committees.  The handling of payday loans is a reminder why I very selectively donate to Democrats.

This week's compromise on the payday loans is a clear cut example of the problem. The New York Times reported:

The plan would not cap the annual interest rate that lenders could charge on loans, unlike a previous bill that would have limited them to 36 percent.

That fairly well describes the situation as to how the Democrats stand on this issue. For those who need additional  edification:

 Rep. Donna Seidel, D-Wausau, said the cap would have gone too far in choking off credit for borrowers struggling in the economic downturn by essentially wiping out the industry.

What is wrong with wiping out the industry? As for the borrowers, allowing this usury practice is no favor. Wisconsin borrowers did just fine when interest rates were capped at 18% and these predatory lenders were not fishing in Wisconsin waters.

Maybe the legislature could figure out some innovative ways to fix this problem along with greater support for financial literacy programs.

 

 

Vonnegut Letter Home After Surviving Dresden Firebombing

On a favorite new site, Letters of Note: Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience, Shaun Usher posts original versions and transcripts of "fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos."  While most are really interesting, this first letter from Kurt Vonnegut to his family after he survived being a German POW in World War II is gripping.  As Vonnegut readers know, he survived the firebombing of Dresden because the POWs were routinely locked in an underground meat locker of a slaughterhouse; an experience that became the focus of his classic anti-war novel Slaughterhouse-Five.

The letter home, written in May of 1945, was Vonnegut's first since he was captured in December 1944.

On about February 14th the Americans came over, followed by the R.A.F. their combined labors killed 250,000 people in twenty-four hours and destroyed all of Dresden -- possibly the world's most beautiful city. But not me.

After that we were put to work carrying corpses from Air-Raid shelters; women, children, old men; dead from concussion, fire or suffocation. Civilians cursed us and threw rocks as we carried bodies to huge funeral pyres in the city.

When General Patton took Leipzig we were evacuated on foot to ('the Saxony-Czechoslovakian border'?). There we remained until the war ended. Our guards deserted us. On that happy day the Russians were intent on mopping up isolated outlaw resistance in our sector. Their planes (P-39's) strafed and bombed us, killing fourteen, but not me.

Go read the whole thing.

In an introduction to a 1976 edition of Slaughterhouse-Five, Vonnegut wrote:

"The Dresden atrocity, tremendously expensive and meticulously planned, was so meaningless, finally, that only one person on the entire planet got any benefit from it. I am that person. I wrote this book, which earned a lot of money for me and made my reputation, such as it is. One way or another, I got two or three dollars for every person killed. Some business I'm in."

- Barry Orton