Paul Soglin: Waxing America

CNBC's Power Lunch: Chucke E. Cheese's Meets the Lunch Bunch

The economic crisis of the last few days led me to CNBC's noon hour market report discussion Power Lunch. Two people claiming to be Bill Griffeth and Sue Herea lead a lunch time discussion with five or six boisterous and obnoxious playmates.

They are rude, they interrupt one another and all they are missing are the pizza's, runny noses, music blaring at Chuck E. Cheese's and the frazzled staff from your child's day care center trying to maintain order during lunch bunch.*

Ignoring the sound advice of Sam Brown, "Never offend with style, when you can offend with substance," this crew manages to do both, very effectively.

The blather is so fast and furious there is not much time to digest their economic or political droolings, let alone make corrections, which is required in most instances.

*That thirty minute period when the kids in day care dine on jelly sandwiches and sliced carrots.

Madison Storm February 17, 2008. Blogging Unless the Power Goes

The storm moved in after midnight. It started with rain.

7:00 am No Sunday newspaper. We have great people doing the delivery but even they know not to venture out in this mess.  The street is covered with ice. I doubt we will get the cars unlocked today-they too are covered with ice. All the utility lines and tree limbs are sagging under the weight of the water and ice.

8:00 am Showered and then rinsed the bathtub and filled it with water. If the water pumping stations loses power we will have enough H2O for the dogs and cats; I plan to drink Crystal Light.

8:45 am A tree limb went down and with it the telephone line. We still have service.  The anchor in the house came out and the line is laying across the line.

8:47 am The rain turned to snow.

8:50 am Boris is out there in the snow and rain having a grand time. He is trying to carry the six foot limb that broke of the birch tree.

9:00 am Called the AT&T. The representative answered in three minutes and told me that crews would be out by Tuesday. I told her her "Tuesday if we were lucky." She smiled through the phone line and thanked me for being understanding. She said I could pick up the limb and that it was all right if I wanted to get the downed line out of the snow. I am thankful i did not get someone in the Philippines.

9:05 am It is back to rain.

9:10 am I am dressed for when hell freezes over and headed out the back door.

• Removed the downed limb.
• Put the step ladder in the yard and laid the line over it. Hooked the end of the line to the fence. Now the line is four feet off the ground.
• Moved fire wood close to the back door in case we need it later.
• The dogs want to play. Threw the ball and Frisbee for ten minutes to Boris and Roxy. Sara opened the door and told me that I was an idiot. The dogs are having a grand time. I am wet.
• Knocked icicles form the edge of the roof. I know better than to try to remove ice from tree limbs - it only breaks them.

9:35 am It appears the precipitation has stopped or slowed to a drizzle. I am going to go check the flashlights and get out some fresh batteries. Boris is still ruling over the backyard.

11:15 am It can't decide what to do. It could be a drizzle, it could be sleet, I know it isn't snow or sunshine. The dogs are having a grand time. But I have a feeling that the weight of the weather on the branches is going to start taking a toll soon.

11:45 am Another small branch, about six feet long, 3 inches in diameter, separated from a birch tree.

11:59 am Definitely a mixture of sleet and snow.

12:06 pm Definitely snow. A good day to read. Along with the campaign to expose WMC, I meant to read Judicial Elections: Robe Warriors by Zach Patton in the March, 2006 issue of Governing Magazine. Join me (this merits its own post later in the week; thanks to Jim Rosenberg @ Random Thoughts for the reminder):

The real power player on the business side is the U.S. Chamber of
Commerce, which has dedicated millions of dollars in recent elections
to reshaping the state-level judiciary with business-friendly judges.
The chamber, which represents the interests of more than 3 million
businesses across the country, has reportedly spent $120 million in
just the past four years, most of it through the Institute for Legal
Reform, a tax-free affiliate. All that spending is paying off: In
2004, the chamber won every single contest in which it was involved.
Those triumphs all but guaranteed that spending by groups on both
sides of the tort overhaul debate would continue to rise. "We're going
to see more of the same for 2006, if not worse," Weiss predicts.
One reason judicial campaigns are costing so much is that they're
being waged more and more on the television screen. From 2000 to 2004,
the number of states that saw judicial TV ads quadrupled to 16,
meaning there were ads in four out of every five states in which
candidates ran head to head. Spending on TV ads in 2004 totaled $24.4
million, obliterating the previous record of $10.6 million set in
2000.

2:00 pm  No cars on our street since 9:35 am. No bicycles either. Oops.

The snow is piling up and I have no clue as to whether switching from rain to snow is better.  I think it is. Rain would have formed more ice increasing the likelihood of bringing down more trees and power lines. I think.

According to DANE 101 the Hillary Clinton event is canceled.  They think.

Sara is watching something about Yellowstone on the History Channel. Natasha is with us and will probably not go back to her dorm tonight. Alex came in from Milwaukee Friday to join Natasha in auditioning for an extra role in the Johnny Depp Dillinger film. She went back to Milwaukee last night to beat the storm.  Good move.

We have enough Crystal Light to get through Tuesday. I love the raspberry.

I have an appointment at the Labor Temple at 1:00 tomorrow followed by another across the street at Coffee Cargo. I plan to make both of them.

3:00 pm First phone call of the day since 9:00 am. It is from Hillary Clinton. At least it sounded like her.

4:00 pm Another phone call. Hillary again.

4:05 pm Another phone call. Natasha's roommate is ill and stranded in the dorm. Sara and Natasha go out and spend 15 minutes scraping the ice from the car.

5:00 pm Sara and Natasha are back from picking up the prescription and dropping it off. Sara says the roads are better where there is no plowing. The car gets traction in the snow. No snow, and it is ice. Another phone call. It is Hillary Clinton.

6:00 pm  Dinner. Sara, not too subtlety suggests that maybe I overreacted and the danger from the storm was not all that great. Sara and Natasha have been drinking the Crystal Light.  There is only enough to get us through Monday.

10:00 pm  Power is out to the west of us. I am vindicated.

Call Centers, Speaking English, Knowing More Than Me

I just had another experience with an agent at a call center.

This was different than many of my recent tormented calls to call centers involving airlines and financial service institutions.

I called Northwest Airlines about a problem involving frequent flyer miles not properly credited. It took about two minutes.

• I logged in the ID number and the pin. I was stunned when the agent came on line and we went right to work to solve the problem. I was not asked to repeat everything or provide my mother's maiden name and the birth date of my oldest child.
• The agent spoke English - fluently and clearly. This is not a requirement. But in too many instances I cannot understand the person who is suppose to help me.
• The agent understood the problem and knew more about the subject than I do.
• A synopsis of recent experiences:
  • Fidelity Investments: You always get someone who is knowledgeable and takes care of the issues. Solid
  • Dell Computer: A mixed bag. When they are bad, they are horrible; some issues take, not just hours, but days to resolve. If you are not under warranty, you might as well throw the equipment out; your time is more valuable than waiting for a person who can help you in one of the worst telephone prompt systems on the planet. You always have to go back to 'GO,' the disconnects are horrid.
  • American Airlines: The agents are just fine, but their internal communication system using both email and telephone sucks. When the agent cannot get the correct person at AA, you lose.
  • United Airlines: Horrible is the kindest word I can use for the agents assigned to handle ordinary people. They are difficult to understand, they know less than most travelers, and the time wasted is monstrous. Tip: The last time this happened I cheated. I called the number reserved for elite travelers, begged for help, the agent solved it in less than five minutes. I had wasted over an hour and half with two people in the call center in the Philippines.
  • Northwest Airlines: Frankly I do not like the reputation of this airline for the way it treats its employees but these agents are, overall, the best in their business.
  • Washington Mutual: I like these folks a lot. The fees are high but you get appropriate service.
  • M&I Bank: I may be miffed with my bank's role with WMC, but when it comes to service they are top notch whether it is a problem with a misplaced check, a check card, or a credit card.
  • ATT: Not bad. I dislike what they did on the Wisconsin cable bill, but overall their prompt system and their agents work well.
  • Charter Communication: I have not had the problems many of my friends mention but I hate their prompt system. When my Internet service goes out I know how to reboot the computer and the modem. I would like to get past those prompts and get right to the agent.
  • Any company that does not have a call center and expects you to send in an email to which they might respond in a week: screw you.

Secret tip of the week: (maybe not so secret): when you are tortured by the endless prompt system, many of those systems can be defeated by simply repeating the word "agent.'

The Capital Times Leads Wisconsin Journalism into 21st Century

Like most people, I was taken by surprise when The Capital Times announced that it was discontinuing publication of a daily newspaper and entering a new world - a world of on-line journalism and a two-day-a-week newspaper.

The surprise was that not in the demise of the daily newspaper. The surprise was the publishers and editors realizing that the future was on the Internet.

The die was cast a half a century ago when The Capital Times and the Wisconsin State Journal entered into a joint operating agreement to use the same press. In what appeared to be a stroke of good fortune and insight, The Capital Times won the right to publish in the afternoon.  The State Journal was 'stuck' with the morning.

In successive years, city after city, the newspapers folded. First the afternoon papers went under. Then cities with four dailies found themselves with one morning paper as television reduced the demand for competing newspapers.

For the past forty years Madison's afternoon newspaper was fighting a losing battle. Under the circumstances, it is amazing they hung in this long.

Then came the Internet.  There is an entire generation that has never read a newspaper but maybe a dozen times in their lives. But they get their news. They get it from the Internet and  television, which accelerated the demise of the dailies and is also feeling the impact.

This is a marvelous opportunity for Madison and The Capital Times. In the tradition of The Capital Times and the Progressive Magazine, there is an opportunity to not only present local news but also a continuous stream of analysis of critical state and national issues in a most timely manner.

Go for it.

Another Reason to Kill Your Television: Logo Overload

It started with those little logos at the bottom right hand corner of the screen.  The logo of the network you were watching.

Then the logos evolved.

Some start moving.

Some started advertising the next hour's programming or next season's shows.

Some even moved and jumped and marketed other shows.

Networks suck.

You are their prisoner. You pay them for the right to watch their shows and then on your dime they shove advertising into the format with no respect for those who created the programming you are watching. Or you.

Forty years ago, we heard about subliminal advertising. Millions was spent on figuring out how to flash messages to viewers without their knowing it.

Then some genius figured out subliminal was unnecessary.

Bite me.

Senator Russ Feingold. Why He Is the Best

I found it on Wisopinion.com

It needs as much exposure as possible.

Russ Feingold on the New FISA Legislation

 

Wisconsin State Journal: "Cable Bill May Not be Boon to Consumers." Capital Times: "So What Else Is New?"

Last Sunday's Wisconsin State Journal ran a p.1 story on the "video competition" bill with the headline "Cable Bill May Not Be Boon To Consumers."

"I wouldn 't be holding my breath to see another wired competitor in Madison in less than two years, " said Barry Orton, a UW-Madison telecommunications professor and an opponent of the bill.

AT&T now offers its U-verse television services in parts of Racine and Milwaukee. But if the company decides to offer service in Madison or elsewhere, it won 't make a big announcement, AT&T spokesman Jeff Bentoff said. Rather, it will contact consumers individually through direct mail and door-to-door visits.

"When it 's available, we 'll let them know, " Bentoff said.

That approach suggests a desire to select the neighborhoods in which to offer service, Orton said, unlike typical cable agreements with local governments that require broad-based service.

"That 's what this bill is fundamentally about -- the ability to cherry-pick neighborhoods, " Orton said.

As to the headline, Vikki Kratz wrote in Isthmus, referring to the fact that the bill already passed both chambers of the legislature:

Now they tell us.

The Capital Times, on the other hand, has been all over this story both from the news and editorial sides.  Dave Zweifel reacted to the story Friday:

On Sunday the State Journal ran a front page story that suggested the new "cable reform" legislation might not save consumers money after all.

So what else is new?

The story confirmed what opponents of the legislation had been repeatedly saying as loudly as they could for months and months while AT&T and others filled campaign coffers in the state Legislature.

It's what we said in numerous editorials leading up to the final vote in the state Senate earlier this month and what several in-depth reports by our reporter Judith Davidoff revealed several weeks ago. Not only is this new law unlikely to save cable TV customers any money, it severely weakens the consumer safeguards that have been in place in Wisconsin since cable TV arrived on the scene.

- Barry Orton

 

 

"Video Competition" BIll's Supporters Coincidentally Get AT&T's Largest Contributions

The Capital Times editorial yesterday phrased it right:

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has come up with an especially telling -- and especially troubling -- illustration of the primary explanation for the endorsement by the state Senate of a rewrite of cable television regulations that harms consumers and communities while benefitting out-of-state telecommunications corporations.

The 23 senators who voted in favor of the legislation accepted a total of $1.2 million in campaign contributions from special interests that support the proposal, according to the Democracy Campaign.

In contrast, the nine senators who opposed the bill had accepted less than $100,000 in total contributions from the special interests.

Reduced to raw numbers: The average senator who supported the controversial measure -- which was crafted to benefit its chief proponent, AT&T -- collected $52,297 from interests associated with AT&T and its allies.

The average senator who opposed the bill had contributions from the same interests of around $11,000.

...Politicians always claim that patterns of contributions and votes are mere coincidences.

But these patterns are too consistent to be dismissed as mere coincidence.

Today's Cap Times has a story by Judy Davidoff that several legislators are drafting a bill to stop the kind of misrepresentation that TV4US used to push the "video competition" bill:

Rep. Joe Parisi is not giving up.

The Madison Democrat is still incensed that the group pushing for cable deregulation misrepresented his position on the bill, and he wants to put a stop to the practice.

Parisi and Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts, D-Middleton -- who also opposed the cable bill but was categorized as a supporter in documents submitted by TV4US to state lawmakers -- started seeking co-sponsors Wednesday on legislation that would prohibit special-interest groups from misrepresenting constituents' views to lawmakers.

Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, will also introduce a Senate version of the bill.

The legislation, according to an analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau, would require anyone submitting a communication to lawmakers with the names of constituents to first obtain "a written or electronic document which proves that the named constituent has taken a position in support of or in opposition to the proposal identified in the communication."

"The onus would be on the interest group to have some kind of documentation," Parisi said in an interview.

Meanwhile, Emily Mills at Dane101 tried to pin Senator Russ Decker down as whether or not the "video competition" bill was his priority, and apparently struck a nerve.  A very defensive comment from a "sallyjones" reads very much like it came from Barb Worcester, a senior staffer of Decker's and Chuck Chvala's wife:

Russ Decker never said it was a priority. John Nichols never interviewed him on the topic and has no quote to from Decker saying it is a priority. Go ahead and ask him. Decker was asked if we would schedule the bill everyone took that to mean it was a priority. This bill has been out there for months and the only reason people had some to build support for amendments to make it better is because Decker insisted it go to the Joint Finance Committee. Sen. Robson and others wanted the bill passed in the spring and there are direct quotes for that.

He also didn't put in the liquor provision. Some folks upset about the change in leadership are spreading rumors that just aren't true.

And as a woman I'm a little disappointed that other women would count a woman working in Decker's office as being in "cahoots." Have a little more respect for your own gender than letting people talk you into believing that a professional woman still gets her orders from her husband on what to do. (bold emphasis Waxing America's)

Talk about protesting a bit too much. This debacle never ends...

- Barry Orton

 

 

Cap Times: Veto "Video Competition" Bill and Naming Names

The Capital Times today called for the Governor to veto the "video competition" bill the Wisconsin Senate passed Thursday:

...Doyle should not hesitate to veto this corrupt legislation.

...If enacted, the quality of cable service in Wisconsin will
decline.  Cable bills will go up.

Rural areas and inner cities will be denied access to technological advances. The digital divide will grow wider.

And corporations will know that if they spread campaign money and lobbying influence around in the right way, they can game the system in Wisconsin.

The Cap Times also named names:

Madison-area state senators Fred Risser, Jon Erpenbach and Mark Miller all voted against the industry-promoted cable-television re-regulation bill. That put them on the losing end of the 23-9 vote to approve the measure.

Special credit goes to Monona Democrat Miller for his determined efforts to amend the measure.

Joining Risser, Erpenbach and Miller in voting to protect the rights of cable consumers was former Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit.

On the side of the telecommunications conglomerates that want to create broad monopolies so that they can jack up prices while cutting the quality of service was new Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Schofield. Democrats joining him were Roger Breske of Eland, Spencer Coggs of Milwaukee, Dave Hansen of Green Bay, John Lehman of Racine, Jeff Plale of South Milwaukee, Jim Sullivan of Wauwatosa, Lena Taylor of Milwaukee and Robert Wirch of Kenosha. They all ought to hang their heads in shame.

Mike McCabe has the list of how much AT&T money each Democratic Senator took.

The Cap Times missed naming the few other Democrats who ought to be commended as voting against this mess: Senators Tim Carpenter, Pat Kreitlow, Julie Lassa, Robert Jauch, and Kathleen Vinehout.

Senators Jauch and Vinehout spent a lot of energy pointing out that their rural constituents would get screwed because wired video competition would never reach them and the current cable providers would then be unregulated. Their amendments all failed. The cable operators and their lobbyists sitting near me in the gallery (largely) kept their glee muffled.

Vinehout also defended the PEG interests with energy and heart.  She and her staff gained a lot of respect all through this process.

I've also new respect for Senators Risser and Miller, who both showed real leadership on this bill for many months.

For the record, I'm  proud of all of our local legislators for their votes on this one. Representatives Mark Pocan and Gary Hebl and their staffs worked especially hard for consumers, local governments, and PEG channels.

- Barry Orton

Wisconsin Senate Passes "Video Competition" Bill; Defeats Amendments To Make It More Consumer-Friendly

I just consumed another entire day watching the "Video Competition" bill progress towards becoming law in Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Senate debated and defeated a long series of amendments that would make the bill more consumer-friendly, more responsive to rural needs, more supportive of local PEG channels, more limiting in its terms and conditions and less of a giveaway to the cable and phone companies, and more responsive to the future importance of broadband infrastructure to our economy.  Instead, the bill passed almost entirely as introduced in the Senate, and will need minimum adjusting to conform to the Assembly's version.  It's a triumph for Senator Jeff Plale (D- Milwaukee), the chief Senate sponsor, and newly elected Majority Leader Russ Decker (D-Weston), who made passage his first priority.

Recognition for their efforts to amend and improve a bad bill must go to Senators Mark Miller (D-Monona), Kathleen Vinhout (D-Alma), and Judy Robson (D-Beloit), who worked hard to convince their colleagues that they were being sold a bill of goods. Almost all the Republicans voted as a bloc against their amendments, as did several Democrats.  It was a depressing process to witness, especially seeing many cable and phone company staffers and lobbyists watching their dollars at work.

Senate President Fred Risser (D-Madison) patiently and fairly presided over the session, and should be thanked for his many efforts to improve the bill in the last few months.

Senator Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) kept straying off the GOP reservation, as he is wont to do.  He kept pointing out the contradictions between what Sen. Plale was saying the bill would do, and the bill's actual language. At one point he said "Senator Decker is laughing all the way to I better not say where..." as Minority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) glared at him.

Special mention and a medal should go to Mary Cardona, head of the Wisconsin Association of PEG Channels, who pulled off a lobbying loaves and fishes act with meager resources and a real grass-roots coalition.  Most of the PEG-related improvements from the original bill and many of the other improvements resulted from her efforts, which included a great last-minute op-ed piece in the Capital Times:

AT&T wants a license to turn a quick buck and is about to get it.

Cable wants to extract greater profits from Wisconsin by getting rid of community investment and is about to get it.

Residents should be hopping mad.

- Barry Orton