Paul Soglin: Waxing America

George W. Bush Drives 18 Wheeler: America Stays Home

Which side are you on?

In this corner are environmentalists, led by the Sierra Club, organized labor led by the Teamsters Union, and traffic safety experts.

In the other corner,  George W. Bush and the shadow of Bill Clinton.

Not hard to choose sides, not even knowing the issue.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration plans to open the nation's highways to Mexican trucks on September 1, 2007 for long hauls through America.  These trucks are not inspected for safety or emission controls the way U.S. trucks are examined. The drivers are not required to meet any of the training or health standards such as the drug testing required of most U.S. licensed haulers.

What a slap in the face to American workers - opening the highways to dangerous trucks on Labor Day weekend, one of the busiest driving weekends of the year," said Jim Hoffa, general president of the Teamsters.

Conservative and moderate bloogers have it right:

I actually agree with the Teamsters and the Sierra Club (an uncomfortable feeling to be sure). As one who lived in San Diego County for nearly ten years, you should see some of the vehicles that cross the border.

This sad NAFTA legacy of the Clinton Administration poses unregulated problems that go beyond safety and pollution:

• Many of the truckers do not read English.
• Most trucks will not be inspected for smuggling or terrorist activities.
• also:  Investigators noted problems with the database used to check Mexican drivers' records for traffic convictions in the United States — largely because Texas and New Mexico didn't properly report driver convictions to the federal 52nd State System that tracks Mexican drivers.
• Finally, Congress tried to slow this down last May with over four hundred members of the House of Representatives opposing this Bush proposal.

The matter is now in  Federal Court, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where there is hope that the Bush Administration will be enjoined before Monday, Labor Day.

It is no longer safe to fly through Minneapolis without the threat of Republicans lurking in the bathrooms. Now it's Bush on the highways.

Larry Craig: Republicans Eat Their Own

Other than the fact he got caught, Senator Larry Craig is the same man he was last week, last month, last year, and in 1981 when he took the oath of office as a United States Congressman.

His American Conservative Union rating in 2006 was an exceptional 88, down slightly from his lifetime rating of 93.4.

To earn such lofty marks, Craig voted to:

• Extend $70 billion in tax cuts for the rich, further driving up the national debt. HR 4297
• Voted on a procedural motion to further the proposed Constitutional Amendment to ban same sex marriages and unions. SJ Res. 1
• Supported procedural measures to prevent raising the minimum wage to $7.25 per hour. S 2766
• Opposed a bill that allowed federal funds to be used to embryonic stem cell research. HR 810

Now, battered and bruised, desperately in need of friends, his Republican colleagues, led by the Minnesota turncoat, Senator Norman Coleman, are now calling for Craig's resignation.

Loyalty and adherence to the party's need to drive the 'family value' wedge though the middle of America and the middle of Craig's heart trumps any display of kindness, loyalty, or genuine sympathy.

I, on the other hand, take the high road. I say feed him to the Senate colleague sharks, but not because of his sin in a Minneapolis Airport - I could care less. The man's voting record is an abomination and so is his hypocrisy.

He never showed sympathy and concern for the disadvantaged or the average American, and their children.

Frank Lasee Needs to Go back to School

Wisconsin State Representative Frank Lasee (R-2nd) needs to go back to school. I suppose it is an intended public service that he tells us that,  "Education is by far the single biggest expense of our state budget."

O.K. Interesting information, but he never tells us what is the proper level of spending, or for that matter, why home owners should pay more so that businesses can pay less for education.

He makes additional observations such as the fact that, "Total spending divided by the number of teachers works out to nearly $150,000 for each teacher."

Huh? What does that mean?  Lasee thinks that the cost of busing kids to school or the cost of school books is to be measured by the cost per teacher.  A figure as useful as knowing the cost of postage to mail a letter to the moon.  Most of his comments continue with measures and data that are meaningless,  either with no context or a useless context.

Even when he gets to comparative per pupil costs by state, there is no regard for variables such as the cost of special education or heating our public schools in winters that are colder than Kentucky or Oklahoma.

The ultimate insult is reference to the legislature "protect(ing) local tax payers." A sop to the far right but an insult to every parent with a kid in school. Nowhere in the analysis does he address the need for quality education and protecting the bright minds of our children. 

Larry Craig Makes Michael Vick Look Like A Standup Guy

Like many, I was struck by the candor and the openness of Michale's Vick's statements as he admitted his guilt. His candor in acknowledging his role in the dogfighting ring was almost refreshing in this day of fallen stars who have a prescribed script that gives them a free pass to rehab.

Saying "I need to grow up," the quarterback apologized to the league and to the "young kids that I've let down who look at Michael Vick as a role model."

Vick's confessions to a crime and to his own weaknesses was refreshing.

Vick's confessions are appreciated even more in light of the seated weaseling of United States Senator Larry Craig's in light of his guilty plea. I stand with his other critics - his sexual preferences are of no concern to me--it is the hypocrisy that offends.

... "In June, I overreacted and made a poor decision," he said. "I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in hopes of making it go away."

Fine.

I hope that the prosecutors will reopen the case and allow Craig to withdraw his plea. Craig deserves an open and fair trial. Lets make sure he gets his justice.

I do not believe he committed a crime. Craig's behavior as described by the undercover officer is annoying and obnoxious but does not warrant a finding of guilt.

Craig still has to explain his behavior.

It was a public performance by a public man and deserves a public explanation.

United States for Sale From Sea To Shining Sea-Just follow the Money

.Madison, WI. Author's note: This post was originally published February 23, 2006. It seems so timely today. California authorities are contemplating the sale of naming rights to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Sorry you missed out of buying the New York Harbors? Don't worry the Bush administration has a few more assets for sale.  Remember it is all about location, location, location.

Brooklyn Bridge

Prime transportation link for metro New York area.  Negotiable. Several adjacent neighborhoods are available as well as a used naval yard.

Erie Canal.The Erie Canal is one of the oldest and most important historical U.S. icons.  Own a piece of history at a modest price. Excellent fix-it-upper. Banks are prime location for sunbathing, bicycle riding, stabling grazing herds, and casino development.

Mississippi River Locks.    These locks on the Mississippi River are located at the vital Quadcities area -almost smack in the middle of America's heartland.  Pay cash and receive, free, the St. Louis arch.

The Alamo.  Never let it be said that we aren't sentimental. Own a one of a kind artifact.  So far six flags have flown over Texas.  You can make it seven.

Hoover Dam. The most valuable and practical of all today's new listings.  The Hoover Dam not only provides water and power to tens of millions of Americans but also serves as a major tourist attraction.  Easy financing.  For the first one hundred prospective buyers we provide a free night in Las Vegas. Bring the wives and the kiddies.

Rare Port Opportunity-West Coast. With the Eastern seaboard sold, only a few ports are still available. The San Francisco Port comes with an option on Oakland. If you meet seller's asking price we will include the romantic and strategically important Golden Gate Bridge.  Excellent companion to the Alamo.

Bonus Feature-Golden Gate Bridge

Mixed Residential and Commercial Use -White House                                            

Prime property for either business or residential use.  Not subject to any zoning regulations; for that matter not subject to any regulation.

Historic site provides easy access to American industry, historic sites, and infrastructure.  Almost as good as owning your own country.

This relatively useless relic is available immediately. With record copper prices its salvage value has never been greater. Pursuant to law, seller discloses that some Americans have great sentimental attachment and may become hostile at any effort to dismantle.  It is recommend that buyer maintain a standing army and a navy to ward off confused natives who believe this icon has intrinsic value and represents something spiritual in the nation.

Stanley Kutler- Trashing History: Bush and Vietnam

If there is a torrential flood of lies emanating from the White House, know that the University of Wisconsin's Emeritus Professor of Law and E. Gordon Fox Professor of American Institutions, Stanley Kutler, will straighten out the youthful speech writers. From the Huffington Post, Trashing History: Bush and Vietnam:

The good news is that George W. Bush at last has found parallels between his Iraq misadventure and the Vietnam War. The bad news is that he is again writing his own revisionist history. The president is on dangerous ground -- for both wars are based on a bed of lies and miscalculations...

...For four years, Bush rejected any Vietnam parallels with his Iraq misadventure; he now distorts the events of three decades ago to rouse his base and intimidate his critics. Bush needs no Swift Boat warriors; his brigades of speech writers (with probably with no memory of Vietnam) serve just fine...

...Bush is ignoring the reality of the U.S. withdrawal. That iconic image of people clambering onto helicopters hovering over the American embassy in 1975 is misleading. Our war was already over. Richard M. Nixon's policy of "Vietnamization," which allowed for the steady reduction of 500,000 U.S. troops, had begun in June 1969. Nixon realized we could not remain indefinitely in Vietnam and he pursued a policy of training and arming South Vietnamese regulars to carry on their own battle. Four years later, the last U.S. troops had departed.

The South Vietnamese, who, on paper, outnumbered their opponents, were left to their own devices -- and collapsed within three years. The South Vietnamese populace lacked the steel and determination of the North; their government lacked popular support and political legitimacy.

The United States lost the Vietnam War, and Bush cannot bear that basic truth. Some military commentators are quick to assert the Vietnamese never defeated U.S. forces on the battlefield. Perhaps. But the American pursuit of political goals, implemented and insured by military means, failed.

If nothing else, the conflict shows that there are limits to American power. But Bush will not accept this.

The president is citing Vietnam as a usable past to push his own war aims -- but not too far. He repeatedly says that we must stop Al Qaeda in Iraq or we will have to fight them here. Shades of the 1960s "domino theory." We were told then that if the Communists conquered Vietnam, the countries across the Pacific would topple like dominoes. First Thailand and Cambodia would be lost, then the Philippines and Japan. Then Hawaii and, ultimately, the Viet Cong and their Russian and Chinese allies would land on the beaches at La Jolla...

By reciting his revisionist history of Vietnam, Bush is compounding one lie upon another. The lies that were used to engage us in Vietnam and the lies Bush tells today as he draws lessons upon those untruths.

The Bush speech is further proof why one year of United States History should be required in both our high schools and colleges.

Your Wisconsin Tax Hell: Manufactured by WMC

You have to give Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) credit. They can shake your hand and pick your pocket at the same time. I have more respect for the saw mill operator who torched the town so he could sell more lumber. At least he rebuilt what he destroyed.

Your check book is in safer hands with a Nigerian spammer asking for your signature so he can share his trusted oil millions with you rather than a WMC spokesman offering you tax reform.

I remember when WMC's Jim Buchen said, "Wisconsin needs a property tax freeze, and this plan will give taxpayers needed relief.” (False)

The there were the repeated messages that, "Wisconsin has the fifth highest state and local taxes in the U.S., reports the non-partisan Tax Foundation in Washington, D.C." (False)

For the past thirty years, significant changes in Wisconsin tax law not only reduced taxes on Wisconsin businesses, but they shifted them to the ordinary homeowner. Take a look at Exposing the Wisconsin "Tax Hell" Hoax written and prepared by Jack Norman of the Institute for Wisconsin's Future.

Here are the facts, from Jack:

• As property taxes on manufacturers and agricultural lands dropped, home owners picked up the burden. When the business property next door had its taxes lowered a few thousand dollars, the difference was picked up by the residential property owners.
• As the Republicans led the charge to lower corporate income taxes, personal income taxes had to pick up the burden. That is why Forward Wisconsin boasts:  "Wisconsin ranks fourth lowest in the nation in business taxes as a percent of all state and local taxes."
• All of this shifting means that while home owners used to pay 50% of all property taxes in Wisconsin, they now pay 70%.

There is more to note about the Wisconsin tax climate, but for now, one thing is clear. WMC is looking out for themselves and no one else. When the legislature is in session nothing is safe as WMC loots and pillages.  They plunder too.

Misinformation: From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel to Charlie Sykes

Crime, the theory went, was caused by societal problems that were impervious to police intervention. That was the unchallenged conventional wisdom espoused by academics, sociologists, and criminologists. I intended to prove them wrong. ----  New York City Police Chief, William Bratton, in his book, The Turnaround: How America's Top Cop Reversed the Crime Epidemic.

Did anyone read this book?  Anyone?

It is like the children's game telephone where you whisper into someone's ear and it comes out garbled as the statement is passed around.

First, there was an article in Governing magazine, Bratton's Brigade. The author focused on the success of Bratton's proteges.

Jerry Slaske, communications director for the Public Policy Forum read the article and wrote in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Choosing Milwaukee's Next Top Cop.

... The philosophy of those who served under Bratton, the article notes, is that police are "not here as apologists for crime, and we're not here to explain it. We're here to get results."

Slaske is not incorrect when he writes:

That means a relentless analysis of crimes and their patterns, getting cops out of their cars and onto neighborhood streets, becoming familiar with residents of a district or beat, making police brass accountable for results, and giving commanders the authority to deploy resources and tactics as they see fit.

But his failure to acknowledge the role of the police in the community becomes more serious as Charlie Sykes takes up the cry.

Sykes read Slaske and posted in his blog , Two And A Half Times NY's Murder Rate, echoing Slaske that Milwaukee needs a police chief that does not follow the sociologists.

Guys, read Bratton's book. All of you. The operational word in the quotation is impervious.

Crime, the theory went, was caused by societal problems that were impervious to police intervention. That was the unchallenged conventional wisdom espoused by academics, sociologists, and criminologists. I intended to prove them wrong.

There is no bigger an advocate for Community Policing than Bratton.  He understands that quality of life variables influence crime, and that law enforcement needs to acknowledge that. Bratton used neighborhood police officers, decentralized command and gave more authority to the precinct officers. Referring to his mentor, academic Bob Wasserman*, Bratton wrote:

Wasserman explained that police can't be an island, that we have to work in partnership with the community...He was one of the first in the profession to understand and define the elements and potential of what we came to know later as community policing...

There is much that can be written about the reduction in crime in New York City and the potential to reduce it in Milwaukee and Madison. It is argued that much of the reduction in NYC crime was a changing demographic; I concur in part. It can be argued that the impact of Bratton's practices on NYC crime was minor; see, Steven D. Leavitt's Freakonomics.

But the central point of this post is that Slaske's op-ed piece and Sykes' blog post is a far cry from what William Bratton did in New York.

If the Milwaukee Police and Fire Commission uses Slaske and Sykes observations as a measure for hiring a new police chief, they will not get a William Bratton.

Bratton worked with the academics, sociologists, and criminologists; he simply did not allow their analysis to leave his department feeling that police intervention was meaningless and ineffective. But he used the tools of those other professions in building his overall strategy to combat crime.

By the way guys, Bratton supports gun control laws and firmly opposes conceal and carry.

* A firm opponent of racial profiling.

"Operation Coffeecup" - Reagan's Viral Marketing Campaign Against Universal Healthcare

Yesterday at a neighbor's estate auction, I bought an old vinyl record.  Actually, I bought a box of records for $5, and gave them all away but the one I really wanted: "Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against SOCIALIZED MEDICINE." 

Issued in 1961 by the American Medical Association to its national "Woman's Auxiliary," the Reagan monologue was played at gatherings of neighbors and friends hosted by doctors' wives that were called "Operation Coffeecup."  Featured in Michael Moore's movie "Sicko" for sardonic comic relief, the campaign was a response to efforts by Congressional Democrats to pass an early version of Medicare.  Told to "put on the coffeepot" and "invite an audience" to listen to the record, members of the AMA Woman's Auxiliary were provided with these explicit instructions on creating letters to members of Congress:

Make letter-writing easy. Provide guests with stationery, pens and stamped envelopes. Don't accept an "I'll do it tomorrow" reply--urge each woman to write her letters while she's in your house--and in the mood! Advise your guests that letters should be short and to the point, objecting to the King bill (HR 4222) and giving reasons for opposing it. Each woman should write her own letter in her own words, not merely copy a stereotyped form. See that each woman addresses her own letters to her own congressmen on the spot. You can mail them all later. A list of congressmen, with instructions for addressing letters to them, is enclosed.

Because the campaign was not publicized, Congressional recipients thought the letters represented a genuine groundswell rather than an astroturf campaign. You can hear Reagan for yourself and read the rest of the record's liner information here.

In the Huffington Post, RJ Eskow puts "Operation Coffeecup" in context:

This was a very imaginative tactic for the time. "Coffeecup" meets today's criteria for a "viral" marketing campaign: It was designed to appear spontaneous rather than organized and well-funded. It used word-of-mouth communication backed by prepackaged content. And that content that used some of the finest media technology then available - full sterephonic sound reproduction!  

The "Socialized Medicine" record was Ronald Reagan's first venture into political speech. It didn't just represent smart, well-funded political strategy. It also launched a career that in turn brought about the conservative revolution. Reagan's efforts in "Operation Coffeecup" were so well-received that he was invited to give a speech for Barry Goldwater at the 1964 GOP Convention.

The rest, as they say, is history.

So I now own a piece of political history. It might prove useful as the Wisconsin legislature struggles to reconcile the Assembly's slash and burn budget with the Senate's "Healthy Wisconsin" plan. We can expect much demonizing of the plan by Republicans, who love the old "socialized medicine" canard. Let's wait and see who they trot out to play the Reagan role.  (Tommy Thompson is available again, for a fee.)

- Barry Orton

 

Bush Fails History: Both the Exam and the Truth

Author's note: Yesterday I set about to do an analysis of Bush's flawed Iraq speech in which he exploited every major American military venture since World War II in a tortured justification of his Iraq blunder.  When I came to his lie about a statement from Senator J William Fulbright, I limited my post to that one item.

Yesterday, Todd Gitlin made reference to my post in his own blog. For forty years I have had tremendous respect for Gitlin. Today I provide Gitlin's commentary on the Bush speech as well as my own that I omitted in favor of the Fulbright post.

An exerpt from Gitlin (from link above):

...Necessarily missing from Bush's account: As anyone serious about history knows, a necessary condition for the triumph of the Khmer Rouge was the devastating American bombing campaign in Cambodia. If you're looking for Iraq-Vietnam analogies, you'd want to look to the growth of Al-Qaeda-in-Mesopotamia as one consequence of the American invasion.

Outside Bush's fairy-tale melodrama of the awful travails of Southeast Asia, this same serious person knows that the genocidal Khmer Rouge Vietnamese regime was overthrown by--Vietnam. (None less than George McGovern urged the U. S. to do it, but Gerry Ford wasn't buying.) In the early 1980s, the U. S., under "Dictatorships and Double Standards" author Jeane Kirkpatrick at the UN, was supporting the Khmer Rouge claim to occupy the Cambodian seat there--anything to stick it to their Vietnam-sponsored rivals...

My comments that I did not publish yesterday:

Lies, disinformation, and syntax changes populate the the speeches of President George W. Bush as he rewrites history as it occurs. For those who thought Karl Rove was gone, it is clear that he is still in the White House.

• Bush draws parallels with World War II. He describes an attacking an enemy, the Japanese, and likens them to al Qaeda. That we went to war against Iraq, not the followers of Osama bin Laden is lost upon this fraternity boy who slept through too many U.S. history classes. Our entry into World War II was motivated for reasons far from controlling Middle Eastern Oil.
• Tragically, Bush's wish that, "Once people even get a small taste of liberty, they're not going to rest until they're free," is flawed. I join the President in wishing that all people craved freedom, but as we have seen in our our country, liberty and constitutionally guaranteed freedoms are trampled in the name of security.
• "At the outset of World War II there were only two democracies in the Far East -- Australia and New Zealand. Today most of the nations in Asia are free..." Comment: what irony. If Bush had attended his Asian history course, he would know that virtually every nation liberated since World War II gained its freedom not from United States military intervention but from the withdrawal of British, French, and Dutch imperialists.
• "In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge began a murderous rule in which hundreds of thousands of Cambodians died by starvation and torture and execution." Comment: Cambodia was peaceful until we destabilized that nation, resulting in the toppling of its legitimate government and the ascension to power of the horrid Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge. Can you say Iraq and Pakistan?
• "If we were to abandon the Iraqi people, the terrorists would be emboldened, and use their victory to gain new recruits."  Comment: Our entry into Iraq was the greatest recruitment gain for al Qaeda.