Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Nichols: Decker Wrong to Push "Video Competition" Bill

The Capital Times' John Nichols scolds new Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker regarding his first priority for legislation after the budget has passed: the "video competition" bill.

This is such a dramatically flawed piece of legislation that it is entirely reasonable to say that no legislator who is concerned about his or her constituents could back it.

Indeed, only the lure of AT&T-linked campaign contributions explains the support it has received -- primarily from Assembly Republicans -- so far.

Why is Decker making this measure his first priority?

That is the question that Senate Democrats should be asking. And they should not accept any excuses. SB 107 is bad legislation that promotes bad policy. It is an attack on consumers and the public interest. And it mirrors the worst legislative abuses of Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay in that the authors of this proposal have invited representatives of an industry that is supposed to be regulated to dictate the regulations.

In fairness to Russ Decker, he is new to his position. He has a right to make a few mistakes. But he has only a brief window of opportunity to change course and acknowledge that the only appropriate response to SB 107 is to scrap it and to say that, from now on, regulations will be written by legislators, not lobbyists.

If Decker fails to do so, then it is he -- not Judy Robson -- who should be replaced by responsible Senate Democrats.

- Barry Orton

UPDATE: Wednesday morning, the Joint Finance Committee voted to approve the bill 13-3.  The Senate is the next venue for debate.  BTW, the CWA's Milewaukee local 4603 just came out against the bill. On the larger issue, the Capital Times' Judy Davidoff has a great investigative article today titled "Smoke and Mirrors," on AT&T's broken promises to Wisconsin over the years.

It Is Time To Discuss A Wisconsin Sales Tax Increase

I do not know Delores Parr. I do not know if she is a Republican or a Democrat. Or neither.

I do know she has something to say: County voters deserve a voice on sales tax hike.

My interest in her writing is not so much her support of a referendum, but her thoughts about the equity of a sales tax. Like most Democrats, with a pro-labor upbringing, I was taught that the sales tax was most regressive.

That may have been true forty years ago, but not today. In the 1990's the city of Madison did a small study to look at the impact of a sales tax. It impacts the wealthy harder and in greater proportion than the poor, so long as the three critical exemptions remain, shelter, food, and health.

A household of three or four with an annual income of $40,000 a year is going to spend most of their income, except for an automobile which is not a regular purchase, on the exempt items. They may have as little as $8,000 a year to purchase taxable items.

The wealthy household with an income of $200,000 may spend as much as $50,000 or more on taxable purchases.

As Parr noted in her article:

One myth that opponents of the sales tax increase have perpetuated is that low-income folks would be penalized by a 1-cent sales tax increase. Not true. Unlike other states and cities, Wisconsin does not tax most food, and that would not change with a sales tax increase.

In reality, the sales tax is the fairest tax of all because those who can afford to spend the most on taxable items would pay the most in taxes. In the final tally, the proposed 1-cent increase would be a lot less noticeable than the $20 vehicle registration increase or the $24.50 hike for vehicle titles that will result from the recently passed state budget.

I am not sure the sales tax is the fairest of all. I would select the income tax, but she is also correct in noting that increases in fees are regressive and most unfair to those who can least afford them.

Wisconsin could see a one cent increase in the sales tax and still be within range of surrounding states. Studies show that there needs to be a 1% or greater difference in the sales tax before people go 'sales tax forum shopping.'

A quarter percent for the schools and cities, and a half cent for the state. There are reasonable ways to ensure that most of it is used to reduce property taxes. There are safeguards never put in place when the counties got their sales tax.

A significant portion of the sales tax increase will be paid by tourists and visitors.

And to make my friend Rick Esenberg happy, we could eliminate all business taxes.

The more important question is this: with a new source of revenue will government managers put systems in place to ensure quality in the workplace? That is a post for another day.

Michael B. Mukasey: Unqualified to be Attorney General

It is now clear that Michael B. Mukasey is not qualified to be Attorney General of the United States, or magistrate in some town hall. He has made it clear, perfectly clear, that he does not know if waterboarding, making the victim feel that they are drowning, is torture. Senators Say Mukasey's Words on Torture Raise Doubts

Mukasey was asked specifically about the legality of waterboarding and he ``talked around it'' at his Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing, the South Carolina senator said on CBS's ``Face the Nation'' program. ``If he does not believe that waterboarding is illegal, that really puts doubts in my mind.''

Even if Mukasey attempts to rehabilitate himself this week, by determining that the barbaric practice is torture, he remains an unacceptable choice, for his failure is not knowing the correct answer prior to his creating a maelstrom.

Defending Mark Belling's Last Wednesday Post

Writing in his column last Wednesday, Republicans fight the good fight but some taxes are still going up Mark Belling noted in a side piece that:

On Saturday, Unbridled Belle, co-owned by me, will be one of the favorites to win the Breeders Cup Distaff, the richest race in the world for female horses on the dirt...While it’s a tough field of 14, there’s only one horse I think may be able to beat Unbridled Belle. Her name is Lady Joanne.

...Unbridled Belle will win Saturday and Lady Joanne will be second.

Well, Unbridled Belle was a disappointing fifth in the ninth race, 1 mile and an eight on the dirt for fillies and mares. She was sent off by the punters at a kindly 6.20-1. It should be noted that she does not take well to an off track and did not relish the sloppy going. She was one of many fine horses that simply could not close on the wet Monmouth surface.

While other's might gloat at Mark's disappointment, Unbridled Belle is truly a gifted four year old filly.

Of course Mark's comments on the state budget are dead wrong.

I did not listen to Mark. I bet on the winner, Ginger Punch, in the ninth race using her in my pick-3, resulting in, among other things,  a nifty return of $166.40 on every dollar wagered.

Republicans Rethink Van Hollen; Van Hollen Rethinks Republicans

The Wisconsin Republican Attorney General, J.B. Van Hollen, is in a tough spot.

On mindless Milwaukee right-wing radio, Charlie Sykes and Mark Belling roast him as often as they smear Governor Jim Doyle. Then, in an Associated Press story this week Conservatives: Van Hollen a Republican in name only?  , Republican Party mouthpieces for renegade Rep Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), and failed GOP AG candidate from 1994, Jeff Wagner, piled on.

It seems that Van Hollen, J.B. to his friends, might have meant it when he said that he planned to put aside politics and focus on the law. Thus, his positions that the University of Wisconsin can use race in admissions decisions so long as it is not discriminatory, and that Wisconsin's ban on partial-birth abortion is not enforceable.

All of this means if Van Hollen plans to survive in the office, he has to create his own political base - something many Wisconsin politicians from both parties have done over the years.

The bad news is that Democrats are unlikely to support him and the right-wing of the Republican Party may shoot him as another RINO (Republican In Name Only).

The good news is that, in sound Wisconsin tradition, independents from both parties can survive without a party apparatus. Just ask Bill Proxmire or Lee Sherman Dreyfus. Also working for Van Hollen is the fact that the extreme right wing of the Republican Party is fading fast.

With the constructive side of the Republican Party looking for a leader, and with Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce rapidly imploding, Van Hollen may be the foundation of a new Wisconsin GOP.

Won't somebody please think of Dave Blaska?

Pity poor Dave Blaska. He needs help. Last month Isthmus asked the two of us to post on crime in Madison.

Yesterday Blaska wrote: Blaska's Blog: That's Paul Soglin on crime...

I CAUGHT A BIT OF FLAK IN MY LAST PRINT PIECE FOR ISTHMUS...

So, sure enough, Paul Soglin, who was the other half of this point-counterpoint, used his blog to brand me as a racial profiler. Paul, I am opposed to racial profiling.

There is nothing in my post about racial profiling. Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch. Zip. Goose eggs. There is a good deal in the post about how Blaska, and other conservative commentators, keep harping back to crime suppression in New York City without knowing of what they write or speak.

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.

All of which raises concern for Blaska's wellbeing. It seems rather silly to have lost an argument and then resurrect it, when he was crushed by a sounder, more thoughtful argument, and lost on the basis on sound documented evidence.

Won't somebody please think of these right-wing doctrinaire commentators? They need help. Badly. Should we take up a collection?

While we are on the topic, I just love this from one of Rick Esenberg's fans:

Soglin is a socialist. All money belongs to socialists. You get to keep your money according to your need. Soglin will make sure you have enough to get by.
Nothing can stand in the way of diversity, progressivity or taxivity. Rick just shut up and hand over your wallet you corporate toadie.
I admire your attempts are reasoning with Soglin, but he is a lunatic.

Madison Metropolitan School District Breaks a Rule - Wisely.

There are some very sound rules in the world of finance, particularly public finance, that should not be broken. Usually.

From the Recommended Budget Practices, 

Practice:
A government should adopt a policy limiting the use of one-time revenues for ongoing expenditures.

Rationale:
By definition, one-time revenues cannot be relied on in future budget periods. A policy on the use of one-time revenues provides guidance to minimize disruptive effects on services due to non-recurrence of these sources.

Yet, the Madison Metropolitan School District's (MMSD) Board decided to take one time revenues, $5.5 million in TIF revenues, and apply to the next operating budget. This means that the day or reckoning is put off for another year.

Normally I would provide a scalding criticism for such a practice. In this case it makes sense. The long term solution is a referendum to raise the state imposed spending caps on education. By waiting a year the MMSD gets more time to better decide the level of spending required by the district. School enrollments fluctuate, and more importantly, there is the possibility that the state may reform current spending controls, or funding formulas for districts, or both.

From the Wisconsin State Journal:

While the one-time TIF payout helps for the upcoming school year, budget gaps loom over future school years. The School Board also voted Monday to begin planning for a multi-year referendum to fund the 2009, 2010 and 2011 school years.

"We want to be clear that we are painfully aware of the broken system of funding public education in Wisconsin, and that we will be working hard to use resources prudently, but the fact is it is highly probable that we will be facing significant gaps, " Mathiak said.

Board member Carol Carstensen said the "very optimistic " situation would be that "by the end of those three years, the state will have done something " to change the school financing system.

Under the circumstances, it is wise to wait the year.

Bruce: "Radio Nowhere"

Mike Plaisted nails it:

..."Radio Nowhere"... might be the best opening song in rock concert history..."I just want to feel some rhythm," he (and the crowd) shouts over and over, while his drummer, the Mighty Max Weinberg, is giving him everything he has. "Is there anybody alive out there?", indeed. Springsteen is speaking to a dearth of culture, to a world of niche marketing, where the music industry gives us only what it thinks we want and not what we need. "I want a thousand guitars/I want pounding drums." Is that too much to ask?

Throughout the whole show Springsteen -- once the vulnerable street poet still trying to understand his own words -- is finally, truly The Boss; self-actualized, in command and knowing exactly what is going to happen next, because he planned it that way. The sheer power of the best parts of this show is truly something to see, even for grizzled Springsteen concert veterans. He’s supposedly bringing this tour through Milwaukee in March (his shows get better later in the tour), and I’ll be there again, this time with my son, who is almost as old as my brother was when I took him to his first show. It’s like taking the kid to see Favre – get it while you can, because there will never be anything like it again.

- Barry Orton

2009 Wisconsin Budget - Waxing America's Plan

Frankly it is a waste of time to run a score card on who won in the 2007 Wisconsin budget deliberations. Nothing changed since January when this present legislative session opened.

The right-wing religious and social conservatives, unprecedented in their disdain for Wisconsin, were a known factor. They held a legislative veto by controlling the Republicans Party's caucus. They are a dying breed and on the way out if progressives in both parties assert themselves in the next twelve months.

• The moderate Republicans must say they have had enough. The University of Wisconsin System is not a Democratic or Republican institution. It belongs to the people of this state and it educates all of them regardless of the political leanings of journalism instructors in Milwaukee or sociology professors in Madison. The unprecedented attack on higher education must end.
• Both parties, particularly the Democrats, must be managed by ordinary people, not the legislative leaders. It was the people that gave the Dems a majority in the 1960's and 70's, only to see it pissed away by legislative leaders in the 1980's and 90's. Recent Democratic majorities are the result of the people, not legislative leadership.
• Business leaders must assert themselves within our state's institutions, starting with Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC). That two-pony show, "no taxes and screw the UW," is only hurting the infrastructure and the long term economy of the state. Business leaders need to refocus their priorities -they know they need an educated workforce and infrastructure to make a buck.
• Democrats must stop being apoplectic when the word 'business' is uttered. It is not necessary to provide tax breaks, or the kind of anti-consumer legislation as we see in the present ATT "video competition" bill. What business needs is quick decisive action, not foot dragging. It is hackneyed, but "time is money."
• Labor unions, public and private, must embrace efforts to improve production and efficiency through systemic changes.  This was accomplished twnety years ago when AFSCME locals and Teamsters were greeted with a handshake, not a chainsaw.
• Management must stop the assault on labor, the outsourcing and downsizing, and invite workers to sit at the table to figure out real quality improvements in both public and private organizations.
• Does anyone who know a politician committed to improvement who is done taking cheap shots at labor and wishes to bring about true organizational and systematic change?   Hello? Is someone  out there?
• Anyone who runs on the 2007 budget and not the future will lose.

Another Bush Lie. So Simple, So Straightforward.

The headline is simple enough: Bush asks for $46 billion more for wars.

George W. Bush's assertion is forward enough: "We must provide our troops with the help and support they need to get the job done."

The nerve of some people's children. Imagine what that $46 billion could do to educate our kids, fix our roads, or fund health care.

Every one of those dollars is like another gallon of gasoline fueling hatred international hatred of the United States and nurturing international terrorism. One man and his imperial Vice President should never have been given the responsibility of moving the world closer and closer to World War III.

This is a nightmare.