Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Blacks in Madison and Wisconsin

It is no surprise to Madisonians that a black youth has a thirteen times greater chance of being arrested than his white peer. We know that there are some in our state who look at that number and simply respond, "So? Blacks commit more crimes."

A number of leaders from Madison's black community called for action, as The Capital Times reported:

Coalition wants Madison to face race issues

A coalition of leaders in the African-American community called today for a renewed assault on the disparate conditions that separate Madisonians by race...

..."The State of Black Madison 2008: Before the Tipping Point," a report unveiled at a news conference Tuesday, summarizes data on criminal justice, education, economic development, health, housing and political influence. The report was commissioned by the State of Black Madison Coalition, whose members include Gray; Robert Wynn, Asset Builders of America; John Odom, Charles Hilton Houston Institute; Richard Harris, Genesis Community Development Corporation; Ray Allen, publisher of The Madison Times; and Kenneth Black, 100 Black Men.

When I took up this issue last fall, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute: Milwaukee Can Tolerate More Black Murders Part II, one of the antagonists finally muttered, "Some of those proposed ideas for reducing black crime sound good to us (strengthen families and reintegrate fathers into communities, bringing people to God), and some sound like more of the same things that have failed (more spending on education, jobs programs).

Wrong. Read their report, read the well documented study I referenced:

Effects of a School-Based, Early Childhood Intervention on Adult Health and Well-being

A total of 1539 low-income participants who enrolled in the Child-Parent Center program in 20 sites or in an alternative kindergarten intervention...

...For preschool participation, by age 24 years, the preschool group relative to the comparison group had significantly lower rates of felony arrest (16.5% vs 21.1%, respectively; P = .02; a 22% reduction) and incarceration (20.6% vs 25.6%, respectively; P = .03; a 20% reduction). They also were less likely than the comparison group to be found guilty of a crime both overall and for a felony (15.8% vs 19.9%, respectively; P = .03; a 21% reduction)...

... That the impacts of intervention extend beyond educational performance is not surprising given the well-documented links between education outcomes and adult health, mental health, and social behavior.^{25-26,36-38 ..}

^{...This study provides evidence that established early educational interventions can positively influence the adult life course in several domains of functioning. The scope and magnitude of intervention effects reveal not only the benefits to participants in fundamental indicators of health and well-being but also the potential returns to society for investments in early educational programs.} 

Prayer is nice but just like abstinence, it does not work. what works is education, education, education, job training and family enhancement. Not necessarily in that order. Spending on education and jobs programs that are properly managed work. Spending money on education and jobs programs that are not properly managed  do not work. That is not the fault of the recipients.

Kutler on Republican Executive Powers

Waxing America's favorite Emeritus Professor in the entire galaxy, the esteemed University of Wisconsin Constitutional scholar Stanley Kutler, reminds us that the Republican Party, with an almost century long record of limiting the power of the president, now embraces what could be called an imperial presidency:

  Hunkering Down in Baghdad

Voltaire had it right: history is nothing but a pack of tricks that we play on the dead...

...Executive power expanded enormously during World War II. After the war, old guard Republicans, still rooted in isolationism, proposed a constitutional amendment to give Congress authority to regulate all executive agreements with foreign powers....Republican concerns that first President Franklin D. Roosevelt at Yalta and then President Harry S. Truman at Potsdam had bargained away too much....The GOP also objected to Truman’s sending troops to Korea in 1950 without congressional approval.

Kulter notes that with the Bush Administration is "... betting that the rest of the world, from Europe to Asia, will quietly accept U.S. troops to defend their economic interests..."

Kutler writes that Bush "may have made a prophet of former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who said last September that “the Iraq war is largely about oil” and essential for the global economy."

Flying Over Wisconsin

Spring is the best time of year to fly over Wisconsin. The other seasons provide an inviting landscape but spring is the best.

On the hills and in the valleys you see the contour lines of rich brown, freshly turned soil. Then come the neat rectangular green fields of winter wheat and alfalfa accompanied by creeks, a few ponds, and adjacent fields of cows. Some fields are still flooded from the winter snow and spring rains.

To Madison's west in Montfort are two rows of wind turbines, one longer than the other.  The neatly laid out farms with their accompanying towns and villages make all the sense in the world.

As we approached Madison the sprawl began. The farms were continually interspersed with residential development. The problem is not the amount of housing or even the size of the homes. It is the lack of compactness.

U.S. Supreme Court Engages in Activism: Ask Scalia

One of the phoniest, opportunistic ploys in recent years is the conservative assault on an independent judiciary calling for "judicial restraint" and attacking liberal or progressive justices as "judicial activists."

Rick Esenberg of the Federalist Society, takes this up in a paper used by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce in the last judicial race, A Court Unbound? The Recent Jurisprudence of the Wisconsin Supreme Court:

Judges who seek to exercise restraint will tend to adopt techniques of construction that confine, rather than expand, their discretion...Judges practicing restraint will exhibit a sensitivity for the role of other branches of government....

Someone better get Esenberg's paper into the hands of the justices serving on the United States Supreme Court, starting with Anthony Scalia who Esenberg fondly quotes: "[a] text should not be construed strictly, and it should not be construed leniently; it should be construed reasonably, to contain all that it fairly means."

Scalia, Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. are having a difficult time following their own admonitions when it comes time to the "Millionaire's Amendment" to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance act.

The issue is simple enough. Under the law individuals can contribute a maximum of $2,300 to a campaign. The candidate can spend as much as they like. If a wealthy candidate contributes over $350,000 of her own money, then the individual contributors of the opponent can go as high as $6,900.

Simple enough.

Now enter the reactionary justices on the Supreme Court. Hearing a case challenging the act, these conservative justices are wallowing in judicial activism.

Justices Assail 'Millionaires' Amendment'

"The campaign finance regimes we've approved up to now, the significant limitations, have had an anti-corruption rationale," Scalia said. "The only purpose of this is to level the playing field. And I am deeply suspicious of allowing elections to be conducted under a regime whereby Congress levels the playing field. That seems to be very dangerous."

and

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said he found it "a particular vice" of the amendment that it allows the opponent of a self-financing candidate to have greater ties and to receive more money from his political party. "It puts this statute in the position of preferring one kind of speech over another. And we simply do not do that," Kennedy said.

Obviously these justices are substituting their own judgment for that of the legislative body, the United States Congress.

I am waiting for the critics of Louis Butler and Shirley Abrahamson to assail Scalia and Roberts for this exercise in judicial activism.

You can hear the crickets chirping.

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.

Another Wisconsin Chart Topper: Drunk Drivers

The story is no surprise to those of us who have experience in dealing with the problems of Wisconsin drunks - drivers or not.

Wisconsin, Upper Midwest, Leads U.S.in Drunk Drivers

Wisconsin leads the way. The federal government estimates more than a quarter of the state’s adult drivers had driven under the influence. Rounding out the worst five are North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.

The most important point of the story is:

Eric Goplerud, research professor at George Washington University Medical Center, said cultural and demographic issues probably have a role in the higher rates of driving under the influence in certain states.

During the fourteen years I served as mayor it was evident that our state's culture was a significant contributor to the problem, especially among young people. I recall a sexual assault witnessed by a dozen students. There was no prosecution since the dozen witnesses and the victim were too drunk to account for the events.  Or the police raid on a party where two very attractive coeds, miles from their dorm, were too drunk to find their way home.  (And they were not very attractive under the circumstances.)  The only question was whether the young men who had plied them with liquor or the women were better candidates for the detox unit.

The right of passage to adulthood is paved with excessive alcohol consumption at an early age. The cultural mores erroneously convey to teenagers that it is admirable to consume large quantities of alcohol, and that there is a correlation between sexual virility, prowess, and performance and acting stupid while under the influence.

We can continue to pass legislation protecting all of us from drunk drivers and enforce that legislation.  Real change will come, however, when we change the culture: high school parties, football games, and Saturday nights too drunk to have a good time in bed.

Who Needs Ralph Nader When The Democrats Have the Clintons

It was difficult last January arriving at a decision to endorse Barack Obama. Despite my reservations about endorsing Hillary Clinton, I did not dismiss her lightly.

As we sat around the Passover dinner, brother-in-law Dan commented, "The Democrats don't need Ralph Nader when they have Hillary Clinton."

He is right.

Today I have no regrets about my endorsement of Obama, and I am more convinced than ever that I made the right decision. If Hillary Clinton gets the nomination, I will support her and the Democratic ticket unequivocally.

The problem is that her quest for the nomination has come at considerable expense to all Democrats.  There is much to be said in support of a spirited primary contest. It can invigorate the party, it can make the nominee stronger in the end. However, a primary such as the one waged by Hillary Clinton can also be destructive for all involved, and that is the case this year.

The damage inflicted on the Democratic Party, not just Barack Obama, by the Clinton strategy to obtain the nomination at all costs is as disruptive as a Ralph Nader third-party effort.

Clinton has every right to run; she has every right to use whatever strategy she chooses. That entitles her to receive criticisms from people like me who are disillusioned with her performance, depressed about the once bright prospects for the Democrats in November, and unforgiving even if Obama wins the nomination and prevails in November.

Farmers' Markets Open Tomorrow

Even surer than the beginning of the baseball season, the opening of Madison's farmers' markets signals the real end of winter.  Last year, I cited some of the differences between the big Dane County Farmers' Market at the Square, and the Westside Community Market, on whose Board I serve as its only non-vendor:

I don't drink the stuff myself, but others enjoy the fact that the Westside Market offers free high-end coffee.  You can buy lattes and other fancy drinks from the many vendors across the street from the Dane County Market on city property.

Some foodies like the fact that the high-end produce is available later on the Westside, whereas at the Dane County Market, the restaurants often buy up the scarce and choicest stuff before 8 am.

The Dane County Market is an event, with musicians busking and crafts sold, both across the street on city property. It's the place to take your out-of-town visitors. The Westside Market is the place to meet your middle-aged friends from Middleton on their way to Borders.

The only thing I have to add is that at the Westside Community Market we allow people to walk in any direction they choose, rather than only counter-clockwise.

This year there's a great new tool to find your way around the Dane County Farmers' Market: The Wisconsin State Journal created a useful page that shows locations for all the area markets and an interactive map of the Square with vendors' locations and specifics. Congrats to WSJ editor Sandy Kallio and her team for showing us how newspapers can use the Web to create resources that supplement the dead trees rather than supplant them.

There's also the old standby for finding area farmers' markets and their farmers: the REAP Farm Fresh Atlas. The wonderful print version is available free at both the Westside and Dane County markets, and a whole lot of green and crunchy other locations around the area.

Either way, print or digital, you can't use the excuse that you don't know where to buy and eat local.

- Barry Orton

The Value of Education - The Silly Right Wing Approach

Earlier this week I made reference to the value of education, Republican Party Winning Battle To Destroy University of Wisconsin System which brought a cynical response from one right-wing commentator:

Higher education systems do not grow state economies. When somebody gets a degree, he/she can easily leave the state. Furthermore, why should government subsidizie (sic) higher education for anyone?

Even if we forget about the value of the education to the individual, and the family, there is no question that society is repaid from the cost of public education at all levels.

• Eighty percent of all of our college graduates remain in Wisconsin, and, of course, many graduates from out-of-state come to Wisconsin.
• A high school graduate, in his or her life time, does not make enough money to repay the cost of their education, but that high school graduate is still more productive than the high school drop-out by not being a drain on society - in the tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars during their life time.
• The student who finishes at least two years of higher education more than pays back society for the cost of their entire education. The four-year graduate of a school of higher education enjoys increased earnings of more than $20,000 a year over a period of forty years; just about the best investment society can make. Figure out the taxes on those additional earnings and it is evident that society benefits.

Of course, there are the additional benefits to the family and subsequent generations that show up in a higher standard of living, better health, and might I dare say, greater happiness?

Why the hell do we have to measure everything in dollars? There are values to learning, to an education that goes beyond any right-wing economic valuation that is riddled with fraudulent assumptions about a caring society.

Every knowledgeable and thoughtful business leader I talk with says the same thing, "The most important thing I need is not lower taxes, it is an intelligent, thinking workforce."

And out-of-state university students pay more than 110% of the cost of their educations in the extremely high tuition they pay. The state makes money on those students.

Turkeys, Cougars: Chicago Makes Badgers Look Like Mice

Having a fondness for cats, wild and not, I was deeply saddened to learn of the Chicago police shooting the cougar. As the Boston Herald reported, Cougar killed in Chicago may have journeyed from South Dakota,

Mayor Richard Daley supported the police use of lethal force in a news conference Tuesday morning.

"Now, I just want to tell you, if the cougar attacked a child, they’d sue the city because the police officer didn’t do their job," Daley said. "I didn’t see a neighbor run out and grab it and say, ‘Oh I love you’ and bring it in the house."

Phooey. Or as Daley's father might have said, "Balderdash."

But on the heels of the turkey attacks on Madison area postal workers it does not make us look good. Which led the Wisconsin State Journal's Doug Moe to enter the fray, Gloves come off in turkey fight in his own combat with Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass:

John Kass, a Chicago Tribune columnist of my acquaintance, has written a column questioning the courage of Madison postal workers.

On Wednesday, Kass mocked the mail carriers who have been attacked by wild turkeys while trying to deliver mail on Madison's West Side...

Kass responded Wisconsin comes up short in cougar-sexy turkey bout

What's tougher? A slinky cougar in Chicago? Or a gang of sexually addicted gobblers desirous of the bare, hairy legs of Madison mail carriers? Must I even answer that question?
...So I have no sympathy for such beasts. Meanwhile, the Madison turkeys have committed acts so heinous that their behavior has wreaked havoc with the mail and caused widespread turkey-sexual panic among shorts-wearing Wisconsin men.

Wisconsin, you don't need some confused turkey lovers. You need a few Chicago cops.

Doug Moe has made an honorable and noble attempt to defend our honor. But face it, Kass and the Chicagoans have us. It is a losing battle.

None of this would have happened if someone had simply blown away the turkeys.