Paul Soglin: Waxing America

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

T. Wall Drops Out; Feingold Left With Opponents With Even Less Political Experience

It looks like developer Terrence Wall won't chance another political defeat, and is dropping out of the Republican primary race. Ron Johnson, the Great Hope from the "Tea Party" wing of the Wisconsin Republican Party, now looks like the easy winner of the primary, unless Dave Westlake's blaze orange army rises up and bites Johnson's ankles. Last week, of course, Dick Leinenkugel did the right thing by the GOP and dropped out, having been tainted by the Democrat cooties he picked up from his service as Commerce secretary in the Doyle (gasp!) administration.

T. Wall's tax avoidance pumpkin farm could have been a liability in the general election, but probably helped him win the hearts of some of the Republican faithful. However, the piddly 18% he managed to attract at the Wisconsin Republican convention last week probably reminded Wall of the two times his neighbors in Maple Bluff decided others would serve them better on the Village Board, and he came in last. Or the time the Village Board decided (4-1) not to appoint him to an open seat. But at least Wall's actually thought about holding public office, even if voters decided it was not such a good idea.

So we're left with a guy who made lots of money in plastics and has never run for or held public office, but can spend lots of his cash on advertising trying to convince Wisconsin voters not to like Russ Feingold, and a guy who didn't make lots of money and has never run for or held public office, but dresses in a way that reminds voters of deer hunting. 

I still like Russ Feingold, his record, and his chances for re-election. It's good that there won't be two inexperienced rich guys dumping money into absurd Feingold-bashing advertising in the primary; just one will be doing it in the general.

- Barry Orton

Gulf Oil Spill, A Test for Voters: Which Rand Paul Horse Do We Back?

If there is one message from Rand Paul, it is that we have too much government regulation. We all know where he stands and we all know that he needs to bob and weave, especially in light of:

Bad cement jobs plague offshore rigs

Federal regulators don't regulate what type of cement is used, leaving it up to oil and gas companies. The drillers are urged to simply follow guidelines of the American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group.

Far more stringent federal and state standards and controls exist on cement work for roads, bridges and buildings...

...An AP review of federal accident and incident reports on offshore wells shows that the cementing process has been implicated at least 34 times since 1978. Many of the reports, available from the U.S. Minerals Management Service that regulates offshore wells, identify the cause simply as "poor cement job."

Rand Paul is going to switch horses and get off the nag that brought him through the Republican Senate primary in Kentucky. No more decrying government regulation, in all instances.

Now Rand Paul will acknowledge that there are moments when proper and reasonable government regulation is appropriate. That is a horse of a different color.

While Rand Paul navigates this shady steed through the troubled waters he will choose the most convenient road to victory. That is not a challenge.

The challenge is for the voters to decide if they are going to buy this ride by the seat of his pants.

Big Savings, Twice the Performance of a Palin and Half the Cost

If you need a speaker for your next graduation ceremony, a motivational or inspirational address for your bar mitzvah, or officiating at your cousin's wedding, I am available.

Show me the speaker fees charged by any Palin and I will provide a speech without any references to abstinence, but witty and poignant stories about Bill Clinton, Mayors Dinkins, Maynard Jackson, Michael Blandic, and George Moscone at half their price.

In addition I make no demands for outrageous catering services. A few bagels and Crystal Light will do.  Fresh fruit would be a nice touch.

Quality Child Care Is A No Brainer

The report is rather simple, so simple that the headline says it all,

Quality Child Care Leads to Smarter Teens

Study Also Links High-Quality Child Care With Fewer Behavioral Problems in Teens''    

 

We launched Madison's childcare program in 1973. It was inspired by newly elected city council member, Betty Smith, and designed by Mary Berryman Agard, then a temporary member of the city Health Department staff, and now, as a private consultant, developing the Madison cultural plan.

 

Through the years quality child care was part of a five-pronged strategy designed more to create economic Independence than to provide welfare support for households below the poverty line.

 

We focused on quality child care as well as transportation, education/job training, housing, and health. Today I would add economic literacy to these core activities which lead a family to economic independence.

 

In light of the study, it is confounding that even if some in our society do not care about the best outcome for a child, that they cannot take a selfish interest and conclude that it is cheaper and more efficient to pay for a child's early development rather than wait ten years later and address the more expensive poor academic performance and delinquent behavior.

 

The critics will decry spending public money on quality child care, calling for less governmentand less government spending. The point is that there are families that cannot afford to pay the extraordinary  costs for quality child care despite the low wage rates for extremely dedicated staffs. In addition, the standards needed for comprehensive quality child care can only be achieved through government regulation and licensing.

New Waukesha Mayor Advised to Learn From Soglin

James Rowen couldn't stop himself from telling new Waukesha mayor Jeff Scrima, age 32, that he could learn from how 27-year old Paul Soglin managed to wrest actual power from the old staff in Madison City Hall back in 1973.

I saw a similar effort to box in and undercut a new Mayor years ago in Madison when Paul Soglin was first elected Mayor, at age 27. I was his then-administrative assistant, a position now called chief of staff.

The old guard fought back in and around City Hall because some more senior officials and traditional power-brokers couldn't grasp or abide the sudden shift in power.

New young Mayors get tested, that's for sure.

Insert old fart/"get off my lawn" joke here.

- Barry Orton

FCC Triangulation on Net Neutrality and Broadband: "Forbearance," "Unforbearance," and the "Third Way"

Federal Communication Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has engineered what he's calling a "Third Way" on the crucial issue of Net Neutrality and broadband development. Pressured by many into reclassifying high-speed Internet access as a "telecommunication service," (Title II) which would allow significantly greater government oversight, Genachowski showed sensitivity to the telecom industry (and right-wing lobby) pushback to leave the classification as a lightly-regulated "information service" (Title I).  Promising that the FCC would only regulate when and where necessary ("...a narrow and tailored approach"), Genachowski's FCC majority would take the step to reclassify high-speed Internet access as a "telecommunication service," but utilize "forbearance," a legal concept involving voluntarily refraining from enforcement, for much of the FCC's traditional powers under Title II, such as rate regulation and forced unbundling. Susan Crawford has a letter from the FCC's General Counsel Austin Schlick explaining all this and much more here.

This regulatory triangulation is not likely to satisfy the industry critics of Net Neutrality, nor stop the flow of lobbying funds to their sock-puppet mouthpieces. There will be court challenges galore, and efforts to game the FCC, Congress and state legislatures. The industry knows well that where there is forbearance by an independent regulatory agency, there can later be "unforbearance" when circumstances change.

One thing is certain: the "Third Way" will be a boon for the army of telecommunications lawyers, lobbyists, and policy consultants fighting for advantage on all sides of the many issues involving broadband. Thanks, Chairman Genachowski.

- Barry Orton

Highland Park High School - Not Quite as Rich, White, and now Fighting for Justice.

I was raised in Hyde Park and the summer of my fifteenth year we moved to Highland Park, Illinois. How we ended up there was most curious.

I loved Hyde Park. We moved to the Woodlawn-Hyde Park neighborhoods when I was four in 1949. We had everything a kid could want. Parks to play baseball and tennis. The Museum of Science of Industry and the awesome University of Chicago (UC). The hotels that housed the White Sox and the visiting American League teams. My friends and I went to the beaches in the summer, hung out at The Point, and peered into the coffee houses on 57th Street looking at real beatniks.

At Hyde Park High School about 85% of my classmates were black.

In 1960 my mother was pregnant and it was time to buy a house. My parents decided on Evanston. It was on Lake Michigan, and while Northwestern University was not the UC, it did provide an intellectual atmosphere and it was the most integrated of the suburbs.  

In June an offer was accepted on a small house three or four blocks from Lake Michigan. Two weeks later the sellers found a reason not to sell to us, though the realtor explained that it was because we were Jewish.

My parents were desperate. Debbie and I had to be in a school, the baby (Ari) was due in less than three months.

On the Fourth of July Dad opened up the paper and found a listing in Highland Park two blocks from the beach and three blocks from the downtown. That was important since my mother did not drive.

He and I hopped into the car, made the 25 mile trip, inspected the house, returned to Hyde Park to pick up my mother and Debbie, toured the house again and had an accepted offer in a matter of days.

I knew a little about Highland Park and what differentiated it from the other North Shore suburbs. In terms of religion, it was more diverse than the others. (In celebration of the 1960 Olympics we had our own Jewish-Italian Olympics - golf, swimming, poker, and bowling,) It was more liberal, though you could not tell from the faces of my high school classmates - there was one black student in Highland Park High School (HPHS).

Our companion suburb, Deerfield was somewhat notorious for halting a subdivision where the developer intended to sell to both blacks and whites. But Not Next Door

In 1965 the North Shore changed forever. From Rich Samuels, who produced  Civil Rights on the Northshore: Bringing the Movement Home:

Along the way, North Shore residents answered Dr. King's call, demonstrating and volunteering in the South and then bringing the struggle to their own neighborhoods where they sought open housing in previously all-white communities.

What motivated residents of one of the nation's most affluent communities to reach out to the disadvantaged? Why, after roughly four decades, has their drive for racial diversity on the North Shore achieved such limited results?

Those are the questions I raise in the documentary. But I don't answer them -- because I want to renew the debate sparked years ago by the North Shore activists.

A lot has changed over the years. While still not reflective of the demographics of this nation, these suburbs are more  economically, racially and culturally integrated.

Now Highland Park High School decided that its outstanding girls basketball team should not travel to Arizona. The point being, that it would not be responsible to take these teenagers to a state where some could be detained and unable to return home.

Go Giants.

 

Bud Jordahl, Wisconsin Conservation Pioneer

Another blow for the Wisconsin environment: Harold "Bud" Jordahl, a longtime UW-Madison colleague in the Dept. of Urban and Regional Planning, and a pioneer of the use of planning for environmental preservation, passed away yesterday. Bud was a giant in terms of his impact on the conservation of our natural resources. Here is a short tribute written by his longtime colleague, fishing and poker buddy Steve Born.

May his memory be a blessing for his family and his many friends.

- Barry Orton

Dave Obey and Spencer Black: Thanks For Your Public Service

Two Wisconsin giants of legislative public service have announced plans not to seek re-election, and they will be sorely missed.  David Obey is retiring after 40 years of service in the US House of Representatives, and Spencer Black is leaving after 25 years in the Wisconsin Assembly. Both are classic Wisconsin progressives, and both will leave a legacy of toughness and courage, and a record of being on the right side of every important issue.

From E.J. Dionne's tribute to Obey in the Washington Post:

"For years, I said the only reason I was hanging on was to pass health care, and I told people, 'Tell the Republicans if they want me to leave, pass health care.' Well, we passed it."

 ...the 71-year-old Obey made no secret of the fact that he's weary. "There's got to be more to life than explaining Senate procedures to angry constituents or begging Blue Dogs to do what they ought to do by rote."

Here is a goodbye that Obey earned the right to offer: "If you're a good politician, you're used up in causes you believe in, and if you're used up, you step aside." And so he has.

I worked with Spencer Black extensively over the years on a number of matters. His tireless work on behalf of Wisconsin's natural environment has had a lasting impact on the quality of our water and air, and his continued presence in the Assembly has helped keep the forces of exploitation and greed in check. He was the key sponsor of the 1992 Cable Television Subscriber Bill of Rights, which I helped write and negotiate, so I've had first-hand experience watching Rep. Black balance the needs of industry and consumers.

Back then, Black had a young staffer named Dave Something Nobody Could Spell or Pronounce, who learned a lot about practical politics working for Spencer. Dave Cieslewicz's tribute today to that other Dave could also apply as well to Spencer Black:

...Obey is unapologetic about his belief that government can improve people's lives and that politics, done right, is a noble venture and one that can be enjoyed by practitioners and voters alike. I can't fault him for leaving the stage now after he's contributed so much. But let's hope there are more like him - real politicians in the best sense of that word - on the way.

- Barry Orton