The Political Environment

First The Takeover, Then The Fire Sale

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Wed, 22 May 2013 05:46:00 +0000

Circle the date: Wisconsin went up for sale today to insiders.

I posted a short item at Purple Wisconsin Tuesday with that headline:

Joint Finance foolishly gives Walker the right to sell state assets/our commonly-held resources without competitive, open bidding.

No doubt this will lead to insider abuses, horse-trading and sweet deals, and prison reform as a future priority for the tempted.

Earlier commentary posted at The Political Environment.

An excerpt from that commentary:

The plan is allegedly to reduce debt somewhere in state finances - - but is actually an end-run to mindless privatization around publicly-interested and honest budgeting.

A prison could be sold off to a for-profit operator (union-free) with some proceeds helping pay a road-building project built on the come.

A highway could be sold to a private company that wanted to turn it into a toll road and collect money from motorists who had paid for the road and its servicing with gas, income or property taxes.

A power plant could be sold to a utility which could then raise the rates to the prison or university complex the power plant now serves.

Talk about back-door policy-making, using public assets to make private, special interests even richer.

Mining Protest Leads To DNR Office Procedures, Action Plans With Law Enforcement

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:35:00 +0000

This is the text of an email sent by Department of Natural Resources Deputy Matt Moroney to staffers about a small protest yesterday by opponents of mining in Northern Wisconsin held at the agency's Wausau office. The email also explains agency procedures and plans to handle additional protests:

From: Moroney, Matt S - DNR
Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2013 6:54 AM
Subject: Possible Mining Protests at DNR Service Center

Good morning everyone – To keep you informed and aware, I would like to share with you the details of a small protest incident that took place at the Wausau DNR Service Center yesterday afternoon related to mining in northern Wisconsin.

At approximately 1:45 PM yesterday, a small contingent of protestors who oppose the mine (approximately 7-12 people) gathered at the Wausau DNR Service Center to voice their disapproval of mining in northern Wisconsin.

They made their way into the lobby area and began yelling and using profanities. The group was not violent; however, they did attempt to make their way into the non-public areas of the office and were stopped by staff.
Some members of the group climbed onto the rooftop and nailed a protest banner to the roof. The Marathon County Sheriff’s Office was called and the protestors were ordered out of the building without incident.

No arrests were made as of this time. The Wausau DNR staff did an excellent job of managing the situation and dealing with the loud and profane group.

I applaud their professionalism and decision-making during this protest. It is not known if any other DNR Service Centers will experience similar protest behavior. Customer Service and Licensing supervisors and wardens have been informed of the incident.

There are no indications that violent or aggressive behavior is to be expected, but we want you to be aware of this incident in the event similar incidents take place at other DNR Offices. Should you experience a similar protest at your DNR Office:

If you have a similar protest and you have on onsite warden, please notify the warden or call 911 for assistance if protestors become disorderly or disruptive to DNR business operations.

Do not remain in a situation that you perceive as threatening, simply call law enforcement take actions necessary to secure your safety which includes leaving the building if necessary. Law Enforcement officers will manage the situation.

Remember…the public does have a Constitutional right to freedom of speech. However, while exercising this right, protesters do not have a right to disrupt the operations of government or engage in disorderly conduct. Please contact a warden supervisor or the Bureau of Legal Services for guidance if a protestor is mainly passive and non-disruptive to DNR business operations (i.e. does not warrant a 911 call).

The Bureau of Law Enforcement is coordinating closely with the Capitol Police and other law enforcement authorities in drafting an action plan for managing mining protest incidents.

More information about action plans will likely be coming from the Bureau of Law Enforcement. Thanks for all you do and the professional manner in which you do it!

Regards,

P Matt Moroney

Deputy Secretary

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Today Is The Day The State Went Up For Sale

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:04:00 +0000

Joint Finance foolishly gives Walker the right to sell state assets/our commonly-held resources without competitive, open bidding.

No doubt this will lead to insider abuses, horse-trading and sweet deals, and prison reform as a future priority for the tempted.

Earlier commentary, here.

About That Glitzy WisDOT Zoo Interchange PR Mailer...

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:06:00 +0000

Three things about the arrival in the mail today of this piece of highway-expansion propaganda/Spring 2013 Newsletter - - "This project is a significant investment in the infrastructure of Milwaukee, creating construction jobs and long-term economic benefits..."

* Isn't it a little presumptuous to be sending around project schedules and justifications when a federal judge is about to schedule a hearing to discuss the project's lack of transit components that violate the rights of low-income plaintiff residents?

Residents whom the judge said were likely to prevail on the merits of their discrimination allegations, so some sort of remedy is going to be ordered.

And..

* Why is WisDOT spending money on multi-color, five-page mass mailings, what with the Internets available?

* "What's next?," the newsletter asks. "Construction in later 2013." Maybe with a little more lead time, the Fall newsletter touted will have news about transit and transit lines inked in.

CNN Still Doesn't Get It #Newsfail

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Tue, 21 May 2013 16:05:00 +0000

At the top of the 11 a.m. hour, CNN tells us that it will be running a 'two-tier' scheme with live reporting and anchors in Moore, OK - - and in Phoenix, AZ where convicted murderer and cable television distraction Jodi Arias will address the jury.

Oklahoma Senators Opposed Storm Relief Funding, Programs

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:27:00 +0000

The policy-makers whose records on disaster relief should be ignored when speeding disaster relief to Oklahoma belong to its two US Senators:

Both of the state’s senators, Sen. James Inhofe (R) and Coburn, however, have long worked to undermine the Federal Emergency Management Agency, even though their state heavily relies on disaster aid:

– In September 2011, Coburn offered an amendment to offset $6.9 billion in FEMA funding.

– Coburn voted in 2011 against funding FEMA after it ran out of money, because, in his words, funding FEMA would have been “unconscionable.” Inhofe did not vote. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid fired back at Republicans blocking a bill for necessary funding to FEMA.

– Inhofe proposed removing grants for storm shelter programs coordinating with FEMA, and instead provide individuals with tax breaks.

– Coburn criticized items in Sandy disaster relief such as $12.9 billion for disaster mitigiation and $366 million for Amtrak as “wasteful spending.”

– After Hurricane Sandy, Inhofe and Coburn voted against a bill for $50.5 billion in Hurrican Sandy disaster relief.

– Coburn demanded that $5.25 billion in FEMA grant funds bereallocated because of sequestration in April 2013.

Help their constituents, but disregard the failed leadership of their empathy-free Senators.

The Walker Ego Trip Tour Is In High Gear

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:54:00 +0000

Inflation is not just a term in economics:

Scott Walker tells Connecticut GOP most Americans on his side

Post Oklahoma Tornado - - Here Is Red Cross Donation Information

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:34:00 +0000

Only thing worth doing tonight:

A gift of any size supports the lifesaving mission of the American Red Cross whether it's responding to a disaster, collecting lifesaving blood, teaching skills that can save a life, or assisting our military members and their families.

GOP Legislators Scapegoat, Squeeze The Poor, Treat Themselves To Similar Benefits

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:30:00 +0000

GOP legislators poised to do Scott Walker's bidding and service their reactionary base voters at the same time through budget measures that jam the poor and unemployed do not give the proverbial flying fig over their hypocritical, self-serving, punitive behavior.

Bashing the poor is so easy: no high-powered lobbyist is going to call and say, 'hey - - back off - - my people don't like this bill or that amendment.'

No association spokesperson is going meet you for drinks or coffee or golf and pass the word that 'you know who is thinking about going the other way come fundraiser-time' unless that special interest gets served.

So the administration and GOP legislators running the Committee on Joint Finance on behalf of their solid majorities are likely to cut unemployment compensation access and food stamp participation, limit the number of low-income people on health care insurance that could be federally-funded, and further slash transit options used principally by minority and lower income city-dwellers trying to get to jobs in suburbs.

These are survival program cuts levied on people with lesser political clout by powerful, privileged and well-connected legislators who themselves enjoy - - at taxpayer expense - - Cadillac health insurance coverage, mileage reimbursement for in-district driving, and $88-per-day in tax-free meal, mileage-to-work and, if needed, lodging expenses (Madison-area legislators get half.).

So legislators from upscale Milwaukee and Waukesha suburbs an hour or so from the State Capitol can punch in - - even car pool to get there for a single meeting and file for $88 - - without declaring the money as income.

Do the math: that $88 is worth far more if, say, you're in the 28% tax bracket.

And whom else gets reimbursed by you and me or the boss for driving to the office?

Or gets paid to eat lunch or dinner on your dime, tax-free?

Who are the welfare queens, really?

Plan To Sell Wisconsin State Properties Without Bids Invites Corruption

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Mon, 20 May 2013 15:06:00 +0000

The Walker administration wants the right to sell public assets - - from highways to prisons to university dormitories - - through private, no-bid procedures, reports the Journal Sentinel.

Grover Norquist will be pleased, but taxpayers should balk.

The plan is allegedly to reduce debt somewhere in state finances - - but is actually an end-run to mindless privatization around publicly-interested and honest budgeting.

A prison could be sold off to a for-profit operator (union-free) with some proceeds helping pay a road-building project built on the come.

A highway could be sold to a private company that wanted to turn it into a toll road and collect money from motorists who had paid for the road and its servicing with gas, income or property taxes.

A power plant could be sold to a utility which could then raise the rates to the prison or university complex the power plant now serves.

Talk about back-door policy-making, using public assets to make private, special interests even richer.

To pick winners and losers, to defeat local control, and taxation with representation.

Legislators who are comfortable with giving away taxpayer-paid properties to reward insider influence practically begs for flat-out corruption - - contributions for buyer access, Pay For Play II - - should vote for the plan.

Republicans To Resurrect Bail Bonding?

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:39:00 +0000

Onionesque conflict of interest.

Scott Walker To Iowa, And Not A Moment Too Soon

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Sun, 19 May 2013 21:35:00 +0000

Walker is traveling to Iowa and says that he will "do other surrounding states."

The verb aside...Iowans would do well to study up on Walker, and there is a lot for Walker to learn in Iowa and the surrounding states - - where better job creation than our state's 44th-in-the nation/last in the Midwest is taking place, as the State Journal recently illustrated.

Maybe Walker will see Iowa's ubiquitous wind turbines and stop blocking investors in Wisconsin from building them.

Hey! Just look out the window

One guy's company has spoken for 258 of them. I wonder if he knows anything about business?

SWT-2.3-82 Wind turbine. Photo: Siemens

Is Your Community In Line For Major WisDOT 'Improvements' Before 2030?

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Sun, 19 May 2013 21:02:00 +0000

Here's the map:

Corridors 2030 routes:

Backbone & Connector

Source: Connections 2030 Long-Range Multimodal Transportation Plan adopted October 2009

Additional WisDOT Highway Boondoggle On The Books

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:00:00 +0000

I'd posted information about this last year, but Wisconsin Gazette has gone back to it and I am happy to put this up.

Written by Louis Weisberg

May 16, 2013

The Legislature is pushing a $128-million project to widen Highway 23, a little-used road that winds through farmland between Sheboygan and Fond du Lac. The project has been held up in court by challenges from 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, which objects to the waste of taxpayer dollars and the environmental damage the project would cause. To build the project, the state would have to pay $60,000 for each acre of land purchased, because some of the land includes buildings. Land in the area normally sells for $10,000 per acre. While lawmakers favor this project, they claim the state is so broke that it must reduce public transit funding by $10 million.

Milwaukee TV News Leaves Rail History Out Of Road-Congestion Reporting

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Sat, 18 May 2013 21:18:00 +0000

Just once...I'd love to see a Milwaukee television news report that shows the relationship of highway-building-and-congestion and the region's politically-inspired rail-free history.

Conservative legislators, talk radio and then-Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker not only killed light rail, they sank the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter train line that could have run parallel to the torn-up I-94 North-South project, as its home page discloses, and offered a travel choice to the south suburbs and cities all the way to the Illinois line:

UPDATE: This proposed project has been put on hold indefinitely due to the dissolution of the Southeast Regional Transit Authority, the sponsor of the project. See more
Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee (KRM) Commuter Rail
Connecting Milwaukee-Chicago economic corridor

with 9 stops in WI and connecting to 25 communities

on the Chicago Metra U.P. North line.

The Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee corridor has a unique and exciting opportunity to develop high-quality commuter rail service in an existing rail right-of-way. The existing Union Pacific freight rail line would be upgraded to add a commuter rail that would connect to the very successful Chicago Metra that now ends at Kenosha. It is envisioned that the KRM Commuter Rail service would connect the lakeside communities of Milwaukee, Milwaukee-south side, Cudahy-St. Francis, South Milwaukee, Oak Creek, Caledonia, Racine, Somers, and Kenosha--and connect to the Chicago Metra service to NE Illinois and Chicago.


Quick Stats
33 Miles 9 Wisconsin stops Use upgraded existing freight railroad 14 weekday daily round-trips are planned 2.1 million projected passengers/yr Bi-directional service at peak travel times. Provide access to nearly 1 million existing jobs between Milwaukee and Chicago. Provide access to 1.97 million people within 3 miles of stations between Milwaukee and Chicago. Map and facts (pdf 225k) Back to top	360,000 jobs and 525,000 in population projected within 3 miles of WI stations Used for daily and occasional commuting. Stops are about 5 to 20 minutes apart. Each coach will be wheel chair and walker accessible. Fares similar to a bus. Highly reliable in all weather conditions. Connect densely populated or rapidly developing communities along the SE Wisconsin lakefront between Kenosha and Milwaukee

And better reporting could expand on the loss of light rail line as killed in the 1990's and how it could have provided relief to the Zoo Interchange project, the impending West Side/Story Hill billion-dollar+ expansion debacle and the I-94 widening on the books sometime after 2016 or from the Zoo Interchange to the Jefferson County line.

Fresh Reasons For Wisconsin Job Losses

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Sat, 18 May 2013 17:30:00 +0000

Gov. Walker never takes responsibility for the state's plunge on his watch to 44th in job growth, or for his failed 250,000 new jobs pledge.

But the Teflon Governor has been quick to blame Jim Doyle, recall protestors, the fiscal cliff, Obamacare, and even the data itself for our bringing up the rear in Great Lakes/Midwestern states' regional job creation.

Preventing us from taking off like a rocket!

So look to Workforce Development or the Governor himself to cite these factors - - if not now, then certainly when ugly May or subsequent numbers are released:

* Kids with lawnmowers. You know that mean layoffs at landscaping firms.

* Neighborhood lemonade stands. I saw one the other day taking business from nearby fast-food joints.

* All that rain.

* School bake and book sales. They're killing the malls.

* Iowa's formidable je ne sais pas.

* Yard sales. See school bake and book sales.

* Minnesota's no-fair je ne sais quoi!

* Cooler by the Lake.

* Indiana's mysterious Hoosierism.

* Road construction congestion. You can't easily get to restaurants, movies, live shows and other night spots around Milwaukee, so just stay in, cook a meal, and download a movie or Netflix programming. Oh, wait - - wrong message, never mind.

* All that snow.

* Streetcars.

* All that wind.

And, no doubt...

* Hillary Clinton.

Armed July 4th Marchers To Provoke DC Police

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Sat, 18 May 2013 11:30:00 +0000

Nothing good will come out of this right-wing madness.

Kochs' Tar Sands Waste Coke Pile Threatening Detroit

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Sat, 18 May 2013 03:00:00 +0000

You could not make up this story: tar sands coke pollutants are piling up over Detroit after being shipped to the US, and the mess belongs to...the energy magnates better known as the Koch brothers, says The New York Times:

WINDSOR, Ontario — Assumption Park gives residents of this city lovely views of the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit skyline. Lately they’ve been treated to another sight: a three-story pile of petroleum coke covering an entire city block on the other side of the Detroit River.

Detroit’s ever-growing black mountain is the unloved, unwanted and long overlooked byproduct of Canada’s oil sands boom.

And no one knows quite what to do about it, except Koch Carbon, which owns it.

Brewers, Walker In The News

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Fri, 17 May 2013 22:25:00 +0000

Slumping numbers, losing streak, bringing up the rear in the Midwest.

Talk about a rough week.

The Brewers are having their problems, too.

Tom Daykin Enjoys The Perfect Pabst Farms Lede

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:38:00 +0000

With dreams of an upscale mall dashed - - though the interchange that was supposed to be contingent on the never-built mall is open, with fancy roundabouts galore (see photos below) - - how else do you report this development 'development'?

A Walmart supermarket and discount store and Sam's Club store are being proposed for Oconomowoc's Pabst Farms site, where city officials had once hoped to see a regional mall developed.

I took these photos about a year-and-a-half ago:

I like the bike path (r). But that sign? Better slow down to interpret that.

Lovely pillars

Roundabouts - - four in all - - all about. The brickwork and landscaping are lovely.

Where's the holiday shopping traffic last Saturday afternoon? Oh, I forgot. The mall never got built.

Houses on Pabst Farms' former farmland

One-String Fiddling While Wisconsin Burns

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:30:00 +0000

Having ramped up unemployment through Act 10 austerity, having dragged the state to 44th in job growth, having presided over the WEDC scandal, having lost another 24,000 private-sector jobs in April, having netted only 50% of the job-gain he repeatedly pledged, Walker now pretends to be pro-worker.

An insult and a joke.

No Rail Options To Ease Perpetual WI Road Congestion

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:29:00 +0000

Get used to headlines and summaries like this one on the Journal Sentinel's news feed:

Weekend I-94 shutdown will create headaches; here are detour routes

Three mile backups expected with graduations, Kenny Chesney concert

The regional freeway system reconstruction plan still has decades to go before completion (and the next full-blown expansion, though a federal court ruling may make some profound changes).

Projects within projects will also crop up and bring delays to purportedly-closed out 'improvements'; already the so-called completed $810 million Marquette Interchange four-year uproar has had two major do-over FUBARs - - one because of a failing ramp support, and a second as lanes moving west out of the downtown needed re-striping and shifting that the original reconstruction had botched.

The one-size-fits-all Wisconsin solution - - more of this:

It didn't have to be this way. Fueled by talk radio fear-mongering, anti-big city/light-rail opponents in the Legislature and Waukesha County (the final, proposed starter route did not cross 124th St., the Milwaukee-Waukesha County line) killed a Milwaukee light-rail plan, so we are left today and for the foreseeable future with a one-dimensional, traffic-inducing system that will be patched, torn up, expanded and otherwise in constant 'lane-closed' mode forever.

The proposed initial light rail system would have gained widespread acceptance once available for use - - as it did and does in cities from Baltimore to Charleston to Dallas )see photo, below) to Minneapolis to Phoenix to Denver and beyond - - and suburban opponents near Milwaukee would have become advocates as commuters found rail a pleasant alternative to get to work, a ballgame, Summerfest, or the Zoo, and eventually to the airport, the Amtrak station and thus to events in Chicago and beyond.

So - - orange barrels and cones, yes, but this is banned:

Aound here, conservatives are for choices - - their core philosophy dictates that - - except when it comes to transportation.

Libertarians and far-right ideologues out there have this odd belief that they should never put in a dime for something they do not endorse, or would not use, like a light rail train, and that restrictive thinking and politicking is leading to a political blockade of Milwaukee's proposed downtown starter trolley, too.

But in a democracy with 50 states, we all contribute all the time to systems and programs we may never use.

Some gasoline and income taxes collected here are included in federal transportation and project funds sent to light rail systems nationally.

And to bridges and roads we may never see or access - - from Alaska to Hawaii to south Florida or the north of North Dakota.

Pick a state. Each of us makes a contribution to those states' roads and rail built and operated principally for the benefit of people there, and the entire, inter-dependent connected country - - and for you and me if we go there.

Similarly, people from across the country are contributing to the federal share of I-94 reconstruction, or a new bridge connecting Wisconsin and Minnesota, or the eventual Waukesha By-Pass, and the federal funds making up the Milwaukee trolley account that came from all 50 states' taxpayers, too.

Taxpayers make contributions to pots of money allocated by various governments for all kinds of projects and programs - - local, state and federal - - from school choice vouchers to freight rail moving frac sand to needle exchanges to levees in New Orleans to the Afghan war to the International Space Station - - whether each taxpayer uses or likes the program or spending use, or not.

But in Wisconsin, the not-me exclusionists have cut off rail as an option, thus denying Milwaukee cleaner air, transit-related development, road-construction mitigation, and Amtrak connections within and out-of-state that would have encouraged tourism, university collaboration and commercial connections - - as choices - - between and among people, and institutions from Minneapolis, Madison, Chicago, and elsewhere.

Wisconsin's political congestion - - in the State Capitol, in the business community leadership, in suburban governments - - is consigning the state and its largest metro area to permanent road construction congestion and congested economic development., too

The orange barrel is the new Wisconsin state symbol. As the Journal Sentinel said today, plan for the delays.

GTAC Mining Reduces Proposed Iron Ore Sample Drilling

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:30:00 +0000

From 13 boring holes to eight, so there's a new permit request, Lee Bergquist reports.

The company told the DNR it needed to gather additional information related to potential storm water runoff pollution for those sites before re-submitting them.

Some background.

In Roads-Only, Rail-Free Wisconsin, The New State Symbol

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:00 +0000

This...

But not this

Another Amazing Gun Rights Moment

noreply@blogger.com (James Rowen) — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:25:00 +0000

Why not take your gun bowling?

Well...

According to TV station WPBF, witnesses said the man was carrying a revolver in the pocket of his shorts. The gun was triggered when he hit his leg while throwing a bowling ball.