Bloomberg Member Of Chameleon Party

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Contrary to popular opinion, politics as we know here in America is highly fashionable, it’s the losing that hurts. And it’s amusing to see and hear people claim their distaste for party politics and then turn around and say they’re independent or will vote independent. That somehow someway standing in the political center or dropping party affiliation as Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York recently announced offers immunity to the very things we despise in a corrupt system.

N.Y. Mayor Bloomberg leaves GOP Excerpt:
The mayor's move is certainly consistent with the notion of what we're trying to do," said Doug Bailey, the co-founder of Unity 08. "The political system is broken. The public knows that. They know also that this is the most important election in their lifetime. They are looking for leadership that can bring the two parties together and solve critical problems before the country."

I disagree. To put it mildly, the public is fed up with the Republican Party and this government-for-sale era – period. I for one am not looking to compromise with the republicans, nor do I want to go along just to get along. Now, do I agree with everything the democrats do? Absolutely not! But they are the best chance we have at taking back this country.

The big issues are being ignored primarily at the Federal level. The mismanagement and defunding of non-military domestic programs and the inaction and excuses are not the result of gridlock politics as many would want you to believe, but are a direct result from deliberate decision-making and legislation designed to accomplish the very sour mood we are experiencing today. Make no mistake, this legislation passed through a Republican majority without even one veto from President Bush. Our failures today are driven by the 14 years of Republicanism and an errant president. The big issues of the day are finally being addressed by the democratic majority but are vetoed by the President, leaving our future in jeopardy.

Recent E-mail:
Lou: Rudy Giuliani does have a lot of baggage. I think he would be a terrible choice for president. McCain is another scary guy. His head looks like an old used softball. I realize he was a prisoner of war, but I think that that very experience should preclude him from the White House. Never know how and when a guy like that will snap. My guess is that the republicans would be very happy with Hillary because her and Bill have always been in the Bush league. We all lose with either party.

I haven't bought into the independent wave that, with either party we lose. That somehow a third party would give us some sort of victory.

On the surface, I would welcome an Independent candidate for president but I wouldn’t vote for him or her until at least one other thing happens before the primaries. That thing being at least 15 Democrats and 15 Republicans withdraw from their respective parties in the U.S. Senate to form a third party. To be fair to their movement, that is the only way to satisfy their main complaint that the system is broken. One person as president is not going to make things suddenly well. Until that happens, I don’t care how many rockstar candidates or billionaires run as an Independent, it’s not going to happen. It can be safe to say that chances are nearly 99% that the next president will be either a Democrat or a Republican. Although the chances for a republican candidate grow dimmer with each passing day, the idea of an independent president without any legislative support would be just as disasterous as electing another Republican knowing what we now know.

What party is an independent? Take your choice here.

Bush Donor Pleads Guilty

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One of the stories from the AP over the past weekend titled, Troha Pleads Guilty to Illegal Donations could have been retitled at least a dozen different ways. But in typical fashion, the Janesville Gazette decided to title it,"Doyle Donor Pleads Guilty" in their Saturday newspaper edition on page 3 of the local section.
The newspaper also omitted the last third of the original AP article.

Full Story Here Excerpt:
But a series of donations between $30,000 and $70,000 to both Bush and the Democratic Party led Troha on Friday to agree to plead guilty to a pair of misdemeanors that could land him in prison for two years.

This was a federal indictment against Troha, not a state indictment, so you can bet that the plea deal was negotiated not to protect Doyle, as some would charge.

TMJ 4 Excerpt:
Troha has given money to both Republicans and Democrats, at the state and federal level, but it was his donations to Doyle that raised the most scrutiny.

Of course! Donations to Rep.Paul Ryan, the Republican Party or the President himself are on the up-n-up. Only Doyle is the target.

The political witchhunt to bring down Gov. Doyle in Clintonesque style has been running at full speed ahead. Bush and his gang of AG's should know by now that when they try to railroad someone, make sure he is at least on a different train.

Divided We Stand

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At first glance, Sunday’s Gazette front-page feature titled “Two for the show” seemed like an attempt by the newspaper to smooth the edges from the sharply divisive rhetoric espoused by a local church over funding of a fireworks display - of all things. But in typical fashion, the newspaper just continued to reload and fire on the Janesville community with more reactions from residents and weak comparisons between the two Independence Day organizers.

JG Excerpt:
Of course, the two shows also have a few things in common.
Both are nonprofit organizations putting on shows for the benefit of the community; both say they wish each other well.

That’s it? Both are non-profit and wish each other well? Another one of those golden moments squandered by the Gazette to help bring the community together. This article would have been a good time for the professionals at the paper to use a little improvisational journalism without sacrificing politics or profits. A few extra commonalties however obvious would have helped. But nooooo. They seem to be having fun with all this.

On a different subject but with the same theme, their editorial about the Janesville teacher negotiations also seemed like an attempt to stir up public reaction against somebody about anything involved in the negotiations. Because both sides agreed to hold closed door meetings to iron out long-running contract differences, the newspaper now feels shorted in it’s ability to exploit the information.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
Just what was it about the board's position that insulted the union leaders and couldn't be taken seriously? We don't know the details because contract negotiations fall under a veil of secrecy allowed in the state's open meetings law.

Despite this “veil of secrecy” as the Gazette puts it, they still were able to spin union negotiators comments as public posturing. The school board was elected to protect more than just taxpayers interests, heck that’s only money. They must be able to convey a fair and decent message, a meeting of the minds if you will, directly with the teachers union – no matter what the Gazette will say.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
Of course, Janesville's teachers will point out that the district might have saved an estimated $2 million because health costs have been lower than estimated.

Certainly, overages don’t belong to the teachers, but if this surplus was due indirectly to the health condition or related efforts of the covered group, I would say the teachers have a valid point. Obviously there is more at stake here than fighting over a surplus.

But I’m not here to jump to conclusions about these negotiations as much as I see the very same newspaper that complains about the political partisanship, economic divide and idealogical differences that legitimately divide us as a nation is the same paper that pits its readers against one another over local things like teacher negotiations, swimming pools and fireworks displays. It all begins right here.

Ryan Just One Of The Guys

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When Rep. Paul Ryan states the obvious, it’s BIG news in Janesville. Front-page headlines in fact.

JG Excerpt: "This bill is a big problem for us," Ryan said of the Janesville GM plant, where 2,600 hourly and 204 salaried workers build Chevrolet Suburbans and Tahoes and GMC Yukon XLs and Yukons.

Got that? Ryan now includes himself as just one of the guys on the GM assembly-line. Memo to Ryan: Go to GM and do a photo-op on the line.

More lately though, he has been getting his name in the same column with some of the most popular democrats in Wisconsin. Last time it was Russ Feingold, this time it’s State Rep. Sheridan. Who will be the next democrat the Gazette ties in with Ryan? I would expect to see Gov. Doyle or Judy Robson somehow tied into a public service or campaign message with Ryan blasted on the Gazette’s frontpages. Or a democrat from Kenosha or Racine.

But this story is a non-event at the moment. As usual, most of these stories are written in reverse to achieve a specific political objective. One of my own little “easy methods” on spotting political propaganda from the MSM is by first reading the entire article. Then, read the opening paragraph or two again and immediately jump to the last two or three paragraphs. If the story seems complete without any holes, it probably is. The stuff in the middle is the journalists and editors “professional artwork” and personal perspective, particularly explanations without quotes. This article is classic in that respect.

These last sentences say it all.

JG Excerpt:
But despite the Senate's vote, a GM spokesman said this morning that the process is far from over. "We will work vigorously to make sure there are responsible fuel economy increases," Greg Martin said.

Nearly everything in the middle is either pro or con with the targeted subject, depending on whatever effect is desired by the publisher. In this case, it is a pro-Ryan story.

The AP did the same in a recent article when several Wisconsin counties achieved much improved air quality readings with Federal EPA pollution guidelines. The article started out by deceptively painting Gov. Doyle’s request to apply for this newly acquired status as an anti-democratic pro-corporate decision, when in fact, the Governor was just doing his job.

JG Excerpt:
Gov. Jim Doyle has asked the federal government to relax air pollution regulations in eight eastern Wisconsin counties, a move that could make life easier for businesses.

Near the end of this article was the "liberal" truth.

JG Excerpt:
He noted the state's request appears to be complete. It includes documentation that shows three years of clean air were due to emission reductions, the state has met all previous Clean Air Act requirements and it has adopted a plan to ensure the air will remain clean after re-designation, he said.

This is not a Doyle request to lower air standards as much as it’s the counties qualifying to return to “normal” status. Unfortunately, soon after this application was filed, large areas of Wisconsin fell into a smog alert. The state's application may be doomed.

JG Excerpt:
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state's largest business group, issued a statement praising the request, saying businesses had earned relief from non-attainment requirements.

The AP spent ink on the WMC in this article but did not publicize an opposing perspective for balance, for instance, the Sierra Club reaction.

Edgerton School Board Article Aimed At Others

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Tuesday’s Gazette contained an article about the Edgerton School Board and teachers union negotiation. For some reason, their school board and union members offered answers and advice framed by the Gazette in a condescending, yet gratuitous way.

Transparency, community spirit keeps teachers and district happy Excerpt:
Dave Calkins, an Edgerton Middle School teacher and chief negotiator for the teachers union, said the trust and respect springs from the community spirit the teachers, school board and administrators share. Most live in Edgerton and many have been part of the district a long time.

Fair enough but...WHAT was the question? The Edgerton School district doesn’t sound a whole lot different than other school districts, so I ask, what was the question to provoke that statement?

Transparency, community spirit keeps teachers and district happy Excerpt:
"The people here know that the school and the school system is the heart of the community,"

As opposed to what other communities? Again, what was the question from the reporter and/or if these statements just happened to fall from the sky, what provoked them?

Transparency, community spirit keeps teachers and district happy Excerpt:
The friendly attitude helps both sides be transparent about what they want, he said.
"We just don't have hidden agendas," he said. "We put our proposals out there, the board listens and responds. "This is the way we do things here. It's always been that way."

Again, what was the question to provoke these statements? And why were negative presumptions made against other districts? Why talk about hidden agendas when there are none? We are talking about the Edgerton School District, right?

The Edgerton School Board finished successful contract negotiations with their teachers union and these are the best positive answers they could give? Now, I’m not blaming those who were quoted in this article for anything, their seemingly unsolicited answers and advice were published with certain intentions in mind. It’s the direction and content of the questions I’m concerned about, the lack of transparency by their omissions and the animosity created by provoking and publicizing these statements. It does not promote a good community spirit. At least not in Janesville.

Iraq War About Necessity - Not 9/11

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After reading this article at a news blog site…..

Rising Tide Of Corn Excerpt:
The nation's unquenchable thirst for gasoline -- and finding an alternative to what's been called our addiction to oil -- has produced an unintended consequence: The cost of the foods that fuel our bodies has jumped. Beef prices are up. So are the costs of milk, cereal, eggs, chicken and pork. And corn is getting the blame.

I had this exchange.
…..I wrote: Wal-mart has proven that Americans don't give a rats-ass about where something comes (China) from or how it was made (sweatshops). We want value and low, low prices. What's the goal? Cheap fuel? Arab oil was the cheapest fuel in the world until Bush started spilling our blood for it.

I get tired of people blaming Bush for "spilling our blood over oil". Where were you when 9/11 took place? And don't think they're not planning more attacks. These idiots need stopped. Bush is no coward. He had enough guts to stand up to them? If Clinton had done something about it we might not be in this mess now. Nobody likes to be at war but sometimes it's a necessity. – blogger

To which I responded….
During 9/11, I was with you and Bush. I had no clue. What's your point? Bush has yet to stand up to those who attacked us, in fact he may very well be afraid since he complains that the democrats "embolden" our enemies. Brave people don't worry about emboldened enemies if they have a plan to defeat them. Besides, if you don't think Bush is spilling our blood for oil then why do we need ethanol to save us from something that's NOT killing us. Again, Arab oil was the cheapest in the world when we paid for it in cash.

Petraeus: 10 more years of war in Iraq? Bush said we'll be there for 50 years. They must have adjusted the outlook after reviewing Iraq's geological petroleum reserve survey.

Just Making Stuff Up

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Recently, the compassionate conservatives at the Gazette revived a sad local episode from a year ago and thought it was fitting and proper to compare it to another sad story of lives lost and hopes dashed.

Police: Kerr akin to VT killer Excerpt:
If Daniel Kerr hadn't been severely burned in the ……
If the night hadn't unfolded as it did, Kerr might have……
If Kerr had been planning on returning to the university that evening, it's unlikely he would…

Take a very serious and tragic event and stretch into something it never was. This is news in Rock County.

On Saturday the paper published three heart-felt letters from readers who thought the paper exploited the Kerr tragedy. At the end of the third letter appeared this editor’s note explaining how this story was “created.”

JG Excerpt:
Editors Note: The story should have better explained the reason for its timing. The Gazette requested the official records of the Kerr tragedy shortly after the Virginia Tech shootings - after a reader suggested that we might want to look into the similarities. We went to work on the story and completed it as quickly as we could after receiving the records.

What story? A suggestion by a reader? Here, readers are led to believe the police put this story together and the Gazette merely reported on it when it turns out the Gazette found a willing participant in the Milton Police Department to add credibility to a story they literally pulled out of thin air.

The Gazette has been writing stories like these for decades and few complain until it strikes them close to home. That’s the sad part.

Another recent but different story about a drunk driver crashing and dying after being let go by police was another case in point of what “if.” The only difference here is “if” could have done a world of good instead of the increased bloodshed and mayhem conjured up by the Gazette in their recent Kerr revival.
What if police enforced .08 limit? Cops: Nothing would change
This story fell off the planet after that article. Will the Gazette run an anniversary story a year from now? Stay tuned.

Here’s an idea. The Gazette should seriously consider starting a new section in their paper called “What if!?” Here they can carry on with all of their fabricated stories, suppositions, personal attacks, far-fetched speculation and really bad analogies and we would know they just made it up. It would allow them to print the exact same newspaper we get everyday with the very same content, only rearranged and packaged differently. We would get the same follow-up stories on murderers, victims, survivors and other people who weren’t lucky enough to be editors. People could be mocked, minor missteps could be magnified and everyday people having a personal crisis would be publicly tried and convicted in the paper just like they are today. But we could still get month-long stories about new stadiums and fairgrounds along with million dollar gifts if only “if.” We could still get frontpage stories about nasty bugs that never materialized, or “Waco” mayhem when a little barn is demolished…..all in one “What if!?” section. Think about the endless possibilities here. Nothing would change.

Filling Potholes With An Education

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In their support to deny Gov. Doyle the necessary tools to balance a budget, the Gazette editors take a page right out of the WMC playbook.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
Doyle says the tax can't be passed on to consumers. We don't believe that, and we fear the measure could squeeze out small retailers and even lead to regional gas shortages.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
Sen. Sheila Harsdorf says Doyle used the veto in the last budget to stitch together-like Frankenstein's monster-20 words out of 752 unrelated words, transferring $427 million out of the transportation fund to pad other spending.

By "other spending" they mean education, and by "padding" for instance, they mean the Janesville school budget shortfall of $2 million would have been $5 million without the padding. So, in truth, without that veto power, the schools would have gotten $427 million dollars less.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
No legislator ever voted for this transfer. The veto created a budget hole that Doyle is filling with his gas tax.

Yep, given the choice, Republicans would much prefer to have those potholes filled than give a kid an education. And having a tax on Big Oil profits to repair potholes in the road makes no sense at all.

Thank goodness we don't have to worry about the Gazette having an agenda.

Read more opinion here on the "Frankenstein Budgets"

Big Oil Knows Which Cow To Milk

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This headline caught my eye.

Dean Foods cuts forecast as milk prices soar

I became suspicious after reading this and thought how come we never saw the headline, “Exxon cuts forecast as oil prices soar.”

Dean Foods Co., the biggest U.S. milk processor, cut its profit forecast for the second time this year because of soaring raw-milk costs and lower prices for organic dairy products. The shares fell the most in a month.

High costs never stopped Big Oil from turning in record profits. Ok, besides milk being a perishable, there are other differences between the two industries but, high raw material costs are high raw material costs no matter what you're trying to sell.

Throughout the article, I substituted the word “milk” with “oil” and “diary” with “refinery” and wa-la. For some reason, the milk industry and the oil industry seem to work off of two completely different business theories. Sure, I know this sounds elementary but in one industry, high raw material costs lead to losses, while in the other, high raw material costs lead to record profits.

"Supplies are going to be tighter because when the weather heats up you don't get as much production from your cows," said Peter Turk, a dairy trader with Rice Dairy LLC in Chicago. "The market is going to be higher."

When Big Oil blamed the weather (hurricanes) or shortfalls in production (pipelines bombed or refineries shutdown), not only did the price of gasoline skyrocket, but so did the profits. Why should Big Milk be any different?

"It has become increasingly likely that conventional raw-milk prices will reach all-time highs by the third quarter," Engles said in today's statement. "We expect this steep rise in dairy costs to put pressure on Dairy Group profit growth, especially in the second and third quarters." Prices already are at or near records.

High raw material costs along with higher distribution costs coupled with inflation usually lead to fewer profits – unless - you’re Big Oil.

Big Milk should deal with higher raw material costs like corporations deal with taxes on profits – just pass them onto the consumer. Expect milk prices to reach record levels.

On Anti-GM, Wages And Tricks

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Apparently the Gazette has been getting some flak over their presentation of some recently released GM factory productivity reports, enough for the editor to clarify that the Gazette is not anti-GM. I agree, but if they’re not mixing words here, they’re mixing definitions.

JG Sound Off Excerpt:
On Editor’s views: The Gazette does seem negative toward General Motors. Any other papers reporting on the same issue do report much more positively. No one even remembers the strike 40 years ago, so that’s really a lame excuse. But I do remember a time when the Gazette was not so negative toward GM, and those were much tougher times for GM. -- anonymous

I don’t know how everybody is defining GM. Are we defining GM as the white-collar corporate behemoth or as the giant Suburban parked in the driveway? Or are we defining GM by the quality of their assembly-line workers OR by the unions, wages and benefits they represent?

The Janesville Gazette owes much of their sizable wealth to the success of the GM plant. Unlike some of the retail giants on the Northeast side, GM brings cash into Janesville so the old saying “how goes GM goes Janesville” still stands, and by Janesville that includes the Gazette. So I can’t see the Gazette ripping corporate GM, it would be against their political religious beliefs. And I can’t see the Gazette making a personal argument, whether right or wrong, against the workers because they are subscribers and that would hurt the paper's profits.

With the Gazette, they have everything to gain by editorializing about Janesville’s top-notch work force, with or without performance and productivity reports. But if everyone agrees that the Gazette as an entity leans heavily to the right, supports and promotes the Republican agenda enough to be labeled as a rubber stamp themselves, then it should be obvious ideologically speaking, they are anti-union. Not to be confused with anti-GM or anti-workforce. But would they ever admit it? Not in a million years. In fact, they tip-toed through this public relations minefield by already placing the blame for any possible inefficiencies at GM on the age and layout of the plant.

When was the last time anybody can remember the Gazette making a case promoting/supporting higher wages, fewer hours, and better benefits for union workers?

When was the last time the Gazette editorialized that union workers should have to co-pay for health benefits to balance a budget or take pay cuts to remain competitive?

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JG Sound Off Excerpt:
On presidential candidates: The Democratic candidates say they were tricked by President Bush. Do you want a president who can be too easily tricked? -- anonymous

Admitting you’ve been tricked is half the battle to recovery. Apparently, this caller still prefers to be hoodwinked by the Republican candidates who are staying the course in denial with the decider and the deception.

---

JG Sound Off Excerpt:
On low wages: You would think that with all the stuff our government has gotten this country into that they would want to reap the maximum possible from the working people in the form of taxes on wages. But by conspiring with the corporate people to keep wages low and allowing illegal aliens to work, aren’t we just screwing ourselves out of tax revenue? -- anonymous

EXACTLY! I couldn’t have said it better myself. I’ll flatter myself by saying this caller reads this web page because this rant is another one of my economic theories to prosperity for all. I might add that the non-tax paying worker is not only getting screwed out of a decent wage but also being cheated out of sharing in the costs to keep America strong – all for the sake of corporate profits for the few.

It really hurts that our Congressmen have been legislating this into law and helping corporate interests screw our country, particularly those republican compassionate conservatives.

This all began with Ronald Reagan, a hero to the Republican Party.

Republicans Assemble New Frankenstein Budget

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The Sunday edition of the Janesville Gazette ran an article on page three of the local section titled “GOP pushing for fewer taxes.” Unfortunately as with most politicians playing the tax cut card, the Republicans appear on the verge of sending the Governor another disjointed and mismatched budget replete with shortfalls and broken promises. A budget monster so hideous, one legislator termed it as “mindless.”

JG Excerpt:
The Republican tax cut proposal offered in the budget committee "borders on mindless," said Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar.

Why the Republicans continue to send the Governor a “flatlining” corpse they call a balanced budget is strictly political.

JG Excerpt:
Republicans on the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee gave a preview of what could come, floating motions to cut the income tax and reject Gov. Jim Doyle's proposals to raise a variety of taxes, including those on cigarettes.

Of more concern to me is the idea that Republicans want to cut the state income tax which in effect would bring them another step closer to their ultimate goal. One of my theories about our state of affairs regarding the tax structure in Wisconsin and many other states involves the Republican agenda pushed through by their bumper sticker slogans of Compassioniate Conservatism and the Contract With America. The end result I believe is directly related to raising point-of-use taxes, property taxes and sales taxes – all local taxes irrespective of a taxpayers income or ability to pay.

At the federal level, the tax cuts can never be big enough according to republicans while at the local level the republicans are willing to cut services and programs completely in the blind OR let the democrats be the ones to RAISE the taxes. Republicans think this is a win-win for them and to be honest they are winning at this game. Most of Doyle’s increases are non-income based and a reasonable reaction to the Republican platform. He wants to balance the budget and keep Wisconsin healthy.

The end result of the republican plan will bring about lower federal income taxes and possibly lower state income taxes at the expense of much higher non-income based taxes. This is a big win for the super-rich and those who can afford, everybody else including the middle-class will lose. Schools will suffer, potholes will proliferate, poverty will rise, health will worsen and the gap between rich and poor will widen. This won't happen overnight. It will be a slow death but by the time we realize what happened it will be too late.

Another interesting highlight of the state budget is this little bit about the property tax cap.

JG Budget Highlights:
- The cap on local property tax increases doubles from 2 percent to 4 percent, or the percentage of growth in new construction in a community, whichever is greater.

One of the things pushed by the Republicans has been the property tax freeze which is nothing more than a political ploy to stay on the tax cut track when all else fails. But what is doubly interesting here is that someone gave “growth” the proper perspective it finally deserved. Growth has been kicked around by developers as an “expanding tax base” tool designed to lower the tax burden on a community, when in reality the opposite is true. If new construction growth is at 8% in any given community, the cap will rise by 8% which on paper anyways, should allow locals to “pay-as-they-grow” instead of trying to service a larger community with an inadequate “pre-growth” budget.

Beloit Newspaper OK With Community Fourth

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The Beloit Daily News is now looking towards the business community, even including watering holes to pitch in for a fireworks display on Independence Day.

Beloiters Appreciate Their Fourth Excerpt:
Many have noted that our neighbors in Janesville came close to not having the cash needed for a fireworks show in their town. Just when those in charge were about to call off the fireworks in Traxler Park, the community's tavern league stepped up with the needed funds.

FAR BE IT FROM US to drop any hints. But doesn't Beloit have a few watering holes? The Janesville group reaped some good PR...something such businesses can always use. Again, maybe we should drop a hint here.

The Janesville group got some good PR……but not without paying a price first at the hands of the town’s newspaper.

After the Gazette derided the Janesville tavern group as godless, familyless opportunists linking up with the Jaycees for the Traxler Park event, they went on the next day with a national article about pornography. And on the next day, Tuesday, the Gazette then prints a local survey about underage drinking. Coincidence? Possibly. Finally on Sunday they editorialized again about high school teen drinking. What does this have to do with the Jaycees Fourth of July celebration? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, but if the Gazette editors were looking for evidence to support their mean-spirited perspective of certain local businesses, they found it and what better timing. But remember, they claim to not have an "agenda."

I'm assuming by dropping a hint, the Beloit Daily News won't use their newspaper as a bully pulpit against the taverns in their area. I could be wrong, but they seem to take a more wholistic approach to engaging business owners, at least in this editorial. But before I’d donate to the cause I’d have to ask the newspaper - Are you going to run public service messages and other articles timed to support your machinations against me and attempt to bring me down a notch or two in the public eye OR are you going to support my efforts to raise money for a fireworks display on the Fourth Of July?

Ryan Union Comments Outrageous

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The Janesville Gazette received some very good letters recently about Rep. Paul Ryan’s congressional exploits and comments. This one about labor unions however, received a rebuttal response in the paper.

JG Letter Excerpt:
When he compared proud, American union card carriers with Saddam Hussein's terrorist minions, he slapped the people of his district, the state of Wisconsin and the United States as a whole right across the face. –- letter writer (proud union member)

I searched the Web looking for quotes about this but couldn’t find any. It sounds like Ryan though any way you read it or hear it. Now here’s a key excerpt from the rebuttal letter in Saturday’s paper.

JG Letter Excerpt:
Under Saddam, if you wanted a job in Iraq, you had to join the Ba’ath Party. Ryan tried to explain the requirements in a way that residents of southern Wisconsin would understand that joining the party was an innocent way to help your family and improve your living standards, like joining a union. -- letter writer (Ryan defender)

Where do we start on this one? Do Wisconsin residents really connect with the Ba’ath Party of Saddam Hussein? Do workers join unions as an innocent way to improve their lives but in reality it’s not THAT innocent and …..its not an improvement? Are the requirements to join an American labor union the same requirements to join in with Saddam Hussein? But wait, this gets even better because the writer implies Ryan is a strong union supporter.

JG Letter Excerpt:
Obviously, (the proud union supporter) isn’t aware of Ryan’s past and present support of unions or doesn’t care.

* Rated 7% by the AFL-CIO, indicating an anti-union voting record. (Dec 2003)

I’m sure some unions contribute to Ryan’s campaign chest but these organizations for the most part contribute to politicians in both parties to some level or degree. Another good reason why private contributions to political campaigns should be banned.

Journal Sentinel Excerpt:
The American Conservative Union gave his 2005 voting record a 96 percent approval rating. The liberal Americans for Democratic Action gave him 0.

The American Conservative Union approves of Paul Ryan!!!

But lets forget things like mere facts and his voting record and assume Ryan is obviously pro-union and supports organized labor like this writer suggests. So obviously, if Ryan thinks that highly of labor unions, does that mean Ryan then thinks Saddam’s Ba’ath Party is just as wonderful? Any way you spin it or slice it, drawing parallels between the Ba’ath Party and labor unions is a cheap shot and a slap in the face to all of his constituents including his supporters. If you think for a minute he spoke of unions in a good light, then you must think he thinks the Ba'ath Party is just as swell.

Now that's irony.

GOP To Bush - Get Lost

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Lately, the Republican presidential candidates have been among a growing chorus of seemingly disgruntled GOP supporters to distance themselves from the president. For the most part, their words are carefully chosen to avoid anything self-incriminating but nevertheless, democrats will have to hold them accountable because nobody including the media will.

The Nation Excerpt:
What may have been the best line of the night came when first-term Bush Cabinet member Tommy Thompson referenced his former boss's lack of diplomatic skills in his reply to the what-do-you-do-with-Bush question.
"I would certainly not send him to the United Nations” Thompson.

Great line there, Tommy. Considering that the U.N. has been deemed irrelevant by Bush and his supporters, not willing to relegate Bush to such irrelevant duties (in their view) is a sad statement about the American people who put him in charge of the United States.

Democrats can’t let these Bush loyalists back away now. From former cabinet members like Tommy Thompson to rubberstampers like Rep. Paul Ryan or newspaper editorial endorsements picking Bush for two terms, these fair-weather politicians and partisan media outlets gave rise and validity to the most awful and damaging economic and foreign policy our country has ever seen, just to extend their careers and turn a profit. Don’t think for a minute that their criticism of Bush is sincere.

The Nation Excerpt:
The crowd at New Hampshire's St. Anselm College, which was made up of Republicans and independents who said they expected to vote Republican in next January's presidential primary, repeatedly applauded the banging on Bush.

Through all of this, Bush supporters will still vote Republican.
Never forget - The GOP and Bush are one and the same. Laughing at Bush, they laugh at themselves but make no mistake, these fools cannot take a joke.

Next President Will Inherit A Disaster

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Here's an amusing piece of conflicting analogies and other misinformation written by Steve Chapman of the Chicago Tribune comparing Bush to Carter.

Carter and Bush not so different Excerpt:
Carter, as an ex-president, helped negotiate a nuclear deal with North Korea that the other side failed to live up to. Bush negotiated a nuclear deal with North Korea that the other side has failed to live up to.

Huh? Bush negotiated with North Korea? When? Not only that but Bush was solely responsible for tearing down the 1994 Framework deal with N.Korea Jimmy Carter brokered. Bush did this in his first two months in office. No comparison.

Excerpt:
Carter was responsible for a military debacle, the 1980 effort to rescue our Iran hostages, that killed eight American service personnel. Bush is responsible for a military debacle, the occupation of Iraq, that has killed more than 3,400 American service personnel.

You seriously think 3,400 is similar to 8? Sure if you’re the Bush administration, to them it’s just a number.

Excerpt:
Under Carter, Islamic insurgents in Afghanistan bled the Soviet military. Under Bush, Islamic insurgents in Afghanistan bleed the U.S. military.

Back then, the Soviet Union was not necessarily our friend, at least from the stories told by the U.S. media. Back then, those Islamic insurgents were referred to as “freedom fighters” whom we(America) armed to help bleed the Soviet's military. Those “freedom fighters” were our friends until they slammed airplanes into our buildings, then they became terrorists and insurgents. But under Bush, it’s our army being bled – big, big difference.

Jimmy Carter inherited a world of hurt created during the eight years of the Nixon Administration, arguably the second worst administration of all time. The only similarity I see now with Carter and Bush today is actually with the next president who will inherit a world of hurt created during the eight years of the worst administration of all time.

Say It Is So, Joe

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It’s great to hear that Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman, Joe Wineke, decided to cut his ties from corporate giant AT&T.

Chicago Tribune Wire Excerpt:
Wineke has insisted he did nothing wrong and said last month that he would not give up his position as a lobbyist or party chairman. He said Tuesday that he changed course because the issue was becoming a distraction within the party.

Joe said he did nothing wrong which is true considering that representing corporations is business as usual for many politicians and it’s not illegal. Although the gridwork of corporate connections throughout nearly all levels of government is widespread, democrats are best to leave it as a Republican party line.

Chicago Tribune Wire Excerpt:
Katy Phillips, chairwoman of the Eau Claire County Democratic Party, said she was pleased with Wineke's decision. "I think he showed a lot of character stepping down from this position," Phillips said.

It does say a lot and I’m glad Joe did the right thing and decided to stay with the Democratic Party. Thanks, Joe.

It's worth noting that the Janesville Gazette ran this story on page 3 in their Briefs column of the local section on Wednesday, but omitted 2/3's of the article. I guess that's why its called "Briefs." Had to go to the Chicago Tribune to find the full story.

Fun, Fourth, Fireworks And Community

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When I first read about the local tavern owners pitching in to help the Jaycees give Janesville a July 4th celebration, I said "bravo." And instead of taking this one special day as an opportunity for healing and understanding in an effort to unite with the rest of the community, the Gazette editorial staff had these things to say.

JG Excerpt:
It's nice that Halbach gives back to the community. But it troubles many residents that Halbach earns money not just on liquor sales but strip joints such as Diamond Jim's & The Isabella Queen south of the city and Screemin' Meemees on the south side. He has donated much to the fireworks before, but never in such a high-profile fashion.

What's wrong with that? And, was anybody stopping the business loving Forward Janesville and their deep-pocketed profit-taking members and affiliates from donating thousands to the Jaycees Fourth of July Celebration last year or this year? I would guess they think they’ve sacrificed too much in taxes to possibly pitch in more for what they may view as a “social” program for the peons of Janesville – Independence Day. The Gazette is no different. How could Jim Halbach and a group of tavern owners possibly beat these self-righteous family-oriented professionals to the punch?

JG Excerpt:
Before Halbach stepped up, some families were already troubled that the Jaycees fest mixing beer drinking with carnival rides for the kiddies. Of course, families do have another option.

What a play on words here. Only a sliver of common sense seperates this sentence into directly implying that the Jaycees mix beer …for the kiddies.

And insinuating that family-oriented people are offended by the Jaycees ties to Jim Halbach insults the intelligence. I had no idea our country's birthday was a family-only celebration, or that tavern owners and their customers couldn't possibly have families, and making those assumptions to label donors, participants and attendees at the Jaycees event as something less is not only a slap in face, it is the kind of mean-spirited and negative rhetoric that only divides a town and fuels more resentment. Their attitude makes political partisanship look like child's play.

Regular hard working people, familyless and anybody else who do not fit the Gazette’s definition of family should be offended by what this editorial wrongly and smugly implies.

By casting such a negative association towards the efforts of Halbach and friends to organize a community celebration, and drawing wider lines of seperation based on discrimination, the newspaper along with their highborn supporters are an embarrassment to the city. If I were the tavern owners, I’d promote the Jaycees festival as ”FamilyFest 'O7.”

It becomes clear that without Halbach and the others, Janesville's community-based Fourth of July celebration would have died. And after reading this editorial, with deadlines approaching, nothing would have made the editors any happier.

Speaking for myself and my family, we'll celebrate communication, understanding, patience, tolerance, reason and love with the Jaycees and salute Halbach and the other tavern owners this Independence Day at Traxler Park simply because I know now that those offended by these fundamental human principles won’t be there.

Read additional Community must unite

Your Friendly Community Newspaper

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The Janesville School Board is in the education business, the Janesville Gazette is not.

The recent episode surrounding a hockey coach should have never been made public and it was unfair to the coach, his family, district residents and even the accuser when the Janesville Gazette first decided to sensationalize a story largely built on unsubstantiated allegations and rumors.

The School Board was within their right to get involved in this for the sake of the community, and the Gazette knowing this, should have thought something was up when they had to make a formal freedom of information request to learn who voted for or against re-instatement. Just this one time would the Gazette trust or respect the board’s decision to keep a lid on the details of what turned out to be a relatively minor story? Not when there are newspapers to sell. The Gazette is not in the education business.

JG Excerpt:
The school board has demonstrated how damaging secrecy can be. State law allows closed meetings on personnel issues.

And for good reason. But who would think that a prying newspaper would continue on digging into the rumor mill deep enough to find what it could not get from the school board – more rumors against a high school coach.

JG Excerpt:
Secrecy can protect reputations. But in this case it can lead to rumors, speculation and delays, certainly much of it was unfair ……

But the rumors, speculation and delays however unfair were credible enough for the editors at the Gazette to splash them on the front of their newspaper. The Gazette doesn’t see their own embarrassment, facts or no facts be damned, they have a newspaper to print, they're professionals.

To add insult to the school board and the coach, the Gazette then feeds the rumor mill with fourteen, no actually fifteen anonymous rants in their Sound Off column on Wednesday, May 30th.

So there you have it. If the school board, city hall, county board or anybody else tries to exclude the Gazette from accessing information, the newspaper will just punish them by publicizing rumors and innuendoes that you failed to substantiate for them anyways, swear the misinformation resulted from your right to withhold information (secrecy), then scold you for protecting the interests you are charged to protect.

I haven’t commented on several local stories including this one simply because their just wasn’t enough factual support, and I'm a blogger. The Gazette in their pursuit for a story once again becomes the “story.”

Just recently, the Gazette editor said the paper in the near future will be concentrating more on local stories. If the hockey coach fiasco is an example of this newly focused localism, it looks like any real news will be left up to me the local bloggers.

But seriously, if the school board learned any lesson from this, they really need to take a long hard look at their relationship with the local media and write up some guidelines to deal with sensitive internal information that others are willing to exploit for the sake of profits. This will be doubly important for the school board and the city administration if Janesville loses the public access channel and left to rely solely on the translations and distortions from the Gazette for news and information. The handwriting is on the wall.

Antiquated Police Slows Investigation

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Today’s Gazette frontpage story titled, “State Web site slows investigation” is a slick attempt by the Janesville Police department to shift the blame on the state for not being able to retrieve sex offender data fast enough from the state’s online registry. That the Janesville police department would publicize this to the Gazette is a testament of their own departmental shortfalls and intelligence gathering failures. That the Gazette would politicize this is not a surprise.

After an assault on a bike path Thursday afternoon in Janesville, the article stated it took nearly five hours for the police to obtain a list of addresses of sex offenders in the area.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
“If we had a better system, we could have done it in 15 minutes,” Moore said.”

Pardon me, but I would think that in yesterday’s era of cheap megabyte storage, every police department in the state of Wisconsin would have all registered sex offenders within their zip-code jurisdiction on a 25 cent disc or a 20 dollar portable drive. And with four zip-codes in Janesville, it can’t be too much trouble to ask. Reloading for updates once a week during a slow period is only a right-click and left-click away.

The information is out there, its what the police department does with it that’s important, and not having the list compiled on a simple Word program or spreadsheet until the state comes up with a better way is inexcusable.

It’s even more scary hearing that our police department relies solely on the state’s registry for this kind of sensitive information only when something happens and are not paying any extra attention to sex offenders on their beat. Oh, I almost forgot – that’s the public’s job.

I can already hear the reply a month from now if someone asks the department if they compiled an off-line list of sex offenders, it’ll be “We’re working on it.”

Rock County Coroner Aiming High

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When Jenifer Keach was elected coroner for Rock County, she made commitments to interact with state agencies in efforts to restore the dignity and high standards this important elective office deserves.

Coroner Mission Letter
I plan to reinstitute the Child Fatality Review Team to promote child safety awareness in cooperation with other county and state agencies. These projects will take time, but the end result will be improved professional services to the families of Rock County.

NBC Neighborhood Janesville
The Rock County Coroner’s Office announces the formation of the Rock County Child Fatality Review Team. The team met for the first time on May 24th at the Coroner’s Office.

The goal of the Wisconsin Statewide Child Fatality Review Team is to reduce preventable childhood deaths in Wisconsin. The statewide team will gather information on unexpected child deaths in Wisconsin and use the information gathered to educate the public and use all available resources to prevent future child deaths.

As an early supporter of Jenifer Keach, I'm thrilled to see her live up to these commitments and move this office in a positive direction we can all be proud of. Much work still needs to be done, and she is proving to be up to the task and more. Way to go - Coroner Keach!