New Anonymous Feature "Community Quotes"

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For many years, the local Janesville newspaper has been running a completely anonymous comment column twice a week and while I do recall others with local Web blogs and Facebook pages having suggested or considered starting an anonymous feature similar to, or in response to the Gazette's column, I don't recall anyone moving forward with it. So I figured, why not me?

What I aim to do is compile and categorize about a dozen comments or so pulled from area blogs, Facebook, Twitter, newspaper comment sections and other social media sources (the netroots) on local, county and statewide issues for the core and supplement them with comments sent to my email address or through the "contact" link above. Contributing comments in response to anonymous comments posted in the Gazette are obviously desirable for this little project. Remember, all comments will be posted anonymously. If you called the Gazette to post something in their "Sound Off" column and they refused to publish, send it my way. No promises but I'll give it serious consideration.

I also understand Web-connected Rock County/Janesville area residents have the entire social media complex at their disposal. That means everyone with a pseudo-name or anonymous account can post anonymously anywhere anyways. So why bother contributing or posting here? Well, I am hoping visitors will see the convenience and value of reading anonymously posted comments on local issues that are independent from the establishment media filter. Plus the free access.

Just like the Gazette, I'll make sure the comments are clean, coherent and accurately reflect the social/political majority and values of the area and/or provide interest for further discussion. That's important. For now, the next "Community Quotes" will be posted as soon as I gather enough comments together with a goal to post about once every two weeks depending on popularity and contributing comments.

This is Community Quotes #1:

On Gov. Walker's United Sportsmen Scandal:
◘ Every person that took heat covering for Scott Walker's corruption since becoming governor have either been jailed or offered a cushy patronage job. We can now expect the latest scapegoat, the fallen director of United Sportsmen, Andy Pantzlaff, to find himself working somewhere in Walker's administration within the year. Suder got his.

◘ Where a governor rigs a $500K grant with state money for party bosses becomes saving $28M, you're in ScottWalkerstan.

◘ Everyone thought Scott Suder was solely responsible for the rigged Sportsmen grant. But now we find the entire Wisconsin GOP caucus including Gov. Walker was in the know about the grant details. It's very telling how Suder became so expendable early in the scandal timeline because they wanted it to look that way.

On Forbes Billionaires List:
◘ So rich people think giving to charity somehow absolves them for all the lives they've stepped on and ruined. Keep your charity and instead share greater profits with those who actually generated them - laborers, production workers and middle-management employees. This way they'll have enough excess cash left-over to give to charity and relieve you of your burnt offerings for the poor.

◘ Just last week, a major economic study concluded the income gap between the richest 1% and all the rest of us in this country is now larger than it has been since 1928, the year before the stock market crash led to the Great Depression.

◘ With all this "uncertainty" from Obama and the recalls, Diane Hendricks struggled to almost double her wealth over the past year. While most of us lost property value, income or benefits, she obviously works much harder than the rest of us.

◘ You people.

On Local Bids:
◘ Regarding the local business that lost a bid on a supply contract with Janesville to a Madison firm by only $1,500. The city, all cities, could develop a "matching" provision for hometown businesses. If a local business is within 3% of a winning bid from an outside business, the local business should be allowed the opportunity to match the lowest bid including all specs to win the contract. If unable to match within a specified time period, say three days, the contract is cleared to go to the lowest bidder.

On The Giant Crucifix In Janesville:
◘ My youngest son (6 years old) noticed the cross for the first time from a distance and asked me if it marks a haunted cemetery. Without thinking I said "no, it's Janesville."

On Local Public Campaign Financing:
◘ Some of these "activist" council members crack me up. The ones opposed to Citizens United are the same ones that hand out lucrative forgivable loans and other free stuff to local area elites. It's like they're against corporate welfare and influence everywhere else except in their own hometown. None for thee but more for meeeeee.

◘ No way. If you want to run pay for it yourself. It seems the only people spending lots is the one who wants the plan. Nobody else spent nearly as much as Liebert.

◘ I agree. Candidates should pay for it themselves or rely on rich people like Diane Hendricks who are willing to give plenty to candidates to legislate their will on the people. Keep the taxpaying public out of it, it's not like elected officials work for us anyways.

◘ Why does it seem Janesville residents are silent when council members hand out millions of dollars to wealthy special interests but scream bloody murder if someone suggests paying council members a meager stipend for their time? It's like, money is an incentive for everyone except for the poor, government people or school teachers. The poor must live in a vacuum.

On Government Shutdown:
◘ Everything is pointing to local boy Paul Ryan as the leading pawn in the GOP House for the Koch Brothers on the government shutdown hostage crisis. Although Ryan is quiet about Obamacare simply because his budget relies on the #ACA remaining law, he is ideologically attached at the hip with Koch and Grover Norquist on the debt ceiling. They want repeated budget crisis after budget crisis, all resolvable and unnecessary, until they get what they want. As the GOP's go-to numbers guy on the national budget, Ryan is a complete failure.

◘ Paul Ryan isn't being quiet - he's working a long con job called the debt ceiling.

◘ Republicans have shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health care to millions of Americans.

◘ Congressional Republicans don't give a shit about American's health care or the nuts and bolts to the Affordable Care Act. The only thing they worry about is that it will work once the bugs are worked out and that will pound the final nails in the GOP coffin because they've been all-in against it. It's purely political.

On Food Stamps:
◘ While you were bitching about the guy buying a snickers with food stamps, Exxon just pocketed $9000 of your tax dollars.