McCain’s Calculation Exemplifies The Worst In America

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John McCain’s choice of Sarah Palin for vice-president is the same old Rovian divide-and-conquer electioneering strategy that got George W. Bush elected president – only worse. I'm not gonna say it’s a poor choice, it just clarifies the road McCain has chosen. Obama’s choice of Joe Biden was unexciting and yet a very smart attempt to create a well-rounded ticket not to gain votes by cherry-picking demographics, but to lead the country if elected.

McCain’s choice on the other hand was clearly designed to appeal to more than just undecided women voters and the over-rated evangelical block. McCain can now boast his candidacy to the presidency is just as historical as Obama’s and he is willing to risk dividing the country over it.

McCain has effectively created a new camp driven by our deeply underground national conscience fed by a latent discrimination of gender and race. He is willing to exploit those feelings by banking on that given the choice, bigoted and racist confederates will prefer a woman first over a black man to reach the Oval office. He's willing to resurrect the worst in America, for his own reward.

I supported Hillary Clinton in the primary, but not because she is a woman - and I now support Barack Obama, but not because he’s african-american – but only because they both happen to share the same democratic values, ideals and potential for reform and hope as I have. Oh, dear me - I’m such a partisan.

McCain’s vice-presidential selection once again proves it’s just more of the same.

High Risk, High Reward Excerpt:
"Palin has more executive-level decision-making and governing experience in two years than Obama and Biden do combined," said Scott Reed, Sen. Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign manager.

Hey, Scott.....did you forget John McCain? Perhaps Palin should be at the top of the GOP ticket?

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Gustav a Message from God?

Hurricanes Wrath of God to punish sin.
Nature used to punish sinful acts.
Katrina sent by God to punish gays.
Was Katrina God's punishment for abortion?

Is Gustav a punishment from God on the Republican Party for their gluttonous policies and sinful ways that are propelling America toward national suicide?

Newspaper's Brand Of Politics - Partisan

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Last Sunday’s Janesville Gazette contained an editorial whose title, “Politics often don’t matter to Gazette Editorial Board” seemed like an inadequate answer to a common question.

Written by the the newspaper’s editor, his perspective begins with the question.

JG Excerpt:
How does the Gazette decide what to support on it’s Opinion page or what candidates to endorse at election time?

More likely, this question is a question of “why” than “how,” but the key to remember was in the title, “politics often don’t matter.”

Politics of course is not a matter of Righties and Lefties, Republicans or Democrats, Conservatives and Liberals. And the existence of politics is not the problem facing America. There are classroom politics between students, office politics between workers and partisan politics played between partisans. Politics is played by nearly everyone including children in some way, shape and form everyday and nearly every hour to get what we want. When mixed with the media, politics can morph into an insidious character we call propaganda, to attain specific goals and steer a targeted base.

Politics is the art or science practiced when politicians engage and dis-engage – it can default simply to a behavior. Politics is a stone's throw away from diplomacy. When politics is lacking in a democratic government – we have grid-lock.

Which brings me back to our favorite newspaper - the Gazette. Nearly every editorial, including those the Gazette borrows from other newspapers, have some form of politics at the core driving the intentions, decisions, direction and solutions. Even the issue mentioned in this editorial, in favor of approving fee’s at Rotary Gardens is driven by a political ideology spun-off of the pro-privatization sideshow largely promoted by so-called Conservatives and corporate Republicans.

Take Friday’s edition for another example. The Gazette posts a photo of a back lit Barack Obama creating an aura or halo around him. No big deal, the photo is actually pretty cool. But turn to the Opinion page inside, and the paper drives their point home with a cartoon showing Obama standing on a auditorium stage, arms spread wide with the background message “The second coming.” Mind you, I’m not complaining and the paper certainly reserves this right – but is there a message we’re supposed to get here? I think so. In yesterday’s Gazette, syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker, a lifelong Clinton stalker, carries on with the same deceptively false theme when referring to Obama as “the one.”

These are in actuality minor abuses from a newspaper that claims, “politics often don’t matter.” But it’s enough to prove that the brand they’re playing is partisan. Probably the best barometer to tell what kind of partisan (party) politics a newspaper is channeling is best described by their endorsements.

This is a newspaper that ran articles against union workers running for local non-partisan office, but thinks citizens prepped by the politically active local chamber of commerce running for the same is perfectly fine. This is a newspaper who endorsed Bush twice, Mark Green for Governor and House Representative Paul Ryan - forever. They refused to endorse Judy Robson because she’s too liberal and Tammy Baldwin? Forget it, they endorsed Dave Magnum. They stayed out of the Ziegler/Clifford State Supreme Court Justice race, but editorialized about the dire consequences if Clifford were to be elected. They issued a phony endorsement for Louis Butler in an editorial that actually offered reasons why you might want to vote for Gableman. They chose WMC sponsored J.B. Van Hollen over Kathleen Falk. They also promote and endorse state GOP regulars like Debi Towns, Brett Davis, Steve Nass and Neal Kedzie without even blinking. In the last two election cycles, the Janesville Gazette chose Republicans for every state legislative office except one. Democrat Mike Sheridan.

That lone exception, and I do mean exception was clearly an endorsement for his ability to serve in a double-duty capacity with GM than his democratic principles and legislative workmanship. Things have changed now, Sheridan has cut his ties from the UAW leadership role and is a fully dedicated state legislator - and a good one. Will the Gazette endorse him next time around? My first thought is - I hope not.

Mind you, this is a bird's eye view and barely a snapshot of the brand of politics that matter most to the Janesville Gazette. I'm not saying they're right or wrong, I'm just doing my part contributing to the dialogue.

Note: Editorial not available on Web

Recommended Reading
Parade Magazine Power to the people

Patronage Jobs - The Spoils Of Power

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Thursday’s Janesville Gazette contained three articles exposing the questionable hiring practices and employment policies of Janesville’s city administration. Although the headline article titled Is nepotism policy OK? began with the opinion and assurance provided by an ethics professor that something is clearly wrong, none of the articles explained how and what transpired for the stories to become public.

Thursday's editorial did explain that the stories evolved out of a complaint from a city employee in January, which also means the paper was aware of further allegations when they ran a related story in the paper about the chain of fortunate events surrounding the hiring of an assistant attorney. What I found unusual was that this newspaper appears to have taken the initiative to follow-up and connect the dots on the questionable ethics reported on in the previous article. Allegations such as these are normally swept under the rug or marketed as “rumors’ and “falsehoods” spread by messengers of misinformation – you know, from malcontents like myself.

JG Excerpt:
Councilmember George Brunner said he believes the perception already exists among some residents, whether warranted or not. “Citizens develop perceptions, and when they develop those perceptions, they draw conclusions without having all the facts,” he said.

It is warranted. The perception is a reality.

When I wrote about the chain of events leading up to the employment of the current assistant city attorney back in May, I received several e-mails (3) from residents who stated they had applied for both full-time and seasonal jobs with the city only to be rejected without an interview. One applicant, applying for a job shelving books at the Hedberg Library sent me their resume as inventory specialist and controller of 40,000 units valued at over $20 million dollars and with near perfect attendance - also sent me the rejection letter from the city. It stated they received over 90 applicants who were better qualified for the position. No interview.

Another applicant rejected by Rotary Gardens recently contacted me and said “When people ask me where I work, I just tell them I’m unemployed – I live in Janesville.” I also noticed that all three of these applicants lived within walking distance of their hopeful employment opportunities. I kindly asked them to post their experience on my blog, they said they were afraid of retribution. I don't blame them.

We can call it nepotism, favoritism or cronyism. Attorneys and professors, often taught by the same schools, can debate the proper usage and meanings of these words for hours.

JG Excerpt:
"I don’t see this as being a nepotism thing,” Klimczyk said.

For the sake of our arguments, we can call it whatever we want and create our own definitions, but the plain truth here is when conventional hiring concepts are short-circuited and replaced by preferential treatment or appointments that are at the disposal of those in power – they become patronage jobs. Political affiliations are not a necessary requirement for patronage jobs, all that is required is "favors."

JG Excerpt:
Wellnitz is the son of Steve Sheiffer’s longtime secretary and is a former council member. Once Brunner viewed the hiring history of the position, however, he was convinced the hiring was handled correctly.

This only leads to more doubt and suspicion. Whose son, daughter, relative or friend was the last city assistant attorney, and the one before that?

Another valid point to consider is if this issue of nepotism rose out of a mayoral/aldermanic form of government, you had better believe this newspaper, along with thousands of their political allies would be orchestrating a movement to change the corrupted process and power structure.

If we're looking for blame, I don't blame City Manager Steve Sheiffer. After 20 years at the helm, it's only human nature to exercise some power of authority. I'm not blaming anyone for high crimes either, but I do blame previous city councils for unanimously confirming raises and votes of confidence onto the manager. I also blame the supporters of this bandaged and propped up non-representative form of failed government for a gang mentality fueled by a self-ingratiating superiority.

What also comes into play that is often overlooked are the allegations and the existence of the stories. Why isn't the Gazette viewed as a malcontent with a chip on their shoulder for publishing these stories? Had the Gazette not published the stories, how would city residents know any wrong-doing took place now or before? What does the Gazette have against the city manager or administration? Why now? - when the manager is in his final days. I'll admit I'm being facetious here but sooner or later, Janesville residents will have to come to terms with themselves for allowing the public discourse to be held captive by one entity. Please - save yourselves.

Don't Expect Change With City Manager's Retirement

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Monday's Janeville City Council meeting included a speech by retiring City Manager Steve Sheiffer. He laid out some of the city's accomplishments during his long (21 years) and honorable service. Despite the apparent power vacuum that will follow, city residents shouldn't expect any changes in the city's demeanor, policy or process. It's still stay the course.

I wish Mr. Sheiffer a long, healthy and happy retirement.

Several other seemingly harmless issues were also bandied about during the meeting. One of them was a resolution to allow public use of the council chambers for public meetings held by community groups such as the League of Women Voters for candidate debates. Excluding one council member, the council began to immediately draw on building security and discrimination concerns regarding public use as justification to eventually deny the request.

But I’m thinking………where did I hear something like this before?

Rock Netroots:
May, 2007 - But whether it was the new four-court gyms of the Janesville School Referendum or the newly renovated Janesville City Hall kitchen complete with LCD TV, one of hot selling points brought up to convince the taxpayers to open their wallets is the idea that these facilities can be used by the public for various events and community activities.

I would guess by now that community-use functions of a taxpayer built facility is no longer considered a selling point.

On a different issue and one guaranteed to raise a loud protest will be sidewalks.........again.

Remember, last year the council decided to move forward on sidewalks by voting to suspend their installation in areas of the city where there are none. In the meantime the city has continued with their sidewalk repair program by marking existing sidewalks with defects as little as one-half inch out of alignment for replacement and sending the homeowner the bill. Certainly, the gloomy local economic forecast will be playing a larger role in these decisions. Which leads me to this. Why is the economy of those already with sidewalks in front of their homes any different than the economy of those without sidewalks?

And finally near the end of the council meeting, Janesville Councilman Yuri Rashkin suggested those opposed to government (Janesville’s non-district at-large form and absence of citizen's appeals) should take up their crusade for individual property owners in Russia – where they chase reformers across the border and poison them.

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Democratic National Convention
Hillary Clinton gave a fabulous speech Tuesday night in support of Barack Obama. She coined a cutesy "No Way, No How, No McCain" campaign slogan and mentioned how fitting it was for the party of George W. Bush and McCain to hold their convention in the "Twin" Cities. But perhaps the best line was this simple yet convincing point she aimed at her supporters to dispel any lingering doubts. "Don't tell me you were in this campaign just for me."

Vote Obama! The alternative is unacceptable.

Congressional Challenger - Wrong Party, Wrong District

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Peter Theron, launched his official candidacy to run against Rep. Tammy Baldwin for Congress on Saturday using the GM plant in Janesville as a backdrop. The bespectacled math teacher couldn't have picked a better example than the job losses at the plant to illustrate the economic policy failures of its congressional representative - except for one minor detail.

Capital Times Excerpt:
Theron went down to Janesville for his first campaign announcement because he wanted to pose in front of the recently closed General Motors plant there to dramatize his point. No matter that the plant itself is not in the 2nd District, it is close enough and its shutdown affects thousands of workers in the district, he said.

The GM plant is not located in Baldwin's district. Instead, it had the unfortunate luck to reside in the district of the chosen one for status quo low-wage conservatism - Rep. Paul Ryan. Many believe this election will be a referendum on George W. Bush and his congressional enablers. It's no secret that Paul Ryan ranks right near the top in that group.

Capital Times Excerpt:
"When my opponent was first elected to Congress the cost of gasoline was about $1.20 a gallon. Under her watch, gasoline has passed $4 a gallon. A tankful of gasoline that used to cost $30 now costs $100," he said in his announcement speech. "Some shrug, others suggest walking. I insist on drilling." -- Peter Theron, Republican Candidate for the 2nd Congressional District of Wisconsin

Is this even a legitimate talking point? Under her watch?

Theron, including Republicans like Ryan think the best way to wean an addict off of the junk is to give 'em a booster shot?

Gasoline prices have been marching upward beginning with the Bush war on Iraq rubber stamped by a GOP–led Congress. In effect, they got their booster shot from this ill-begotten war, oil production in Iraq is at its highest level since the US-led invasion of 2003. At over 2.4 million barrels a day it's more than twice the oil we can ever expect to pump out of ANWR, yet prices continued to climb. Remember, Iraq's oil was nearly off-line before the war and was limited to minor trading under a corrupted oil-for-food program. Prices for oil and gasoline were relatively low back then.

While Bush continues to veto democratic legislation, the repeated call for more drilling drums to the beat on the assumption energy prices will fall. Iraq's booster shot to global oil supplies is clear evidence to the contrary.

Connecting TIF's To BID's

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Last Saturday, the Janesville Gazette ran an article titled Tax Increase largest In Southeastern Wisconsin, which attempted to explain the driving forces behind the huge levy increase in Walworth County. According to a new study by the Public Policy Forum(?), most of the blame not surprisingly, is placed on the schools. But more interesting here was the subject of TIF Districts and how they might play a major role in local tax increases. Remember, most pro-TIF sponsors swear the districts have zero-to-little influence on property taxes.

JG Excerpt:
Property taxes are collected from entities within the TIF district to pay for expenses within the district, he said, and taxpayers outside the TIF district do not pay for those expenses.

That’s true, but it's only one-half of the story behind TIF's. At least the statement laid out the reasoning to deduce that property taxes collected from TIF entities pay ONLY for expenses within the district – also meant that the taxes collected inside the TIF DO NOT pay for expenses OUTSIDE of the district. That may seem like a simple deduction, but the article seemed to go to great lengths to avoid it.
Adding more to this half of the story not mentioned is this: Since property taxes (above the baseline value established at onset of the TIF) collected from entities within TIF districts DO NOT PAY for expenses outside the district, it means businesses, institutions and property in a TIF District share all the same amenities (schools, roads, police and fire) and rising costs as everyone else, but their assessed values don’t participate in the levy paying the bills. This shifts a greater burden of the taxes onto those outside the district until the TIF agreement matures. And even then, city administrators including those in Janesville, are starting to shift successful early TIF funds to other TIF districts instead of returning this money in the form of a tax surplus. This is an area I believe that should be revisited by state regulators of TIF agreements and connected with BID's.

JG excerpt:
JANESVILLE — One speaker likened a proposed Business Improvement District to a train that will carry downtown Janesville and its supporters to a revitalized city center that’s been missing from the community’s landscape for decades.

But why has it been missing for decades? What was the city administration doing in the meantime? I'll tell you what they were doing. They were annexing farmland and other vacant land around the the outer edges of the city and drawing TIF districts around them. This has been a slow and meticulous process over a span of twenty-five years that not only drew attention away from the business core of the city, it rewarded the participants. In many cases, these developments would have been built anyways without using the TIF District tool.

Is a BID just what downtown property owners, business managers and entrepreneurs want to hear? – that their properties will be assessed at a special higher rate to attract and encourage more business. After 20 years of chasing re-investment away from downtown, the city administration and planning commission find it okay to levy a higher tax?

How many other cities and small towns in Wisconsin or the U.S. for that matter, have done the same two-step - TIFing sprawl and then BIDding the shortchanged inner core of the community. So the question is not only one of responsibility, it is one of fairness. Why do we reward the merchants of carbon consuming, environmentally damaging, fuel wasting sprawl with a TIF - yet punish the merchants of the revitalization of a walkable, efficient downtown with a BID? It makes no sense.

So.....this is my idea. Rewrite the state laws governing TIF Districts so that surplus funds from successful TIF's cannot be redistributed or shifted to younger or failing TIF's. This will have a two-fold effect. One, city planners and councils might not be so quick to rubber stamp a new TIF if they can't use surplus funds from another. And two, that this rewrite includes a provision that surplus TIF revenue can only be ported/funneled back to the existing areas neglected and shortchanged in the form of BID's OR returned to the general tax fund to lower the tax levy.

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FUN FACT

Excerpt:
Illinois, which had one TIF district in 1970, now has 874 (including one in the town of Wilmington, population 129). A moderate-sized city like Janesville, Wisconsin—a town of 60,000 about an hour from Madison—has accumulated 26 TIFs.

Janesville might have as many as 32 TIF districts. There are 130 TIF districts in Chicago, comprising nearly 30% of the land area of the City. More and more, Chicago (pop. 2,800,000) residents have been questioning the wisdom of expanding tax increment financing districts, calling for substantive reforms, and putting accountability into the governance of such districts. Chicago of course has a notorious city council but consider this: Based on population, if Chicago had an at-large city council with Janesville’s wayward growth personality, Chicago would have over 1,100 TIF Districts.

Read More: TIF Districts a bad deal.

Feingold Warns Of Partisanship

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This is the second time in two months that Sen. Russ Feingold has warned of McCain's chances to win Wisconsin. Last time, Feingold felt Obama may be in the right place at the right time to carry a historical victory over McCain. This time though, through a Capital Times analysis, Feingold sounds more of a warning against partisanship.

Capital Times Excerpt:
If you want to appeal to Wisconsin voters, don't talk about what's wrong about McCain. Talk about who is going to help really solve the fundamental problems. When it comes to health care, and a balanced energy solution and jobs, Obama's case is so obviously more compelling than McCain's. Rest your case on that. Make that the issue."

If not making a campaign a personal attack on your opponent is what the good Senator means, then I totally agree.

But I don’t know if it's a smart thing to do, to not remind voters during the campaign of where the opponent stands and how they voted in Congress. Oftentimes, particularly with incumbents, their votes ARE the issues.

Take Rep. Paul Ryan for instance, here’s a guy, a nice guy by some standards, who has blamed Congress for most of our problems. But which Congress is the problem? The one he voted “Yea” with during his first eight years in Congress, or the one he votes “Nay” against for the last two? Am I being partisan for even posing those questions? Or was Ryan being partisan when he cast his votes? Regardless, it really does seem that Democrats are held to a higher standard when it comes to countering the lies and below-the-belt punches because after all, we're the tolerant ones.

But the problem for some seems to be their inability to know when and where partisanship belongs, as I believe the only place for partisanship is in a campaign. It definitely does not belong in Congress or the White House. It very well could be that some have difficulties drawing this distinction or knowing when to quit.

Still, Feingold's advice is definitely worth heeding. I only hope he's right.

Local Newspaper Turned Into Partisan Plaything

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It didn’t take the new owner of the Janesville Messenger, Bliss Communications, too long to turn the Messenger, a twice-a-week free newspaper, into a full blown WMC propaganding hack-arm for the Republican Party. Last week Wednesday’s Messenger set the stage when the newspaper exploited the military service of a candidate for the Wisconsin state legislature into a shameless political folly as a front-page news story. Of course, the candidate’s party officials gave their blessings!

Sunday’s edition of the Messenger continued on this apparent new path. Articles were loaded down with business promotional material and WMC affiliates masquerading as news articles including one on TV4US, describing the corporate lobbyist organization as an advocacy group working on behalf of cable customers. The Messenger editorial page, never to be outdone, was the usual mindless chatter and demagoguery most of us in Janesville have become accustomed to over the years.

But the story here is, in my years of reading and watching these newspapers, I’ve never seen the Messenger taken down to such bottom-feeding depths and one-dimensional content outside of the editorial page. Evidently, Bliss has turned this newspaper into a battering ram plaything for itself to promote their political agenda.

Individuals with progressive ideals and like-minded businesses in Rock and Walworth might want to take a step back and reconsider what these newspapers represent and what you’re supporting when buying into marketing and advertising in their pages. Granted, Bliss has a near monopoly here and there are few local alternatives, but we’re not doing ourselves any favors supporting newspapers whose political agenda will thrive only by dividing the community.

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On a separate but relevant note and not much better than our newspapers here in Janesville, was the newsprint front page of Sunday’s Chicago Tribune. The headliner read, “The Mud Hits Chicago: The murder rate in the city is up 18 percent over last year. Republicans and attack ads are trying to put the blame on Barack Obama. We weigh the charges against his record.” No kidding here folks, the Chicago Tribune, once considered one of the top newspapers in the country, thinks running an attack ad on their front page and then debating it - is headline news! And traditional newsprint wonders why they're losing readers?

Best Explanation For Georgia/Russia Conflict so far.

Local Firm Targets Liberals

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Anti-American Movie Financed By Hendricks

BDN Excerpt:
The movie, “An American Carol,” was financed by the Hendrickses, owners of Beloit's ABC Supply Co. and many other associated businesses.

“An American Carol” spoofs liberalism in America by poking fun at it's main character, American documentary maker Michael Moore, according to a press release about the film.

It’s no great secret that many Americans on both the Left and Right are thoroughly disgusted with the GOP and the Bush Administration’s take-down of liberal America. Yet this is a firm (Hendricks) that has done very well practicing some of the finer principles of America's economic liberalism despite clinging to a far-right ideology.

Instead of pulling their commercial and residential property investments up by the excesses of their own golden-laced bootstraps, multi-billion dollar Hendrick's Developments has liberally negotiated for taxpayer hand-outs to socialize the risk in many of their private business ventures. One hand-out included a $2.7 million water tower paid for by the residents of Janesville to serve the high elevation terrain needs of their planned country club homes development. Over here in Janesville and elsewhere, these are usually referred to as “public/private partnerships.” So it's odd that they would bite the hand that fuels their private enterprise.

As far as the movie is concerned, it simply can't be taken seriously. The truth is, any kind of documentary produced by the right-wing nuts in Hollywood attacking liberals are all "spoofs," unlike documentaries by the likes of Michael Moore, which are serious socio-political statements made with historical reports and real-life characters. "An American Carol" is made up of fabricated characters and plots. It's a comedy. The scenes and skits from the American Carol trailer look completely harmless if not moronic.

Entertainment value appears to be low – it’s a stinker. Zero stars.

Rip Rap

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How Democrats Can Lose

Michael Moore:
Show up to a gunfight with a peashooter. Convince yourself that the Republicans are just going to roll over and play dead because there is simply no life left in their party. Convince yourself this one is in the bag! Convince yourself that if you play by the rules, the Republicans will, too.

Politics is local. Democrats in Rock County must keep their eyes peeled and their ears open, particularly on the traditional media and groups affiliated with the WMC. They own the publicity machinery and are working hard every minute to change the course of progress.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

Aug.14,2008

"This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia, where Russia can invade its neighbor, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it. Things have changed." -- CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. Secretary of State, on the conflict between Russia and Georgia.

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A poor misguided Republican….who..still believes that somewhere in the universe exists a GOP not to be ashamed of.

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Fox Slimes Obama Part 2

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State Government Smaller Under Gov. Doyle :
Doyle said he had reversed the trend of expanding government and had significantly reduced the number of positions. He also pointed to other ways the state has found to save money, such as increased use of technology.

This despite a growing population. Considering that nearly half of our state legislature are those small government, tax and job cutters we jokingly call Republicans, where are their lists of proposed jobs cuts and positions to eliminate within their own districts?

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Time Traveling Terrorists?

(July 30,2008) Financial Times (UK):
Egyptian-born Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, who was also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, was one of six Arab men who were killed in a remote region along the Afghan border, according to an intelligence official.

This next report from over two years ago.

(Jan. 18, 2006) ABC News:
ABC News has learned that Pakistani officials now believe that al Qaeda's master bomb maker and chemical weapons expert was one of the men killed in last week's US missile attack in eastern Pakistan.
Midhat Mursi, 52, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, was identified by Pakistani authorities as one of four known major al Qaeda leaders present at an apparent terror summit in the village of Damadola early last Friday morning.

This guy has been martyred twice.

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McCain Running Democrat Praise Ads

Excerpt:
"The real question is what happened to the John McCain we used to know and why he changed overnight into a George Bush nominee with a Karl Rove campaign." Biden said it was "unfortunate" McCain had "changed so much in just eight years." Dean contended the McCain of 2000 would not "consider voting for the John McCain of 2008."

Are things that bad in the Republican Party where the only good that can be said about them comes from Democrats?

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When Human Garbage Speaks

Hollywood Gossip Excerpt:
"My theory, that I just explained to you about why - you know, what could have John Edwards' motivations been to have the affair with Rielle Hunter, given his wife is smarter than he is and probably nagging him a lot about doing this, and he found somebody that did something with her mouth other than talk." – Rush Limbaugh……....obviously jealous of Reille Hunter

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Carter's Economy: The Good Ol' Days

Bad News Excerpt:
Moreover, the Fed appears willing, for now, to accept a few months of big headline inflation numbers as long as there's no sign of the dreaded wage-price spiral - the 1970s phenomenon in which inflation took root as pinched workers demanded raises.

Oh yeah, the dreaded wage-price spiral. We don't want that....God forbid if workers were leveraged enough to demand wages that lock stepped with artificially induced consumer-price inflation. According to the Fed, inflation is fine as long as wages aren't causing it or reacting to it?

July Foreclosures Up 55%
Inflation At 17-Year High a different Bush was president
Illinois Unemployment Jumps To 7.3%
.....and that's the good news.

Excerpt:
"The American worker does not have a whole lot of bargaining power right now," says Simons. "We're looking at the impoverishment of the American wage earner."

Community Out Of Touch At Ryan Fest

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U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan talked mostly about energy and gas prices Monday at an African American Community forum held in Racine, Wisconsin.

Ryan Doing His Own Thang:
“He was trying to get his point across as a Republican by pitting the Democrats and the Republicans sides as too different,” -- constituent

Rep. Paul Ryan? Pitting Democrats against Republicans? Noooo.

Excerpt:
“My experience has been a lot of people want to talk about energy and gas prices. My goal was to give constituents my plan on the issue and have them leave better informed.” -- Rep. Paul Ryan

Come on, pee-ple. GET with the PRO-gram.

Excerpt:
In the middle of the forum, a woman asked Ryan about Racine’s economy. Ryan said he thinks the economy will remain in trouble, but that the answer goes back to fuel. He suggested lowering gas prices and reducing inflation as ways to fix the country’s apparent recession.

In case you haven't noticed all of the oil wells in south-eastern Wisconsin, what better reason to vote against the Farm Bill?

Excerpt:
Ryan said drilling for U.S. oil would create between 50,000 and 100,000 jobs and would create......

.....solutions to all your problems - see - if the democrats would only let us drill. Blame them.

Excerpt:
“Fuel is very interconnected to the economy,” he said about his response. “It wasn’t me driving the issue, it was me answering questions.”

Excerpt:
Ken Lumpkin, a local black community leader, helped host the event. After the forum, he said another community forum would be necessary to address additional issues of interest to the black community.

Memo to black community: Why bother?
More On Racine Forum Here.

More Ryan Here

Corporate Taxes Still Too High At Zero

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Majority Corporations Pay No Taxes

Sort of echos' what I've been saying here all along, except I've said American corporations generally pay the same federal tax rate. Little did I know that meant most pay no federal taxes AT ALL - NOT AT ALL. YES - they all pay the same - ZERO! Those that do pay tax.....are able to recoup the tax from a embedded mark-up in the price for their product.

Once upon a time, America had the finest income tax system in the world, until Congress gerrymandered it with loopholes, tax credits and exemptions. Based on sliding-scale brackets of annual income, it used to be those who acquire the greatest percentage of annual wealth also paid the greatest percentage in taxes. Not any more. Consumers and property owners pay the majority of ALL the taxes - regardless of their income.

Excerpt:
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) examined samples of corporate tax returns filed between 1998 and 2005. In that time period, an annual average of 1.3 million U.S. companies and 39,000 foreign companies doing business in the United States paid no income taxes - despite having a combined $2.5 trillion in revenue.

According to the GOP, the complexity of our tax code needlessly burdens American businesses into paying NO taxes!!.....looks like another corporate tax cut is in order....or another loophole....a tax credit....or a TIF District....or some other taxpayer funded hand-out. SOMETHING!! I mean - how will we compete??

Oh, this is charming.
McCain says "cut corporate taxes." How do you cut something from nothing? But wait. Republicans propose that if we lower the tax rate on corporations from a percentage they don't pay anyways, suddenly corporations will start paying. This suggestion must come from the same talking-points memo passed around by GOP Club For Growthers to prove, counter-intuitively I might add, that tax cuts generate more government spending revenue.

Hasn't the redistribution of wealth ushered in by the Bush tax cuts widened the rich/poor gap enough? Nooooooo. They want more.

Tomorrow, there will probably be a report stating the opposite - that American corporations pay the most taxes - it never fails.

Wal-Mart Warns About Prosperity

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Wal-Mart Attacks Excerpt:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Friday it has warned U.S. store managers in recent weeks about the possible consequences of a labor-friendly bill backed by Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama that would make it easier for workers to form unions.

The action by pinko-pioneer Wal-Mart -- the nation's largest private employer -- reflects their fear of a growing awakening among U.S. workers that a reinvigorated labor movement could reverse years of low wages and shortchanged benefits. If large employers like Wal-Mart paid their customers workers a better wage, shoppers already being hurt by rising fuel, commodities costs and the tough economic climate would have more money in their pockets.

Heart of the mess:
Most Americans can no longer maintain their standard of living. The only lasting remedy is to improve their standard of living by widening the circle of prosperity.

Corporate America Prepares Assault Against Workers

Mutual Assured Destruction Behind U.S. Debt?

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China's Bargaining Chip Excerpt:
"There is surely something odd about the world's greatest power being the world's greatest debtor," Mr. Summers told the audience gathered at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

But the pro-growth folks don’t look at the greatest exchange in wealth as being a debt situation. They view this as a “stakeholder” position for countries like China, India and Saudi Arabia. This is the first commandment of globalization. If we collapse, they collapse right along with us. They don’t want us to collapse, so they buy our debt. The more they buy the more they become a vital stakeholder in a bankrupt country. In theory, countries buying into America don't want to hurt their own investment.

When Hugo Chavez cashed in some of his country's notes on American debt, it was said Bush was fuming. Our government views that as almost an act of war. When America eventually goes belly-up and is declared officially bankrupt, a country like Venezuela now might not be as greatly effected.

The power players in American government either don’t care too much about the debt, or don't take it seriously. Have you ever noticed how Congress racks up more debt every year - but only brings it up on their opponent during election time? In fact, a national budgetary surplus (Clinton) is considered illegally kept money by many so-called conservatives.

Democrats are not exactly innocent, but this White House, the republican platform, conservatives and Wall Street/Fed policies WANT to borrow and spend, this is one of the main reasons why they are so dead set against taxing and spending. In government, you're labeled as a anti-growth socialist democrat commie if you actually want to support a government expenditure with a tax revenue mechanism.

"What's most disturbing about the U.S. situation is that as America's debts rise higher and higher, the less influence the American government will have over the critical decisions" that will need to be made to address these imbalances," Mr. Tonelson said.

And do you know how they’ll make up for these imbalances? By using mechanisms like interest rates to induce inflation and playing games with currency exchange rates and whatever else the monetary standard is based on. Currently it is oil. The gamble here is that by the time China decides to cash in $2 trillion in notes, the U.S. dollar will be worth only 1/10 what it was worth during the duration of the note. Don’t believe me? The dollar has dropped almost 50% in value since Bush took office and it is still trending downward. When asked about the value of the dollar and what his plans are to strengthen it, Bush (wink-wink) just says he favors a strong dollar. End of story.

And this is the same pro-growth stakeholder scheme they use on everybody. Want to buy a house? If you can’t buy it outright they are more than pleased to encourage you to go into debt. A key talking point is this – don’t worry too much about the actual debt or duration, just get a good interest rate and worry about the details later. You’ll be a stakeholder and by the time you near the end of the loan, you’ll be making much more money – it’ll be easier to pay off. How many times have you heard that line? Why? Because by then, the dollar WILL be worth much less than it was. Simple rampant capitalism. Nobody ever asks “what is the goal or endgame of the pro-growth scheme? or "what happens when the chips are cashed in?”

If it weren’t so true, this all would be very funny.

Democratic Candidate For 1st CD Withdraws

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Excerpt:
I, John Mogk, a candidate for U.S. Congress representing the 1st Congressional District, am announcing today my decision to withdraw from the Democratic primary scheduled for September 9. I entered the race in late May of this year at the urging of many supporters, and am proud of the campaign we've run, bringing up important issues like the environment, renewable energies, and creating jobs in Southeast Wisconsin.

Read more here

Skateboard Park Slip Sliding Away

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Last week was a busy time for the Janesville Gazette as the newspaper actively attempted to shape public opinion on several different local issues. One of them, the editor’s outburst against Mercy Hospital’s guarded position handling their job and service cuts was discussed here. Another is the the skatepark location debate in which the newspaper is also priming up public support for their position.

From the comments made by the skateboard fundraising couple, Fern and Roger S. (FRS), it became apparent they were walking into a trap partly of their own making. The couple (FRS), raised nearly $22,000 in seed-money donations for a skateboard facility to be built in Palmer Park. The Janesville City Council approved of the Palmer Park site in 2005, but because of the poor local economic forecast, they (council and city administration) now have hinted that city money won’t be there unless they choose a different location in a low-income targeted (Federal funding) area. This is when the game playing began.

The couple (FRS) spoke out against moving the park to a different location outside of Palmer, to the Jackson/Delavan St. area, an area neglected by city planners for the past 90 years and adjacent to the NE corner of the GM plant.

Unfortunately their choice of words were not carefully considered when they offered their reasons to keep the skatepark at Palmer. Among them was the notion that Palmer is “family-oriented and close to the interstate” implied their plan is not primarily for the children of Janesville and a different location might not be as family-oriented as they would like. Afterward, the Gazette (Aug. 2) ran an editorial titled “Don’t dismiss Jackson Street skatepark idea” where they gave their reasons to move the facility away from Palmer. Among them…..

JG Editorial Excerpt:
It could be argued that the Jackson Street site is more centrally located and is nearer more low-income families whose children would relish the chance to do skateboarding and bicycling tricks at the facility.

A-hem. And what exactly do the middle-class and upper-crust kids relish? Will low-income children relish it at Palmer any less? And when park plans came up for a wading pool, volleyball court or playgrounds at Palmer, did anyone suggest putting them into the Jackson St. area because of their a-hem, central location? What must be understood here is that the Gazette and their supporters view a skateboard park as a nuisance facility, not a privileged activity for “family,” and this matters because that’s driving their opposition to the couple and their argument to move the facility. That and “no money” conservatism.

JG Editorial Excerpt:
Many nearby residents never wanted the skatepark to further congest beautiful Palmer Park, and dog owners don’t want the facility to squeeze their pet exercise area.

Despite that the Palmer location was previously approved, the newspaper pits the neighbors and dog owners from out of nowhere against the FRS couple. Palmer Park is a wonderful asset to Janesville and a top attraction, but to imply a skatepark would “congest” it was obviously a code word used in place of what they really meant.

On Thursday, the Gazette published a rebuttal by FRS to the newspaper's Jackson St. skatepark position titled ‘Skatepark must be in safe part of city” which hit the mark about their safety concerns for the kids, a concern of no less importance than the concern for safety justifying the controversial bike tunnel. But the article also contained this little tidbit.

JG Excerpt:
Locating the skatepark in the area near the batting cages might only be a temporary situation. Reputable sources state the batting cages will be moved to a different location.

A-hem. To a more “family-oriented” location I suppose? Like to the Youth Sports Complex where the city plans to spend $1.3 million despite the slowing economy and tough budget decisions? This gets ugly real fast.

To suggest that a skatepark can help turn the Jackson/Delavan area around is disingenuous in the least. I could be wrong, but this neglected area in Janesville deserves much more thought and grander ideas than a skateboard park, and it’s nearby residents deserve to be heard regardless of their economic class from the start to the finish - and that includes any attempts by the city to remove the batting cages.

Outside of the safety concerns, the reasons the FRS couple use to defend the Palmer site are just as wrong (in my opinion) as the Gazette's reasons to put it on Jackson Street. They both emanate from a brand of class and culture warfare that can only guarantee further segregation and polarize the community. The City of Janesville deserves better.

Note: Rebuttal/Editorial Weblinks not available. As a courtesy to the fund raising couple, only their initials were used to avoid search engine robots.

McCain's Holy Trinity

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First, the McCain Campaign compared Barack Obama's popularity to that of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Now it's Jesus Christ.

McCain Mocking Christian Faith:
"This ad tries to portray Senator Obama as some kind of Messiah and mocks those who support him as cult-like followers looking for a new Savior."

The Beloit Daily News seems to be cool with it all.

BDN Editorial:
First, though, an observation: There's nothing wrong with injecting a little humor into a presidential campaign. Political messages can be deadly dull and dumbfoundingly dry. McCain apparently understands a basic premise of political advertising - you have to get their attention before you can get their vote.

Ha - ha. All I can say is McLame BETTER be the GOP presidential nominee. There's no turning back now.

Paris hilarious rebuttal:
"But then that wrinkly, white-haired guy used me in his campaign ad, which I guess means I'm running for president. So thanks for the endorsement white-haired dude." -- Paris Hilton

And what would Jesus say to McCain?

Who will be next to be mocked by John McCain? Our moms?

Newspaper Puts Itself First

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In a bizarre op-ed titled “Mercy owes community more details on its cuts” in Sunday’s Janesville Gazette, the Gazette editor lashed out at Mercy Hospital’s executive decision to keep the details of possible service cuts out of the public eye, at least until after all of their internal affairs are re-aligned and effected employees are informed.

The editor however, felt the newspaper should have been the first to hear about the cuts and that Mercy had much to discuss in the public forum, even trying to pin the hospital’s quasi-public/private business status as reason enough to throw their employee’s privacy and dignity under a bus. I completely disagree.

The next few years will be a tough time for workers in Janesville, and to find out whether or not you have a job tomorrow is first discovered by reading a newspaper is an arrogant, heartless and ignorant way for it to be handled. Other major employers in Rock County would do well on the behalf of their workers and customers by following in mercy’s footsteps.

This sort of sensitive information should be disseminated at the speed of the business in question, not at the urgency to satisfy the thirst of a third party informational service need-to-know. In this instance, employees and customers of the hospital are the only interest that must be served and protected, not the newspaper’s. Mercy did the right thing.

NOTE: Gazette Op-Ed Weblink not available

Garin Campaign Update

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* Campaign Release *

VOTE Primary, September 9, 2008


Friends,

Enthusiasm surrounding my campaign continues to grow as I make my way across the 1st CD trying to meet as many of you as possible.

There have been so many exciting moments with all of the various office openings for the Obama campaign combining with the great county parties we have here in the 1st CD. What a terrific opportunity it has been to see so many of you!

The highlight of the past week came when I stood with my union brothers and sisters outside the McCain Town Hall meeting in Racine, Thursday, July 31. Andy Shaw, the political reporter from WLS Channel 7 in Chicago interviewed me. Click here to watch the clip.

We have included for you the list of upcoming candidate forums and my own listening sessions. Please check my blog periodically for any changes and for the most recent campaign news.

I look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail as we move closer to the September 9th Primary!

Thank you,
Paulette

---

Meet the candidate. Join Paulette Garin in Janesville on Tuesday, August 12th for a listening sesson at 2 p.m.

Janesville Senior Center
69 S. Water Street
Janesville, WI

1st Congressional District Juiced To Flip

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If Monday's headline is any indication of how the Janesville Gazette responds to the huge turn-out last week at the Obama Campaign Grand Opening in Janesville, you can bet the paper is priming up to mount a solid effort on behalf of John McCain.

Instead of reporting on the local Obama event with good, subjective journalism, the newspaper's coverage of the turn-out (up to 200 attendees) was relegated to an anonymous comment in Sunday's edition. The Gazette, (just in case you might want to know why all those people showed up at the Obama office opening they failed to cover) then tops it off with an unbalanced McClatchy-Tribune analysis of Obama's popularity as front page news headlines the next day, quoting McCain aides describing Obama's leadership appeal as nothing more than a candidacy based on celebrity-ism among other things.

JG Excerpt: (quote highlighted in newspaper)
"(The election is) either about Obama or about Bush, McCain loses. If it's about Obama, he (McCain) has a possibility to win" -- GOP Strategist

Matt Dowd.... forgetting that if the election is about John McCain OR the Republican Party - Obama wins again!!

The core premise to the article is this: Republicans want us to know that if we pay too much attention to Obama, he will lose.

At this moment, McCain's popular vote numbers are not going to change, he probably has 50 million votes today and 50 million on Election Tuesday. They know Obama probably has 54 million right now and the only way to defeat him is to smear and slander him down to 48 million. Those 6 million won't vote for either candidate....McCain wins.

That's McCain's low-road strategy and you can believe there will be no apologies, win or lose.

Dowd's observation though also explains how important it is for voters in the 1st Congressional District to maintain consistency. In other words, it should be against the political law of "gravity" for both Rep. Paul Ryan (Bush) and Sen. Barack Obama to win the south-eastern corner of Wisconsin.

DailyKos Excerpt:
Focus on…..Wisconsin
District 1—Paul Ryan (Inc R). This suburban district on the Illinois border is the most politically neutral district now held by a Republican. This one and the 8th are the only ones considered "on the map" in 2008, and even then, only barely.

Ryan’s Democratic opponent will be either Marge Krupp, a chemical engineer, or Paulette Garin, a teacher and CPA.

In a wave year, this one has a chance of flipping. If it does not flip, most of my thoughts on redistricting are directed to this blue corner of the state, which can be made to flip. In the last redistricting, it was gerrymandered to protect the incumbent.

In good years for Ryan, Democratic challengers with little to say and no money averaged 35% of the vote. That is a solid core for anybody to build on against Ryan in the general and we can bet it has changed dramatically since the last election.

In the 1st CD, Democrats for Obama must also remain focused on Paul Ryan, his congressional record, his republicanism and his ideological link to George W. Bush just the same in order to pull off a win for Obama. This is the key for victory.

Ideas For Janesville's Future

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How Things Got This Way

JG Editorial Excerpt:
City Manager Steve Sheiffer say’s the city’s vision is to make the Dawson/Jackson Street area a major park.

Just what Janesville needs - another greenbelt park.

What Janesville does need is thee park. You know what I mean, a large park built from big dreams with big money and all the civic attractions and markers expressing what Janesville is all about.

We have the location in Riverside for this but unfortunately, they have splintered the activities over the years, and administration elites drove much of the funding into Palmer. It’s too bad because City Planners now have two parks dividing the city and now want to segregate it further by creating another medium scale park in what could arguably be the city’s most prime real estate for economic development.

But what I find just as troubling if not an obstruction to progress is the city’s rigidity on an ancient and unfunded vision the City Manager has referred to as the Riverfront Plan.

Janesville Neighborhood Shut Out Of Progress:
After almost 90 years, Janesville finally is starting to look the way John Nolen envisioned it could. The famed landscape architect, who was integral in planning a state park system for Wisconsin, was called in to take a look at Janesville's first city plans and had an idea.
"This was back around 1920," said Brad Cantrell, the city's planning director. "He recommended the city turn the area along the Rock River into parks and open space. He saw it as a major asset to business, and up to that point, it had kind of been an industrial corridor. A lot of businesses here had turned their backs on the Rock River."

And do you know what? The Delavan/Jackson Street area in Janesville has been frozen in time ever since. Who wants to invest in a business or buy property in an area when the city wants to turn it into a park from plans drawn up nearly 90 years ago?

At the last council meeting the City Manager made another interesting comment. He said when the city council approves a development or commits to a resolution, the action is void if no funding is earmarked by the time the council’s term expires. Yet the city planners continue to rehash Nolen’s plan not from 20 years or even 40 years ago, but from 90 years ago! Those supporting this old idea today are said to be visionaries. Nolen was the visionary, and after almost a century of unfunded mandates, I’d say his term has expired.

The Jackson/Delavan Street Area

This is MY idea for the Jackson/Delavan St. area.

Turn it into a mixture of privately developed mid-rise condo’s and small stores with large sweeping terraces to the river. The properties would be oriented with their facade, balconies, decorative features and large windows facing the river. The views would be spectacular relative to what Janesville has to offer. Sure, the street side faces GM, but there are architectural and landscaping tricks that could be employed to diminish this adverse view. And who knows how long those smokestacks and industrial tanks will remain in play anyhow, with the expected closing of the plant. It would give Janesville a taste of what they’ve seen in other towns and would offer a fine example encouraging other property owners along the downtown river corridor to join the club - without forcing them.

This would be a high-end development with the river as the main attraction, not some earthen berm meant to block the view of a Big Box store. This would serve as Janesville’s experimental concept and entrance into 21th century living, eventually melding the nearby and affordable single-family residences from the Fourth Ward into a well balanced and self-sustaining community. Micro CSA’s could fill in any remaining vacant parcels.

Turning this area into another green-belt park would be a crime whose time has past. It would return zero tax dollars and would continue to push economic development away from the city’s core to the outer edges in the form of sprawl. It’s time to get past the 1920’s. If anything, the cost of energy demands it.

The GM Plant

Of course, I hope Janesville does not lose the GM factory, but if we do, I’ve mentioned another one of MY ideas in a comment to an earlier posting from June 28th.

It involves turning the 200+ acre facility grounds into a wind and solar power generating facility - NOT a factory as recently explained by another creative individual in the Janesville Gazette. Don't take that comment as a attack against the factory idea, I mentioned it merely to show the fundamental difference between our ideas.

The other key element to MY idea is to sell the electricity produced back to Alliant in the form of credits on residential OR business electricity bills. The facility would be owned and operated by the taxpaying residents of Janesville, the "Janesville Perpetual Energy Company" if I may - not a private entity.

I believe this development would be an irresistible incentive to attract businesses, entrepreneurs and others into Janesville. The window to acquire multi-million dollar Federal grants for such a green-powered facility is just around the corner - the possibilities are endless. General Motors may also be willing to ante up millions to extricate itself from environmental liabilities expected to be uncovered at the property.

Another idea of MINE is to turn the GM location into a giant state-of-the-art Expo Center complete with county fair grounds, outdoor band shell AND a duo-purpose ballpark for the Snappers and Gladiators. The location is ideal for volume traffic as the surrounding streets have already been modified to handle the additional loads. When one considers that the cramped confines of Wrigley Field in Chicago has only an eight acre footprint, it is easy to put into perspective the size of the GM plant. Janesville's Rotary gardens is about 15 acres. The Reuther Way access road running into the heart of this location help make this idea for multiple recreational facilities even more appealing. This would be more than just a Rock County facility, it could be South-Central Wisconsin's Regional Recreational and Expo Park.

Even though I’ve posted these ideas on the Internet and invite people to consider them, I’ve highlighted these ideas as mine simply because they are. This Web-presentation is time and date-stamped, and I welcome others to convince the city to change course on the Riverfront Plan before it's too late. In addition, I also realize this proposal might sound presumptuous and beyond the bounds of an ordinary citizen. But we all search for reasons why things shouldn't be.

If key elements of this prospectus are implemented, I would expect credit to be given where credit is due.

At the same time, I don't pretend that this is the economic rapture Janesville has been waiting for, or think any of it can or will happen anytime soon without funding. Nolen’s concept has been on the books without funding and without completion for over 90 years, they are no longer visionary. Lesson learned.

The only other suggestion I can make is directed toward individuals who feel as strongly about their ideas as I do. Before you pass them out casually during conversations or to individuals and organizations requesting you send the ideas to them, have your idea documented, notarized or digitally date-stamped at the minimum. I don't mean to sound preachy on this, but much of the world's wealth is built either on somebody else's labor, other people's money or stolen ideas.

How Lawless Republicans Wreck Wisconsin’s Business Climate

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What's happening along Highway 151 in Belmont in Lafayette County is enough to make you sick.

Madison.com Excerpt:
The Olsen brothers, however, did not have any permits to do this as a commercial operation, though they advertised the still-unfinished bins and dryer on their Web site for buying corn. They also repeatedly ignored, according to court complaints, state Department of Natural Resource orders and county demands to stop work and get permits.

* Highly Recommended Reading * The folks in Milton concerned about the United Ethanol Plant should click this link. The whimsical title “Belmont battle like Hatfields & McCoys” is an inaccurate description for this arrogant display of lawlessness.

You’ll understand why those 170 violations really might not mean a whole lot to these kind.

Also check out additional Ethanol Plants In Wisconsin

Alternative To Ryan Is The Solution

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Friday’s Janesville Gazette contained and article written by Rep. Paul Ryan in response to David Newby’s (AFL-CIO) perspective titled “Ryan’s ‘Roadmap’ leads to dead end” posted in the Janesville Gazette on July 28th.

He accuses Newby of divisive attacks, and after reading his rebuttal, I was puzzled Ryan would label honest criticism and an alternative viewpoint as attacks. Of course, Newby did no such thing. What he did do was a classic kitchen table narrative pointing out several flawed elements in Ryan’s Roadmap, and he did it without rambling or making personal attacks. In short order, direct and with blunt accuracy, Newby rode the broken bridges, the U-turns and the detours of Ryan’s roadmap and discovered it led to a “dead-end.” For this, Ryan was offended.

But this is exactly how entrenched partisans operate. When they can’t kill the message or repudiate the claims, they usually ignore it. In this case however, Ryan chose to exaggerate Newby’s frustration as useless noise, and slammed his sources.

Another key element in Ryan’s response is the idea that Ryan developed his Roadmap Plan to encourage debate and alternative ideas, yet attempts to stifle any constructive criticism against it as “divisive,” and deriding alternative information as ‘unabashedly left-wing,” “deeply flawed” and “intellectually dishonest.” Remember, it’s Ryan, not Newby who is trying to pawn himself off as “not divisive” and “seeking alternatives.”

Ryan also elevates himself by presenting several lightweight assumptions. One, that to oppose his plan means “doing nothing,” two, those doing the criticizing are clinging to the status quo. And three, no one has yet to offer substantive solutions, except Ryan of course. How's that for encouragement? Don't be fooled.

This is just one of Ryan’s viewpoints from his rebuttal that I found intellectually offensive.

Ryan Not Divisive Excerpt:
With a generous standard deduction and personal exemptions, a family of four making $39,000 of income would pay no federal taxes.

Is this the future destination of America? It is on Ryan’s map. Since Ryan became a U.S. Representative, all would agree the gap between the rich and the poor has widened dramatically. Before Ryan can claim he wants to narrow this gap, he needs to point out which votes in Congress he would take back(reverse) when he voted "Yea" with the GOP-led status quo, otherwise he is just spinning off on the same policies and direction that got us to this point in the first place.

I just don’t believe that the average American trying to raise a family would be satisfied or amused that after all the hard work, they are not a contributor in the security or welfare of this great country. That after it is all said and done, they could be scorned as freeloaders in Ryan’s world. Yet despite the appearance of a tax-free paycheck - local taxes, property taxes, sales taxes and all other income blind taxes and fees would balloon. Somebody has got to pay and it won’t be the rich, remember, they’re getting a huge tax cut too. But what does Ryan care? Those roads do not appear on his map.

Ryan’s Roadmap is riddled with potholes and round-a-bouts without an exit and is nothing more than an election year diversion to keep the discussion off of his congressional record.

Obviously, David Newby can defend himself and I assure readers here that no affiliation exists between us. In a way, I do offer an apology here to David Newby for taking up this defense so quickly against Ryan’s deceptive message. But this is what I believe, and I make no apologies for that.

Note: Unfortunately, both the Newby and Ryan articles are not available for on-line viewing. This is a recent development clearly demonstrating that if you want your message suppressed, only send it to the Janesville Gazette.

Will Gasoline Prices Plummet Into Election Day?

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Prices have just started coming down in election year fashion during the last week of July and Republicans have already tried to take psychological credit for it when Bush lifted the Executive moratorium on offshore drilling.Historical portion of graph from GasBuddy.com.

If the election year effect on gasoline prices ring true as many Americans believe, the price of a gallon of gas can be expected to precipitously drop into the $3.15 to $3.25 range by Election Day 2008.

However, it is my opinion the corporate command in the White House has abandoned the "Energy Task Force" doctrine empowering Big Oil to do whatever pricing control is necessary to guarantee "no shortages" at the pump. In effect, the GOP may have less power to make it happen this time around. Also, investors have pulled away from real estate and the capital markets and have dumped most of their eggs into oil, inflating the price.....until something better comes along.

Americans Blame GOP For High Gasoline Prices

CNN Money Excerpt:
On the other hand, only 31% of those polled think congressional Democrats are a significant cause of high gas prices - 43% termed the Democrats a minor cause - and 26% said they are not a cause at all.

Funny how the CNN article reported polling results only on the democrats and neglected to summarize the polling on Republicans for the high gasoline prices. The word "republican" is nowhere to be found in the article. But apparently they didn’t have to, since most already know that Big Oil, the GOP and Bush policies are one and the same.

Exxon Breaks Own Windfall Profits Record