Terrorists Emboldened By Stupidity

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JG Sound off excerpt:
Saturday’s article on 3A tells about increased violence in Iraq. As predicted, putting democrats in control has emboldened the terrorists and is beginning to look like our soldiers died in vain as they did in VietNam when we didn’t have any backbone. Sorry day. -- anonymous

Interesting. When violence in Iraq would spike up, Bush would make some announcement soon afterward that the heightened violence performed by terrorist groups operating in Iraq depict the actions of a desperate and frustrated enemy losing ground. Other times Bush would imply that the escalating violence and deaths are the necessary results of a successful military fully engaged in combat. Cheney also would write off these ultra-violent episodes as “the last throes” of a vicious enemy. Which is it?

Pricecuts Put More Money in Pockets

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The Janesville Gazette ran an article by the Dallas Morning News in their editorial column on Saturday titled, “Democrats plan on drug prices is misguided.”

JG editorial excerpt:
Giving the feds the power to negotiate lower prices for seniors could effectively cede control of the pharmaceutical industry to Washington.

The one thing we don’t want to give seniors is the power to negotiate lower prescription prices for themselves. Who knows, they may very well take over the entire pharmaceutical trade and create an atmosphere that would force drug companies to openly compete against each other for market share. Those arrogant and nasty seniors, what will they do next?

Apparently, the plan by the Dems is to use the power of the government for one of its most important duties, that is, to represent the people against all others, even if it includes helping negotiate lower prices with pharmaceutical companies. This is odd and very different to what we have been used to over the past twenty years, where just the opposite has been true. We have become accustomed to a government representing big business and private investors all in the name of economic growth. The health, welfare and environment of the people be damned.

The entire editorial is a slap against the will of the people and their ability to exercise the only power they possess.

JG editorial excerpt:
We understand why the Pentagon should have such a say over defense contractors; that industry is vital to our national security. Drug companies don’t rise to that threshold.

When something more often than not is vital to the health and welfare of its citizens, it does rise to the same threshold. Oftentimes, access to affordable drugs is just as important to the survival of an individual as is the strenght of a nations military is to the survival of a nation. For too long our elected officials have been running the government as if its their job to represent everybody but the people, Democrats need to break away from this old and greedy business formula and start representing the people they actually work for.

In a fair comparison, this low-price bargaining plan is actually a spin-off of the way Wal-Mart does business, but with a twist. On one hand, a small part of the Wal-Mart business model is designed using the most fundamental concept to gain customers, that is to sell some goods for the lowest price the market will bear. The difference being the government won’t be forcing pharmaceuticals to compete with global pressures, slave labor or cheap materials, simply because drugs are still a protected commodity. The Democrats simply want to consolidate the purchasing power of millions of seniors. No outsourcing, no labor camps and most of all, no ill- begotten profits.

However, we now know that Wal-Mart has used their huge volume buying power as leverage against private enterprise and forced them to compete with cheap labor, in order to get lower prices. Unfortunately, their drive for lower prices had no boundaries and they excluded the American worker, Wal-Mart chose to lower prices at any cost. We have been told that Wal-Mart’s ability to exert this pressure on manufacturers is a good thing because manufacturers wanting to do business with Wal-mart can no longer dictate prices. But for some reason, a non-for-profit consortium of consumers and seniors represented by their government exerting the same buyers pressure on pharmaceutical companies is misguided. While pharmaceuticals and Big Oil in particular, have been handed conditions allowing them to dictate prices as high as the market will bear, the political turnover of the recent election would be a good time for Democrats to seize some political capital for the American consumer. This should only be just the beginning.

School Budgets Adjust To Shortfalls

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If you have been following any of my rants regarding Federal taxcuts and how they relate to higher local taxes, the recent Janesville School District budget crisis and the states suggested fee increase for a drivers license are classic if not small examples of this Federal shortfall.

As reported in the Janesville Gazette, the Janesville school district is facing the strong possibility that staffing or service cuts may be necessary to balance the upcoming operating budget, projecting a shortfall of anywhere from $1 million to $3 million. This report, coming out just a few days after residents voted onto themselves a tax increase to not only update the schools utilities but, enlarge the schools as well. Sundays editorial on November 19th in the Gazette blamed enrollment based revenue caps and escalating costs.

JG editorial excerpt:
When enrollment declines, a district’s state aid and property taxes don’t rise fast enough to cover escalating costs.

The shortage of revenue is what concerns me the most, and blaming enrollment caps doesn’t sound quite right either.

JG excerpt:
The district has a headcount of 10,372. That’s down 25 from last years 10,397.

Being down only 25 students shouldn’t result in a average $2 million shortfall in federal and state aid. That comes out to $80,000 a student. I seriously doubt the fed or the state pay 80 grand per student, so most of the blame lies with salary and benefit increases and inflation. But I'm not looking to blame anything really, I just expect more money from the fed, which isn't likely to happen until a new agenda is passed in Congress. One persons escalating costs is anothers lack of funds to meet expenses.

Also, the declining enrollment statement seems odd when you consider question seven of the Janesville City survey distributed just a few weeks ago.

Park Place News excerpt:
(7). Janesville’s population has been growing by about 1% per year, or about 645 people annually since 1990. This translates into about 250 homes per year.

On one hand they are expecting declining enrollment while the city is growing with additional children each year. But one of the key points to the recent Janesville School Referendum was the need to reduce crowding. Confusing? I’ll say!

JG editorial excerpt:
………the school projects should put the district in a good position to attract students in this era of open enrollment. And the improved schools might be the difference in attracting new employers to the area.

The schools are packed to the rafters right now and they want to attract more? How many students will the newly expanded schools hold comfortably without resorting to another expansion or new school? The two schools, Parker and Craig, were designed to hold about 1,200 students, with no air conditioning and other shortcomings in space for computer rooms and physical education the schools were still able to attract over 1,700. What attracted all the retail business to Janesville and students to the schools for the past 10 years? Hocus - Pocus?

JG excerpt:
Evert (School Superintendent) said cuts will be particularly difficult because the state and federal governments require the district to provide services while paying only part of the costs. Those mandated services include special education, teaching English to immigrants, and keeping up with the test score requirements of the No Child Left Behind law.

Sure, there is a lot more at play than enrollment, levy caps and pay raises but this is the bottom line, and one I’ve been ranting about since the beginning. Not enough money is collected from taxpayers at the Federal level if they can't fund their own mandates. Money that is available is being diverted to non-domestic programs (Iraq War) or used to subsidize corporate dividends, while local jurisdictions are given ultimatums just to receive the minimum amount necessary to keep up with Federal requirements. This shortfall can only be made up with local tax increases or painful job or service cuts. Sufficient Federal revenue is the great equalizer. This has been going on for too long and it’s got to stop. The Democrats have got to step up to the plate because nobody else will. They have less than two years to do it.

Democrats Must Change Course of War

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I happen to catch CNN anchorman Lou Dobbs during an interview promoting his new book about class warfare in America. He offered his perspective on the state of the economic classes in America and made some remarks that mirror my own. He was talking about how the government as a whole created programs that made the rich richer and the poor poorer. Although he said forces unleashed over the past five years (Bush Administration) have accelerated the class war offensive, he remained equal in spreading the blame to both the Republicans and Democrats, which I thought was odd. With that said, I sensed spreading equal blame was his way of appearing non-partisan.

Dobbs mentioned that the middle class is huge, but not necessarily prospering. In fact, he said they are struggling desperately just to meet their everyday bills. He said basically that if you’re not extremely poor and not extremely rich, you are the middle class. Although there may seem to be a huge disparity here, I would guess his definition of the middle-class would encompass those who earn between $14,000/yr through about $125,000/yr depending on your personal responsibilities and dependents.

Like myself, he believes corporate bought politicians put the American working class in direct competition with the cheapest labor in the world, not by accident, but on purpose. He railed against big government, big media and big business.

I was surprised by his comments because the right-wing in general have demonized class warfare as taboo and have nearly outlawed discussion of it in the mainstream media. Even during this short interview, Dobbs was asked if his own employer might come down on him for his remarks.

If you listen carefully to the interview, you'll also hear the interviewer imply that the recent Democratic election victories will spell more trouble for the middle-class. When in fact the opposite should be true.

When asked how he would solve the problem facing middle-class America, his solution is more people must get involved and participate in our democracy and that the public education system is the great equalizer. I only slightly disagree with that statement. Education is a key to prosperity, but the Federal government is the great equalizer that enables everyone to achieve a powerful and successful education.

Sucking Sound Heard in Janesville

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The new Wal-Mart opened in Janesville with the Janesville city manager gloating,” The entire community wanted you here except for a few people on the other side of the wall,” referring to a $1.2 million berm built to hide the ugly big-box from the view of nearby homes. One thing about the leaders in Janesville, they have the charisma and eloquence to make everybody feel welcome.

Perhaps the most interesting Wal-Mart bootlicking comment I’ve heard of came from John Beckord of the citizens activist group known as Forward Janesville when he called Wal-Mart a “powerful engine for the community” and said the low prices leave people with money to spend elsewhere in the city. Only time will tell on this one, with the city approving of both a Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart Supercenter built side-by-side, the glee from consumers benefiting from low prices of carefully selected loss-leaders may be fleeting. Possibly, shoppers will soon ill afford to shop anywhere else but Wal-Mart or at least the double store overkill may ensure that there will be nowhere else left to shop.

Certainly, Wal-Mart invested tons of money to get their double-headed retail monster built in Janesville and they make even more money from the vertical corporate economics inherent in the retail business. But make no mistake, in the long-run, Wal-Mart will take more money from the community and send it to its headquarters in Arkansas than it puts back into Janesville and the surrounding communities. For sure, other retailers do the same, but no one does it better than Wal-Mart. After all, they are here to earn profits, not give them away.

Ahhhh, competition is good they say.

County Land Deal or No Deal?

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* Revised *
Part 1:When the stadium story was first reported, the drive to build the Beloit Snappers a new stadium was the top priority of it's number one advocate, businessman Jim Fitzgerald.

JG excerpt:
Fitzgerald – former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and Golden State Warriors – said he does not stand to profit from getting the Snappers a new stadium. He became friends with Snappers management officials recently, he said. “I just met these fellas, and they were frustrated,” he said. “I have one objective, and that’s to get that stadium built in that location.”

Part 2: Somehow, the drive to build the Snappers a new stadium quickly evolved into an elaborate if not complicated plan to also move the county fairgrounds, build an auto race track, and start up a gravel mining operation to fund a charitable foundation.

The land where they (private investors) want to do all this, they don’t want. Instead they want to trade it to the county in exchange for other prime county owned land. Besides convoluting the deal with all of their dreamy plans, the investors want to swap land for land and are not only paying the $1.3 million difference in appraised values, but adding a no-strings-attached $7 million gift. As reported earlier in the Janesville Gazette, the total cash offered is $8.3 million, providing the county seals the deal before the new year. That is one of the catches.

JG excerpt:
Mulder would pay the county $7 million. Even if the stadium-fairgrounds complex or mine plans fall through, the county would accept the $7 million as further cash for the land trade.

Part 3: The obvious eventually becomes reality when some of the smoke clears. The stadium no longer is the primary incentive here as explained by Fitzgerald. Now a charitable foundation funded by profits of a mining operation on the land they don’t want, takes center stage.

JG excerpt:
”The potential is incredible,” he said. The stadium and fairgrounds are “almost insignificant” compared to the foundations potential, Fitzgerald said. “Everything is dwarfed compared to that foundation.”

Part 4: But then as more dust settles, it changes again. Fitzgerald says forget everything else, just make the land deal.

JG excerpt:
“To me, it’s so simple.” Said Fitzgerald. “Just get this down to one thing – just farmland for farmland – and forget all this other stuff.”

From my understanding, the private parties approached the county with the land swap deal. The sought after county land had not been previously marketed or put on the auction block.

JG excerpt:
Jim Fitzgerald, a Janesville businessman and one of the supporters of the deal, said the board is making the trade too complicated.

Obviously somebody complicated the deal, however it wasn’t the county.

JG excerpt:
He noted that Fitzgerald and a county supervisor plan to meet with the Department of Transportation next week to discuss traffic issues with the new stadium.

Part 5: Aren’t they getting way ahead of themselves on this issue?

Why does Fitzgerald or the county bother about traffic concerns if it’s just a land swap deal? Secondly, both the county and the Watson/Mulder/Fitzgerald group already have a really good idea on the worth and potential of the Hwy14/51 property, why bother with further appraisals?

Part 6: Reported on Nov.15th, the land swap became even more complicated. One of the parcels, the 150 acre Deegan Farm, has been pulled from the offer to the county and replaced by the 45 acre Seneca Foods property. Changing once again the parameters of the deal.

The private parties represented by Watson, Mulder and Fitzgerald apparently not only want the stadium, mining and fairgrounds to be built on county land, but they want the county to do all the tremendous amount of footwork, planning and politicos that will be necessary to accomplish it. While Fitzgerald and company take all the credit for the idea and spit polish their newly acquired gem at Highways 14/51. The WMF party will, if the deal is accepted, have developmental control of over 700 acres in Rock County.

If I were the county, I would run as far away from these wheeler-dealers as possible.
Don't wait for the New Year, tell them now, "NO DEAL." It will be interesting indeed to see where all this is headed.

Feingold Makes Smart Choice

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Although I am disappointed that Sen. Russ Feingold has decided not to run for president in '08, I completely understand his reasons.

There are other obvious reasons also such as the political climate, it is still much too volatile. Plus, people just don't like those who were right all along. Feingold has been one of the few early opponents to the Iraq war and the Patriot Act. Secondly, America isn't ready for someone like Russ Feingold to be president, for the same reasons Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton probably won't make it either. Popular among their own constituents, yes. Elected freely by a majority of Americans for president, no.

Without elaborating further, I believe there is a huge bloc of voters out there who still refuse to allow those they believe to be second class citizens to be president. Feingold is among them. Chosen as a VP running mate though, he may have a chance. Don't get me wrong here, I love the man (I'm not gay).

But this whole thing played out in ways that can cause the imagination to run. When Tommy Thompson played with the idea of running for president (and he still may), I thought it was an attempt to goad Feingold into running and abandon his senate seat, thereby allowing Thompson to switch gears and run for Feingolds empty chair largely unopposed. So, it's a good thing all around, Feingold is a smart man, and I'm more than happy to selfishly keep him right here in Wisconsin. Plus, he deserves to finally work with a Dem majority in the senate. Times are a'changin.

Everybody Won

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If you have been surfing the political blogosphere and certain mainstream news outlets, it becomes apparent that although everybody knows the Republicans lost big time, there appears to be a widespread deformation building up as to who won.

Right out of the gate, the Conservatives say they won, while centrists say they won, and Independents too claim they were big winners. Others have said minorities won and the reformers did too. Many have concluded that anti-war activists won and bloggers also claim victory. Bush implies the terrorists won, while still others say morals and values won, optimists say everybody won.

Somebody won if you listen to everybody, everybody else except the people who deserve the credit, you know, those dastardly heathen Democrats.