Foxconn want’s to build a factory in Wisconsin that will employ three thousand workers possibly becoming 13,000 workers. Foxconn plans to invest up to $13 billion in the plant. Gov. Scott Walker said that the Wisconsin will supply up to $3 billion dollars in incentives. See http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/business/technology/4303440-foxconn-announces-major-new-manufacturing-plant-wisconsin.
Oops! Aren’t Republicans the ones who believe in standing on your own two feet and not accepting government handouts.
If it makes business sense to build such a project, then shouldn’t business be the one investing its own money.
See “Foxconn’s long con”, John Biggs, TechCrunch, 2017-07-28. Politicians around the world have been out-foxed by Foxconn. Don’t these politicians read Adam Smith: “This order of men is not to be trusted.”
Showing posts with label Scott Walker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scott Walker. Show all posts
Monday, July 31, 2017
Monday, January 16, 2017
Whose “free speech”?
Amazing how many critics who say “political correctness” is limiting free speech on campuses, but then want to restrict what is taught, like climate change. To quote somebody who we really hear too much, “Sad!"
See http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/opinion/whos-really-placing-limits-on-free-speech.html.
See http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/opinion/whos-really-placing-limits-on-free-speech.html.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
From my clippings file
Every so often, I email an article to myself for future reference, often with the idea of writing a blog entry. Most likely I don’t get around to it. So, since I don’t have a hot topic in my head this week, I thought I’d muse about some of these clippings. Don’t worry, I won’t write about all 59, just enough to fill a Reader Weekly page.
One apropos to the attempts to take some auditing work from the State Auditor was a letter to the Duluth News Tribune by Paul and Susan Schurke of Ely. They praise Rebecca Otto for pointing out that nobody knows what the potential cost to taxpayers of new mines will be. Is it any wonder that the corporate-lovers in the Minnesota legislators want reduce Otto’s authority? Strange that this same crowd complains about taxes.
“Otto’s common sense mining position can unite us all.” Duluth News Tribune, 2013-12-09.
Pete Seeger wrote long ago that we have the best politicians: “We elect them again and again.” One of the reasons we elect them again and again is that a plutocracy finances too many elections. Plutocracy is government by the rich. “Capitalism vs. Democracy” by Thomas B. Edsall (http://nyti.ms/Msy71t) asks “Is deepening inequality inevitable? The case for a global wealth tax.” - New York Times, 2014-01-28. It is a review of Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”. Edsall quotes Piketty’s assertion “when pay setters set their own pay, there’s no limit”.
A reverse on a wealth tax is offered by D. J. Tice in “There’s no pot of gold for the working poor”, Star Tribune, 2014-02-09. His first suggestion is “to stop raising their taxes.” He also suggests expanding both the State and Federal Earned Income Tax Credit. He also writes that any hike in the minimum wage will probably result in fewer workers over the long term. Think of how you once bought an ice cream cone. Somebody bent over the freezer and scooped your choice into a cone. Now you can go to Chilly Billy’s and fill your own cup with your choice of frozen yogurt.
My answer to when pay setters won’t set their pay is when the sun sets in the East. Joe Nocera wrote about all the gimmicks that CEOs and their boards use to keep raising the CEOs pay to ridiculous levels. See “CEO Pay Goes Up, Up, and Away”, New York Times, 2014-04-14 (http://nyti.ms/1erLn2H). Shareholders can vote against boards that grant obscene pay, but they will probably be outvoted by institutional investors who exercise “fiduciary responsibility” by voting in management’s favor. Even if that responsibility were directed at reducing executive pay, current law says that “Say on Pay” is only an advisory; management doesn’t have to honor the shareholders vote.
Have you considered that the wealthy wield much more power than kings of old? Except they don’t need armies of soldiers to stay in power, just armies of lawyers and lobbyists.
You can know that things are out of control when a “conservative” columnist calls attention to the inequalities. My favorite “conservative” columnist, Ross Douthat, wrote “College, the Great Unequalizer”, New York Times, 2014-05-03 (http://nyti.ms/1kzuuRQ). He says that the Party Scene at many colleges benefits the well-heeled student and sucks in the “lower-status” student. The well-heeled can rescue those who practice an excess of vices, but the less-well-off can’t. The well-heeled will go on to social or economic success regardless of their performance. Others will rarely join that social class.
And the upper-class is finding many ways to get their way no matter the cost to the rest of society. It is well-known, to those who care, that the Koch Brothers through their American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are writing our laws in cahoots with Republican legislators. One of the current examples is “right-to-work” laws. Many of the laws are almost identical to what ALEC proposed. “Wisconsin’s law was a virtual copy of the 1995 model bill promoted by” ALEC. See “Scott Walker and the Fate of the Union”, New York Times, Dan Kaufman, 2015-06-12.
The article points out how the upper-class minions don’t care about much more than keeping their masters happy. The accident rate among workers is higher in right-to-work states. Scott Walker promised the president of the state-wide union of heavy machine operators that the “right-to-work bill” would not make it to his desk. Walker got his contribution and the labor guy lost Walker’s commitment.
How the Republican Party has changed! The 1956 Republican Party platform included “The protection of the right of workers to organize into unions and to bargain collectively is the firm and permanent policy of the Eisenhower administration.”
And it even gets worse. See “Energy Firms in Secretive Alliance With Attorneys General”, Eric Lipton, New York Times, 2014-12-06. The attorneys general are sending letters of complaint about air pollution to the Environmental Protection Agency that are almost duplicates of letters written by the lawyers of energy companies. These attorneys general are getting huge campaign contributions from energy companies. Thanks to these contributions, 27 of the states’ attorneys general are Republicans. Who was it that wrote, “We have the best government money can buy”?
Or to blaspheme Abraham Lincoln, “A government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations shall not perish from the earth.” Or should it be “shall destroy the earth”?
One apropos to the attempts to take some auditing work from the State Auditor was a letter to the Duluth News Tribune by Paul and Susan Schurke of Ely. They praise Rebecca Otto for pointing out that nobody knows what the potential cost to taxpayers of new mines will be. Is it any wonder that the corporate-lovers in the Minnesota legislators want reduce Otto’s authority? Strange that this same crowd complains about taxes.
“Otto’s common sense mining position can unite us all.” Duluth News Tribune, 2013-12-09.
Pete Seeger wrote long ago that we have the best politicians: “We elect them again and again.” One of the reasons we elect them again and again is that a plutocracy finances too many elections. Plutocracy is government by the rich. “Capitalism vs. Democracy” by Thomas B. Edsall (http://nyti.ms/Msy71t) asks “Is deepening inequality inevitable? The case for a global wealth tax.” - New York Times, 2014-01-28. It is a review of Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century”. Edsall quotes Piketty’s assertion “when pay setters set their own pay, there’s no limit”.
A reverse on a wealth tax is offered by D. J. Tice in “There’s no pot of gold for the working poor”, Star Tribune, 2014-02-09. His first suggestion is “to stop raising their taxes.” He also suggests expanding both the State and Federal Earned Income Tax Credit. He also writes that any hike in the minimum wage will probably result in fewer workers over the long term. Think of how you once bought an ice cream cone. Somebody bent over the freezer and scooped your choice into a cone. Now you can go to Chilly Billy’s and fill your own cup with your choice of frozen yogurt.
My answer to when pay setters won’t set their pay is when the sun sets in the East. Joe Nocera wrote about all the gimmicks that CEOs and their boards use to keep raising the CEOs pay to ridiculous levels. See “CEO Pay Goes Up, Up, and Away”, New York Times, 2014-04-14 (http://nyti.ms/1erLn2H). Shareholders can vote against boards that grant obscene pay, but they will probably be outvoted by institutional investors who exercise “fiduciary responsibility” by voting in management’s favor. Even if that responsibility were directed at reducing executive pay, current law says that “Say on Pay” is only an advisory; management doesn’t have to honor the shareholders vote.
Have you considered that the wealthy wield much more power than kings of old? Except they don’t need armies of soldiers to stay in power, just armies of lawyers and lobbyists.
You can know that things are out of control when a “conservative” columnist calls attention to the inequalities. My favorite “conservative” columnist, Ross Douthat, wrote “College, the Great Unequalizer”, New York Times, 2014-05-03 (http://nyti.ms/1kzuuRQ). He says that the Party Scene at many colleges benefits the well-heeled student and sucks in the “lower-status” student. The well-heeled can rescue those who practice an excess of vices, but the less-well-off can’t. The well-heeled will go on to social or economic success regardless of their performance. Others will rarely join that social class.
And the upper-class is finding many ways to get their way no matter the cost to the rest of society. It is well-known, to those who care, that the Koch Brothers through their American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) are writing our laws in cahoots with Republican legislators. One of the current examples is “right-to-work” laws. Many of the laws are almost identical to what ALEC proposed. “Wisconsin’s law was a virtual copy of the 1995 model bill promoted by” ALEC. See “Scott Walker and the Fate of the Union”, New York Times, Dan Kaufman, 2015-06-12.
The article points out how the upper-class minions don’t care about much more than keeping their masters happy. The accident rate among workers is higher in right-to-work states. Scott Walker promised the president of the state-wide union of heavy machine operators that the “right-to-work bill” would not make it to his desk. Walker got his contribution and the labor guy lost Walker’s commitment.
How the Republican Party has changed! The 1956 Republican Party platform included “The protection of the right of workers to organize into unions and to bargain collectively is the firm and permanent policy of the Eisenhower administration.”
And it even gets worse. See “Energy Firms in Secretive Alliance With Attorneys General”, Eric Lipton, New York Times, 2014-12-06. The attorneys general are sending letters of complaint about air pollution to the Environmental Protection Agency that are almost duplicates of letters written by the lawyers of energy companies. These attorneys general are getting huge campaign contributions from energy companies. Thanks to these contributions, 27 of the states’ attorneys general are Republicans. Who was it that wrote, “We have the best government money can buy”?
Or to blaspheme Abraham Lincoln, “A government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations shall not perish from the earth.” Or should it be “shall destroy the earth”?
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Hubris is ruinous
Hubris is overreaching pride and arrogance. Many Greek tragedies have the gods punishing those like Oedipus. Shakespeare tragedies have circumstances punishing those like MacBeth and Othello. It seems that rarely do the electorates punish those with overreaching pride and arrogance. They do it by not voting and those with hubris never count the non-voters.
Scott Walker is one who is showing overreaching pride and arrogance in his abilities.
He touts his electoral success but ignores that he won with a low turn-out. Many other newly-elected Republican governors won with higher vote counts (of those who bother to vote). Those who signed the petition to recall Walker but then didn’t show up to vote were also arrogant.
He talks about the “invisible hand of the free market”, but ignores Adam Smith’s admonition of trusting those who live by profit.
He is proud to have passed a “right to fire” law, but ignores Smith noting that the masters could organize to keep wages down but it was illegal for the workers to organize to raise wages. If workers can refuse to pay union dues, is there a complimentary law that businesses can be part of Chambers of Commerce without paying dues?
He thinks that facing down demonstrators qualifies him to take on the likes of ISIS. Facing demonstrators armed with pizzas is not same as facing a few thousand jihadists armed with AK-47s, rocket launchers and more. Also, he ignores the history of meddling in the Middle East; it has always backfired, maybe not right away, but within a few years.
I only have my keyboard against Scott Walker’s many microphones. If you are a Wisconsin voter who didn’t show up in one of more of Walker’s election “landslides”, please show up the next time.
Many politicians other than Walker cite their belief in American exceptionalism. Sorry, but many people in other countries, well-governed or not, believe their countries are exceptional. The difference is that many of these people don’t think their exceptionalism gives them the right to tell other countries how to conduct their own affairs. Those who believe in American “exceptionalism” refuse to see how often the “gods” have punished this hubris: Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and more. The proponents of the “domino theory” seemed to have ignored that a game of dominos can go off in unexpected directions.
The hubris of the jihadists of ISIS and other terror groups make the hubris of American politicians look like a parlor game. The jihadists claim they are doing Allah’s will, but how do they know this other than repeating it to each other? Where is their forgiveness to others that Allah gives them? And if they believe “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”), can’t Allah right these “wrongs”.
If God could flood the entire world, killing thousands of pregnant women and their unborn children, couldn't God send a lightning bolt to strike “blasphemers” dead? If God could destroy the tower of Babel, built out of bricks, couldn’t God bring down the skyscrapers of steel in all the cities of the non-believers? If God could destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because the residents were sinful, couldn’t God destroy all the much larger cities of today where there is much “sin” according to purists who believe in an Almighty God?
The greatest hubris of all is that of countries with nuclear weapons. They want to prevent other countries from having any capacity to build nuclear weapons, but they seem very disinclined to reduce the number of their own nuclear weapons. These nuclear countries are ready at a moment’s notice to cause more death and destruction than the God of the Old Testament did from the beginning of the world.
Mel wishes the pen were mightier than the sword far more often than it has been.
Scott Walker is one who is showing overreaching pride and arrogance in his abilities.
He touts his electoral success but ignores that he won with a low turn-out. Many other newly-elected Republican governors won with higher vote counts (of those who bother to vote). Those who signed the petition to recall Walker but then didn’t show up to vote were also arrogant.
He talks about the “invisible hand of the free market”, but ignores Adam Smith’s admonition of trusting those who live by profit.
He is proud to have passed a “right to fire” law, but ignores Smith noting that the masters could organize to keep wages down but it was illegal for the workers to organize to raise wages. If workers can refuse to pay union dues, is there a complimentary law that businesses can be part of Chambers of Commerce without paying dues?
He thinks that facing down demonstrators qualifies him to take on the likes of ISIS. Facing demonstrators armed with pizzas is not same as facing a few thousand jihadists armed with AK-47s, rocket launchers and more. Also, he ignores the history of meddling in the Middle East; it has always backfired, maybe not right away, but within a few years.
I only have my keyboard against Scott Walker’s many microphones. If you are a Wisconsin voter who didn’t show up in one of more of Walker’s election “landslides”, please show up the next time.
Many politicians other than Walker cite their belief in American exceptionalism. Sorry, but many people in other countries, well-governed or not, believe their countries are exceptional. The difference is that many of these people don’t think their exceptionalism gives them the right to tell other countries how to conduct their own affairs. Those who believe in American “exceptionalism” refuse to see how often the “gods” have punished this hubris: Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and more. The proponents of the “domino theory” seemed to have ignored that a game of dominos can go off in unexpected directions.
The hubris of the jihadists of ISIS and other terror groups make the hubris of American politicians look like a parlor game. The jihadists claim they are doing Allah’s will, but how do they know this other than repeating it to each other? Where is their forgiveness to others that Allah gives them? And if they believe “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”), can’t Allah right these “wrongs”.
If God could flood the entire world, killing thousands of pregnant women and their unborn children, couldn't God send a lightning bolt to strike “blasphemers” dead? If God could destroy the tower of Babel, built out of bricks, couldn’t God bring down the skyscrapers of steel in all the cities of the non-believers? If God could destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because the residents were sinful, couldn’t God destroy all the much larger cities of today where there is much “sin” according to purists who believe in an Almighty God?
The greatest hubris of all is that of countries with nuclear weapons. They want to prevent other countries from having any capacity to build nuclear weapons, but they seem very disinclined to reduce the number of their own nuclear weapons. These nuclear countries are ready at a moment’s notice to cause more death and destruction than the God of the Old Testament did from the beginning of the world.
Mel wishes the pen were mightier than the sword far more often than it has been.
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Pulltab predictions, mining, public interest, and bought politicians
I've been busy with submissions today.
The Star Tribune had an article today on the grossly overestimated projections for revenue from electronic pull-tabs. See "Gambling firms drove flawed Minnesota e-pulltab funding plan", Jean Hopsensperger, Star Tribune, 2013-03-24.
I wrote a letter to the editor with the Adam Smith quote warning about laws and regulations being submitted by business people.
The Reader Weekly had a feature article by Jim Lundstrom, Scene Newspaper, about the opposition to the rushed, loose legislation in favor of a not-well-known company to mine in the Penokee Mountains in northern Wisconsin. The opposition states that the proposed mining will be an environmental disaster that will make the area unlivable. In response, I submitted "The Invisible Adam Smith" that I published last October. Because the Reader Weekly republishes articles from several sources, they might republish this. Besides, Bob Boone, the publisher and editor, occasionally asks me about writing something.
Gov. Scott Walker's desk sign, "Open for Business" was a clear warning of what was to come. This was a clear statement in favor of those "who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public…"
The Star Tribune had an article today on the grossly overestimated projections for revenue from electronic pull-tabs. See "Gambling firms drove flawed Minnesota e-pulltab funding plan", Jean Hopsensperger, Star Tribune, 2013-03-24.
I wrote a letter to the editor with the Adam Smith quote warning about laws and regulations being submitted by business people.
The Reader Weekly had a feature article by Jim Lundstrom, Scene Newspaper, about the opposition to the rushed, loose legislation in favor of a not-well-known company to mine in the Penokee Mountains in northern Wisconsin. The opposition states that the proposed mining will be an environmental disaster that will make the area unlivable. In response, I submitted "The Invisible Adam Smith" that I published last October. Because the Reader Weekly republishes articles from several sources, they might republish this. Besides, Bob Boone, the publisher and editor, occasionally asks me about writing something.
Gov. Scott Walker's desk sign, "Open for Business" was a clear warning of what was to come. This was a clear statement in favor of those "who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public…"
Friday, June 08, 2012
If you can't vote, you shouldn't contribute
I think U.S. law prohibits foreign nationals or governments from contributing to U.S. political campaigns (though we don't seem to mind contributing to keep foreign leaders in power). What if we took this one step down. If you don't live in a state and can't vote in that state, you should be barred from contributing to any political campaign in that state.
Too many politicians accept and even look for contributions from people far away from their constituents. We have Scott Walker of Wisconsin accepting millions from corporate givers all across the country. We have Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida soliciting contributions from Minnesota. Debbie who?
We received a mailing from Debbie Wasserman Schultz for Congress, Hallendale Beach FL. The message on the envelope is "Inside: why Republicans want me out." Well, maybe we don't want many of the current Republicans in; but if we don't live in Florida and if we don't want Republicans accepting money from out of state, should we contribute to a Democrat in another state?
Sorry, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, your request is out into the recyclables, unopened.
Too many politicians accept and even look for contributions from people far away from their constituents. We have Scott Walker of Wisconsin accepting millions from corporate givers all across the country. We have Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida soliciting contributions from Minnesota. Debbie who?
We received a mailing from Debbie Wasserman Schultz for Congress, Hallendale Beach FL. The message on the envelope is "Inside: why Republicans want me out." Well, maybe we don't want many of the current Republicans in; but if we don't live in Florida and if we don't want Republicans accepting money from out of state, should we contribute to a Democrat in another state?
Sorry, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, your request is out into the recyclables, unopened.
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
All's fair in love and war and elections, too?
I looked at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to get some feel for the turnout in today's recall election in Wisconsin. It looks like the turnout is mixed as are the reactions. Some polling places have short lines, some long. Some people are happy to vote Scott Walker out, some are unhappy that there is even an election.
One item in particular caught my eye. It was about a mailing designed to increase turnout. Using public records, the mailing gave the voting record of individuals and their immediate neighbors. It was sent out by a liberal group. Will it get more people to vote in general, or will it get more people to vote for Walker? Judge for yourself. See "Mailings that list voting records set off some neighbors", Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2012-06-05.
If you live in Wisconsin and the polls haven't closed, make sure you vote.
One item in particular caught my eye. It was about a mailing designed to increase turnout. Using public records, the mailing gave the voting record of individuals and their immediate neighbors. It was sent out by a liberal group. Will it get more people to vote in general, or will it get more people to vote for Walker? Judge for yourself. See "Mailings that list voting records set off some neighbors", Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2012-06-05.
If you live in Wisconsin and the polls haven't closed, make sure you vote.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Senate blames the cops, not the criminals
I left the following comment on Facebook on the Coffee Party's link to "Senators put federal regulators, not JPMorgan, on the hot seat", Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 2012-05-22.
What are all the complaints about? We have the best government money can buy.
The 1 percent may have the money, but the 99 percent have the vote. The problem is that too many of the 99 percent blame the money but never bother to show up. Election after election has gone to Republicans because too many "Democrats" didn't even bother to show up - Florida, 2000; Wisconsin, 2010; New York Ninth District, 2011. This last has 3-1 Democratic registration!
And money doesn't always win elections. Meg Whitman outspent Jerry Brown by a wide margin, but Brown won the Governorship of California.
Whatever else you do, show up to vote, each and every time. Vote Republican, Vote Democrat, Vote Third Party, Write somebody in, but vote. The only votes that don't count are the votes not cast.
What are all the complaints about? We have the best government money can buy.
The 1 percent may have the money, but the 99 percent have the vote. The problem is that too many of the 99 percent blame the money but never bother to show up. Election after election has gone to Republicans because too many "Democrats" didn't even bother to show up - Florida, 2000; Wisconsin, 2010; New York Ninth District, 2011. This last has 3-1 Democratic registration!
And money doesn't always win elections. Meg Whitman outspent Jerry Brown by a wide margin, but Brown won the Governorship of California.
Whatever else you do, show up to vote, each and every time. Vote Republican, Vote Democrat, Vote Third Party, Write somebody in, but vote. The only votes that don't count are the votes not cast.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Shame on Wisconsinites!
Scott Walker won the governorship of Wisconsin in 2010 with about a quarter of the eligible voters in a light turnout. Then in February 2011 there were big demonstrations against some of Walker's anti-union legislation. See "The "people" are speaking, but a bit late".
Then this year many started a petition to recall Gov. Walker. They collected 900,939 signatures. That is about 40 percent of the 3,285,704 registered voters (July 2010). These figures are from the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.
So what happened on primary day on May 8, 2012? Did 900,939 voters vote for any of the Democrats? Right, and we will have 100% turnout in the Presidential elections this fall! The five Democratic candidates received 665,928 votes together. Where were the other 25 percent of the petition signers? And it is probably worse than that because many who showed up to vote didn't sign a recall petition. (Election results from the Green Bay Press Gazette.)
Demonstrations take a lot more effort than voting. But it seems many people would rather demonstrate than vote. See "Which is better, civil disobedience or voting?"
Remember, "The 1% may have the money, but the 99% have the votes", but your vote doesn't count if you don't show up!
Then this year many started a petition to recall Gov. Walker. They collected 900,939 signatures. That is about 40 percent of the 3,285,704 registered voters (July 2010). These figures are from the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.
So what happened on primary day on May 8, 2012? Did 900,939 voters vote for any of the Democrats? Right, and we will have 100% turnout in the Presidential elections this fall! The five Democratic candidates received 665,928 votes together. Where were the other 25 percent of the petition signers? And it is probably worse than that because many who showed up to vote didn't sign a recall petition. (Election results from the Green Bay Press Gazette.)
Demonstrations take a lot more effort than voting. But it seems many people would rather demonstrate than vote. See "Which is better, civil disobedience or voting?"
Remember, "The 1% may have the money, but the 99% have the votes", but your vote doesn't count if you don't show up!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Look who's engaging in voter fraud!
The Republicans in Wisconsin are putting fake candidates into the Democratic primaries. Oops, sorry, they are "protest candidates" according to Republican Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Stephan Thompson. The primaries are to replace elected officials who have been recalled. To me, the placing of these "protest candidates" is fraud, and the Republican Party claims voter ID will prevent fraud and protect the "integrity" of elections.
It is bad enough that those who support one party will cross-over to vote in a primary for the "weakest" candidate in the other party, but for a party to choose that "weakest" candidate for the other party is fraud, pure and simple.
See "Wisconsin Republicans name fake Democrats for recall primaries", The Republic, Associated Press, 2012-04-04 and "Attorney: Fake Democrats in Wisconsin committing criminal election fraud", The Raw Story, Eric W. Dolan, 2012-04-05.
It is bad enough that those who support one party will cross-over to vote in a primary for the "weakest" candidate in the other party, but for a party to choose that "weakest" candidate for the other party is fraud, pure and simple.
See "Wisconsin Republicans name fake Democrats for recall primaries", The Republic, Associated Press, 2012-04-04 and "Attorney: Fake Democrats in Wisconsin committing criminal election fraud", The Raw Story, Eric W. Dolan, 2012-04-05.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
An interesting truth-telling blog or two or three
This morning's Star Tribune had an article on Karl Bremer, who writes the blog rippleinstillwater . He digs into government records better than some politicians and lays out the facts. One current entry is on the proposed Stillwater bridge and its actual costs. Another is that he and two others have written a book on Michele Bachmann that is selling better than Bachman's own book on herself, at least in Stillwater.
Bremer has a sidebar of "leftyblogs" that gives a list of current blog entries from a long list of "progressive" blogs. I wondered about adding this blog to the list, but I decided I didn't meet their condition of entries mostly on state politics. As I said about my Reader Weekly "Party of One" column, I write what I damn well please.
I did like leftyblogs definition of "progressive": "progressives generally believe in the power of people to organize themselves for the improvement of society, through government and other institutions." Now who could argue with that. Probably not even corporations that fund "grass-roots" organizations for the benefit of themselves.
One of the interesting ads this morning on the sidebar of rippleinstillwater was for the Scott Walker campaign. It was not there this afternoon. Was that because Google AdSense rotated ads? Or did the Walker campaign pull it because it was on a Minnesota blog? Can't be that. Walker takes money from every state (just as do the people we like). Or did the Walker campaign pull it because too many people clicked it who had no interest in contributing, thus costing the campaign and putting a couple cents or a couple of dollars in Bremer's pocket? We'll never know, but I hope Bremer did get a bit more revenue because of the ad.
Bremer has a sidebar of "leftyblogs" that gives a list of current blog entries from a long list of "progressive" blogs. I wondered about adding this blog to the list, but I decided I didn't meet their condition of entries mostly on state politics. As I said about my Reader Weekly "Party of One" column, I write what I damn well please.
I did like leftyblogs definition of "progressive": "progressives generally believe in the power of people to organize themselves for the improvement of society, through government and other institutions." Now who could argue with that. Probably not even corporations that fund "grass-roots" organizations for the benefit of themselves.
One of the interesting ads this morning on the sidebar of rippleinstillwater was for the Scott Walker campaign. It was not there this afternoon. Was that because Google AdSense rotated ads? Or did the Walker campaign pull it because it was on a Minnesota blog? Can't be that. Walker takes money from every state (just as do the people we like). Or did the Walker campaign pull it because too many people clicked it who had no interest in contributing, thus costing the campaign and putting a couple cents or a couple of dollars in Bremer's pocket? We'll never know, but I hope Bremer did get a bit more revenue because of the ad.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The attacks on public unions
The Star Tribune published a letter from me that they titled "Targeting Public Unions". It is a batch of letters at http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/118807974.html.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Mob rule or "people's" rights
Gov. Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Senate have unleashed the whirlwind by ramming through a bill to limit the rights of union workers. It is hard to say what will get blown down.
Are the protesters storming the state capitol an attempt to govern by mobs? Or are they legitimate expressions of grievances? How many are people who will be directly impacted by this legislation? How many are people that just rally to a cause they are sympathetic to?
The police have given up trying to keep people out of the Capitol, but there are two tactics that they might try to limit the number.
First, of course, is safety. What is the occupancy limit that the fire marshall has set for the Capitol? The limit established of course before Walker was elected governor.
Second, did all the protesters vote? Any protesters who didn't vote in the last election have only themselves to blame. It would be a logistical nightmare to check if each and every protester voted, but one could ask all those who didn't vote to leave. It would be interesting to see how many, if any, walk sheepishly out.
I think Wisconsin is going to see a drastic drop in the number and quality of government workers. Some will take earlier retirement than they had planned. Some will find other lines of work, difficult as it is currently. Others may just depend on spouse income.
I wonder if some teachers will band together to form tutoring companies. For a fee, they would tutor individual or small groups of students outside of classrooms. Of course, this will limit access to learning to many, but the "short-term" pain may serve as a wake-up call to the importance of properly funding public education.
Are the protesters storming the state capitol an attempt to govern by mobs? Or are they legitimate expressions of grievances? How many are people who will be directly impacted by this legislation? How many are people that just rally to a cause they are sympathetic to?
The police have given up trying to keep people out of the Capitol, but there are two tactics that they might try to limit the number.
First, of course, is safety. What is the occupancy limit that the fire marshall has set for the Capitol? The limit established of course before Walker was elected governor.
Second, did all the protesters vote? Any protesters who didn't vote in the last election have only themselves to blame. It would be a logistical nightmare to check if each and every protester voted, but one could ask all those who didn't vote to leave. It would be interesting to see how many, if any, walk sheepishly out.
I think Wisconsin is going to see a drastic drop in the number and quality of government workers. Some will take earlier retirement than they had planned. Some will find other lines of work, difficult as it is currently. Others may just depend on spouse income.
I wonder if some teachers will band together to form tutoring companies. For a fee, they would tutor individual or small groups of students outside of classrooms. Of course, this will limit access to learning to many, but the "short-term" pain may serve as a wake-up call to the importance of properly funding public education.
Friday, February 25, 2011
The "people" are speaking, but a bit late
This morning's Duluth News Tribune published my Local View contribution with the title "The people (some of them, anyway) have spoken". My own title was "The people have spoken! Which ones?"
I was considering changing the opening from Egypt to Wisconsin, but I couldn't see how to replace it without rewriting some of the rest of the article. Also, if I made a change, it might be delay publication.
My change was:
"The people" are speaking in another way. I wouldn't say the protesters against Walker's anti-union efforts represent "the people", but many people from around the world are supporting the protesters.
Last night we heard on MPR about Ian's Pizza going from 300-600 pizzas a day to over 1000 pizzas a day, the increase because of orders from around the world to send pizzas to the protesters at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Even from Egypt, where they know a thing or two about protest.
If you would like to send a pizza to the protesters, order it through Badger Bites. The top of the page has ordering instructions.
I was considering changing the opening from Egypt to Wisconsin, but I couldn't see how to replace it without rewriting some of the rest of the article. Also, if I made a change, it might be delay publication.
My change was:
"[T]he people of Wisconsin chose to switch control of the governorship, assembly and senate to Republicans" according to Newt Gingrich on the website Human Events. Which people, Newt?From data published online by the Wisconsin Accountability Board.
Granted, Scott Walker received 52.25 percent of the votes cast, but the turnout was only 49.56 percent. That means that 50.44 percent of the eligible voters didn't care for any of the candidates, at least care enough to show up. Scott Walker received the support of 25.9 percent of the eligible voters. That is a very poor second to none of the above. Looked at this way, Scott Walker does not have the support of "the people".
"The people" are speaking in another way. I wouldn't say the protesters against Walker's anti-union efforts represent "the people", but many people from around the world are supporting the protesters.
Last night we heard on MPR about Ian's Pizza going from 300-600 pizzas a day to over 1000 pizzas a day, the increase because of orders from around the world to send pizzas to the protesters at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Even from Egypt, where they know a thing or two about protest.
If you would like to send a pizza to the protesters, order it through Badger Bites. The top of the page has ordering instructions.
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