by Owen | 1350, 8 Oct 1616 | Politics | 0 Comments
So I understand from the news this morning that Donald Trump is a sexist pig and Hillary Clinton is a crooked liar. Neither of these facts are revelations. We, as Americans, have chosen two of the most despicable people imaginable to contend for the presidency atop the two major parties.
At this point, given that both candidates are horrible people with enough baggage to fill a caravan on the Silk road to hell, the person who will win the election is the one we talk about the most until election day. The more we talk about Clinton, the more we hate her. The more we talk about Trump, the more we hate him. That’s why Clinton won the first debate – they spent most of the time talking about Trump. If they spend the most time talking about Clinton in the second debate, Trump will win.
I truly hate this presidential election. Our nation is diminished by the mere fact that these are the candidates for the major parties.
by Owen | 0917, 8 Oct 1616 | Off-Duty | 0 Comments
Pizza Ranch on the ropes
The development of a Pizza Ranch on W. Washington Street in West Bend failed to come to a vote Tuesday as members of the Plan Commission got hung up on safety issues. “I don’t see this as a good idea to exit right… what happens if they want to go west,” asked commission member Jed Dolnick.
The new property for a proposed Pizza Ranch is just west of First Bank Financial Centre and just east of Hankerson’s Country Oven Bakery. According to current plans there would be one entrance and exit to the restaurant off W. Washington Street. After Dolnick expressed his reservations the rest of the Plan Commission slowly chimed in.
Commission member Jim White shared Dolnick’s concerns about congestion. “There could be a lot of accidents and those headed west would have to go to Hankersons entrance (to turn) and there’s so much congestion there already with McDonald’s and Burger King and the car wash.” Plan Commission member Ryan Peterson said, “This is a disaster waiting to happen.”
Bjorn Kaashagen is the developer for the Pizza Ranch. He said he was disappointed with the Plan Commission’s actions. “It’s pretty unusual to see this happen,” he said. “We’ll have to look at other options. We’re not sure where we’re going at this point.”
Matt Gehring, who is developing the Pizza Ranch with his wife Stacy, said, “We’ll have to get some cooperation from Sendik’s if we hope to move forward.”
The Pizza Ranch folks have reached out to the owners of Sendik’s in hopes of gaining access out the back of their lot. “They haven’t said no but they haven’t given us any terms on if they’re willing to do it, “said Kaashagen. “So far it seems it hasn’t been a high priority for them.”
Other ideas floated by the Plan Commission included a traffic-impact study and a separate entrance. Commission member Steve Hutchins called to approve the proposal but the motion failed after no one seconded the motion. There was a lot of support for the project but the commission said it couldn’t approve it until the traffic issue was resolved. The main point of contention is the right in and right out entrance and exit and parking.
Matt Gehring said they’ll try to strike up a conversation again with Sendik’s The Gehrings have an accepted offer on the property however they have not closed on the purchase.
WB Mayor proposes merit pay increase
The City of West Bend rolled out its 2017 preliminary operating budget this week. Mayor Kraig Sadownikow praised the efforts of City Administrator Jay Shambeau and Assistant City Administrator Amy Reuteman and said he was happy the “mill rate was holding steady and is attainable without sacrificing services and it’s certainly helping we’re seeing an uptick in development.”
“Personally I’d like to see us endeavor to bump up the merit pay increase. I’d like to see it doubled from 1 percent to 2 percent,” Sadownikow said. “My challenge to Jay and Amy and department heads is to go through the budget again; it’s about a $65,000 line item for that additional 1 percent for non-represented employees.”
The mayor made clear this would be a “merit-pay increase so it would not be a flat, across the board 2-percent bump.” There is a review process to receive the increase. “Some of these folks have been busting their tails especially this year with the challenges we’ve overcome and they’ve earned the opportunity to get a bit more,” said Sadownikow.
Shambeau acknowledge the request was a fair challenge. “I’d say that would be a welcomed directive from the mayor and staff and it would be well received by employees,” he said.
Sadownikow recognized the budget process is getting a bit easier and he credited the reduction in debt, increase in reserves and development. “We’re a lean, mean operation and as development comes back it should mean we have some breathing room in our budget moving forward,” he said. The city of West Bend is working to hold the tax rate at $8.51.
There are several outstanding items revenue items from the state of Wisconsin. “Things could change and we’re awaiting the expenditure restraint numbers, the shared revenue transportation aid, the service to state facilities numbers and manufacturing assessments have not been received,” said Reuteman. Final figures should before the council by October 17. The 2016 City of West Bend budget was $22.4 million.
Fat Boy BBQ on the move Courtesy Ruth Marks
This week Steve Wenger shut down his Fat Boy BBQ food truck on Highway 60 in Slinger. Wenger is actively looking for a brick-and-mortar location and is hoping to have one in place so he can open in January. Wenger is also searching for another weekend location for his food truck. Stay tuned!
Construction underway for expanded BP gas station
Construction got underway this week as Mad Max/BP gas station closed, 1200 block of S. Main St. in West Bend. Plans for the gas station / convenience store call for reconfiguring the lot, razing the building, replacing the existing canopy and pumps, building a new convenience store and drive-thru and adding a total of 29 parking stalls. The former Clothes Clinic will also be razed.
Gordie Boucher goes pink for Breast Cancer Awareness courtesy Ruth Marks
The Gordie Boucher Ford Lincoln Dealership, 3021 W. Washington St., West Bend, has its front entrance wrapped in pink for Breast Cancer Awareness month. General Manager Chris Flynn got the idea when he visited Missouri a few years ago in October and saw a car dealership wrapped in pink. Sales staff and office personnel will be wearing pink ties and scarves and more importantly $50 from the sale of every new and used car during October will be donated in the buyer’s name to Breast Cancer Research. Flynn said the pink ties and the pink scarves were purchased through Warriors in Pink, an organization sponsored by Ford.
Trick or treat in Washington County this Halloween
Downtown West Bend Fall Fest – Friday, October 14, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. Dress in your Halloween best and trick or treat downtown. Look for the pumpkin in the window for participating businesses or stop in at the DWBA office for a map.
Sunday, Oct. 30 – Village of Jackson – 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., Village of Thiensville – 3 p.m. – 6 p.m., Village of Saukville – 4 p.m. – 7 p.m., Village of Merton – 5 p.m. – 8 p.m., Town of Addison – 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 31 – Germantown – 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Updates & tidbits
-The West Bend Fire Department presented a Community Service Award to Peter Schemenaur for his brave action at a fire scene in April. Authorities said Schemenaur came home and within about five minutes he saw smoke coming from an area in the garage. He moved the vehicle to prevent the neighboring apartment complex from catching fire.
-Boltonville Fire Department Open House is Monday, Oct. 10 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. There will be tours, demonstrations and a scavenger hunt.
-Jackson Fire Department Open House is Wednesday, Oct. 12 from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. There will be an auto extrication demonstration, guests can try on firefighter gear and children can put out a mock house fire.
-The Allenton and St. Lawrence Fire Department Fire Prevention Open House and Pancake Breakfast is Sunday, Oct. 16 from 8 a.m. – noon.
-There will be homemade pies galore at the Harvest Moon Celebration on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Barton. Enter your pie today and come for the music, food, dancing and fun! Pie drop off is 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Judging at 6:30 p.m.
-The 4th annual Downtown Dash 5k run/walk through historic Downtown West Bend is Sunday, Oct. 16. Professionally chip-timed run and a Bloody Mary bar at the finish for participants 21 years old and over. Register a team of 4 online before Oct. 10 and 1 person’s entry is free.
-A ceremony to recognize all Veterans will be held Monday, Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. at Green Tree Elementary School in West Bend. Anyone who needs a ride can call Mayor Sadownikow’s office at 262-335-5123. There will be refreshments to follow. The event is put on by Common Sense Citizens of Washington County.
-This week Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School mourned the loss of former boys assistant soccer coach Barry Washburn, who lost his fight with ataxia on Wednesday. Ataxia is a disease which slowly shuts down brain function, ultimately leading to death. Funeral for Washburn is Sunday, Oct. 9 at 4:04 p.m. at David’s Star Ev. Lutheran Church, 2740 David’s Star Drive, Jackson. Visitation at church, Sunday from 1:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
-The Diva – West Bend Specialty Shops is hosting Harvest Around the Bend on Saturday, Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the downtown shopping district. There will be seasonal specials and a free pumpkin decorating for kids from noon – 3 p.m. at All in Books,
-The UW-Washington County volleyball team joined Holy Angles Girl Scouts on a community service project as Scouts worked on a volleyball sports patch.
St. Kilian students recognize Hartford Police
Students and staff at St. Kilian School surprised Hartford Police Officer Mike Cummings on Friday afternoon to show their appreciation for his service and they did it with candy. Principal Jenny Trimberger said each class presented a bag of candy that represented something about the police and what they deal with while on duty. Smarties: to give you wisdom for split second decisions, Life Savers: for all the times you have been one, Dum-dum’s: because you probably deal with a lot of them, Hershey’s kisses: to show our love for all you do, 3 Musketeers: all for one and one for all. Officer Cummings thanked the staff and students for the candy and said he loves his job and the Hartford community.
Riverfest/Seafood Fest is over
It’s the end of an era for Riverfest, formerly known as Seafood Fest. The West Bend Noon Rotary voted to discontinue the event. “With heavy (but strategic) hearts, our club decided to move on from the annual food and music festival/fundraiser for a number of reasons including what we believe to be an over-saturation of summer music festivals in the area.
Likewise, we believe while the event was a great way to raise money years ago, we’ve recently been struggling to duplicate that success in spite of attempts to broaden the reach. There is also a large amount of setup required and like all service clubs today we struggle to get enough volunteers to support this event. Be this as it may our club’s Fundraising Committee is working to determine another viable fundraising option so stay tuned! Signed, Will Schroeder. Secretary – Rotary Club of West Bend
A bit of history on Seafood Fest.
The event dates to June 1991. There were 11 large white tents that would span the block on N. Main Street in front of Regner Park. Friends would exchange cash for grey-colored tokens (Barb Justman was a fixture in that tent).
Neighbors would gather to enjoy outdoor music, beer and seafood including clam chowder, fish n’ chips, shrimp, crab legs and scallops and don’t forget the lobster. Some 300 to 800 lobster would be flown in from Maine for the event.
Volunteers would gather behind a big tent and unpack crates of lobster and aim them at boiling pots of water. Some familiar faces included Ron Spears, Jerry Mehring, Jim Heiligenstein, and Rick Steiner.
Ken Pesch could always be found cleaning the grounds and John Hafeman would often be serving up cold beer.
There were white plastic bibs with a red lobster printed on the front to catch buttery drips. Sturdy paper plates would be served with russet potatoes, corn on the cob and a small paper cup with melted butter to dunk the full lobster or lobster tail. Over the years the event grew to include a show with artisans and events for kids. The Sunday Seafood Fest was also the gathering place for a beer following the Bob Cross Run.
Peter German writes, “The idea for Seafood Fest came from a Rotary Club in Marquette, Michigan. West Bend Rotary members traveled to the Marquette, MI to see how their Fest was run and were impressed. The idea was then implemented here in West Bend and the rest is history!
The need for a fund-raiser stemmed from a decision made 7 years prior to the start of Seafood Fest to help preserve West Bend’s wetlands and natural waterways. The West Bend Rotary group emphatically decided to lend a hand to the second phase of the Riverwalk expansion project and pledged $110,000 to do so.
There was initial apprehension regarding the organization of an event this size, but outstanding turnouts for the 3 day event left organizers pleased with the results. Even with a fair amount of rain on the first night, many people dropped by Regner Park to see what all the excitement was about. By all measures, the event was deemed a success. All told, 875 lobsters were sold over the course of the event.”
In June 2014 the Noon Rotary made some changes including putting an end to the tokens and switching the name from Seafood Fest to Riverfest. The event was also moved off N. Main Street to the pavilion in the park with the Silver Lining Stage.
This past year organizers added food trucks to the mix, although some miscommunication and rainy weather took a toll on turnout. What are your memories of Seafood Fest?
Army nurse Margaret Behlen recognized by Interfaith
On Sunday Alice Bryne, 95, and Margaret Behlen, 94, nurses during WWII will be recognized during the Interfaith Caregivers of Washington County annual fundraiser at the West Bend Mutual Prairie Center.
Behlen has been on the Stars & Stripes Honor Flight and I told her story in 2014.
A 1940 graduate of Holy Angels Academy, Behlen was 22 years old when she completed nurses training at Milwaukee County General Hospital and then enlisted in the Army. “I went up to Fort McCoy in August 1944,” she said. “All the men were overseas and all the nurses I knew were going into the Army.”
Following basic training at Fort McCoy, Behlen was transferred to a post in Illinois and was soon selected to be part of the 199th General Hospital. It was there she earned her stripes with a military nickname.
“They called me Pinky,” she said with a grin. “I think it was because I had a red face and red hair. A woman in the front office named me; she said ‘every unit needs a Pinky’ and I guess I was it.”
Transferred to Providence, Rhode Island, Behlen was then shipped to England. “We were in England for quite a long time and we were scheduled to go to France and open a hospital but the Battle of the Bulge occurred and we had to wait until that was over,” said Behlen
On Christmas day she crossed the English Channel on a ship and took a train to Rennes, France.
“On New Year’s Eve we set up the hospital – we were practically barely in there and getting patients,” she said.
On duty every day Behlen was assigned three or four patients. “You had to talk to them and keep their spirits up,” she said. Night duty was a different story. “We’d have to go for 12 hours from 7 p.m. – 7 a.m. for two weeks without a day off,” she said. “That was the roughest part of it and you were usually on a shift yourself and in charge of about 25 patients.”
Stationed within 100 miles of the Battle of the Bulge, Behlen recalled she spent most of her time dancing. “Surrounding our hospital there were other units, specifically ones that had parties at night and women were scarce,” she said. “We were always invited to a party at night, if it wasn’t one place it was another.”
Accommodations in the service were what you might expect, according to Behlen. “We had a Quonset hut in England and there were about 20 of us in there,” she said. “It was pretty cold and we had a home stove and we took turns each week starting the fire.”
Discharged in 1946 Behlen was assigned to a hospital in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She said it was an outfit that had a bad reputation. “Drinking was prevalent and some of the white patients were pretty prejudice to black people,” she said. “There was a saying at the time, ‘Lucky Strike means fine tobacco,’ but we changed that to read ‘Lord save me from Tuscaloosa.’”
Returning home to Milwaukee, Behlen worked for the Veterans Hospital and later met her husband, in of all places her mother’s living room. “He was trying to date my younger sister Harriet,” said Behlen. “I talked it over with my sister and I said, ‘if Morris asks you to marry him, would you?’” Harriet said no, so Morris was on Margaret’s radar.
Married and living in Cedarburg for several years the Behlen’s had seven children.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday “for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end.”
The Nobel committee said the prize “should also been seen as a tribute to the Colombian people who, despite great hardships and abuses, have not given up hope of a just peace.”
An accord between Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, recently broke down after it did not pass a national referendum. The civil war has cost the lives of at least 220,000 Colombians and displaced close to six million people. Results showed 50.2% opposed the deal; 49.8% favored it.
“The fact that a majority of the voters said ‘No’ to the peace accord does not necessarily mean that the peace process is dead. The referendum was not a vote for or against peace,” the committee said in its citation.
What is it with the Nobel committee awarding their prize to people who have failed to actually bring peace? Good intentions count a lot more than accomplishments, I guess.
Overall, 54% say relations between blacks and whites have gotten worse since Obama became president, including 57% of whites and 40% of blacks. That’s up sharply compared with last June, when 43% said things had gotten worse shortly after a racially motivated shooting at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina.
After learning that the 2017 Women’s World Chess Championship would be held in Iran, America’s top female chess player announced this week that she would boycott the tournament in the name of women’s rights.
Nazi Paikidze-Barnes, a Russian-born Georgian-American, has led a public boycott of the event along with a number of her female competitors who object to the Islamic Republic’s strict enforcement of a law mandating women’s use of a hijab, or headscarf.
Paikidze won the U.S. championship in 2016 and is rated as a Grandmaster by FIDE, the sport’s international governing body.
by Owen | 2138, 6 Oct 1616 | Off-Duty | 0 Comments
Wow. That’s a lot of money and effort put into this scam. Remember folks, the IRS never calls.
Authorities in the western Indian city of Thane said they were investigating another 630 people suspected of being involved in the extortion scam.
Workers at nine call centers allegedly impersonated IRS agents during calls to the U.S., according to local police commissioner Param Bir Singh. The victims were told they owed back taxes and would risk arrest if they hung up.
Singh told CNN the call center workers had been trained to speak with an American accent.
The call centers were making $150,000 a day for up to a year before being discovered. Money would be transferred by victims of the scheme to U.S. bank accounts before being sent to India.
He said political coordination should be subject to “criminal penalties.”
Criminal. Criminal! He wants the government to draw lines between people to forbid them from speaking to each other, and if you cross those lines, he wants the government to put you in jail. Who draws those lines to decide who can speak to whom and who is forbidden from speaking to whom? Politicians. Politicians who want to be reelected and squelch criticism of their activities. Feingold wants to use the full coercive power of government to actually stop citizens from freely speaking to each other about political issues.
And then there’s this:
Feingold would also turn the Federal Election Commission, which is deadlocked between Republicans and Democrats, into an administrative agency.
Bear in mind that an “administrative agency” means that it is at the beck and call of the party in power. What Feingold wants is to make the government body that is responsible for regulating and enforcing our election laws to be completely controlled by the party that is currently in power. What could go wrong?
Feingold seems to have a perverse penchant for wanting to give politicians the power to put down opposition to their own power.
Assembly Republicans are considering a program that would allow Wisconsin parents to pay for K-12 school expenses — including private school tuition, textbooks and tutoring — with a taxpayer-funded stream of money known in other states as Education Savings Accounts.
The subsidies — now being offered in Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee — have been dubbed the next generation of school vouchers, which allow students to use tax money to attend private schools and have been used in Wisconsin since 1991.
Ron Martin, president of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, said in a statement Thursday after the Wisconsin State Journal published a story about the lawmakers’ plans, that the programs amount to a “back-door scheme” to take money away from public school funding.
“Education savings accounts literally take money out of our neighborhood public schools and hand it over to subsidize private tuition, with zero accountability,” said Martin. “Politicians who turn their backs on the public schools that provide all children with opportunity in return for campaign contributions from voucher lobbyists had better be ready to look parents in their communities in the eye in the next election and explain why local public schools are cutting teachers and programs, while tax dollars go unaccounted for through private subsidies.”
Here’s one description of what ESAs are. Keep in mind that the details will vary depending on how the state might implement such a thing.
Education savings accounts (ESA) are an innovative way to bring customization to K-12 education. Through an ESA, parents are able to direct their child’s funding to the schools, courses, programs, and services of their choice. Parents are also able to save unused funds for future K-12 and higher education expenses — creating an incentive for parents to judge all K-12 service expenses not only on quality but also on cost. By allowing parents to plan for their child’s unique needs, ESAs create a personal approach to education, where the ultimate goal is maximizing each child’s natural learning abilities.
I would support this for the same reasons I support vouchers. We have decided as a society that it is in the public good for every person to receive an education and that, as a public good, we should all pitch in and pay for it with our taxes. OK, fine. That does not mean that the government needs to pay for it AND run the education delivery system. Just like the state taxpayers pay for transportation but pushes most of that work out to private contractors, the state taxpayers can choose to pay for education but push some of the work out to private education providers. The key is that the money should follow the child. And the people with the most acute vested interest in making sure that money is used to provide the best education possible for the child are the child’s parents. The taxpayers are spending the same money either way. The dispute is over who gets to decide how it is spent for each child. I trust parents a lot more than some DPI bureaucrat or disgruntled mid-level school administrator.
A nonpartisan watchdog group Thursday called for a federal investigation of Hillary Clinton’s campaign committee, accusing it of illegally accepting millions of dollars worth of “opposition research” and other assistance from Correct the Record, an outside super-PAC, in violation of U.S. election laws.
The Campaign Legal Center also filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission to initiate probes of Donald Trump’s campaign, and two super-PACs backing it, for similar violations of laws barring “coordination” between political campaigns and outside groups.
But the Campaign Legal Center’s detailed 52-page complaint against Hillary for America and Correct the Record — part of the sprawling political empire run by Clinton backer David Brock — is likely to get special attention, given Clinton’s repeated advocacy of campaign finance reform. She has vowed to “curb the influence of big money in American politics” and to push for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United — the controversial ruling that opened the door for groups such as Correct the Record to accept unlimited donations to benefit political candidates.
At a Hillary Clinton town hall yesterday in Haverford, Pennsylvania, a 15 year old girl was supposedly “chosen at random” to ask a question of the former Secretary of State. But, the well-scripted performance raised some suspicion with a YouTuber named Spanglevision who decided to dig a little deeper. And, wouldn’t you know it, the “random” participant was none other than child actor, Brennan Leach, whose father just happens to be Pennsylvania democratic State Senator Daylin Leach. Oh, and in case it wasn’t obvious, Daylin supports Hillary for president…shocking.
The West Bend School District Board of Education has declined to meet with the West Bend Education Association, citing legal counsel.
The WBEA offered to meet with the Board to discuss staff concerns within the district, but was turned down Sept. 20.
“We’ve taken this position since 2012,” Board President Rick Parks said, adding the position taken is based on legal counsel.
In the state of Wisconsin, teachers’ unions can only meet with boards to negotiate base wages; they can, however, meet for reasons other than negotiations.
“The WBEA would like to talk with the Board about the inequities in the district’s compensation plan and how those inequalities are affecting the lives and families of our teachers,” teacher and WBEA President Tanya Lohr said.
The WBEA also wants to discuss an inherent lack of loyalty or “fidelity” in the district’s compensation plan along with “unreasonable and inequitable” workloads teachers experience in the district.
The end goal is to work with the Board to rework the compensation plan for teachers.
Parks said acting on complaints from the teachers could be seen as negotiating, adding “semantics are the dickens when it comes to the law.”
The Board is legally allowed to negotiate the base wage of the teaching staff with the WBEA, but workload and pay structure are not negotiable.
My name is Jerome Smith Sr. As someone actively working to improve my community, I know it sometimes seems like there are too few people who care.
Whether it’s murders, drop-out rates, or drug addiction, the place we call home is one of the most challenging cities in America, and there isn’t a lot of sunshine.
Yet, it is in the middle of these struggles that I’ve been able to gain an unexpected friend and partner in helping take on some of our community’s greatest challenges. That friend is U.S. Senator Ron Johnson.
After several conversations, Ron Johnson, myself, and some of his staff partnered together to construct a plan around this new idea. The Joseph Project is an initiative to connect people in our community with good-paying jobs.
by Owen | 2136, 5 Oct 1616 | Politics | 0 Comments
I feel like we’re in a time warp and have been transported back to the end of the 20th century. It appears that even lefty millennials aren’t buying into it.
We millennials — at 33, I’m at the top of the range — are primed to hear these arguments. As a group, we care more about climate change than older voters. That only makes sense considering we (and all future generations) will inherit an era of rising seas and super droughts associated with our continued addiction to fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas.
But Al Gore? Please.
He’s exactly the wrong person to boost the millennial vote.
Yes, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for “An Inconvenient Truth,” the documentary that helped wake up the world to the perils of climate change. Personally, I’m super grateful for the continued work he’s done on that issue. In reporting on climate change for CNN, I’ve met several people who pursued a career fighting climate change because of that film.
But the optics here are awful. One reason so many liberal millennials voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary is they didn’t want to see another Clinton in the White House. They want change — less inequality, better health care, smarter climate policies, a fix to the student debt crisis — not more of the same. Clinton’s biggest challenge with young voters, who tend to lean left, and who should be on board with many of her policies, is that she represents the old guard.
Speaking at a Democratic rally in Flint, Michigan, the former president ripped into the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for flooding the health care insurance market and causing premiums to rise for middle-class Americans who do not qualify for subsidies.
“So you’ve got this crazy system where all of a sudden 25 million more people have health care and then the people who are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half. It’s the craziest thing in the world,” Clinton said.
by Owen | 2036, 4 Oct 1616 | Off-Duty | 0 Comments
Wow, this is quite a development in the landscape of the SE Wisconsin conservative movement.
No, this is not good bye. I intend to continue to be an active and independent voice. But I just won’t be setting the alarm at 4:15 a.m. every morning.
This morning, I announced that I am stepping down from my daily radio show on WTMJ at the end of this year:
“It has been both a pleasure and honor to work here,” said Sykes. “It has been an extraordinary privilege to be a part of the momentous changes that have taken place in Wisconsin over the last two decades. This is not a decision that I made either lightly or recently and it was not driven by this year’s political season. I made this decision more than a year ago for both professional and very personal reasons. My father died when he was 63, and I will turn 62 this year, so this year has always been circled on my calendar. Frankly, if I was ever going to make a move, it was now. While I am stepping back from my daily radio duties I intend to remain an active voice. I want to write more, travel more and pursue new opportunities.”
Brian Fraley has a fantastic retrospective. It is worth a look back on the remarkable impact that Charlie has had over the years. We’ll miss hearing him on the radio, but look forward to his continued contributions in other media. And I’m sure that his family will enjoy him being around more. We should all be so blessed to be able to step back from work and enjoy our families and explore new adventures while we still have our wits and our health.
My column for the West Bend Daily News is online. Here you go:
Although the choices at the top of the November ballot are truly a basket of deplorables, there are some easy choices further down the ballot. Sen. Ron Johnson has earned a second term, and Russ Feingold has certainly not made the case for himself.
As the adage goes, past performance is the best predictor of future performance. If that is the case, then a fourth term for Feingold would be wretched for the people of Wisconsin. After spending 10 years warming a seat in the Wisconsin State Senate, Feingold was elevated by the voters to do the same for 18 years in the U.S. Senate.
During Feingold’s almost two decades representing Wisconsin in Washington, he accomplished very little. His name is attached to one legislative achievement that was an affront to free speech. The McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Law was an assault on free speech that was eventually ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. The single legislative accomplishment of the self-described champion of civil rights was a law that was thrown out for violating civil rights.
When Feingold wasn’t spending his time hobnobbing with elites and enjoying the perks of being in the most exclusive club in the world, he was being one of the most loyal votes for the Democratic leadership. Feingold voted to continue partial birth abortions.
He voted against notifying parents when their kids get an abortion out of state. He voted for President Barack Obama’s trillion dollar stimulus package that only stimulated Democratic constituents. He voted against education savings accounts, against medical savings accounts, against Roth IRAs, against personal retirement accounts, against school vouchers for D.C., against ending the death tax, against voluntary prayer in schools, against energy expansion in the U.S., for sanctuary cities for illegal aliens, for illegal aliens to receive Social Security and, of course, for Obamacare.
Since being ousted from office six years ago, an act that many attribute to his zealous support for Obamacare, Feingold has slid further into disrepute. He has completely reversed himself on his promise to fund his campaign primarily from Wisconsinites. In fact, almost 70 percent of Feingold’s campaign funds comes from out-of-state people and organizations.
Feingold has also used his PAC as a personal slush fund. Immediately after losing to Johnson in 2010, Feingold launched his Progressives United PAC with the stated goal of supporting progressive candidates in Wisconsin and elsewhere. As he fleeced donors for cash with the promise to support liberal causes, he actually spent a full 95 percent of the money on himself, his friends and on raising more money. A charity that only spent 5 percent of its proceeds on its stated goal would be rightfully dragged through the media for its deceptive marketing and immoral management.
Meanwhile, Johnson has accomplished more in a single term in the senate than Feingold did in three. In fact, a Hloom study that evaluated the productivity of all senators ranked Johnson as the absolute most productive senator. Johnson was selected as chairman of the hugely important Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. From this position, Johnson has been at the forefront of some of our nation’s most important issues. (It is also telling that in 18 years in the Senate, Feingold’s colleagues had so little respect for him that he was never selected to chair any committee.) But Johnson’s service specifically to the citizens of Wisconsin perhaps outweighs even his influence on national issues. He and his staff have been incredibly responsive to helping constituents navigate the federal government and resolve issues. One of those constituents was the whistleblower who reported incredible abuses taking place at the Tomah VA facility. Despite these reports being ignored by Feingold when he was in office and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Johnson and his staff sprang into action. Johnson’s committee investigated the allegations and released a 350-page report detailing the rampant and systematic abuses at the VA, spurring action by government officials for reform.
Johnson has also been personally working on some of Wisconsin’s most pressing problems. Johnson and his staff have been working with the Rev. Jerome Smith in Milwaukee’s inner city on the Joseph Project, which was started to help the city’s poorest black residents find and keep gainful employment. The project has helped at least 80 people find jobs paying $12.80 and more through direct, personal involvement. One person at a time. Person to person. With this project alone, Johnson has done more to solve Milwaukee’s most difficult problems than Feingold did in nearly 30 years of elected office.
Johnson has been one of the most productive, thoughtful, problem-solving and effective senators that Wisconsin has ever had. He is facing a challenge from a political retread with a record of only leaving the backbench to grow government and quash civil rights. It is an easy choice. Vote for Ron Johnson.
The US has said it is suspending talks with Russia over Syria, accusing Moscow of having “failed to live up” to its commitments under a ceasefire deal.
Washington blamed Russia and the Syrian government for intensifying their attacks against civilians.
Finally. Now let the prosecutions of the prosecutors begin for their egregious abuse of power.
Madison — The John Doe investigation of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign is over.
In a terse order, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm to take up litigation that stopped the probe last year. That ends the long-stalled investigation.
The order was issued less than three weeks after documents were leaked that showed the extent to which the Republican governor and his aides worked closely with a supposedly independent group on recall elections. The documents included details about large donations from those who benefitted from laws approved by Walker and GOP lawmakers.
Chisholm, a Democrat, launched the probe in 2012 based on information turned up in an earlier investigation of Walker aides and associates that resulted in six convictions, ranging from misconduct in office for campaigning on county time to stealing from a veterans fund. Walker was not charged in that investigation.
Voters in Colombia have rejected a landmark peace deal with Farc rebels in a shock referendum result, with 50.24% voting against it.
The deal was signed last week by President Juan Manuel Santos and Farc leader Timoleon Jimenez after nearly four years of negotiations.
But it needed to be ratified by Colombians in order to come into force.
[…]
With votes in from more than 99% of polling stations counted, 50.2% opposed the accord while 49.8% supported it – a difference of less than 63,000 votes out of 13 million ballots. Turnout was low at less than 40%.
The surprise result means the peace process is now shrouded by uncertainty.
Former Vice-President Francisco Santos, who opposed the deal, said he hoped a better agreement would follow.
“The “no” victory is a victory for peace with justice, it is a victory for a peace with pardon and reconciliation. The triumph of the “no” is the triumph of a more inclusive peace, peace which includes us all, a more stable peace,” he said.
President Santos had previously warned that there was no plan B for ending the war, which has killed 260,000 people.
The result is a major setback to the president, who since his election in 2010 had pledged to end a conflict blamed for displacing about eight million people.
Even after years of war and hundreds of thousands of deaths, the people of Columbia aren’t willing to accept peace at any price.
A US newspaper says it has obtained documents showing tycoon Donald Trump declared a loss of more than $900m on his 1995 federal income tax return.
The New York Times says the loss was so large it may have enabled the Republican candidate to avoid paying tax for up to 18 years legally.
His campaign has refused to publish his tax returns and neither confirmed nor denied the scale of his losses.
A few thoughts… first, isn’t the leak itself illegal? I thought that our tax documents were covered by privacy protections. If someone stole my tax records and dumped them on the internet, I’d certainly want law enforcement to find the culprits and prosecute them.
Second, doesn’t it seem like Hillary Clinton knew this ahead of time? Think back to the debate and how she repeatedly hammered on Trump’s tax records and implied things. Is it possible that someone within the government gave her this information some time ago? Yes, yes it does. And it fits perfectly into the Clinton’s sleazy political playbook.
Third, assuming the information is true, it doesn’t appear that Trump did anything illegal. Carrying forward losses on your taxes is something that people all over the country do every year. And any business owner who has suffered a bad year has taken advantage of this intentional facet of our tax policy.
Fourth, of course point number 3 is not the point. It isn’t about whether Trump actually violated the law like Hillary did. It is about stoking the fires of envy. We, the great unwashed public living in our parents’ basements and lamenting our lots in life, are supposed to be envious of Trump for being wealthy and not paying income taxes. It feeds into the “fair share” ideology of the Left that is rooted in envy and hate. So despite the fact that Trump complied with the law and did what every one of us would have done in the same circumstance, we’re supposed to hate him for it. People who think this way are incredibly petty, but they comprise a sizable portion of the base of the Democratic Party.
Fifth, the disclosure does undermine Trump’s proposition that his business acumen is a justification for being president. Or does it? Almost every entrepreneurial businessperson has several losses under their belts. Steve Jobs. Bill Gates. Richard Branson. Thomas Edison. Henry Ford. Warren Buffett. The list goes on. Often times, people who are considered business geniuses rack up dozens of failures before landing on that one magnificent idea that launches them into the pantheon of business leaders. I’m not saying that Trump is a great businessman. What I am saying is that one massive failure is not conclusive evidence of him not being one.
