Daniel Cody - “Left on the Lake”

Terrible news for Republicans in the latest poll of Wisconsin (likely) voters:

11. Who is your choice for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2008? (Republicans only)
Rudy Giuliani 26%
Tommy Thompson 22%
John McCain 15%
Newt Gingrich 8%
Mitt Romney 6%

When “TOMMY!” is polling behind anyone in Wisconsin - where he holds Reaganesque reverence among the faithful - it’s bad bad news for his Presidential hopes.

Even more amazing to me is the fact that one quarter of self-identified Wisconsin Republicans would prefer a pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, handgun regulating, twice divorced nominee for President. Or maybe they just don’t know all that about Rudy yet.

It’s also pretty clear from the poll that Wisconsinite’s have had it with George W. Bush:

1. Do you approve or disapprove of President Bush’s overall job performance?
Approve 27%
Disapprove 62%
Undecided 11%

2. Do you approve or disapprove of President Bush’s handling of the economy?
Approve 33%
Disapprove 58%
Undecided 9%

How much do Republicans hate the ability for workers to organize and form unions? So much so that they’re willing to kill anti-terrorism legislation, part of which contains the right for TSA workers to unionize.

President Bush and his Senate allies will kill a Sept. 11 antiterror bill if Congress sends it to the White House with a provision to let airport screeners unionize, the White House and 36 Republicans said Tuesday. - AP

This must be why Republicans are so “strong” in the media’s eyes when it comes to national defense and security; they’re willing to derail national security to keep their pals in big business happy.

Most oblivious cabinet member award continues to go to Sec. Chertoff, who tried defending the anti-labor stance with this doozy: “Marines don’t collectively bargain over whether they’re going to wind up, you know, being deployed in Anbar province or in Baghdad”.

Great analogy between members of the armed forces and public employees Secretary Chertoff.

Jim McGuigan asks a good question: Why is Milwaukee County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin against sick pay benefits for State legislators, but apparently for sick pay benefits for County supervisors like herself?

That answer is simple — DeBruin qualifies for the lucrative health care for life benefit.

But this gets even richer. She added, “I think it (legislative sick pay) is one of the ultimate snubs to voters. It is basically saying I don’t think you will throw me out of office no matter what bonus I give myself.” - Watchdog Milwaukee

Hypocrisy - you know, saying one thing while doing another - is the ultimate snub to voters in my opinion. And for the record, she’s my County Supervisor.

Good riddance.

A federal judge threw out a lawsuit filed by parents who wanted to keep their young children from learning about same-sex marriage in school. NY Times

While conservatives will predictibly cry “ACTIVIST JUDGES!&@!” on this one, just take a second to think about how ridiculous this lawsuit is. While I would certainly support the parents right to choose not to send their kids to a school that teaches social norms that differ with their own, lawsuits like this are a serious waste of taxpayer time and money, and frankly, rooted in only the loosest of logical thinking and plain old common sense.

Why can’t conservatives like these people understand the difference between the right to exercise their own religious beliefs and the alltogether banning beliefs which they don’t consider “Christian”?

The Pentagon is engaged in intensive planning to carry out a bombing campaign in Iran on a day’s notice to halt the flow of Iranian aid to sectarian militants in Iraq, Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh said Sunday.

A bombing campaign could be ready to launch as soon as this spring, Hersh wrote in an article published Sunday in “The New Yorker.” Previously, he said, the Bush administration had been focused on plans to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities and possible regime change. CNN.com

When Seymour Hersh writes about inside information on the United States going to war, I tend to listen because he’s been spot on in the past.

Not that I want him to be right…

Welcome aboard the bandwagon Rep. Ryan!

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan returned Thursday from a trip to Iraq, expressing support for the new U.S. strategy and buildup there but warning that “it is our last chance to get this right” before going to “Plan B” and starting to withdraw troops.

“This whole thing is a big gamble, but it’s probably the best gamble to take before throwing in the towel and allowing sectarian genocide to take over,” said Ryan, who was visiting Iraq for the first time. “I personally give this three to six months to find out. - MJS

Never mind that the administration has been saying “six more months” for three years now Rep. Ryan, or that they’ll be saying “six more months” next year. Everyone knows you’re just trying to CYA when the escalation doesn’t work out without offending anyone in your party too much.

Three different people questioning my “impartiality” within a day requires some clarification.

I never have nor do I now get any kind of compensation from any campaign for what I write on this weblog. I don’t work for, or on behalf of, any campaign. I don’t use my position within the DPW to “endorse” candidates in non-partisan races.

I’ve never understood why some people have thought that I of all people should hold off on supporting candidates for public office during a primary, or that by supporting a candidate that they choose not to, I’m somehow being biased or unfair or abusing my position within the DPW.

Hopefully that clears things up for a certain percentage of people who read my weblog.

Britain and Denmark are going to start pulling troops out of Iraq starting this summer.

A few questions:

Why are they joining the “surrender first crowd”?

Why do they want to encourage the terrorists by pulling troops out? Doesn’t Britain know that those same terrorists are just going to “follow them home”?

Why are they being a bunch of “SURRENDER MONKEYS!!” ?

In the city-wide school board seat, it’s going to be “In the pocket of the national pro-voucher lobby” Bruce Thompson vs. community activist Bama Brown-Grice.

The 8th district was a bit of a surprise, with progressive candidate Terry Falk besting incumbent Joe Dannecker by nearly 7%.

In the 3rd district, Stephanie Findley came in second behind Michael Bonds. It was pretty tense at first (I was at her result watching party) because the initial returns had her and LEON TODD pretty close, but thankfully she pulled away to finish a strong second.

Besides the Thomspon victory, it was a pretty solid night for progressives in the race for Milwaukee Public School Board. Because he is solidly financed by the pro-voucher industry- much of his money comes from out of state - Thompson is going to be difficult to beat.

Doesn’t it seem silly that it will cost more than $100,000 to win the city-wide seat for school board?

An article in today’s MJS reports on the growing frustration with IT projects at the Milwaukee Police Dept. The focus is on one in particular that’s supposed to identify “problematic” Milwaukee police officers.

The “Early Intervention Program,” first pitched by Chief Nannette Hegerty more than three years ago, still is in the works. The Police Department’s latest projection is that the program, budgeted to cost $500,000, will be working by late April.

The article goes on to point out the fact that some in City Hall are none to pleased about the what’s turning out to be chronic problems with IT projects at the Police Dept.

Ald. Bob Donovan, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, wants to know why the police have so many problems with computers.

“Anything technical at the Police Department is always millions over budget and years behind schedule, and I don’t know understand that. We need to get to the bottom of this, and in a hurry”

Like most rhetorical questions, this one also has an easy answer. IT projects are always late and over budget because the MPD doesn’t have the technical staff on hand to implement such projects as well as they should be.

And why is that?

Again, as with most things, it’s all about the money. A few years ago when I was in the job market, there were a number of positions at the MPD that caught my eye until I saw the ridiculously low salaries. While most people would look at the salary and say, “Gee, that’s a lot of money”, the fact is that you just can’t find the kind of good experienced IT talent you need for projects like the “Early Intervention Program” for $40,000 or $45,000 a year.

Why would any experienced IT people leave their jobs where they can easily make twice that to work for the MPD? And just to clarify, it’s a problem for every IT position in the public sector, not a situation that’s unique to the MPD.

The crazy thing is that hiring more qualified staff would actually save taxpayers money in the long run by keeping projects like this on time and on budget. But the fact is that the MPD budget is stretched thin already and their priorities are understandably focused on areas other than IT.

So while Ald. Bob Donovan may be asking the question publicly to raise awareness of the issue, I have to believe that in his own mind, he knows the real reason for the delays and knows the real solutions.

Now comes the tough part for him: taking that knowledge and proposing some solutions for the problem.

Go read his responses to a questionnaire sent out by the Journal Sentinel.

First off, it says a lot about a person when they RESPOND IN ALL CAPS. Second, while the district is predominantly African-American, why is it just “BLACK CHILDREN CAN’T AFFORD 4 MORE YEARS TO EDUCATE A NEWCOMER TO THE DISTRICT.”?

Besides being an incredibly ridiculous statement that only those who’ve previously been in public office should be the ones running for office, what about the rest of the white/hispanic/hmong/etc kids in the district?