Just imagine if instead of being in the business of running an airport, the focus of Mitchell International Airport was in the business of “making money”… that would go to a group of private investors.

Million dollar CEO positions wouldn’t be far behind, nor would lack of accountability and rising prices to justify the salary of said CEO.

We need to keep Milwaukee airport accountable to it’s citizens, not a group of well off shareholders whose number one priority is it’s short term profit margin.

The Milwaukee County Board parks committee approved by a vote of 5-2 vote a November referendum question to ask voters for approval of a 0.5% sales tax increase to support parks.

This follows last weeks vote by the transit committee to also approve a 0.5% sales tax increase to fund transit in the area once and for all.

These are both very positive developments for Milwaukee County. It’s critical to the future of both our parks and transit systems that move them off the property tax roles and to a funding source tied to inflation.

There’s no doubt County Executive Walker will continue to obstruct this initiative that will once and for all let the voters decide on the future of transit and parks in Milwaukee County. Hopefully the Board of Supervisors can get enough support this time around to overcome his short sighted policy that has less to do with the future of Milwaukee County and more to do with his future run for Governor.

Last time this issue came up before Supervisors, they failed to override his veto by one vote. My Supervisor, Lynne DeBruin, choose to vote with Walker back then.

Maybe after squeaking out reelection by less than 200 votes, she’s gotten the message that Milwaukee County residents want to move forward on parks and transit instead of simply maintaining the status quo.

I’ve been saying for years that in order to increase ridership and revenue on Milwaukee County buses, you have to increase services and cut fares. More people will ride the bus if they can catch one near their house and the price is low enough to compete with driving themselves.

Unfortunately, the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority had to pay a consultant big bucks to give them that common sense advice.

Cutting fares and restoring slashed service could be key strategies for rescuing the financially troubled Milwaukee County Transit System, a nationally known transit consultant told the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority today. – JSonline

This was the best part of our convention so far.

It was fun to watch the whole thing come together, from when we initially found out the news, through drafting the resolution, to having Paula deliver it on the floor of the convention.

It’s no surprise that the vast majority of Americans would benefit from Sen. Obama’s tax plan according to the Tax Policy Center:

If enacted, the Obama and McCain tax plans would have radically different effects on the distribution of tax burdens in the United States. The Obama tax plan would make the tax system significantly more progressive by providing large tax breaks to those at the bottom of the income scale and raising taxes significantly on upper-income earners.

The McCain tax plan would make the tax system more regressive, even compared with a system in which the 2001-06 tax cuts are made permanent. It would do so by providing relatively little tax relief to those at the bottom of the income scale while providing huge tax cuts to households at the very top of the income distribution. Tax Policy Center

CNN breaks it down even more. The rub? The vast majority of Americans would see a lower tax burden under Sen. Obama’s tax plan. The majority of the super rich in America would benefit under the McCain plan.

I knew Sen. Obama would make Wisconsin much more competitive for Democrats, but I have to admit I was surprised to see just how big his lead is in one of the first polls out of Wisconsin.

In the inaugural UW Dept. of Political Science/WisPolitics.com survey taken immediately after Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign, Barack Obama leads John McCain by a 13-percentage point margin in the Badger state. – Wispolitics.com

As I told some friends the other night, I’m completely convinced that this is the election cycle that will completely and finally propel the Fox News network from “obvious GOP cheerleaders” to that of “completely irrelevant”.

The level to which they’ll stoop in their concerted effort to smear and discredit Sen. Obama is going to be measured in epic proportions. It’s been going on for months of course, but the latest smear like calling the Senators wife “Obamas Baby Mamma” are just the next step in a deliberate plan to influence the election.

As they flail in their attempts to reach that goal over the next several months, I really think they’ll move out of the universally understood realm of “yeah, they’re biased” to “that’s just silly” and join the ranks of VH1 in terms of credibility.

The “Obamas Baby Mamma” comment is just the latest in what is sure to be an unending trend in their attempts to smear him as a closet radical, label him as a fist bumping terrorist, and generally whip up their audience into a frenzy over his secret ISLAMOFASCIST agenda.

While amusing, it’s a sad commentary on the discourse of American media.

This headline and lead say it all: Republicans block extra taxes on oil companies

Senate Republicans blocked a proposal Tuesday to tax the windfall profits of the largest oil companies, despite pleas by Democratic leaders to use the measure to address America’s anger over $4 a gallon gasoline.

Senators voted on whether to consider a windfall profits tax against the five largest U.S. oil companies and rescind $17 billion in tax breaks the companies expect to enjoy over the next decade.AP

Not only have they blocked any extra taxes on oil companies – who have been making around $10 Billion per year – they’ve also blocked any effort to repeal the insane tax breaks those same oil companies get and WE pay for. When a company like Exxon Mobile is netting more than $35 Billion dollars per year, why are taxpayers giving them an additional $17 Billion in tax breaks?

More importantly, how can Republicans defend that?

This is about the clearest example you could provide about where Republicans stand in the battle between big oil and average American.

You have to wonder if someone just set up a voice mail and then left for the weekend or what.

A hotline set up for Milwaukee County residents to leave voice-mail messages to report flooding, sewer backups or other water-related problems is not working this morning. A call to the line – (414) 278-3000 – immediately forwards the caller to the voice mail system, then reports the voice mail is full.

The message promises to transfer the caller to an attendant, but then the automated response says: “A valid attendant number has not been specified. Your session cannot be continued at this time. Please try again later.”

The hotline was opened Saturday by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Management Bureau.

At a time when there is increasing public pressure on County Government to shape up, things like this don’t exactly help out.