Taking some time off to go watch a bunch of guys with socialist last names go beat up on the Nasvhille Predators. :)
Go Wings!
Archive for February, 2009
Red Wing Weeknd
February 27th, 2009Milwaukee Talk Radio Host: Women Who Breast Feed Their Babies are “Sows”
February 25th, 2009UPDATE: Here’s the audio of Belling comparing women who breast feed their babies to “sows”:
[audio:belling-women-are-sows.mp3]
Right wing talk radio show host Mark Belling has outdone himself this time. On this afternoon’s show while he was ranting against a proposed breast feeding rights law, he not only displayed his ignorance about the benefits of breast feeding to both the mother and child, he managed to outrage pretty much every mother in Milwaukee.
I’ll have the audio shortly, but in short, Mark Belling compared women who breast feed their children to “sows”. Women are “pigs” in his expert opinion. For some reason, that particular segment is missing from the podcast on his web site right now. Coincidence? Doubtful.
That was only the beginning of an outrageous anti-family rant that was a showcase of disgusting and chauvinistic depravity.
Even women calling in to his show today who identified themselves as “conservatives” were outraged at the outrageous statements of WISN’s “premier” talk radio show host. And rightfully so.
Why a single middle aged man who has no family (that I know of at least) thinks he’s qualified to provide commentary about something as personal as breast feeding and it’s effect on women, their children and their families is beyond me. Why that kind of person thinks they can make such an offensive comparison and then try to cover it up is even a bigger question.
Wisconsin GOP Issues Press Release Promising Fabled “Better Solutions” That Never Seem to Materialize
February 25th, 2009I won’t often post the entirety of official GOP press releases but there are those press releases which deserve special attention. Today’s response by the Republican Party of Wisconsin is one of those occasions.
MADISON – Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, released the following statement regarding President Obama’s address:
“We all want what is best for America, but proposals that spend a trillion taxpayer dollars and encourage wasteful spending by state governments don’t achieve that. With everyone’s eyes on their pocketbooks together we need to find ways to stimulate the economy by creating jobs, but this spending bill does neither. As the saying goes when you are in a hole, stop digging. Republicans proposed a bill that created twice as many jobs and spent half as much.
We will continue to offer better solutions to improve life for all Americans and that includes individual responsibility and empowerment, limited government involvement in our daily lives, and keeping more of the taxpayers’ dollars in our pockets.” – wispolitics.com
The last part sentence is what caught my attention… “We will continue to offer better solutions…” followed by the same catch phrases they’ve been offering for the past 30 years.I think the missing sentence on the end of this release is, “…. as soon as we can think up these ‘better solutions’ we keep referring to”.
I wonder if they consider “NO!” one of those better solutions, because so far, that’s about all we’ve heard from the State and National GOP.
I know I’ve been hammering this point quite a bit lately, but just what are these “better solutions” the GOP keeps promising the American people? I’m honestly starting to believe that the folks at RNC central are scrambling to come up with something, anything, to offer up besides promising that ANY DAY now they’ll have something, anything, to offer up.
In His Big National Coming Out Event, the “Future” of the GOP Falls Flat
February 24th, 2009In as much as President Obama’s speech tonight was uplifting, well delivered and relevant, the Republican response by GOP superstar Bobby Jindal was childish, repetative and boilerplate talking points.
But don’t take my word for it, here’s what the experts had to say.
BRIT HUME: “The speech read a lot better than it sounded. This was not Bobby Jindal’s greatest oratorical moment.”
NINA EASTON: “The delivery was not exactly terrific.”
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: “Jindal didn’t have a chance. He follows Obama, who in making speeches, is in a league of his own. He’s in a Reagan-esque league. … [Jindal] tried the best he could.”
JUAN WILLIAMS: “It came off as amateurish, and even the tempo in which he spoke was sing-songy. He was telling stories that seemed very simplistic and almost childish.”
Those are all conservative commentators on Fox News by the way. At any rate, besides what the pundits have to say, I had been told time and again that the GOP was changing up the message and going beyond CUTTING EDGE in their attempts to stem the losses of the last two elections.
Yet tonight, we saw the GOP is going to stick to the same old rhetoric about “government being the problem” and “earmarks” while using their golden boy to deliver the same tired message.
30 Foot Milwaukee Sinkhole Another Reminder of Our Crumbling Infrastructure
February 24th, 2009UPDATE July 23 2010: The original below was from Feb 24th, 2009. If you’re looking for a picture from the July 22nd sinkhole on Oakland & North:
Well this explains why I couldn’t take my normal route home after work today:
The E. Locust St. bridge that spans the Milwaukee River between N. Humboldt Blvd. and N. Cambridge Ave. is closed because of a large sinkhole that has formed on the west side of the bridge, according to city officials.
The sinkhole is about 20 feet deep and has a 30-foot circumference, Fire Department spokeswoman Tiffany Wynn said in an e-mail. -jsonline.com
It also serves as a tangible reminder that the infrastructure in Milwaukee and across America is in terrible shape and in need of serious care.
Every Special Interest Groups Claim Support for Their Own Bailout, What Do Americans Think?
February 24th, 2009For the last several weeks, I’ve heard pundits from across the political spectrum try to use populus public sentiment as justification for their particular program.
Where it’s big banks with their, “The Ameican people don’t want their banks to fail” or the automakers with their, “The American people don’t want the auto industry in America to fail”, or any group in between, there are a lot of groups and special interests out there all claiming that the American people are on their side when it comes to the application of federal stimulus money, bailouts, or spending.
I came across a poll done by Gallup today that actually went out and asked the American people the area they thought their tax dollars should be directed.
Just something to think about the next time you hear one side or the other trying to claim the public is on their side.
Wauwatosa Should Resist Selling Naming Rights to Hart Park
February 23rd, 2009Selling of the “naming rights” of public parks to private companies is a practice I’ve never been a fan of. Once you start down that path, you can rarely come back.
I think the residents of Wauwatosa will have something to say about this proposal for Hart Park:
Wauwatosa Mayor Jill Didier wants to sell naming rights to sports facilities at Hart Park, which is slated for a $4 million upgrade later this year.
Her proposal will be discussed Tuesday by the Common Council’s Community Development Committee.
In a memo, Didier says selling the rights will help the city financially and “create a sense of public ownership” in the upgrade, which includes expansion of the athletic field and tennis courts. – jsonline.com
It can be hard to walk the line between improving parks and finding what level of private money is acceptable to the public, so I understand where Mayor. Didier is coming from. But in my opinion, and in my experience, selling off naming rights to public spaces actually decreases the sense of public ownership.
It’s a path Wauwatosa should be careful about starting down.
A Good Letter to the Editor in Today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
February 22nd, 2009I’ve been wondering how long it would take for someone other than myself to point out how Scott Walker is overselling the benefits of his “sales tax holiday”:
Tax holiday was oversold
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker claimed that a sales tax holiday would save the average Wisconsin family $3,000. In order to save $3,000 at the state’s 5% sales tax rate, one would need to spend $60,000 on taxable items (.05 times $60,000 is $3,000). According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median family income in Wisconsin in 2007 was $62,804. As a taxpayer, you can do the rest of the math. It is clear Walker can’t.
Joe Hanser
Mequon
A good point, and one that shouldn’t be made just on the opinion page.
Bryan Kennedy Out as DPW Chair Candidate
February 20th, 2009I was one of the first to announce when Bryan said he was in, and although I’ve known he’s been “out” of the running for some time, he made it official about an hour ago. From his press release:
Madison—AFT-Wisconsin President Bryan Kennedy announced this morning that he has decided to opt out of a run for Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. He cited the increase of the DPW Chair’s responsibilities, his current position at AFT-Wisconsin, and time commitments as the reasons he decided to withdraw from the race.
“It has become increasingly clear to me that the DPW Chair position has evolved into a full-time responsibility. I cannot devote that level of time to the party and still maintain my position at AFT,” Kennedy said. “Remaining at AFT-Wisconsin was the deal breaker. I have committed to extensive organizing efforts on the UW campuses and I want to see this project through to its completion.”
With Bryan out, the field for the race for Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is wide open. I expect we’ll hear very soon that the Governor has a prefered candidate.
Whoever it is, I would hope they can work to further communication and engagement of Democrats across the State, including here in Milwaukee.
Associated Bank Learns It’s Lesson, Now Hiring Public Relations Manager
February 20th, 2009In light of last week’s public relations fiasco, I can’t say I’m surprised Associated Bank is in the market for someone other than their gruff CEO to handle public relations.
Job Title Public Relations Manager
Geographic Area Southeast Wisconsin
Job City MilwaukeeOrganization Profile Associated Banc-Corp, headquartered in Green Bay, Wis., is a diversified bank holding company with total assets of $24 billion. Associated has approximately 300 banking offices serving approximately 160 communities in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. The company offers a full range of traditional banking services and a variety of other financial products and services.
Job Overview Associated Bank is searching for an experienced Public Relations Manager to spearhead our Media and Community relations efforts in Milwaukee and across our three state footprint.
If you’re interested in the position, check out the full job annoucement.
Gov. Doyle Shouldn’t Remove Oversight of State Projects From Budget
February 19th, 2009If anything – as shown by my investigation into the $2 million boondoggle of a Government Accountability Board web site we’re paying for – we need more oversight into outsourced State projects, not less as Gov. Doyle is proposing.
As Wisconsin prepares to receive billions of dollars in federal aid, Gov. Jim Doyle is trying to eliminate a law that requires a determination of whether it is cheaper to do work with state employees or contractors before outsourcing projects. – jsonline.com
There is a lot of work that can be done cheaper, faster and better by State employees. We’ve seen what happens when work just gets farmed out to companies who have little or no interest in the long term welfare of our State.
I disagree with the Governor on this policy change and would call on appropriate State legislators to not only maintain accountability for outsourced projects, but to increase it.
I live in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, WI with my wife Jen, our daughter Emerson, and sons Carter and Colton.
