Why Won't Walker Deny He Signed Kohl, Doyle Recall Petitions?
His indirect, non-denial denial through a spokeswoman tells you all you need to know.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Wash Post Raises Stakes In Walker Recall Election
You read this story in the Post and can see the risk the national Dems are taking by keeping their distance.
Walker-Related Posts Most-Read Last Week At This Blog
Here were the five most-read posts here last week:
Kudos To Milwaukee Riverkeeper On Estabrook Dam Win
Getting the dam declared a nuisance paves the way for a resolution, preferably its removal.
Walker's Stonewall Will End Where Dick Nixon's Ended
Crumbled.
Which is where Walker's "won't" strategy is taking him.
Emulate Nixon, exit, stage right.
The Journal Sentinel Edit Board Makes No Sense
On May 19th, the editorial board recommended Scott Walker's re-election.
Today, it says you shouldn't consume what he's selling:
Talk about genetic modification. Scott Walker's ad touting his job creation policies combines apples and oranges and comes up with a peach of a claim.Suppose there were a celebrity product endorsement ad where the pitch closed with - - "and remember, don't use it."
And based on a Journal Sentinel PolitiFact Wisconsin article Friday, it's apparent that claim is overripe...
But our problem with the latest Walker ad is that the governor adds the 23,000 jobs he claims were created in his first year (and which has yet to get the federal stamp of approval) to about 10,000 jobs from the monthly survey.
Not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. No caveats in the ad - the stats are presented as signed, sealed and delivered. And Walker credits his administration for the good news. Well, the stats are subject to revision - sometimes heavy revision. And the governor overstates the impact of a governor - any governor - on job creation.
The Journal Sentinel's PolitiFact team wisely gave Walker's ad a rating of "mostly false."
We'd give the ad this warning label: "Do Not Consume."
Ugly Wisconsin Wolf Hunt Ahead
The legislature - - thank you, Joel Kleefisch - - and the DNR are rushing to set up a wolf hunt in Wisconsin, abandoning reason, science and fairness - - so what else is new under Walker's extreme governance?
Ron Seely at the State Journal finds the right language to lay out the dirty truth:
It was a foregone conclusion that the Natural Resources Board last week was going to approve beginning the process that will end, sometime in mid-October, with a rifle shot and a recreational hunter legally killing a wolf in Wisconsin for the first time in many years.
The board, which sets policy for the state Department of Natural Resources, was bound by action in the state Legislature that mandated such a hunt.
What was perhaps less apparent to those not at the board meeting was the discomfort of some board members with the hand they had been dealt by the Legislature and the politicians who cooked up most of the details of the hunt -- details the Natural Resources Board has to live with...
Despite the claim of wolf hunting proponents that politicians heeded the advice of scientists in putting together the wolf hunting plan, there seems scant evidence that that is truly the case. Most suspicious is the complete absence of the DNR's leading wolf authority, Adrian Wydeven, from any of the legislative hearings. Nor was he at the Wednesday board meeting.
So, as was clear from the comments of some board members Wednesday, the result is this: The state's leading natural resource science agency will rush to patch together a hunting season on an animal it has worked so hard to restore and protect, forced to allow the use of hunting techniqes, such as baiting and night hunting, that even experts say are questionable and not befitting the fair pursuit of such a noble creature.
Meet Wisconsin Governor "Won't"
The first recall debate is over, and still Scott Walker"
* Won't disclose if he's been formally interviewed for the John Doe probe.
* Won't release relevant records.
* Won't disclose if he signed recall petitions against Sen. Herb Kohl and former Gov. Jim Doyle.
* Won't disclose whether he'd sign a bill restricting collective bargaining in private sector work places.
* Won't disclose how he's funding his Doe-related legal defense fund.
More and more, I hear echoes of this other guy who'd said he won't, finally did, and was sent packing:
In giving you these records--blemishes and all--I am placing my trust in the basic fairness of the American people.
I know in my own heart that through the long, painful, and difficult process revealed in these transcripts, I was trying in that period to discover what was right and to do what was right.
I hope and I trust that when you have seen the evidence in its entirety, you will see the truth of that statement.
As for myself, I intend to go forward, to the best of my ability, with the work that you elected me to do. I shall do so in a spirit perhaps best summed up a century ago by another President when he was being subjected to unmerciful attack. Abraham Lincoln said:
"I do the very best I know how--the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference."
Friday, May 25, 2012
Debate Forced Walker To Own Doe Probe, Defense Fund
As a result of the debate Friday night - - and follow-up reporting Saturday - - there will be voters who will learn for the first time that there is a criminal investigation into the operation of Scott Walker's 2010 county staff and campaign, that Walker has set up a legal defense fund in response and that he was not very forthcoming about it when pressed by opponent Tom Barrett for details.
Not everyone follows the news as deeply as do the partisans and activists, and some citizen/voters tonight will see their Governor in the shadows.
A Defensive Walker Dividing The State - - Good Debate Take-Away Supports His Removal
Various news outlets are using an AP report on the debate - - example from Green Bay - - showing Barrett putting Walker on the defensive. I like the impressions left:
Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, down in the polls to Gov. Scott Walker, aggressively went after Walker in a debate Friday and accused him of purposefully dividing the state and triggering the June 5 recall election.
Barrett kept Walker on the defensive throughout much of the hour-long debate in Milwaukee, which was broadcast live statewide just 11 days before the election. Walker is only the nation's third governor to ever stand for recall. The previous two, most recently California Gov. Gray Davis in 2003, were defeated.
Members Of Congress Directly Ask Walker About His Testimony
Remember when Walker blew off a suggestion that he clarify the remarks he made to Congress, from which he omitted any discussion of the "divide-and-conquer" plan he confided to a billionaire donor?
Well, three Congressmen have now written Walker directly for a explanation - - in writing:
Committee Democrats Press Governor Walker forExplanation of Videotape that Conflicts with His TestimonyWashington, DC (May 25, 2012)—Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Committee Members Gerald Connolly and Chris Murphy sent a letter to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker seeking answers to three simple questions about his 2011 testimony before the Committee in light of a new videotape that appears to contradict his statements.Despite testifying under oath that he never “had a conversation with respect to [his] actions in Wisconsin and using them to punish members of the opposition party and their donor base,” a newly uncovered video taken three months earlier shows Walker explaining to one of his biggest financial donors that he plans to use a “divide and conquer” strategy against public sector workers in order to turn Wisconsin into a “completely red state.”Today’s letter follows a previous letter the Members sent to Chairman Issa requesting that he ask Walker to explain his testimony before the Committee.The full letter follows:May 25, 2012The Honorable Scott WalkerOffice of the Governor115 East State CapitolMadison, WI 53702Dear Governor Walker:On May 21, 2012, we wrote to Rep. Darrell Issa, the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, requesting that he send a letter asking you to explain your testimony before our Committee on April 14, 2011, particularly in light of a new videotape taken of you three months before the hearing and an article published by The Nation entitled, “Did Scott Walker Lie Under Oath to Congress?” Letter from Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings and Committee Members Gerry Connolly and Christopher Murphy to Chairman Darrell E. Issa (May 21, 2012) (online at http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5701&Itemid=104).On May 22, you were asked about our letter by your local Fox affiliate, but rather than addressing the substance of our request, you accused us of acting politically because we did not send a letter directly to you. Walker Responds to Allegations He Lied Under Oath, Fox 6 News (May 22, 2012) (online at www.fox6now.com/2012/05/22/walker-responds-to-allegations-he-lied-under-oath/) (stating “I think the fact that they’ve sent it to you before I’ve even seen it suggests that it’s a political issue”).To address your concerns, it may be helpful to explain why we wrote to Chairman Issa instead of to you. Pursuant to our Committee’s protocols, the Chairman typically writes letters on behalf of the entire Committee to seek clarification of previous testimony, to forward questions for the record from Committee Members, and for other purposes relating to witness testimony at Committee hearings. Chairman Issa has written several letters to witnesses this Congress when he believed they were not being truthful or when new information came to light suggesting that their testimony was not accurate.Since you appear willing to entertain our inquiries directly, we ask that you submit to the Committee written answers to the following three simple questions no later than June 1, 2012:(1) Do you dispute that you met with Diane Hendricks, one of your top donors, on January 18, 2011?(2) Do you dispute that, in response to a question from Ms. Hendricks about whether Wisconsin could become “a completely red state,” you responded “Oh, yeah,” and that your “first step” as Governor would be to “deal with collective bargaining for all public employee unions” in order to “divide and conquer”?(3) In light of your answers to these questions, do you now wish to withdraw your sworn testimony before the Committee in which you asserted that you never “had a conversation with respect to your actions in Wisconsin and using them to punish members of the opposition party and their donor base”?In the interview with your local Fox affiliate, you stated that “the facts are the facts.” We agree, and in this instance, the facts were captured on videotape.It is critical for Congress to obtain accurate information from witnesses who testify before the Committee in order to help inform our policy decisions. Your videotaped conversation with Ms. Hendricks not only raises serious concerns about the accuracy of your testimony before the Committee, but it undermines the entire rationale put forward for your unprecedented campaign against public sector workers.We look forward to receiving your responses to our questions.Sincerely,____________________ ____________________ ____________________Elijah E. Cummings Gerald E. Connolly Christopher S. MurphyRanking Member Committee Member Committee Member
Current Conservation Scorecard Downgrades Walker, Others
The Walker administration and key legislative allies were no friends of the environment in the just-concluded session, according to the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, but there were honorees, too.
Its scorecard and highlights are here.
Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters understands that the black and white nature of a Scorecard sometimes makes it difficult to recognize those instances where legislators went the extra mile for natural resources.
The Conservation Honor Roll recognizes the following legislators for the extra effort they put forth to conserve Wisconsin’s natural resources.
Senators Robert Jauch and Dale Schultz and Representative Janet Bewley
When an out-of-state mining company sought to rewrite our conservation and public input laws for their own benefit (AB 426), Sens. Jauch and Schultz and Rep. Bewley stood up for public health, our waters, and local community involvement. Their efforts ensured that the voices of Wisconsin residents were heard and the open-pit mining bill was defeated.
Senator Chris Larson and Representative Cory Mason
Sen. Larson and Rep. Mason led the fight in their respective committees to restore key protections for wetlands (SB 368). They worked with sportsmen and scientists to get amendments adopted that would have restored protections for our most sensitive wetlands.
Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters also understands that there are times when a poor Scorecard score doesn’t do enough to illustrate just how far some legislators will go to jeopardize Wisconsin’s natural resources. Actions by the following legislators are grossly out-of-line with the conservation values of their constituents.Conservation Dishonor Roll
Governor Scott Walker
Governor Walker’s budget was one of the most anti-conservation in history. He sought to eliminate water quality rules, local recycling programs, and clean energy programs. Gov. Walker used special sessions to reward special interests seeking exemptions from wetlands, water quality, and wind siting rules and politicized natural resource protections by making the key public representatives to the DNR answerable to him. He even eliminated the consideration of the “environment and public health” from the state’s rule making process.
Senator Scott Fitzgerald
Sen. Fitzgerald pulled the plug on the Senate Mining Committee within forty-eight hours of a public hearing. The action indicated that he believed his colleagues were taking too long to do the bidding of the out-of-state mining company. Despite his attempts to shut the public out of the process and ram the open-pit mining bill (AB 426) through the Senate in the last days of the session, the bill ultimately died when the full Senate unanimously sent it back to committee.
Senator Neal Kedzie and Representative Jeff Mursau
As Chairmen of the Natural Resources Committees, Sen. Kedzie and Rep. Mursau drafted legislation that would have gutted water permitting and wetland regulations (SB 326 & SB 368). It was only the overwhelming public opposition to these plans that forced the chairs to slow down the process and make significant changes to the water permitting program legislation. Unfortunately, the Chairs did not work with sportsmen to improve the wetlands bill and its passage is a ding on their conservation legacy.
Walker's Interest In Crime Reporting Calls For Outside Analysis
As I said over at my Purple Wisconsin blog, it's amazing to see the words "Walker" and "call for outside audit" in the same headline and sentence, because there are other areas where "Walker and "outside audit" might be even more useful.
The Focus In Tonight's Debate Is Walker's Character
From serving up cooked job data to ducking questions about the John Doe and legal defense fund, Scott Walker's self-made identity as the untrustworthy and scheming chief executive whispering secrets to billionaire donors needs to be the audience take-away.
Walker Job Creation Claim "Mostly False," Says PolitiFact
PolitiFact finds Scott Walker muddied the facts when he released and spun his self-serving job numbers.
Surprised? Hardly. Walker has but six PolitiFact statements given an unqualified "true"rating out of 50 examined.
The jobs' manipulation fits his pattern - - a tactical smoke screen to mislead the voting public from seeing his failed performance with only days to go before the recall election.
Here is the "Mostly False" ruling:
His complete PolitiFact for 50 statements vetted: 17 on the "true" side, 33 on the "false."scorecard:Gov. Walker says Wisconsin has added 33,200 jobs since he became governor
Our rating
Walker’s ad says there are 33,200 more jobs in Wisconsin since he took office.
To reach the number, he combined two data sets -- one that involves unofficial (but generally more accurate) numbers that could change in the weeks after the election; the other is volatile, but still official monthly numbers. From an accounting standpoint this would be flagged as a mistake. From a political standpoint, he is mixing and matching to present the best possible view.
Walker presents it all as final and official, offering no cautionary notes or caveats -- even though there are many.
And Walker credits his policies for the improvement, which overstates the impact a governor can make on broad economic trends in a short period of time.
There is clearly some truth to the numbers. But in mixing everything together and not making it clear these numbers are preliminary, Walker ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.
That is our definition for Mostly False.
Walker's statements by ruling
Click on the ruling to see all of Walker's statements for that ruling.
- True6(6)
- Mostly True4(4)
- Half True7(7)
- Mostly False10(10)
- False19(19)
- Pants on Fire4(4)
For Walker And GOP, Divide-And-Conquer Is Default Behavior
Divide-and-conquer has been the favorite Walker/GOP partisan power playbook tactic from the opening day of his administration:
* Accuse teachers and other public employees of greed, punish them with Act 10 (portions of which have been declared unconstitutional) and pit other citizens against them.
* Exempt public safety public employees from Act 10's penalties, so pit public employees against each other.
* Actually use the phrase "divide and conquer" to let a billionaire backer in on more Walker anti-union plans.
* On major policy policy changes and processes, such as drafting a mining bill, give corporate insiders exclusive access and power, but exclude others from participation.
* Gather partisan advantage by requiring all Republican legislators to sign confidentiality agreements that hid voting map drafts for a mandated redistricting bill from the public.
* When the chickens come home to roost in a recall effort, go to a Waukesha town about as demographically dissimilar to Milwaukee as you could find, dig deep into the muck and play Wisconsin's most divisive card:
People do not want to see Wisconsin "become another Milwaukee," Walker said.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
At DNR, Stepp Embraces Emergency Rule-Making, But Had Called It "DEMOCRAT...HYPOCRISY"
I'd posted several recent items - - here and here - - about the contradictions between Cathy Stepp's behavior as DNR Secretary and the words she wrote in a partisan, anti-DNR screed she posted in 2009 when Democrats ran state government.
Well, here's another example.
In
that 2009 rant, Stepp blasted the use of DNR emergency-rule making
authority as: "Just another example of the democrats game plan: Change
the Rules to Fit the Players," yet the DNR under Stepp is promulgating a wolf hunt under fast-tracked, public-input-free, emergency rule-making.
As Midwest Environmental Associates attorney Jodi Habush noted in testimony before the Natural Resources Board on Wednesday:
So match that up with Stepp's 2009 rant that included this blast at emergency rule-making by the DNR:May 23, 2012 Statement of Jodi Habush SinykinWhile I have been tracking this law since its first rushed introduction in the weeks following delisting, I didn’t fully appreciate, until quite recently, the extent and depth of concern raised by the prospect of a rushed, ecologically-unsound wolf hunting and trapping season in Wisconsin. I share this concern....
Before the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board Regarding
Act 169’s Statement of Scope—Wolf Hunting and Trapping Regulations
At present, the DNR is to be called upon to draft “emergency rules” for the law, a curious, unsubstantiated designation that will serve to eliminate customary Wisconsin rule-making procedures—i.e. there will be no state-wide hearings and no opportunity for expert stakeholder input into the emergency rules being written up for final approval in less than 8 weeks time. This departure from established Wisconsin rulemaking protocol is especially worrisome to the core group of UW academics and renown wolf experts I have been working with, as they fear that the law—if poorly regulated—will seriously and unnecessarily jeopardize the species.
Those of you that haven't had the pleasure of peeking behind the scenes of our state agencies like DNR, Health and Family Services, etc...need to know how some of the most far-reaching policies come down on our heads.
The most crushing/controversial rules that businesses have to follow in our state are--most times--done through the "rule making process" of our state agencies. Without bogging everyone down with some really boring procedure talk, suffice it to say that many of these great ideas (sarcasm) come from deep inside the agencies and tend to be reflections of that agency's culture...
When an agency sees an urgent need--example would be Chronic Wasting Disease management plans--they're allowed to implement an Emergency Rule. Understandable, since these ideas get an urgent run through the Joint Committee to Review Administrative Rules (affectionately known as JCRAR) without much public notice or scrutiny. The process is there to address emergencies ONLY.
So when Democrats use this authority, it a source of outrage, fear and name-calling. But when Stepp and the GOP use the authority - - and rule-making generally has been further consolidated out of the public view in Gov. Walker's office since 2011 - - it's what? Business as usual?Well, sometimes agencies try to use this process as an end-around the legislative process to implement Rules, which end up having the same affect as Laws. (Those of you who have piers in lakes or culverts at the end of your driveways have probaby experienced these Rules.)
Why should this scare you? When (not if, I said WHEN) they give this authority to the DNR there will be more of a whooshing sound as businesses run for the borders...
Just another example of the democrats game plan: Change the Rules to Fit the Players.Shout it with me, now: HYPOCRISY, THY NAME IS DEMOCRAT.
Situationally meritorious?
One expert even predicts that the way the DNR is going about establishing the hunt will lead to court action and landing wolves in Wisconsin back on a federal, no-hunt list.
By the way, here is the full text of Stepp's screed, typos, bad diction, warts and all :
Those of you that haven't had the pleasure of peeking behind the scenes of our state agencies like DNR, Health and Family Services, etc...need to know how some of the most far-reaching policies come down on our heads.
The most crushing/controversial rules that businesses have to follow in our state are--most times--done through the "rule making process" of our state agencies. Without bogging everyone down with some really boring procedure talk, suffice it to say that many of these great ideas (sarcasm) come from deep inside the agencies and tend to be reflections of that agency's culture.
For example, people who go to work for the DNR's land, waste, and water bureaus tend to be anti-development, anti-transportation, and pro-garter snakes, karner blue butterflies, etc...This is in their nature; their make-up and DNA. So, since they're unelected bureaucrats who have only their cubicle walls to bounce ideas off of, they tend to come up with some pretty outrageous stuff that those of us in the real world have to contend with.
I could go on and on with examples of some of the most ridiculous stuff I've seen come down the pike, (no pun intended), but for the purposes of this post, I am going to pull out a quote from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau's summary report on the outcome of the "budget negotiations" that legislative democrats had with each other. (Note: I said with "each other." There were no republican ideas or motions accepted AT ALL during the Conference Committee process. No surprise there.)
When an agency sees an urgent need--example would be Chronic Wasting Disease management plans--they're allowed to implement an Emergency Rule. Understandable, since these ideas get an urgent run through the Joint Committee to Review Administrative Rules (affectionately known as JCRAR) without much public notice or scrutiny. The process is there to address emergencies ONLY.
Well, sometimes agencies try to use this process as an end-around the legislative process to implement Rules, which end up having the same affect as Laws. (Those of you who have piers in lakes or culverts at the end of your driveways have probaby experienced these Rules.)
Why should this scare you? When (not if, I said WHEN) they give this authority to the DNR there will be more of a whooshing sound as businesses run for the borders.
It's always the fine print in these things that have the heaviest hit.
Just another example of the democrats game plan: Change the Rules to Fit the Players.
Shout it with me, now: HYPOCRISY, THY NAME IS DEMOCRAT.
What's In The Air In Wisconsin
Looks like a long summer for bad air in Wisconsin.
And I don't mean recall fallout.
Cathy DNR Secretary Stepp's Inventive Method Of Evading Responsibility
Cathy Stepp, Scott Walker's hand-picked chamber of commerce operative to manage the state's natural resources department, has developed a transparently shifty method of deflecting criticism aimed at her management of the department:
Defend agency staffers - - at whom criticism is not aimed - - which deflects the substance of the criticism and, she supposes, negates her original, over-the-top attack on DNR workers that should have disqualified her from the agency's leadership.
Her words:
Stepp's remarks as DNR Secretary make her sound like Woody Allen trying to win back the affections of a dumped partner. It's an amazing bit of Alice-in-Wonderland political jujitsu.Those of you that haven't had the pleasure of peeking behind the scenes of our state agencies like DNR, Health and Family Services, etc...need to know how some of the most far-reaching policies come down on our heads.
The most crushing/controversial rules that businesses have to follow in our state are--most times--done through the "rule making process" of our state agencies. Without bogging everyone down with some really boring procedure talk, suffice it to say that many of these great ideas (sarcasm) come from deep inside the agencies and tend to be reflections of that agency's culture.
For example, people who go to work for the DNR's land, waste, and water bureaus tend to be anti-development, anti-transportation, and pro-garter snakes, karner blue butterflies, etc...This is in their nature; their make-up and DNA. So, since they're unelected bureaucrats who have only their cubicle walls to bounce ideas off of, they tend to come up with some pretty outrageous stuff that those of us in the real world have to contend with.
Here's the latest example.
The Journal Sentinel today goes after her "leadership" of the agency over the drop in inspections and enforcement actions designed to root out polluters and ensure public health and safety.
First, came the report that enforcement actions by the Department of Natural Resources are down under Gov. Scott Walker's administration. Now, we learn that environmental inspections also dropped in Walker's first year in office. The depth of both drops is unacceptable; agency officials have to find a way, even when resources are limited, to ensure there is no letup in environmental protection efforts.Stepp's overly-bureaucratic, self-serving response includes this:
That is, after all, the agency's primary mission.
If it has trouble performing that mission, something is wrong under the leadership of Secretary Cathy Stepp.
...a years-long recruitment freeze and a huge wave of retirements (half of our full-time employees were eligible to retire) led to staffing vacancies that exceeded 20%. Unpaid mandatory furloughs implemented by the Doyle administration stretched an overworked staff even further.But no one was said or inferred that DNR staffers weren't working hard.
At the same time, I found an incredibly talented and passionate workforce that had fantastic ideas on how to "fix" the DNR. Only Herculean staff efforts had kept the agency afloat as the full-time staff fell to a modern-day low of 2,169.
The editorial pointed to her management.
If it has trouble performing that mission, something is wrong under the leadership of Secretary Cathy Stepp.This is not the first time Stepp has used the staff this way to distract her critics.
When bi-partisan opponents of the iron mining bill had raised enough of a fuss over its environmental and drafting flaws to kill it - - let me repeat, it was the bill and its origins that were the problem - - Stepp took to conservative talk radio and news releases with intensely political remarks framed as a defense of her staff.
I had a growing frustration that lawmakers and others were publicly impugning and denigrating the ability of DNR employees to make an environmentally sound evaluation and decision, to do their jobs. I’d match our staff expertise and integrity against any comers.What an inventive way of evading responsibility.
Now that that the voting is over, I am stepping up and adding my opinion to the post-mortem on the mining bill. I feel strongly it’s my job to make sure that the failure to move forward with mining in Wisconsin is not laid at DNR’s feet. DNR DOES have the ability and resolve to apply standards and make sound decisions on environmental permitting.
More here.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Cathy Stepp, Walker's DNR Secretary, Has Short Memory
DNR Cathy Stepp, spinning away from her agency's diminished number of inspections and enforcement actions, writes an op-ed defense in the Journal Sentinel that begins with this line:
"When I first walked through the Department of Natural Resources' front doors, I had no idea what I would find."
Well, she sure had said she knew exactly what was going at the DNR in 2009 when she ripped and mocked the agency - - and got the attention of Scott Walker, who said she was just the person he wanted to run it.
Stepp said, in part, though I recommend you read to her full-throated ALL CAPS ending:
"Those of you that haven't had the
pleasure of peeking behind the scenes of our state agencies like DNR,
Health and Family Services, etc...need to know how some of the most
far-reaching policies come down on our heads...
For example, people who go to work for the DNR's land, waste, and water bureaus tend to be anti-development, anti-transportation, and pro-garter snakes, karner blue butterflies, etc...This is in their nature; their make-up and DNA. So, since they're unelected bureaucrats who have only their cubicle walls to bounce ideas off of, they tend to come up with some pretty outrageous stuff that those of us in the real world have to contend with...
Honoring Donald Driver Doesn't Distract From Walker's Dance
Acknowledging Donald Driver's thrilling win on "Dancing With The Stars" with a day in Double D's honor only puts a spotlight on the dance Walker has been performing as a "10," for weeks - - spinning and ducking away from full disclosures about his legal defense fund, his connection to the John Doe probe and those already charged, the contradictions in what he told Congress under oath about Act 10, and didn't say about the "divide-and-conquer" union-busting plan, and more.
The Recall Process Has Been Pretty Good To Walker, As I Recall
Walkerites who complain that Wisconsin's recall laws and constitutionally-protected processes are unfair or overly permissive forget two things:
* Walker got out of the anonymity of the State Assembly, and on his way to the Governor's office through the recall process against that dislodged then-Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament in 2002.
* And in Wisconsin, fund-raising limits are suspended for a petition-targeted incumbent between the time the effort is begun, and when an election is official scheduled.
Challengers are bound by the limits.
This advantage has allowed Walker to raise his profile, and also to raise a record-breaking haul of dollars for a blitz of campaign ads Tom Barrett cannot possibly match, and which also can be routed, with donor permission, to Walker's legal defense fund, too.
Walker may not be enjoying the process this time around, but so far the record shows there has been plenty of compensation.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Bain's Reach Highlights The Bane Of Our Culture
Newark Mayor Cory Booker's Bain Capital-friendly sabotage of Barack Obama's line of attack against Mitt Romney on NBC's "Meet The Press" Sunday program was discouraging enough, but the financial ties subsequently revealed between Bain and Booker, while "nauseating," (to steal a Bookerism), shed light on the bane of our political culture:
Corporate America's entrenched influence in American politics and its relentless march to control government power for its own rewards - - something Scott Walker has facilitated in Wisconsin and which Mitt Romney will execute if he is elected President in November.
This has been a long time in the making, from the right's attacks on the New Deal, to Lewis Powell's call to business for the creation of an effective right-wing political infrastructure (think tanks, etc.). to the emergence of conservative talk radio and Fox News, to the hatching of the Tea Party, to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision led by George Bush appointee Chief Justice John Roberts that released the top 1%'s money into the electoral process.
In Wisconsin, only the successful recall of Scott Walker on June 5th stands in the way of another six years+ of Grover Norquist's private-sector dream of drowning a shrunken government in a bathtub.
Romney has chosen to campaign from the same far-right fringes that backed and nurture Walker, and he will embrace, if elected, the robotic view of the Presidency that Grover Norquist has already assigned to the GOP's presumptive nominee:
We don't need a president to tell us in what direction to go. We
know what direction to go. We want the Ryan budget. ... We just need a
president to sign this stuff. We don't need someone to think it up or
design it. The leadership now for the modern conservative movement for
the next 20 years will be coming out of the House and the Senate...
Pick a Republican with enough working digits to handle a pen to become president of the United States. This is a change for Republicans: the House and Senate doing the work with the president signing bills. His job is to be captain of the team, to sign the legislation that has already been prepared.Romney will have no trouble with that role, as:
Grover Norquist's presidential form meets Bain's needs;
Romney was Bain;
Is still its representation;
Regardless of what Cory Booker had to say.
So:
Stop Walker in Wisconsin and this rightist strategy is stalled.
Fail to stop Walker and Romney/Norquist are strengthened, and the preservation of a fair democracy is risked.
Is Desperate Walker Campaign Channeling This Blog
Here's a blog post headline from May 16th:
But on the 21st, we have this headline elsewhere:Key Number In Desperate Walker New Job Data: 100%...Political
I've noted these Walker word fluffs before:Walker calls Barrett campaign 'desperate'
Finally, I am convinced that the Walkerites are so guilt-ridden about their reactionary policies that they keep making revealing, Freudian slips in their proofread-free official pronouncements.For further example, in light of the uproar over allegations of campaign work on public time during Walker's 2010 gubernatorial race, or mining and redistricting bills written behind closed doors - - and with former Watergate figure John Dean calling Walker "more Nixonian than even Richard Nixon - - why would Walker say he can be counted on to "fix things?"
Tommy Thompson Resigning From Corporate Board Seats...Except When He's Adding One
I don't know if this is a flip, a flop, a back-flip, or the first three-and-a-half reverse somersault, with tuck (look it up!), in Wisconsin politics, but the Journal Sentinel is reporting that Tommy Thompson has added another private sector board position in the health-care field (what's new?) after saying in January he was in the process of shedding them.
This is like coming out against Amtrak after supporting it and, oh - - never mind.
Stand With Walker - - Stand With His Contradictory Videotaped Performances
Walker and a GOP congressional committee chairman will have nothing to do with getting to the bottom of why Walker didn't disclose to the committee during his April 2011 sworn testimony that he had a broader "divide and conquer" strategy for Wisconsin labor, and that he'd already given assurances about it to a billionaire supporter and donor from Beloit.
I posted about this over at Purple Wisconsin.
Under Walker, More Millions For Highways, Dollar Stress For Transit
His unbalanced transportation priorities using our money are clear, folks, so let's keep an eye on him, and the issues, too.
For transit across the state - - cuts, rising costs and stress:
Attention, small-to-medium-sized Wisconsin transit riders and taxpayers:
You might want to think twice about voting for Scott Walker in two weeks, and any state or national GOP legislators when the opportunities arise as well, because the Walker budget along with conservative Congressional ideologues are going to raise your costs next year.But more and more spending thrown at road-building?
No problem:
Walker's WisDOT is beginning that "too-early-to-say" planning talk about widening I-94 at Story Hill.
Walker, GOP/US House Putting State Transit On Rough Road
Attention, small-to-medium-sized Wisconsin transit riders and taxpayers:
You might want to think twice about voting for Scott Walker in two weeks, and any state or national GOP legislators when the opportunities arise as well, because the Walker budget along with conservative Congressional ideologues are going to raise your costs next year.
Bear with me here. It's a bit complicated, but the bottom line is: Transit to take more hits.
Remember that the 2011-2013 budget as approved cut state funding for transit systems by 10% for both the 2012 and 2013 years - - and also remember that Walker first proposed uncoupling transit from the Transportation Fund to compete for general fund revenues with social services, schools and other programs.
Leaving the Transportation Fund more freely available to the road-builders and their political allies.
Anyway, some background;
State transit funding to localities is split into four tiers:
* A-1 (Milwaukee County Transit).
* A-2 (Madison Metro) and these are the important categories for this posting:
* B (any system in an Urbanized Area over 50,000 population that's not Milwaukee and Madison), and;
* C (any system in a Non-Urbanized area). This has put increasing stress of maintaining these systems onto the local governments, federal government, and the fares that riders pay.
But there's a second part to this coming in 2013.
As it is, the Tier B and C systems need to come up with another 3-5% of their operating costs from either the property tax or through fares for 2012, but that includes any Act 10 'help' that they found.
But in 2013, those Tier B systems can't use the Act 10 cost reductions, but still face state aid reductions, so more stress, along with with rising expenses, like the price of fuel.
And also in 2013, new Census figures will effect Urbanized Areas in two costly ways:
1. As part of Federal Transit Administration transit rules, Urbanized Areas that go over 200,000 population lose their ability to use Federal operating assistance, and both Green Bay and Appleton went over that threshold in 2010.
This issue got coverage in the Fox Valley, but not statewide:
Both Valley Transit and Green Bay Metro face losing up to 1.5 million dollars each year in assistance to operate the bus systems due to a formula that cuts off funding for regions with a population over 200,000. This formula works for large metropolitan areas such as Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles that have large systems with a concentrated population. The formula does not work for smaller systems like those in the Appleton and Green Bay areas, Rep. Petri and Rep. Ribble agree.As it stands right now, those two cities would lose about $4.8 million in Federal aid, and because they're currently part of Tier B, that will affect all cities in that tier.
So that means all of the following systems currently stand to have to make up about 7% of their costs through property taxes and fares in 2013, without the "help" from Act 10:
Appleton, Green Bay, Eau Claire, Racine, Kenosha, Janesville, Wausau, Waukesha/Waukesha Commuter, Washington County, Ozaukee County, Sheboygan, Oshkosh, La Crosse, Beloit, Superior
And taxi systems in Sun Prairie, Stoughton, Chippewa Falls and Onalaska.
The best way to change this would be to allow Green Bay and Appleton-sized systems to use Operating Assistance, but the Tea Party caucus in Congress - - being against both 'big' government and any successes for President Obama - - won't approve a long-term, national transportation bill.
So as it stands right now - - and given the uncertainties on Capitol Hill - - there could be massive cuts in service and fare increases for all these Wisconsin systems in 2013, unless Congress acts definitively.
2. West Bend grew enough that it is now considered an Urbanized Area by the Census; West Bend's sprawl was so great that Hartford (which has a city taxi system) is now also included in the West Bend Urbanized area.
As a result, there might be a little more federal money that gets thrown to the Tier B systems, but there are more municipalities in Tier B fighting it out for the same amount of state aid in 2013.
And because they go from Non-Urbanized to Urbanized, and Tier C to Tier B, these systems will have to come up with another 10-11% next year to keep their systems running (in West Bend, this is about $85,000, in Hartford around $25,000).
Officials from Washington County, West Bend, and Hartford are to talk soon - - perhaps this week - - with SEWRPC and WisDOT officials to discuss the effects of these changes on their systems, and the huge increase in reporting responsibilities that will result from becoming urbanized systems.
Hey. some folks in the 262 wanted growth, growth, growth...sprawl - - and now they're going to pay for it.
Monday, May 21, 2012
I-94 Expansion At Story Hill A Stick In Milwaukee's Eye
Walker's WisDOT is beginning that "too-early-to-say" planning talk about widening I-94 at Story Hill.
You know: Phase one, too early to know just how this might work out after all the meetings, charettes and comments.
Then Phase two: "Too late to change anything."
Bulldozers, start your engines.
As I wrote three years ago:
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Highway Expansion A Dagger Pointed At Milwaukee's West Side
And nothing's changed, except West side Milwaukee, your recall case just got a fresh chapter.
Details here.Congress Wants Walker Clarification: Get It Now, And Under Oath
Members of Congress want Scott Walker to clarify remarks he made under oath last year that appear contradicted by what he confided to a Beloit billionaire on a video about the "divide and conquer" anti-labor plan.
“This new video raises serious questions about the veracity of Governor Walker’s testimony before our Committee, in which he repeatedly described his decision to strip public sector union workers of collective bargaining rights in purely economic terms,” Reps. Elijah Cummings, Gerald Connolly and Chris Murphy wrote in a letter. “Instead, this video suggests that his motivation was to ‘divide and conquer’ public sector unions in order to turn Wisconsin into a ‘completely red state.’”Good move: Here's how I put it the other day.
Remember last year when Scott Walker got raked over the coals at a Congressional hearing and finally admitted that the anti-collective bargaining elements of his 'budget repair' bill didn't save any taxpayer money?And one more thing.
Well, apparently there was a lot more testimony that day, and others have discovered more truthiness issues with Walker's testimony, especially in light of his disclosure caught on tape to a Beloit billionaire prior to his testimony that he was strategizing about achieving right-to-work union restrictions down the road.
What would happen if Walker were recalled to Congress to explain why he did not let on when he was under oath about his "divide and conquer" union plans and discussions?
One online video lays out that case, here.
Get that clarification under oath.
Walker 's got only six fully "true" PolitiFact-vetted statements out of 48 under his belt.
His record, here.
Now It's Seven Milwaukee Aldermen Who Refuse To Stand Up Against Walker, For Milwaukee
Please see the updated information in a posting from earlier today about aldermen who let Scott Walker get away with a low blow to Milwaukee by declining to sign a letter of protest.
An additional alderman - - the eighth - - has now signed the letter.
Thank you, Tony Zielinski; a majority of the 15-member Council majority has signed.
The letter should have been signed unanimously.
Regardless of party affiliation or other circumstances, any Governor saying publicly that Wisconsin would become "another Milwaukee" if Tom Barrett were elected deserves the harshest condemnation.
The remark is recall-worthy.
Eight Milwaukee Aldermen Refuse To Stand Up To Walker, And For Milwaukee
[Update: Ald. Zielinski signed this afternoon, so the # of non-signers is now seven. See updates below] When Scott Walker went to Waukesha County and delivered a sleazy, coded attack wrapped in a shot at gubernatorial opponent Tom Barrett - -
People do not want to see Wisconsin "become another Milwaukee," Walker said.- - you'd think all Milwaukee Common Council members, regardless of party, regardless of their relationships with Mayor Barrett, regardless...regardless...would hit back on behalf of the City.
And you'd be wrong.
The following letter had the signatures of seven of 15 Aldermen. (Now eight, see update below). Those not signing:
Alds. Robert Donovan, Robert Puente, Joe Dudzik, Jim Bohl, Joe Davis, Terry Witkoswki,
[Further update: I'll bet this Facebook note today from Bill Christofferson got Zielinski's attention, and thank you, Alderman, for signing]:[Update: you have a Milwaukee.Gov E-Notification... Alderman Tony Zielinski adds name to "MILWAUKEE MATTERS" statement.]
I don't get it.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 18, 2012
Milwaukee Matters Joint Statement from Members of the Common Council
On May 8 during his primary victory speech, Governor Walker removed the City of Milwaukee from the State of Wisconsin and disconnected the city’s problems from the responsibility of the state government. He has repeated this same line of commentary when convenient during media interviews.
As elected officials and residents of the City of Milwaukee, it is extremely disturbing to listen to our Governor, the former top elected official for Milwaukee County, use our great city as a prop and make disparaging remarks about the city to gain political points with those outside the city. We are Milwaukee – resilient and strong.
We can only move Wisconsin forward with a strong Milwaukee – not the Governor’s plan of leaving Milwaukee behind.
We are working incredibly hard to focus on solutions to challenges we face, and despite dogged opposition from those supporting policies that have impeded our progress, we are fighting our way to a brighter future. It seems hypocritical for the Governor to slash funding to public education, deny federal funds that would have created jobs, repeatedly take over decisions that have traditionally been under local control, and then take zero responsibility for the impact those decisions have on the city.
Moreover, anyone who has observed the Governor’s budgeting priorities over the last decade, first in Milwaukee County at the Courthouse and now at the State Capitol, has seen a blatant aversion for the city and a desire to see the City of Milwaukee fail. It is his fiscal agenda.
As County Executive, the Governor devastated the Milwaukee County Transit System, and now as Governor, he added money to the prison and highway budgets and took money from public education and from shared revenue with cities, towns, and villages. Those cuts were felt most acutely – as he knew they would be – by the Milwaukee Public Schools and by the City and County of Milwaukee. And now he is bragging about that?
The leader of the State must have the capacity to bring all people in the state together in efforts to solve problems. Accentuating differences between residents in the state in a manner that is unproductive or adversarial is wrong, and only divides and distances us from one another. As Milwaukee goes, so goes the State of Wisconsin.
If Wisconsin is to move forward – Milwaukee Matters.
Ald. Ashanti Hamilton Ald. Milele A. Coggs Ald. Nik Kovac
Ald. Robert J. Bauman Ald. Michael Murphy Ald. Willie C. Wade
Ald. José G. Pérez
Coverup Of Secret Walker Campaign Work Began 1,000 + Days Ago
The coverup of the use of public resources to help Scott Walker at taxpayer expense win a close race for Governor in 2010 began August 17, 2009, records show - - and that fact, combined with Walker's continuing unwillingness to publicly disclose his full knowledge of all related information is reason enough to vote him out of office June 5th.
August 17, 2009 is the date a Walker appointee named Darlene Wink, who has since pleaded guilty to doing partisan, political work on public time in Walker's County Executive office, asked Tim Russell, another Walker appointee, how to delete the record of some partisan work she had been doing. on County time.
Russell is facing separate charges of stealing funds from a Veterans fund managed in the County Executive's office and from other accounts.
He told Wink, as recounted on page 29 of a complaint (pdf format) against Wink to simply shut down her computer, and allayed her fear that the work would land her in jail.
Russell is also named by prosecutors in a complaint against Kelly Rindfleisch, another Walker appointee charged with campaigning on public time,.
Prosecutors say Russell installed a then-secret email communication system used by various political operatives less than 25 feet from Walker's County Executive office.
One thousand days is time enough to make the recall judgment.
Time for a fresh start based on trust.
For Veterans, Walker Added Insult To Insult
Let's hope the hits to Wisconsin vets don't come in three's, as twice is already two too many:
* Turns out that veterans take it on the chin through the Walker/Grothman bill to disallow lawsuits for damages over workplace discrimination:
Military veterans are the big losers in the rollback of a Wisconsin law that had allowed women, minorities and other protected groups to sue in state court over employment discrimination, say leaders of a statewide veterans group.Some admission by Grothman, don't you think? Ignorance as a virtue.
The change was designed by Republicans to help Wisconsin businesses avoid costs of frivolous lawsuits, but it has been derided by Democrats as part of a GOP "war on women." Republicans say women still have the right to sue in federal court.
Lost in the debate are little-known limits on the rights of veterans to sue in federal court, said Michael Gourlie, a member of the Wisconsin Association of Concerned Veterans Organizations executive board and Wisconsin's Council on Veterans Programs, which advises the state Department of Veterans Affairs...
The author of the Wisconsin bill, state Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, said he didn't know about the federal limits on veterans, but it wouldn't have changed his mind, because fewer lawsuits will mean more jobs for everyone, including soldiers returning from war.
* And where else have veterans' interests been dismissed by Walker and his lieutenants?
This story, remember?
Friday, January 6, 2012
Walker Way Too Involved In Operation Freedom
Still no explanation from Gov. Walker to justify his extensive personal involvement in the "Operation Freedom" charity from which money donated for veterans was alleged to have been stolen by Walker aide Tim Russell and another man for personal gain.
Even if you want to argue that that Walker wanted such an operation set up and managed from his public for purely patriotic goals totally unencumbered by any political consideration - - why, as the Journal Sentinel explains, did Walker disregard the signals from the County's Ethics Board and choose to stay, through Russell, so closely involved?
In the complaints, the Alonzo Cudworth American Legion Post 23 was listed as handling the veterans funds correctly before the responsibility was handed over to [Tim] Russell and the Heritage Guard Preservation Society in October 2009 - a decision personally signed off on by Walker as county executive...
The financing setup for the event drew ethics scrutiny in 2006, when two county Ethics Board members questioned the practice of county officials asking private companies for money for public programs, saying it raised conflict-of-interest questions.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
DNR Again Claiming Staff Shortages - - Yet Has Greater Hiring Powers Than Ever
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Lee Bergquist and the non-profit legal watchdogs at Midwest Environmental Advocates have documented an across-the-board pullback in inspection work by the Department of Natural Resources during Scott Walker's first year in office.
But as it did when the State Journal found the department had cut back widely on enforcement actions against polluters as well, the department offered up the weakest and most of bureaucratic whines:
We're short of people.
Two things:
Walker recreated the department as a charter agency last year, meaning it could go outside some state hiring procedures and recruit with more freedom than other agencies.
So where's the follow-through?
Could it be that serious, science-based professionals are not beating down the doors to work for agency now run by Cathy Stepp who has been famously anti-DNR, and still openly partisan?
So where is the tipping point for the public on the way this taxpayer-financed department is being run?
* The human waste spreading outrage in Jefferson County?
* The fresh pollution of the St. Croix River?
* The fresh revelations by both major statewide daily papers of systemic reductions in inspections and enforcement actions needed to insure clean air and water for all the people of the state?
Or the realization the department's managers, while saying they don't have the horses to get the job done, somehow have the time to chat up conservative talk radio hosts, stay on message for a bigger agency despite their small-government ideology, and manage a news release machine?
This posting had information that got to the heart of where the DNR has been headed - - in its own words - - since Stepp took over:
this message is sent to all DNR Central Office staff, Darwin Road staff, and Regional Directors:
Come and join us for our 1st annual Halloween Progressive PotluckHow does it work?Staff on each floor will be designated a food type to bring. For example, employees on 8th floor are asked to bring meat or a hot dish which will be set up in a conference room on 8th floor. The same will happen with each floor. (See attached poster for food assignments). Everyone will need to go floor to floor to get a balanced meal (unless you are in the mood for only dessert and you can just stay on 7th floor…) Don't have time to get something together for the potluck?? Bring a canned good to donate to the food pantry instead.And Costume Challenge!Central Office has challenged the Regions to a costumer competition. We are asking each bureau and office to take a picture of their staff in costume and forward it to [...] Pictures will be included in the next e-digest. Who wins? You decide. And the prize? The pride in believing that your region/office was the best!!Our Goals?To have funTo mingle with staff on different floorsTo enjoy some great food
Waukesha Water Application Hitting Predicted Wall
How else to react to the heart of Don Behm's comprehensive piece in
this newspaper Sunday about approval and construction complexities the
City of Waukesha opted to face, but now finds seriously daunting, in its
application for a diversion of water from Lake Michigan?
Time appears to have run out on Waukesha's
landmark effort to obtain Lake Michigan water by a court-imposed
deadline of June 2018 to provide residents with radium-safe drinking
water.
June of next year is a "drop-dead" date,
Waukesha Water Utility General Manager Dan Duchniak says, to have in
place all of the pieces the city needs - approval from Wisconsin and
seven other Great Lakes states, a water purchase deal from Milwaukee or
another city and a host of pipeline construction contracts - in order to
have lake water flowing to Waukesha by the summer of 2018. Five years
are needed to build the new system, he said.
We'll get to the warnings sent Waukesha's way in a few paragraphs, but consider that:
* There will be hearings galore in multiple settings on various pieces of the review process in Wisconsin - - a process in no way near completion. Each hearing can produce opinion or data that will send regulators back to the drawing board.
* The City of Waukesha does not even yet know if the Town of Waukesha, with acreage included in the application without the Town's permission - - but arguably inclusions brings with it responsibility for conservation planning, and other expenses and responsibilities - - will choose to be in or out.
* There are innumerable uncertainties about the application's reception in the seven other Great Lakes states, and perhaps in two Canadian provinces which have advisory roles, as do First Nation tribes there.
Even after after Wisconsin sends the application to the other states - - and who knows if and when that takes place - - any of the states could send it back for fresh answers or a time-consuming do-over. An unambiguous veto by any of the states (not a step available in the provinces) weould deny Waukesha the unanimous approvals by all eight GreatLakes states the Compact mandates for such diversions.
The Great Lakes water expert Peter Annin, brought some time ago to a public meeting in Waukesha by the city, told an assemblage of citizens and officials in the Common Council chambers that they should expect as a given, at least one state to reject on the application on its first reading.
* If the City of Milwaukee were to consider a negotiated water sale agreement - - and, remember, Milwaukee has a long list of regional policy requirements openly objected to by many in Waukesha on transit, housing and other issues that Milwaukee wants satisfied before a deal could be done - - committee hearings would precede any final Common Council vote.
That is potentially a long process on its own, and without a clear resolution. Years of regional disagreements make a mutually-acceptable water sale agreement very iffy.
* And not only would that deal need approval by the Waukesha Common Council, along issues need an OK there, too, from bonding to spending, and so on.
At any step in the process, litigation could be filed on behalf of any of a wide variety of plaintiffs: disgruntled Waukesha water ratepayers (already there is objection to rate increases Waukesha is seeking before the Public Service Commission to help finance future utility costs); or from Wauwatosa residents who do not want Waukesha's new return flow wastewater dumped into Underwood Creek, as proposed; or from a property owner objecting to an intake or return flow pipe route or easement; or from concerned conservationists; or by out-of-staters from New York to Ohio to Michigan to Minnesota claiming a Compact violation, or a collision with local or state laws, and so forth.
Getting this precedent-setting application approved will require lining up hundreds of regulators, decision-makers and staffers, and untold numbers of citizens across eight states and two provinces in two countries to agree, under a new set of rules and laws, and do something never attempted under the 2008 Compact:
Pipe water out of the Great Lakes basin and agree on how and where to return it in an era where water is routinely called "the next oil."
Organizations with expertise and independence have raised, more than once, many of the issues facing Waukesha, but their suggestions about approaches and alternatives have been discounted or dismissed.
At my other blog, I've been writing for years about the contradictions and self-inflicted obstacles in Waukesha's application - - a Lake Michigan-or-bust mentality- - that now seem so complicated and overly-engineered on paper in a Rube Goldberg sort of way that failure is possible.
You can get into that discussion, here, and a record of questions raised about the wisdom of the Waukesha application going back back to 2010, the year that Waukesha finished writing the application:
So it's not a quick or simple undertaking -
- and Waukesha has agreed in writing to meet a June, 2018 legal
deadline for the provision of water to its customers that complies with
Federal quality standards...
Among the many answered questions...
Does Waukesha have additional and viable
alternatives to a Lake Michigan diversion that will meet the Federal
water quality standards?
Can Waukesha clear the multitude of legal,
political and environmental hurdles the application faces - - in
Waukesha, in Southeastern Wisconsin, at the DNR and across the Great
Lakes both in the US and Canada - - by the June, 2018 deadline?...
Complicated? You bet.
Was the Lake Michigan option the right choice by Waukesha?
Cross-posed at Purple Wisconsin, here:
If...If...Waukesha Is Running Out Of Water Diversion Application Time...
And this story suggests real deadline issue are looming, then look to these insular and co-dependent entities for an explanation of how so much time has been frittered away:
The Waukesha Water Utility and the Waukesha Common Council.
They have consistently, based on the advice of various contractors and their own beliefs, gone after Lake Michigan water even though it has been known for years it was the most legally, fiscally, politically and procedurally-difficult water supply alternative for Waukesha to attempt, while repeatedly refusing to seriously consider available, less complicating alternatives.
As has been pointed out, ad nauseam, ad infinitum - - such as 20 months ago - - Lake Michigan water or bust had a real downside:
So is Waukesha hoping for some sort of penultimate Scott Walker executive order/end run around Wisconsin's regulatory review mandated by state law and the Great Lakes Compact of 2008 - - the guiding agreement under which an application is made, vetted, approved and sent to the seven other Great Lakes states for their OK, too?So it's not a quick or simple undertaking - - and Waukesha has agreed in writing to meet a June, 2018 legal deadline for the provision of water to its customers that complies with Federal quality standards...Among the many answered questions...Does Waukesha have additional and viable alternatives to a Lake Michigan diversion that will meet the Federal water quality standards?Can Waukesha clear the multitude of legal, political and environmental hurdles the application faces - - in Waukesha, in Southeastern Wisconsin, at the DNR and across the Great Lakes both in the US and Canada - - by the June, 2018 deadline?...Complicated? You bet.Was the Lake Michigan option the right choice by Waukesha?
I think not. This isn't some issue the DNR can paper over with a news release or two and few tickets in the name of self-regulation.
Instead, I think we will be soon hearing from real-world voices in Waukesha about a Plan B: additional shallow wells, perhaps drilled in an inducement scheme near the Fox River, and added radium-scrubbing equipment to supply fully-radium compliant deep-well water 24/7 - - and Waukesha is already there virtually everyday.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
One More Thing About The Journal Sentinel's Walker Endorsement
From the editorial:
Overzealous political associates sometimes get in trouble. The John Doe probe doesn't justify a vote against the governor.I wouldn't have written those lines without a super-secret thumbs-up in disappearing ink from prosecutor John Chisholm. Which, of course, isn't how it happens, so those lines were written on faith that the scandal goes no higher.
If "overzealous" gets extended to more senior aides, or the boss himself, people who stood with Walker will share the fallout, too.
Best Thing About Journal Sentinel Walker Endorsement?
As I said in so many words at my other blog, any Wisconsin talk radio host who calls the newspaper "liberal" from now has an entire walk-in closet full of pants on fire.
I thought this newspaper would stick to its no-endorsements-in-recall
elections policy, articulated last year and cited at my other blog, here:
The Editorial Board will not recommend
candidates in the recall elections. We believe policy arguments are best
resolved on the floors of legislative bodies or at the ballot box
during regular elections.
All day Monday, the same Milwaukee talk radio stations that routinely call the newspaper "the dead tree," or mock it as the Sentinel-Journal, and gratuitously label it as a liberal publication punishing poor, beaten-down conservatives will do a back-flip and laud the newspaper instead.
That's how situational and paper-thin is the faux outrage they throw out in search of ratings.
Barrett supporters will get more motivation from the endorsement than Walker will get for receiving it.
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