Scott Walker Blows Off Campaign Reporting Law

About one dollar in six raised by County Executive Scott Walker in his run for the GOP 2010 gubernatorial nomination does not meet minimal state legal reporting requirements, a report shows.

Details, details...pesky details, similar to those gaps in Walker's budgets, revenue projections, pension 'reforms,' taxpayer-paid statewide motorcycle junkets, etc. etc.

One of these days, Walker's Teflon shield will disappear and real-world political consequences will expose him.

Electric Cars By 2010 May Get 200-300 MPG

GM's Volt may drive the company to profitability and out of government ownership.

Belling's Jaw-Dropping Rant Over Gwen Moore's Health Care Forum

Rightie talker Mark Belling devoted the entire first hour of his show to what was even for Belling a rough, relentless attack on Congressman Gwen Moore for scheduling a health care forum Tuesday afternoon at North Division High School - - which is a well-known public building landmark in her district, the 4th.

And her high school alma mater...

Regardless, Belling said:

People would be "intimidated" at attending at a central city location.

People who attended at the site would fear "being shot in the head."

Suggested that if he sent his producer, Paul, to cover the event he'd be spotted as "the white guy" attending.

When a caller on the line offered a first-person account of the event, Belling said he was afraid of putting the caller on the air because if the caller were identified calling the Belling show "they might kill him."

When another called to say that the audience was mostly white - - blowing up Belling's rant - - he switched gears, suggested they were all probably east side lefties and teachers, and later mused that it would be funny if all the lefties who showed up were robbed.

Belling aimed a special string of insults at TMJ4 television reporter Shelley Walcott, whom he accused of being openly pro-Obama, like all the other reporters at TMJ4.

It wasn't clear if Walcott, who is an African-American woman, was to cover the Moore event, but Belling said twice that if Walcott were there she would be waving pom-poms.

At times, he added his own screechy female falsetto voice.

And he left us hanging a bit when twice Belling said he was censoring himself because he had something really mean in mind to say about Walcott, but thought better of it.

Remember: WISN and the corporate parent Clear Channel choose to put this on the air, buying the program from Belling and unleashing this vitriol into greater Milwaukee.

Benson Sentence Sends Long Overdue Message

Impaired motorists who kill people should get sentences that treat them as murderers.

No Jobs, No Water

Why should the City of Milwaukee consider selling water to Waukesha County communities if Waukesha County's public sector hiring processes are so discriminatory that it won't even sit down and discuss a settlement?

Daily Reporter Notes WisDOT's Difficulty With Public Hearings

More reverberations from WisDOT's recent stifling of free speech at the Zoo Interchange 'hearing' at the State Fairgrounds.

SEWRPC - - the regional planning commission - - wanted the same one-on-one comments/no public speaking at its October 2008 federal recertication session at the Downtown Transit Center, but sentiment in the room forced agency and federal officials to let people speak openly as well as to court reporters.

Talk Radio At Its Funniest

I know we all engage in a certain amount of projection - - and I'm no exception - - but I laughed out loud in the early moments of the Belling program Monday afternoon when Mark attacked Gov. Jim Doyle for being too full of himself.

Major Highway Open House Tuesday Night: Whom Will WisDOT Kick Out This Time?

A few weeks ago, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation called the State Fair police to block activists from walking around the meeting room and handing out leaflets opposing the $2.3 billion Zoo Interchange expansion and reconstruction.

Tomorrow night, WisDOT rolls out its 2030 state multi-modal (read: Highways First And Foremost) highway plan at a public meeting beginning at 4 p.m. in the Harbor Lights Room of the Downtown Transit Center at Lincoln Memorial Drive And Michigan St., second floor.

It's an information and comment session: let's see if WisDOT wants an exchange of ideas, or prefers muzzling people objecting to the ferocious amount of unbudgeted taxing and spending that the plan will call for.

You can access the plan in its entirety: http://www.wiconnections2030.gov/.

Entrepreneur Merges Making Money With Saving Energy

At the center of a Greener Economy is plenty of green to bank, finds The Washington Post.

We're #1 In Drunken Driving, Data Show

Embarrassing, yes, but also dangerous.

And still the legislature does nothing to tighten enforcement, broaden education, expand treatment.

Though I am not a fan, maybe recall elections for do-nothing captives of the alcohol lobbies should be on the table.

Blueprint Emerges For Affordable Housing In Milwaukee Metro Counties

This New York regional solution is the answer for bringing affordable housing to the counties that surround Milwaukee.

People in Waukesha County and elsewhere will howl, but this is America, and its time that Wisconsin exorcise the demons of segregation.

Dave Dempsey's Detroit News Op-Ed On Compact Flaws An Important Call To Action

Great Lakes blogger and author Dave Dempsey gets substantial space in the Detroit News to explain the flaws in the Great Lakes Compact - - easily permissible diversions and the outrageous bottled water exemption - - and suggests a path for Congressional clarification.

Dave Umhoefer Explains How Tom Barrett Is No Scott Walker

Milwaukee is going for stimulus gold.

Palin Enlists In The Black Helicopter Legion

The fringe will embrace her, but the vast middle will not.

Peace Activists in Milwaukee Mark Atomic Bombing Anniversary

I was downtown Saturday evening and walked through Pere Marquette Park where the annual observance of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima was taking place.

It's always a touching and bittersweet event: people gather, bring their kids, eat a picnic meal, peruse political and peace literature distributed at groups' tables, listen to music and speeches, launch floating candles on the Milwaukee River and honor the tens of thousands who died on August 6, 1945 when the first of two atomic bombs were exploded over Japanese cities by the US Army Air Force.

Thanks to the indefatigable band of activists who remind us every August that it's unthinkable nuclear weapons could be used again.

Another Milwaukee Suburb Wants Rail Connection

First Oconomowoc: now Brookfield - - both Waukesha County communities west of Milwaukee.

Next stop: light rail service to link these potential high-speed rail stations so travelers don't have to drive there.

Heavy Rains Again Suggest Changing Weather Patterns

Seems like every summer in recent years, we go from little rain to the deluge.

The overnight rain Friday-Saturday exceeded the entire total for July in the Milwaukee area.

Climate change models suggest this dry-to-soaking pattern for the Great Lakes region.

This has implications for farmers, municipalities and homeowners.

Glacial Melt Happening Faster Than Predicted

More warnings about the impacts of higher temperatures.

The glaciers in the aforementioned story have been tracked for 50 years.

This is why US Climate Change legislation is a must, and pressure must be exerted on other countries to follow suit.

Waukesha County Hit With Hiring Discrimination Complaint

Qualified applicants for Milwaukee County government jobs can't even get interviews, say the complainants.

And Waukesha County turned down an effort to mediate a solution - - which reminds me of the hard-headed approach South Milwaukee took for years over housing discrimination, and the dismal minority hiring record at the Waukesha County-based regional planning commission (SEWRPC) that is the subject of a pending hiring discrimination complaint.

As I said in a recent post about episodes in both the City of Waukesha, and South Milwaukee - - and I am just catching up on some recent developments, which explains these multiple posts - - the suburbs and public officials with their hands on payrolls have got to shuck off their exclusionary practices, offer genuinely equal and open opportunities, and stop dragging the region down.

Rep. Gwen Moore To Host Healthcare Reform Open House

Here are the details:

Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 4-6 p.m., at North Division High School, 1011 W. Center St., Milwaukee, WI 53206-3262.