Journal Sentinel Underwhelms With Pro-Mine Editorial

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has produced a Sunday editorial generally supportive of a bill that rewrites significant portions of Wisconsin law to enable an iron ore mine in Northern Wisconsin.

You can read it here, and, to be fair, I will also reproduce it in text below.

Some quick reactions:

*  The editorial board says it hopes the GOP legislative leadership does not rush the bill through to passage without fair consideration of sound amendments.

In fact, that has been exactly what has been happening because the bill is Scott Walker's #1 priority, and he and the GOP are still smarting over the bill's defeat last year.

On the matter of credible consideration of substantial changes, ask Democratic State Sen. Tim Cullen how his alternative proposal, created with public and scientific input, fared in final bill drafting.

And there would be little need for amendments if the bill-drafting process hadn't been open to the mining company and closed to officials and experts representing environmental issues and Native Americans living downstream from the mine site with a water-based rice-growing culture.

* The editorial does not state the dimensions of the mine, which are, in phase one 4.5 miles long, a half-mile wide and 1,000 feet deep. The mine could eventually stretch to 22 miles long. For comparison's sake, it is less than 4.5 miles from UW-Milwaukee to City Hall downtown, or from Madison's City Hall to the Oscar Mayer plant.

Open pit mining by the multiple mile, after removing the pristine Penokee Hills that rise to about 1,200 feet, needs to be imagined:



*  The editorial board expresses faith that the DNR staff can consider a mining permit without caving to political pressures.

Where is the evidence for such a statement? Remember that the DNR did not even let its in-house wolf expert testify at hearings on the wolf hunt. And where is any DNR assessment of the acid mine drainage matter, since the agency has known since 2010 that this bill, like its earlier iteration, was coming?

Moreover, why should it even be necessary to worry that political pressures might be brought to bear on the DNR?

I'll tell you why: Because the redefinition of the DNR as business-friendly was made clear from the outset by Walker and the Department's charter-status reorganization.

And because the politicization of the current DNR management team has been intentional from the beginning, from Gov. Walker's selection of DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp for her "chamber-of-commerce mentality," to additional key senior appointments given to people with previous experience at major trade associations.

*  The editorial board accepts the inflation of potential jobs related in one way or another to the iron ore mine from the initial figure of 700 to 5,000 - - but does not cite any hard evidence, or any outside and independent estimates beyond statements from mining supporters.

You'd think the Walker administration's well-documented failure to come remotely close after two years to its 250,000 new-private-jobs' pledge would give thoughtful people pause about accepting additional job predictions from Walker or his supporters - - and in this case, a company whose officials have donated generously to his campaign - - without citing unbiased, supporting documentation or expert opinion, at a minimum.

*  The editorial board noted the bill retains a public hearing in the mining permitting process, but  does not acknowledge that the bill erases the hearing's power.

That's because the bill re-positions the hearing from early in the process, where the mining company has to document its claims - - under oath - - to the tail end and after a DNR ruling.

In other words, the hearing becomes pro forma - - like the hearings held before the Legislature's mining committees a couple of weeks ago where the overwhelming anti-mining registrations will be ignored, testimony was cut off before all in attendance had spoken, and where emailed comments in place of in-person registrations were left out of the official report.

It's inadequate and dismissive to say, as does the editorial, "We think the important thing is to have a hearing," as if that covers the issue.

*  The editorial board cites the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce's Scott Manley's interpretation of the bill's environmental strength the editorial board carried at length last week (without noting that Manley is a paid lobbyist, and as a WMC vice-president, a very powerful individual in the lead engine driving this train), and offered this observation about environmental standards and their preservation by the bill that has a maddening circularity:

Manley also argued that the legislation does not relax any environmental standards. That's true, but it's also irrelevant if the legislation allows the company to elude meeting those standards through exemptions. Some exemptions may be warranted in limited cases, but there can't be so many that the result is significant harm to the environment.

The entire point of the law, the entire reason to let the company help write the bill is to provide exemptions, and that is why, I'd predict, that among its major and fatal weaknesses is the bill's goal to exempt the mining operation from the Public Trust Doctrine - - a set of protections for the protection of the state's interconnected waters that are defined as public rights in the State Constitution.

*  The editorial board offers one line near the end addressing the Bad River Ojibwe Band's "serious opposition" to the bill. I am glad to see that acknowledgment. It had been missing from earlier editorial board commentary, but I would suggest that a single line about the Band's relationship to the issue that does not include the word "treaty" falls short of serious consideration for serious opposition.

All in all - - an underwhelming editorial. GOP legislators and the Governor will not have any problem with it.
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Our View | Mining

Mining bill getting closer to what it needs to be

If the final result does what its proponents say it will do, the bill deserves approval by the Legislature.

Feb. 23, 2013

Legislation aimed at easing the permitting process for an iron mine is expected to be approved by a key committee this week and will probably hit the floors of both the state Assembly and state Senate.

If the final result does what its proponents say it does - simplify the process while still protecting the environment - the bill deserves approval by the Legislature.

That's still a pretty big if, but changes made to the bill in the last several weeks are encouraging, and there's a good chance some legislators will attempt to add more safeguards. They deserve a fair hearing; we hope the Republican majority - which has made this measure its No. 1 priority in jobs bills - doesn't rush the bill through at the expense of sound amendments.

We also hope the bill is not so tightly drawn that it takes decision-making and discretion out of the hands of the professionals in the state Department of Natural Resources, which will be responsible for issuing the permit. The DNR should be trusted to deny or issue the permit based on the best data available and the best judgment of its employees.

We also think these professionals are more than capable of resisting any political pressures that might be brought to bear during the permitting process.

The bill's basic purpose is to open the door to Gogebic Taconite to build a $1.5 billion iron mine in Ashland and Iron counties. The company has said it needs changes in the regulatory process to provide it with more certainty so it can move ahead with the initial multimillion-dollar permitting process.

In a live online chat with members of the Editorial Board and public last week, Scott Manley of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, a supporter of the bill, said the project would create nearly 5,000 jobs: 2,000 jobs to construct the mine, 700 mining jobs on site and another 2,100 jobs to support the mining activity.

Not all of those would be long-term jobs and not all would be in northern Wisconsin, but the mine would still have a significant impact on one of the poorest regions of the state.

The legislation is heading in the right direction. Among the amendments adopted by the Assembly and Senate mining committees were measures to:

• Require the DNR to try to reach a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to improve the chances the two agencies would work together to review a mining permit.
• Allow regulators and the company to establish a longer time frame than the bill's 420 days if all parties agree. There should be some additional leeway here for the DNR to act on a longer time frame.
• Require more testing of waste rock in the hope of identifying runoff from sulfide minerals that could harm groundwater or local streams. Sulfides interacting with air and water can be the source of acid mine drainage.
• Add stronger language designed to encourage the creation of new wetlands in the same watershed if wetlands are destroyed.

Republicans also adjusted the bill to limit the ability of mining companies to fill waterways, though Democrats said tougher protections were needed. A 2-acre pond could still be filled with rock, they said.

In addition, the bill does allow for a quasijudicial procedure called a contested case hearing after the DNR makes its decision. That was a major bone of contention and remains one this year with critics arguing for a hearing before the process is complete. We think the important thing is to have a hearing.

These are all good steps that strengthen the bill. We may see more this week. And we hope they address the concerns of the Bad River band of Chippewa who live downstream from the mine and who have raised serious objections.

But the bottom line is that we agree with the proponents that a bill can be created that will ease the way for a mine and still protect the environment. This bill may not be there yet, but it's getting close.

On Mine Bill, GOP Moderates Could Face Conservation Voter Backlash

GOP leaders say their 18-15 State Senate majority will let them lose Sen. Dale Schulz, (Richland Center) and still have the votes to ram the mining bill through

Let's remember that other sometime moderate GOP senators, like Neal Kedzie, (Elkhorn), Luther Olsen, (Ripon), and Rob Cowles, (Green Bay),  like Schultz, have to answer to large numbers of non-ideological conservation and water rights voters.

Walker Quote Of The Decade

Comments on this story, headline and Walker quote in light of the state's sluggish job production and his hollow campaign pledge of 250,000 new private-sector jobs after one term?

Gov. Walker says business hiring will skyrocket after he wins recall election

Tuesday, April 17, 2012 2:32 p.m. CDT

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

SPRINGFIELD, IL (WTAQ) - Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker told an Illinois business conference today that quote, “like a rocket, you’ll see businesses hiring” after the June fifth recall election – which he predicted he would win.

The Journal Sentinel quoted data released by his own state statisticians last week:

Job creation in Wisconsin slowed markedly between July and September, according to the most recent available government data deemed credible by economists.

According to a report Friday from the state Department of Workforce Development, the state added 20,481 private-sector jobs in the 12-months that ended September - with most of the weakness in the final three months of that period.

Clarke Just Another Phony Conservative At The Public Trough

He gripes about his budget but it's flush enough to pay for his egomanical, gun-totin' ads.

What a phony.

Grassroots Opposition To Mining Bill In Mining Area

GOP legislators and Gov. Walker are facing a growing headwind from the North:

CONTACT: Mike Wiggins, Jr., Chairman of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, (715) 292-5585

Cherie Pero, Bad River Band Citizen (715) 292-9331

 

ODANAH, WI – Representatives from the Lake Superior Chippewa Bands of Red Cliff and Bad River, along with the mayors of Ashland and Bayfield, representatives of the City of Mellen, Ashland County, and other local officials, will join together on Monday, February 25, 2013, to voice the community’s opposition to AB1/SB1.

 

The press conference will start at 10:30 a.m., Monday, February 25, 2013, at the Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center, 29270 County Highway G, Ashland, WI 54806 (just north of the intersection of U.S. Highway 2 and Co. Hwy. G).

 

With over 7,000 members, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians is located on an over 124,000-acre reservation in an area within Ashland and Iron Counties on the south shore of Lake Superior (known by the tribe as Gichi Gami).

The Ojibwe people have a long and rich heritage throughout the Great Lakes region and at Odanah on Lake Superior prior to European traders, missionaries and settlers. Treaties signed by eleven Ojibwe Tribes ceded territory in the region, including what is currently the upper one third of the State of Wisconsin. Learn more about the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians on their website, badriver-nsn.gov.

 

 

Poll Shows Strong Opposition To Open Pit Mine

How out of touch is the Legislature and Gov. Walker on the mining bill?

Or put it this way: how indebted are they to the mining company, conservative funders and business interests who are calling in their big campaign chit with public opinion so strongly against blowing up the Northern Wisconsin Penokee Hills and the Bad River watershed for a massive open pit mine.

From the League of Conservation Voters today comes this polling data:

Poll: Open-Pit Mining Bill Deeply Unpopular

Madison- A poll released today shows that public opposition to the provisions of the Open-Pit Mining Bill (SB 1/AB 1) has grown significantly since last year. Wisconsin voters oppose the bill by a 33% margin (62-29). Opposition has increased 20 points since last year with undecideds having shifted into the opposition camp. Those voters who consider themselves “independent” opposed the bill by a 44% margin. Support for the bill among Republicans has also dropped.

“The more voters learn about the Open-Pit Mining Bill and the threat it poses to Wisconsin’s natural resources and public health, the more they oppose it. It turns out that standing up for a mining company’s ability to dump waste into our streams and expose our families to deadly chemicals like arsenic and lead is a very unpopular position among the Wisconsin electorate,” said Anne Sayers, Program Director for Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters.  

The poll also tested:

• Whether mining companies should be allowed to fill wetlands with waste and other materials (Oppose 67-24).
• Whether the amount of money the DNR can collect from mining companies for permit reviews should be capped (Oppose 78-13).
• Whether the role of legislators is to bring jobs to the state no matter the cost to the environment or to balance jobs at environmental concerns (Balance 77-18).
• How concerned voters are that the mining company played a key role in writing the Open-Pit Mining Bill (Concerned 77-20).

“Proponents of the Open-Pit Mining Bill had an additional year to fix and sell this bill to the voters of Wisconsin, but they’ve only lost ground. The bill can’t be fixed. The public knows it and the legislators know it. The only question now is whether legislators will stand with the Wisconsinites they represent or an out-of-state mining company,” concluded Sayers.

The poll by Public Policy Polling surveyed 911 Wisconsin voters on February 18th and 19th, exactly one year since a similar poll was conducted. The margin of error is +/-3%.

View the polling memo from Public Policy Polling here. View the crosstabs here.

Walker's Fail/Deny/Move Up Plan In High Gear

Scott Walker left behind a mess at Milwaukee County - - budget overruns, a death at the Mental Health Complex, a death at O'Donnell Park's garage and pension problems not solved and political operatives working on his staff illegally on politics just outside his office door using surreptitious equipment- - as he set his sights on the Governor's office beginning with an abortive run in 2006, then winning in 2010.

Now he's repeating that pattern: Despite a failing pledge to create 250,000 new private sector jobs after one term, Walker is testing the 2016 presidential waters with an appearance a stone's throw from early caucus state Iowa, and believes he's in a position to lecture Congress on federal fiscal issues.

Walker Job Creation Record In Epic Fail Territory

To hit his absurd pledge to create 250,000 new private sector jobs in a first term, Scott Walker would need to be looking at 62,500 annually - - but the latest information he hopes goes unseen this Friday afternoon pegs the last full 12-month period analyzed at +20,481.

He keeps saying the state is headed in the right direction.

Right, politically. Wrong, economically.

WMC Official, On Mining Bill's Environmental Protections, But...

I'd rather see an actual environmental expert chat on jsonline.com about the environmental impacts of the mining bill than watch Scott Manley, the business community/WMC point person/lobbyist help push the bill to approval with these remarks:

The amendments adopted in the Senate and Assembly Committees were intended to strengthen some of the environmental regulatory aspects of the bill, and clarify the permit process...

We think the bill is incredibly protective as it currently stands, and believe the DNR would concur with that assessment. We are hopeful that additional amendments are not required by the Joint Finance Committee....

We are at the point where we believe the bill gives the DNR all of the tools they need to ensure that a mine is permitted in an environmentally safe and responsible manner, and do not believe any additional changes are needed.

Manley, a former GOP legislative staffer, is touted by his WMC employer as a mining expert, and has risen to WMC Vice-President for Corporate Affairs.

But does that mean the Journal Sentinel should give him a platform from which he can define the environmental issues raised by the mine, and even label and describe, in detail as "incorrect" the position of the environmental group Clean Wisconsin?

Without equal space for environmental groups? Even for a rejoinder from a group called out as wrong?

And do these recent Manley Tweets make him sound like an environmental expert or a business spokesman and partisan, conservative activist?

1. Feb 14 Scott Manley ‏@ManleyWMC

   I appreciate @GroverNorquist voicing his opposition to new mining taxes in Wisconsin. That tax must be rejected. http://thewheelerreport.com/wheeler_docs/files/0213atr.pdf …
2. Feb 13 Scott Manley ‏@ManleyWMC

   Pres. Obama is touting manufacturing jobs. I wish he would stop hitting manufacturers with job-killing regulations and higher energy costs.
3. Feb 12 Scott Manley ‏@ManleyWMC

   Kudos to Sen. Scott Fitzgerald for his strong opposition to new mining taxes during his interview with @SykesCharlie on the air this morning
4. Feb 12 ALEC ‏@ALEC_states

   Gov’t. should get out of the business of picking winners and losers when it comes to energy.

   Retweeted by Scott Manley
5. Feb 7 Scott Manley ‏@ManleyWMC 

   I will be going on the air with @VickiMcKenna at 4:05 to discuss mining and the need to pass iron mining reform.
   

    6. Oct 25 Scott Manley ‏@ManleyWMC

   US Rep. Tammy Baldwin's record of voting against Wisconsin paper mill jobs exposed in a new ad by @AmFutureFund http://youtu.be/XdbLtkDWV2o 

   View media
   

   7. Oct 29 Scott Manley ‏@ManleyWMC

   @NumbersMuncher Looks like @ppppolls is counting on an unwitting (or complicit) media to report their Dem skewed polls down the home stretch

   
   8. Oct 4 Scott Manley ‏@ManleyWMC
   

   Is the Madison Fire Department waiting on standby for all the straw men Obama will torch on UW campus this afternoon?

   
   

WisDOT Record Raises Questions About Agency "Ghost" Blogging, Monitoring

In the tradition of government communications speaking for themselves through publication in media outlets like the old I. F. Stone Weekly, or in the The Washington Monthly "Memo of the Month," I offer quotes from the minutes of a Zoo Interchange planning meeting at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation SE Regional office in Waukesha on July 16, 2008. 

The meeting had nine discussion items about public involvement on the project, and was attended by two WisDOT employees and eight contracting company representatives. How the agency should respond to blogs commenting on the project was the last of nine discussion items at the meeting, and is reprinted below:

Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation 

Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation 141 N W Barstow Street Waukesha, WI 53187-0798
PROJECT: 1060-33-01-Environmental PE Contract LOCATION: Michigan Room

MEETING NOTES No. 00002
DATE and TIME: 7/16/2008 at 1:00PM SUBJECT: PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT MEETING...

WEB BLOGS AND WEBSITES

Emlynn is looking for a new policy informing how and when to respond to blogs regarding the Zoo IC project. Is a ghost blog (anonymous blog) a good way to handle this, this has been done in the past. Also, how often are we monitoring? She is looking for advisement from the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)

Updates on efforts to contact WisDOT both Wednesday and Thursday, and contact made:  

I made separate calls seeking information and clarification on Wednesday afternoon to the two WisDOT personnel listed as attendees at the 7/16/08 meeting. 

I made a third call Wednesday afternoon to Michael Pyritz, a WisDOT communications staffer at the Waukesha WisDOT office, to whom one of the meeting attendees' voice mail had directed callers on Wednesday.

I then emailed Pyritz Thursday in further pursuit of information and clarification. He returned the email with a call Thursday at 5:18 p.m., and when we talked said emphatically he had never heard of any such blogging being carried out by WisDOT.

"I'm completely unaware of anything like that being done on any project," he said.

Pyritz said the 2008 meeting predated his arrival at WisDOT in 2012.

Any further responses from WisDOT will be posted. 

New Mining Outrage: Walker Bill Would Cut Rock Waste Dumping Fees More than 99%

The state projects a loss of $171 million for pollution abatement and other environmental clean-up funds because Walker's mining bill proposes the current $7-per-ton mine rock waste dumping fee be cut to 2.7 cents.

Less than one-half of one percent of the current fee.

Remember that the bill does not include a tax per ton on ore extracted, but settles for payment on ore sales profits at the end of the mining process - - thus subject to market forces.

So Walker would let an out-of-state mining company/campaign contributor come in, get involved in writing a bill that would wreck the Penokee Hills and Bad River watershed and then contribute literally pennies - - virtually nothing - - to state clean-up funds.

This is beyond sick.

WISC-TV3 and AP had the details:

A Legislative Fiscal Bureau has released a paper examining changes the bill makes to waste rock disposal fees. Currently, mining companies must pay the state about $7 per ton. The money helps fund recycling efforts, sediment and water pollution abatement programs and state administration of contaminated land and brownfield cleanup programs.

The bill would reduce those fees to about 3 cents per ton. The paper stated the move means Gogebic Taconite wouldn't have to pay the state about $171 million annually it would otherwise owe.

Walker Budget Transportation FUBAR

A list of transportation FUBAR's in Walker's 2013-'15 budget.

* Commercialization of WisDOT properties.

* Authorization of added I-94 E/W lanes at Wood National Cemetery and the City of Milwaukee's premier west side neighborhood, Story Hill.

*  Transit forced to compete with all other government general purpose programs' funding, a smaller pot as millions is to be shifted to highway expansion.

Walker Budget: Get Ready For Burgers, Billboards On WisDOT Facilities

From the Walker Rent-To-Own 2013-15 Budget, p. 52-53:

This bill allows DOT to enter into sponsorship agreements under which DOT displays a sponsor’s advertising or promotional material at locations owned or controlled by DOT in exchange for the sponsor’s payment of fees or provision of services to DOT. 

The bill also allows DOT to enter into partnership agreements under which DOT authorizes a partner to engage in commercial activity at locations owned or controlled by DOT in exchange for the partner’s payment of fees or provision of services to DOT. Fees received by DOT under these agreements may be used by DOT for, among other purposes, maintenance and repair of state trunk

highways and roadside improvements. Contracts for sponsorship agreements and partnership agreements must be awarded on the basis of competitive proposals.

Walker Budget Shafts Story Hill, Veterans

From p. 52 of the Walker anti-Milwaukee Vindictive Budget:

"This bill repeals a provision of current law that prohibits a southeast Wisconsin

freeway rehabilitation project from adding vehicle lanes on I 94 adjacent to Wood

National Cemetery."

Citation:

https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2013/related/proposals/ab40.pdf

Walker The Vindictive

What Scott Walker's 2013-'15 budget tells us is that there is one vindictive former Milwaukee County Executive sitting in the Governor's Mansion now.

Walker continues to rob Milwaukee Public Schools - - the state's largest school district, and the one with the most minority and poor students - - while showering public dollars on choice, private, charter and home schools that can be far more selective in student body composition than the public schools.

And in further 'stick-it-to-Milwaukee' premeditation, Walker proposes a ban on local governments' creation of residency requirements for municipal employees.

In one fell swoop, Walker - - once a big opponent of mandates from Madison - - would preempt local decision-makers and any hope of negotiating the content in or end of such agreements - - with the impact falling most heavily and negatively on the state's largest city and public school system.

In other words - - push the consequences on localities, from Madison, where Father Knows Best.

This is pure payback for the city of Milwaukee, its Mayor Tom Barrett and his voters (read: Democrats) for twice standing tall in elections against Walker and right-wing governance.

Walker won, but he needs more.

He is wants to use the state budget process to tell Milwaukee and other local governments how to operate, sandbagging the people whom Paul Ryan dissed as 'urban voters' while boosting the tax base, housing values and populations in already-upper-scale Wauwatosa, Shorewood, Whitefish Bay, Franklin and other near-Milwaukee suburbs.

At Milwaukee's expense.

And what about public works, police and fire department employees called in for emergency duties from farther away addresses?

What about local control and grassroots' decision-making?

Not Walker's problem. He's got scores to settle.

A Thought About The Derek Williams Death Inquest

The advisory inquest jury is still out today in the Derek Williams death-in-police-custody case, but just this thought after the testimony of one police officer who testified under a grant of immunity.

If you ever get stopped for an offense by a police officer, this is the kind of officer witness you'd pray for:

[Patrick] Coe, who also took the stand Tuesday, said he was unable to recall numerous key details about the arrest. When asked what position Williams was in when he first said he could not breathe, Coe said he couldn't remember. He couldn't remember whether anyone gave Williams a sternum rub. He couldn't remember whether Williams fell as they took him to a squad car. He couldn't remember who was sitting in the front of the squad car while Williams was in the back. He couldn't remember any of the names of the seven to 10 officers who were standing around the car.

When Walker Hails The Mine In His Speech Tonight...

Remember that its initial, Penokee Hills tear down phase is projected at about 1,000 feet deep, a half-mile wide and 4.5 miles long - - or 30% farther, for example, than the 3.5 miles distance from the State Capitol to the landmark Oscar Mayer meat-packing plant on Madison's northeast side.

So when Walker touts the bazillion jobs the mine will create, and the water-rich environment in Northern Wisconsin that the mine will somehow enrich, just picture an dynamited and trucked excavation beyond a corridor from the meat-packing plant to the State Capitol framed above a statement famously attributed to the former New York Republican politician Al Smith:

"No matter how you slice it, it's still bologna."

Unraveling Walkerspeak

I've noted it before, and I'll continue to ask when I see it:

Why can't Scott Walker put together a couple of extemporaneous sentences without butchering the wording?

When asked about whether he'd support a mining tax (no), Walker responded:

I'm not issuing vetoes before I get bills in front of my desk," Walker said. "But I think you're right. That's not something I'm in favor of as a new tax in that regard."

Sheriff Clarke Idles Away Crime-Fighting Time On Fringe Radio

David Clarke exchanged on-air conspiracy and nullification chatter with Alex Jones, the screaming gunophile who raged on Piers Morgan's CNN program after the Newtown shootings, Dan Bice reports.

With a post-grad study program underway requiring travel to California, the county sheriff sure does have a lot of time on his hands.

And how do you stay enrolled in a federal Homeland Security Master's program if you are willing to say out loud that you would not enforce certain federal orders, as Clarke told radio host Jones?

Fine Op-Ed On Iron Mine Consequences

Essayist Eric Hansen, familiar with the Penokee Hills, is trying to save them:

I know this place. After walking 800 miles to assess Wisconsin's most memorable natural areas, I chose to highlight the Penokee Hills in my book "Hiking Wisconsin."

Now, imagine the Penokee's ridgeline, and the sparkling water of its trout streams, turned into an industrial sacrifice zone - on a scale that is almost beyond belief.

Next Walker Budget: Two More Years Of Rightwing Rule

Not much reason to tune in tomorrow night and watch Scott Walker deliver his 2013-'15 budget address, though we'll still go through the document line-by-line looking for the landmines hidden in bureaucratese or footnotes that confer a generous benefit to a special interest or a sucker punch to the powerless and the unsuspecting.

Walker has drained the speech of drama by announcing or leaking what his side will call reforms and initiatives, and the rest of us see as dropping another bomb on important services, middle-class priorities and basic fairness that used to be part of The Wisconsin Idea:

*  Health care for lower-income Wisconsinites: Walker turned down available federal funding for a Medicaid expansion. Some persons will be newly covered by a state program, but more will miss the federal expansion to satisfy the right's ideological need to teach the poor a lesson.

*  Public schools will get a few new pennies after two years of massive cuts, while home-based, private and charter schools free of union teachers get a taxpayer-paid windfall. Local boards and government bodies will try and make up some of the shortfall, but state-imposed caps will continue the Grover Norquistian suffocation of public education that is job-one in Walker's privatized world.

*  Speaking of jobs: Walker will toss out a symbolic cut in personal income taxes - - putting something like an extra $2 a week into your pocket.

And he'll make some effort to brew that extra cup of coffee into some kind of Reaganesque free-market achievement, but any fair assessment of Walker's first two years in office will rate his leadership on employment growth - - especially that absurd, 250,000 new jobs campaign PR pledge - - an abject, caffeine-free failure.

Walker will twist data, manipulate terminology and point self-servingly to governing through economic "uncertainties," like Act 10 protests, Obamacare, fear of the fiscal cliff or the defeat of an environmentally-crippling mining bill he still oversells as a real, and real time job-creator - - but the damage he inflicted on the purchasing power of thousands of public employees with Act 10 benefit cuts and their multiplier effects is a major factor in the state's relatively-slow job growth and recovery.

*  The highway lobby - - including contractors and compliant politicians who get back a dollop of highway expansion dollars in campaign donations - - is ticketed to receive fresh billions to overbuild in an era of declining driving.

And holding a yard sale to pay for some of the unneeded concrete.

Left at the curb: local transit systems, which disproportionately serve urban minorities, lower-income citizens, the elderly, and students.

Whether you're without a car in Milwaukee and cannot access work in Waukesha or Washington County, or you're a low-income woman now hours away from a Planned Parenthood clinic Walker's ideology-first spending is closing, or you teach in an urban school system, the message is the same:

There's nothing compassionate about the conservatives running Wisconsin right now.

Wisconsin Cuts Funding, Four Planned Parenthood Clinics Closing

In the vernacular of Scott Walker's administration, government is all about the customers.

School choice? Expand it, to serve the parents.

Entrepreneurs? Here's $25 million for venture capitalists to pass around.

Truckers and commuters? Build more roads. Sell off public assets to come up with the money if need be, but customers first!

Anglers and hunters? Government is here to help. Heck, you don't have to waste your time and money driving downtown to get yourself a license anymore, the agency says:

To purchase a license online, use the (cart icon) in the "Buy Online" column to go to our Wisconsin Licensing Services Center, for hunting and fishing sales. For online purchases, the "Delivery Method" column indicates how you receive your license: by printing your license using your home computer or receiving the license via mail .

But female customers, particularly those in rural areas where there are fewer health-care options, particularly for lower-income women who need medical tests and procedures for, say, cancer?

Well, hold on, missy. Don't get all dependent on Big Government.

Who said it's the state's job to keep supporting a long-standing Planned Parenthood clinic in your small community.

The centers in Beaver Dam, Johnson Creek, Chippewa Falls and Shawano don't get enough private funding to stay financially viable without the state support, which the Legislature eliminated in the 2011-'13 state budget. The locations are the only reproductive health care providers in their communities, officials said during a conference call from Madison.

Out-of-state media takes note of our Governor's compassionate conservatism:

“Women are going to have to drive even longer distances just to get basic health care like wellness exams, cancer screenings and birth control,” said Deb Bonilla, vice president of patient services for Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. “We are doing all we can to ensure that women get the care they need, but in some instances the resulting barriers to care will make health care access very difficult.”

Scott Walker Budget Preview - - 'Don't Blame Me'

Remember that 250,000 new private sector jobs promise? Well, don't expect more from Walker's next budget rolled out Wednesday evening than fresh finger-pointing.

Ex-State Sen. Welch's Post-Newtown Remark Keeps Reverberating

More compassionate conservatism:

Prolific Wisconsin lobbyist, hunting enthusiast and former Red Granite (WI)  GOP State Sen. Bob Welch is still taking heat for his advice to the recent state NRA Convention that pro-gun forces under political pressure should wait out "the Connecticut effect."

Mining Forces Barking Up Wrong Tree

I've heard of hugging trees, but this is the first time I've seen someone chatting with one. 

Amazingly, the tree speaks English, knows current events, is short on manners and doesn't understand mining interests are about to rename him Stumpy McOverburden.

Thanks to the Journal Sentinel for posting this.

Waukesha Water, School Boards Share Chairman, And Water Demands, But...

Are two heads really better than one? Or is that more of a diversion? And if the two heads are really clones of each other, and conversing, is it a dialogue or monologue?

So many questions bubbling to the surface in Waukesha's fresh water wrinkle.

Note that the Waukesha Water Utility Commission's Chairman is Dan Warren - - the same Dan Warren who is also President of the School District of Waukesha.

The Water Utility on behalf of the City of Waukesha has been pressuring the Town of Waukesha to join the city's application for Lake Michigan water - - and the Town has responded with a diversion acceptance plan - - but now the school district superintendent is pressuring the Town to add 14 acres to the water acceptance acreage that the school board has banked as a potential new school site.

Will there be eventually be discussions involving the Warren-led school board with the Warren-led City water commission over where diverted water is headed in the Town?

Reports The Freeman:

School district urges town to reconsider water decision 

Potential school site would need municipal water, Gray says

By Josh Perttunen 

Waukesha Freeman Staff 

WAUKESHA – The Waukesha School District is imploring the Town of Waukesha Board to reconsider the boundaries of its water service area after learning that the territory selected would leave a potential school site high and dry. A strongly-worded letter was sent to Town Chairwoman Angie Van Scyoc Tuesday and potential litigation regarding the property was one of two agenda items that the School Board went into executive session to discuss Wednesday night.

Walker's Yard Sale

So Walker wants to sell state assets - - buildings, power plants, forests (?), parks (?) - - to cover borrowing for road over-building - - and to pay off the road-building complex, too.

The state is becoming a right-wing piggy bank, and the withdrawals will reduce funding for social programs and transit that the right prefers to starve.

Also being sold off  - - the state's water law legacy, with actual lakes and waterways available for filling as the Penokee Hills and the Bad River Ojibwe culture are targeted for obliteration under the mining law proposal.

To enrich the Cline Group, one Florida coal-mining, privately-owned and politically-active corporation.

Tax phobic (no mining tax allowed for Wisconsin resource extractors) and right-wing Grand Marshal Grover Norquist said government should be shrunk small enough to be drowned in a bathtub.

Walker, instead, wants to strip it of its best parts and sell them for the benefit of his private-sector, special interest campaign and ideological supporters.

In a democracy and for public policy - - equally damaging and cynical.

Paranoia On Local Talk Radio

Sorry for the man-bites-dog headline, but I'm passing on Vicki McKenna's observations on child care so you get a real sense of what the right hears, all day long.

The ultra-conservative Madison-based talker told her 1130 WISN-AM morning audience Thursday that Pres. Barack Obama's proposal for federally-funded universal kindergarten was all about turning babies into liberals.

After kindergarten the kids would be assigned to Head Start, then into the clutches of public school union teachers, and finally to the finishing step in universities by lefty professors, and, presto! Fully-formed liberals.

McKenna added that Head Start was a failed place where parents "dump off" the kids, not an educational program.

In WI GOP Legislature, Pay For Play 2.0 Can't Be Far Away

We've got mining special interests writing Wisconsin mining legislation while donating heavily to legislators and the Governor.

The Assembly GOP leadership has begun dunning lobbyists - - not their clients - - $500 each.

Now the Assembly has quietly rolled back fund-raising prohibitions during the budget process.

How long until the next Pay for Play scandal breaks?

Let the clock begin rolling now.

Some GOP Legislators Losing Their Grip

Power-mad Republican legislators in Madison are falling into foot-stomping mode again.

They want the rest of the government - - thus constituents and citizens - - to kneel ever more deeply before them.

This time it's State Sen. and President Mike Ellis, (R-Neenah), who, after 42+ years in the legislator wants to change state law and require the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take up directly (bypassing lower courts) any constitutional challenge to the Legislature's handiwork within 150 days.

For a guy who has been involved in a lot of law-making, Ellis seems oddly unaware of how the law realty works and doesn't care how transparent is his end-run around circuit and appellate courts a few blocks from the Capitol where elected judges might decline to march in lockstep with what Ellis' or any other Legislatures' agendas.

Maybe writing better law in the first place would result in fewer constitutional challenges.

Maybe 42 years in the Legislature overly-inflates some members' sense of personal or institution's value.

Ellis and his GOP colleagues also want to set a deadline of 420 days for a mining permit application to be fully vetted by the DNR. This calendar-bending sop to mining interests who wrote the bill also shows a lack of information about how state and federal law - - not to mention science - - works in a real world democracy.

It also reminds me of Sen. Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald's demands in 2010 that the State Patrol arrest Democratic legislators who'd left the state during the Act 10 brouhaha.

The GOP legislative caucus is turning into a troupe of silly little dictators. Is there a seminar available for them in Separation of Powers And Calm Legislating 101?

Can we donate large quantities of decaf?

Great Op-Ed On UW-M's Deforestation Of County Grounds

Cheryl Nenn of Milwaukee Riverkeeper told it like it is:

Several weeks ago, contractors used TIF funds to remove almost all the high-quality vegetation on the site, including a large stand of oaks and pines in a ravine that provides vital site drainage, and a stand of 100- to 200-year-old oak trees east of the Parks Department - all to make room for the new "Discovery Parkway."

UWM and the city have justified this by saying that the DOT ordered the road further east; however, the "parkway" could have been better designed to wind around existing trees and honor "existing natural resource features and topography" as stated in master plans for the site.

Innovation Park is well on its way to becoming neither innovative nor a park. It is possible to create jobs and tax revenue and still protect the environment. UWM has talented faculty and students, but where are they?

Another Wrinkle In Waukesha's Stalled Water Diversion Plan

The City of Waukesha finally got the neighboring Town of Waukesha to agree to allow diverted Lake Michigan water into a portion of the town - - but now there is a dispute over how much diverted water the town should receive, and therefore how much the City will apply for.

Don Behm's story on the matter in the Journal Sentinel is here.

I'm also reproducing below an exchange of letters between the Town and City so you can judge for yourselves how the discussion is going and where it might be headed:

From the City to the Town:

February 12, 2013

Town Chairman and Supervisors
Town of Waukesha
W250 S3567 Center Road
Waukesha WI   53189

Dear Town Chairman and Town Supervisors:

I received an email from Chair Van Scyoc on January 31, 2013 outlining the action by the Town Board at their meeting on January 24, 2013.  This action followed a series of communications between the City and the Town that were based on the proposal by the Town of Waukesha dated September 18, 2012. In that September 18 proposal, the Town Board outlined the conditions it was seeking for agreement by the Town to be in the City of Waukesha's Water Service Area.   Subsequent to that letter, several meetings, emails and letters between the City and the Town resulted in a final offer from the City to the Town for the Town to be included in the City's water service area.

The approved motion at your January 24, 2013 meeting was as follows:

MOTION  Supervisor Banske moved to accept the conditions outlined by the City of Waukesha’s letter dated November 8, 2012 as attached and to include the demand allocated for the Town of Waukesha in the Great Lakes Application in the amount of not less than 0.55 MGD (million gallons per day); and to delineate the water service area based on the attached map, and to further direct the town attorney to prepare the necessary documentation to memorialize the Town of Waukesha limited inclusion of land within the water service area and to authorize the Town Chairperson to sign the agreement.  Further to instruct the Town Engineer to prepare a legal description of the delineated areas to be included with the submission of our inclusion, seconded by Chairman Van Scyoc, motion passed by roll call vote. 

After reviewing the motion, it was clear the Town did not accept the November 8th proposal of the City involving the terms under which the City would agree to in supplying water to the Water Service Area Plan as presented to the DNR and the Town.  Further, after discussing this matter with the DNR, the DNR believes the Town’s motion is flawed:

1)    The City’s proposal to the Town in its letter dated November 8, 2013, was predicated on the Town accepting the Water Service Area Plan as originally delineated by the City and submitted as part of its application to the DNR and all the governing bodies whose public water supply is addressed by the Plan.  The terms of the November 8th letter only apply to your decision to be “in or out” of the Water Service Area Plan.

The Town rejected the Water Service Area Plan by passing a motion which modified the Water Service Area Plan.  Therefore, contrary to your motion, the terms outlined by the City in the November 8, 2012 offer do not apply to the modified area and your actions constitute a counter offer.  

2)    The motion includes a volume of water “in the amount of not less than 0.55 MGD (millions of gallons per day)” to be allocated for the Town of Waukesha.  The volume was calculated based on population projections for full build-out of the lands within the Town of Waukesha based on the current land use plans for the Town. 

That population projection was then utilized to determine a demand allocation for the Town.

The 0.55 MGD is based on the water service plan for the Town, as delineated by SEWRPC, as originally proposed by the City being incorporated into the future Water Supply Service Area as referenced by the November 8th proposal.  Since the approved motion limits the amount of land to be included in the service area, the 0.55 MGD volume of water cited by the Town is inappropriate and excessive for the amount of land included which, most likely, will not be acceptable to the WDNR and will jeopardize the City's Application among the Great Lakes states. 

Based on these factors, the Town would need to reconsider their proposed service area with adjusted water supply volume relating to this newly proposed service area.  If the Town wishes water service supplied by the City of Waukesha, we suggest the following motion as an example:

The water service area to be supplied by the City of Waukesha shall be delineated based on the attached map.  A water supply allocation for the Town of Waukesha in the City of Waukesha Application for Great Lakes Water shall be based on the service area shown on the attached map.  The Town Board further directs the town attorney to prepare the necessary documentation to memorialize the Town of Waukesha limited inclusion of land within the water service area and directs the Town Chairperson to sign the agreement.  Further, the Town Board instructs the Town Engineer to prepare a legal description of the delineated water service areas to be included with the City of Waukesha Great Lakes Application.

The above example motion is consistent with the Town’s original intent and it should satisfy the needs of the DNR.   Alternatively, the Town could also opt to be completely “in” or “out” of the water supply and sewer service areas as offered by the City.

As you are aware, this piece of information is critical to the completion of the review of our application. Therefore, we would appreciate your immediate action on this matter.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Edmund M. Henschel
City Administrator

Cc:  Common Council
Water Commission, Daniel Duchniak, General Manager
Department of Natural Resources
SEWRPC
Attorney de la Mora

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Town to the City:

From: Angie E. Van Scyoc


Sent Tuesday, February 12, 2013 10:25 AM


To: ehenschel@ci.waukesha.wi.us


Cc: Angie E. Van Scyoc; Jamie Salentine


Subject: FW: Response to Town Motion on Water Service

Good Morning Ed -

Thank you for taking my call. We are in receipt of your letter dated February 12, 2013 which., among other things, indicates the DNR believes our motion is flawed.

You have indicated in our conversation this morning that Dan Duchniak has been in conversations with the DNR and has made that representation to you.

You also represent a number of items in your correspondence, including that the November 8th, 2012 offer from the city was predicated on the Water Service Area Plan that was presented to the DNR. You and I have discussed that this may have been an assumption on the city's part but certainly not the Town of Waukesha's and the November 8th letter does not reference this point as a stipulation.

Additionally the amount of water allocated to us is now being challenged.

The .55 MGD number was provided to us by Dan Duchniak, it is exactly half of what we were originally told would be our allocation, 1.1  million gallons. If the city is now saying the reduced amount of .55 MGD is not correct we need to have the basis on which these numbers are being determined to fully understand the reasoning, especially with such wide ranging changes, in order to intelligently discuss any new amount that is being proposed.

Lastly, you indicate that the city needs our '....immediate action on this matter.' I asked the question, what is it that you are asking us to take action on?

At this point, for me to bring this forward we need information.

One, what is the allocation and how was it determined with appropriate detail; and two, what is the City's position on the November 8th proposal which we fully accepted in our motion?

You indicated that my questions were fair and that you will get back to me. I look forward to the City's response.

Angie

TOWN OF WAUKESHA
Angie E. Van Scyoc
Town Chairman
Direct 414-254-1066
"Leadership with integrity"
www.townofwaukesha.us
 2010 Census 9133
W250 S3567 Center Road
Waukesha, WI  53189

Roggensack's Phony Campaign

Her ads touting law enforcement endorsements and trial experience suggest she's running for Attorney General, not re-election to the State Supreme Court - - which is not a trial court.

That's not why she's the candidate of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.

Keep your eye on the ball.

If Mine Is Walker Jobs Plan, His Amtrak Veto Was Jobs Killer

If AP wants to frame the argument for the iron mine as Walker's jobs plan - - Wisconsin tribe threatens Walker jobs project - - then let the AP and the rest of us always refer to his veto of the Amtrak extension to Madison from Milwaukee as his job killing project, as these numbers show:

Then-Journal Sentinel transportation reporter Larry Sandler in 2010 totaled up and published the figures, which I had re-posted:

"Therefore, total employment specifically linked to the train line would be 1,100 this year, 3,483 next year, 4,732 in 2012, 1,542 in 2013, 483 in 2014 and 167 in 2015.

The remaining jobs that the state claims would be created - 181 this year, 577 next year, 803 in 2012, 305 in 2013, 138 in 2014 and 83 in 2015 - would be "induced" employment, or jobs at stores, restaurants and other businesses where the railroad workers would spend their wages."

And let's not forget how often Walker blames others for his failed job-creation pledge, while omitting the impact of policies and decisions entirely his.

The Walker/Talk Radio Alliance at 50,000 Watts Right Now

Both the Governor and Charlie Sykes are currently chatting each other up over Walker's ideologically-correct refusal yesterday of federal funds to expand Medicaid for low-income residents.

The stage was set before big business yesterday. Talking points and numbers have been exchanged, so now cue up the talkers.

Walker's obviously got data and notes on his desk to buttress his manipulation of uninsured, low-income Wisconsinites to...wait for it...help them "break the cycle of dependency" and "transition to the private sector."

To become 'independent of the government," says a guy who's been on the government payroll for the last 20 years.

Another benefit Walker notes, twice so far. "Drive[s] the left nuts."

That, and transitioning pressuring low-income people into "happier...more prosperous lives" when they learn that government programs are limited and temporary, Walker says.

Classy.

A Note To Commenters...

Racially-insensitive remarks related to the mining bill will not be published here. Don't waste your time and bile sending them. Find a Tea Party or Klan site that's more appropriate to your thinking.

2013 GOP Bumper Sticker; Old Wine In Old Bottle

Republican officials in 2013 keep behaving like it was 1953.

And that 2012 didn't happen.

* Ron Johnson voted Tuesday against extending domestic violence protections to gay and Native American women.

The vote was 78-22. All the "No" votes were cast by Republican men..

Women voters, heard loudly at the polls in November, and others living life in a more diverse culture will remember those 22 "no" votes, Johnson's included.

* Scott Walker said he will decline available federal funding to expand health insurance for Wisconsin low-income residents.

Healthy workers are better workers and add more value to the economy, but Walker could care less as he still fights the federal government bogeyman on behalf of his right-wing funders and their lost war against Obamacare.

* Marco Rubio recycled between nationally-televised sips of bottled Poland Spring water in his rebuttal to Pres. Obama's State of the Union address the recently-rejected Romney/Ryan 'federal government is bad ' meme.

Same message Walker delivered on health care and Johnson to women looking for stronger laws against domestic violence.

And, again - - a basic lesson of the 2012 election was missed by the party of "No."

People see an affirmative role for government in their lives and communities.
Pushing against it will not help the GOP to a national majority in 2016.

Record Of Mining Hearing Excludes E-Mailed Comments

People like me who emailed a position and comments to the mining hearing last Wednesday are not going to be happy with being told their position and comments were not included in the Assembly's hearing report, according to this email received today from Assembly mining committee chair Mary Williams:

RE: Comments in Opposition to mining bills for the hearing record.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 2:15 PM

From: Rep.WilliamsM

To: James Rowen

Hello James,

Thank you for contacting my office and providing your thoughts on AB 1.

I appreciate your desire to have your position on this bill added to the official committee report, however, this is not a request that is typically fulfilled by any Assembly committee. Standard procedure has always been to add registrations of persons physically present at the hearing to the official record only.

Although your name and position was not added to the official record, we have retained a copy of it in the hearing files.

Sincerely,

Rep. Mary Williams

87th Assembly District

Williams was responding to this:

From: James Rowen
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2013 11:31 AM
To: Rep.WilliamsM
Cc: Sen.Tiffany
Subject: Comments in Opposition to mining bills for the hearing record. Thank you.

I am registering my testimony below in opposition to AB1 and SB1. Kindly acknowledge receipt, and thank you.

Talk Radio/Walker/WMC Alliance On Full Display

Where Walker will tell low-income, Medicaid-eligible residents to re-lace their bootstraps:

Business Day in Madison

JOIN US FOR BUSINESS DAY IN MADISON 2013!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Monona Terrace Community & Convention Center, Madison
In November, America decided our elected officials should stay the course.  But what does that mean for your business, your employees, your families and our nation?  Will our leaders be dedicated to economic growth and opportunity?
Please join us as we present some of the brightest minds in the nation to discuss the future.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

PROGRAM EMCEE
Charlie Sykes
Talk Show Host, WTMJ Radio

Awful Headline On AP Mining Story

Who put the headline on this AP story that spins readers in one direction?

Wisconsin tribe threatens Walker jobs project

Given the realities of 1,000-ft. open pit mining miles long and the science of acid mine drainage, it could have easily been:

Walker jobs project threatens Wisconsin Tribe 

And, by the way, that's what this is all about - - a "Walker jobs project?"

If it's all about Walker, then here's a better headline:

Walker's mine threatens Wisconsin Tribe, waters

If it's his project, then so is its Walker's damage to state water law, the environment, the Bad River watershed, Lake Superior, the Wisconsin State Constitution's Public Trust Doctrine and its public water protection imperative.

Walker Killed These Jobs When He Killed The Train

Let's remember how many jobs Walker threw away when he killed a federally-funded Amtrak line between Milwaukee and Madison as part of an upgrade in service in the Midwest.

Then-Journal Sentinel transportation reporter Larry Sandler in 2010 totaled up and published the figures, which I had re-posted:

"Therefore, total employment specifically linked to the train line would be 1,100 this year, 3,483 next year, 4,732 in 2012, 1,542 in 2013, 483 in 2014 and 167 in 2015.The remaining jobs that the state claims would be created - 181 this year, 577 next year, 803 in 2012, 305 in 2013, 138 in 2014 and 83 in 2015 - would be "induced" employment, or jobs at stores, restaurants and other businesses where the railroad workers would spend their wages."

Barack Obama Echoes 1000 Friends Of Wisconsin Mantra

The President calls for an infrastructure plan based on "Fix It First."

1000 Friends of Wisconsin said it first:

Friday, April 2, 2010

"Fix It First" Resonates In Zoo Interchange Bridge Debacle

1000 Friends of Wisconsin some time ago published a fine report on the state's transportation priorities - - or shall we say, the lack of same - - called "Fix it First."

Bad River Chairman Brings Water's Spiritual Side To Mining Debate

In this day and age it's rare to hear an elected official meld the everyday and spiritual, but that is what Bad River Band chairman Mike Wiggins, Jr did Tuesday night before a capacity crowd at the Urban Ecology Center in a presentation about land, water and culture. (Wed. a.m. update - - Audio, video now available, here.)

The Bad River reservation is in a complex, wild rice-growing watershed beneath the Penokee Hills at the north shore of Lake Superior, near Ashland.

An area at the headwaters of the Bad River is targeted for blasting and excavation into an open pit iron ore mine up to 22 miles long, 1,000 feet deep and a mile wide should a mining bill already approved by both houses of the GOP - controlled legislature win final approval.

The low-grade iron ore a Florida coal-mining firm wants to mine, haul and mill is beneath hundreds of feet of sulfide-bearing minerals that science shows produces sulphuric acid when exposed to air and water - - a mining byproduct that will lead to toxic, acidic mine drainage into the Bad River watershed where human beings, wildlife, fish, vegetation and clean water worked and thrived in harmony for centuries.

To make his argument, Wiggins principally relied on a single Power Point image - -  an aerial view of forests, waterways and picturesque sloughs on Bad River Band reservation land near Lake Superior's Apostle Islands that serve as natural Great Lakes water filters, and thus a benefit to all.

Lake Superior is the largest and deepest of the five Great Lakes that hold 95% of US fresh surface water.

Wiggins pointed to various landmarks visible at river bends and islands in the aerial view of the watershed at Lake Superior where he'd and his people have had important experiences, where there had been old ricing camps, where he'd "had the privilege of seeing bears swimming" or blue herons pop out and where modern fish hatcheries the Band operate contribute to its people's sustenance and also serve the larger Northern Wisconsin economy, too.

But the mining bill that carries the real threat of environmental and cultural devastation is being driven by big money and "practical people" driving a process and managing hearings who tell people like Wiggins:

"You've got two minutes."

Wiggins told the audience that he'd had a dream in 2009, before there was discussion of the unimaginable - - a mining bill to enable a massive open pit mine in the Bad River's  pristine, treaty-protected area - - in which he saw the discoloration, corrosion and ruination of the land. 

He acknowledged how hard it would be to convey "the story of our home" in two minutes, let along through a dream, to legislators and mining interests pouring money into the process.

"Talking about a dream is not that easy," he said.

"It's tougher to describe...the intangibles...the power and the mystery" of the watershed and what it means to the Band.

More than "dollar signs and money," he said.

Wiggins had a solution: legislators couldn't vote on the bill until they spent three days "camping in the Penokees and on a canoe trip in the Bad River watershed."

"It's going to take courage on the part of legislators to stand up to this stuff."

The Overpass Light Brigade drove home the message with an appearance when Wiggins was finished.

Ron Johnson Votes "No" On Strengthening Domestic Violence Protections

Surely pushing Joe McCarthy for Worst Wisconsin Senator.

And, separately, called Democrats Marxists and socialists, with GOP state legislators and State Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack in attendance.