Saturday, June 30, 2012

Lakeshore Counties Ozone Again At Unhealthy Level

Here we are, again, and this atmospheric abuse has multiple consequences.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Advisory for Ozone (Orange)

Start Time:	6:00PM CT Saturday, June 30, 2012
End Time:	1:00AM CT Sunday, July 1, 2012
Counties:	Kenosha, Milwaukee

AIR QUALITY INDEX CHART

Air Quality Index (AQI) Values	Levels of Health Concern	Colors
When the AQI is in this range:	...air quality conditions are:	...as symbolized by this color:
0 to 50	Good	Green
51 to 100	Moderate	Yellow
101 to 150	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Orange
151 to 200	Unhealthy	Red
201 to 300	Very Unhealthy	Purple
301 to 500	Hazardous	Maroon

MN Paper Discusses Duluth Storm, Climate Change

It seems that conservatives go ballistic anytime this blog puts up posts or discussions about climate change and Midwest storm events - - recent example, here - - but I'm glad to see the mainstream media evaluating the recent Duluth deluge in the same terms - - "change models predicted heavier rain events" - - I'd used a few days ago and in 2008 about 2003 data, too.

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune:

The rain that flooded Duluth last week also flushed an unprecedented quantity of dirt, pollution and bacteria into Lake Superior -- enough to make experts worry about the long-term environmental consequences on the largest and clearest of the Great Lakes.

One day after the storm, sediment runoff made the lake opaque for miles along the shore, local researchers say. Satellite photos show a wide swath of mud streaming into the lake from the Duluth harbor almost all the way to the Apostle Islands. "We don't know what's going to happen because we've never seen this," said Elizabeth Austin-Minor, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Minnesota Duluth's Large Lakes Observatory.
Understanding the lake's new dynamics is important because major rain events are occurring more often...

Between 1958 and 2007, the Upper Midwest saw a 31 percent increase in "intense" rainfalls -- those 1-in-100 storms -- compared to previous decades, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

The rainfall in Duluth last Tuesday and Wednesday, measuring from 7 to more than 10 inches across the city, was in some places nearly twice what is regarded as Duluth's 1 percent-chance rainfall.

Climate scientists say big rainfalls, particularly from intense thunderstorms, are a symptom of ongoing climate warming. (Warm air holds more water vapor than cooler air.)

Brown said his quick review of data from the Minnesota Climatology Working Group shows that rainfalls of more than 2 inches have come and gone in a decades-long cyclical pattern for Duluth. The number was high in the late 1800s, then dropped in the 1930s, but has been rising steadily again since the 1960s.

But, compared to the last century, the landscape around Lake Superior now has far fewer forests and far more farm fields and cities, making it much more vulnerable to erosion, he said.

I put a version of this at my Journal Sentinel Purple Wisconsin blog, too.

Racine Recount/Lawsuit Strategy: Deny Dems Senate Majority

For as long as possible.

The GOP gives no quarter.

Now There's An Anti-NIMBY Movement: YIMBY - - Read On...

Another example of cities and people of good will embracing change:
"Yes in my backyard."

YIMBYs unite!

The term YIMBY is all the buzz in New York City, but it is echoing beyond the city limits, too.

The idea has roots in the suburbs of Long Island, where relatively affluent towns have long protested the development of affordable housing.

The group known as YIMBY Long Island has helped build a quiet but powerful movement across Long Island supporting the development of new, low-cost residences and housing.

Their battle cry: “All communities on Long Island must provide a diversity of housing options for their residents and provide affordable housing.”

Friday, June 29, 2012

I Wonder If Chief Justice Roberts Sees The Irony?

Roberts saved the Affordable Health Care Act, but had opened the floodgates with the Citizens United decision so billionaires could organize and unseat Obama - - and undo the Act

Here's a report about a fresh $10 million donation from Newt Gingrich's angel for the Koch brothers anti-Obama effort

Great Lakes Carp Prevention Study Finally Funded

Well, better late than never.

Important Great Lakes Hearing Set For Milwaukee July 12

For Red WI Senate Candidates, Red-Baiting, False Speaking

As a group, Republican Senate candidates in Wisconsin of late are struggling with the truth.

* "False and ridiculous" is how PolitiFact rates Mark Neumann's "pants on fire" allegation that Barack Obama and his team are socialists. Neumann's overall PolitiFact record - - click on any candidate's highlighted name - - has more on the false side of the ledger than the true.

* You've had veteran candidate Tommy Thompson set his pants on fire the other day for repeating PolitiFact's 2010 Lie of the Year about the federal government takeover of health-care.

Yes, Tommy's PolitiFact record is 50-50 true/false, generally speaking, (as is Jeff Fitzgerald's PolitiFact score sheet, too), but Tommy isn't trending true; his only two fully true-rated scores date tothings he said in 2007.

It's been that kind of GOP primary.

Campaign newcomer and hedge fund manager Eric Hovde is inexperienced also with speaking factually. He has no PolitiFact finding with the word "true" among three statements vetted to date.

Though give credit where it's due: Hovde beat Mark Neumann to the use of the socialism slur - - Hovde's target was Democratic opponent Us Rep. Tammy Baldwin - - so you could say Neumann is following the party line with Hovde in charge of revisionism.

It's been that kind of GOP primary.

Here's Hovde's entire PolitiFact scorecard:

Eric Hovde

That level actually was reached due to Bush-era policies

Since President Barack Obama took office, "you have 1,700 employees just at the Department of Transportation" earning over $170,000.

Eric Hovde

Other factors play a much bigger role

"The failed economic policies" of President Barack Obama, the Democrats and the Federal Reserve "are making gas prices higher while America’s economy is running on fumes."

Eric Hovde

Options available even if employers drop coverage

Says Obama health reform law denies millions "access to affordable insurance."

Oh - - the score sheet for Democratic candidate US Rep. Tammy Baldwin?

Two of three on the true side.

EPA Online Tool Offers Comparative Air Pollution Data

I've been posting about air quality and Wisconsin notification procedures, and in my research found an EPA online tool for learning more about air quality and pollution state-by-state, comparatively (you can chart them three at a time), or county-by-county.

Through the linked sites, you can also sign up for email alerts, and other information.

Talk Radio Today Not Following Its Advice After Walker Recall Win

There was one message to the Left from Right after Walker's recall win - -you lost, move on.

I'm not hearing that today in the wake of President Obama's win at the Supreme Court yesterday.

Ryan Budget Would Cost Wisconsin Aid In Billions, 26,000 Jobs: IWF Report

The non-profit research organization Institute for Wisconsin's Future provides this information about the Paul Ryan budget:

If Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan’s approach to budgeting became U.S. law, Wisconsin would lose about $3.3 billion in federal spending in the next two years, with a resulting loss of about 26,000 full-time jobs.

Medical assistance programs would suffer most under the Ryan budget, with $1.7 billion cut in 2013 and 2014 compared with current law. That’s enough to keep more than 400,000 adults off Wisconsin’s BadgerCare program.

Income security programs—including food stamps, child nutrition and housing assistance—would lose more than half-a-billion dollars in 2013-14. Over 70,000 households would lose food benefits next year.

Those are conclusions from a new IWF analysis of Ryan’s budget: Which path leads to prosperity? The report details both the statewide impact and the effects on each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties.

See IWF’s web site: www.wisconsinsfuture.org.

To stay up-to-date with IWF activities, like us on Facebook

They Ryan budget has been endorsed by Mitt Romney.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Walker Doe Emails: Drip, Drip, Drip...

It looks like the Milwaukee County DA is using email evidence to ratchet up the pressure on a key defendant in the John Doe probe into potential misconduct by staffers or operatives in or near the Scott Walker Milwaukee County Executive's office in 2010.

Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf filed a motion this week seeking to amend a criminal complaint against Rindfleisch to show massive email evidence of her alleged fundraising contacts while at her job as policy adviser and deputy chief of staff to Walker in his final year as Milwaukee County executive.

The additional evidence shows the charges against her "were not innocent mistakes and were part of an intentional and knowing plan to conduct ongoing campaign activity," Landgraf states.

Among the additional evidence he wants to include are contacts Rindfleisch had with campaign aides to Brett Davis, then a Republican Assembly member and lieutenant governor candidate, and fundraising hosts.

Landgraf says he wants to use the information to help provide additional context of previously charged misconduct or else add eight more counts against Rindfleisch. She already faces four felony charges that each carry maximum penalties of six years in prison and a $40,000 fine.

This is the second time in a few days that this trove of emails is in the news:

Responding to claims they had leaked information on the John Doe investigation involving some of Gov. Scott Walker's aides, Milwaukee County prosecutors say two disclosures came from attorneys for one of the defendants.

Michael Maistelman, a lawyer for defendant Timothy Russell, sent an email to radio talk show host Charlie Sykes on Jan. 22, tipping off Sykes to the likelihood that two other former Walker aides would be charged that week. Those aides, Darlene Wink and Kelly Rindfleisch, were charged four days later.

Feds Confirm Under Walker, WI Last In Midwest Job Growth

Depending on how you look at, Wisconsin is either 37th or 41st nationally in job growth under Scott Walker, but dead last among Midwestern states.

He responds with typical deflecting jabber:

Asked at a news conference Thursday about Wisconsin's below-average job growth last year compared with other states, Walker said:

"I think while we've seen positive job growth last year and we see it continuing this year, for us one of the biggest issues was the uncertainty. We talked about uncertainty of the (federal) health care plan. We certainly had uncertainty when it came to recalls."

More WI Counties Now Under Pollution Air Alert

As far inland as Dane, having spread westward from yesterday's notice:

Advisory for Ozone (Orange)

Start Time:	4:30PM CT Thursday, June 28, 2012
End Time:	1:00AM CT Friday, June 29, 2012
Counties:	Dane, Jefferson, Kenosha, Manitowoc, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Rock, Sheboygan

AIR QUALITY INDEX CHART

Air Quality Index (AQI) Values	Levels of Health Concern	Colors
When the AQI is in this range:	...air quality conditions are:	...as symbolized by this color:
0 to 50	Good	Green
51 to 100	Moderate	Yellow
101 to 150	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Orange
151 to 200	Unhealthy	Red
201 to 300	Very Unhealthy	Purple
301 to 500	Hazardous	Maroon

J. B Van Hollen Just Became Most-Hated WI Republican...By WI Republicans

The GOP Attorney General dares tell Scott Walker that Walker must enforce the Affordable Care Act.

The U.S. Supreme Court found the law constitutional on Thursday, but Walker, a Republican, has vowed not to implement it until after the November elections. Walker said he is hoping the next president and Congress will repeal President Barack Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which is commonly referred to as “Obamacare.”

Nearly 30 states, including Wisconsin, joined a federal law suit to challenge the law, alleging it was unconstitutional.

Van Hollen, a Republican, handled Wisconsin's participation in the federal lawsuit, which was dismissed with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling.

Van Hollen said Thursday that Walker is obligated to follow the law according to its deadlines, according to a report by The Associated Press.

Mark Belling eruption scheduled at 3:08 p.m. It's happened before.

And Belling had this to say about Van Hollen in January, 2009:

If J.B. Van Hollen were an item in a clothing store, he’d be the coat rack. The Wisconsin attorney general’s tenure has been marked by an absence of any indication of Van Hollen’s existence. The only act of consequence to come from Attorney General Furniture was his lawsuit aimed at forcing a state agency to comply with federal election laws. Even that effort was half-hearted at best and wasn’t resolved until after the election was over...

Van Hollen runs for re-election next year. It will be hard for his Democratic opponent to attack him for anything. That’s because he hasn’t done anything...

Van Hollen, [defeated State Supreme Court candidate Randy] Koschnick and others who talk conservative but walk liberal do not advance the interests of anything we believe in. Carrying their water is nothing more than selling out.

In The Health-Care Ruling, Women Tipped The Majority

All three women Justices were among the five affirmative votes.

Little wonder: health-care rates in the US discriminate against women, and more women than men are raising low-income children and managing kids' health in single-parent families.

The Roberts Court Is Not The Prosser Court

An early thought on the US Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling today upholding the Affordable Health Care Act, with Chief Justice John Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee, providing the key fifth vote:

Roberts saved the Court from a damaging partisan, ideological stain had the decision been 5-4 the opposite way, with Roberts joining the other conservatives and serving up, in an election year, another routine, rightist, pro-Republican reflex.

What Roberts did was more than affirm Pres. Obama's signature piece of legislation. Roberts proved the Court can break out of a rigid ultra-conservative template that produced Citizens United, for example, or that lined up 5-4 to validate Bush's win over Al Gore.

So now we have a less predictable, more open-minded US Supreme Court.

This is what we do not have in Madison, where the Wisconsin Supreme Court has lapsed into partisan and ideological predictability.

Everyone knew that there would be a 4-3 vote to allow Walker's anti-union Act 10 to become law - - where David Prosser delivered the majority, GOP-serving decision and thus reinforced the court's current ideological reputation.

An appearance that seems headed for more validation as the court is headed towards a procedural move - - multiple recusals - - that could allow Prosser to avoid a hearing on pending ethics complaints arising from an alleged altercation with Justice Bradley as the Act 10 ruling was being considered.

Chief Justice Rpberts in Washington has stepped forward as the Chief Conciliator: in Madison, whom among Prosser, Roggensack, Ziegler and Gableman - - a group that owes its allegiance to the WMC - - is willing to play that role?

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Polluted Air Welcomes Summerfest; Walker DNR Now Holds Back Information

If the Wisconsin DNR hadn't ended "air quality watches" under new Walker administration procedures about publicizing dirty air conditions as they build to unhazardous levels, people making plans to hoof it across the Summerfest grounds on opening night might have thought twice about it.

But the DNR, since this March 11, 2001 email, now issues an "air quality advisory" only after conditions are already at an unhealthy stage:

From:

"Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources"

To:

As of March 15, 2011, the Wisconsin DNR will no longer issue Air Quality Watches for ozone and particle pollution due to limited staff resources and the potential increase in the number of air quality notices under proposed revisions to federal air standards.

In the past, an air quality watch was issued when conditions were favorable for pollutants to reach unhealthy levels.

So today, Bucky, you're advised that ozone, a component of smog from tailpipe and smokestack emissions, is at an unhealthy stage for seniors, children, people doing outdoor exercises, and others with lung problems, such as asthma:

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Advisory for Ozone (Orange)

Start Time:	5:30PM CT Wednesday, June 27, 2012
End Time:	1:00AM CT Thursday, June 28, 2012
Counties:	Dodge, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Rock, Kenosha

AIR QUALITY INDEX CHART

Air Quality Index (AQI) Values	Levels of Health Concern	Colors
When the AQI is in this range:	...air quality conditions are:	...as symbolized by this color:
0 to 50	Good	Green
51 to 100	Moderate	Yellow
101 to 150	Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	Orange
151 to 200	Unhealthy	Red
201 to 300	Very Unhealthy	Purple
301 to 500	Hazardous	Maroon

So If The Supreme Court Tosses The Insurance Mandate, Or More...

The GOP gets an ideological win - - Big Government Bad - - but loses everyday people who have pre-existing medical conditions that could cost them or their dependents their health care coverage, solvency and lives, and people whose adult children are currently on the parents' plan until age 26, and people who might hit a lifetime coverage limit, and so on.

The GOP wins Tea Party devotees who hate anything with President Obama's name on it, plus one-percenters who run private health insurance companies.

Take your pick.

For the GOP's ideologues, a Supreme Court decision that unwinds or overturns the law is short-term win of sorts, and long-term loss for the GOP because dealing with health care coverage costs and gaps is now a GOP problem to fix.

If the mandate or substantial parts of the Affordable Care Act are upheld tomorrow, Obama can say his policies were validated.

SEWRPC Recertification Hearing Deja Vu - - 2008-2012

[Update: Here is a wonderfully-detailed record of the 2004 input session, which the 2008 and 2012 sessions echoed. Hat tip, Gretchen Schuldt.]

In several posts over the last few days, I wrote about the quadrennial federal hearing that was to take place Tuesday evening in Milwaukee where the public could weigh in whether the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission should retain its federally-funded and sponsored transportation planning and spending authority.

At the hearing, I decided at the last minute to make a few remarks about the Groundhog Day similarity of many of the previous comments earlier in the evening to complaints aired at the 2004 and 2008 iterations of the same meetings and processes, and I asked the federal reviewers (at least two raised their hands when I asked if they had been present at the 2008 session) why they thought there was so much comment carryover, and thus so little action on transit and other social justice issues people were raising.

Today I went back to the final recertification report the feds issued to SEWRPC after the 2008 session, and offer below the reviewers summary (see p. 11, pdf) of the main points citizens raised in 2008.

Certainly the first eight of ten categories of comments as the feds summarized them validates the point I made last night that we've heard it all before.

I wish I'd copied it out and simply read it the meeting, but will send this posting as a written comment. That deadline is July 16th, at this site: wisconsin.fhwa@dot.gov).

Anyway, here's what the reviewers heard in 2008 (and again last night):

The predominant comments relating to the SEWRPC transportation planning process can generally be characterized among the following themes:

* Non-representative Commission structure;

* The population or interests of the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County are underrepresented;

* The Commission lacks minority and low-income representation in decision-
making structure, therefore, not equitably representing its constituents;

* Planning process provides inadequate consideration or support for mass transit improvements and favors road expansion;

* Lack of public involvement relating to Commission’s public participation process.

* Decisions are not responsive to the public input received;

* SEWRPC has not made meaningful efforts to investigate and address the needs of low income and minority communities in their planning process;

* Concerns with the Commission’s support to expand I-94 and I-43 to eight lanes within the City of Milwaukee;

* Commendable work done to improve the bicycle facilities in the region. There was some concern expressed regarding a number of bicycle accidents that have occurred; and

* Recognition for SEWRPC involvement with the newly formed transportation coalition that is working on trying to achieve a dedicated source of funding to meet the needs of mass transit in the region.