Scott Walker to buy London Bridge

After all, everything else is falling down in Milwaukee County, why not add one more piece of structurally suspect architecture to the collection?

MILWAUKEE -- A cement board crashed down at Mitchell International Airport on Saturday night, injuring a teenage passenger.

WISN 12 News obtained the sheriff's report.

The documents show the 18-year-old boy was in concourse D on Saturday night when a piece of fiber cement board fell 15 feet hitting him in the head.

WISN 12 News cameras were not allowed past security on Sunday to view the damage, but the report said the board is similar to drywall and weighed 14 pounds.

It left the teenager with a 6-inch cut on his head. The boy refused treatment and continued on his flight.

One piece of advice to the kid: get a lawyer and let Milwaukee County pay for your college education.

Economic sinkhole spawns actual sinkhole

How fitting. The only thing left to see now is whether Mike Sheridan is going to try and fix it or try and sleep with it.

A large sinkhole caused by heavy rains last week has closed down U.S. 51 north of Janesville, and officials don't know when the road will reopen.

The state traffic operations center said the highway was shut down as of 10:14 a.m. Monday.

Traffic is blocked in both directions, from U.S. 14, near where the sinkhole formed, north about seven miles to County M, the state Department of Transportation said.

Another brilliant Sharron Angle press conference

Teabaggers complain that Obama doesn't vet his administration nominees well enough, and yet they themselves give the world Sharron Angle, quite possibly the only living Nevadan who could end up losing to Harry Reid by 10 points.

This video from just a few days ago is another fine example of why every dollar spent on Angle is a dollar wasted.



Please note, of course, that there is no scandal surrounding Sharron Angle right now other than her own unwillingness to answer questions about her own positions or past comments.

Maybe she was in a hurry to get back to her underground bunker.

What it means to be a Republican

Apparently Mark Jefferson thinks its his prerogative to decide that for everyone else.

The Government Accountability Board Thursday granted ballot access to Republican Andy Wisniewski in the 25th Assembly District now held by Dem-turned-independent Bob Ziegelbauer (left).

The move comes a day after the GAB removed Wisniewski from the ballot at the urging of the state GOP. And it means Wisniewski, Ziegelbauer and Manitowoc Dem Kerry Trask will each advance to the general election.

RPW Executive Director Mark Jefferson testified before the GAB, asking board members to keep Wisniewski off the ballot citing the "highly unusual" nature of the case. The state GOP has alleged that labor activists are behind Wisniewski's campaign in an effort to rig the election against Ziegelbauer, the Manitowoc Co. exec. who defected from the Democratic Party to independent status last month.

Wisniewski running as a Republican is sure as hell no more or less disingenuous than all the years Bob Ziegelbauer ran as a pro-life, anti-union Democrat.

Neumann releases property tax gimmick

Will Scott Walker be wise enough to leave this alone, or will he come back with an even more ridiculous proposal?

MADISON, Wis. (AP) ― Republican gubernatorial hopeful Mark Neumann has proposed a plan that would allow property owners to pay their taxes monthly.

Right now, property taxes generally are due in a lump sum at the beginning of each year. Many lenders require homeowners to pay an amount on top of their mortgage each month to cover their taxes.

Under Neumann's plan, property owners wouldn't have to pay the extra tax money to their lenders in 2011. Beginning in 2012, they would have to pay their taxes on a monthly basis.

Yeah, I'm sure given how dependable mortgage holders have been lately, banks are going to be super thrilled about a proposal that appears to be nothing more than a way to allow homeowners to avoid paying that pesky "extra tax money" that is better known as escrow. Especially when failure to pay that pesky tax money to the government can result in government putting a lien on the property.

And I can hear local governments rejoicing in the streets that Neumann is willing to let them decide whether they'd like to process property tax payments twice a year or 12 times a year. Because local governments are just swimming in money for extra staff these days. Gee, wonder what they'll decide?

Furthermore, what exactly does Neumann mean when he says that each community can opt in or opt out? As we all know, taxing districts don't necessarily obey municipal boundaries. Do cities, towns, and villages get to make these decisions for counties? What about technical colleges and school districts? Are they going to end up with some people paying monthly and others paying once or twice a year?

But I shouldn't be asking these questions, because that would mean this is a serious proposal and not just a gimmick to get Mark Neumann a little attention. And it's not a serious proposal at all.

Abrahamson calls out colleagues for judicial activism

I go both ways on this issue.

The state Supreme Court this morning overturned a 2007 transfer out of the Patients Compensation Fund as unconstitutional, blowing a hole in the state budget of at least $200 million in the process.

The court’s 5-2 ruling requires a Dane County court to issue an order directing the state to replace the money, along with lost earnings and interest. It also requires the lower court to issue a permanent injunction banning future transfers out of the fund and to calculate exactly how much the state has to pay back.

DOA Secretary Dan Schoof said in a statement the administration will work with legislative leaders to work out a plan on payments and $200 million in cuts authorized in the budget and other savings measures will now need to be implemented.

The state will also need to make additional cuts to the Medicaid and BadgerCare Plus program, along with across-the-board reductions in provider rates.

First, let's face it - jurists of all political persuasions love to play God when they can. And that's effectively what Chief Justice Abrahamson accuses the majority of doing. The Legislature indicated that it intended no property interest in regard to the fund (in fact, the Legislature expressly rejected such a notion in 2003). Yet the court's opinion disregards legislative intent entirely. In doing so, the Court effectively substitutes its own opinion for that of the Legislature, something that conservatives routinely deride as judicial activism when liberal judges do it.

At the same time, I think Justice Prosser's opinion is well-written and thoughtful. Wisconsin's very lucky to have some very brilliant people on its court (and then there's Justice Gableman, but let's not go there right now). And on the plus side, perhaps we can all hope that this will turn the tide on the trend of politicians raiding segregated funds and redirecting the money into general purpose revenue.

I'm inclined to agree with C.J. Abrahamson in principle, but I think from a practical standpoint that Justice Prosser's ruling could lead to more responsible governance, which is also something that is of benefit to society.

In the meantime, I hope that doctors enjoy their reduction in provider rates that are almost certainly forthcoming. If you don't want to loan government the money in your left pocket, they'll just take it from your right pocket instead.

I thought he retired when he *took* the job.

Enjoy your pension boost, Roger. You, um, earned it. I guess.

While others will fret about their state jobs with a change in the Governor’s office, state Railroad Commissioner Roger Breske won’t be among them...

Breske isn’t worrying about whether fellow Democrat Tom Barrett gets elected governor: his term as Railroad Commissioner ends in March. He says he will be 71-years-old then, and it will be time to put public office behind him. “It’s time I get the hell out of here and let somebody else work.”

Here's another idea. We could also eliminate your job - your whole office, in fact - and absorb the responsibilities within the Department of Transportation.

News sites reining in nasty user comments

Good for them, I say.

(CNN) -- User comments on news sites, while vital to interactive storytelling in the digital age, often read like scribblings on a bathroom stall: anonymous, offensive and full of hate.

"I hate what you people, and by that I mean the blacks, are doing to this city," wrote one Buffalo News reader last month in response to a story about a local shooting. "Each area you move too [sic] quickly becomes over run [sic] with crime, loud music [at] all hours, adults swearing and screaming at kids, children playing in the street, porches with beer and garbage thrown all around."

...Though soft registration, and requiring readers to provide their real names, still hasn't managed to completely clean up comment boards, there is one technological advance that Bill Adee, vice president of digital development and operations for Chicago Tribune, says significantly reduces the amount of hate speech spewed by commenters.

"As we implement registration that's tied to people's social media profiles, that helps raise the level of discourse on the comment boards," Adee said. "Nobody is going to drop an f-bomb when their grandma can see it on Facebook."

It takes only a cursory glance of comments on many blogs or virtually any of the major news websites to discover how many Americans seem to have steadfast opinions but are completely incapable of engaging in a thoughtful and constructive way. Instead, most comment sections are like watching monkeys flinging their poo at each other.

I suppose this is also a good opportunity to thank my readers for not being like that.

Tea Party excommunicates wingnut over idiotic remarks

To which I say, there's a lot more where this came from. Funny that even the extremists ultimately recognize there's value in moderation and public perception of institutional legitimacy.

(CNN) -- The National Tea Party Federation, an organization that represents the Tea Party political movement around the country, has expelled conservative commentator Mark Williams and his Tea Party Express because of an inflammatory blog post he wrote, federation spokesman David Webb said Sunday...

"Dear Mr. Lincoln," began the fictional letter posted by Williams. "We Coloreds have taken a vote and decided that we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves, and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just far too much to ask of us Colored People and we demand that it stop!"

Williams went on to write that the Tea Party movement couldn't be racist because it opposed government bailouts for Wall Street banks and big corporations.

"Bailouts are just big money welfare and isn't that what we want all Coloreds to strive for?" the posting said. "What kind of racist would want to end big money welfare? What they need to do is start handing the bail outs directly to us coloreds!"

The very thing that generates attention for the Tea Party movement is the very element that it needs to purge in order to be taken seriously. It's an interesting political equation to solve. Will it last, or is it the second coming of the Perotistas? My money's on the latter. People on the fringe are usually terrible with discipline, both in regards to behavior and message.

This thing's already peaked. It fizzles completely after 2012.

Obama has Democrats wishing for Clinton

This is pretty awesome.

Washington (CNN) -- Former President Bill Clinton, the man once described as the "comeback kid" during his 1992 presidential bid, has now become something of a go-to guy for Democratic candidates facing a tough election battle.

Economic woes and fears over the rising national debt have weighed heavily on voters -- especially independents, who are leaning more toward Republicans than Democrats, according to recent polls...

The White House wants to use the former president in swing states where Obama is not necessarily popular, such as Arkansas and Kentucky, the Democratic officials said.

Asher calls that "basic common sense."

"It makes a hell of a lot of sense to have the more popular fellow come into your community and campaign for you," he noted.

So Bill Clinton was the Democrats' best weapon during the Bush years, and now he's still their best weapon during the Obama years. Is this more a testament to the vast political skills of Clinton, or the complete inability of the Obama administration to figure out who put them into the White House two years ago?

These two years have been a political mess, one mostly created by Democrats and their boundless ambition in finding broad, overreaching solutions for problems most Americans weren't even aware they had.

Now I know what they mean by "fair and balanced"

In light of today's appeals court ruling that struck down the FCC's "fleeting expletive" policy as unconstitutionally vague, I put on the BS waders and went over to the Parents Television Council website, figuring they'd have some stuff for me to laugh at. The PTC is an organization only a fascist or Tipper Gore could love (are those even mutually exclusive?), as they clamor for government to tell you what you and your family can watch on television.

It doesn't take long to figure out which broadcast network the PTC seems to think is the biggest problem...

“In a ridiculous effort to deflect blame, Fox also accused the FCC of causing a chilling effect on free speech due to pending indecency investigations. Anyone who has watched Fox recently knows that statement is patently false. Viewers need to look no further than the Seth MacFarlane animated program block every Sunday on Fox to realize there is no such ‘chilling’ effect,” Winter said, citing several examples.

The January 3, 2010 episode of “American Dad” in question featured a scene with a man masturbating a horse and included a graphic implication that the horse ejaculated all over the man.

On May 2, 2010, “Family Guy” celebrated its 150th episode by showing one character eating excrement out of a diaper, then eating vomit, and finally licking the remaining excrement from a baby’s bottom – while the baby expressed physical gratification from having his bottom licked.

On December 13, 2009, “Family Guy” included a graphic scene in which a stripper gave a lap dance to a male character, complete with extremely vulgar dialog.

The March 8, 2009 episode of “Family Guy” included bestiality, orgies and a baby eating sperm.

Now, as any good blogger, I did my homework and dutifully viewed the questionable portions of all four episodes. Can't say I was particularly offended.

So on the one hand, Fox gives social conservatives a news network filled with opinion disguised as the stories of the day and provides refuge for insightful commentators like Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, and on the other hand they're home to shows that are a full frontal assault on the values of scorn, prudishness, and judgmental disapproval that social conservatives live by. And all in the name of making money.

At least they're a fair and balanced offender.

New Berliners like welfare, but only for homeowners

So apparently New Berlin decided to reject a proposal to build affordable housing in some proposed development. Not so captivating but for the odd process by which the city got to its answer.

First, the mayor called his residents bigots and racists in an email, and then backpedaled once it was leaked to the public. Which means he probably thinks they're bigots and racists. Three cheers for candor!

Racism and bigotry aside, the actuality is that many of them just aren't that bright. A plethora of people have stepped up in the intervening weeks to showcase just how little they actually understand about the nature of housing development. There are countless others on the internet, but here's a choice example from today's MJS:

Resident Doris Gillard asked the commission, "What were you thinking when you allowed a developer to come in with a fistful of tax dollars to aid him in building a tenement."

She said she was involved in creating the vision for City Center, a vision that she said did not include a tenement.

Apparently the developer was going to build the second coming of Cabrini Green. Apparently assistance from WHEDA is the same thing as Section 8. Apparently the apartments came with options, like boarded windows or broken windows and a surcharge for lead-free paint. But hey, you don't need facts anymore in this country when you can argue with pitchforks and torches in hand.

The irony, of course, is that virtually everyone in America who owns a home lives in subsidized housing. Every year, they get a statement from their bank that lists the interest they pay on their mortgage, and then they write that off on their taxes. Then they write off their property taxes as well. Many states provide additional property tax relief on primary residences, or if you're a senior or a veteran.

A family that borrows $250,000 at 5% is going to write off over $12,000 in income in their first year of home ownership. In the 28% bracket, that's a subsidy of over $3,300 a year. At a combined mill rate of $20 per $1,000, they'll also be writing off $6,000 a year in property taxes, or another $1,680 subsidy (assuming an assessed value of $300,000). That's nearly $420 a month in government subsidies, and for what? Is home ownership really that valuable to society?

We're all on the dole - so why is it that homeowners get so damn high and mighty when government provides assistance to non-homeowners?

Maybe this proposal was a bad fit for the neighborhood. That's a legitimate argument, certainly. Unfortunately, it's also an argument that appears too often lost while the homeowning pigs of New Berlin wallowed in the slop of their own ignorance.

Mason City, represent!

The fine teabaggers (er, tea partiers) of Northern Iowa obviously have missed out on two important lessons with this billboard.



The first is that none of these three individuals is properly labeled. Hitler was a fascist, Lenin was a communist, and Obama is just an unpopular guy who can't seem to figure out what he wants to be. Neither fascism or communism is socialism. Anyone who passed Intro to Political Theory can explain the differences. Then again, we know these tea partiers aren't exactly academics.

The second, of course, is that comparing anyone in American politics to guys like Hitler and Lenin is just stupid, whether your object of derision is Bush, Obama, or some other political hack.

But even better is the fact that these wackjobs can't even agree that it was a bad idea.

The co-founder of the roughly 200-person group said the billboard was intended to send an anti-socialist message. But Bob Johnson admitted Tuesday that the message may have gotten lost amid the images of fascist and communist leaders.

"The purpose of the billboard was to draw attention to the socialism. It seems to have been lost in the visuals," Johnson said. "The pictures overwhelmed the message. The message is socialism." He said he didn't know of any plans to remove the sign.

Gee, a picture of Hitler drowned out your message? This is why groups like yours benefit from having professional consultants. Because common sense eludes certain people.

Because nothing says pissed off...

... like a good screed written in Comic Sans font.


I saw the font and was certain that Dan Gilbert was inviting me to a kid's birthday party or a Pampered Chef showcase. Does this mean I can't place an order for a ceramic baking dish?

Obama, Medvedev kick off signing period with blockbuster 14-player trade

And Anna Chapman can play for my team any day of the week.

Ten suspected Russian sleeper spies pleaded guilty Thursday in a Manhattan courtroom and could be out of the country by sundown - sent home in a swap with Moscow for Washington's blown secret agents.

Some of their US-born kids have reportedly already been packed off to Russia.

The dramatic spy swap - the first since the Cold War ended - got underway Thursday morning when scientist Igor Sutyagin, who was arrested in 1999 for passing secrets to the CIA, was freed and landed in Vienna, according to Russia's state-run news agency.

Sutyagin was told his release was part of a one-for-one exchange that would free all 10 accused spies busted in the United States last week after years of being followed and bugged by the FBI.

The 10 pleaded guilty - as Sutyagin was made to do in exchange for his freedom - to one count of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign country without registering with U.S. authorities. Eight also pleaded guilty to money laundering.

They may be hustled onto planes as early as tonight: there is a 7 p.m. non-stop Aeroflot flight to Moscow from JFK Airport.

More here.

So our government works and works to nail ten spies, and then we trade them away a week later, reportedly in a 10-for-4 deal. Should we demand future considerations? Do we get the next six spies for free?

Still more political grandstanding in Milwaukee County

And it's not even about Scott Walker this time!

Two lawmakers representing southeast Milwaukee County started a push Wednesday to divert money allocated to a high-speed rail line and spend it on replacing the roadway atop the 2.5-mile Hoan Bridge.

"It is important that we fix the existing infrastructure before we build a new train line," said state Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee). "This is about priorities."

State Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) joined Sinicki in asking the state's federal congressional delegation to pursue a path to set aside a portion of the $810 million allocated to the Milwaukee-to-Madison rail line. Those federal funds were part of a national high-speed rail initiative crafted as part of the economic stimulus.

The money comes with the requirement that it be spent for the rail line, although Plale and Sinicki are seeking relief from that provision.

Nothing is more annoying than politicians who play the "oh look, I tried" angle.

Sinicki and Plale go out and demand that money that's designated for a specific purpose be re-appropriated to an unrelated project by a level of government that neither serves in. "Oh look, I tried," they tell their constituents, knowing full well that what they're asking for isn't possible in the first place. The only way you're getting this money for the Hoan Bridge is if you run a train on it.

So Scott Walker's got a parking ramp that headbutts little kids and a courthouse that vomits cornice onto the sidewalk, and Jim Doyle's got a bridge that throws concrete chunks onto the ground and water below. Is anyone responsible enough to strip Milwaukee County infrastructure of its anthropomorphic characteristics, or is it too late? Are the government-owned structures of Milwaukee County going to revolt against their years of neglect by their handlers and just start stomping on people?