Cigarette Taxes...

The state raised cigarette taxes to $1.77 per pack and promptly budgeted/spent all the new money that would bring in.  The only problem is that this 230% increase in the tax rate only generated a 48% increase in the tax money received!  Now, we're stuck with a lot of people circumventing the tax entirely by buying cigarettes out-of-state or over the Internet.  And, we have added to an already staggering budget shortfall.

Makes a lot sense, huh?

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Clean Air Act Gone Wild...

One of my favorite agencies, the EPA, has decided that it now has free rein over so-called greenhouse gases.  This came to pass as the result of a 'namby-pamby' U.S. Supreme Court decision last year that didn't go quite far enough to ward off this rampant agency.  EPA has now released its Advanced Notice of Proposed Rule-making, an ANPR in the jargon, and this is astonishing.  EPA would regulate airplanes, trains, ships, boats, tractors, farm and mining equipment, lawn mowers, garden equipment, portable power generators, fork lift trucks, construction equipment and logging equipment.

EPA estimates that more than 500,000 new permits will be required.  Among the supposed new requirements are these:

• Lawn mower standards:  "...each application could require a different unit of measure tied to the machine's mission or output-such as grams per kilogram of cuttings from a 'standard' lawn for lawn mowers."
• Truck speed standards:  "Speed limiters are generally available on new trucks or as a low cost retro-fit..."
• Single family homes become polluters:  "...we believe that small commercial establishments...and indeed, a large single-family residence could exceed this [CO2 pollution] threshold."

All of this means that our taxes go up exponentially since the EPA will be forced to grow staff and facilities to handle this new found mission.  And, it means that we'll all pay more for products and services.

And, none of this was ever the intent of Congress nor has it had the opportunity to inject itself to this point.

~~~~~

Compact Fluorescent Bulbs...

Regular, nice old incandescent light bulbs (starting with 100 watt bulbs) become illegal to manufacture in 2012.  The National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) points out that this means we can forget about spending 20 cents or so for the old bulb while buying the new CFLs for something on the order of $3.00+ (remember that these are usually subsidized today).

While CFLs save energy, they have costs associated with them that make all this really questionable:

• The average lifetime is not 10,000 hours, but "up to 10,000 hours"
• The energy savings and lifetime of CFLs has been exaggerated in some applications
• The CFL only achieves the claimed efficiency if burned continuously for long periods
• If left on for only 5 minute periods, the CFL will burn out just as fast as an incandescent bulb
• CFLs dim over their lifetime and do not deliver what is promised

And, we're adding mercury to the environment which supposedly will be handled by proper disposal.  Yeah, sure!  How many of us has disposed of a burned out CFL improperly already?  How is that ever going to be policed?

~~~~~

Clean Water Restoration Act...

The EPA is back again.  The original Clean Water Act of 1972 had gotten to be very broadly interpreted under various EPA rulings.  "Navigable waters" had morphed into isolated wetlands, dry lake beds and drainage ditches, for example.  Now, two Democrat members of Congress have introduced the bill named in the title.  It would replace the phrase "navigable waters" with the phrase "waters of the United States"  This means "all waters subject to ebb and flow of the tide, the territorial seas, and all interstate and intrastate waters and their tributaries, including lakes, rivers, streams (including intermittent streams), mudflats, sloughs, prairie potholes, wet meadows, playa lakes, natural ponds and all impoundments of the foregoing".  Reason magazine, August/September 2008

If this bill were to pass in its current state, it would very likely result in massive new regulations for boaters, fishermen, hunters, and even conservationists.  This act would leave it to the courts to decide what constitutes "waters of the United States".

Thanks to Ronald Bailey for writing the article "Feds in a Fishbowl" in Reason.

~~~~~

Anti-Meat Campaign...

Finally, from the Heartland Institute, this on global warming activists' latest efforts.  They are launching new efforts to restrict meat production and consumption, building on prior efforts to restrict various agriculture activities that supposedly would reduce 'greenhouse gases'.

More on this can be found on the worldchanging.org website.

If we continue to have a ban on drilling more oil, we won't be able to buy meat anyway, so maybe this isn't as bad as I first thought.

Maybe we really do have too many crackpots in Congress...or too many people are being paid through campaign contributions and don't have the commonsense necessary to sort out the good from the crazy.

Oregon has had government involved in health care for quite a few years.  The state electorate also approved the concept of state sanctioned suicide several years ago.

Recently, the board that reviews the medications that are approved for state residents made a determination that was controversial...in my mind if no where else.  The board, in essence, said that, given the cost of a certain medication, it would approve suicide for this patient but would not approve use of the medicine given its relative newness and the lack of convincing data as to the outcome.  It had essentially set a price on the human life involved.

Today I read the story concerning Denver Children's Hospital and heart transplants in infants that use the heart from another infant that died a 'cardiac-related death'.  This differs from a heart harvested from a brain-dead infant in which that heart is beating until removed from the donor body.  A decision has been made that the donor that has been pronounced dead and has been in that state for only 75 seconds, is a valid heart donor for purposes of this new program.  The earlier line that had existed required death be determined only after some five minutes during which time the heart did not re-start itself.  In this instance, the length of time a person had been deemed 'dead' had been reduced to assure that the harvested heart had a decent chance of functioning in the new body.  The three cases in which this approach has been employed resulted in three infants alive today.  The decisions to withdraw life support were made by the parents in all three instances.

We know so much more today than we did a decade ago.  We can do things from a medical perspective that were impossible then, and these procedures have become commonplace now.  We are, in this area, pushing the envelope as it has never before been pushed.

I know there are at least two sides to these issues.  I have good friends whose daughter lives today because of transplanted organs that were available on a timely basis.  I can't even begin to comprehend being placed in the middle of such decisions, and I earnestly hope that never befalls me.

And this leads to my general question:  Is there a line we dare not cross?  If so, where is or was that line?  Am I comfortable with an appointed board making life and death decisions about me?  Who among us can claim the right to make such a decision?  How do medical ethicists deal with these kinds of issues?

I don't profess to have the answers to these questions.  If you do, and you're willing to share, I'd appreciate your comments.

A story in the morning newspaper caught my eye.  It discussed the 'shortage' of rattlesnakes in western Wisconsin.  I grew up in Vernon County that parallels the Mississippi River in some of the most beautiful 'glacier-free' land in our state.  We have eagles and we have rattlesnakes and lots of things in between...including feral pigs that top 300 or 400 pounds.

But, I just have a hard time imagining that we're going to try to raise the rattlesnake population.

As a kid, I recall the hunters who would periodically bring the rattles from all the rattlesnakes they'd killed to the County offices in Viroqua to be paid the bounty then in vogue.  My recollection was that the bounty then was $0.50 each...a lot of money sixty years ago for the hardscrabble farmers and trappers and fishermen who had the most opportunities to find rattlesnakes.  Believe it or not, that would buy two gallons of gasoline at the time, and the people who earned the bounty would have 50 or more rattler tails with rattles when they came "to town". 

The beautiful bluffs that had been eroded by the Mississippi River over the centuries were the home to thousands and thousands and thousands of rattlesnakes.  If we were ever to go near those bluffs, we were reminded about rattlesnakes and where they'd likely be found and what to do to avoid being bitten.  If you were going to be hiking along those bluffs, you knew that heavy leather boots that laced very high were the order of the day.

So, this story reminded me of the men and boys I used to see on that day each month when the bounty was available.  Once in awhile, my friends and I would ride bikes to the Courthouse to see if we could catch a glimpse of the snake hunters, because we couldn't quite imagine what it must've taken to walk right up to one with the stick they used to pin them down at the head.

I knew we had timber rattlers, and I thought we had diamondbacks but I don't recall the Massasauga rattlers that are mentioned in this article.

At any rate, the idea that we spend tax dollars to try to add some rattlesnakes to the state is a little difficult for me to comprehend.

Bus Instead of Drive...

The Riteway/WCCE bus to and from the State Fair is a great deal in my estimation.  I have become a convert after this my third year of using this service.  A pleasant ride down and back.  Buses every half-hour.  Clean.  Relatively inexpensive.  And, discounted State Fair tickets courtesy of All American on Mequon Road in G'town.

Future Drop-Out?

Soon after arriving, I had an experience that has haunted me since.  I do not mean to be offensive, but I suspect some will be offended.  I heard a man hollering and saw, some distance ahead, a mother and son (about 5 years old).  All were well-dressed and neat in appearance.  They were working on some problem the son was having and the son had dropped a near-life size Spiderman game prize on the street while this went on.  That father was furious that 'Spidey' was on the street (although the street was clean and dry for a street).  The mother, who had been quiet until the hollering began, also commenced to scream and berate the boy.  The boy looked bewildered and then began to cry, only provoking more hollering and the use of epitaphs that refer to one's mother derogatorily.  Both mother and father used this term in addition to telling the boy that he was "stupid".  Then, the father, apparently having done his duty, turned and left to go back in the direction of the inner fairgrounds eating his 'blooming onion' while the mother and son walked toward the exit on 84th street.  Mom continued to berate the son verbally.  I didn't see any physical involvement.  There was no intervention by fairground security if they were even aware.

This was a 'stomach-turning' display.  There is no other way to describe it.  It was so out of the ordinary for me that I was dumbfounded.  It was over very quickly for me (except for the images in my mind) but the little guy lives in that world 24/7.

Frankly, this immediately brought to mind another drop-out at the age of fourteen or so adding to the woes of the Milwaukee Public School system and society some nine years from now, if it takes that long, and if he survives that long.  What kind of future does that young man have if he continues to be raised and educated in his current environment?  Where did society take the wrong turn that created the environment that produced Mom and Dad?

Economic/Political Indicator?

There seemed to be less lugging of mops and brooms and other 'fair goodies' this year than last.  The hawkers had smaller audiences, if an audience at all.  I saw two political party booths: Democrat and Libertarian.  I may've missed the other major party's booth but I don't know where it was.  If it is any consolation, neither were over-populated at the time I passed them.  To think the people were all at the other party's booth is, however, to be naive.  I saw one Obama button being worn and that was by a person who had boarded the bus in West Bend.

That was it for this year's fair experience other than to say the weather couldn't have been better.  We again saw Rhonda and her husband performing at Rupena's renewing a friendship of my wife's.  I guess my overall experience of the fair was over-shadowed by that early encounter with the highly dysfunctional family.  That was a 'downer', to borrow a term from a younger generation, that I'll carry for some time.

More thoughts on Brett Favre and the saga that seems to be near an end.  Just what you needed, I'm sure.

First, there seem to be no winners in this entire debacle.  The Packers played the entire thing terribly poorly.  The Favre's played the entire thing terribly poorly.  And the fans (fanatics) soaked up every last syllable of every story.

There were huge egos at work on all sides.  Packer's GM Thompson seemed to be the biggest ego problem on that side of the fence.  President Murphy seemed to be along for the ride for the most part.  Head Coach McCarthy seemed to have the best interests of his team at the top of mind throughout the process.

Brett and Deanna seemed both naive and very knowledgeable at the same time.  These are no one's fools; nor is Mr. Cook, the agent.

Fans, and that is rightly derived from the word 'fanatic', were hooked throughout the entire process.  Favre has been the face of the Packers for some fans' entire lifetimes.  For other fans, like me, he was simply the 'go to' guy who almost always seemed to get the job done.  I am a casual fan; I never played football and I never thought I could coach the team.  I was disappointed when "we" lost and I was elated when "we" won.

I was moved when I watched the tearful retirement ceremony many months ago.  I felt for Brett and Deanna.  I hated to see his era come to a close.  I questioned the abilities and the durability of the expected replacement for #4. 

Then, the comeback talk began and the intensity increased as fans and sports writers got into it.  At that point, the whole thing took on the typical 'larger than life' aura that surrounded Favre.

Finally, it got to the point where too many words had been spoken, too many subtle signals had been received, too many stories had been written; where feelings had been irreparably damaged and where hopes were dashed.

It apparently came down to two men sitting and talking for what seemed way too many hours.  And finally, it came down to one trying to humanely tell the other that his home wasn't there anymore...for better or worse, it just wasn't going to happen.

So, we now wait to hear to which team Brett has been traded...and the money seems to favor Tampa Bay.  And...we wait to see if our new quarterback can take us into the playoffs.  And, we reflect on all the Brett brought with him from Atlanta...the gunslinger...the toughest QB ever...the human being who had his problems and overcame them...all on the front pages over most of America.  It would be very hard, if not impossible, not to believe all the hype about yourself.  We all have egos needing to be fed, after all.

I am sad today.  I am sad that it had to come to this.  I wish that we all, including Brett and Deanna, could've been spared this last chapter in Packerland.  I am hopeful, but, frankly, skeptical that the new QB will get it done this year.  I wish Brett the best and hope he has a great season.  If with Tampa Bay, I hope we beat him but I hope it goes down to the wire.

I've written about the consolidation of local health care organizations over the past months.  In preparing for a talk I delivered to an insurance agent's organization last month, I dug a little deeper to see what the trends seemed to be for the future.

There are some very interesting things happening to and with health care delivery and these things are, in part, already on or affecting the local scene.

Retail Medicine...

Several major corporations have experimented with and made commitments to what I'll call 'retail medicine'.  Major drug store chains have had walk-in clinics in their stores, and have gotten so serious about it that they've actually purchased the companies that were supplying the services.  One of those is Walgreen's and we see the result in Germantown.  Our local Walgreen store is 1 of 13 in Wisconsin with in-store clinics and that number is expected to be as high as 19 by the end of 2008.

Wal-Mart is doing similar development across the country along with the CVS drug store chain and several others.  These models all tend to rely upon the Nurse Practitioner and work to establish referral relationships to local physicians for the more serious conditions encountered.  Costs, according to the Take Care Health Systems (Walgreen) website range from $59 to $74 per visit with additional fees charged for vaccinations (seasonal flu shot priced at $24.99).

Physician Shortages... 

There are serious shortages of physicians in America and that is, in part, prompting the 'retail medicine' movement discussed above.  Massachusetts learned this the hard way when it passed laws that required virtually all citizens to have health insurance.  There were simply too few primary care doctors available in the state to handle the new demand that had been created.  The physicians who are moving through the education system today are too often choosing specialties that pay more and that have better schedules so they can also spend time with their families and pay off their loans more quickly.

These shortages are prompting our medical colleges to step up the effort to cause more graduating physicians to opt for primary care service but this will take time and there will need to be some economic push to make it happen.  This is spawning the following effort.

Nurse Doctors...

Minnesota has graduated at least one class of Nurse Doctors who are entering practice across that state.  This is a doctorate level program that claims to produce practitioners that "can do almost everything" a primary care physician can do except for some surgical procedures.  This program is being expanded to be able to graduate more Nurse Doctors every year as the program ramps up.

As we can all understand, the physicians' organizations are not at all happy about this movement.

Dentist Shortages...

The average age of dentists in many states, Wisconsin included, is increasing at an alarming pace and we are beginning to see a shortage of dentists.  Minnesota again seems to have taken a lead position with legislation that was being considered which would permit Dental Hygienists to both drill and extract teeth in addition to their normal responsibilities.

As you would also expect in this situation, this is meeting strong resistance from the organizations representing dentists, but the simple fact that this found its way to the floor of the Minnesota legislature is significant.  Minnesota has been more prone to experimentation in the general area of health care (health maintenance organizations took off very rapidly in this state in the early-1970s), so these trends aren't all that surprising in our neighbor state.

Summary...

Our health care world is changing very rapidly.  If we were to become a Rip Van Winkle and sleep for even just ten years, we'd likely encounter a strange new health care world when we awoke.

Who can say what is good or not good in these regards.  Time will tell which, if any, of these initiatives we will have accepted and which we will have discarded as bad ideas whose time hadn't yet arrived.  Some way needs be found that will permit us to control costs.  If we rely upon government to do that, I'm afraid that the consequences will be heavy-handed control and rationing of services...and I cannot find it within myself to think that is an improvement.

It was the St. Francis Bank when I moved my account there, and that lasted a few years.  It then became the MidAmerica Bank, following a purchase, and remained that for some three years as I recall.  It is now the National City Bank, after one of the smoothest transitions of a business takeover that I've ever seen or experienced.  Those folks know how to do a bank take-over!

Now, a few weeks after National City Bank became visible in the Milwaukee area, banking in general has hit a wall.  A major investment bank, Bear Stearns, was 'saved' yesterday and will be bought (bailed out) by another or several others at dirt cheap prices in the very near future.  The stock market reacted.  Amidst all this turmoil is the fact that National City Bank is for sale.  Its stock has dropped 20% of its value since January 1st.  It has fallen in value by more than 60% in the past year.  The credit crunch has taken its toll.  It lost some $333 Million in the fourth quarter of 2007 and is expected to report additional losses when it posts its first quarter 2008 results next month.

National City Bank is not alone, and it is not going to fail, but it is a visible reminder locally that these things can and do happen.  And just when I thought that I had finally found nirvana in a bank.  The local employees have spent nearly the past year training to become National City Bank, learning the new systems and procedures and being taught about the new product array of National City Bank.  As stated earlier, I have been impressed with this organization and its products.

I can only hope that whomever ends up owning this bank will be sufficiently wise as to recognize what is working and not be too hasty in changing that for sake of change.  That happened, frankly, when MidAmerica took over St. Francis and it amounted to a net loss for the customer.  Unfortunately, it is not often that the buyer thinks it bought something better than what it has built for itself.

A short week ago I wrote about Eliot Spitzer and the havoc that he had wrought as the Attorney General of the State of New York.  I referred to the 'trail of carnage' that he had left behind in his quest for higher office.

Yesterday the press reported about his apparent involvement in a prostitution ring, and we witnessed his non-apology apology delivered in front of his weary and saddened wife.  Eliot Spitzer appears to have been caught up in his own 'trail of carnage' as has his wife and their three daughters.  He will likely be forced from office in disgrace; he could be indicted on federal charges since the prostitute traveled across state lines to meet him in his Washington, D.C. hotel room where he registered in the name of one of his friends.

His political enemies, and there are legions of those, are after his head, politically speaking.  Politics in New York is indeed blood sport.  The story will unfold over the coming days and weeks and months.

But all this notwithstanding, there still are those who were hurt by this megalomaniac (my diagnosis) during his meteoric ride.  And there are those who have been hurt badly by this latest revelation.

Yet, as much as I dislike the actions of this man, I feel saddened, particularly for his family.  It may be that his past has caught up with him; I don't know.  But I still think of those who lost companies and positions and reputations by his doing.  Forgiveness is difficult but certainly a worthy goal, especially it seems for an Eliot Spitzer.

Eliot Spitzer was the New York State Attorney General before he became Governor of that state.  Spitzer has the well-deserved reputation as a 'pit bull'.  The Wall Street Journal editors brought up his trail of carnage (my term) today discussing what he did to major organizations in America with his 'pit bull' style of threatening companies with enough damage to cause them to 'voluntarily' do as he directed they do. He made himself the investigator, the accuser, the judge and the jury.

The two companies mentioned this morning are AIG, the world's largest insurance organization, at least at that time, and Marsh & McLennan, a leading U.S. insurance brokerage organization.  Spitzer's threats caused both companies to fire their Chairmen.  Both companies have been on a downhill slide ever since costing shareholders huge sums of money in retirement funds, stock portfolios and so forth.  Many of these investors are you and me, whether or not we know it.

Those were companies caught up in Mr. Spitzer's web in New York City.  There was another that is much nearer and dearer to many in the Milwaukee area.  Strong Funds, and the related companies in Dick Strong's business holdings at the time, found themselves caught up in the Spitzer meat grinder.  The charges were of a questionable nature but that didn't stop the meat grinder that was Eliot Spitzer.  The Strong organization's good name was soon damaged beyond repair.

In the end, Dick Strong was forced to sell his companies at essentially 'fire sale' prices.  He paid significant fines for the trading activities in which he supposedly engaged.  The remains are now operated as part of the Wells Fargo organization.  The hundreds and hundreds of Strong employees who lost their jobs have, I hope, found their way into other organizations and may have forgotten much of the anguish they were personally subjected to by the Spitzer meat grinder.

Dick Strong, who was, and is, one of the finest men our community could hope to have in it, has survived.  Certainly his personal wealth probably has diminished somewhat although he is not in danger of losing a home or having nothing to eat.  There are some who will look at his situation and feel good because one of the 'haves' got what he deserved.  Those people are sadly misinformed and will simply have to live with their misshapen ideas.

The real loss has been for our community.  The companies Dick ran were major contributors to the community.  Those companies are gone and I doubt that Wells Fargo has taken over the philanthropy that was once the domain of the Strong group of companies.  Few buyers would have done so.  I am sure that Dick is still doing good works because that is who he is.

All this because a man named Eliot Spitzer managed to bull his way through the office of Attorney General of New York state in his quest for the Governor's chair and maybe even a run for President at some point in his political career.  I'll remember to my last day, and I'll remain saddened over what this man brought upon us...in the name of justice.

United Van Lines recently released its 2007 survey of migration patterns from state-to-state across the country.  It shows that, while Wisconsin is not yet listed as a 'high outbound' state, it is nearing that designation with 54.6% of moves being out of the state rather than into the state.  55% is the trigger point to move into the high outbound category.  This trend has been evident since United started this survey in 1977.

Given our winter so far this year, we might blame some of these outbound moves on that.  North Carolina was the highest rated inbound state, followed by Alabama, South Carolina, West Virginia and Tennessee.

Great Lakes states were in the high outbound category with Michigan on top, and North Dakota, New Jersey, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio included.

The Wall Street Journal carried this a step further in a morning Editorial by establishing a significant link to the outbound states.  Each outbound state is a high tax state.  And, the eight states without an income tax are all inbound states.

The Dakotas are an excellent example of this movement.  North Dakota ranked second worst in outbound migration in 2007.  South Dakota ranked in the top 10 inbound states.  North Dakota has an income tax, and South Dakota does not.

Winter isn't the culprit there, and it isn't the culprit in the rest of the Great Lakes states.

Our politicians need to wake up and recognize that rising tax rates drive people away.  Just as the increase in tobacco taxes will ultimately result in far lower tobacco tax collections, the same holds true for taxes in general.  When tax rates are decreased, actual tax collection increases over time.  Similarly, when tax rates are increased, actual tax collection goes down over time.

One sure way to reduce tax collection is to drive people away from our state.  And it seems we're in that mode based on United's study over the years.

Earmarks...

The Republicans are fighting amongst themselves over whether or not to try to control their budget 'earmarks', and if so, how to proceed.  The party's elected members met over the week-end and failed to take any real steps to end earmarks.  The President is expected to address earmarks in his State of the Union address this evening.  It is reported that he will tell Congress that he'll veto any appropriation bills for 2009 that have greater than 50% as much in the way of earmarks as the same bill in 2008 carried.

That is a start, but until we have convinced our elected officials that they are spending our money and not their money, we will make little if any real progress.

And, this may well be the only true bipartisan area we have.  It is an affliction of both major parties as well as the small group calling themselves independents.

Limits On The WCCA...

WCCA stands for Wisconsin Consolidated Court Automation and it has a website that you can access here.

This site permits any citizen to locate information about court decisions, charges filed, cases scheduled and so on by county.  If you have an interest in where the case involving John and Jane Doe stands, you would access the site, pick the county (if you know it) and key in one of the names.  You'll then see the actions that have been taken, dismissals if that is the case, etc.

For some strange reason there have been two recent attempts to limit public access.  Last summer, two Democrats (Schneider of Wisconsin Rapids and Kessler of Milwaukee) mounted such an effort.  They would've permitted access only for court officials, law enforcement personnel, attorneys and journalists.  Now Rep. Vos (R-Racine) and Sen. Lassa (D-Stevens Point) want to limit access by removing certain cases from this site.  Those cases or charges would include a civil forfeiture or misdemeanor within 90 days after dismissal, a finding of not guilty or if the case has been overturned on appeal and then dismissed.  Felonies would carry the same requirement except the time frame would be extended to 120 days.

Both of these efforts are misguided at best and an assault on our rights at worst.  Wouldn't the accused rather have the information there for all to see if he or she had been absolved or if the case had been dismissed.  Why would we be concerned about those convicted? 

An example of the significance can be found in articles now running in the Journal Sentinel concerning physicians who have been involved in numerous complaints alledging malpractice over the course of time.  Many of those records would become unavailable under these efforts to wipe the slate clean.  This is not only an assault on our rights but it is also potentially going to endanger lives.

Anti-Gun Proposals...

Many in the group that would outlaw ownership of guns, or the group that wants to ban the carrying of guns (that is legal in 47 other states) would have us believe that their solution is the answer.

Here are some snippets that seem to point in the other direction:

• New Jersey adopted a very strict gun law in 1966 and by 1968 the murder rate was up 46% and the robbery rate was up nearly 100%.
• Hawaii adopted a series of anti-gun laws and its murder rate tripled over the next ten years.
• Washington, D.C. imposed strict gun control laws in 1976; its murder rate has grown by 134% since.
• England banned handgun ownership in 1997, and the number of citizens injured by firearms has more than doubled since.
• Prior to these actions, the statistics cited had been falling.

When guns are banned, only the bad guys have guns.  In states where concealed carry laws are in place, the bad guys really have to think hard about trying anything.

Miller Executive Dies In Walkers Point Shooting...

The Director of Compensation and Benefits for Miller Brewing was killed at about 1:10AM on Sunday morning after leaving a bar in Walkers Point.  He was accosted by a robber, gave the person his wallet and was then shot to death as he sat in his auto.

The concern immediately arose over whether Milwaukee would suffer as the result of this in the process that is now ongoing as to where the headquarters of the new combined Miller Coors will be located.  It is reported that crime and homicide rates rank first in the equation that most corporations use to determine quality of life rankings.  The Journal Sentinel reported this morning, and I paraphrase, that Milwaukee is 2.3% larger in population than Denver, has 228% more violent crime including 263% more homicides.  This is extrapolated from the FBI's statistics for the first half of 2007 that were recently released.

Would you think about that if you were making the decision?  Would you add in the fact that MPS is graduating 50% or fewer of all students that start as freshmen?

Have you ever heard of Progressive Healthcare?  No one else had either until the press release today announcing the achievement of a joint operating agreement between Columbia St. Mary's and Froedtert & Community Health.  Progressive Health will "financially integrate, govern and lead" Columbia St. Mary's and Froedtert & Community Health.

The new entity will have co-Presidents, Leo Brideau of Columbia St. Mary's and Bill Petasnick of Froedtert & Community Health.  (I don't recall too many co-Presidencies working out for any length of time.  Maybe this is simply part of the transition plan.)  The agreement is to be finalized in 2008.  (This provides a lengthy window which might indicate that there are some nitty-gritty issues yet to be handled.)

This will create a large, multi-faceted organization.  The combination will include Columbia St. Mary's Hospitals in Milwaukee, Ozaukee County, the Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Institute, 30 primary care clinics, the Columbia School of Nursing and a partnership with the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin on the one side, and Froedtert Hospital, Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls, and the relationship with the Medical College of Wisconsin on the other.

It is only reasonable to expect that consolidation will cost some jobs since duplication has to exist, add other jobs due to new skill sets required and generally shake up what has been the status quo.

The chairman of Progressive Health, James Wigdale, chairman emeritus of the Marshall and Ilsley Corporation stated, "I firmly believe Progressive Health will offer consumers a better choice, providing the highest quality care at the lowest cost while fulfilling our commitment to be good stewards of the community's resources."  (That is a pretty heavy goal.  Highest quality and lowest cost are seldom seen together.)

Are we done with puzzle pieces so far as our healthcare community?  Hardly likely.  Remember that Synergy still has its decision to announce in the next couple of weeks.  Only time will tell the story of consolidation's benefit to the community.  Healthcare consolidation and building booms have almost always caused overall costs to rise as competition stiffens.  If Progressive Health has found the formula to cause that to be reversed, then this may prove to have been a most significant announcement.

Consider, also, the many subordinate relationships that will now be impacted.  Vendors to one group may win over vendors to the other group.  Network relationships with insurers and administrators may be impacted, too.  Software issues will abound.  The shadow cast by this announcement is large even though invisible to most of us.

The footprint of healthcare continues to be changed throughout Southeast Wisconsin.  For the better or the worse is yet to be determined.

I was listening to Jay Weber on WISN 1130 this morning and he had a proposition to resolve the smoking ban issue that had been mentioned to him by Jerry Bott at the same station.

Why not give every restaurant and tavern owner sixty days during which time they would need to decide if they were going to welcome smokers or go non-smoking entirely?  Each would then be able to cater to those whom they would naturally attract.  The doors would carry a big sign telling people which way this establishment had gone.

The discussion ended with the statement that this would never be tolerated by Governor Doyle and the Democrats since this debate has to be 'all or nothing' from their points of view.  Giving us citizens the ability to make our own decisions is not part of the more liberal world.  Of course, the 'reason' would be stated along the lines of having to protect the workers who had no choice as to where they worked.

It is as if they just know that we're too 'something' to be permitted to exercise free will since we tend to make the wrong decisions from their perspective. 

As I thought about that conclusion, it seemed that there was quite a degree of truth in it.  Our governing bodies do seem to feel that they have been ordained by our vote to make all life's decisions for us poor 'know-nothings'.  Could it be that they draw this conclusion from the fact that each of them were elected by us in the first place?  Is that how they know that we're incapable of making good decisions?

Seemingly everytime we pick up a newspaper or periodical we see that health care costs have risen again.  The only real question anymore is 'How Much?'.  Of course, if we still have health insurance, the premium rates continue to go up and up.  What in the world can we do about this?  Would statewide mandatory insurance coverage do the trick?  Can we somehow legislate lower insurance premiums?  Are the drug companies really the culprits?  Maybe we simply need to move to Canada or Europe.

Recent studies show that our national health care spending increased in 2006 by 6.7% to $2.1 trillion.  That means that one out of every six dollars spent in our national economy goes for health care.  The 'good news' in this staggering number is that this is actually slower growth than we saw for 2005.  Apparently we're going in the right direction, even if too slowly.

Another amazing fact, to me at least, is the amount of 'out-of-pocket' spending each of us averages after insurance premiums, etc.  In 2006, we spent, on average, 12% out-of-pocket for our health care expenses.  Know what we spent out-of-pocket in 1960?  We spent 47% out-of-pocket for health care expenses. 

That means that we are shielded to a much greater degree today from our real health care costs than we were in 1960.  Our out-of-pocket costs have decreased steadily since 1960.  We are often at the point today where we think of the cost of health care as being the $10 or $20 co-pay we have to come up with when we go to see the doctor.  Or, the $20 or $30 dollars we have to cough up for medicines.  Those amounts are very small percentages of the total costs.

Why is this important?  It is important because we need to think about what we're spending if we're ever going to be able to bring this cost spiral under control.  If we come to understand that the real cost of the doctor visit is in the range of $125 to $150 or more, we can begin to understand that maybe we shouldn't be running to the doctor everytime we have a runny nose or a cough.

Another very interesting fact is this:  more than 50% of all health care claims costs in America today are to cover lifestyle-related illnesses.  Those are the things that you and I can control to one degree or another.  But, we can't control them if we don't know about it or if we choose not to do anything about it.  What are 'lifestyle' issues?  Smoking, alcohol use, obesity and simply laying around doing no exercise.

Does this apply to us?  Here are the most current facts:  One in every four Americans eat fast food every day!  Six of ten Americans do not exercise or seldom exercise!  Two of every three Americans are classified as either overweight or obese!

This is the real source of our health care cost crisis.  We have met the enemy and it is us!

No mandatory state programs, or profit controls on drug companies or anything else is going to solve this problem.  The simple truth is that this is up to us.  All the rest of these proposals are simply pablum calculated to make us feel good.

That is why this 'stuff' is flowing from the mouths of politicans.  And it does nothing to solve the problem!

Let your politicians know that you understand this.  If they really want to help us, they'll begin an educational program using some of the 'smoker money' to get the true message out.  And, be sure to tell them we do not want laws banning fast food or drinking or smoking.  We need to take responsibility for ourselves.  No one else can do that for us.  The marketplace will make its own corrections just as you've begun to see with the menu changes going on in the world of fast foods, for example.

Maybe if insurance companies were permitted to charge people what we deserve to be charged based on our lifestyle habits, we'd begin to see these changes occur.  If I smoke, I pay more.  If I'm overweight, I pay a surcharge.  Make me feel my wallet lightening up if I don't take personal responsibility (just don't think this is your new way to raise taxes). 

Don't just continue to blame big health, or big drugs or big insurance!  You are doing nothing but pandering when you resort to this, and we're on to you!

How in the world can one combine freedom and light bulbs in the same context?  Well, let's see.

We are being told that incandescent light bulbs are being eliminated in favor of a nationwide conversion to the use of compact fluorescent lamps.  Those are, so far, considerably more expensive to produce (although subsidized by tax money to make them seem less expensive), are not capable of generating the kind of lumens to which we're accustomed, the color of light is different from what we're used to seeing and they have no where near the flexibility we find with incandescent bulbs.

As if this weren't sufficient, the idea of using compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) laden with mercury is a bit disconcerting to me.  I have quite a few fluorescent tubes and a couple of CFLs that I need to toss out.  I called the Village of Germantown staff to learn about proper disposal.  The nice lady who answered on the solid waste disposal line said, "That's a problem."  As we talked about this further, I learned that the next dangerous waste disposal date is set for September, 2008 in West Bend.  Our recycling center is either unable or unwilling to accept such things.

I sought an alternative that would be available sooner.  There is a site in Port Washington equipped to take these items but they charge for the privilege of recycling such things.  I think you and I both know that these things are regularly finding their way into our landfill sites, and that will increase at quite a rate as more people are forced to begin their use.  We are creating a serious mercury problem for ourselves that will manifest some years down the road.  Our land, wetlands and streams, rivers and lakes will be more polluted than they are today.

All this got me thinking about where we've come from, why we're where we are, and just what it all means.  I'm not at all sure that I have everything figured out, but maybe you can help me work through the parts I don't seem to understand.

We are using more carbon-based energy than many think we ought, but we also ignore solutions that we've mastered many years ago.  Nuclear energy is safe and efficient and yet we've not built new reactors in years.  We have oil fields available on our turf but we're forbidden by our own government from drilling into that apparently sacred soil.  There is more oil available today but we can't refine it any faster than we are today even if we had access to a greater supply.  Why?  Because the government has caused the establishment of new refining facilities to be so cumbersome and expensive that it simply is not cost-effective for investors to plow money into that use.

The grand movement by those who think we need to be 'green' has caused our 'political' will to be turned against the will of the majority of citizens.  The 'green' people are outnumbered by the 'non-green' people; yet, our main stream press and politicos continue to thump the drum for being 'green'.  Lobbyists spend a lot of money to keep this political engine humming along.  Government has the best of both worlds in this situation.  It is getting money from both sides of the argument, so why not keep the argument alive by dithering.

The 'global warming' group adds fuel to these flames.  It seems that virtually everything causes global warming.  It also seems that global warming causes virtually everything.  I could easily understand hot weather being a direct function of global warming.  I have a little more difficulty believing that cold weather is also caused by global warming.  Until very recently, any debate has been squelched; that is now changing and, I hope, we'll begin to see the real debate taking place.  I cannot buy the suppositions of Al Gore's slide show.  I can buy the opinions, however, of a very well educated state representative by the name of Jim Ott (a professional meteorologist), who actually knows of which he speaks.  An interesting phenomenon from a politician, I agree.

I harangue on the subject of the 'slippery slope' more than many would like, but there are simply so many examples that I cannot help myself!  Then, to add fuel to that flame, I came across a statement in the Wall Street Journal letters section on Friday made by a fellow whose name is Constantine E. Anagnostopoulos from Bloomfield, MI.  To paraphrase, he stated that we began as a country in which everything was permitted except for those few things that had been forbidden such as killing another person without provocation.  Today, we are a country where many things are forbidden and fewer and fewer things seem to be allowed. 

We have myriad laws on the books, and yet we continue to enact new laws every month that a government unit is in session.  There is nearly nothing that needs to be outlawed that hasn't had multiple laws forbidding it already enacted.  (An example is the creation of a law against use of cell phones when there is a perfectly good law against inattentive driving already on the books.)  We have become such a nation of laws and litigation that we actually stifle our creativity, our economy and our lives.  It is impossible for anyone today to account for every law that impacts a certain activity.  We even feel the need to have judges 'creating' laws that don't exist through their interpretations of existing language, or by opining as to what the original authors intended as the 'living' documents were penned.  Our laws are more designed to affect behaviors to which the ruling class does not subscribe than to actually outlaw something needing to be outlawed.  Laws today are much more the tool of social reformers than of policing agencies. 

These are all harbingers for our future existence.  If we continue on the path we're on, at the pace we're traveling, we'll have managed to destroy the freedoms generations before have fought and died for in a few short lifetimes.  Maybe the loss of great democracies, as history recounts, is our self-fulfilling prophecy.

All this began with a diatribe on light bulbs.  Wow! 

Holiday Tree...

Marlin 'Snarlin Marlin' Schneider (D-Wisconsin Rapids) has a bill that could go before the Assembly to rename the pointy green thing with decorations on it from Holiday tree to Christmas tree.  Isn't that something?  Our Capitol rotunda has had a Christmas tree each year since 1916.  It was a Christmas tree until 1985 when we permitted our lawmakers to go off the track.  At that point, it became known as the Holiday tree, even though everyone who saw it called it by its correct name...Christmas tree. 

Our governor says the tree's name is irrevelant.  Again, I find myself disagreeing with the governor.  We have simply lost our bearings in this morass we call 'political correctness' and it is time for us to reclaim our Christmas tree.

Washington County Board...

As of this morning, there are now eight County Supervisors who have announced that they will not stand for re-election.  Wouldn't this be a great time for the Board to reduce itself to a more workable and less expensive size by deciding to take the vote and create 22 new districts from the current 30?  Supervisors don't seem able to take a risk that their position could be one that is eliminated.  This would solve that dilemma.  And there can be little doubt that 22 would be able to serve the constituency as well as or better than 30.

Supervisor Brady, why not take a shot at this? 

Mike Gousha Returns...

Area television just got a real boost with the announcement that Mike Gousha is returning to our screens with a Sunday morning show as well as political analysis and commentary at other times.  He is simply the classiest and best TV person we've seen in ages, and it is good to be able to look forward to seeing him.

Health Care Costs Unequal Across State...

An analysis by Citizen Action, a coalition of labor unions and grass-roots groups, just announced that health care costs vary by as much as 26% from one part of Wisconsin to another.  Eau Claire, Milwaukee and Racine had the highest costs while Madison, Janesville and Beloit had the lowest.  This study used the rates for the state employees' health insurance program.

There are two major factors at work here, in my opinion.  First, the Madison/Janesville/Beloit area is filled with state employees to the point that it is the largest employer of record, and it has greater competition among more provider groups.  Second, the Eau Claire, Milwaukee and Racine areas have less competition amongst provider groups coupled with fewer state employees.

These two factors combine to produce lower or higher rates respectively.  Insurance rates are a direct function of health care costs assuming that the relative health of citizens doesn't differ markedly from one side of the state to another.

Frankly, this disparity of costs will likely increase with the continued vertical integration of health care providers.

Did you know that, if you're from Illinois and you're caught speeding, you needn't pay the fine?  It's true!

What a great deal for the flat-landers.  What a poor way to run a state from our point-of-view.

There is a thing called the national Driver License Agreement.  Our legislature has failed to approve the governor's request to join this compact twice in the last four years according to a Journal Sentinel article this morning.

The whole thing seems to hinge on money from the legislature's perspective.  I can't lay the blame for this at the feet of Governor Doyle.  This was included as part of his 2007-2009 budget but the legislature killed it.  They are blaming the federal Real ID law for causing them to need to delay this action.  This delay had caused Wisconsin to lose some $5 million in fines and forfeitures in the period from 1999 through 2003.  It would cost $737,000 to implement our participation in the Driver License Agreement. 

That seems a reasonable payback from a monetary perspective, but that isn't the worst part of this failure.

Our legislature has given the tacit signal to all bordering state drivers that it is okay to speed or drive recklessly because it will not result in any action on the ticket they're issued.  Wisconsin cannot collect from Illinois, for example, because we are not in the Agreement.  Counties are powerless except where they employ collection agencies to hound the out-of-state people.

That obviously just ended with this story being published.  Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois drivers apparently have a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card when it comes to paying fines from driving violations that occur in our state.  Not only do we lose money every day, we now have communicated that we have no speed limits from a practical point-of-view.

How many Wisconsinites are going to die as the result of the legislature's misguided reasoning?  How many have already died as the result?

And, one more thing: this Agreement stipulates uniform sharing of information amongst member states so that fraudulent applications for driver's licenses can be easily exposed.  Could it be that we don't like this Agreement because we want to be a "sanctuary state"  or magnet for illegal aliens?

The announcement concerning the sale of Medical Associates to ProHealth Care has been expected for months and finally was made.  ProHealth will buy Medical Associates for about $40 Million and the deal is expected to close around the beginning of 2008.

ProHealth owns Waukesha Memorial Hospital and Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital.  Medical Associates has clinical facilities in Menomonee Falls, Hartford, Sussex, Germantown, and Waukesha.  The bulk of Medical Associates' 175,000 patients are admitted to Waukesha Memorial Hospital and to Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls.

Community Memorial is part of the Froedtert & Community Health system.  That system has agreed to consolidate operations with the Columbia St. Mary's system.

Finally, Advanced Healthcare is being purchased by the Aurora system, and Aurora is building a new hospital in Grafton which is the 'backyard' of Columbia St. Mary's.

There are still other smaller systems fighting for survival, but those named will be the major players and are likely to have absorbed the remaining hospital systems and physician practice affiliations.

My earlier blogs have discussed what all this consolidation could mean to those of us in the Germantown area.

First, Community Memorial Hospital is at risk of losing the bulk of its patient load.  Aurora has promised the doctors at Advanced Healthcare that their admitting patterns will not be changed for at least two years.  (Read that to say, we'll shift patient admissions from Community Memorial Hospital to other Aurora hospitals in two years.)  I don't have any idea of the language of the deal between Medical Associates and ProHealth.  But, ProHealth is buying Medical Associates to gain doctors and to get added patients admitted to its hospitals.

Clinics usually are cost centers for hospital systems.  Hospitals tend to lose money on the clinics they buy and operate, but make that back plus with admissions to their hospitals.

There have been continuing rumors of discussions involving ProHealth and Froedtert & Community.  If those systems were to consolidate, there would emerge a new 750 lb. gorilla to take on the existing 800 lb. gorilla named Aurora.

Again, I have no knowledge of those discussions, if they are even continuing.  If I were running any one of those remaining systems, I'd certainly have determined that my only real chance of survival would be to consolidate with others to get the scale needed to be a true competitor to Aurora.

This bears watching.

So far as those of us in the Germantown area, we're in for a bit of a roller coaster ride over the next few years so far as healthcare is concerned.  Not only will admitting patterns be involved that will determine where we are hospitalized, but the price of healthcare will hang in the balance.  Will consolidation lead to true price competition....or will it ultimately end true price competition?  It could go either way.

My weekday mornings include listening to Jay Weber on WISN1130 radio.  He began a discussion this morning concerning what he called, "truth in taxing".  It makes a great deal of sense from my perspective, although I've chosen to call it Truth in Borrowing.

The premise is simple.  When we borrow mortgage money from a lending institution, we are given a Truth in Lending form that explains all the ramifications of the loan we are about to receive, including what we will have paid back in total if the loan runs to its full amortization date and if our payments are each made on or before the due date.

That concept is absolutely needed in the world of government and school borrowing.  The example used this morning was that of the impending West Bend schools $119 Million bonding issue.  That issue has correctly been presented as a series of financial needs by the school system that total some $119 Million.  It seeks taxpayer approval of the school district borrowing that amount of money through the mechanism of bonding.

What is missing from that decision matrix, however, is the total to be paid back over the life of the bonds.  In the case of West Bend, it is in the range of a $207 Million total payback.  Some $88 Million will be paid in interest to the lenders.  It would make so much more sense to fully inform the voters just as we borrowers are required to be informed by the lending institutions.  Obviously, this would also cause more scrutiny to occur before a vote, but it could also be useful to point out the cost increases that would occur if the spending were to put off for a year or two or three.  Much of the 'push back' against these referenda, I suspect, is caused by the feeling that we may not be getting the full story.

Maybe this would also help to assure that year-to-year budgets were more attuned to maintenance needs, as well.  So many such issues seem to include a lot of money to take care of maintenance neglected over many years.  Maybe such legislation would help to get our budgets more precise, as well.  Maybe the electorate needs more detailed information rather than the 'pablum' so often provided because we just 'wouldn't understand the details anyway' as too many boards seem to think.

Truth in Borrowing legislation won't happen unless we taxpayers insist on such laws being created.  If we are to get to that point, we need sponsorship at the state legislative level.  While it would be great to see the state included, I think we stand a much better chance of passage if the legislation were to include municipal, school and taxing district borrowing being required to complete a full disclosure Truth in Borrowing report that would need be published several times preceding any vote on such a project.

If this were the case, then all counties, cities, villages, towns, schools and special taxing districts (such as technical colleges, sewerage districts, etc.) would need to give us the full story before every proposed vote on bonding or other similar borrowing.

Whomever were to sponsor such legislation would certainly be viewed very favorably by the electorate, and less so by the entities that would be required to comply.  Any who voted against this legislation would be showing the electorate exactly what he or she thinks of their ability to make wise decisions.  Those actions could then be remembered at the time of the next election.

What do you think about this?  Does it make sense, or is it simply 'tilting at windmills'? 

Is this information something the voters should be provided before making their decisions, or is it simply an impediment that we'd be placing upon the backs of our elected officials? 

It is true that we have a representative form of government, but it is equally true that borrowing issues such as those we're talking about do require approval of the taxpayers.

Junk mail is driving me nuts. How about you? Is there a real solution that we can use or are we doomed to continue to wear out our delete keys? I’ll be happy to pass along your recommendations.

Perpetual campaigning is robbing us Americans of our rightful expectations of government. This is vividly clear when we look at the federal government. It seems to be getting more rampant on the state level, as well. Every move at the national level is one of posturing, rather than governing, for the majority of our elected officials. And, too many moves on the part of our elected state representatives smack of the same.

General Petraeus, the commander of our forces in Iraq, delivers his assessment on conditions there in a week and one-half. However, both sides appear to not have the courtesy to let us decide what to think of his report. Instead, they have been positioning for weeks to tell us what he’ll say and what it’ll mean. No matter your persuasion, you can make up your own mind; I doubt that many of us need such assistance.

The Presidential candidates for both parties will likely be chosen by very early in 2008, and maybe even before the coming New Year’s Day. On the heels of the “perpetual” campaigning mentioned above, we have this rush to decision being thrust upon us by a handful of states. Would we be further ahead to have a single national primary to be followed in 120 days by the national election, as I’ve begun to hear discussed?

Governor Doyle’s hand has appeared as expected in the budget debate. Unfortunately, he is resorting to fear-mongering by citing this and that calamity about to befall all us Badgers because there is no compromise as yet, on a terrible budget I would add. According to him, our schools won’t be able to run, our state Medicaid system will fail the folks who depend upon it and the Republican’s failure to acquiesce will cause your property taxes to rise precipitously. His budget, even without the addition of Healthy Wisconsin which he does not support, has us paying 23% more than before. With Healthy Wisconsin, it only doubles! What a choice we have. The opposition must not cave in, but instead must continue to work to advance its more rational version of our next biennium.

Our Warhawks football team ran into the seventh-ranked team in the state last evening and came away with a much better understanding of its own weaknesses. Coach will build on this experience and our players will improve having gotten such a solid lesson so early.

Our new motorcycle patrol is having the desired effect. I have been amazed at how invisible that cycle and officer can be, and also marvel at my good fortune to have been at or under the speed limit each time…so far. If you’ve not given thought to the effectiveness of this unit, do so before you pay good money for a transgression.