There is more and more speculation as to the potential that we'll see a 'clean sweep' by Democratic candidates on Tuesday, November 4th at both the state and federal levels.  I hope that isn't the way it turns out, but I'm tiring of being beaten about the head and shoulders every time I read a newspaper article or watch the bulk of the television news items.  Maybe that is the intent.  If us conservatives can be sufficiently demoralized, maybe we'll just stay home.  Not this conservative!

What do I mean by 'clean sweep'?  I refer to the potential that both the Assembly and the Senate in Wisconsin will see a sufficient Democratic majority that will be able to pass anything they wish in spite of the number of Republican votes that could be massed, with assurances on most such items that those will be signed into law by the Democratic Governor Doyle.

Similarly, I refer to Democratic victories in both the U.S. House and Senate that will be Republican-proof and that will likely find favor with a Democratic President Obama.

Jay Weber has done a good job on setting forth 23 items that could be part of the triumvirate of Sen. Harry Reid (D), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D) and a President Obama and you can find those by clicking here.  Things included on Jay's list include renegotiating NAFTA, ending secret ballots in union organizing, government-run healthcare encroachments, reintroduction of the 'Fairness Doctrine' to control conservative access to the airways, and so on.

At the state level, we could easily see state-run health care, the increase in costs of education, ever larger portions of our income going to state and local taxes,  more and more loss of personal freedoms and so.

There has been, in most of our history, a certain "check and balance" relationship in most of our governments so that not everything that was proposed was ever likely to be passed.  That 'protection' could disappear for years if we see the 'clean sweep' at the state or federal levels, or both, as the result of our national election on November 4th.  Our country tends not to flourish well under such governments regardless of party in power.

Vote your conscience next Tuesday!

I had intended to scan a copy of the sample ballot for Germantown however that wasn't sufficiently legible.  So, we'll list the offices for which there are candidate selections to be made by all of us who are registered to vote in the village.

You may elect to vote a straight ticket including, in the order found on the ballot:

• Democratic
• Republican
• Wisconsin Green
• Libertarian

The race for President and Vice President, in the order found on the ballot:

• Barack Obama/Joe Biden (Democratic)
• John McCain/Sarah Palin (Republican)
• Cynthia McKinney/Rosa Clemente (Wisconsin Green)
• Bob Barr/Wayne A. Root (Libertarian)
• Brian Moore/Stewart A. Alexander (Socialist Party USA)
• Gloria LaRiva/Robert Moses (Party for Socialism, & Liberation)
• Ralph Nader/Matt Gonzalez (Independent)
• Chuck Baldwin/Darrell L. Castle (Constitution Party)
• Jeffrey J. Wamboldt/David J. Klimisch (We, the People)
• Write-in________________

Representative in Congress District 5, in the order found on the ballot:

• F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (Republican)
• Robert R. Raymond (Independent)
• Write-in________________

State Senator District 8, in the order found on the ballot:

• Sheldon A. Wasserman (Democratic)
• Alberta Darling (Republican)
• Write-in________________

Representative to the Assembly District 24, in the order found on the ballot:

• Charlene S. Brady (Democratic)
• Dan Knodl (Republican)
• Write-in________________

District Attorney:

• Todd K. Martens (Republican)
• Write-in________________

County Clerk:

• Brenda J. Jaszewski (Republican)
• Write-in_________________

Treasurer:

• Janice Gettelman (Republican)
• Write-in_________________

Register of Deeds:

• Sharon Martin (Republican)
• Write-in_________________

Referendum - Germantown School District

Question #1:

Shall the following Initial Resolution be approved?

INITIAL RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $22,500,000

BE IT RESOLVED by the School Board of the Germantown School District, Washington County, Wisconsin that there shall be issued pursuant to Chapter 67 of the Wisconsin Statutes, general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $22,500,000 for the public purpose of paying the cost of constructing a new elementary school on school district property next to Kinderberg Park; technology, safety and security initiatives District wide; and acquiring furnishings, fixtures and equipment.

Yes ____

No   ____

Question #2

Shall the following Resolution be approved?

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGET TO EXCEED REVENUE LIMIT BY $500,000

FOR RECURRING PURPOSES

BE IT RESOLVED by the School Board of the Germantown School District, Washington County, Wisconsin that the revenues included in the School District budget for the 2010-2011 school year and thereafter be authorized to exceed the revenue limit specified in Section 121.91, Wisconsin Statutes, by $500,000 a year, for recurring purposes consisting of costs associated with the new elementary school.

Yes ____

No   ____

~~~~~~~~~~

The ballot is two-sided as you would expect from the many questions.

You and me are really great people.  Why is that?  Well, we seem to help bail out just about everything that bangs on Washington's door.

A short time ago, the sub-prime mortgage companies received their bail out; likely the first of their bail outs since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are still in the throes of that mess.

Now the automobile industry is in the queue for what yesterday was about $25 billion and today has already climbed to $40 billion according to the press.

Is this a proper use for the tax dollars that are extracted from each of us?  Should we be funding these bail outs for industries that essentially have gone bad because of their own doing?  If you or me were responsible for these 'disasters', we'd probably step up to the plate and take what was coming to us.  But we didn't force people to be too gullible and let people sell them homes they couldn't afford.  We didn't cause the oil price jump because we didn't approve new refineries for thirty years or drill for new fields of oil?

If any of us should be paying 'the price', it seems that the finger of blame needs to be pointed at Washington and the people we send there to represent us.  That group has caused these issues to surface through favors to those putting money into their campaign accounts.  That group has caved in to the environmental groups that are fanatical to the extreme in their pursuit of the ultimate goal they espouse.

Oh, that's right.  We are to blame because we continue to return the same people to Washington in spite of what they do and don't do.  We don't require any 'reparations' for their actions.

Maybe we all need to get a little more involved and a little more vocal starting with our upcoming local elections.  Too may of us simply shake our heads and fume; we really need to be more active in our precincts and districts and villages or cities, and in our counties and states.

I saw a quote in the past few days that went along these lines:  "Too many people have died for our freedoms for us to not vote."

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?

~~~~~

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.

Is 'perversion' too strong a term?  I don't think so.

The EPA has turned down attempts by the State of Wisconsin to relax the ill-conceived S.E. Wisconsin requirement for 'reformulated' gasoline even as we are virtually in full attainment.  That was probably dwarfed by comparison to the decision it announced that it was denying the State of Texas' request for a cutback on the amount of ethanol required to be blended with gasoline.

There is a radio commercial playing in our market that is sponsored by the ethanol lobby that makes the case, in essence, that we, who question the use of corn to make ethanol, are over-reacting and need to check our facts.  I am angered every time I hear that commercial, including this morning as it played while I was shaving...with a blade.  That could've hurt!

The simple facts are being ignored by the EPA, Congress and the President.  And, these aren't stupid people.  This is intentional ignorance.  Our food prices are going up, and it is caused in part by the insistence that ethanol be blended with gasoline even as us taxpayers pay the price for the ethanol support being paid on every gallon.  The other part of the increase is obviously that caused by the fact that Democrats have so far refused to relax their stance against oil drilling here and now.

Back to ethanol.  It is causing many cattle ranchers to reduce their herd size because they can't afford the feed to grow them for market.  The prices for chicken and beef are rising at a rapid pace.  I looked at flank steak a few days ago since it always used to be a relatively lower priced cut of meat.  That is a thing of the past.  I bought chicken breasts a few days ago and was astounded at the prices I saw on the packages.

I know that my mileage with reformulated gas is less than it was before that edict; about 10% worse.  I know that ethanol is much less efficient in terms of the energy it generates than is gasoline.  So, I am burning more and getting less.  A double-whammy in our part of Wisconsin.

The EPA stated that there was "no compelling evidence" that the mandate for ethanol is causing "severe economic harm".  That had to have been spoken by a federal employee who is reimbursed for his or her mileage...from our tax dollars  These people simply have no contact with reality, or manage to suppress the lessons they really learn in order to be a "dutiful servant of the people".

As if all this isn't enough to put me into a deep funk, I am confronted with the idiocy that is called political campaigning where people talk about wind power, sun power, and bio-fuels while not mentioning oil or coal or nuclear power.  How in the world are we supposed to leap forward a decade or more when technology is not yet even available to soften our landing?

We are in real danger of becoming a third world nation if the current policies are not changed and changed quickly!  Our economy simply cannot withstand the political assault it is under.  And this is not a political assault from another country...it comes from within.

So, I don't think calling the EPA the Environmental Perversion Agency is much of a reach. 

And I, for one, am very, very tired of the elected people we all put into office forgetting who it is they represent, and what it is we want.

Have I lost my mind?  I hope not.

My concern is this:  With gas prices dropping and now at the mid $3.80s per gallon, will we lose our impetus to keep the pressure on our elected officials to get more drilling going and to relax the myriad rules on new refineries?

We are a strange group, we humans.  We got used to paying $4.20 per gallon for regular for a week or two and now we're "saving" nearly $.40 a gallon.  We forget very quickly that only a year or so ago we were paying a dollar or more less for our gas.

We seem to forget that we were upset over ethanol and its impact on our mileage and on our food prices.

We seem to forget that reformulated gas is costing us more and causing lower miles per gallon.

Are we going to meekly go about our daily business now until prices go back up?  Are we going to give our politicians a 'free pass'? 

Are we going to let the presidential candidates avoid dealing with this issue...even though they'll make promises that'll probably be forgotten in a week or two?

Are we going to demand that our state representatives push hard to get the ethanol lobby off our backs?

We are, by all signs, involved in an oil cost run-up driven by demand being greater than supply.  It is exacerbated for us Americans because our monetary policy has seen an intentional softening of the dollar (our money is worth less than other peoples' money, so it takes more of it to buy a barrel of crude oil).  I paid $4.20 per gallon yesterday with the price of crude oil standing at about $130 +/- per barrel.  Predictions of crude oil prices of $150 per barrel or more are seen or heard regularly now.  And, the cost of oil could well be higher than that by year-end.

How did we get to this point?  We got there by congressional law making, by presidents rolling over and signing those bills, and by our country's increasing needs/demand for gasoline and diesel fuel.  Why would we permit ourselves to become part of such a quagmire?

Politics!  Politics played by those on both sides of the aisle.  Conservatives seem to have lost their voices.  Liberals never seem to lose their voices.

Laws were re-written more than thirty years ago to make it nearly impossible for a new refinery to be built.  Those were the result of congress being rolled by the environmentalists and presidents either believing the rhetoric of the day or fearing the backlash should they stand up to the rhetoric.  This has continued to this very day.  We are forbidden from drilling within 200 miles of the California and Florida coastlines but the Chinese are already doing so as we sit on our thumbs.  We are unable to pursue the shale oil deposits that span our northern plains and southwestern states.  We have ample untapped resources that are readily available but our laws don't permit us to make use of those resources.

We see the 'global warming' group and the 'environmentalist group' driving our economy into the ground...and we have not found the moral outrage/courage to stand up to them and say "no more"!  We could easily build new refineries in any number of locations around our country but we're not permitted to do so.  We know how to drill and refine today without ruining our world.  It takes from 6 to 10 years to bring a new refinery on-line so the time to have declared a moratorium on the rules that made it impossible to build new refining capacity has come and gone.  But, the typical congressional response of "that will take ten years" should remind us that if we don't roll back those silly laws today, it'll take ten years from whenever we do roll back those silly laws.  The time to begin is now, not next week or next month.

We witnessed the ridiculous 'hearings' held by congress in the past few weeks.  We watched as Sen. Herb Kohl embarrassed himself by chiding the 'big bad oil companies' for making a profit.  He is a former businessman who certainly understands that profit must be derived in order for businesses to exist and grow.  He knew how that worked when he ran Kohl's Food Stores.  He certainly must have some comprehension as the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.  His statement to the oil company executives that their profits didn't seem fair gives one a lot of insight.  He knows better but he will play/pander to the crowd he favors.  He 'feels' as do most liberals.  He doesn't necessarily reason.  He has his millions, so he can set out to control everyone else who aspires to similar success.

Sen. Kohl is but one of the 535 members of congress.  Too many of those men and women are too intent on keeping their offices to actually vote the way they probably know they should.  You have probably heard the old phrase that states you must "go along to get along".  That should be inscribed over the doorways leading to the House and the Senate chambers since it is the rule that is followed by the vast majority of people who walk through those portals.  That is true on the national stage, the state stage and the local stage.

The people who go to Washington and who do not give in and play by the Washingtonian rules are few and very far between.

Whose fault is this dilemma in the final analysis?  Yours and mine. 

We're the men and women who have permitted this to happen.  We don't vote in the House or the Senate, but we do elect those who do...and we do not seem to unelect people very often once they've gotten into office.  Rep. Steve Kagen (D) from the Appleton area stands for re-election this November.  He is at his most defeatable point historically.  If he survives the first re-election campaign and keeps his seat, he is likely to be in that seat for so long as he desires without regard to how he votes or doesn't vote.

We're so unconcerned about our vote, it seems, that we don't even think voting is sacrosanct enough to require valid photo identification before we're permitted to cast a ballot. 

So, all this angst has been brought to us by us.  Remember that the next time you buy gasoline or diesel fuel.  Remember that the next time you go to the grocery store and try to make your food budget stretch.  Remember that when you ponder whether or not you'll be able to take a vacation this year, or buy new school clothing for your children, or go out for a fish fry.  Remember that when you try to stretch your retirement income to cover your basic needs.

And, when you've gotten yourself all 'cranked up', if that happens, make a resolution to get involved and stay involved and to talk with your elected representatives at every level of government and let them know what you think and what you want them to do on your behalf.  And, if they fail you, fire them with your vote at the polling place.

Had you and I done that two decades ago instead of simply going with the flow, maybe we'd not be in the situation we find ourselves in today.

The benchmark oil prices closed at just under $122 per barrel yesterday due to unrest in Nigeria and slumps in Russia's production.  'Experts' predict that prices for crude oil could go as high as $150 this year.  And, that would translate to about $4.50 per gallon prices at our pumps.

What to do, what to do?

A bright young Congressman has some ideas.  He is Representative Paul Ryan who was born and raised in Janesville and who has seen the impact of gas prices on the GM plant there that builds Tahoes among other vehicles.  You have probably heard that GM is laying off 750 employees due to poor sales.  The 'ripple effect' has already begun taking other suppliers' jobs out of the market with an announcement by one that it would lay off 132 employees.  Those layoffs will continue.

Ryan issued a press release on Monday with some simple and straight-forward language (which is not always the case for government press releases).  He recognizes that Congress has had a big hand in creating the mess we find ourselves contending with today.  And, he has five examples of what can be done to alleviate these problems:

One:  Drill for oil.  There are reportedly some 10.4 billion barrels of crude to be found beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWAR).  Instead of begging the other oil producing nations to increase their production, we could solve our own problems and handle this nasty 'supply and demand' thing.  We could keep all the oil we produce from our land mass.

Two:  Build more refineries.  Congress can streamline the process for building new refineries.  More than thirty years has passed since a new refinery was built in the U.S.  Instead, we have gone offshore for refining capacity.  That not only increases our costs but it actually could be a very poor strategic move in case one of the other large countries in the world decided to take us out economically rather than militarily.  Can you spell C-H-I-N-A?

Three:  Streamline fuel blends.  Congress could end the mandates for so-called 'boutique fuels' such as that we burn in SE Wisconsin.  Those boutique fuels actually cost more and perform more poorly.  Then, when ethanol is added to that mix, the power production is further reduced and the cost to consumers is increased.

Four:  Don't rely on food for fuel.  Congress just passed an energy bill that quintupled the ethanol mandate.  The average grocery bill for Americans is reported to have risen by $70 per week in the last year as the result of the ethanol mandate.  Recall that I said a few days ago that Congress had played with the marketplace and had broken it?  This is an example of the dastardly 'unintended consequences' that we all know too well.

Five:  Stop stoking inflation.  The added impact of Federal Reserve actions to drastically reduce the interest rates has softened the dollar to the point that we pay far more for crude oil than other countries.  It takes more dollars than euros to buy a barrel of crude.  It takes more dollars than yen to buy a barrel of crude oil.

Rep. Ryan's final paragraph is an important one:

"The flaws and failures of Congress have done much to contribute to our current energy crisis.  There are concrete steps that Congress can take that will move us toward a coherent approach to a sustainable energy policy and put immediate downward pressure on energy prices.  The American people have rejected gas price pandering and finger-pointing; you deserve responsible leadership and must demand it." 

There are some moves going on today in Congress that need citizens' boosts.  An Ethanol reduction act is winding its way and has about twenty-four sponsors.  If you and I put enough pressure on our elected officials, we can make a difference and get some of these things moving more rapidly.  If you and I demand that our presidential candidates 'get real' about these issues, we can cause some movement.

On the other hand, if we expect the other person to do the heavy lifting, then we'll get what we deserve.  Each of us is but a small voice.  But we all know what a choir of a hundred small voices sounds like.  We all know what the cheers of 50,000 small voices sounds like.  You can call, write and email your representatives.  And you can do it over and over again.  You can encourage friends and relatives who are represented by other officials to do the same.  This is called a 'grass roots' movement and many, many politicians find themselves in office today because of grass roots movements.

It may not seem to you that elected officials listen to you, but they do if they're intelligent.  They especially listen when they hear the same thing in differing words from many people.  The words don't need to be fancy.  They do need to be heartfelt  Our Congressional representative is Jim Sensenbrenner and he is one of the originators of the Ethanol reduction act that I mentioned earlier.  Tell him you're behind him, too.

Nearly all of us are bombarded with information tidbits from the time we awake until we retire at the end of our day.  We live in the world of 24 hour news cycles unlike our forefathers.  We have electronic access virtually no matter where we find ourselves.  We are truly the 'plugged in' generations...and I submit we may well be too 'plugged in'.

If you're old enough, you may remember Mad magazine and the caricature character who graced its cover...Alfred E. Neumann.  The caption that accompanied the picture was..."What?  Me Worry?"  This was published before we became so well connected, back when print was more the primary conveyance for information.  I sometimes think back to Alfred E. Neumann and wonder if he would've been the happiest person on earth today, or if he would've also succumbed to what I've chosen to call "Subliminal Self-Fulfillment".

Again, if you're old enough, the term 'brainwashing' may carry memories.  This was supposedly a technique of erasing certain memories and replacing those with new memories.  It often involved the steady bombardment of the senses over many months and years.  Prisoners of war returning from the Korean 'Conflict' (thank goodness it wasn't a real war) were sometimes thought to have been the victims of brainwashing.

You, me and most everyone else in our world are subjected to a steady stream of messages that cannot help but be absorbed by most of us.  For example, 'Global Warming' has become "fact" even without scientific evidence confirming the theory.  That has largely occurred as the result of constant hammering by the press and the rest of the disciples for that movement.  For example, we seem to have talked ourselves into an economic 'recession' even though it very closely resembles an economic 'slowdown'.  For example, we feel the need to reward people who made bad home-buying decisions by bailing out Wall Street bankers that knew better but also knew that Uncle Sam would most likely bail them out...and they were right.

We seem to now believe that 'ethanol' is the savior for our country's appetite for gasoline to power our vehicles even though it is costing us a tremendous increase in the cost of our food stocks as well as costing us in the decreasing 'miles per gallon' arena.  Even though this product is being subsidized by our tax dollars and mandates since none of us would likely be inclined to pay more for something that delivers less than we were accustomed to receiving.

On top of all this 'noise', we find ourselves in that cycle of presidential campaigning...and there can be absolutely nothing good achieved by the administration currently in office no matter the political party involved.  It seems that we no longer have three years 'off' in between presidential elections.  Almost as soon as the President is sworn in, the opposition mounts the proverbial loudspeakers on the trucks and begins parading up and down the streets in our neighborhoods with the 'gloom and doom' message they desire to have implanted on our collective psyche.

This is what I choose to label 'subliminal self-fulfillment'.  We have become like the sheep following the 'bellwether'.  We have become like Pavlov's dogs.  Are we now nearing the point where we give up thinking for ourselves and simply let whatever others will to happen because we simply don't want to be involved?

Have we neared the point of becoming a nation of Alfred E. Neumanns?  Have we crossed over the mid-point?

The Center on Wisconsin Strategy and the Wisconsin Council on Children & Families, both found in Madison, have released a report that reaches the startling conclusion you see in the headline above.

Wow!  What a surprise!  Further into the article in today's Journal Sentinel that discussed this amazing statistic, we find out that Wisconsin actually ranks quite well so far as this measurement is concerned...but apparently not well enough to make these groups comfortable.  The report shows that the gap in Wisconsin is actually smaller than on average across the country.  The report found that Wisconsin actually ranks 11th out of the 50 states in this regard, and that means the gap between top and bottom fifths of the population are lesser.

But, there are the usual suggestions made to 'correct' this terrible situation:

• Increase the minimum wage and then index it to inflation.
• Improve worker skills and education.
• Expand subsidized childcare and health care for low-income workers.
• 'Update' unemployment insurance.
• Make taxes 'more progressive'.

This 'minimum wage' canard is so old and tiresome but it just keeps coming back.  There are positions in the workforce that do not command more than the current minimum wage.  Every time the minimum wage is increased, it displaces workers at the bottom end of society because the jobs simply go away. The majority of minimum wage jobs are held on a part-time basis by students and homemakers, and not be sole bread winners.

Improving worker skills and education is a noble undertaking, it is one that we are engaged in already, and it speaks to the need to get MPS working since it seems intent on not graduating 53% of its students thus relegating them to those minimum wage jobs and/or welfare programs (except that you have to read for many of those, so I guess that is out).

I don't know where the people have been who built this study, but every time we turn around, we are expanding childcare and health care for low-income workers.  Look at BadgerCare and BadgerCare Plus.  Listen to the radio commercials begging people to come in to sign up for welfare programs.

Apparently unemployment insurance should be 'updated' (read increased) so the people who are unable to hold jobs get more money until the benefit runs out.  Maybe a better tax climate in our wonderful state would prompt the creation of more jobs and remove the increasing need for the unemployment insurance program 'update'.

Finally, the ultimate liberal solution for every ill to be found in society:  let's take more money away (tax increases) from 'the rich' and give it to the poor.  This class warfare shot is being heard all too often in the current presidential campaign, and it fails to define just who the 'rich' are; be careful middle class; you may be rich.  We don't need to resort to the use of this class warfare tactic in Wisconsin.  In case the 'ruling class' hasn't figured it out, our taxes are already too progressive.

These studies drive me nuts (as is plainly seen from this Blog).  Lower our taxes as Texas has done for its citizens and employers, and watch what happens to unemployment, etc.

What a surprise.  The rich get richer faster than the poor.  The real surprise is that liberals have yet to figure out how cause and effect function in this equation!

Our politicians are dancing along merrily plotting to see just how they can use your money and mine to reward less-than-desirable behavior.  They have forgotten, if ever they knew, that when we reward bad behavior, we get more bad behavior.  On the other hand, if we permit some kind of 'pain' to follow poor decisions, we tend to see modified behavior.

What has this to do with the sub-prime mortgage debacle?  Plenty!

First, our government swooped in to help save the mortgage bankers that had encouraged this irrational activity given the lax oversight of federal agencies.  And, it continues down that same path.  What lesson will be learned from this?  Simple: we can continue to do stupid things with money because the government will bail us out just like always.

Second, the politicians fell all over themselves to earn 'points' (also known as votes) from the people who had over-extended and gotten themselves into this mess voluntarily.

What will be learned when a couple earning less than necessary to support the payments, is 'given' a mortgage loan using the adjustable rate feature in spite of credit scoring?  And who, when the rates went up, were given a 'pass' on the deal?  The lesson being taken away when there is no 'pain' associated with the decision is this:  it's okay to do things like this because the government won't let us hurt ourselves!

The answer is that each of us has to pay the price for our decisions.  If we are not forced to pay a price, we will repeat the same behavior or worse.  We can all remember that 'little urchin' in the neighborhood who could do no wrong in the eyes of his or her parents.  They were the worst little kids in the neighborhood.  We can probably each remember how we 'got away' with something, and we can likely remember just how that experience tempted us to continue doing whatever it was that we had 'gotten away with'.

Why is it that politicians think the way too many of them do in these situations?  Because, if they can succeed in getting the majority to think like this, they will have achieved their goal.  What is that goal?  The goal is to get the majority to believe that without big government involved in every decision we take in our daily lives, even if we hurt ourselves, it doesn't matter; it doesn't matter because big government is there looking out for our best interests. 

This is a decidedly liberal point of view.  We don't often hear conservatives espousing this kind of action.  The solution to this 'slippery slope' mentality seems obvious to me: elect conservatives and re-elect other conservatives if the first group loses sight of reality from having been in office in Germantown, West Bend, Madison or Washington for too many terms.  This is how we influence the direction of our community, our county. our state and our country in a representative form of government!

Our ignoring such problems is how the politicians who want the 'nanny' state to evolve past the tipping point get that to happen.  And it will happen at the rate our country is moving down that pathway.  Once it happens, there will be no turning back.

Back in my Blog of January 23rd, I tried to work through the choice of the person of conservative bent whom I would favor with my vote during our primary elections.  I had, at that point, devolved to Mitt Romney as 'my candidate'.  Then, Mitt determined that he wouldn't make the cut and removed himself from the fray.  He was statesmanlike, and, I believe, was placing party and country above self.  That's part of what attracted me to him, and still is.

So now, I watch 'liquid snow' and have realized that I no longer have a decision to make.  My three choices are Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee and John McCain.

I realize I am offending some of the most rabid political backers alive today when I say that Ron Paul is still a loose cannon and that I cannot vote for him.  (I saw a fixed wing airplane towing a Ron Paul banner yesterday over the Milwaukee area.  That struck me as strange since there were no large outdoor gatherings to attract viewers.)  There are some values that he espouses in the Libertarian mode that have appeal to me, but I simply do not believe that he is the right person with the right values to lead us today.

I believe that Mike Huckabee is also not right for our country today.  He has no real chance and yet he persists in continuing to run because he is able to do it 'on the cheap' and because he either thinks he'll be a player in a 'brokered' nomination, has a shot at the 'Veep' slot or is simply creating name recognition for his follow-up race in four or eight years.  He seems to me to be in the race for himself and not for the country.  I do not yet see the 'statesman' who recognizes that he is, at best, a spoiler, and therefore removes himself from the race to help the party coalesce around the obvious candidate.

The 'obvious candidate' is John McCain as much as I wish it might be Fred Thompson or Mitt Romney.  I cannot bring myself to vote for Hillary to try to somehow stem the Obama tide.  Either of the candidates on the other ticket frighten me; it is simply a matter of degrees of frightfulness.

I still have misgivings about McCain, but he is the only choice for me on the critical issue of freedom.  He will continue to be the tough fiscal conservative, and Lord knows we need that today.  I would like a tougher stance on the issue of illegal immigrants already in the country, but that has to take a back seat to our country's safety.  I would like for him to not have co-sponsored 'McCain Feingold', but he did.  I would like a more controlled temper, but I'll have to presume that he'll have solid advisors with whom he'll take counsel before making major decisions.

How he will fare against Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama remains to be seen.  I suspect that he might have a better chance against Hillary than Barack, but I'm not in the position to make that decision, so I'll just have to take my chances.

This has been a difficult decision-making process and I'm almost grateful that the final decision was made for me.

I had the 'pleasure' of meeting with one of Congressman Obey's staff members, Paul Carver, on Super Tuesday in the Congressman's absence.  Obey is the Congressman who represents Wausau and the surrounding area, and who is the 'Big Dog' so far as appropriations go in the new world controlled by the Democrats.  Congressman Obey has the reputation of a 'pit bull' and it appears that he hires in his own image.  The staff person, Paul Carver, is a native of England and had an attitude that was apparent from the very moment he walked out of his area and stated that ours weren't the names he had been expecting.  We had the pleasure of Mr. Carver's presence since the House of Representatives isn't in session this week.  I have no idea if the Congressman would've been more hospitable, less hospitable or about the same.

We were representing the National Association of Health Underwriters, a well-respected association in Washington,D.C.  NAHU represents 20,000 insurance agents and brokers who collectively handle the health care insurance coverage for some 150 million citizens.  We wanted to discuss the legislation that we expect which will affect health insurance for every citizen of the United States.

Mr. Carver proceeded to rant about how great socialized medicine was, how rotten insurance companies were, and berated us when we said we hadn't watched the so-called 'documentary' Sicko that had been advanced by Michael Moore.  Then he decided it would be more fun if he elicited comments from us that he could flame.  As we each became aware that this man was all about bullying and had no interest in learning anything, since he obviously knew everything, we ended our meeting as graciously as was possible.

During the rant, however, he did say that he believed in socialized health care for the United States, just like that in his old home, England.  We tried to offer information for his consideration, but he had no interest.  It was as if he were saying, "Don't confuse me with facts because my mind is made up."  He based much of his argument on the Michael Moore 'documentary' "Sicko".  He 'knew' that Cuba had better health care than the U.S., as did England, the Netherlands, Canada and a few other countries that flew out in his diatribe too quickly to be noted.

This is but one example of the 'ruling elite' that populate our nation's capitol.  The concept of these people being employed by we voters is simply a concept so foreign as to be laughable from their perspectives.  In defense of most of the 'staffers', they are well-educated, courteous and only too happy to meet with any citizens.  Some, unfortunately, are like Paul Carver.  I hope he is a citizen, but I don't know that for sure.  It certainly seemed that he'd be much happier back in his homeland of England.

We went to Washington. D.C., the capitol of our country, to meet with and discuss health care with our elected representatives.  We were not well-received by Mr. Carver who represented Congressman Obey.  We were actually treated with a rudeness that I've not experienced since my encounter with a former Congressman from the South Side of Milwaukee whose name was Jerry.

These are the Democrats, the very officials who supposedly represent the 'underdog'.  They turn my stomach.  They don't represent, so much as they misrepresent, the down-trodden.  So long as they are able to maintain their personal positions of power, it seems they're very satisfied.  And, we electors seem so gullible that we continue to re-elect these elitists.

Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner has been outspoken in his opposition to the tax rebate checks being proposed.  He voted against the bill that passed in the House of Representatives.

He has been speaking out on radio as well as in a Small Business Times Blog that appeared yesterday.  His position is that there should be no checks sent for several reasons:

• First, the checks, if finally issued, will not hit the pockets of recipients until late-May to June, long after the impact in the marketplace would be desireable.
• Second, past rebates of this nature have been proved to have had little beneficial impact on the economy since the bulk of the money didn't find its way into the economy.
• Third, some $10 Billion of the total amount would be sent to those who paid little or no taxes in the first place.

Sensenbrenner's position, instead, is that we could get a much bigger 'bang for the buck' if the IRS would simply forgive withholding from our paychecks for a month or two.  The value to the economy would be felt immediately, the money would be going to those who pay taxes in a proportionate way, and the government wouldn't have to borrow money to use to cover the checks that would be mailed.

Former Gov. Dreyfus was faced with a similar situation early in his term and ended state withholding for a period of time.  That did have a beneficial impact on the state's economy at the time.

Of course, there are some reasons why this won't happen:

• Uncle can't afford to have taxpayers realize just how much is being held out of their paychecks, because they could face a taxpayer uprising as the result.
• Liberals can't permit this because they are interested in redistributing income to continue to attract the votes of those who'll get money back without having paid much if anything in.
• And, liberals cannot stand the thought that 'the rich' would ever get a break.  Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) was quoted as saying a few days ago that this thought "makes me want to gag."

Thanks for standing up on this and the immigration issue Jim!  You may be a little lonely, but you're right!

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?

We are apparently going to have a 'tax rebate' program that will send some $150 Billion into the economy in the May-June timeframe.

People who didn't pay taxes but had at least $3,000 of earned income will qualify for a rebate check.  People who had up to $75,000 of earned income will qualify.  People who had earned income of about $87,000 and up will receive nothing.  The higher income people will actually be paying taxes so that lower income people can get money back from the government.

Our tax codes have been changed over the years and are now at the point where they are as much, or more, social engineering tools as they are tax code.  Money is constantly taken from those who earn it and is given to those who don't earn it.

So, what is so bad about this tax rebate other than that it is redistributing income?  It will do very little for the stimulation of the economy.

The tax breaks that are supposed to be a part of this package will do far more to stimulate the economy than the rebate checks.  Businesses will seize this opportunity to expand, to add equipment and to hire more employees.  That is what stimulates the economy.

Time and again, we have seen how tax decreases have spurred the economy to the point that tax collections have increased.  Similarly, we have seen tax increases backfire and cause tax collections to diminish.  We are likely seeing that in Wisconsin as this is written.

If the politicians who can't seem to help themselves feel this nagging urge to pander to their constituents, wouldn't you think they'd have learned that they'll have more money to toss around if they reduce taxes?  I certainly do not mean to condone this massive giveaway, but we seem unable to elect enough people of the right cut to push this mentality into the minority.

So, if we can't make that happen, then at least we should expect that the politicians who want to create money giveaway programs would learn the simple lesson that less taxes means more tax collection.  What is so difficult about that concept?

For the first time that I can recall, there does not seem to be a clear stand-out in the Presidential primary races over whom a conservative can be excited.  True, there have been those over whom we got excited and elected, and we were disappointed.  But, this time around, I am having real difficulty coming to a conclusion.

Fred Thompson came and went.  His delay at the onset followed by the lackluster performance after he entered the race pretty well assured he wouldn't be a viable contender.  Too bad, because I thought his positions were closer to mine than those of anyone else.

Rudy Giuliani has a lot of warts and baggage.  His "Florida or bust" campaign tactic is 'iffy'.  He, at least, is not trying to hide his beliefs, but I would have problems voting for him knowing what he stands for on those social issues.  His fiscal position is closer to mine than most others.

John McCain is, from my perspective, a liberal on most every issue but is tough on defense, is a true war hero and hopes that'll gather the conservative vote.  His alignment with Sen. Feingold to thwart free-speech sixty days prior to every election with the McCain Feingold bill soured me on him.  That simply gave us the '529' animals that George Soros loves.  I do not like his illegal immigrant position.  And, he is a real son-of-a-gun so far as his temper and attitude.

Gov. Huckabee is just too liberal based on his record in Arkansas despite his protestations to the contrary.  He is both socially and fiscally liberal.  He has also seemingly ridden the 'evangelical' horse about as far as that is likely to take him.

Ron Paul is a Libertarian and, while some of those ideas are appealing, he is simply a loose cannon who does far less damage in Congress than would be the case if he were President.  I would have to hold my nose and vote if the selection came down to Hillary/Obama or Ron Paul.

So I have ended with Mitt Romney remaining, and that seems to be where I'm putting my hopes.  He has changed his mind on the abortion issue and that is very important to me.  He has explained how and why that came about.  I can accept that revised position.  He is conservative except for the Massachusetts Connector health program he pushed through.  That uses private insurers but it is a government-driven program that is already showing signs of failure.  He has done some great things in business so I think he understands the economy as well as anyone.  And, he almost single-handedly bailed the Utah Winter Olympics out of the mess that existed when he took over against odds that no one would've felt could be overcome.

The remaining question is whether or not our Wisconsin primary elections will count for anything on either side of the aisle.  With the heavily front-loaded primary system in place this time around, that is a very real question.  That troubles me a lot.  I wonder if we should, as a nation, have a national primary that is held on the same day all across the country?  And, I wonder if it is healthy to have absentee ballots available so far ahead of actual elections as is the case today in some states?

Logon and give us all your comments.  Maybe you can change an opinion or two.

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!

As we've all known for some time would occur, a couple of significant mergers, for us at least, have now been made complete.

Aurora and Advanced Health Care are now one entity.  And, ProHealth Care and Medical Associates are now one.  We've heard and read the assurances but we all know that things will change.  If things were not going to change, then why would each of the two acquirers have acquired?

First, duplication, if any, will be eliminated.  And there is almost always duplication.  People will lose their jobs.  Payroll services, for example will probably be consolidated.  Second, patient flow, the primary driver for both acquirers, will ultimately be affected.  We all will be subjected to the changing scene called health care.  Our doctors may practice in different buildings, we may be admitted to different hospitals, and our employers' health plans (if we're still fortunate enough to have one of those) may not include all the providers they have in the past.

We still have the remaining major hospital groups that have been in negotiations for some time.  The word is that these deals will mature in the not-too-distant future and that they are pending the approval of the Archbishop since catholic healthcare would be merging with non-catholic healthcare.  There are some obvious wrinkles in such a deal that would need to be smoothed sufficiently so as to permit that coming together.

Another key will be what Synergy determines its future will be as it makes its way to January 31st, the date by which it has stated it will decide from amongst the three or so proposals they've received from interested acquirers.  Many of the doctors in that equation have categorically stated that they want no part of Aurora.  Had they not opposed the deal, I suspect that Synergy would already be owned by Aurora.  And, maybe, Aurora has submitted a sweetened deal that will be more appealing to the doctors.  We have no way of knowing, but the one thing we do know is this: Aurora should never ever be discounted as a deal-maker.  They've made more deals and built more buildings over the past few years than all the others combined.

Our predictions for 2008 and beyond are beginning to prove out.  You'll recall that one of those predictions was an increase in the overall cost of healthcare traceable directly to this vertical integration and the resulting building boom.  I'd love to be proved wrong, but I'm really skeptical that cost will not be driven upward as the direct result.

The key in all this is massing sufficient patient populations so as to be a major player.  It is the patient (and the politician), after all, that creates the bills...and the employers, the insurers, the taxpayers, etc. who pay those bills.  If we follow the patient, we're also following the money!