Curmudgeon's Corner

I received an email from a regular reader this morning asking me what my opinion was concerning the announcement that the elementary school bond issue will be back on the November ballot.  He forced me to give thought to something I had managed to push from my mind for about a week, but that hiatus is over.

First, let me say that I think the district has had a poor public relations week.  The announcement that the bond issue, apparently unchanged, is expected to be on the ballot in November was probably awkward enough.  Then, we learn of the expected budget deficit for the current year, and we learn that the proposed budget will require a property tax increase if approved as explained.

I've not engaged anyone from the district on the subject of the reappearance of the bond issue, and have had no contact regarding budget shortfalls.

There was some analysis done as the result of the spring election where the bond issue was defeated.  That apparently showed some interesting results when reviewed area by area.  Remember that the Germantown School District encompasses more than simply the Village of Germantown.  The most recent election apparently showed results indicating that some non-village areas were quite opposed while the village proper was more evenly split, or at least that is my recollection.

My supposition, and it is only that, is this:  November will see a significantly higher turn-out of voters.  The district may have reasoned that this will be a 'fairer' review of the proposal and it may have reasoned that the outlying non-village areas' votes might be outweighed by greater village turn-out, desiring to take its chances on that populations' decision this time around.

Beyond this, the budget deficit is understandable given the economic conditions we're experiencing.  Energy and food costs are up significantly and those are the primary areas identified as the 'culprits' in the budget shortfall.  The fact that preliminary budget numbers for the next period are reflecting the need for greater revenue is not surprising on its face.  The amount of the deficit and the amount of the need for the next period will be of more interest.  The tactics employed by the school board and the district administration in meeting these issues will be very informative.  We are in a superintendent 'lame duck' position and the new person selected will have had little, if any, substantial input by the time hiring decisions have been taken.

I must say that I'm disappointed with this confluence of events.  I don't know what, if any, press releases may have been issued on the bond issue decision.  If there were such releases, there is little indication of that fact since the news was simply dropped in our laps without forewarning or preparation for receipt of the news.  Then, to see the news about the current and prospective budgets pop up within days, citizens were subjected to what in our small world is tantamount to a 'media blitz'.

I fear that some significant damage has been done to the district's credibility on both issues whether or not deserved.  Those opposed to the bond issue have a ready-made counter offensive dropped into their laps.  Those who favored the bond issue have been embarrassed, self included.

All the old bromides about school boards being more interested in buildings than students, etc., etc. will be front and center during the election season.  And, frankly, the district has brought that unto itself whether through arrogance or ignorance or simple mishandling.

SynergyHealth made its decision to go with the proposal from Progressive Health (Froedtert & Community Health and Columbia St. Mary's) as I had predicted a couple of months earlier.  It isn't that I'm such a great predictor.  This was the most logical decision that could've been taken given the circumstances that existed.

This means that there is a new alliance that will encompass much of the northern two-thirds of the greater Milwaukee market including portions of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties.  Doctors in the West Bend Clinic were firmly opposed to becoming a part of the Aurora system.  Aurora worked for the better part of a year to try to convince the SynergyHealth group that it was their best choice.

In the end, Aurora pulled its proposals from the table when it became obvious they were not going to prevail (better to pull out than be beaten).

So, what does this mean for those of us in the West Bend/Jackson/Hartford/Germantown/Menomonee Falls area?  It means that we continue to have a choice in our healthcare system.  It means there are now essentially three systems serving our marketplace: ProHealth based in Waukesha (Medical Associates), Aurora (Advanced Healthcare) and Froedtert & Community.  Our community-based hospitals are given a new opportunity to maintain and grow their service offerings.  We will be able to take advantage of some of the best healthcare in the United States.

What will it cost us?  That remains to be seen.  Aurora is rapidly increasing its presence with new buildings and new hospitals.  Many of those are, in my opinion, unnecessary duplications that mean we're being 'over built'.  Decades ago, a Certificate of Need had to be completed and approved by state officials before a new healthcare facility could be built.  That was known as CON in 'governmentese'.  Since that law was repealed, the only things really necessary are local approvals and the ability to finance the project.

Examples would be the new Aurora complex being built in the Town of Summit between ProHealth's hospitals in Waukesha and Oconomowoc, and the new Grafton location being built less than ten miles away from a new Columbia St. Mary's facility.  The debt service is large and that means that rates may have to be increased to support the needs that were created by building.

Obviously, the remaining healthcare players are fighting for their continued existence.  But we healthcare consumers pay the price for those battles, so we have to remain aware and we need to become much better buyers of healthcare.  Too many people are blaming insurance companies for high health insurance costs when the real problem is the high cost of health care.  These kinds of building campaigns do nothing but hurt us more in my opinion. 

One of Germantown's commercial success stories has to be the company known as Cambridge Major Laboratories.  Its CEO is Michael Major and his company has been over-achieving since its founding by Major in 1999.  This company, now international in scope, is on the top of the wave of pharmaceutical company outsourcing.  The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel business section discusses the firm and its new expansion plans today.

The ground breaking ceremony will occur on June 5th and will feature a distinguished guest as the result of another Germantown resident's outreach.  Washington County Supervisor Peter Sorce issued an invitation to Governor Doyle asking that he attend this ceremony and has received confirmation from the Governor's office that the Governor will make the trip to Germantown to be present when ground is officially broken for the new Cambridge Major plant expansion.  Sorce has been active in and around Germantown having served as a Village Trustee and now as a County Supervisor.

We are well-served, in my opinion, by Pete Sorce's presence and his representation.  I may not always agree with his position, but I do recognize that he has Germantown's and Washington County's best interests at heart.

It appears that the Assembly and Senate have reached sufficient agreement to bring a budget repair bill to a vote later this week.

Word available indicates that there may have been a few actual budget reductions while the bulk of the heavy lifting is being done on the back of money being pulled from the transportation fund and money being pulled from the 'rainy day' fund.

Additional tactics reportedly include pushing some school funding into the next budget period and adding some additional taxes that were overlooked before this.

The long and short is that we'll be borrowing more money to replace the tax collection shortfall that will be used for transportation expenses.  Some cookies have been included that don't seem to have anything to do with the budget dilemma so those must've been payment for votes promised by some of the politicians.

We will be looking at the same set of issues next budget at this rate since we're not fixing the problems by reducing expenditures.  Except those issues will very likely have bigger teeth.  Our elected officials are being asked to vote in favor of a deal that pins its hopes on an improved economy by the next time the 'problem' pops up on radar screens.

What will it take to get actual budget reductions approved?  Apparently more people in office with the fortitude to stand up against the tax and spend crowd that sits in far too many chairs today.

Moms are very special people.  I speak from the authoritative positions of a son and of a father and grandfather, and of a husband.  I think often of my mother.  I remember her caring for me and about me.  She was not a perfect person, and I 'm sure she didn't know all the things about parenting that moms do today, but she was my mother and she always will occupy that place in my world.

I saw my wife raise our children.  She was always there for them.  I can't lay claim to the same thing.  I wore a military uniform and I worked to support a family.  Those things meant that I wasn't always there for my children...but I knew that my wife, their mother, was and that was my way of justifying my not being around as much as I would've liked or as much as my wife would've liked.

She worked hard too but somehow always found the time to be a mom.  That is, I believe, a big part of what makes a mom so special.  She was the person who made sacrifices for her children when their father was not so inclined or felt he was unable to do so.  Her children knew that even if dad wasn't home, they could rely on their mother to be there.

My generation had more 'stay at home' moms than the generation of today does.  In fact, moms who worked outside the home, except for farm moms, were the minority in my generation.  That has been turned upside down since and the reverse is certainly true today.  Both mom and dad need to work today to support their families.  Day care centers were unheard of in my generation, but are the norm today.  There are more step-moms today then ever before, as well.  While they do not have the very same maternal bond, they too share the mom and child bonds that develop from everyday life, from the trials and tribulations, from all the smiles and hugs and kisses.

Will the children of today feel a difference?  I hope not and I don't think so.  Kids of today already have formed that bond between themselves and mom.  In some instances, they were deprived of mom's time and attention...and even in those cases, I think there is a connection that will continue throughout their lives.

I have been blessed in my memories of my mother, my childrens' mother and in being able to watch our kids and grandkids grow up and in knowing how they feel about mom.  

This is a special thank you to all the moms and Gammas and Nanas.  Where would we dads and kids and grandkids be without you?  In the case of mom, we wouldn't be at all...and I hope we don't permit 'science' to intrude on this blessed relationship that is God's gift.

I was very surprised to learn that Rep. Sue Jeskewitz had announced that she would not be a candidate for the 24th District seat in the Assembly this fall.  She will have served for 12 years, is 66 (although she doesn't look more than 55) and apparently has just decided it is time to stay home.  She is part of a 'political' family, so I know this decision could not have been taken lightly.

Some of her positions caused me angst as readers know.  I have heard others refer to her as a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and there have been those times when I felt that way as various issues came up and decisions were made.  I am obviously more conservative than she has been.  I understood that and still made visits to her offices in Madison whenever I was part of a lobbying group.  She and her staff were always very considerate although it is difficult to tell what the true position of virtually any politician is by simply visiting their office and chatting on talking points for 5 to 10 minutes.

There are probably several people out today with nomination papers seeking signatures that will enable them to run.  There may be some behind the scenes activity that has already led to a 'chosen one' on the Republican side.  I am not privy to any of that information.  There are certainly those in the Democrat party that are working feverishly to secure the best possible candidate since this seat had been quite safe for Rep. Jeskewitz.

I do hope that we will be given a candidate for whom we can vote that is decidedly conservative.  The Assembly must stay Republican if we conservatives are to have any hope of keeping the state on something even remotely resembling the straight and narrow we would prefer.  Can you imagine the damage that would've been done in the past couple of sessions if both the Senate and the Assembly had been under Democrat control with Governor "taxalot" in office?

That title to an opinion piece in this morning's Wall Street Journal caught my eye as it did yours.  The complete piece can be found on the Wall Street Journal website's public opinion page if you want to read it.

This piece traces the rise and fall of the Clinton machine within the Democratic party.  That rise and fall encompasses more than a decade of our country's history and includes discussion of things such as the technique of 'triangulation' that was used to occupy all sides of particular issues, the blaming of their own foibles and shortcomings on the Republican 'attack machine'.  It discusses the lost billing records, the cattle futures, the illegal foreign fund raising, the definition of the word "is", Paula Jones, and the Lincoln bedroom.  And, it reminded me of the pardons that President Clinton issued in his last days in office.  Those were so bad that even Representative Barney Frank (D) who had been a staunch defender of the President called them a "betrayal" and "contemptuous".

David Geffen, a major Hollywood Democratic contributor and king-maker was recently quoted saying, about the Clintons' ability to lie, "everybody in politics lies", but the Clintons "do it with such ease, it's troubling".  What a damning statement.

This reminded me of all that we've lived with and through when it comes to the Clinton family since their rise to national politics from their start with Arkansas politics.  It also presented the trouble that the Democratic party has today in trying to convince Hillary to just give it up and go away as a presidential candidate.

All this is happening because a rising star named Obama has arrived on the scene.  The Democrats seem to have found their next Clinton.  That he has virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve as our President seems to matter little, if at all.  He is a gifted orator and his populist message seems to be getting the job done.  'So be it' seems the Democrat chant.  Get the office and then we can worry about how he governs and leads.

So it appears that the Democratic party is in the process of more than a separation from the Clintons...but...they've been counted out before and have, so far, managed to return each time.  Maybe it is a bit too soon to count them out.  Hillary has very likely planned to run again in 2012 if Obama loses to McCain this year.  She'll still have a 'bloody pulpit' in the Senate from which to rebuild whatever she has lost in the current campaign.

But, what an amazing thing this has been to see the story of this past decade plus laid out so vividly to the detriment of the Clintons

Most accounts I read today show Wisconsin as one of the undecided and pivotal states so far as the November presidential election is concerned.  Supposedly we are part of the undecided group of states that includes Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, etc. that stretch across the upper middle west (or rust belt, as some are prone to calling us).

What does that mean for us and what will it do to us?

First, it means that television and radio stations will sell a lot of time and newspapers will get a bit healthier by selling a ton of space.  That means that we will be unable to avoid politics unless we join a badger and crawl into a hole in the ground.  And that isn't a sure thing either!

Second, it means that people will probably see the ugly, despicable 'cheese head' image, will probably be reminded of Laverne and Shirley, and will probably see the Fonz!  We will have a whole new opportunity to live all those things down as we interact with people outside this vaunted 'fly over' country.

Third, it means that turn-out will most likely be monstrous.  That means that, without voter photo ID, we'll have more than our usual share of voter fraud.  That means that, if Obama manages to hold off Hillary as it seems he will, we will see a very large number of younger citizens at the polling places.  They could make the difference in the presidential race.  They'll be choosing between the elder icon who represents some distant event in American history that has been vilified in every school tome they've read and virtually every discussion they've endured inside the hallowed halls of academia, and the charismatic, very well spoken communicator.  Hope will be their driving force while experience may not be a consideration or might be thought to be a detriment.

That also means that we'll be inundated by 'outsiders' who will descend upon us like locusts trying to cause us to vote one way or another.  It means that we'll see the race issue whether or not there is a race issue.  The issue/non-issue will be debated ad nauseum, and it will be almost impossible to ignore, ugly as it is.

And it could well sway the outcomes of other races.  If the race for our state senate seat is at all close, the expected massive turn-out could swing that one way or the other.  If Obama pulls the anticipated numbers of younger voters, does that auger better for Senator Darling or for Rep. Wasserman?  I have no idea, but I do suspect there will be some impact.

So, back to the original question...Are We Ready For November? 

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.

It was reported a week ago that the school board had interviewed the desired applicants and narrowed the field to three 'finalists'.  Sources indicate that while three of the six who were interviewed were to be invited for a follow-up interview, none were labeled as 'finalists' at this point contrary to press reports.

Seventeen people responded with indications of interest in the position being vacated by Victor Rossetti on June 30th.  A handful were or had been superintendents and the balance were principals and/or human resource directors who were seeking the position as their next step up the leadership ladder.

Some on the board are concerned with the relatively small level of respondents for this position and wonder why that was the case.  Reports indicate that there are more open positions than qualified candidates across Wisconsin.  Was it due to the fact that the Germantown district does not pay as much as other districts?  Was it due to the recent vote on a new elementary school building initiative?  Is it due to the size of the district?  Is there something else at work that caused such a small initial response?

Given the fact that there were few sitting or experienced superintendents seeking our position, are we now faced with finding the best candidate without that level of initial experience and bringing her or him into the district?  Will the citizens support that approach or will they demand that Germantown keep interviewing until it finds an experienced and willing candidate who has no negative baggage.

If you were a member of the board and were faced with this open position, what do you think is most important?  Would you be willing to seek out the best candidate without actual experience?  Would you be willing to "take a chance" on a candidate that seems to have everything but experience?  Would you be looking for that next Jennifer Semmann or would you be content with the best of the lot that appears available to you?  Would you broaden the search if possible?

Please share your thoughts.  This is a very important position and the person selected will participate in shaping our community's future.

The State Senate seat held by incumbent Alberta Darling will be on the November 2008 election ballot.  Sen. Darling is a Republican and has held the seat for years.  Her opponent in this race is a current member of the Assembly, Sheldon Wasserman, a Democrat.  Both live in the North Shore area of the Senate district.  Rep. Wasserman is a physician who continues to practice as his Assembly schedule permits.  This race will be the end of a current career; either Sen. Darling will retire from the Senate or Rep. Wasserman will retire from the Assembly depending upon which of them wins this race.

Several questions have been posed to each and, now that we have the answers to those initial questions, this series can begin.  I encourage comments, even from the candidates if they choose, and welcome questions that readers might wish had been posed.  Questions can be emailed to the address above or they can be presented through the comments section beneath the Blogs.

The first question is this:

Where do you stand on the issue of voter photo identification and why?

Wasserman:  I do not support requiring voters to show IDs at the polls.  Although it sounds like a good idea at first, it will do absolutely nothing to combat intentional voter fraud.  Counterfeit driver's licenses and state IDs are incredibly easy to get - we have a liquor store in our district that displays all of its fake IDs.  Anyone who wants to commit voter fraud will not be deterred, but many people who do not have an ID or can't find it on Election Day will be deterred.

23 percent of people in Wisconsin over the age of 65 do not have a driver's license or a state photo ID.  I am not in favor of legislation that would disenfranchise so many of our state's senior citizens.  Furthermore, under Wisconsin law you do not need to present an ID to request an absentee ballot, and the bill would not have changed that.  Again, those individuals wanting to commit voter fraud would have been left with an easy way around the photo ID requirement.

Darling: I support voter photo identification.  When fraudulent votes are counted, legal votes are stolen.  The recently-released Milwaukee Police report that documented the major voting irregularities in 2004 suggests voter photo ID would cut down on election fraud.  Merely asking that a voter prove prove he is who he claims to be is not unreasonable.

I have voted in favor of requiring voters in Wisconsin to show photo ID every time this question has come before the state legislature.  Each time I voted in support of this common sense proposal to protect the integrity of the ballot box, my opponent voted against voter photo ID.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The second question, posed before the recent election and answered by one candidate before and the other after that election, is:

What is your position regarding the so called "Frankenstein Veto" power currently available to the Governor?

Darling:  The "Frankenstein Veto" refers to the Governor's power to cut words and numbers out of bills (like the budget) and then stitch the remaining fragments together into some new language that never passed the legislature.  This is an unfair power that the Governor has used to increase government spending.

I have voted in favor of eliminating the Governor's overly-broad Frankenstein Veto authority.  My opponent voted to allow the Governor to make up new laws and raise taxes and spending as he wishes.  

Wasserman:  For far too long politicians on both sides of the aisle treated the Governor's broad veto power as a political football, quietly supporting the veto when the Governor was a member of the other party.  In past sessions I used my vote to register opposition to insincere and hypocritical attempts to use this issue to score political points.  I was happy to have the opportunity to vote in favor of ending the 'Frankenstein Veto" earlier this year and happier still when the voters approved it in the spring election.

I received a telephone call from Katie Prown late Friday afternoon.  I know...I had no idea who she was either.  But, she advised me that she was calling on behalf of Rep. Wasserman and virtually pleaded for me to permit him to participate in the 'debate' with Sen. Darling.  She apologized for him, said he had been so busy knocking on doors (up to something like 12,905 now), had received such great acceptance....blah, blah blah.  He was obviously too busy to call me himself...or too embarrassed if that is possible for a politician.

She indicated that she is his newly hired campaign manager.  Her email said, "I can assure you that you will receive prompt and timely responses in the future" and I wondered how she could assure me that he would change since she had just assumed her role, but that is for another day.  I told her that I was very disappointed in his performance to this point and that, if I relented, this would be the absolute last time there would be any slack cut for Rep. Wasserman.

She did precede the call with her email to which was attached the responses that I've sought for the past months.  I have her email address and her telephone numbers.  So, we're going to try this one more time.  The series will kick off early this coming week and I hope it will prove informative.

I decided to 'give the guy a break' since a one-person 'debate' isn't terribly stimulating for readers.

You may have heard or read of the Carnegie Mellon University Professor Randy Pausch and his 'last lecture'.  He is a 47 year-old man who has pancreatic cancer and is dying.  His family consists of his wife and three children ages 6, 3 and 1.

His last lecture was delivered in September of last year and has been viewed by millions on the Internet.  This was his approach to saying goodbye.

The Weekend Wall Street Journal for today carried an article written by Jeffrey Zaslow that was very well done, and the actual lecture is available for viewing at thelastlecture.com if you're interested.

It seems as though there is a 'playbook' in the Governor's desk drawer that covers various things that might go awry and gives ready-made responses for each issue.  In the realm of taxes and the 'threat' he may not see as much revenue as he wanted, the standard response must be this:  "Warn of local cutbacks if the legislature doesn't act soon".

That page must be really 'dog-eared' by this time.  It has been thumbed very often over the Governor's term in office.  And it got used again yesterday.

Local governments and school districts were warned yesterday that their payments from the state could be delayed due to a cash crunch at the state level.  Horrors!  Next it'll probably be little old ladies that will be forced to re-use yarn in their Senior Programs (no offense intended to either little old ladies or senior programs).

Why can't state government cut its spending?  Novel idea, I know, but let's give it a shot.  There just has to be enough in the 'earmark' area to cover a big chunk of this deficit.  Let's get to work now to rescind those expenditures in the current budget.  Maybe we can quit wasting funding on IT projects that seem destined to failure from the time the ink dries on the deal.  The Governor is great at shifting money from one pocket to another (witness the transportation fund).  Isn't there another fund lying about that can be drained?  Or have we worked our way through all those 'honey pots'? 

The state's Budget Director, Dave Schmiedicke, dared to suggest that any delays in payments would be short-term and that localities and school districts could borrow money to bridge any gap.  I will await the news that the budget director resigned 'for personal reasons' and is being replaced by the Governor.  That was a bold statement that seems to fly in the face of the Governor's playbook.

Two things must come from all this:  The Budget Repair Bill and the Great Lakes Water Compact MUST be kept separate and distinct from one and other, and the Hospital Tax must not be approved.

There is only one place that taxes come from in the final analysis; taxes come from you and me.  People pay taxes, not companies earning 'obscene' profits, not hospitals, and not oil companies.  Every tax comes straight from the pockets of those who consume.  The other immutable point to remember is that governments do not 'earn' any money.  Every penny a government has is a penny confiscated from its citizenry. 

I have mentioned the fact that we wanted to give the two candidates for state senator the opportunity to discuss the issues in a 'back and forth' Blog to be published on a regular basis.  We invited both candidates to participate and received the green light from Senator Darling almost immediately.  This actually happened late last year. 

Numerous efforts were made to contact Representative Wasserman and I finally talked with him as he walked up my front sidewalk in November on a Sunday afternoon following a Packer game.  I mentioned that I had made several efforts to contact him and he said I might have needed to use a different email address.  I copied that down, and he agreed to become part of the 'debate'.  We shook hands on that agreement and I thanked him for making the commitment.

I was, by the way, very careful to advise both Sen. Darling and Rep. Wasserman that I would not take a position of favoring one over the other so as to keep this debate from being made partisan by me.  My political persuasion is quite apparent to readers at any rate.

Since that time, I have reached out to Rep. Wasserman in numerous attempts to gather the answers to the initial questions posed to both he and Sen. Darling.  This has literally gone on over months.  I received an email a few weeks ago saying that he had emailed me but I must not have received it.  He emailed later to say that he couldn't open the link I sent that would've given him the questions.  I copied the questions and re-sent those to him a few weeks ago at the email address he used in the prior email to me.  I am reminded of the famous movie quote:  "What we have here is a failure to communicate."

Long story short: I have heard nothing further from Rep. Wasserman.  I can only conclude that he has decided not to participate after all this time and effort, and that is certainly his prerogative. If he wishes to make comments to any of the ensuing Blogs, he can certainly do so by logging on to make his 'comments'.  We accept his obvious, if tacit, decision and we're moving on.

We will go forward to present the candidates' positions on critical issues based on their voting records on similar issues, campaign statements, etc.  Sen. Darling has long ago answered the initial questions posed, so we will begin to present those this coming week and will do periodic Blogs thereafter on various issues.  Since this will be a lot more interesting if there is good reader give and take involved, I invite all of you to participate if you feel so inclined by posting comments or follow-up questions on each Blog.

The 'Disturbing News' Blog posted on April 24th discussed the newspaper article that highlighted Trustee Langer's resignation as Campaign Finance Director for President Kempinski.  Since that time, I have reviewed the campaign finance reports for both individuals.

Copies of the 'resignation' letter written by Trustee Langer dated April 10th and the 'acknowledgement' letter written by President Kempinski dated April 12th were found in the respective folders.  Mr. Langer refers to "many changes on the forms that were turned in and have numerous changes to them that I have no knowledge of" as his reason for the resignation.  Mr. Kempinski responded in his acknowledgment letter by indicating his surprise that this happened a year after the election (for Village President), referred to the "minor amendment" that "had to be made because you did not fill the form out properly" and his statement that "What is most surprising is your failed memory in regards to your making those many changes you have referred to".  Kempinski went on, in his letter, to say that "the forms were filled out by you and signed by you".

There were two specific changes that had been made and that were acknowledged in the margins of the report.  One was noted as an "improper donation" which could mean that it was done using a corporate check rather than a personal check, for example.  The other was to a union fund that had exceeded the maximum amount permitted at that time by $50.

Of more interest were the half-dozen or more that were obliterated by the use of what I would call 'white out fluid'.  Those items are no longer legible and there are no indications present that I could see which would describe the changes made and the reasons for the changes.  The totals on the report were also changed with the use of the 'white out fluid' and there is no indication I saw as to what those changes entailed.  I have to assume that the totals were corrected to reflect the two visible changes as well as the other non-visible changes.

There is probably never going to be an answer to this puzzlement, but it all, once again, leaves me wondering what and why?

Back on March 25th, we discussed the first story that centered on the Wellness Committee within the Germantown employee ranks.  The committee was about to make a request for up to $20,000 to be used in a wellness program for village employees.  This proposal was sent back by the General Government and Finance Committee at that time for more work by the group.  I had mentioned at the time that there seemed little enthusiasm for a $20,000 expenditure but that the committee had been encouraged to formulate more detailed plans and return.

That return visit is scheduled for tonight according to a Journal Sentinel article this morning.  That article stated that the committee will be returning with a proposal for the expenditure of $14,495 this year on wellness activities.  The key here will be the plan of action that they present.

Wellness programs can be very good for employees and their dependents if managed correctly.  Many private sector employers use them and have had good results.  Among the keys is that employees have to be engaged.  They have to be challenged.  Some private sector employers have used incentives to get the employee's buy-in.  The incentives are legal if put together correctly.

In other instances, smaller groups have managed to create sound wellness programs with the expenditure of relatively few dollars.  By few dollars, I am talking about a few hundred dollars that is leveraged using the resources already available within the community.  Many wellness programs have begun on a smaller scale and then expanded as ideas were proved to work.

Other wellness programs see the gradual decline of participation by employees.  That seems to happen when the programs become old and stale; when there are no new ideas or approaches being developed year after year.

And, it is very important that wellness programs are available to dependents of the village employees.  Dependents typically outnumber employees especially in a more mature workforce such as seems evident in Germantown.

Finally, negotiated agreements may need to be revisited should the village decide to proceed with a wellness program.

I hope that we do not see blanket approval without some in-depth study and analysis.  These programs can be good or bad; they are never guaranteed to work.

In the final analysis, the purposes of wellness programs also include a return on investment.  What will the investment of $14,495 this year do, if anything, to reduce costs in the health care programs next year or in the next five years?  Who has put the plan together?  Are they qualified to do so?  If a professional group, does it have a track record that can be reviewed by the Board before moving ahead?

I received several emails that provided some additional information and thoughts on the subject of the intersection at Mequon and Wausaukee Roads at the very east edge of the village.

Trustee Wolter was kind enough to send an email covering a meeting held at the Germantown Library on Thursday afternoon, April 24th.  The City of Mequon and Village of Germantown were represented, Senator Darling and Representatives Ott and Jeskewitz attended and several Department of Transportation representatives were present.

The topic was the intersection in question and DOT was seeking a 'compromise' for the signalization of the intersection.  The plan that was in process of implementation at that time was for two straight through lanes, dedicated left turn lanes with islands, and dedicated right turn lanes on Mequon with a single straight through lane traveling north and south on Wausaukee Road.

City of Mequon officials thought this was 'overkill' since they consider the area to be rural, and their planning supports that it will remain rural in their eyes.  They preferred the roundabout solution and were pushing for that as the outcome of this meeting.  Germantown officials wanted the intersection to stay as the DOT had designed and based this on the increased traffic due to Waste Management trucks and the increase in auto traffic east and west during weekday commute periods.  They also foresaw an increase in traffic as building in TIF 4 increased.  The DOT was looking out 20 years so far as design and capacity.

The 'compromise' that came from this meeting was this: a single straight through lane east and west on Mequon along with dedicated left hand and right hand turn lanes while Wausaukee stayed as designed with a single lane in both directions.  The provision was that something might need to be rebuilt if traffic projections were to be reached in the next ten years.

Conversations I have had indicate that some are concerned about the village being required to pick up the future cost while the DOT is now paying 100% of the costs for the construction.  Others have voiced the opinion that a roundabout was their preference, as well, and cited the thought that we may have been able to forego all construction if enforcement were to be stepped up in that area.  Still others questioned the need for any change suggesting that there were single digit accidents per year from their observations.

So, there is apparently a compromise in place. Maybe this will stay in place since all the 'official' parties were at this table.  As is customary, some of the 'unofficial' parties will continue to disagree.  That is among the reasons we hold elections every few years.

We are experiencing a significant increase in costs for two 'staples' in our lives, food and fuel.  Rice purchases are being limited in some stores because people have begun to hoard this basic food item.  Gasoline and diesel fuel are both at all time highs and are moving higher.  Grocery costs are escalating rapidly.

How is it that this can be happening?  What is driving this rapid cost escalation?  Is it the Republicans having been in office for the past seven plus years?  Will a Democrat president change all this?

We are seeing the results of years of marketplace interference.  Our government (both parties are guilty) has created the gasoline and diesel fuel situation through its stubborn refusal to approve the construction of new refining capacity and through its equally stubborn refusal to permit drilling for oil where there are known fields that could take care of our needs for many decades to come.

We are seeing the result of farm programs that cause farmers to do things that are encouraged by financial incentives.  We are seeing the results of corporate farm programs that reward the very wealthy people who own large pieces of land.  We're seeing the result of legislation that favors the ADMs of the world.  We are seeing the results of political interference in the areas of 'bio-fuels' (ethanol) that have begun consuming bigger and bigger amounts of corn, which has caused the prices of other substitute grains to rise accordingly.

Ethanol is a very poor fuel additive.  It does not burn as efficiently, it is difficult to carry over distances, it has a government subsidy that is just being reduced to $.45 cents per gallon from the original $.51 per gallon.  So, we put one of our basic food stocks into our gas tank because of government meddling and wonder why we're seeing the food and fuel price increases that we're seeing.  We get poorer mileage, pay more for the gas that gives us that poorer mileage and we wouldn't buy the ethanol-laced gasoline if it were priced at its true market price.

Our food costs are rising due to supply and demand.  Substitute grains cause flour prices to escalate.  There is a shortage of soy products due to the move from soy beans to corn because the price of corn has been artificially manipulated.  Fuel costs affect the cost of food transportation.  Livestock is being fed with more and more expensive grains.

Beyond all this in our own country, we have seen the economies of both India and China expand at significant rates.  That has made them able to be larger consumers of the things we're paying more for today.  More people in India and China have automobiles, more can afford to buy clothing made from synthetic materials that are produced from fossil fuels, and both countries have tens of millions of newly empowered consumers.

The long and short, from my perspective is this:  politicians have played around with the marketplace and they broke it; the movement to force 'green' into our lives has cost us refining capacity and crude oil to refine if we had the capacity; we're burning 'food' in our cars that is driving up the cost of edible food from a raw materials perspective and a transportation perspective.

This will not be a problem we solve overnight.  Refineries require nearly a decade to build...if they were able to gain approval from the politicians who don't want more refineries.  We import crude oil when we could be drilling and extracting it from our own fields.  We import gasoline because of the lack of refinery capacity.  People are trying to hoard basic food stuff because they fear where all this is going.

And finally, we are in the midst of a presidential campaign and I don't believe I've heard one peep out of any of the candidates about this issue.  They must see this as a net losing subject or they'd be all over it with their promises to resolve the 'crisis'.  They'd certainly not get the votes from agricultural states.  They'd not get the huge contributions that flow to them because groups think they're going to favor the members of those groups.

How will this issue get resolved if we cannot even include it in the presidential campaign discussions?  How will this issue get resolved if the economic drivers created by Congress continue to exist as they currently do?  They are all too eager to side with those who 'know' that global warming is upon us.  They are only too happy to jump aboard the Al Gore bandwagon even though his 'research' has never been proved out in the scientific community.

I am tired of the disingenuousness of way too many of our politicians, from both parties, who are in office because it is a nice cushy job with great 'perks'.  I'm tired of those politicians who sit in a handful of staged hearings and emerge as the expert on any given issue.

And, I'm tired of ethanol in my fuel that raises the cost and reduces the mileage rate.  And, I'm tired of seeing our grocery bills climb weekly when I know that it is caused by artificially-induced government policies.  And, I wonder if I'm alone?

The intersection of Wausaukee and Mequon Roads has been accident prone for some time with the increased traffic loads that have developed.  The state Department of Transportation had originally indicated that it intended to place a 'round-about' at this intersection to slow traffic and control the flow through the intersection.  Seemingly the fact that this involved a state highway with relatively high speeds hadn't crossed the state's institutional mind.  Long story short, a couple of Germantown people who are no longer in office worked diligently to get this intended action changed and succeeded.

The state recently announced that a traffic light intersection would be created at that location and that the state would fully fund the work with the proviso that Germantown maintain the intersection.  Part of this intersection is in Ozaukee County and Mequon.

It seems that Mequon has made a 'stink' with very little in the way of rational reason, and this has apparently caused the state to threaten to renege on its written intention earlier provided to Germantown.  This situation has degenerated to the point where the 'round-about' solution was back on the table, and the ultimate outcome is very much in doubt.  In the meantime, accidents continue to occur and will continue to occur until something is done to eliminate the danger.

If you have strong feelings about this, it is the time to voice those to your elected representatives who serve in Madison.   When the state makes a decision and then rescinds that decision, someone somewhere must've done some tail-twisting.  You might also want to let your Trustees and Village President know just how strongly you feel about this so they can add the weight of your comments to their own.  The appropriate addresses are to found on the Village website link that is located at the very bottom of the GermantownNOW site you're on now.