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By Kevin Fischer
Thursday, May 22 2008, 05:52 PM
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Here are the topics this week on InterCHANGE on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, Friday night at 6:30, Sunday morning at 11:00:
1– Milwaukee Crime / Chief Flynn.
Mayor Tom Barrett and Police Chief Edward Flynn will announce proudly that crime in nearly all categories fell in the first three months of the year here. Chief Flynn is also expected to say that crime in Milwaukee is simply not as bad as people think it is, and that the perception is much worse than reality. I’ve been told he is also soon expected to announce in the not too distant future a major restructuring of the department. Is crime down because Chief Edward Flynn was the right guy for the job, or is crime down because it snowed like hell all of January, February, and March? Is it way too early too tell if the approach that Flynn is taking is working? Is Flynn as visible as he should be?
2 – Oil Prices.
With the continually climbing price per barrel of oil, are we about to see some major changes in our lifestyles? As demand for oil from China and India increases, will there be enough for the United States? Will gasoline become a luxury here? Will this force a change to allow more drilling and refineries in the United States? Is it fair to rip American oil companies for such high profits when they actually supply just a small percentage of the oil we need? Is it fair for the oil companies to sell the oil they produce here to other nations that are willing to pay the highest price? Will this dramatically change the face of the auto industry? Of the airline industry? Will mass transit become the travel mode of choice for commuters, even in a city like Milwaukee? Is this just a temporary spike in prices? Will we just get used to paying higher prices? Is a big part of the reason that prices are so high because of the taxes we pay here in Wisconsin, and the mandate that we use expensive to produce reformulated gas in this part of the state?
3– Obama vs. McCain.
So it looks like it will be Obama vs McCain fighting it out for the next six months? Will Obama mania carry over to the general election? Will the young people who are so enamored with him turn out in such force to offset the always guaranteed turn out of older Americans? What will the battle focus on? The economy? Experience? The War in Iraq? Age and health? Will it make much difference who each candidate selects as a running mate?
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By Kevin Fischer
Thursday, Nov 29 2007, 05:30 PM
Here are the topics my fellow panelists and I discuss Friday night on InterCHANGE at 6:30 on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10 (repeated Sunday morning at 11:00).
1 – Jude Cops.
On the same day that Milwaukee’s new police chief comes to town for an introductory visit, three of the main cops involved in the beating of Frank Jude get sentenced in a federal courtroom. Is this the end of an era? Is the worst chapter in the history of the Milwaukee Police Department over? Will Ed Flynn be able to clean up the Milwaukee Police Department? Does it still need cleaning, or was former Chief Nan Heggerty efficient went it came to weeding out the bad cops? Are the sentences fair? Is 17 years for Bartlett and 15 years for Masarik punishment enough?
2 – Cable vs. Satellite vs. NFL/Big Ten.
Packer fans and some of the media are crying about the fact that many folks outside of the Milwaukee and Green Bay areas won’t get to see the Packer game tonight because of the ongoing fight between the large cable companies, and the NFL Network (the cable companies are also fighting with the Big Ten Network). The NFL Network wants to be offered as a “basic” cable channel, but the cable operators want to be able to charge extra for it, by including it in a higher cost sports tier. Who is right and who is wrong? Who will win this fight? Is this a classic case of supply and demand, with both entities wanting to make as much money as possible? Is this another step towards all major sporting events becoming “pay per view” like boxing matches are? Can the sporting entities do without cable? Satellite? Over-the-air TV?
3 – Smoking.
Minnesota has already gone all “No Smoking in Public Places Including Bars and Restaurants” and Illinois will go that way as of January 1st. New York did it a long time ago. Will Wisconsin eventually go that way as well? If so, when? Why hasn’t it happened already? Is the tavern lobby really that strong? Are we seeing the gradual move towards making all tobacco use illegal? Is that a good thing?
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By Kevin Fischer
Friday, Oct 26 2007, 05:59 AM
Here are the UPDATED topics my colleagues and I discuss tonight on InterCHANGE on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10 at 6:30 (repeat Sunday morning at 11:00):
1- Doyle signs budget
Governor Doyle vetoes the part of the budget which would have limited how much local municipalities could raise property taxes levies. He also vetoes the part of the budget which would have limited how much technical colleges could raise in requested property tax money. Did he double-cross legislators who wanted those controls? Did he disappoint taxpayers?
2 - Police report
Interesting how a report/study that suggests Milwaukee's Police Department needs more civilian employees to take the place of sworn officers is released the day after the public has the opportunity to question the candidates. It's pretty obvious that the person selected for the job will be the one who agrees with the Mayor, and with the suggestions that the city might not need as many sworn officers as some had thought. Good idea, or bad idea?
3 – School Choice.
Even some of the staunchest supporters of school choice are now admitting that it is not working exactly as it was intended, and exactly as had been hoped it would work. Is that any reason to scale back the program, or should we continue to go ahead and try to expand it? Is it not working because many families are even more dysfunctional than school choice supporters had realized? Is it working at all? Has school choice forced public schools to improve? Looking at the number of people taking part, is it a choice that parents have embraced?
4 – Cigarette Tax.Wisconsin will move into the mid-tier of states when the state tax on cigarettes goes from the current $0.77 per pack to $1.77 per pack. Combined with the federal tax of $0.39 per pack, that makes the tax alone on a pack of cigarettes here $2.16, not including the state and local sales taxes. Is that too high? Not high enough? When will it stop? Should Milwaukee look into enacting a cigarette tax? Some communities (see chart above) also charge county and local municipality specific taxes on a pack of cigarettes as well (e.g. Chicago Tax: $0.68 + Cook County Tax $2.00 + Illinois Tax $0.98 + Fed Tax $0.39 = $4.02 tax on a pack of cigarettes in the City of Chicago.) Is it justifiable because it’s a tax on a product that is addicting? On a product that kills? Because the majority of people don’t smoke? It is, after all, a legal product. So is gasoline, and we tax that like crazy as well. Are we moving towards becoming a smoke-free society?
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By Kevin Fischer
Thursday, Oct 18 2007, 10:16 PM
Here are the topics I’ll discuss with my co-panelists on InterCHANGE at 6:30 Friday night on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10 (repeat Sunday morning at 11:00):
1 – Presidential Candidates. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both raised twice as much money as the leading republican candidates this summer, and they still have three times as much on hand left to spend as the republican candidates do. Why are Clinton and Obama so much more able to shake the money tree than Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney are? Are the democrats just that much more excited about their candidates than the republicans are about theirs? Will this all change once the republicans have a nominee?
2 – Kids & Birth Control. A middle school in Portland, Maine has decided that it will begin dispensing prescription birth control (the patch, the pill, morning after pill, etc.) to the kids (Grades 6, 7, 8) who ask for it. They’ve been dispensing condoms since 2000. If the parents sign a form that indicates their children can be treated by the school nurse, those kids could then request confidential prescription birth control. Is this unthinkable, or is it something more schools should do? Is this too young for kids to even think that sex and/or birth control is an option, or is it just facing up to reality?
3 – Milwaukee Chief. Will Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett select an insider or an outsider for the job of police chief? It’s getting down to the wire. Is the guy from Springfield, Massachusetts the favorite? Why was he added at the last minute? Should he be the favorite? Is it important that the next chief be a minority? Does it matter if it is a male or a female? An African-American, Hispanic, Caucasian?
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By Kevin Fischer
Sunday, Oct 14 2007, 06:16 PM
At the end of each InterCHANGE, the pundit panel roundtable discussion program I’m a guest on every week on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, columnist Rick Horowitz offers a commentary. Horowitz (a good guy but extremely liberal) usually bashes the President or rants on another lefty perspective for two minutes, then host Dan Jones says goodnight, and the closing credits roll.
The panel, or at least its conservative members, never gets the opportunity to respond to Horowitz’s preposterous statements.
Imagine if the situation was reversed, and a conservative got two minutes of uncontested, unchallenged air-time every week. The libs would be apoplectic.
On this week’s edition, Horowitz pulled an oldie but not a goodie from the liberal playbook: the same old tired lament about guns.
In a liberal’s mind, it’s never the rotten, evil person who pulled the trigger to commit violence who is to blame. No, the problem is the inanimate object.
Horowitz said in his commentary that,”Every gunman is a potential mass murderer.”
That is outrageously false, absurd, and insulting to the millions of law-abiding decent citizens who exercise their constitutional rights by owning guns.
It reminds me of a similarly ridiculous comment made after former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight told Connie Chung during an interview, "If rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it.” As offensive as Knight’s comment was, so was a feminist’s response that, “Every man is a potential rapist.”
Or, if he owns a gun, a potential mass murderer if you ask Rick Horowitz.
Just a few days ago, I blogged about one teacher’s crusade to be allowed to carry a gun in school.
I believe that momentum for this idea, considered crazy if one only applies a knee-jerk reaction, will slowly start to build.
Author and talk show host Doug Giles just wrote a column on this very topic. Giles writes:
As far as I’m concerned, a responsible and trained teacher should ab-so-frickin’-lutely be able to carry on campus. And none of this “concealed weapons” crap. I’m talking about visibly carrying their piece on their hip. And not just one but two massive nickel-plated S&W Model 29 .44 magnums with 7 1/2 inch barrels with bandoliers thrown around their shoulders, and next to their juicy apple and pencil jar on their desk they should have a mounted .50 cal. machine gun. You know…“just in case.”
Here’s his entire column.
The criminals already have and will always be able to get their hands on guns. Let’s even up the odds and give innocent, law-abiding citizens a fighting chance.
Because guns don’t kill people. Really bad people with guns do.
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By Kevin Fischer
Thursday, Oct 11 2007, 06:04 PM
Friday morning I fill in for Jay Weber on Newstalk 1130 WISN from 8-10 am. WISN Program Director Jerry Bott fills in for Jay from 6-8 am.
On Friday night on InterCHANGE on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10 at 6:30, these are the topics my co-panelists and I discuss:
1 – Miller/Coors.
Will this be a good combination for one of Milwaukee’s oldest companies? The Miller / Coors combination may mean just one place for a corporate headquarters. They say the decision hasn’t been made. If it comes down to Denver or Milwaukee, who will get it? The new top exec is a Coors guy? Coors is a non-union brewer? What about taxes, crime, condition of the plant, weather, livability, ability to attract corporate talent, culture, schools, airport, etc? Does it look good for Milwaukee? 800 corporate jobs are at stake here. Should the city be doing something right now to persuade them to locate here?
2 – Crandon.
As is always the case after these tragedies, many are wondering if this could have been prevented. Should even small town departments do psychological screening before they give a cop a gun? Why do you think there were so many calls placed to 9-1-1 before there was a response? How has the media reporting been?
3 – Dave Schulz.
Was Dave Schulz a good Milwaukee County Executive? Was he truly not cut out for politics, or exactly the kind of politician we need today? Was it his ego or his intellect which alienated so many people?
4 – Brewers/Torre.
If the Yankees let Joe Torre go, should the Brewers make him their new manager? Or, do we stick with Ned Yost? Or, do we go for someone else, like a Dusty Baker, or Tony La Russa, or a Don Mattingly? Or, after 30 some lucrative sell-out games at Miller Park, would you be inclined to leave everything as it presently is, and hope for yet another financially successful season next year?
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