Curmudgeon's Corner

Issue advertising, such as that utilized most recently by the group Germantown Citizens United, is legal.  This is very apparent as we watch the state Supreme Court race unfold, as I mentioned earlier in this series.

It has been established that issue advertising, by what I'll call 'shadow groups' since these groups do not disclose the names of their contributors, is legal.  But, is it ethical?  In my opinion, shadow groups' advertisements are not ethical in the true sense of that word.  This is not to say that those they oppose nor those they may favor are unethical.  I'm not trying to make that leap. 

That having been said, I am disappointed when candidates do not attempt to distance themselves, although I do realize that some do and are disingenuous in those efforts.  Candidates would counter this argument by saying that they weren't named in any of the issue advertising.  In many instances that is accurate.  However, in a race with two contestants where one is castigated for previous or current positions, how can you not connect the dots and come up with the answer that the candidate unnamed was actually intended to be favored by the advertisement?  Just because that is legal does not make it right in my admittedly naive world view.

If one or a group believes so strongly in a position, why then must that person or group use this technique of hiding behind the law when it pushes a position.  There is a reason that keeps coming to mind for me; they don't want to be associated with the position or advertisement they are paying for, they just want the results it is intended to achieve.  That is, in and of itself, disingenuous in my world.

So, what am I going to do about all this?  I'm going to vote exactly the way I was going to vote before these things appeared in our community.  I had done my homework and made my decisions.  I hope that you have also done your homework and made your decisions.  And I really hope that you vote the way you had intended before these pieces found their way to your mailbox or telephone message system.

In my 'perfect' world, the contributors who hide behind the skirts of this admittedly legal effort would see their hopes dashed and be forced to admit their money was wasted.  Only if that occurs often enough will we ever be rid of such tactics..if then.

I must confess something here and now:  I never would've believed I could be so naive as to think that politics in Germantown was different than politics everywhere else.  How wrong it appears that I was.

Earlier this year I heard rumors of a recall plan that would see Charlie Hargan again running for the President's seat that he lost to Tom Kempinski.  I pooh-poohed that since it sounded like the fairly typical sour grapes after a significant election change.  Now I read comments to my last Blog that use the "sour grapes" term, and I see Charlie Hargan responding that "what goes around comes around".  Charlie does not appear to be as mild-mannered as I thought.

I wrote of the postcard I received, and yesterday I received a telephone 'robo-call' telling me very much the same thing the postcard told me.  This takes a lot more money than simply having some brochures printed and folded, and having some signs made that can be stuck in the ground.  We're talking some 'serious' money for a village the size of Germantown with its former reputation as the quiet little community just north of Menomonee Falls.

And then, a look at the Campaign Finance Reports for the Committee to Elect Peter Sorce began to shed more light.  The Treasurer of that Committee is Charlie Hargan.  The reports he prepared and signed show campaign contributions totaling over $2,500 through March 27th.  And, it shows the sources of those contributions.  It shows what some of the other commenters wrote after my last Blog.  There are people associated in one way or another with the Asset Development organization.  That is, of course, the organization that prevailed 5-4 in its effort to have the Village of Germantown use its borrowing abilities to secure favorable rates on some $2.6 million of bond money.  There are law firms and individuals with some from the following locations: Rosenberg, WI; Milwaukee, WI; Delafield, WI; Mequon, WI; Franklin, WI; West Bend, WI; Waukesha, WI; Nashotah, WI.

It is difficult to comprehend that someone from Rosenberg would make contributions to a trustee running for re-election in Germantown without some reason.  The same, in my opinion, goes for the rest of the folks with the exception of one or two who have business interests in our community.

What goes around comes around.  This smacks of the kind of politics I thought would bypass Germantown for a long time to come.  That shows my naiveté', I guess.

Will this spur more good citizens to run for various community seats or will it have a chilling effect?  I suspect it will have a chilling effect to the detriment of our community. 

Will this kind of thing escalate election after election as it seems to elsewhere?  I suspect the answer is yes, it will...again to the detriment of our community.

By the way, if I have any of my suppositions incorrect as I was accused of following my last Blog, I certainly welcome the facts that will correct my erroneous supposition(s).

I received a postcard yesterday telling me much that someone thought was wrong with Mel Ewert, one of the gentlemen who represent me as Trustees on the Village Board.  My first thought was that this was one of those relatively new creatures in politics that don't have to divulge their funding sources and which can publish advertisements against candidates.

That is bad enough in my opinion since anyone has the right to make their beliefs known, but to do so behind the 'skirts' of an anonymous organization makes this much, much worse.  Laws permit such advertising and we've seen a ton of it in the state Supreme Court race.

In a companion article on GermantownNow, I note that the village has reported this activity to the state Election Board as coming from an unregistered entity.  This complaint discussed the fact that regulations require such registration if the organization in question spends more than $25.00.

I understand that several versions of this card were sent.  I received the one decrying Mel Ewert while others involved Dean Wolter, Bill Steitz and Anita Hilleman.  Some were against candidates and others were for candidates.  Mr. Ewert was cited as referring to the recent vote on funding for a developer that was approved by the Village Board.  Those current trustees that were targeted were either castigated or praised based upon how each had voted on that bonding issue.  A vote in favor carried praise for the candidates that supported the action.  I was frankly concerned with the quote attributed to Anita Hilleman who supposedly stated that she was please to receive the support.  I imagine that was before she knew what appears to be behind this activity, and I would hope she will modify her apparent position on the subject now that the 'shadiness' seems to have been exposed.

The organization is shown as 'Germantown Citizens United' and its address is listed as N116 W21040 Brynwood Lane in Germantown.  I've not tried to determine the name of the resident at that address; I'm sure that others are about to or will soon make that known.

I certainly hope that this will not prove to have been that one thing that pushed Germantown politics over the edge and into the gutter.

An organization that has been very active in the push for national health care is at it again.  Families USA recently provided a series of Press Releases that heralded the number of deaths per state that could be blamed on a lack of health insurance.  Wisconsin's estimate was 250 deaths per year.  This is the same group that was instrumental in 'creating' 47 million uninsured people in the United States.  That has been repeated often enough so as to have become thought of as a "fact".  The real numbers are closer to 10 million as I've discussed before, but bigger numbers help raise awareness faster.  So let us not be constrained by facts.  Let us simply create the facts we desire.

Rep. Steve Kagen (D), congressional representative from the Appleton area, couldn't help but jump on this latest bandwagon just as he had jumped aboard the first.  He participated in a teleconference on this subject and opined that there were between 59,000 and 89,000 uninsured in his district.  I have no idea of how he came to this conclusion; and, it is possible that he has no idea how he reached that conclusion either. 

Families USA has apparently decided that there will be greater impact on people if they now begin to tell us how many people died due to lack of health insurance coverage, rather than to continue to harp about the mythical 47 million any longer.  So, they adopted the study by the Urban Institute done last year that estimated 22,000 people die each year because they lack health insurance.  A health care economist has described this estimate as a "statistical guess".  From this "statistical guess" they extrapolated the "fact" that this equated to 250 deaths in Wisconsin.  And just today we saw the report that Wisconsin ranked second nationally in health care quality.  That just doesn't square with this "statistical guess" scare tactic.

As for 'real' facts, there is an even more interesting study, published by the Hospital Infection group (at www.hospitalinfection.org)  that I would've thought Dr. Kagen could see fit to get behind sooner:

Hospital infections cause five times the deaths attributed to lack of health insurance, and the majority of states keep the rates of deaths by infection per hospital secret.  And that could be prevented in most part. 

Now there's a real cause for the Doctor/Congressman.

The title and the following are virtually-exact reproductions of the Wall Street Journal's editorial from Monday, March 24th.  One error was corrected; the editorial discussed a "5-4" majority when in fact, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is comprised of seven justices, so a majority would be "4-3".

"When Wisconsin voters go to the polls this April Fool's day, the state Supreme Court may realize the joke's on them.  After four years of judicial activism, one of the court's most liberal members, Justice Louis Butler, is up for re-election - and voters get to send a message about what they expect from their judges.

The last time Badger State voters had a chance to vote on Justice Butler, in 2000, the then-Milwaukee County Municipal Judge lost by nearly 2-1 to then-state Supreme Court Justice Diane Sykes.  But when a seat opened up on the high court in 2004 with the elevation of Justice Sykes to the federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Democratic Governor Jim Doyle appointed Judge Butler to the slot.

Liberals suddenly enjoyed a 4-3 majority on the court, and it swung sharply to the left.  The court systematically dismantled the state's tort reform laws, eliminating caps on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice rulings.  In another case, the court made Wisconsin the only state to accept "collective liability" for manufacturers in cases involving lead paint.  Whether a company actually produced the paint became irrelevant to guilt or innocence.

Looking at the medical malpractice ruling, Judge Sykes noted in a speech that "the court's majority is making a political policy judgment, not a legal one".  Also noticing were members of the state's business community, which proceeded to finance an election challenge to Justice Butler.  Many have rallied around the strong challenge by Burnett County Judge Michael Gableman, a former state prosecutor.  In a campaign of dueling TV ads, opponents who often call Justice Butler, a former public defender, "Loophole Louis" have been criticizing his criminal jurisprudence.

But while the Butler campaign has howled about unfairness, the Wisconsin plaintiffs bar is pouring money into the race on his behalf.  In the current election cycle, more than $228,000 in contributions have come from the state's lawyers.- more than half of the campaign's total.  In a TV spot, groups supporting the liberal Justice are claiming that Judge Gableman's district is one of the pokiest in dealing with criminal cases.  They neglect to mention that this is because he's the only judge in the district, but you have to smile at the spectacle of liberal groups trying to save a liberal judge by calling his opponent soft on crime.

Refereeing all this is a supposedly bipartisan "watchdog" group known as the Wisconsin Judicial Campaign Integrity Committee, formed in December.  Chaired by Tom Basting, president of the Wisconsin Bar Association, the group claims to represent the interest of fair and impartial courts.  They want both candidates to sign a "Code of Judicial Conduct" campaign pledge, which Mr. Gableman has so far declined to do.

So who are these self-appointed guardians of fairness?  Of the committee's eight members, seven are Democrats - either political leaders or donors to Governor Doyle.  Three are reported to have ties to Justice Butler's campaign.  And in emails collected by the Wisconsin Club for Growth in February, committee members were quoted as calling Judge Gableman's campaign aides "mercenaries" and suggesting campaign strategies that might benefit Justice Butler.

Judicial elections aren't always enlightening, but they are a natural public reaction when courts usurp the power of legislatures.  They can also be a check on a legal elite who think they should dominate the bench.  Justice Butler picked this election fight when he and three colleagues decided, by judicial fiat, to make Wisconsin a national mecca for the trial bar."

This editorial certainly sums up the Wisconsin Supreme Court race and does so in a very compelling manner.

The morning Journal Sentinel carried a brief story about Germantown being in the process of considering the approval of a $20,000 employee wellness program.  The General Government & Finance Committee meets tonight at 7:00PM in the Village Hall Board Room and is scheduled to consider this as part of that agenda.

Wellness programs have been with us for some time now, and are quite common in the private sector.  Many are preceded by a Health Risk Assessment as is apparently the case here in Germantown.

I was under the impression that we had more than 46 employees, but that is the number given as those who participated.  If that is only a segment of the full number of employees, then I would have to assume that this Assessment was undertaken voluntarily.  Given the labor agreements in place, that might be understandable, but it tends to defeat the purpose of helping employees identify issues with their health.  And, it tends to defeat the purpose of trying to reduce our taxes through better control over health care expenditures.

I was surprised that some 80% of the 46 employees who did complete the Assessment were found in need of nutrition improvement, weight management, cancer risk reduction and fitness.  That seems a high percentage of a work force contrasted to what one would expect in the private sector.  This could be symptomatic of the fact that municipalities tend to have very low turn-over of employees once hired which would tend to provide for a higher average age in the group.  That speaks to the overall conclusions of municipal employees that they have a very good deal when employed in the public sector.

The idea that the village needs to pony up $20,000 to teach people how to cook or to encourage them to begin to take better care of themselves through smoking cessation or weight-management is counter to what one would expect in the private sector.  Private sector programs tend to offer rewards to those who take personal responsibility rather than to offer up money to pay for the classes necessary.  Health premium contributions might be reduced if one takes steps to improves his or her health risk.  The money involved on the part of the employer is typically the 'seed' money used to get the wellness programs launched thus helping over time to reduce the cost of health care within the group.  Maybe this article was written poorly; I don't know, but the inference is certainly disconcerting. 

I do not know how much, if anything, is contributed by village employees toward their health coverage.  That may also be part of the problem.  We tend to attach little worth to something we don't pay for or for which we pay relatively little.

That $20,000 amounts to some $540 for every employee who displayed health risks.  It does nothing to reward the few employees who were already taking better care of themselves.  Doesn't that seem to be sort of a reverse incentive?  Then again, if the employees are paying little or nothing for their health coverage, this would've helped to create the environment where one would have to think of paying someone to take better care of themselves.

Update: The General Government & Finance Committee approved further study of the village Wellness Committee's request for funding at its meeting last night.  The general concensus was that this seemed a good idea but without specifics, there was nothing of sufficient substance to compel anything other than a furtherance.  Discussion appeared to indicate that this committee was not favorably disposed to a $20,000 initial funding level, but might consider some lesser amount at a future time. 

The Wisconsin legislature has passed the language concerning the so called "Frankenstein Veto" that has been used by governors to cobble together words and letters and numbers from more than a single sentence.  This practice is permissible today and was used by Governor Doyle most recently to create something that hadn't been passed by the legislature. 

The actual language that we'll find on the ballot on Tuesday, April 1st was published in today's Journal Sentinel.  The question is stated thusly:

Should the Wisconsin Constitution "be amended to prohibit the governor, in exercising his or her partial veto authority, from creating a new sentence of two or more sentences of the enrolled bill?"

Your 'Yes' vote will remove the governors' authority to create language never intended nor approved by the legislature.  It will not preclude the governors from using their 'partial veto' authority so that they can still strike various items.

In the last two budgets, Governor Doyle made these changes, as described in the Journal Sentinel article, using the Frankenstein Veto:

• "In 2005, chopped some words and stitched together others in the Legislature's budget, moving $427 million from the transportation fund to public schools - a diversion the Legislature never approved."
• "In 2007, turned the 2% limit on property tax increases the Legislature imposed on counties and local governments into a 3.86% limit by striking language and stringing together remaining words."

Wisconsin's governor has the most powerful veto authority of any state in the nation, and it is obvious that this change needs to be made by we citizens.  We elect officials expecting them to approve legislation and giving the governor the right to use his or her veto pen to strike various things.  We do not expect that the governor should be able to craft his or her own legislation whether or not the legislature has taken any action.

I hope that you will cast a 'Yes' vote for the change in language on Tuesday, April 1st. 

Easter seems very early this year from a 'calendar' perspective, and apparently it is.  One look out the window would certainly suggest that it is quite early...or that Winter is quite extended...or both.

The last time Easter came this early on our calendars was in 1913.  Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox according to the lunar calendar which is used by the Hebrews to identify the Passover.  That explains why Easter moves around on our calendar, the Roman calendar.

The next time it will be this early will be in 2228. 

And, as if that isn't far enough into the future for you, the next time Easter will be earlier than this will be on March 22nd in the year 2285.

I hope for you a happy and blessed Easter, no matter how early or late it might seem.

Who are 'They'?

'They' are the Democrats in the state Senate.  'They' have just passed 'their' version of the state budget repair bill out of committee and it now faces a vote in the full Senate.  The full Senate has a majority of Democrats.  Do we even think there is a chance that the committee's version will not be passed.  No.  That is what we might call "a foregone conclusion".  I'd love to have to print a retraction of this Blog.  Go ahead Dems, make me eat these words!  Please!

So what is it that 'they' did this time?  Well, 'they' raised taxes again.  I know that probably comes as a huge surprise, but that's what 'they' did.  'They' pushed some obligations into the next budget period and 'they' took some money from other places, both of which the Republicans did, as well.  The difference is that the Republicans in the Assembly did not raise taxes.  The Democrats in the Senate are doing that.

Just what taxes are we looking at? 

The KRM commuter rail line is back in 'their' budget repair bill and that, for starters, raises rental car taxes by $2 in Kenosha County and by $15 in Racine and Milwaukee Counties.  Of course, the thought is that this only penalizes visitors.  'They' don't seem to understand that it could very well deter visitors and could figure in decisions by corporations that are considering whether or not to remain or build new facilities in this area.  'They' don't tell us that the long-term operational costs of the KRM commuter rail system will be with us forever.  'They' don't care about that or about us taxpayers.

'They' are increasing the taxes on businesses by some $130 Million in this budget period.  But 'they' say that is only "closing loopholes".  These "loopholes" involve the use of a concept called 'combined reporting' where corporations with operations in other states are required to combine all profits so that Wisconsin can tax everything.  What might this do?  Well, it might convince some corporations to cease doing business in Wisconsin.  Certainly the Wal-Marts of the world will not quit doing business here...but they will raise their prices here to cover the additional cost of these new taxes.  We saw that earlier this year when it became common knowledge that television sets, for example, cost less in Illinois Wal-Marts than in Wisconsin Wal-Marts due to our minimum mark-up laws.

And, 'they' are falling victim to the combined onslaught of the big city hospitals, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce, the Wisconsin Hospital Association and Governor Doyle and are raising taxes on all hospitals in Wisconsin by some $416 Million to get 'their' hands on more federal money.  This is apparently thought of as 'free' money but there couldn't be anything further from the truth.  The thrust here is this: the major hospitals have begged to be taxed more because that will result in the state getting more federal money for Medicaid costs and the state has promised the big hospitals a rate increase on Medicaid patients.  Never mind that these increased hospital fees are to be paid by us taxpayers and our health insurance premiums.  Never mind that the smaller hospitals in the state will suffer from the increased taxes because they will not see as many Medicaid patients and thus will not get the benefit of increased fees.  This is, by the way, a visible result of the vertical integration of health care systems, and it is only the beginning of the impact of that movement.

In the final analysis, either 'they' do not understand that all taxes are ultimately paid by us consumers...or 'they' do understand and 'they' just plain don't give a darn about us...the voters... who for some reason persist in re-electing Democrats.  And you and I both know that 'they' are fully aware that we pay the taxes. 

So, the simple deduction is this:  in spite of all 'their' rhetoric to the contrary, 'they' simply couldn't care less about you and me...so long as we're stupid enough to continue to vote for 'them'.  And, unfortunately, we continue to prove 'them' right; we are just as stupid as 'they' think...because 'they' stay in office and we pay ever more taxes! 

The New England Journal of Medicine, yesterday, published results of a study on prostate cancer and the various treatment regimens employed.  I selected this as today's topic since I'm a man, I've had friends who've died from the disease, I have friends who now have the disease, I'm in the target age group and fully one in six males will be diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men and the number two killer second only to lung cancer according to the American Cancer Society.  It is predicted that there will be some 186,000 diagnoses this year and some 28,700 deaths are expected from the disease.

The New England Journal of Medicine reported on the study of a group of 1,201 men and their partners after three kinds of treatment had been administered.  Those were: removal of the prostate; implantation of radioactive 'seeds'; and, radiation therapy.  Of the group who had received either radioactive 'seeds' or radiation therapy, one-third also took hormones.  The Journal was careful to note that the patients and doctors had made decisions independent of this study so the conclusions drawn were said to be suggestive rather than conclusive.

The conclusion drawn by the urologist who led this study, Dr. Martin Sanda of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, was this (as he was quoted saying): "Doctors or their patients should think twice if they're considering hormone therapy.  Most of the cancers treated nowadays are not really that aggressive."

The good news is that more than 99% of patients survive at least five years.  Thirty years ago, only about two-thirds survived that long.

This study showed that too much treatment can make a patient needlessly miserable. Complaints with hormone therapy centered on lack of sexual drive, problems with urination and bowel problems.

I remember very well my conversations with my friend John, of whom I've written before.  He was adamant that the quality of his life was more the issue than the length of his life.  He was encouraged to take hormone therapy and refused to do so after reading of the possible side effects.  He knew that was the right decision for him and maintained his quality of life until very near the end.

What lesson can we all draw from this?  I think the most important lesson is this:  Men should not avoid being examined for prostate enlargement and PSA counts for fear of what might be detected.  That is a very, very small price to pay for the peace of mind that flows for most of us as the result.  And, early detection is by far and away better for the patient because treatment can be begun before the cancer has grown too large to control.

The rule of thumb that I've always heard was that we men should begin to be examined for prostate issues at age 50.  My  feeling is that even earlier would be better.  My friend was diagnosed at about his age fifty and the cancer had already gotten a good start by that time.

Obama the speaker...

Barack Obama is among the very best speakers I've heard.  His delivery is excellent.  His turn of phrase is excellent.  His pace is perfect.  His audience contact is solid.  He appears genuine when he talks.

He will continue to out-speak his opponents no matter what happens or doesn't happen, and no matter whom he faces if he wins the Democrat nomination for President.

Obama the candidate...

Barack Obama, in my opinion, harmed his chances to become the Democrat nominee for President with his speech on race in America.  The speech was one in which he attempted to put the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's bombastic sermons behind him.  He contradicted himself by saying that he had heard these remarks while in the church, when he denied that very thing on the preceding Friday.  He talked about his grandmother whom he, essentially, described as a racist for her remarks while he was a child.

He tried to dismiss the rants of his pastor, and that doesn't appear to be working for him.  His poll numbers have slipped significantly since this 'issue' arose.  He stands the real chance of defeat in Pennsylvania.

His wife is a net drag on his campaign, and isn't likely to be muzzled.  Her speeches seem to reflect the anger that we've all heard in those sermon bits that have been aired ad nauseum.

Several writers have raised the question of how this was similar to the 'religion in America' speech of Mitt Romney.  Romney continued to sink in the polls following that very solid speech.

Finally, Sen. Obama is up against the machine that is the Clintons.  And, he played right into their hands by establishing himself as the 'black' candidate, saving the Clintons from having to find a better way to do that than Bill Clinton did in South Carolina a few weeks ago.  Having said that, where did this 'issue' come from?  Who found the tapes or DVDs of the sermons?  Who posted those to the Internet?  Maybe the Clintons, or their surrogates, did find the better way after all.

Remember the 'super delegates' that will decide the nominee for the Democrats.  Hillary could very well be the nominee regardless of delegate counts from primaries and regardless of the popular vote.

Obama the President...

Beyond all this hoopla lies the very real concern that he is ranked as the most liberal Senator of all the senators we have today.  That is quite a distinction!  He will tax and spend like no other has.  He wants to 'invest' in this and that and the other program designed to help the downtrodden.  Those very programs will do little other than to create an economy that continues to decline.  Those programs will result in an even greater sense of entitlement that will cause the downtrodden to remain the downtrodden forever.  We will have national health care and that will prove that national health care is not the panacea some seem to think it will be.  We will be taxed for many more billions and billions of dollars.  Our military will be diminished.  Constitutional rights such as the right to keep and bear arms will disappear.  We will no longer have to be concerned about being the 'policeman for the world'.  We'll have more than enough policing to do at home. 

With that accomplished, we can then truly be made the socialist country that the extreme liberals desire us to be.

We are, I fear, on the edge of a precipice, and the wall beneath our feet is threatening to crumble and fall away. 

The economic stimulus payments, or tax rebate if you prefer, will be made to recipients on a schedule that involves the last two digits of the social security number.  In order to receive this rebate, individuals must have filed a tax return and have a valid social security number.  Those filing joint returns will be sorted for distribution by the name and number appearing first on the tax return.

The IRS has indicated that payments will begin with social security numbers ending in '00' and will end with numbers ending in '99'.  Numeric discrimination if I've ever seen it!  But I end up in the first group, so I guess it's okay after all :>)

Then, adding insult to injury for even more citizens, the people filing electronically get a pass to go to the front of the line.  I won again; I'd better remember to buy a PowerBall ticket!  Paper filers will receive checks and electronic filers will see a direct deposit made to their bank account.

The payment schedule looks like this:

• Numeric order and dates for electronic filers are...
• 00 to 20     May 2
• 21 to 75     May 9
• 76 to 99     May 16
• Numeric order and dates for snail mail filers are...
• 00 to 09     May 16
• 10 to 18     May 23
• 19 to 25     May 30
• 26 to 38     June 6
• 39 to 51     June 13
• 52 to 63     June 20
• 64 to 75     June 27
• 76 to 87     July 4
• 88 to 99     July 11

If you have more detailed questions, the main IRS site at IRS.gov carries a front page link for details.

Will this really 'stimulate' the economy?  I doubt it, but it seems nice to receive a check from the IRS instead of always sending money to that agency.  Interesting isn't it that this should be timed to arrive just preceding the fall elections?  There I go with that cynical side of the Curmudgeon showing again.

This is one of the periods that are often joked about by the citizenry.  With no sessions being conducted in Madison, we all can feel a little less threatened.  The major snag in that logic at the moment is that both houses will continue to debate the budget repair needs given the anticipated revenue shortfall of some $650 Million.  I have discussed the primary differences between the Governor and his Democrats and the Republicans often in past Blogs. 

What got done and what didn't get done during the session now ended?

• We are still without a photo ID law to assure that only Wisconsin citizens who are entitled to vote are voting.
• Thank the Democrats for blocking this necessary legislation again.
• Our elected officials at the State level continue to enjoy the largess of Sick Leave accumulation.
• Thank the Democrats for continuing this little 'cookie jar' benefit at our expense.
• Cell phones are not part of the do-not-call list in Wisconsin.
• Thank the Republicans for mysteriously not taking this up in the Assembly.
• Economic development proposed by Governor Doyle was killed.
• Thank his fellow Democrats in the Senate for this being killed because it supposedly cost too much.
• The gun database still does not carry information about involuntary mental health commitments.
• Thank the Senate Democrats for killing this common sense initiative; maybe they want to simply ban all guns.
• Psychological examinations for new full-time police officers still not a requirement.
• Thank the Republican Assembly for not even debating this change even though it makes sense.
• Property rights won a victory over the anti-smoking groups.
• Thank both the Assembly and Senate for not giving away our personal rights and for letting merchants decide if they will be smoke-free.
• Virtual schools will be permitted to exist after heated arguments for and against.
• Thank both the Assembly and Senate for reaching a compromise that Governor Doyle dared not kill off even though his WEAC money machine dearly wanted this dead.
• The 'Frankenstein Veto' provision will be put to the citizens as a proposed Constitutional Amendment.
• Thank the Democrat-controlled Senate for finally agreeing to let this pass after the Assembly gave it bipartisan support.
• Healthy Wisconsin was defeated.
• This is a great victory of common sense over politics thanks to all elected officials who voted against it, and that is primarily the Republicans in both the Assembly and Senate.

So, how do we grade the overall efforts and results of the Assembly and Senate?  It has to be a mixed grade at best.  Maybe in the 'C+' to 'B-' range.  Our state budget spends too much money even though Republicans did their level best to reduce it even more than they did. 

The two branches again showed us how dysfunctional our government can be.  The bad side of that is that things of value to the citizenry were lost.  The good side of that is that a lot of bad 'stuff' got tossed in the garbage can.

Maybe we can get a decent budget repair bill put together and lessen the hit on the taxpayers' wallets and purses.  That would raise my grade by nearly a full point.

There was, I thought, supposed to have been the 14th Annual Easter Egg Hunt yesterday at Firemen's Park in Germantown unless precluded by 'inclement weather'.  I don't think that hunt happened and I know the weather was beautiful...well at least not inclement...and I didn't see any announcement nor were there, I'm told, any cancellation signs posted, people there to explain, etc.

There may have been a very good reason for the non-hunt, but we've heard nothing about it.  How many youngsters were there and disappointed?  Whose responsibility was this?  The  Rec Department head?  Someone designated to be the project leader?  The Village Board member that chairs the appropriate committee?  Who?

Just as there has been no cancellation notice that I've seen or heard about, there has been no indication that it will be re-scheduled to the 'inclement weather day', March 22nd. 

What's goin' on G'town? 

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

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

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

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

The two states I reference are Texas and Wisconsin.  Admittedly, the states are quite different in size and, certainly, climate.  The economies of the two states differ as well.  We most recently heard about the Bowling organization consolidation to a campus in suburban Dallas that has cost the Milwaukee area some $12 Million in annual salaries that will no longer be infused into the system. 

In spite of a pitiful piece in the morning Journal Sentinel bragging about the fact that we still have an abundance of National Associations headquartered here, we lost that one and we lost it for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the tax load in our state.  We have also lost corporate headquarters and likely will see more such erosion.  Maybe it is time for our heads to be extracted from the sand so that we might deal with the real issues.

Looking at the two states more closely, we see a different approach to governance that appears to have led to differing levels of economic growth.

In Wisconsin, when state budgets are threatened due to economic slowdowns, there is the decided tendency by the Governor and his party to raise taxes to restore the state's revenue stream.  The idea that the state might have to curtail its spending is simply too far out to be considered seriously.

In Texas, the Governor recently decided that his best recourse to a similar situation was to cut taxes so that businesses could afford to expand, hire and pump more money into the economy.  He recently rescinded taxes by some $260 Million that were going into the state's unemployment trust fund.  That followed his decree in 2007 to have some $170 Million of excess funds from that same trust fund returned to employers.  The Texas unemployment rate stands at 4.3% some 20% lower than that in Wisconsin.

In Wisconsin, the opposition party is assailed for the audacity to even mention cutting taxes and for thinking about using some money from the 'rainy day' fund.  Instead, the Governor and Democrats seem to think that borrowing more money (thus mortgaging our future even more than already mortgaged), stealing more from the transportation fund and raising taxes is the answer.

I don't get it...and I don't think our Governor and ruling party get it either!

I last wrote about this race in December of last year.  At that time, there were three candidates.  The primary elections reduced that number to two candidates.  Those two are the appointed incumbent, Justice Louis Butler and the challenger, Circuit Judge Michael Gableman.

We have a choice: Justice Butler is liberal and Judge Gableman is conservative.  Their court decisions have been and will be cast against that backdrop even though each will, as both maintain individually, consider the facts of each case.  I do not believe that one can eliminate one's biases by turning the belief system on or off, whether that is good or not good.

Our habit as voters in Wisconsin is that we seldom remove a sitting justice once they're on the bench.  Whether or not they were appointed or elected seems to have little or no bearing on this tradition.  This is the first election that Justice Butler will stand in as an incumbent for his position just as this is the first for Judge Gableman.  Butler was trounced in his first race for this Court several years ago.  Does this mean that the two are essentially equal in the eyes of the voters?  I doubt that; I would still give the 'edge' to the Justice simply because he is the incumbent.

What does all this mean?  It means, very simply, that all those of the conservative persuasion must mobilize every person whom they can to vote on April 1st.  This race will cast the face of our Supreme Court for many years to come barring resignations.

Justice Butler, although he decries references to his decisions, has been a consistently liberal voice on the bench.  He claims a 'foul' every time someone brings his record to the discussion.  Lately, he has become fairly typical in that he has resorted to what can only be described as 'name calling'.  We tend to see that from liberals when their flimsy arguments are exposed.

Geo-politically, I would have to conclude that Wisconsin is skewed to the liberal side of the aisle.  It is, therefore, a wonder indeed whenever we get the opportunity to actually vote in such a clearcut race.  We do have significant population in the Geo-conservative sectors of Wisconsin, but we will need a massive turnout to effect this change.

This race will decide the direction of Wisconsin since virtually every issue that is debated will be done within the shadow of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. 

Prohibition continues to have effects upon us Wisconsin citizens after lo these many years.  It did accomplish, or help to accomplish, some good things.  The story has it that modern NASCAR was spawned by the old time 'moonshine' bootleggers who learned to race their vehicles while out-running the 'revenuers'.

It also was the genesis for the laws in Wisconsin that require that virtually all alcoholic beverages go from brewery, winery or distillery to wholesalers to retailers.  We've talked about lobbyists and the clout they carry over legislation in our state.  One of the most effective lobbying efforts in Wisconsin is that of the Wisconsin Wine and Spirit Institute.

The current issue involving this group and us consumers has to do with the effort on the part of small distilleries, small wineries and small batch breweries to be able to sell their products without the added costs of marketing solely through wholesalers.  The argument in favor of this continued prohibition is that it 'protects' the consumer (just how I'm not quite sure), it facilitates tax collection (as if the state needs any help in this arena), it establishes an 'orderly market' (whatever that is although it sounds like anti-competition from my perch), and it promotes temperance (that is a doubtful product of wholesalers).

The wholesalers are in the midst of a continuing consolidation 'binge' just as the brewing industry has consolidated.  There are fewer and fewer wholesalers and that means less and less competition, as I see it.  I know of small outlets that are unable to put together the order for enough cases from particular wholesalers, and who are therefore unable to offer the breadth of brands that their customers might desire.  I know that some retailers are able to sell product at retail prices that are only pennies higher, if that, than these small outlets pay for the product at wholesale.  This ultimately will force the 'little guy' out and further consolidate the availability of beer, wine and liquor in the hands of fewer and fewer.

The wholesalers have the dominant hand with micro breweries, micro distillers and small wineries.  They also have the dominant hand in terms of governmental influence.

Supposedly the current three-tier system helps to assure that anti-competitive practices are made impossible.  There are any number of small sellers that would vehemently argue that point as being so much 'hooey'!

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

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

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

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

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

This is admittedly not very 'curmudgeonly', but it hit my e-mail in-box and seemed something to share...since I know a person who does something very similar with his wife.

'It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80's arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb.  He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00AM.  I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would be able to see him.  I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound.

On exam, it was well healed so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.  While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's appointment this morning as he was in such a hurry.  The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife.

I inquired as to her health.  He told me that she had been there for awhile and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's Disease.  As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he were a bit late.  He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now.

I was surprised and asked him, "And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?"

He smiled as he patted my hand and said, "She doesn't know me, but I still know who she is."

I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm, and thought, "That is the kind of love I want in my life."

True love is neither physical nor romantic.  True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.'

The e-mail went on with this:

'Oh, by the way, peace is seeing a sunset and knowing who to thank.

The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

Life isn't about how to survive the storm, but how to dance in the rain.'