Challenge The Establishment

During their tour of the western states, Bernie Sanders took the stage and talked about AOC and how she took on the establishment and won:

She stood up and took on one of the most powerful people in the House of Representatives. And she started with almost no money against the guy who had unlimited funds, and she beat him. Now, why do I tell you that story? 

It's not just to talk about Alexandria. The point that I am making is that in this arena of 15,000 people, there are hundreds of Alexandrias. There are hundreds of Alex's and Joe's and Mary's and Cynthia's. 

And all across this country, we are going to need people to go outside of their comfort zone. Because the establishment, man, they are smart. They are so smart. And one of the smartest things they do, one of the most effective things they do, is to say to all of you and working people all over America, hey, we got the money, we got the power, we own it all, you ain't nothing, nothing you're going to do about it. And a lot of people sit back and they say, what am I going to do? You can't do nothing. My boss is going to fire me, this, that, and the other thing. And that is the mindset we have got to break through. 

In Wisconsin, we have seen our own version of AOC, when Chris Larson, a strong liberal, took on then State Senator Jeff Plalw and won. It was a definite upgrade.Whereas Larson became part of the Fab 14 and fled the state to give us more time to fight against Walker and WISGOP over Act 10, Plale had actually went along with Walker and killed a last minute effort to divert the damage.

Now, I'm not exactly echoing Bernie in the sense that everyone and their uncle should file to run.  But we can definitely do our part by keeping an eye on our elected representatives on every level of government and make informed decisions on whom we vote for.  We cannot afford to have our electeds do nothing but just lip service, or even worse, go along to get along.  

I know I'm not alone in feeling this way:

Democrats, meanwhile, were more inclined to want their party to change course, with few saying this realignment should be toward the middle. 

Just 18% said the Democratic Party should become more moderate, while 50% said it should become more progressive. Meanwhile, 24% said the party should stay the current course.

And we need to do this not only for our representatives, but also for the party officials.  Right now, there is not one candidate that I know of running for Chair of the DPW who is not an establisment person. The status quo is no longer enough. We need fighters, everywhere.

WISGOP Fires Ethics, Election Heads Weeks Before Election

In Wisconsin, the spring primary elections are on February 20th, less than a month away. The fact that these elections are just around the corner didn't slow Wisconsin Republicans from blowing them up by firing the heads of the ethics commission and the elections commission for no reasons other than retaliation and pure pettiness:

.The Wisconsin Senate voted Tuesday to oust leaders of the bipartisan state agencies charged with running elections and overseeing ethics laws, the latest move by Republicans to exact revenge on anyone connected with a now-closed investigation into Gov. Scott Walker and other conservatives.

The highly unusual Senate vote was designed to force out two former employees of the now-shuttered agency that approved the Walker probe who were later selected to head the newly created bipartisan Elections and Ethics commissions.

And when I say retaliation and pure pettiness, I wasn't kidding:

Fitzgerald said he could never support Bell or Haas because of their work for the GAB, which conservatives believe unfairly investigated Walker and other Republicans for alleged illegal campaign coordination. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ended the secret investigation, known as a John Doe, in 2015 and no one was charged.

The vote, which was taken without a public hearing beforehand, as is the norm, was also without merit:

The Ethics Commission on Monday night, just hours before the vote, released findings of its own internal investigation conducted by a former federal prosecutor, Patrick Fiedler, and his law firm. Their investigation determined “there is not a scintilla of evidence that Brian Bell has ever performed any of his governmental duties in a partisan manner.”

[...]

Haas did not work directly on the John Doe investigation, but did review legal filings made in lawsuits over the probe. Bell did not work on the investigation and publicly criticized the former GAB last week, saying he left it because he thought it was mismanaged and unfairly enforcing the law.

As if it wasn't clear before, the dark money syndicate is in charge of the State of Wisconsin and they don't even care about hiding their misdeeds anymore.

I'm sure the Republicans also see the added bonus of making it easier to commit election fraud in an effort to stem the Blue Wave that's already hit the state once in a special election last week.

Scott Jensen - Trump Crazy Before It Was Cool

By Jeff Simpson 

In the final Trump V Clinton debate, Donald Trump finished the debate, the way he began - pure craziness.

Cue the outrage, which started almost immediately.

Threatening to upend a fundamental pillar of American democracy, Donald Trump refused to say Wednesday night that he will accept the results of next month's election if he loses to Hillary Clinton. The Democratic nominee declared Trump's resistance "horrifying."
Trump had spent the days leading up to the third and final presidential debate warning voters that the election would be "rigged." Asked whether he would accept the outcome if Clinton emerges victorious, he said, "I will tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense."
Trump's assertions raise the prospect that millions of his supporters may not accept the results on Nov. 8 if he loses, thrusting the nation into uncharted territory. Free and fair elections, with the vanquished peacefully stepping aside for the victor, have been the underpinning of America's democratic tradition since the country's founding 240 years ago.
The Republican National Committee immediately disavowed Trump's statement. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud, and election officials across the country have denied and denounced Trump's charges.

Apparently the national press corp, Hillary Clinton and members of the RNC have never been to Wisconsin.   Once again, we were Trump Crazy before it was cool.   Although instead of Scott Fitzgerald, this time it is his boss, formerly convicted felon Scott Jensen.

 * Republican insiders discussed ginning up concerns over voter fraud in the days after then-Supreme Court Justice David Prosser narrowly defeated challengerJoAnne Kloppenburg in April 2011."Do we need to start messaging 'widespread reports of election fraud' so we are positively set up for the recount regardless of the final number? I obviously think we should," wrote Steve Baas, a senior vice president with the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, to a group of conservative operatives on April 6, 2011, a day after the Prosser-Kloppenburg contest."Yes. Anything fishy should be highlighted," wrote former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, a Republican. "Stories should be solicited by talk show hosts."

We know with the benefit of hindsight, that when Scott Jensen said "jump", Vicki Mckenna said "how high".   While she knows what side her bread is buttered on, and needs to keep her bosses happy to keep her show on the air, the end result is the same.   They wanted to make sure that if by chance Judge Kloppenburg actually won the election after the recount that no one would accept her as legit.  

How is that different exactly?  

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

By Jeff Simpson

Scott Walker in his 6 year regime, has signed or made changes to 33 different pieces of legislation aimed at making it harder for YOU to vote.

As Wisconsin's own Paul Weyrich, one of the leaders of the modern Republican party, tells us, he does not want everyone to vote.  The more of us that vote the less power he has.

However, despite all of the efforts to make it harder to vote, it is still possible and we need to show up in force.   Dane County made this video to let us know how, and were even able to secure Chad Vader as the star!

This from Andrea Kaminski, from the League of Women Voters(an organizatuion that actually WANTS you to vote)!

Get ready to vote in four big elections
Judging by the headlines, you might think the only election this year is the one that will name President Obama’s successor. In fact, Wisconsin will have four important elections in 2016:

• In the Feb. 16 primary, voters will select the two top candidates for Wisconsin Supreme Court as well as for any local and county races with more than two contenders.

• On April 5 we will elect the final winner for those contests and also vote for our favorite presidential candidate to be the nominee of his or her party.

• The fall partisan primary election will be held Aug. 9 for Congress and the Wisconsin Legislature. In districts that are heavily Democratic or Republican, the primary election is particularly decisive.

• On Nov. 8 we will elect the next president along with our state and federal representatives.

Now is the time to get ready to vote. If you have not voted in Wisconsin before, or if your registration has lapsed, you will need to register. If you have a Wisconsin driver’s license or state ID card, you will have to provide that number. You will also need proof of residence. To learn more, contact your municipal clerk or go to the Wisconsin voter information website at myvote.wi.gov.
Once you are registered, you will need a photo ID when you vote. If you have a Wisconsin driver’s license or state ID with an expiration date of Nov. 4, 2014 or later, you are all set. For a list of all acceptable IDs, talk to your clerk or go to the Wisconsin photo ID website at bringit.wi.gov. If you don’t have a photo ID, you can get one for free. Instructions are on the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin website.
If you need assistance with voter registration or photo ID, contact your local League of Women Voters or the League’s state office at 608-256-0827.
Next you’ll need to get informed. The League sends a questionnaire to federal, state as well as local candidates in some areas. We will post their answers on our elections website, VOTE411.org. In addition, some local Leagues post voter guides on their individual websites. The League does not endorse or oppose any political candidate or party. We just post candidates’ answers verbatim, so voters can make up their own minds.
There are a couple of things we urge voters not to do:

• Don’t be discouraged if you do not currently possess an acceptable photo ID. The League, the DMV and others are happy to assist you.

• Don’t put much stock in 30-second ads about candidates. They often present information out of context, and sometimes it’s flat-out false. Look for information from unbiased sources, or get it from the candidates themselves.

Wisconsin is known for high voter turnout, compared to other states. Even so, a relatively small number of eligible citizens vote in our elections. At the local, state and national levels, government affects many aspects of our everyday lives. Don’t let a small number of citizens choose your representatives. Take a little time now to be sure you are prepared, and then vote in every election.

Please VOTE in every election this year!!!

An Actual Look At the 2014 Elections

 

By Jeff Simpson

Despite the political pundits, republicans and too many Democrats telling us that the 2014 election is poised to see Republicans make major gains, that ain't necessarily so!

For instance, Gallup released a poll on Friday that showed the favorable rating for the Republican Party is at its lowest point during any election year since 1998 — lower than 2006, 2008 and 2012 when Democrats won in landslides. And the reactions was: Meh, Democrats are more popular than Republicans but who isn’t? The Sterlings?

However, pundits should stop pretending that this election is foregone conclusion. There are numerous reasons to suggest that 2014 may stun the experts.

The Senate Minority leader — who has about a 45-67 percent chance of becoming the Senate Majority Leader, depending on the model you prefer — is running neck and neck with his Democratic challenger. The GOP’s popularity is near all time lows and it it’s still more popular than the Tea Party.

YOU just need to show up at the polls!


 

Meanwhile in Fitzwalkerstan

So sadly true:

Source

Change of Course!

By Jeff Simpson

For those paying attention(which was not many of you) there were two elections yesterday.   Its OK, if you did not know, as most of the state,  most of the people in the districts, that held these elections did not know.

Rodriguez, outreach coordinator for Hispanics for School Choice, received 4,546 votes, and Coppola, a United Way fundraiser and former member of Milwaukee's Social Development Commission, received 3,520, according to preliminary results.

 Ken Slezak - (D) - 1,677 votes - 24 percent
Bob Kulp - (R) - 4,697 votes - 67 percent
Tim Swiggum - (I) - 607 votes - 9 percent

A complete drubbing in two seats.   One to replace probably the person who almost pulled off arguably the dirtiest deal ever in Wisconsin Politics( United Sportsmen Fiasco).   The other to replace iron mine Honadel with someone who was basically running as an employee of convicted felon and known judge shopper Scott Jensen's.

In our center left state, which has a proud history of progressivism, the Democratic party lost yet another election handily.   Is it because the Democratic message is not accepted?  of course not.  If the republican message was one that the people wanted to hear, then they would not spend their time suppressing the vote and gerrymandering districts.   They get that their hold on power is fleeting, and have rigged the system to delay that as long as possible.

We can either whine about the system being rigged or do things to change it.

I recomnend unrigging the system.

Here are some recommendations, would love to hear yours:

*Consistent Message!

Can anyone tell me the message that the Democratic Party and all of the elected officials stand for?   Is there a line in the sand, written with sharpie,  anywhere that has 100% support from the collective of the dems?   I am not talking about the party platform, because no electeds follow that anyway and most people could not tell you what it said anyway.   I am talking something even the most apathetic person in Wisconsin would answer when asked what the Democratic party stands for.   

Not only do we not stand for anything, we have a Gubernatorial candidate who pledges to not stand for anything. 

* Keep Up With Technology:

Secondly, the DPW website is incredibly outdated.  You go to it and you see a picture of SCOTT WALKER(who is not a democrat fyi).   You had to search for unformation about Ms Coppola or Mr. Slezak.  I know you can not focus on individuals usually, but when there are only two races you sure as hell can.  

I would have had a split screen for the last week, with Ms. Coppola's picture and Mr. Slezak's picture each getting half.   Then allowed the visitor to click though and get more information about each of them.   I would also have sent a camera crew out with them and captured them out and meeting citizens and voters.   Then I would have emailed the videos to the Dem list and the candidates list. 

*  Use Your Resources:

I would have used the Democrat's email list to send out an email on Tuesday morning, stating something like this. 

Today is the 150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address:

Executive Mansion,
Washington, , 186 .
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that "all men are created equal"
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it, as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may, in all propriety do. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow, this ground-- The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here; while it can never forget what they did here.
It is rather for us, the living, to stand here, we here be dedica-ted to the great task remaining before us -- that, from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here, gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people by the people for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

 The great Abraham Lincoln knew that we could not long endure a "civil war" and we have seen the effects of that first hand here in WI.   The party that is in control has made a conscious decision to use divide and conquer to govern our great state.  

It is time to put the people of Wisconsin first.   Today we have two great candidates who are running that can help put us there.  Elizabeth Coppola and Kenneth Slezak.  Please go out and vote today and if you do not live in these districts but know one person who does, call them for us!   .................

*   Turnout: 

 How many people in each of these districts signed the recall?   One of the keys to winning is not only a great candidate but TURNOUT.   A few things we know for certain about people who signed the recall petitions:

-  At one point in their life they were motivated to care about politics.
-  They probably agree with us more than they disagree.  

*   Media Stunts: 

We know that the right leaning media will never cover an issue the way it should be covered to get the facts out.  I mean now they are saying that Paul Ryan wants to fight poverty(seriously).   We can not count on the press to cover issues the way so we need to do things that draws media coverage. 

Some of the freshmen legislators get it, they took the food stamp challenge so they know a taste of what its like to live that way.   

Three community leaders in Madison recently went undercover for three days as homeless men to see the plight of the homeless first hand.    How a grocery store owner gets it and a politician does not is beyond me but let's take a look at the story and something I found very interesting:

Using eye glasses equipped with hidden cameras, the men recorded their experiences and plan to release a video blog next week. It’s clear that there is interest. A Facebook post Monday by Johnson about their experiences registered more than 40,000 "likes" in less than 24 hours. Johnson said he has been contacted by scores of local officials, media outlets and individuals.

40,000 "likes" in less than a day.   People are desperate for real news, unfortunately it takes stunts to bring it to them. 

I propose that the Democratic party coordinate a week, where every elected official(and candidate) spends one full day in a school in their district.  See what is happening first hand, the good and the bad.   Then do the same as these three - video blogs, written blogs, special contributor op-eds in their local papers.     Really get the word out what is happening in their own schools and why we need to support them. 

A stunt for sure but imagine if they did something where every elected official came back with a story and got 40,000 "likes".  That puts them over 2,000,000 chances to get their message out!    Plus they might even learn some things they did not know to begin with! 

*  STORIES;  

the Democratic party needs to tell stories when they speak.   They never do.   In the Coppola race for example, get together with the local school districts teachrs and find out the mess that ACT10 has caused them.  It has caused a mess for everyone, I am certain it has caused one for the school districts in the 21st also. 

The problem with the mess and problems is we can not afford a PR department.  We need the Democratic party to do that for us the way the Republican party is for the voucher movement.   Most people have no idea the chilling effect that ACT 10 has had on their schools. 

When you knock at a door then you have a story.   When they say they like the way things are going, they support vouchers, et al...  You are ready to tell them what is happening at their local school.

"Well I respect that you feel that way, but were you aware that class sizes have increased the last three years from _____  to ___ and your school district has had to cut ___________  from the budget and we have lost __________  teachers. 

*   Stop the madness!

We have two very important races going on and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin is putting out a billboard promoting Scott Walker's book?!?!?!  Seriously?   Who the hell makes that call?

 


How about using that money for a billboard in the 69th about Scott Suder, the republican party and United Sportsmen?

 Or maybe head to the 21st with this billboard 

 

With this headline 

Click to enlarge

Click to enlarge

Students in Milwaukee's school choice program performed worse than or about the same as students in Milwaukee Public Schools

Or maybe this bill board:

"The legislator should direct his attention above all to the education of youth."  Aristotle 

You get the idea:

* Competition!

We need to make sure there is a legit candidate running in every single race in the state.   This story is unacceptable! 

If Slezak hadn’t decided to run mere days before the deadline to file paperwork with the Government Accountability Board, there might have been no Democrat in the race. Slezak said he chose to run when it became apparent no other Democrat in the district was going to.

Contrast that with Kulp, who had created a campaign Facebook page the weekend before Suder even officially announced he was leaving the Assembly. Kulp also received the support of top Assembly Republicans, and Walker spoke in support of Kulp at a Marshfield fundraiser last week that drew hundreds of supporters.

We can not be unprepared in any district.

*  Leadership.  

If we are not willing to change course and change it soon we have no chance of winning next year.  We  can not be satisfied with just winning the dem safe seats and maybe winning a senate seat.   We need to do better.

If our current leadership is not up to changing their ways then we need new leadership.  Time is of the essence!

There are thousands of people who spent countless hours in the state collecting recall signatures, who are also not part of the party.   We need to figure out a way to reach them and get them more active.   We need to figure out a way to be much more successful at community and minority outreach!  

Another suggestion here, would be instead of holding focus groups with party activists, hold them with people who do not vote and figure out how we can reach them in the general elections.

It is time to be bold, change our ways and win elections!  

More ideas here and here 

How The FCC Could Counter Citizens United

It is well known that since the Supreme Court of the United States' ruling in Citizens United, the corporations have been pouring money into almost every election in order to buy control of every corner of our country.

That is ever so apparent in the way Scott Walker and the Republicans are kowtowing to the likes of the Koch Brothers, the Bradley Foundation and anyone else with enough cash to buy their votes.

But this could all be stopped within 90 short days.

All it would take is for the Federal Communications Commission to develop a spine.

I say this based on this article written by Michael J. Copps, a former FCC Commissioner.  In said article, Copps points out how easy it would be for the FCC to expose this corruption, if they just had the gumption to do their jobs by enforcing a law that they've allowed to lay dormant for more than 20 years:

Fortunately, one major reform can be implemented immediately, without legislative action or a court order. All we need is for an independent agency, the Federal Communications Commission, to enforce a campaign finance disclosure requirement that is already on the books.

Section 317 of the Communications Act (47 USC § 317) requires on-air identification of the sponsors of all advertisements, political as well as commercial. Explaining the rules it wrote to implement the statute, the FCC stipulated years ago that political ads must “fully and fairly disclose the true identity of the person or persons, or corporation, committee, association or other unincorporated group, or other entity” paying for them. “Listeners are entitled to know by whom they are being persuaded,” the commission said.

“True identity” means just what it says. If a special interest group calling itself Citizens for Purple Mountain Majesties and Amber Waves of Grain is a front for a chemical company refusing to clean up a toxic dump or an energy company looking to buy friendships on Capitol Hill, the law says we as citizens need to know that.

As Copps correctly states, the special interests would scream bloody murder about anyone trying to do this.

But Copps also points out that the Citizens United ruling also supports the FCC's right and obligation to enforce this law:

More potentially good news: campaign finance reform may have an unlikely ally. Hidden away in the Supreme Court’s otherwise outrageous Citizens United decision, the source of so much damage to our political system, is this sentence, in effect backed by eight of the nine justices: “Disclosure is the less-restrictive alternative to more comprehensive speech regulations.” If the High Court itself is talking disclosure, isn’t it time to get on with the job?

Wouldn't that be something to see?!

I would love to see it in effect now.

I don't imagine that Patience Roggensack would have even survived the primary if all the ads running on her behalf had to have the disclosure that they were being paid for by groups like the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce or some other right wing group looking to keep the majority of the state supreme court under their thumb.

And don't think for a minute she doesn't know this as well. Why else would she have tried to conceal the $20,000 she got from all of the out of state school profiteers?

Ain't That The Truth?

It kind of explains both the GOP strategy and talk radio all at once:

Score One For MJS

The editorial board, who I have had disagreements with in the past, does something that I can actually agree with. They have come out to endorse Michael Mathias for the 4th District of MPS.

I won't go as far as saying all is forgiven, but this does help.

For further information on Michael, and why you really should vote for him, go to his website.

It would be the cognitive thing to do.

Interesting Bit Of Timing

On Sunday, February 1, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran an article about the race for the seat of Circuit Court Branch 15. One of the candidates is J.D. Watts, son of George Watts, the failed mayoral candidate.

Today, Monday, February 2, OnMilwaukee.com runs an article about the Watts Tea Shop, which was started by George Watts, and is partly owned and managed by J.D.

Now, I am not saying that there is anything untoward about this happening and believe it to be purely coincidental. But I can't help but think that I recall that some publication or another seems to run a story about the Tea Shop whenever J.D. is running for office. It is these types of mnemonics that can make or break a race like this.

For full disclosure, I know J.D. from my days in child welfare when he used to do some work out at Children's Court as well, although I haven't seen him in years.

I recall him being a tough lawyer to oppose and a good lawyer to have on your side. How he is as a judge, I don't know.

Reflections From The Reflecting Pool

For a while, I considered doing a post on how different people reacted to yesterday's inauguration of President Barack Obama, but I quickly realized that would be a monstrous and kind of pointless post. After all, my 7.3 readers are obviously of a higher cognitive plane, else they wouldn't be reading my sage words, so they are fully able to browse the Cheddarsphere themselves.

But I would be remiss if I did not point out a few things.

First, Patrick Dorwin is to be congratulated for taking the high road, even though many of his commenters were unable to follow him. Sean Hackbarth also was honestly critical, but in a way that could not be found offensive.

Unfortunately, too many could not even bring themselves up to the level of just being snarky or petty, but went way beyond the pale.

One example of the baser posts comes from Jib, who manages to use over the top rhetoric, but also heresy. And I thought the left were supposed to be the Godless ones. Other bizarre writings was another BBA contributor that forgot to take his meds and Tom McMahon, who apparently is ready to impeach Obama. Why is not clear, unless it's for being black or something.

The creme de la scum though goes to Peter DiGaudio. Peter put up three posts yesterday that goes beyond disgusting. First he repeats some of the same insane and irresponsible rhetoric that caused him to have a shit fit and blow up his last blog:

Say “Sieg Heil” to the nice people. Something right out of Nazi Germany, the former Soviet Union, Cuber, Venezuela, the NorKorComs, just about any totalitarian state you can name.

You vill bow down and vership Dear Leader and you vill like it.

Sorry. Not me. Not. My. President. I don’t want a seat at His table. I don’t want Him to succeed, because if He succeeds, America fails.

And yes, I still as ashamed on this country as I was on the night of the anointment in November.

Not satisfied that he proved himself an ass, he comes up with another violation of Godwin's law, including comparing people's support for Obama as a Nazi pledge. His third post shows he has lost all touch of reality as he blasphemously uses God's name in vain as he goes on his paranoid ravings.

Some of my friends have tried to even defend this chump, and have called him bright and thought provoking. But there is no way to defend this over-the-top line of BS. And unfortunately, he will only continue, despite what anyone might say to him. It is extremely hard to talk reason to an irrational mind.

Charlene Hardin's Successor

Last week, I introduced you to two fine people who are bloggers, friends of Cog Dis, and strong candidates running for their respective school board.

We learn definitively today that Mike Mathias, one part of the Pundit Nation, is running against Charlene Hardin, at the Milwaukee Public School Board.

Hardin has had a very bad 2008, and now her 2009 doesn't look any better.

Michael is a friend of Cog Dis as well. In my interactions with Michael, I find him to be level-headed and looks at all angles of a problem and takes a considered approach, instead of a party line or a "me-first" take on any issue.

For a more detailed look at who Michael is and what his values are, there is a piece by Michael in this morning's paper addressing the issue of whether the school board should be elected or not. From said article:

Don't get me wrong: Every good idea for fixing MPS ought to be on the table, including lifting the residency rule for MPS teachers, adopting a uniform curriculum and increasing state aid for special education students.

But an appointed board would just exchange one political process for another - and could have the effect of leaving voters with little recourse if they don't like actions taken by the new body.

I respect Barrett and agree that MPS is in need of reform. But we shouldn't let a few bad apples on the board serve as an excuse for abandoning direct elections. Let voters sort it out.

I think that the City of Milwaukee in general, and MPS specifically, would gain a lot of respect back if they had someone like Michael on board. As the nation elected to have a change for the better, so should Milwaukee, and vote for Michael.

One Talking Point From The Right I Agree With

The right wing often likes to state that it's important to remember that who you vote for, whether it is for President of the United States, or for Governor of Wisconsin, that the person you voted for will be appointed that country's or the state's highest judges. They are absolutely correct in this assertion.

From the Associated Press, via the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, we learn of a widow that was bilked out of her husband's benefits after he passed away. This is even though the employer pulled a fast one on the family. The man, Thomas Amschwand, was dying of cancer, and tried his best to make sure that he had tied up all lose ends, and that his wife would be taken care of: :

Spherion's decision to deny benefits to Amschwand-Bellinger turned on an odd set of facts. Spherion, which employs about 300,000 people, switched insurers after Thomas Amschwand was diagnosed with a rare form of heart cancer. The new policy did not take effect until an employee worked one full day. Spherion never informed Amschwand of the requirement.

Amschwand asked repeatedly whether there was anything else he needed to do and was told no. He asked that the new policy be sent to him. Spherion never did so.

He died without returning to work. His widow said he easily could have worked a day if that was what it took to activate the new policy. Spherion could have waived the one-day-of-work provision, as it did for other employees but not for Amschwand.

The widow, understandably, tried to sue to get the benefits that she were coming to her, but lost the case in court. She's tried to appeal the ruling, but the United States Supreme Court refuses to review the case.

All of this is in spite of the fact that the judges know that what is going on is utter crap. From the same article:

Federal appeals courts, interpreting Supreme Court decisions dating to 1993, consistently have said companies that offer health, life and retirement benefits under ERISA cannot be sued for large amounts of money, or damages. Instead, they can be sued only for typically smaller sums such as Amschwand's insurance premiums.

Several federal judges have bemoaned the unfairness even as they have felt constrained to rule in favor of employers.

"The facts ... scream out for a remedy beyond the simple return of premiums," Judge Fortunato Benavides of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in the Amschwand case. "Regrettably, under existing law it is not available."

So, yes, the righties have one thing correct. It is important, very important indeed, to keep in mind that the person you vote for can have far ranging ramifications. Unfortunately, the right doesn't seem to understand what the ramifications are for the average working man, or his family, or they just don't care.