Is WIN About To Lose?

The ironically and misappropriately named Wisconsin Interests Now is the right wing version of ACORN, and has teamed up with equally ironically and misappropriately named Citizens for Responsible Government to launch a second recall effort against Governor Jim Doyle.

This foolishness has at best been met with a tepid response, if not spoken against by some leading conservative bloggers.

It appears that WIN/CRG is about to self-implode, which will only boost Governor Doyle's standings, and hurt Scott Walker's, given his close ties to CRG.

Zach has the details on their pending implosion.

How Tweet It Is

Well, it is yet to be seen if it is sweet or not, but for those that might care, I am now on Twitter.

(Curse you that are responsible for this!)

You can find me here.

Milwaukee County, Scott Walker And Government Run Health Care

Scott Walker gives a rather vague blurb on his campaign website about his views on health care:

We must make quality, affordable healthcare available to hardworking families, through market based solutions like competition, transparency, and tax incentives, not Canadian style programs that put bureaucrats in charge of your health care decisions. You should be able to choose your doctor, not have government make that decision for you.

Government’s role should be to provide a system of checks and balances and a safety net for those who need it, while encouraging competition and transparency to make the system less complicated and more manageable for consumers.

We must also ensure that there is one standard of care for everyone - regardless of age, income level, or location - and that people have the option of taking their healthcare plan with them when they change jobs or move.

I am more than a bit surprised and perplexed by his stance, especially his comment about "Canadian style programs that put bureaucrats in charge of your health care decisions." You see, for seven years, Scott Walker ran a Canadian style program that put bureaucrats in charge of a person's health care decisions.

The program was called the General Assistance Medical Program or GAMP for short. The best description I've found of GAMP, and the benefits it gave to its consumers and to the taxpayers, comes from The Commonwealth Fund (emphasis mine):

Wisconsin's General Assistance Medical Program (GAMP) provides health care coverage to indigent Milwaukee County residents who are not eligible for other forms of public coverage (such as Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program) and are not enrolled in private coverage. The county redesigned the GAMP program into a community-based primary care model in the late 1990s to achieve two interrelated goals: to provide increased primary care services, and to do so via community-based clinics. The new design was intended to improve effectiveness and efficiency of care. Prior to this, indigent patients relied on the emergency room of the county hospital, which created access barriers for enrollees and cost inefficiencies for the county. Under the redesigned model, GAMP enrollees select a participating clinic as their primary care provider, which is then responsible for providing and coordinating services. The clinic coordinates specialty care for the enrollee by working with specialists and hospitals that participate in the GAMP network. The program covered a total of 24,000 individuals in calendar year 2003, with some 10,000 to 12,000 individuals enrolled at any given time. All in all, GAMP estimated that it saved $4.2 million in 2000 (in comparison to the projected costs had the previous system remained in place). Administrators believe that inpatient and outpatient costs have been controlled largely through a Utilization Management program that ensures delivery of care in the appropriate settings and using appropriate resources.

In other words, the County designed and ran a health care system that limited people's choices by having to go through a community clinic first, and only if it was covered in the network. Yet, instead of leaving people without insurance and forcing them to go to hospital ERs, it saved $4.2 million. That's a big chunk of change for a relatively small amount of people.

Other descriptions of the program include the one from Milwaukee County itself and a report(pdf) from the state after the program just started. The County page calls the program as "nationally recognized." The state's report summarized the program with this sentence:

Inpatient hospital and specialty services constitute the majority of the GAMP budget
although, the program has successfully used primary care services provided in community based clinics and selective utilization management techniques to control and reduce inpatient and outpatient hospital costs over the last two years.

The only reason GAMP ended was because Governor Jim Doyle was able to expand BadgerCare to cover these individuals, taking the load of the county.

I wonder what it will do to Walker's base support when they find out he really is a socialist and ran a socialist health care program for most of his term as county executive.

When Will They Start With The Retraction Posts?

After Sarah Palin again proved her decreasing relevance in the political world by announcing that she was stepping down as governor with a year and a half to go in her first term, speculation around the world ran rampant.

Was he planning on starting her run for the presidency already? Was she going to take a job in the private sector? Was she going to confess her sins and join a nunnery? Was she and Todd going to secede with the rest of kooks? It turned out to be nothing like that after all.

She was going to follow the money and cash in on her 15 minutes of fame, just like her ex-future son-in-law-to-be had said that she would.

So will all the right wingers who screeched that how wrong he was, like this one, now be offering retraction posts.

Excuse me if I don't hold my breath.

But the funniest thing is when Palin announced what her true intentions were and included this:

"Being a voracious reader, I read a lot today and have read a lot growing up. And having that journalism degree, all of that, will be a great assistance for me in writing this book, talking about the challenges and the joys, balancing the work and parenting, and, in my case, work means running the state." Palin said.

I guess her veracious appetite didn't include newspapers and magazines.

Sunday Funny On Saturday

If They're So Good, Why Does He Want To Destroy Them?

In this week's Executive Newsletter, Scott Walker is bragging about the Milwaukee Parks System and that it has won a number of prizes for best future plans.

I find that more than a bit ironic and disingenuous, especially in light of the fact that he just announced that he wants to destroy them in next year's budget.

In his newsletter, his tech people included a link to this video, which I will admit is very well done, and stars the classy John McGivern.

But as I watched it, a few thoughts struck me:

• There were many mentions of corporate sponsors like Loew's and Harley Davidson, as well as citizen groups, like the Park People of Milwaukee, stepping up and donating time, money and resources to keep the parks in shape.
• With the economy being what it is, and companies like Harley Davidson having their own financial problems, what would happen if they decide they can no longer support the parks? I highly doubt it would be pretty.
• All the corporate sponsors point out what bad shape the parks were in before they came in to fix them. Mmm, I wonder who's fault that is...
• In the newspaper article about these awards, the workers are always acknowledged and thanked for doing so much with so little, but in the video, Walker doesn't even acknowledge them.

But the one overwhelming, reoccurring thought is this: When are we going to have a county executive that actually puts Milwaukee County first?

My Friends, The Pupae Of Milwaukee County

My friends, the Friends of the Monarch Trail, asked me to stop by because they had a gift for me. I was finally able to get over there for a few minutes yesterday.

Those dear Ladies of the Monarchs were kind enough to give me what they call a "pupa port." This generosity was truly a gift fit for a king.

What a pupa port is is a basket with a decorative (and most twisting) stick. On said stick were two pupae, or chrysalises. When I received my gift, both pupae were the same light green color. I was told that I could tell when one was about to emerge, the chrysalis would turn a dark color.

By the time I got home from dinner and errands last night, around 9 pm, one had already become noticeably darker:


To give you and idea of how tiny these pupae are, that is my thumb next to them (and no, I do not have a monstrously large thumb):

By about 11 pm, the chrysalis was starting to become transparent. You can see the wings of the future Monarch starting to show through.



Even though I tried to stay up, I couldn't any more and went to bed about 2:30 this morning. Before retiring to my bed, I placed the basket in an old popcorn tin and laid a swatch of light muslin over the top, just in case.

This morning, my wife woke me up at 7 am, and told me to check on the pupae. I gently lifted the muslin and found the Monarch hanging from it. I gently lowered the cloth again and carried the whole thing outside.

Once outside, I again lifted the cloth off the can and let the butterfly climb on my hand. When my wife acted as its roost, I grabbed our camera and got this shot:


We left it outside so that it could sun itself and take off when it was ready. I will admit that I kept a protective eye on my new ward. A little after nine this morning, the butterfly starting to stir more than it had before, slowly batting its wings and waving it antennae. I grabbed the camera, but before I could even turn it on, the little guy (or gal) took off and flew to the east.

Now, one of our "children" has left us forever. And the other pupa seems to be getting a little darker...

They never told me I was going to have to deal with empty nest syndrome.

For more information on the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly, please click here.

Biggest. Time. Waster. Ever.

Just keep clicking with the mouse on the pictures.

Go Ahead and Die

Via Open Left, which also has an interesting comparison between the experiences of a cancer patient in America versus one in France.

And speaking of France, I would refer the reader to Mike Mathias who also teaches us a lesson from the French regarding health care.

It's Not Too Late To Help The Monarchs

It appears the DOT, who had been threatening the Monarch Trail with their insistence on screwing up the zoo interchange, might be hearing us.

From WauwatosaNOW.com:

Residents also are voicing opinions about the project. Barb Agnew, chairwoman of the Friends of the Monarch Trail advisory board, is joining others in stating concern that the upgraded interchange will encroach on part of the County Grounds used by migrating birds and butterflies.

Agnew, a Wauwatosa florist, said the land's elevation and proximity to convergent waterways make it one of a few spots in the region where traveling monarch butterflies can rest while moving between Canada and Mexico.

"It can't be moved," she said of the habitat, and asked, "How many can we destroy before they can no longer successfully migrate?"

Carrie Cooper, an environmental planner for the DOT, is working to minimize the project's impact on the habitat.

Cooper said the planned upgrades to the interchange definitely will harm at least the southern part of the butterfly habitat but should leave the northern portion intact. Agnew and Cooper agreed this northern area is most important. In the hopes of offsetting any lost habitat, Cooper said, project designers will add native plantings favored by the butterflies.

Agnew said she's pleased the DOT is willing to cooperate.

"I am hopeful that they can be creative enough in their designing that they can either avoid (damaging the habitat) altogether, or minimize the impact they (do) have," she said.

The article goes on to say that the DOT will continue to accept emails and postal mail on the matter until July 13. That is Monday, people. So take a few minutes before going to Bastille Days or whatever your outdoor plans are and whip off a quick message to the DOT to leave the Monarch trail alone.

Comments should be submitted to:

Jim Lipstack, project manager
Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Southeast Region
141 N.W. Barstow St.
Waukesha, WI 53187

dotdtsdsezoo@dot.state.wi.us

Old News Is New News

On June 17th, Jay Bullock told us that Milwaukee County transit was about to take another big hit when it lost $3 million dollars of MPS money.

The local paper catches up to this news yesterday.

Crazy Talker Walker

Scott Walker has a knack for coming up with some really bad ideas that, if allowed to happen, would only harm Milwaukee County.

Sometimes the County Board doesn't catch on in time, and the bad things happen, like when Walker wanted to privatize the call center, but only ended up sticking tax payers with a bigger bill when the state took over. Or selling the county grounds to a private development company for much less than what the land was worth. Or Walker's ever-morphing attitude towards federal stimulus dollars. If they followed Walker down his fantasy-paved path, they would be out $40 million dollars of revenue.

Sometimes the County Board is able to see through Walker's smoke and mirrors, and prevent the bad things from happening, like when Walker wanted to move the mental health complex to the old St. Michael's Hospital.

The County Board had just proven themselves again when they didn't jump on board with Walker's plan to privatize the airport. Instead they ordered a study to be done on the feasibility of following through with Walker's misguided privatization scheme.

It's a damn good thing that they did, too.

From JSOnline's All Politics Blog:

Nearly all applications for privatization under a federal law have been withdrawn , including the proposed privatization of Chicago's Midway Airport, according to a review by Mitchell Airport Director Barry Bateman.

One airport that was privatized, Stewart Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., reverted to public ownership. The only airport listed as still actively considering privatization was New Orleans' Louis Armstrong International Airport.

Of course, I've been saying it was a dumb idea for a year and half. Others, like Greg Kowalski, also noted that privatizing the airport makes no sense.

Walker is undaunted in his insanity:

Walker has said he'll revive his push to privatize Mitchell as a means of shifting airport revenue to subsidize county buses, which face multimillion dollar shortfalls in the coming years. He's said the county could get $500 million or more by leasing long-term airport operating rights to a private firm.

So, instead of doing something positive for Milwaukee County, like supporting the sales tax referendum, which would have given a dedicated source of revenue for the transit system, the parks, and EMS, as well have provided much needed property tax relief, Walker felt that it would be better to follow an unrealistic pipe dream in privatizing the airport. When his plan fell through, as it inevitably would, we would be in a legal tangle over the airport and have a destroyed transit system.

I think that some of the County Board Supervisors said it well enough:

"This isn't in the realm of reality" for Milwaukee Mitchell Airport, said Supervisor John Weishsan Jr.

County Executive Scott Walker's support for exploring privatizing Mitchell was dismissed by Supervisor Toni Clark as "crazy talk."

Even if investors could be found to purchase operating rights to Mitchell, the result would be higher fees to airlines and consumers, said Supervisor Christopher Larson.

Given Walker's propensity for boneheaded ideas, instead of making a video about Big Talker Walker, the original artist should have made one called Crazy Talker Walker.

Did the ADA or the Judge Make the Wrong Call?

There's an updated story about the deer-killing thugs of Waupaca County on the local paper, WaupacaNOW. The judge gave the ADA a chance to choose between dropping either the illegal hunting charges, which are misdemeanors, or the animal cruelty charges, which are felonies.

From the article:

Kirk then ordered Fassbender to dismiss either the hunting violations or the felony cruelty to animals charges filed against Kuenzi. He said if Fassbender did not choose which direction to take the prosecution of this case, the judge would dismiss the felony charges against Kuenzi.

In a letter to Kirk Monday, June 29, Fassbender said the prosecution would not dismiss any of the charges and it has the authority under state law to bring multiple charges against a defendant.

“Please take whatever action you deem appropriate with regard to the defendant’s motion to dismiss,” Fassbender said in his letter to the court.

A few hours later, Kirk dismissed the felony charges against Rory Kuenzi.

I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on the Intertubes, so I don't know if the ADA did the right thing by sticking to the multiple charges, or if he should have dropped the hunting charges and gone for the felonies.

But I do like the ADA's argument on why he didn't back off on any of the charges (emphasis mine):

Assistant District Attorney James Fassbender argued that the law recognizes certain customs as legitimate hunting activities, which do not include chasing the deer with snowmobiles.

He must read Cog Dis and Illusory Tenant.

Was Justice Served?

Crystal Keith, the aunt of the late Christopher L. Thomas (pictured on left), had already been convicted of murdering him and of torturing his sister. Yesterday, she received her sentence, which was the full sentence allowed by the law, 50 tears in prison and another 25 years on extended supervision.

But was justice done?

In the metaphysical sense, justice could never be done, since no amount of punishment would bring Christopher back to life and restore all wrongs done to him and his sister.

Since Christopher and his sister cannot be made whole again, the question turns to does the punishment fit the crime? Some people would say that it does. I'm not so sure.

The defense had argued that Keith suffered from mental illnesses, specifically depression and schizophrenia. This is plausible, although I don't know if any psychological evaluations were done and what the results of any evaluations might have been. Many accounts that I have read include people commenting about Keith's flat affect (failure to show any emotions on her face). This is a common feature of people receiving treatment for schizophrenia.

Maybe I find the defense of mental illness plausible just because I find it hard to believe that any normal person would be able to do this willingly against two small children.

So, giving Keith the benefit of the doubt, if she was indeed truly insane, how responsible should she be held for her crime? Obviously, if she was truly insane, she would not be aware of the wrongness of her deeds and she would not have tried to hide them from social workers and from family members. If she was not aware, it would be another crime to punish her for something she had no rational control over.

However, if she was truly insane, that should have been held into account during the sentencing. Apparently, based on the reported court proceedings, any mental illnesses were found not to be a significant factor that would offer themselves to be a mitigating cause to her behavior. Not being privy to any reports, I cannot nor would not argue in favor or in opposition of such findings.

In other words, the court found Keith to be aware of the difference between right and wrong, and sentenced her appropriately. This is especially true considering the severity and brutality of her crimes.

So, one can argue, the sentencing was fitting for the crime. But the question still remains: Was justice served?

I would have to say no.

The situation that allowed this tragedy to occur still remains the same. The child welfare system in Milwaukee County has not changed. Oh sure, there are some new names and faces, but the system overall remains unchanged.

This is despite several politicians, like State Senator Alberta Darling, promising to "fix things" and bring forth several new laws to improve the system. Yet nothing has changed.

I had hopes that since Milwaukee County's child welfare system was ruined in a budget proposal in 1996, that they state would use the most recent budget proposal process to put in a fix. I should have know better. Neither Governor Doyle nor any single member of the state legislature offered one piece that would have changed the broken system that our children are still being exposed to.

There has been no changes to Kinship Care. There have been no changes to the child welfare system or how it operates. All remains in its dysfunctional splendor.

Until the significant, positive changes are made to the foster care system, Christopher Thomas, I am sad to say, just might have died in vain. And for him and his sister to suffer such pain, such torture, and such a nightmare, and have nothing change to prevent further incidents like this from happening, is simply an injustice.

What Did He Have For Lunch?

Let's see:

Scott Walker boasts about his campaign bike ride on a Harley, and Harley Davidson runs into an economic brick wall and lays off over a thousand workers and closes their Franklin plant.

Then just before his campaign bike ride, he officially announces his campaign, and has a website developed by an agency out of Ohio, claiming no one in Wisconsin could do the job. Funny thing is, one of his primary rivals had no problem finding a local agency more than capable of doing the job, but in a rather good fashion on top of that.

When Walker finally goes on said campaign bike ride, it is sponsored by Georgia-based Air Tran. While on his illegally funded bike ride, local airline Midwest Express crashes and burns.

With the lack of support that Walker has shown for local business, I would not find it surprising that while Patrick Cudahy had been burning day and night, Walker would've have taken time from his power tweeting, to do a campaign luncheon, eating bacon cheeseburgers, with real California cheese and Missouri-based Farmland bacon.