It doesn’t matter where you live. Every budget of every department in your city is under attack. No budget is sacred. That includes libraries.

Yes, libraries. Those formerly sacred institutions whose budgets were considered untouchable.

One of my all time favorite remarks made by an elected official came during a library budget debate.

A rural Town Chairman and County Board Supervisor defended his constituents non-payments with …

“Nobody in my town should have to pay for a library, because nobody in my town reads!”

I don’t want to live in his town.

Do you?

When elected officials get caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing, their confessions are sometimes a bit wishy-washy.

Then there is Baraboo, WI City Council Representative/Mayoral Candidate  Michael Cone.

The sign on the glass door of the 12-foot by 15-foot walk-in humidor at the Viking Express Market makes no mention of the upcoming mayoral election.

Cone, 54, admits to stealing cigars from the humidor on four separate occasions in January and February. He says he’s not sure why he took the cigars but says he sold the ill-gotten stogies for about $25 and used the money to put gas in his silver Toyota Camry.

Cone has no plans to drop out of the race for mayor. And if he loses, he has no plans to relinquish his position as an alderman.

“If I could go back to January and start there, it wouldn’t be this dysfunctional, but what I did made it dysfunctional,” Cone said. “I did something wrong and it throws everything all out of whack.”

At least he is owning up to his actions without excuses.

That is more than can be said for many who get caught.

I still wouldn’t vote for him but at least he took responsibility.

For years I have had two daily newspapers delivered to our home. The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Soon I will only be getting one.

It was a very difficult decision. They serve different purposes. The Pioneer Press is my national news and sports. The Leader-Telegram is my regional news, obituaries and sports. But, it is the old story. The cost kept going up and the paper kept getting smaller and smaller. The decision was made even more difficult because as a young lad I delivered both of them. First the Pioneer Press, then after my brother quit the Leader-Telegram I took over that route. It was going to be like disowning a child.

It just isn’t the same reading a newspaper on the internet. But, I have now set as one of my “Favorites” the obit page of the Leader-Telegram. From there I can move on the rest of the paper.

I don’t know how newspapers can offer me the same news on the internet at no charge. Well, let’s face it they can’t. That is one of the reasons they are in big trouble.  If they don’t start charging for the internet use, that won’t (can’t) be around forever.

I don’t feel good about placing my dagger in their back. I’ve been with them for a long, long time.

But, how long can anyone be expected to continue paying more and getting less of anything?

I recently posted that logic does not apply at the federal level of government.

If any federal official takes exception to that statement let me give the following as evidence.

Everyone from President Barack Obama on down to fans has criticized how college football determines its top team. Now senators are getting off the sidelines to examine antitrust issues involving the Bowl Champion Series.

The current system “leaves nearly half of all the teams in college football at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to qualifying for the millions of dollars paid out every year,” the Senate Judiciary’s subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights said in a statement Wednesday announcing the hearings.

Behind the push for the hearings is the subcommittee’s top Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah. People there were furious that Utah was bypassed for the national championship despite going undefeated in the regular season.

The subcommittee’s statement said Hatch would introduce legislation “to rectify this situation.”

In the House, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, has sponsored legislation that would prevent the NCAA from calling a football game a “national championship” unless the game culminates from a playoff system.

Yes,  I also wish there was a national playoff.

But, Senate committee hearings?

Legislation prohibiting the use of the term “national championship”?

Folks, we have some serious house cleaning to do in Washington.

When it comes to local politics I am a grizzled old veteran. I’ve been involved for over 30 years. I’ve won my share of battles and naturally also lost my share. But, I fear nobody. Nobody!

At least I feared nobody until  Jason Ross (Madpanic)  passed this along.

There is a political equivalent of the game Rock – Paper – Scissors.

It is called Emotion – Logic – Persistence. 

As a general rule in politics Emotion will defeat Logic. When someone is moved by emotion they are blinded by logic.

Logic defeats Persistence. If an argument absolutely defies logic it rarely wins out no matter how many times it keeps coming back.

Persistence defeats Emotion. While persistence cannot defeat logic it can eventually wear down emotion.

However, this game is only applicable at the local and state level of politics.

Logic never wins at the federal level.

At the beginning of every local government meeting there is a time for public comment/input. If there isn’t at your meetings there should be.

The problem is far too many citizens who participate in meetings at this time, do not take the time to write out and practice their remarks before speaking.  Thus, their remarks sound like they weren’t prepared and practiced.

Whenever I hear one of those “speeches” I think of the words of former Vice President Hubert Humphrey.

“The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously.”

If you want to be taken seriously you better prepare and practice.

In a couple of weeks I will be in Washington D.C/Virgina playing tourist. I know all the obvious places I should go to see. But, what about the not obvious places? The places I have never heard of that should not be missed. The hidden gems.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Please leave a comment if you know of any.

Thank you!

I thought I was immune to government stupidity. Normally, no amount of government stupidity surprises me.

But…

The Kenosha Unified School District is one of five in southeastern Wisconsin that have lost a lot of money by investing in something called synthetic collateralized debt obligations, the same absurd financial maneuver that has brought A.I.G. to the brink of collapse and made it a symbol for excess and corporate welfare.

Collateralized debt obligation investments are essentially bets on other people’s debts — mortgages, car loans, business loans, etc. If the debtors pay their bills, the investors get a kickback in exchange for agreeing to cover the debt should the debtors default.

In case you haven’t heard, there has been a lot of defaulting these days. Kenosha’s $37.5 million “investment” is now worth perhaps $950,000 or less. Altogether, the five Wisconsin school districts — Kenosha, Whitefish Bay, Waukesha, West Allis and Kimberly — borrowed $200 million via a network of German, Irish and Canadian lenders to make the investments, and have, by most accounts, lost almost all of it.

That’s right, those School Boards borrowed $200 million dollars to invest in speculative investments and have now lost almost all of it.

At least it was done “for the children.”

That always justifies everything.

Wisconsin has a new tourism slogan. We have gone through a number of slogans since the best one … “Escape to Wisconsin”.

Our new slogan isn’t even original, we stole it from Bacardi Rum … “Live like you mean it.”

Then we get this logo which doesn’t do a thing for this aging boomer. That is the target demographic.  At least should be. Was there any focus group work done on us? At all?

I was reading some reactions and alternative slogans. Some people get very passionate about this topic.

I don’t remember where I read the following slogan idea. It came from VB in Greenfield.  I remembered that. Who knows, maybe VB stole this idea from someone else.

Wisconsin. Come get tAXED.

(Wisconsin took a tax, and gave its visitors forty whacks.

When officials  saw what they had done, they gave their residents forty one.)

What’s in your basement? How about the garage? 

Toxic waste is what is in your basement and garage. I would bet anything on that. Stuff that shouldn’t be “thrown out.” Stuff that should be carefully and properly disposed of.  So, what does the government do?

 They cut the funds for Clean Sweep programs.

I’ve been keeping a mental list of what I want to dispose next Clean Sweep.

Maybe I won’t wait.

Maybe I’ll dump it down the storm drain now?

No place else to take it.

Are you happy?

I am and I didn’t even have to be told I was.

You might not  be aware there is a Gallup-Healthways Well Being Index that tells us if we are happy or not. 

Supposedly this survey finds … The people of Utah are the happiest. The people of West Virginia are the unhappiest.

You know what I find?

Happy people are happy people no matter where they live. 

Unhappy people are unhappy people no matter where they live.

No map is required.

“What’s in it for me”  has been released.

The projects in my little corner of the world (NW Wisconsin) have been announced which will be funded by the Stimulus Bill. Let me say without hesitation that I support the idea of a massive public works program to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure. I am willing to stretch my imagination a bit on what is “infrastructure.”  So, I looked at the list from this “stimulus” point of view. Will these funds produce jobs and improve our crumbling infrastructure? That’s what we were told …right?

$4.2 million for the St. Croix Falls wastewater treatment plant.

Yes, this will create jobs and is needed infrastructure.

$1.9 million for US 53 intersection improvements.

Well, they first have to be studied and designed. Not  shovel ready. These intersections have been studied to death over the past 10 years. Still no consensus what to do to improve safety. This $1.9 will be pissed away in the study stage giving make work to a couple planner for a couple of years. By the time anything does get decided, it will be passed the time we need stimulus work.

$1.33 million for after school programs funded by CESA 10 and 11.

After school programs?  Stimulus package?  I don’t think so.

$950,000 for Chippewa Valley Regional Airport expansion.

Yes, it will create jobs and is transportation infrastructure.

$500,000 for water infrastructure improvements in Cumberland.

You bet. 

$335,000 for zebra mussel control on the St. Croix River.

The list gets pretty hard to defend starting now.

$263,000 for environmental studies on the St. Croix River watershed.

Starting to get the picture?

$174,000 for some kind of program at UW-Stout to use technology to improve efficiency.

Whatever?

$70,000 for a water quality study on Cedar Lake in Barron County.

Yet another water quality study.

So, we have about $5.65 million in stimulus shovel ready jobs and $4 million not. Let’s call it 60-40.

If this is the percentage of shovel ready stimulus vs. non shovel ready stimulus in my area, why would I think the percentage would be different elsewhere.

Forty Percent Non-Stimulus Waste.

That’s too high for me.

I read a newspaper ad for a City Council candidate. Doesn’t matter who it is or where they are from. It could be anywhere.

 The ad simply said “Real World Common Sense” .

That’s it. It doesn’t do a thing for me.

I want examples!!! Give me a couple bullet points below that statement proving it. I love common sense. I agree there isn’t enough common sense in government. But, give me an example or two!

I love elections. I love the competition of it. I like to see candidates who stand for something get elected. 

What exactly would you have done different than your opponent in the past … or what exactly is your plans and agenda for the future? I might not agree with you but I would at least know you can think through a problem.

If you don’t have any specific plans or agenda for the future why are you running?  Why should I vote for you?

Real World Common Sense isn’t enough.

Sorry.

I want to alert all my “green” friends to a new option that may be available in the future.

Xcel Energy customers could choose to have more of the electricity they use come from renewable sources if the Wisconsin Public Service Commission approves a new request by the company.

Who would do this?

Everything I learned in high school physics class can be summed up in one sentence. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I don’t remember what was being discussed when that law of physics was first explained to me. I do remember it quickly turned into a discussion of the recoil of different caliber rifles.

That law of physics is also a law of politics.

If someone feels passionate, very passionate, on an issue, there is someone else just as passionate on the issue that has a view diametrically opposed to the original idea. The more passionate a view on an issue, the more passionate the opposing view.

Never forget this law of politics when advancing a new idea and prepare to deal early on with the opposition. 

Psst … Moving Mountains and Molehills Local Politics 101  can help you.

I’m going on vacation in four weeks. We are heading out to Virginia/Washington D.C. area. I’ve been there three times for work. Caught a few sites but not many. My wife has never been there. We are really looking forward to the trip.

This morning at coffee one of the guys asked me a hypothetical question. Who would I like to bump into and say “Hi?”  He expected me to name someone he knew. You know…  a big name. I assumed that it should be someone who might actually be walking the streets for me to bump into. Not so big of a name.

I said, “Fred Barnes.”

My friend looked at me very puzzled and said, “Who the hell is Fred Barnes?”

Don’t feel bad Fred. He didn’t know who Chris Matthews was either.

In fact, most of the people I come into contact each day don’t watch cable news. At all. They don’t read blogs and they sure don’t twitter. Yet, somehow they manage to get along quite well. At times I even envy them.

With every passing day I see and hear the growing lack of confidence in our political leaders at all levels of government. There is even a word for it …  Kakistocracy.

Government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens.

Note the definition states “or” not “and”. Some are unqualified … some are unprincipled. But not both at the same time. Not every elected leader, but enough of them to really screw things up. Enough to be in control at any one time. Party affiliation is irrelevant as the unqualified or unpricipled are everywhere. 

I remember an old time Town Chairman.  He was publicly called “backward” by opponents.  There was no way that the Town could find anyone worse. It turns out they could. I learned then, no matter how bad things were, they could get worse.

Have we found the least competent or most unprincipled yet?  Have we reached Kakistocracy?

Sorry to say, probably not.

Apathy. Political Apathy. It’s killing us. On all levels of government, it is killing us. Just look at all the bozos we have serving in government at all levels. We re-elect them term after term after term even after we know they are bozos. Some of them, especially on the local level continue to get re-elected with no opposition.

Luckily a cure for political apathy has been discovered. The cure isn’t easy. The cure isn’t pain free. But, there is a cure. The cure is …Involvement.

Get off your dead ass and get involved.

Go to meetings. Write letters. Run for office.

Oh, that’s right. You’re too busy.

Sorry.

I was talking yesterday with someone who lives in a very rural area. He had many derogatory things to say about his three person Town Board. What exactly he called them is irrelevant. Funny… but irrelevant. He wanted to know how to “change their mind” on an particular issue.

I told him that in order for them to “change their mind” implies they have one to change in the first place. And, he had just spent 15 minutes telling me that wasn’t the case.

I explain in Moving Mountains and Molehills Local Politics 101  as a last resort, if the issue is that important to you, sometimes you just have to take matters into your own hands and throw the bums out. This is a three member Town Board. It only takes two to overthrow it. 

When a discussion takes that turn, suddenly the issue is not near as important as it just was.

There has been a lot of talk lately about marijuana.

Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Obama administration would allow states to enforce their own medical marijuana laws.

Some in California want to totally legalize it so they can tax it.

Others consider the prison costs that can be saved for taxpayers.

All this reminds me of a County Board meeting in November of 1998.

It was my first budget process as a County Board Supervisor. I eyed the line item of $15,000 which was the County share of the DARE. program. I had disliked the DARE curriculum since my son went through it a few years earlier. What crap. No wonder we have the drug problems we do.  I was recognized by the Chair and rose to speak.

I explained that I was not opposed to a drug education program. I was opposed to THIS drug education program. I explained how I believed the DARE program lied to kids about many drugs thus doing more harm than good in the long run. We needed a new program.

The Chairman of the Law Enforcement Committee rose to respond. The  former Police Chief, County Sheriff and long time County Board Supervisor shook his finger at me as he spoke, “Of course we lie to the kids. How else are we going to get through to them?”

My motion to drop DARE did not get a second.

Don’t get mad, get even.

I’ve waited years to get even with political opponents.

It didn’t take Michael Zarlenga that long.

To many in Old Town Alexandria, the sex shop that opened recently on King Street is nothing short of scandalous, a historical desecration just blocks from the boyhood home of Robert E. Lee.

I’ve been told I need a front end alignment.

Considering the condition of our streets I suspect 80% of the cars in town need a front end alignment.

How’s your streets doing?