Bush the Hero...?

The Great Krugman on Healthcare:

Most disturbing of all, the number of Americans without health insurance jumped. At this point, there are 47 million uninsured people in this country, 8.5 million more than there were in 2000. Mr. Bush may think that being uninsured is no big deal — “you just go to an emergency room” — but the reality is that if you’re uninsured every illness is a catastrophe, your own private Katrina.

Thompson, Bush Cave in to "Infant Formula" Lobby...

In an attempt to raise the nation's historically low rate of breast-feeding, federal health officials commissioned an attention-grabbing advertising campaign a few years ago to convince mothers that their babies faced real health risks if they did not breast-feed. It featured striking photos of insulin syringes and asthma inhalers topped with rubber nipples.

Plans to run these blunt ads infuriated the politically powerful infant formula industry, which hired a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and a former top regulatory official to lobby the Health and Human Services Department. Not long afterward, department political appointees toned down the campaign.

The ads ran instead with more friendly images of dandelions and cherry-topped ice cream scoops, to dramatize how breast-feeding could help avert respiratory problems and obesity. In a February 2004 letter, the lobbyists told then-HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson they were "grateful" for his staff's intervention to stop health officials from "scaring expectant mothers into breast-feeding," and asked for help in scaling back more of the ads.

And the meaty part:

The report did not assert a direct cause and effect, because doing so would require studies in which some women are told not to breast-feed their infants -- a request considered unethical, given the obvious health benefits of the practice.

Read it all here.

Run Your Home on a Prius?

Interesting story on potential energy:

Power to the People: Run Your House on a Prius
By JIM MOTAVALLI

WHEN Hurricane Frances ripped through Gainesville, Fla., in 2004, Christopher Swinney, an anesthesiologist, was without electricity for a week. A few weeks ago, Dr. Swinney lost power again, but this time he was ready.

He plugged his Toyota Prius into the backup uninterruptible power supply unit in his house and soon the refrigerator was humming and the lights were back on. “It was running everything in the house except the central air-conditioning,” Dr. Swinney said.

Without the Prius, the batteries in the U.P.S. unit would have run out of power in about an hour. The battery pack in the car kept the U.P.S. online and was itself recharged by the gasoline engine, which cycled on and off as needed. The U.P.S. has an inverter, which converts the direct current electricity from the batteries to household alternating current and regulates the voltage. As long as it has fuel, the Prius can produce at least three kilowatts of continuous power, which is adequate to maintain a home’s basic functions.

This form of vehicle-to-grid technology, often called V2G, has attracted hobbyists, university researchers and companies like Pacific Gas & Electric and Google. Although there is some skepticism among experts about the feasibility of V2G, the big players see a future in which fleets of hybrid cars, recharged at night when demand is lower, can relieve the grid and help avert serious blackouts.

Willett Kempton, a senior scientist in the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Delaware, said the power capacity of the automotive fleet was underutilized.

Mr. Kempton is helping to explore the V2G capabilities of a fuel-cell bus and battery-electric vehicles. The technology is also well-suited for so-called plug-in hybrids, which are being developed by General Motors, Toyota and other automakers. Plug-in hybrids will use larger battery packs and recharge from a household outlet for 10 to 30 miles of electric-only driving. When modified, these cars can return electricity to the grid from their batteries.

Song for the Day: Drive By Truckers - "Dress Blues"

Povery Rising in the Valley

Poverty levels rising in Valley

Federal report shows 9.5% of population have lower incomes

Federal poverty statistics released Tuesday show the number of working poor in the Fox Valley continues to climb despite the country's rebounding economy.

The U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2006 indicates an estimated 34,863 residents in the Appleton-to-Oshkosh area, or 9.5 percent of the population, had incomes below the federal poverty level in 2006.

The number was up from 29,325, or 8 percent, in 2005 and 21,729, or 6 percent, in 2004.

Of those residents living in poverty, 14,478, or 3.97 percent, could be considered working poor, up from 11,948, or 3.3 percent, in 2005 and about 7,600, or 2.1 percent, in 2004.

"This is sad news," said Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the Emergency Shelter of the Fox Valley, "but I'm not surprised. It's what we've been telling people for five years now."

The rest is here.

Quote of the Day:

"I want to know why I'm planning a funeral while George Bush is planning a wedding."
Anika Lawal, of Maryland, whose daughter, an Army sergeant, was recently killed in Iraq

Russ' Next President...

Diebold Tried to Sell Voting Machine Unit - No Takers...

Diebold can't sell elections unit

Diebold Inc. confirmed on Thursday what had been widely speculated since January: That it tried and failed to sell its often criticized voting technology business.

Instead, the company said, it will allow the unit to operate more independently, giving it a separate board of directors and perhaps a new management structure.
...
Diebold did not rule out later selling part or all of the realigned business.
...
"By putting it at arm's length, they make it possible to spin this off at some point," said Gil Luria, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities.

In a research note, Edward Wheeler, with Buckingham Research, said growth prospects in Diebold's core automated teller machine and security systems and services businesses remains solid and "on track with our expectations for accelerating momentum building over the next several years."

Diebold has often defended its voting machines and its own business intentions, even after its former chairman and chief executive, Wally O'Dell, sought with little success to convince critics his Republican politics and fundraising for President Bush were not the motive for the company's involvement in elections.

Thought for the Day:

What we should be doing is paying attention to the common and omnipresent threats to our health and welfare. You know what really hurts young people in America? Drugs, alcohol, vehicles, and relatives. Oh, and poverty. The poorer a child is, the more likely that drugs, alcohol, vehicles, and relatives can do serious damage to them. If poverty kills or maims millions of American children and video games kill and maim exactly zero, why do we see more stories about video games than poverty? If children tend to get hurt at home and almost never get hurt at school, why are we so obsessed with school violence and pay so little attention to home and family violence?

Gov Doyle for VP?

The possibility is discussed in this post on the NYTimes Select Blog.

Joe Wineke: GOP’s state budget proposal is just plain dishonest, hurtful

From the West Salem Coulee News:

GUEST VIEW: GOP’s state budget proposal is just plain dishonest, hurtful

As the conference committee joins to work out a final version of the state budget to send to the governor, there is very much at stake. So I want to be very clear. The budget that Assembly Republicans are bringing to the table is wildly out of touch with basic Wisconsin values.

The cuts in their budget would have devastating effects on many areas of life — from health care to education to public safety to economic development. They made sure to cater to big oil and include a tax break on gold bullion, but they failed to ensure that Wisconsinites have health care or that our kids have good schools.

First, the Republican Assembly budget would cause immediate harm to public schools. Statewide, it would cut schools by nearly $130 million, keep Wisconsin dead last in the nation in school breakfasts, increase class sizes, and layoff 1,700 teachers. That means $2.7 million less for La Crosse County schools.

The Republican budget would also slash over $125 million from University of Wisconsin campuses and eliminate all increases for student financial aid.

On average, the GOP budget would cut 5 percent to community aids — impacting local police and fire protection and emergency services, not to mention snow removal, garbage pickup or street maintenance. Like I said, Republicans are aiming at some of the most basic services you can think of.

And then there’s health care. Democrats have been working hard to find the best way to make sure Wisconsinites get the health care they need. The governor’s budget had a plan to cover 98 percent of our citizens, and the Senate had another plan to provide universal healthcare. And what have Republicans contributed to efforts to find the best way to provide affordable health care to Wisconsinites? Nothing.

Well actually, they’ve done even less than nothing. The Assembly Republican budget eliminates programs to provide affordable health care for over 185,000 Wisconsinites, including 38,000 uninsured children. And it cuts funding to critical programs that serve some of our most vulnerable citizens — seniors, the disabled and the young.

But every time Democrats try to work to find the best way we can make sure Wisconsinites have affordable health insurance, Republicans come back with nothing but the same old rhetoric.

They try to tell us that they are the ones standing up for taxpayers, that these drastic cuts are all in the name of a “no tax increase” budget. What they’re not so quick to talk about is the $256 million fee increase their budget also includes.

Now, I understand there is a difference between a tax and a fee, but it seems to me that if Republicans are trying to tell Wisconsinites that their budget is best because it doesn’t increase taxes at all, they should be a bit more forthright about fee increases. Because in the end, it is still an increase and the taxpayers are still footing the bill. Let’s at least be honest about what we’re talking about.

As the conference committee works through the budget in the days and weeks to come, I can only hope this sort of honesty will win out over rhetoric, and that together, we can pass a budget that puts Wisconsin families first. At the heart of this budget process is protecting the basic values of our state, and GOP legislators have failed to do so on many levels.

I urge Republicans to rethink their extreme budget and put their focus back where it should be — on the hard-working families of this state, our public schools, our veterans pursuing higher education and our citizens who need health care. And I urge you to tell them the same thing.

Joe Wineke is chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

Bush Continues Regan's Legacy...

...selling arms to Iran:

The Pentagon sold more than a thousand aircraft parts that could be used on F-14 fighter jets — a plane flown only by Iran — after announcing it had halted sales of such surplus, government investigators say.

Just a Thought (About Healthy WI)

How can the Republicans complain about the great benefits that state workers get, yet in the next breath say that Govt will never be able to manage healthcare for it's residents?

Petri meets with British Prime Minister, did they have anything to talk about?

According to this press release, Rep Petri had the opportunity to speak with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

What do you think they had to talk about? Maybe the $1 to 5 million (that's 6 zero's) that he made off of Lloyd's of London in 2005 alone. Here's the relevant page from his 2005 statement:

According to opensecrets.org, Rep. Tom Petri is the 15th wealthiest member of Congress.

Business Group Meets to Discuss Healthy WI

For Immediate Release

Grassroots Business Group takes Wisconsin Health Reform Plan to Pewaukee

www.BusinessCoalition.net/wisconsin.htm

Contact:

Keith Schmitz/414-963-0847/ schmitz1@ameritech.net

(Milwaukee, WI) -- Local businesspeople are invited to attend a meeting to organize grassroots business support in the Milwaukee area for the proposed Healthy Wisconsin plan which passed in the State Senate last week. This organization, the Business Coalition for Single Payer Healthcare, will be part of similar groups throughout the state.

The second of three meetings in the area will take place at 5:30pm on Thursday August 2nd at the Machine Shed at I94 and Hwy 164 (exit 294, northeast corner, west of hotel)

Cash bar and optional appetizers or dinner

The meeting will feature a presentation by Institute for One Wisconsin regarding the details on the Healthy Wisconsin plan, followed by a discussion of possible action that can be taken to support the plan.

The meeting is being organized by Jack Lohman, a retired business owner, Keith Schmitz an owner of public relations firm and a grassroots organizer, and C.J. Brown, a local business consultant. This will be the first of three meetings that will be held in the Milwaukee metro area through August.

Although Families USA reported that Healthy Wisconsin will create 13,000 new jobs and $1 billion in new business activity, existing business groups including WMC have opposed the proposal. That, even though the plan will provide all businesses and their employees with the healthcare coverage they need at a cost for many companies below what they are paying now for healthcare insurance. The plan promises to make Wisconsin businesses more competitive and ultimately make Wisconsin an attractive place to do business.

Space at this event is limited so please RSVP to Keith Schmitz at schmitz1@ameritech.net. You can call 414-963-0847 for more details.

Hair!

John Edwards makes a great point here:

Bush's 'Let them eat cake' Moment

President Bush yesterday rejected entreaties by his Republican allies that he compromise with Democrats on legislation to renew a popular program that provides health coverage to poor children, saying that expanding the program would enlarge the role of the federal government at the expense of private insurance.
...
"I support the initial intent of the program," Bush said in an interview with The Washington Post after a factory tour and a discussion on health care with small-business owners in Landover. "My concern is that when you expand eligibility . . . you're really beginning to open up an avenue for people to switch from private insurance to the government."

The 10-year-old program, which is set to expire on Sept. 30, costs the federal government $5 billion a year and helps provide health coverage to 6.6 million low-income children whose families do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance on their own.

About 3.3 million additional children would be covered under the proposal developed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Republican Sens. Charles E. Grassley (Iowa) and Orrin G. Hatch (Utah), among others.

The entire story is here.

College Republican Chickenhawks Tour...

From Max Blumenthal:



Untitled from huffpost and Vimeo.

My First Oshkosh Northwestern Cover...

This was from an April 1993 story on Sears closing in downtown Oshkosh.

I was the cover photo of the OshNW the next day. I had purchased a car sterio for my 1992 Ford Festiva!

I was 19 and a sophmore at UWO.

This was missing for several years, I found it going through some pictures that my grama had put aside.

Sorry about the hair, but remember, grunge was huge at the time!

Vitter, then and now...

From the Center for American Progress:

"I'm not going to answer endless questions about it all over again and again and again and again. That might sell newspapers, but it wouldn't serve my family or my constituents well."
-- Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), 7/16/07, speaking out publicly for the first time about appearing on the D.C. Madam's list

VERSUS

"Some current polls may suggest that people are turned off by the whole Clinton mess and don't care. ... But that doesn't answer the question of whether President Clinton should be impeached and removed from office because he is morally unfit to govern."
-- Vitter, 10/29/98

That is why it matters...

Republican Primary Winner: "None of the Above"

A new poll reveals a clear leader in the Republican presidential race: nobody.

The AP-Ipsos survey shows nearly a quarter of Republicans are unwilling to back any of the top candidates -- Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain or Mitt Romney.

"None of the Above" got 24%, Rudy got 21% and Thompson (Fred) got 19%.

Quote of the Day - Dan Cody Edition:

I could not imagine saying it better (re: the Republican Assembly Budget):

Cutting elderly health care funding so gold bullion dealers can get tax breaks. I can’t wait for the 2008 election cycle to make that point over and over again.

Petri votes to stay the (failed, bloody) course in Iraq

In a press release last week, Rep Petri stated:

By a vote of 223 to 201, the House of Representatives voted late Thursday to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq. Rep. Tom Petri voted against the withdrawal proposal, and has issued the following statement:

I'm concerned that the current debate on Iraq in Congress is driven by domestic politics rather than by sensible foreign policy.

Yes, the situation in Iraq is unsatisfactory, to say the least. But while it's easy to say what isn't working, there seems to be a shortage of solutions that will actually work, and that won't threaten to expand the conflict throughout the entire region.

Rep. Petri, is it sensible to stay involved in (a sample of today's headlines):

Officials report massacre of Shiites in Iraq
Car bomb explodes near Iranian embassy in Baghdad
Two fathers with missing sons, one war
Iraq-bound Guardsman fast-tracks wedding for terminally ill father
29 killed in overnight attack in Iraq
Military Considering bigger Surge
Florida Army reservist asks court to stop 5th overseas deployment
Officials report massacre in Diyala
Triple bombings in northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk kill more than 80 ...

Those were from the last hour on Google alone.

It is time to admit that Iraq is the largest failure in memory and move on. No more sons separated from fathers, no more rushed weddings, no more lonely brides.

No more American lives in a failed, poorly planned experiment.

Rep. Petri, bring our troops home. This isn't about politics, it is about common sense and compassion.

Declared candidate for the 6th District Congressional District, Roger Kittelson has made it into the New York Times!

To find out more about Roger, email him at: kittelsonforcongress@gmail.com

Here is the full article (usually only up for a few days w/out a subscription):

Here are some excerpts:

Wisconsin Dem Says He Can Test House GOP Veteran — B’Gosh
By Jessica Benton Cooney, CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY

Wisconsin Republican Rep. Tom Petri has now served more than 28 years in the House, and the last time Democrats in his 6th Congressional District waged a serious effort to unseat him was in 1992. In fact, Democrats in 2006 did not even field a challenger — the sixth time that has happened in the 15 elections dating to Petri’s first victory in an April 1979 special election.
…
Democrat Roger Kittelson, a dairy marketing specialist, has entered next year’s race against Petri and contends he should not be counted out.

Kittelson enters the race with little experience as a candidate: His only past run was a defeat in a state House race in 1982 in his native Minnesota. By comparison, Peggy Lautenschlager, the Democrat who held Petri to 53 percent of the vote back in 1992, was a state House member and former county district attorney, who would go on to serve between 2003 and 2007 as Wisconsin’s first woman attorney general.

But Kittelson can’t be accused of not aiming high. His Republican opponent in his 1982 candidate debut was then the Speaker of the Minnesota House.

“I think I can win,” said Kittelson, who in an interview with CQPolitics.com said his determination to run is attributable “in part because of the direction of the country,” and also, he said, because “Petri tends to support the president’s lack of direction on the war in Iraq.”

Kittelson, who lives in the small town of Lomira, calls himself a conservative Democrat and says he plans to tout his support of affordable health care and a balanced federal budget.
…
Another Democrat from the district, state Rep. Gordon Hintz, noted that Republican Mark Green — a former four-term representative of the neighboring 8th Congressional District — barely carried the 6th District with 51 percent of the vote in his unsuccessful 2006 bid to unseat Democratic Gov. James E. Doyle.

Hall, Petri’s 2004 foe and now chairman of the Winnebago County Democratic Party, said there has been a huge political swing in the district that he suggested might be following a national change. “People don’t want to be Republican anymore,” he said. “Republicans don’t even want to be Republican, people here are clamoring for a change. The numbers are more on our side than they ever have been.”

Are we at the tipping point?

Polls as of 7/5/07:

Do you favor or oppose the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against President George W. Bush?
7/5/07 - Favor - Oppose - Undecided
All Adults - 45% - 46% - 9%
Voters - 46% - 44% - 10%
Democrats - 69% - 22% - 9%
Republicans - 13% - 86% - 1%
Independents - 50% - 30% - 20%

Do you favor or oppose the US House of Representatives beginning impeachment proceedings against Vice President Dick Cheney?
7/5/07 - Favor - Oppose - Undecided
All Adults - 54% - 40% - 6%
Voters - 50% - 44% - 6%
Democrats - 76% - 24% - 0%
Republicans - 17% - 83% - 0%
Independents - 51% - 29% - 20%

Breaking News?

The OshNW has this item under the heading "BREAKING NEWS":

Lender foreclosing on 100 block apartment building

BB Syndication Services, the commercial lending arm of Banker’s Bank, has initiated foreclosure action on the apartment building at 100 N. Main St.

The Madison-based bank filed its initial paper work on June 29, and a receiver was appointed to oversee the building’s day-to-day operations on Tuesday by Winnebago County Circuit Court Judge Barbara Key.

More on my opinion on the 100 Block later, but first just a simple question:

How is a report on July 13th about a case filed June 29th and before a judge on July 10th considered "BREAKING NEWS"?

Shouldn't the banner read: "WE'RE ONLY 3 DAYS TO 2 WEEKS BEHIND"?

That said, I think the key to this story is Ben Ganther. I will go on record that the 100 Block is good for Oshkosh. I like the development, I love Cranky Pat's and have attended several nice events on the patio.

There is no reason for it not to be successful, it seems to me.

Other than one thing: Ben Ganther. It was mis-managed. Hopefully the new management group will bring some competence to this endeavor.

I believe we have seen similar mis-management in other projects he has been involved with.

I believe in Oshkosh, I believe in new development for Oshkosh. And I hope that Mr. Ganther's poor record does not doom some of the great ideas and projects that are going on in Oshkosh right now.

Republicans to Protest Taxes... From the deck of an 85-foot yacht

You can't make this stuff up:

JOIN US AS WE SAIL OFF AND PROTEST OUR HIGH WISCONSIN TAXES!
Republican Party of Ozaukee County "Boston Tea Party"
21st Century style"Wine and Appetizer Sail"

Join us aboard the 85ft long tall ship "Appledore IV", for a little fun, whine and relaxation, as we set sail out of Port Washington to enjoy a two-hour adventure on Lake Michigan in protest of Wisconsin's High Taxes. While sailing, we will hear from a special guest speaker about our high Wisconsin taxes and what is being done about them; and, have the opportunity to participate in our very own Ozaukee County Tea Party.

(Note: the spelling of 'wine' as 'whine' is from their website. Freud...?)

As Republicans sail on their luxury yacht to protest 'high taxes' in the Assembly budget these same Republicans:

- cut nearly $12 million in tuition remission funding from Wisconsin veterans
- eliminated state funding for Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Public Television
- deleted one-time funding for an infant mortality project in Racine County
- deleted the funding increase for breast cancer and cervical cancer screening services
- dramatically reduces funding for domestic violence victims
- cuts aid to poor first-time mothers who are in the third trimester of an at-risk pregnancy and are unable to work
- rejects provisions to require insurance policies to cover autism spectrum disorders
- reduces funding for foster care by $1.6 million
- deletes $1 million in funding for civil legal services for the indigent
- cuts funding for domestic abuse grants by about $1.3 million
- slash over $133 million from the UW System, including $26.4 million from Higher Education Grants that keep tuition affordable for lower income students
- lay off over 1,700 teachers
- slash more than $58 million from the funds our communities use to pay for police and fire protection
- cut what schools could spend per pupil by $64


However, it includes:
- tax cuts for venture capitalists
- health care savings accounts for those who can all ready afford their healthcare

I would hope that Wisconsin Republican's take to heart FDR's quote:

"It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach."

And realize that those who find misery on 85-foot yacht deserve no sympathy from those who find hunger or sickness in old-age, poverty and illness.

Where's Roessler?

Check this out: http://www.wheresroessler.com/

According to B&S, there is a bill board as well:

ACLU of Wisconsin and NAACP Wisconsin Community Summit on Fair Elections

From an email I received today:

ACLU of Wisconsin and NAACP Wisconsin Invite you to a Community Summit on Fair Elections

Help build the movement to repeal the most damaging of Jim Crow laws still in effect in Wisconsin.

Enfranchise all citizens in our community, including those who have finished incarceration sentences.

Thursday, July 19
11:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
NAACP Headquarters – lower level
2745 N. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Milwaukee

Over five million people in the U.S. have been disenfranchised due to felony convictions. In Wisconsin, even after incarceration, citizens deemed safe to live in our communities, work, pay taxes, raise families and are still denied the right to vote if they are “on paper.” Some of them for years! This restriction adds confusion and bureaucracy. It even makes voting, the most sacred responsibility of a citizen in our country, a crime.

Join us in bringing Wisconsin up to date with most other Midwestern states who are streamlining their rules on voting.

This is a brown bag lunch event, however, if you RSVP by July 16, 2007, lunch will be provided. We are accepting $5.00 donations to offset the costs of lunch.

Please RSVP to Angie Vasquez in the ACLU of Wisconsin office, (414) 272-4032 x11

For more information on this issue, contact Renee Crawford, Associate Director of the ACLU of Wisconsin at: rcrawford@aclu-wi.org