You need to run for office yourself,” he said. “Somebody has to take responsibility for being on the school board, on the city council ? all these offices that sometimes lead to higher things and sometimes don’t. Democracy withers unless people think ? unless people understand that they’re responsible, not their neighbor.”
Category: Politics
Taxpayers get to pay Twice?
A number of government agencies are circumventing open public records access via fees or “National Security. The result is that we get to pay twice, or more (collection and management of information along with overlapping distribution costs). Here are some examples:
- “subscription”: Access Dane
- The state’s highest court will now decide a landmark public records case involving access to aerial reconnaissance photographs and maps of Greenwich, CT. The town maintains the images in a tightly kept database known as a geographic information system, which a judge declared to be public records last December. The Connecticut Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear the town’s appeal of that ruling, expediting the case by leap-frogging the state Appellate Court. The move virtually coincides with the third anniversary of the initial complaint in the case, which Greenwich resident and computer consultant Stephen Whitaker filed with the state Freedom Information Commission after the town denied his request for an electronic copy of the entire database for security and privacy reasons.”
The Greenwich case is absurd. We (taxpayers) pay for all of this…. Via Slashdot.
Email Mayor Dave (mayor at madison dot com ) and County Exec Kathleen Falk (falk at co.dane.wi.us) and let them know your thoughts on taxpayer funded public records access.
Most importantly, support the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Protect your electronic rights.
True Broadband & Economic Development
Horse-and-Buggy Infrastructures:
More politicians will eventually wake up and smell the fiber.
There was at least one speaker who put it squarely on the shoulders of local and state politicians ?who just don?t get it? when it comes to understanding what?s needed to keep this country viable. It was refreshing to hear a politically accurate statement come out of D.C.
In Iowa where 80 percent of the state is rural, they built the Iowa Communications Network (ICN), which was the nation?s first fiber-optic network owned and administered by the state. Its original intent was so rural students would have the same access and advantages that students had in urban Iowa.
The first locations were lit in 1993. By 1997, the ICN logged 182,386 hours. In 1999, there were more than 800 sites with session hours at more than 400,000. This network has improved the infrastructure of Iowa and they have increased the applications to telemedicine and other capabilities.
Wisconsin: Squeezing the taxpayer….
Steven Walters summarizes a variety of viewpoints on the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute’s recent study on state government spending (7.7% above the national average). The real crunch (and why the spending battles continue at the local and state level): Wisconsin’s income is 2.8% below the national average. [75K PDF]
This problem will not improve until our economy is increasingly based on high growth, valued added businesses. Wisconsin’s above average government spending was supported for decades by the state’s now declining manufacturing base. This change, which will take many years, requires an open mind, a willingness to avoid coddling and subsidizing declining industries, rethinking government spending (consolidating services and making sure the services we provide make sense in the 21st century) and doing everything we can to encourage business formation. It also requires economic and political leadership, which is, in my view, is generally lacking. (see this national example where the NAB has successfully kept public spectrum for TV stations). Note that TV viewer numbers are declining…..
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett’s latest budget caps the property tax increase @ 2%
DHS: Dept of Agriculture for 21st Century?
I have long predicted that the Department of Homeland Security will become the Department of Agriculture for the 21st century. What do I mean by that? The joke on Ag is that it now has something like two bureaucrats for every farmer in America. Well, this review notes that DHS has 186,000 employees, and most good estimates of global terrorism put the highest numbers of active players in the 10,000 range, with a potential for almost 100,000 more active sympathesizers or potential recruits. That means we already have one DHS employee for every terrorist on the planet and, with any luck (given the recent Republican flare for enlarging government), we’ll pass the 2-for-1 mark within the second Bush Administration.
Our Politicians: Where is the money coming from?
Open Secrets, a very useful site, has a great summary of where our incumbent politicians raise their cash. I’ll expand on this over the next few weeks.
Packers & Presidents
Jim VandeHei notes the language challenges our major Presidential candidates face in this article on politics and the Packers.
09/14/2004 Primary Results
Dane County has a useful site with results from yesterday’s primary here.
In an election related article, John Harwood discusses Colorado’s ballot initiative that would split the state’s electoral votes:
hile Colorado leans toward the Republicans, Democrats are hoping to grab some of the state’s nine electoral votes anyway, in a tactical strike that could lead to broader changes in America’s system of picking presidents.
Rick Ridder, a Denver-based political consultant who once managed Howard Dean’s campaign for the 2004 Democratic nomination, is pushing an initiative to amend the state’s constitution in the November general election and scrap the winner-take-all allocation of electoral votes practiced by 48 states. Instead, the state’s votes would be divided in proportion to the popular vote, which would almost certainly assure Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry of at least four of them (See related article).
Presidential Campaigns Visiting Madison
20 years ago, I along with some of my roommates attended a Mondale-Ferraro rally on the Capitol Square. I seem to recall that many attended simply to catch a glimpse of Walter Mondale’s daughter, Eleanor. I’ve scanned some photos from that date and posted them here:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
This week’s campaign visits include:
- John Kerry Wed, 9.15.04, 11:00a.m. on the Capitol Square (with Cheryl Crow!) [Map]
- Ralph Nader Wed, 9.15.04 7:30p.m. at the Wisconsin Union Theatre [PDF Map]
Brewers likely sold to out of state buyer(s)?
A Los Angeles-based investor has emerged as a potential new owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, bringing to three the number of individuals or groups seriously looking at buying the team.
Two sources with knowledge of the sale said Mark L. Attanasio, a partner in the investment firm Trust Company of the West, is looking at making a bid for the team.
Attanasio is an ex-Drexel Burnham Lambert banker (Michael Milken’s firm). He was also on the board of Global Crossing.
The Brewers are a tough deal all around. It will be interesting to see if these folks can make money (if a deal happens).
A final word: despite many misgivings about the Seligs (particularily the entire Miller Park unpleasantness), there would be no major league baseball in Milwaukee without Bud.