Annie Lennox’s Into the West from The Lord of the Rings – Return of the King.
Pier Wisconsin Unveiled
Acting Milwaukee Mayor Marvin Pratt and Pier Wisconsin officials made public the long-awaited redesign of the $46 million lakefront education center at Municipal Pier. In an earlier interview, Pratt called it “spectacular” and “a wonderful addition to the lakefront.”
Art Rainwater Profile
Doug Erickson profiles Madison Metropolitan School District Administrator Art Rainwater.
Nader Announces Run for Presidency
Dave Winer (UW Grad and the original blogger) has some useful comments on Nader’s run.
Frontline: Tax Me if You Can
PBS’s Frontline has an interview with Robert McIntyre, Director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy regarding Federal Tax Policy.
Our current tax system is a mess, with many special interests (ethanol, SUV’s) feeding at the trough.
Business Week had an interesting article recently on the “fairness” of the current tax system (including the controversial Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) implications on middle income Americans).
A friend thinks we’re better off taxing everything at the cash source….
WSJ on MMSD Teacher Buyouts
s objectionable as the idea is, buying off terrible teachers often works better than firing them.
Many times, settlements save taxpayer money and more effectively protect students. But the Madison School Board went too far last week in giving superintendent Art Rainwater sole authority to flash cash to settle employee misconduct cases.
A 4-3 board vote allows school administration to, in essence, pay teachers to quit – without board discussion or approval.
Opinion Page: Wisconsin State Journal
Teresa as X Factor
Ms. Heinz Kerry compares her husband to a “good wine,” adding, “You know, it takes time to mature, and then it gets really good and you can sip it.” DAVID M. HALBFINGER NY Times
John Edwards Internet Team
Ed Cone interviews John Edward’s internet team.
Edwards raised $450K online Thursday, with an average contribution of $79.82.
Aaron Myers, says that the current campaign is far from business as usual. ?Things are totally different now from 2000,? he says. ?The biggest difference between this year and four years ago is the number of people acting independently, out somebody?s garage, supporting the candidate. That?s exploded.?
Blogger Meets The President
Blogger Rex Hammock writes about his brief meeting with the President:
“My Warholian 15/45 minutes: I?m writing this in a cab on my way to BWI for a flight back home to Nashville. I just walked out of the Old Executive Office Building where four other ?real people? and I sat down for a 25-minute chat with the President of the United States. Then the five of us stood behind him while he told a room full of people why the tax cuts he has championed should be made permanent…..”
Meanwhile, from the Washington Post:
The White House press corps yesterday scrambled to figure out why a hastily-arranged “conversation” between President Bush and some regular Americans about the economy was suddenly closed to reporters — and what went on behind those closed doors.
Democrat Fund Raiser Knocked Dean Out
If you want to learn about politics at its hardest core, read this article in the Chicago Sun-Times How Democrat fund-raiser scored Dean knockout.
The author of the article, Washington Bureau Chief Lynn Sweet, is currently in residence at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. I attended a seminar yesterday in which she introduced David W. Jones, the fund-raiser who produced the attack ads.
Using a “527 committee” which is allowed under the McCain-Feingold law, Jones raised $663,000 from only 26 donors, including $100,000 from a single donor. He used the money to fund a poll to assess Dean’s vulnerabilities, and 3 attack ads that went after Dean: Top Grades, Facts, and the notorious Osama ad.
Thanks to Centerfield