john maddente | midwestern clarity

I t was quite a panel assembled today on Fareed Zakaria's Sunday cable program .  Mr. Zakaria typically focuses his program on foreign affairs, but today he turned his sights to the domestic political challenges of the Obama administration. It was sort of a "Where did he go wrong and what should he do now?" theme addressed by three fine writers - Walter Isaacson , Peggy Noonan and Robert Caro .  Mr. Caro asserted, "If Obama backs away from health care , he will have lost his ideals."  On a personal note, I am a huge fan of Mr. Caro's work on LBJ.  (I wish he'd complete his book on the final years of Johnson's life soon.)  However, some might take exception with his reference today, to the "fifty million" Americans without health insurance, for two reasons.  First, many tend to use interchangeably, the notion of "care and insurance"  as Mr. Caro did, which obscures the debate.  Second, ...

Published 1.15.2010 at Examiner.com The primary reason I decided to support Scott Walker's bid for Governor last year is that he is one of the few state pols who "gets it." The "it" in this case -- is fiscal sanity. I make no claim of neutrality, so when a Web article from the state Democratic machine came into view yesterday, I was naturally skeptical. The title alone was hair-raising, "Inmates Released, Public Safety Plans Cut: "Patchwork" Walker's Latest Hypocrisy Exposed by Political Ally" The "Political Ally" referred to is Milwaukee County Sheriff, David A. Clarke Jr. -- another leader who also understands how to operate within his means.  My word, I wondered, what had County Executive Scott Walker done? The piece issued by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, references, "...a scathing letter to Walker" from Sheriff Clarke. In the first place, the Sheriff's letter was addressed to several County sup...