Mr. Mark Neumann's time for a new goal

Here's to Mark Neumann, a fiscal conservative and an effective legislator with the best interests of the people in mind.  He's the kind of candidate we need to help take back our state from what Ayn Rand called, "the looters." 

The problem is that the Governor's job won't be his.  Mr. Neumann's could instead challenge Russ Feingold for a Senate seat (that should have become his in 1998) and abandoning his Gubernatorial ambitions.  The reasons are...

• The Walker forces are too strong.  He's better funded, has majority support of the party leadership and the GOP rank and file.
• Mr. Walker has a very real chance of beating Mr. Barrett - you could cast more momentum his way, by throwing your support to the Walker campaign.
• Neumann is the only still credible candidate with Washington experience and a chance to beat Feingold.  
• He lost to Mr. Feingold by a slim margin last time around.  Feingold and other stalwarts in his party, are more vulnerable today.  

So, Mr. Neumann, be a pragmatist and do what's best for us.  You will not win the September primary anyway.  There is still time to displace Mr. Feingold, but you must change horses....soon.

Kanjorski & Armey - a worthy dual.

This morning, while watching CNBC's Squawk Box (as I frequently do while dressing for work), I was struck by a welcome reminder that civility and reasoned political discourse still exist.

Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski and former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey debated.  The issues and the exchanges mattered less to me than the tone and outcome of the segment. 

Neither man gave much ground, but neither fell prey to stupid sniping or demagogic interruptions while the other man spoke.  Honest officials can put forth opposing views without acting like vicious morons.

I don't know if it is because Mr. Armey and Mr. Kanjorski were reared in an earlier era, or if actual maturity comes to one later in life.  All I know is this: Joe Wilson rants and Keith Olbermann types do us no good.  

Torinus & Geanakoplos

Today, while viewing old e-mail on a frosty Sunday, I came upon a message I sent August 16, 2009 to Milwaukee columnist and entrepreneur, John Torinus.  Mr. Torinus has some terrific ideas about creating fiscal health and opportunity here in the Badger state.  However, I was piqued by something in his column last summer and I wrote to him:

"John,

While I agree with 95% of the column, the notion – apparently advanced by John Geanakoplos -- that the government ought to force “a write-down of principal on sub-prime home loans that are under water” is wrong. 

I recall hearing one of your presentations on healthcare and the insurance plans of yesteryear which offered no incentive to control costs (as opposed to high deductible plans many of us now have). You likened the situation to a 10 cent Martini night that you observed as a young Marine. Such arrangements, you reminded the audience, just might lead one to be “over-served.”

Well that’s precisely, the story of most sub-prime borrowers – they were over-served and just as no one forced you to drain too many martinis, no lender could force someone to buy more home than they could afford.

Of course, the rest of us who behave responsibly with our health and wealth, pay the price for those who don’t, but that’s fodder for another column.

To keep sub-prime borrowers in "their" homes - the ones with jobs anyway who may just need a little time - there are better options like converting them to renter status, interest only payment extensions, etc. But write down the principle? No. Doing so abets irresponsible behavior instead of suppressing it.

Tougher mortgage underwriting standards have already taken hold because far too many people, left to their own devices, will drink from the trough until they burst."

Noonan, Isaacson and Caro on Zakaria's program

It 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 healthcare, 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, the "fifty million" figure needs to be deconstructed and put it into perspective for a nation of 308 million people.  When one looks at "the number" which appears to be closer to 45 million than 50 million, and subtracts from it, the number of people falling under one of the following conditions:

• eligible for free or heavily subsidized health insurance, but won't take it
• takes free or heavily subsidized health insurance but reports to census takers they have no insurance
• can well afford traditional (non-subsidized) insurance, but chooses not to buy it
• are not American citizens

. . . one ought to reduce the 45 (or 50) million number, by at least 30 million people according to an analysis by former White House economic adviser, Keith Hennessey.  What remains, is the number of uninsured we have a duty to worry about and help, but that number approaches 15 million people, not 50 million people.

Perhaps we need not nationalize 1/6th of our economy against the wishes of most Americans to produce a policy that does nothing to lower costs.  Market reforms, tort reforms, increased patient responsibility and other measures could lower costs and improve the system.

Walter Isaacson (author of a critical but engrossing biography of Henry Kissinger) may have made the most practical prescription on today's program when he concluded, "The country is best governed and transformed from the center."

In time we'll know if Mr. Obama will heed this advice and succeed, or choose to double down on the current course.

Milwaukee's fiscal woes won't be solved by Dems' press releases

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 supervisors and Mr. Walker, not solely to Mr. Walker, as the article implies.

Secondly, when the sum and substance of this piece didn't square with my own understanding of Mr. Walker's views, I looked to his Communications Director for Mr. Walker's official positions, which were described thus:

"The budget Scott presented for 2010 DID NOT include furlough days for Sheriff's deputies."

An amendment passed by the members of the County Board applied floating furlough days to everyone and it could not be line-item vetoed. The County Board are the ones that put this into Scott's budget.  

Now, the Sheriff has a series of actions he wants to take as an alternative to furlough days for deputies. Scott supports an alternative and has been working with his office for past few weeks.

Scott Walker WILL NOT and DOES NOT support the early release of inmates as part of an alternative plan. In fact, he would veto such a plan if approved by the County Board.

Instead, Scott will continue to work with the Sheriff's office to avoid the release of inmates - as well as furlough days"

Finally, I contacted Sheriff Clarke's office seeking comment on the "scathing" letter as described in the article in question, and the Sheriff responded through a representative that Sheriff Clarke,

“...is not going to politicize his budget and these conversations should definitely take place between himself, the County Board and the County Executive.”

Perhaps someone forgot to tell the Dems.

A Christmas greeting and a new domain...

I'd like to wish (all seven) readers of this blog, a safe and joyous Christmas season.  This site can now also be accessed at another domain: maddente.com 

God bless you and here's to a healthy and prosperous 2010!

Wikipedia image

Rick Santelli is right

Rick Santelli, CNBC

This morning I watched CNBC's Rick Santelli talking from the Chicago Board Of Trade.  His so-called, "Santelli Rant" has been watched on YouTube over a million times and his sentiments today, once again, represent the views of many Americans who believe in living within one's means -- it's how we were raised -- but we lack a microphone.

Rick Santelli was in fine form this morning while debating Steve Liesman.  The topic was banking reform and Mr. Santelli made a case for an elegantly simple cure -- raise the banks' capital requirements. 

Another CNBC commentator astutely chimed in that this is the same risk premium banks require when a homeowner has a marginal credit history -- the bank looks for more cash in the deal -- a bigger down payment to compensate for the risk of default.

Why can't we use the same mechanism to minimize chances of another banking meltdown?  Do we need new federal agencies, reams of new regulations, congressional hearings, class warfare speeches and on and on?  I realize that raising the amount of capital that banks must hold affects their profitability, but maybe it's a reasonable way to manage systemic risk.

Medellín, Columbia and Nixon

I've heard from friends with ties to Columbia, that conditions have dramatically improved across the country, although impressions of that nation's difficult past still linger around the world.  Tonight during Anthony Bourdain's show about Columbia, I watch as he visits Medellín and interviews locals - many of whom suffered enormously during the Pablo Escobar period of the 1980s.  The people appear proud, hopeful, even happy.  Mr. Bourdain says something to a local that reminds me of a rueful Richard Nixon speaking to White House staff in the final hours of his presidency:

"Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain." 

S/he who frames the healthcare debate...wins.

When the topic of healthcare reform took center stage this summer, I felt that "healthcare reform" had suddenly become code for "let's change health insurance." 

I was certain that I was missing something like the "3.5M jobs saved or created" metric I wrote about last March.  I thought I was the only one disturbed by how stimulus programs would be "measured" and conveyed by this administration because I wasn't witnessing views similar to my own. 

Surgeons, Wikipedia

In my opinion, the healthcare reform yardstick that counts, is the one that actually lowers healthcare costs for the greatest number of patients.  But that isn't how we frame the national debate and measure success or failure.  Is an expanded insurance pool run by the government going to achieve this goal?  I don't know, but uniformly lowering the cost of that pill, that surgery, that MRI, whatever it is -- would benefit us all.  I do not see how the House bill will lower health care costs.  

President Obama, Ms. Pelosi, Mr. Reid, etc. have successfully shifted the narrative from lowering healthcare costs, to demonizing the health insurance industry and expanding government control.  All this of course, delights their base.  If their bill passes, everyone will be 'covered' by virtue of a new mechanism.  That new mechanism is government-mandated, taxpayer funded, healthcare which is not reform at all -- unless one successfully frames the debate that way.

When will we reward the savers?

This week, the author of a Barron's cover story posits that it's time for the Fed to raise interest rates.  The macro debate for and against doing so, I'll leave for economists.  The argument in favor of raising rates, however has advocates at Barron's.  The Barron's article titled, "C'mon Ben!" is accompanied by a reminder that keeping rates so low "hurts savers." 

The policy notion of incenting savers to save more, seems to fall on deaf ears.  The Fed keeps the cheap money flowing, but they also hamper returns from savings accounts, money markets, CDs, etc. to remain at paltry levels.  When will we reward citizens who save and invest conservatively, instead of the masses who borrow only to consume?

freepik image

Of nuts and acorns

Contrast two recent cases that received national media focus: the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and video tape of ACORN employees giving advice to individuals posing as operators of an under-aged prostitution business.

In the first case, the President declares that law enforcement officers in the Gates case, "acted stupidly" then he hosts an awkward reconciliation meeting over beers on the White House lawn. 

In the second case, the President demurs when asked to share his opinion about the ACORN workers and Congressional action to stop federal funding for their organization. President Obama did say that actions he viewed on the ACORN videotape were "inappropriate" and deserved to be investigated, but then he added...

"This is not the biggest issue facing the country. It is not something I'm paying a lot of attention to."

Nor should he have paid much attention to a civil disturbance involving one man in Cambridge, Massachusetts...but he did.  Mr. Gates, for his part, could have had the last laugh and made buffoons of the Cambridge police, by maintaining his cool. Instead while being questioned, he ranted as though he had been robbed of his human dignity and got himself arrested.  That was the whole "news" story.

Back to the President.  At the time he uttered the "acted stupidly" remark, I had the feeling he was reacting as a man who had felt the sting of racism himself, possibly conjured by painful episodes from his past.

Let's say hypothetically that 25 years ago, citizen Barack Obama attracted the suspicions of some dim-witted person for no other reason than he was black and in the wrong place at the wrong time. Arousing suspicion for these reasons alone is completely unfair, but it happens and I bet it hurts like hell and leaves one justifiably angry.  

I get it, but candidate Obama ran his campaign as the "post-racial" choice.  Some people who've grown weary of bitter and endless racial debates are also attracted to a person of color that espouses a color-blind agenda. However, acting with complete indifference to race is much easier said than done.  

The President would have been well-advised to say as little about the Gates matter as he said about ACORN.  To be fair, Mr. Obama wisely distanced himself from the race mongering recently exhibited by former President Jimmy Carter.  Sometimes, even racism -- or reverse racism -- is colorblind.

Tea party rocks Milwaukee's lake front



John Maddente photo

Ever attend a tea party?

They don't serve tea at this kind, but visitors do receive a generous helping of speeches and opportunities to express themselves.

Yesterday on a sunny afternoon at Milwaukee's Veterans Park, thousands of attendees were treated to a litany of views on issues including our federal and state tax climate and sweeping health care and environmental proposals.

This was an audience that is passionate about their country and freedoms, but also well behaved and well informed. Nationally-acclaimed author Michelle Malkin roused the crowd with criticisms of left-leaning figures including Carol Browner, Director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy whom Malkin referred to as a "Beltway Swamp Creature" (ouch), Attorney General Eric Holder "Chief Endangerment Officer" and "union thugs" (in particular she cited Andy Stern and the S.E.I.U.).

A number of speeches sounded out a call to action. "Joe the Plumber" reminded the crowd of a Ben Franklin maxim -- well done is better than well said.

Midwestern watchdog reporting still works

Here are two current examples of how the Fourth Estate still serves the public interest.

1.  Locally, in my home town of Milwaukee, readers were shocked and angry to learn how their tax dollars are squandered (again) by a $350 million state child care program that is routinely plundered by a number of providers, including one -- who as a result of Journal Sentinel investigations -- turned herself in to state authorities.  Fine reporting indeed, by Ms. Raquel Rutledge and others at the Journal Sentinel. Read more about the scams they uncovered at www.jsonline.com/cashinginonkids

2.  Ninety miles south of me, another series by the Chicago Tribune exposes corrupt admission practices at the University of Illinois, as well as other cheats and cronyism throughout the Land of Lincoln. Here's the spot to read, "State of Corruption".

I'm not sure how we'd learn about these issues if old fashioned, gumshoe reporting didn't occur.

Julie & Julia reviewed

Julie & Julia is a new film starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. I watched the film yesterday alongside sixty or so other theater goers.

For anyone who loves Julia Child (as I do) the film is worth watching. Meryl Streep's depiction of the late great gourmand, is stunningly good. It's easy to replicate the oft parodied high-pitch voice, but Ms. Streep's cadence and accent on choice syllables is so faithful to the real deal, it's almost unsettling. It was a great performance.

The screen writer of this movie is Nora Ephron whose style I didn't care for before the film.  Before seeing the film, I listened to two separate Nora Ephron interviews. Her tone and lack of enthusiasm during both interviews left me with the distinct impression she felt she was doing us a favor by sitting for them. At least, that's how she sounded. However, while viewing the film yesterday I realized something else -- she takes cheap shots.

Example: In this movie, Amy Adams plays a character that works in a call center to help 911 survivors and takes a "sick" day to cook a Julia Child dish.  She then blogs about the experience to the dismay of her boss who calls her into his office to beseech her for writing the post. He ends his rant by saying, "a Republican would have fired you."

In my case, the theater audience was silent after hearing that little gem.  (Perhaps they cheered on the coast). Could Ms. Ephron have had any purpose other than to slam Republicans or Conservatives? Doing so is hardly unusual for Hollywood and inconsistent with the memory of Julia Child who was publicly apolitical. 

Finally, there is the weak ending to the film (which I won't disclose here) that leaves one wondering if Ms. Ephron was tired and decided to finish the script too quickly, or whether something else crippled her imagination before limping over the writer's finish line.

All this notwithstanding, the film succeeds on the strength of Meryl Streep's affectionate performance and the unique legacy of the woman she portrayed. On a five star scale, this blogger gives Julie & Julia three stars and a pinch of salt for the screen writer.

The Atlantic meets The Economist

Check out this article by Michael Hirschorn in The Atlantic (July/August 2009) in which Mr. Hirschorn examines how a printed magazine like The Economist can thrive, while other printed weeklies it competes with -- notably Newsweek and Time -- are languishing.

Print publishing success in the digital age may lay in what Mr. Hirschorn describes as "razor-sharp clarity and definition" and owning and knowing a particular niche instead of trying to replicate one owned elsewhere.

In the case of The Economist, Mr. Hirschorn asserts that the magazine "...canvasses the globe with an assurance that no one else can match" and "...prides itself on cleverly distilling the world into a reasonably compact survey.''

Mr. Hirschorn, a contributing editor at The Atlantic, made a frank admission that his own magazine, "...has never delivered impressive profit margins."  Impressively profitable or not, his piece is worthwhile for anyone interested in the devolution of paper-based, weekly news products.

Rather than add a new Palin post...

I'll simply provide a link to a CBS poll, taken this month, that reports an astonishing share -- 51% -- of the GOP views Ms. Palin as unqualified to be an effective President.  I guess I posted too early.  Here's the link, if you care to review the poll description.

I'm seeing more evidence to support my suspicions and I'll probably post no more about Ms. Palin as a VP choice because -- as the data increasingly shows -- I don't need to.

Nearly forty percent of GOP doubts Palin's abilities

Glad I'm not alone. A recently-released ABC News/Washington Post poll with a sampling error of plus or minus 3% shows that not only is Ms. Palin's support waning across the political spectrum, it is also slipping among Republicans as a whole.

Like the 83% of Republicans surveyed, I believe that Ms. Palin shares our values. However, almost four out of ten Republicans (and 57% of Americans overall) also say we doubt her ability to "understand complex issues." Which is another way to say what I first wrote last November - that, as much as we like what she stands for, she lacks credentials for national office.

Sarah Palin, Wikipedia

The Washington Post quoted one gentleman, thus: "Rick Buila, 38, of Sharonville, Ohio, who works in finance and voted for the McCain-Palin ticket in November, said his opinion of the governor has changed. `I don't think that she is cut out to be on the national stage,' he said. `I look at her education and her background and the way she carries herself and her [resignation] speech, and when you have someone who's out there saying 'You betcha' about 50 times, I don't think that's the person we want to have negotiating with other countries.'

Sadly, a few blowhards will seize on a remark like Mr. Buila's "You betcha" comment and dismiss any GOP criticism of Ms. Palin as elitist, or worse. That's unfortunate and wrong. We don't begrudge her for her style, we simply believe that she is not ready - and frankly might never be ready - for The White House.

We can do better. We must do better.

Peggy Noonan in today's WSJ & the Palin factor

Forward-thinking Republicans might thank Peggy Noonan for explaining what too few of us have the courage to say -- Sarah Palin -- was unhelpful for the party.

I can't match Ms. Noonan's eloquence, but I can identify with what she says in this piece entitled, "A Farewell to Harms" in which she pours some truth serum with her signature wit.

Peggy Noonan, Wikipedia

If you are one of my five six readers, you may recall when I just couldn't take Ms. Palin's performance any longer and consoled myself in this November 8, 2008 post. Yesterday morning, I called in to a local radio program to express similar Palin-related thoughts (Joy Cardin takes my call @ approximately 9 minutes and 42 seconds into the 8 AM program on this tape if you care to listen).

Look, I recognize and deplore the torrent of abuse leveled at Ms. Palin and her family by the vicious Left, but we can't trot out unqualified national candidates and expect the jerks that take cheap shots to remain mute. We have to plan for the jerks using more knowledgeable, more bullet-proof candidates that can do more on the trail than just say the`right' things on cue. We need depth and agility.

I admire Ms. Palin, but she was hopelessly in over her head last year. The aforementioned Noonan piece is not a tired rant to criticize Ms. Palin's work. It's more of a description as to what is needed to rebuild the GOP.

So let's end on a hopeful note - shall we? Yes we can!

Think of the Gopher State with it's schizophrenic voting populous that can elect Comic Al Franken but also install what may be our best chance for a 2012 run at the White House - Tim Pawlenty. There is hope.

Milwaukee County furloughs and remembering Reagan

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports today that a judge has allowed the furloughs (days off without pay) of some public union workers to commence in accordance with Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's order -- starting Monday.

It's unfortunate, that instead of supporting his fiscal responsibility, the County Board continues to jawbone the County Executive and the unions, of course, continue to file lawsuits. All this for a measly five hours off a week.

I have never understood why organized labor behaves as though pay (and benefits most of us dream of) ought to be guaranteed. I have not read their contract, but I cannot fathom any responsible authority agreeing on behalf of county taxpayers to anything more than the rest of us live with AKA an "at will" employment arrangement. The concept is quite simple. Either party (employer or employee) can sever their relationship with the other, for any reason, at any time.

This morning I recalled former President Ronald Reagan's decision to fire striking air traffic controllers in 1981. The union organization, known as PATCO, sought to express its grievances with a strike and jeopardize the safety of American travelers. After the President warned PATCO members that if they did not show up for work they would be fired, they tested him and he kept his word.

It was something of a milestone. Organized labor has continued its decline since. Baseless threats, lawsuits and strikes are not part of an effective career strategy.

Now flash forward to modern day Milwaukee County and consider its fiscal challenges. We see all the labor vitriol we had on a national level back in 1981. . . over five hours a week.

Somehow I think that if Mr. Walker's furlough order was twice as stringent, the sun would still come up the next day.  I commend Governor Doyle's plan for limited furloughs and wish only that he and the Democrat-controlled legislature, went further to reduce state spending and lower taxes. 

Taxes, polls and pols

Yesterday morning at the beautiful Discovery World facility at Pier Wisconsin, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett participated in a panel discussion on Wisconsin's transportation needs and how to fund them. The event was also attended by Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, who had some decidedly different ideas than the Mayor.

Tom Barrett, Wikipedia

At one point, Mr. Barrett cited two separate polls to conclude: few citizens want services cut (one poll), yet few want to pay for them in the form of higher taxes (a second poll). Of course.

However, if you require people to choose between them (think one poll question), perhaps many would choose to hang on to more of their own money, even if the service pool shrinks.  Leadership requires one to make unpopular choices. That's why we see relatively little of it.