Uppity Wisconsin

Anyone see anything contradictory or perhaps ironic about an organization calling itself the Club for Growth running radio ads in Racine criticizing local Dems Sen. John Lehman and Rep. Cory Mason for their support of rail projects in southeastern Wisconsin. The ads highlight the high-speed rail line from Milwaukee to Madison and the proposed KRM commuter rail system.

The club is for growth of corporate wealth and growth of bank accounts of the wealthy, but not anything that might actually boost the region's economy. 

Afterthought: It's also for the growth of the number of right-wing Republicans in public office, of course. Or is that too obvious to mention?

We’re diving deep into “geek world” today with a story that combines economic hardball, the periodic table of the elements, and a barely noticed provision of the Defense Authorization Act that seeks to break a monopoly which today gives China near-absolute control over the materials that make cell phones, electric cars, wind turbines, and pretty much every other tool of modern life possible.

If we successfully break the monopoly, we’ll be able to create millions of new manufacturing jobs in this country—and if we don’t, somebody else owns the 21st Century. Ironically, the global warming we’re trying to fight with new green technologies might be an ally in our efforts to make those very same green technologies happen.

There’s a revolution in industrial processing going on, rare earths are at the center of it all...and in today’s story, the revolution will be televised.

We strive to be, if anything, a participatory space around here, and I’ve had a question come to my inbox that is very much deserving of our attention.

To make a long story short, our questioner wants to know why, on the one hand, despite the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA, also known as the “stimulus”), unemployment in the construction industry continues to increase, and, on the other hand, why there is such a giant disparity, on a state-by-state basis, in the cost of saving a job?

They’re great questions, and, having done a bit of research, I think I have some cogent answers.

 And I saw the boss come a-walking down along that factory line,
 He said, "We all have to tighten up our belts."
 But he didn't look any thinner than he did a year ago,
 And I wonder just how hungry that man felt.

                                     -- Steve Goodman, "Somebody Else's Troubles"

The late, great singer/songwriter Steve Goodman's tune, "Somebody Else's Troubles," is stuck in my brain today for some reason. That verse in particular.

Hard times have fallen on Journal Communications and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Thirty-four more buyouts, Editor and Publisher reports.

Guys, here's a great piece from Barbara Obrien of the Mahablog about the long trail of consequences affecting those involved in tort litigation with the now bankrupt General Motors...

"General Motors emerged from bankruptcy last week after shedding nearly $130 billion in liabilities. The U.S. government now owns a majority stake in the company. CEO Fritz Henderson promised the new GM will repay about $50 billion in government loans ahead of a 2015 deadline.

Among the liabilities left behind in the courts were claims against the company by asbestos victims. Asbestos is still used in clutch, brake, and transmission parts in automobiles, and auto workers, auto mechanics and car owners who work on their own vehicles remain more at risk of exposure than they might realize. Exposure to asbestos leads to deadly diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer.

Hold on!

Hold on tight to your seats!

Leaks about the Wisconsin State Budget,

Are about to increase!

$400 million will seem,

Like a drop in the hat,

Compared to $1.2 billion,

It ain't all that,

We'll long for the days,

When we used to ask,

"How will I pay for my family's healthcare?"

And instead now say,

"I was able to get some tomatoes,

from the food pantry today,"

At least we're in a good state,

To start life back on the farm.

Wait Lady,” said the Jackson County man. “I am paying MORE in taxes and you just said the state has reduced taxes. Are you nuts?”

“And right you are!” I told the man. “You ARE paying more in taxes. But some are paying a LOT less.”

Another man wrote me. “It is a slap in the face that us taxpayers be thought so gullible as to believe that propaganda.” The man went on…

The last property I purchased was about 12 years ago. The property tax {then} was about $900. Last year it was about $2,400. When I complained about it, they always told me ‘state mandate.’”

What was that....... "a firestorm bordering on Armageddon"..???!!   LOL!!! 

We all know who Robert Rubin is..... but who is Jamie Rubin?  This is not merely a protege, wherein possibly it could at LEAST somewhat plausibly (although admittedly, unlikely)  be argued could have been "raised right" outside of the known bad influences of one of the most hated people on the planet......no.....this is the living breathing spawn of the crook of crooks himself.  Check this out:

Kuttner:  "One of the key people on his transition team, who picked... not picked personally, cause Obama appointed them...., but teed up the appointments of the top regulatory and economic officials was Jamie Rubin, Bob's son."

In recent days, there have been misguided criticisms of this plan that echo the failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis -- the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can meet our enormous tests with half-steps and piecemeal measures; that we can ignore fundamental challenges such as energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive.

When Babe Ruth was asked by a reporter how come his salary was so much higher than the president of the United States, Herbert Hoover, he had a good answer:  "I had a better year."

How's Bud Selig going to explain that he makes $18.35-million when President Barack Obama makes $400,000?

Nobody had a better year than Obama.

* * * 

Who says there are no jobs out there?

Mark Green lands on his feet, but not in Wisconsin.

He'll be fighting malaria.  Sounds like steady work.