Happy New Year

The Markesan Group Global headquarters are now closed for the duration of 2005. I've given George the Monkey Butler his year end bonus (a box of frosted animal crackers and a bottle of Jose Cuervo) and I've disconnected the mobile home from the LP gas and electrical box.

I'll be spending the weekend getting plenty of rest in preparation of WisOpinion officially launching this site as one of it's featured blogs.
Besides getting plenty of sleep and carbo-loading, I'll be watching C-Span and learning the fine art of Html editing.

This meagerly anticipated blog will be up in full force on Tuesday, January 3rd.

To my half dozen semi-loyal readers: Have a happy and safe New Years' weekend everyone.

Go Badgers!

Investigation Progressing

From the Daywatch Blog at the MJS:

2 men arrested overnight in McClain beating
Milwaukee police arrested two men, 19 and 22, overnight in connection with the beating of Samuel McClain and are looking for at least three more, said Capt. David Zibolski."That number may grow depending on what those three say when we get them in," he said. The two men arrested are considered "principals" in the beating Monday night on N. 36th St. near W. Hampton Ave., Zibolski said. The department previously had forwarded cases on five teenagers to the district attorney's office and has several other people in custody in connection with the beating. Police have said they are looking for 15 suspects.

For this particular case, it's important to also focus on the criminal justice system running its course. It appears the police are rounding up the thugs that beat this man. Now we wait to see if the DA and the judges will be firm or wimpy. I will be blogging a lot about Milwaukee's real problems and real attributes over the next few months. And I will delve into the 'root causes' argument as well. But as McClain lays in a Wauwatosa hospital recovering from his beating, I'm spending a few days rooting for the cops and the prosecutors.

Hittin' the New Years' Bubbly a Bit Early in Madison

Good Grief.

A good bill. A stupid press release.

Move Over King Kong
Jeremy’s Law which promotes the collection of cord blood stem cells takes Wieckert to top of New York City’s media landscape

I understand the need for some uptight Capitol staffers to try to make their bosses appear to be in tune with pop culture. After all, I once had the task of making Bob Welch seem cool. But this is ridiculous.

Time Waster of the Day

Face it, this week you've been about as productive as the Milwaukee County Board.

You've shown up only half the time and even when you are at work, you're not doing anything, really.

In that spirit, here is the Time Waster of the Day (TWOTD)

Become the guru of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with the Oracle of Bacon.

H/T to Aaron at Subject to Change.

Whatchya Gonna Do???

How do you plan on spending your leap second?

A few of my options:

1) Review Russ Feingold's Plan for victory in Iraq
2) Listen to every decent rap song
3) Weigh coach Mike Sherman's strengths
4) Count the number of inspiring policy ideas emanating out of the Milwaukee County Board
5) Thank all my loyal readers

Too Much Material for One Day

This morning on NewsTalk 1130 WISN's Early Spin Program I began highlighting the top Wisconsin political blunders of 2005.

One day was not enough. We've decided to list the top ten instead of the top five. So today we listed numbers 6-10. Tomorrow morning at 8:05am, I'll touch on the top five.

And next week, after WisOpinion begins to publicize this fine blog, I'll post the complete list.

Cue the crickets

A Milwaukee man gets busted in Wauwatosa for disorderly conduct after swearing at employees of a local Blockbuster and refusing police orders to move along.

And 'the community' goes nuts. Rallies. Protests. Violent altercations outside the police department. Demands for 'Action.'

A few weeks later, another Milwaukee man is beaten within an inch of his life by more than a dozen thugs, in the heart of a dangerous Milwaukee neighborhood.

What do the 'community leaders' do/say about this and the increasingly violent culture within their city.

McGee? Hines? Kane?

Cue the crickets.

Folks wonder why people were up in arms over the Wauwatosa Mayor's formation of a race relations task force? It was because the task force is lip service regarding an imagined problem, meanwhile the real problems of Milwaukee's inner city go unresolved.

Instead of rallying around a race-baiting trouble maker from Milwaukee who says he was harrassed when he came to Tosa...you would think common sense would dictate that 'the community' would rally around the law abiding man from Milwaukee who is now being treated at a Wauwatosa hospital after yet another brutal onslaught in one of Milwaukee's most dangerous neighborhoods.

Shame on You, Jim Doyle

From the Journal Sentinel's Daywatch Blog.

Rationing to begin for voucher program
A rationing plan for seats in Milwaukee’s controversial private school voucher program will be imposed for next year, the state Department of Public Instruction said today. DPI administrators sent a letter to the 130 schools that take part in the program and notified key players in setting policy for the voucher schools that the rationing will be necessary because the program will clearly exceed its cap set by state law.

That cap is expected to be about 14,500 students for next year, a figure based on 15% of the enrollment in Milwaukee Public Schools.

The announcement by DPI is likely to add urgency to an issue that has been building for several years over the future of the voucher program. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and Republican legislative leaders have not had meaningful negotiation on compromises on the issue, even as both sides have said they were willing to talk and that something has to be done about the voucher cap.Private schools in Milwaukee face a Feb.1 deadline for applying to be part of the program for next year and are working on plans being made by both public and private schools in the city for next year.

The main enrollment period for Milwaukee Public Schools begins Jan. 9.Evers said a solution needs to come soon. “Within the next couple months would be reasonable; within the next couple weeks would be great,” he said. Evers said an agreement between the governor and legislature was the best route. He said if the DPI’s rationing plan goes into effect, it could cause an unknown number of children to switch schools or be unable to enroll in schools they want to go to.

Look for more on this tomorrow.

Tune In to the Early Spin

NewsTalk 1130 WISN tomorrow morning at 8:05am

I'll present the top five Wisconsin political blunders of 2005.

Feel free to send me your last minute nominations...

Governor Doyle Taken to Task Again

With a little editing, this Capital Times Editorial is actually quite good.

Editorial: Doyle should clean house
December 27, 2005

Gov. Jim Doyle needs to make a New Year's resolution to clean up his political act.

The governor's fast-and-loose approach to campaign fundraising and government ethics caught up with him in the last weeks of 2005.

Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann, the state's longest-serving prosecutor, delivered a blistering personal indictment of Doyle in mid-December, when McCann told reporters that, under Doyle, "the government is for sale."

McCann condemned schemes that had directed money from Indian tribes with gambling interests in the state to pro-Doyle campaign groups and suggested that the governor is more interested in taking advantage of the current corrupt system than in fixing it.

In no uncertain terms, the veteran prosecutor urged Doyle to change course and embrace the current push to clean up state politics.

Doyle's response to McCann's call was embarrassing.

Where do we begin?

Instead of getting angry with McCann, Doyle should have recognized the district attorney's words as a friendly warning to act before it's too late. Doyle and his aides are now the subject of one of the broadest investigations of political wrongdoing ever seen in Wisconsin.

In addition to an extremely serious investigation of a state travel contract that was given to one of Doyle's major donors, authorities are now examining whether donations from utility executives to Doyle's campaign were linked to a decision by state regulators to approve the sale of the Kewaunee nuclear power plant, sources say.

Published reports indicate that state and federal authorities are asking whether the controversial decision by the state Public Service Commission to allow the $191.5 million sale of the Kewaunee nuclear plant in July might have resulted from a political quid pro quo.

Whether Doyle can survive the political fallout from these investigations remains to be seen. But he will stand himself in better stead with the voters of Wisconsin if he returns all of the campaign contributions he has received from sources that are currently under scrutiny

Monday Night Football

Last night marked the last broadcast of Monday Night Football on ABC after 36 seasons.

Interestingly enough, last week's game marked the last time the Packers will be on MNF for at least three years...

Packer's greatest Monday Night Game...
Packers vs. Redskins at Green Bay (Oct. 17, 1983)
The most total points in MNF history and a combined 1,025 offensive yards. Five lead changes in the final quarter. Jan Stenerud nailed what turned out to be the game-winning kick from 20 yards out with 54 seconds to play. Skins kicker Mark Moseley got a chance to be the hero, but missed from 39 yards out with 3 seconds left.

Joe Theismann completed 27 of 39 for 398 yards and two touchdowns. Packers QB Lynn Dickey was even better, completing 22 of 30 for 387 yards and three touchdowns.

Final score: Packers 48, Redskins 47.

The Pack were 8-8 that year. Ahhh, 8-8....the good ole days.

Jennifer Finley--Know Your Role

I will blog more about this next week. But prospective employers of Jennifer Finley would be wise to look at how well she carries water for her bosses when the heat is on.

Conservatives would be wise not to praise her move. Regardless how you feel about Dan Vrakas' failure to cut more spending out of this first budget that reached his desk, it's clear his biggest failure was hiring Finley as his chief of staff in the first place.

Vrakas handled the situation poorly.

He should have fired her two weeks ago.

Time to Disband the UN

From UPI...

Overheads take up to 1/3 of tsunami funds
NEW YORK, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Up to about a third of the $590 million U.N. fund spent for the Indian Ocean tsunami relief may have gone to pay for overhead.

The Financial Times says its two-month investigation showed the money appears to have been spent on administration, staff and related costs. The $590 million was part of the United Nation's $1.1 billion disaster flash appeal.

The newspaper also found several U.N. agencies continue to refuse to disclose details of their relief expenditure in spite of earlier pledges of transparency by senior officials.

The flash appeal covered the money donated by governments to the world body in the first weeks after the disaster to fund the early aid work, the Times reported.

The newspaper said details of that appeal it obtained from U.N. agencies such as the World Health Organization and the World Food Program showed 18 percent to 32 percent of the expenditure related to staff, administration and other costs.

Some agencies say non-profit aid organizations should claim no more than 10 percent of project funds for administration costs, the report said.

The time has come for either a complete top to bottom house cleaning, or let this entity go the way of the league of nations. It's a morass of inefficiency and corruption.

Wish we would have snooped harder/earlier