Tuesday, April 30, 2013
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, former running mate of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, says that with the election behind him, he's happy to "get back to work" and fight for what he believes in.
Despite taking his lumps in the November election, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan said Tuesday that he has a "moral obligation" to continue fighting for what he believes in. "What do you do when you get knocked down?" he asked "You get back up. You pick yourself up, and go back and fight for what you think is right, what you believe in." Speaking at a town hall meeting in Oak Creek, the former Republican vice presidential candidate joked about the outcome of the race. "Let's just say the election didn't go the way I wanted it to go," he told the crowd of about 180. Still, Ryan said, he will continue to push for immigration reform, a revamp of the tax system, energy legislation and more. In an interview with Patch after the 90-minute listening session…
The bodies of the poor and indigent people buried near Froedtert Hospital will be moved at the expense of $1.5 million to $2 million.
If there's no rest for the weary, there certainly won't be any rest for up to 1,300 poor people buried in unmarked graves near Froedtert Hospital. A paupers' cemetery will be moved to make room for Froedtert's expansion, but the move will cost Milwaukee County taxpayers up to $2 million, according to Patch's media partners at WISN 12 News. A state hearing examiner ruled that the county will either have to pay for the graves' removal upfront or Froedtert could subtract the cost from its lease payment to the county, the Journal Sentinel reported. Froedtert Hospital's plans for a new 480,000-square-foot building to house expanded surgical, inpatient and outpatient care is proposed to stand atop what is now a cemetery containing the remains of…
Monday, April 29, 2013
Documentary "Citizen Koch" and book by Journal Sentinel reporters have differing takes on 2011 battle between unions and Gov. Scott Walker.
As the dust settles on the epic battles over union rights for public workers in Wisconsin, two new major works aim to put these events into perspective. The first is “Citizen Koch,” a documentary by award-winning filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin. It aired at the Sundance Film Festival in January and the Wisconsin Film Festival this month. The second is “More Than They Bargained For,” a book by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Jason Stein and Patrick Marley, published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Both recount how newly elected Gov. Scott Walker in February 2011 “dropped the bomb” (his words) regarding his plan to largely end the collective bargaining rights of most state and local public employees. “Citizen Koch” frames …
Angered over allegations that Milwaukee County Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic has been illegally negotiating with county employees, several county board members want her to resign as chair.
Another Milwaukee County board member has stepped forward in asking for Milwaukee County Board Chairwoman Marina Dimitrijevic's resignation, according to Patch's media partners at WISN 12 News. Last week, supervisors Mark Borkowski, Steve Taylor, John Wieshan Jr. and Deanna Alexander signed a memo requesting that Marina Dimitrijevic resign her position as chairwoman. Now Jim "Luigi" Schmitt has thrown his support behind the request. "Because of this lack of clarity and accountability, I cannot sit on the sidelines and will no longer continue to support our chairwoman," according to Schmitt's statement. The five members are accusing Dimitrijevic of negotiating with union employees after the state barred them from doing so and then lying …
Saturday, April 27, 2013
An analysis shows the UW system sitting on nearly half a billion dollars in extra tuition. Officials say they need it for future projects.
The University of Wisconsin system is under fire from both parties in the state Legislature after a Legislative Fiscal Bureau report showed it had $650 million in reserve — including $414 million in tuition reserves — despite annual tuition increases of more than 5 percent. Gov. Scott Walker is now considering a change to the $181 million planned for the UW system in the biennial budget, and whispers of a tuition freeze imposed by the Legislature are percolating. But UW officials say the surplus — about 25 percent of the operating budget — is in line with recommended practices, according to Madison.com, and less than Minnesota and Illinois keep. And the College Board says Wisconsin’s public-school tuition is still lower than Midwestern …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Fear over multimillion dollar lawsuits has prompted many departments to strictly follow requirements in the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act that may or may not apply. And in doing so, they're violating the state's open records law.
A legal battle in Illinois over a $20 parking ticket could potentially cost a Chicago suburb tens of millions of dollars — and fear that the case could have implications here is prompting many Milwaukee-area police departments to drastically clamp down on how much information they’re releasing to the public. In a matter of months, police departments from Caledonia to Port Washington have stopped providing names of people their officers are arresting, ticketing or contacting, and, in some cases, won’t even release details on where a crime occurred because of the pending litigation in Illinois. We could see a closing off of Wisconsin’s open records laws — laws that are considered among the strongest in the country. “There’s the real …
A lawsuit filed by unions representing Madison teachers and city of Milwaukee employees over the state's collective bargaining law may be headed to the State Supreme Court.
A state appeals court is urging the Wisconsin State Supreme Court to take on an Act 10 lawsuit filed by two unions, which challenged the constitutionality of the collective bargaining limitations Gov. Scot Walker imposed on almost all public unions in 2010. The Supreme Court could take the case without waiting for an Appeals Court decision, but whether is does so is at the high court's discretion. If the Supreme Court doesn’t take the case, then the Appeals Court would need to take it. A certification filed by a panel of three judges from the 4th District Court of Appeals, asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take the case because “a number of public unions have filed suits against municipalities over Act 10 provisions, which have left …
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
An anonymous donor will contribute $100,000 if an equal amount of donations are collected by Sept. 30.
The Fox Point footbridge fundraising effort may be getting a boost with the help of a generous donor's $100,000 matching grant. If footbridge fundraiser organizers are able to collect $100,000 in donations by Sept. 30, the effort will get an additional $100,000 donation from an anonymous donor. Fox Point Footbridge Friends Inc. is a group of local residents charged with raising $655,000 as part of a public-private partnership with the village for a new footbridge over the ravine between Bridge and Barnett Lanes. The donor will also match – dollar for dollar – all pledges of $5,000 or more from new donors. Additionally, the donor will match significantly increased gifts from previous campaign donors. “This is an incredibly generous offer …
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Speculation aside, Larry Sabato, a well-known political scientist lays out his argument for Gov. Scott Walker being a top-tier candidate for Republican nomination for president in 2016.
The signs that Gov. Scott Walker is laying the groundwork for a possible presidential run are clear, but still speculative. And that speculation may be intensifying as Larry Sabato, a well-known political scientist, has declared Walker a top-tier candidate for Republican nominee for president in 2016 — right up there with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. Walker is writing a book about his governorship, which may become a resume of sorts and is planning to address conservatives in Iowa at the invitation of Gov. Terry Branstad in May. He also was one of the key speakers at the Conservative Political Action Conference in March. And, according to Politico, “he wouldn’t commit to serving throughout a second four-…
Friday, April 19, 2013
Governor Scott Walker and state legislative leaders call for tuition freeze at the University of Wisconsin after hearing the unexpected news.
A recent financial review of the UW System found a $1 billion surplus, and state lawmakers are furious. According to a story on Wispolitics.com, a review by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau discovered the overage. UW officials told the bureau that a good chunk of that money comes from the federal government for specific purposes and another healthy slice is from gifts. Still, that leaves almost $650 million in university system coffers, some $414 million from tuition alone. GOP leaders in Madison — including Joint Finance Co-Chairs Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) — issued a statement shortly after they received the LFB's report, taking UW officials to task over what they said is "gross mismanagement of …
The Anti-Alinsky
8:22 pm on Thursday, May 2, 2013
Justin wrote: "Apparently, Republicans know everything." No Justin, but they do know that making personal decisions for other people is wrong!!! more ›