Today is Wisconsin’s Spring Non-Partisan Election

State Supreme Court Justice

State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Local selections might be City Council, Mayoral, County board, School board

Polls opened at 7:00am to 8:00pm. 

Anyone in line at 8:00pm must be allowed to vote.

Before I get into each race, I would like to give some thoughts.

School Superintendents, School Board Directors (Members), and Judicial posts (Supreme Court and Circuit Court Judges) are all to be Non-partisan.

So what does Non-partisan mean? 

Non-partisan - free from party affiliation, bias, or designation

Based on, influenced by, affiliated with, or supporting the interests or policies of no single political party

The role of any non-partisan position should be non-partisan!  The key problem of all of this is you cannot exclude your ideology from the decisions you make everyday in life.  It is the core of your beliefs; the basis of your conscience.  It is what helps give us our morals and boundaries.  It tells us when something is black and white and shapes our gray areas.

Don't get me wrong, I am not talking about Democrat Vs. Republican here.  Again, it is ideology at question.  You can be a Democrat but not a Liberal!  Any decision I make has a fiscal conservative angle to it and I never hide it.

Liberals say they dislike labels yet they hide behind them and try to confuse people when they are the same thing “liberal” or “progressive.”

Side Note – A little misnomer on big business CEOs.  Most of the big bad CEOs for big businesses are liberal democrats.  That many times is forgotten when liberals attack CEOs and capitalism! 

Basically, the rule of thumb for a Conservative is whatever the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS) and the Unions back and endorse we choose the opposite.  Why you might ask because isn’t that voting against someone instead of for?

Well if MJS was not slanted liberal and just reported news as it should and allow the reporters opinions be known as opinions with the Newspaper staying out of it (since when the paper endorses a candidate it does it for all that work at the paper).  Just like the Union telling people who they will vote for!  That is not democracy!

Cudahy Recommendations

Referendum – School District of Cudahy

Recommendation - NO

Referendum reads as follows:

Shall the following Initial Resolution be approved?

BE IT RESOLVED, by the School Board of the School District of Cudahy, Milwaukee

County, Wisconsin that there shall be issued, pursuant to Chapter 67 of the Wisconsin Statutes, general obligation bonds and/or Qualified Zone Academy Bonds ("QZABs") in an amount not to exceed $3,775,000 for the public purpose of paying the cost of (i) remodeling, renovating and improving school facility and grounds and (ii) acquiring equipment, furnishings and fixtures.

For more on why NO on the Referendum click on the my previous story here: $4.4 Million Cudahy Referendum

Recommendation - NO

School District

School Board Director

Recommendation - Bob Grams (Please see separate post just on him)

Bob Grams for Cudahy School Board

Recommendation – Any of the others would do just fine.

South Milwaukee Recommendations (reminder, I do not live in South Milwaukee)

School District

School Board Director

Recommendation - David Maass

Recommendation - Nick Szablewski

While reading what the candidates had to offer in the Q&A’s I really liked what David Maass had to say and he has the proven track record to back them up!

I have gotten to know Nick Szablewski from talking to him for hours on the phone and conversing with him in email.  I think he can bring a fresh set of eyes to the school board with a good sense of fiscal conservatism and responsibility.  I do not get the feeling it is all talk just for the election.  I feel it is legitimate and sincere. 

I think Kathee Molus would do very well, but I don’t have any first hand knowledge and some people that live in South Milwaukee feel she might have too much on her plate already.

As far as Zachary Wisniewski.  My parents raised me that if you don’t have anything good to say about a person, don’t say anything.  So I won’t!

The small exception to the rule my parents said is, if it affects you directly, say it!

Please Vote April 7th.

Before I get into each race, I would like to give some thoughts.

School Superintendents, School Board Directors (Members), and Judicial posts (Supreme Court and Circuit Court Judges) are all to be Non-partisan.

So what does Non-partisan mean? 

Non-partisan - free from party affiliation, bias, or designation

Based on, influenced by, affiliated with, or supporting the interests or policies of no single political party

Well we know that just is not the case.  Part of the problem is when people apply a liberal interpretation to something.  I will explain.

Judges “Legislating from the Bench”!  Creating laws in the Judicial Branch.  Judges who like to make laws instead of interpret and enforce laws.

Separation of powers under the United States Constitution created three separate branches the Legislative Branch and power, Executive Branch and power and the Judicial Branch and power.

Legislative Branch and power creates laws

Executive Branch and power caries out the laws

Judicial Branch and power checks the laws and challenges them if need be

Each one has a specific role to play and together they work as a check and balance.

The role of any non-partisan position should be non-partisan!  The key problem of all of this is you cannot exclude your ideology from the decisions you make everyday in life.  It is the core of your beliefs; the basis of your conscience.  It is what helps give us our morals and boundaries.  It tells us when something is black and white and shapes our gray areas.

Don't get me wrong, I am not talking about Democrat Vs. Republican here.  Again, it is ideology at question.  You can be a Democrat but not a Liberal!  Any decision I make has a fiscal conservative angle to it and I never hide it.

Liberals say they dislike labels yet they hide behind them and try to confuse people when they are the same thing “liberal” or “progressive.”

Side Note – A little misnomer on big business CEOs.  Most of the big bad CEOs for big businesses are liberal democrats.  That many times is forgotten when liberals attack CEOs and capitalism! 

Basically, the rule of thumb for a Conservative is whatever the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS) and the Unions back and endorse we choose the opposite.  Why you might ask because isn’t that voting against someone instead of for?

Well if MJS was not slanted liberal and just reported news as it should and allow the reporters opinions be known as opinions with the Newspaper staying out of it (since when the paper endorses a candidate it does it for all that work at the paper).  Just like the Union telling people who they will vote for!  That is not democracy!

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently endorsed Tony Evers for State Superintendent of Public Instruction and Shirley Abrahamson for Wisconsin Supreme Court.

State and County races now.

The State Superintendent of Department of Public Instruction (DPI) candidates

Rose Fernandez   www.ChangeDPI.com

Tony Evers          www.tonyevers09@yahoo.com

State Superintendent of (DPI) Recommendation - Rose Fernandez

I am not basing this decision on the email scandal and ethics violation of Tony Evers.  Rose Fernandez does not support raising the sales tax to cover the shortfall of funds.  She supports breaking up the failing MPS in smaller more manageable units and hold administrators accountable.  She is not a ‘Good Old Boy’ and brings real change and not status quo!  She supports the QEO (Qualified Economic Offer) a mechanism to keeping taxes lower.  Please read more about it here.  Be informed is all I ask!  Have the real information because info is power, just as misinformation is!

The Wisconsin State Supreme Court candidates

Randy Koschnik              www.koschnikforjustice.com

Shirley A. Abrahamson    www.abrahamson2009.com

Justice of the Supreme Court Recommendation - Randy Koschnick

Abrahamson legislates from the bench.  There is much false stink placed on Randy Koschnick because he was the public defender and defended Ted Oswald, the vicious cop killer.  Well as a public defender, he had no choice as you get the cases as they come and even guilty criminals deserve a fair trial.  There is a vast difference between a public defender and a hired criminal defense attorney.  And please don’t give me that line that Oswald himself gave an endorsement since those of you on the left didn’t like it when people on the right talked about Al-Qaeda Terrorist Group endorsed Obama!  If you had any brains don’t you think Oswald did it to hurt Randy Koschnick’s chances since he didn’t get him off!

This might clear up things for some – Click Here

Judicial – Circuit Court Judge

Circuit Court Judge Branch 6

Recommendation - Christopher R. Lipscomb Sr.

Since both Christopher R. Lipscomb Sr. and Ellen Brostrom are both liberals, I would rather see Christopher R. Lipscomb Sr. who has 17 years of experience and is already a judge than someone with a few months as a prosecutor under her belt.

Circuit Court Judge Branch 15

Recommendation - Daniel J. Gabler 

Daniel J. Gabler brings up a very good point that many of the judges don’t want to work even though the case logs are piling up and backing up.  Reminds me of someone else, but I can’t quite put a swipe card on him!

Please Vote April 7th.

I am happy to spend money on things that are needed.  I am a big supporter of looking for state and federal grants.  Yes, I do understand that there is a fine line between grants and earmarks.

Now a major portion of the Cudahy referendum is for new roofs at Gen. Mitchell and J.E. Jones elementary schools.

I was talking to someone in city government who told me that someone should have looked into state and federal grants to place solar power panels on the roof.  To get the solar power panels up, they would have to replace the roof.

Not only could the school save on electric costs, but also the roofs would have been replaced.

I have included pictures of James Fennimore Cooper Elementary School on the south side of Milwaukee that does have solar power panels.  (click on picture for larger view)

On a similar thought, you can replace the boilers with Geothermal.  The return on investment (ROI) and savings are very quick.

I do think the referendum will pass and I don’t want to hear from people complain about Cudahy’s taxes!

http://www.cudahynow.com/news/cninews/39026137.html

Roof work tops Cudahy referendum spending list

School officials will ask voters for $4.4 million

“The roofs are really driving this,” said Jim Papala, director of financial services. “There’s a potential for increasing the damage to the buildings if we don’t take care of the roofs real soon.”

Papala said state-imposed revenue limits prevent the district from doing big projects such as roof replacements.  If the referendum meets voter approval, the roofs will be repaired this summer.

Other projects include window, lighting and floor repairs and renovations at Cudahy High School, according to a list from the district.

Nothing ‘extravagant’

Superintendent Jim Heiden said nothing on the list is “extravagant or over-the-top.”

“These are all things that need to be taken care of,” he said.

Kutka disputes ‘needs’

Only board member Linda Kutka voted against going to referendum at a meeting earlier this month.

Kutka said not everything on the list is needed, especially at Cudahy High School. She disputed the inclusion of $625,000 for office renovations, $281,000 to construct a circular drive in the school’s parking lot and $35,000 for an electronic welcome sign outside the school.

A parking lot also would be constructed in front of Kosciuszko Elementary School for about $112,000, she said.

“Those projects, I believe, are not needed,” she said.  “We are in difficult times, and we need to ask citizens for exactly what we need.”

She said the unnecessary projects will not boost students’ test scores or allow the district to hire more staff.

30 state school districts seek more taxpayer funds

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Sunday Mar. 29, 2009

Amid one of the worst economic periods the country has seen in years, 30 Wisconsin school districts are poised to ask taxpayers to open their wallets wider.

The majority of the 43 referendum proposals on April 7 local ballots seek to allow the districts to exceed state-imposed revenue limits to finance current programs.  Others, such as the $68.85 million building program proposed for the West Bend School District, request the ability to issue debt to pay for maintenance or new facilities.

But with the state of the economy, and the failures of all nine school referendum proposals on the Feb. 17 ballot, districts likely face a hard sell this year, observers say.

"They do need more revenue, and they're going to the taxpayers to ask for it, but this is also the wrong time to do that," said Michael Birkley, legislative director for Wisconsin Property Taxpayers.  "With people being laid off all over the place, now is not the time to ask and to invest more in education."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/42107312.html

Cudahy was not mentioned in the article!

While keeping a theme of politics.

If you remember I did “Elected Or Appointed” about how I don’t think we should appoint but keep clerk/treasurer positions elect able.  I know Mayor McCue and some of the Common Counsel members would like to have the clerk and treasurer appointed and I still think that is the wrong direction and takes the control from the people.

Here is what happen in Vernon when asked about making a similar change.   Notice the percent of the outcome and Cudahy leaders please take note.

By Amy Nixon

Wednesday, Nov 5 2008, 08:43 AM

Vernon town residents voted "no" to appointing the clerk/treasurer positions in a referendum last night.  2,786 (62%) voted not to appoint, while 1,711 (38%) voted to appoint over elect.

http://community.livinglakecountry.com/blogs/lake_country_watch/archive/2008/11/05/vernon-will-not-appoint-town-clerk-treasurer.aspx

Need help selecting a Presidential Candidate

Take these tests and then look at the issues.

http://glassbooth.org/

http://www.gotoquiz.com/candidates/2008-quiz.html

Obama on the Issues:

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

McCain on the Issues:

http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/Issues/

When is a flip-flop not a flip-flop?  When the in denial Liberal Democratic Party and its followers says it is not!

Obama remarks on Iraq prompt flip-flop charge.

Sen. John McCain's campaign again called Sen. Barack Obama a flip-flopper after the Democratic candidate held two news conferences to clarify his remarks on the Iraq war.

Obama on Thursday denied that he's shying away from his proposed 16-month phased withdrawal of all combat troops from Iraq, calling it "pure speculation" and adding that his "position has not changed."

However, he told reporters questioning his stance that he will "continue to refine" his policies as warranted.

Full Story

Democrat Barack Obama's appeal to centrist voters has further opened the door to Republican claims his message of change only applies to the positions he has taken in the past.

Full story

Day 20 – Still No real response from the Mayor – Inability to make decisions based on anything other than his own self-interest

I hope everyone has a safe Memorial Day and pauses to remember those in the military that are no longer with us!

In one of my writing classes in college years ago, my teacher gave us a print out/hand out of Logical Fallacies to watch for.  I have scanned them and converted them to word.  There was no mention of a source nor did she cite it (I guess teachers can forget to work cite in handouts, such an oversight.  Should we flog them or let them off.  What do you think Mike?).  I was able to track down the current source of it as the Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers, Seventh Edition and it has a few new things to which I didn’t include.

She said it was so important to watch these unfold in debates.  Since we are in the mitts of the Presidential debates, each week I will post one.  Watch for them and you will see them happen all around you.  You might even become more educated/informed and isn’t that a good thing.  To one person I think not.

Logic is correct reasoning.  Logic is the process by which statements are supported with adequate proof by being tested against the right amount and kind of evidence, the process by which knowledge is rendered reliable—in short the “Science of proof.”  Pure Logic is unbeatable. 

How can I recognize and avoid logical fallacies?

Daily Practices to improve logic:

1. Don’t accept anything as true, which you do not clearly know to be such; that is, avoid hasty judgments and prejudice will prevent jumping the gun.  It requires a disciplined mind.
2. Divide each difficulty under examination into as many parts as possible, or into as many as necessary for the solution of the problem.  Most problems are combinations of problems and this failure to understand such will lead to jumping to conclusion.
3. Begin with the things that are simplest and easiest to understand, and then ascend to knowledge of the more complex.
4. Make enumerations so complete, and reviews so comprehensive, that you may be assured that nothing is omitted.
5. Draw out in tables or lists of what you know, and that which is wrong.  If Boolean algebra is needed make, your truth tables of items.  Make flow charts of the problem(s).
6. The answer is in the details. Study each part as itself and then as a whole.
7. Ask yourself this: “Is it logical, illogical, or nonlogical?  Nonlogical does not mean illogical.  Nonlogical is a statement like “I like to travel,” or “I love you” (showing emotion or opinions) are ordinarily regarded as nonargumentative and do not require supporting evidence since it solely is in the head of the person making the statement.  Illogical is one, which violates the rules of sound reasoning (like added 2 plus 2 and getting 5).
8. Do not use All, Always, Never, Forever, Not ever, as they lead to false conclusions by over simplifying and generalizing.
9. The most simplest answer may or may not be the one.  If it truly is only one problem, then the simplest answer is most likely the correct one.  If it is a series of problems, or more than one interconnecting problem, then it is no longer just simple.

Here are the topics I will be posting on this subject.  I will post one or two of them together depending on size.

Hasty generalization

False analogy

Begging the question

Irrelevant argument

False cause

Self-contradiction

Red herring

Argument to the person

Guilt by association

Jumping on the bandwagon

False or irrelevant authority

Card-stacking

The either-or fallacy

Taking something out of context

Appeal to ignorance

While listening to the Jay Weber show Wednesday May 21, 2008, Jay was talking about how the Democrats have changed after the Vietnam War.  When I would hear my dad talk to and about my Grandpa and how he was a Democrat until after the Vietnam War, I never really understood it.  The Democrats, lead by the Liberals, went on a campaign to hate the military, our military, and work to dismantle it.

It is not the Democrats, but the Liberals that are the problem.  The far left people are the ones that give Democrats a bad name.  In a discussion with fellow blogger Greg Kowalski, I was misinformed that he was a Liberal.  You can be a Democrat and be a Liberal or you can be a Democrat and not be a Liberal.  They are not the same!

Here is a letter from Democrat Joseph Lieberman about his party and a youtube video called “In 52 Secs Why Barack Obama Cannot Win A General Election” that shows Obama's disgust and dismantle of American values.

The far left has taken over the Democrats and have earned the title “Liberals - The Loony Left”.

The Greatest American President in my lifetime so far was once a Democrat, until he felt the Democrats were moving to far off course and switched to become a Fiscally Social Conservative Republican, Ronald Reagan was that man.

I have used many of President Ronald Reagan’s quotes and have had some Liberals and Democrats quote their Presidents, but it is the old Democrats that were not far to the left’s quotes.

Please give the letter a read and watch the video even if you are a Democrat or Liberal since they are both from your party.  Give each one the proper thought.

Democrats and Our Enemies

By JOSEPH LIEBERMAN

May 21, 2008; Page A19

How did the Democratic Party get here?  How did the party of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy drift so far from the foreign policy and national security principles and policies that were at the core of its identity and its purpose?

Beginning in the 1940s, the Democratic Party was forced to confront two of the most dangerous enemies our nation has ever faced: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.  In response, Democrats under Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy forged and conducted a foreign policy that was principled, internationalist, strong and successful.

This was the Democratic Party that I grew up in – a party that was unhesitatingly and proudly pro-American, a party that was unafraid to make moral judgments about the world beyond our borders.  It was a party that understood that either the American people stood united with free nations and freedom fighters against the forces of totalitarianism, or that we would fall divided.

This was the Democratic Party of Harry Truman, who pledged that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."

And this was the Democratic Party of John F. Kennedy, who promised in his inaugural address that the United States would "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and the success of freedom."

This worldview began to come apart in the late 1960s, around the war in Vietnam.  In its place, a very different view of the world took root in the Democratic Party.  Rather than seeing the Cold War as an ideological contest between the free nations of the West and the repressive regimes of the communist world, this rival political philosophy saw America as the aggressor – a morally bankrupt, imperialist power whose militarism and "inordinate fear of communism" represented the real threat to world peace.

It argued that the Soviets and their allies were our enemies not because they were inspired by a totalitarian ideology fundamentally hostile to our way of life, or because they nursed ambitions of global conquest.  Rather, the Soviets were our enemy because we had provoked them, because we threatened them, and because we failed to sit down and accord them the respect they deserved.  In other words, the Cold War was mostly America's fault.

Of course, that leftward lurch by the Democrats did not go unchallenged.  Democratic Cold Warriors like Scoop Jackson fought against the tide.  But despite their principled efforts, the Democratic Party through the 1970s and 1980s became prisoner to a foreign policy philosophy that was, in most respects, the antithesis of what Democrats had stood for under Roosevelt, Truman and Kennedy.

Then, beginning in the 1980s, a new effort began on the part of some of us in the Democratic Party to reverse these developments, and reclaim our party's lost tradition of principle and strength in the world.  Our band of so-called New Democrats was successful sooner than we imagined possible when, in 1992, Bill Clinton and Al Gore were elected.  In the Balkans, for example, as President Clinton and his advisers slowly but surely came to recognize that American intervention, and only American intervention, could stop Slobodan Milosevic and his campaign of ethnic slaughter, Democratic attitudes about the use of military force in pursuit of our values and our security began to change.

This happy development continued into the 2000 campaign, when the Democratic candidate – Vice President Gore – championed a freedom-focused foreign policy, confident of America's moral responsibilities in the world, and unafraid to use our military power.  He pledged to increase the defense budget by $50 billion more than his Republican opponent – and, to the dismay of the Democratic left, made sure that the party's platform endorsed a national missile defense.

By contrast, in 2000, Gov. George W. Bush promised a "humble foreign policy" and criticized our peacekeeping operations in the Balkans.

Today, less than a decade later, the parties have completely switched positions.  The reversal began, like so much else in our time, on September 11, 2001.  The attack on America by Islamist terrorists shook President Bush from the foreign policy course he was on.  He saw September 11 for what it was: a direct ideological and military attack on us and our way of life.  If the Democratic Party had stayed where it was in 2000, America could have confronted the terrorists with unity and strength in the years after 9/11.

Instead, a debate soon began within the Democratic Party about how to respond to Mr. Bush.  I felt strongly that Democrats should embrace the basic framework the president had advanced for the war on terror as our own, because it was our own.  But that was not the choice most Democratic leaders made.  When total victory did not come quickly in Iraq, the old voices of partisanship and peace at any price saw an opportunity to reassert themselves.  By considering centrism to be collaboration with the enemy – not bin Laden, but Mr. Bush – activists have successfully pulled the Democratic Party further to the left than it has been at any point in the last 20 years.

Far too many Democratic leaders have kowtowed to these opinions rather than challenging them.  That unfortunately includes Barack Obama, who, contrary to his rhetorical invocations of bipartisan change, has not been willing to stand up to his party's left wing on a single significant national security or international economic issue in this campaign.

In this, Sen. Obama stands in stark contrast to John McCain, who has shown the political courage throughout his career to do what he thinks is right – regardless of its popularity in his party or outside it.

John also understands something else that too many Democrats seem to have become confused about lately – the difference between America's friends and America's enemies.

There are of course times when it makes sense to engage in tough diplomacy with hostile governments.  Yet what Mr. Obama has proposed is not selective engagement, but a blanket policy of meeting personally as president, without preconditions, in his first year in office, with the leaders of the most vicious, anti-American regimes on the planet.

Mr. Obama has said that in proposing this, he is following in the footsteps of Reagan and JFK.  But Kennedy never met with Castro, and Reagan never met with Khomeini.  And can anyone imagine Presidents Kennedy or Reagan sitting down unconditionally with Ahmadinejad or Chavez?  I certainly cannot.

If a president ever embraced our worst enemies in this way, he would strengthen them and undermine our most steadfast allies.

A great Democratic secretary of state, Dean Acheson, once warned, "no people in history have ever survived, who thought they could protect their freedom by making themselves inoffensive to their enemies.”  This is a lesson that today's Democratic Party leaders need to relearn.

Mr. Lieberman is an Independent Democratic senator from Connecticut.  This article is adapted from a speech he gave May 18 at a dinner hosted by Commentary magazine.

In 52 Secs Why Barack Obama Cannot Win A General Election

Obama Claims He's Visited 57 States 5-9-08

Day 10 – Thursday May 15th 2008 - Still No response from the Mayor – Will a recall change that?

“Grandstanding over governing”

Silence is complicity.

I was told from a reader in email that the Recall has begun.  It is not from the person who contacted me, but if someone knows who is doing it please let me know.  I have found out her name is Sue.  We need to have the person who contacted me join forces.  Get them to join forces to conquer, rather than divide and conquer.

The first thing we need to do to make this recall a reality and happen is to be organized.

I was told we need 1750-1800 signatures.  Is this the same number the rest of those involved with the recall have?

It should not be that hard since we had 1300 Pro Wal-Mart Cudahy resident signatures.

Once the paperwork is filed, 60 days is all the time given to reach the correct mark.

So, we must be organized.  We must have in place before paperwork is registered who will help go door to door in “Circulating the Recall Petition” for signatures.  I, for one, will help do that.

As far as the recall, let it roll!

I have included some info that some people passed on to me.

McCue is going to try and head this recall off, by allowing some sort of revote.  This recall is being taken very seriously.  If the recall gets close to the magic number, McCue will step down rather than be recalled.  He would be looking at the big picture since politics is his career.

Then I received this info:

So let us think that this info is correct for discussion.

I also will include this info

Maybe Lying McCue likes the sight of the condemned steel skeleton of the once greatly anticipated Ice Port.  If Cudahy were to allow the supercenter along with the indoor training facility, this would consume precious "condo land.”  That is just what a failing city needs... more condos.  How about business?  Cudahy needs to become more appealing to businesses.  Right now if I were to open a business, I sure as hell wouldn't open it on Packard Avenue.  Get some paint.  Offer GOOD incentives to open a business in Cudahy.  Thank you Lying Ryan McCue, I just moved out of Cudahy and can't be any more thankful.

Now that the Mayor and Plan Commission have shot down the Wave and Wal-Mart plan that would pay taxes to the city, when will we get some development on the site that will pay taxes?

While not perfect (nothing in life is), the Wave / Wal-Mart / Cudahy Station (what the city called it) retail development would have been good for the city, and the area.  It would have brought in people, dollars to local businesses, and tax dollars to the community.  Now today, the city STILL DOES NOT OWN THE LAND, and THE TAXES in 2007 WERE NOT PAID!!

That's right folks, check it out yourself on the cities websites.  Sportsites did not pay the 2007 property taxes, so guess who will foot the bill, THE TAX PAYERS OF CUDAHY!  I wonder if our Mayor would like to comment on that?

Another day, another wasted opportunity, here in Cudahy!

Only here in Cudahy does Alderman McCue vote to give the land away to Sportsites, and Mayor McCue can do any thing to get it back on the tax rolls!  Maybe we could sell the rights to this story for a made for TV Movie, and that could be used to pay the taxes, since Wal-Mart and the Wave wont!

Thanks guys, and keep up the good work!  NOT!!

The word I have heard is that Continental is looking at the property off of College & Pennsylvania at the old Van Beck farm land to develop.  Oak Creek gets the development and tax base, we get a rusty contaminated eyesore.  Thank you Ryan McCue and the planning commission.  Like Ryan said when he ran for election, "A new day for Cudahy.”  We did not know at the time it was bad days!!!

Randy did you see this?

It was a bad week for Milwaukee's retail market.  Three national chains announced plans to close stores.  Home Depot will close its northwest side Milwaukee location, Linens 'n Things will shutter its Shops of Grand Avenue downtown Milwaukee location and Walt Disney Co. is closing its Disney store at Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa.

Cudahy, led by Mayor Ryan McCue, made a mistake in turning down a Wal-Mart Supercenter and soccer-training academy on the abandoned Iceport site on East Layton Avenue.  The rejection means the partially constructed Iceport, which failed due to a lack of financing, will remain an eyesore in the southern Milwaukee County suburb.

Source

I see that the so called Mayor must be waiting for a blue light special for the iceport.  He turned down the best Cudahy could get.  Wal-Mart was not the first choice, just as Cudahy is not most retailer’s first choice.

He is not only being laugh at, but he has the audacity to make claims that he didn’t break the tie vote, because his vote is the same as everyone else’s.  He is a whiner as well.  What a so called Mayor we have.

Day 5 – Still No response from the Mayor

Amazing, the leader (in name only) votes something down, is silent, and will probably gets away with it.  Hey, only in Cudahy!

It was requested that I do a monthly review of the most looked at topics I wrote.  I will run down the top 10 and give a small overview of each. 

Some of these have an unfair advantage because they are older and have had the chance to be looked at longer.  By far, the shorter time Wal-Mart articles have more people view them quicker.  Many people still want to hear about Wal-Mart from both sides of the issue.

People keep emailing me offline in private and that is good.  I would like people to start making comments.  The South Shore viewers don’t seem to want to publicly comment, by how many private emails I get vs. the comments feature used.

1. Turf War – What to Build? –Yes it is a Wal-Mart post and I talked about TIFs and how the Mayor doesn’t want the Wal-Mart and how this chance may not come again. I also included a letter from a reader that they sent to the Mayor and my responses to what the Mayor replied.

2. Real Voter Intimidation – I talked about how during the 2006 election my neighbor was intimidated and took down his sign in fear of retribution from his union steward.

3. ** Adults Only **  – The title maybe misleading to a few, but the subject matter was how adult content is on the web and we must watch what our children do on the web.

4. One Must Look Back To See The Future  – Here I wrote about that sometimes one must look back to see the future and how Mayor McCue had some foreshadowing in his campaign pledge about Wal-Mart.  Cudahy, as is the nation, is in a recession and how in a downturn we should not pass up the opportunity of this Wal-Mart.

5. History Repeating Page Two  –I wrote about the info a reader emailed me about a Cudahy School closing and Wal-Mart spin.

6. Plan Commission   – I wrote about what happen at the last Plan Commission meeting about Cudahy Station.  How some members didn’t even understand what they were to be voting on that night.

7. Proposal On The Table  – I wrote about what is the Wal-Mart proposal, TIF, and the Plan Commission.

8. Teen’s Common Sense Sometimes Lacking  – I wrote about a report I came across on how Florida legislators are encouraging a review of their "abstinence only" sex education programs after a recent survey completed by Florida teens returned some curious results of not understanding things like drinking bleach prevents HIV.  By now way am I attacking "abstinence only", just bring to light what they found.

9. Flamethrower  –I wrote about what a person said to me about how I deal with the Mayor and if I hate him.  I may be ruffling feathers and again once you write it, and sign it, you can’t hide from it something I wish the city would do.

10. Keeping Us In The “Noir”  – Keeping Us In The "Noir" is about how we are in the dark (Noir) on may things in government and how with open records laws, the information should be public and easily obtainable.  I wrote about how many of these very things should be on the web at a mouse click away from you and I to read and know.

I hope everyone enjoys reading my posts.  You may not agree with me, but maybe what I have to say will shed some new light on matters and make you pause.  I am not a reporter, but a commentator.  I do not get paid, work for the city, or have a secret agenda.  I gain nothing personally from doing this blog other than the satisfaction of being able to put “The Way I See It” out for others to read.  I do it because I think it needs to be said.  I try to be fair and when I see something I don’t agree with, I let it be known.

Many people have said I am hard on the Mayor in his first year and I write blogs that don’t show his job performance in a good light.  When I see something that he does great, I will blog on it.

Hey, I am not the only one blogging on the Cudahy Now website, Greg Janisch was McCue’s campaign Treasurer and he can blog.  Just because I am critical of the Mayor’s job performance, does not make me a person who is attacking Ryan McCue personally nor am I character assassinating him!  This is about his job performance period!  We all have freedom of speech and a voice; I just choose to use mine.

Here is what a reader, Dave Taylor, said in a comment:

“Randy, there's a lot of people in Cudahy who back you up, even if they are too scared to admit it.  We should all be thankful that someone is willing to take a stand for what is right for our city; like you said, "...just want Cudahy to be better", too bad there are egos that get in the way of the good the city could do.  There isn't any reason to be shameful of an opinion, that's what makes us human (not robots) and why our country is a great one!

Sometimes you may feel your comments fall of deaf ears, but the truth is that people ARE reading and they ARE listening.  We rally behind you and hopefully, you are stronger in your plight for a better Cudahy because of it.  You are a voice that matters!  You are looking out for the betterment of Cudahy!  You are taking a stand, unafraid of whose feathers you ruffle!  Those of us who stand behind will continue to support you, even if the “powers that be” wish we weren’t listening!

Keep up the good work…your supporters need your voice!”

Someone has talked to my superiors at mycommunitynow.com to have my work censored or shutdown.  The claim was I lie, spread rumors, and have false and inaccurate information.  I try to source my work and some comes from people in government that do not like the direction we are headed or people close to a situation that feel some injudicious is being done.  I have always believed in correct information and not disinformation.  If something is truly wrong let me know and I will correct it, but don’t be all that upset and try and shut me down because you don’t LIKE what I am saying!  People if what I am hearing from those inside is true, some scary things are coming or happening.  Hypothetically, it might even be something like a change of salary ordinances for health insurances that is not fair and done evenly.  Should it not be changed for all and not leave out anyone?  Fair is fair.  That is a hypothetical, but watch it might just come true.

I will not stop until the misinformation, disinformation and no information are brought to light.  More and more people are emailing me with things.  These are very reliable people and trustworthy people.  Together we can all make a difference.  I will NEVER sell you out and I have been asked who is telling me things.  The wheel of information doesn’t need to stop spinning just because it might ruffle some feathers.

This is the truth of real voter intimidation, not to be confused with what the liberals claim the republicans are doing about Voter ID.  I covered that in detail in another post “Voter ID”

During the last election in 2006, my neighbor across the street, who normally is a liberal, decided this time he was voting for Mark Green and some other republicans.  He is part of the union and was told that he needs to vote democratic.  He saw me putting up my “Dump Doyle signs” and asked if he could have one, so I gave him one. 

He proudly displayed it.

The next day I saw the sign was down and asked him what happen.  He told me he got worried that the union would do something about his union benefits if they saw the sign.  His union steward lives just up the block from him.  Union power, in part, comes from cowing their members into being afraid of the union power.

Now with all the liberals saying that the conservatives are responsible for voter intimidation here is a real example of them, the liberals, doing it?  He talked to a few of the TV stations and he didn’t want his name used so they didn’t run the story.

-          Ronald Reagan

If Cudahy wants to mimic Bayside

If Mayor McCue wants to be more upscale like Bayside, start with making Cudahy safe and pedestrian friendly like they are doing.  Start small like a sidewalk on Whitnall Ave and Layton.  I guess they are worried of safety and use I understand it is near the school.

Here is an article from foxpoint now.

Sidewalks considered near school

"The unconscious democracy of America is a very fine thing.  It is a true and deep and instinctive assumption of the equality of citizens, which even voting and elections have not destroyed.”  -  G. K. Chesterton, What I Saw I

In "Dreams from My Father", Barack Hussein Obama delves into racial struggles at the Punahou School in Hawaii and the discussions he had with a mixed race classmate named "Ray" in the book.  "Ray" in reality is Keith Kakugawa.

Kakugawa disputes Obama's account of their long discussions, saying they had nothing to do with race but were primarily about over Obama's missing parents.  Other black students also dispute Obama's claims of involvement in racial matters.

Obama frequently describes his racial awakening which occurred when he saw a magazine photograph that does not exist.  Obama's teachers and childhood friends also dispute his claim to have learned to speak fluent Indonesian in 6 months.

Source: www.chicagotribune.com

Twenty-five states have broader voter identification requirements, and Wisconsin is not one of them.  The Governor thinks this will disenfranchise voters and the senior citizens will no longer get to vote, because it will be to hard and costly.  He claims it amounts to voter intimidation.  He went on to say the people don’t want to be inconvenienced to have to show it. 

I find that funny because of the numerous studies done, two-thirds of Americans, including a majority of racial and ethnic minorities, say the government should make voters show a photo ID.  Something that is that absurdly simple or easy and requires little thought but to show an ID to vote.  We are asked to provide ID constantly in our daily lives.  Voter ID is not to make voting less convenient, but to make it fair.

One would think that voter identification is a no-brainer, and would be good for both parties to guarantee that everybody's votes are being counted and are legitimate.  But that isn’t the case.  Republicans want it and the Democrats don’t.  The GOP is not trying to discourage any legal vote.  That is a myth made up by liberals who know fraud favors their side.  They are not trying to suppress the legal vote; they are trying to abolish the illegal vote. What it will do is help ensure that a liberal and poorly managed election process is as free from fraud as possible.  That should be everyone's goal. There is plenty of fraud; it is always difficult to prove.  So why not do something to minimize it?

Voter ID is just common sense, a “reasonable approach,” and the simplest and most effective way to fight voter fraud (this will not protect against election fraud) and protect the integrity of future elections.  A "vast majority" of Wisconsin voters already have a driver's license or one of the other two acceptable forms of ID.  Many bills have been brought forth to the Governor, to which he voted all of them, that would require voters to show one of three specific IDs: a Wisconsin driver's license; a military identification card; or a state-issued Department of Transportation card, which would have to be issued free.

Governor Doyle and the Democratic lawmakers have charged that any law requiring that voters show a photo ID is racist.  This assertion is as offensive as it is ridiculous.  How is asking voters to prove they are who they claim to be racist?  Democrats obviously don't think much of their constituency if they think people are unable to provide such ID or that getting one free of charge from the state would prove too difficult a task.  All that you need to apply for a state ID is a birth certificate and Social Security number.

This begs a larger question.  How do these elderly people, whom Doyle claims do not have photo IDs, function in today's society?  Are we to believe that none of them drives, buys alcohol, rent movies, smokes, cashes checks or flies?  I find that hard to believe.

If you can get to a polling place, the bank, the grocery store, the doctor, the pharmacy, or the social security office you most likely have the means to get to the DMV.  For those handful of people who truly cannot make this trip through any other means, I’m sure that Voter ID would inspire volunteers to rise to the occasion.  There’s already no shortage of volunteers willing to drive people to polling places.  This is just one more stop along the way.  The idea that asking for the same safeguard at the polling place is neither voter suppression nor racism; it is reasonable.

Is the teller at the bank racist for asking for ID when you cash a check?  Some banks even require a thumbprint.  How dare them.  Is the clerk at the Pick N’ Save a racist for requiring photo ID when you buy beer or pay for your groceries with a check?  Is the pharmacist when he asks you for ID to get your favorite cold medication from behind the counter?  Is the attendant racist for asking for an ID and your ticket stub before you board the plane?  How about the clerk at the gas station when you pick up your smokes? 

I didn't think so and most likely, neither did you.  Any rational person would come to the correct conclusion, just not the Governor and his cronies.  What does that tell you about them?  How about that they are crooks, or at least don’t want a fair election.  Without an ID, there isn’t much you can do in this state besides vote. 

That is true unless you are a minor in Cudahy looking to buy cigarettes.  Within the City of Cudahy 23.81% of the surveyed retailers with tobacco retail license allowed minors to have access to tobacco products after one of two surveys were performed earlier this month.  Even with a law, requiring an ID to be shown to prove age, if people don’t enforce it or care it will not matter!

Who does this voter ID hurt, homeless people; lacking an address does make that small segment a problem.  At this time, I have no true answer for them.  We run the chance of election fraud if we have the homeless shelters have absentee ballets.  Maybe the answer lies it either they don’t get to vote (which they have the right to vote) or we start to register the homeless and have a database on them.

It does hurt one other class of people who lost the right to vote and that is convicted felons not served.  At least 82 felons illegally voted in Milwaukee in 2004.  In some states any convicted felon cannot vote.

Maybe the true answer is to have a national ID card for voting or pass a constitutional (National or State) amendment requiring citizens to show a photo ID prior to voting.  This would be passed by the Governor’s vote powers, just as the gay marriage ban did. 

Now, what is the difference between "voter fraud" and "election fraud?” 

"Voter fraud" is an individual who casts an illegal vote thus committing "voter fraud.” 

Examples of this are: someone who is too young to vote; someone who is not a citizen; someone who is not allowed by the state to vote because of punishment for a felony conviction not served; someone who claims to be someone they are not; someone who seeks to vote more than once in an election; someone who does any of these things and casts a vote, commits "voter fraud.”  The difference is that "voter fraud" occurs one vote at a time.  It does not even have to involve criminal intent. 

"Election fraud," on the other hand, is a concerted effort to significantly change the vote totals, and thus alter the outcome and steal the election. 

This is what was done in Florida with “Dimpled Chads” “Hanging Chads” or “Pregnant Chads.”  I feel much safer letting a machine with no political affiliation recount votes when needed.  I know what the definition of lying is.  You can never get into the mind of a voter if they were not able to vote correctly.  If you cannot follow directions correctly, then your vote should not count.  I am sure the law of averages stipulates the equal amounts of people on both sides will make the same mistake, thus canceling each other out.

In the end, Democracy does not work as long as confidence in the election process is compromised.  Democracy does work when there are enough safeguards in place to end and discourage attempts of fraud and corruption.  A fair election is what we should all demand; it is just too bad that is not what some people want!

As Mark Belling said, “The most important recommendation in the police report is the call for photo identification for voters - a bill Doyle, Barrett and the rest of the Democrats are fighting this very week to kill.  This is not a coincidence.”

Democrats, Republicans Get in Shouting Match at News Conference

WI State Senator-7th District

Jeffrey Plale  1-800-361-5487

608-266-7505

Sen.Plale@legis.wisconsin.gov

What we have found in this country, and maybe we're more aware of it now, is one problem that we've had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless, you might say, by choice.

- Ronald Reagan

Florida, Michigan seek exit from Democratic penalty box

Will the recount state become the re-primary state?

Will voters in Michigan have their say in picking a Democratic candidate for president?

Political leaders in Florida and Michigan are talking about making sure voters in their states are included when it comes to choosing the Democratic nominee.

Both states held their Democratic presidential preference primaries early, in January. For that, the Democratic National Committee followed through on its warning and stripped both of their delegates for violating party rules by scheduling their primaries too early.

Ok here is a major problem with all of this.  All of the delegates and state officials knew that moving the primary date would void their counting.  That was the rules made way before any of this posturing.

Hillary learned from Al Gore, just sue; get a judge to legislate from the bench (remember separation of powers).  So Hillary bought ads (not campaigning) while Obama did not because the votes would not count.

Hillary all along was going to fight this in court.

The court should respect the separation of powers, defer to the legislative branch, and resist the temptation, but they will not because most of the judges in power are liberal judges that think everything is open to interpretation just as former President Bill Clinton asked what does the word “IS” mean?  Judges are not to right a wrong, but follow the rules and laws that are established.

Just like Al Gore, every vote should count argument and it was not fair for the voters to be penalized.  The lesson here is if you don’t get the end result, ask for a do over or that the rules are not fair.  Bang a drum that votes will become disenfranchised if their votes don’t count.  Mistakes in voting have been going on since voting started, if in a football a referee makes a bad call and days later acknowledges the error, should the game or out come be changed.  It was not fair for the players or the team.  Not all calls are reviewable.  

Two questions for you!

One - If Hillary had a very big lead and had it locked up would this be in play?

Two – If the republicans did this how would the media view this?

Ok, three questions – Is it fair to change the rules in the middle of the game because you may lose?

Saturate-Desaturate Process Darkens Obama in Clinton Attack Ad

Internet Clinton critics are accusing them of deliberately darkening an image of Barack Obama in their latest attack ad.  Shown on the popular website DailyKos are identical images of the same picture with one having an obviously darker tone.

According to Jay Carson, a Clinton spokesman, the darkening was a result of a common production technique known as "saturation-desaturation".  Mr. Carson said both campaigns use this technique and no hidden agenda was behind the Clintons doing so.

Bloggers have compared the Clinton's darkening of Obama's picture to Time Magazine doing the same thing with an image of OJ Simpson after his murder arrest in 1994.  There have been no statements pertaining to the allegations from the Obama camp.

I just wonder if the media has adjusted the color on Condoleezza Rice at anytime?  She would make a great President or Vice President.  I know she said she doesn’t want to run, but I think she will be on the ticket as Vice President.  That is my prediction.   

Source Here

The Answer to “Which one shows most divided among voters?”

E 50% to 50%

The most divided we can be is 50/50. 

Some people think 99/1 is.  That shows that 99% of people agree and 1% don’t.  Not so much divided.

A people free to choose will always choose peace.

- Ronald Reagan

Reminder: VOTE TODAY

Today is Wisconsin’s Presidential primary

Polls opened at 7:00am to 8:00pm. 

Anyone in line at 8:00pm must be allowed to vote.

Election Differences

Democrat and Republican

Liberal and Conservative

Ultra-Conservative and Extreme-Liberal

Left and Right

Blue and Red States

You can be a Democrat and not a Liberal, just as you can be a Republican and not a Conservative. 

Which one shows most divided among voters?

A  0% to 100%

B  1% to 99%

C  30% to 70%

D  49% to 51%

E  50% to 50%

F  51% to 49%

G  70% to 30%

H  1% to 99%

I  100% to 0%

Please reply your answer.

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant: It's just that they know so much that isn't so."

- Ronald Reagan

MoveOn.org Votes to Endorse Barack Hussein Obama and pushes Hillary Clinton aside.

MoveOn.org solicited members of its grassroots liberal organization to vote for an endorsed Democratic candidate, and the members favored Barack Hussein Obama.  The chairman of the Republican National Committee called the endorsement "no surprise."

"Obama may claim to unite the country, but he's only uniting the extreme-left wing of the Democratic Party," said RNC chair Alex Conant.  Obama has also won endorsement from the 650,000-member Service Employees International Union.

Here is something of interest on local officials.  It doesn’t include Cudahy

Comparison of elected official’s salaries