McIlheran Gets The Bends

In his Sunday OpEd piece, Patrick McIlheran laments the improvement of Milwaukee County, namely the County Board's vote to start reversing the damage done by years of Walker's malignant neglect by fixing up and reopening Moody Pool.

Old Paddy claims that no one wanted this silly old pool and that it was just a sign of things to come, namely that there would be just a free for all in spending.

Except that he is wrong on both accounts.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's article on the pool:

A group of teens at the Goldin Center's leadership program wrote a proposal recently about how important it was that Moody Pool reopen because of the lack of swimming facilities, the number of youths who don't know how to swim and the number of drowning deaths of young people, Schneider said.

Apparently, PaddyMac thinks a few lost inner-city kids is worth it if it saves him a bundle on his tax bill. Or that if they want to go swimming, they could use the lake or any of the other pools. Never mind that the outdoor pools would be skating rinks, the high school pools are generally not open to the public and that the YMCA charges an arm and leg for the use of theirs, something that these kids can't afford.

And for it being so expensive, the Brewtown Gumshoe dispels that fantasy:

The $5 million price-tag on the Moody repair is .005 percent of a $1 billion County budget. Even though, comparatively speaking, this is a minuscule part of the overall County budget, McIlheran wants us to believe its and "important gauge." Yes, I would say an important gauge of a governing body realizing it must actually maintain County properties which enhance the quality of life for residents and visitors. But sadly for McIlheran, .005 percent of a budget is a red flag of runaway spending.

There is also a third delusion that McIlheran puts to words in his article, which is that Scott Walker was some sort of fiscal conservative. Let us look at some of the legacy Walker leaves behind:

• Nearly $300 million in deferred maintenance and repairs to the parks system alone
• A $400 million debt for pension obligation bonds
• A 2010 budget that is projected to be at least $8 million in the red, and a 2011 budget that is close to $20 million in the hole before it even starts
• Scads of lawsuits stemming from the collapse of O'Donnell Park, the multiple failures at the mental health complex, and illegal budgeting and bad faith negotiations with the unions.

Oh, how the list does go on. It adds up to nearly a billion dollars that the county has to come up with somehow.

One would think that someone like McIlheran would know better than to think that simply refusing to meet one's obligations is not fiscal responsibility, but merely kicking that can down the road for someone else to deal with.

One would also think that someone like McIlheran would realize that his arguments about the pool was all wet, but then again, Paddy's been known for jumping off the deep end repeatedly over the years.

Holy Snit Fits, Pat, Man!

Patrick McIlheran is in clear conniption mode when the news came out that the bike racks on Milwaukee County buses are gaining popularity by leaps and bounds, with their usage climbing a jaw-dropping 569% from one year ago.

Unable to simply admit he was wrong yet again, McIlheran unleashes his frustration on Milwaukee County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic because she touted that this was a good thing. In his snit fit, Paddy launches this:

We? Where does she get the presumption? Transit's healthier? Given how far I park from work, I now walk more than when I took the bus. And I have no idea what Dimitrijevic is talking about when she says it’s more “positive” when people are gotten out of their cars. Like what? “I’m positive that bus should have been here 20 minutes ago.” That kind of positive?

One would think that with the increasing amounts of asthma cases being diagnosed, not to mention the high number of Air Quality warnings that Milwaukee has been receiving, most sane people would think less pollution would be healthier for all involved.

And considering that some of the top business leaders have been touting the need for a better transit system in the county, I would say that any improvement in our transit system would be a definite positive.

Paddy then goes on with one of his usual paeans to the automobile, which at first made me think he was just doing the usual pro-road builder propaganda piece.

But on further thought, I think his misplaced anger isn't all that misplaced. He is just reflecting the angst that the right wingers (or in the case of the CRG - abject fear) have that a strong, progressive woman like Dimitrijevic is becoming one of the top contenders for the county executive spot.

When Words Fail

Earlier in the week, one of Scott Walker's transition team advisers got the dirty job of floating a test balloon, one proposing a higher sales tax in order to lower property taxes. When there was a strong reaction against such an idea, Walker got to do his usual grandstanding and say he was against taxes.

Because the reaction was so strong, he had his top level apologists, Charlie Sykes and Patrick McIlheran, do their best to spin the story into something it's not.

Basically, these two propagandists tried to shovel the false pretense of how refreshing it was for a politician like Walker to unequivocally say "no" to something, like raising taxes.

But the question is this: Does Walker really mean no?

As Milwaukee County Executive, Walker has said no lots of times, but turns around and does the opposite. The most obvious example of this is regards to the stimulus funds. When these funds were on their way to becoming a reality, Walker said he would not take them. In fact, he went on the national stage to do so. But when the day was done, not only did he grab that stimulus cash with both hands, he even bragged about it, whether it be for the airport or for his "Milwaukee Works" gimmick. (Whatever happened to "Milwaukee Works" anyway? Seems to me it should have been called "Milwaukee Gets Laid Off.")

He said he was going to say no to those big bad unions. But after he was forced out of his first attempt to be governor, Walker not only said "yes" to the unions, but gave them a signing bonus as well.

The list goes on and on and on with every flip flop Walker makes.

For Sykes and McIlheran to try to claim that Walker is a man of his word now is just plain desperation on their part. It also shows that they are as untrustworthy as their friend Walker, but we knew that already.

Cross-posted at Cog Dis.

McIlheran Goes For the Pulitzer In Hypocrisy

Patrick McIlheran put up a post yesterday decrying how a UW professor, Charles Franklin, who stated that the recent elections showed that voters were "pretty damn stupid."

In fact, P-Mac went into a lengthy tirade about the affair.

Which shows how hypocritical McIlheran is and how stupid he thinks we are.

For it was just a day or two before when he told his detractors to "Go back to Mommy's basement and let the adults talk."

And we're not the only ones that noted that Patrick himself isn't the nicest or sharpest knife in the drawer. Bruce Murphy, in his weekly column, notes:

I haven’t always agreed with Bauman, but he strikes me as one of the smarter, more thoughtful Common Council members. You’d never know that from McIlheran’s columns. His silly swipe at the alderman makes you wonder if McIlheran has ever made any attempt to understand what is going on in city government. That seems like a prerequisite for anyone presuming to instruct us on how it works.

Illy-T also has his take on the callous calumnist.

Perhaps one of his close friends should point out to Paddy that they don't give Pulitzers for hypocrisy.

WTMJ Radio In Downward Spiral

A few years ago, as if it wasn't bad enough that half of the day on WTMJ-AM Radio was taken up with Charlie "Captain Blowhard" Sykes and Jeff "Sykes Lite" Wagner, the station added Jessica McBride to their evening line up. We all know how well that worked out.

Not learning their lesson, they then hire on James "Drama Queen" Harris. Why? I don't know and I would guess neither do they.

Not having quite reached rock bottom yet, they then decided to push Phil Cianciola and Dick Albert out the door.

A few weeks ago, it was announced that Johnathon Greene was going to retire at the end of the year. People were really hoping that WTMJ would come to there senses and bring back Cianciola or even Mark Reardon.

No such luck.

Instead they decided to go with John Mercure, who made his claim to fame with his over-the-top sensationalistic reporting on WTMJ-TV. If that wasn't enough, he has also been known to make some rather volatile and unprofessional comments.

Still not reaching their nadir, it was announced today that John Jagler is leaving the station as of this Friday. There has been speculation that Jagler is going to be going to work for Goobernator-elect Scott Walker. While Jagler was fun enough to listen to in the mornings, if this is true, one would have to wonder about his judgment skills.

It has now gotten to the point that the only things worth tuning into TMJ radio for is Gene Mueller, Packer games and weather events. And it is only a question of time for these three things as well.

They should have pursued xoff when they had the chance.

Condescend Much?

Patrick McIlheran has a tingle going down his leg because some charter school is going to use a parable from the Bible in their curriculum. Apparently, he wouldn't be so tickled if they had also decided to teach the First Amendment, namely the Freedom of Speech:

My point is to add only this: Notice how striking it is when a public school proposes to teach a curriculum that, first, is traditional in content and, second, that actually tries imparting moral lessons of the non-denominational sort that would have been unremarkable in the Eisenhower era and that probably pass for mainstream ideals in the West Bend area.

(That’s religious! And that’s not mainstream at all! So shriek, momentarily, the roughly five militant agnostics who regularly shrill up any post on this blog that mentions faith. To them: Go back to Mommy’s basement and let the adults talk. Thanks.)

I wouldn't be surprised at all if McIlheran is plotting with co-zealot Dad29 to set about a plan to enforce the Catholic version of Sharia Law.

More at Illy-T's pad.

Another Nail In Journalism's Coffin

In today's paper, they have a big article about this real serious study that showed a slight majority of Wisconsinites are opposed to the high speed rail. Of course, the same study also shows that a majority doesn't understand the state's budget either.

But there's a few things that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel omitted from their report on this real serious study.

One of them is that WPRI (Wankers Promoting Republican Idiocy) has been discredited and is not a reliable source of information, especially regarding polling.

Also omitted from the paper's coverage is that despite WPRI laughingly calling themselves bipartisan, they are anything but.

Consider the fact that WPRI sent out their crack(ed) columnist Christian Schneider to be embedded in the Ron Johnson campaign. In a series of articles that Schneider is writing about this is news free, but mostly consists of the gist that "Ron Johnson is a damn fool, but boy, oh boy, he's just swell."

Another main point that you would thing a credible news source would want to disclose is that WPRI (edited by Charlie "Mr. Copy and Paste" Sykes, nonetheless) is funded in part by the Bradley Foundation. It just so happens that this neocon money tank is headed up by none other than Michael Grebe, who was also Scott "Train Wreck" Walker's gubernatorial campaign and is now part of his transition team.

In other words, he is the puppet master for both Walker and this organization.

Was there ever any doubt what their results would be on a question regarding high speed rail?

Holy Cow! McIlheran Was Right After All!

When health care reform was the topic du jour around the nation, all of the usual suspects, but most noticeably Patrick McIlheran, warned the country that there would be death panels.

We on the left scoffed at this notion.

But damn if he and Sarah Palin weren't correct. Of course, the part they didn't tell us is that said death panels would be headed up by Republicans.

Everytime James Harris Talks, He Becomes Dumber

You don't believe me? He even retweets the same message:

Who Should They Have Listened To?

The week before deer hunting started the DNR issued an advisory to hunters to use their heads and not to shoot themselves or each other.

On his show, during the week leading up to hunting season, Charlie Sykes mocked this warning, saying that it was a classic example of government waste or something along that line.

Opening day comes, and four hunters are shot.

Betcha that they were the ones listening to Charlie.

Sykes The Sophomoric

Bert over at folkbum's takes Charlie Sykes' lack of decorum to task:

Like the stink in your bachelor buddy’s car, the ugliness issued from the hard, black heart of right-wing WTMJ-AM radio is something you can get used to after a while.

In my case, when the station played Elton John’s “The Bitch is Back” while discussing first lady Michelle Obama about a month ago, I thought that was undeserved but not at all surprising. Also, I’m used to show host Charlie Sykes and his sophomoric, classless taunting of the outgoing Democrats. Rep. David Obey gets called “a horse’s ass”, Gov. Jim Doyle is a “lying sack of sh&#” whom Charlie audibly “flips off”, and Sen. Russ Feingold’s new campaign slogan should be “want fries with that?” Get it? Get it? Whatever.

Charlie Antoinette and the Elitist Right

Sykes has a condescending post regarding the rally held at the Talgo plant on Monday, calling on Scott Walker to stop his foolishness and to allow the high speed rail to go through Wisconsin. His post is short and sour with its bitterness. After making it seem like 200 attendees were no big deal, he adds this:

Steve Prestegard: observes:

Isn’t this amusing. Walker doesn’t get inaugurated for six weeks, and already he has billboards and chanting protestors.

Where were these people when Taigo got the train contract instead of Super Steel?

And … I wonder how much the protestors pay in state and local taxes each year.

Here's a few facts for Charlie Antoinette and his pal, Stevie, to work on.

The rally was no smaller than, and probably bigger than, most teabagger festivals, and it was genuine grassroots instead of a Koch Brother-sponsored hatefest that they prefer.

And why do they think it is amusing? As they point out, Walker is six weeks away from taking the oath for governor, yet he is trying to act like he has already been ordained as king. And this is on top of the fact that he hasn't even finished his job as county executive, considering the stinking mess he is going to be leaving behind.

As for Super Steel, they seem to forget the truth behind that. It was Tom Barrett that fought for Super Steel while Walker was MIA as usual. In fact, it was Super Steel that cut their own throats in the deal:

However, Department of City Development spokesman Jeff Fleming said city officials originally pushed for Super Steel to get the Talgo contract and only offered the Tower Automotive site to Talgo after the company told city officials that the Super Steel facility would not meet its needs.

Talgo spokeswoman Nora Friend said Super Steel first wanted to be a subcontractor to build the trains. Talgo turned that offer down because it was too expensive, she said. Super Steel then submitted a bid to provide space for Talgo, but the space did not meet the company's needs, she said.

After the Tower Automotive site, the runner-up sites were in Racine and Janesville, Friend said.
Talgo will lease the space at the Tower Automotive site from the city at market rates, for $2.59 per square foot, or $344,470 a year, Fleming said. The city is not providing free rent or utilities, he said.

“What Scott Walker and Fred Luber are saying is false,” Fleming said.

"This is just political talk," Friend said. "We are not getting any subsidy at all."

And finally, what the hell is that crack about how much they pay in taxes? Is he implying that poor people or unemployed people are beneath them somehow, or that one should have to pay a certain amount to be allowed to exercise their First Amendment rights?

Now that the election is over, the right feels it's OK for them to show their true colors and their disdain for anyone they feel isn't worthy, like the poor and unemployed. Apparently they also forgot that there's always another election coming up.

Belling flunks Wis. history

Mark Belling, gloating in a column in the Milwaukee Post:

It isn't just that Scott Walker and Ron Johnson won the races for governor and Senate. The likelihood is that they will serve multiple terms. The last elected sitting governor to lose was Alexander Wiley in 1962. (Scott McCallum and Marty Schreiber were unelected, having ascended to governor after a resignation.) In the Senate, the only Wisconsin incumbents to lose in more than a half-century are Gaylord Nelson in 1980 and Bob Kasten in 1992 and even they served multiple terms.

Wrong, wrong and wrong.

The last incumbent governor to lose a re-election bid was Tony Earl, in 1986. Belling was on the radio in Madison then, but appears to have no recollection.

Alexander Wiley was certainly not the last sitting governor to lose, in any case, since he never served as governor.

Wiley was a long-time Senator, however, who lost his seat in 1962 to Gaylord Nelson.

When someone starts a column with three glaring errors, it makes it difficult to take anything that follows seriously.

Maybe one of his friends in the new State Capitol majority could send Belling a Wisconsin Blue Book.

Cross-posted at Uppity Wisconsin.

NOH8

Proud Progressive, one of the hundreds of bloggers at Blogging Blue, takes on Vicki McKenna and her vitriol. McKenna was trying to downplay the hate crimes occurring lately in Whitewater, as well as many other places around the state and the country:

Vicki McKenna
i’m starting to smell a rat. 3 “hate crimes” in a month? something’s up.
i am going to bet $ on a couple of things: 1. there is no KKK in whitewater. 2. this is either a fake hate crime, or a dumb kid messing w/people he knows, but doesn’t like.

And thanks to PP, here is a great video from the NOH8 campaign:

The "What's In It For Me?" Argument

PaddyMac takes on rail again*, this time using a statement by Steve Prestegard, who was complaining that the rail wouldn't take him to Milwaukee to tape Sunday morning's episode of Charlie Sykes' Incite show:

Well, sure -- at ungodly expense and, critically, if you’re in the right spot and have the right destination. Steve Prestegard meets neither of those criteria, he writes at Marketplace.

He starts in Ripon, where he lives. He speaks in Green Bay at 7:30 a.m. He tapes a TV show in Milwaukee at 1. This apparently isn’t atypical. “Good thing I like to drive,” he writes. And:

“Those in business who claim they want the Doyle–Barrett train mystify me, because I am unable to think of many non-office-based jobs that don’t require the ability to go where you want when you want. Unless you sit behind a computer all day every day, or have one location where you do business, you need the ability to see customers or your various facilities, and on your schedule, not someone else’s.”

This is one of the dumbest arguments for or against something, in my opinion.

No, high speed rail isn't go to meet everyone's needs. Especially if they live somewhere far off of the rail line. So what? I am not going to personally benefit from them expanding the I-90 from Madison to points southward. Nor am I going to benefit from the current work of expanding I-94 from the airport south. So why are they doing those?

Supposedly because it is supposed to help the overall region by allowing business people, delivery trucks, etc. get through easier. Well, so would rail.

Arguing for or against something based solely on how that thing will personally affect you is nothing more than self-centeredness and selfishness. These, however, are traits that are all too common among conservatives, so that is what they most often resort too.

The funny thing is, they really, really don't like it when you turn it back on them.

The sad part is their selfishness causes us to miss out on many things that could have benefited us all, including them, even if not directly.

*You can always tell when Scott Walker or one of their other pets are in trouble. They become monomaniacal in whatever the subject is, no matter how silly they end up looking.

I would expect the rhetoric from all aspects of the right wing media, from Belling to Sykes to PaddyMac to PolitiFarce to harp on this for a while, since it is costing their champion and their cause a number of problems.

About Those Subsidies For Roads...

Patrick McIlheran never tires of being wrong or of telling untruths if it will advance his causes.

One such example is that for the past week, P-Mac has been rehashing the same old falsities that highways are completely covered by the gas tax and are in no way subsidized by the government:

...but intercity highways are more or less entirely paid for by the user fees that are gas taxes.

It wasn't true before, and it's still not true:

The researchers wrote: “In 2007, 51 percent of the nation’s $193 billion set aside for highway construction and maintenance was generated through user fees — down from 10 years earlier when user fees made up 61 percent of total spending on roads. The rest came from other sources, including revenue generated by income, sales and property taxes, as well as bond issues.” Forty-years ago, they noted, user-fees generated 71 percent of highway revenues.

Of the 18.4 cent federal gasoline tax, 2.86 cents – about 15 percent – is directed toward mass transit projects, and an additional 0.1 cent toward environmental clean-up, according to the report. That leaves more than 80 percent strictly for highways. Even if we spent 100 percent of gas tax revenues on highways, only 65 percent of their total cost would be covered. There would still be a need for significant outside revenue – in other words, subsidies. Does that mean highways are “government waste?” Or are transportation dollars an investment to provide access to jobs and movement of goods?

One reason for the decline of the user-fee’s contribution is that the gas tax has not kept pace with inflation. Today, there is limited political appetite for a gas tax increase. Americans are also driving cleaner cars than they used to, due in large part of federal action on fuel economy. Less gas purchased means lower gas tax revenues.

So, to the critics who seem to be against all subsidies — unless they’re going to cover highway projects: let’s drop the claim that highways “pay for themselves” and have a debate rooted in fact rather than myth.

So, if Paddy knows this is false information he is spewing, why does he do it? Easily answered, gentle reader. Because road builders are grand contributors to the Republican Party, and without the GOP, the rich might actually have to start treating us lower classes as people also.

Thank You, Veterans

All gave some, some gave all.

We at Whallah! thank all of our vets, including our own xoff, for their service.

McIlheran Explained

The other day, Jesse Russell, writing for dane101, took Patrick McIlheran to task for telling fibs about Talgo's future and how it hinged on whether high speed rail would come to Wisconsin.

He ended his diatribe with this paragraph (emphasis mine):

It would be unfortunate if Walker breaks his number one campaign promise and fails or reverses his decision to stop the train, but somehow I don't think Walker needs to worry about making an excuse if he does. After all, McIlheran will likely figure out a way to justify it on behalf of the Governor-elect.

Russell absolutely nails it, since McIlheran is kind enough to be such a predictable apologist for Walker's foolishness.

Rasmussen Poll Fail

Well, xoff always did warn us not to trust Rasmussen polls, for a good reason too:

Although, to be fair, it was also reported on Faux News, so there's no telling who is really to blame, although the smart money is on both.

Source

The Price Is Right!

If you only get your information from Charlie Sykes, Patrick McIlheran, Mark Belling or any of the other asocial types, then you probably believe the high speed rail that will be built will cost a bazillion, gazillion dollars to operate EVERY, SINGLE SECOND!

But the truth is a bit different:

"Operating costs are projected at $7.5 million a year, not counting the part covered by fares. But Renlund said the state is already using federal funds to cover 90% of the Hiawatha's $5.2 million annual operating cost - leaving $520,000 a year for state taxpayers to pick up - and hopes to do the same with the new line. That would mean state taxpayers would be paying $750,000 a year for the service to Madison."

So Wisconsin would get the train line construction fully-paid by stimulus funds, with an annual state tab for some operating expenses amounting to less than one-tenth of 1% of the construction cost.

And less than 8% of the size of the operating cost that GOP candidate Scott Walker has been claiming all campaign season.

Don't you hate it when wingers get hit by reality like a fast speed train?

The Influence, Or Lack Thereof, Of Squawk Radio

From the incomparable xoff:

The same is true of talk radio, which will be quick to take credit for any electoral success on Tuesday, with Ron Johnson the first to say that's how he won (if he wins). He kissed Charlie Sykes's ring (and who knows what else) before deciding to run, to make sure he's have his blessing.

Sykes was the emcee at a Johnson weekend rally in Oshkosh, and will play the same role at Scott Walker's closing rally in Wauwatosa.

But here's the thing: Most Wisconsinites don't listen to or pay attention to talk radio, either. Sykes's audience is about 2 per cent of the adult households in the Milwaukee metro area, perhaps 20,000 people on average. Mark Belling has similar numbers in the afternoon. It's a very limited listenership, and most of them are already convinced; they are not undecideds tuning in to be persuaded.

As much as we like to demonize them, their role is limited. They have more clout with conservative activists and Republicans who hang on their every word -- and with the editors and publishers at their sister publication, the Journal Sentinel. But the impact on the general public is miniscule, and Dems and progressives do ourselves a disservice by blaming Sykes, Belling & Co. for the ills of the world. They simply aren't that important, and we should not elevate them by acting like they are.

They may be riding the runaway Tea Party train and hanging on for dear life, but they are not steering.

Happy Election Day

If having a say in the future of the state and the country is not enough inspiration to make you get out to vote, remember, Charlie Sykes, Mark Belling, and the rest of them don't want you to.



If you don't know where you're supposed to vote, you can find out here.

George Mitchell Shorter

"Bruce Murphy and Milwaukee Magazine is full of crap because they use real numbers and facts and stuff instead of just relying on my opinion. How dare they!"

Can We Do That Too?

A conservative radio squawker in Alaska has gotten himself in a bit of hot water and off the air.

Just like our local hosts of hate radio, the Alaskan squawker, Dan Fagan, spent most of his time bashing the liberal candidate, in this case, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, and singing paeans to his preferred candidate. But then he got carried away:

About halfway through Fagan's show Thursday afternoon a caller phoned in to say he had just registered as a write-in candidate in the Senate race, which includes Miller, Murkowski, and Democrat Scott McAdams. The caller's provocation -- and the reason Fagan liked the idea -- was the Division of Elections' decision to provide voters who ask with a list of the write-in candidates. The Alaska Supreme Court is currently looking at the legality of that decision. Flooding that list with 150 names ranging from Michael Ames to Kathy Jo Zurek, Fagan figured, would mean fewer votes for Murkowski.

Fagan gave the addresses of the Anchorage and Wasilla offices of the Division of Elections and urged his listeners to drive over and register as write-in candidates.

Branch Haymans, an Anchorage financial advisor, was angered by Fagan's show Thursday afternoon. Haymans is a close friend of Murkowski's and has volunteered for her campaign, but is not part of her paid campaign staff.

On Friday morning, Haymans called KFQD and spoke with Joe Campbell, KFQD's program director. Haymans said he told Campbell that he thought Fagan's on-air behavior bordered on election tampering, but didn't threaten legal action or ask for Fagan to be taken off the air.

Campbell did not return a message requesting comment for this story.

"To send people with no legitimate reason other than to create confusion and chaos in an election seemed, to me, to be over the line," Haymans said. "He was no longer a talk show host. He was just a mouthpiece for Joe Miller."

Given that at least Charlie Sykes was using his Journal Broadcast sponsored show to do fund raising for Ron Johnson and Leah Vukmir, couldn't that be considered a violation of election laws? (Yeah, we already know it's unethical, but since when have the squawkers worried about ethics unless they could use it against a political rival of their buddies?)

H/T Las Vegas Badger