What a great way to start on Monday...
Sunny skies and 50° temperatures after a humid 80° on Sunday.
Now for the news spanning the internet...
The April 5th election result rhetoric seems somewhat in limbo, with both side’s lawyering up, and awaiting the results of the vote canvassing. This of course preempts action on the “collective bargaining” issue that will undoubtedly be sent to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Justice Prosser’s position on the Supreme Court expires at the end of this July. If Prosser wins the election, the court will likely remain conservative. If Kloppenberg defeats Prosser, the court will likely become liberal and support the causes of labor and the Democratic Party (unless you haven’t noticed, these two go hand-in-hand). So much for a judicial election being nonpartisan.
The big news this past week has been the federal budget where the result was a $38.5 billion reduction in discretionary spending - this seems to be a pittance when compared to the $52 some billion that the national debt increased during the last 10 days. The administration claimed this as a great victory - big whoop!
The news in Wisconsin centers on Gov. Walkers biennial budget proposal. One of the many issues being talked about today is to discontinue the state grants to municipalities, to help fund recycling. These grants were instituted in 1990 to nudge the municipalities to incorporate recycling in their areas. This is what the Wisconsin State Journal had to say. I believe that this is about ending the grants and not ending recycling - but the spin in the comment section talked about this as costing 20,000 jobs, Walker bashing, big business hating recycling and dumping the trash on Walkers desk. Read them on the “Comments” tab on the above link.
Of particular interest was a comment on page 2 regarding Koch Industries violations and settlements - asserting that Gov. Walker was aligned with an evil corporation. Was Koch Industries wrong, you betchya! But is Gov. Walker wrong because his campaign accepted $43,000 from Koch Industries? One needs look no further than Barak Obama’s contributions from BP Oil. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was responsible for a massive amount of oil seeping in to the Gulf and devastating the shoreline of several southern states. But on September 19, 2010 the federal government declared the well “effectively dead” and that tourism was open for business. But here is a list of problems, along with a current video discussing the continuing problem.
The game playing continues. Here is an op-ed by Charles Koch in the Wall Street Journal (that was not published) and another article decrying the Koch Industries political activities. I can only think that two wrongs do not make things right, but as long as the Koch brothers have been cited for pollution violations and lobbying efforts, and BP has been cited with the responsibility of cleaning up its’ mess - let’s look at "Industrial Agriculture" and their contribution to water pollution. Furthermore, industrial agriculture is one of the leading causes of water pollution in the United States today. And if the Koch brothers have 30 lobbyists, perhaps checking General Electric lobby spending just might raise a few eyebrows. GE stands to gain a lot with their lobbying efforts. Then there's the mumbo jumbo regarding the taxes GE paid in 2010, which boils down to "which taxes". Add to that the receipt of "economic stimulus" money and the appointment of GE CEO as a top economic advisor. I guess GE brings a lot of good things to light. I wonder if Koch Industries ever took a cue from GE.
So, if one were to cite one industry to prove their point, suppose one should step back to look at the bigger picture. Speaking of pictures, I would suggest Inside Job (you know, the Academy Award winning feature length documentary) and Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 opening April 15th.
Now for the news spanning the internet...
The April 5th election result rhetoric seems somewhat in limbo, with both side’s lawyering up, and awaiting the results of the vote canvassing. This of course preempts action on the “collective bargaining” issue that will undoubtedly be sent to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Justice Prosser’s position on the Supreme Court expires at the end of this July. If Prosser wins the election, the court will likely remain conservative. If Kloppenberg defeats Prosser, the court will likely become liberal and support the causes of labor and the Democratic Party (unless you haven’t noticed, these two go hand-in-hand). So much for a judicial election being nonpartisan.
The big news this past week has been the federal budget where the result was a $38.5 billion reduction in discretionary spending - this seems to be a pittance when compared to the $52 some billion that the national debt increased during the last 10 days. The administration claimed this as a great victory - big whoop!
The news in Wisconsin centers on Gov. Walkers biennial budget proposal. One of the many issues being talked about today is to discontinue the state grants to municipalities, to help fund recycling. These grants were instituted in 1990 to nudge the municipalities to incorporate recycling in their areas. This is what the Wisconsin State Journal had to say. I believe that this is about ending the grants and not ending recycling - but the spin in the comment section talked about this as costing 20,000 jobs, Walker bashing, big business hating recycling and dumping the trash on Walkers desk. Read them on the “Comments” tab on the above link.
Of particular interest was a comment on page 2 regarding Koch Industries violations and settlements - asserting that Gov. Walker was aligned with an evil corporation. Was Koch Industries wrong, you betchya! But is Gov. Walker wrong because his campaign accepted $43,000 from Koch Industries? One needs look no further than Barak Obama’s contributions from BP Oil. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was responsible for a massive amount of oil seeping in to the Gulf and devastating the shoreline of several southern states. But on September 19, 2010 the federal government declared the well “effectively dead” and that tourism was open for business. But here is a list of problems, along with a current video discussing the continuing problem.
The game playing continues. Here is an op-ed by Charles Koch in the Wall Street Journal (that was not published) and another article decrying the Koch Industries political activities. I can only think that two wrongs do not make things right, but as long as the Koch brothers have been cited for pollution violations and lobbying efforts, and BP has been cited with the responsibility of cleaning up its’ mess - let’s look at "Industrial Agriculture" and their contribution to water pollution. Furthermore, industrial agriculture is one of the leading causes of water pollution in the United States today. And if the Koch brothers have 30 lobbyists, perhaps checking General Electric lobby spending just might raise a few eyebrows. GE stands to gain a lot with their lobbying efforts. Then there's the mumbo jumbo regarding the taxes GE paid in 2010, which boils down to "which taxes". Add to that the receipt of "economic stimulus" money and the appointment of GE CEO as a top economic advisor. I guess GE brings a lot of good things to light. I wonder if Koch Industries ever took a cue from GE.
So, if one were to cite one industry to prove their point, suppose one should step back to look at the bigger picture. Speaking of pictures, I would suggest Inside Job (you know, the Academy Award winning feature length documentary) and Atlas Shrugged: Part 1 opening April 15th.
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