Wisconsin public unions already have bargaining power...it's called the ballot box. They voted for the guys they wanted, and the rest of Wisconsin's voters disagreed , and now want their choice to act for them!
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Online headline: "Obama Restarts Military Trials at Guantanamo" -- Hmmm, seems like Michael Moore needs to be in Washington rather than Wisconsin figuring out a slam movie on Emporer Imam-a.
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From a fellow BCer: "Anent this subject, someone told me a couple of decades back that he felt that Jimmy Hoffa might have been a pretty ordinary union boss, but has turned out to be a terrific sidewalk." -- Or reserved parking spot at the Meadowlands.
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L-E headline: "City's charter review subcommittee mulls ‘basic service fee’ * $500 fee would be aimed at those paying minimal or no property taxes" -- Hmmm, can anyone guess how quick the MCSD will be demanding, "Me, too!". Of course, tax revenue would be increased if the Tax Assessor's Office better monitored non-exemption properties for closer market value. Another source of income would be to charge a "participation fee" to properties exempt because they are churches, non-profit orgs, or non-MCSD school properties. All these properties need police and fire services. UPtown is a great example because of the buy-up of properties by CSU.
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There's a house in foreclosure in the paper today in a nicer neighborhood that says the owner is in default of a $254K mortgage. The same house is assessed a value of $189,267.00 by our tax office. How does this happen? Even if the mortgage was a re-fi, that should have changed the "freeze" value because it has been basically sold to its existing owner for a higher price. Council should definitely review all re-fis that are for more than the original sale price.
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Repeat headline: ""City's charter review subcommittee mulls ‘basic service fee’ * $500 fee would be aimed at those paying minimal or no property taxes" -- Minimum fees....sounds reasonable, but if Council is mulling a minimum, it should also mull a maximum property tax. How could the city defend a lawsuit demanding proof that the City can/will/does provide some houses with $20,000.00 or more in services?
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L-E headline: "Murderer gets life without parole" -- And what do "we" get...a lifetime of boarding and feeding him; a lifetime of wondering if some prosecutorial faux pas will cause a retrial or dismissal; a lifetime of contributing to some lawyer's public welfare plan, and a lifetime of having no impact as a good example for others not to commit a crime.
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Don't you find it incredulous that a presidential primary in Hew Hampshire, a reality sheltered state of very few, can determine who the rest of the country will get to choose from in the national election?
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I just heard it again...that the S.A.T tests are "culturally biased". BS! The S.A.T. scores reflect what you know about getting around in the world around you, so if there is a 'culture problem', the solution is for that "culture" to restructure its thought processes to bring its followers into the mainstream. Stop making excuses, and giving excuses to students that hinder growth!
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Watching reports of students using their Spring Break to construct basic housing for Habitat for Humanity really undermines the argument that union labor is necessary to
build anything. I remember working a construction job as a 'laborer' when I was 16. I once picked up a hammer and started nail down an extruding nailhead in a scaffolding board. I got redressed sternly for hitting anything with a hammer because I wasn't a member of the Carpenters' Union.
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L-E headline: "Van der Sloot to plead temporary insanity " -- "Temporary insanity"? It's more than obvious the guy is permanently deranged. Who would do evil in a room where a camera is monitoring ingress and egress at all times? Either way, it doesn't exempt him from responsibility for his actions.
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