Curmudgeon's Corner
cur-mud-geon: anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner
Village Buzz - October 1st
There have been a series of home burglaries in Germantown over the past couple of weeks which the Police Department has been investigating. Stepped-up patrols and the use of plain clothes officers and unmarked cars have been used to attempt to thwart these occurrences.
A Toll Road Coming?
It seems we have discussions every so often about the possibility of toll roads in the Badger state. The time has come again, apparently.
There is consternation over how we can better afford to maintain existing roads and build new roads given that we have maxed out the spending possible from gas taxes (already way too high). On top of that is the movement toward more fuel efficient vehicles and some that don’t consume gasoline to any large degree that suggests fuel tax collections might actually decrease over time, and not just level off.
Can They Not Comprehend?
Most of us have difficulty in comprehending the magnitude of our country’s debt simply because it is hard to imagine a ‘million’ let alone a ‘billion’ or a ‘trillion’. A quote attributed to Dave Ramsey follows and seems to put it all in perspective for us normal Americans:
Jobs Has Left the Building
Steve Jobs was something of a polarizing individual, but love him or not he did some amazing things in the course of his lifetime. He accomplished much in his 56 years on this earth, and he leaves a significant list of things for which he is largely responsible.
PSA Tests After 50?
I am particularly tuned into things about prostate cancer and, therefore, the testing using PSA work-ups that are used to identify the protein counts that might indicate a cancerous situation. I wrote a long time ago about ‘My Friend John’ discussing my friendship with a cigar smokin’ buddy named John who died from prostate cancer at an early age. I am also a male of increasing age.
Village Buzz - October 8th
The vacancy on our Germantown School Board was the subject of a MacIver Institute release on October 3rd titled “Germantown School Board Vacancy Attracts Union Supporters”.
Candidates' Faith Important?
A comment by a Dallas minister saying that Mormonism was a ’cult’ in reference to Mitt Romney running for the presidency reminded me of the John F. Kennedy run for the presidency when his Catholicism was front page news. Many had concerns about that at the time. That caused me to explore some of the differences and similarities of the Mormon faith with other faiths, my own included.
Another Kick at the Cat
We have another recall campaign coming beginning on November 15th. Gov. Scott Walker is the subject in what has been a poorly kept secret.
What Is Going On?
What does it mean when polling shows a generic Republican ahead of Barack Obama by 47% to 41%, but Barack Obama is ahead of Mitt Romney, the presumptive leader amongst Republicans, by 43% to 41%? That is the Rasmussen poll report over the Internet this morning.
Stench From UWGB
The stench coming from UW-Green Bay is over-powering. This situation, first exposed by Mark Belling seemingly months ago, has finally grown the legs it should have. The evidence available seems to indicate pretty clearly that state law was violated in the re-hiring of Vice Chancellor for Finance and Business, Tom Maki. This deal was apparently put together before Maki had retired and that is clearly not legal.
Ugly All Gone?
Maybe we got ‘ugly’ out of our system last evening in the Brewers vs. Cardinals game.
What Are We Politically?
There appears to be an almost even split in terms of our national politics. The latest Rasmussen poll in this regard shows that 33.9% of us are Republicans, 33.7% of us are Democrats and the balance of 32.4% is ‘something else’.
From the Bowels of a Movement
The “Occupy” movements around the country are being touted by the mainstream media as the Left’s version of the Tea Party movement. If that is true, and I suspect that it is, the Left has a big problem. Its latest movement has no defining mission. It leaves behind it the detritus that it has created as it mills about looking for a microphone to talk at or mindless chants to repeat.
MATC Grabs the Front Page Again
MATC is back in the news and, as you might suspect, it isn’t good news. The Journal Sentinel report this morning tells of a former employee (she resigned on September 16th after going on Administrative Leave on August 31st) who is accused of using an MATC credit card for personal items. The former employee’s name is Kristin A. Seimits and she is under investigation for using an MATC credit card to purchase something in excess of $100,000 worth of items. She was reportedly to be paid some $90,000+ this school year for being a ‘procurement director’ for MATC.
The Barbarians Are Getting Restless
I happened to catch a bit of Sen. Harry Reid’s plaint yesterday about the need for keeping our Federal employees’ fully funded and he sounded as though they were in danger of mass exiting if this didn’t occur immediately. His tone was that of dire consequences befalling us with continued Republican inaction on a tax increase bill. That ruffled my feathers, but the real impact came this morning as I read a Washington Times editorial titled ‘The Imperial District’. This editorial dealt with the fact that the National Capitol Region of our country is the wealthiest metropolitan area in America; even wealthier than Silicon Valley.
Tax Reform Anyone?
All the current talk from candidates about tax reform is interesting. The idea of a flat tax to be proposed by Perry next week or the Cain approach called 9-9-9 may be appealing to some and a turn-off to others.
"Iran Won."
“Iran Won.” That is how LTC (ret) Ralph Peters led off his segment on the Fox Morning Show today. He said this in response to the lead-off question of what went wrong in Iraq that led to the U.S. being unable to have a contingent of troops remain behind after our major withdrawal.
More Generic Drugs Coming Soon
Generic pharmaceuticals save a lot of people a lot of money every year. There are some big name drugs that will lose their legal protection this year and that signals generics coming online that fill the void a few months later.
County Board Dust-Up Over 2012 Budget
Washington County Supervisor Bill Myers has had a somewhat rocky relationship with the Board Chairman, Herb Tennies. Myers has attempted to alter the way in which the Board has worked thinking that it is largely a rubber stamp (my words) for the Chairman. Myers, as many are aware, is not running for re-election to this seat. He has shared with me the Memorandum he sent to Chairman Tennies and which is probably being discussed at the Board meeting that convened at 9:00AM today.
Winner Takes All?
Winner takes all? That is the way Presidential elections go in Wisconsin today and have for so long as I can recall. The popular statewide vote winner takes all the electoral votes assigned to Wisconsin. It makes no difference that one or more Congressional districts went the other way, if the popular vote total shows a ‘different’ winner, then that ticket takes all the electoral votes.
Student Loan Changes
Student loans were proposed to be changed by President Obama. He would require that those loans be paid for with 10% of the person’s disposable income and that the balance, if any, at the end of twenty years be forgiven. I’ll bet that one who wishes could game that system pretty effectively. This will play well with the Occupy groups camping out around the country.
Senate Race Polling
The Rasmussen Poll of likely voters in Wisconsin on October 26th dealt with various candidate match-ups in the race for the U.S. Senate.
Talk About a Bad Day!
You just have to know it is going to be a bad day when you are texting as you’re driving…and are under the influence of alcohol…without a valid driver’s license…especially when you rear-end a State Patrol squad that is sitting at the intersection waiting for the traffic light to turn green.
Doing the Right Thing
I had occasion to have coffee with an elected state official this morning. Part of our conversation dealt with the difficulties he experiences today given the polarized populace and the middle. The left has about a third of the voters, the right has about a third of the voters and the center has about a third of the voters.
