Madison, Wisconson

[oladub]

I'm sorry...$7.5 million sounds like a bullshit number to clean up painter's tape off of marble. Something is fishy here...[[not to say you're making it up...I read the article...just seems a little high, heck I'll clean it up for $2 million!)

Article:
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/1...age=2#comments

I agree. That sounds too high but it's a government job. By the time everyone from the DOA, EPA, OSHA, the historic preservation agency, and all the people writing an environmental impact statement get through with all their professional help, the job could probably be done for for $200k. I might hire a bunch of local gals and do it for $1.9M though to underbid you.

Not to give away trade secrets but a coat of Howards Orange Oil, purchased by the gallon at the local Ace Hardware to dissolve the gummy stuff , followed with a dish soap rinse to get rid of the oil, a rinse, and drying should take care of it.

[oldredfordette]

That is such bullshit. I admit I haven't been there since Sunday morning, but people were making a huge point of keeping that place clean. Not picked up, but clean. Not only that, there were maintenance people in there working the whole time.

I'll drive out next week and help with the clean up. If they can prove it.

[old guy]

Now they're saying they might have been a little quick to throw that number out there. They showed a few cleaning experts [[whatever that means) wiping off any residue they could find with a soft cloth and some mild cleanser.
They also said it could be closer to $10,000 - $50,000. Union painters from around the city said that if it was going to cost that much, they'd come in and do it for free.

[Jimaz]

By chance I discovered that Goop Hand Cleaner dissolves adhesives that detergents can't. It works great on things like duct tape adhesive residue and label adhesive on glass jars. Let it soak for a while and no effort is required.

When people exaggerate problems as minor as this, you know you can't believe anything else they have to say.

Hey Teabaggers! Why so quiet? LOL!

[RaumVogel]

Shows your ability to objectively recognize where the deficits came from. And I'm not entirely blaming the republicrats, but there was a budget surplus when Clinton gave way to Bush2. Let's see here - invade Iraq, it's only gonna cost a couple billion and oil revenues will pay the costs. AND, keep those costs off the regular books so they will be handed down to successive administrations and generations. How much has Iraq and Afghanistan cost so far? Do we have a clue? Tax breaks for the top 4 or 5 per cent of the population [[during wartime, nonetheless) amounting to a trillion dollars, by reckoning of the republicrats themselves. Medicare Part whatever, a quarter to a half billion dollar give away to medical and pharmaceutical corporations, etc, etc, etc. The original bailout [[save our corporations or the world is going down the toilet, which it has anyway) was enacted by the Bush2 regime at the 11th hour of their administration, that is, prior to NO!bama taking over promising 'Change You Can Believe In'. Change what???? Now, as you see, I don't completely blame the republicrats because their evil step sisters - the demicans, have and are still carrying a lot of water for them. All this partisan fighting serves only one master and one purpose: to enrich the weathiest and fund their court [[congress) to do their bidding.

Scource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationa...idential_terms

Fiscal Year President Party of President Federal Spending Federal Debt Gross Domestic Product Inflation Adjustor[9] Billions[10] Adjusted[11] Increase Billions[12] Adjusted[13] Increase Billions[14] Adjusted[15] Increase

1978-2005 Democratic 9.9% 4.2% 12.6%

1978-2005 Republican 12.1% 36.4% 10.7%

1978–1981 Carter Democratic $678 $1,219 17.2% $994 $1,787 -0.4% $3,055 $5,492 9.4%
1982–1985 Reagan Republican $946 $1,396 14.5% $1,817 $2,680 49.0% $4,142 $6,108 11.2%
1986–1989 Reagan Republican $1,144 $1,499 7.4% $2,867 $3,757 40.2% $5,401 $7,077 15.9%
1990–1993 Bush Republican $1,410 $1,615 7.8% $4,351 $4,987 32.7% $6,576 $7,536 6.5%
1994–1997 Clinton Democratic $1,601 $1,684 4.3% $5,369 $5,647 13.2% $8,182 $8,606 14.2%
1998–2001 Clinton Democratic $1,863 $1,821 8.1% $5,769 $5,638 -0.2% $10,058 $9,829 14.2%
2002–2005 Bush Republican $2,472 $2,165 18.9% $7,905 $6,923 22.8% $12,238 $10,717 9.0%
2006-2009* Bush Republican $3,107 $2,452 13.3% $10,413 $8,218 18.7% $15,027 $11,859 0.7%

Notice that the 2 deficit REDUCTION periods were under Democrats.

[RaumVogel]

Fox news posts latest picture of Wisconsin's capitol building!

[canuck]

Well it looks like bits of Michael Moore's speech in Wisconsin are more than premonitory. I just heard on the radio that HSBC bank in London were contemplating a move back to Hong Kong because the british government were about to add a 1.45 billion$ taxes to british banks.
Capitulate-ism.

[Jimaz]

Michael Moore's "America Is NOT Broke" video available here.

Money earned is not necessarily paid.

[old guy]

It's getting very interesting here. I can't remember the last time I saw this many people, of all persuasions, getting this vocal or concerned about anything. Karl Rove's group is running non stop local ads around the state now. I even saw their ad to stop the construction of a new bridge in Detroit running on a local station here. Not sure if they've got their markets mixed up or what.
Saturday should be interesting to say the least.

[Downtown Lady]

The measure to deny collective bargaining rights has been passed in Wisconsin -- apparently the Republicans found a loophole on how to pass it without the Wisconsin 14 [[without a quorum). It seems that a quorum was required only for votes that involve spending, so the piece about collective bargaining [[as it does not involve spending) was separated from the rest of the bill and voted on, and was passed quickly yesterday.

From the article:
"In 30 minutes, 18 state Senators undid 50 years of civil rights in Wisconsin. Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten," said Democratic Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller. "Tonight, 18 Senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people."


http://detnews.com/article/20110310/...-on-bargaining

[lincoln8740]

The measure to deny collective bargaining rights has been passed in Wisconsin -- apparently the Republicans found a loophole on how to pass it without the Wisconsin 14 [[without a quorum). It seems that a quorum was required only for votes that involve spending, so the piece about collective bargaining [[as it does not involve spending) was separated from the rest of the bill and voted on, and was passed quickly yesterday.

From the article:
"In 30 minutes, 18 state Senators undid 50 years of civil rights in Wisconsin. Their disrespect for the people of Wisconsin and their rights is an outrage that will never be forgotten," said Democratic Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller. "Tonight, 18 Senate Republicans conspired to take government away from the people."


http://detnews.com/article/20110310/...-on-bargaining

So the "Wisconsin 14" didn't also "conspire to take government away from the people"?
I love it when one side uses procedural rules and it is considered heroic but when the other side does the exact same thing it is considered evil and conspiratorial.

God Bless Governor Walker!!!

[Downtown Lady]

So the "Wisconsin 14" didn't also "conspire to take government away from the people"?
I love it when one side uses procedural rules and it is considered heroic but when the other side does the exact same thing it is considered evil and conspiratorial.

Their use of legitimate procedural rules is not the issue.

[oladub]

Their use of legitimate procedural rules is not the issue.

Democrats are challenging the joint committee meeting which they claim was held without a proper 24 hour notice. If a court rules the Democrats to be correct on that point, the committee meeting and Senate vote will have to be redone. It did smoke out the self-proclaimed 'heroes' in Illinois though. It's been reported that the Illinois heroes have started drifting back into Wisconsin since there is no longer any point in them keeping up their heroic resistance mounted atop Motel 8 motel beds in Illinois. My guess is that they will be resurrected on Saturday when farmers in solidarity with higher taxes will be coming to town to drive their tractors around the Capitol. This is Wisconsin theater after all. There will be larger crowds on Saturday to appreciate the second coming of our heroes. Saturday will be the big day. Today, 800 students from Madison West HS marched to the Capitol and played hooky like their teachers taught them. Jesse Jackson showed up to complain about Republicans in Washington, D.C.. At least he won't get the wheels stolen off his Escalade in Madison while speaking out for the poor.

Here's the Madison weekend weather for anyone going.http://www.weather.com/weather/weekend/USWI0411
p.s. Spend lots of money in Wisconsin.

[Jimaz]

Funny how the scale of these crowds so quickly eclipsed the Tea Party.

It sort of makes the Tea Party look like, well, a tea party.

[Downtown Lady]

It did smoke out the self-proclaimed 'heroes' in Illinois though.

Self-proclaimed?

[lincoln8740]

Funny how the scale of these crowds so quickly eclipsed the Tea Party.

It sort of makes the Tea Party look like, well, a tea party.

What? A Wisconsin specific protest drew more people than a national protest in Wisconsin?? No way, get outta here--- can't be!!
Bad week to be a leftie---Obama officially states that he is not going to close club gitmo, NPR gets exposed and now you lose in Wisconsin.

[oladub]

At least two Wisconsin State senators received the following email message which is now under investigation.

"WE WILL HUNT YOU DOWN.
WE WILL SLIT YOUR THROATS.
WE WILL DRINK YOUR BLOOD.
I WILL HAVE YOUR DECAPITATED HEAD ON A PIKE IN THE MADISON TOWN SQUARE.
THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING."

http://budget.wispolitics.com/

[Jimaz]

... Bad week to be a leftie---Obama officially states that he is not going to close club gitmo, NPR gets exposed and now you lose in Wisconsin.

Off topic and revealingly diversionary. If you thought those topics were of any interest you would have started your own threads about them. But you knew they wouldn't draw over a thousand views so you didn't.

It's transparent.

[Jimaz]

Attachment 9022
THE SHE TRINITY -"CLIMB THAT TREE" [[1970)

[oldredfordette]

Club Gitmo. I wish, with my whole heart, that I could send you there, lincoln000. Little pissy republicturds would last about 5 seconds in any kind of custody.

[lincoln8740]

Club Gitmo. I wish, with my whole heart, that I could send you there, lincoln000. Little pissy republicturds would last about 5 seconds in any kind of custody.

Now those are some sour grapes. So pissed about getting your ass handed to you this week that you wish a poster would go to a dentention center.

I must admit being a landlord in the shithole that is Detroit is a worse punishment.

Wait a minute....Sunshine, free food, get to play soccer and I get to pray five times a day?

You got a free ticket to cuba I can get?:

[old guy]

Now those are some sour grapes. So pissed about getting your ass handed to you this week :

Sorry lincoln, but that's almost laughable. Walker has done more in the last three weeks to unify his opposition than anything I could have imagined.

I guess the plan was to pit people that were making a low wage against those earning a decent wage. The idea that people earning low wages would be happy if everyone was earning low wages was flawed from the beginning. Once again, divide and conquer. It hasn't worked this time.
Voter complacency was alarming during the last election. This is going to go a long way to eradicate that complacency.

One thing that does bother me is that with all the attention being focused on the wage issues, very little has been said about the other glaring issues in the budget proposal. One of them is slashing almost 1/3 of the budget for technical schools. Can anyone argue the importance of tech schools right now?

When the GM plant closed in Janesville after being open since 1919, almost 5000 people lost their jobs. We're talking about a Wisconsin town with a population of just over 60,000. The area tech schools got into high gear and have been re-training people ever since. It's been working extremely well but even now there's a three year waiting list to enroll in many classes.


Shifting gears

The future is taking shape at Blackhawk Technical College, where the parking lots are filled and classes jammed with new students. Enrollment of degree-seeking students has increased 42% in the past two years.

Nobody really knows what the future will bring, but many are trying to learn new skills.

David Maurer, 47, worked the GM line for 23 ½ years, was there the day the last Tahoe rolled off the assembly line, said his goodbyes to longtime friends and walked straight into the future.

He squeezes into a chair and listens to a criminal justice lecture. He works hard and studies hard. His three daughters also attend universities in the state.

"Friends and family always said I'd make a good cop," he says.

In another classroom, 44-year-old Michelle Dammen is taking the first of three finals in one day. Laid off at GM in July 2008, she quickly enrolled in classes to get an associate degree. She wants to study nursing, but there is a three-year waiting list for classes at the school.

But she needs to work, now. So she is taking a job at the GM plant in Kansas. Maybe she'll enroll in nursing courses down there, she says.

"A lot of people are making a lot of life-changing decisions," she says. "Here you are, in the middle of your life, and you don't know what you'll do."

Sue Martin followed her father into the GM plant and worked there 13 ½ years. Now, she's studying alongside kids who, she says, often quit at the first sign of academic distress.

"I wish they knew how tough the economy is," Martin says.

Martin, 39, is racing against time. There's a long waiting list to enroll in courses to become an occupational therapy assistant. So Martin is looking for work at a GM plant in Indiana.

"My dad always said, you get your foot in the door [[at GM) and you'll be set for life," Martin says. "My dad is probably rolling over in his grave now."
From JS online.

Why are these schools being cut back? I can understand cutbacks in some areas, but we know that helping displaced workers is extremely important all around the country right now. If anything, we should be expanding these facilities. This guy and his cronies just don't care.

[Downtown Lady]

This guy and his cronies just don't care.

Bingo.

Great post, oldguy.

[oladub]

oldguy, I would have to agree with lincoln that ORF's post had unusual sadistic or at least schadenfreude notes to it. It reflects the zealous illogical hatred I am sensing from the anti Walker folks these days. Some of the legislators have received death notes extending to their families. Unions are planning to picket on my senator's front lawn this weekend to bring the hatred to the front door of legislators families.

I am caught in between. On one hand, I'm glad to see the middle class wake up to the fact that their way of life is being systematically destroyed by things like Walker's assault on collective bargaining. On the other hand, I am extremely disappointed that the protesters don't realize that Walker's response is just an expression to national policies of both Republicans and Democrats coming home to roost. Simply blaming Walker for his response falls far short of addressing the causes created in Washington. Worse yet, such a misunderstanding will allow further debt burdens to be weighed upon the middle class and subject it to the leadership of the other bunch of fools who created the $3.6B projected middle class tax increase in the first place. We just voted them out.

Dane County is suing the State because of possible improprieties in the joint committee meeting of two days ago so Walker doesn't have this in the bag yet.

I agree that many of the things you mentioned are important. Raising tuition, gas taxes, park fees and other user fees is one partial solution but a $3.6B tax hike is not going to fly. Let's imagine that Walker would back off on his collective bargaining position. We would still be looking at a $3.6B tax hike over two years. That works out to $1,658 per couple in Wisconsin in new taxes and/or budget cuts. What combination would you specifically suggest to bridge that gap?

[Downtown Lady]

I guess the plan was to pit people that were making a low wage against those earning a decent wage. The idea that people earning low wages would be happy if everyone was earning low wages was flawed from the beginning. Once again, divide and conquer. It hasn't worked this time.

Yes, exactly -- the plan is to get the working class to fight the working class, to the benefit of the wealthy. I read a quote by 19th century robber baron / railroad tycoon Jay Gould: "I can hire one-half of the working class to kill the other half."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Gould

[[I can't remember where it was online that someone posted that quote -- if it was someone from DetroitYes, thanks for that.)