Feingold Isn't Listening

Interesting post from Boots and Sabers today covering Senator Feingold's recent listening sessions up in Washington county.

Most telling, perhaps, is the news coming from Deekaman over at Beer, Bicycles and the VRWC:

...Deekawife 3.0 went to Senator Feingold's (I'm not) Listening Session at MATC today. The crowd was overwhelmingly against his stands on Obamacare and Cap & Tax.

He didn't care.

As mentioned in the comments over at Boots and Sabers, if the GOP can find a viable candidate, things could go very badly for Feingold come November.

In other news, I'm considering a name change for this blog, and (hopefully) will begin posting more regularly.

Bragging on Sen. Mary Lazich

Blowing the dust off this place to share a story with any of you that might actually still read my ramblings about a recent experience with the DMV, and the action taken by my state senator, Mary Lazich, to make things right.

Yesterday (Monday), I went to get my most recently purchased car titled in my name and to have the plates transferred so they would track back to the car. Not trusting the DMV any farther than I can throw them (after having to deal with the aftermath of their ineptitude many times in the past), I decided it would be best to take care of all this in person, in spite of the $5 counter service fee. When my number was called, I went up to the window to conduct my business and get the car titled and registered. Now, here's where things get interesting. I live in the city of Franklin, but because of the way the USPS handles things, the mail goes through Milwaukee, and so when my address is standardized by their computers, it comes up as Milwaukee. As a result, when I went to the DMV's website to put in my change of address after moving, I tried putting in Franklin just to see what would happen, and the site kicked it back out, and would only accept my address when I put in Milwaukee as the city. No big deal, except that the city of Milwaukee charges a $20 wheel tax, which I have no intention of paying, as I don't owe it. All of that to say, on my title application, I put in my city as Milwaukee, but filled in the line on the form specifying that the car is kept in the city of Franklin (and therefore not subject to the wheel tax). The clerk at the counter called this into question, which would have been fine had he not been so rude about it, even after I tried to explain to him that if he put my application into his computer and put in Franklin for the city, it would be kicked back out. He didn't care about that, insisted that it had to be one or the other, and put the city in as Milwaukee without entering in the information about the car being kept in the city of Franklin, and accused me of trying to avoid paying the wheel tax. He was right about that, but he thought I was trying to do something illegal. Needless to say, seeing as he ultimately works for me, I wasn't pleased about the treatment I received. When I got home, I emailed the DMV as well as Mary Lazich's office to tell them about my experience. Fast forward to today (Tuesday). I got a call from the state Department of Transportation. Sen. Lazich (or someone from her office) got in touch with the DOT, told them what happened, and the DOT called to let me know that they had entered into their system that my car is in fact kept in Franklin, and therefore not subject to the wheel tax, which they tell me will not be added to my renewal next year.

Long story short, I'm still not pleased with the way I was treated by the DMV (although the DOT tells me that my complaint was forwarded to the supervisor at the office I went to), but I'm very pleased that Sen. Lazich's office took action on my behalf to make things right. She has definitely won my vote for re-election.

Federal Judge Rules Wisconsin's Minimum Markup Law Unconstitutional

The story from Fox 6 Now, handed down in a suit filed by Flying J of Utah, which operates travel plazas in Oak Creek and Black River Falls. I don't doubt that this will be appealed, but here's hoping this law finally gets taken off the books.

A Thought About the Brett Favre Fiasco

It's not Ted Thompson's fault Favre decided to get a diva transplant.

So Much for Global Warming

The Winter of our Discontent (2007-2008 Edition) is getting ready for one more strike on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service. Hey Al Gore, whatever happened to global warming?

Tip of the hat to steveegg, with an accompanying warning; the second page of his post is not for the easily offended, but I think many of you will agree; this winter has gone on long enough.

Barbara Lawton: "I'll be damned if we let that happen."

Calling all bloggers, and any other interested parties. The latest issue of the AFL-CIO Milwaukee Labor Press just landed in my mailbox (Mom works for the county), and if you're interested in what's inside, let me know and I'll be happy to send it along to you. The big story is Lena Taylor's race for County Exec, against incumbent Scott Walker. Here's the money quote from Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton:
"It's essential not just for Milwaukee but for the entire state of Wisconsin. We must get rid of Scott Walker who holds government in contempt, who will never understand how government works and doesn't believe in it anyway, and will auction off our beloved county in pieces.
I'll be damned - excuse me - if we'll let that happen."

I must admit, I've never paid much attention to the LP in the past, but this is like the JS editorial board on steroids.

Keep the Death Tax Dead

Hat tip and big thanks to Real Debate for creating a petition to keep Wisconsin's death tax dead. Please go sign it, and pass along the link to others. This is one tax that never should have happened in the first place.

Why I'm *NOT* voting for Jim Doyle

Mind you, I have not made a decision as to who I am voting for come November, and I may not have even decided by the time the primaries roll around (which I don't usually vote in, but that's another matter entirely). First off, let me say that I have no problem with Jim Doyle campaigning for Barack Obama. If he campaigned for Hillary, I could deal with that. He's a democrat, they're democrats. Nothing wrong with that. What I have a problem with is Jim Doyle doing so IN KANSAS, ON STATE TIME. As Elliot points out, this is exactly the thing that landed Scott Jensen in hot water. I guess that rule doesn't apply to Uncle Jim...

H/T: Elliot at From Where I Sit

Real Debate Wisconsin: Journal coverage weak at best.

After an extremely large and well-attended rally regarding the state's overdue budge, the Journal's response?

Meh.

Seriously; covered on page 3 of the Metro section. For more, I point you to Real Debate Wisconsin: Journal coverage weak at best.

Fire Call Fees?

Yep, some towns are looking at charging them, according to a story from the Journal Sentinel. Call me crazy, but isn't this supposed to be covered by property taxes?

One of the quotes I wanted to hit on from this article is in regards to Michael Reed, Town Chairman of Lisbon:

When Reed unveiled his proposal last week, he contended that the town needs the revenue to help pay down debt, including that of the $1.5 million fire station that is being constructed at county Highways K and KF.

If you don't have the money to build the fire station, DON'T BUILD IT!!! Figure out how much you need, and if you have to borrow money to make it happen, put it to a referendum, but honestly, if you can't afford it, don't build it. It's just that simple. Oh, and if you need to pay down debt, STOP SPENDING SO MUCH MONEY!!! Cut your spending, like the rest of us do when we need to pay down debt.

Unbelievable.

HT: From Where I Sit

As a side note, this marks post number 25 for According to Coop. Feel free to do something of a celebratory nature, up to and including buying me a drink sometime. We can work out the details of that later.

The Wisconsin Covenant-Only in Doyle's Mind

Owen of Boots and Sabers has his latest column in the West Bend Daily News online for your reading enjoyment, aptly titled "Wisconsin Covenant equal to snake oil". In it, he points out that to date, the Wisconsin Covenant exists only in the mind of Governor Jim Doyle, and yet that has not stopped him from signing up high school students all across the state. In about two years, it's going to be time to pay the piper, and if Owen is right, we're going to get stuck with the bill for this thing one way or another unless someone puts a stop to this. JB Van Hollen, are you listening?

(Un)Healthy Wisconsin

I've posted my opinion of this elsewhere, in the comment sections of the blogs I frequent, but I wanted to post my opinion here as well, mostly because it gives me more space to speak my mind. And, as usual, my opinion is formed largely from my previous experiences with state government.

For those who don't know, I currently work in a job that involves dealing with the DMV on a fairly regular basis. The ministry I work for accepts vehicle donations, and a good number of the cars we bring in are sold at auction, which requires that titles be signed over to us, then from us over to a dealer, who in turn sells a vehicle to a consumer, who then titles the vehicle in their name. All seems pretty neat and tidy, right? Not so fast.

Just the other day, I had a gentleman in my office who had donated a vehicle to us last year, who received a notice from the Kenosha Police Department that his vehicle had been impounded, and is going to be destroyed if he doesn't pick it up. Problem is, the car in question is the one he donated last year. LAST YEAR. TWELVE MONTHS AGO. And the DMV STILL has the car registered to him. Twelve months later.

This is not an isolated incident. Earlier this year I had to get us off the hook for a traffic accident, because the DMV is behind schedule, and an insurance company went after a donor. Last month I got a call from a donor who was getting parking tickets from the city of Chicago on a car she donated last year. I could go on.

The state is woefully inefficient, and they show no signs of changing. And there are people that want the state administering our health care? No, thank you. Mind you, I'm not saying the current system is perfect, but I am saying this is definately NOT the solution.

Daddy Doyle's Games

Jim Doyle is calling on the state legislature to "stop the game playing," according to Dan over at Still Spinnin'. Interesting he should say that... precisely what "games" would you be talking about, Jim? Seems to me you've been playing some games with the taxpayers of Wisconsin as of late...