joeklein

A few brief proposals. Limit campaign spending to one dollar per capita for the political unit of local government being contested. An indexed version could be to limit the per capita spending to one dollar or the current rate for sending three US Postal Service regular size postcards ; whichever is higher. Modernize the redistricting process through the use of an open source computer algorithm rather than relying on the political judgment of the state legislature or courts. Allow IRV in all state and local races. Do also look at my prior posting on voter ID. I think that that the current proposal to force voters to go to the DMV for state IDs is equivalent to a poll tax . Any poll tax is a violation of the Twenty-fourth Ammendment to the Unted States Constitution . Let us see one of the proposing state legislators try and get an ID by taking a bus from 10th and Wright to the DMV office, and think about doing so without taking time off from a low paying job. Time is a critical co...

Perhaps my prior post about WiFi was somewhat judgemental. Doubt and self analysis are thought of as a weaknesses in todays political environment, but they are the hallmark of rational thinking and scientific analysis. Therefore I shall reserve further judgment on this WiFi proposal for Milwaukee until I have seen the details. I shall keep you posted.

We are completely confused as to the what, where, and how of the current proposal. We are, quite frankly, concerned because this announcement comes out a few weeks before we have an October 31st meeting set up with the Mayor on the same subject. We have been treated disdainfully by DPW in our efforts to get information on the city owned infrastructure and/or network. City Hall employees apparently believe that contractors and companies have more rights than citizens in access to government controlled information. While Presidents from Washington to Truman have held the citizen as true ruler of the Republic; modern political systems seem to believe that the corporation has true right of rule. The corporate owner and operators have become for American governance what the lords and ladies of old Europe where to that continent in its pre democratic era. One of the great hopes of the Internet is that it can be an enabling technology for class mobility. Politically, it is an enabler of open ...

The Republicans are proving that they are the party of fiscal irresponsibility. The Wisconsin Republicans keep hitting us on the head and talk about fiscal responsibility. They prove themselves as hypocrites when they continue to support the national Republican party's reckless cut and spend policy. Excessive debt endangers the United States. We are dependent on nations like China to absorb our debt. Anyone who thinks that our behavior is not affected by our relationship with our lender is a fool. China remains today the largest Communist power on earth. While they have developed a hybrid capitalism, the fact remains that a third of China's industries are controlled by the Peoples Liberation Army and the state, and the political structure is controlled by the Communist Party. China has a poor record with human rights and its regime oppresses effort to organize the labor force or establish institutions based on democratic principals. We borrow the money from China to pay for t...

In referring to the Milwaukee area economy Scott Walker said “ You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig, ”. Scott Walker apparently knows pigs when he sees them; his budgets have always been a pig in a poke. Cut taxes and eventually economic growth will give us more revenue ... yeah right. How about growing the Milwaukee economy, so each can pay less in taxes. Having been unwilling to tackle the issue of local economic growth, he has blamed poor economic growth for lack of tax revenue growth. He blames organized labor for the high cost of doing business in Milwaukee. Yet organized labor is only minor part of the modern work force. He blames health care costs for driving away business. Yet he initiates policies that increase the cost of health care. Lots of blame and no solutions. You who live in Milwaukee County, parse the words carefully . Walker wants you to work more, for less. He want to take away your parks and your bus ride to work. His concept of economic dev...

While contemplating my place on the political compass, it occurs to me that my philosophy tends to support diversity and liberty. To me the fundamental superiority of a society, economic system, defence system or ecological system based on diversity is self evident. To me, monopoly , duopoly , and oligopoly are bad things to have. I prefer cooperatives in place of " natural monopolies " and democratically controlled, government owned system, when market diversity and cooperatives are not possible. If diversity does exists, then I am all for the competitive free market. I am also for government intervention when markets become controlled by oligopolies, duopolies and monopolies. Big businesses evolve into lumbering dinosaurs. Systems that become highly specialized tend to develop flaws that only become apparent in times of change. Change can often result in a fatal blow to systems that lack diversity. For example ... In 1900 Milwaukee american elm trees became the preferred ...

FYI - Here is the result of my test on the political compass . So please call me a lefty libertarian when you pigeon-hole me. I am under the influence of Thomas Paine and these other writers . Currently I am reading America's Constitution : A Biography .

I happen to agree, that as currently proposed by the republican state legislature, voter ID is a bad idea. IDs should not be an impediment to voting, rather the ID process should be integrated into the voting process. Here is my suggestion. Each voter should provide a picture and a valid address. This does not need to be done at the Department of Motor Vehicles, because we have the technology to do this at the polls. Why pictures? Unlike ID cards ... faces are harder to forge. Put into a central database, no cards to carry, no forgeries. Suspect fraud ... check the pictures. All we need is a digital camera and an Internet connection at each polling place with a connection to a centralized database. Do the whole thing using public domain, open source software and we can kick Accenture out of the voting process. My view is that this can be done as a University Wisconsin gradute student project. What do we need? Internet connectivity - Avalible at most every tradition polling location g...