joeklein

The Neoconservative Republican's have learned many new tricks thanks to the 'ol white southern Democrats switching to the Republican Party. Opposition to the spirit of the 14th and 15th Amendments has moved north into the homestate of the grand old Republican Party. Perhaps we can harness Lincoln's spinning corpse for power generation. No connection whatsoever here to the fact that minorities and the elderly who tend to vote "non Republican" would be most taxed by the current GOP Voter ID proposals? A network database with digital photos taken on site at polling places can provide the same security as photo ID cards with out being a de facto poll tax . We need not sacrifice liberty for a little (very little) security. Get real indeed. Properly translated vrsion of the posting at scottwalker.org : Walker Offers Solution to Wisconsin's Non Republican Vote Dilemma: Get REAL Plan Would Require a Photo ID to Vote and Repeal Same Day Registration [Wauwatosa...]...

Article 1 of 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. According to this George W. Bush only carries a handkerchief. No picture ID! Sorry George, if you live in the Wisconsin that the State Legislature wants, you will be denied the right to vote. Is, to deny a citizen the right to vote because they don't have an ID, to deny liberty without due process?

Article I, Section 8 The Congress shall have power ... To declare War, grant letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; It is not within the enumerated powers of the President to declare War, nor is it within his power to alter the rules concerning captives. Perhaps the strict Constitutionalists should strike down the War Powers Act , and return the full power to make war to Congress. The People and Congress should keep the Constitution in mind if they think the current administration is contemplating the invasion of Syria or Iran. We have done this little jaunt into Afghanistan and Iraq under the continuing resolution clause of the War Powers Act, and not in true keeping with the Constitution. I think most people would agree, that if George W. Bush had stood before Congress and asked for a declaration of War against Afghanistan, that he would have gotten it. The debate regarding a Declaration of War against Iraq, would have probably been mo...

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...