In a display why the state legislature needs to be a part time position, a committee approved a measure making Harley Davidson the State motorcycle.

If there were indeed a need to name a state motorcycle, I would vote for Harley Davidson myself. That goes without question, even though Polaris's Victory motorcycles are partly manufactured in Wisconsin too. Never heard of them? Google them, They are relatively new but make full sized Vee Twin cruisers and touring motorcycles.

No, the issue isn't motorcycles. It is a bunch of elected officials being paid to twiddle their thumbs until someone gets an idea on something to keep them busy. One the bright side, they could have been dreaming up some new law to stifle the economy.

A state bird, flower and so forth is fine. Giving free advertising and endorsement to a product is not. If this is to be the case though, I'm proposing that Trane be the official State furnace and air conditioner. They are located in La Crosse. No other brand is located in Wisconsin. Seems fair enough to me!

Exposing the absurd by being absurd.

Our home was built in the 1960's, I believe. I would like to have seen it when it was finished. I know it has been remodeled at least once since then before we bought it. Now after over 20 years of ownership, we remodeled the bathroom and a little of the kitchen. Also, after 38 years of marriage and two washing machines, we bought a high tech front loading washing machine. Our second washer, a Kenmore, as was our first, was still working but some things showed deterioration and I try not to wait till things fail entirely. To protect all of this from hard water minerals, we also installed a new water softener.

A result of all of these purchases was a little shot of money into the economy and hopefully helping some people in their job security along the way. Labor was obtained from within the county. Most materials were purchased from a big box store, but it is headquartered in the state and many of their stores, including the one locally, have heating and air conditioning equipment bought from the company that I work for.

Another result of the purchases is a significant decrease in our water usage. In our shower, I thought that we previously had a stingy shower head, but the new one is even better but still does the job well. The toilet is the new 1.8 gallon per flush type and works better than the old toilet that used much more water but seemed to swirl gallons of water while doing it's job poorly.

The star of the water saving show is our new front loading washer. This thing is super stingy! Besides using a whole lot less water, the motor running the show is electronically controlled as is the blower motor in our ultra-high efficiency furnace. The energy usage tag says that it will use around $10 of gas and electricity in a years time! The prices for gas and electricity for comparison are in line with what we are currently paying WE Energies. Amazing. We can now stuff the queen bed comforter in it rather than a trip to the laundromat and $5 in quarters. Where our old washer would drain and nearly fill the wash tub, the new machine doesn't even raise an inch off of the bottom of the tub with drain water.

Lastly the new water softener. This is the third one that we've had. That's not counting the second one that was replaced by the company because they couldn't fix the timer mechanism. I had stopped using that one for several years as I got tired of hauling 80 pound bags of salt down the stairs. The regeneration took a couple hours and the Lord only knows how much water was being flushed down the drain! But with the new fixtures and such, we wanted to protect them from minerals so I shopped around for a new one. This, of course, regenerates as needed. The sales material spoke of regenerations taking only 15 to 20 minutes and much reduced usage of salt. The machine only holds a little more than 60 or 70 pounds. It's been more than a month with it and the salt hasn't even dropped down half way! When I hear it regenerate, it is indeed only a few minutes, yet we have the slippery sensation of soft water when we lather up so we know that it is working. Also our portable humidifier no long has mineral build-up.

So when that quarterly water bill comes in the mail, I expect to be pleasantly surprised.

Sunday's Home Section of the Journal was the last straw. As I told fellow blogger, Curt Otto , I am going to write a blog about Geothermal Heat. I need to because it is apparently greatly misunderstood as are heat pumps, also called "Hybrid Heat".

Today I read the implication that Geothermal heat was free. Nothing is totally free, but lets establish that the writer is implying that Geothermal heat is much less expensive than traditional means of heating the home such as burning natural gas, fuel oil or even pure resistive electric heat.

First we need to define what Geothermal heat is. I first heard of Geothermal heat when seeing articles and shows about "hot springs" such as around "Old Faithful" geyser in Yellowstone National Park. Very hot water from the earth could be piped into a house for essentially free heat, not taking into account the expense of installing the infrastructure or the continuing expense of pumping the hot water into the house.

At the other end of the Geothermal scale is cooling the house. I've seen clever ways of doing this in many of the caves and caverns that I've toured. Caves usually maintain a year round temperature in the 45 to 55 degree range. So blowing that cool air into the tour offices for "free" cooling is often done. Again the expense is installing the infrastructure and the electricity to power the blowers.

The Cave example more closely matches the Geothermal discussion for our homes than Old Faithful and the area's unlimited supply of hot water. In our soil, below the frost line, the ground's temperature is fairly constant. Anyone with a water well knows that their drinking water, which is the same temperature as the surrounding ground, is much cooler than the outside air temperature in the summer and certainly much warmer than the outside air in the winter. Think of Lake Michigan. It's temperature doesn't vary much relative to the highs and lows of the air temperature. The ground holds it's temperature like that.

Now let's define Geothermal Heat as it means to us in Southeastern Wisconsin. It means utilizing that relatively constant temperature of the deep ground to our advantage. We do that by gathering that heat, concentrating it and moving that intensified heat into our homes and proudly tell all that we have "Geothermal Heat"!

Folks, it isn't anything new. until recently it was simply called "Ground Source Heat Pump".

A Heat Pump is also widely advertised as being a "Hybrid" system. This again is play on words and is trying to ride on the popularity of Hybrid powered cars. Add a horse to Fred Flintstone's car and you have a Hybrid car, when you get down to it. A Hybrid heating system simply means that you have two sources of heat, a Heat Pump and a gas furnace, though it could also be oil heat or even a boiler. In Fred's case he can power his car by either the horse or his own feet!

Ok. What, exactly, is a Heat Pump then? Well, you all have one or more. Did you know that? Refrigeration is pumping heat. You have a refrigerator. It pumps heat from the warm food that you put into it and blows it out into the kitchen. Not much, but you've all noticed it. If you have an air conditioner, it is pumping heat from inside the house to the fan outside. On a warm day you've noticed warmer air coming from your air conditioner.

Reverse that flow of energy and you are now pumping heat from the outdoors into the home to warm it. But it is cold outside in winter you say? Well, just as a blueberry does not a pie make, gather a lot of berries and you have a pie. Same with a Heat Pump. Gather enough of the heat in the air, concentrate it and now you have enough to heat the house!

So if you have a heat pump, and they''ve been around for more than 35 years, you, in a way, have free heat in that you don't have to burn gas, oil, coal or logs to get heat. However, just as the pumps and fans that move hot water from Old Faithful or a Cave, you need motors and a COMPRESSOR to gather, concentrate and move the heat to inside your house or the other way around in the summer.

That compressor has a big motor in it and takes a fair amount of electricity to run it. The nice part is that it is always cheaper to get heat from a Heat Pump than heating with pure electric heat! SOMETIMES it is cheaper to operate a Heat Pump (Geothermal Heat) than it is to burn natural gas, which is presently the cheapest fossil fuel to heat with.

Lets think about those blueberries again. I've gone berry picking up in Black River Falls and sometimes can fill a pail in a matter of moving just a few feet. Other times, I've had to walk around an acre of land to fill the pail. I get tired and work less efficiently when I have to wander around so much to fill the pail.

So it is with a heat pump. In the case of a TYPICAL heat pump, which gets it's heat from the outside air, the colder it gets, the harder it is to heat the house, or fill the pail, so to speak. It gets to the point that it is so cold and tired that it tells the back-up furnace to take over. It can do no more heat gathering!

This type of Heat Pump is called "air to air". It gets it's heat from the outside air and moves it to the inside. It works best when the temperature is, typically but not always, 35 degrees or warmer.  Think about that statement. A Heat Pump works best when it is gathering heat that is 35 degrees or warmer. We previously established that Ground Source Heat Pumps, our Geothermal Heat Pumps, are utilizing water that is tempered by the round and is typically warmer than 35 degrees!

So, when it is -10 degrees outside and an air to air heat pump can no longer heat the house, the Geothermal heat pump is using 35 to 50 degree water, tempered by the warm ground, and is heating the house, likely for less money than even a 95% efficient natural gas furnace could!

There is more for discussion. Balance points for one. But I've hopefully cleared up some misconceptions for those of you interested in the subject. If you've read to this point, you must be!

I go through $30 MP3 players like water. Something quickly goes wrong and I try another bargain priced one. Finding out my woes with them, a son bought me a genuine Apple iPod Touch for Christmas. Quite a nice device!

I knew about the many applications available for them and after getting fairly familiar with the device, I surfed on over to shop for applications. I first got the mandatory "carpenter's level" program which serves no purpose other than being "neat". I also found a star chart program which helps me identify stars, constellations and other astronomy information. As most of my dog park visits are at night, I often gaze at the sky while taking a break from hiking around with Kanook.

There is one application that I found, that I will cherish and show off the most to my friends and coworkers. It is named "Can I Drive Yet?". It is a program where you enter some personal information which is stored for future use. If you find yourself having a few drinks somewhere, you easily enter the type of drink it is, when you started drinking and how many of those drinks you have had. It then calculates what your blood alcohol level may be and if over .08%, suggests an alternative way to get home but also tells you how long it will likely take for you become legal to drive again. It also says how long it will take for all the alcohol to metabolize and become sober.

One of the shocking things that it does demonstrate is how your weight affects what your blood alcohol level will be. Often when socializing, a group of people will finish off the same amount of drinks. What their individual blood alcohol level will be will vary greatly however.

This is but one of other devices that can help a person be a responsible drinker. Until our legislators and the Tavern League show some responsibility in enabling, no, make that force people to drink responsible at the point of consumption, I highly recommend that every drinker have a device with a program like this or purchase your own Breathalyzer device. Walgreens and CVS sell those. You can even buy them on the Internet with your iPod Touch.

There. No excuses. Drive sober!

The recent failed terrorist attempt to blow up an airliner is again resulting in a close the barn door after the cows have left effort. I've read numerous reports and comments about it. The inevitable blame Obama, no, blame Bush stuff is out there but neither is to blame.

Whose fault it is, is allowing the slow process of political correctness that degrades peoples sensibilities. Profiling is not politically correct so Ahmed from Yemeni is treated the same as aunt Martha is in the security lines at the airport. Random people are further moved to the side before boarding a plane for redundant searches.

In this latest case, several warning flags should have been raised. Not the least being that his father contacted the US embassy to report that he feared that his son was engaging in terrorist activities. Bureaucrats overlooking this information is the same twisted mentality that allowed a Major in the Army to kill many people while shouting God is great.

In all cases, terrorists and the Army Major have fit a profile. As I read comments to news reports on this, more and more people are tired of the fear of offending someone due to profiling or being hauled before an activist judge. Let's admit it, there is good and bad profiling. Now passengers are about to be scanned by a device that effectually renders them naked?

Enough is enough and we have had too much.

Last night a meeting was made at the parks department which escaped my attention. It was regarding the flooding situation in the Grandview Park area. The proposal was to build a water retention pond on the south side of the park which would capture excess water that has been flooding basements and intersections in the area for many years.

The original plan would have eliminated one of the two baseball diamonds, been dug down to hold the necessary quantity of water which would slowly drain back into the storm sewer system and have fencing and landscaping around it for safety and appearance.

Based on the one report that I have heard, the parks department does not want to lose a baseball diamond and neither do some residents. Would it be safe to say that they don't have a basement flooding problem during large storms?

I understand that a compromise was made which will keep the diamond and provide additional parking for cars which clog up Pine Street during games and frequently ignore No Parking areas. It sounds like the southern baseball diamond will be at the bottom of an eight foot deep hole! That should be interesting! The only areas that I know of available for off street parking is land that is owned by WE Energies.

The retention pond is a necessary expense to protect property in the area. Besides flooded basements, I have seen cars parked in the street actually float away during flash flooding that has happened. The parking lot and baseball diamond compromise is questionable and came at a bad time. I received my property tax bill in the mail this week and it is bigger than ever while the economy and income is bad.

I hope to have more facts detailing what is going on if the local media doesn't.

Someone is looking out for President Obama's old employer, ACORN. You may remember that they were caught, several times, giving tax evasion advice to people. While it wasn't covered well by the mainstream media, it did reach Congress and enraged them enough to cut funding from ACORN. ACORN officials claimed it was unconstitutional and threatened to sue.

ACORN is a charity, probably a 501c3 organization as the Waukesha Dog Parks Organization was. As I did the footwork to gain that tax exempt status for the dog park organization, I'm very familiar with most of the regulations. One of them is to not support any political candidate. This aspect of the IRS requirements was trampled by ACORN during the elections, yet they suffered not so much as a warning letter from the IRS, to my knowledge. Government grants are not a given for such organizations. For Congress to pull funding when such an organization is doing anti-government activities should be no surprise. So, when they said doing such was unconstitutional, most sane people laughed it off.

Well, leave it to a liberal Clinton appointed judge, Nina Gershon, to rule that cutting off funding for ACORN is unconstitutional and put an injunction on Congress from doing so. She ruled that ACORN was denied "Due Process".

Let me take this opportunity to state what I think is the biggest failure of our government. No, it isn't Congress or the Senate. It isn't even the Executive branch. It is the Judicial Branch, specifically The Supreme Court. I took no law classes in college, but I understand that The Supreme Court's job is to rule on the Constitutionality of laws.

The healthcare bills will require Americans to purchase health insurance or suffer for violating the law. This is clearly unconstitutional. I am told that for the Supreme Court to rule on that and other aspects of this and other dubious laws, that a lawsuit must be filed and then it could take years to be heard.

Perhaps our Founding Fathers didn't envision so many loonie laws being churned out by our representatives.

Since life itself began, there has been a symbiotic relation between animal life and plant life. Animals exhale carbon dioxide and plant life uses it to create and expel oxygen.

In a move inspired by the late Admiral Farragut who said during battle, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!", The Obama administration has found a way to circumvent the legislative process by having the EPA declare carbon dioxide a hazardous material. That means that regulations controlling those that create carbon dioxide emissions can be made without the debate or approval of the Congress. What it means to you is that any business that burns gas, gasoline, oil, coal, ethanol, anything that has carbon in it and thus creating carbon dioxide as a byproduct, will now be able to be regulated in ways that mean increased costs to you and me. We will be powerless to do anything about it, until new elections, maybe.

In the Declaration of Independence, taxation without representation was called tyranny. A close second are representatives that fail to operate in reality. I give much credit to James Sensenbrenner who is actively questioning Cap and Trade proposals in light of the revelation made in emails showing man made climate change may be based on bogus data. However, my two letters to Senators Kohl and Feingold resulted in replies ignoring these new sources of questions and appear to be ready to cruise ahead through the ocean of doubt and saddle us taxpayers with more taxes and expenses.

I am but one taxpayer looking for the truth. Have you done your part? Next year we will no longer have the smokers in restaurants fouling the air. The new bogeyman will now be anybody breathing. Please turn the other way. It's not your breath that is bothering me, your carbon dioxide is killing me!

Don't you hate it when people are slow to pull over when a police car, ambulance or fire truck approaches with it's siren screaming away? Such is how it is with the revelations and questions raised by emails that prove, among other things, that data has been falsified in order to favor those claiming climate change is man-made and can be reversed by expensive changes in energy, industry and transportation.

Now it is revealed that important data that supposedly supported humanity's influence on the climate HAS BEEN DESTROYED! Even the most devoted believer in man-made climate change must wonder why such important data has not been saved. Could it be that the data says otherwise?

Why isn't the US news media screaming these points and questions? Could it be that rather than reporting the news, they are more interested in supporting an agenda? Would it show that the present political regime is a house of cards?

As of this writing, no comment on these questions have been made by our Senators Kohl or Feingold. On Senator Feingold's website is a speech praising Al Gore and acknowledging man's contribution to alleged climate change. 

Today I attended a business meeting which discussed new product. It happens that these products which were once made in America are now made in China. One of these American owned factories in China is now making some product that once was made in Wisconsin. I doubt that anyone who lost their job here has relocated to China. What has this to do with climate change? China and India refuse to cooperate on carbon reductions knowing that it will cripple their economy. The flow of jobs from here to there can only increase if we don't, at least, demand the truth be found on these climate change claims.

Friends, this is important stuff. It is urgent that each of us demands answers. I ask that you question our Senators Kohl and Feingold about this. Should President Obama still sign the treaty at Copenhagen, the Senate must ratify it before it becomes binding. We cannot let that happen!

We have laws concerning freedom of information from public offices that the media use frequently to break big stories. What has been called the biggest news since scientists believed the earth was flat, is found in batches of messages retrieved from a British University and can be viewed here. In it are messages which show that data to support MAN MADE global warming, and global warming in general have been falsified in order to support the claims of people, both scientists and politicians, and to continue the funding of research and political change based on those lies.

Follow the money.

One prominent newspaper, The New York Times, refuses to print any of those messages, saying that they were illicitly retrieved. They are in fact information that freedom of information requests have been made for years in Britain and have been denied. This same newspaper printed leaked national security information regarding the CIA which put operatives in harms way. Follow the politics.

This explains why Al Gore refuses to debate his man made global warming "science". Instead he slams the door on open discussion by claiming the science is solid. I pointed out recently that Al Gore has been called the first Green Billionaire.

Follow the money.

I have about two weeks of vacation to use up by the end of the year. I took Wednesday and Thursday off, mainly to get in some end of year and insurance benefits in. A visit to Doctor Shane Solberg on Sunset resulted in a set of TRI-focal glasses but no important changes in the interior of the eyes over the last year, or so. A visit to Doctor Barsamian, down the road on Sunset, also seems to have resulted in a no news is good news check-up. My Dad had false teeth many years before my present age so I guess fluoride and flossing do work.

The latest leaf pick up was made Tuesday in my area. Some people seem to think that the city workers have time to handle big branches piled on top of the leaves. They don't! I'd say the pick up and the road cleaning the next day went pretty well all considered.

So I got a little accomplished. Items not completed were a winter going over of my car. Perhaps I haven't been fair to them, but the new Subaru dealer that bought the franchise from Don Jacobs just doesn't feel comfortable to me, even though I've bought two new cars from other locations under the same ownership. I drive marketing people crazy.

There are some parts for the snowblower that should be replaced. I recently took it apart to see their condition and decided that it can make it another season if I don't get around to it. Famous last words?

Politically, not much to shine sun on that dreariness. I have a friend who is related to a famous General most everyone would recognize. While the General has faded away, my friend has connections with other retired military higher-ups who keep their pulse on the news behind the news. What they dig up sickens me. It doesn't get reported or is under-reported, though it is out there if only people would take the time to search it out. I have a cousin of the opposite political leanings who calls it conspiracy stuff. I call it networking and following the money.

The times are dreary indeed. We sure could use the Son.

One rule of life that seldom fails is; "Follow The Money". I am speaking of climate change. I am also speaking of what is called the "Scientific Method". I fear many of the followers of the politics of climate change use the logic spoken of in the stories of the blind describing an elephant. Indeed, many so-called experts have a myopic vision of the reasons for climate change, coming to conclusions based on a small portion of the elephant rather than seeing the whole picture. Others, as in follow the money, have their own self-interests in mind in selectively choosing data which ends up in more government grants to fund further research. Diane Sawyer recently interviewed Al Gore, asking him about possibly being the first "green" billionaire. His reply was that he invested in green technologies and put his money where his mouth is. It seems to me that manipulating the politics of "green" and alleged global warming is an "Inconvenient Truth" when it come to him and others. Follow the money.

I have a news article that can be used to dispute global warming and possibly be proof that we have global cooling. Could an ice age be coming?

The news article tells of a shipment of scotch whiskey that was abandoned in the Antarctic 100 years ago. it has been found but is froze in a few feet of ice. One can conclude that if there has been global warming, there should be less ice than there was back then. Never mind that it has seldom been reported that ice in the Antarctic has be increasing , this from our very own NASA which apparently hasn't been infiltrated by Obama people yet.

All of this affects you. It is what is driving the Cap and Trade drive and a possible international treaty that will take priority over our constitution.

Today's Journal Crossroads saddens me. The letters from readers who have lost their jobs all have a common thread. The older you are, the harder it is to find a job. Being younger with children and being thrust into unemployment is no picnic either. Or, just being young and looking for any work. Being jobless is horrible, no matter what your age and situation.

I don't have a solution. But I do have an observation. Residential construction and remodeling is down. One of the manufacturers of a product that I am involved with has introduced a lower cost product for the construction market. It is made, for the most part, in China and Mexico where as the entire product line was once made in America. It is a story repeated many times by other industries. Draw you own conclusions.

The poll at the top of the WaukeshaNow page currently has 74% of the respondents saying the proposed changes in drunken driving laws don't go far enough.

While I have not made it a crusade as other family members have, I have contacted my representative with my ideas. Those didn't seem to get any consideration. My proposals are of a proactive nature as I don't believe anyone intends to drive impaired. In our culture, it is very easy to happen. A good old American having a few beers with the guys or a couple enjoying some wine or cocktails on a night out certainly is part of our culture. Unfortunately each drink brings less good judgement and soon it is a into the car and disaster may happen.

My proposals try to eliminate that. They seem so simple. They are inexpensive. Yet, they are dismissed by politicians who seem to be of the belief that reaction is better than pro-action. They believe that personal responsibility should be the norm and if it isn't used, then you pay the consequences. With that logic, why do we require a doctor to write a prescription for medicines? After all, the drugs come with directions and warnings.

Yes, I think drunk driving needs to be dealt with better than it presently is. Harsher penaties are needed. But I want to give the drinker the knowledge to make an informed decision on when they have had enough and when they need to get a ride home.

Informational weight to number of drinks coasters, napkins and signs should be mandatory in all establisments serving alcohol. Also, inexpensive breath-alcohol tests should be required to be available for purchase. They cost less than most drinks! You can buy them on the Internet and drugs stores sell non-disposable ones for about the price of a "Walkman". I also believe that those that serve drunks should share responsibility.

My wife likes to tell me that not everybody thinks the way I do. Too bad. It'd be a better world if they did. In the mean time, Scotty, beam me up!

Ever since Ross Perot played the spoiler and cost George H. Bush the presidential election to William Clinton, I've marveled that we allow more than two candidates on the final election ballot. Clinton won with 43% of the vote.

I believe that the people deserve an election where the winner wins by greater than 50%. Former President Clinton was elected with less than that, with the popular belief that had Ross Perot not been on the ballot, Bush would have won easily.

A similar situation happened last night. The national spotlight was on upper New York state where a liberal Republican dropped out of the race, yet still received 6% of the vote because she remained on the ballot. The winner of the election won with 49% of the vote. One has to wonder where that 6% would have gone. Had it gone to the conservative challenger who ran as an independent, that person would have won by a clear majority.

A great example of this is the Minnesota gubernatorial election where the wrestler, actor and former Navy Seal Jesse Ventura won in a race where he received only 37% of the vote! So Minnesota ended up with a celebrity who enjoyed playing governor rather than working as one. Sound familiar? Would anyone doubt that had another election between Ventura and the runner up would have been held, that the outcome would have been different? Or the same had Clinton and Bush ran off without Perot?

I believe the same would be true in New York if there were to be a runoff without the Republican drop-out on the ballot. I'm sure it will be spun in ways to suit any political viewer.

No society has taxed itself into prosperity. In Saturday's Journal editorial page, the Journal's editors choose an editorial cartoon that implied that if you believe this to be true, you have either no brains or a lack of them. You see, that statement is one made by Rush Limbaugh in one of his 35 undeniable truths. Some seem outrageous, to liberals, but when thought through, there is truth to each one.

So having had the Journal editors, in a broad way, say that I don't have a brain, please consider that with my blathering.

My point of this blog revolves around John Gurda's good article in Sunday's Crossroads section of the newspaper. John makes some excellent observations and has a good flow of information from the days of Mayor Dan Hoan to the present. To summarize the problem, Milwaukee hasn't enough money. To summarize the solution, taxes should be raised.

He does make a very good point that we CAN afford more taxes! He asks in part, "And where do we find the money to pay for our cell phones and cable TV service when we can't seem to located it for parks and libraries?" So very true. My soon to be middle aged children never knew life without them. The list of things that we take for granted, but are actually unnecessary drains on our income goes on.  How did we live with cars without air conditioning and deluxe stereo systems, power seats and windows? How did we live without air conditioning in our homes and resulting monthly electric bill? How did we live without home entertainment centers? How did we ever live in 750 square foot houses on tiny urban lots? So Gurda's question about how can we say that we can't afford more taxes is valid and should cause some soul searching for us.

The reality of it though, is that ever increasing taxes costs jobs, increases reliance on the government and creates a larger society dependent on the government while diminishing those which pay the taxes to fund it. Liberals try to shame us into paying more taxes, but do any of them pay more than the minimum that they owe each year? I think not! Witness the number of Obama appointees that had tax problems. Good liberals would not argue with the IRS!

Milwaukee was once a thriving industrial center which enabled it to develop good schools, great parks, wonderful libraries and an outstanding museum rivaling those anywhere in the country. But government is also what has caused Milwaukee to deteriorate to that which it has become! Not necessarily local government, but ALL government.

Read closely because this is important. We are about to allow government to do in short order, what it has been slowly doing for many years. Cap and Trade will be devastating to our society as we know it now and it will never return to what it was. Cap and Trade is a "Treaty". The Constitution says that a Treaty takes priority over the Constitution and becomes the law of the land. The Cap And Trade will in effect establish a world government, at least regarding any industry emitting anything to do with carbon, that we will be obliged to submit to.

Milwaukee's industrial base, as has the country's, has diminished due to government regulating this and that. Some regulations are perhaps necessary but many other were extremely myopic and having led to the mess we are in now and are about to make much worse. Nonindustrial businesses have been taxes to their deaths. Those that cannot excape to friendly business climates wither away to the advantage of China and other Asian countries. As the jobs flee SE Wisconsin, so does the wealth that pays the taxes.

The answer to Mr. Gurda's point is not to increase taxes, but to find ways to lower them. Unfortunately the state and federal governments have taken us beyond the point of returning to the "good old days". But succumbing to the belief that we might as well raise taxes will only increase the hemorrhage of businesses and skills.

Recently read was a news item about a woman who was killed by an attack of coyotes in a park in Canada. You can read the article here. Warning, this is from an organization that the Obama administration has officially said is not a news organization!

I don't mean to make light of the tragedy. I do want to remind you that coyotes do dwell among us here in Waukesha and points near. Kanook and I have had three encounters with them at the Brookfield Mitchell Park dog exercise area, once with a pair of them which I later measured as being only fifteen feet from me. Another time was with several that were in the area of the Waukesha Gun Club. In the close encounter, they were sitting and watching as Kanook and I walked by on a trail. Kanook was oblivious to them, surprisingly, but probably because it was at night. I saw them as I glanced their way with my visor light and two pair of eyes glowed back at me. They turned and trotted off while Kanook continued sniffing and wandering ahead.

If you read the referenced article above, it says that coyotes are normally scared of humans. I don't know about that. I don't think it's any different than a stray dog shying from someone approaching them. The local coyotes are probably well fed on  mice, moles and rabbits in the area. If they ran low on food and were hungry, then it might be a different story.

In the above tragedy, this was a young woman, out by herself. A smaller person would certainly appear as easy prey to some hungry coyotes. Until our quest to pave and develop southeastern Wisconsin chases them and other native animals away to the rapidly dwindling rural areas, we have to be aware of these potential dangers. 

So, how much did it cost you, the taxpayer for each of the $3,500 to $4,500 credits for each Cash For Clunkers sale? $24,000, according to Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.com, an automotive consumer organization that is often referenced by auto makers for awards that they may have earned. This is about the average cost of the whole car that was purchased in the typical transaction.

Remember that Ford was the only American brand in the top ten brands to benefit from the program. The biggest winners where Toyota, Honda and Hyundai. However, we can all breath easier because we did make a miniscule dent in the carbon being spewed into the air that is rapidly destroying our planet. Also, the gas guzzlers taken off of the road decreased our need for foreign oil which accounts for the dropping price of gasoline. Never mind that it increased by 25 cents a gallon since the program existed.

The Stimulus Plan has been stimulating things too, besides the sales of anti-acids and asprin. Jobs have been created. Depending on your sources each job being created has cost you, the taxpayer, anywhere from a low of $65,000 per job to a high of $275,000 per job. The lowest number is being reported from a liberal organization that claims to have a corner on the truth, Mediamatters.org.

People, this is an example of government inefficiency, which any government program is filled with, and the ever increasing redistribution of wealth.

Now, for your viewing pleasure, please click on the link and enjoy an exchange between the honorable Congressman John Murtha and our very own Jim Sensenbrenner.

President Obama said  he will not rush his decision on whether to send more troops to Afghanistan, telling a crowd of U.S. troops, "I won't risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary."

Dear Commander In Chief,

I realize that being perhaps the most important person on the planet is new to you and you are still settling in on things between campaign stops. In your shuffling from Kenya to Hawaii to Indonesia to America, not necessarily in that order, and your time in college and then in Chicago organizing communities and voting "present", you probably didn't have much time to read military strategy manuals.

To help with that, we provided you with Generals and Admirals who have learned such from the bottom on to the top. The military is a tool, albeit one made of flesh and blood, that is to be used when necessary. When used, it should be used wisely and preferably with wisdom and experience. See the first sentence in this paragraph again.

You are quoted to have told a crowd of U.S. troops that you won't risk their lives unless absolutely necessary. Mr. President, I believe that your Generals have asked for the equivalent of a life preserver to be tossed into the water for our troops that already are in Afghanistan!

If General/President Eisenhower where as indecisive are you are being, the world would be much different than it is now. Because of the General's quick decisions, the German advantage in jet aircraft and missiles, tools that we and the allies did not have at the time, would have changed the course of history. Perhaps more relevant is the quagmire that Vietnam became because of political interferance with the military mission.

The is no doubt in my mind that your hesitation to provide the requested additional troops is based purely on politics and pressure from the likes of moveon.org, George Soros and many other extreme left of liberal people who bolstered and enabled your election campaign, which seems to continue on rather than getting down to business.

Playing politics with our money is one thing. Playing politics with our military is unacceptable!

Sunday October 25th 5:30 PM

SRO. Standing room only.  Congressman Sensenbrenner asked if any of the press, who were invited, was present. As there were no responses from the floor, I find it my duty to report on the event.

Congressman Sensenbrenner entered the hall by himself, briefcase in hand, greeting the crowd that was seated some fifteen minutes before the starting time. As he took his place at the council table, he was joined by State Senator Ted Kanavas and Representatives Mark Gundrum and Bill Kramer

Speaker of the House Pelosi would have been happy. There was a comparison of President Obama to the smooth talking, if that is possible in German, Goebel the Nazi. However it was coming from a German immigrant who heard the Nazi speak when he was a teenager in Germany. Perhaps that would have been enough to satisfy the "fly-by media" and to make tomorrow's headlines.

I, however, saw a packed Waukesha town hall that was full of orderly citizens who filled out slips indicating their names, addresses and if they wished to speak. The Congressman respectfully got everyone who registered to do so, with an answer, and managed to keep order when the occasional person spoke out of line, which wasn't but two or three times during the meeting.

Among the variety of topics asked about and commented on, health-care reform was the hot one. The only transparency of the Obama administration and the democrat dominated congress is that republicans are locked out of meetings that were once promised to be open and bipartisan. However, "we are winning" said the congressman. The democrats do not have the votes to pass their health-care bill otherwise they could have passed it long ago. The message was that while universal coverage is noble, there are not the doctors or facilities, not to mention the money, to do so without diminishing the current quality of health-care. It would result in rationed health-care no matter what the democrats say otherwise.

The Congressman explained that as written, the bill would slowly require anyone with private insurance to eventually succumb and enter into the so-called public option. The majority of the crowd was clearly against a public option by the level of the groans when asked if they were for such.

One person who claimed to be a doctor from Wauwatosa asked why there couldn't be compromise and work on fixing what existed but needed improvement. Congressman Sensenbrenner stated matter of factly that the present committee system and democrat majority does not promote such amendments and proposals. I sensed a consensus that people wanted to improve what we have rather than radical change.

One citizen spoke that we need to fashion a health-care system that uses those in England, Germany and France as a pattern. He was listened to respectfully but ran over his alloted time. The crowd clearly was not in favor of European style health-care! It was interesting to observe that after the meeting broke, the before mention doctor spoke to this person and complimented him on his thoughts.

The Troubled Assets Recovery Plan and other Stimulus items were asked about. Two citizens asked if  should there be a shift in power come the 2012 elections, could much of these be undone. The congressman stated that President Obama will be in power for another two years and he would likely veto any bills to attempt that. Over-riding a veto would be very unlikely.

Other aspects of overspending along with the war in Afghanistan were talked about. The consensus seemed to be that there is too much foot-dragging to requests for reinforcements.

Cap and Trade was looked upon as a movement toward a global government and a threat to the USA as a sovereign country. No mention was made, from the floor or from the chair about the science of it.

Sometimes the meeting seemed more like a republican pep rally than a bipartisan meeting. Some questions and comments were about republicans regaining  control of the Wisconsin legislature. Comments mentioning Governor Walker or Neumann were made, with a smile.

Not much new regarding the hot topics of the nation was revealed. However there was much insight to the political processes that are intended to provide checks and balances of government.