Maddie the Big, Black Dog

Maddie is a five-year-old Newfoundland with a heart as large as her bulk.

She is an alpha dog and rules her Endres Park Milwaukee neighborhood with grace and what appears to be good-natured fierceness. Really, she's a lover.

Beyond giving love and protection, her only discernible wants are to eat, lick and smell everything she encounters, especially people, but when dogs see her as we walk and jog, the dogs literally turn tail and run.

But she just wants to be friends.

Maddie has an instinctive need to protect children and sometime when crazed nieces [pictured above] play too roughly, the dog will jump up and stand next to the girls and look up, imploring the girls to be safe.

Health Insurance Parasites

Update: Fight for the public option.

As everyone gets back to work on Tuesday and awaits President Obama's national address on healthcare on Wednesday, seen by some as a "make-or-break moment in his young administration (Peter Baker NYT)," writer Corrente points out what should be axiomatic: Health insurance companies are parasites, a rogue industry.

Perhaps a more apt description is the grubworm: We are the grass and the worm is the health insurance industry:

Grubworms are the larvae of beetles, attacking the roots of turfgrasses and ornamental plants. Damage first appears as drought stress such as wilting and drooping. ... Grub populations also attract predatory mammals such as skunks, raccoons, opossums and moles that can hear the grub activity and dig into the turf in search of a meal- causing further damage to the turf.

"I suffer no illusions that this will be an easy process. It will be hard. But I also know that nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform, the cost of our health care has weighed down our economy and the conscience of our nation long enough. So let there be no doubt: health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year."
– President Barack Obama, February 24, 2009

"No More Mr. Nice Guy"
- Alice Cooper, 1973

Oklahoma Merc Plant to Close, Jobs to Fondy

Rollercoaster ride in Fond du Lac.

Aggressive Wisconsin pols looking out for their own? Corporate duplicity?

Whatever the machinations in the minds of the decision-makers at Brunswick and Mercury Marine, the Fox Valley and (IAM) Local 1947 are relieved; not so in Oklahoma.

The latest:

From the AP in the Chicago Tribune:

STILLWATER, Okla. - After Wisconsin workers agreed to concessions, Mercury Marine said it will move work there from Oklahoma within two years, putting 380 employees in Stillwater out of work.

The boat engine maker pitted its manufacturing plants in Stillwater and Fond du Lac, Wis., against each other, saying it would consolidate the plants but hadn't decided where.

When a union representing workers at the Wisconsin plant agreed last week to wage and benefit concessions, the company announced that plant would remain open.

On Friday, Mercury Marine said it would take 18 to 24 months to complete the Stillwater layoff.

'Eventually we'll close the Stillwater facility,' Mercury Marine spokesman Steve Fleming said.

Company President Mark Schwabero said the consolidation needed after major declines in the recreational boating industry. 'As we've stated throughout this important process, comprehensive changes to wages, benefits and operational flexibility are necessary for Mercury to effectively compete in a smaller and fundamentally changed marketplace,' he said.

State Rep. Cory Williams, D-Stillwater, worked with state officials to put together a tax-incentive package to entice Mercury Marine to stay. 'This went down to a corporation trying to get concessions out of a union, and I think they leveraged another community to do so,' Williams said.

Anti-choice Bushie Pushed VA Death Book Lie

As Sussex, Wisconsin native Thomas Tradewell, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) National Commander remains silent, a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) health planning booklet is still the object of right wingers misleading veterans and other Americans it is cast as a "death book."

This lie was begun by anti-abortion George W. Bush staffer, Jim Towey. From Veterans Today:

How did the phony ‘death book’ debate involving Veterans Affairs begin? Simple. Fox News-owned Wall Street Journal published an op-ed piece by Jim Towey, former Bush coordinator of anti-abortion activities and political fixer.

Towey is now president of St. Vincent's College, though he has no experience of any kind as an educator. Further, 80% of the faculty have called for his resignation for falsifying documents. It was Towey, in his WSJ editorial who continually mischaracterized VA attempts to inform patients of choices as an attempt to encourage Gulf War veterans to commit suicide.

The pamphlet itself, Your Life, Your Choices, is far from controversial. In fact it is, if anything, frighteningly conservative and mainstream. The document is exhaustive in its addressing of faith based decision making. Every imaginable attempt was made to see to it that no group, no matter how ‘wingnut’ or extreme, would find anything to complain about. The result was a huge document, though extremely informative, that is too long for anyone to read or at least want to.

Angry Stillwater Hits Union and Co, 'Merc Tore Up My Life'

Stillwater, Oklahoma is saddened by the Merc vote and Mercury Marine's decision to move jobs up to Fond du Lac, instead of down to Stillwater.

But that didn't stop Larry Brown, president of the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, from taking a shot at the (IAM) Local 1947 that he accused of being placed on a "pedestal."

It's called collective bargaining and negotiations; been around since the Wagner Act. Look it up, Larry.

The sacrifice that the (IAM) Local 1947 is making for their jobs, their families and the community - with a big assist from the city and county of Fond du Lac and state of Wisconsin - is appreciated and feted here.

From Monique Headley of the Stillwater NewsPress:

‘Disappointed. Hurt,’ said 16-year Stillwater plant employee Todd Pierce. ‘It’s been a major part of my life. I’ve got no voice. This was decided by someone else … (Mercury) tore up my family and my life. That ain’t no way to run a business.’

In disagreement with and numb from the outcome, at times Larry Brown, president of the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, spoke with a voice that broke with emotion to about 20 workers gathered at Brannigans at 600 McElroy Rd.

‘I don’t think it will be a good decision in the long term for Mercury Marine.' Brown said. 'It elevated the union to a pedestal they won’t be able to knock them off of. The union will be claiming victory and that they came in on a white horse to save jobs … It’s a good win for them. I am just not happy with how it came about.’

To ease the angst, he bought a round of drinks for the bar.Brown said the team - from Stillwater economic developers to state lawmakers - to keep Mercury in Stillwater put forth an amazing effort.

One team member, Rep. Cory Williams, D-Stillwater, said Thursday he will look into repealing state tax credits the state gave Mercury Marine in legislation he helped get passed this spring.

GOP Gains Modest in 2010, Say Political Insiders

A desperate Republican Party base that wants it country back from the black man elected president won't get much good news from next year's election.

The 2010 off-year elections, generally presenting a loss for the Party in power, will feature tiny gains for the GOP at most, a majority of political insiders in the National Journal say in a new poll.

The poll was conducted by James A. Barnes and Peter Bell.

All U.S. Representatives and one third of U.S. Senators are up for election every two years.

As the worst recession since the Great Depression perhaps subsides next year, the Democratic Party is seen by most as suffering minimal losses.

Ninety-nine percent of Democratic insiders and 94 percent of GOP insiders polled see no chance to a moderate chance of the GOP taking control of the House of Representatives.

Eighty-six percent of Democratic insiders and 55 percent of GOP insiders polled see either a net Democratic gain or a GOP pick-up of only one to two seats in the Democratically controlled U.S. Senate.

As a political brand, the Republican Party remains damaged.

It is seen as shrill, paranoid and out-of-touch as more scholarly conservatives scramble "to disassociate themselves from Birthers, WorldNetDaily, and other objectively crazy people," in the words of Ed Kilgore.

Mercury Union Accepts Contract Takebacks and Concessions

IAM Local 1947 votes: Yes. Breaking ...

Mercury Marine union workers save the day and the city of Fond du Lac.

Make no mistake, the economic health of the Fox Valley is being borne on the strong backs of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Hail organized labor. Fond du Lac and the entire state owe a debt of gratitude to (IAM) Local 1947!

From (IAM) Local 1947:

Wisconsin Machinists at Mercury Marine

Fond du Lac, Wi,
September 4, 2009

The members of IAM Local 1947 in Fond du Lac, Wi have ratified a modification of their current labor agreement that will result in job security and the movement of jobs from other Mercury Marine locations to Fond du Lac, Wi.

Machinists union leaders met with Mercury Marine top management and with this vote, have a commitment that the company will stay in Fond du Lac, Wi, and move more work to Fond du Lac over time.

Our members vote for the company proposal, while being a very difficult decision, clearly says that they are willing to work with Mercury to secure a sound future for themselves, the company and the community.

Let's be clear. This decision to modify our current labor agreement is a huge sacrifice on the part of our members and should not be taken lightly.

We fully expect Mercury Marine to honor their commitment to keep our jobs in Fond du Lac and their promise to move other work from Mercury Marine facilities to Fond du Lac.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Governor Jim Dole for the support we have received from the state of Wisconsin.

We are now prepared to move forward.

Russ Krings

District 10 Representative

Tyler Durden to President Obama

President Obama is floating the idea that next week's healthcare address to Congress may disappoint progressives seeking Obama's advocacy for healthcare reform that includes a public option as a right and a cost-control measure.

Look to cinema for a response:

We do your laundry, cook your food
and serve you dinner. We guard you
while you sleep. We drive your
ambulances. Do not fuck with us.
- Tyler Durden [Fight Club, 1998)

Now GOP Aims Lies at Veterans

Hey Sussex, Wisconsin native Thomas Tradewell, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) National Commander, where are you?

Because nothing is sacred to the Republican Party, certainly not veterans.

Chris Adams at McClatchy Newspapers reports, "While Republicans are calling a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) health planning booklet a 'death book' that encourages veterans to kill themselves or forgo care, ethicists and legal and medical experts say it's a reasonable attempt to help America's veterans plan for the end of their lives."

Make no mistake, the GOP will tell any lie and dishonor America's 26-million veterans for a chance to stir up its benighted base. Now, they are claiming that the DVA is encouraging veterans to kill themselves.

Does the VFW approve of these lies?

There is seemingly no bottom to the Republican Party's capacity to lie in service to ... who knows what these people think they are doing?

Writes Gordon Duff at Veterans Today:

In a TV appearance where Michael Steele, GOP Chairman and defacto spokesman for the medical industry and Fox News's Chris Wallace fabricated a story citing the Department of Veterans Affairs for creating programs to force veterans to commit suicide. ...

Defending veterans and the Department of Veterans Affairs was Paul Sullivan of Veterans for Common Sense, a watchdog group famed for uncovering VA corruption. Other veterans groups, some whose aging members were terrified by the Fox News story have neither made any significant effort to inform their membership or call the GOP and Fox News to account for this attack on the veterans health care system.

The wild and totally falsified claims made by Steele and Fox News are part of a pattern of deceptive reports intended to bring about an outcry against the government's attempt to guarantee health care for the ever increasing millions of uninsured Americans who are victims of the current economic collapse.

Why a political party and news network with passive complicity from veterans organizations would perpetrate such a massive fraud meant to victimize thousands of aging veterans may seen surprising to some.

Again I ask, Thomas Tradewell, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) National Commander, where are you?

Marshall & Ilsley (M&I) Worries Persist

Marshall & Ilsley (M&I) bank holding company has been the topic of concern in financial and professional service communities for some time.

Yesterday's news that Fitch Ratings "has placed the Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and debt ratings of Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (MI) and its subsidiary banks ... [on] Rating Watch Negative" has solidified concerns about the health of the financial holding company that is the largest Wisconsin-based bank company, with some 194 offices in the state.

Some see M&I's outstanding commercial real estate loans as worrying.

Mercury Marine Workers See Daylight, Wisc Pols Come Through

Updated - "Through the efforts of state and local officials...," reads the (IAM) Local 1947 webpage. That's the lede everyone is looking for.

A radical game changer out of Fond du Lac.

After the city and county of Fond du Lac and Wisconsin put together incentives to keep Mercury Marine jobs in Wisconsin, new word comes that Mercury Marine and the (IAM) Local 1947 [now updated] may strike a deal not only retaining manufacturing jobs but actually moving jobs from Stillwater, Oklahoma, to Fond du Lac.

Details on the negotiations are sketchy but the newly scheduled contract vote on Thursday and Friday may signal some great news coming out of Fondy.

Brunswick Corp. executives likely did not suddenly convert to Louis Uchitelle's concerns expressed in The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences.

Fond du Lac and Wisconsin offered publicly funded incentive packages to Merc for the benefit of workers and the surrounding communities that constitute nothing less than the dreaded industrial policy.

Wonder how many Sarah Palin-John McCain voters in Fond du Lac County [28,155 GOP to 23,457 for Obama-Biden in 2008] are going to scream: "Socialist!"

From the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM Local Lodge 1947):

Fond du Lac, WI,
September 2, 2009

Through the efforts of state and local officials, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and Mercury Marine have met and prepared a supplement contract proposal that was presented to the members of Local 1947 on August 23, 2009.

The supplement and the contract proposal will be presented to the IAM Local 1947 membership in a voting process that will take place on Thursday and Friday, September 3rd and 4th, 2009. The supplement contains clarifications of the August 23, 2009 proposal. ...

Ditch Drug War, Pay for Health Care

Crooks and Liars has links to sane proposals:

Esquire: Drug War Facts: America's prohibition of narcotics may be costing more lives than Mexico's — and nearly enough dollars for universal health care.

Marriage Equity Final Brief Filed

William C. McConkey filed his final brief with the Wisconsin Supreme Court last Friday in his bid to overturn Wisconsin's gay marriage ban.

McConkey's argues in William C. McConkey v. J. B. Van Hollen that the anti-gay marriage referendum resulting in the Wisconsin constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage should be overturned because of ambiguous language in the formulation of the referendum.

The 2005 referendum question submitted to the voters on the marriage amendment is composed of two questions posed in the single referendum.

McConkey argues that this violates the "single subject" rule in Article XII, section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution mandating that people may vote for or against more than one proposed amendment separately.

In the reply brief filed Friday, McConkey writes:

Wisconsin voters had a right to expect that a crucial issue like the potential rights and obligations of unmarried individuals who are in a relationship that is not marriage would be discussed and considered fully. Instead, it was coupled with a definition of marriage that was emotionally compelling and presented to the voters in a logrolled resolution that stymied debate and restricted the voters’ right to directly discuss and then address in the voting booth all of the issues before them.

The language of the 2005 referendum reads:

Shall section 13 of article XIII of the constitution be created to provide that only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state and that a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state? [Emphasis added]

The Wisconsin Department of Justice is defending the anti-gay marriage amendment.

Oral arguments are scheduled for November 3.

Friend of the Court briefs, amicus curiae, will likely also be filed with the Court.

See also:
- DOJ Files Anti-Gay Marriage Brief
- Wisconsin Gay Marriage Ban May Go Down
- Objection, Compound Referendum
- Brief Looks to Doom Wisconsin Gay Marriage Ban