Tosa According to Nick

The newest Wauwatosa art gallery, Gallery 2622, will be having another opening this Friday, December 5th starting at 6PM.  They will be featuring the painting, sculpture and welding of Gabe Lanza and Mark Winter until January.  The gallery is at 2622 N. 76th St. (in between Walgreens and the Wauwatosa Vet Clinic).

For those of you who read The World According to Nick regularly, this endorsement should come as no surprise.  I began the presidential election season by supporting Ron Paul, who was running in the Republican primary.  Paul is a truly principled Republican, who's views on government size, and especially on monetary policy and the economy seem scary accurate given the current state of the economy and the housing sector.  But because of his views on the war, he was treated as a traitor to the party, and never given a serious chance despite setting some amazing records with online fundraising during the primary.

Instead, John McCain squeaked out a primary victory, and is now facing Barack Obama.  As I have written before in various locations, neither man will take this country in a good direction.  As Walter Williams said during this 20/20 episode I blogged, the President cannot fix the economy, and does not run our lives.  He has very little power to do good, and enormous power to do damage.  We the people, through hundreds of daily decisions and desires, through small businesses and our jobs, run the economy.  In fact, I think it's fair to say that most people spend their time trying to do what they want, in spite of government pressures, not because of them.  This is important to keep in mind when listening to both major party candidates.

John McCain has rightly been criticizing Barack Obama for wanting to redistribute wealth.  The problem is that John McCain would also like to redistribute wealth.  While Obama would prefer to do this via increased taxes for some, and tax credits for others, McCain would prefer to do this through handouts to home owners who made poor decisions, and bought homes they could not afford at the expense of home owners who made responsible decisions.  While there is fear that an Obama administration, backed by a Democratic Congress, will bring back the fairness doctrine, John McCain has already done much to silence free speech with the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance reform law.

The reality is, John McCain stopped running as Republican who believes in small government and personal responsibility (if he every believed in those things), and instead has run left.  He calls for greater government control over energy, despite the failings of those policies in the past.  He suspended his campaign to help pass a pork-laden bailout bill, despite his campaign promises to veto pork bills once President, and despite the fact that there is little evidence such a massive bailout was necessary.  The more you examine the promises of both candidates, the more you realize how similar they both are.  Both Republicans and Democrats seek to increase the size of government influence over your daily lives... they just seek to exercise that power in different ways.  Both will result in less freedom for you.

Many people simply aren't aware that there are alternatives to the two major parties, that don't include not voting.  Bob Barr is running for the Libertarian Party, Chuck Baldwin is running for the Constitution Party.  Ralph Nader is running as an Independent this year (I've blogged about his platform here), and Cynthia McKinney is running on the Green Party ticket.  I encourage you to educate yourself about all the candidates who are running this year.  I have blogged previously about how voting for a third party candidate is not throwing your vote away, but is rather an investment in the future, despite the calls by some that the stakes are too great in this election.  Congress' approval rating right now is below 20 percent, yet more than 90% of them will be re-elected this year because they've gamed the system to keep out others.

The current two party system that we have now is simply not healthy for our country.  For Republicans, it is especially damaging since the party of "small government and personal responsibility" vastly increased the size and budget of the Federal government while it was in total control for six years of the Bush Administration.  Most Republicans now simply vote for McCain, not because they believe he is a good Republican, but rather because they are voting against Obama.  For me, Bob Barr has the greatest chance to send a statement that change is truly needed in this country, though others have made a good argument for Chuck Baldwin.

For Republicans in Wisconsin who are worried about throwing away their vote, please stop to consider this.  The McCain campaign has given up on the state, because it is realistically no longer in play.  Wisconsin will go to Obama.  For those Republicans who never really liked McCain to begin with, and are unhappy with the direction of the Republican Party, is it more important to send a message against Obama which won't be heard, or to send a message to the Republican Party regarding its direction for the next four years?  There is no better way to send that message than to vote for someone who believes strongly in small government, and personal responsibility.

Please consider a vote for Bob Barr.

Sometimes I wonder whether members of city counsels (not just ours, but most city's) think that being elected means that they just got a chance to play a real life version of Sim City.  For those who aren't familiar with it, Sim City is a game franchise (which has been around a very long time) that allows the player to build a city over time.  During the game progression, as you make decisions about where to build roads, how to tax people, etc., the game runs a simulation where businesses come and go, people build homes or neighborhoods turn to slums, and you see the fruits of your labor.  The amount of power that you, as the virtual city planner, wield is rather incredible.

Yet even in that game, a virtual city planner can't tell a specific business that bought property in a commercial zone that they can't operate their business.  Yet Wauwatosa is looking to do this very thing to Dave & Buster's.  They are citing concerns over traffic and safety, despite the fact that our very own Police Chief gave the green light after visiting other Dave & Buster's locations.  The current proposed spot is where the Ewald Car dealership used to be on Hwy. 100.

“I just don’t know that it fits right there,” Alderwoman Linda Nikcevich said, citing concerns about the location of the proposed restaurant, which would open just south of Walgreens.

Apparently the City Council would rather see a blighted empty lot with grass growing through the cracks rather than a thriving business, providing jobs, entertainment and tax revenue to the city.  Dave & Buster's has already accommodated many concerns from the city, including it's hours of operation and the minimum age of entry without supervision.  Unlike Mo's, which has caused some problems with neighbors, Dave & Buster's won't be located right next door to any homes.  The owner of Bigg's Roadhouse has said:

Pagoudis questioned whether the area needs “an establishment with 32,000 square feet of booze and arcade games.”

Bigg's Roadhouse of course just happens to be right across the street from the proposed new location.  It sounds more like he'd like the city council to stop other businesses from competing with him.  But it is not the job of the city council to create a protectionist racket for businesses.  And as the Police Chief said:

“If we’re afraid of a business because it might attract young people, then we have bigger problems,” he said, adding that the right security plan can solve the problem.

If the deal with Dave & Buster's falls through, who knows how long it will take for another business to buy that property.  With an overactive city council, many businesses may decide it's not worth the trouble and find another city to go to.  How long has the old Schlossmann's Dodge City lot been empty?  And demolition is finally just beginning for the project proposed there.

Wauwatosa is not Sim City, and we should not be micromanaging people's property rights.  While it's reasonable to be concerned about how businesses interact with the city at large and create compromise, it is not reasonable to decide which businesses are or aren't good enough for the city in general.

The Concord Chamber Orchestra will be performing their first concert of the season tomorrow night at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church on 76th and Milwaukee Ave.  The concert is entitled "Earth" and is part of their season devoted to Earth, Air, Fire and Water.  This concert will also feature internationally renowned accordian player Stas Venglevski, as the orchestra premiere's a concerto by local Milwaukee composer Mark Petering.

They will also be playing the New England Triptych by Schuman, Hong Kong Traffic by Ricchio as well as Symphony No. 6 ("Pastoral") by Beethoven, which fans of the Disney classic Fantasia will find familiar.  The concert begins at 8 PM, with tickets available at the door.

For those of you in the area that are interested in good photography, you should head over to a new art gallery which just opened on 76th street.  It's called Gallery 2622, and is at, no surprise, 2622 76th St. (in between the Wauwatosa Veterinary Clinic and Walgreens).  They are currently featuring the photography of Ryan Hainey.  He'll be on display through mid November.  The gallery plans on showing more than photography, including sculpture.

They have open hours on Mondays between 2 and 5, and by appointment.  Check them out, the work there is quite impressive.

My blogging friend Elliot has asked to be convinced that Jim Burkee "isn't full of crap" and why he should vote for him over Sensenbrenner tomorrow:

I’ve got to admit, I always thought Burkee was a stealth liberal ever since he pulled the truly stupid stunt of "co-running" with a Democrat for Sensenbrenner's seat last year.

Plus, both the Shepherd Express and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have endorsed him. (And my rule is normally to vote against anyone either of those papers endorse, let alone BOTH of them.)

To be honest, I'm very surprised that Elliot calls "co-running" with a Democrat as being a stupid stunt that makes him a stealth liberal (or was Walz a stealth conservative?).  I always got the sense that Elliot disliked the hyper partisan nature that politics has taken most recently.  It seems that that Republicans will reflexively say that anything a Democrat says is bad/wrong/evil and vice versa.  You need to look no further than the recent political commentary on Sarah Palin for evidence.

But let's look at the reality of the district Burkee is running in.  James Sensenbrenner is the Herb Kohl, or the Ted Kennedy, of the 5th District.  What I mean by that is that he usually doesn't have to do anything to get re-elected.  He probably pays for some fresh yard signs every two years, but he doesn't have to run ads or do anything else.  Despite that, Sensenbrenner gets a lot of campaign money from some major corporate interests that he has helped while he was the powerful chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

I've gone back and forth in my own mind on campaign financing, and corporate and PAC money in politics.  Part of me says that people ought to have the freedom and ability to donate as much money as they choose to a politician.  Part of me also says that corporations aren't people, and when they donate to campaigns, all that results is larger government, corporate welfare and rent seeking, all the things that as a free market Libertarian I can't stand.  Burkee and Walz shared that philosophy, and so while they disagreed on the exact methods that needed to be enacted by government, they both agreed that private funding was crucial, and so they agreed to run that part of their campaign together.  In the end, Walz dropped out, which works out best for Republicans.  Republicans now have the choice to keep their party's representation in the House, but can do so with someone who actually holds true to small government, federalist principles that they claim to love.

Sensenbrenner believes in none of those things.  He voted for Medicare Part D, one of the largest government entitlements to be passed in memory.  He's still proud of that bill.  While claiming to hate unfunded federal mandates on states (like NCLB), he authored, and bullied through Real ID, which enforces an unfunded mandate on states to change their driver's licenses, share their databases (which will cost billions), and threaten our privacy and makes us less secure from identity theft.  And he did it all by attaching Real ID as a rider to a must pass Iraq War spending bill.  Attaching riders to those types of bills is another thing that he is supposedly against.  Jim Sensenbrenner also voted in favor of ethanol mandates.  He has since come out against them, but frankly, why should he be believed at this point?  I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

Sensenbrenner has been in the House for 30 years.  He's played the game.  He votes one way, then promises not to do it again.  Are we really like battered wives who will take back their husband after being hit, just because he promises never to do it again?  The design of the House was meant to have high turnover.  That's why the entire House of Representatives runs for re-election every two years.  Why do we refuse to take advantage of this?

Let's travel back 2 years to when the Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives.  There was an awful lot of soul searching that occurred about Republicans, trying to determine what happened.  The overall conclusion was that the Republican Party had "lost it's way".  They were no longer the party of small government and fiscal conservatism.  They didn't push the ideals of Federalism any more.  Supposedly, this was going to cause a re-examination by the party to it's core values, and that during the primaries, new candidates would be vetted that believed in these things.  Well, look at the result in this case.  The GOP organizations in the 5th District have all but given Burkee the finger, while Sensenbrenner would only debate him once, and during that debate, talked about how challenging Republicans made Burkee a bad Republican.  So much for going back to core beliefs and soul searching.  Two years later and that makes you a bad Republican.  You'd think they would want to encourage that now more than ever, since there is no Democratic challenger.  Whoever wins the primary will win the election.  Now is the best time for soul searching.

Yes, the Journal and the Shepherd Express both sided with Burkee, but I think that is more about getting rid of Sensenbrenner, than identifying Burkee as a liberal wolf in sheep's clothing.  Fellow blogger Josh Schroeder dispels that idea very well as well.  And truth be told, I'm probably voting for Burkee more as a vote against Sensenbrenner myself.  I'd personally like to give a chance to someone new who is espousing real conservative ideals, than a Johnny come lately who is promising something now, that he's hasn't been able to deliver on for 30 years.  One has no real track record, while the other has failed the test.  I'd like to give a chance to pass the test to someone who hasn't had it yet.

Next Tuesday, September 9th, is a primary race in Wisconsin.  Please remember that in Wisconsin, all primaries are open primaries.  That means that a Democrat is allowed to vote in a Republican primary as long as he votes completely Republican for the entire ballot.  This does not affect your ability to vote as a Democrat in November.  You can see a sample ballot for Wauwatosa (which is included in the 5th Congressional District) here.  The only contested primaries are for the 5th Congressional Republican ticket, and the County Clerk Democratic ticket.  All others are uncontested, though if you don't live in Wauwatosa, you may have other races that you should consider ahead of time.

For the 5th Congressional district in Wisconsin, James Sensenbrenner is running against Jim Burkee in the Republican primary.  I have written several times about the race, including the forum they recently had, and my rebuttal to false claims that Sensenbrenner made during that forum.  If you are interested in seeing a change in Wisconsin Representation this election cycle, I encourage you to vote next Tuesday.  There is no Democrat running in November for this district.  That means that whoever wins this primary will be our next Congressman.

Tonight I decided to head up to Germantown and attend the only debate between Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, and Dr. Jim Burkee.  They are running in the Republican Primary for the 5th Congressional District.  There was a surprisingly large standing room audience there, which was fantastic.  I tried to get down as much about the questions and the candidates answers as I could, but my ability to type fast is somewhat limited to C#... not English, so I did the best that I could.  I know Steve Egg was there with a tape recorder, and it was also video recorded, so if you want to wait for those sources to surface, I wouldn't blame you.  What I have down here is mostly paraphrase... but I believe it to be an honest representation of what was said by both sides.  Any of my personal interjection about what was said I've included in square brackets and italicized ([]).

Some interesting notes before the debate even started.  I was chastised by someone for daring to use one of the election boxes as a writing surface for my question card.  Apparently they are too fragile for use as a writing surface, but they are perfectly fine to vote with.  One of the people helping out was continually chastising people for touching, leaning on, or writing on the election booths.  It was her full time job for the night.  Afterwards, it was suggested that this was done to prevent tampering.  If tampering was a concern (and it should be), then why were they unsecured in a public room full of people.  During the debate, nobody was really paying attention to the voting boxes because everyone was watching the debate.  Anything could have been done to them at that point.

Of course, no debate would be complete without a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance where we get to be reminded of our duty to God, whether you believe in it or not.  I noticed that some people said "under God" in an especially loud and proud manner.  It was rather amusing actually.

Now onto the debate.

Opening Remarks

Sensenbrenner:  He introduced his wife, and reminded everyone that this was a Republican primary.  He believes that he will be a "strong hand on the tiller" through "hard times".  He also made sure that everyone knows he eats a lot at civic functions.  [That's probably an unfair interpretation of what he said, but I need to toss in a joke early.]

Burkee:  He reminded people that this is a gerrymandered district, and so the primary is really the only chance to vote for someone who will go in office.  The primary is about honesty, and how the Republican Party betrayed those who they represented while they were in control.  Is it good for one man to go unchallenged in office for nearly 30 years?  Burkee was 10 when Sensenbrenner started in Congress. [I was just born!]

Question 1:  There has been a dramatic increase in energy costs.  What should Congress do about this?

Sensenbrenner:  We need a Manhattan project on energy, and have everything on the table so that we don't "ship our money to those who hate us".  But that's not enough, because we have to build the infrastructure to transport that energy.  We need to build pipelines, and refineries, etc.  He was unclear about this, but because the question specifically asked about what "Congress should do", Sensenbrenner wants the Federal government to pay for all of this.  He must now be Socialist.

Burkee:  He blasted Congress for creating Ethanol infrastructure, which includes Sensenbrenner who voted for that bill.  He also wants that Manhattan project.  We've been needing this for 30 years, and did nothing... and now Sensenbrenner wants this?  Why should we trust him now.

[Boy did Sensenbrenner look pissed.  Burkee looks to be wanting to hammer on... to use my own borrowed phrase... "Change we can believe in."  I hate this entire idea that both put forward of a Manhattan project on energy.  See a good refutation on this from Popular Science.  As for exporting money to those who hate us, see Patrick McIlheran]

Question 2:  What should Congress do about illegal aliens?

Burkee:  The problem with immigration is a problem because Congress has made it harder to immigrate legally.  These people are desperate, and looking for work, and living here in the United States in terrible conditions.  We place too many caps on legal immigration, and therefore increase the incentive for illegal immigration.  Sensenbrenner wants to make it a criminal, instead of a civil crime.  Burkee believes in family values, and not splitting up families, which making illegal immigration a criminal offense would do.

Sensenbrenner:  The Republican Party is the party of the rule of law.  We have to deal with illegal immigration first, because its cheaper to break the law and hire and illegal, then hire a legal immigrant.  We need to secure the border, finish the fence, and hire more border patrol officials.  We need to electronically verify social security numbers [Shiver... and yet this all warranted applause.  He pushed "stopping illegal immigration first" a lot during the whole debate.  He doesn't seem to realize that illegal immigration is cause by bad laws regarding legal immigration.  You can't do what he's suggesting without changing the law regarding legal immigration.]

Question 3:  Are you willing to extend the Bush tax cuts and make them permanent, and also decrease spending?

Sensenbrenner:  He likes the tax cuts and wants to make them permanent, and revenue has actually gone up since the Bush tax cuts were put in place.  The National Taxpayer's Union has rated him in the top 10 for his votes.  The Citizens Against Government Waste gave him a 100 score. [Applause]  The House on a whole scored 30.

Burkee:  Spending is out of control, and it grew that way while Republicans were in control of Congress.  Taxes were not cut under Sensenbrenner, they were deferred, and the bill was given to our children.  There were no spending cuts, and therefore the taxes were simply deferred.  We added 3 trillion dollars to the national debt.  He voted for Medicare Part D, which is one of the largest bills ever passed, and was unfunded.  Sensenbrenner has voted against pork for Wisconsin, but has voted for 95 billion in pork for other states. [Larger applause]

Question 4:  Is the current size of our Armed Forces appropriate, and should it be increased or decreased?

Burkee:  He's an "old fashioned conservative", and goes back to the era of fiscally responsible Republicans... he quoted Milton Friedman.  Spending cuts should precede tax cuts, not the other way around.  Eisenhower was the only President since the post war to decrease the military and keep us safe.  Military spending bills also are crammed full of pork, and that makes it hard to vote against.  It's hard argue that government should be small in one place but large in another. It should be small everywhere.  [Amen! Applause]

Sensenbrenner:  Reagan rebuilt our military and gave our pride back to ourselves, because we ramped our military down too far, especially during Carter.  Rebuilding the military costs money.  We need to give our soldiers good pay, and good equipment, and give the veteran's administration money for benefits afterwards for those who are hurt while defending our nation.  The perfect cannot be the enemy of the good.  You can't simply vote no on everything.  He won't do wrong by our troops. [Applause]

Question 5:  Russia invaded Georgia, and has threatened nuclear war against us because of our wanting a missile shield.  What should the US do against Russia?

Sensenbrenner:  We need to be "energy independent", because oil and gas money goes to them, and so they are more dangerous now than during the 70's and 80's [Exaggerate much?].  We have to be strong, but pragmatic against Russia.  We need to build up a coalition of other countries against Russia, starting with Eastern European countries, and including Western European countries. [Sounds like he wants another NATO, and another Cold War?]  He also expressed deep support for John McCain for President.

Burkee:  Back to military spending.  We should spend during war time... but we need to be pay for it instead of using borrowed money, and not use off budget accounting.  We also need something like the new GI Bill with Sensenbrenner voted against.  That is how we should support our troops.

Back to Russia... if we want energy independence [I'm sick of hearing that phrase already], why give control back to those who haven't done anything for 30 years?  And he's glad Sensenbrenner is finally voicing support for McCain, because this is the first time he's heard it.  Burkee has supported him from the start. [Applause]

Question 6:  What should the US do about Iran?

Burkee:  He teaches Middle Eastern history, and our relations were hurt severely during the Carter administration.  They are a very young population, and are easy stirred up in nationalism, but its mostly show.  Their President would probably use nuclear weapons if he got them, but relations are best put forth using a carrot and stick method.  We should treat them like we treat China, and give them chances to enter into the world market.  Our tact in foreign relations needs to be more uniform across nations.  When you give market freedom to countries, the populations usually demand political freedom, and they become more democratic.  [Applause]

Sensenbrenner:  We should not engage with Iran without preconditions, like Obama wants to do.  [I think he tried to tie Burkee and Obama there, but I don't think it stuck.]  They broke international law with the taking of the embassy hostages.  [That was 28 years ago dude.]  We should have a strong military to act as a deterrent.  We have to work with our Western European nations on Iran and tight restrictions if they continue to act as they are.

Back to the military... he voted against the GI Bill because it gives full benefits to people after three years, which means they won't re-enlist, and therefore it would wreck the all volunteer military that we have.

Audience Questions

Question 7:  What are your Republican Core Values?

Sensenbrenner:  Listening to the people, low taxes, small government, etc.  He also doesn't bad mouth other Republicans and helps to get other Republicans in office.  He doesn't harp on Republicans for what they've done, because they're better than Democrats.  [This was a deliberate shot against Burkee, and he became indignant several times like this, almost as if he was offended that someone would dare to run against him in the Primary.  Nice view of Democracy he has.]

Burkee:  Follow up on military spending... there is no proof they won't reenlist.  Congressmen reenlist every two years, and they get lots of benefits.  [Tons of Applause].  Sensenbrenner bad mouthed McCain, and also bad mouthed Republicans who voted to de-fund Real ID.  [I wish he said more on this.] Burkee has made three simple promises.  He won't spend our children's money.  He won't take a single penny from a special interest.  He has committed to no more than three terms in Congress.

Question 8:  What would be your first budget cut?

Burkee:  Fan of Paul Ryan's approach to the issue.  Put a limit on the money we spend.  We use false numbers to balance the budget.  It could be 80 years before we balance the budget (according to Ryan's numbers), let alone start paying down our debt.  It's that bad.  Limit government growth as a percentage of GDP.  That way they won't throw us a bone here and there, but then increase in other places. [Applause]

Sensenbrenner:  Paul Ryan is my friend, I helped with the numbers he put together, and he supports me.  Paul Ryan also helped with the Medicare Part D law.  Sensenbrenner would cut ear marks, and won't support or vote for them.  Also made inroads in making sure that for every dollar Wisconsin pays to the Federal government, we get a dollar back.  It used to be 60 odd cents back.

Question 9:  What do you think about the current tax scheme, and what do you think about a flat tax or national sales tax?

Sensenbrenner:  The current system stinks.  It takes 10 stamps for him to send in his taxes.  [Laughter]  The only way to do it is to sunset the current tax code, so that there would have to be a complete new code to replace it.  We need to have a national debate on this, and we won't get it without sun setting the current code.  This happened in Wisconsin with welfare reform and that led to W-2.  [Applause]

Burkee:  I don't blame Ryan for supporting Sensenbrenner, because he's supporting a co-worker.  It takes one stamp for him to send in his taxes.  [Bigger laughter]  But back to Medicare Part D.  The problem isn't the merit of the bill, but rather that it was unfunded.  If it's important enough to pass, then its important enough to pay for, instead of giving the bill to our kids.  He's glad Sensenbrenner is against pork, but why now, and not 30 years ago?  It's too little, too late.  He likes Ryan's plan because it is long term, and it's incremental.  The problem is so big, that it's too big to change with one bill.

[Owen sends in his taxes electronically for free]

Question 10:  Do you think the US should sign the Kyoto Treaty?

Burkee: No, he doesn't.  It's yesterday's news anyway, and it was bad because it exempted China and India, who are growing in their pollution output. The last thing we need is something which disproportionately benefits those countries at the burden to ours.  But it goes back to energy independence.  He's reaching out to Republicans, Democrats, and Independents on this... just like Reagan did with "Reagan Democrats".  We can get energy independence, but only with cooperation across the board. [Stop with energy independence already!  Both of you!]

Sensenbrenner:  He had a hand in killing Kyoto... somehow by whispering in Bush's ear.  [I don't understand how really since the Senate ratifies treaties, and the House has nothing to do with treaties.]  Kyoto is back in the form of the Warner/Lieberman bill which includes a cap and trade system that will create steep taxes.  It will triple the cost of energy and give us $10 gas at the pump.  It creates a carbon credit system, and it will kill our economy.  He will kill that bill.

Question 11:  What would you do to stop trade and budget deficits?

Sensenbrenner:  Spend less, and stop piracy of people's intellectual property.  It's hard to compete against sweat shop countries, when they're stealing our intellectual property.  We also need common sense with trade.  He chastised Bill Clinton for NAFTA, etc. and make China "play by the rules" whatever that means. [If Democrats can play to protectionism, why can't Republicans?  Did we learn nothing from Smoot-Hawley?]

Burkee:  We have to start with energy reform.  Most of our trade deficit is made up with energy purchases.  Foreigners now own most of our debt, and we have to address that.  [Didn't say how though.]  Legal immigration reform is also important... it costs too much money for companies to bring in skilled H1-B visa workersr, so they have to relocate to other countries.  He likes the idea of "balanced trade" because we don't have free trade now.  They should buy from us as much as we sell to them.  [Once again, both sides have a fundamental misunderstanding of markets, and free trade.]

Sensenbrenner Rebuttal:  [This was the only rebuttal allowed for the night]  Sensenbrenner got an increase in H1-B's through Congress, as long as they were educated here.  He wants to make sure there are no illegal immigrants here.  He wants a speedier, and more humane immigration system.  But we'll never get there without taking care of illegal immigrants first, because they're cheaper.  [It's really a chicken or the egg argument at this point]  No amnesty... because it didn't work 22 years ago and will encourage more illegal immigration.

Question 12:  What effect will the change in Pakistan's leadership have on the War on Terror?

Sensenbrenner:  We don't know, because we don't know who the new leaders will be.  He fears that it will create more terrorism in the region.  We have to work with the Pakistan military whether we want to or not, because the political situation there is uncontrolled, and the military is the most stable institution there.  [Of course by dealing with the military, it would give it more power, and therefore prevent a stable political structure from coming into play.]  He helped author the Patriot Act... and did it in a way that protected civil liberties.  [I almost choked there.  Owen noticed it, and I swear almost laughed.]

Burkee:  Pakistan is a mess, and their border is already being exploited.  Our approach to Afghanistan has not been a success, and their government is corrupt, and they're exporting opium.  Sensenbrenner passed Real ID... which was an unfunded mandate, and has been rejected by Republicans because they realize now it was a mistake since it's basically a National ID card [Applause], and it is trying to be rolled back.  Half the states have voted to not cooperate with it.  [The question I submitted was regarding Real ID, and they didn't have time to get to it, so this was the best I got on the issue.  I would have liked to have heard Jim Sensenbrenner try to defend Real ID on camera.]

Closing Statements:

Burkee:  Back to immigration.  Think back to your Christian values [Groans from audience who thought that was a cheap shot]. We should be about the rule of law, but at what price?  Do we split apart families of American citizens?  There are 4 million children who are US citizens with parents who are illegal.  Are we going to split up their families?  Are those kids going into foster families?  Sensenbrenner has been in office for 30 years, and at this rate, maybe 30 more.  We face a choice of two directions of the Republican Party... the same way that got us into this mess, or turning back to our core Republican values.  Our representatives work for us... and I want some customer service.  He's been on 5 weeks paid leave for re-election, and he has turned down every opportunity to debate except this one.  [Tons of Applause]

Sensenbrenner:  Strom Thurmon was a friend of mine, and I'm not Strom Thurmond.  [This was regarding the comment that he would be in office 30 more years, but I think it was stupid to associate with a racist bigot like Strom Thurmond].  Thanked people for holding the forum.  It shows a clear delineation between him and his opponent.  He's been a common sense Representative.  [cough]  What you see is what you get.  He doesn't want to mislead people, and he's been honest.  He's provided good customer service, even for getting a passport or disability funds to people coming to his office.  He's helped the Republican Party, and wants to continue doing so until "the Lord calls him home" [I thought you didn't want to be like Strom?].

My Closing Comments

Overall I thought it was a great debate, and very energized.  Both participants were well prepared, and did a great job.  I think they both presented their sides well, and did do a good job and showing the differences between themselves.  I only wish that they had more of these debates.  Burkee offered to debate Sensenbrenner any time next week if he'd like.  Sensenbrenner didn't accept.  I hope he changes his mind.  The 5th District is large, and it would be good to hold one of these forums in several locations across the district so that more voters have an opportunity to see both of them in this type of setting.

After watching this debate, I feel very happy about voting for Jim Burkee.  I think he really hit home some important ideas, especially ones that many Republicans talked about 2 years ago, about how the party has lost it's way.  Sensenbrenner is partially responsible for that, and it's time that he is held accountable.

Last week was Tosa Night Out.  There was no National Night Out (a waste of Federal tax dollars if I ever heard one), so instead the city decided to waste the community's tax dollars.  At least I can get behind that.  At the end of the night were some nice fireworks.  Here's a slide show of what I happened to get:

Among other things that I found out happened while I was in California, was the unfortunate and untimely passing of a neighbor of mine, Pam Clark.  There is a wonderful obituary in this morning's Journal about her.  She helped a lot of people in the community, and will be missed from not only my neighborhood, but from Wauwatosa and Milwaukee as a whole.  Rest in peace Pam.

Well folks... I'm off to the west coast for a little while.  Blogging will be intermittent at best.  Stay well, and leave the light on for me.

This flyer was taped to my mother's front door today (click for a larger version):

Talk about deceptive.  I can imagine that some residents (particularly the elderly) would get the impression that this was some sort of official city notice asking for participation in some type of official program.  Pay attention to the "Public Notice" at the top, as well as the line "Your participation is appreciated." in the middle.  It's also written in the third person, starting in the second paragraph with "An Independent Contractor of Address America will begin working on this street..."  Not to mention, it's entitled "Operation House ID".  How official sounding.

This is very deceptive, and I would not trust a company that markets this way further than I could throw its owner.  Address America, Inc. sounds like a shady fly by night company, and I would recommend that you refuse to do business with them.

Last night I got a chance to head down to the Wauwatosa fireworks.  I was a little disappointed in the show for a couple of reasons.  First, my usual spot, which normally gives a great view of the show, wasn't as good this year because they seemed to change the launching point from the football field to the new grassy area a block east.  Secondly... and maybe this is just me... but the show just wasn't that spectacular.  I didn't see any ground works and the finale wasn't that long.  They were good... but we've done better.

Anyway, as you might suspect, I took my camera down with me, and here is a sampling of what I took.  You can see the rest in this set on Flickr.

I like saying Independence Day, rather than simply 4th of July, because everyone get's a 4th of July whether it has meaning or not.  But not nearly as many people have an Independence Day.  I'll repeat what I said last year:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain Inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Stop and think about what your government does for you today.  Think about what your government forces you to do today against your will.  How much does your government take from you, and never return?  That is what this day is about.  How much do we now depend on government, making it impossible to shed what we have wrought?

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

This day is about limiting government, abolishing it, ensuring freedom for all, and the cost of doing this.

Here's to high treason!

While I was at the local Starbucks in Wauwatosa, engaging in my ritual of satiating my caffeine habit, I asked the barista behind the register "What was new?"  I then found out that she is pregnant, and she has recently found out that the father of her child likes to kill small animals for fun, and exhibits other behavior common to serial killers.  He's also German, but that may be unrelated.

I may have to stop making polite small talk for a while, because I've had my fill.

Good thing the MMSD spent all those millions of dollars working on the Menomonee River near Hart Park huh?  Oh wait... maybe not.  So when is that flood control supposed to kick in again?

Did you miss the Concord Chamber Orchestra in March?  If so, then you have a chance to see them again next weekend, on Sunday May 18th at 3PM at St. Matthews Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa.  They'll be playing with the Master Singers of Milwaukee.  Among other things, there will be selections from Leonard Bernstein's Mass and Morten Lauridson's Lux Aeterna.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 for students and seniors.  This is a great event with a great group.  You definitely don't want to miss it.  See you there!

Just sayin...

As part of a large Earth Day push, the Milwaukee County Transit System scheduling information is now fully integrated with Google Transit.  For those that don't know, Google Transit is an interface into Google Maps that will provide you with routes and times for how to get to two points in a mass transit area.  For those who don't ride the bus very often and are confused by the myriad routes and schedules, this is a God send and makes trip planning a cinch.  Of course, for me it simply reinforces the reason why I drive my car to work every day.  The car trip that currently takes me less than 20 minutes would take about an hour according to Google Transit.  That's 40 minutes each way that I'd rather have for other purposes.

You can find out more from this article at OnMilwaukee.  This comes on the heels of the announcement that Google Street View is available in Milwaukee as well.  Via Dean.

Warm weather is upon us, which means a few things.  First, it means that I'm on my bike every other day doing training rides for my first triathlon of the year in June (and running on the other days).  Second, it means that the Underwood Parkway Literary Society is having its regular meetings again.  The society seems to consist mostly of an ad hoc gathering of men who sit in their cars on Underwood Parkway between Swan Blvd. and Watertown Plank Rd. to "read".  I ride on that section pretty regularly as part of my Oak Leaf Trail route, and see it all the time.

Now who knows... maybe they're just there to enjoy the warm weather and catch up on the Wall Street Journal.  Of course, I haven't seen any other literary societies crop up on other stretches of parkway like Menomonee River or Honey Creek (where I also ride frequently).  Of course, there is also a reason why Underwood Parkway has earned the moniker "Underwear Parkway".

Honestly guys... in today's day and age... aren't there bars where you can go for that?