Commentary Update for July 1, 2002: Mayor Scherck, Brian Burke, Lobbying Expenditures, More On TIFs, Seaver on DOT, Harris on Debt, Common Cause on Tobacco, Antonio Meucci, History of Photographs, Photos

Dear Friends of Commentary:

Today's update occurs on my 41st birthday. Princess Diana would have been 41 today had she lived. There, aren't you glad you read this email?

This week's Commentary guest is George Scherck, Mayor of Neenah (population 24,000 for those of you out of state). When a guest's name rhymes with jerk, Jim and I never know what to expect. Mayor Scherck turned out to be an excellent guest. He taught government, economics, and US history for 32 years at Neenah High School before retiring in 1999, and he served 25 years on the Neenah City Council. He just comes off as a sincere and thoughtful guy in a distinctly northeast Wisconsin kind of way, if you know what I mean. He wasn't sure what he and the Neenah Council will do if the governor succeeds in cutting the shared revenue program, but Neenah residents can be assured that Scherck has no plans to shirk his responsibility.

Speaking of politicians whose names rhyme with jerk, State Senator Brian Burke got the book thrown at him by Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard last week. Because Al Gore fell flat with the "no controlling legal authority" spiel a few years ago, politicians now have to look for other ways to make asses of themselves when it comes to defending themselves against corruption charges. Burke through his attorney today just about succeeded at that, citing an 1898 court case to argue that he is "privileged from arrest." http://www.wispolitics.com/freeser/features/f0207/f02070102.html

• A good summary of the case against Burke can be found on the Hough, Fassbender, and Osborne (HFO) political tidbits site:
  http://www.hfomadison.com/tidbits/index.html?062802tidbits
  For what it's worth, HFO are big time lobbyists themselves, including Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce as clients.

Take a look at the groups reporting the most lobbying expenditures. Gives you a good idea of how the budget documents coming from the governor, legislature, and conference committee came to be:
http://ethics.state.wi.us/LobbyingRegistrationReports/SLAESummary_AllOrgs_dollars.pdf

Last week's update included some Q & A with Cheryl Hentz, the member of the Oshkosh Board of Zoning Appeals trashed by the Oshkosh Northwestern editorial brigade. Former Mayor Melanie Bloechl, the person who appointed Hentz, wrote in to give her take:
http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/mbonhentz.htm

Last week's update also included a link to the editorial brigade's McCarthyite drivel about critics of Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) districts. UW Oshkosh Urban Affairs professor Michael Burayidi forwarded me some relevant information on this matter from the Center for Policy Alternatives. They say in part: "Tax breaks intended to help blighted urban areas are often diverted to suburbs. Programs such as tax increment financing, originally created to reverse inner-city decline, have been deregulated so that even affluent suburbs can use them, often to simply pirate jobs from other jurisdictions in the same metropolitan area." Here's the full link:
http://www.stateaction.org/issues/econdev/fiscaccountability/index.cfm

Also last week, the update included a letter from Jon Frings about health care and corporate abuse. Harmon Seaver wrote in a response, which includes an argument that the bloated Wisconsin Department of Transportation is actually worse than the mafia. Here's Harmon's letter, in which I've included some mug shots of famous mafiosos that perhaps should hang on the DOT walls.
http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/hsonjf.htm

Oshkosh Common Councilor and Associated Bank VP Mark Harris sent an essay to Commentary on "Semantics and the Nation's Finances." He does an excellent job of explaining some of the budget jargon coming out of Washington:
http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/mhondebt.htm

Jay Heck from Common Cause appeared on Commentary last week. I thought you might be interested in a report that Common Cause recently released on "Wisconsin - The Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures of the Tobacco Industry and its Allies." It ain't pretty, folks:
http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/cctob.htm

Last week I also forwarded an article about Antonio Meucci, the Italian recently recognized by the US Congress as being the real inventor of the telephone. The Canadian government had a fit, and on June 21st they passed their own resolution in the Canada House of Commons saying that Alexander Graham Bell was the true inventor. Jeez, try to recognize an Italian guy and look what happens. The History News Network has a good essay on this matter which includes the text of the resolution passed in the US Congress:
http://historynewsnetwork.org/articles/article.html?id=802

Ever wonder how photographs were invented? The Washington Post has an article about that in today's edition:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5653-2002Jun30.html

• What better to follow up that article with than some new Commentary photos? The first two are from Memorial Day. Mayor Hintz and Representative Underheim are just too cool for words:
  http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/hintzmemorial.htm
  http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/greggmemorial.htm
• Tell the truth, don't you think Kathy Falk should ask Jim Mather to run for Lieutenant Governor?:
  http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/falkandmather.htm
• Here's Falk surrounded by the cruel hosts:
  http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/falkoncommentary.htm
• Here's Alan Eisenberg, with me sporting the infamous $5 pork pie hat:
  http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/eisenberg2.htm
• Former Oshkosh Area School District Board of Education President LuAnn Bird is always a fun guest:
  http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/birdoncommentary.htm
• Globalization activists Mike Prokosch and Steve Watrous don't look like the crazed anarchists featured in corporate media now, do they?:
  http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/mikeandsteve.htm
• A couple of Scott McCallum's Big Spenders:
  http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/janeandnancy2.htm
• Thelma and Louise cruise Commentary:
  http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/janeandnancy3.htm
• What the Heck is this all about?
  http://www.uwosh.edu/faculty_staff/palmeri/jayheck.htm

All the best,

-Tony

P.S. Other July 1st Birthdays include Carl Lewis, Pamela Anderson, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Farr, Twyla Tharp, Deborah Harry, Fred Schneider of the B-52's, and two of the greatest bluesmen of all time, James Cotton and Willie Dixon.