In an election where Governor Walker's central theme was that a vote for Mary Burke would be a vote for higher fees and taxes, literally the first action taken by his appointees following the election was to approve a plan that allows Wisconsin's electric utilities to nearly double the service fees they charge their customers.

By a 2-1 vote, only two days after the election, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission began a series of approvals that are letting every one of Wisconsin's electric and natural gas companies nearly double the service fees they charge their customers. Humorously, it was the two Walker appointees that supported the massive fee hikes and the only vote in opposition has been a commissioner appointed by former Democratic Governor, Jim Doyle.

You see, Wisconsin utitility companies-- AKA legalized monopolies-- need the increased fees to augment their already sky-high profit margins. Wisconsin Energy, for example, raked in 752 million in profits this past year-- up from 685 million the previous year. Walker's PSC thought a 67 million profit increase just wasn't quite enough.
And keep in mind that of the 12 states in the U.S. Energy Information Administration's North Central region, Wisconsin already has the second highest electricity rates. For example, while Wisconsin customers pays an average of 14.26¢/KWH, while neighbor Minnesota pays 12.85¢ and Illinois pays a mere 11.95¢.

Should we really be all that surprised? After all, this is the same Governor Walker who promised, prior to the 2010 election, that he would keep state aid to public schools "intact" and that he would negotiate with unions representing public workers. After that election, the first thing he did was to kill public sector unions and make the biggest cut to education in state history.

The Elephant in Our Living Room:
Wisconsin’s Racial Disparities and
Challenges for the Church

December 8, 2014
8:30 am – 3:00 pm

Dells Delton United Methodist Church and Holy Cross Episcopal Church
322 Unity Drive, Wisconsin Dells

Morning Plenary
“What We Now Know about Wisconsin’s Racial Disparities”

“A Faithful Call to Action”


Afternoon Plenary Workshop

”Creating Entry Points to Faith-Filled Conversations about Race”

There was a big furor among educators around the country recently when Time magazine ran a cover that said, “Rotten Apples: It is nearly impossible to fire a bad teacher.” The cover, accompanied by a story that was somewhat more nuanced, sparked a mountain of response, including a post by Nancy F. Chewning, assistant principal of William Byrd High School in Roanoke, Va. on her blog, Leading by Example. You can read her entire letter to Time magazine here. Following (which I am publishing with her permission) is the part of Chewning’s letter to Time that talks about what life as a public school educator is like today in the era of high-stakes testing and “no-excuse” reformers who ignore or give short shrift to how much a student’s life outside school affects their academic achievement and puts all of the blame/credit on teachers:

…. First, let me clarify what it means to be a public school educator in the United States today. Unfortunately, at college campuses around this country, [education students] are berated by their peers for their career choice. I was told on many occasions at the University of Virginia that I was wasting my time and talent on teaching. After graduating, the Rotten Apples are then afforded what the Economic Policy Institute calls “the teaching penalty.” The EPI’s studies and those of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development show that teachers earn 12 percent to 14 percent “less than other similarly educated workers” and “60 percent of what their peers earn.”

These Rotten Apples then spend their summers attending conferences and classes, which most pay for out of their own pockets, to learn skills and knowledge to enhance the instruction their students receive when they report in the fall. They return to their classrooms in late July or early August using their own money to pay for essential supplies for themselves, for their classrooms, and for their students. Is anyone in Silicon Valley paying for their own office supplies? I can assure you they are not.

The Rotten Apples come into work between 6:30-7:30 a.m. because most are helping students in some way before the school day ever begins. They often feed their students breakfast. They teach all day even during their planning periods. They get less than 30 minutes for lunch, and many have students with them during their lunch breaks. The Rotten Apples then work with students after school either in the classroom or out on the playing fields coaching. After a full day they go home and grade papers, prepare lesson plans for the following day, maintain an online classroom and gradebook, and answer emails. Most don’t stop until at least 10:00 p.m. The Rotten Apples do this day in and day out throughout the school year. The OECD report indicates that “American teachers work far longer hours than their counterparts abroad.”

Every branch of the United States Military is worried about climate change. They have been since well before it became controversial. In the wake of an historic climate change agreement between President Obama and President Xi Jinping in China this week (Brookings), the military’s perspective is significant in how it views climate effects on emerging military conflicts.

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At a time when Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bush 41, and even British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, called for binding international protocols to control greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. Military was seriously studying global warming in order to determine what actions they could take to prepare for the change in threats that our military will face in the future.

The Center for Naval Analysis has had its Military Advisory Board examining the national security implications of climate change for many years. Lead by Army General Paul Kern, the Military Advisory Board is a group of 16 retired flag-level officers from all branches of the Service. This is not a group normally considered to be liberal activists and fear-mongers. This year, the Military Advisory Board came out with a new report, called National Security and the Accelerating Risks of Climate Change, that is a serious discussion about what the military sees as the threats and the actions to be taken to mitigate them.

“The potential security ramifications of global climate change should be serving as catalysts for cooperation and change. Instead, climate change impacts are already accelerating instability in vulnerable areas of the world and are serving as catalysts for conflict.”

More Than 70 Percent Of Americans Like Their Obamacare Plans

A new Gallup poll found that more than 70 percent of Americans who bought new health insurance plans through the government exchanges earlier this year rated the quality of their health coverage as “good” or “excellent.” Many of those who purchased new health insurance policies through the exchanges also recounted positive experiences and said they experienced a high quality of health care. According to the poll, more than two-thirds of the newly insured expressed plans to renew their exchange policies.

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Other recent studies conducted by the Urban Institute and the Commonwealth Fund have found similar levels of satisfaction among new Obamacare customers, who largely say they’re better off with their new coverage.
If the early predictions about health insurance rates in the Obamacare marketplaces hold true, those positive reports could continue. Although premiums in the individual market have previously experienced average annual increases of 10 percent, the rates for next year’s Obamacare plans aren’t expected to rise very much. While experts warn that some people who are already enrolled could experience relatively sharp increases if they simply renew their current plans, they say that newer plans entering the marketplaces will be much cheaper.

As the health law’s second open enrollment period begins, continuing to educate uninsured Americans about their options will be the next challenge for federal officials. In a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation earlier this month, researchers found that two-thirds of respondents knew little about the exchanges they could enter to purchase health plans or the subsidies available to those with low or moderate incomes.

However, during an event at the Center for American Progress (CAP) in Washington, D.C. earlier this week, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell remained optimistic about the health law’s impact among potential enrollees, predicting that 9.1 million people will enroll in a health care exchange this year.

If Congress can move President's Day, Columbus Day and, alas, Martin Luther King's Birthday celebration for the convenience of shoppers, shouldn't they at least consider moving Election Day for the convenience of voters?