Iceland Votes to Not Pay Debt

Iceland is full of welshers. 

Iceland’s voters overwhelmingly rejected a deal to pay billions of dollars it owes to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday.

With around 90 percent of votes counted, just over 93 percent said no and just under 2 percent said yes. Not enough votes remain to be counted to change the result. Some 62.5 percent of Iceland’s roughly 200,000 register voters cast ballots, the ministry said.

The referendum was on a law about repaying the Netherlands and UK, which helped savers in their own countries who lost money in a failed Icelandic Internet bank.

The British and Dutch governments came up with more than $5 billion for bailing out people who lost money in Icesave—an online retail bank branch of Landsbanki. That Icelandic bank failed in October 2008, along with two other banks in the country.

Under a European Union directive, Iceland now owes compensation to Britain and the Netherlands. The Icelandic government has said it will honor its international obligations.

Iceland’s parliament passed a bill authorizing a state guarantee for repayment of the funds, but President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson declined to sign it in January. He cited public disapproval, and in particular, an Internet petition signed by up to one-quarter of the electorate, as a reason for not signing the bill. He said there needed to be a national consensus in addressing the issue.

That prompted Saturday’s national referendum on the law.

Candidate Forum

Attend!

Eagle Forum of Wisconsin-Washington County will host a forum for candidates for Washington County Supervisors and District II Court of Appeals Judge, March 31, at 6:30 p.m.

The event will be held at the City Council Chambers, 1115 S. Main Street, West Bend.

The format will include an introductory statement by each candidate. Candidates will take turns answering questions and will be allowed conclusion time.

The moderator will be Randy Melchert, former state assembly candidate and political analyst.

Mounting Debt

Gross fiscal mismanagement. 

President Barack Obama’s budget proposal would generate bigger deficits than advertised every year of the next decade, with the shortfalls totaling $1.2 trillion more than the administration estimated, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

The nonpartisan agency said today the deficit will remain above 4 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product for the foreseeable future while the publicly held debt will zoom to $20.3 trillion, amounting to 90 percent of GDP by 2020. By then, interest payments on the debt will have quadrupled to more than $900 billion annually, the report said.

Deficits between 2011 and 2020 would total $9.76 trillion, the CBO said.

Economists generally consider deficits topping 3 percent of GDP to be unsustainable because that means government debt is growing faster than the ability to pay back the money.

This administration makes the folks at Enron and AIG look like pikers. 

Restroom Access Act

Seriously?

People in need of speedy relief would get it under the Restroom Access Act, passed this week by the Assembly.

Those with severe bowel disorders could get state-approved cards that would let them use any retailer’s bathroom, even if it’s just for employees, under the legislation. The bill, approved Thursday on a voice vote, now goes to the Senate.

Common sense would dictate that if I’m a retailer and there’s a customer about to crap his pants in my store, I’d let him use the employee bathroom.  This strikes me as a solution in search of a problem. 

Budget Discussions Continue

The West Bend School Board is still working toward a budget.  It’s worth paying attention now. 

Superintendent Pat Herdrich presented the administration’s proposed budget last month, along with a list of recommended reductions.

  The meeting Monday is the second of three meetings dedicated to the budget discussion.

  At the last meeting, Herdrich recommended making $2 million in reductions to bring the budget under the revenue caps and adjust to reduced state funding for schools.

  Herdrich said the recommendations, which include the elimination of the equivalent of 26.1 staff positions, have not changed since last month.

  The budget makes assumptions about student enrollment, state aid calculations and teacher wage increases, which are all presently unknown, Herdrich said, and the figures used in those areas are essentially placeholders until the actual numbers become available.

  The proposed budget also assumes the district will levy to the maximum allowable amount, Herdrich said. Additional reductions would need to be made if the district does not levy to the revenue capacity, she said.

[...]

She added that a March 22 meeting will give community members an opportunity to provide “a deeper level of feedback.”

Please take the time to let the board know your thoughts. 

Lt. Gen. James Hollingsworth Dies

RIP.

Lt. Gen. James Hollingsworth, the most decorated officer in the history of Texas A&M University, died Tuesday in San Antonio at the age of 91.

Hollingsworth was born March 24, 1918, near Sanger, Texas. He attended the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas from 1936 to 1940 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.

Upon graduation, Hollingsworth was commissioned into the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. This marked the beginning of a military career that spanned 36 years (1940–1976).

Hollingsworth was honored by A&M in 1980 when he was named Distinguished Alumnus, and again in 1994 when he was inducted into the Corps of Cadets Hall of Honor.
Lt. Gen. James Hollingsworth, the most decorated officer in the history of Texas A&M University, died Tuesday in San Antonio at the age of 91.

Hollingsworth was born March 24, 1918, near Sanger, Texas. He attended the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas from 1936 to 1940 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture.

Upon graduation, Hollingsworth was commissioned into the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. This marked the beginning of a military career that spanned 36 years (1940–1976).

Hollingsworth was honored by A&M in 1980 when he was named Distinguished Alumnus, and again in 1994 when he was inducted into the Corps of Cadets Hall of Honor.

Tracking Trash

Yikes.  Expect someone to propose this in some American community soon.

It’s the new front in the nanny state: Microchips placed in garbage bins to monitor how much people throw away.

A pro-privacy group warns in a new report that more than 2.6 million of the chips have been surreptitiously installed in what is seen as a first step toward charging those who toss too much.

Proponents say it’s a bid to push recycling. Opponents say it stinks.

“They should mind their own business,” said Terry Williams, an unemployed Londoner who thinks the government is meddling. “I believe they have gone too far. It’s not like we are throwing away anything that is illegal.”

The advocacy group Big Brother Watch found through a series of Freedom of Information requests that many local governments, called councils in Britain, are installing the microchips in trash cans distributed to households, but in most cases have not yet activated them — in part because officials know the move would be unpopular.

“They are waiting for the political climate to change before they start using them,” said campaign director Dylan Sharpe, who predicted that families that produce large amounts of garbage would be fined.

Starbucks Chooses to Not Ban Guns in Stores

Kudos to Starbucks.  I may have to start drinking coffee. 

Starbucks has been forced into confirming it’s OK to carry guns in some of their coffee houses, after campaigners tested its policy.

Anti-gun protesters want the coffee chain to declare its coffee houses “gun- free zones”.

But in some states, where it is legal to carry a weapon, Starbucks says enforcing a ban would mean turning away law-abiding citizens.

Obama Seeks to Block Genocide Bill

The White House is right here.

The Obama administration has said it will seek to block a controversial bill describing as genocide the World War I killing of Armenians by Turks.

A congressional panel on Thursday approved the resolution, paving the way for a possible vote by the House.

But US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the administration would “work very hard” to prevent this.

Turkey voiced strong protests after the vote and recalled its ambassador from Washington for consultations.

The truth is that it was genocide by any reasonable definition of the word.  History recognizes it as such.  But passing a resolution to this effect won’t change the history and serves to tick off a very critical ally.  It would be better for the Congress to stay out of it and let the history books worry about what we call the Armenian genocide. 

Entire Senior Class at Chicago School Headed to College

Good for them.

The entire senior class at Chicago’s only public all-male, all-African-American high school has been accepted to four-year colleges. At last count, the 107 seniors had earned spots at 72 schools across the nation.

Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman surprised students at an all-school assembly at Urban Prep Academy for Young Men in Englewood this morning to congratulate them. It’s the first graduating class at Urban Prep since it opened its doors in 2006.

Student Protesters To Be Disciplined

Good.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Carlos Santiago said Friday that the university will discipline students who tried to enter the building that houses his office a day earlier, saying the university will not tolerate assemblies that become violent.

Santiago said in a statement that the school will pursue charges against the 13 students and two other protesters who were arrested Thursday on suspicion of unlawful assembly, disorderly conduct and throwing hard objects.

UWM Police officers said the protesters punched them while trying to rush Chapman Hall during the rally against the rising cost of college and against budget cuts for university departments. Officers discharged pepper spray into the air to get students to back away from officers who had been pushed into the doors of the building, school officials said.

“For these individuals who demonstrated no respect for our campus community, we will pursue legal action and, for the students, we will review whether any university rules were violated that require additional action,” Santiago said.

Discipline by the university could range from a verbal reprimand to expulsion.

If they are expelled, then they won’t have to worry about the cost of education. 

Do Over

So after destroying thousands of jobs and ruining lives, Government Motors says “OOPS!  Do over!” 

General Motors Co. will reinstate more than half the dealerships it targeted to drop from its network.

GM executives said Friday that about 600 dealerships out of the 1,100 seeking to stay with GM will receive letters giving them the option to remain with the automaker.

The Detroit automaker last year told 2,000 dealerships it would revoke their franchise agreements in October 2010 as part of its restructuring. The company has said it needs to shrink the number of showrooms to keep the remaining ones healthy.

The dealerships, who say they have been treated unfairly, have been appealing the decision.

Pretending to Care

You know… Doyle has been governor for seven years.  He didn’t show any interest at all in reforming MPS until Obama dangled some money in front of him.  The MPS board also hasn’t shown any interest in reforming MPS.  Nor the legislature… not the mayor… methinks that all of their current carping is more about them not getting to spend a bunch of federal dollars than it is about helping the kids of Milwaukee. 

Wisconsin’s failure to make it past the first cut in the national competition for $4.35 billion to improve schools launched a volley of finger-pointing Thursday between the governor, legislators and interest groups.

Gov. Jim Doyle criticized the state Legislature for not acting on reform measures the governor wanted in the state’s application for the federal Race to the Top grant competition, namely allowing mayoral control of Milwaukee Public Schools and giving the state Department of Public Instruction enhanced powers to intervene in struggling schools.

He also criticized the MPS board for inaction on critical issues, including its inability to come up with its own reform agenda for drastically improving educational outcomes for children.

“Today’s announcement should be a wake-up call to many,” Doyle said Thursday. “U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has made it clear: The federal government will provide significant resources to states that are serious about reform. Milwaukee needs clear, consistent, accountable leadership focused on reform.”

Tear Down Badger?

It’s a good question.

The citizen group tasked with providing the West Bend School District advice on facility planning questioned Thursday whether the portion of the Badger Middle School scheduled for demolition could be salvaged to alleviate building space needs.

  Committee members are exploring the possibility not because they believe it is really a viable option, said Citizens Facilities Advisory Committee cochairman Randall Stark, but because they “want to be able to rule it out with confidence.”

  “It is more of a confirmation exercise,” he said.

  Committee members Kraig Sadownikow and Randy Marquardt said community members were asking why a school building was being demolished at a time when the district is short on facility space.

  Superintendent Pat Herdrich said that the Badger Middle School referendum question voters approved addressed handicapped accessibility issues at the building, not growth. The district was twice cited by the Office of Civil Rights because the structure, now slated for demolition, did not meet present-day standards.

  Contractors Bill Pennoyer, senior project manager of VJS Construction Services, and Robert Vajgrt, principal architect of Eppstein Uhen, said to keep the building at this point in the process would present a host of obstacles, including site, mechanical, drainage, traffic flow and parking problems. Preserving the building would also result in the elimination of the relocated football field and track.

Yes, the building isn’t up to code, but does that mean it’s useless?  It’s served the community for decades.  Could it be of use for a few more years as the district deals with space issues?  Could it serve as offices or space for extracurricular activities?  Anything?  It’s worth a look.

Teachers’ Union Responds

Kudos to the Daily News for publishing this letter.  Here’s a snippet. 

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The West Bend Education Association sent this letter to members on March 3, in response to the letter West Bend School Board members sent to teachers Feb. 26.)

  Dear West Bend Education Association Member: Recently, you received a letter from the West Bend School Board blaming the teachers and the state for the district’s budget problems. Our organization of professionals sees things differently. Teachers, who stand at the front of the district’s classrooms, will not quietly stand by and let quality education suffer as short-sighted solutions are offered up for long-term problems. The root cause of West Bend’s funding troubles is Wisconsin’s outdated school funding system, not teachers.

  Here is an overview of where we stand:

  After parents, teachers have the greatest impact on student learning - an impact that benefits the whole community. We take pride in our work, and this pride shows in our students’ performance on ACT exams, Advanced Placement tests and in our high student graduation rate. The West Bend economy depends on excellent schools and staff. It attracts and retains businesses and families to our community. To keep pace with surrounding school districts like Cedarburg, Germantown and Slinger, West Bend must continue to attract and retain the best teachers, and part of that requires offering competitive compensation packages.

In other words, “FU taxpayers, gimmie gimmie gimmie.” 

I would love to have an experiment with this.  If we cut teacher pay by 10%, what would be the effect?  In a community with 12%+ unemployment, would they seriously leave?  If they did, would it be difficult filling their positions with comparable talent?  I’d say “no” to both questions. 

Again, I put the onus on the actual teachers.  If the union speaks for you, then fine.  If not, then you need to speak up because YOUR union is forcing a crisis that will result in some of you losing your jobs and all of you being viewed as leeches.

While the union wants to whine about the funding formula, the reality is that it won’t change before this contract is written.  You have to play the hand you’re dealt.  The money has to come from somewhere.  Teachers have a choice to insist on an increase, which with result in unemployed teachers, deferred maintenance, programming cuts, or worse, or do what they said they would do in the Fall and accept the circumstances of our economic climate.  For those who shouted last year that a tax increase would deprive me of a latte a week, it’s time for the teachers to show that they actually care about the kids and are willing to make the same trivial sacrifice.