forums

We've created this forum for discussion of the proposal to change governance of the Milwaukee Public School System. 

You can read an account of the proposal at the Milwaukee Business Journal.

Watch this space for upcoming Q&A on the proposal.

Full conversation with Don Sykes

Shepherd: What sort of work are you doing at the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board? What’s your vision?

Sykes: I often like to look at the big picture. I’m a big-box person. I always like to start with what’s going to do the most for the most people and then break it down to the customization of what they need. I use the analogy that in Wisconsin, everyone needs a coat. So when people starting asking me what we can do, I say there are certain givens that we in this country just don’t want to use. One of them has nothing to do with workforce development—it’s universal health care. If somebody asked me the most important thing we could do for people seeking a job, low-income people facing huge barriers, my No. 1 priority would be health care. Not health insurance. Health care. With health care people can manage on some of these low-paying jobs or the two or three part-time jobs they carve together to make a living. Women don’t have to give up their jobs if their kids get sick because they can’t take off to take care of their kids. I want to start with that big-picture view of the workforce.

Hi fellow Milwaukee County Democrats!

As some of you may know, I'm running for a seat on the South Milwaukee school board in the April 2009 election. While the race is obviously nonpartisan, I'm hoping I might be able to drum up some support from my fellow Democrats to help me win the race.

If you live in or near South Milwaukee and you'd like to help out, I'd sure appreciate it, because I'd like to knock on as many doors here in South Milwaukee as possible.

I've set up a Facebook group as well as a web page, and I've included links to both at the bottom of this entry. If any of you have any questions or feedback for me, please don't hesitate to contact me, and thanks in advance for your help!

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=54251892278

We now have a committee to liven up our meetings with informative presentations.

Here are the members of our upgraded Issues Committee:

• Jim Carpenter, co-chair
• Richard Badger, co-chair
• Dave Redemann

You'll be hearing more from them shortly! Watch this space.

Congratulations to all the Democratic winners yesterday, but particular congratulations to Chris Larson and Patrick Flaherty, both of whom were endorsed by the members of the DPMC in January. Larson won his primary as a candidate for Milwaukee County Supervisor from the 14th District, and Flaherty won his as a candidate for Alderman from Milwaukee’s 3rd District. Both will move on to the non-partisan General Election on April 1, 2008, along with these other candidates endorsed by the DPMC:

(We've posted this as a forum topic so that you can add your own personal congratulations, Milwaukee Dems.) 

Diary by Rep. Wexler on Cheney Hearings
Wexler For Congress Campaign, Daily Kos
Monday, December 31, 2007

"...I think it's important to point out that while there may not currently be 218 votes in support of actual impeachment, it's premature to think that support would not be there AFTER hearings...

"The whole purpose of hearings is to investigate and verify credible allegations of wrongdoing. Let us remember that it wasn't until after hearings began that the Watergate tapes emerged. Who knows what will be uncovered when we explore the evidence already on the table? Who knows what support will emerge when the truth comes out?...

"This administration has obstructed our agenda since we took the majority. There is little reason to think that if we avoid hearings, we will suddenly find ourselves in an easier position. In fact, there is good cause to believe the opposite - that if we avoid hearings, we will STILL be obstructed. Such an outcome would be tragic...

"I don't know what genius political consultant has advised the Democratic leadership that it's a bad idea to spend hours of prime time on the floor of Congress reminding the country that Mr. Eleven-Percent-Approval-Rating is a bad guy of whom they disprove and whom they would like to see held accountable. It's supposed to be Politics 101 that you associate yourself with good things and that you are seen to frequently and rabidly denounce bad things." - Air America Radio's Rachel Maddow on Countdown, November 6, 2007

Keith Olbermann's Special Comment, November 5, 2007: "Water-boarding, he said, is torture. Legally, it is torture. Practically, it is torture. Ethically, it is torture. And he wrote it down. Wrote it down somewhere where it could be contrasted with the words of this country's 43rd President: 'The United States of America does not torture.' Made you into a liar, Mr. Bush. Made you into, if anybody had the guts to pursue it, a criminal, Mr. Bush..."

Kucinich says he will force House vote on Cheney impeachment
Nick Juliano, The Raw Story
Friday, November 2, 2007

"Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) announced he would move to force a vote next week on his resolution calling for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney.

"'The momentum is building for impeachment,' Kucinich said in a statement on his Web site. 'Millions of citizens across the nation are demanding Congress rein in the Vice President's abuse of power.'

"Kucinich said he plans to introduce a privileged resolution, which would have priority for a House floor vote, on Nov. 6. A vote on the measure would be required within two days...

"'We need you to ask your representative to vote No on tabling, Yes on giving impeachment a chance,' wrote David Swanson on the pro-impeachment Website AfterDowningStreet.org. 'Those who vote Yes to table cannot use the excuse that "We don't have the votes," since others will at that same instant with exactly the same exertion be voting No. Please...contact Congress and the media right away!'..."

2 Key Dems Back Bush Atty. Gen. Pick
Devlin Barrett and Lara Jakes Jordan, Associated Press
Friday, November 2, 2007

"(Democratic) Sens. Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein say they will vote for Attorney General-nominee Michael Mukasey, which likely gives him enough support to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"Their decision came shortly after the chairman of the committee, Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., announced he would vote against Mukasey, a former federal judge...

"Including Leahy, five of the Judiciary Committee's 10 Democrats had said they would vote against Mukasey's confirmation after the nominee earlier this week refused to say that waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, is torture and therefore illegal.

"But with nine Republicans on the panel, Schumer's and Feinstein's support for Mukasey virtually guarantees that a majority of the committee will recommend his confirmation when it votes on it next Tuesday."