In the wake of much ninny-picking about public expenses, former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin responds to the populist calls to keep civil servants in town, explaining the many benefits of conferences](http://www.waxingamerica.com/2008/11/travel-by-public-officials-yes-it-pays-for-itself.html?cid=140749390#comments), especially with regards to getting federal dollars for local governments. Too true — especially in light of Obama’s giant infrastructure ambitions — it’s up to local pols to do whatever it takes to get money for worthy local development projects. This could mean hiring lobbyists to grease the wheels, or simply rely on ol’ Herb Kohl and Dave Obey to do the trick. Our resident water resource engineer, Zach Schuster, probably has a couple words to say about this.

The University of Wisconsin System is proposing rules to allow more students to get degrees in three years. The aim is to save money for the state, which is facing a projected $5.4 billion deficit. The State Journal article doesn’t specify what the new “accelerated program” would entail, or how it would differ from the normal four year program. Students are of course allowed to take on as many as 20 credits during a semester already, so it’s unclear how this program would differ from the track that many ambitious students already take (I’m not one of them). The article also presents other measures the system is taking to save money, such as restricting faculty travel more.

Great profile in the Capital Times of the lawyer Michael Gableman hired to represent him before the State Judicial Commission, which has charged the justice with violating the Wisconsin Judicial Code of Conduct. James Bopp Jr. is apparently the GOP’s go-to man on social issues. He represented the Wisconsin Right to Life Committee in its landmark lawsuit against campaign finance restrictions, as well as served as Mitt Romney’s adviser on “family and life issues.” Bopp will likely argue Gableman’s defense based on free speech concerns.

Well, at least until they expire in 2011. Apparently the pledge to repeal the tax cuts for the richest Americans is being re-considered in light of Obama’s ambitious economic stimulus plan. William Daley, an Obama economics adviser, has discussed the plan as “more likely than not.” Disappointing. If Obama wants to postpone rescinding the Bush tax cuts, then perhaps a year delay would be understandable. However, giving the rich such a good deal will only hinder the government’s mandate to pursue an ambitious plan on health care, as well as severely restrain its less popular but equally important tasks to address infrastructure and education.

A Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article reports one in ten jobs at four key state agencies are now vacant, reflecting the state’s aim to reduce hiring in the wake of the budget deficit. Gov. Jim Doyle is hoping to extend that figure to all state agencies in less than a year, which would mean the state would have roughly 3,500 vacant posts by next summer. The state estimates that each vacant job saves the state $75,000 in salary and benefits. With my trusty desktop calculator, I found that 3,500 free jobs would translate into $262 million of savings for Uncle…Sconnie? A significant amount of cash — but less than a 20th of the projected budget deficit of nearly $5.5 billion. Here’s another number that if significantly reduced, could actually effect serious social progress in the state: $1.2 billion corrections budget. Yes, we imprison three times as many in Wisconsin as the Minnesotans do, despite having near-identical populations and crime rates.

Justice Michael Gableman has hired a First Amendment lawyer to defend him against the State Judicial Commission, which recently filed a complaint against Gableman for making misleading attacks against his opponent during last spring’s Supreme Court race against former Justice Louis Butler. In his response, Gableman references the ad which alleged Butler, a former public defender, as seeking “loopholes” to set criminals free. Of course, as most of you who’ve read the constitution understand, the role of a defense attorney is to aggressively defend his client, using the law (including its loopholes) to defend him. The offending ad featured Gableman arguing that Butler used “loopholes” to free a child molester, Reuben Mitchell, who then committed another rape. Here’s what happened in the case: Butler challenged his client’s conviction and the Court of Appeals agreed that unfair evidence had been admitted in the case against his client. The Wisconsin Supreme Court also agreed, however, ruled that the “loophole” was not great enough to overturn a conviction. Several years later, Mitchell was paroled. Later on, he committed another sexual assault. Gableman’s lawyer responds that although Butler’s appeal to the Supreme Court did not directly result in the molester being set free “Gableman lacks knowledge or information sufficient enough to form a belief as to the truthfulness of the allegation that no other action or conduct by Louis Butler resulted in the release from prison of Reuben Mitchell.” That pathetic plea of ignorance is so pathetically beside the point — every first year law student should be nauseous with this ploy to subvert justice.

I was disappointed to see that it was buried on the 16th page, however, any mention of Wisconsin in the Sunday New York Times is noteworthy. The feature story, titled “Some see big problem in Wisconsin drinking,” did not once mention Kathleen Falk’s attempts to change the drinking culture in Dane County, however, it did mention the resistance to sobriety checks in the state legislature. Might that perhaps be related to the tendency of Wisconsin state legislators to drive drunk themselves? The story is overall mediocre — perhaps for someone not acquainted with the Wisconsin drinking culture the article is worthy of some raised eyebrows, however, for those of us bombarded on the daily by local media’s discussion of inebriation, the Times brought nothing new to light. For now, it’s clear the best article on Wisconsin drunkenness this weekend came via Todd Jasperson’s discussion of our state’s laws allowing minors (as young as two and four years old) to drink with parents. But about those sobriety checks…what do you guys think? Constitutional, civil liberty infringement, or necessary?

Our governor could be looking at a position in the Obama administration. What role could Doyle possibly be looking for? Do governors ever settle for anything less than cabinet positions? Would the chief executive of the Badger State really be an under-secretary of something? And if he was, would the voters who re-elected him be disappointed? Apparently all administration potentials have to fill out a 60 question questionnaire, making clear any internet aliases and listing every speech he/she has ever given. Is there anything better than blogging on a Friday night?

As I'm sure you can tell, most Madison residents are fuming mad about the rise in bus rates, and understandably so. For those who use the bus daily, this will be an extra $360 a year for residents who already have a strained budget. Furthermore, I'm sure they don't appreciate the increase as a use for making up a deficit without looking at all options for cuts. But one thing still bothers me:�

"Several residents noted the increase could cause a decrease in ridership, causing negative effects on the environment by forcing more people to use cars and on the economy by forcing people to spend less money on other things."

Here's a case study: Let's take our photographer, Lukas.�For the time being, let's treat Lukas like he's not a student and doesn't have an ASM Bus Pass. Lukas takes a bus from East Towne Mall to the Badger Herald everyday. That's a distance of 6.5 miles. If Lukas isn't really thinking hard about his finances, he'll pay a bus fare to and from work. That's 3 bucks a day. Let us assume he also comes in every weekend day.�

So that's about 100 bucks a month.�

Now, let's assume he got a car for his birthday. Your average car in 2004 got about 24 MPG. If Lukas drives that everyday in and out of town, that's about a gallon every two days. If you follow our gas prices today, that comes out to about 32 bucks a month. If you are talking 4 bucks, like it was this summer, then it's about 60 bucks.�

Lukas would be wise to drive, right? Well, only if he 1) has a parking space downtown and 2) pays the standard fare everyday. If Lukas is renting a parking space downtown, he can expect to pay anywhere between 70-140 dollars a month. That pushes the cost of having a car for Lukas to anywhere from 100 -- 200 a month.

�If he's lucky, it's could be a cost neutral choice. But likely, it won't be. But with the extra 30 dollars a month, it's gotta be more expensive to take the bus! Only if he doesn't think about how often he takes the bus.

There are 31 day passes for the bus, which cost 47 dollars each. Let's assume the price increases pushes them up to 60. That's 60 bucks a month to ride the bus, nearly half of they would pay for daily fares. and about equal to what it would cost to drive into town with a parking space with 4 dollar gas.�

So let's review theoretical monthly costs:

What am I missing here?

And that's not even considering the base cost of a used car. Thank god Lukas got his as a gift. And thank god Lukas lives in a state that doesn't require insurance to drive.�

So, with all that in mind, why, oh why, would car use increase?

Many Madisonians are ruled by their conscience rather than their pocketbooks. And many ride the bus because it's environmentally sound. But of course, if they do it to be green, pocketbook issues shouldn't be the issue, right?�

So, unless a majority in Metro users are middle-class environmentalists with a car and little rationality, It doesn't make sense for increased bus fares to result in more congestion. Of course, maybe we have more of those people than I think. After all, it is Madison.

Al Franken, a mere 200 votes behind the official tally in the U.S. Senate race against incumbent Republican Norm Coleman, will likely be declared victor after the completion of a hand recount within the next couple of weeks. Nate Silver, a baseball statistician-turned-political pollster has done some analysis of the ballots most likely to be skipped by the machine count. Usually machines disqualify what are known as “under-votes,” in which the voter may make a clear mark to indicate support for the candidate but in a somewhat incorrect manner, such as circling the name instead of filling the line next to the name etc. Traditionally, undervotes come from low-income neighborhoods or precincts with large elderly populations.

Nicholas Kristof for the New York Times hits the nail on the head in his most recent column on education, or rather, America’s increasing lack of education. Bad schools, writes Kristof, are America’s problem. Our good schools are some of the best in the world, just like our health care — for those who have it — is the best in the world.

Everyone in Wisconsin (ok, disregarding the neo-cons) should be holding their breath and hoping Barack Obama selects John Kerry to be his secretary of state. Why? Because if that happens, Sen. Russ Feingold will be next in line to chair the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. With current chair Joe Biden moving to the executive branch, Kerry is next in line for the gavel based on seniority. However, it’s well known that Kerry has been itching to get into Obama’s cabinet. Feingold has the third most seniority on the committee, and Majority Leader Harry Reid was quoted as declaring Feingold “absolutely next in line.” What’s interesting is how the Democrats seem much more dedicated to the tradition of seniority in Congress. Republicans, perhaps because of the revolutionary spirit that launched them into power in 1994, have not assigned as much importance to seniority, often giving chairmanships to relatively junior members. Regardless, a Feingold chairmanship would be a great change, not only for Wisconsin but the nation. Having a principled opponent of military adventurism heading the committee will make it much harder for any president, Democratic or Republican, to push through irresponsible wars or other diplomacy-damaging measures through Congress.

Colleges all over the nation, both public and private, are already taking somewhat drastic measures to cut expenses with the economy in such poor condition. The New York Times ran a front page article on the issue today, detailing the financial issues college administrators face — from decreased aid from budget-conscious state governments to admissions offices offering less places to students eligible for need-based financial aid. No reference to UW, however, nasty budget fights over university funding are not new to the people of the Badger State, and long precede current economic downturn.

This article in the Appleton Post-Crescent explains the utterly overwhelming nature of the Obama win in Wisconsin the other night, as traditionally Republican strongholds voted comfortably Democratic, including Outgamie, Door and Brown counties. While there is some discussion of these areas becoming long-term Democratic strong holds, a more realistic analysis would deem these areas blue as long as the GOP is associated with Bush. Wisconsin is perhaps the most quintessentially moderate state in the country. Strong Democratic candidates win and strong Republican candidates can win with similar margins, as displayed by the Reagan elections. Nevertheless, until the Republican Party remakes itself in the moderate image of Wisconsin, it is safe to classify the Badger State as reliably blue in state and national elections for the next several years.

The Democrats won control of the state assembly for the first time since 1994, ending 14 years of GOP control and giving the Democrats complete control of the legislature, as well as the governor’s mansion. Projections reported in the Herald today put the Democratic lead at 52-46 in the assembly, and 19-14 in the state senate. As the article describes, Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater), the demagogue who is currently chair of the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities, attributes the losses to Republicans voting in favor of Gov. Doyle’s budget. Sorry Steve, that’s just not the case. The state elections, for better or worse, were defined by the national issues, and Republican losses are much more likely a direct result of Obama’s landslide victory in Wisconsin, especially in traditionally Republican areas of the state. Voters were not punishing Republicans for not being conservative enough. Just like they didn’t on the national stage, where Democrats gained at least 18 seats in the House and at least 5 seats in the Senate.

Obama has won the presidency. Ohio has been called and he can lose every other single swing state and he will still win. So…now attention turns to Congressional races, which NBC has projected the Democrats holding a 260-170 majority in the House, with Senate races still coming in. Conservative estimates put the Democrats at 57 seats in the Senate, with hopes of 59-60. As for us in Wisconsin, I cannot yet predict what’s happening in the Democrats attempts to gain control of the state Assembly, which currently is in GOP control. The conventional wisdom is that Obama’s win in Wisconsin will carry some coattails in state election races. However, I can’t find a consistent source of news on the state races. But keep in mind what this means. The state finds itself at a $3 billion budget deficit, and if the power structure stays the same, there will likely be some nasty budget battles between the Democrats and Republicans on where to slash the budget. The Democrats seem intent on health care, but maybe the federal government will step in under a Democratic president and big Democratic majorities in Congress.

The Critical Badger is liveblogging election day from what I assume is his Langdon St. residence. Some trouble brewing on campus over defaced signs and illegal poster postings. It appears both campaigns have illegally put up signs on bus stops, lamp posts, etc. No surprise there — most volunteers probably don’t know any better or frankly care. However, the really juicy news is the allegation of poster defacing by Students for McCain leadership. CB claims a source of his indicated that Mark Bednar was responsible and that he was accompanied by Students for McCain Chair Katie Nix. Sara Mikalajczak, chair of College Republicans, quickly distanced herself from the controversy and criticized McCain supporters who would jeopardize the future of the College Republicans on campus with irresponsible last minute tactics. No claims have been substantiated, however, any McCain supporter with political aspirations is obviously unworthy of leadership if he/she spends the last hours of the campaign tearing down a few posters in the most liberal city in Wisconsin.

Since 1936, the Washington Redskins have had a unique relationship with the presidential election. In every election since, a Redskins victory the week before has coincided with victory for the incumbent political party, while a loss has similarly spelled defeat. Right now the Redskins are losing 23-6. I’d say their chances of winning are about slim to none.

35 percent of voters who intend to support Barack Obama are taking the day off tomorrow, either to vote or volunteer, or very possibly to listen to Joe Scarborough and Chris Matthews dissect last minute polls and stump speeches. This is compared to less than six percent of McCain supporters who plan to take election day off. More specifics: 44 percent of black voters plan to take the day off, 23 percent of men and only 17 percent of women (likely because more men work than women), and 21 percent of those who have already voted are skipping work anyway. This can only be good news for the Obama campaign. All across the country, in precincts with lines stretching for hours, the Obama voters seem to armed with the most potent weapon on election day: time. This is the product of an inspiring candidate, who, if you’ll excuse my clich�s, can motivate voters to stand for hours on end, through rain, sleet and snow, to vote for someone they believe in. This is what Al Gore and John Kerry could not do.

Well, the last full day of campaigning is upon us, and soon we will see the culmination of all the punditry and predictions, the competing political philosophies and the millions upon millions of words. Although some recent polls have shown McCain picking up ground nationwide and in Pennsylvania in particular, where McCain is hoping he can pull an upset victory and offset Obama’s success in red states like Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado and Virginia. However, the most recent numbers out of PA show Obama with 5 to 8 point leads. To me the McCain campaign is harboring false hope in Pennsylvania. The massive registration of voters in urban Philadelphia will almost undoubtedly overwhelm any last minute shift to McCain by swing voters in rural and suburban areas. For McCain to win, he’ll have to swing over tons of Kerry voters from 2004 — which means that literally hundreds of thousands of Democrat-leaning voters will have to switch in perhaps the most anti-Republican election since Watergate. McCain would be better suited trying to appeal to Coloradans and Nevadans, and hoping that Virginia, Ohio and Florida fall in the right places. There may be votes to be swayed, but it’s not going to be enough in Pennsylvania. What’s truly amusing is that considerations of Wisconsin as a swing state are considered ancient history now. Obama is now likely looking at a double-digit victory in the Badger State, and I won’t hesitate to say early voting will definitely help achieve that goal. The Times has good articles on the candidates as they come into the final day. It looks like McCain may be accepting the loss and Obama is contemplating the challenges ahead. And of course, the GOP is facing a massive Democratic tide in Senate and House races, with candidates in solidly red states like Idaho and Mississippi facing unexpected competition in the wake of economic downturn.

Anybody who believes in even the loosest interpretations of the separation of church and state will be quite disillusioned by an ad being run in what has becoming a surprising swing state this year. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), wife of former presidential candidate Bob Dole, ran an ad against her opponent, Democrat Kay Hagen, alleging Hagen associated with an atheist group and that she herself doesn’t believe in God. Here’s the ad. The most hmm… 18th century aspect of the ad was the part in which the announcer says Kagen “took Godless money.” The irony is that places like North Carolina and Virginia were founded as the rather “Godless” alternatives to the Puritan bastions in New England. Imagine what an ad like this would be received in Massachusetts today. Kagen has responded with an ad of her own. Although she definitely is responding the right way politically, considering the strong suspicion of atheists across the South, it’s a sad reflection of American politics that she has to take lengths to assure people of her faith, instead of merely pointing out what a horrible, disgusting, evil, conniving politician Dole really is. I just hope that if Kagen wins she doesn’t have to applaud her opponent for running “an honorable campaign” at her victory rally.

Chuck Todd, MSNBC’s political analyst released a state by state analysis of the election, including the presidential race as well as what should be very exciting senate and house contests all over the country. Here was his conclusion on Wisconsin: > Wisconsin: Remember when Wisconsin was a battleground state? Wow, have things changed in this state in just four years. Republicans ought to focus on rebuilding the Wisconsin state party before many other states because once they crack the Wisconsin code, they’ll be able to succeed in other states. This coincided with Todd’s ongoing thesis that the GOP is gearing up to be a minority party in the forseeable future, losing its support from “secular conservatives” in the West as well as working class moderates in the Midwest. While I think McCain has a fighting chance of winning Ohio, Indiana and Nevada, it’s not hard to imagine a scenario in which McCain wins nothing beside the Bible Belt, the Great Plains and a few very conservative Mountain states (Utah, Wyoming, Idaho). I can’t see how a Republican can be a viable candidate and be running neck and neck in Montana.