Well. In the case of Florida's drug testing the poors, the company that did the drug testing "COINCIDENTLY" was a company where his wife owned owned the controlling shares.
So I imagine a similar kicky-backy situation whenever any other state does it.
Well. In the case of Florida's drug testing the poors, the company that did the drug testing "COINCIDENTLY" was a company where his wife owned owned the controlling shares.
So I imagine a similar kicky-backy situation whenever any other state does it.
It's a twofer - you get to shame the underclass, and at the same time bilk the state.
In their world, that's called a "win-win situation".
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is considering whether to overturn a nearly 20-year-old ruling that protected powers of the state superintendent of schools from being taken away by the Legislature or governor.
The court heard arguments Tuesday in a case challenging a 2011 law that gives the governor the power to approve and block administrative rules being enacted by the state superintendent.
Lower courts have struck down the law as it applied to state Superintendent Tony Evers and the department he oversees.
Attorneys for Evers, parents and education groups challenging the law are urging the court not to overturn the 1996 ruling that stopped then-Gov. Tommy Thompson from placing the education department under his control.
Assistant Attorney General David Meany says the Legislature can change who has rule-making authority.
Yes, yes it will
Edit: Little background info: The state superintendent is an elected (in the spring election ), nonpartisan official who is part of the executive branch. The ruling in 1996 was about the governor creating a department of education and appointing a director of that department that would take over duties from the Superintendent.
Veevee on
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I ZimbraWorst song, played on ugliest guitarRegistered Userregular
Police also said O’Kroley told them he bought the handgun he used in the shooting from a gun shop right after he was fired and would have shot Nosal that day except he realized he had never fired a gun and wanted to practice with it. That led some people to tell the Nosals that O’Kroley was so mad that he would have waited for as long as it was required — even longer than 48 hours — to shoot their daughter.
“I would like to take the hands of anybody who says guns didn’t kill her and tell them to look into my eyes and then tell me that they were 100 percent sure that if there was a waiting period that Caroline still would have been killed,” said Jane Brady Nosal, a 57-year-old nurse. “There was a chance he could have been stopped. Somebody could have learned about his plot and done something to stop it. Anything could have happened.”
Good job, Walker and fellow Wisconsin GOP members.
well, clearly the waiting period needs to be even shorter. Caroline Nosal may have survived if the waiting period was less than zero hours, perhaps -24h.
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I am fucking worried about you, Wisconsin. I thought we were Gov. Scott bros, and we could commiserate about whose Scott was more of a corrupt dick nozzle, and laugh and feel better.
But seriously. You win.
Now, please, just grab your phone charger and get the hell out of there.
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Still applicable. Increasingly concerned it will never not be.
well, clearly the waiting period needs to be even shorter. Caroline Nosal may have survived if the waiting period was less than zero hours, perhaps -24h.
That would allow the victim to go back in time and buy a gun so she could stop the madman by murdering him before he did anything.
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I ZimbraWorst song, played on ugliest guitarRegistered Userregular
At least the state senate had the good sense to scrap the bill allowing for privatization of drinking water systems. Apparently even they aren't dumbfucks enough to pass that while the Flint crisis is going on.
They did, however, pass bills cutting back lakefront protections, reducing tenants' rights, and overriding Dane county zoning decisions, so it's still a banner week for fuckery.
Because why make an angry, impulsive person wait to get a gun? All that does is give them a window to let their head cool off and think about the consequences of their actions instead of being able to act irrationally immediately.
Because why make an angry, impulsive person wait to get a gun? All that does is give them a window to let their head cool off and think about the consequences of their actions instead of being able to act irrationally immediately.
You'd be surprised at how many actions are a result of impulse.
If I recall correctly, when England changed the type of gas it supplied to houses for ovens to one less immediately dangerous to humans, suicide rates plummeted as a result.
At least the state senate had the good sense to scrap the bill allowing for privatization of drinking water systems. Apparently even they aren't dumbfucks enough to pass that while the Flint crisis is going on.
They did, however, pass bills cutting back lakefront protections, reducing tenants' rights, and overriding Dane county zoning decisions, so it's still a banner week for fuckery.
A glass of water in Superior, a city that stands on the shore of the largest freshwater supply in the world, costs more than almost anywhere else in the state.
One reason for the high cost is that the city’s drinking water system is owned by a private corporation, the only one of Wisconsin’s roughly 80 major municipal drinking water systems that isn’t publicly owned.
In setting water rates for Superior, the state Public Service Commission (PSC) awarded the water system owner, Allete Inc. of Duluth, Minnesota, a return on investment of more than 9 percent, the highest in Wisconsin.
The author of a bill to make it easier for out-of-state corporations to buy Wisconsin drinking water systems — and harder for citizens to block them — says there is no need to worry that a private owner would jack up water bills, because the PSC sets prices.
But the PSC factored in the profit expectations of the company’s shareholders and higher debt costs of private utilities in setting Allete’s base water rate higher than any other large water system.
“It is typical for private water utilities to have higher rates and lower access than municipal systems,” said Jenny Kehl, director of the UW-Madison Center for Water Policy.
The base charge for water in Superior — $51 per quarter — is more than double the average $21 for major water utilities in the state, according to data from the PSC website.
When base charges and the amount charged per gallon are taken into account, the average quarterly bill for a Superior customer using 5,000 gallons monthly is $152 a month, compared with the state average of $73, according to a study conducted last year by the Madison Water Utility.
“It is difficult to compare our rates only to municipal-owned systems,” said Paul Holt, manager and treasurer for Superior Water, Light and Power, which has been owned by Allete since 1923.
Holt said rates were structured to ensure that the company could compete for investors. The company has purchased a new storage tower and reservoir in the last 10 years, but those improvements aren’t necessarily more extensive than those done by other water systems, Holt said.
Lawrie Kobza, a Madison attorney who represents publicly owned utilities, said the PSC sets rates for municipal water utilities high enough to cover operating costs, but they can’t make a profit.
However, rates are set to also cover a “rate of return,” which is the amount needed to repay money borrowed to buy equipment such as pumps, pipelines and facilities for storage and treatment of water, Kobza said.
For Allete, the cost of borrowing money is higher because as a private corporation it can’t command the lower interest rates the municipal utilities get through laws that allow them to sell tax-free bonds.
In addition, the PSC adds income aimed at making Allete stock more desirable to shareholders, Kobza said.
Allete owns the Superior utilities and several others in Minnesota, said company spokeswoman Kelley Eldien.
One publicly owned water system in Wisconsin had a higher overall bill than Superior. The village of Howard, just outside Green Bay, had an average quarterly bill of $153.45.
Howard public works director Geoff Fahr said a purchase agreement with the Central Brown County Water Utility was the major cost factor underlying its water rate. The village was forced to purchase its water after radium above federal standards was found in village wells.
The lead author of the proposal legislation, Rep. Tyler August, R-Lake Geneva, didn’t respond to requests for comment Monday.
The Assembly passed AB 554 on Jan. 12. A Senate committee approved the Senate version, SB 432, on a 3-2 party-line vote Jan. 28.
August said last month that he introduced the legislation at the request of Aqua America Inc., a Pennsylvania-based company that owns water and sewer utilities in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Texas, Illinois, North Carolina, New Jersey, Indiana and Virginia.
August’s proposal would change the procedure for approving a purchase.
Under existing law, the PSC sets the terms of sale, which must be approved by a public referendum in order to be completed. Under the proposal, a referendum is optional. Voters would need to gather signatures to force a vote, and the election would take place before the PSC set the terms.
My water comes from a privatized company and my monthly water bill is like, $15 to 20 bucks.
Your bill would most likely be even less if it were run by a halfway decent public utility. Everything being equal, the need to create profits alone means that a private utility has to charge more. Of course not everything is equal, but I personally would rather have a service who's sole mission is to provide me with clean drinking water rather than service who's sole mission is to create a profit by providing me with clean drinking water as cheaply as possible.
well, clearly the waiting period needs to be even shorter. Caroline Nosal may have survived if the waiting period was less than zero hours, perhaps -24h.
That would allow the victim to go back in time and buy a gun so she could stop the madman by murdering him before he did anything.
My water comes from a privatized company and my monthly water bill is like, $15 to 20 bucks.
Your bill would most likely be even less if it were run by a halfway decent public utility. Everything being equal, the need to create profits alone means that a private utility has to charge more. Of course not everything is equal, but I personally would rather have a service who's sole mission is to provide me with clean drinking water rather than service who's sole mission is to create a profit by providing me with clean drinking water as cheaply as possible.
I think my city is the exception, since its actually hilariously corrupt. The electric company is owned by the city and was found to be overcharging for its services to the city to the tune of millions, but a judge said that it couldn't be taken to court for it because since it was owned by the city, it would be like the city taking itself to court.
So the electric company just gets to keep bilking the people of Chattanooga out of their tax dollars when its now totally out in the open that they've been routinely overcharging for years.
My water comes from a privatized company and my monthly water bill is like, $15 to 20 bucks.
Your bill would most likely be even less if it were run by a halfway decent public utility. Everything being equal, the need to create profits alone means that a private utility has to charge more. Of course not everything is equal, but I personally would rather have a service who's sole mission is to provide me with clean drinking water rather than service who's sole mission is to create a profit by providing me with clean drinking water as cheaply as possible.
I think my city is the exception, since its actually hilariously corrupt. The electric company is owned by the city and was found to be overcharging for its services to the city to the tune of millions, but a judge said that it couldn't be taken to court for it because since it was owned by the city, it would be like the city taking itself to court.
So the electric company just gets to keep bilking the people of Chattanooga out of their tax dollars when its now totally out in the open that they've been routinely overcharging for years.
Doesn't EPB run the city's fiber network too? I'd trade a few extra bucks on my power bill for a cheap gigabit connection :P
But the fact remains that the EPB is overcharging the city for its power by an ungodly amount and the courts just shrug their shoulders at it and say "but whaddayagonna do?"
My water comes from a privatized company and my monthly water bill is like, $15 to 20 bucks.
Your bill would most likely be even less if it were run by a halfway decent public utility. Everything being equal, the need to create profits alone means that a private utility has to charge more. Of course not everything is equal, but I personally would rather have a service who's sole mission is to provide me with clean drinking water rather than service who's sole mission is to create a profit by providing me with clean drinking water as cheaply as possible.
I think my city is the exception, since its actually hilariously corrupt. The electric company is owned by the city and was found to be overcharging for its services to the city to the tune of millions, but a judge said that it couldn't be taken to court for it because since it was owned by the city, it would be like the city taking itself to court.
So the electric company just gets to keep bilking the people of Chattanooga out of their tax dollars when its now totally out in the open that they've been routinely overcharging for years.
Luckily we can totally have the state or federal government sue the city on behalf of the citizens!
Can't the city just replace the people running the power company they own? Or, you know, tell them to stop being geese? And if they won't, then vote in someone who will.
Yeah yeah, i know, easier said than done. Doesn't mean you stop trying, though.
Can't the city just replace the people running the power company they own? Or, you know, tell them to stop being geese? And if they won't, then vote in someone who will.
Yeah yeah, i know, easier said than done. Doesn't mean you stop trying, though.
Or can't you just find a lawyer ready to take up a class action suit. Then instead to the city suing itself you have a bunch of citizens doing it.
I mean they'll just a recoup their losses by raising your taxes but...
None of that's going to happen because the only guy that seems to care is someone that the city screwed over in a deal to use his companies energy efficient lights in all of the cities streetlights or something, and then told him to fuck off because EPB didn't want those light used.
No one else really seems to care. The general public is pretty apathetic.
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I ZimbraWorst song, played on ugliest guitarRegistered Userregular
State Rep. Kathy Bernier, R-Lake Hallie, walked out of a Monday meeting with representatives of three local school districts, upset when an Eau Claire School Board member stated that Wisconsin’s economy compared unfavorably with Minnesota’s.
“Fundamentally, Minnesota is beating us,” said Wendy Sue Johnson, citing a Jan. 20 article written by state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma), who also attended the meeting.
“Our (school) funding formula is broken,” Johnson added.
Bernier then got up to leave the “Breakfast with Our Legislators” session involving the Chippewa Falls, Altoona and Eau Claire School Districts at the Avalon Hotel and Conference Center in Chippewa Falls.
I believe that the Wisconsin state government already has the authority to dissolve any and all municipalities within the state. Municipalities are granted political rights by the state, and the state is able to remove those rights at any time. Michigan's EM powers are effectively this, just with a coat of paint to cover the stains this type of power play would normally leave on a political career.
I'd like to think Wisconsinites are smart enough to not stand an EM Bill if it's presented, but, huh... well... recent history shows I should start sharing whatever I've apparently been smoking.
Ugh... I'm not beaten down yet, but I don't think my spirit can take another GOP Governor and Legislature dualing to be the worst. Not for a while, at least.
Generally all local power is devolved from the State governments and they are free to do what the like with them provided they don't violate one of the Amendments.
In her letter, Bradley said her uncle had fought at Iwo Jima, the bloody World War II battle that was immortalized in a photo of the U.S. flag being raised on the tiny Pacific island. Tuesday marked the 71st anniversary of the 1945 flag raising. Bradley's uncle, Leo Olson of Reedsburg, tried to use his veterans ID card to vote in last week's primary for a seat on the state Supreme Court, but that form of identification can't be used under the state's voter ID law. Olson does not have a driver's license. That could soon change because of legislation the state Senate is to take up next month. Even if approved, it may not be in place for the April 5 election, when voters will decide the state Supreme Court race and cast ballots in the presidential primaries. "He considers voting part of his patriotic duty," Bradley wrote to Walker. "Yet, last week this proud patriot of 90 years of age was embarrassed and confused when he went to the polls and was denied his right to vote. Then he presented his veterans administration card with his picture on it, he was told that the card was not listed as 'acceptable' proof of his identity. He responded: 'You mean veterans can't vote?'"
For further clarification, that vet was State Supreme Court Justice Bradley's uncle. She has asked the governor to amend the law to include military IDs, and as far as I know Walker hasn't responded yet. Justice Bradley is also a part of the liberal wing of the court and was part of the dissent against the ID Law when it came before the court, so we don't even get that bit of schadenfreude either.
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daveNYCWhy universe hate Waspinator?Registered Userregular
Hormel attorney Thomas Krukowski had argued that the Minnesota-based company didn’t have to pay workers for the time they spent getting dressed and undressed. He maintained that wearing the gear wasn’t crucial to workers’ activities since they could accomplish their tasks without wearing it.
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So I imagine a similar kicky-backy situation whenever any other state does it.
It's a twofer - you get to shame the underclass, and at the same time bilk the state.
In their world, that's called a "win-win situation".
so scott walker wants people to pay for his failed candidacy
Every candidate does this. I think Hillary was still raising money in 2011 to pay off 2008 campaign debts.
Edit: make that 2013: http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2013/01/23/hillary-clinton-campaign-debt-free/1857991/
Yes, yes it will
Edit: Little background info: The state superintendent is an elected (in the spring election
If only the Government had to show Accountability to some kind of Board this would get investigated, but clearly such an idea is crazy.
14 days ago, Christopher O’Kroley murdered Caroline Nosal, a female co-worker that he blamed for being fired the day before.
Good job, Walker and fellow Wisconsin GOP members.
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I am fucking worried about you, Wisconsin. I thought we were Gov. Scott bros, and we could commiserate about whose Scott was more of a corrupt dick nozzle, and laugh and feel better.
But seriously. You win.
Now, please, just grab your phone charger and get the hell out of there.
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Still applicable. Increasingly concerned it will never not be.
This applies in several states as of late
That would allow the victim to go back in time and buy a gun so she could stop the madman by murdering him before he did anything.
They did, however, pass bills cutting back lakefront protections, reducing tenants' rights, and overriding Dane county zoning decisions, so it's still a banner week for fuckery.
You'd be surprised at how many actions are a result of impulse.
If I recall correctly, when England changed the type of gas it supplied to houses for ovens to one less immediately dangerous to humans, suicide rates plummeted as a result.
You see this report about Superior's privatized water system?
Your bill would most likely be even less if it were run by a halfway decent public utility. Everything being equal, the need to create profits alone means that a private utility has to charge more. Of course not everything is equal, but I personally would rather have a service who's sole mission is to provide me with clean drinking water rather than service who's sole mission is to create a profit by providing me with clean drinking water as cheaply as possible.
I think my city is the exception, since its actually hilariously corrupt. The electric company is owned by the city and was found to be overcharging for its services to the city to the tune of millions, but a judge said that it couldn't be taken to court for it because since it was owned by the city, it would be like the city taking itself to court.
So the electric company just gets to keep bilking the people of Chattanooga out of their tax dollars when its now totally out in the open that they've been routinely overcharging for years.
Doesn't EPB run the city's fiber network too? I'd trade a few extra bucks on my power bill for a cheap gigabit connection :P
But the fact remains that the EPB is overcharging the city for its power by an ungodly amount and the courts just shrug their shoulders at it and say "but whaddayagonna do?"
Luckily we can totally have the state or federal government sue the city on behalf of the citizens!
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
Yeah yeah, i know, easier said than done. Doesn't mean you stop trying, though.
Or can't you just find a lawyer ready to take up a class action suit. Then instead to the city suing itself you have a bunch of citizens doing it.
I mean they'll just a recoup their losses by raising your taxes but...
No one else really seems to care. The general public is pretty apathetic.
At least they aren't poisoning our citizens. Yet.
I'd like to think Wisconsinites are smart enough to not stand an EM Bill if it's presented, but, huh... well... recent history shows I should start sharing whatever I've apparently been smoking.
Ugh... I'm not beaten down yet, but I don't think my spirit can take another GOP Governor and Legislature dualing to be the worst. Not for a while, at least.
Yet more proof why voter ID laws are gooseshit.
Is he being term limited out? Because even with a 38% approval rating, booting him in an off-year election might not be the easiest thing.
edit: Wisconsin has no term limit for its governor.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
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Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.