No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

Archive for September 18th, 2007

Roll bloat – south of the border edition

by @ 17:35. Filed under The Blog.

Well, not that far south of the border; just on the other side of the Root River. Caledonia Unplugged focuses on what used to be Wisconsin’s largest town.

Walker spares those who use transit much of the increase of the costs of transit

by @ 10:46. Filed under Politics - Milwaukee County.

After weeks of speculation that there would be massive bus route and paratransit cuts along with substantial, yet modest, increases in fares, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker announced 4 broad points in the transit portion of his yet-to-be-finalized 2008 county budget proposal:

  • The base fare will increase $0.25, from $1.75 to $2.00 (14.3%), and there will likely be some shortening of bus routes.
  • In exchange, there will be no route eliminations, and the weekly bus pass and 10-ride ticket pack will not be increased from $16.
  • The Transit Plus vans for disabled riders will increase in cost from $3.25 to $4.00 (23.1%).
  • In exchange, countywide door-to-door service will continue, rather than the federally-mandated service within 3/4 mile of a regular bus route.

Predictably, the professional tantrum-throwers who purport to represent those who use public transit are throwing hissy fits:

“I’m glad he’s not making cuts, but I think it’s still an awfully big raise for a lot of people who can’t afford it,” said Arlene Conley, chairman of the county’s Transit Plus Advisory Council, which advocates for paratransit users. “That’s $1.50 round-trip.”

Matt Nelson, one of the organizers of the fledgling Milwaukee Transit Riders Union, was more outspoken.

“Any fare increases or cuts in service are unacceptable and will be fought by our membership,” now more than 400 strong, Nelson said. “A fare increase is a regressive tax and another example of Walker’s disregard for Milwaukee County residents.”

Hey Arlene and Matt. Try dealing with an over-50% increase in the cost of transportation, which is precisely what I am dealing with. I don’t get a subsidy on that, and I also don’t have a driver whose wages have a cost-of-living adjustment built in. May I offer you a tall, frosty glass of Quit Your Whining?

Editorial of the day

by @ 10:25. Filed under Sports.

Usually, I call them idiotorials. However, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board put one right between the numbers for 6 today:

It wasn’t quite the same old Brett Favre on Sunday. Many of his passes were considerably shorter than in years past. But the result was the same – a convincing Packers win on the road in East Rutherford, N.J.

And one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game set another record.

Favre now holds the career mark for victories by a starting quarterback. It was his 149th win, putting him ahead of Denver Broncos Hall of Famer John Elway. Favre downplayed the significance of the record after the game, noting, “I didn’t do nothing last week, and they gave me the win.”

Well, yes. But how many times has Favre carried the Pack on his shoulders?

Next up for the Packers is one of the league’s most talented teams, the San Diego Chargers, who come to Lambeau Field Sunday. Next up for Favre is the career record for touchdown passes. He’s three shy of tying Dan Marino’s record of 420.

But no matter what happens this Sunday, or the rest of the season for that matter, these are days to savor.

Favre is a one-of-a-kind sports hero, an appealing combination of boyish charm, athletic prowess and hard-nosed grit. It is a rare privilege when a player like that plays for your team. Rarer still, to be able to cheer for him for so long. Sling a few more, Brett.

Just as long as he gets the 3 TDs before the 2 INTs.

Road trip to DC; we’re taking this thing national

by @ 0:02. Filed under Politics - National.

If you haven’t picked up the invite yet, or haven’t stopped at Real Debate Wisconsin, I’m headed to Americans for Prosperity’s Defending the American Dream Summit on October 4th and 5th along with Fred, Leslie at State Sunshine and Open Records, Mark Block (who is running the Students for Prosperity session Friday afternoon), Leah Vukmir (who is in on the How to Impact Your Legislator), and a few others.

The impressive list of confirmed speakers includes Presidential candidates Sam Brownback, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson, John Fund from The Wall Street Journal, John Stossel from ABC, and Robert Cochran, producer of “24” (wonder if he’ll drop any hints on what Season 7 holds for us). In addition, the calls are out to Presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, Rush Limbaugh, Walter E. Williams, Newt Gingrich, and a few others.

There is still room at both the conference and the host hotel, , the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel (which is offering a deal for attendees at $199/night), though the Best Care in the Air is running out of room on the 7:45 am 10/4 flight to DC. Dunno if there’s still room in either the White House briefing Thursday or Blogger’s Row because I signed up after business hours today.

Since Sean and Kevin are out there, both Fred and I are hopeful that we’ll get the inaugural Drinking Right, DC Edition in.

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