Reasonable legislation was drafted and passed thatwould have dealt with any kind of intentional fraud, but Gov. Jim Doyle vetoedthe word “intentional” out of the legislation. Thanks to Doyle’s selectiveveto, the state can now suspend payments to any day care provider if it“reasonably suspects” that a person has violated the program’s rules. The statedoesn’t need to prove its accusations or even find that the provider had“intentionally” committed fraud. The state just needs to suspect it. And the day care providers aren’t given a chance todefend themselves until months after their payments have been suspended.
If there were any accusations of children beingabused, which there were not, then perhaps that would have provided a rationalefor immediately suspending centers and asking questions later.
Rational andfair-minded people must get past the hype and the headlines, take a closer lookat what’s happening to these small businessesmany of them run byAfrican-American women in the central cityand ask themselves how they wouldfeel if their revenue was cut off by the state because unelected statebureaucrats decided that they “suspect” some kind of fraud was being committed.Do we really want to live in a society like that? For example, the Departmentof Justice raided at least one day care provider who had spoken to the presswhile she was in the process of appealing her case. This is not the way theAmerican system works. It appears to be harassment and intimidation, pure andsimple, a warning to other providers that they shouldn’t defend themselves.
Mr. Doyle, this is still America and people are innocentuntil proven guilty. Why is “due process,” one of the foundations of theAmerican criminal justice system, ignored when it comes to small-scale day carecenters?
Again, the Shepherdcertainly condemns those who intentionally defraud the state. But we alsocondemn this Soviet-like witch hunt that doesn’t belong in the America that welearned about in our high-school civic classes.
Hero of theWeek
Sean Keane
Milwaukeelost a true hero last week with the unexpected death of Sean Keane. In additionto being a highly respected orthopedic surgeon, Keane worked on a number ofpolitical and social justice issues in Milwaukeeand throughout the world. Among his many projects, Keane created a working partnershipwith doctors in Nicaraguamore than 20 years ago. Each year he would organize teams of doctors fromvarious medical fields from Wisconsin andacross the United States tovisit Nicaraguafor a week or two, at their own expense, to participate in medical rounds,perform surgeries and teach young medical students. Keane also madearrangements to bring many of Nicaragua’sorthopedic surgeons to Milwaukeefor additional training and would send them back with literally tons of donatedmedical equipment. It is inspiring to see one person have such a large,positive impactnot only on his community, but on so many people throughout theworld.
Sean Keane will be greatly missed.
Jerk of theWeek
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker
Scott Walker’s double-talk would be comical if itweren’t so predictable. Looks like the Republican gubernatorial candidate andoccasional Milwaukee County executive has so bungled his budget vetoes that hehas mandated four floating furlough days in 2010 for deputy sheriffs at thesame time he is campaigning on not furloughing those same deputiesand bashingpossible opponent Tom Barrett for assigning two furlough days to policeofficers. Walker claims that he had intended toexempt the deputies from the floater days, but County Board Chair Lee Hollowaysays Walker’sveto message makes it “clear” that he had intended to furlough the deputies.“It also makes me and many of my colleagues wonder which other budget vetoes oramendments you may not have completely understood,” Holloway scolded in a sternletter to Walker.“If it’s not that, then you are intentionally trying to have it both ways.”
Event of theWeek
BenefitConcert for Youthaiti
With the holidays upon us, a time when people feelthe desire to give to those less fortunate, there is a Milwaukeeorganization working with the truly needy: people in the poorest country in theWestern Hemisphere, Haiti.The organization, Youthaiti, works to develop Haitian youths and help thecountry build a sustainable future. On Saturday, Dec. 5, at 8 p.m. a benefitconcert takes place at the 19th Street Coffee House (19th Street just south ofWisconsin Avenue), featuring the wonderful music of Harvey Taylor, HollyHaebig, Jahmes Finlayson and KT Rusch.
All contributions are gratefully accepted and taxdeductible. You can also donate online at www.youthaiti.org.
