The JournalSentinel’s reporting led MPS Board President Michael Bonds to fire off aletter to the paper for its distorted MPS coverage, writing, “As Milwaukee’sonly daily newspaper, your one-sided view and failure to hold yourselfaccountable for failed policies you have promoted as reformsuch as vouchers,the Neighborhood Schools Initiative, and small schoolsdo a grave disservice tothe citizens of this great city.”
So, according to Bonds, what did the JS miss? First, that the current boardinherited the $2 billion unfunded liability. And that in 2007 the boardcommissioned the Segal Report to get a handle on this issue; the consultantsfound that contracts dating back to the 1980s cannot be altered. And that thecurrent board has already implemented health programs that have saved millionsof dollars. And that the board has prepaid pension obligations. And thatskyrocketing health care costs in southeastern Wisconsin, which are among the highest inthe state, cripple other units of government and small and large businesses inthe area. And that the situation is so dire that four local school districts,including Whitefish Bay Schools, attempted to pay for their benefits packagesby investing in high-risk stock market investments. Those went bust when WallStreet collapsed.
Bonds concluded in his letter, which the JS hasn’t printed: “Put the facts on thetable, and then the voters and their elected representatives can make aninformed decision about whether the current school board is helping MPSstudents learn and is being responsible with the taxpayers’ dollars or whethermoving to one-person rule is better.”
Hero of theWeek
MillerCoorsBrewing Co.
New Year’s Eve revelers who imbibe one too manydrinks need not jeopardize their own safety or that of other citizens, thanksto the MillerCoors Brewing Co., which once again will offer free rides on theMilwaukee County Transit System and Waukesha Metro Transit beginning at 8 p.m.on Dec. 31. The program, which has provided nearly 2 million free rides in its22-year history, is also offered on St. Patrick’s Day, another holiday that seesan unfortunate rise in impaired motorists. For its efforts to keep our roadwaysclear of drunken drivers, the ShepherdExpress salutes MillerCoors as our Hero of the Week. For complete information on routes and times,see www.millercoorsfreerides.com.
Jerk of theWeek
Rep. F. JimSensenbrenner
It is one thing to vote against health care reformwhile owning health-care-industry stocks that benefit from your negative vote,but it is another thing to profit from your votes to go to war. An analysis bythe nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics found that Wisconsin’s F. Jim Sensenbrenner was amongthe lawmakers who profited the most from corporations that had major defensecontracts. Sensenbrenner has madeliterally millions of dollars from defense contractor stocks in the years sincehe voted for the war in Iraq.
It’s bad enough to vote for former President Bush’s“War of Choice” in Iraq, but it’s far worse to make money from investments inHalliburton, Chevron, BP, GE and United Technologiescompanies that earn a tidysum by contracting with the Department of Defense. If Sensenbrenner wanted todo the right thing, he’d divest himself of these stocks and tell his financialadvisers not to purchase securities with companies that make a significantportion of their profits from government contracts, especially from warcontracts. Shameful.