Honest to goodness, how does editor Chris Spangler expect ordinary people to keep up with a subtle headline like that?
One needs to take a moment to puzzle this through: (1) someone is alleged to have stolen money from a bakery, (2) bakeries use dough, (3) dough also is slang for money, so (4) Spangler must mean that the bakery allegedly lost a lot of money.
Dizzying, isn’t it? Somehow, one does the best one can to keep up with wordplay like that.
Tuesday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of forty-eight. Sunrise is 7:10 AM and sunset 6:58 PM, for 11h 47m 27s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 30% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Public Works Committee meets at 6 PM.
On this day in 1933, Pres. Roosevelt gives his first Fireside Chat on the radio:
a series of 30 evening radio addresses given by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (known colloquially as “FDR”) between 1933 and 1944. Roosevelt spoke with familiarity to millions of Americans about the promulgation of the Emergency Banking Act in response to the banking crisis, the recession, New Deal initiatives, and the course of World War II.
The Trump administration released its 2020 budget request on Monday, proposing major cuts to federal government spending. While the cuts are unlikely to become reality — Congress has rejected many of Trump’s previous requests — the budget is an important signal of the administration’s priorities and suggests a major funding fight in October.
Proposed changes to funding in Trump’s budget
In the document, Trump calls for large budget increases to defense and border security alongside substantial cuts to government benefits. Trump’s budget proposal for the last fiscal year similarly proposed increased defense spending and cuts to other departments. Congress did not act on many of his recommendations. The budget is likely to face even more of an uphill battle with Democrats now in control of the House.
the 2017 tax cuts made several changes that significantly reduce the ability to offset the business cycle. First, the corporate income tax rate was reduced from 35 percent to 21 percent. Corporate income tends to soar in booms and plummet in recessions, so lower rates mean that revenues will not adjust as much to our highs and lows in the economy. The tax cuts also reduced rates for income from wages and pass through businesses. As a result, when income falls in a future recession, taxes will fall by less than they otherwise would have.
Next, the tax cuts limits the use of net operating losses. Under prior law, firms losing money owed no income tax for the current year, and they could obtain cash refunds for taxes paid in the previous two years. Firms used this provision more in recessions than in booms, and it served as an automatic stabilizer. To stimulate the economy after the financial crisis, Congress temporarily expanded the carryback period for net operating losses to five years. The 2017 tax cuts, however, repealed carrybacks of losses for most businesses. As a result, as income turns down in a future recession, firms with losses will no longer be able to claim refunds for previous tax payments and therefore will face tighter cash constraints.
Between work done on Interstate 94 in Racine County and the local roads and state highways in the Foxconn area, roughly $225 million has been spend [sic] as of the end of January.
And there still is roughly $155.2 million worth of work remaining on local roads and $167.1 million worth of work remaining on Interstate 94.
The city will host the 2020 Democratic National Convention, edging out two large and deep-pocketed rivals over a months-long campaign waged behind the scenes through phone calls, contract negotiations and quiet lobbying by some of the most powerful political figures in the country.
The announcement will be made in Milwaukee at a 3 p.m. press conference, according to DNC spokesman Brandon Gassaway.
Monday’s announcement comes after weeks of decision making by Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez.
Relying on Midwestern grit to overcome glitzier rivals, Milwaukee snagged the event over Houston and Miami.
The convention is scheduled for July 13-16, 2020, with Fiserv Forum serving as the centerpiece of the event.
Monday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of thirty-seven. Sunrise is 7:12 AM and sunset 6:56 PM, for 11h 44m 32s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 20.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1941, Pres. Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act:
The Lend-Lease policy, formally titled An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States, (Pub.L.77–11, H.R. 1776, 55 Stat.31, enacted March 11, 1941)[1] was an American program to defeat Germany, Japan and Italy by distributing food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and August 1945. The aid went to the United Kingdom, China, and later the Soviet Union, Free France, and other Allied nations. It included warships and warplanes, along with other weaponry.
President Trump likes to brag about the supposedly booming economy. So do other Republican politicians. Some journalists have gotten into the habit too, exaggerating the strength of the economic expansion, because it makes for a good story.
Here’s the truth: There is no boom. The economy has been mired in an extended funk since the financial crisis ended in 2010. G.D.P. growth still has not reached 3 percent in any year, and 3 percent isn’t a very high bar.
Last week, while attending an economics conference in Washington, I discovered one particularly clear sign of the economy’s struggles — namely, that it keeps performing worse than the experts have predicted. I put together this chart to show the trend:
Again and again, Federal Reserve officials have overestimated how quickly the economy would grow. They keep having to revise their forecasts downward, only to discover that they didn’t go far enough down. Economists on Wall Street and other parts of the private sector have made the same mistake.
The 444-page bill was the first priority of the House Democratic agenda, which includes efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs and craft an infrastructure package.
To make it easier to vote, the new bill proposes a range of reforms such as requiring that states institute automatic voter registration for eligible unregistered citizens and requiring at least 15 days of early voting across the country. It would also prohibit voter roll purges and ensure that people who have completed felony sentences can vote again.
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The Democratic proposal would also expand a conflict of interest law and divestment requirements for public officials. The bill would require presidential candidates and the president to disclose their tax returns, and it would prevent members of Congress from serving on corporate boards, among other things.
It’s Sunshine Week in America: a seven-day focus from the American Society of News Editors and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press on “access to public information and what it means for you and your community.”
One doesn’t have to be a reporter (and bloggers, for example, are not reporters) to understand the importance of open government. Government in a free society is nothing less – but nothing more – than a human institution established for limited purposes and depending on the consent of the governed.
It’s true, as the Associated Press writes, that Town by Town, Local Journalism Is Dying in Plain Sight. This is as true in the Whitewater area as it is in other places. The Register is inconsequential, the Milton Courier just gave up its building and will go the way of the Register, and the Daily Union shrinks by the day.
So the local press is dying, and however tragic this demise, much of it has been self-inflicted. Too many reporters and publishers have abandoned the serious inquiry of political authority for glad-handing coverage of local politicians (a few of whom carry on as though entitled by God’s will).
Local news these recent years has not been too hard on political authority; it has been too soft. The news is not ‘fake’ merely because politicians dislike it; on the contrary, it’s more likely to be fake when politicians like it very much.
Those of us who grew up on inquisitive, diligent newspaper reporting find present-day newspapers nearly unrecognizable in comparison.
In our local environment, the best record of meetings comes not from the few remaining lapdog reporters, but from full recordings of those meetings. SeeThe Disorder Nearby.
Along the way, on the basis of a prior authority to that of politicians and local notables, one makes one’s way as best one can.
Sunday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of thirty-seven. Sunrise is 7:14 AM and sunset 6:55 PM, for 11h 41m 37s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 14% of its visible disk illuminated.
The Red River Campaign took place in Louisiana and Texas. At a crucial moment in the campaign, Wisconsin Captain Joseph Bailey (1827-1867) of Wisconsin Dells freed 60 stranded transport ships and their accompanying ironclad gunboats as Confederate troops approached to capture them. The 8th, 14th, 23rd, 29th and 33rd Wisconsin Infantry regiments and the 1st Wisconsin Light Artillery participated in the Red River Campaign. The Red River expedition lasted until May 22.
In his marathon speech to a gathering of conservative activists last weekend, Donald Trump unloaded more than 16,000 words, according to the official White House transcript.
But amid all the meandering and asides, the belittling taunts (“Little Shifty Schiff” for Democratic Representative Adam Schiff) and geysers of grievance, Trump may have synthesized the essence of his reelection strategy in just three words toward the back end of his two-hour harangue: “I’ll protect you.”
With that concise phrase, Trump revealed volumes about his view of the electorate and the coalition that he hopes will carry him to a second term. The comment underscored his determination to convince his followers of a two-stage proposition: First, that they are “under siege,” as he put it, by an array of forces that he presented as either hostile to their interests or contemptuous of their values, and second, that only he can shield them from those threats.
That dark and martial message shows that Trump continues to prioritize energizing his core supporters—blue-collar, older, and nonurban whites uneasy about demographic, cultural, and economic change—even at the price of further alienating voters dismayed or disgusted by his behavior as president.
Given First Amendment protections, Fox News can do pretty much what it wants on the air. It can shrug at Hannity’s excesses. It can allow Tucker Carlson’s misleading rants on immigrants and crime. It can constantly undermine special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation of Trump.
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What Fox News has become is destructive. To state the obvious: Democracy, if it’s going to function, needs to be based on a shared set of facts, and the news media’s role is to seek out and deliver those facts.
And, of course, to double down on its mission, described aptly by my colleague Greg Sargent: “Fox News is fundamentally in the business of spreading disinformation, as opposed to conservative reportage.” And that disinformation “is plainly about deceiving millions into believing that core functionings of our government — whether law enforcement or congressional oversight — no longer have any legitimacy.”
The story of the legacy rock band, Queen, and its infamous lead singer, Freddy Mercury and his struggles, from immigrant origins and sexual orientation, to eventual legendary rock status. Nominated for 5 Oscars, the film won four awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Rami Malek), Best Achievement in Film Editing (John Ottman), Best Achievement in Sound Editing (John Warhurst & Nina Hartstone), and Best Achievement in Sound Mixing (Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin, and John Casali).
One can find more information about Bohemian Rhapsodyat the Internet Movie Database.
Saturday in Whitewater will rainy in the afternoon with a daytime high of thirty-eight. Sunrise is 6:15 AM and sunset 5:54 PM, for 11h 38m 49s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 8.1% of its visible disk illuminated.
There is a scheduled forum for common council candidates at 10 AM, and another for school board candidates at 1 PM, at Whitewater’s city hall.
The major significance of the battle is that it was the first meeting in combat of ironclad warships, i.e., USS Monitor and CSS Virginia. The Confederate fleet consisted of the ironclad ram Virginia (built from the remnants of the under-construction steam frigate USS Merrimack, newest warship for the United States Navy / Union Navy) and several supporting vessels. On the first day of battle, they were opposed by several conventional, wooden-hulled ships of the Union Navy. On that day, Virginia was able to destroy two ships of the federal flotilla, USS Congress and USS Cumberland, and was about to attack a third, USS Minnesota, which had run aground. However, the action was halted by darkness and falling tide
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During the night, however, the ironclad Monitor had arrived and had taken a position to defend Minnesota. When Virginia approached, Monitor intercepted her. The two ironclads fought for about three hours, with neither being able to inflict significant damage on the other. The duel ended indecisively, Virginia returning to her home at the Gosport Navy Yard for repairs and strengthening, and Monitor to her station defending Minnesota.
Longer investigations had roughly equal levels of moderate to very significant impact as shorter (33 percent and 32 percent respectively), but longer investigations produced a higher count of very significant impact than shorter (three to one).
Bipartisan investigations had twice the impact of partisan investigations (50 percent to 26 percent).
Broader investigations had more than three times the impact of narrower investigations (67 percent to 18 percent).
Thorough investigations had almost six times the impact of narrower investigations (62 percent to 11 percent).
Investigations with high freedom had 10 times the impact of investigations with less freedom (60 percent to six percent).
Highly visible investigations had twice the impact than of visible investigations (40 percent to 18 percent).
Investigations led by experienced chairs had almost twice the impact of investigations with less experienced chairs (50 percent to 28 percent).
Serious investigations had more than four times the impact of less serious investigations (53 percent to 12 percent).
High- and low-leverage investigations had roughly equal levels of impact (33 percent to 30 percent), but high-leverage produced a higher count of very significant investigations (seven to three).
Durable investigations had almost five times the impact of less durable investigations (70 to 15 percent).
Friday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of thirty-eight. Sunrise is 6:17 AM and sunset 5:53 PM, for 11h 35m 53s of daytime. The moon is a waxing crescent with 3.1% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1917, Russia’s February Revolution begins, leading to the abdication of Czar Nicholas II.
Politico reports that many House Democrats are expressing skittishness when it comes to looking into the allegedly illegal behavior of President Trump’s family members. The reason: They believe any targeting of Trump’s children or their families, no matter the reason, will increase voter sympathy for the president.
Au contraire. There is no better sign of how things have gone wrong for the country of 2019 than the prominence of Trump’s family members in our body politic and business life. Calling the Trump clan to account is a necessary step in making things right.
We can start with son Donald Trump Jr., who has already testified in sessions closed to the public and press about his role in the 2016 presidential campaign. If he could sign a check to repay then-presidential lawyer Michael Cohen for the money he allegedly advanced to get Stormy Daniels to stay quiet in the weeks before the 2016 election about her affair with his father, surely he’s up for the task of explaining to the American people exactly what he thought he was purchasing.
I’m ok with Manafort’s light sentencing only if he’s then extradited to Ukraine to be prosecuted for his role in Yanukovych’s murderous & corrupt regime. He served Putin’s will there and in the US.
From the beginning, it should have been clear to any reasonable person that the Foxconn project was ill-conceived, and destructive of nearby homeowners’ rights. Yet for all the bad news about that fraudulent project, there is still more bad news to relate.
Back in 2017, there was no ambiguity over what Foxconn Technology Group would build in Wisconsin. It was spelled out in a 29-page contract signed by then-Gov. Scott Walker and Foxconn’s top executives.
The world’s biggest manufacturer of made-in-China consumer electronics agreed to a sprawling “Generation 10.5” manufacturing campus — industry-speak for a monumental industrial facility capable of producing outsized flat-screen monitors used in the biggest TVs and liquid-crystal displays.
And now?
Veteran analysts of the flat-panel industry, which is based entirely in Asia, are openly skeptical that even the smaller cousin of that massive plant — what’s known as “Generation 6” — will be built in Wisconsin.
When reached for an update this past week, industry expert Bob O’Brien of Display Supply Chain Consultants spoke of the changing dynamics driving Foxconn’s shifting plans for Wisconsin. The market is glutted by flat screens. He said a new Foxconn LCD plant anywhere appears unlikely. Even Foxconn’s 10.5 plant being built in China has been put on hold until flat panel pricing improves.
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When reached for an update this past week, industry expert Bob O’Brien of Display Supply Chain Consultants spoke of the changing dynamics driving Foxconn’s shifting plans for Wisconsin. The market is glutted by flat screens. He said a new Foxconn LCD plant anywhere appears unlikely. Even Foxconn’s 10.5 plant being built in China has been put on hold until flat panel pricing improves.
Thursday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of twenty-six. Sunrise is 6:19 AM and sunset 5:52 PM, for 11h 32m 59s of daytime. The moon is new with 0.6% of its visible disk illuminated.
Whitewater’s Landmarks Commission is scheduled to meet at 6 PM.
Bell’s patent 174,465, was issued to Bell on March 7, 1876, by the U.S. Patent Office. Bell’s patent covered “the method of, and apparatus for, transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically … by causing electrical undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompanying the said vocal or other sound”[82][N 15] Bell returned to Boston the same day and the next day resumed work, drawing in his notebook a diagram similar to that in Gray’s patent caveat.
The federal budget deficit ballooned rapidly in the first four months of the fiscal year amid falling tax revenue and higher spending, the Treasury Department said Tuesday, posing a new challenge for the White House and Congress as they prepare for a number of budget battles.
The deficit grew 77 percent in the first four months of fiscal 2019 compared with the same period one year before, Treasury said.
The total deficit for the four-month period was $310 billion, Treasury said, up from $176 billion for the same period one year earlier.
“It’s big tax cuts combined with big increases in spending when they already had big deficits,” said former Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). “So guess what, it’s craziness!”
When Democrats took 40 congressional districts from Republicans in the 2018 election, the House of Representatives experienced what many considered to be a blue wave. What does this shift mean for the 2020 presidential election? To get a better sense of this, the following analysis examines the 2018 House votes distributed across the nation’s more than 3,100 counties. This provides a more fine-grained geographic assessment of how the 2018 House support for Democrats compared with votes in the 2016 presidential election.
From this perspective, the Democratic wave is all encompassing: 83 percent of the voting population lived in counties where support for Democrats has improved since 2016. This increased Democratic support was not confined to traditional Democratic base counties. It occurred in suburbs, smaller metropolitan and rural counties, and most noticeably, in counties with concentrations of older, native-born and white residents without college degrees. Moreover, at the state level, enough states flipped from Republican majorities in the 2016 presidential election to Democratic majorities in the 2018 House elections to project a 2020 Democratic Electoral College win.
One reads that the Daily Union, a local paper chasing alleged embezzlement first reported in the Janesville Gazette, has decided to grab the story and add a supposedly clever headline:
