Q and A with Senator Leibham part 2

I know this is taking me a while, but real life interferes now and again and this time joyously in that my son is preparing his Senior Voice Recital. I will keep posting these bits as I can. The material should remain relevant for a while.

 

Part 4

 

Part 5

 

 

 

Part 6

 

 

"Moreover from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year even unto the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that is, twelve years, I and my brethren have not eaten the bread of the governor."~ Neh 5:14

Q and A with Senator Leibham part 1

Over the weekend I attended a Q and A session with Wisconsin State Senator Joe Leibham. Mr Leibham wanted to concentrate on the budget, but did get into other topics towards the end of the session. This was over two hours long, so I have several videos to process and I will post them two or three at a time to keep the posts manageable. Please forgive the unsteadiness of the video as I neglected to bring my tripod.

Part 1

Part 2

 

Part 3

 

"Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good."~ Proverbs 14:22  

Plymouth 2/20/10 Leibham listening session

Just a quick update-My apologies to Mr. Leibham for misspelling his name. I hope that my readers will be good enough to correct me if I do so again. It was entirely unintentional.

I went to another listening session for Mr. Leibham. There are 9 short videos taken before my batteries ran out.


This is a question about SB460. SB460 is a bill that would allow an individual to get a prescription for drugs to treat certain STD's for their partner without requiring a physician to examine that partner. There are so many reasons that this is wrong that I am a bit baffled as to how such a proposal would make it to bill form.


This segment is a follow up question about the rules as to how long our legislators may have to examine a bill before being required to vote on it.


This is a question about Mr. Doyle's unconscionable Global Warming bill which is currently before the legislature. Did you hear that, my fellow Wisconsinites? A 30-50% increase in your energy bills. Can you afford that? We'll be taking the lead in personal bankruptcy filings if this goes through. We haven't felt the entire economic impact of the last budget yet. My pockets are pretty well empty at this point. There were two local mayors at this session and both said their cities can no longer come up with the money to remain in compliance with the state's unfunded mandates.

Here's the message, Mr. Doyle and WI legislature- "THERE IS NO MORE MONEY, STOP SPENDING."


The question was where are we now as regards the legislature's/governor's continuing attempt to change joint and several liability to make it impossible to afford auto insurance in WI.


This was a question regarding legislation, AB 751, introduced by some folks who are pushing the National Popular Vote movement. This would disenfranchise WI voters by giving WI electoral college votes to the winner of the popular vote in a presidential election regardless of how the people of WI vote. The next two videos are a continuation of this question.






Mr. Leibham is answering a question regarding the influence of lobbyists on his opinion. There was a follow up question as to whether or not a constituent could visit Mr. Leibham's office and get the same access as a lobbyist. The answer is YES. Please visit your legislators and let them know what you are thinking.


This was a question about illegal aliens and how we can control our costs with regard to the drain they cause on social services.

This is where I ran out of battery power. One of Mr. Leibham's better statements was that his colleagues didn't understand why he was printing up Legislative Update fliers to let his constituents know what the legislature is doing. Another constituent quipped that "Madison is where logic goes to die".

There were also questions about:

• WI healthcare amendment - This would not go into effect until after Obamacare is passed, if it passes.
• There was a question on the proposed radio tax. As that is a national rather than state issue, Mr. Leibham has no control over the vote on that.
• Mayor Meyer(sp?) from Sheboygan Falls asked why the state of Wisconsin continues to engage in structural deficits.
• There was a question about the UW Hospital's decision to perform late term abortions. (In my opinion, an abominable practice which has yet to have been shown to have any significant medical benefits to the mother.)
• There was a question about SB 439. This legislation is referring to the ability to convert a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA.
• AB 458. This was recently signed into law by Mr. Doyle. In essence, this disenfranchises WI parents from making decisions about the proper curriculum for sex education classes for the children in their school districts. This is a continuation of a disturbing and dangerous trend to inflict government upon our children under the misguided and arrogant opinion that declares that parents are too stupid to know what is best for their children and therefore government must step in and make our parenting decisions for us. Luckily, we may still opt to not provide a sex education(or reproductive health or whatever your district calls it)class in our districts. On the up side, eliminating that class should save us some money.
• There were questions brought up about why the entire state should bear the cost of Mr. Doyle's wish -a high speed train from Madison to Milwaukee. Now, aside from the obvious concern, that this would lose money like a dog sheds hair, I have to ask myself, why do we need such a thing? There is already a bus route between Milwaukee and Madison that is cheaper than the estimated $20.00 - $33.00 per trip cost of this train and that would be just as fast. Because the estimated trip time for this high speed rail line is -brace yourselves-about an hour and a half. That's right, this wonderful high speed rail line that will cost more than a bus ticket (Bus ticket is $19.00 with multiple pick-up and drop-off sites in both cities, unlike the train.)will get you there at the same speed as driving. So the governor and our legislature want to spend nearly a billion dollars to create a money pit that services only Dane and Milwaukee Counties, while taking business from the bus companies who currently provide perfectly adequate service, and they think the rest of the state should be on the hook for the continuing costs. May I refer them back to the message under the global warming bill video? It's equally applicable here.
• Mr. Leibham encouraged citizens to oppose the .5% sales tax increase being requested by the County of Sheboygan. The belief expressed throughout the room was that Sheboygan County needs to reduce spending rather than increasing taxes.

It was a well-attended meeting and Mr. Leibham remarked that the Sheboygan session had also been well attended.

After seeing what sorts of legislation our legislators have been considering, both in Mr. Leibham's pamphlet and on the WI legislature site (Proclaiming that the ancient Macedonians were Hellenes? Really? This requires legislation?) maybe I ought to be submitting my own legislative proposal for the protection of our children's Constitutional rights to someone other than Mr. Leibham. At least mine has the virtue of asking for the restoration of a right that has been defacto and unjustly removed by the courts. I will share it here. If any of you wish to submit this language to your own legislators, be my guest. Here's the text:

Whereas, the State of Wisconsin recognizes that minor children have the same rights to due process and protection under the law as every American citizen; and

Whereas, it is unreasonable to expect a minor child to understand their rights and be able to properly exercise his or her Constitutional rights in his or her own protection in the face of authority, and under the coercion that can, currently, or at any time hereafter be applied to said child; and

Whereas, the right of school officials, administrators and police school liaison officers to exercise the privileges of "in loco parentis" have been unaddressed, leading to the violation of our children's civil and 5th amendment rights;
Therefore, be it resolved that the right of school officials, administrators, and police school liaison officers, or any of their designees to exercise the powers of "in loco parentis" shall not extend to questioning a student about any issue that could result in the filing of a criminal complaint without having a parent, legal guardian or legal representation, chosen by the parent or legal guardian, who shall act in the best interests of the child, present during questioning.

Be it also resolved that school officials shall not be held criminally liable for acting to protect the students, the school and it's environs in the case of an immediate threat.

Or maybe I ought to just be grateful for what we still have. Get involved folks, it's your state.

"Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? "~Luke 18:2-7

Listening session with Mr. Leibham

These are the videos from Mr. Leibham's listening session in Sheboygan. They are many short videos, instead of a few long ones, because it is easier to upload short videos than longer ones. I recommend numbers 1, 5, 6, 7 & 8 if you are interested in the changes that have been made and that are being proposed to WI auto insurance laws. I would also recommend that folks start really paying attention to what is happening in our legislature.




This question is regarding the freezing of the picture on the questioner's television. And this question took up several minutes of the session time-as you will see. In my opinion, it is a testimony to the importance of bread and circuses.


The speaker addressing the question is an alderwoman in the city of Sheboygan.


There are 12 things on Mr. Leibham's list of changes to our law to be discussed, and 15 or so that are pending-some of them egregious abuses of power on the part of our legislature and we are talking about television reception, over which Mr. Leibham has zero control. While I understand the urge to be helpful and provide an answer-I hate unanswered questions, myself - this time could have been used better.

This gets back to insurance changes pretty quickly. It's worth watching. It also illustrates one of my principle disagreements with Mr. Leibham. (And which videos have been watched the most since I posted them? That's right, the ones with the discussion of the television question.)


The insurance discussion continues.


This man nails the essential difficulty I have with the mandatory insurance provision. He is willing and able to pay the damages to the other party in his accident and sees no reason that he should be required to pay for insurance as well. This insistence on mandatory insurance is encouraging the entitlement mentality which is already out of control. Yes, doctors and hospitals and vehicle repairs are expensive, but an auto accident should not be seen as a ticket to riches. Sometimes bad things happen and life is hard. It is not American or moral to penalize someone beyond the actual costs of the damages they caused, simply to feed that sense of entitlement. If an individual is able to pay the minimums determined by the state towards an auto accident, they should not be required to pay for insurance as well.


Mr. Leibham does have a lozenge in his mouth and apologized for that necessity several times while asking for our tolerance as he had a bit of a frog in his throat and this was the last of his three listening sessions for the day.


This bit is addressing the question of cell phones while driving.


There were a few other questions on ATV's and the appointment process for the head of the DNR, but my memory card was full.

"Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found, "~ Lev 6:4