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Health care event, grassroots or manufactured?

August 27, 2009 By

Residents from all around south central and south eastern Wisconsin turned out Wednesday night for a gathering on health care. More than 1600 people packed the meeting room at the Madison Marriott West to have their voices heard. The citizens were saying they’re looking for answers that some say they aren’t getting from their elected officials.

AUDIO: Citizens speaking their minds (MP3 :21)

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison) was invited to the event but did not attend, which angered some.One man was concerned that illegal aliens are being included in the health care reform proposal, where as a panelist was worried the government will tell doctors what to do.

“It’s not up to the government to set standards for doctors to follow, what doctors should do is what’s in the best interest of their patients and families,” said Dr. Pam Galloway.

The event was put on by the group “Americans for Prosperity” the same group that organized the Tax Day Tea Party at the Capitol. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin called the event, in a statement,  “Nothing more than a manufactured event put on by a corporate-sponsored special interest group.”  AFP says the purpose of these meetings is to hear both sides of the debate.

Contributed by Dave McCann-WIBA

AUDIO: Dave McCann reports (MP3 :51)

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Politics & Government

Survey of manufacturers shows hopeful signs

August 27, 2009 By

A survey shows some bright spots in the state’s manufacturing sector. While there’s lots of discouraging news, Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership does an annual report with companies they assist. “Most of the time or attention has been spent in survival, but most of the progressive companies are also investing in ways to to expand market share and become better, even while they’re looking to keep the company afloat,” says WMEP president Mike Klonsinski.

“All of our customers are surveyed at the end of each year, for the impact in terms of sales and jobs,” says Klonsinski. “We had 176 companies that were surveyed and reported about $118 million in increased or retained sales, and almost 800 jobs created and retained as a result of their investments and work with WMEP.”

There’s no denying the impact that job losses at GM, Chrysler, Harley-Davidson and perhaps Mercury Marine are having on the state’s manufacturing sector, but Klonsinski also sees some reason for optimism. “We’re already seeing some manufacturers that are bringing back people that had been laid off, or even looking to add jobs, because they’re both anticipating and seeing some new orders.”

Klonsinski says companies that focus on tapping new markets and improving productivity will realize the biggest benefits as the economy recovers. “Companies that are looking forward today, both in terms of tapping new markets and improving productivity, are the ones that are going to realize the biggest benefits.”

AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (:60 MP3)

Filed Under: Business

Mixed reactions at Ryan health gathering

August 27, 2009 By

Congressman Paul Ryan had a chance to play peacemaker during Wednesday’s health care listening session in Janesville. A heckler took offense to Ryan’s comments about England’s health care system and the man’s daughter defended his words. She says having lived in the UK’s the European nation has better health care than the U.S.

AUDIO: Woman defends UK health (MP3 :29)

The House Republican on more than one occasion discouraged heckling to crowd of 550 including one instance where a woman claimed to be worried about violence from such heated discussion.

AUDIO: Woman concerned of violence (MP3 :22)

The Janesville native received a standing ovation when he entered the auditorium at his alma mater and the most applause for saying he doesn’t want socialized health care.

Ryan has several sessions scheduled in Racine County Thursday and suburban Milwaukee  Monday. His office has booked different venues to accommodate larger crowds than originally anticipated.

Contributed by Beth Wheelock-WCLO

Filed Under: Health & Medicine, Politics & Government

Polling data site gets more national accolades

August 27, 2009 By

Time Magazine names Wisconsin-based Pollster.com one of the 50 Best Websites of 2009.

The advantage of Pollster.com, according to website co-founder Charles Franklin, is that it fills a “new media niche” with very specific, unbiased political polling data, which he says, had never been done by traditional media.

“To aggregate other people’s polls and try to put all the polling in perspective, that’s what Pollster does, as opposed to simply having our own poll which we report but ignore everyone else’s.”

Pollster.com had won a national prize for innovation in public opinion polling, was recognized as a big idea of 2008 by New York Times Magazine and just this week picked as one of Time Magazine’s 50 best overall websites, along side the likes of Google, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, YouTube, Amazon, and Wikipedia.

The UW-Madison political science professor says his site is unique in helping the visitor to understand the polls with the help of graphics, figures and pictures.

“The most important things are, we’re nonpartisan and we treat all political views equally in our analysis. And the other is, we’re very visually oriented. You can see the data, you can see what’s happening, you can see which polls are typical and which polls are different from everybody else.”

Franklin says, after a lot of planning, natural curiosity and a dose of serendipity, Pollster.com launched in 2006.

With the help of co-founder Mark Blumenthal, Pollster immediately established itself with political junkies and news media nationwide. Franklin says the site had over 100,000 unique visitors in its first month of operation, and quickly escalated from there, with over 400,000 visitors on election day 2006. The audience grew to over 1-million visitors per month during the 2008 election campaign, to over 4 million on election day alone.

Next week Pollster.com celebrates its 3rd year anniversary.

Jackie Johnson report (2:04)

Filed Under: Politics & Government

Speaker says gubernatorial run unlikely

August 27, 2009 By

As the field of Democratic candidates begins to shape up, don’t expect to see Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan among the names.

Sheridan says it’s unlikely he’ll jump into the campaign, although he admits he has considered the option. However, he wants to stay right where he’s at in the Assembly.

Governor Jim Doyle announced last week he would not seek a third term, which has many Democrats considering a run for the nomination.

Sheridan says he’s not officially out of the race though. He says a final decision will come after he’s had a chance to sit down with the candidates who come forward and officially declare. The Speaker says he wants to make sure they’re focused on protection existing jobs and to create new ones, along with their willingness to work with the Legislature.

So far, Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton is the only declared Democratic candidate.

AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (MP3 :53)

Filed Under: Politics & Government Tagged With:
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