Milwaukee County: Are the best of the times in the past?
by Bob Dohnal
Publisher, Wisconsin Conservative Digest

March 19, 2007

Has Milwaukee seen it’s heyday? Is the best behind us, or can the only two leaders with a little common sense, Milwaukee County Exec. Scott Walker and Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, pull something together?  Will Milwaukee descend to the depths of Detroit where everyone out state just ignores them, or can we select leaders that will change the status quo?  The signs are all there.  We have rapidly escalating crime, poor schools, high taxes, poor business climate, and too many dysfunctional governmental bodies.
    
Waukesha has almost eclipsed Milwaukee County in net value. The other surrounding counties have continued to grow while Milwaukee slides downhill leaving fewer and fewer people to pay higher taxes.  The loss is population is precipitous hitting even affluent suburbs like Wauwatosa.  In 1970 Milwaukee count had a population of 1,054,249, today it is 921,758 — a loss of nearly 13 percent.  In Wauwatosa, the population has declined from over 60,000 in the 50s, to 58,676 in 1970, and now less than 45,000. That is a significant decline of 25 percent. What is causing this shift?
    
The suburbs have grown dramatically since 1970. The population in Waukesha and Ozaukee County increased by more than 60 percent, and Washington County has more than doubled in size.  Have people tired of the city life, or are they tired of the corrupt governments, dominated by liberals and union power that extract big salaries, benefits, pensions and vacations? Has the crime gotten to them?  Do they see schools that can’t  teach kids to read.  They get more and more taxes and less and less value.  

The politicians defend this.  A recent example; newly elected State Senator James Sullivan, under a cloud of investigations, actually defended the ridiculously high salaries of MATC teachers, higher than the University system and the local teachers. Pay the politicians off and they repay in kind. Sullivan was heavily supported by the MATC teacher's union.
   
When Time magazine’s cover story describes Milwaukee as a national poster child for violent crime by trumpeting “lethal chaos’ in the city, you would think that people would wake up to the problem, but only Sheriff Clarke and Scott Walker respond.  Mayor Tom Barrett babbles about new gun laws, something that has never worked to stop gang wars.
   
Yes, drugs and crime are number one on the hit parade about why people abandon an area. The principle reason cities were founded, was to provide police and fire coverage. But once people find out that they can feed at the government trough, all bets are off, money and other resources are spread out to pay off the supporters of the corrupt politicians. Corruption takes over in paid off politicos like Sullivan and they vote themselves “largesse from the trough”.
  
The statistics are frightening. Last year in Milwaukee saw 623 shootings, 96 fatalities. Hospitals reported even more, 808 in the county, counting people that had to come in from the suburbs and accidental wounds. Milwaukee will become the training ground for surgeons from the rest of the country. Thanks to the medical teams many lives have been saved or the fatality rate would be much higher. It’s almost like reruns of MASH. The FBI statistics show a 33.4 percent increase in homicides, assaults and robberies in the area from the first half of 2005 to the first half of 2006.  These figures have been in the Journal-Sentinel on numerous occasions overseen by Journal city editor Paul Sevart.
      
Yet, the liberals blabber on about excessive police violence, too many young adults in jail and racism. They fuel the violence by buying the drugs that foment the gang violence. Milwaukee liberals have fled Milwaukee to Wauwatosa, bringing the same philosophies that ruined that city, and are now doing the same to Wauwatosa. Conservatives flee to other counties or leave the state. The Mayor of Tosa hugs Ald. Michael McGee, one of the biggest lowlifes in Milwaukee county, the Milwaukee police chief fires one of her best captains for calling thugs and hoodlums, thugs and hoodlums. The mule train from Chicago delivers the cocaine, heroin and marijuana that fuels the violence, while the suburban liberals truck into the city to buy their products.  When was the last big drug bust in this city? All of these people aren’t being shot because they are unhappy with their taxes. How many politicos are looking the other way because they need the inner city votes to keep in power.
     
The longtime Democrat District Attorney looks the other way when it comes to prosecuting Democrats in office. Bruce Murphy, the best investigative reporter in Wisconsin, has wrote on the ability of Mike McCann and former Federal prosecutor Tom Schneider to look the other way. Only the diligence of federal prosecutor Steven Biskupic, has managed to show some of the garbage that has been going on. He has managed to put some of the thieves in jail.
       
As for plans, there isn’t any. Mayor Barrett, Mr. Nice guy, hides in city hall, occasionally venturing out to decry the violence but produces nothing.  Sheriff Clarke puts forth plans to combat crime, Governor Doyle and Barrett ignore him and the violence escalates.
    
The crime spills into Tosa and Mayfair  Mayfair Shopping Center is one shooting away from becoming a ghost town. Gangs roam the aisles, forcing people out of their way, and yelling at senior citizens in the parking lot. Police have reported to me that they are throwing out 300 people in one weekend. Violence at the city border area is the results of the thugs coming into to Tosa looking for easy marks. Look at the weekly map in the CNI newspapers. The Mayor  of Tosa dithers, evidently spending her time working with Ald. Mike McGee and his hoodlums to form a task force about race relations.
  
In the inner city the good people huddle in their houses, scared to go out for fear of the shootings, and the violence escalates with many innocent victims getting in the way of the gang shootouts. The thugs and hoodlums victimize the inner city people at bus stations, gas pumps, businesses, and pizza deliverymen. And when someone protects himself, like the pizza delivery guy that shot his attempted robber, the DA prosecutes the people fighting for their lives. By prosecuting the people defending themselves, he sends a message to the thugs that no one should carry weapons that they might need to defend their lives, so the thugs have free rein.
   
Violence and crime is nothing new in the world and the treatment of the problem is nothing that is held secret. Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York, figured it out, but the mayor here, three years into his term, has not a clue.
    
Who is in charge here? The old Milwaukee Sentinel had a quote on it’s masthead. “The only thing necessary for evil to win is for good people to do nothing.” Our leaders are doing nothing, and frankly if they are unable to solve the problems they should just leave.  If educators can't teach the kids to read, they should go to work at McDonalds. If the politicos are getting paid off with campaign donations, we need to relieve them of their duty. We need to put the benefits for the citizens ahead of the benefits of the special interests.
     
In upcoming columns, we will examine the problems of education and how they have forced people out of our community.

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