Shoving it down our throats, toilet.

Judith Davidoff over at the Capital Times points out the friction between Medicare part D and Wisconsin's very own SeniorCare.

"They have been out to get rid of all the state plans and we were the last one standing," Doyle said in the article. "This is all about the Bush administration trying to make people believe Medicare Part D is a great program."

Doyle asks for an extension of the popular SeniorCare Program, as the giant Monolith Medicare encroaches on the state.

I can't blame him. Bipartisan health care plans put forth by Wisconsin's own Sen. Feingold and Rep. Baldwin have asked for more state leverage. The idea is that health care is best left to local management rather than a federal mandate.

Studies have shown the state program to be more cost effective. As reported by the Wisconsin State Journal, a 2005 study by the Wisconsin chapter of AARP found that a person with an annual income of about $15,000 and $1,000 in annual prescription drug costs would save $632 each year under SeniorCare compared to Medicare Part D.

SeniorCare also allows seniors to negotiate lower prices by forming a purchasing pool, while Medicare Part D prohibits bargaining pools.

So why do the feds insist on having it their way?

Greater policy autonomy to the states used to be a Republican philosophy, particularly attractive to fiscal conservatives. But it is no more.

The Bush Administration has warped conservatism to his own mold. The Medicare debate follows a series of attempts by feds to spend billions on policy that gives rights to Washington bureaucrats. And Wisconsin rebellion has been mixed.

Last month the New York Times reported on Madison's refusal of federally mandated phonics reading program in favor of local curricula that focus on context, meaning, as well as pronunciation. It cost the Madison Metropolitan school district $2 million in federal aid, but reading scores are better than the national average.

Also, the Administration attempts to ban gay marriage and civil unions failed. Unfortunately, Wisconsin's progressive tradition took a nap as a constitutional ban was voted in last November.

At the federal level, Bush repeatedly blasted big government in 2004 as a way to get reelected. But time and time again he's expanded the government to new levels, even beating FDR. It's no wonder that conservative support is waning, a lame duck as he wanders through the beginning of his seventh year in office.

Iranian "generosity"

Over in Iran, President Ahmadinejad has "given a gift" to Britain by returning their troops. The NYTimes reports that 15 British troops were grateful to Ahmadinejad, shaking his hand for the humane treatment.

Frankly, I'm surprised the Iranian president gave in so easily, though even conservatives within the country are chastising him for provoking the West. Ahmadinejad seems to like drama, and one wonders if this wasn't just another musical gone bad.

The question of whether British soldiers had crossed into Iranian waters is still in dispute. Did Ahmadinejad want to stage a make-believe party? Did gruff Uncle Khomeini come in and bust up playtime because it made too much noise?

Whether the soldiers return unscathed and actually were treated well is yet to be proven. They could have just wanted to play nice so that they could leave early. The assumption is that the soldiers were manipulated and tortured so that they would apologize and make the Iranian president out to be a decent guy.

But I have to wonder what the situation would be like if the tables were turned. The U.S. administration certainly has a track record in how it handles "enemy combatants." Fears for the safety of the Brits may be a reflection of the distrust we have with the most torturous parts of our own society.

Or have we come to expect torture, maltreatment of prisoners as an inevitable part of war?

trains function, government doesn't

Former coworker Rob Zaleski over at the Capital Times is skeptical that trains will be coming any time soon to the Madison area. Despite the hopes of myself, Zaleski, and others, it's going to take a federal move to make that possible.

Capitol Neighborhoods secretary Dan O'Brien told me, at Maduro a while back, that we should look more toward Europe to get the train going. Wouldn't it be nice to ride to Milwaukee or Chicago, while sipping a glass of wine and viewing the landscape? To get get to a destination and not have to worry about parking? To help the environment, and cut funding/exploitation of the Middle Eastern world?

Those at the top, with the veto, tacitly forget -or even ignore- how oil companies gouge prices or have us twisted around the diamond ring on their middle finger.

That's Pedestrian

Walking with an Ipod in ear, talking on a cell phone, and wearing $70 torn jeans is a common sight downtown Madison. But there’s another a big trend: walking out in front of and taunting cars as they drive down roads.

The clashes between drivers and walkers aren’t pretty.

As I drove down Wisconsin Avenue early Sunday morning, for example, four men in their 20s crouched like NFL linemen in the middle of the road. They dared me to speed ahead as they stood in the crosswalk, but I turned instead.

One of them even chased me down a side street shouting obscenities, apparently frustrated that we didn’t have the chance to play chicken. I politely declined my Darwinian opportunity to take him out of the gene pool. Though my bets are on my Saturn.

Despite similar occurrences --usually around bar-time-- drivers take a lot of heat for pedestrian safety. It’s no surprise after March 11’s hit-and-run at the intersection of Regent and Park Streets put a man in critical condition. But the path to traffic safety is a two-way route.

In a Wisconsin State Journal article, Safe Community Coalition project director John Bauer blames Madison’s driving culture for an estimated 100 pedestrians struck per year. Drivers simply don’t bother yielding to pedestrians. What isn’t mentioned is jaywalking culture and general misbehavior.

The linebacker numbskulls mentioned before have company. All too frequently, girls flash cars on Langdon Street and boys smack car hoods as they stroll through the crosswalks. Almost every driver has had to stop for State Street shoppers who wander out in front of vehicles that have a green light. The best part is when they give the finger or yell at drivers who honk the horn.

I am no saint when it comes to jaywalking, but I try to remember at least one valuable lesson that I learned at age five: look both ways and make sure that no cars are coming before crossing the street. I’m struck by how many people forget that.

If a large, moving automobile has a green light, don’t run out in front of it. Not only is it against the law, but also the driver likely won’t be held liable deaths or broken legs.

Pedestrians and drivers have to work together to ensure that the number of crashes decreases. They ought to know when they have right of way and yield when it’s their turn to do so.

For pedestrians who have right of way in a crosswalk but still want to make a scene, such as my linebackers from Wisconsin Avenue and thong flashing girls from Langdon Street, it’s unfortunate that there is no law against being a prick.

Belarussian oppostion

This from a combination of reports from the BBC and International Herald Tribune

Belarus - Opposition protesters in Belarus clashed with police today in the capital Minsk. Some 15,000 people rallied against President Alexander Lukashenko.

No injuries were reported in the clashes. But opposition said that at least 40 activists were detained, and 34 more were jailed in the run-up to the rally.

Scuffles began as protesters tried to push through police cordons.

Protesters said the were marking the anniversary of the creation in 1918 of a short-lived Belarussian republic.

While the rally went on, the EU made a fresh appeal for democratic reform in Belarus.

President Lukashenko has been accused by the opposition and foreign election monitors of persecuting his opponents and rigging elections.

Opposition leader Alexander Milinkevich said :"We should understand that we are not alone - the democratic world and Europe stand together with us."

Demonstrators chanted "long live Belarus" and waved the red and white flags of the 1918 republic, banned by the government which uses the Soviet-era national flag.

Milinkevich took 6% of the vote to 80.3% for Lukashenko in the presidential election last March. The election was was heavily criticized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for failing to meet democratic standards.

After last years election and subsequent protest. Police clubbed and arrested hundreds. Among them was unsuccessful presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin, who received a five and half year prison sentence.

Jose Manuel Barroso, the head of the European Commission, said the EU was ready to form a full partnership with Belarus and increase aid to the former Soviet republic if Lukashenko adopted democratic reforms.

Eerily similar

"The tragedy of Afghanistan continues as the valiant and courageous Afghan freedom fighters [The Taliban] persevere in standing up against the brutal power of the Soviet invasion and occupation."

-Ronald Regan, March 21, 1983

"America will change our strategy to help the Iraqis carry out their campaign to put down sectarian violence and bring security to the people of Baghdad."

-George W. Bush, January 11, 2007

Update

Checking sources, it appears there are errors in my previous article. The BBC News ran a story that the Monday deadline has been extended for three days. The ethnic dynamics are still the same. But according to this article, the Kurds disapprove of disregarding the Sunni demands. They (Sunnis and Kurds) agree on secular government in spite of their differences over federalism. This could lead to a counterweight to Shiite demands of an Islamic, Shariah-based government and legislature. Only time will tell. The fragile dynamics between the "interest groups" need to be respected if there is to be any peace.