Milwaukee Biz Blog

Generally speaking, when giant corporations square off on a national level, consumers - be they here in Wisconsin or elsewhere - often find themselves quietly standing by the side, waiting for the dust to clear.

Such may be the case with Microsoft's recent bid for Yahoo. A seemingly good stock offer was turned down by the No. 2 Internet giant and Microsoft pulled back.

You might be wondering why anyone in Wisconsin should care. 

For businesses, a Microsoft-Yahoo merger represented a chance to provide some real competition with the Internet's No. 1 giant - Google. You don't have to search long in Milwaukee to find business leaders who say competition is a good thing when it comes to keeping costs low, preserving jobs and helping the economy.

Having both mega-Internet search providers duking it out for customers daily would also have helped provide consumers with a choice and not threaten online advertising. The merger would also have allowed Microsoft-Yahoo to check the market leader's ever-growing dominance of and control over the Internet.

But that was not to be, so now consumers in Wisconsin and across the globe have something else to think about. The potential for a Google-Yahoo merger. A pairing of the No. 1 and No. 2 search engine providers could create a monopoly that would dominate online advertising dollars and control the majority of all Internet search activities. And don't doubt for a second that the associated increase in business costs would be passed onto consumers here in the Midwest and elsewhere.

There are also those who have raised concerns with Google's gathering of user information. They will likely have even more privacy questions if Yahoo falls under the influence of Google. Will Yahoo join Google's information gathering practices and what voice will consumers here or elsewhere have in that matter? These giants joining forces will also likely raise serious anti-trust concerns and will need to be thoroughly reviewed and examined by Congress and the Senate.

In life, we all choose whether to get involved or stand on the side and wait for the dust to clear. In the Internet debate, our legislators in Washington need to clearly hear the consumer and business voices who believe in competition, be that here on the ground or in the virtual world of the Internet.

Protecting existing jobs, maintaining fairness in online advertising for our business community and preserving consumer choice is important to our economy. Leaving the door open to creating a monopoly is not.

Alderman Tony Zielinski represents Milwaukee's 14th District.

Wisconsin’s Do Not Call List is phenomenally popular. During 2007, more than 1 million Wisconsin residential phone lines were covered by the list that is operated by the Wisconsin by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP).

Unfortunately, fewer telemarketers at dinner time mean more salespeople knocking on your door.
DATCP is warning residents to be aware of door-to-door salespeople who are popping up more frequently in Wisconsin neighborhoods selling home improvements, lawn care, the traditional vacuum cleaners, meat, and even investments. The department is offering tips on proceeding with caution whenever you get an unexpected knock on your door.

Avoid being pressured to sign any contract on the spot.

Call DATCP’s hotline at 1-800-422-7128 for information about complaints.

Rather than being compelled to make a quick, impulsive purchase, do some comparison shopping.
Be sure you are aware of the exact total you must pay, not just the monthly payment.

There is also the notorious fine print to worry about. DATCP reports one alarm company had in its contract fine print that it could increase monthly fees when it so desired and could demand payment of monthly fees in full if the purchaser ever canceled the contract. If you are being pressured to pay more than the original contract indicates, you are advised to call local law enforcement.

Since August 1, 1999, Wisconsin has had a direct marketing rule providing consumer protection that applies to telephone, e-mail, fax, mail, and door-to-door transactions. These include purchases made in places away from the seller's place of business.

All direct marketers, including door-to-door salespeople must, after a short greeting, tell who they are, who they are working on behalf of and what they are selling.

Before finishing the sale and taking any credit card information or cash, direct markets must tell consumers the cost, quantity, conditions, refund policy and the name and address of the principal company.

A direct marketer must obtain verifiable authorization before a credit card is billed and must keep transaction records for at least two years.

According to DATCP, the direct marketing rule also prohibits:

• Threatening, intimidating or harassing consumers.
• Failing to leave a consumer's premises upon request.
• Calling consumers who previously said they do not wish to receive telephone solicitations from that seller.
• Calling consumers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. without their prior consent.
• Requesting or receiving payment for loan finder services before the consumer actually receives the promised loan. This is aimed at companies that promise loans, charge a fee, and disappear without producing the loan.
• Requesting payment for helping consumers recover money lost in a prior home solicitation transaction until at least seven days after the consumer recovers the money. This is aimed at so called "recovery room" schemes, which prey on previously victimized consumers.

Wisconsin law also enforces a three-day cooling-off period. A consumer has three business days to consider and cancel a direct marketing sale of $25 or more that occurs away from the seller's regular place of business. The three-day right to cancel begins after the seller has provided the purchaser a written notice of the right to cancel.

Consumers exercising the right to cancel are advised to send notice by certified mail. Money must be returned within 10 days. If the seller does not pick-up the product in 20 days, the purchaser may keep it.
Direct marketers who violate the rule may receive a civil forfeiture of up to $10,000 or a fine of up to $5,000 and be imprisoned for up to a year. For more information, contact the Division of Consumer Protection at 800-422-7128.

If you have comments on this or any other issue, please contact me at Sen.Lazich@legis.wisconsin.gov,

State Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) represents Wisconsin's 28th Senate District.

When I recently wrote a Milwaukee Biz Blog to suggest the Darwin E. Smith Awards for people, organizations and government entities who made it difficult for companies to business Wisconsin, I had no idea Steve Roell, chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson Controls Inc., would step forward as a nominee.

Johnson Controls reports annual revenues of $35 million this year with a pre-tax profit of $2.6 billion.  It is the largest corporation in the state of Wisconsin. The company employs 140,000 people. A model corporate citizen.
It is a company of which Darwin Smith, the CEO of Kimberly-Clark who moved his company's corporate headquarters out of Wisconsin because of high taxes and excessive regulation, might have suggested considering removing itself from the Wisconsin corporate gene pool - by relocating to another state or perhaps, another country. 

So why is Steve Roell supporting the state hospital tax?

Let's connect the dots.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle and the Senate Democrats included the $400 million hospital tax in their budget repair bill. The idea was to add an "assessment" to all hospital bills. This assessment would be a tax - a 0.7-percent sales tax - on every patient who paid his or her hospital bill, either through private insurance or out of his or her own pocket. Hospitals throughout the state would collect the tax from their paying patients and send it to the governor.

The governor agreed to pay an extra $275 million to the state Medicaid health program to repay hospitals a portion of the bill for people who are unable to pay their medical bills.  The federal government matches the state's additional contribution. Under this socialized reimbursement plan, hospitals with the highest percentage of Medicaid patients would see their reimbursement rates increase the most. 

Doing the math, the governor gets to keep $125 million, under a provision in the bill called "the skim." The skim is analogous to the "grease" a bettor pays a bookmaker for placing and winning a bet. The bookie earns the grease for facilitating the transaction. In this case, because the grease goes to the general fund, Doyle gets to spend the skimmed tax money any way that pleases him and his constituents.

At this point, the proponents of the "sales tax on people who pay their own hospital bills either through private insurance or out their own pockets" claim that the matching funds coming back from Washington, D.C., is free money. Wisconsin does not receive its fair share of the federal largess, they say. Twenty other states have cooked up similar schemes.

The free money from Washington isn't free. It is, more appropriately, money that has been extracted from ordinary, everyday people. Not corporations. Not hospitals. Real people, like the folks who send some of their earned income withheld from every paycheck to Washington every week.   

So why would really smart guys like Steve Roell, Jim Haney (president of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce) and Tim Sheehy (president of Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce) support such a scam?

The deception is even more interesting considering the primary beneficiaries of the arrangement. Besides Doyle, the hospital systems that stand to gain the most under the proposed socialized hospital tax solution appear to be Children's Hospital of Wisconsin and Aurora Health Care - two of, arguably, the most profitable, "nonprofit" hospital systems of the planet. San Aurora serves poor patients in Milwaukee, while Children's substantial niche in health care for kids, attracts everyone, rich and poor.

We all love and admire Children's Hospital for the incredible work they do. But Aurora? Why are the big businesses and outstanding companies like Johnson Controls, with the support of WMC and MMAC, supporting, the 800-pound gorilla?

Connect the dots.

Doyle is creating on a $1 billion project on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, called the Wisconsin Research Institute. Stem cell research. Cancer research. Cures for all manor of diseases. A worthy cause, no doubt.

Consider the Wisconsin corporations that would benefit from the construction and operation of the Wisconsin Research Institute? On a billion dollar laboratory project, how much would Johnson Controls "climate control group" and "facilities management divisions" stand to gain? $50 million?  $100 million? Run the numbers over the lifetime of the facility, if you like. I trust Johnson Controls has a pretty good idea. 

Next, consider how many companies represented on the WMC and MMAC boards of directors stand to benefit directly and indirectly from the construction and management of this $1 billion expenditure? Google the lists of their directors. Make your own evaluation.

For me, it took a fair amount of time and research to connect the dots. Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (R-Onalaska) has his heels so dug in on this one that the sales tax on people who pay their hospital bills is unlikely to pass the Assembly.

The question is why would smart, big business leaders go along with something that they know is wrong?
One of the reasons local business leaders join business associations, such as MMAC and WMC, to help sort through the almost incomprehensible machinations of government, particularly at the state and local government levels. They let us down on this one. They ought to know better. They thought we would not connect the dots.
 
Dennis Ellmaurer is a principal of Globe National Corp., a Milwaukee firm working exclusively with sellers of small businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. Ellmaurer also is a chairman of The Executive Committee, facilitating three CEO groups in southeastern Wisconsin.

In "The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham," Harold Myra and Marshall Shelley describe an important meeting the Rev. Graham and his leadership team held in 1948. Too many shady evangelists had given Christian leaders a bad name: poor handling of money, sexual scandals, badmouthing of others doing similar work, and general dishonesty were all undermining the church's work.

So, Graham's team developed principles to "lock them in" to ethical behavior. As an example, Graham committed then to never being alone with a woman who was not his wife: Not only would he avoid that temptation for the rest of his life, but perhaps more importantly he would eliminate the appearance of any impropriety.

Graham, recalled an associate, always insisted on "total integrity." To achieve that level, he committed to lifelong disciplines that would leave his character unquestioned and unquestionable.

Congress could take a page out of Graham's book.

In a recent Milwaukee Biz Blog, Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) played politics as usual by attacking plans by the "Democratic majority" to "spend, spend, spend."

This, after he voted for 28,000 earmarks over six years and cast one of the deciding votes for Medicare Part D - one of the largest and costliest entitlement programs in American history. In short, he overlooked the log in his own eye to find a speck in his opponent's.

He also called on Democrats to act on tax cuts passed a few years ago when Republicans were in charge which are set to expire, or "sunset," soon. What he's not telling you is that he voted to "sunset" the legislation in the first place. Why? So Congress - while Mr. Sensenbrenner was a leader in the Republican majority - could continue to falsify the long-term budget projections, assuring us that in spite of all those earmarks and entitlement expansions (combined with tax cuts), tomorrow's books will magically balance (they won't).

An added benefit was that Republicans could set themselves up to do exactly what Mr. Sensenbrenner is doing today - bash Democrats for wanting to "raise taxes" when the sunset approaches.

"Total integrity" means being honest about the numbers. It means dealing fairly and honestly with your colleagues.

It also means striving to avoid the appearance of impropriety. 

Earlier this month, the Center for Responsive Politics issued the results of a study of congressmen invested in defense contractors. Over one fourth of all members of Congress own stocks in the same companies that received hundreds of billions of dollars in defense contracts - and many congressmen benefited financially.

At the top of the list was our own Congressman Sensenbrenner, who earned at least $3.2 million between 2004 and 2006 on defense-industry investments alone.

Similarly, Mr. Sensenbrenner voted in favor of Medicare's Prescription Drug Program in 2003 - a $9 trillion entitlement expansion - while having massive holdings in pharmaceutical industry stocks.

In any other industry, this would be considered insider trading. To avoid the appearance of impropriety and the temptation to vote for legislation that personally benefits them, many congressmen and senators voluntarily put their investments into "blind trusts." But Mr. Sensenbrenner did not support legislation mandating that members of Congress put their funds into blind trusts.

A judge would not rule on a case involving a pharmaceutical company he owned stock in. So why would a congressman vote for legislation that positively affected the value of stocks he owned in pharmaceutical companies - or defense contractors? 

Even if it's not corrupt, it sure looks bad.

A similar problem exists with the impact of special interest money. Many members of Congress, including Mr. Sensenbrenner, take millions of dollars from special interests, then vote for legislation that positively affects the very interests that fund their campaigns (the majority of his campaign contributions come from special interests). Or they accept gifts, like the hundreds of thousands of dollars in free travel given Congressman Sensenbrenner, from organizations looking to benefit from Congressional legislation.  
It may not be illegal, but it sure looks bad.

Billy Graham understood that leaders need to be held to a higher standard because their actions impact a wide audience. A pastor's example inspires the congregation, while his moral failings undermine the faith and trust of many.

Similarly, our political leaders can aim to elevate and motivate the people they represent by example, or they can take the low road, playing to the public's expectations that all politicians are dirty and that Congress is an arena for combat - instead of cooperation in the public interest. 

Public confidence in our leaders is at an all-time low - under 20 percent in the most recent approval ratings of Congress. That's because too few of our leaders care to do what great leaders do best - inspire, lead by example, work together, and understand that appearances matter. 

It's time we expected more of our leaders.  

Jim Burkee is an associate professor of history at Concordia University Wisconsin and is a Republican candidate for Congress in Wisconsin's 5th Congressional District against F. James Sensenbrenner.

Recent news reports about the Justice Louis Butler/Michael Gabelman race referenced the last election in which an incumbent Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice was defeated. The winner in that race was my father, Justice Robert W. Hansen.

I remember the 1967 election vividly, and the only similarity between the two elections is the outcome.

As someone who believed in grassroots connections and an independent judiciary, my father would have been appalled at the recent campaign. My father loved a good, hard-fought political campaign, but he always approached being a judge and campaigning for election with a commitment to open, honest debate.

He possessed an inherent sense of integrity in his campaign and as a judge. 

As a lawyer who shares those values, I am appalled at the recent evidence that a seat on our state Supreme Court can be bought.

I have practiced for over 25 years and been active in many judicial campaigns, and I have been an unwavering supporter of an elected judiciary. At this point, serious changes need to occur if we are going to maintain public respect for and a belief in the integrity in our courts.

The concept that judges can only run on a platform of monied political agendas or a race to convince the public they will lock up the most defendants for the longest time is an embarrassment to the judiciary and my profession.

We currently have many fine judges who come from various legal backgrounds - prosecutors, defense attorneys and private practitioners. This balance contributes to the diversity and quality of our courts.
If the recent Supreme Court election is any indication, however, any defense attorney who does his or her job well may now be eliminated from the possibility of being a judge, based on attacks such as those levied against Justice Butler.

How can we expect to have competent and impartial judges who apply the law fairly and impartially if the only litmus test becomes having been a prosecutor or catering to interests that can fund exorbitantly expensive campaigns?

In my view, that is a judiciary for sale. The only question is who will be the next target.  If he were still alive, my father would share my sense of outrage at what judicial campaigns have become. The time for change is now.

Susan Hansen is a principal at Hansen & Hildebrand S.C., a Milwaukee law firm.

2008 Inaugural Address of Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker
Delivered April 15, 2008

I want to begin by thanking God for all that he has given me in my life. I also want to thank my amazing family for all of their love and support. I want to thank everyone on the program for making this night so memorable. And, I want to thank all of you – friends, supporters, elected officials and community leaders for being here tonight. Thank you for joining me.

One of our sons has his first track meet next week. In high school, I too was a runner. My best events were the half mile and quarter mile. To be good, however, I trained in everything from short sprints to long distance runs. And every race required a plan - a specific strategy to win.

So it is with the opportunities and challenges we will face during our new term. Leading the county, in many ways, is like running a series of races.

Some of our victories will come soon. Things like an agreement over county land to build a new School of Engineering for UWM or the potential of a new, state-of-the-art mental health complex are wins within sight. We should sprint to those victories as they will establish hope for the next stages of our race.

Then, as we head into future budgets for the county, we should explore every possible option - so that we might provide the core services expected of us while keeping our costs under control. This is important so that our residents and our workforce can afford to stay in this great county.

When meeting with new Supervisor Joe Sanfelippo, he mentioned seeing a neighbor of his at the grocery store and that the neighbor told him that he was moving out of the county. When Joe asked why, he said that he was retiring soon and didn’t think he could afford to pay the taxes on his home.

That reminded me of just how important our work is to real people. In my mind, not one of the individuals who helped build this great county should ever be forced to move out because they can’t afford to pay taxes when they retire.

And it’s a big concern for those who provide jobs too. With places like Miller Brewing making key decisions based on the cost of doing business, we need to give them every reason to stay and grow in Milwaukee County.
Facing this challenge will be more difficult than our early victories, but success will have a lasting benefit.

We must also consider the long-term future of our county. To win this stage of the race, we should look beyond the boundaries of our government and consider the race that must be won for the people of this community and region.

Running a long distance race requires great discipline and it requires the most efficient use of weight and resources. Some might argue that the current status of the various layers of government that overlap is not the optimal method of providing services.

So, should we keep the current county government or should we try to create something totally new? I challenge each of us to consider what will be the best way to serve the people 5, 10, even 25 years from now.
So where do we start? To win, each of these races will take a great team. I am proud of the people we have assembled on my staff and in my cabinet.

Since the election, I reached out to the members of the County Board and look forward to continuing that outreach. I will also work with leaders in other areas of government. And I look forward to the support and assistance of our business and civic leaders. Each of these individuals will be part of our winning team.

Most importantly, I look forward to working with you - the people of Milwaukee County. I never lost sight of the fact that we took office because the people of Milwaukee County opted, not for anger, but hope. They (really, we) wanted our government back and we strive to meet that goal every day.

My parents have always been a great inspiration to me. When I ran track, my mother would provide quotes to motivate me for the next race. One came from the Book of Hebrews:

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked for us.”

Now is the time for us to run with perseverance. Now is the time for us to run on to victory. Now, is the time to make Milwaukee County great again.

When money is involved, debates and arguments inevitably follow. The plan for a State of Wisconsin assessment on hospitals is no exception, and because it involves health care, the issue can be more complex than others.

By now you probably know that the Greater Milwaukee Committee has expressed support for the hospital assessment, and more than a few may wonder why the GMC is doing so.

Hospitals in Wisconsin, and especially in Milwaukee, must and do provide care for anyone in need, regardless of their means to pay. This means costs without corresponding revenue, and to make up for that deficit, hospitals must charge other patients more than they might otherwise have to in order to maintain their services.

Government assistance, particularly for Medicaid patients, has been lacking in Wisconsin. Wisconsin continues to rank low for federal dollars we receive. Hospitals have seen no increase in Medicaid reimbursement in nearly 13 years, and during that time, operating costs have risen dramatically. Statewide, Medicaid reimbursement covers only 48 percent of the actual costs of providing care.

The way it is now, cost shifting from the underfunding of the state Medicaid program has to be covered by business community, patients and ultimately, the taxpayers. The hospital assessment actually eases this burden and allows hospitals and government in Wisconsin to take advantage of the same Medicaid maximization opportunity that nearly half of all U.S. states have already profited from.

It really becomes a federal fair share issue, something Wisconsin needs to be more aggressive with wherever possible.

Since the benefits work for hospitals, the state, patients and the taxpayers, the Greater Milwaukee Committee wishes to lend its support.

Richard Greene is the director of operations for the Greater Milwaukee Committee, an organization of the region's business, labor, academic, philanthropic, nonprofit and civic leaders.

For the second time, our elected officials are meeting to see if they can come to agreement on our state's budget. The last budget bill our governor, senators and assemblymen worked on ended up a day late and dollar short.

Let me rephrase that … nearly 150 days late and now $652 million dollars short.

As early as August of last year, tax experts like Todd Berry from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance were saying the budget our elected officials were working on back then was at least $200 million in the red. And yet, our elected officials deliberated for months on a budget they finalized in late fall only to have our state's Legislative Fiscal Bureau say several months later that it was over $600 million dollars off.

How do independent experts like Berry know we are going to be in a deficit nearly six months before our state's Fiscal Bureau officially tells our legislature? More importantly, why didn't our elected officials do something about our spending back in the fall? Instead, we are now back at the drawing board trying to fill more holes in our budget because our elected officials don't know how stop spending.

Whether you are a Republican or Democrat, holding the line on spending is not a partisan issue, and the Independent Business Association of Wisconsin wants our elected officials
to do just that - hold the line on spending.

According to the Fiscal Bureau, the deficit is over $400 million and ideas like a hospital tax, accounting tricks such as delaying state aid to schools and some spending cuts are all being considered. The state, and more importantly the state taxpayers who will be responsible for the decisions of our elected officials, should demand that we get rid of our deficit in the same way we handle deficits in our own homes - cut spending.

Of all three proposals, the Assembly Republicans cut spending the most (roughly $360 million of spending cuts, compared with roughly $80 million by the governor and only $40 million by the Senate).

While we applaud the Assembly's efforts to cut spending, it doesn't go far enough. If our deficit is $415 million, then we should cut spending by $415 million. It is frustrating to see accounting gimmicks used in an effort to balance a budget - like the proposal of delaying state aid to schools. That only pushes the problem of spending too much into a different budget year.

What is really disturbing is the hospital tax proposal found in two of the budget repair bill proposals. Proponents claim the hospital tax will result in higher Medicaid reimbursements to hospitals, which will lower health care costs and all of this is possible because we get free money from the Feds in their federal match of our increased Medicaid payments.

First, who do these politicians think the feds get their money from? Yes, you guessed it, from us taxpayers. It's not free money, it's our money. Secondly, do these same politicians want those of us who pay for health care to trust hospitals that they will lower health care costs because they are getting higher Medicaid reimbursement rates?

After the last 10 years of double-digit increases to health care costs, consumers don't trust anyone, least of all providers who continue to build these extravagant hospitals. There is nothing in this proposal that guarantees hospitals won't simply pocket the increased reimbursement rates and add to their already large profits.
And let's be perfectly honest - even if hospitals are required to detail the increased payments and show how those dollars are being used, because we don't have true transparency of costs, such detailed accounting is meaningless.

If this is our government's attempt of reforming our Medicaid system, it's a poor one at best and is certainly a Band Aid approach to what should be a major overhaul of a failing system.

Our elected officials didn't get the budget right the first time around - let's hope they get it right this time. It's up to us, the electorate, to hold our elected officials accountable, since we are the ones financially responsible for their actions.

Bob Collison is a business owner and the current chairman of the Legislative Committee of the Independent Business Association of Wisconsin (IBA), the oldest state-based business association concentrating on issues facing small and independent businesses. For additional information, visit www.ibaw.com.

The past few months have seen much debate over the 27th Street exit on Interstate 894 as part of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s reconstruction and expansion project of I-94 from the Mitchell Interchange to the state border.

The debate is an important one, impacting people's homes and businesses. With much at stake, the debate has become understandably heated. The problem with heated debates, however, is that often times facts get fried.

First and foremost, there is a belief that as a result of this plan, the 27th Street exit will be closed completely. This statement is misleading and fails to tell the whole story.

While it is true that the exit to 27th Street along westbound I-894 for traffic coming from the south will close under current WisDOT plans, all other access to South 27th Street will remain as it does today. As the Small Business Times reported in the BizTimes Real Estate Weekly bulletin, “Southbound traffic coming from the downtown area and eastbound traffic coming from the west would still be able to exit at 27th Street.” Businesses and homes along 27th Street will remain completely accessible to those exits.

This is an important point, because the access points that will remain open to 27th Street are those most heavily traveled. According to information from our city engineer, approximately 16,000 vehicles exit I-894 via S. 27th Street every day, but only 1,500 of those cars – less than 10 percent - utilize the exit that would be closed.

This means the vast majority of vehicles that currently use the 27th Street exit to reach the homes and businesses along this corridor will still be able to under the current plan.

Second, I cannot support a plan that destroys people's homes. The alternate proposal WisDOT considered in an effort to maintain full access at South 27th Street would have required the demolition of ten single-family homes and two 8-unit apartment buildings.

Forcing people from their homes and reducing the city’s property tax base are not alternatives I can support. That is why I have - from day one of this project - urged the state Department of Transportation to design a freeway that not only improves safety and the flow of traffic, but one that avoids the destruction of people's homes.

Which leads to the third and final point: the City of Milwaukee has been engaged throughout this process and has consistently urged WisDOT to produce a plan for 27th Street that is fair to business owners and residents in the area. My commissioner of public works and my city engineer made this point in a letter to WisDOT on Aug. 21, 2007, and in conversations throughout the 27th Street debate. My message has been perfectly clear: keep 27th Street fully open, AND don't destroy people's homes.

Any suggestion that the City of Milwaukee has not fought for this issue is either unfair or uninformed. I understand that when people's businesses and homes are involved, debate can become heated and facts can get fried. But cooler heads must prevail.

As mayor, I will continue to push WisDOT for a plan that keeps all of 27th Street open AND saves people's homes. Those who agree should stand with me.

Tom Barret is the mayor of Milwaukee.

The Social Security and Medicare Trustees this week handed Congress a fresh reminder of its historic opportunity to transform these programs before it's too late.

Congress has known for years that our largest entitlement programs - particularly Social Security and Medicare - simply cannot survive as currently structured. Without reform, these programs will grow themselves right into extinction, thereby eliminating the retirement security and health safety net for the very people they were designed to serve.

Congress knows it must act. If we act now, we have the opportunity to reform these programs in a rational, well-thought-out way. We can make them better, stronger, more responsive, more resilient, more sustainable, and more in line with the way our economy really works. There is no reason to wait; each year of delay increases the likelihood that Congress will be forced to make deep cuts in benefits or raise taxes or debt to unsustainable levels.

The alarm has been sounded - this is the third consecutive Medicare warning. Hitting the snooze button, yet again, is not the right choice. Congress is lucky enough to have yet another major opportunity - in the FY09 Budget Conference Report - to do the right thing.

Americans should demand we take it. Because our actions on this issue, or lack thereof, will have an impact on these critical programs - and our nation's economy - for generations to come.

Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) represents Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District.