This Just In ...

Friday night on InterCHANGE

Posted by Kevin Fischer on Sept. 2, 2010 | 0 comments

Here are the topics the panel discusses Friday night at 6:30 on InterCHANGE on Milwaukee Public Television with a repeat Sunday morning at 11:00:

1 – Iraq.

President Obama declares an end to the War in Iraq.  Though fifty-thousand troops will remain behind to assist Iraq in the transition, their role will not be combat related.  After seven years, is it about time?  Will Iraq fail in the attempt to establish somewhat of a democracy there?  Should we stay there for another few years?  The morning after the Obama speech, where he also said it was time to turn our attention to the American economy, the stock market shot up.  Is this exactly the news the American people wanted?  Is Obama keeping his word by ending this war now, on his timetable?  Is it wise for him to taker the same approach in Afghanistan, where a hoped for next summer draw down of troops will take place after a troop surge?   Is Obama a capable Commander-in-Chief?


2 – $1 Houses. 

What do you think about the proposal approved by the Milwaukee Common Council to give vacant foreclosed homes in Milwaukee to those folks whose homes had to be raised following the terrible flooding here this summer?  Would it be best for the neighborhoods and the city to have those homes occupied?  Do we have a responsibility to folks who lost their homes to flooding through no fault of their own?  Folks who didn’t have “flood insurance?”  Should we simply let capitalism determine how the marketplace will operate, and sell the homes for whatever they command?  Are we supporting the ongoing development of an entitlement mentality if we give these people new homes for just a dollar?  If they can’t afford to buy the foreclosed homes, will they ever be able to afford to bring them up to code and take care of them?  Or, is it a brilliant idea to keep neighborhoods stable, and to at least bring some property tax dollars in from these properties?


3 – RETIRED COPS & GUNS.

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn will request from the Fire & Police Commission tonight approval to let retired MPD cops carry guns.  Hundreds of retired cops would be eligible.  Though Wisconsin is one of two states that ban the carrying of concealed weapons, those bans are overridden by a federal law which allows police agencies to certify retired officers to carry guns.  Good idea or bad idea?


4 – Strip Club.

A new “Gentlemen’s Club” is proposed for Old World Third Street, and another for the Walkers Point area.  Does Milwaukee need a big expensive strip joint downtown?  Would it help attract conventions? Would it help the downtown night businesses?  Would it hurt the image of downtown? Would it make Milwaukee look more like a big city?