ELECTION DAY

A DAMP, GRAY ELECTION DAY

Tuesday, 8:30 AM.  42 degrees F. Wind WNW, somewhat blustery, with moderate gusts.  The sky is overcast, and the humidity 70%, after a bit of rain last night.  The barometer, however, is now on the rise, and it should be a better day tomorrow,
   We had an extremely busy day yesterday in Ashland, with little to report for the Almanac, except that the southern Chequamegon Bay was windless and the water smooth as glass.  There are still many flocks of Canada geese migrating through, and we recently saw a pair of tundra swans, the only ones we have seen on the Bay this fall, although I suspect there have been more that have stopped in their migration south.  Sometimes we do not see many swans in the fall,  as they evidently ride weather fronts south and don't stop at all, whereas we see many in the spring, which is evidently a more leisurely trip.
   There are no specific state and local environmental issues on our ballot, so I won't make many political statements except to say that in general I support conservative candidates that will reign in the growth of all government, including environmental agencies and their over-reaching policies and regulations, many of which have gotten so far away from practical conservation and so radical in their opposition to private property rights, and so inflammatory, that they have engendered a backlash that will eventually foster a real anti-environment revolt, and I fear that many of the positive gains of the last several decades may be lost;  and that would be very unfortunate for legitimate environmental progress.
   The race for Governor has been very tight, but I think Republican Governor Scott Walker will narrowly defeat his Democratic opponent, Mary Burke.  Wisconsin's massive debt has been pretty well eliminated in Walker's first term, unemployment is down, job creation is up and some inroads have been made against the ingrained anti-business elements and attitudes in the state.
   Unfortunately, the attitude of a great many Wisconsinites is, and has been for generations, "I hate the wealthy, capitalism and business. Gee, I wonder why nobody will hire me."   I guess you could say its a chicken and egg thing.
 Walker spent the first two years of his administration fighting to survive a vicious recall effort that created havoc and allowed the incumbent to do little else but fight for his political life.  I hope he is given another term to restore the state to some semblance of economic and governmental sanity; if he looses, we will go further down the debt tube, and state agencies will be free to run wild again.