Only days after the GOP shut down the government as a demonstration of defending the local rights of constituents, Wisconsin law makers are defending mining interests by abolishing local rights. You can't have it both ways.
The GOP evokes the 10th Amendment as a siren warning before a cyclone when it comes to Wisconsin's right to abandon Obamacare, limit health options for women, or deny gay partners a fair state tax status.
Local Rights a doctrine and a strategy
A doctrine and strategy in which the rights of the individual states are protected by the U.S. Constitution from interference by the federal government
The Tenth Amendment was added to the Constitution as part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment stipulates that "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." This amendment became the constitutional foundation for those who wish to promote the rights and powers of the states vis-à-vis the federal government.
Ok. Senator Tiffany (pictured right) so you can deprive thousands of Wisconsin citizens of heath care, limit the options for women's health, and legislate gay partners as second class citizens - but you cannot use the "local government" argument by which you
impose the power of state on one hand, and then deny the power of local government when it becomes inconvenient for political donors like mining interests.
We the people were just held hostage through a government shut down based on members of the house honoring the local interests of constituents. This was just ten days ago. Now, you are standing up to say that the rights of local constituents should be abandoned in favor of the interests of the state as a whole? Um...I think this is the wrong argument at the wrong time. We just heard the self righteous defense of local rights played out as justification for the shut down, now you want to pretend that local rights are only important on the national level, but on the state level....not so much?
It seems local rights are local rights. The concept of voice of "we the people" does not change at the whim of political interests. You are standing on ground as thin and threatened as the sand in Northwest Wisconsin.
By Patrick Marley and Lee Bergquist of the Journal Sentinel Oct. 17, 2013
GOP bill would limit local regulation of sand mines
Madison — Republican lawmakers want to rein in the powers of local governments to impose restrictions on the burgeoning sand mining industry.
A proposed bill would prohibit counties and other local governments from placing limits on more than 100 sand mines that have popped up since 2010. The projects are normally the province of the state Department of Natural Resources.
The bill by Ballweg and Sen. Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst) would specify that local governments could regulate sand mines by zoning, but not other means.
Hands off Independence - My home town
Where, oh where is all this get-rich-quick Wisconsin sand going? It is off to bigger, better, and more ominous sites for an unknown future.
The symbolic crushing of Independence - corporate take over of a small town - speaks to all that is America.
Proposed annexation (land grab) of 622,797 acres
That is about 10 square miles or about half the area of the city of La Crosse, Wisconsin.
The blue grid shows the Independence land grab
The red grid shows the Whitehall land grab
The purple grid shows the rail corridor
Notice how the Trempealeau River is the
black blotch on the map, and is barely visible.
Notice how the red grid and the blue grid meet in the center of the track bed of the Green Bay and Western Railroad
Why is the map formatted in this way?
Because it is not really a map at all, it is a target for takeover. It marks the bulls-eye for the arrow of a bully. It minimizes and erases the people, places, and things that have grown and developed in and around the mine's Machiavellian master plan for hundreds of years. This is my home town.
There is a beautifully restored City Hall in Independence, and I can remember when my Dad, Len Kern, was on the City Council in the 1960's when weeks of planning and debate preceded the draining and dredging of Bugle Lake or the construction of a new sewer system along with the reconstruction of the main street.
Months of campaigning and debate proceeded a shift in school district boundaries, or the long anticipated construction of the new high school. All of these projects combined would would not effect the lives of the community so much as a ripple in the sand when compared to the double annexation of 622,797 acres for a $80 million project for Crush. Yet, they expect it to happen with the strike of a pen, in just a few weeks? Who do they think they are? What is the rush? The sand has been beneath the fertile fields of Lincoln Township for thousands of years, and it must come out in just a few weeks? It just doesn't make any sense.
The tactics are wrong for "Independence"
Another double meaning. The "Crush" tactics are wrong for any independent community and for the City of Independence. Years of discussion, fund raising, and volunteer work preceded the restoration of the Independence City Hall.
For nearly a hundred years, the clock tower standing proudly at the top of the Independence City Hall has kept its faithful vigil. But, the tower and the building are more than just a structure from the past. Since 1903, when the unique building was completed, it has been a proud landmark for the small city of Independence. The Wisconsin State Historical Society has called it "The most visible outstanding government building in Trempealeau County".
In 1997, the City and The Friends of City Hall, with pride and determination, made a commitment to restore this historical landmark and coax it back to its once genteel days. Volunteers have raised tens of thousands of dollars and donated countless hours to help restore the historic landmark.Independence City Hall
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If "Crush" intends to manipulate the long established democratic government in order to push and bully there mining operation into the heart of the countryside surrounding Independence, Wisconsin, I don't think the company really understands the people who live and work there - and that is not the least bit surprising.
The video below will talk about the concerns of off-loading proppants, just like the Hi Crush proppants that will be manufactured between Whitehall and Independence and on-loaded to train cars. The concerns of the off-loading are the very same for on-loading and manufacturing of proppants from Trempealeau County's silica sand. Who will be responsible for all of the possible health problems in the future? Hi Crush? Independence? Whitehall? This is the reason why the Trempealeau County Board imposed a one year moratorium to examine the possible health effects of the Hi Crush operation. What is the rush?
As you observe the residue of silica sand on the railroad beds in the video, keep in mind that the images depict the scene in your back yard, on the Green Bay and Western railroad bed between Independence and Whitehall, if the Hi Crush annexation is adopted.