Steve ®
Your crude comments are inciteful. It spurs those that worry about the well-being of this tiny planet we all live on to greater action to preserve what is left. You talk like you are a mining nut living on Mars and have no interest in Earth.
You should run for a public office and make that "thousands of jobs" promise, so we can check you out and your "facts" publicly and track your hollow promises with the Steve-o-Meter.
You are trying to "catfish" gullible, low-information rubes into believing your malarky about plenty of wonderful, high paying mining-related jobs just waiting for the legislation, being held up by your "uninformed enviro weenie idiots".

As usual, no substance Dirk. When you can't debate the subject, you resort to personally attack the one schooling you.

@Steve:
I had the chance to talk to quite a few northern locals when I went north during deer hunting last year and not a one of them had a good thing to say about the Democrats killing the mining bill. In other words they were pee'd off. They need jobs in general even the mining jobs.

Yes they do. Their average income is $25,000. They are starving while a blue fisting democrat votes, without any education, they can not have a job. It's sad. Hope you had a good hunt.

Exactly, Steve!

Tiny planet ??? ... Preserve what is left ??? Talk about gullible low-information rubes ... you, sir, should stop accepting every liberal rant and do some homework.

There are abundant resources, and industry has done a marvelous job of incorporating respectful profitable operation with community building. The obvious benefit to inviting industry to our state is the opportunity for utilizing our resources, rather than buying from others - creating job opportunities, instead of handing out unemployment checks - establishing successful private industry, instead of demanding someone else pay our bills.

I'm sure you can find a examples that weren't appropriately implemented, but the vast majority of industry has improved, and continues to be the life blood of the future.

The stonewalling that Steve has consistently pointed out is a problem that needs to be arrested. The fact that we have government bodies that can simply "table", or endlessly delay resolution (see the US Senate as the worst offenders) for future opportunity is a path to austerity.

The Mexicans have already flooded Northern Wisconsin. They work on the Dairy Farms there - the Farmers prefer them over the local whites. They have their families and live in trailers - remember that Dairy farming is a 7 day a week occupation, It has special, low agricultural wage rates, and there is no overtime pay.

I spent some time working on a Dairy Farm close to Fairchild, WI. Rough work - mostly manual. Your regular government slug couldn't handle it. In a small town, in the middle of nowhere was an ethnic Mexican store - for the Mexican laborers that work on the Farms. Lots of illegals, and unlicensed drivers. They work the Dairy Farms of Wisconsin.

You seem to forget that the Native Americans were here first and are still here. This is their land that you are talking about. Born here or not, you are an immigrant and a foreigner. You are also a bigot!

777

Dominic ... they immigrated here as well, check your history.

The current generations should respect where they are, instead of wasting emotion on century old history. As far as reprehensible ancestors ... they can be found in every culture - world wide - ... why restrict your angst in one small area, with one small group?

Is he the joker that wore the 'Recall Walker' T-Shirt to testify before the Senate during the last mining bill debate?

The environmental impact is simple morninmist. You dig a hole, get what ou want, then fill it back in. Has happened all throughout history. You libs are really the bright ones, I see. #wiunions#suck#walkerwinsagain

Tom Fitz

http://images.iverifytherecall.com/images/sw/sw041028.png

Steve - The Tea Party tracks the names and addresses of Walker recall signers, but scream like banshees when gun owners are tracked by a newspaper.
It's a crazy, upside down, hypocritical world you live in.

What newspaper printed all the recall signatures with addresses? Please post a link

@Brian Dey - Your extremely simple view of mining as digging a hole and filling it back in is only surprising because you claim to know a lot about children's education. Complex processes like mining are one reason we educate people in math and the sciences, and hope they also have common sense.
.

@Steve - No need for a newspaper to print a list or map of Walker Recall signers. It has been on the Internet. Some people have strange passtimes, keying all that in, and a lot of free time.
Now, about whether my crazy, alcoholic next door neighbor has an arsenal of assault rifles and an ammo depot in his house, well, that's not anywhere accessible, that's PRIVATE INFORMATION!.

As it should be private info, and is once again in Westchester, County, New York.

Please link the news paper article that published all the names and addresses of the recall signatures or retract your statement about hypocritical worlds.

and this has to do with mining how?....

Still on the guns are bad bandwagon Dirk?

• A 1997 high school shooting in Pearl , Miss. ,
was halted by the school's vice principal
after he retrieved the Colt .45 he kept in his truck.
http://www.davekopel.com/2a/othwr/principal&gun.htm
• A 1998 middle school shooting ended
when a man living next door heard gunfire
and apprehended the shooter with his shotgun.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Middle_School_dance_shooting

• A 2002 terrorist attack at an Israeli school
was quickly stopped by an armed teacher
and a school guard.
http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Terrorist_attacks_against_Israelis_in_2002/

• A 2002 law school shooting in Grundy , Va. ,
came to an abrupt conclusion when students
carrying firearms confronted the shooter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_School_of_Law_shooting

• A 2007 mall shooting in Ogden , Utah , ended
when an armed off-duty police officer intervened.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_Square_shooting

• A 2009 workplace shooting in Houston , Texas ,
was halted by two coworkers who carried concealed handguns.

• A 2012 church shooting in Aurora , Colo. ,
was stopped by a member of the congregation
carrying a gun.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/24/suspect-in-colo-church-sh_n_1450313.html
• At the recent mall shooting in Portland , Ore. ,
the gunman took his own life minutes
after being confronted by a shopper
carrying a concealed weapon.

@Steve - You are getting confused. I said that no newspaper printed the Walker Recall Petition signers list because it is already on the Internet. Newspapers, as you should know as you claim to be a big time "job creator" and all that, ha ha, are a business. They compete with the Internet, and they go out of business easily these days. Publishing hundreds of thousands of names would take a lot of expense and risk, and the people that would be interested in that section of the newspaper that day are obviously not the type that do much newspaper reading, and newspapers therefore do not cater to them..
And you do have a short attention span. YOU brought the link to the Walker Recall list into the blog in trying to demean Dr. Tom Fitz as a signer. To many, those signing earn a badge of courage and conviction, even as you sniggle and scoff anonymously.
...

@Brian Dey....There is much more involved than what you describe.

Lyle - please respond to the second photo posted. Thanks.

Excellent point!

I invite opportunities in my backyard, if that is where they exist. It means growth and revenue ... we could use it.

They delay was due to the dems spiting Walker. The bill does not approve a mine, any mine. It changes why Wisconsin has zero taconite mines despite rich deposits.

Safe hydraulic fragmentation has nothing to do with a taconite mine.

No Steve, there were multiple constituencies raising concerns. As they should. After all, it's their backyard--and ours--that this is being proposed for. Have you considered that another reason for the dearth of taconite mines could be the soil content issue? Instead of blundering in and creating an environmental mess (and remember, Wisconsin isn't the mining company's "back yard), why not figure out how to get what's needed without environmental damage?

Concerning the Dallas fracking earthquake issue, I was responding to Brian Dey's "dig a hole, fill a hole" statement.

"without environmental damage" is kind of a problem. At some point you will have to accept environmental damage. There is environmental damage for nearly everything that we do, the question is how much and where it is acceptable. We are told to think globally until NIMBY comes up. How much "environmental damage" is there from a substance mined elsewhere and shipped here? The shipping alone may net more damage than the production here.

The death of taconite mining in Wisconsin is because we do not have deadlines to the exploration holes, and environmental studies. In Minnesota they have a 2 year deadline, then a decision has to be made. This is what the current bill is trying to change. You can harp about the "soil" content for years when this bill passes and the studies begin. That is if inventors are even interested anymore.

The rock is the same as in Minnesota and Michigan. It's only miles away.

Drilling for natural gas couldn't be farther from taconite mining.

Greg, I don't disagree that environmental impact is a complex issue. Consider how South Korea's air quality is impacted by China: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/south-korea/130117/south-korea-toxic-smog-china-has-increased-pol

The issue of the mine, in my view, had more to do with the need to understand what the actual situation is in the proposed region. The maneuvering to get the bill passed without a clear picture should have been a warning sign to any reasonable person.

Greg and Steve, remember that we did not lose thousands of jobs. The number of estimated permanent jobs was under 1,000 and there were no guarantees on paper (that I could find at least) that local workers were going to be recruited first for those jobs. The mining company's leadership (including adminstration and IT) team were all from out of state. It's quite likely that the temporary jobs could have been contracted to out-of-state companies and workers with equipment and expertise in hand.

Steve, yes, there is similar mineral composition across Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. But it is not identical.

As I've written before I'm not against mining. I am also for above-board, honest procedures. And I am also for language in the mining contract that ensures that a reasonable percentage of jobs provided are fulfilled by Wisconsin workers.

Yes basically identical, but the boogie man will always be in the closet.

You continue, and will continue failing to understand how a mine creates jobs OUTSIDE the mine. Thousands Bren. It's not rocket science.

"hopeful that this time around, things will be conducted in an open, forthright manner." Should we do this in a Rockford, IL. hotel?

Bren, where was your concern about beening open and forth-righty when the Democrats fled the state, the last Doyle budget was rammed through in the middle of the night without any hearing, and for that matter changing the Senate rules so ObamaCare couldn't be fillibustered? Not very forth-righty!

The Walker admin along with WI legislatiors continues to sell its vision of Wisconsin based on its merits, including mining. Only in your world are days of comment seen as not being open.

Bren:

What makes you think that the mine would recruit people from outside the state to fill the jobs that the mine creates? Is it really that advantageous for the mine to pay for moving expenses and such to bring in out of state workers if there are plenty of local people able and willing to do the work?

Secondly, even if they do bring in out of state people to fill all of the new jobs, isn't there still going to be an increase in economic activity (and more jobs created) as those workers join the local economy and start spending their paychecks at local businesses?

I think quotas that require an employer to hire 'x number' of a target demographic are generally a bad idea, particularly in the private sector.

Cow dung

Republicans did not like it when Pelosi said lets pass the bill and we will see what is in it.
Now the show is on the other foot. The mining company will let us know its plans after the bill is passed.

http://www.postcrescent.com/viewart/20130124/APC010401/301240285/State-GOP-begins-mining-bill-push-hearing-story-photos-

........Democrats on the committees peppered Seitz and Gogebic Taconite President Bill Williams with multiple what-if scenarios, asking whether the company is really committed to the project, whether it would hire Wisconsin workers when hundreds of experienced miners are out of work around the country and what the company would do if iron prices plummet and the mine is no longer viable.
Seitz promised work would begin as soon as Walker signs the bill. He promised to release thousands of pages detailing the company’s plans after the bill becomes law.
..........

46 am on Friday, January 25, 2013

Bren:

What makes you think that the mine would recruit people from outside the state to fill the jobs that the mine creates?
...

Do you not understand the difference between what Pelosi said and what you are claiming that the mine is saying? We know exactly what it is the mining bill, we don't have to pass it to see what is in it.

This legislation is not for a mine, it's for any mine. These "what-if scenarios" are irrelevant. The specifics of any one mine should be ironed out during the application/approval process.

Greg gets it. Greg must like success. I approve Greg for a mine.

I am not against the mine. I and others want protections for the land and for our health. Simple as that.

.............

Tansandy

6:58 am on Friday, January 25, 2013

I find it totally amazing that the liberals here against the mine,

Exactly. Obama's bluff is about to be called as Nebraska's gov. just approved a new route for the pipeline. One that does not go through what Obama said was his reason to deny all those jobs.

But I suspect he will continue his us vs them approach and keep us all unemployed.

On the Keystone issue: It is more than President Obama. The Dakota/Lakota/Nakota People have spoken with one voice: NOT ON OUR LAND! If Keystone gets passed the line will have to go completely around all reservations. So it's not just the President. The People have spoken, too. And this must be honoured.

A conquered people have no voice in this issue, it's Obama, all Obama.

http://images.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/05/natural-gas-pipeline-map.gif
http://www.pipeline101.com/overview/images/ProductsMap.gif
http://www.propublica.org/images/ngen/gypsy_big_image/pipeline_line_map-630x420.gif

Wasteland? they dump raw sewage in lake michigan on a regular basis...give me a break. You are talking about a problem that doesnt exist over one that actually does.

The TeaGOP is a the party of ruin!

..............
@mostawesomeblog

HOUSE GOP: 46 Abortion Bills, 113 Religion Bills, 73 Family

A death threat, good job. The ingins apparently stand in the way of progress here. Maybe a casino will buy them some support.

Bringing non-indian casinos to Wisconsin is a great idea. They would pay taxes and support many families. Casinos must be better than a mine, from some of the comments above, nothing could be worse. One call and Harrah's would be building the finest casino in the Midwest.

Takes a lot of iron and other resources mined out of the earth to build a casino. We can't afford that environmental damage right now.