Comparisons have been made to GOP Presidents who made speeches to schoolchildren, but what the wild reaction made me think of is my own reaction to the news that then-President Reagan had been shot. I was liberal even then, and it would have been hard to find an action or opinion of Reagan’s with which I agreed. But I was upset by the shooting and would have been horrified if he had died: he was, after all, the President of the United States.

But the immediate conspiracy theories — and the willingness of conservative parents to keep their kids out of school rather than risk their being exposed to ideas they (the parents) disagree with — are the final proof that conservatives will never accept Obama as a legitimate President. (That doesn’t mean they’re all “Birthers” — that’s just one concrete way of delegitimizing Obama.) I don’t think it’s just about race, though it would be hard to deny that’s a contributing factor. For whatever reason, they reject him: he’s not their President, and I dare say a fair number of them would celebrate if he were assassinated. I realize that’s a terrible thing to say, but scan the righty blogs and I think you’ll agree.

The hazards of judges' campaigns being funded by interest groups and of the politicization of decisions as an election approaches are obvious. I'm also concerned about the problem of low information in judicial elections, where even in a high-profile contest voters may make their decision based simply on whether a candidate is labeled "liberal" or "conservative," which can be a simplistic and misleading way to sum up a judge's record.

Of course, appointive systems present their own problems, some of which are laid out articulately in the article's comments.

Some local conservatives have alleged that the advocates of ending judicial elections are expressing sour grapes over Butler's defeat, or, more perniciously, that we are elitists who don't trust "the people" to make sound decisions. But democracy, like capitalism, only functions smoothly and well when all parties are fully informed. That's why most of us are at a disadvantage when we take our cars to the shop, or ourselves to the doctor: we are not expert enough to evaluate the recommendation, and it comes down to trusting the mechanic or physician.

Similarly, most people — and before you cry "elitist," I include myself — simply don't have the knowledge to evaluate and compare prospective judges' records and qualifications. As voters, we end up trusting TV commercials or local pundits, who may have their own agendas.

It may be that in choosing judges, as in choosing other government officials, democracy is the worst system except for all the others. But I'd like to see a serious, non-partisan consideration of whether Wisconsin's judges should be appointed, and if so, what system might strike the best balance between expertise and accountability.

I would also like a magical sparkle pony.

The City of Milwaukee is being forced to pay $474,970.24 in pay and fringe benefits for the three officers convicted even though they were fired.

How did this happen?

Republican politicians. Damn lying politicians. Sucking up, anti-Milwaukee, campaign finance hungry, greedy, slimy Republican politicians.

The GOP went over the top crazy when Tommy Thompson ran the show in Wisconsin. The State Senate, State Assembly and the Governors mansion were all held by Republicans and when it came to Milwaukee, they were itching for a way to screw the citizens of the largest city in the state — Milwaukee. And they did. Boy did they. If someone was against the city of Milwaukee, the GOP was for them. It was a case where the Milwaukee Police Association asked for many benefits and since the city said no, the MPA decided to go over their heads and to these state Republican politicians who were happy to stick it to Milwaukee.

They lined up at the trough. Republicans from all parts of the state got PAC money from the MPA because they handed over their votes for campaign cash. The MPA got the legislation they wanted through. It’s a bit ironic that it is Republicans who usually complain about unions when it was those same Republicans who were benefiting from the MPA (union) dollars.

It’s time to reform the system. It’s time to strip away the benefit that forces the City of Milwaukee to continue to pay benefits even when officers have been fired and are awaiting trial on felony charges. If the are acquitted, they should not be penalized. After all, it is only fair that police officers receive the same protection that all citizens are given. At the same time, it is only fair that the city not be penalized by continuing to pay for scofflaws within their own ranks.

Barrett is right. Once an officer is fired, their pay and their benefits should cease.

Yes, he was the Governor in Wisconsin at the time welfare reform was first talked about but it seems that very few people have their facts straight on this one. Welfare reform was not Tommy Thompson’s baby — it was Shirley Krug‘s.

Krug, a former State Assembly Representative from the Northwest side, created Wisconsin Works — a welfare reform program complete with safety nets. Essentially, all Thompson did was remove the social safety nets and change the name and he wasn’t even creative with that.

Krug’s Wisconsin Works became Thompson’s W-2.

But let’s look at the results of W-2.

Yes, there are fewer people on welfare but visits to food pantries have skyrocketed. The first year of W-2 alone saw a near doubling of visits to food pantries, and a big increase in women with children in homeless shelters such as Hope House and the Rescue Mission.

Under W-2 reform, more children went without meals. For the first time in recent history, hunger became a major problem in Wisconsin and it continues to be. The Huner Task Force has in recent years called hunger in Milwaukee a crisis. Meanwhile, Wisconsin continues to throw up roadblocks to those that want to apply for foodstamps (now called the Questcard).

This is the legacy of Thompson. Increased poverty and hunger followed Thompson’s stripped down “reform.” Had Thompson gone with Krug’s Wisconsin Works plan as she had it written prior to his hatchet job, she would have certainly backed down and let him take the credit.

The upcoming elections for the Congress, the governorships and state Legislatures are all about whether you stand with or against a rubberstamp Republican Party which has stood behind every misstep, every lie and every cover-up that the Bush Administration and the Republican congress have foisted upon the American public.

Republican leadership has rubberstamped Bush policies across-the-board, favoring the wealthy and the corporations while destroying the middle class.  Republicans have given tax breaks to corporations that outsource millions of jobs overseas while destroying entire industries here at home.  Republicans have given tax breaks to corporations that off-shore their headquarters overseas so that they don’t have to pay corporate taxes, putting even more tax burden on the middle class.

Republicans have given a free pass for a failed policy to Bush and Rumsfeld to continue a war in Iraq with no strategy.  Republicans have allowed the complete lack of accounting for the out of control spending in Iraq which gives Bush loyalists huge profits for “services” provided:

• From construction projects which supposedly rebuilt Iraqi schools for millions of dollars but in the end only provided tens of thousands of dollars for the actual construction after middlemen shaved off their profits;
• to “support” infrastructures which were supposed to replace military specialists, at a huge increase in costs, but ended up in disastrous shortages of water, munitions and replacement parts for vital equipment for our fighting men and women on the front lines;
• to the “cost cutting measures” which cut pay for our front line combat military in order to pay for defective body armor (which Rep. James Sensenbrenner supported by claiming that our military could get one or the other but not both);
• to giving Halliburton and Kellogg, Brown and Root hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments to provide not meals for our troops, but only “the capacity to provide the meals” that they didn’t provide, and rotten meat and unsafe, contaminated, and unfiltered water to our troops when they did provide it.

The Republican Congress has denied increasing the minimum wage for nine years, while approving wage increases for themselves over that same period.  It has repeatedly denied affordable healthcare for all Americans while receiving the best healthcare available, at no cost to them, but paid for by taxpayers.  Republicans have cut education assistance programs across the board, denying college to hundreds of thousands of students who have shown academic ability, but weren’t fortunate enough to have been born into wealth.

Republicans have talked about their conservative values and morals and wooed the conservative right wing Christians for their votes while ridiculing them privately.

Republicans have talked about how they have pushed for legislation that puts sexual predators in jail, yet put Mark Foley into a position where he was actually their lead man as Chair of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, even as Republican leaders knew about Foley’s sexual advances towards underage male congressional pages for at least three years. The Washington Post reports that Republican Rep. Jim Kolbe knew about the emails six years ago.  Republicans leaders did nothing about it except to cover it up.  Rep. Sensenbrenner has refused to respond to requests to divulge what he knew about Foley’s behavior and when he knew it.

In typical Sensenbrenner fashion, when asked to comment on the Foley scandal, Sensenbrenner blamed the page system rather than Foley.  Whatever happened to individual and adult responsibility?  Ironically, the sex crime legislation that Foley pushed through makes internet solicitation for sex a felony. 

President Bush actually waived legal sanctions against Saudi Arabia under the sex trade legislation that Rep. Sensenbrenner touts.  In September 2005, Reuters reported that President Bush issued a Presidential Determination as a memorandum to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice waiving sanctions against Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Ecuador – countries that the United States had earlier criticized as among the world’s worst offenders in human trafficking.

Representative Sensenbrenner’s positions on promoting punitive legislation against illegal immigrants are hinged on actions against minorities. The fence that is supposed to protect us against terrorists is scheduled to be built on the border with Mexico, even though the 9/11 terrorists who entered this country came in through Canada.

And while he takes a public punitive position against the minority immigrants and their “21st century slave master employers” as he calls them, he benefits financially from his investments in the very companies that employ illegal aliens for their cheap labor, particularly Halliburton which enjoys no bid defense contracts and Darden, which owns the Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants.  In wholly disgraceful practice, Halliburton employed hundreds of illegal aliens as part of their contract to rebuild New Orleans.

And where has the Republican leadership been in insuring that the Bush White House is following the law?  During the Clinton Administration, there were over 200 investigations by Republican congressional leadership into White House policies. During the Bush Administration, there have been exactly ZERO.

And even if a Republican politician might have the backbone to privately disagree with Bush’s policies, they are strongarmed in the back rooms to vote for them, or are denied financial backing for future campaigns.  The stench of Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay’s illegal campaign contributions funneled from what were supposedly children’s charities, blanket the Republican Party across the board.

• Randy “Duke” Cunningham accepted $2.4 million in bribes from Defense Contractors and then used his influence while serving on the powerful defense appropriations subcommittee that approves Defense Department contracts to manipulate those Defense Department contracts on behalf of his “donors”.
• In Ohio, evidence of voter disenfranchisement and thefts of public money going to Republican loyalists is still being uncovered.
• Republican Bob Ney, who was convicted on October 13, 2006 on corruption charges related to the Jack Abramoff influence peddling scandals has yet to resign from office, in spite of his attorney’s statement that Ney was “going to resign from office in the coming weeks” several weeks ago when Ney pled guilty.  The Republican leadership has sworn to remove Ney from office immediately … That is, once they reconvene in November, AFTER the elections.  In the meantime, Ney continues to collect on his $165,100 salary and will be eligible to collect 20% of his salary as a pension when he turns 62.

(Ney is the eighth person convicted in the Abramoff influence peddling scandals, including a former Ney staffer, Neil Volz, whom Ney admitted encouraging to violate the one year ban against lobbying by former staffers. Ney accepted a stream of valuable things from Abramoff and the lobbyists he hired from Capitol Hill, among them Volz.  The gifts included luxury vacations that prosecutors valued at more than $170,000. Ney, for his part, sought to insert four amendments into a 2002 election overhaul bill to benefit Abramoff's clients.  He also admitted helping another client win a multimillion-dollar contract to provide wireless communication services to the U.S. Capitol.  The congressman admitted that he twice inserted comments in the Congressional Record aimed at bolstering a bid by Abramoff to buy a casino cruise line in Florida in 2000. Earlier this year, Ney's committee passed ethics legislation to strip convicted lawmakers of their pensions, but the bill died in the Republican controlled House.  Ney championed the provision, saying it was designed to hold "members of Congress and those they work with to the highest standards in order to ensure that those who abuse the public trust will be dealt with accordingly." While Ney faces up to 10 years in prison, the government has recommended only 27 months in prison.)

• Diebold (the company which makes a large portion of the voting machines that our votes are "counted" on) CEO Wally O’Dell — who promised that his voting machines would deliver Ohio to President Bush in the 2004 elections — died before he could be investigated and convicted, just as Kenneth “Kenny Boy” Lay, who was the top fund raiser for President Bush and the founder of Enron, also a key player in the secret Cheney Energy Policy meetings, died before he could be tried for his crimes in defrauding workers and investors in Enron.  Jeffrey Skilling, Enron's CEO, recently received a 24-year sentence.

So where is the righteous indignation from rank and file Republicans against all of these immoral crimes by their Republican leadership?  Why do they still support Bush and other politicians who allow Bush’s policies to continue to drag the county down?

Perhaps it is because they benefit financially by his policies.  Perhaps it is because they are so totally disconnected from reality that they have no idea that all of these things are going on.  Perhaps it is because they truly believe that their own representatives couldn’t be responsible for all the nation’s problems, while all the other guys are.

Whatever their excuses, the reality is that the Republican Party has been taken over by extremists who have no need for and no interest in ideas or policies other than their own, in spite of repeated failures.  The “representation” that you vote for when voting for Republicans is nothing more than a rubberstamp for Bush’s failed policies.

John Gard is attempting to take over the 8th Congressional seat that Mark Green is leaving in his bid for governor, and both of them have received substantial campaign contributions and appearances from Bush or Cheney for fundraisers. But even those who try to distance themselves from Bush’s policies today while on the campaign trail, have long been supportive of those policies and will continue to be so if they are re-elected.  If Green is elected, you can say goodbye to fair elections in Wisconsin. 

And Rep. Sensenbrenner, who claimed that President Bush “just doesn’t get it” when referring to Bush’s stance on immigration policy, and claims that he is at odds with President Bush on a number of issues, nonetheless repeatedly takes opportunities to stand behind President Bush during signing ceremonies.

Some professional conservative pundits would have you belive that Republicans like Sensenbrenner are merely being “conservative" and that their actions are somehow being misconstrued, while conservative backers “know the real Sensenbrenner.”  But that is precisely the point. Republican politicians are just being conservatives.  No compassion about them.  They consider themselves above the law and even above reproach. And that is why they need to be removed from office.

So before you vote November 7th, ask yourself, “What are my values and are they in line with Bush’s?”  If they are not, why continue to vote for another rubberstamp for Bush?

The poll, conducted for OWN by Abacus Associates, a national survey research firm, asked 718 likely Wisconsin voters to list the top two issues demanding action from government. Nearly half (45%) ranked health care as number one or two, with health care the top priority for most.

The poll found taxes to be the second-most cited concern (34%), followed by the economy and jobs (34%) and education (31%).

“Health Care reform is on the ballot this November,” said OWN Director John Kraus in a press release. “This survey of public opinion shows that health care reform is a top priority for voters, and they want it to be a top priority for state government.”

But do the campaigns get it? The OWN poll found that more than half of likely voters (53%) are "dissatisfied" with how much they are hearing in these elections about health care reform. Only 35% said they thought they had "the right amount" of information.

Wisconsin health care costs have hyper-inflated 75 percent since 2000, making the state one of the most expensive in the nation to buy health insurance. Yet the race for governor has focused on sleaze and scandal — fair play in campaign funding, corruption, pay-to-play contracting and special interests. This week, jobs and the economy took center stage.

Rather than blame the campaigns, OWN pins the responsibility on the media.

“When a majority of voters say that their top issue has received too little attention, it brings into question the media’s focus and coverage of the election,” Kraus said.

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is also criticizing state TV news and its vaccum of political coverage even as news programming is framed by negative political ads. Media, in turn, blames the mudslinging machines set to full throttle by the campaigns.

OWN's health care/blame-the-media press release was largely ignored by media Tuesday (Journal Sentinel posted a brief on its All Politics Watch minus the blame angle). When OWN repackaged its media release the next day to reveal that their poll put Doyle in front of Green 47% to 41%, they fared no better in Milwaukee. Another All Politics brief.

On the streets today, the Journal Sentinel main does feature a story on polling, but talks about the new Wisconsin Public Radio/St. Norbert's College poll, which puts Doyle up 51% – 38%. That poll is contrasted with the Wall Street Journal/Zogby online poll, which has Doyle in the lead 47.4% – 45.6%. There is no mention of the OWN poll.

One Wisconsin Now is a relatively new organization, formed in the last year to rebuild Wisconsin's progressive traditions, its mission to help connect the state's progressive nonprofit groups and their goals to issues and policy, to candidates and the voting public. OWN's conclusion on media may be misguided, but in its first major poll, they've proven much more compelling than the usual polling suspects that media turns to: the notoriously Left Public Radio/St. Norbert's or the notoriously Right Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI). OWN's polling is scientific, comprehensive and well worth a look.

Did you know that voters in the Milwaukee media market are much tougher on Gov. Jim Doyle than voters in markets in the rest of the state (jobs and the economy and media)? Or that nearly 60 percent of undecided voters in the state think health care is receiving short shrift in the governor's race?

Interesting stuff. And, with election day less than three weeks away, a potential wake up call for the Doyle and Green campaigns.

It's a slippery slope but the Pharmacist Protection Bill that State Senator Tom Reynolds authored allows Pharmacists who disagree with a womans right to receive prescriptions the ability to deny dispensing them. The pharmacist would be protected by the law and there could be no ramifications against the pharmacist. Evangelicals want their morals to become integrated with the laws of our land. When that happens, we dishonor our founding fathers who intentionally wrote the separations of church and state into our constitution.

Another kooky turn with this issue is that it is GOP flack and Reynolds apologist Bob Dohnal will benefit from this bill.  In all likelihood it was pharmacist Dohnal who requested the bill.  Dohnal clearly has problems with being a pharmacist required to pass out prescription drugs which a doctor prescribes if Dohnal doesn't agree with the intended use of the prescription.  

But it wasn’t Walker who promised fiscal restraint and it wasn’t Walker who promised to only use the sales tax for infrastructure. Therefore, he didn’t feel compelled to adhere to the promise.

I’m hardly an apologist for Walker and you won’t see me showing up at any fundraising events for Lil’ Scooter, but the fact is that he pulled one over on the public and he got ya good.

Yep, you’ve been punked.

You can’t say we didn’t warn you but now there’s more important things to consider, like the proposal to increase the sales tax again.

Whatever the promise that comes along with it, the terms of that promise can change — just look at what happened with the 1/2 cent. Maybe next time it won’t be Walker who is snatching away the revenues for a full cent addition to the sales tax. Regardless of who it is, the additional funds could be siphoned off just as easily as these were.

But Walker didn’t work alone. Let’s just be honest and spread the blame out where it belongs — with the State Legislature and with Governor Jim Doyle. Now the legislature is a place you would expect to butter up to Walker. After all, many of his partisan pals in the Republican controlled legislature thought their golden boy may have been the next governor and they would want him to be able to reduce taxes in the County he runs before an election (even if it was just done with borrowed funds), but why would Doyle not pull out his veto pen? Why would he have given Walker an easy way out? We don’t know.

One thing is definate — the promise to use an additional sales tax for cultural or quality of life spending could easily be changed just like the last promise for a 1/2 cent sales tax for infrastructure and capital improvements was changed to allow Walker to use those funds at his discretion.

In short, it’s just bad policy. This doesn’t even begin to touch upon the problems that the sales tax in and of itself is a regressive tax and snatches away a disproportionately higher percentage of income from the poor than does the income tax — a tax Counties don’t even have the ability to levy.

If anything, before we give more money to the County who has been resistant to raising the one tax it does have control over, we should eliminate counties all together. Duties of the counties could be divided between cities/towns and the state. Many European countries haven’t had counties for hundreds of years and they’re doing just fine. But if you’re going to keep counties, reduce the politics and power plays that go on by eliminating the position of County Exec. Most of Wisconsin’s 72 counties don’t have one so why are they necessary? Even Milwaukee County’s neighbor to the north, Ozaukee County just has a County Board and a hired County Administrator.

Counties first came into play when towns and cities were weak and communication was poor. Now we’ve got telephones, cell phones, pagers and fax machines. The borders of counties were drawn so that any County Supervisor could make it to the County Board meetings with just a one day ride by horse. With paved roads and the superhighways we have now in Wisconsin, one could easily make it from Kenosha to Superior in less than a day. So why do we need counties again?

This is not to say that there is not a current role for counties. If they are going to be part of our political landscape in Wisconsin they should be run and funded appropriately. Removing the County Exec position is just the beginning to de-politicizing Counties. As now-generations of County officials have been saying for years, it’s time to eliminate state madates and for the state to take over the court system.

But let’s not pretend that the bandaid approach to governing (via more sales tax) is going to solve an overly politicized fiscal crisis. The financial wounds that Milwaukee County has suffered from 4 years of Scott Walker are deeper than anything a once cent sales tax Band-Aid will fix. The answers we as the public have a right to know about the fiscal health of Wisconsin’s most populous county may not be known until they put together their budget for this year, and possibly the year after.

###

By the way, if we had an Air America affiliate in Milwaukee with a host who was educated on how our local governments run here, the public would be better informed.

Northfield, MN — Over the weekend, the Watchdog faithful were treated to a rousing Democratic convention in LaCrosse, brought to you live via intrepid blogging by Watchdog Publisher Jim McGuigan. Unveiled at the convention was a statewide platform to make Wisconsin work for working families, and commitments from the governor on health care and K-12 and UW-System education.

Viewed from the Minnesota side of the river, from a sunny chair on a backporch in Northfield, the state of Wisconsin politics in election year 2006 — and the fate of Gov. Jim Doyle — comes into focus with a look back to 2004: Heading into campaign season, Doyle is talking tough, and standing more like populist Russ Feingold than defensive presidential candidate John Kerry, unable to convince voters he knew what to do about the war or the economy.

Did the Kerry campaign ever "get" the Midwest?  Even as voters in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin put their shoulders to the Mason-Dixon line in 2004, setting the stage for a showdown in Ohio for the votes of working families, there was a sense that Kerry and the national Dem Party didn't quite get working families in the Midwest and their core issues:

Jobs, health care, taking care of family. 

Facing a tough reelection, Jim Doyle does get it. Coming out of the state Dem convention, a strong "Wisconsin Way" platform has emerged: Jobs, policies that improve the lives of working families in Wisconsin, progressive health care policies, and a premium on education.

It's simple stuff. Do we care about these values as a state, or are we more intersted in cynical election gimmicks designed to hurt certain families: gay and nontraditional families, hardworking immigrant households and African-American families in Milwaukee?

In Doyle, we have a governor who protected all of these values, held the line of property taxes and still balanced the state budget — in the face of Republican opposition. Is Doyle the governor Wisconsin wants? Or do we want a politician who takes his walking orders from the Republican National Committee and appeals to divisive special interests on the far right?

Again, pretty simple stuff, the kind of tough, good sense talk about values and priorities that the middle class and every Wisconsin resident working hard to get to the middle class needs to hear from a governor as they look to the future.

Doyle's opponent, Green Bay Congressman Mark Green, looks and sounds by comparison a lot more like an uncertain Kerry heading into campaign season. In Congress, Green voted against embryonic stem cell research, sponsored House legislation to criminalize stem cell research, and supports state law that would do the same in Wisconsin. Despite those votes, he's trying to distort his record, just as he tried to distort his record on Medicaid cuts last fall.

Green is ducking a lot lately. Once, twice, three times he ducked the question of whether or not he would pardon convicted former GOP Assembly leader Scott Jensen. Jensen's been sentenced to 16 months in prison for directing Assembly aides to electioneer on the taxpayer dime. It wasn't a campaign issue until Green refused to say whether he would pardon Jensen. It seems such a simple matter – but Green won't say.

So what does Green stand for? Not the common law that everyone else lives under. Apparently, Green thinks his friends are above the law. Or perhaps the state GOP, snide and arrogant when it comes to accountability, just can't admit to any wrongdoing.  The flap over pardoning Jensen, such a small thing on the surface, would point to the flaw that has crippled Green at the core: an appalling lack of integrity.

Clearly, the party of Wisconsin values is the Democratic party, a message Doyle delivered powerfully in LaCrosse. Jim Doyle is not Russ Feingold, who has achieved folk hero status in the state. But Gov. Doyle is standing and talking tall on a record that reflects the true values of Wisconsin working families — while his opponent disguises and distorts his congressional voting record and presses perceived election year hot buttons.

From where I sit on a sunny porch in Minnesota, sipping a beer made in Milwaukee, the view says it's a good time to be a Democrat governor in Wisconsin, running for reelection.

###

The damn truth about the death penalty is that we don’t want to accept that a vote for the death penalty is murder, plain and simple. Oh sure, we convince ourselves that it’s OK to end a life if it’s with a simple injection.

If I was faced the prospect of being a victim of state sponsored murder I would want it to be public. Let the jury know what they did. Let the voters know what they did.

Give me a few valiums and march me out to a 50 foot guillotine in McArthur Square, drop the blade and televise the whole bloody thing. But forget the basket — if the state’s going to put out a legalized hit on me, I want my head to roll off the decking. That’s how I’d like it done. If voters think it’s such a good thing, then put it on all the network televisions during prime time — let’s say 7pm when the whole family can watch. After all, advocates of the death penalty say it’s only the right thing to do right? If it’s the right thing to do, then isn’t it fine for their kids to watch?

Of course I wouldn’t seriously advocate for kids to watch such a grisly scene. I’m making a point. The point is that if parents are going to support state-sponsored murder, then we should see what is happening. Parents should have to explain to their children why murder is ok. Try to explain that one to a 6 year old. ‘No little Johnny, killing is wrong… but there are always exceptions to the rule’.

Now there’s an advisory referendum on the ballot in November asking voters if we should bring back the death penalty. I guess legislators who put it there aren’t burdened by a moral compass like so many of the rest of us are.

Cowboys like State Senator Lassee (a pro-murder legislator) want the public to believe that an eye for an eye is the right thing to do. Call me crazy, and maybe this is just my Catholic upbringing, but didn’t some wise man say “turn the other cheek”?

It will be interesting to see if the state which was the first to abolish the death penalty for all crimes and with the motto “Forward” takes a giant step backward by enacting this ill-thought out policy of state sponsored murder.

Recently, Republicans screamed that 4 Democratic activists who slashed the tires of GOP operatives should have the book thrown at them. Most of the dems got 5 or 6 months. If the dems, who in the heat of the moment, slashed the tires of GOP vans are getting 5 months, it would be insane if Jensen got less than 2 to 4 years. Jensen spent years misusing tax dollars to further his partisan goals — a scheme that stole tons of money from Wisconsinites.

The dem activists crime was essentially undone after the vans were quickly replaced within hours.

Jensen used his position to change the partisan makeup of the State Asssembly over a period of several legislative terms and at very least an entire decade since his work positioned him to control legislative redistricting.

Both crimes are inexcusable, but what is worse? A crime that adversely affected our democratic process for two hours or a crime that will likely adversely affect our democratic process for two decades?

To allow Jensen to spend less time in prison than the activists who slashed the tires would be criminal but hopefully the Judge will not reward Jensen for what amounts to a politically heinous crime. One way or another, Jensen will get what he wanted — an Assembly with legislative districts he was able to help draw. Those lines will last for over a decade. A light sentence would be like allowing a thief to keep his loot after a burglery.
This is not to say that Jensen is a threat to society but hopefully the Judge will also consider adding onto his sentence a requirement that he not work legislatively or with legislators for a long time. If he does not, Jensen will be able to march into legislators offices and remind them that they owe their political success to him and they should support the causes his clients want them to support. To not include that proviso would send a message that a double standard is acceptable and that justice is not blind.

###

UPDATE: Jensen got 15 months.

Related Stories:

• Judge Brennan Sentencing of Tire Slashers Not Simple
• Jensen Conviction shows Balance in Courts

With the rain that we’ve been having over the last week, the timing is perfect to pull your garlic mustard. It comes out easy now that the ground is wet and soft. If you don’t pull it, and it has the opportunity to seed, one plant can literally spawn enough seeds to plant thousands of other garlic mustard plants.

It takes three years to get rid of garlic mustard but it is an easy task in small areas like backyards. Today, I ripped out mine in less than 10 minutes. This is the third year I’ve been pulling my garlic mustard and I’ll probably have a few more years ahead of me since sometimes when I pull it, the root breaks off. Garlic mustard is like a dandelion. If you don’t get the whole thing, it will simply come right back.

The picture on the left is what it looks like in year two. The top is a white flower but the pods near the flower will drop thousands of black seeds that are roughly the size of carroway seeds. New plants will be shorter but may still flower the first year.

The picture on the right is a closeup of the flower portion of the plant. Note the leaves, with the acorn shape and pointy edges.

It is important that you take care of this problem early if your backyard has already been invaded. A half hour or less today could save you many more hours later.

For more information, visit my Garlic Mustard page.

Thompson writes, “Scott has been a tireless worker devoted to improving the lives of those around him”. Thompson must mean the fat cats and big business because throughout Jensen’s political career he was never a friend to the working man. When Thompson said that Jensen “demonstrated fairness” he clearly wasn’t talking about the deception and the lies he urged during campaigns to smear democrats.

When Jensen was sending taxpayer paid staff to work on GOP campaigns, he was certainly not displaying “thoughtfulness on how to make Wisconsin a better place to live”.

But of all the outrageous and out of touch that that the now elderly Thompson could have said, perhaps the goofiest was

Scott’s ideas, passion and conviction for doing what was best for Wisconsin was never constrained by his allegience to one political party or by his loyalty to those he worked for in the Governors office.

Is Thompson insane? Does he not realize that Jensen has just been convicted for misusing his office, for robbing the taxpayers by using their tax dollars to further the goals of “one political party”?

Talk radio has played a major role in riling the public over the concept of light rail. Although a new electric fed bus system would not require the same infrastructure needs as would light rail, opponents including County Executive Scott Walker love to poo-poo anything that may help Milwaukee.

Interestingly enough, the Metro Milwaukee Association of Commerce, A.K.A. MMAC, (who loves to support Republicans and bash Democrats) has endorsed the plan. God love ‘em — they’ll support plans by Dems that have no chance of passing and they’ll bash Dems when it means that Dem policies have a chance to pass something. What’s crazy is that some of the Dems take that little bone and are deluded into thinking that MMAC is something other than just another shill group for the Republican party.

If Milwaukee wants this to happen they must circumvent both the Republican County Executive of Milwaukee County as well as the Republican legislature of Wisconsin. Even the Democratic Governor Jim Doyle has a tendency to gravitate toward supporting Republican ideals if it means that the GOP won’t have another issue to run against him on in the areas outside of Milwaukee County (areas often called out-state). Since out-state residents have shown an anti-Milwaukee bias, saying “no” for nearly anything for the city is popular for out-state residents at election time. The exception being additional taxes forced upon Milwaukee residents as was evident from former Governor Tommy Thompson’s comment “stick it to Milwaukee” which helped garner support from out-state residents to create a sales tax district that would support a new stadium for the Brewers. This was of course to garner support as to whether Milwaukee area residents should pay the tax but would exempt out-staters from chipping in.

Only through direct funding from the federal government in terms of transportation funds would this be possible and even on the federal level, any support for Milwaukee faces the hurdle of getting past Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner. Sensenbrenner has been very successful in getting the Republican House of Representatives to say “no” to Milwaukee on other issues and he has carved out a legislative niche by becoming a congressional ‘no’ man. He blocked transportation funds in the past and he gained notoriety a few years ago for opposing the Amber Alert program that would have created an alert whenever children were believed to be abducted. Eventually the Amber alert passed but only after Sensenbrenner bottled it up. Electric bus funding would be no different except for the fact that Sensenbrenner’s voters wouldn’t be incensed by Milwaukee being denied electric buses where the Amber Alert fiasco did rile some of his voters.

This is not the first time the city has gone on record as endorsing plans they play no or little part in. They also have had resolutions supporting light rail but again, they don’t control mass transit, the county does. What’s more, they’ve also had resolutions supporting or opposing war and military actions — an issue for the federal government.

One almost has to wonder, will the city ever focus their energies on issues they do have a say in?
 

In what seems like a slap across the face to his own dairy state voters, Republican Gubernatorial candidate Mark Green is taking big cheese money from CALIFORNIA.

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign‘s Big Money Blog has the skinny.

By outlawing larger SUV’s on city streets they’re doing their part (at least on paper) to fight terrorism and reduce domestic dependence on foreign oil. Good for them. But here’s the rub — if you ask any resident of those towns if SUV’s are illegal to drive on their city streets, you’ll likely be dismissed with a sarcastic “uh, yeah, right”.

But it’s true.

Kenosha has a section of their ordinances regulating weight of vehicles. Their ordinance says,

All heavy traffic having a combined weight of vehicle and load in excess of 6,000 pounds shall, when using the streets for the purpose of traveling through the city, operate only on State and Federal highways.

All heavy traffic other than thru traffic, having a combined weight of vehicle and load in excess of 6,000 pounds, but not greater than 30,000 pounds shall use the City Heavy Traffic Routes. However, for the purpose of making pickups or deliveries at locations off the City Heavy Traffic route, such traffic may deviate from such route provided the shortest and most direct route is used to and from the City Heavy Traffic route.

So kudos to Kenosha (and Wausau). Your municipal leaders had the vision to not only save taxpayer funded pavement from unnecessary and premature destruction, but they showed their patriotism and environmental conciousness by passing an ordinance to limit our reliance on foreign oil.

Now if only they would enforce their ban ……

Links: Kenosha City Ordinances

Republicans have been bashing Feingold saying he’s grandstanding in an effort to win favor with his base. So what’s their point?

My Republican friends tell me the reasons for impeaching President Bill Clinton was because of a lie and not in fact a way to nail him for his improprieties with an intern in a windowless hallway but we all know what it was really about. If lying about oral sex is an impeachable offense, so is lying about wiretapping and so is fabricating a story about weapons of mass destruction as a justification for war. If anything, Feingold’s proposal to censure President Bush showed amazing restraint and was no where near the level of politicking that Republicans pushed when they voted to impeach Clinton.

Feingold is right and we’re hopeful that he keeps up the pressure. Maybe the other Democrats will find their spine and join Feingold in demanding accountability for the lies that resulted in illegal wiretapping from a President whose lies also resulted in the deaths of nearly 2500 of our servicemen so far. Probably the biggest embarassment for the Democrats has been New York Senator Hillary Clinton who many believe harbors her own aspirations for the presidency. While she may be good on many issues, Hillary couldn’t even bring herself to vote for the censure resolution — a tame response by nearly any common sense standard. Especially troubling is the fact that her own husband endured an impeachment vote by Republicans yet she couldn’t even find it in her to vote to censure a sitting Republican President whose Nixonian violation of the law tramples upon our citizens rights. By passively voting “no” on Feingold’s resolution, Hillary has lost my vote.

Many Republicans were critical of Howard Dean‘s straight talking, hard hitting honesty on the campaign trail when he attempted to capture the Democratic nomination in ’04. But Dean was capturing the hearts and minds of his base while talking issues that resonated with the American people. Russ Feingold has all of Dean’s gusto but with more finesse, polish and a legislative record of being a champion of campaign finance.

Feingold has shown courage — a trait many Dems have been busy running away from as fast as possible. If he continues his straight talking maverick style, he’ll have a lock on the 2008 nomination for President.

Links: Senator Russ Feingold

But now the smoke-free pubs where I enjoyed a Guinness in Ireland are being validated as being healthier than our American bars and it should be no surprise as to why.

A recent Harvard study showed that American bars have nearly 20 times the air pollution that pubs in Ireland have. Is it any wonder why European countries are quickly moving to disallow smoking in public areas?

But this is a larger issue in Europe where a universal healthcare is government funded. Here, there is a disconnect between costs and services. Healthcare costs here not regulated by the government but in Europe where the government pays the cost of healthcare, it only makes sense that the government would do what it can to reduce higher costs as well as risk factors that lead to those costs.

Unfortunately this St. Patrick’s Day I’ll have to endure the air pollution as I go in search of the perfect pint. Now if only Harvard would publish a study proving that a daily dose of creamy Guinness would prevent heart disease, freshen your breath and trim your waistline, the world would be a better place. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for that one.

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Links: Harvard School of Public Health: Irish Pubs Under Smoke-free Law in Ireland Show 91% Lower Indoor Air Pollution Than ‘Irish Pubs’ in Cities Around the World
Harvard School of Public Health: The Study – How Smoke-free Laws Improve Air Quality – A Global Study of Irish Pubs
Smoke Free Wisconsin: Healthier to Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in Smoke-Free Irish Pub

Hot Tip: The best ventilated bar I know of is McBob’s which incidentally also makes the best corned beef in town. They’re on about 50th and North and because of a fan above their grill, much of the smoke in the place gets sucked out during the hours their grill is still open. If you know of another bar with great ventilation, or better yet a smoke-free policy, please be sure to comment on this story and leave the name and address of the pub.

This event marks the first time statewide organized labor has taken a place at the forefront of the movement to end the war. The labor contingent, led by David Newby, meets at 11:15 a.m. at SEIU Local 1, 250 E. Wisconsin Ave. (basement meeting room), and will March down Wisconsin Ave. to O’Donnell Park at noon to kick off what is expected to be the largest protest against the war in Milwaukee to date.

At last year’s protest, local labor leaders mourned the death of Iraqi Federation of Trade Unions leader Hadi Salih, who was tortured and killed by terrorists, his body mutilated, in early January 2005. Salih opposed the war and to the occupation, but had returned to Iraq from exile after the U.S. invasion to build a free and democratic labor movement.

On the Iraq Labor Tour last summer, Iraq labor leaders reported that the provisional government was as hostile to workers’ rights to organize into unions as the regime of Saddam Hussein. The stance of the currently-forming government has been no better as the occupation and brimming civil war plunges Iraq further into chaos.

“What we gained after three years of occupation are the lack of social services, power outage, and ethno-sectarian gangs hanging over the society,” said Samir Adil, president of Baghdad-based Iraq Freedom Congress in an open letter to American peace leaders this week.

“We strongly believe that the security and stability will not prevail unless the occupation is ended,” Adil added. “Therefore we are determined to boot out the occupation, and here we are today in spite of the hardship we are enduring, we save no effort to bring hope to millions of people around us and present our humanitarian alternative.”

OUT OF IRAQ NOW – THREE YEARS OF WAR IS ENOUGH
Rally and March
Saturday, March 18, 12 noon
O’Donnell Park

Labor contingent will meet 11:15 a.m.
SEIU Local 1, 250 E. Wisconsin Ave.

March to O’Donnell Park, east end of Wisconsin Ave.
Rally followed by march to Federal Courthouse

Featured speakers:
Gwen Moore, Congresswoman, 4th District
David Newby, President, State AFL-CIO
George Martin, United for Peace and Justice
Jason Moon, Iraq War veteran

Sponsored by Milwaukee Coalition for a Just Peace

Endorsed by: AFT Local 212, Milwaukee County Labor Council, Milwaukee Area Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), National Lawyers Guild-Milwaukee Chapter, SEIU Local 1, Solidarity, United Electrical Workers District 11, US Labor Against the War (USLAW), Veterans for Peace, Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, Wisconsin Fair Trade Campaign, Arab American Anti Discrimination Committee of Wisconsin, Casa Maria, Catholics for Peace & Justice, Grassroots Northshore, Greater Milwaukee Green Party, Marquette JUSTICE, Office of World Mission-Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Peace Action Wisconsin.

When Democrat Chuck Chvala (a leading caucus system reformer) was sentenced to 9 months jail for charges less than those Jensen was convicted of, the Judge was overly aggressive in his sentencing but there are several differences with the Jensen and Chvala case.

Jensen wasn’t interested in a plea deal and stayed in office while under indictment and while his case was ongoing. None of the other legislators, either Democratic or Republican ran for office after they were charged. Jensen was clearly guilty of the charges and his defense was in part an argument that he wasn’t the first person to abuse power in the legislature.

While other legislators accepted plea bargains offered by the district attorney’s office, Jensen balked, proclaiming his innocence. Despite being under felony indictment, his Waukesha and Brookfield voters rewarded him by elected him again. Now they’re about to lose him as Wisconsin law doesn’t allow a convicted felon to hold office. Once Jensen is sentenced, he will be a felon, and as such will be removed from office the hard way.

So what should the sentence be? I don’t know. Is Jensen a threat to society? No. Were his charges any more egregious than those other legislators were convicted of and got stiff sentences for? On some charges yes, and on other charges he is equally guilty.

But lighter sentences are reserved for defendants who cut deals. This helps keep the courts running smoothly and reduces backlogs. Some would argue that people who accept plea deals shouldn’t be cut any slack but the reality is that no one would accept plea deals if the sentencing was just as stiff for a plea deal as for a conviction.

Jensen balked at a plea deal. He took the risk and now he has to pay the price. If he does not get a stiffer sentence than the legislators that accepted plea deals, there is no justice.

Jensen deserves a sentence of at least a few years.

That being said, I would hope the Judge recognizes that Jensen is not a risk to society. High security prison beds should be reserved for those that are a danger to society. Jensen, like the legislators that fell before him, should have the opportunity to serve at least half of his sentence on the Huber work release program. He should not be allowed work release to work on political campaigns or further his partisan goals — that would be akin to giving a bank robber work release to work in a gun shop.

To all of those former legislators who have left the public sector, let me offer a word of advice. There is life after politics. Turn your energies to the private sector. Many people who have been successful in whipping together votes will find that their skills translate easily into the private sector if they abandon their direct connection to politics. Go ahead, start a blog, pen an editorial for your local newspaper if the spirit moves you and have fun with a few friends kicking back with a few cold ones and share old “war” stories. Reconnect with old friends you may have neglected hooking up with and on the 4th of July which you’ve set aside for parades while in office. That weekend is now a great weekend to go camping with them.

Scott Jensen will now have to do what other convicted legislator before him have had to do — face the fact that he will not be able to spend time with his family. This is the price that must be paid when a crime is committed. Unfortunately it is not Jensen alone who will pay for his crime, but his family also by not having a husband or father around.

But the Judge must send a message to those who are either now abusing the public trust, or those who would otherwise consider abusing the public trust in the future. He must also send a message that there is a penalty for clogging the courts with trials where the defendant has already all-but-admitted to the crimes. He has no other choice than to hand down a stiff, but fair sentence.

So tonight I won’t be laughing at Jensen’s expense. It is a good day for justice and Jensen may be the last person to fall in the caucus scandal but it’s still a somber day in politics.

Brennan said that those that signed a petition to have a referrendum on the war on the Whitefish Bay ballot in April are “giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States and hurting the morale of our military that are dealing with the al-Qaida insurgents”.

But the advisory referrendum does nothing to give aid to al-Qaida. It simply says,

Should the United States now begin withdraing troops from Iraq and continue steady withdrawals until all of our troops are home?

Brennan cited Article 3 of the Constitution, which reads,

treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies giving them aid and comfort.

Using inflammatory rhetoric, Brennan closed by saying “I question the patriotism and loyalty to the United States of the 1,000 people who signed the anti-war petition. They are just as guilty as those who are killing and injuring our soldiers and airmen”.

1,000 people? Wow. Whitefish Bay is a small village. To get that many people to sign a petition requesting the issue of whether they approve of the war or not, is quite a feat. By pulling together, they put the question on the ballot and it will be interesting to see the results. Will Brennan follow up by calling all those that vote for it treasonous?

Before Brennan fires off another editorial to the Northshore Herald, he may want to take a little peek at the Bill of Rights — specifically Article 1 (it’s tough to miss).

Article 1 – Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

If these 1000 people have excercised their right to free speech (via petition) and they’re being called unpatriotic and treasonous, imagine what Brennan will call them if they vote for it?

Source: CNI Newspapers – Northshore Herald March 9, 2006

Fyrst ran last time and did quite a lot of travel around the state trying to drum up support. Since he’s got a fairly young son that he wants to spend more time with, you can’t blame him for backing away from a run. Facing yet another summer where he can’t spend with his boy had to make it a fairly easy choice. As a father of a 10 year old boy I can understand Fryst’s concern. In their early teen years kids like to spend more time with their friends and less with their parents. Rob is taking advantage of being a Dad and has chosen to spend time with his son Tyler rather than scrap in the political arena.

State Treasurer is a difficult job to get voters, let alone donors, excited about. We wish Rob well, thank him for his commitment and previous run, and hope he doesn’t disappear from politics. But more importantly, we hope he spends some time enjoying the summer with his son. He’s earned it.

Vukmir was steamed that Reynolds wanted to add ammendments onto a deal brokered by Governor Doyle and Republican Assembly Leader John Gard. That would have been a deal killer and Vukmir understood the logic of an agreed upon deal that you can’t renegotiate after you shake on it.

Vukmir’s threat to run against Reynolds in a primary clearly paid off and Reynolds was not the deciding vote, nor was he the obstructionist to the expansion of the school choice program.

So now the question is whether Vukmir was true to her word or if she really was considering a run all along despite her claims otherwise. It wouldn’t be shocking to see a politician go back on their word but now Republican activist and talk radio host Charlie Sykes appears to be taking a few shots at Reynolds in what seems like an effort to get Vukmir to run.

Sykes highlighted Reynolds relationship with Pastor Ralph Ovadahl, the evangelical right-wing pastor who hosted a conference on homo-fascism which Reynolds attended. A few months ago we highlighted the story of how Reynolds uses his business to do the printing for Ovadahl (Reynolds business prints for group that Pope John Paul II was “Minister of Satan”).

Today former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin writes in his blog, Waxing America, Wisconsin Republicans Fear Reynolds Route. Soglin does a nice job and goes into some interesting detail about what Sykes is saying. Soglin also provides some informative links.

Previously, Vukmir had balked at a run but Reynolds is insisting on adding unrelated policy issues to a deal reached on expanding school choice which was brokered by Governor Jim Doyle (D) and State Assembly Leader John Gard (R).

Vukmir is steamed and says that if Reynolds shenanigans result in killing the deal, she’ll take him out in a primary this fall.

Reynolds backers Bob Dohnal and JJ Blonien (Blonien also works for Reynolds part-time) of the Wisconsin Conservative Digest are throwing out a warning to Vukmir that she will be crushed and in very undiplomatic terms alluding that it would be a nasty campaign.

We were surprised that Vukmir even threatened to throw her hat in the race against Reynolds because she had previously said she would back off and not run. But although we were surprised, we’re not shocked seeing as how Vukmir came from a background as a private schools with public funds advocate for choice even before being elected. So we can see how, as part of her core beliefs, that she believes Reynolds is making the wrong decision.

Now that Vukmir has thrown down the gauntlet, expect Reynolds to balk. Reynolds has never been one to compromise and his quirky approach to governing has gained the attention of the mainstream media.

If there is a Reynolds-Vukmir primary, expect to hear of Vukmir’s recent divorce to come up. Dohnal has a reputation as being one angry dude and an interview with him on Wisconsin Public Radio just a few months ago showed he’s relentless and mean spirited. It is safe to say that they’ll be appealing to Republican family values voters by simply pointing out that a divorced Tosa mom is taking on West Allis family man. Put in those simple terms, the evangelical vote will be sewn up for Reynolds.

It would be a very different primary than most. Hard core conservatives have a tendency to stick with the strongest neo-con possible and in most elections, moderates choose to pick the more moderate of the two candidates. But in Wisconsin, if you are voting on one side of the partisan ballot, you can’t cross over to vote for your pick on the other side. With a hotly contested election for the Republican pick for Governor, Republican voters want to have their say as to whether Congressman Mark Green or Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker will have an opportunity to go up against Democratic Governor Jim Doyle. This assures that the more conservative base will not be crossing over to vote in any Democratic primaries on the ballot.

On the Dem side, Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager faces stiff competition from Dane County Exec Kathleen Falk which assures that Democratic-leaning voters will stay with voting exclusively in the Dem primary. Democrats are concerned that Lautenschlager would get whomped by whoever the Republicans nominate for their pick for AG because of Lautenschlager’s televised bust for drunk driving. Republicans hammered Launtenschlager whose job it is to uphold the law. The hypocricy of Lautenschlager’s driving a state vehicle while drunk and at the same time being Wisconsin’s top cop got wide media attention and since the State trooper has her night-time pullover on tape, it is assured to make it to all of the anti-Lautenschlager commercials.

All of this adds up to Vukmir not getting the help of much Dem crossover voters in her primary.

If there is a Reynolds-Vukmir primary, the winner would earn the right to take on Wauwatosa Alderman Jim Sullivan who appears to have sewn up the nomination by garnering nearly every traditional Democratic endorsement out there.

UPDATE: We wrote this yesterday to be edited today. It has since passed the legislature. Reynolds wasn’t the big obstructionist Vukmir feared so she’ll likely not run… at least that’s what she was saying.

I was sitting in an Irish pub with my wife and my 10-year-old son — something I could never do here in the US, and enjoying their company as well as the pub atmosphere. We couldn’t do it here for health reasons and we could only do it in Ireland because of a smoking ban that country enacted in 2004. Bars here are smoky and cigarette smoking is common.

My son has asthma, my wife has allergies and my doctor told me I shouldn’t be smoking; forcing me to give up a short-lived once a week cigar habit of a few years ago. At the time it seemed luxurious — hanging out with friends with a Dominican rolled Churchill and a dram of single malt scotch to wash it down. The problem was the cough that developed and when at just 35 I was told there was a spot on my lung that had to come out or I could die, it was more than enough to give up my weekly habit. Somehow that cigar which contributed to that spot was a bit less luxurious as I laid in a hospital with a chest tube sticking out of me and feeling like someone had just stabbed me with a knife — something the surgeon had done just hours earlier.

So being able to go out with the family and not worry about other peoples smoke was something that was a real treat. It would be even nicer if we didn’t have to travel 3500 miles to do it.

Milwaukee’s smoking ban proposal would make it possible to do that here. I could take the family out for dinner at a Milwaukee Bar and Grill without concern for our health. I wouldn’t have to worry if my son has his inhaler with him or whether the smell of smoke would taint our meal.

Smoking advocates are presenting their opposition as a matter of personal freedom as though by not letting them distribute their second hand smoke into the lungs of nearby patrons, City leaders would be snuffing out their rights. It’s the same argument that played out in Ireland when their ban was proposed and it’s the same argument that played out in England recently. Even now, the Brits ready themselves for a country wide smoking ban in the summer of 2007. But in Ireland it hasn’t had the negative impact smoking advocates claimed it would and during our family trip this past December, I was able to enjoy a few pints precisely because the pubs aren’t smoky. Irish authorities are serious about their smoking ban and pub owners who allow people to smoke can lose their license.

The ban has created a bit of a smokers social club outside of several pubs with smokers taking a break from their pints and popping outside to have a smoke. Outside, their smoke quickly dissipates and people who would otherwise avoid the pubs are able to belly up to the bar for a few pints the proprietor wouldn’t have otherwise sold.

France has also introduced a smoking ban but has sadly pursued a policy of appeasement. Authorities do not enforce their ban so the smoking ban in bars and restaurants is ignored to the detriment of non-smokers. I won’t be visiting Paris anytime soon.

Smokers often argue that bars already have smoke eaters, filters and ventilation so their bad habit doesn’t interfere with the rights of others. If that was true, non-smokers wouldn’t smell like a pack of cigarettes after leaving a bar and they wouldn’t wake up with sore throats. As it stands, I know of only one place that has a fan so powerful that it sucks out most of the smoke. I can only imagine how high their energy bill is.

In Ireland the ban has won acclaim from the public. Although the Republic of Ireland introduced the law in 2004, Northern Ireland is still a smokers haven. However, the popularity of the ban in the south is catching on and Northern Irelands smoking ban starts in 2007.

Milwaukee’s Common Council will vote on the ban on March 21st but in an editorial, Alderman Bob Donovan, a smoker, calls the smoking ban proposal the brainchild of “special interest groups”. He continues by listing “the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, and the Black Health Coalition” as these special interests. But Donovan misses the point — these groups are in existence to combat health problems and to advocate for the betterment of public health. The American Cancer Society is not some sort of nefarious or covert organization scheming and plotting to overthrow the government. Their mission statement says they are “dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service”.

While I can’t applaud Donovan’s position on this specific issue, those advocating the ban on the Council deserve praise. This pro-family, pro-health ordinance would be a great enhancement to the quality of life for many in our community.

Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.

If their intention was to “protect” the institution of marriage as a heterosexual-only club, then why add the second part? The first sentence would have taken care of that little bit of pontification. I have no problem calling it pontification because our state already defines marriage as between a man and a wife so what’s the difference?

The second sentence makes it so that gays can not have the benefit of other laws such as domestic violence laws and cannot get partnership benefits that some employers want to be able to offer in order to lure qualified job candidates to their companies. (Yes, apparently the GOP now has a problem with business interests and the free market economy.)

Legislative Dems tried to remove the second sentence on the grounds that it would write blatant discrimination into our Constitution. Unfortunately they failed in this attempt.

What they should have done was call for division of the question — a fairly simple parliamentary procedure tactic that is part of Roberts Rules of Order, a set of rules most legislative bodies use to divide up two different issues which are sometimes lumped together to bulldoze through legislation.

That way, voters could look at two different referrendums on the ballot and even if they felt strongly about the first one, the second one would be fairly blatantly a question of whether they hate gays enough to deny them equal protection under the law.

In reality, the division question probably would have failed also but at least then, even the public who opposes (already illegal) gay marriage, would have to ask themselves if the referrendum is more about hating gays or more about protecting marriage.

Links: Wisconsin Assembly Roll Call on the vote to send the question to referrendum in November

Follow that debate, with ongoing updates, here.

The Act defines marriage as a union between “one man and one woman” and bans legal recognition of any relationship “substantially similar” to marriage. In other states where similar bans are in place, gay couples with civil unions and domestic partnerships have lost health benefits and other domestic protections.

The stage is now set for the people of Wisconsin to decide whether they want to add the ban to the state constititution. Gov. Doyle has vetoed it previously, so this time it will go straight to the voters as a referendum in the next general election, the governor’s race this coming fall.

Gay marriages in Wisconsin? Not legal. Why are we talking about it then? Because the state Republican Party and the arch-religiocrats running the party think that bashing gay people is good for Republicans at polls. In other words, they think it will help them beat Doyle and win other races.

This is an insult, of course, to many Republicans, who care mostly about taxation and would prefer that the Legislature stay out of their marriages. Moreso, it’s an insult to the state Constitution and the US Constitution, which clearly state that citizens must have equal protection under the law.

Gay couples would lose equal protection in this state if it passes. They’ll lose health insurance benefits that current law allows them and which many private employers and insurers recognize.

The impact of denying legal status to nonmarried couples is far reaching: The courts in Ohio and Utah have ruled that nonmarried couples don’t have protections under the law in domestic violence situations — due to “Defense of Marriage” laws similar to Wisconsin’s proposed law, nontraditional relationships simply don’t exist under the law. It’s not rhetoric — it’s what the courts have ruled, as State Rep. Mark Pocan (D – Madison) pointed out during this week’s Assembly debate. Nontraditional heterosexual couples will also be denied legal recognitions.

How does the GOP respond?

A Republican named Eugene Hahn, from the town of Cambria, argued that Republicans are not mean and spiteful, they are just doing what the Bible says about marriage. That was really Hahn’s argument. Then he spelled out the word B-I-B-L-E.

If the people of Wisconsin approve this amendment to the state Constitution this fall, it will be the first time the state Constitution has been used to take away the rights of state citizens away. It’s obscene.

But they will also have the chance to make Wisconsin the first state to reject a “Defense of Marriage” amendment.

County lines were drawn so Supervisors would be within one days ride by horseback. Those lines no longer make sense. Instead, county lines have served to separate citizens and rather than all working together to achieve the same goals with limited resources, officials compete for scant dollars.

Imagine for a moment if Waukesha, Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha all had one Department of Public Works Department, one Emergency Management Department and Parks Department. The massive economies of scale that could be realized would be impressive.

Barriers that prohibit intergovernmental squabbling would be eliminated.

Take for instance the border between Milwaukee and Waukesha counties. Many consider it the Mason-Dixon line of southeastern Wisconsin. The conservative Waukesha County competes with and criticizes Milwaukee County and when the more moderate Milwaukee County residents look to the west, they see white flighters who fear diversity.

But take the demographic reality of Waukesha into consideration and you’ll find many people who grew up in Milwaukee or whose parents are from Milwaukee. Their roots, like those in Milwaukee County, are tied to Milwaukee.

Combining would reduce administrative costs and would break down both communication barriers as well as some of the little fiefdoms that have developed in County government across the state.

Wasserman deserves kudos for this innovative approach.

Lautenschlager was asked by supervisors to give a definitive opinion on the process of Holloway’s removal. Last week the AG delivered a less-than-definitive opinion and came under fire from all sides for further muddying the issue. Today, Lautenschlager’s apparently decided she’s said enough, already.

“The AG simply pointed out that Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel cited the wrong statute,” said a source at the state Capitol, referring to county lawyer William Domina’s earlier opinion that two-thirds majority County Board vote was needed to remove Holloway mid-term.

“This is all that the AG is going to say about this matter,” the source added.

County Board chairman Holloway faces a string of ethics charges stemming from alleged connections between real estate properties he owns and now-defunct W-2 contractor OIC. As Holloway has fought the ethics charges, a group of ten supervisors has pressured him to step down from his leadership role; however, this group is three votes shy of the supermajority (two-thirds) coalition needed to oust him from the Chairman’s seat.

Playing to both Holloway supporters and the group looking for a new County Board leader, Lautenschlager disagreed with Domina’s ruling but didn’t give the group solid legal footing to make a move.

Lautenschlager, who faces a strong challenge from Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk in the Democratic Primary for Attorney General, campaigned heavily in Milwaukee in February, including at various Black History Month events. Her involvement in the Holloway matter has left few at Milwaukee County impressed, while outraging others.

One Holloway supporter, Elizabeth Coggs-Jones, told the Journal Sentinel that Lautenschlager lost her support for AG, and said that would “ripple through the community,” referring to Milwaukee’s North Side.

–30–

He was met at the downtown Johnson Controls facility by crowds of Wisconsinites unhappy with the overall Bush-Cheney agenda, and quick to remind the president that his administration is out of touch with the needs of working families.

The AFL-CIO, AFSCME, Grass Roots Northshore, Greater Milwaukee Green Party, Milwaukee Coalition for Just Peace, Move-On.org, Peace Action WI, Sierra Club, US Labor Against War, WI Citizen Action and the WI Democratic Party were just a few of the groups taking part in the protest.

“It is ironic that President Bush is coming to Wisconsin today to talk about his administration’s so-called energy policy, when the President and Republicans in Washington have done absolutely nothing to help families struggling with skyrocketing home heating and gasoline prices,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Joe Wineke.

“Instead, Bush and the Republicans have done everything they can to benefit their friends in the energy business, providing huge tax breaks and government subsidies to the big oil companies that reaped record-breaking profits at the expense of the American people.”

While Iraq wasn’t on the president’s agenda Monday, protesters voiced the majority American opinion that an end to the war on Iraq needs to be in sight. The above photo, of a banner that hung Monday from a Milwaukee Street building in 3rd Ward, just blocks from Bush’s stop at Johnson Controls’ Jackson and Michigan facility, was taken by Jessica Kaminski.

Democratic Governor Jim Doyle called legislators into special session to vote on his package to provide relief to low-income residents who are struggling to heat their homes in light of rising energy bills. Republican Assembly Leader John Gard dismissed legislators without a vote on Doyle’s package.

This means that the rest of us will carry the burden of those who cannot pay their heating bills. Because WE Energies cannot turn off gas to customers during the heating months in Wisconsin, but with rising default rates the rest of us will have our bills increase yet again to shoulder the burden of those who are unable to pay.

In Wisconsin we resign ourselves to the fact that we have long cold winters. It’s tough enough to deal with the realities of our climate but Wisconsin winters do not choose which houses to freeze based on income. This causes huge problems with the poor and even many individuals on the lower end of the middle class income range. Families are struggling to pay their energy bills as heating costs rose over 50% this year.

Working in the home improvement industry, I’ve seen some creative solutions to the growing crisis of rising energy costs. Some put plastic sheeting over the inside of their windows. Some put it on the outside as well. Others even put plastic over their doors with the exception of their main entry door. All of these solutions would mean it would take longer for someone trying to escape a fire to get out of their house. For the most part this would not present a substantial problem for adults, but I have often wondered how much longer it would take for children to figure out a way to tear off the plastic in order to escape through a window. Even seniors who have limitations in manual dexterity would have problems in a fire.

I’ve even walked into peoples homes only to find the temperature was nearly 50 inside — just 20 degrees warmer than outside. They’ve been bundled up with layers of turtleneck shirts, sweatshirts and insulated thermal flannel shirts. In those cases, I can’t even take my coat off in their homes.

Still others tell me of how they turn the heat as low as it can go at night without freezing the pipes as they rely on electric blankets to keep them from freezing.

I can’t help but admire the stout constitution I’ve seen in so many families struggling to save money but I also can’t help but wonder what this is doing to their health. Yes, in Wisconsin we are very tight with our money and perhaps it is the difficult winters that harden our resolve to get by on what resources we have available to us but despite our admirable resolve, many Wisconsinites are feeling a sense of hopelessness.

I’ve noticed that sense of hopelessness especially among seniors. All of their lives they’ve proudly paid their bills on time and now, in their final years they’re facing the very real possibility that they won’t be able to make payments. If they retired at 65, a 90-year-old person who is living off of social security and their savings is devastated when they receive a $300 energy bill. To someone living off of $8000 a year, a $300 is like a sucker punch in the stomach where you have to struggle to catch your breath.

I’ve seen many of these cases and they’re not in places you would expect. They’re in Waukesha, they’re in Cedarburg and they’re in Caledonia. They want to keep their homes but they want to maintain their health which is difficult if your house is always just 50 degrees.

These reasons are why Doyle’s proposal is so important. It’s not just a frivolous handout to the poor. You can’t point to energy assistance and say it’s some sort of liberal great society program. It is neither liberal nor conservative — it is about common decency and care for your fellow man. It’s an issue of compassion and leaders in the state legislature are turning their backs these Wisconsinites.

Our economy will also suffer. As growing numbers of people will default on their energy bills, their credit scores will decrease, making it less likely for them to qualify to buy durable goods and other products.

This is not an issue that can be swept under the rug. People are freezing.

If Assembly leader John Gard wants to politicize this issue, he needs to come up with his own alternative. Last fall, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported in their Business section that heating bills would rise 61%. The year before it was 27%. This is not a trend that is sustainable. Most people in our state do not get those kind of raises from their employers.

Doyle came up with a plan. He said, “to help make energy more affordable, I called the Legislature into special session to act on my proposal to provide an additional $6 million in home heating assistance for Wisconsin’s working middle class families. The average Wisconsin family is struggling to pay their heating bill right now – and will pay an additional 30 to 50 percent more in home heating costs this year. My proposal – which would cover a Wisconsin family of four earning up to $40,000 a year – will help about 30,000 Wisconsin families struggling to make ends meet and aren’t getting help from anywhere else.”

Where is John Gard? Does he not see a problem? Why aren’t the members of his party standing up for the people of their districts and demanding that the GOP at least comes up with an alternative?

Joe Winecki, the Chairman the Democratic party chimed in by saying “the Republicans seem to have no idea how much working families are struggling to make ends meet this winter due to skyrocketing heating bills…” The GOP response?

Silence.

I would have expected some response, some alternative plan that Republican legislators could hang their hat on for the fall elections. So I’m going to give them an out, yes that’s right, I’m going to make a suggestion that could allow the uncreative and unimaginative GOP an idea that will help them and will help many other people. Even better for them, it includes a tax cut.

Now they don’t have to do it but if Doyle is smart, he’ll capitalize on the GOP inaction and continue to pound on them. He’ll send out his ad people to take footage of freezing seniors who look at Doyle’s proposal as their only alternative to defaulting on their bills.

So here it is: If the GOP would push a tax credit for people who install energy efficient home improvements such as attic insulation, windows and doors, Doyle may not be able to capitalize on this issue as much as he would otherwise. This month it has been cold. Next month people will get their energy bills from this months freeze.

The way the GOP usually does things is half-baked. They would probably offer it for any home improvement. But I’m feeling charitable today so I’ll offer a suggestion for Doyle also. Doyle could and should point to a big tax dollar giveaway courtesy of the GOP if they do not put in efficiency standards. I visited a lady on about 63rd and Silver Spring that was crying because she installed a Champion picture window and her living room is now colder than before she had it installed.

If Governor Doyle insisted that the credit only be given to companies with products that meet certain standards he would do well. So here are my suggestions for requirements:

R-40 for attic insulation.
A U-factor of no greater than 0.20 for windows (U-factors can be checked at the National Fenestration Ratings Council – nfrc.org)
An R value of R-15 for doors with no more than 20% of the door being glass.

So there it is. This will help a ton of people if either Doyle’s proposal is instituted or the alternative tax credit is instituted. Optimally both would pass but realistically state government doesn’t seem to feel they have a stake in helping the people that pay their salaries — the same people who are struggling to pay their energy bills. The one problem with the second idea is that people who can barely afford their energy bills aren’t going to be able to pay a home improvement company to make their house more efficient. Since the poor would essentially be left out of the second proposal, it makes it the perfect GOP legislation.

The entire concept of prison is to keep the public safe and to punish the accused, but this is a case where not only is Chvala being punished but the taxpayers are also.

Republicans usually like to scream about government waste yet they’re the biggest spenders when it comes to prisons, incarceration, road buildings, the military and a few other choice items.

Chvala may have been convicted for using his office to raise money for people in his own party (dem) but Republicans Steve Foti, Bonnie Ladwig and Scott Jensen did the same thing. Although Chvala, Foti and Ladwig chose not to run again. Jensen flicked the voters the bird when he said he would run and Waukesha voters actually put him back into office.

Jensen’s case comes up soon and it would make sense for his sentence to be at least as harsh as Chvala’s since it sounds like he did more wrongdoing than did Chvala. This is not to say that Jensen is a danger to the community — he is not. However, a Jensen incarceration and sentence equal to Chvala’s would send a message that justice is blind — blind to partisanship and blind to outside influences like the blantantly partisan talk radio.

I’ll start with a premise that yes, we all want our taxes to be lowered. But after that I depart from our demogogue GOP friends.

Colorodo may have passed TABOR (the Taxpayer Bill of Rights) but quickly found their schools going downhill and infrastructure failing.

We pay our political leaders to do their homework and to seek the background information from competent administrators that will help them make a reasonable decision that will lead to sound fiscal policies.

When those political leaders take that information, we expect them to evaluate it to decide whether the services provided are worth the costs and if there is a better way to economize in order to provide those same services for less. We’re all for more services for less money but let’s face it, most of the time that’s just a pipe dream. This is not to say that there isn’t waste in government — the thousand dollar toilet seat stories in the federal government are proof positive that there is waste, but it is much reduced in local government where the average person can attend city council meetings or village board meetings.

There are costs that cannot be controlled by local leaders. Costs such as heating and cooling bills, gasoline for automobiles and highway fleets and even inflation. When officials or talk radio show hosts ignore these uncontrollable costs, they do so at the publics peril.

Yes, it is a compelling and sexy argument that government can always do more for less but at its core, that argument is dishonest at best and hurtful to those who rely on government services to meeting their basic needs.

Consider just a few cases:

Children whose parents meet an unplanned and early demise are sometimes tossed into the foster care system but what would the alternative be if there were not foster parents willing to care for them? How would these foster care parents meet the needs of the children? If there was not some financial reimbursement for expenses incurred by foster parents in the care of these children, many would not even accept these children into their homes. The alternative is a Charles Dickens style of homelessness with children starving in the streets and stealing what little they can to feed themselves.

Handicapped persons who rely on paratransit to get to work, school or even the grocery store would lose their independence and if there is no funds to care for them, they would rely on family members to meet their basic needs — at least those who have family.

These examples are but a few of the core services that the public relies on and for those of us who value a sense of community and who still maintain a semblance of compassion in our hearts, must fight for.

In this podcast we talk about Sheriff David Clarke, Bob Dohnal’s relationship with Senator Tom Reynolds, the impact of Scott Walker’s cuts to mass transit despite getting an increase in funding from Governor Doyle & Milwaukee Transit Services.

We kept the size small (about 3mb) for a quick download.

Click here for the PODCAST

With the media questioning of Governor Jim Doyle’s campaign contributions based on timing, perhaps we need to ask those same questions of the Wal-Mart family contributions to Senator Leibham.

Senator Leibham gave a very good explanation of how these contributions were from a conduit called “Fund for Choices in Education”. Leibham must know very well how these conduits work since the nonpartisan Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (WDC) ranks Leibham as one of the top 3 among all state legislators in conduit funds received. The “Fund for Choices in Education” conduit was the top-giving conduit to legislative Republicans at $12,450 in large individual contributions between February 20, 2003 and June 30, 2003 when they worked on the budget.

WDC explains conduits as follows, “Conduits are set up by corporations, professional associations, political parties and other special interests to collect contributions from individuals, bundle them together and send one large check to the candidate. Accompanying the check is a letter that identifies the individual donors and the organization’s name so the candidate clearly knows the special interest that is trying to buy influence.”

They go on to say, “one thing voters ought to watch out for in the upcoming election is candidates who proclaim they are free from special interest influence because they will not accept PAC contributions. They’re deceiving voters unless they also refuse conduit contributions and large contributions from fellow candidates who do accept special interest money.”

Ironically Senator Leibham accepts both conduit and PAC money!

Senator Leibham claimed these Wal-Mart Contributions were not involved with his help in moving the Wal-Mart project forward in the Town of Sheboygan. Unfortunately for Sen. Leibham I think these donations raise perhaps even more questions that need to be asked even if he won’t answer them.

Why would people in Arkansas and California give money to a conduit for a State Senator in Sheboygan who does not have one school choice student in his district?

Why would Senator Leibham return money from the Wal-Mart PAC Fund but knowingly accept Wal-Mart money from a conduit?

Why does Leibham support sending tax dollars to Milwaukee to fund school choice programs that actually take money away from the schools in his district while allowing the Milwaukee Choice schools to avoid the same testing and other statutory requirements that public schools are subject to?

Senator Leibham’s voting record is considerably more conservative than the opinions of the majority of his district. Residents of his district deserve to know his record.

Thank you to the media for having the courage to not allow bullies to keep it from following the first amendment.
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Post column update: A quick look at Senator Leibham’s latest financial report shows that after raising only $250 in his last report, he raised a whopping $ 79,071 in the last 6 month period. That figure includes $11,050 in Pac money and a surreal $32,357 in Conduit Cash! This Joint Finance Committee gig seems to be working out well for the Senator!

As a cop, it’s your responsibility to make sure the law is upheld and that we don’t have a Wild Wild West scene on Wisconsin streets. Oh sure, you’ve got a bullet proof vest, but head shots and anything not covered by the vest can still be lethal. Your family doesn’t have a say so as to whether some angry guy decides that they’ve got a vendetta to settle and Daddy’s the only thing keeping the streets from erupting in gunfire.

So Dad gets caught in the crossfire and little Johnny spends the rest of his life wondering what it would have been like to have Dad there to see his kindergarden graduation, let alone graduation from college.

This is the scene that played out in arguments in the state legislature recently where police associations across Wisconsin came out in united opposition to the NRA / GOP backed “conceal carry” law that would have turned streets, playgrounds, churches, movie theaters and even festivals in possible virtual shooting galleries for anyone who took a 20 hour class.

Doyle’s quotes after the legislature sustained his veto summed it up when he said:

I am pleased that my veto has been upheld and parents will not have to worry about having loaded and lethal weapons in shopping malls, movie theaters, on playgrounds and even at the state fair. Parents can breathe a sigh of relief that guns will not be allowed into school zones.

“The overwhelming majority of law enforcement opposed this bill because it would have made their jobs more difficult and more dangerous, and would have put our kids at risk. I was pleased to stand with them in defeating this legislation.

But Doyle wasn’t just vehement in his opposition to conceal carry. He was outright dismissive about the NRA suckups who chose to focus on guns when there are so many other important issues that affect Wisconsinites.

He said “I urge the Legislature to turn its attention now to the real issues affecting Wisconsin families – like making college more affordable, and passing my emergency energy assistance package to help 30,000 working families pay their heating bills this winter.”

It seems a little petty for legislators to be focusing on guns when seniors are freezing in their homes this winter. If personal protection is really the priority of the GOP, why aren’t they doing anything about protecting people from freezing for fear that if they don’t pay their energy bills they won’t be able to continue to live in their own houses?
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Related Tidbit: Watchdog Milwaukee received an email today reminding us that State Senator Jeff Plale has a 100% voting record from the NRA. Kinda makes you wonder how this is going to play in his upcoming primary election as his district is tending more liberal with each home sold.

Not Green’s opponent in the GOP guv’s primary: Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, ‘Tosa’s leading conservative.

We don’t want to read too much into things here at Watchdog, but it looks as though Walker has lost the support of at least one key conservative pol in ‘Tosa, the one who just happens to sit in his old District 14 Assembly seat. Vukmir and Walker are not exactly neighbors — Walker lives about 20 blocks east of Vukmir in a ward that leans to Democrats these days, and, thanks to gerrymandering after the 2000 census, Walker is now represented in the Assembly by 13 District Assembly Rep. David Cullen of Milwaukee.

It should be noted that Vukmir’s no prime endorsement if you want the family values vote that Walker and Green are after, but her support of Green has got to smart for Walker, who could have expected a home turf endorsement from his successor and fellow ‘Tosa resident. But when two county departments — parks and family care — announce $4.1 million in combined deficits within a week of each other, the guy from out-of-town starts looking a lot better.

Expect more conservatives, and perhaps more of conservative ‘Tosa, to follow Vukmir’s example and back Green as more of Walker’s county budget mismanagement comes to light this year.

A media advisory from the Green for Governor campaign says Green and Vukmir will hold a press conference tomorrow, Wed. Jan. 25, at Holy Redeemer Educational Complex on W. Mother Daniels Way between 7:50 and 8:15 AM and will then spend the rest of the day with students at HR Christian Academy.

Do we need any more evidence that the Vukmir-Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) proposal has nothing to do with education in Milwaukee and everything to do with scoring political points against Gov. Jim Doyle in this election year?

Doyle wants to apply some accountability to the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program before the enrollment cap in the program is raised, and has proposed a conservative raise to the cap. Vukmir and Darling have proposed to lift the cap completely and to keep standardized testing optional in choice schools.

Republican Assembly leader John Gard last week wrote a letter to Doyle, expressing that he wanted to work with the governor on the future of the School Choice program. Doyle is willing to increase the enrollment limits in exchange for accountability that has been lacking in the program since it began in 1990.

So while Gard, Gov. Doyle and legislators such as Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee) went to work in Madison, Vukmir decided the best place for her to be was with Green stumping to lift the cap, knowing full well that her legislation is an all-or-nothing gambit that won’t survive the first hand and, knowing too, that accountability is an albatross for Republican candidates if Doyle holds them to it.

But Doyle isn’t yet in fight-back mode on the school choice voucher issue, despite the fact that TMJ and Charlie Sykes have created controversy by attacking the governor with an ad campaign, orchestrated with the introduction of the Vukmir-Darling legislation. Why not? Because, like John Gard and Lena Taylor, Doyle is working to shape a proposal that best serves parents and children in Milwaukee.

Shame on Leah Vukmir. We all know that the schools in her ‘Tosa district are high performance schools. But do the schools and school children just across the ‘Tosa city line in Milwaukee deserve such disdain from elected officials in the county area?

Of course they don’t, and neither do Alberta Darling‘s neighbors in River Hills on the North Shore or Leah Vukmir‘s in Wauwatosa, where parents are most concerned about funding for their own high performing public school districts. But, as we’ve suggested previously, that’s not the point in a school choice debate where all sides routinely turn a blind eye to some of the realities in Milwaukee schools.

Malcolm X Academy is a middle school in Milwaukee Public Schools that has, over the years, been more controversial than it should have been, with its curriculum and subcontracting practices under scrutiny from the MPS Board. But the school has survived; it’s not a place most MPS parents want to enroll their children in, but some parents do. These parents know what’s going on in their school because, in addition to the past public scrutiny, the school is accountable to state standards in testing in Math, Science and Language skills, the results of which are reported every year in the MPS annual report.

So why shouldn’t private schools in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program be accountable to those same standards? The way the choice program is set up, schools are not required to test kids on the basics, and, if they do test their kids, the test results are thrown in a file somewhere and usually not released to the public.

And if Republicans, led by Vukmir and Darling, want the cap on enrollment in the Choice program lifted, how can they actually propose that “no accountability” continue to be the rule in the choice program? They are.

Leah Vukmir, with a straight face last week, accused Gov. Jim Doyle of taking an “all or nothing approach” on the program, even as she and Darling pushed their proposal to remove the enrollment cap altogether. Democrats and Republicans are talking about lifting the cap while admitting that we don’t have, to date, any information on the progress of children in the program that anyone can trust. Doyle, Vukmir and Darling have all proposed that a Georgetown study take a long term look at how children are faring as they move through Milwaukee’s various programs: choice, charter, public-private partnership and public schools.

So politicians in Madison, men and women, black, white and Latino, Democrat and Republican, have all decided that the cap on the Choice program should be raised or lifted altogether, even though they all admit that they don’t really know what’s going on in a program that started 15 years ago, or in the lives of school children in Milwaukee for whom they are continually making policy. This is the height of irresponsibility by all sides but, nevermind that — it’s an election year and the cap will be lifted, even if it is a more modest lift as proposed by Gov. Doyle.

Doyle has also proposed an independent accrediting authority for schools applying for choice funds to prevent the highly publicized disasters at Mandella School of Science and Math, Alex’s Academy for Excellence, Exiter and Milwaukee Preparatory School, et. al., where funds were squandered, teachers weren’t paid, and kids were set adrift by the worst kind of hustler administrators, costing the state millions.

Doyle would be wise to remind voters in the state of those failures, something he seems a little shy about because the voucher crowd is already race-baiting him with a series of radio “spots” on WTMJ. Last week, the “spots”, which compare Doyle to former Alabama Gov. George Wallace, who literally “stood at the school house door” to stop school desegregation, became an issue in the blogosphere and in Journal Sentinel because right wing radio shill Charlie Sykes used TMJ resources and staff to make the ads free of charge, essentially an illegal corporate contribution.

While a nasty comparison to Wallace isn’t likely to make Doyle flinch, the voices of kids from Messmer telling the governor in these ads that he’s depriving them of their rightful education is a bit troubling for the governor. Doyle can’t win a debate with the kids at Messmer.

But Doyle can easily deflate the voucher crowd’s rhetoric — and he needs to do it quickly. Voucher advocates have long claimed to be “jedi knights” fighting the death star that is public education. Often they’re the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. DPI denied 21 schools entry into the voucher program in 2004. Since then, Mandella has closed; and Alex’s Academy and two others as well. The Journal Sentinel, which has been more than fair to the voucher program, calls some of the failures of the program “disturbing.”

The kids at Messmer are having a good experience in the Parental Choice program. But for far too many parents and children, it’s been a nightmare.