Battle for Wisconsin: The dawn of week three

May you live in interesting times.


Said as a curse, not a blessing, this saying (allegedly of Chinese origin, but who knows really) certainly applies to the current situation in Wisconsin. I'm still attempting to nurse myself back to health from a particularly nasty and tenacious cold, but have been doing my best to keep up with events as they unfold.

I wrote a summary of today's public access crackdown at the Capitol for Dane101 if you'd like to check it out. Basically, just over two weeks in, the Department of Administration and, presumably, Republican officials have decided that the public's ability to enter the building should be severely limited. Even those who work in the Capitol have been trouble getting in, bags are being searched, and now the rumor is that the windows are being welded and/or locked shut in order to prevent food from being delivered to protesters who've either been inside since yesterday or managed to squeak in this morning.

This all comes after the optimism of last night, when police conceded to allowing demonstrators to remain in the rotunda even after the 4 p.m. shutdown time handed down by the Walker administration.

All of it is being done under the guise of needing time to clean the building (even though they were able to clean it while protesters were there, and even though protesters themselves have been cleaning during the entire occupation), and now, I can only assume, because Walker has decided to give his budget address from the Assembly instead of off-site as originally planned.

Interesting, because the Wisconsin State Constitution explicitly forbids the Legislature from restricting the public's access to the building for any reason.

In the meantime, Walker is now also trying to say that a flyer found in the Capitol proves that the union claims that they're willing to concede to increased pension and benefit contributions in order to keep collective bargaining rights (something the national press as almost entirely ignored, by the way) are false. Because we all know that 1) random flyers found in the rotunda should be taken as gospel truth, and 2) Walker and the GOP wouldn't possibly make shit up in order to demonize their opponents.

Lame.

I'll have more on all of this, plus a few other related items, in a comprehensive Emily's Post tomorrow. You can also check out a handy timeline of events so far over at Isthmus. Suffice to say that this ain't over, and I suspect times will get yet more interesting in the near future.

Major reform needed in funding for public education

It came as a breath of fresh air when the Legislature managed to pass a state budget before the July 1 start of a new fiscal year. After the painfully drawn out process of '08, it was a welcome change.

Unfortunately, that timeliness came at a cost. Namely, a 15% cut in funding to nearly 100 school districts, including Madison. That's $9.8 million dollars lost, and combined with the $2.8 million in other state cuts, we're talking a $12 million reduction for the Madison School District.

According to Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts (D-Middleton), this worst case scenario is the result of lawmakers using outdated data to make their funding predictions. They'd originally thought that cuts would be limited to no more than 10%, but just a few days after passing the budget, the Department of Public Instruction "worked up preliminary general school aids figures for the 2009-2010 school year a few days later, about 100 districts wound up with a 15 percent cut."

Not good. Not in the least.

And the news only got more glum after Pope-Roberts added, "I don't think it can be fixed...I think we're going to have to live with it."

As Forward Our Motto pointed out, Pope-Roberts is one of the good ones, working hard for meaningful education funding reform, so hearing the dire news from her may be especially poignant.

Madison School Board President Arlene Silveira has also chimed in to voice her displeasure with the way things were/are decided:

This grim situation is a result of a poor economy, outdated information used by the Legislature, and a Department of Public Instruction policy that penalizes the district for receiving one-time income (TIF closing). Federal stimulus funds will, at best, delay cuts for one year. We are left with a gaping budget deficit when many fiscal decisions for the upcoming school year cannot be reversed.

There are several different theories about what needs to happen for the situation to be improved. Pope-Roberts backs the School Finance Network (SFN), which advocates, among other things:

...increasing categorical aid for children with disabilities and special needs, for small, rural school districts, and for low income students — making the system more equitable while ensuring that all children have the opportunity to learn. The proposal also reconfigures how annual per pupil increases are calculated, moving them from $264 to $350 in year one, and then tying future increases to overall statewide economic growth...The plan increases state aid and expands homestead property tax relief, generating lower property taxes and providing tax relief for homeowners.

The state Legislature has the responsibility to fully fund public education, as mandated by the state’s Constitution. There are many funding options for state leaders to improve our school funding system, including closing corporate tax loopholes, eliminating tax breaks and subsidies for companies that do not keep jobs in Wisconsin, changing the sales tax system, eliminating sales tax exemptions, and adopting strategies to increase federal support for the state.

Holding the Legislature accountable for fixing the system appears to be the most common theme, and indeed, their past insistence on placing caps on revenue for school funding and general disregard for the public system has certainly contributed to the current crisis.

Frankly, I've never understood arguments for less education funding. Most districts do a good job of cutting out waste and programs that don't work--they've had to, as law makers continue to strip resources from them--so we can't readily place all blame on their shoulders.

Unfortunately, then, it is too often our elected representatives who set out to slash costs, seemingly ignoring the short and long term benefits of an educated populace.

And now we may just have a perfect storm on our hands. Years and years of imposed revenue caps now combine with those "accidental" 15% cuts, and all smack dab in the middle of a recession, and it's the children who'll suffer the worst. They're about to lose essential programs (art and music are usually the first to go - but we're talking assistance for those with learning disabilities and after school programs that are often life savers for kids from lower income neighborhoods or troubled home lives).

How do we, as a state, find the money to keep all of these things, to keep up with meal programs and up-to-date textbooks, fixing leaky school buildings, paying good teachers what they're actually worth, etc.?

That's the question, isn't it. Traditionally, school funding is tied to a particular district's property taxes - but what about those areas that are less affluent? Why shouldn't kids from lower income families/neighborhoods get the same quality of education experience as those lucky enough to be born into greater wealth? They should, no question.

And that's where state money is (supposed) to come in. The problems arise when your lawmakers aren't willing to throw down the cold hard cash to keep things equitable. That should be unacceptable, but we in Wisconsin have allowed them to withhold and place limits on what can be raised for going on 15 years now. It's caused a steady and pernicious backslide in our state's national standings in things like per-pupil spending, decreasing our ability to properly meet the needs of all children.

So what do we do?

We hold the Legislature accountable by only electing those representatives who actually see through campaign promises to increase support for public education, work hard on funding reform, and place greater emphasis on the importance of public education.

We then make sure that they have as accurate and up-to-date numbers as possible with which to work when they're crafting the state budget.

We remove and/or ease overly restrictive school funding revenue caps, allowing individual districts to make decisions about how to raise money based on the needs of their areas.

We may even look into refining how property taxes are determined and used (Christian Schneider recently penned a column for WPRI that I thought offered up an intriguing plan regarding taxes, though I don't know enough of the details to say whether or not it might actually work).

Most importantly, we get back to placing a premium on the importance of quality public education in this state (and country, for that matter). Private institutions have their place, but it is crucial that we maintain access to truly great instruction for every child, no matter their financial background, location, or any other factor. Period.

Doyle's budget plan remarkably sound

I'm reading over Doyle's budget plan and shaking my head - because, overall, it actually seems to make sense. Especially when compared to California's current budget gridlock, this is particularly refreshing.

Instead of the tired old (typically Republican) insistence on across the board tax cuts being the savior of us all, there's actually a proposal to raise taxes on those enjoying the top 1% income bracket. There are spending cuts which may result in some painful decisions for the affected organizations, but may well be necessary for the time being. He's also included funding for commuter rail (praise be that this is finally catching on nationwide). And the icing on this money cake? A cigarette tax hike and another proposed statewide smoking ban.

Two things in the budget likely to raise the most hackles are the income tax hike and the early release of certain "low risk" felons. The former strikes me as a non-issue - those people bringing in the most money should be taxed proportionally. Rep. Robin Vos, R-Caledonia, took umbrage at this proposal, however, saying that "the income tax increase would strike at small business owners who already have difficulty maintaining or creating jobs." Maybe I'm missing something, but how exactly would this hike for the top 1% of earners affect small businesses? I'm willing to bet that most of them don't make enough to qualify for this in the first place. If someone can better explain this to me, though, I'm all ears.

And as for the early release program, done with the appropriate amount of thoughtful consideration, I can see this as being the right (if most controversial) step. Our prisons are wildly overpopulated as it is, and letting so-called low risk inmates out early could help solve that problem and save the state money. The trick, of course, lies in making sure these people have proper support once on the outside, so that they aren't as likely to reoffend.

I'm hopeful that Wisconsin can get this budget into place and make the necessary choices and moves to see our state through the economic downturn with as little pain as possible. It helps that we don't have the ridiculous 2/3rds majority rule for passage as in California, but we do have bitter partisan battles, so who knows. One thing's for sure: We need smart, swift action to stay on track - not petty power struggles and old, tired ideas.

Show me the money: tobacco suit funds and the mollycoddle myth

Gov. Doyle today announced several vetoes and re-workings of the recently passed state budget repair bill. In it, he changed how the bill would be financed (instead of issuing a veto) in order to scale back the amount of money that could be found by securitizing bonds from tobacco company payments. Specifically, Doyle and his aids said they would "seek to borrow $150 million instead of the $209 million outlined in the bill."

In case you hadn't heard much about it lately, Wisconsin, like every other state, received a large sum of money ($5.9 billion) from the major tobacco companies as a result of the Master Settlement Agreement, the "largest civil settlement in US history." The agreement freed the companies from tort liability with the state governments (several of which had pending lawsuits against them) in exchange for these payments and additional restrictions on advertising.

Currently, the state collects just over $600 million a year in revenue from what is leftover of this tobacco settlement and tobacco taxes. It spends a paltry 2.5% of that on tobacco prevention programs It spends a paltry 2.5% of that on tobacco prevention programs. This is in stark contrast to the recommended amount as laid out by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which suggests states spend between $31.2 and $82.4 million a year.

To add insult to injury, these funds have been raided for other purposes several times now. In 2002, the Legislature and Gov. Scott McCallum securitized (sold to investors, for a smaller, up-front payment) the $5.9 billion into a $1.6 billion lump sum - most of which was used to address the state's one-time budget deficit. In this new budget repair bill, the original language called for securitizing another $209 million of that.

Doyle cutting that back to just $150 is progress, but still not great. In the end, this money should be going toward funding tobacco prevention services, and probably health care costs associated with tobacco use, too. Instead, our state legislators (and governors) seem content to raid that cookie jar for other purposes, as opposed to responsible budget balancing, and transferring the costs over to the taxpayers. I call shenanigans.

And speaking of shenanigans! Our good friends over at Ban the Ban Wisconsin have decided to change course and attack the people of the state instead of the "pro-ban activists." In a little something they cleverly call Operation Mollycoddle, the authors are calling on anti-ban types to convince regular folks that groups like Smoke Free Wisconsin think they're all "idiots" and "can't think for themselves." Here are a few choice tidbits from the site:

The underlying goal of Smoke Free Wisconsin is to convince the people of this state that they are nothing more than helpless idiots who cannot think for themselves or make their own choices.

...

Sometimes the best way to weaken an enemy is to avoid their strong points and attack a seemingly benign target. To accomplish this goal, we need to filter away the politically correct garbage and public health crap and expose the insulting and offensive nature of Smoke Free WI; namely that the people can't take care of themselves. Operation Mollycoddle is to be a tactical strike directed at the people of Wisconsin; not Smoke Free Wisconsin. Our goal is to piss off the common citizens so badly that they will turn against the ban advocates.

...

Just remember, people are easy to offend and bring to anger. A few simple insults is usually all it takes, especially if you're insulting their intelligence or their ability to think for themselves. A precision strike at people's "anger buttons" is a much more effective method than chasing the anti-tobacco zealots around.

So in order to bolster their cause, Ban the Ban seems to be advocating the use of mollycoddling to tell the people they're being mollycoddled by Smoke Free Wisconsin. Interesting. Instead of speaking plainly and sticking to the facts, both methods that seem to have failed them totally (understandably), they're now going to "avoid [the opposite sides'] strong points" and "filter away the politically correct garbage and public health crap."

That "public health crap" they're talking about are the inconvenient facts about second-and-first-hand smoking:

• EPA has concluded that exposure to secondhand smoke can cause lung cancer in adults who do not smoke. EPA estimates that exposure to secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths per year in nonsmokers.
• Exposure to secondhand smoke has also been shown in a number of studies to increase the risk of heart disease.
• ETS is a human lung carcinogen, responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually in U.S. nonsmokers. ETS has been classified as a Group A carcinogen under EPA's carcinogen assessment guidelines. This classification is reserved for those compounds or mixtures which have been shown to cause cancer in humans, based on studies in human populations.
• There are conclusive published studies that indicate increased risk of lung cancer in nonsmoking women living with smoking husbands or working with smoking co-workers.

It goes on and on. But still, some anti-ban activists don't seem to give a shit about their own health, let alone that of the people around them. This isn't a matter of Smoke Free Wisconsin (or any other pro-ban group) accusing the people of not being able to think for themselves. It's a matter of keeping those who have thought for themselves and still decided that they don't care about public health from hurting others. Y'know, like laws against assault.

Regardless, Ban the Ban seem hell-bent on mollycoddling the state, apparently thinking so little of their fellow citizens as to believe they can be duped into believing the crap that BtB is putting out there, in the air, for all to breathe.

(cross-posted from dane101.com)

Someone listened

Now here's an (not entirely novel) idea:

MADISON, Wis. -- A legislative proposal would suspend pay for state lawmakers if the next budget is late.The idea is a provision in a reform package being promoted in the state Assembly. If it passes, it would subject lawmakers to other penalties. The budget was 115 days late this year.Two northeastern Wisconsin lawmakers, Gordon Hintz and Tom Nelson, are offering the reforms.Nelson said that members of the Conference Committee should be required to meet for 40 hours a week during negotiations.The Kaukauna Democrat also wants a moratorium on fundraising during the budget-writing process. The proposal is expected to be introduced at the end of the month.

It's nice to know that at least a few of our state legislator's were paying attention to the general hew and cry that went up during the drawn out budget fiasco. All that remains is for the Assembly to actually pass the measure. Here's hoping.

Wisconsin bikes take two pedals forward, one back

I've been trying to suss out what, exactly, happened with funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects in the recently passed state budget (nebulously referred to as the "Surface Transportation Grant Program"). It's not all that easy to figure out the details, but the basics are that Governor Doyle included, for the first time ever, a specific line item for their funding. That's the good news. The bad news is that of the $19.1 million set aside for biking and pedestrian projects by the Legislature, only $2.7 million of that made it past the governor's veto pen.

This leaves Wisconsin languishing near the bottom when it comes to how much in the way of federal transportation dollars states use for bike and ped projects. It seems like an especially petty slap in the face for a state that prides itself on being not only bike friendly, but downright bike obsessed. In addition to the thousands (if not more) of riders in the state, we're also home to numerous bike or bike related companies, including Trek, Planet Bike, Saris and Pacific Cycle.

For all the lip-service our public officials seem to pay to our bike and pedestrian friendly culture, more often it would appear that regular citizens are the ones who do the most to promote and sustain the culture.

What I'm confused about, and would love if someone could help sort out for me, is what's being done with the money that was supposed to go to surface transportation. Before Doyle got to it, the budget originally allocated $14.6 million from "federal transportation sources historically spent on bicycle and pedestrian projects, plus an additional $1.8 million." But Doyle vetoed the extra $1.8 million and put the other $14.6 million back into the regular transportation budget. What gives? What confuses me further is the total amount of money allocated to Wisconsin by the federal government for surface transportation: $130,226,463 according to this document.

That last bit is from the budget for 2007, so it's likely to have changed for the coming fiscal year. Still, what am I missing here? Where is that money going? Are we getting it in the first place? Am I misreading everything?

There is one thing I'm sure of, however, and it's that we owe it to ourselves to far better fund bicycle and pedestrian projects in this state. Improved and increased trails, bike lanes, secure parking spots, education and incentives are all things we should be focused on providing. There are so many benefits to bicycling and walking and so few down sides that it's hard to imagine why anyone would want to ignore them. But then, I suppose we have to remember where the big money is and who it speaks for, and we've only to look at the funding for highway and freeway maintenance to find it.

Dave Blaska: pot, meet kettle.

Lately I've been reading, and cringing at, a lot of Dave Blaska's "blogs" over at the Isthmus Daily Page. It's fine and dandy that the left-leaning publication, for whom I sometimes write on a freelance basis, has a few more right-leaning contributors (I'm making this assumption based upon Blaska's pro-gun, anti-tax, throw-em-all-in-jail stances espoused in previous columns). In fact, I wholeheartedly encourage the practice. But it does both sides and the moderates a disservice when the most visible opinions are so filled with empty rhetoric and name calling.

Today's Blaska Blog takes aim at the counter protesters, most notably state employees, who showed up to "shout down" the anti-tax activists who came to the capitol a little while ago to show support for the Republicans in the legislature who were stalling the budget process.

Let me be clear: I don't think drowning out the voices of people with whom you disagree is a constructive way to solve problems or get your point across. But I also don't think that opposing any and all taxation is a good way to run a society. I've rambled on about this before, so I don't think I need to entirely restate my opinion that some degree of reasonable taxation is necessary for the maintenance of a just and equitable society. The trick isn't in raising or lowering taxes to absurd levels, but in making sure that the taxes are collected and distributed fairly, instead of falling into already well-lined pockets through pork barrel spending and mismanagement.

Putting aside the real issues for a moment, though, my beef with Blaska and others of his ilk are their incessant stereotyping of the fictional notion of a unified "Left."

Let's take a look at a few examples:

The [sic] afternoon Progressive Dane newspaper tried to spin the anti-tax protest as a bunch of Hollywood extras bused in for the event.

Americans for Prosperity, the group that organized the rally opposing the enactment of the compromise state budget proposed by Gov. Jim Doyle, is not from Wisconsin. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

Typical Progressive Dane disinformation: impugn motives, dispute the provenance rather than debate the issues.

I'm not a member of PD, and while I agree with many of their positions, I don't always agree with their methods. But this isn't to say that I believe all PD members are the same, nor do I believe that "Progressive Dane" is a dirty turn of phrase. Blaska, however, along with a whole slew of more right-leaning folks around these parts sure do seem to think of it as a slur. I'm sure they don't appreciate it when similar people on the left make blanket statements about Republicans or the "Right."

Then we have this:

But the bottom line is that the state employees union could not have hurt themselves more if Karl Rove was in charge of mixing the Kool Aid. Arrogant, thuggish and thickheaded. They could not counter the anti-tax citizens with facts, so they substitute brute noise in an attempt to intimidate. That is totalitarian in nature, the polar opposite of sifting and winnowing.

It's the Soviet Union jamming Radio Free America. It's Boss Jim Taylor shoving the Boy Rangers' newspaper wagons off the sidewalks in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

It's one of my favorite underhanded tactics of debate: conjure up the specter of Communism and the Big Boss' of yore (or similar bogeymen) so that any argument made by the other side comes off sounding like a defense of those things. Plus, it should be noted, Blaska has not, as far as I'm aware, made any sound arguments, supported by facts and statistics, to support his anti-tax position. What was that he was just saying about substituting "brute noise in an attempt to intimidate"?

Blaska says he's a state employee himself, so there's some ground to stand on when he attempts to make his points. Of course, the invocation of Vicki McKenna as some kind of voice of reason hurts him more than anything, but still he, and others like him, have a great platform to put forth real ideas and try to improve the public discourse. Instead, he seems content to call names, make broad generalizations and skirt around the real issues (like, y'know, that whole "no man is an island" and "we need a friggen state budget" and "health care should be a right not a privilege" stuff).

So here's an idea, My Fellow Bloggers: try to inject some real content into your online musings. Better yet, try to then transfer that real content, those original ideas, into actual, real-life action. I'm fully applying this to myself--I need to do more than write and I know it. The first step that many of us are missing, though, is in learning how to have civil discourse with people who don't agree with us and not to lump them all into one identical group.

With role models like the empty talking heads we currently have on most cable news networks and syndicated talk shows, it's easy to see why the more local voices might be tempted to fall into fiery, no-substance rhetoric. But we owe it to ourselves and our fellow citizens to rise above that type of easy pandering. And we need to start holding public voices to higher standards: if all you can do with your payed platform is snipe, then you don't deserve the space. It should be back to the proving grounds with you!

Strange Brew

Our dear leaders up at the capitol finally saw fit to pass a state budget yesterday, which is good, but only after the Democrats ceded some of the best parts of it (universal health care) and kept some of the worst parts (taking $200 million from the fund used to help pay medical malpractice awards), which is bad.

Apparently the long, drawn-out and very tedious work of doing their jobs also made the legislators very thirsty, as they slipped last-minute provisions into the budget that 1) make it legal for liquor and grocery stores to hand out free samples of hard liquor and 2) allows, as far as I can tell, that a brewer, "in providing beer to its own retail premises, is not subject to restrictions on the sale, transportation, and delivery of beer generally applicable to wholesalers and retailers."

I'm not entirely sure I understand the ramifications of the latter point, but the Madison Beer Review does a good job of laying it out for us. From what I can tell, it hurts smaller microbreweries with slightly unusual/clever distribution methods and pretty much just benefits The Great Dane.

It's always fascinating to see what little tidbits get added onto otherwise unrelated bills and/or budgets, and this is, I'm sure, just the tip of the iceberg. I'm happy we've finally even passed a damn budget, but this kind of thing has always seemed especially shady to me. No time or will for a proper debate of the subject, so something just gets passed under the radar. That seems just a little dangerous.

In the end, I'm more upset about losing what would have been the most progressive and beneficial health care program in the country than I am about beer and liquor laws, but it's all certainly worth noting. In the end, the main problem is that the majority of our lawmakers seem more concerned with lining their pocketbooks and pleasing their donors and lobbyists than they do with taking care of the people they're supposed to represent. And that's an issue we all need to take up come election time. Don't let them forget that gross incompetence on the job will result in consequences--most notably, by not getting re-elected.

P.S. Silent Sports has a great call to arms against some of the line items in the budget to do with funding yet more ATV trails in Wisconsin. Check it out and make the calls!

What are you drowning in your bathtub today?

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and a huge GWB fanboy, hopes it's your government: "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."

Are Wisconsin legislators, most notably the 30 who signed onto the "No Tax Increase Pledge," taking their cues from Norquist?

Look, just like most law-abiding taxpayers, I don't want taxes to skyrocket and make it nigh unto impossible for me to make ends meet. But let's be honest with ourselves, that's not what we're talking about when we discuss our state's woefully and inexcusably late budget.

The attitude that Mr. Norquist and his ilk seem to have is the "I am an island and need no outside help" point of view more often associated with extreme Libertarians and those people who barricade themselves inside their homes/compounds with guns and made-up country flags.

Government needs restraints so that it doesn't become the type of all-seeing behemoth depicted in books like "1984," but it also needs to be used appropriately to provide for the kinds of services that one person or one community can't provide for alone.

You want to abolish a whole bunch of government associations, drastically cut taxes and basically fend for yourself? Fine. Can you put out your own fires, pave your own roads, school your children from kindergarten through college, protect your ecosystem, insure that you're treated and paid fairly at your job, police your streets, clean up and properly dispose of your garbage, make sure your means of getting electricity are safe and relatively clean, provide disaster relief for yourself and your neighbors in times of trouble, and find food in times of financial famine all on your own?

Really? Because I consider myself to be a fairly capable individual with certain basic survival skills, and I'm still fairly damn certain that I couldn't do all of that.

Look, if you want safer streets, clean water, air and food, and something resembling a decent standard of living, then you need to contribute to your society and not hoard everything to yourself, expecting to survive as an island. Public schools educate the children who then grow up to work in the jobs that provide many of the necessities and pleasantries we all rely on to get by. It also helps keep many of those children from turning to more illegal activities to make ends meet. And that's just one of the essential provisions of a good state budget.

There is no excuse for the kind of foot dragging, petulant tantrum the legislators are throwing. At this point, it has become dereliction of duty, and in any other state or private sector job, such a performance would be met with quick and appropriate punishment--probably with getting fired. Why aren't we holding our elected officials to the same standards? And why are our elected officials completely disregarding the will of the majority of their constituents in deference to the wild-eyed, disconnected-from-reality minority? As always, we should probably be following the money.

Ridiculous.

Reporting live from day 101 without a state budget here in Wisconsin, and the natives are getting more than restless. Jesse Russell over at dane101 has issued a call to arms to stand vigil at the capitol this Friday with signs letting legislators know what we think of them. Governor Doyle has said he will call a special session next week if a budget is not agreed upon by this Friday (wait, this sounds familiar). And Republicans, having nothing better to do I guess, are crying foul over emails sent to low-income UW students by state Democrats via UW officials asking them to participate in a press conference this morning calling on legislators to complete the budget. These students are currently in limbo, waiting to hear whether or not they'll receive their Wisconsin Higher Education Grants.

There's some merit to the charge in that I don't know that it's entirely proper for university officials to send out partisan solicitations to students who fit a certain criteria made known through what I presume are confidential lists. The better option would have been for Doyle's people to have made a blanket press release to students, asking any interested parties to help out. Whether or not the emailing thing is an actual breach of ethics, I don't know. It is a little shady, but sharper minds than mine will figure it out in the end.

Still, I'm hoping all involved parties deal with the more pressing issues first, and leave this for once we have an actual budget passed. Maybe having the lure of another Democratic witch-hunt in the offing will be enough to light a fire under state Republicans and get them to help move this process along. Then the only question is, what will it take to get Democrats moving, as well?

Arresti i politici!

This is pretty hilarious, and might provide good additional incentive to the idea proposed in yesterday's post:

MADISON – Democrats in Madison say the only way to get a state budget passed is to arrest state lawmakers and force them to negotiate. They are calling the plan the Budget Deadline Enforcement Act. Wisconsin is the only state in the country that has not yet passed a budget. It is 13 weeks late. The plan would force the budget committee to meet after the Senate and Assembly pass budget plans. For the first week, they would meet eight hours, five days a week. If the budget isn’t passed, they would have to meet for nine hours, five days a week. If the budget still isn’t passed, they would have to meet for ten hours, six days a week. Also, police could arrest anyone who didn’t attend a meeting and force them to attend. The committee has met 16 times this year. If the plan were in place, they would have met 72 times. Democrats feel this is better than a government shutdown because a government shutdown hurts innocent people while not forcing lawmakers to meet. Twenty-three other states have government shutdowns when there is no budget.

Indeed! Cuff 'em, throw 'em in a room and don't let 'em leave until the damn thing is worked out. This goes for Republicans and Democrats alike.

And then there's the rumblings in the press about a Republican last-ditch effort to win all the marbles by using ye olde nuclear option, something that I think ought to be avoided at all costs. It smacks of being a childish tactic to get their way.

According to TCT:

Earlier this week, state Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus wrote Republican lawmakers that in the wake of the drubbing the party took at the polls last year, "our Party needed to draw distinct lines between what we stand for as Republicans and what the Democrats stand for, and then hold true to our principles. Thanks to all of you and the Democrats' $18 billion tax hike (for a universal health care program), we have successfully drawn that line in the sand. By being true to our ideals of less government and fewer taxes, we brought our Party together and we can once again be proud to call ourselves Republicans."

Mr. Priebus, did it ever occur to you that the reason your party took such a hit in the elections last year was because people are fed up with the insane policies of the Republicans both in state and at a national level (it was a trend, after all)? Not because you need to get more stubborn and unreasonable about your policies and absolute refusal to spend money on your constituent's well-being.

Look, there is middle-ground to be reached. Taxing the crap out of everyone obviously isn't the answer, but refusing to raise any money for necessary services (and yes, universal health care is a most necessary service) also isn't the answer. The problem may lie in the fact that so many (but not all) politicians seem terribly averse to taxing an appropriate amount from our high-income residents and businesses.

The problem may also lie in the fact that so many politicians, especially Republicans, don't seem to realize that the state needs to raise money if it's to do its job of providing things like good schools, good health care, safer streets and, y'know, the ability to put out fires in a timely manner. In fact, there's a fire at the capitol they should really consider putting out sometime soon, before it spreads and consumes the entire state.

Make 'em pay!

It's Day 95 here in Wisconsin without a new budget, and the good folks of this state are a little beyond ticked off. There's some talk, from both sides of the aisle, of passing legislation that would impose penalties on lawmakers if the budget isn't passed within a certain time line. One idea is to dock their pay until a budget is passed, but as tempting as that sounds, our trusty ol' state constitution says that "...the compensation of a public officer may not be increased or diminished during the term of office." That means we'd be in for a lengthy process if we wanted to change the rules.

However, there are a few other ideas that (as laid out in a WSJ article), in my opinion, strike the right chord:

• Banning state elected officials from accepting campaign donations during the budget process.
• Stopping all work and hearings on other legislation until the budget is passed.
• Ensuring that all nonfiscal policy items be removed from the budget.
  

The first one is definitely my favorite. What would motivate our lawmakers more than anything else that doesn't require a constitutional amendment than taking away their ability to fund raise for their campaigns? I can't think of much. Accepting the fact that we're in desperate need of serious campaign finance reform in general (say, public funding for everyone?), we should for now focus on using it as perfectly legal bait to keep our representatives in line.

No budget? No fundraising. Simple enough. Our reps are so distracted by the need to get re-elected that they often forget why people put them into office in the first place: to serve the best interests of their constituents and not their pocketbooks. Seems straight-forward enough, but it's something that I suspect many politicians have either forgotten or never really taken to heart.

And until we make it clear that we're going to hold them responsible for things like this budget impasse and enforce strict consequences if they don't, they will continue to posture and drag their feet until they drive our state into the ground.

Promising, but still not sold

The newly renovated and freshly hyped Majestic Theatre had its grand opening this weekend, with headliners Mandy Moore and Ben Lee taking the stage in front of adoring fans, ironic hipsters and friends of the theatre's owners. According to the write-up given over at dane101, there are a number of promising signs and developments in the space, but also a few minor kinks yet to work out. I still have to make it over to check it out for myself, but I am glad that it sounds like they've done a good job of making a great old theatre classy again.

Still, I'd like to see some greater variety in their line-up. Mandy Moore's all well and good, but a slate full of equally "innocuous and pleasant" acts doesn't do much to inspire decent turn-outs at their shows. If they want to draw in good sized crowds, they'll have to look beyond American Idol finalists and former teen movie stars. But I wish them well, and I applaud their efforts so far to make the space more welcoming (even to the city's under-21 population!) and interesting.

In other news, word has "leaked" that another Zombie Lurch is in the offing:

The Coalition Of the Living Dead (COLD) will gather on Saturday October 20th at 2:00 pm at the state capitol in Madison Wisconsin and lurch for our rights as zombies. COLD encourages zombies and zombie supporters to come equipped with signs and slogans to make our point. We will raise our voices and we will not be ignored. We will lurch from the capitol down State Street to the Memorial Union.

And thank goodness, because the political and social climate for zombies in Madison has been growing more and more oppressive as of late. They're being given a bad name by a few, renegade zombies up at the capitol who, after 3 months, still can't agree on a state budget. Most Joe-Sixpack zombies on the street know when it's time to drop the demands for fresh, UW scientist brains delivered to their door and to instead reach a compromise that will make the living and the dead happy. God forbid the budget impasse will still be an issue come October 20, but regardless, the Lurch should shed much needed light on zombie rights.


(photo credit: Madolan)

Senator Jim Schmoron

Oh Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, you so crazy. Apparently all it takes to be a state politician is some cash and a fifth-grade level of maturity.

According to the State Journal, Huebsch released a sample press release to his fellow Republicans with the strong suggestion that they contact media and lambast Doyle for not wanting to pass the budget in bits and pieces. In that sample press release, he refers to a figurative Democratic Senator by the name of "Jim Schmoron." Huebsch has since conceded that it was "inappropriate" for him to do so, which is very big of him.

So Wisconsin's still without a state budget. The Republicans are against proper health coverage for their constituents, don't seem to understand that you can't provide public services without a degree of taxation, and absolutely abhor the thought of taxing oil companies ("estimated to raise $275 million in the next two years")...but they don't mind throwing childish names around at one another. Brilliant.

In the meantime, we the waiting public are left to endure behind-closed-door negotiations between leaders from both parties, completely left in the dark as to what on earth they're talking about and what deals are being made. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't good government based on a fair degree of transparency? Still, I suppose you can't blame them too much for simply following the example of our Dear Leader in DC.

Way to rise above, state politicians!


(photo credit: curiousparents.com)

Just say no to puppy mills, dang it!

Good lord, I hadn't realized our fair state was the Wild West of puppy breeding (see: almost totally unregulated) until I read this article in today's State Journal. The good news, however, is that legislators, though still incapable of passing a decent state budget, are moving to make significant changes to the laws:

A bill to be introduced today by a bipartisan group of lawmakers would require all dog breeders who sell at least 60 dogs a year or have at least eight breeding females to register with the state, meet minimum breeding and sanitary standards and be subject to state inspections. It would require the state to establish those standards and impose penalties on breeders who violate them.

The bill would also let dog buyers seek financial or other penalties from breeders who sell unhealthy dogs.

I guess I'm just somewhat appalled that there wasn't already some type of regulation on the books in regards to breeding. Puppy mills are disgusting and the people who run them are deplorable. It seems well within reason and the jurisdiction of the state government to impose basic standards on the people who breed dogs. Especially since "designer" pups have become so popular in recent years.

My family had a similar experience years ago when we bought a "purebred" shih tsu puppy from a local pet store (that, it later turned out, used puppy mill breeders for its dogs). The poor thing was a complete runt and was so sick that she nearly died just months after we brought her home. Happily, our story has a good ending in that we were able to get her cared for by an amazing vet who basically saved her life. She ended up being the weirdest but most personable dog you could want, but lived a long and happy life (though we're fairly certain she wasn't at all a "purebred" shih tsu--there appeared to be some pekingese in her as well, at the very least).

Unfortunately, there are far too many stories that don't end so well for the dogs or their owners. You can learn more about puppy mills and those organizations working to stop them at the following links:

• stoppuppymills.org
• Human Society of the United States
• Wisconsin Puppy Mill Project

What I'll be really curious about is whether or not this proposed legislation will include regulations for breeders who sell directly to pet stores. It's a common loophole nationwide and, frankly, it's pretty heinous.

(photo credit: Dane County Humane Society - and you can adopt that very dog, or any of the other deserving animals through their adoption program)

They Fight Crime!

Alder Brian Solomon, who represents District 10 in Madison, has a few words about all of the recent talk and fear mongering about crime and punishment in our city:

And if we really care about saving our community, we need to move past law and order and find a way past all this violence. If we want peace in Madison, we must have justice. So let’s add police and resources and address this fear. But let’s also come together, recognize that we must be in this together, and focus on the root causes of poverty that often lead to crime in the first place.

Right on. The debate has made its way into the current budget crisis, with The Capital Times publishing an editorial in Saturday's paper making the argument that the Republican's proposed cuts would make it nigh unto impossible for Mayor Dave to add the 30 police officers (among other things) that everybody's been clamoring for. Forgive me, but you could add 100 officers to the force here and the impact on crime would ultimately be negligible. Sure, there'd likely be an increase in people getting caught--and I'm all for that--but it will do little to stop the crimes from happening in the first place. Addressing that problem, like Solomon points out, requires multiple concerted efforts to deal with the problems before they begin.

Improved educational opportunities for low-income residents, both by bettering the public education already available and by creating and improving apprenticeship and trade programs like the one Solomon mentions in his post, are just one method:

Just around the corner from Allied Drive resides the Madison Apprenticeship Program (MAP), the brainchild of one woman whose drive for change makes more difference than a dozen new police. One graduate entered the class homeless and jobless. He secured housing and now manages an apartment complex and paints as an independent contractor. Another graduate spent the last dozen years dealing drugs. He now works at an area service station, signing up for every extra hour of overtime he can find. There is a second generation drug dealer who graduated and now works as a sales clerk and attends MATC, working to become a lab technician. Another graduate fought with others regularly, used drugs, and was always involved with police. Now she is employed as a technician with a communications company and is taking computer classes at MATC. She hopes to have her own computer business one day. Just four examples of how, for both the individuals and for our community, engaged participation can trump incarceration.

That's the kind of thing we should be looking to create and fund. You can build thousands of prisons, employ millions of cops, create the strictest rules and laws possible--but you won't put a very large dent in the hard numbers. And you won't improve the lives of those people whose lives most need improving. Is it entirely up to the city? Is the individual free from blame? Absolutely not. We each need to ante up and do our part, make the decision to grow and improve ourselves and our neighbors. But the city needs to chip in, too, by providing the infrastructure necessary to accomplish the goals set forth by the people. They can start by passing a decent budget. Then they can continue by making sure the money goes to worthwhile programs that get to the root of the problems, instead of throwing it solely at short-term bandages.

Health care? Not important, according to WI Republicans

This is so infuriating:

Democrats offered Friday to drop their $15 billion universal health care proposal as long as Republicans agreed to a variety of tax increases they have vowed to oppose.

The move is a sign that Democrats are willing to negotiate to get the budget done within a week, said Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit.

"We're willing to give if you're willing to give," she said at a meeting of a bipartisan committee of lawmakers who have been trying to reach a budget compromise.

But Republicans balked at being forced to accept tax increases on hospitals and cigarettes, and a $175 million fund transfer, in exchange for Democrats' withdrawal of the universal health care plan known as Healthy Wisconsin.

"I am providing you nothing in return," Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said after accepting the withdrawal of the universal health care plan. "I am not saying in any way that I will trade all of these items so Healthy Wisconsin can come out of the state budget."

And a big screw you right back at ya, Mr. Huebsch.

Apparently, getting as many people as is possible reasonably covered for health care in this state isn't that important to the Republicans in the legislature. Nope, gotta fight tooth-and-nail against things like gay marriage and notaxincreaseseverbygodnomattertheconsequences. The public good be damned!

I am by no means taking all of the blame for our current budget woes off of the Democrats' shoulders. They've contributed their fair share of ridiculousness to the mess, but this kind of crap from the Republicans is just shameful. Expanding Badger Care, of which I was for many years a grateful recipient, to include 98% of Wisconsin residents (including all children) would have been a fantastic move, something the rest of the country could have pointed to as a good example of what the nation ought to be striving for.

Instead, the Republicans are just dragging their feet in the dust, pouting, throwing little temper tantrums and refusing to budge on pretty much anything they don't like. So, decorum out the window, I send the following message to 'em: Fuck all y'all.

Thank-you, good night.