Political Heat

GOP senator wrongly claims protests caused millions in damages Republican State Sen. Dan Kapanke recently sent an email to Tea Party followers in hopes of gaining financial support for his upcoming recall campaign against Democratic challenger Jennifer Shilling, who currently leads Kapanke by 14 points in the latest polling data available. Kapanke took to the offensive in his email, blasting protesters who occupied the Capitol earlier this year for damaging the building. In a political campaign where issues should matter above what protesters did, this tactic is clearly about associating Shilling with "vandals," something the protesters certainly were not. Besides trying to push aside the issues facing his campaign, however, Kapanke also exaggerated the amount of damage done to the Capitol, using figures released earlier by Department of Administration head (and Gov. Walker ally) Mike Huebsch. The damage, Kapanke claimed, was over $7.5 million dollars . But in reality, the d...

New vision for the state needs to be more than anti-Walker Wisconsin is headed in a disastrous direction. This isn't just an individual view either, not simply the "musings from the mind of a Madison liberal": most in the state have determined that Republicans, led by Gov. Scott Walker, are pushing us toward policies and initiatives that will make Wisconsin less hospitable to working families, the elderly, and the young. In fact, a majority in the state are now hoping that the recall campaigns result in a Democratic-led Senate , effectively stalling Walker's plans to subsidize his corporate donors at the expense of the people. More than half the state also disapproves of the governor's job performance, and half want him to be recalled next year. The people want some serious changes. Bully tactics in the legislature, arrogance in the governor's office , and violence in the state's highest court -- these are not the ideals that Wisconsinites espouse, not th...

Movement to discourage "process of the people" misses the point entirely Originally posted at Dane101.com : The Wisconsin State Journal editorial board this week wrote a piece on recall elections in Wisconsin and the toll that they're taking on the citizens of this state. Titled "The gall of recalls," the article posits that, unless we slow down the tide of threats against one another through electoral recalls, the state will not recover from the political messes that have come about in the past six or seven months. "At some point," the article states , "after regular elections are held, the will of the people must be respected. They have chosen their leaders, for better or for worse." It's touching that the State Journal wants to return to normalcy, wants there to be less hostility in our governing process during a tumultuous time for our state. For offering a solution to a perceived problem, the right-leaning (but often level-headed) pa...

Violent confrontation not uncommon for conservative justice Revealed this weekend were allegations that State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, fresh off of his re-election campaign in April, became involved in a physical altercation with one of the Court's other female justices. According to several accounts, Prosser met with fellow Justice Ann Walsh Bradley (whom he once described as a "master at deliberately goading people into perhaps incautious statements") in her office. After a few verbal spats regarding the collective bargaining case that the justices were set to rule on, Prosser grabbed Bradley's neck with his hands . This isn't the first time that Prosser has had an issue with his temper. As a state legislator, Prosser had a tantrum because a film crew was documenting him within the State Assembly during debate on a health bill. Prosser's temperamental attitude followed him into the Supreme Court. Earlier this year, for example, Prosser had calle...

Fringe conservative activists attack peaceful protesters in Capitol What I'm about to write isn't a characterization of every conservative. I have plenty of right-wing friends whom I have much respect for, whom I consider outstanding citizens despite our disagreements. But there is a growing fringe element within the conservative wing of American politics that believes itself above the law, and justifies violent actions through their righteous believes in their supposed "superiority." Sadly, this fringe element isn't just happening in places far away , but in our own backyard as well. On June 21, the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice organized its Solidarity Sing-Along , as it had done every day since February when the protests against Gov. Walker began. Emphasizing citizen activism through peaceful means, the group had never caused any harm to anyone, aside from annoying a few legislators within the Capitol. But some gun rights activists, there that day in...

Current Gov. Scott Walker's vision destroying "Fighting" Bob's ideals Last week, June 14, was “Fighting” Bob La Follette’s birthday, arguably Wisconsin’s most celebrated governor. Living at a time when robber barons and corporate bosses ruled the political landscape, La Follette broke the mold and governed on behalf of real people. But if he had been alive to witness the events of his birth-week he’d likely have had some choice words for the direction his state decided to take through the votes on the current biennial budget and other issues affecting the Dairy Land. The vision that “Fighting” Bob had for Wisconsin was a state by the people, for the people. He’d likely disapprove of the move to rid state workers of their bargaining rights -- he was an ardent supporter of worker protections and liberties. He’d surely be opposed to cuts in education, FamilyCare and other social service programs designed to help Wisconsinites facing difficult times. And there’s no doubt ...

Moves to restrain democratic privileges completely political, partisan If you're still not convinced that Republicans in our state are hypocrites, just look at what they're doing now as proof positive of what so many of us already knew. In an effort perhaps to stop future occurrences, Republicans are mulling around ideas designed to stall or hamper the recall process in Wisconsin. Their rationale to the people? The recall process is forcing senators into campaign mode during a time when they should be working, thus stalling and/or sidetracking work that must be done within the legislature. To any educated observer, however, it's clear that the recalls haven't really stalled anything: Gov. Scott Walker's radically conservative budget was passed, as were voter ID, concealed carry, and a plethora of other Republican agenda items. But besides being flat-out wrong about the effects of the recall process, Republicans are also being hypocritical. If their true concerns ar...

Republican Senator tries to make political issues where none yet exist On Saturday, June 18, U.S. Sen. John McCain made a hefty claim about the role that "illegal" immigrants played in Arizona wildfires. "There is substantial evidence that some of these fires are caused by people who have crossed our border illegally," McCain said at his press conference over the weekend. "The answer to that part of the problem is to get a secure border." McCain's comments came in the wake of the Wallow wildfire in his home state, which has burned hundreds of thousands of acres thus far. Though not stating directly that the Wallow fire was the result of undocumented immigrants, McCain's statements heavily insinuated that they may have played a hand in it. But McCain's assertions carry no weight to them. In fact, Tom Berglund, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman, says he "isn't aware" of any evidence that suggests undocumented immigrants played any ro...

Best way to fund government, benefit society, through progressive model This could be described as a rant of sorts. I'm doing something I never really do on Political Heat -- going into a blog post with no coherent plan. The reason I'm doing this is because I have a general feeling I want to express, a feeling of discontent that needs to be addressed. The best way for me to personally do this is to simply write-it-out, get my thoughts out there in written word. I'm upset with the current state of the world, specifically our nation and our state. We're the most affluent country in the world, and yet so many continue to struggle. We're home to the most billionaires on earth (we have a full third of the total), yet almost 15 percent of our population is living in poverty , including more than 12 million children . Despite these conditions, despite the enormous gap in wealth between the rich and the poor, there are some who think it's not enough, that the rich dese...

State Sup. Ct. ruling allows legislature to enforce its own rules A quick statement about the recent State Supreme Court ruling. As it was two days ago, I know it's old news; still, the implications of the ruling that the anti-collective bargaining bill was passed legally are too staggering to ignore. What the State Supreme Court essentially said in its majority opinion is that the rules of the legislature (even when passed as law) are subject to that body's own interpretations, that no other institution has the right to determine whether violations occur. That may seem like a healthy dose of autonomy between branches of government -- but in reality, the judgment has serious consequences. If a violation of a law that affects legislative rules occurs, who will step in to remedy it? Like the fox watching the hen-house, the legislature cannot fairly police itself. Through the common practice of checks and balances, the judiciary must involve itself within the disputes of the legis...

I have so much I want to write today, but no time to do it. Look for comments on today's events tonight or tomorrow. Solidarity forever...

Republicans will place item in budget if not ruled on by Supreme Court by tomorrow Just posted minutes ago at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel : The Legislature will put Gov. Scott Walker’s limits on collective bargaining into the state budget Tuesday if the state Supreme Court hasn’t ruled on the matter by then, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald (R-Horicon) said Monday. “If need be, we are going to have to pass collective bargaining again,” Fitzgerald said at a Capitol news conference. “My caucus is more solid on that collective bargaining vote than they ever have been.” What's worse, the state legislature is set to enter an "extraordinary session," which means that meetings don't have to be announced under the rules they're normally run by. And oh, hey, remember when non-fiscal matters in a budget were considered a sinful act? Yeah, neither does the state GOP. Disgraceful. But not shocking.

Democratic "placeholder" candidates ensure uniform election date Republicans have made it clear: they don't want to give their constituents a fair shot at determining their futures. By attempting to run "zombie" candidates against Democrats in the recall campaigns facing them , Republican senators are spoiling the democratic process by which our state has adhered to for generations. The right to issue recalls against your representatives -- be they at the state, local, or even national levels -- is one that has been a part of our state since the Progressive era. Rather than standing behind the rules already set in place, Republicans have sought to spoil the process by running Republican-aligned candidates in Democratic primaries. Doing so will force Democrats to raise more money and give Republicans time to stall the recall process until August 9. Not all of the Democrats would face such primaries, however, which would also make things complicated as far as a u...

Talk-show host encourages suppression of zombie speech rights When zombie protesters came to the Capitol earlier this week, they took a lot of heat from people believing that their actions interfered with an event taking place there. Gov. Walker was speaking to a group of Special Olympians when the zombies (students from the United Council) decided to stage a silent protest. (Sidenote: though the zombies were from the UC, the UC was actually trying to stage an event inside the Capitol; the protest before the Special Olympics event was the result of "rogue zombies.") They stood before the governor, their backs to his face , without uttering a single word while he spoke (not even a grunt). Afterwards, the zombies even shook the hands of the Olympians when they left. Some on the right believed that their protest crossed a line -- it was a non-partisan event, after all, that the governor had participated in, honoring those with special needs and the accomplishments they had perfo...

GOP encourages fake candidates to run against Democratic recall challengers Republican senators facing recall elections have come up with a cunning plan: force their Democratic challengers into primary elections in order to delay their inevitable dismissal. In doing so, Democrats will have to raise more money in order to win the primary election within their respective districts (and possibly fend off discrediting remarks that their pseudo-Democratic opponents will bring about). Wisconsin's Republican leaders ( including Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald ) are justifying the use of fake elections as necessary to give GOP Senators the chance to campaign fairly. Says GOP executive director Stephan Thompson : 'The Republican Party of Wisconsin has advocated that protest candidates run in Democratic primaries to ensure that Republican legislators have ample time to communicate with voters throughout their districts after the state budget is approved,' Thompson said in his...

Chairman to make announcement at DPW convention in Milwaukee tonight Tonight, after Chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Mike Tate makes the announcement we've all been waiting for, it will officially be "on." In a speech set to be delivered this evening, Tate will formally announce the DPW's decision to go after Scott Walker , to officially declare that the party intends to recall the governor for his many attacks upon working men and women, seniors and students, across the state. In prepared remarks, Tate will tell a crowd full of Democratic delegates that, "We will begin to repair the damage done to this state and we will begin anew with a Democratic Governor who will fight for our children, who will fight for our families, our teachers and our firefighters. We will fight for the people -- not the powerful." It isn't surprising that the Democrats would want to recall Walker. But the announcement is the most outspoken to be made in the months ...

GOP-controlled Budget committee raises taxes on working families The war on the poor continues in Wisconsin. Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee approved of Gov. Scott Walker's proposals to raise taxes on low-wage working families with two or more children. Under the provisions that passed the committee, these families would see their state earned income tax credit diminished by more than 20 percent of its current levels. Within the same budget meeting, Republicans also decided to cut taxes on capital gains, a cut that means more breaks for the wealthiest in Wisconsin. Interestingly enough, a proposal to allow movie theaters to obtain liquor licenses also passed through committee. It's good to know that Wisconsin Republicans have the people's interests in mind: booze at the movies, tax breaks for the rich, and tax increases for the working population of the state. The diminishing tax credit for working families comes at a terrible time, where many are still struggli...