Political Heat

De-regulation, tax cuts for corporations, won't fix the economy or unemployment rate The belief that cutting taxes for the rich and de-regulating businesses will help our economic outlook is in fact a fallacy. Regulations that make sense, protect the consumer, and still allow the business to function are well worth having, if they serve a purpose. Removing regulations for the sake of "job creation" makes about as much sense as taking your vitamins and expecting dramatic weight loss. In both cases, you're not going to see positive results by doing those actions alone. A recent Associated Press article lays this out in greater detail. Acknowledging the proposals by Republican candidates for president, the AP pointed out that many of their statements simply don't hold any weight to them whatsoever : Consider proposed cuts in taxes and regulation, which nearly every GOP candidate is pushing in the name of creating jobs. The initiatives seem to ignore surveys in which ...

Moderate Republican Schultz to vote against Lazich bill A move to change the state legislative districts two years early , affecting who could sign recall petitions for several state senators, is not only political posturing of our electoral process but also a move that destroys the democratic rights of thousands of Wisconsinites. Fortunately, it will not pass. Sen. Dale Schultz, a moderate Republican, has signaled he won't vote in favor of the bill . If every Democrat votes against the bill as well (an expected occurrence, seeing as it's a blatant partisan jab against their party), it will fail in the Senate. The state senators in office that would have been affected by this change were meant to represent their constituents until 2012. But by preventing their people the right to sign the petitions, the bill would have essentially rendered them "representative-less." It would have disregarded their rights as voters to take part in the recall process (if they choose t...

"Reforms and Results" site hardly pretends to be a non-partisan, governmental resource Having looked at some of the content found within it ( part 1 , part 2 ), it behooves us to analyze the purpose behind the "Reforms and Results" website itself. Located at reforms.wi.gov , it's clear that the site is a misuse of state resources for the purposes of political "campaigning." Tax dollars should never be spent to promote an individual for a political purpose -- but that's exactly what's being done on this state-run site. The context of "Reforms and Results" frames the "accomplishments" that the state has seen (a questionable claim itself) as wholly-owned by Gov. Scott Walker, as goals reached by an individual and not by Wisconsin. When Scott Walker was sworn in as the 45th Governor of Wisconsin on January 3rd, he told the crowd, "What is failing us is not our people or our places. What is failing us is the expanse of gover...

Taxpayer-funded (campaign) site touts Walker's "accomplishments" for schools across the state, ignore complications More analysis from the recent "Reforms and Results" site set up by Gov. Walker's campaign committee the State of Wisconsin. The Kaukauna School District has been exemplified on the reforms.wi.gov website as being "saved" as a result of Act 10 -- the law that stripped state workers of collective bargaining rights, including teachers, in Wisconsin. What happened in the northeastern Wisconsin town of Kaukauna was seen as a miracle, vindicating the actions of Gov. Scott Walker for having held a firm line against unions that caused such a "problem" for school districts. From the site: Shortly after Act 10 took effect, Kaukauna emerged as an early example of how concessions can change the financial landscape of a school district, and now the board wants to be a leader in taking actions to reward its best teachers. The school boa...

Taxpayer-funded website touting Walker's accomplishments only tells part of the story on jobs The "State of Wisconsin" recently released a new website that touts the accomplishments this year under Gov. Scott Walker. The site, at reforms.wi.gov , looks a lot like a campaign website , using phrases like "How Governor Scott Walker's reforms are working for Wisconsin," implying that this site is about Walker more than Wisconsin. That would be a clear violation of the law, as government resources cannot be used to promote a candidate for office. Walker isn't unfamiliar with such tactics , and may currently be under investigation for similar misconduct in the offices of Milwaukee County. With Walker's recall set to begin November 15, it's almost as if Walker is trying to stop the movement dead in its tracks with talking points, supplied by the state of Wisconsin's taxpayers' dollars. Looking past that just for right now, we should consider th...

Since January, number of employed Wisconsinites has grown...by 18 people During the campaign for governor, Scott Walker made the ambitious claim that he could create 250,000 jobs within his first term. Many people scoffed at the idea, but Walker credited it with being a major reason why he was elected governor. In June, six months after he took office, the Walker administration announced that its projections would be lowered by about 70,000 jobs, and in September, Walker spoke to WISN's Mike Gousha about the promise he had made on the campaign trail . Walker : My goal is to still get there -- my goal is to actually exceed that amount [250,000 jobs]. We’re still going to keep pushing. Gousha : Is it going to be tough to reach that? Walker : Oh, I think without a doubt. In other words, Walker backed off slightly of his jobs pledge, framing it as more of a "goal" than a promise. This week, the Department of Revenue changed it's projections again -- down to 136,000 jobs...

"Extra credit" doesn't make up for broken campaign promise In 2010, then-candidate Scott Walker made a lofty campaign pledge, that he would lead by example and pay the full amount of benefits changes he'd require of other state employees to pay, even before they (or he) would legally need to do so. But as the Associated Press pointed out, Walker didn't start making payments until he was obligated to earlier this summer, thus neglecting his pledge completely . To me personally, this was a non-story: Walker DID screw up his campaign promise, but it wasn't a significant event. It could have been far worse: he could have paid nothing the first few months, requiring changes from other state employees but making no contribution himself. However, that wasn't the case -- Walker made the same contribution he required of others. Yes, he broke his campaign promise, but it wasn't as if that promise significantly altered or affected Wisconsin in any way. In other w...

Reasons behind recall of Gov. Walker justified in new web video A great video was released this week by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. It highlights exactly why our governor, Scott Walker, is leading our state in the wrong direction.

Resurgence in progressive movement isn't about ideology, but rather tackling corporate influence in society Let's get this straight: I don't hate corporations. I think that some corporations, even most, do a lot of good for our society. They provide the products we use, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, and so forth. Those taking part in the Occupy Wall Street movement certainly utilize some of corporations' greatest technologies when they update their actions daily using smart phones and social media. Corporations aren't the enemy -- at least, some of them aren't. This movement you're hearing about isn't about changing our economic system, isn't a call for socialism or anarchism or anything like that. Are there some socialists and anarchists among the crowds in New York and elsewhere? Sure, but they're not a majority. Even if they were, however, this is not what this movement is about. This movement is about removing corporate greed and infl...

AP fact check shows that GOP claims of government "stifling" businesses are untrue Government regulations -- specifically those formed under President Obama -- are costing Americans jobs, according to Republicans. It's a repeated meme that never goes away: regulations aren't good for business, stifling growth, which in turn forces business to hold back on hiring new workers or even laying off the ones they currently have. It's a sad state of affairs, a reality we must bear to live with. If it were true. In fact-checking the GOP presidential debate that was held last night, the Associated Press did some real digging -- and discovered that government regulation isn't all-too responsible for much job loss at all. In fact, businesses reported that layoffs the result of government regulation accounted for only two-tenths of one percentage point (0.2 percent) across the country. That means for every layoff based on government regulation there are 499 other layoffs...

Movement to remove governor adds up to one conclusion: Walker must go The recall campaign against Republican Gov. Scott Walker will begin in just over one month from today. As the Democratic Party of Wisconsin has put it, " This is it. This is history. " The list of reasons behind the recall are numerous. Here's just a short list: The termination of collective bargaining for public employees, ending more than fifty years of bipartisan precedent for this respected right. The voter suppression/ID bill passed under the auspices of making elections more secure (a safeguard that is unneeded, a concern that is unsubstantiated). Hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to education, and restrictions on how school districts can make up for the loss, that "shorts" Wisconsin schools by over a billion dollars. Cuts to BadgerCare (half a billion dollars) and waiting lists for Family Care (funding the program only for those already on it). Tax breaks for the wealthy and corpo...

Another statement on the OWS movement My Facebook status tonight: Just so you know...I'm not a part of any "mob" (Eric Cantor, Republican House Majority Leader). I'm not "un-American" or even "anti-capitalist" (Herman Cain, GOP Presidential candidate). And I'm not going to "drag you into the streets and kill you" (Glenn Beck, conservative commentator). But I AM a part of the growing movement of people who are upset with corporate influence in our government and society. I am 99 percent. To be fair, my other FB status updates have ranged from the recall announcement (more on that soon), to the various sporting events occurring tonight as well. Still, I just felt like sharing this sentiment with everyone who isn't a personal friend of mine on Facebook.

Recall will be difficult, but not out of reach: most in WI disapprove of Walker A new poll released by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin shows that Scott Walker is vulnerable to a recall election . More than half the state disapproves of Walker's performance as governor, and more Wisconsinites trust a Democratic alternative to Walker on issues important to the state. Among the poll's findings: - 52 percent disapprove of Walker's job performance, with 41 percent strongly disapproving - Only 31 percent of Wisconsinites strongly approve of Walker, with his overall approval at 46 percent - The Democratic option is considered the better choice on various issues, preferred by those polled on education (by 18 points), improving life for the middle class (by 15 points), and seen as more honest than the governor (by seven points) - If a recall were held today, a majority of Wisconsinites would vote for the Democrat (51 percent) over Gov. Walker (42 percent) What does this polling sh...

History shows that "special session," Walker's aims, aren't concerned with jobs In 2010, when Republicans were trying to win a midterm election campaign in Wisconsin, including a gubernatorial seat that had opened up, the focus of their campaigns were clear: "JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!" Then they won. And that focus...changed a bit. It started small -- in the form of tax cuts for corporations in the millions of dollars (OK, that's not really small). The promise was that these cuts would inspire businesses in the state to 1) hire more people and increase employment (with increased capital that these corporations would gain assisting in some way) and 2) for businesses out of the state to be lured to come to Wisconsin. Unfortunately, that didn't really happen , and Wisconsin ended up having a loss in employment numbers. But that wasn't so bad: the focus was still there, right? Instead of "JOBS! JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!" the focus was simply altered ...

Criticism of protests by right unwarranted, based out of misunderstanding of movement's aims The protests on Wall Street and elsewhere across the country ( including Madison ) are symbolic of a people frustrated with corporate influence in our society. Occupy Wall Street seeks to address these grievances, to set forward a push to limit this influence in a way that allows "We the People" to have a voice in our government once more. Corporations aren't inherently "evil" -- indeed, many have done a lot of good for our country, have provided countless services to consumers in a decent way. But these protests aren't about those corporations. Rather, they're about the corporations that swindle the common person in favor of corporate profit; that provide minimal services, or none at all, while charging a large fee for that "service"; and that try to interject themselves into the national political conversation by spending millions of campaign doll...

More than 100K jobs created last month (and 99K more jobs in previous months' reassessments) The employment data for the nation overall for the month of September has been released, and the news is pretty mixed . The unemployment rate stayed at 9.1 percent, the same rate it has been since July, signaling a stagnant impasse. Yet, when lookin at the raw numbers, job creation actually did better than expected. The country added more than 100,000 jobs last month. Though analysts say 150,000 jobs are needed to keep up with population growth, this month's numbers show that the economy is capable of getting back to work, though painstakingly slower than what we'd like. There was other good news as well. Job numbers were also revised for August and July. The new data reveals that, in addition to the job numbers initially announced for those two months, 99,000 more jobs were created than what was originally thought. Critics of the Obama administration will contend that the slower-t...

Governments should reject symbolism of hate, terror Texas Gov. Rick Perry recently faced criticism for a position he took (while Lieutenant Governor) regarding keeping the Confederate flag within state institutions, including his state's Supreme Court building. Let's deviate from the campaign politics for a moment and focus on the issue of the flag itself. Long seen as a symbol of intolerance, many white southerners see it instead as a historical artifact, a piece of their culture that is, in their minds, worth preserving. But oddly enough, the Confederate flag flew for less than two years during the Civil War. Adopted in May of 1863, the design was actually the second for the fledgling rebel resistance, a part of the CSA for a shorter time period than the " Stars and Bars " design. The flag held much more prominence, both today and then, as part of the resistance to the era of Reconstruction. Members of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacy groups proudly displa...

Raising the threshold for signatures not the right direction to take There are even more calls for changing the recall elections process, this time from conservative blogger James Wigderson. Wigderson is concerned because, unless something is changed, Wisconsin could enter a never-ending election season : So recalls have gotten easier and threaten to get easier still. If something is not done, we may enter a period of permanent election campaigning in Wisconsin. To his credit, Wigderson recognizes the problem that comes with the proposed constitutional amendment authored by Republican Rep. Robin Vos. Says Wigderson: Unfortunately, if we are limited to Vos’ parameters for recall, we are limiting ourselves to levels of conduct that should compel the Legislature to remove the member without waiting for the recall. Precisely. An issue that shouldn't be partisan -- recalls serve a purpose beyond solely removing elected officials for misconduct. But Wigderson's remedy is only sligh...

Unemployment rates of seven states go from worse-to-better than WI in nine months What do Alaska, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New Mexico, and Utah have in common? They are all states that started out in 2011 with worse unemployment rates than Wisconsin, but have since bested our state's rate as of last month. Wisconsin started out 2011 with an unemployment rate of 7.4 percent. August's unemployment numbers showed that we lost more jobs, and our rate of unemployment has actually climbed to 7.9 percent. These seven states were struggling more than Wisconsin in January of 2011. Alaska's and Louisiana's rates were both 7.8 percent; Maine and Montana, 7.5 percent; Massachusetts, 8.3 percent; New Mexico, 8.7 percent; and Utah, 7.6 percent. But unemployment in those states have all dipped, and Wisconsin's grown, since Gov. Scott Walker took office. Alaska went to 7.7 percent; Louisiana, 7.2 percent; Utah was at 7.6 percent (it saw no change); Massachusetts do...

Bill would give preference to corporations over people The first sentence of Sunday's Journal Sentinel article says it all: People who successfully sue for injuries would earn a lower interest rate on their judgments than banks and credit card companies who take their customers to court, under a bill Gov. Scott Walker included in the upcoming special legislative session on jobs. There are two things in that one sentence that need to be addressed. First : personal injury or consumer credit victims who successfully sue would earn a lower interest rate of restitution (if the defendant failed to make their payments on time) under this bill than corporations would if the situation were reversed. Under one proposal, individuals would receive 4.25 percent interest, while corporations would receive the current rate of 12 percent. That says a lot about Gov. Walker's intentions right there. And second : this bill is included in the special session on jobs, which shows you that this ...

Conservatives should reject extremism within their ranks A crowd boos at a gay military service member that supports the recent repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." A man heckles the president, deriding him as the Antichrist, as he interrupts a scheduled POTUS appearance. Another crowd cheers enthusiastically when a GOP candidate suggests a hypothetical man in a coma who lacks insurance should be left to die because he has to live with his choices. Is this the new base of the Republican Party? These observations (and others like them) are important because they step away from the politicians for a moment and focus instead on the people who support them. This isn't to say that every Republican -- candidate or constituent -- acts in this manner. Indeed, I'd be willing to concede just the opposite holds true, that most Republicans or conservatives are level-head individuals willing to talk things out. But a growing trend among the most ardent of supporters on the r...

Top five stories from Political Heat last month Perhaps this can be a new thing on the site: a review of the top five stories, from last month, as determined by the number of page views that each story received. 5. DOT memo encourages trickery with new voter ID law (9/10/11) State employees shouldn't be encouraged or required to engage in acts of trickery. Government officials should instead push forward a policy of openness and honesty, especially when it involves democratic rights of the people. 4. No matter how you look at it, Gableman unfit to serve (9/4/11) Either way this pans out, there's a problem with Gableman. Either he has difficulties with his memory, in which case he may be mentally unfit to serve; or he has problems telling the truth, of fabricating a story to damage a fellow justice's reputation for political reasons, in which case he's ethically unfit. 3. Justice Gableman's account of 2nd altercation has serious holes in it (9/1/11) If Gableman wa...