Political Heat

Walker's language of vitriol hurts the process overall As I said yesterday, I'm in no position to comment extensively on the judicial ruling this past week that found Wisconsin Act 10 -- the law that restricted collective bargaining rights for state workers -- unconstitutional. Judge Juan Colás found that the law violated state and federal constitutional standards related to free speech and association rights that were violated under the law. You can read the full ruling here (PDF). With that said, I do want to take a moment to criticize a comment made by Gov. Scott Walker regarding Colás's decision. Walker responded to the decision with bravado that has become his typical response to rulings that undermine his policies. This time, however, Walker took it a bit further, calling Judge Colás a " liberal activist judge " John Nichols has pointed out that this type of name-calling is ridiculous for Walker to make: Instead of responding with a constitutionally groun...

State leaders, lawmakers, bloggers react to repeal of contentious law I'm unable to publish an analysis of the recent court ruling striking down Wisconsin Act 10 , the law that removed bargaining rights for state workers and prompted an unprecedented backlash throughout the state. I'm on vacation -- so my time online is limited. But here's a few reactions that I thought were worth taking note of: From Blogging Blue : While Judge Colas’ decision is certainly good news, I don’t expect his ruling to last, given the conservative bent to our State Supreme court. No doubt Justice David Prosser will have another opportunity to prove that he is in fact an excellent complement to Republicans in the Legislature and Republican Gov. Scott Walker. From Cognitive Dissidence : The corporate special interests and the plutocrats started this round of class warfare, but they really should take some history lessons to see how that kind of ruling style usual ends up. From Mike Tate , Chairman ...

We remember today as an anniversary of a terrible event that claimed the lives of thousands. The attacks of September 11 woke up our nation, brought to our attention a threat we had previously minimized. They united us in our common pursuit to bring about peace and justice to those whose actions brought us sorrow and confusion. Political pundits and talking heads complain today that that unity is lost, that in all of the political vitriol and mud-slinging we are witnessing today we no longer have that feeling of shared purpose. But I disagree; political differences aside, we are a nation united by a common thread, of purpose that goes beyond simple retribution even for the attacks we saw 11 years ago today. Our purpose is defined in our founding documents -- the pursuits of life, liberty, and happiness. Yet, even those without historical understanding of our nation's beginnings can tell you that we are indeed a country united. The ideal of America is stronger than any other force o...

"Highlights" of Republican convention leave Democrats low bar to contend with The Democratic National Convention is set to kick-off tonight, with several speakers to speak during the next few days and in prime time (tonight, Michelle Obama will speak ). President Barack Obama will accept the party's official nomination on Thursday night, with Wisconsin's own Tammy Baldwin speaking earlier in that evening as well. The DNC could potentially upstage the Republican convention held last week, for a few reasons. First, it's the latter of the two conventions, meaning the president's speech later this week will be fresher in the minds of voters come time for the debates and the election itself. Second, and more importantly, the GOP didn't deliver a "knock-out punch" during its own convention . It didn't even deliver a decent haymaker (OK, enough with the boxing terms). In fact, the highlights of the RNC included whether a hurricane would drastically...