Political Heat

Second quarter 2013's numbers demonstrate a 40 percent slowdown compared to Doyle The finer points: Latest job numbers show WI produced less than 2,000 jobs per month Comparing Walker's job numbers (to former Gov. Jim Doyle's) demonstrates a dramatic shift and a slower pace in job creation Wisconsin’s latest quarterly employment data was recently released, and the results aren’t good. For the second quarter of this year (PDF), the state saw a yearly growth (from June 2012 to June 2013) of 23,968 jobs, or less than two thousand jobs created per month . While growth of any kind is good, the numbers represent a painful slowdown for the state . For comparison, Wisconsin saw 37,959 jobs in the previous year (June 2011 to June 2012) and 39,909 jobs in the year before that (June 2010 to June 2011). That 39,909 jobs number from June 2010 to 2011 comes from the last year of Gov. Jim Doyle’s final budget. Comparing Gov. Doyle’s totals to current Gov. Scott Walker’s c...

M urder rates increase in spite of promises of lower crime The finer points: One year after concealed carry passed, Wisconsin's murder rates increased by more than 26 percent (from 2011 to 2012) Murder rates involving guns increased by more than 34 percent Last week, I discussed at great lengths how murder and crime rates in general had gone up in Wisconsin , despite 2012 being the first full year of concealed carrying licenses being granted to citizens. It was once posited by pro-carry Wisconsinites in the lead-up to the bill being signed into law in 2011 that concealed carry would make the state safer. Indeed, Gov. Scott Walker himself said that , “By signing concealed carry into law, we are making Wisconsin safer for all responsible, law abiding citizens.” And while one year of evidence shouldn’t determine definitively whether the law succeeded in reaching those ends or not, the first year has nevertheless shown some worrisome trends. From 2011 to 2012 many thin...

Data not definitive, but is the state heading in the wrong direction? The finer points: Wisconsin's murder rate shoots up from 2011 to 2012 Gun advocates previous claims of concealed carry making us safer comes into question On November 1, 2011, Wisconsin officially became the 49th state to legalize concealed carry. That means that the year 2012 was the first full year that concealed carry was the law in Wisconsin, where citizens could legally, with a permit, carry guns and other weapons on their persons. Prior to the concealed carry law being enacted, I wrote a blog post on the necessity of stronger regulations, specifically to the training that goes into obtaining a license: An argument often made in the gun debate is that more guns make people safer. While the evidence suggests that, at the very least, gun ownership doesn't equate violence, it's tough to assume guns necessarily make us safer on their own. These guns are heavily regulated, whether conceal...

Veterans deserve our utmost respect and appreciation. They deserve thunderous applause, standing ovations, and more for what they’ve done. They are given this day of commemoration to recognize their valor -- but a day isn’t enough. Veterans deserve our praise on this and every day of the calendar year. You’ve likely read many status updates, Facebook “shares” and Twitter “retweets” regarding this year’s Veterans Day. These sentiments deserve to be spread as far as they can go across the net, for without the sacrifices given selflessly by our servicemembers, we could not enjoy the many freedoms and benefits that we hold today. Criticism of how our society functions, its role in our lives, and our nation’s role in global activities will undoubtedly continue. Those criticisms deserve to be heard, and should righteously be made. There are wars and events we don’t necessarily need to intervene in militarily, and it is our duty as citizens to debate the merits of our involvement in c...

Race-based mascot names should be discussed openly, whether 1,000 or just 1 believes so Acts of racism and discrimination don’t require anyone’s approval for them to be racist and discriminatory. Yet, the Republican-led State Senate just passed a law that would require signatures totaling 10 percent of a school’s enrollment to begin the process of determining whether a mascot name is offensive .

Debate is good, but opposition based on false premises and biases leads to more problems The finer points: Candidates deserve scrutiny, no matter who they are. But candidate bashing without context won't net a positive impact. Weighing the benefits/imperfections of a candidate is worth pursuing; but "put-downs" will only serve the interests of opponents to progressive ideals. For the past few weeks, I’ve witnessed several sites and other media outlets taking part in criticisms against Democratic candidate for governor Mary Burke. And most of them have come from a strange source: the progressive wing of the Democratic Party itself , who worry about Burke’s credentials as a liberal. These criticisms have perplexed me, and I have often engaged those who have made such statements to explain themselves a bit more. I won’t go into the details, of who said what and so forth -- it doesn’t really matter. It’s wrong to expect everyone to accept Burke as the de facto ...

Murder rates indicate Chicago is a safer city than several other cities The finer points: Chicago is not the “murder capital” of the country Many other metropolitan areas, with looser gun laws, have much higher murder rates than Chicago Gun advocates are wrong to correlate murders with restrictions on gun ownership Several media outlets have recently dubbed Chicago the newest “murder capital of the U.S.” after it surpassed New York as having the most murders in the nation this past year. Many have used this new moniker as justification to blast Chicago’s strict gun laws . They ask, how can the “murder capital” defend laws that aren’t preventing violence? Their prescription: strip the regulations on guns , and crime will decrease. To gun rights advocates, the city provides stark evidence that even some of the toughest restrictions fail to make places safer. “The gun laws in Chicago only restrict the law-abiding citizens and they’ve essentially made the citizens prey,” ...