Political Heat

We should resist efforts to restore the death penalty in Wisconsin, and work to end it elsewhere When it comes to the death penalty, Wisconsin has stood against it for over a century and a half. And rightfully so. Evidence continues to surface that some felons who were put to death may have been wrongly convicted. Their innocence could have exonerated them in life, but once punished there is nothing that can be done to restore justice. There have been a few attempts to bring the death penalty back to Wisconsin in recent years, which was abolished in 1853, our state being the second in the nation to end the practice.

Will Gov. Scott Walker have his "Checkers" moment, or will he treat emails like Watergate? How will Gov. Walker handle the John Doe emails? Gov. Scott Walker is avoiding answering any questions that have to do with the recent release of emails relating to the John Doe investigation (the first one). He’s called the issue “old news,” despite the fact that the emails were just released last week. He refuses to answer any questions because he says it will lead to a “ slippery slope” line of questioning : “Once you start on one thing, then there's hundreds of questions on each of those,” said Walker. That’s sort of the point, however: there are a number questions that citizens of this state want answered. Whether Walker supplies an answer or not is up to him: but a “slippery slope” isn’t created by answering a few of the bigger questions, which are out there and remain unanswered either way. The way I see it, Walker has two options to chose from, both of which are...

RGA trots out tired line in campaign ad that has been debunked several times over Every time the Republicans of this state repeat a line about jobs lost under former Gov. Jim Doyle, they are hoping that your intelligence isn’t high enough to understand events from recent history . You should know the line by now -- current Gov. Scott Walker and his surrogates have repeated it often enough that it would be impossible to have not heard it by now. It goes like this: under Doyle, we lost more than 130,000 jobs. On first hearing this tidbit of information, yes, that DOES sound troubling, and it immediately causes the listener to agree with the equation the Wisconsin GOP is trotting out : Doyle laid out a liberal platform. Wisconsin lost 130,000 jobs. Therefore, liberal policies like Doyle’s = BAD BAD BAD!!! The equation, of course, is flawed: it assumes wrongly that the 130,000 jobs lost were due to the policies Doyle enacted, when in actuality those losses came about at a time wh...

Constitutional restrictions on marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples should be overturned Several states, including many so-called “red” states, have recently had their bans on same-sex marriage overturned by federal lawsuits. Though many of these cases have appeals yet to be heard, it’s clear that the tide of change is trending towards acceptance and even celebration of marriage rights nationwide for gay and lesbian couples . Wisconsin itself has a ban on same-sex marriage, passed by voters in 2006 in a constitutional referendum. Although 59 percent of the state approved of the ban (in a non-presidential election year), more than half of the state’s residents now support extending the right to marry for same-sex couples , according to polling done late last year. Wisconsinites are starting to understand: there is no harm created in allowing these marriages to occur . The justifications against extending these rights to these couples are without merit, and to deny this re...

Candidate for governor comes out swinging for minimum wage increase, restoration of funds for education, and relevant job growth for the state Democratic candidate for governor Mary Burke spoke at the Dane County Dems meeting last night. Below is a transcript of what she said. It was a very inspiring speech, and very progressive-leaning. It should cause many skeptics to reconsider their doubt of the candidate, and to support Burke in her quest to unseat Gov. Scott Walker. ---- Well thank you. It is my pleasure to be here and I appreciate you coming out on a cold night, although it seems almost balmy today for Wisconsin. (Laughter) I’m just going to take a little time to tell you who I am, what I believe in, and why I’m running. Why I’m running is pretty simple: I love Wisconsin. We’re a great state, we have great people, and we have incredible potential. And we deserve a lot better. (Applause) We deserve a better economy with more good paying jobs. If you look right next door in...

Mary Burke’s average monthly in-state contributions match Gov. Walker’s The latest campaign finance reports are causing a bit of a stir. Upon closer inspection, however, looks can be deceiving. Gov. Scott Walker walloped his Democratic rival, Mary Burke, by a margin of nearly $8.4 million to $1.8 million in campaign contributions for the year. That should give everyone on the left reason to feel uneasy, but let’s break it down a bit more. The numbers are for the entirety of 2013. Burke wasn’t a candidate for office until October. So, her $1.8 million was for October, November, and December. Walker, on the other hand, has been raising campaign funds for all twelve months. That $8.4 million, then, averages out to about $700,000 per month. Burke’s $1.8 million is about $600,000 per month. It gets even better when you factor in the out-of-state versus in-state money. Gov. Walker received $4.4 million in out-of-state dollars in 2013 -- roughly 54 percent of his total fundraising, ...

Governor and Attorney General set to waste taxpayers' time, money, defending a ridiculous law that nobody wants anymore A group of same-sex couples in Wisconsin are suing to have their marriage rights recognized by the state (PDF). Citing the 14th Amendment’s Due Process and Equal Protection clauses, the couples have made a reasonable argument for reversing the state constitutional amendment that bars same-sex marriages and unions substantially similar to marriage. Previous efforts to sue on the matter have failed in state courts. This lawsuit differs from those earlier cases, however, because it moves the issue of Wisconsin’s marriage ban to federal courts. But here’s an idea: instead of wasting taxpayer dollars defending the law, let’s just repeal the state ban altogether. Polling numbers from October (PDF) show that a good majority of Wisconsinites (53 percent) support marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples. Much more than that, another quarter of residents be...