Political Heat

Walker's bitter response to funding voter ID education campaign uses apples to oranges comparison About 16 percent of voters don’t know or don’t think you need an ID to vote in our state . That’s equivalent to 13,000 people in a capacity crowd at Lambeau Field not knowing the new voting rules, or about 542,991 registered voters in Wisconsin that don’t understand the ID law . Chris Taylor, a Democratic state legislator from Madison, is hoping to change that. She’s asking the state to fund an information campaign to educate the public on Wisconsin’s newly instituted voter ID rules. Though passed early in Scott Walker’s tenure, the law didn’t go fully into effect until this year’s spring primary and general elections. In addition to requiring an ID to vote, the law that was passed also stated that Wisconsin would fund an education campaign to help residents better understand the process and necessary documents needed to vote. Yet that campaign hasn’t materialized. The Gov...

Wisconsin must reject bigoted bills proposed by conservative lawmakers I wrote late last week about Rep. Jesse Kremer’s outrageous attacks against working Wisconsinites . In an op-ed he wrote earlier in the week, Kremer decried the state’s “jobs crisis” as being manifested by unskilled workers, demanding college students and individuals who were on public assistance. Those accusations were baseless , and Kremer refused to acknowledge his own party’s role in creating a slower-paced jobs recovery. But as outlandish as his statements on jobs were, they pale in comparison to what else he wrote last weekend. On his Facebook campaign page , Kremer decided to sound off on a hot topic in conservative circles as of late: transgender individuals who want to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity. Kremer's original Facebook post Responding to a request made by Dane County Executive Joe Parisi asking Gov. Scott Walker to promise to veto any discriminatory tran...

GOP lawmaker blames workers, students and public assistance for state “jobs crisis” Republican Rep. Jesse Kremer of Kewaskum recently penned an op-ed wherein he described a jobs crisis in the state of Wisconsin. But Kremer wasn’t talking about the failure of the Scott Walker administration to reach its promise of 250,000 jobs in his first term. He didn’t lay any blame on the governor for failing to reach that pledge at all. Instead, Kremer blamed Wisconsin citizens themselves: “A lack of workers to fill skilled trades, lofty expectations from recent college graduates and public benefits are stifling a will to work here in our great state,” Kremer wrote. You read that right: Kremer blames unskilled workers, college kids, and struggling Wisconsin families for the jobs crisis. The ”Skills Gap” Myth Let’s take a look at each issue, starting with Kremer’s claims about the untrained workers. Kremer cites a Manpower report from 2012 that states, “Wisconsin will have fewer than...

Recent poll indicates state electorate is ready for a new direction More than half of Wisconsinites say that the state is heading in the wrong direction, according to the most recent Wisconsin Survey poll (PDF). Only 37 percent say that the state is heading in the right direction, while 56 percent say the path we’re on is the wrong way to go. Scott Walker’s approval ratings almost mirror that sentiment. Just 43 percent of citizens approve of his performance, while 55 percent disapprove. It’s with those numbers in mind that cause many on the left in the state to be more optimistic about the Democratic Party’s chances in 2018 . Indeed, looking at more polling numbers within the survey shows a potential shift to the left. Dissatisfaction among the electorate is evident. So which issues are most important to the people? The economy and jobs ranks highest on a list of priorities, with nearly four in ten Wisconsinites citing it as their top issue. The broader topic of politics...

We should reject a "geography strategy" in supporting progressive candidates, focusing more on candidates with winning policy ideas Many Wisconsinites are focused on the election coming up in November, and rightly so. The presidential race is of dire consequence, and selecting the right leader is of great importance. But for those worried about Wisconsin’s future in general, focus needs to be given to the 2018 elections as well. In that year, Tammy Baldwin will be up for re-election to her U.S. Senate Seat. The governor’s seat will also be up for election, and it will be a prime time to challenge sitting Gov. Scott Walker, whose approval ratings have slipped in recent months . The governorship is especially important because whoever wins in 2018 will have veto power over the redrawing of electoral maps following the 2020 U.S. Census. Democrats, should they win the governor’s seat and the legislature, have hinted they endorse a redistricting plan that is nonpartisa...

Past revisions show initial numbers could drop by as much as 30 percent lower than what's reported this week The most recent monthly jobs report came out earlier this week, and while the numbers look encouraging -- more than 13,000 more Wisconsinites gained employment from February to March -- the Walker administration is once again touting the report as something more than what it is. The Department of Workforce Development produced a news released titled (PDF), “State Has Best 12-Month Private Sector Job Growth since 2004.” At first glance that provides reason to believe that things are turning around in Wisconsin. But there’s a problem -- though the year-to-year private sector job numbers do show more than 47,500 jobs being created from March 2014 to March 2015, they are unrevised, and thus unconfirmed. Indeed, look at the same jobs report put out by DWD from a year ago -- the March 2014 to March 2015 data -- and you’ll see that the Walker administration says pretty muc...

Fake RoJo sites are below what Democrats should stand for The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is engaging in some seriously questionable strategy in its efforts to unseat Republican Sen. Ron Johnson. I say this as a Democrat, and as someone who really, really wants to see Johnson removed from his post, and replaced with former Sen. Russ Feingold. I also say it as someone who wants the Democratic Party to succeed, especially in Wisconsin. In 2010 I painted Johnson as an unprincipled candidate for office . In 2012 I showed that Johnson felt that voters were stupid for voting for President Obama. And on several other occasions I have demonstrated that Johnson is just plain wrong on a plethora of issues. No one wants Johnson gone and Feingold back in more than I do. But how we win this election matters as well, and doing so in underhanded ways isn’t the way to go. The WisDems have created a website that imitates the campaign site for Ron Johnson, the difference being that the D...

Calls for boycott ignore the devastating impact that would be felt statewide if actually implemented Ken Herrera, News Director for Milwaukee’s News/Talk 1130 AM, wrote a scathing critique of Dane County this past weekend after a judge here determined the Right to Work (for less) law passed last year was unconstitutional . H/T to the Devil’s Advocates  Facebook page: Ken Herrera, Director of News and Information @newstalk1130 in Milwaukee WI, calls for conservative boycott of Dane County in response to a judge striking down @GovWalker's right-to-work law. "No surprise here...it's a Dane county judge… I am happy to say that in the 12 years I have lived in Wisconsin...I have never...and will never, set foot in Dane county. I don't want to spend even one penny in that liberal bastion. It's sort of a personal thing..but my wife and I agree we will never enter Dane county as long as we live . We have actually taken routes WAY around the county to avoid giving mo...