Political Heat

Expanding access to the voting booth in larger cities doesn't hurt the suburbs, as some claim it does A federal court is considering the changes made to Wisconsin’s voting laws, including how voter ID and early voting restrictions have negatively impacted citizens in the state. I read with great intrigue a series of articles that detailed these problems, but I want to offer my own two thoughts on a piece I read in the Cap Times that detailed the Walker administration’s defense of these changes. First, the state’s lawyers argued that the number of people affected by restrictions are so minuscule that they don’t warrant any serious attention: Attorneys for the state argue the plaintiffs are using anecdotal, "one-in-a-million" cases as an argument to strike down the laws. This is a disingenuous statement for many reasons. There are approximately 3.5 million registered voters in the state. That there are six litigants in the case alone disproves mathematically that...

"Jim Crow" language exposes bigotry, and nothing more, drives conservatives on debate over bathrooms Wisconsin is joining ten other states across the country in a lawsuit against the Obama administration for its recent recommendations to recognize the rights of transgender students to use the restrooms that correspond to their gender identities. This is hardly a surprising, but still very depressing, turn of events. As I’ve noted frequently, transgender students deserve recognition as the gender they identify with , and should be granted the right to use restrooms that reflect that identity. But others see it differently, and intend to use taxpayer dollars to sue the federal government to change its directive. In defending the planned lawsuit, Gov. Scott Walker and other Wisconsin politicians have expressed themselves in some very concerning ways. Republican Rep. Tom Larson told reporters that he felt God “wrote in my heart that I shouldn’t go into a women’s restroo...

Wisconsin GOP made democratic preference of voters irrelevant in drawing new district lines Here’s some peculiarities to consider as a federal court hears arguments on Wisconsin’s redistricting lawsuit : If you live on the west side of Lake Winnebago, you’re in the 6th Congressional District. Go to the east side of the lake, and you’re in the 8th Congressional District. Fine enough -- unless you travel another 40 minutes east, then you’re back in the 6th District. Even stranger, go fifteen minutes west of Lake Winnebago, and you’re back in the 8th if you live in Winneconne. The district lines zig-zag in significant ways. The 7th Congressional District grew in geographic size from 2000 to its 2010 map. But in order to do so, three large-ish (and Democratic) Wisconsin cities were booted out of the 7th District -- Stevens Point (which voted 64 percent in favor of Barack Obama in 2012), Wisconsin Rapids (53 percent for Obama) and Chippewa Falls (56 percent for Obama). The geographic ...

SCOTUS grants permission to file "writ of certiorari under seal," a sign it wants to hear more about the case The so-called “John Doe” investigation into illegal campaign coordination between Scott Walker, third party special interests groups and his donor base is moving forward. The U.S. Supreme Court granted prosecutors permission (PDF) to file “a writ of certiorari under seal,” meaning they can file a request for the Court to hear the case with personal information of principal players redacted. A John Doe investigation is purposely performed under secretive means to protect the identities of those being investigated, usually in high-profile cases. It’s been confirmed to the public , however, that the John Doe investigation includes Gov. Scott Walker and politically-aligned conservative groups that he coordinated with in order to allow donors to make unlimited donation amounts to help win his recall election back in 2012. One such donation, $700,000 from Gogebic T...

Chisholm answers questions on John Doe, elections integrity, and crime in Milwaukee County You might not realize it, but there's a very important election coming up for voters in Milwaukee County in August -- in fact, it may be the most important election this cycle. I'm talking about the election for Milwaukee County District Attorney. I was lucky enough to be able to sit down and speak to current DA John Chisholm, who's held the job since 2007 and is running for reelection. You're soon to be running for reelection to your current office. Why do you deserve another term, and what's something you'd like voters to know you'll fight for if you do win again? I believe I deserve another term because our office, under my leadership, is now nationally recognized as an office that has been at the forefront of criminal justice reform, but doing so in a way that makes sure that we keep people safe, and in a way that actually respects their civil liberti...

Latest verified jobs report shows that 28 states outperform in four years what Wisconsin accomplished in five years The headline says it all, but I’ll explain further. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development released its most recent verified jobs numbers (not that they matter much anymore to the Scott Walker administration ). While the numbers show continued growth for the state, the news is not all that good. Wisconsin has lagged behind the rest of the nation up to this point . We can’t be sure that these numbers are indicative of continued lagging, but they are similar to numbers we saw one year before , when the Badger State ranked 38th out of the fifty United States in private sector jobs growth. We're left to believe that our ranking could be similar when the full national report is released next month. Other states have yet to release their verified numbers for 2015. Walker started releasing quarterly reporters early in 2012, initially as a way to drum up s...

Cedarburg teen David Pelikan provides positive indications that younger generations will be more engaged in political matters Who says the kids aren’t all right? David Pelikan (image via WKOW ) A 17-year old in Cedarburg is running for political office. Though state law requires him to be 18 to collect signatures to get on the ballot -- heck, he won’t even be able to vote for himself in November -- independent candidate for office David Pelikan is undeterred. "If I, as a 17 year-old, can run and maybe become a human interest story and get people excited about these local elections, to get people to evaluate their vote, then I'll have achieved something," he said recently . Though he won’t be able to vote in November, Pelikan will be legally old enough to serve in the Assembly if he is elected. His birthday is in December, and state law says anyone over the age of 18 can serve in the legislature, which inaugurates new members in January. According to his pres...

CEO Magazine's survey doesn't provide objective data on "best" states to do business in Several Republican politicians in Wisconsin believe that the state’s economy is recovering. Scott Walker has made the claim on several occasions, and a recent press release from Republican Rep. Keith Ripp states with confidence that “the Wisconsin Comeback is real.” Except, it isn’t -- I posted recently that the governor’s assessments of the Wisconsin Comeback are flawed at best, and purposely exaggerated at worst. Ripp’s commentary is similarly flawed. Unlike Walker, however, who relied heavily on unverified jobs numbers to make his “Wisconsin Comeback” claim, Ripp uses the state’s improved standing in CEO Magazine’s annual “Best And Worst States for Business” rankings (PDF) as a metric for why we’re doing better. “We've improved 30 places in this survey's rankings since 2010,” Ripp said. That’s GREAT! But there’s a problem with using that survey: the rankings...

GOP lawmakers aimed to preserve political power in passing voter ID, according to former WISGOP staffer U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman’s words on how Wisconsin’s newly implemented voter ID law will flip the state red in the presidential election still haunt me. When asked about the Republicans’ chances to win Wisconsin in November, Grothman responded  last month, “Now we have photo ID, and I think photo ID is gonna make a little bit of a difference.” Many jumped on the comments as proof that voter ID wasn’t about preventing fraud at all . And although Grothman tried to walk back his commentary following the minor uproar, it isn’t too far of a stretch to consider this as part of a big Republican plan to win swing states and their legislatures. Today, we received confirmation of those fears -- that Wisconsin Republicans passed the ID law for their own political benefit . At least one Republican has stepped forward, pointing out that lawmakers from his own party who passed the v...

Ignoring both the U.S. Constitution and biblical lessons, Walker launches petition against social media site in an effort to gain campaign dollars The U.S. Constitution codifies the right of the accused to face those who make accusations against them of crimes or other improprieties. Being allowed to face one’s accuser can also be traced all the way back to the Bible, to Acts 25:16 , which pointed out the right Paul had to face those making claims of criminal conduct against him: ...it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges. Though they haven’t been brought before a court quite yet, social media website Facebook deserves similar treatment before any conclusions should be drawn about it purportedly using bias in filtering out conservative news stories on its Trending Stories section . The accusations were reported earlier this month by tech site Gizmodo, relying on ...

Gov. Walker is accustomed to passing the buck when troubling economic news arises Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is planning to defer $101 million in debt payments, kicking the proverbial can down the road and costing state taxpayers millions of dollars in increased interest costs rather than footing the bill now. This is something that governors of Wisconsin regularly do. Jim Doyle, for example, restructured debt payments by about $687 million over his two terms in office. But Walker is claiming that he’s a responsible budgeter of Wisconsin’s finances. His total debt deferments say otherwise , having already surpassed Doyle’s deferments totals in a shorter span of time , totaling more than $773 million in a period of just five years. And that total is BEFORE you take into consideration the debt restructuring that was announced this week. So while Gov. Walker touts questionable budget surpluses , remember: he’s just making a mess for future governments to clean up years down the r...

Unverified numbers don’t fit governor’s “gold standard” Gov. Scott Walker authored an op-ed this week in which he explained the "Wisconsin Comeback" was still going strong. Of course, the last time Walker said such a comeback was happening he was facing a very bad week in office. His claims were also unfounded , based on scant evidence and jobs numbers that weren’t verified. So forgive me if I seem skeptical, because once again Walker is touting numbers that are unverified to claim there is a comeback. Requiring that jobs numbers be verified isn’t my standard -- Walker himself created the rules by which we can criticize his jobs numbers in the weeks prior to his recall election. While it is understandable that jobs estimates are often discussed when they are released, because they are the most recent job statistic, the actual job count data [quarterly report] is the gold standard of jobs measurement. Yet Gov. Walker’s op-ed this week doesn’t tout the quarter...

State Republicans refuse to take a principled stand against a dangerous candidate Wisconsin Republicans have put the ambitions of their party ahead of the nation's interests. Though several of the state's highest ranking GOP leaders had previously backed other candidates for president, the departures of both Ted Cruz and John Kasich have signaled a Donald Trump victory for the Republican Party's nomination contest, and with it a blind obedience by GOP dignitaries in the state to follow in his destructive path. Among them is Gov. Scott Walker. Citing a pledge he made in August of last year as a presidential contender, Walker reiterated that he would support the GOP nominee no matter who it was. "On August 6, I stood on the stage in Cleveland and said I would support the nominee," Walker said. "I said it repeatedly since then, and I'll be supporting the Republican nominee once that's officially set at the convention against Hillary Clinton....

Gannon refuses to acknowledge the need for voter ID education, cites irrelevant statistics Rep. Bob Gannon (R-Slinger) says there are no problems with understanding voter ID in Wisconsin. And if he says so, then it must be true. But Gannon says if there’s anyone to blame for voter ID miseducation, it’s those dang college students (PDF): There are no problems with voting other than the students at the University of Wisconsin; some of whom also disrupted the assembly chamber on Election Day to protest the new voter ID rules. Bitter much, Bob? To cite that he KNOWS there isn’t a problem with voting in the state, Gannon states the number of votes cast in this past spring election. There are more people voting in these elections than ever before. In the 2012 Presidential primary, when there was no ID law in effect, there were 1,088,102 votes in Wisconsin. This year there were 2,113,544 votes in the Presidential primary in Wisconsin. Except that’s not really how it works at all...