Progressive Thinking

There are not modern counterparts for the rural Democrats or middle-of-the-road Republicans of yesteryear. The disappearance of these species is a warning signal that we ignore at our peril.

ALTOONA, WI - American politics has changed immensely in the last generation or two. It used to be more of a hobby, something done on the side by people with lives outside of politics. Now it’s been taken over by professionals and most who are serious about it consider it a career.

There has always been lobbying in the halls of government, but the primary currency of lobbyists used to be information. That was before lobbying was married to election fundraising. Petitioning government and supplying campaign cash have now become inseparable.

When I got my first taste of the inner workings of Wisconsin’s State Capitol back in the early 1980s, being a lawmaker was a part-time job. Now it’s full-time. Not because there are so many more laws that need making, but rather largely owing to the fact that soliciting political donations has become a daily chore.

Abortion was a touchy subject back in the 80s and it remains a touchy subject today, but back then there were Democrats and Republicans on both sides of the issue. Republicans who favor legal abortion are no longer welcome in the party’s ranks, and Democrats who have qualms about abortion aren’t tolerated by their party either.

Two species of politicians have gone extinct in the last couple of generations. There used to be rural Democrats. Not anymore. The legislature used to be filled with small-town Democrats like Tom Harnisch of Neillsville, Harvey Stower of Amery, Dale Bolle of New Holstein, Gervase Hephner of Chilton, Bill Rogers of Kaukauna and Bob Dueholm of Luck, who followed in the footsteps of his father Harvey. In more recent years, there were still a few rural Democrats like Phil Garthwaite of Platteville, but they were few and far between. Now they’re long gone. The Democratic Party used to appeal to rural voters, but no longer does. It has become an urban party.

The Republican Party has become the political equivalent of a donut. No middle. There was an abundance of centrist Republicans in Wisconsin’s legislature in the early 1980s, many of them women like Barb Lorman, Sheehan Donoghue, Peggy Rosenzweig, Mary Panzer, Sue Engeleiter, Pat Goodrich, June Jaronitzky and Betty Jo Nelsen. Men too, like Dave Paulson, Bob Larson, Francis “Brownie” Byers, Brian Rude, Mike Ellis and Dale Schultz. Slowly but surely some like Panzer, Lorman and Rosenzweig were driven out by far more conservative Republicans who challenged them in party primary elections, while others like Schultz were replaced by right-wingers once they saw the handwriting on the wall and decided to leave the legislature. Republican moderates became a vanishing breed. The elements Republican leaders invited into their party to replace the moderates have given rise to extremism that invites comparisons to fascism.

The fact that there are not modern counterparts for the rural Democrats or middle-of-the-road Republicans of yesteryear is a symptom of illness in our political system. The disappearance of these species is a warning signal that we ignore at our peril.

Gov. Walker tells Transportation Secretary not to include any tax or fee increases in his budget request for state highway system improvement. As a result, system is going to continue to deteriorate and highway projects throughout the state will be delayed.

MADISON - Recently, former Republican State Senator and current Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow wrote that our transportation system is in crisis. I agree with him. Unfortunately, his former Republican colleagues in the State Senate and Governor Walker think the solution is to let our crumbling infrastructure continue to deteriorate while motorist safety suffers and economic development opportunities are lost.

Under the direction of Governor Walker, the Secretary of Transportation was told that his budget request should not include any tax or fee increases. Walker also says that proposed spending on megaprojects in southeast Wisconsin should be minimized. The result of Walker’s directive, according to the Secretary, is “that the non-backbone system, which is about 90 percent of the state highway system, is going to continue to deteriorate in condition" and “it would delay highway projects throughout the state.”

Wow, what a lack of leadership! I was a mayor and alderperson before getting elected to State Legislature. In local government we identified the problem and then worked out a solution collaboratively. Unfortunately, Governor Walker and my Republican colleagues are putting their strict adherence to a political ideology above what is good for the state and its residents.

Eventually, we will have to fix and upgrade our roads. According to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel when that time comes it will cost taxpayers a lot more money. “Faced with delays and inflation over the past five years, four major state highway projects have accumulated overruns in excess of $700 million,” according to the paper. I shudder to think what Governor Walker and Senate Republicans inaction will cost years down the road.

In the meantime taxpayers will have higher vehicle repair bills because our roads are beat up and littered with pot holes. For the average Wisconsin driver a penny increase in the gas tax costs $4.53 per year. That’s a better deal than paying for expensive car repairs.

However, we don’t have to go down this road. Transportation shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Let’s adopt the local government model work together and solve this crisis while simultaneously improving road safety and creating economic opportunities. For Governor Walker and legislative Republicans to do nothing is simply irresponsible.

Decorated Disabled American Navy Veteran was robbed of $13,000 of cash and travelor's cheques, and another $2,500 from his debit card, while he waits in Jamaica for emergency evacuation that never came. Owner of EMed Jamaica "air ambulance service" misrepresents himself as Florida Doctor to extort $17,000 more from Wisconsin family.

GREEN BAY, WI - Black lives matter. But then, all lives should matter, especially to those who claim the trust we give to people identified as part of the medical community, here and overseas.

I want to bring public awareness to the tragedy that our family has been forced to deal with and to find justice for our brother David N. Thompson, Sr.  of  Madison , Wisconsin. He was in Jamaica, visiting friends and recuperating from a toe amputation when he became ill. Doctors at Cornwall Regional Hospital in Montego Bay, Jamaica MISDIAGOSED his condition, and referred his family to EMed Jamaica, an air fight ambulance company who charged his family $17,000 and assured us our brother would immediately be transported to the U.S.

However, they delayed transporting Dave for nearly NINE hours.

Our brother died before being flown to the U.S. for treatment that the Jamaican Medical Examiner later said would have saved his life had be been transported in a timely fashion.  My family and I believe the delay was intentional in order for EMed Jamaica to make the most profit. 

During what was a painful, helpless, and terrifying ordeal for him, Dave, who was a decorated Disabled American Navy Veteran was robbed of $13,000 of cash and travelor's cheques, and another $2,500 was fraudulently withdrawn from his debit card.

Duane Boise, the owner of EMed Jamaica, was the person who showed up at the hospital to attend to Dave, but he fraudulently represented himself as Dr. Garth George, an Emergenccy Physician with over 20 years experience in saving Americans with health emergencies in the Carribean. Our Investigation has revealed Boise is is a felon convicted in Florida of Criminal Use of ID. In a effort to substantiate the company's charges for a service they failed to perform , Emed Jamaica then produced documents with forged signatures.

Dave deserved better.

The US Embassy in Jamaica has told us it is beyond the realm their responsibilities to assist in the criminal investigation of the wrongdoing involved in his death. We, Dave's family, have  hired an attorney in Montego Bay to help bring civil charges against those responsible for letting our brother lay in pain, strapped to his bed, while allowing him to die, all in order for someone to profit.

We hope this true story of Dave's ordeal will convince you that his life mattered too.

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Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board (GAB) quietly passed into history last week. The GAB was created to take partisan pressure out of the accountability process and was made up of non-partisan judges who ensured the decisions were in the best interest of public accountability – not partisan interests.

MADISON - Government Accountability passed in a quiet death the last day of June.

There was no fanfare, no long speeches – just hard working employees packing up personal items.

I imagined the nonpartisan judges of the Government Accountability Board (GAB) breathed a deep sigh as they left their service on the GAB and ended the rough and tumble ordeal as broad members.

All the fanfare, public speeches and hyper-partisan rhetoric happened last winter in what GAB board member, Judge Thomas Barland, called a “public lynching”.

Judge Barland is a former Circuit Court Judge for Eau Claire and Trempealeau counties. As a GAB board member, he oversaw government accountability in Wisconsin. Earlier this year he retired from the GAB.

For over thirty years, he served as a nonpartisan judge. Ironically, given the partisan focus of destroying the GAB, Judge Barland served as a Republican State Representative from 1961 to 1967.

Following an interview with Judge Barland, Chippewa Valley Herald Associate Editor David Gordon wrote, “Barland said his ‘public lynching’ comment referred both to the recurrent attacks on the GAB by members of the Republican majority in the Legislature, and to the actual destruction of the Board.”

These attacks were on display in a long, confrontational hearing of the Joint Committee on Audit last fall.

As the Audit Committee reviewed the extensive work of the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, in another room across the Capitol, legislators conducted a public hearing on a bill to dissolve the GAB. In less than a week, the bill went being a draft to a full joint hearing, which was the only opportunity for citizens to offer testimony on the bill.

During the Audit hearing, GAB chair Judge Gerald Nichols said in response to a question, “Not everyone before me has been true and honest. To do an investigation we want as many of the facts in front of us [as possible]. We are very balanced and it doesn’t make a difference if the subject of the investigation is independent, Republican or Democrat.”

Following the fall hearing, Judge Barland told the Chippewa Valley Herald, “It’s clear to me that [legislators] are basing some of their conclusions on false information…People are too quick on both sides to draw conclusions from minimal facts.”

The LAB auditors reported the facts. The audit showed, through an analysis of complaints and investigations conducted by the GAB, no major concerns. Auditors recommended quicker resolution of complaints and the GAB responded with a new computer system to track complaints.

An earlier audit reported on other activities of the GAB. The analysis was broad, covering every aspect of the agency. Some activities – for example the evaluation of the accessibility of polling places – won national acclaim.

Problems did exist at the GAB. During the study period, auditors reported on legally required tasks that were not completed or completed late. GAB officials countered that short staffing and an unusually high workload required managers to prioritize tasks. A new, complex administrative rule-making process increased the time needed to promulgate required administrative rules.

During that same period, the GAB dealt with several lawsuits, an on-again off-again voter photo ID law, a historical number of recall elections, a statewide judicial race recount, redrawing of legislative district lines, and the passage of 31 separate pieces of legislation affecting operations and elections.

Nevertheless, some legislators distorted the audit facts to justify the GAB’s demise.

Chippewa Herald Associate Editor Gordon reported, “Barland said that the GAB’s enemies, particularly in the Assembly, ‘distorted badly the audit findings’ in what proved to be a successful effort to kill the GAB. He said that the only hope of keeping the Board in existence lay with the Senate but ‘enormous pressure was brought on the Republican senators’ who were wavering.”

The pressure worked. On Saturday, November 7, 2015 at 2:24 a.m., the bill to dismantle the GAB passed with all Republican Senators present voting “aye” and all Democrats voting “nay”.

“It’s a great step backwards for the state,” Judge Barland said. Barland noted the undoing the legislative majority’s changes to the GAB would be difficult and would need “the electorate as a whole to come to an understanding that what was done was wrong.”

MADISON - For this July 4 holiday week, we’ve put together a special report for you on 10 wins for the good guys here in Wisconsin. Amid all the bad news that the Walker Wrecking Crew has brought us, it’s important to remember, and to celebrate, those times in the last year when We, the People, were able to stop Walker, Vos, Fitzgerald, and their big money backers from passing some disastrous bills or implementing retrograde policies.

So please take a gander:

10 wins to celebrate on July 4 in Wisconsin

Speaking of Walker, one of his biggest backers has been the NRA—a fact we shouldn’t forget in the wake of the Orlando massacre. And you can also see how much the NRA has given to your legislators by clicking here:

Walker’s NRA bankroll topped $3.5 million

The problem of big money and dark money is not confined to Walker and the Republicans. Late last week came the birth announcement of a new dark money group on the Democratic side, which will be operating here in Wisconsin. We don’t look kindly on this development, and you’ll see why here:

New dark money group for Dems is bad news

As we point out, “Our elections should not be tug-of-wars between liberal billionaires on one side and conservative billionaires on the other. All of us citizens should have an equal voice in the electoral arena.”

I hope you agree.

Let’s declare our independence from big money and dark money.

Happy 4^th of July!

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director

P.S. Please support our urgent work to get money out of politics and to bring real democracy to Wisconsin and this country. Send us a tax-deductible gift today by clicking here or by mailing your check to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign at 203 S. Paterson Street, Suite 100, Madison, WI 53703.