Day in and day out, the industries, businesses, farmers, and workers that make Wisconsin what it is — including “America’s Dairyland” — rely on NAFTA to get the job done. It would be a profound mistake to abandon it.

All the faux outrage on the part of Wisconsin GOP kingpins these past several years has been a clever way to mask the obvious: Their operatives, especially Scott Walker during the 2012 recall election, brazenly skirted the state’s campaign finance laws and had the John Doe been allowed to dig deeper several may have wound up being indicted.

Gov. Scott Walker spent part of New Year’s Eve whining again about the remote possibility that he might be outspent in his re-election campaign. At 11:03 a.m., rather than having a mimosa or pickled herring, he tweeted: “In 2017, the Democrat candidate for governor in VA and his allies outspent the Republican candidate and his allies by about $30 million. We cannot let that happen in Wisconsin.” Of course, Walker is used to having a $30 million advantage himself.

Some states allow the major parties to prevent candidates from appearing on the ballot under their name.

Christmas and Hanukkah have come and gone, and a new year is here. As we enter 2018, many people are preparing new goals to meet and new priorities to focus on. We, as state legislators, would be well served to follow suit.