With a structural deficit and transportation fund debt, delivering a “people’s budget” won’t be easy.

They can’t just be anti-Trump or anti-Walker, they need a clear theme. Like what?

Here in Wisconsin, we value decency and fairness. That’s why it was astounding to see Republicans convene a lame duck legislative session, overriding the will of the voters.

Governor Elect Evers and Attorney General Elect Kaul won their elections fair and square. They deserve the opportunity to do the job the people of Wisconsin elected them to do.

In his letter this week foreshadowing his signing of the lame-duck bills, Gov. Scott Walker tried to pretend that he’s out protecting the interests of Wisconsinites. But Walker is a weasel, and he uses words like a weasel would: to disguise what he’s actually been doing.

Now that Wisconsin faces at least four years of partisan gridlock, as evidenced by the rocky transition from Republican Scott Walker to Democrat Tony Evers, how can we get big issues revsolved for the state? An answer might be found in a greater use of direct democracy, namely the referendum.

They began plotting last spring to retain power even if a Democrat won for governor.

While the dead-enders in the Legislature will always put politics ahead of public service, Evers is reasserting the independent, nonpartisan ideal that has always underpinned the Wisconsin Idea.

The latest controversy stems from a years-long project that other states should admire.

One key reason: they see Tony Evers as weak.

Legislators “don’t trust” newly elected governor, so they want to take away Evers’ power.

Not just Democrats are stuck in the childhood game of “Statues” – Stop Motion and Freeze! — because of the lame-duck legislation dropped on Scott Walker’s desk, those controversial new laws that attack the new governor, the new attorney general, voting rights and basic protections for the citizenry against governmental overreach while tangling us in red tape.

Robin Vos and Scott Fitzgerald aren’t just limiting the power of the offices of the governor and attorney general. They’re undermining the basis of our system: that rules should apply equally regardless of who is in office.

Our state was on the front pages of The New York Times, Chicago Tribune and dozens of other papers because Republicans who control the state Legislature showed there is no limit to how low they will go.