Visit WisPolitics-State Affairs for premium content,
keyword notifications, bill tracking and more
Submit columns for consideration to wisopinion@wispolitics.com
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.
The legislature took steps to assert legislative authority so that we can operate as a co-equal branch of government and continue to represent the citizens of our districts.
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.
#41 called #43 “Quincy” on occasion, showing a fine sense of history and humor. Who else would dare wear those loud and colorful socks? Who else was so grounded that he could laugh at himself and not hold grudges? For Presidents, none since maybe JFK and a little Gerald Ford (“not a Lincoln”) and W, too.
Stuart Levitan’s work provides new insights to a decade in which Madison somewhat clumsily dived into urban renewal, battled over civil rights, literally fought over the Vietnam War, turned the Monona Terrace civic center controversy into a fiasco and set the stage for the future of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
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.
The extraordinary session of the state Legislature was not a “coup” or a “power grab.” It wasn’t even a so-called lame-duck session because voters re-elected strong Republican majorities in both chambers for next session. The extraordinary session was merely an effort to ensure that in divided government, every branch of government has an equal seat at the table.
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.
But don’t buy the “outrage” for a moment. The prevailing feeling among Democrats instead is one of glee that Republicans handed them a p.r. advantage by mishandling “the optics.”
The bills we passed focus on ensuring the governor cannot unilaterally go around the legislature to change state law.
The party of Lincoln sinks lower in Wisconsin and nationally, while a troubled economy goes down.
It’s the most expensive way to go and payers are increasingly rebelling.
As the books close on 2018, the WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, share their biggest political stories of the year. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.
Throughout this decade, Gov. Scott Walker, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos made Wisconsin politics an ugly, zero-sum blood sport, and even with Walker defeated, that playbook is unchanged.
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.
The legislature took steps to assert legislative authority so that we can operate as a co-equal branch of government and continue to represent the citizens of our districts.
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.
#41 called #43 “Quincy” on occasion, showing a fine sense of history and humor. Who else would dare wear those loud and colorful socks? Who else was so grounded that he could laugh at himself and not hold grudges? For Presidents, none since maybe JFK and a little Gerald Ford (“not a Lincoln”) and W, too.
Stuart Levitan’s work provides new insights to a decade in which Madison somewhat clumsily dived into urban renewal, battled over civil rights, literally fought over the Vietnam War, turned the Monona Terrace civic center controversy into a fiasco and set the stage for the future of the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
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.
The extraordinary session of the state Legislature was not a “coup” or a “power grab.” It wasn’t even a so-called lame-duck session because voters re-elected strong Republican majorities in both chambers for next session. The extraordinary session was merely an effort to ensure that in divided government, every branch of government has an equal seat at the table.
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.
But don’t buy the “outrage” for a moment. The prevailing feeling among Democrats instead is one of glee that Republicans handed them a p.r. advantage by mishandling “the optics.”
The bills we passed focus on ensuring the governor cannot unilaterally go around the legislature to change state law.
The party of Lincoln sinks lower in Wisconsin and nationally, while a troubled economy goes down.
It’s the most expensive way to go and payers are increasingly rebelling.
As the books close on 2018, the WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, share their biggest political stories of the year. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.
Throughout this decade, Gov. Scott Walker, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos made Wisconsin politics an ugly, zero-sum blood sport, and even with Walker defeated, that playbook is unchanged.
