How do you say good bye? It isn’t easy, but after ten years as your state representative, I’ve decided to step aside to focus my efforts on dealing with cancer, which has unfortunately returned after a period of remission. While I may be headed out to pasture (sorry, the farmer in me couldn’t resist), I do so knowing that Wisconsin is moving in the right direction, and that we’ve come a long way over the past decade.

Johnson hasn’t offered a word of criticism of the president who created the nation’s worst long-term deficit situation in 75 years. But how can he, when Johnson is a co-creator of the problem?

It took them awhile, but the national media have finally noticed the Scott Walker-engineered $100 per-kid tax rebates that will be sent to about 671,000 families at a cost of $120 million a few weeks before the upcoming gubernatorial and legislative elections.

Oh, but the state is a leader in recent state handouts, environmental exemptions, clean air and water disregard, etc.. Quite a record for Gov. Walker’s reelection campaign.

The House version of the Farm Bill weakens payment limitations and waters down the definition of “actively engaged in farming” to allow large corporate farms, and even distant relatives of farmers, to get more subsidies. Backtracking on reasonable farm program limitations not only adds to the cost of the Farm Bill, but also dials up the antipathy that taxpayers increasingly feel toward “farm” subsidies that don’t actually go to farmers.

If you dig deep enough, it’s possible to discern some relief from the roaring inflation in health costs that is putting major hurt in the budgets of government at all levels, on businesses and on individual Americans.

But now, promising to end school choice in Wisconsin has become to state Democrats what Donald’s Trump’s Mexican border wall became to Republicans — an impossible task that nonetheless allows a candidate to signal false bravado in order to pacify the party’s base.

In the age of Gov. Scott Walker, as Wisconsin has become one of the most politically polarized states in America, Democrats have no chance in statewide elections without a big turnout in Milwaukee and Madison. And the turnout has been far better in Madison and Dane County in recent years.

One of the more surreal aspects of Wisconsin’s governor’s race is Madison Mayor Paul Soglin’s declaration that he’s going to run by visiting supper clubs around the state. Imagining Soglin in a supper club is like trying to conjure up Donald Trump in a library.

The Wisconsin Idea is not that you tell people in any corner of the state what is the right policy. You ask them. And, the “it’s not my job” attitude of the UW president toward the turmoil at Stevens Point probably is the end of the type of presidency envisioned when the position was created.

The differences in outcomes have been stark: Minnesota has seen stronger job growth, faster wage growth, a shrinking gender wage gap, increased median household income, reductions in poverty, increased access to health insurance and stronger overall economic growth.

No doubt Walker didn’t urge Foxconn to study the Wisconsin Constitution before it began excavating on wetland-rich land to understand that water rights and access are so important here that they’re embedded in the state constitution, according to information posed by the Walker-run DNR.

Since 2013, I have had the honor of voting for legislation to cut taxes by millions for hardworking Wisconsin residents and businesses. These tax cuts are a major reason why Wisconsin has a 2.9 percent unemployment rate and our labor force is at an all-time of more than 3.1 million.

Pruitt and Walker, of course, are on the same page when it comes to environmental protections. Both of these Republican politicians believe that regulations to protect air, water and land are too strict and inhibit business development. The fewer regulations the better, is their mantra.

The disturbing notion of blaming lawyers for the sins of their clients or whom the lawyers represent must end. To do so is a fundamentally un-American notion that runs contrary to our system of justice, fairness and due process.

Walker is spending a lot of our money to lure workers here, and data show why: Wisconsin has landed on the ‘moving-out’ Top 10 list. For the record, Wisconsin was not on the 2017 list.

Like Nixon, the White House is seeking to distract voters and change the narrative.  As Watergate was reaching a crescendo, Nixon flew to the Soviet Union to toast the regime’s leaders and discuss arms control. Nixon achieved no arms control breakthrough.  Moreover, the dark cloud over Nixon did not dissipate, nor will it for Trump. Still, “Trump seizes chance to alter image” (Washington Post).

With more than 16,000 vacant personal care worker positions and demand for CNAs in Wisconsin projected to grow exponentially, the state has to take meaningful action to address the long-term care crisis. As this legislative session comes to a close, Democrats remain committed to supporting our nursing assistants and other personal care workers to ensure that qualified caregivers are there for you and your loved ones when you need them.