Vote

Voting is Key to Democracy

Stop Voter Suppression

There is no better way to participate in our democracy than exercising your right to cast a ballot for the candidate of your choice. After casting my ballot this past Tuesday, I also had the privilege of assisting others to do the same by working as a poll worker in the Village of Kewaskum. 

Poll workers play an important role in ensuring that the votes cast are properly recorded and counted. We registered new voters as well as re-registering those new to our communities who have voted elsewhere. We are trained by our municipal clerk who is in charge of the polling place. Our training brings us up to speed on voter eligibility and how to maintain the integrity of the voting process up to the point where our vote totals are transmitted to the county clerk to be added to the votes cast in the other municipal voting locations.

In the seven hours I worked while the poll was open, I saw all manner of my neighbors exercise the franchise. There were young, first time, voters and those who have voted for years. There were working folks who came straight from work. There were educators and other professionals, retired hippies and local farmers. All took time from their busy lives to make sure their voices were heard. 

Polls in small towns and villages are social places too. Some of those working in our polling place seemed to know many of those who came to vote and they stopped to chat. We thanked every voter who took a ballot and put it in the machine to be counted. 

After the poll closed, we noted the count on our machine that took each ballot. We then took out the ballots and counted how many there were. That number had to agree with the total number of ballots handed out during the day and received from absentee voters. We did not count the number of votes cast for each candidate on the ballot. The results were transmitted electronically to the county clerk and the machine tapes and all of the ballots were transported by the village clerk to the county clerk’s office where they will be maintained in case of a recount. 

I believe that there was nothing done at our polling location that would alter the results. My only concern is with the integrity of the voting machines and the digital transmission of the results up the chain. We are told that the Election Commission has tested the machines for accuracy in how votes are recorded and that they all pass before being put in service. We are also assured that the digital transmission of vote totals is secure and not vulnerable to manipulation. Short of independent testing of the machines and transmission protocols, we have no way of making sure the process is completely free from tampering.

Of even greater concern is voter turnout. Our Village has 2,478 registered voters. Of those, only 466 voted in this past election, roughly 18 percent. The county turnout was a bit better at 22 percent. Statewide, the voter turnout was about 16 percent which is an improvement over previous spring primaries. Some believe this improvement was driven by the contested primary in northern Wisconsin for the Seventh Congressional District. In any event, I find it troubling that so few took part in an important election that set the stage for the April general election where we will elect a Justice for the Wisconsin Supreme Court for a ten-year term.

Even with low voter turnout, we are also seeing increased attempts to suppress voter participation. We all know about voter ID laws that help prevent those who live on society’s edges from being able to vote. A conservative law firm has brought suit to purge over 200,000 voters statewide from the list of registered voters solely based on the failure to return a card mailed to them to make sure that they did not move. Those who did not return cards tended to live in more Democratic voting districts like Madison and Milwaukee and a recent analysis of those voters shows that a majority of them are recent voters, having voted in the 2016 election. Conservative republicans seem to believe that lower voter participation favors their candidates. 

Voter suppression has a long and sordid history in this country dating back to laws only allowing white, land owning males the privilege of selecting their representatives. After the Civil War, newly emancipated slaves were prevented from voting by Jim Crow laws, poll taxes and other schemes. Federal courts recently struck down a provision that prohibited felons from voting if they had unpaid fines or court obligations. Women only gained the right to vote when a constitutional amendment was passed giving them the franchise. 

The only way we can keep our democracy strong is to make sure that everyone old enough to vote can actually cast a ballot that is accurately processed and counted. You can verify your status as a registered voter and find other valuable information by going to https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/ Your vote is important.

Funding Public Education

Don’t Ignore This One
Public school funding needs fixing

Nothing shows the difference between Republicans in control of the Wisconsin Legislature and Democrats in control of the Governor’s office and the Department of Public Instruction than what they propose to do with a projected state surplus. 

The state’s non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau announced last month that the state is projected to take in $818.2 million more in tax collections through mid-2021 than previously calculated. After deposits to the state’s rainy-day fund, that state is projected to have $451.9 million in the general fund for the rest of the 2019-21 budget. 

Making good on a campaign promise to fix public school funding, Gov. Tony Evers just announced a special legislative session on February 11th to consider his proposal to take $250 million of the projected surplus to “recommit to two-thirds state funding for K-12 education including investments in school-based mental health services and special education aid, $10 million in sparsity aid and $130 million in property tax relief through equalization aid.”

Evers coupled his announcement with a plea to legislators to stop choosing between tax relief and education funding. “I’ve always said that what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state, and every kid deserves access to high-quality, public education regardless of their age, identity, background, economic status or zip code,” Evers said. “We don’t have to choose between investing in our kids and reducing property taxes-we can do both,” he noted. 

To support claim to bi-partisan support, Evers indicated that since 2011, nearly one million Wisconsin voters voted to raise their own property taxes for local public schools. In 2018, voters approved more than $2 billion in debt and revenue increases for their schools. In addition, Evers reminds us that the Republican’s own Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding recommended renewal of the state’s obligation to fund two-thirds of the cost of public education. 

State Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor issued a statement supporting Gov. Evers proposal. “I am grateful for the governor’s plan to provide additional resources for our schools. As I travel across the state, I continuously hear from our educators and parents, and I see the need for the state to provide more support, especially in the areas of special education and mental health resources in our schools. Additional resources are essential to achieving the DPI’s mission of ensuring all of our students receive what they need, when they need it, to be successful.”
Evers’ proposal would mean that local school districts would receive estimated payments for special education costs: Kewaskum - $118, 819, Slinger - $181,951, Hartford JT 1 - $150, 940, Hartford Union High - $93, 882 and West Bend - $537,799 In addition, Hartford Union High would receive an estimated $151,930 in sparsity aid. 
The Wisconsin Association of School Boards quickly issued a statement supporting the Governor’s proposal and the special session to consider it.

WisPolitics came out with a story on Republican legislative leaders’ views about the projected surplus before Evers special session call. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told the Wisconsin Counties Association event that his members plan to pay off debts, cut property taxes and offer “robust” aid to struggling farmers. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald is plugging property tax cuts and an income tax cut. 

Almost immediately after Gov. Evers’ announcement, both Cos and Fitzgerald rejected spending any more money on public schools and reiterating their calls for more tax cuts. 

Ever since the early days of Scott Walker’s administration, public education funding has been on the Republican chopping block. Even with more recent additions to state education funding, we are barely approaching the funding levels we saw in 2009. When you add the cost of inflation, we are still far away from proper funding for public schools. When you add in the hit to local districts caused by school choice vouchers taking money out of local schools to fund private school costs, the damage is even worse. 

Governor Evers is right to call the legislature back into session to address education funding shortfalls, especially those in special education and student mental health areas and to offer a sensible path to some property tax relief. Special education shortfalls are critical, especially since the elimination of school based social workers. In West Bend, for example, the only mental health counseling provided in the schools is provided by not fully trained graduate students on field placements.

Our legislative leaders would do well to actually take up Evers’ proposals next week and not ignore them as they have his past two special session calls to address urgent statewide concerns on the minds of a majority of Wisconsin voters. 

Governor Evers Spotlights Important Issues
Legislative inaction is not an option

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers delivered his second State of the State address to both houses of our Legislature this week. In his remarks he proposed two sweeping and badly needed agendas to address Wisconsin’s dairy farm crisis and gerrymandered state and legislative districts. The first met with mild approval from the GOP controlled legislature while the second was dismissed out of hand. 

Wisconsin has been losing two family dairy farm operations a day for far too long. Small dairy operations have not been able to cope with the punishing Trump tariffs and trade wars that have curtailed their markets and made it virtually impossible to turn a profit. Evers condemned the Trump administration’s distain for small family farmers noting, “we have not forgotten those who have shared the harvest and bounty, feeding our families, our communities, our state, and our country for more than a century. And tonight, we say we are ready to be a partner in the promise of prosperity.”

Evers announced his call for a special legislative session, as early as next week, to consider a package of bills he will be sending to both houses. They would create a new program to increase Wisconsin dairy exports to 20 percent of the nation’s milk supply by 2024. The effort will be supported by expanded state services for farmers including better access to mental health services and a new program to help farmers connect with state universities, technical colleges, hospitals and local businesses. Finally, Evers will create a Blue-Ribbon Commission on Rural Prosperity and a state jobs agency Office of Rural Prosperity to help farmers to better manage state programs and aid.

Legislative leadership, which has been loath to work with the Governor or to adopt his proposals, was surprisingly lukewarm in response. State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald was open to finding ways to help Wisconsin farmers as was Sen. Albert Darling. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos was oppositional as usual, warning that help Wisconsin agriculture would just lead to more government handouts. He followed by issuing a press release stating that the Assembly would not convene for a special session to address the dairy farm crisis to debate Evers proposals and act to stem the rising tide of farm closings. Instead, he will refer Evers’ proposed legislation to various Assembly committees for hearings. Vos knows this will drag out the chance for passage of any farm aid relief packages, if it does not kill them all together. 

Governor Evers second major proposal came in the announcement that he would create, by Executive Order, a non-partisan commission that would be charged with drawing new state and congressional district boundaries after the upcoming census. Evers commission would not include elected officials, lobbyists or consultants and, hopefully, will conduct its deliberations in public. The resulting maps would be turned over to the legislature for consideration when it draws the new maps. Evers hopes the proposed maps will be adopted by the Legislature.

Republican legislators were quick to dismiss Evers’ plan to create fair maps. Majority leader Fitzgerald called the plan “completely unconstitutional” based upon the constitutional duty placed on the legislature to draw the maps after every census. Rep. Vos also rejected Evers proposal indicating those in control of the legislature will select the process for drawing new maps. Our current legislative and congressional district boundaries were selected by lawyers hired by the GOP majority who worked with GOP leadership in secret allowing those in power to draw districts that included more Republican than Democratic voters and cramming more Democratic voters into districts that usually vote democratic anyway. 

Governor Evers continues to put issues of statewide importance before the legislature for action. By using calls for special legislative sessions, he puts the spotlight on the GOP majorities in both houses. So far, his calls have not met with any positive responses. The legislature refused to even debate the very reasonable gun violence proposals Evers put forward in the last special session by adjourning as soon as the opening gavel fell.

Unless the republicans now in legislative control change their methods and engage in constructive debate resulting in passage of bills that command widespread public support, they will face the voters’ wrath in the next election cycle. They need to understand that there are issues that transcend the partisan divide and command the support of a majority of the electorate. If they continue to turn a blind eye to the will of the people, they will soon be out of work.

Progressive Blues From Red Country: Official Languages Exclude

Progressive Blues From Red Country: Official Languages Exclude: Wisconsin Does Not Need an Official Language We are multi-lingual and diverse Three Wisconsin Republican lawmakers are trying to resurrec...

Official Languages Exclude

Wisconsin Does Not Need an Official Language
We are multi-lingual and diverse

Three Wisconsin Republican lawmakers are trying to resurrect a bill that would make English the official language of state government. What that means is that governmental efforts to assist state residents for whom English is a second or third language by offering printed material in languages other than English would be abolished or curtailed. The bill is similar to one introduced in 2013 by the same authors that failed to even get a hearing in the Assembly. 

The rationale offered for making English Wisconsin’s official language is that it would assist those whose mother tongue is not English to integrate more quickly into the dominant culture and help make them more attractive to prospective employers. What it really would do is make life more difficult for those not like white folks to fully understand how state government works and might be able to help those “outsiders” navigate state government systems.

English as official language laws have been enacted in other states and have uniformly been criticized as erecting barriers helping to exclude immigrants from becoming part of the mainstream society. If the bill’s authors were really serious about helping integrate non-English speakers into society, they would have coupled their bill with increased funding for English language instruction programs.

Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa, a Latina Democrat from Milwaukee, issued a statement Monday accusing Republicans of pushing an anti-Latino agenda to divide the state.

‘‘This bill reared its ugly head in previous sessions, but it didn’t even receive a public hearing because it is clear Wisconsinites do not support such extreme policies,’’ she said. ‘‘The shameful attacks on Latinos are divide and conquer politics at their worst.’’

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, founder and Executive Director of the immigration advocacy group Voices de la Frontera and Matt Rothschild of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, recently wrote an opinion piece in the Wisconsin Examiner highly critical of the proposal. 

Noting that Gov. Evers would likely veto such a bill “in a heartbeat,” they opined that the law would only serve to fan the flames of bigotry and lead to increased hate crimes against those who speak a different language. They rightly cast this effort as part of the white nationalism policies championed by the Trump administration and the GOP nationally. Finally, they note that all state units of government would be required to issue documents only printed in English, with but a few limited exceptions, limiting what local governments could publish to assist non-English speaking residents of their communities.

It is time to stop trying to divide Wisconsin residents on the basis of race, national origin or primary spoken language. Such efforts to make Wisconsin great again do not unite or uplift. They just make it easier for white people to throw acid in the faces of perceived immigrant foreigners. 

How difficult is it to remember that many of our Caucasian immigrant forbearers first came to this country speaking a language other than English? My ancestors came speaking German and I have friends and relations whose ancestors spoke French, Russian and a host of other European languages before learning, over generations, how to speak and write in English. 

What will happen to my youngest grand-daughter who entered public school into a Spanish immersion program where most of her instruction has been in that language? She still speaks English to us, but now is all but fluent in a second language as well. 

The bill’s authors, Senators David Craig, Andre Jacque, and Steve Nass, would be better served by working on legislation that commands support of people from around the state, like the bi-partisan package of bills aimed at reducing water pollution recently introduced in both houses of the legislature or the criminal justice reform bills proposed by Governor Evers and Democrats in both houses of the legislature. Our legislators need to stop arbitrarily dividing us and start finding ways we can all flourish in a multi-cultural and multi-lingual society.

Not Bloomberg

Bloomberg is Wrong for Wisconsin

Votes here are not for sale.

Former Republican New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced that he is running for President of the United States in 2020……….. as a Democrat. 

Bloomberg is a self-made billionaire who has championed some liberal causes and many conservative ones throughout his political and business careers. He believes that he is the only one tough enough to take on Donald Trump in next year’s election. He is willing to spend millions of his own money to try and convince Democrats and disaffected Republicans that he is correct. 

Whether you agree with Bloomberg’s politics and policies or not, he is correct about one thing. The path to the presidency has to run through Wisconsin, a state Trump won in 2016. To solidify the point, Bloomberg rented office space in downtown Milwaukee and recently opened his first Wisconsin campaign office in the space. He plans to hire staff and spend lots of his money on television ads here to tell voters why they should vote for him. No mention yet on the scope and depth of a ground game to reach actual voters with his still undefined platform.

Moderate Republicans welcome Bloomberg to the field. He is one of their own or, at least, one they feel comfortable with, as he avoids the popular themes and plans put forth by many in the progressive wing of the Democratic party like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. He won’t seriously come after accumulated wealth to level the tax burden on working people if elected. 

Bloomberg has a lot of ground to make up on those who have been on the campaign trail longer. His massive TV ad buys here and across the nation have barely budged the Wisconsin polls. The best of the bunch gives him just about a 3 percent approval rating, placing him well back from those taking part in the televised debates and running grass-roots supported and funded campaigns.

Progressive Democrats here and across the nation have roundly criticized Bloomberg for trying to buy the election with his massive personal wealth and fear he will take moderate votes away from the populists running more grass roots efforts. I suspect he will hurt more moderate, centrist Democrats like former Vice-President Joe Biden, U. S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) and Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. The best we can hope for is that a Bloomberg campaign will doom those closer to the center, clearing the way for a populist progressive to take the primaries and win the nomination at the DNC convention in Milwaukee this summer.

Progressive and even moderate Democrats take issue with Bloomberg’s controversial “stop and frisk” policy that turned New York City police officers loose to harass and detain “suspicious looking” people who just happened to be people whose skin tones were more than off-white. Even though Bloomberg has told the media his policy was a mistake in hindsight, he pushed it hard against all detractors while he was the Mayor of New York City and continued to defend it long after he left office. 

Bloomberg’s wealth and position conveniently allow him to avoid the cauldron of the debates where ideas, policies and positions get the scrutiny they deserve and candidate’s ability to defend their proposals is publicly tested. A self-funded campaign does not have to measure success like a grass-roots campaign with millions of supporters does. Bloomberg only has to answer to himself, not the people whose money supports the policies and proposals of the progressives. 

We have already witnessed what so-called “self-made” wealthy people do when elected in rigged elections bought and paid for with personal wealth. We don’t need a Democratic Donald Trump who says things people want to hear in order to secure their votes and then does just what he pleases afterwards. We don’t need another wealthy politician whose wealth and claimed business acumen are pushed as the solution to the problems facing our government and a deeply divided country.

Michael Bloomberg demonstrates the fear and arrogance driving many of those who have amassed great personal wealth. They took advantage of the trickle down, continually lower taxes political strategies championed by the GOP politicans they help to maintain power in Washington and Wisconsin. They fear their gravy train will be stopped by a reformist progressive led government and believe that only they have the right to hold the keys to the city. 

I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions, but this New Year I will make an exception. My resolution is to work to sweep these old guard folks from the halls of government and put working people and a vibrant middle class first by electing a progressive, grass roots supported candidate with a proven track record of standing up for them.

On Being Santa

On Being Santa

Family Promise Needs Him 

Over the decades, I have been asked to become Santa for a time to spread some holiday cheer to those who need or miss it.

My first time was in State College, PA as a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce. I donned a borrowed suit, hat, wig, beard and a bag of candy and strolled through the shops and taverns in that small down spreading smiles with a hearty Ho-Ho Ho. I didn’t just greet customers, but went into kitchens, behind bars and into back wrapping rooms to add some merriment for those who were trying to make other happy. 

My wife brought our three-year-old daughter downtown and we met up on the street, much to her surprise. I bent down and in my best disguised voice said, “Have you been a good, little girl this year?” She peered into my eyes, paused for a moment and replied, “Hi Dad.” We both smiled and laughed. I’ll never forget the experience.

My next adoption of the Santa persona was for the Washington County Humane Society’s Pictures with Santa fundraiser. Local folks brought all manner of pets down to the old strip mall between Kohls and Shopko to have me stand, sit or lie down with their critters for a picture they could use as a Christmas card. I had a lot of fun, raised some needed funds for the Shelter, but had to clean the suit of lots of lots of extra fur. Most enjoyed the experience and I did not get bit by anything or squeezed by the constrictor. All in all, this was a success too.

I donned the suit more than once for holiday parties at our local Democratic Party office where Christmas took on a more partisan tone surrounding the election or issue of the moment. Still I was able to coax a smile and a carol out of these more serious crowds as we shared Merry Christmas treats and libations. Success again.

My most memorable excursion into Santa’s world came this past Thursday night when my wife and I became Santa and Mrs. Claus for the Family Promise of Washington County’s Christmas party at Holy Angels School. We entered the room full of families who have or are experiencing homelessness and were greeted by the innocent, believing smiles and wide eyes of small ones who flocked to us for hugs and surprises. 

Even though these children are living in poverty and the uncertainty that accompanies it, they made cookies for Santa and Mrs. Claus which they gave to us with great joy and wonder. We could see the pride of accomplishment in the decorations and sprinkles. We thanked each one and mostly followed with a hug. Some asked where the Elves were or how old I was. Each got an answer and a smile. 

We sat for pictures with the kids. Some came with their siblings or a parent to capture the moment. After pics were snapped, each child got to pick out a stuffed toy from a large box. Many had to come back to show us what they picked out. Teens came with friends or siblings to sit on Santa’s lap for a picture and a toy. The large ones also got special Green Bay Packer socks wrapped with love at the North Pole by Mrs. Claus.

We ended the short evening with a photo of Santa and Mrs. Claus with all of the Family Promise volunteers who had worked very hard to pull off a successful dinner and event with the Clauses. It was an honor to be with them and to share, at least for a moment, in their joy of a job well done. I was glad to see some old friends among them who took time out of their busy lives to make the lives of others a bit better. They smiled and I consider the night my best Santa yet.

For those of you who don’t know about Family Promise of Washington County, check out their website at https://familypromisewc.org. If you don’t believe that one of the wealthiest counties in Wisconsin has a homeless population, read about the work these great volunteers do throughout the year to help those struggling with that very real problem right in our hometown neighborhoods.

If you are looking for a great cause to support that makes a real difference in the lives of folks right here in Washington County, consider a donation to this great organization. They have a wish list on their home page or just send them a good-sized donation. It will be well used.