GOP Failures

GOP Legislators Fail Again

Tend to the People’s Business

 

Our Republican controlled legislature outdid itself once again, proving just how anti-life they really are. They rejected once again, Gov. Evers’ call for them to accept federal Medicaid expansion money which would have pumped $1 Billion federal dollars into Wisconsin coffers and provided much needed health insurance coverage to 91,000 more Wisconsin citizens. 

 

Our legislators first stripped the proposal to take the federal money out of Gov. Evers’ proposed state budget for the next biennium and then, this past week, gaveled in and out of the special legislative session Evers called to take up the proposal in record time.

 

The people most impacted are poor people without access to employer health insurance plans who made too much under earlier guidelines to qualify for insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Medicaid expansion would have changed the rules to lower those standards, making the insurance more affordable. Without access to more affordable insurance, many Wisconsinites will become ill and die due to their inability to access needed health care services. 

 

The $1 billion federal incentive, which comes out of federal taxpayer dollars, was earmarked by Gov. Evers to provide $200 million to expand broadband internet services to more in rural areas, $100 million to replace ageing and dangerous lead water pipes, $100 million for bridge and road projects and over a dozen local construction projects. 

 

In addition, Evers proposed using the Federal funds for increased mental health services, veterans housing programs, increasing tourism, more DNR Stewardship programs and better opioid data systems. On the local level, Evers wants to use the funds for a community health center in Racine, paper mill assistance in Wisconsin Rapids and Park Falls, mental health facilities in Eau Claire and Wausau, manufacturing apprenticeship programs, support for rural emergency medical services.

 

Gov. Evers condemned the GOP leaders’ failure to take up the proposal. "I think we should be doing everything we can to make sure our economy bounces back from this pandemic, and this special session was about finding common ground and getting bipartisan support for our efforts," Evers said in a prepared statement. "Clearly, it’s disappointing Republicans don’t seem to take that responsibility seriously, and they’ll have to explain to Wisconsinites why they made the decision they did today."

 

GOP legislators have opposed the expansion ever since it was introduced by the Federal government in 2014, claiming it is unnecessary welfare and that it might cause additional burdens on Wisconsin taxpayers in the future should the benefits decrease. They also take issue with Evers’ authority to spend the federal dollars, claiming it should rest with the Legislature instead.

 

So far, 38 states have accepted Medicaid expansion benefits without any substantial issues. Those state that took the funds show decreased mortality rates when compared with states that rejected the funds. They have used the funds creatively to help combat the pandemic and increase services for their citizens with no adverse impacts. 

 

It is clear that the real opposition is rooted in fears that Democratic governments will actually take care of working people and their families and win the policy wars in our divided America. They fear actual debate in open sessions of our legislative bodies on the merits of the proposals and the actual impacts their decisions will have on the rest of us. It is much easier to just say no to what ever Democrats propose. 

 

On the other side of the same coin, Assembly Leader Robin Vos (R-Mount Pleasant) just approved spending $100,000 in taxpayer dollars to hire retired police officers to investigate the last statewide election to see if there were irregularities that warrant new election laws. It does not matter that GOP presidential minions already floated their conspiracy theories in Wisconsin and Federal Courts after the election only to see each and every one shot down because they could produce no facts to support their outlandish claims. Vos is wasting precious tax dollars chasing ghosts of long dead conspiracies. 

 

The Republicans in our Legislature have wasted our time and money doing nothing but trying to undo what made Wisconsin the progressive leader in America and opposing anything proposed by Democrats. We elect our Representatives and Senators to look out for the common good and address real problems affecting significant parts of the populace. It is time we hold them accountable and elect those willing to tend to the people’s business. 

Supply and Demand

Supply and Demand

Workers Have Power

 

Conventional wisdom has it that markets are balanced by supply of what people want and demand from others for those same things. That maxim applies to current employment opportunities. 

 

As pandemic restrictions on public gatherings are eased, many businesses are gearing up to put their wares back on the market. Nowhere is this more obvious than in restaurants and other places where wages are low yet demand for service is increasing rapidly. “We’re Hiring” signs are popping up everywhere.

 

Places where employees were laid off due to pandemic restrictions are looking to bring those employees back into service and are finding it hard to make that happen. Even with demand at a high level, many are finding it hard to find people willing to work for what they earned before the pandemic sent them home. 

 

Several trends are emerging. Some employers are griping that the current unemployment benefit levels are keeping people at home. Some republican controlled states are buying into this notion and moving to cut unemployment benefits or reduce the amounts paid. Current benefit levels finally approach basic cost of living levels and pay more than many pre-pandemic employment packages offered. I doubt that this is the main driver of the difficulty employers face finding people to fill open positions. After all, people are social beings and want to interact with others and not just sit at home in front of the TV.

 

Recent polling suggests there are other factors at play. One is childcare. Low wage jobs no longer cover the cost of childcare much less provide cost of living wages. People who do not have childcare for pre-school age kids cannot go to work if they cannot cover that cost plus bring home money for food, housing, and other necessities. One of the provisions of President Biden’s rescue plan is to beef up childcare subsidies making it possible for parents of preschoolers and even school age children to re-enter the workforce.

 

Workplace safety is another new complication employers face finding people for their open jobs. Many food and tavern jobs require servers to interact with those who are not wearing masks and may or may not be vaccinated against the coronavirus. People who have been hunkered down at home with their families, trying to stay safe from the pandemic, are understandably reluctant to go to work in places where they feel likely that they will be exposed to virus carriers. The lure of low pay and long hours are just not enough to bring them back. Employers who give incentives to vaccinated workers and discounts to masked customers may be able to overcome potential employee fears.

 

A third factor is the label, “essential worker.” Many employers seeking to reward the workers who stayed on the job during the pandemic bestowed that label on their workforce and many took it to heart. The belief that I am “essential” to my employer’s success brings with it a legitimate sense that I am worth more than I was before I earned the title. With that, it is only natural that I get paid more for my work than I received before, especially as demand for what I produce is going up. This is a natural wage increase driver.

 

Finally, many former low-wage employees are coming to realize that they no longer must take whatever is offered from an employer. People are starting to demand more than what they might have made before for the same work because they see increased competition in the marketplace for their labor. We see that pressure in the long-term care industry where care givers move from job to job, facility to facility, when hourly wages go up by a dollar or two.

 

Employers need to rethink their business model, especially when they rely on low wage workers to provide the services they sell. If the model was only workable if the cost of labor did not produce a living wage, it unlikely your business will survive in this market where wages are going up significantly past previous levels and hefty signing bonuses are becoming more common. 

 

It is just not as simple as unemployment benefits are too high. There is much more in play and employers are going to have to start providing safe working conditions, pay living wages and provide real benefits such as paid child-care if they hope to stay in business. 

 

It is supply and demand. Maybe a $15 an hour minimum wage is a foreseeable reality after all.

Rojo Must Go

Senator Johnson Care More about Freedom than Life

It has got to be hard when facts and proven scientific evidence come into conflict with one’s ideological or political beliefs. A rational person would examine that conflict and try to adjust the beliefs to come into some degree of harmony with the facts and supporting evidence. It must be even harder when one’s political and ideological beliefs lead to the suffering, illness and death of your fellow human beings. 

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson’s recent public comments questioning the need to vaccinate the population against COVID-19 and the effectiveness of wearing masks show that Johnson has made his choice. For him, ideology and political expedience win out over facts supported by the scientific evidence. Unfortunately for some of his followers and others who choose to believe what he says, Johnson’s words will lead to unnecessary suffering and maybe even their death.

Johnson is reaching the end of his current term in the United States Senate. Even though he promised to only serve two terms when first he ran, he has not told us if he plans to run for a third term or not. He has, however, openly embraced the former resident of the White House, supported false claims of fraud in the last national election, questioned whether it was really supporters of the former president who stormed the Capitol on January 6th and ventured into support for other conspiracy theories. It is not surprising then to hear him openly contradict nationally recognized experts on getting COVID vaccines into as many arms as possible and the need for wearing masks to reduce the virus spread.

It is high time that Johnson declares his intentions for the upcoming election. Three Democrats have already announced their bids to replace him. The first in the ring was Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson. Nelson has run before and has a slew of endorsements. Next, Alex Lasry, Vice President of the Milwaukee Bucks organization, threw his hat in the ring and announced endorsements from prominent Milwaukee political figures. The third candidate to enter the race was Sarah Godlewski, the newly elected Wisconsin State Treasurer, who has been preparing to run against Johnson on social media for the past year. Other Democrats will probably come in as soon as Johnson announces whether he will run again or not. 

Conservative Republicans, used to mounting primary challenges from the right, don’t know what to do. It is hard to get further to the right than Johnson is already. The former president has already endorsed him for a third term which prevents other ultra conservatives from entering the race. More moderate Republicans have not figured out a message that will resonate with enough GOP voters to win a statewide race and do not want to sign up until Johnson declares what he plans to do. 

Without a viable GOP replacement, Johnson owns the bully pulpit on the right and will unfortunately end up hurting a lot of people. We can only hope that the new national leadership will continue to let the scientists carry the load of convincing more to get their shots, practice social distancing and continue to wear masks around the unvaccinated. 

Another front is opening as well. The University of Maryland recently announced that no one will be allowed on campus next fall unless they have been vaccinated against COVID – 19. Even with Johnson openly opposing vaccination requirements or vaccination passports, the European Union is opening up visits from U.S. citizens if they have been fully vaccinated. Airlines are beginning to enforce mask wearing on flights and banning those who refuse. Socially responsible businesses are also beginning to step up with mask requirements as well. App developers are already marketing vaccination passports for your phones.

It is sad that Sen. Johnson refuses to follow the science and has lost his compassion for the health of his constituents while following the banner of false personal freedom. To see him wallow in false choices brings fears that he will follow Fox’s Tucker Carlson who now exhorts his viewers to confront masked people and asks them to call the police to report child abuse when they see kids in masks. 

We are all in this together and the sooner our elected officials take on that world view, the sooner we can get back to some semblance of normalcy.

Courts

How Courts Work Or Don’t

A recent letter to the editor of this page criticized me for questioning a decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court to reverse Governor Evers’ second emergency declaration regarding the spread of coronavirus. The writer opined that, as an attorney, I should know that a decision by the State’s highest court was the law of the land and the end of the discussion.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending upon your point of view, there is no absolutes in the law. 

Laws passed by legislatures and administered by the executive branch are always, repeat always, subject to interpretation. There are usually, if not always, lots of lawyers available to interpret what is written in different ways and arrive at different conclusions about what the words really mean. No writer is ever able to convey a complex topic with absolute clarity. There is almost always room for argument and discussion. 

That is why we have courts to exercise the power to decide which of the competing interpretations of the written law will prevail. Even courts are not correct all of the time. That is why we have three layers of courts in Wisconsin. Trial courts in each county get the first shot at finding the correct interpretation. The losing side in the trial court, then gets to appeal to the Court of Appeals in their district. The Court of Appeals then gets its shot at telling the parties and the trial court which interpretation is correct. That court may or may not get it right. 

Whoever loses in the Court of Appeals then gets to ask the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take up the case. While the Court of Appeals has to take every case filed and render a decision, the state Supreme Court gets to pick and choose which cases it wants to hear. That decision usually depends on whether the issue presented by the case is of statewide importance and not controlled by an earlier decision by the Supreme Court that ruled on the same issue. 

When our Supreme Court agrees to take a case, it too tries to decide what the controlling law is and how that law applies to the facts of the case before it. It is the rare case indeed where all of the Justices on the state’s Supreme Court can agree on whether the case should be heard in the first place, what the controlling law is or what the correct interpretation of that law happens to be. In the end, decisions are usually based upon the Justice’s judicial philosophy, political persuasion and ability to persuade a majority of the other Justices on the Court to agree with her reasoning. 

The resulting majority decision from the Supreme Court controls the actions of the parties in that particular lawsuit for sure. It can also be argued that the decision also controls other cases that present the same facts. Beyond that, the application of a particular decision by the Court to a new or even slightly different set of facts, sets the process going all over again. 

If the state Supreme Court’s decision involves an issue of federal constitutional law, then the decision is subject to challenge and further appeals in the federal judicial system. Where the interpretation battles start all over again. 

With this understanding of how the judicial process works, or does not work, we are allowed to give an opinion that a given decision was decided incorrectly. 

Some decisions by state supreme courts are clearly incorrect and reversed by federal courts when they violate federal constitutional principles. Even decisions by the United States Supreme Court turn out to be wrong after the passage of time and changes in the will of the body politic. 

The infamous Dred Scott decision by the United States Supreme Court in 1857 is the classic, but not the only, example. In that 7-2 decision, the Court held that a slave, Dred Scott, who lived in a state where slavery was prohibited was not entitled to his freedom because African Americans could never be citizens of the United States. The Court further ruled that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 that declared certain states “slavery free” was unconstitutional.

Chief Justice Roger Taney wrote “…We think they (people of African ancestry) are…not included, and not intended to be included, under the word “citizens” in the Constitution, and can therefore claim none of the rights and privileges which that instrument provides for and secures to citizens of the United States.”

By any measure in today’s understanding of American citizenship, Taney’s words are clearly and unequivocally incorrect. 

So too were the decisions of the Wisconsin Supreme Court which overturned Governor Evers’ emergency declarations and occupancy limits in public establishments. They were based on interpretations of laws passed limiting the powers of the governor which disregarded the overriding need for prompt an effective action in the face of a public health emergency. 

The deaths resulting from premature actions by people eager to get back to “normal” who choose to go about their lives pretending there is no threat will be on the hands of Wisconsin Supreme Court majority who decided those cases. 

False Freedom

Don’t Follow False Freedom

Stay the Course

Once again Wisconsin Republicans have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by convincing their conservative friends on the Wisconsin Supreme Court to strike down Governor Tony Evers common sense, science-based approach to slowing the spread of COVID-19 in Wisconsin. More Wisconsin citizens will undoubtedly die needlessly as a result. One’s personal liberty should not be allowed to create conditions where others are more likely to become seriously ill or die.

 

Governor Evers issued a series of executive orders declaring public health emergencies in response to the spread of the virus in Wisconsin. His orders required people to wear masks in public, observe social distances between you and others whenever possible and other simple steps like washing your hands, all shown convincingly to slow the spread of the virus. These steps, coupled with a robust vaccine rollout, cut the numbers of new infections and deaths from the virus dramatically. 

 

As new virus variants have evolved from the original strains and been fueled by people and businesses which refused to follow the rules, we are starting to see new infection rates and deaths creep back up. It was in this environment, that a majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided to throw out Evers’ emergency declarations along with the mandates they imposed. This left Wisconsin citizens free to stop wearing masks, stop social distancing and enables them to ignore the science and go back to how they lived in January 2020 before COVID was recognized as the killer it turned out to be. Washington County “freedom lovers” must be thrilled. 

 

Unfortunately, this is no April Fools joke. 

 

Wisconsin Republicans, stung by the defeat of their champion, the former occupant of the White House, have doubled down on their politicization of the pandemic. Casting it in lighthearted terms and minimizing its ability to spread and kill, the GOP has used it to whip up a false frenzy over governmental overreach. Unfortunately, a majority of our Supreme Court drank that Kool Aid.

 

Some issues transcend politics. Public health and safety should be at the top of that list. They were until the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6 where white supremacist mobs battled and killed Capitol Police officers and defaced the seat of government. Now public health and safety have been relegated to the dumpster and anti-government personal liberty has become ascendant. 

 

Imagine if that had been the case when parents in the 1950s faced a polio epidemic or when earlier generations faced death at the hands of countless diseases made avoidable by new childhood vaccinations. Those generations of parents lined up, lined their children up and rolled up their collective sleeves to get the shots. There was no talk of government overreach when laws were passed to combat these plagues. People were glad to have the chance to continue living.

 

Millions in my generation, the Boomers and older, have gotten both shots. We feel like a weight has been lifted as we cautiously venture out to visit grandchildren and eat once more in safely laid out restaurants. We still wear our masks in public because we do not want to help spread the new variants, much less contract an infection from one. We still practice social distancing in stores, wash our hands and applaud those businesses which have not succumbed to the false freedom frenzy.

 

Most doctors and public health professionals supported Governor Evers’ emergency declarations and their mandates and have spoken out against the Court’s decision to trash them. Try to go into a clinic or doctor’s office without a mask. They recognize that voluntary compliance with suggestions from the Centers for Disease Control and local public health agencies has not worked, especially in counties like ours where local officials have jumped on the false freedom bandwagon with both feet. 

 

We are close to beating COVID, just like we did with polio, measles, mumps, chicken pox, and other very infectious afflictions. It is lunacy to roll back restrictions and embrace the false freedom flags when we are so close. 

Second Shots

Got Our Second Shots

There is Light at the End of the Tunnel

 

My wife and I received our second Moderna COVID vaccine shots two and a half weeks ago and feel like we’ve emerged from a long hibernation. 

 

COVID turned us into hermits. We stayed home, worked from home, only going out to get groceries, meds and curbside pickups. We stopped visiting with friends and going out to eat. We stopped going to the library and into stores to shop. We stopped traveling to visit family and friends. Amazon became our one stop shopping source. It was terribly isolating, and we are lucky to still like each other’s company. We have a stack of completed1000 piece puzzles to show how we spent our leisure time together. 

 

While we are not immune from catching the virus, we are now less likely to get it and much less likely to get really sick or die from it  if we do. It is such a relief to know that we can now visit our children and grandchildren and give them hugs. We look forward to having dinner with others, similarly vaccinated, and getting our lives back to some degree of normalcy.

 

While we tried to stay safe and uninfected, we watched with dismay at those who went about their usual lives, unmasked and not socially distanced. Each night, we saw the COVID infections and death rates on TV and understood that those who ignored the scientist’s warnings were the main contributors to the thousands who got infected and died.

 

With the change in presidential leadership and control of Congress, hope for relief was rewarded with the recently passed rescue legislation that will put money in bank accounts and vaccine shots in arms faster than we might have imagined before the last election. The new package will help small businesses survive the remaining months of the pandemic, help states, and local governments deal with vaccine administration and pump millions into the economy. 

 

We are not out of danger just yet. COVID variants pose threats to the unvaccinated and Spring Break antics threaten to super spread them into new surges as the breakers return home. 

 

Anti-vaxxers still peddle nonsense that drives down the numbers of folks willing to roll up their sleeves to get the shots. False freedom states like Texas and others are lifting mask mandates and other restrictions meant solely to keep infections down will contribute to new surges, hospitalizations and unnecessary deaths. Why they do that while failing to speed up vaccinations is a mystery to me. 

 

We need to continue to heed the calls from Dr. Faucci and Dr. Walensky, the new Director of the Centers for Disease Control, to get the vaccine shots as soon as they become available, to continue to wear our masks when going out of our homes, and to maintain respectful social distancing. Those simple measures, when coupled with the accelerating distribution of approved vaccines are our only hope to beat the virus beast. 

 

Even with the moderate side effects I had from the second shot, including chills, aches and a day of super low energy, I will gladly take a booster shot if recommended next year to maintain the protections vaccine science has given me. I will continue to wear my masks when going out and will continue to keep respectful distance from others. I expect that to be part of my new normal for the foreseeable future. 

 

Hopefully, more and more of our citizens will see that these measures work to protect them as well as me and adopt them. One side effect we noticed was that, in this normal, neither of us caught our usual cold or mild version of the flu this winter. Flu infection rates and infant deaths from the flu were the lowest in decades. 

 

I am glad to see that the travel industry is stepping up as well. Cruise lines are adopting mandatory vaccination and negative COVID test results before boarding rules. Federal regulations now require masks on all forms of public transportation. I expect airlines may well give preferential treatment to the vaccinated and will continue to require masks.

 

We are close to 25% of the population having received at least one shot of the vaccine. We need to reach 60 to 70 percent of the population having both shots before herd immunity will kick in. With accelerated manufacturing, distribution and administration of the shots, we can get there by the end of the Summer. 

 

Think then of the possibilities. 

Enough Ron Johnson

 Enough Ron Johnson

 

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson continues to embarrass himself and ignore the needs of his constituents. As he keeps tracking further and further to the right, he will no doubt just spin in a circle until he implodes.

 

Johnson was always the former president’s biggest fan and fell all over himself defending and praising the former occupant of the White House. Whatever the administration wanted, Johnson delivered. 

 

Towards the end of the former administration’s hold on power, even after the debate over who won the last election was over, Johnson continued to peddle conspiracy theories of stolen elections, fraudulent voting rules, lost ballots and rigged outcomes. He paid no heed to state election officials, courts, the FBI and the credible investigations that all concluded that the last presidential election was free and fair and without fraudulent interference.

 

Even though he was present and witnessed first-hand the violent insurrection at our Capitol on January 6^th, he continues to maintain that it was not all that bad. It was certainly not an armed insurrection in his judgement, all of the violent acts towards the Capitol Police with poles, bats, fire extinguishers and bear spray caught on video and broadcast live across the nation notwithstanding. He refuses to believe the FBI Director who testified that the insurrectionists were white supremacist supporters of the former president and not members of Antifa or Black Lives Matter. He fails to see the irony in proclaiming that leftist agent provocateurs would storm the Capitol to prevent the certification of an election won by a Democrat.

 

Now that the election debate is finally over and President Biden is clearly recognized as our new President, Johnson cannot bear the thought of actually working with the new administration to address the COVID-19 pandemic that still grips the nation, killing its citizens and crippling the economy. 

 

President Biden put up a COVID relief bill that takes aim at those areas needing the most immediate attention. It will send money to state and local governments to make up for lost revenue. it will spend money to increase vaccine production and speed its distribution. It will provide economic assistance to small and medium sized businesses to help them survive the remainder of the pandemic. It will make direct payments to most Americans to make up for their lost incomes.

 

National polling tells us that a majority of Americans support President Biden’s package. A substantial number of Republicans also are on board, bringing support into the 60% range nationwide.

 

The House of Representatives passed the President’s bill quickly and sent it on to the U.S. Senate where it is poised for passage sending relief to millions of Americans. 

 

Our Ron Johnson went to the air waves this week, proclaiming his intention to resist passage of this bill offering the hypocritical justification that it is just too costly. Johnson conveniently forgets that he rejected just such a claim from Democrats as a GOP controlled Congress passed the largest tax give away to corporations and the wealthy, including Johnson, in our nation’s history. 

 

Making good on his word, Johnson invoked a parliamentary trick to keep the bill from being debated by demanding that the entire 600-700 page bill be read aloud by the Clerk of the Senate before debate could begin. He earned a delay of a whole 10 hours in the process of making a fool of himself on national television once more. 

 

Senate majority leader Charles Schumer actually applauded Johnson’s move which enables any American who wants to know the details of the bill to listen on CSpan as the Clerk reads it into the record. 

 

Wisconsin no longer needs Ron Johnson’s representation in the United States Senate. When he ran, he promised he would only serve two terms. His second term ends in 2022. He has not yet announced if he will run again.

 

If he does go back on his word and does run again, he will have one big backer for sure. The current resident of a country club in Mara Largo, Florida. Given the results of the last statewide election in Wisconsin, that support will not carry the day over whomever emerges from what looks to be an interesting Democratic primary contest. 

 

Ron Johnson’s days in the United States Senate are numbered. We can only hope that he does not embarrass us further with stunts, gimmicks and conspiracies.