Today is the Final Vote on the Constitutional Amendment to Ban Civil Unions and Same Sex Marriage

Today the State Assembly will vote on the Constitutional Amemdment to ban civil unions and same sex marriages in Wisconsin.

If you want to follow the action, Action Wisconsin will have a live blog running during the debate. Check in often to see how the debate proceeds.

The Assembly will pass the measure today, sending it off to state voters on the November 2006 ballot.

Check out the Action Wisconsin website for more information about the amendment.

78th District Survey Results: GOP Agenda A Minority View

I LOVE my district. I LOVE representing a district that overwhelmingly supports social and economic justice for all, not just the privileged. With over 1,000 responses from a district-wide survey, the people of the 78th are definitely not drinking the GOP kool-aid.

Check out the results.

I have the feeling that the majority of people in Wisconsin have a lot more in common with the 78th district than they do the agenda of the Republican majority in the legislature. Let's hope they get active later this year.

Can You Get Paid for the Whole Year to Work Only Until March 9?

2006 is a good year to work at the State Capitol, according to Republican leadership. Word is that the GOP leaders want us to finish session on March 9 for the year. That gives us two weeks to finish all legislative activity. Bills that don’t pass will die.

Now we “officially” have some time calendared for April and May and December to take additional action, but any scheduled periods after the “end” are generally for special bills or employee contracts.
So here's my question: If the legislature finishes on or near March 9 and doesn’t address any of the issues that the public really is talking about, what does that mean for the legislative leadership? How does that affect how the public looks at each and every legislator?

The Republican majority calls us in to work and tells us when we’re done. But from most people’s perspectives, we haven’t done much this legislative session. Once again, we had a session that focused on “God, Gays and Guns”, rather than healthcare, education and tax fairness.

How does the public perceive a legislature that doesn’t take up issues that really affect their lives, but quits trying in March and will likely still collect lots of per diem dollars on top of their salaries for the rest of the year?

I think I know the answer. Hint: Look for a lot of new faces coming to the legislature next year.

And to the anonymous posts from GOPers that will follow, you can bash me about taking my salary all you want. The difference is I want to get some real work done and am prepared to do whatever it takes to do that. I don’t have to rush to Northeastern Wisconsin to “meet” my constituents in a quest for a new job. Do you really think every GOP legislator wants to walk off this cliff with their departing leader? We’ll find out.

Homeland Security GOP-Style – Didn’t the Bin Ladens Have a Bid In?

The continually dysfunctional Wisconsin legislature once again proved its buffoonery while in session today. As we were busy taking up issues that determine whether letters to municipalities have to be certified or not when school district boundaries change (SB 322), we refused to even discuss Assembly Resolution 47 which would allow the legislature to send its thoughts to the U.S. Congress.

You see, this is what has some of us a bit worried.

President Bush on Tuesday strongly defended a deal that would let a United Arab Emirates-based company run six major U.S. seaports.

Wait a minute. We’re going to let a company from a country that likely helped launder money for 911-terrorists now guard our seaports? Wow. I guess not only have we forgotten about Bin Laden, but we’ve also forgot about other real threats.

Instead, we continue our quagmire in Iraq, a non-threat.

Well the Wisconsin Republican legislative majority doesn’t want us to rock the boat. We’ll leave that to potential security risks. Assembly Democrats just wanted to make sure we don't have problems in the future with the ports of Milwaukee or Superior, for example.

John Gard, is this your personal official opinion as well? I’m sure a lot of people from NE Wisconsin would love to know.

And for the record, we did decide that a handful of fewer letters in the future do not have to go out when school districts change boundaries. I thought you would be wanting to know.

GOP: If the Public Would Only Leave Us Alone, We’d Get a Lot More Done

There are times you have to appreciate the honesty of a Republican. We get it so rarely.

The fleeting bit of GOP honesty came from State Senator Glenn Grothman (R-Far Right). In discussing his newest version of a Taxpayers' Bill of Rights (TABOR), or the so-called Taxpayers' Protection Act (TP Act), he said of having an invitation-only, public hearing:

"Realistically, I don't think a lot gets accomplished at those hearings."-- Sen. Glenn Grothman, explaining why the initial hearing for the "Taxpayers' Protection Amendment" was invitation-only.

Now THAT’s honesty from a Republican. Public input is for sissies.

The Republican leadership doesn’t care what the public thinks, just what the far right thinks. And of course, the corporate donors matter too. But the public? Who cares what they think.

Should pharmacists refuse to fill your doctor-prescribed prescriptions because if it doesn’t mesh with their “beliefs”? That’s OK by the GOP. Banning civil unions and same sex marriages which are already banned? Throw it in the constitution. Hidden guns? Hide ‘em if you got ‘em. Birth control? Sounds icky. Registering to vote on the day of the election? Isn't that rather democratic? Yuck, no way!

If the GOP says it is good, then just take it, shut the hell up and get out of the way.

I know a lot more Republicans think this way too. But you have to give credit to Grothman for his honestly. I just hope the public honestly remembers how they were treated by the extremist, dysfunctional Wisconsin legislature.

Dozen Rich People Good, Thousands Freezing Too Bad

I can’t go into the politics on this, but you have to love the guts of Assembly Speaker John Gard.

First, he blows off a rarely called Special Session by Governor Doyle last Tuesday to help working families pay for extraordinarily high heating bills this winter. Why? Because he had a $1000-a-head fundraiser in Washington DC. So much for the working poor of his home district. Or of the Peshtigo area for that matter….

Now, in an article in a Green Bay newspaper, Gard claims only about a dozen people showed up to his event. Wow, for a thousand bucks you get quite the private audience with the Speaker, while thousands back home freeze and fret over their heating bills. Now that’s a man of the people.

To top it all off, Gard has Vice President and hunting enthusiast Dick Cheney coming to Green Bay to campaign with him! I was guessing he’s on a list of people who you probably wouldn’t want working for you. But hey John, more power to you. While you’re at it, why not bring Jack Abramoff, Scooter Libby and Tom Delay also. I’m sure everyone will understand just what a common guy you are.

And for those of you who are freezing this weekend and are having a hard time paying your bill, send a thank you to rep.gard@legis.state.wi.us. I’m sure he’ll send you a picture of him and the VP. Maybe they'll even go hunting.

What Did I Miss?

I’m back from Key West and ready to get back to work. But first, what did I miss while I was gone? Here’s what I saw; fill me in on anything else. Preferably, not anonymously, so I am more likely to believe you….

* Former Senator William Proxmire was memorialized at the State Capitol on Friday. Proxmire was perhaps best remembered by me as the last person in the state to be able to campaign on his vision, issues and a personal handshake, rather than on his fund raising prowess. Proxmire regularly spent less than $200 to get elected to the U.S. Senate. Today, most U.S. Senators can’t get through happy hour on that. Of course, Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl are exempted from that dig….

* Vice President Dick Cheney shot his friend. Oops. And he forgot to tell anyone about it for awhile. Guess it must have been for national security reasons…right?

* Legislative Republicans continued to ignore Governor Jim Doyle’s call for a special session on helping the public pay for record-high heating costs. Instead, GOP leadership took off for several $1000 plus fundraisers in Washington D.C. I hope people can use GOP political paraphernalia to heat their homes this winter.

* And today, GOP leadership is having an invited testimony ONLY “public hearing” on their newest incarnation of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). The bill, first introduced formally on Monday, is being fast-tracked for the legislature to pass before the rumored end-of-session date of March 9. Does anyone else have a problem with a public hearing being held without public input? I guess the GOP is afraid to hear what the public thinks about it. And that’s the Republican agenda for 2006?

So what else did I miss?

Anyway, I’m back and ready to rumble. The next month will be a flurry of legislative activity, with all sorts of important issues coming before us. Issues like allowing eight year olds to hunt, banning already banned civil unions and same sex marriage, TABOR and much more. I’ll keep you posted. I’m guessing it will be a hoot.

It’s Baaaaack…..TABOR 2: Different Name, Same Old Dribble

The long awaited Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) is back, this time disguised as the Taxpayer’s Protection Amendment. TABOR, you may remember, is the vehicle to make state and local units of government adhere to strict spending limits, without reasonable latitude for governmental services like police and fire protection, trash collection and the like. In other words, it would make us a lot more like North Mississippi than Wisconsin. Read the authors release.

Colorado has this and hates it. Now, the legislative Republicans want to put it into the State Constitution somewhere between the amendment to give people the right to hunt and fish and the proposed marriage law definition.

I won’t go into detail. You’ll hear plenty more about it. Suffice it to say if this turkey does try to fly, it is not a shoo-in to pass as even the handful of moderate Republicans who are left may not be able to stomach this.

My odds on it: 35 percent chance of passage in its current form.


IMPORTANT BLOG NOTE:
There will be no blog entries until Tuesday, February 14th. I’m going on a little R&R. Enjoy the other blogs posted on Leftyblogs.

Will Wisconsin be the Next Ohio or Florida?

I won’t go into the many, many reasons why the State Elections Board contract with Accenture creating the statewide voter registration system is bad. You can read more about it from an article I wrote on the subject for fightingbob.com.

However yesterday, Electionline.org, a non-partisan group with Pew Charitable Trust support, released their state-by-state report on the federal requirement under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) for the registration list. The findings?

* Nearly half the states missed the deadline of January 1, 2006 to have the list in place.

* 28 states signed contracts with outside vendors; 21 states had lists or did their list in-house.

* Accenture leads the list of firms with “bumps in the road”, with Kansas and Colorado canceling their contracts with them. Wisconsin and Wyoming remain as their clients.

* California has entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice allowing an interim database to be in place.

* Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska are working together on these issues.

Our system, already costing $27.5 million according to Electionline.org, will require additional funding from the state. As a comparison, Minnesota created their system in house for $4 million, according to Electionline.org.

Read the report. All I can say at this point is let’s not screw up our fall elections with a faulty system. To date, we have problems with the software Accenture has created, problems with training clerks on a convoluted system and problems with data entry of voter names.

If we roll out the list this fall, we could very likely have thousands of voters go to vote and not be on the list, including people who have voted in Wisconsin all their life. We could very likely be the next national joke, the next Ohio or Florida (where Accenture was involved as well).

But it’s all up to State Elections Board Director Kevin Kennedy. So far, he has been blind to criticism on the issue.

Kevin, you may be blind to it, but don’t also be deaf. Don’t “test” the list during Wisconsin’s fall election. The criticism you’ll get for that will be national, and that may be hard to keep ignoring.


PS. There is a new poll. Take it.

"Let Them Eat Foie Gras and Pate"

Just when you thought the GOP couldn't get any more absurd, get this. Republican Assembly and Senate leadership are REFUSING the Governor's request for a rarely-called-for Special Session on helping Wisconsin families pay for unnaturally high heating bills.

The Governor called us in on February 14th to get a bill done on providing relief for working families paying high winter heating bills. Here's the GOP response.

From: Rep.Huebsch
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 1:12 PM
To: *Legislative Assembly Republicans; *Legislative Assembly Democrats; Skindrud, Rick; *Assembly Chief Clerk's Office

Subject: Special Session

Governor Doyle will hold a press conference today to call a February 14 special session on home heating assistance.

The entire Assembly will not meet on February 14. The Assembly can convene the special session on February 14th in a skeleton session and adjourn it to a later date.

The full Assembly will not meet until Tuesday, February 21 as previously announced.

What are Republicans waiting for? It’s not getting any warmer. I can’t think of anything that is more important on February 14th than providing real relief to our working families.

Apparently John Gard and Republican leadership have better things to do, such as being in Washington DC at a couple of $1000 per person fund raisers the next day, rather than working back home to provide a few hundred dollars of home heating relief for Wisconsin's working families.

Change your plane tickets guys, jeez.

Otherwise, the people of Wisconsin will get your chilling message loud and clear.

Corporate Tax Cheats Should Pay

When you own a political party like big business in Wisconsin does, you expect there to be mutual admiration for each other. However, when you read the Republican spin in today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, you have to wonder if there even is any separation between the two.

Some Wisconsin companies are tax cheats. The vast majority are not. But standing up for the cheats is unfair to every business owner that pays their fair share.

Here’s the major scam. Company X doesn’t want to pay state taxes. The best way to avoid them is to set up a dummy corporation with a P.O. Box in Nevada, where there are no corporate taxes. Businesses have a physical presence here, make their product or conduct their service here, then send their “profits” to the shill company in Nevada. The result is tax avoidance in Wisconsin.

That’s not real, not fair and not the way most Wisconsin corporations operate. So the Department of Revenue (DOR) goes after them. I’m glad.

But GOP legislators will divert attention away from the tax dodgers by using a couple of examples of minor issues, like a parking lot tax during Packer games or a tax on small hunting clubs, to illustrate the problem of DOR being too aggressive. They are small, non issues that are somehow supposed to justify the wholesale thievery of larger corporations who hide their profits and don’t pay taxes. I’m sorry but that doesn’t fly.

I’m glad that the Department of Revenue is aggressively going after corporate tax cheats. And so should every legitimate business in Wisconsin. If there are areas where the Department needs to be more clear, we can do that too. But helping tax cheats cheat is not the answer.

With a level playing field, we can have profitable companies in Wisconsin. We have a strong talented workforce in our state. Our resources and proximity to major transportation lines are strong. Legitimate companies can do well in our state. Let’s not let the few who abuse the law affect the rest.

Gimmicks, Gays and Give-a-ways for the Wealthy

As the Wisconsin legislative session winds down, a flurry of activity will occur when we are back in session in about two weeks. You can expect the GOP-dominated legislature to try to score its final political points in the next couple of months, highlighted by the following:

* Taxpayers Bill of Rights - TABOR (or whatever the GOPpers have polled to call it most recently) - This gimmick would place strict spending limits on local units of government. I guess the $3.2 billion state deficit created by Govs. Tommy Thompson and Scott McCallum was so good, we want to help the local units of government duplicate the experience. The so-called party of local control doesn’t really want local control in these cases. Colorado has had a miserable experience with their controls, affecting everything from local police protection to garbage pick up to fire prevention to library funding. Want to be North Mississippi? Pass this stuff.

* Constitutional Ban of Civil Unions and Marriage - One of the big three from 2005 - God, Gays and Guns -is back by right-wing popular demand. This proven way to divide our citizenry will occupy the State Assembly’s time as the final hurdle to putting it on the November 2006 ballot will be met. Expect to hear a lot of misdirection about what is banned by the amendment. Don’t expect the GOP to admit that in addition to banning same sex marriages, this amendment will also ban civil unions and domestic partnerships. If it should prevail, expect some of the same things to happen in Wisconsin that have happened in other states that have passed a constitutional amendment. Included additional effects are losses of health insurance coverage (MI), losses of protections of domestic violence statutes (OH, UT) and more. Also, wait for the next session when tighter restrictions are placed on adoption and foster care. Five states that passed constitutional bans last session now are looking at going after their gay and lesbian citizens by restricting foster care, adoption and in at least one case, potentially taking away legally adopted children. Hey GOP, go back to hating SpongeBob and Tinky Winky. At least you can’t do any real damage that way.

* Capital Gains Tax Break - If the GOP’s recent press conference to roll out their priorities actually evolves into the introduction of legislation, look for the richest in Wisconsin to get offered a nice shiny new tax break (see my previous blog). Look for everyone else to pick up the soap, err tab, on the cost of it. The price tag is a whopping $135 million a year going to only five percent of the population, with 2/3 of it going to people making over $100,000 a year. Start looking in the classifieds now for that additional job. Don’t like class warfare? Too bad. You better fight back because the GOP is busy shooting at you. This is a legislative grenade being hurled at the vast majority of us.

Beyond the aforementioned, I’m sure we’ll get a lot of rhetoric on job creation, health care and ethics reform as well. If all you hear are the Charlie Brown’s teacher’s “wah, wah, wah” sounds, you’re not alone. To the legislative majority, it’s all a bunch of rhetoric to calm your fears while they steal your wallets and pass the spoils on up the food chain, nicking the rich for a tithe at election time.

On the other hand, watch legislative Democrats and the Governor try to put forth an agenda helping the middle class and working families. We’ll provide real solutions on health care, property tax relief, help with heating costs, new ideas to fund education and more. But don’t expect the GOP to let any of them pass. If we actually passed bills that help people, the Governor might look good. And that’s not allowed in 2006.

They’ve laid out the plans for their ground war. I guess what we need is a good old fashioned legislative and public uprising to fight back.

Hate is Hate

Yesterday, both houses of the legislature passed Senate Bill 525, a bill to put reasonable limits on protests outside of funerals. As you may remember, the “Rev.” Fred Phelps and his “church”, the Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas, have been going to the funerals of soldiers from Wisconsin who’ve died in Iraq and protesting, due to “America’s support of gays and lesbians”. Uh huh. Phelps is fanatically anti-gay (kinda like some of the legislators we know) and he also runs a website, www.godhatesfags.com.

The legislature passed a bill to put some limitations on the geographic access where the protesters can voice their First Amendment right to free speech at funerals. During the debate, the legislature railed against the hate speech of Phelps & Co.

I find our action yesterday incredibly ironic. On one hand, the legislature deplores Fred Phelps' message of hate. On the other hand, the legislature delivers a similar message by introducing bills like the constitutional amendment to ban civil unions and same sex marriage.

What I find most interesting, however, is that Phelps and his ilk are the same people who so aggressively want to place a discriminatory amendment to our state constitution making civil unions and marriage illegal in Wisconsin, which are already not legal in our state.

There’s no way to sugar coat this for my vociferously anti-gay colleagues, so here it is; hate is hate. The hate Fred Phelps represents when he protests military funerals is just as inappropriate as the introduction of hateful legislation like the constitutional amendment banning civil unions and gay marriage. This hate doesn't become any less tolerable just because it's preached by the legislature while wearing suits and ties instead of carrying signs and using a bullhorn.

I hope the people of Wisconsin remember that the Fred Phelps & Co. that the legislature railed on today for their bigoted hate speech preached at funerals of fallen soldiers is the same Fred Phelps & Co. that legislators will be walking hand in hand with next November when they support the discriminatory amendment to our constitution.

The 2006 GOP Legislative Agenda: Robin Hood in Reverse

The Republicans unveiled their 2006 agenda this week, focusing on “tax relief, jobs and health care” according to their press release. However, when you look at the details of what they proposed, their plan costs over $270 million in 2006-07 alone in new tax breaks for the wealthiest in our state. Surprised? Didn’t think so.

Tax Relief
The GOP proposes eliminating the capital gains tax, benefiting slightly over 5 percent of state taxpayers and costing the state $135 million a year. Individuals making over $100,000 would receive 2/3 of the tax cut, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. How’s that for showing a little bit of love for your support base? And I’ll bet you can guess who will be taxed to make up for that $270 million over the biennium. That’s right, it’s you.

Jobs & the Economy
Actually, there are no job proposals. Instead they offer a bunch of tax credit and tax break proposals for big business. Unless you own a business that makes engines or has extensive research and development, you won’t see a dime of the corporate tax breaks offered.

Health Care
Perhaps the most laughable proposal is having a health care package that doesn’t address ways to increase access to affordable health care. Republicans offer more tax incentives to business, plus a couple of small ideas that will not increase health care affordability for working families in our state.

Of course, the fine print in their proposals also mentions things like the Constitutional amendment to ban civil unions and same sex marriage which are already banned in our state.

So, what can you expect from the GOP this year?

If you’re rich, you’ll likely get richer. The five percent of people who benefit from their capital gains tax and the few CEO’s of corporations that will see a new tax break should thank the GOP. I’m sure you will.

But if you’re with the 95 percent that will pay for the other 5 percent’s new breaks, you better start looking for a second (or in some cases third) job to pay for their vacations to Aruba and mink stoles.

Scott Suder isn't a Stage Name for a Drag Queen, Is It?

Sometimes you have to love what goes on at night around the Capitol. Get this one that a constituent of mine passed on to me.

Last Wednesday, after the Chippewa Valley Day for legislators, a "Scott Suder" came into the Shamrock Bar, a Madison GAY bar to get drinks. This "Scott Suder" tried to use a credit card with "Scott Suder" on it, but was turned down when the user was a woman, obviously not Scott Suder. She said she was his wife. Still no luck.

Now we all know one Scott Suder. He's an uber-conservative legislator from Abbottsford, Wisconsin. He's a co-sponsor of the bill to amend our state constitution to make civil unions and same-sex marriage illegal, which of course, already are.

Uh oh.

The card was confiscated, and the next day a "Scott Suder" called and asked that the card be destroyed.

To be fair, I don't know if Scott has ever done drag, but I seriously doubt it was him using the card that night.

But isn't Madison a small place? I don't know about you, but this has so much potential for humor I could burst.

No worries, Scott, your secret is safe with me. Well, me and everyone who reads my blog anyway.