In the final gubernatorial debate, Green started off by saying that if you want details and answers, go to his website at www.Green.etc.com. That’s about what you can expect from him if elected governor. Contrary to media reports placing the blame game on Doyle, Green answered nearly every question on the issues facing Wisconsin by blaming Doyle for everything. But that is to be expected considering he wants Doyle’s job. But it’s more fair for Doyle to bring up Green’s record in Congress and place some blame there. Doyle doesn’t want Green’s job, so his reasoning for blaming Green is strictly done to place blame where blame is due.
According to Green, everything is somebodies fault while indirectly implying that decisions he made in Congress are relatively inconsequential to the state of Wisconsin. He says Doyle rigged the elections board, the Indian gambling compact, and the State Supreme Court. If you listen to Green, Doyle’s rigged everything under the Sun. Doyle is accused of having so much power, I’m surprised Green has the courage to oppose him.
Green noted that the elections board voted along party lines, and for that reason, it should not stand. I guess we could cancel or recall all the bills, decisions and initiatives in Congress that have been passed along party lines using that logic. One only has to look around at the major changes that have taken place in the past six years to realize that Mark Green and his Republican friends are part of the problem, not the solution. Without Green’s Congressional record he has absolutely nothing to run on but denial, so his only recourse is to blame the other guy. Green’s past as a rubberstamper of many special interest bills and Bush initiatives is well documented.
Democrats are of the opinion that they can make hay out of Green’s voting record by claiming he’s a Bush rubberstamp. To what group is this effort aimed? – Stan Milam, columnist
How about the entire electorate, Stan. Hardly anyone knew of Mark Green before he began his run for governor of Wisconsin, if we can’t bring up Green’s record in Congress, what’s left to talk about?
The facts are clear, Mark Green has been quietly rubber-stamping 92% of the policies, bills and initiatives of one of the most narrow-minded and incompetent presidents in modern times. Without knowing Green’s past history, many voters could mistake him for someone who cares.
This is where Green stands. He supported the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy which actually fuels higher local taxes. He voted for corporate breaks encouraging job outsourcing. He voted for the Bush war in Iraq and granted, much of America has been duped by the Bush Administration’s call to war, but what’s his excuse now for his continued unwavering support. He wants to use Federal money to support private education with vouchers further degrading quality and participation in public schools. But with investments for the common good, Green refuses to allow Federal money to advance breakthroughs on finding cures for Alzheimers, diabetes, Parkinsons, cancer or AIDS. Green supports oil drilling in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge under the guise of cheaper oil. He voted for the Bush nightmarish prescription plan and to deny access to cheaper prescriptions from Canada. If you want someone like George W. Bush for your governor, Mark Green is your guy.
As governor, just consider that Green would put himself in charge of job creation by slashing 152 Wisconsin economic development programs resulting in about 3000 jobs lost with a single penstroke. But mostly his offers of tax relief and ways to encourage new investment in companies are hollow promises without a plan. He would offer more tax relief for job creators - can you spell corporate welfare? He would inherit a $600 million surplus from Doyle and wipe it out one way or another. Republicans don’t believe in surpluses because they think government should never “hold” money that could be otherwise used to subsidize corporate dividends. He pretends that ethic reform is important, but not important enough to agree with a simple survey of obvious solutions during his campaign.
If you think energy costs are high now, wait till Green gets in office. Our neighbor to the south, Illinois, will experience first hand the Republican platform of energy deregulation. This January, prices for home electricity are expected to rise 25% overnight in Illinois. Remember too, that our energy woes of high heating and gasoline prices didn’t begin until a certain republican started holding secret meetings in the White House with people like Ken Lay. Green agrees with the wild-west economics of total energy and environmental deregulation.
With Green in charge, Harley-Davidson will probably move not just out of the state but, out of the country. Chinese built Harleys are just one Republican governor away.
You can get a pretty good idea of what Wisconsin’s fiscal condition will be look like after a few short years of Mark Green by looking at the huge Federal debt and spending mismanagement he helped implement in the past six years in Congress. Politicians with a debt record like his don’t miraculously discover the formula to produce a balanced budget, let along think about a surplus. To think that some his supporters call him a fiscal conservative is bizarre.
His Republican party stopped people from accessing some of the most important information needed when deciding on your own health practitioner. You can find more information about the neighborhood auto mechanic or your roofers past work examples than you can find on the person who will take a scalpel to your body. All thanks to Green and his Republicans. Green can distance himself from all of this but we know better.
Ever since the Republican party took hold of the U.S. Congress and Wisconsin legislature, labor laws have been changed, environmental protections have been loosened, 200 year-old marriage rights are degraded and our Constitution has been assaulted. Green is an integral part of all of this, he will do the same in Wisconsin
