When In Janesville, As Goes Paul Ryan

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The Janesville Gazette posted a bizarre yet comical article (front paged it too) about Rep. Paul Ryans' "homecoming" dinner party hosted by the local red state low-wage conservative group, Forward Janesville. Titled "Hometown Pride," ol' regular guy Paulie is quoted describing a time last year when he was at a local Ace Hardware store in Janesville and spotted a grill he wanted to buy ...but couldn't afford ...well not exactly but he thought it was too expensive.

JG Excerpt:
On a weekend home, he spotted a grill at Ace Hardware that he wanted, but he thought it might be too expensive.

When he told Janna about it, she said, "When Mitt Romney does not pick you to be his running mate, you can get that grill."

Okay, we know Ryan was picked by Romney, so for his reward, he gets punished. Wait ...that ain't even right. It's just so bizarre that when in Washington, the congressman doesn't even blink sipping $350 bottles of wine at the swanky Capitol Hill eatery Bistro Bis, but when in Janesville ...this is too much. *facepalm* But it's worth a laugh at least for us regular people.

Anyways, have no fear folks. The Gazette reports that Ryan's colleagues in Congress took up a collection for the multi-millionaire congressman, contacted the Ace and bought him the grill he wanted.

Yes, Paul Ryan made them all laugh.

Speaking about a #nerdprom, Sarah Palin became unhinged as usual about the WHCD.

ADDITIONAL:

National Memo - Koch Brothers Bought Ryan nomination with $100 million Pledge

Letter Writer Says Middle Class Is Unaffordable. Walker Is Right To End It.

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Titled by the Gazette, "Cullen was Right To Leave For Illinois" a letter writer to the Janeville Gazette said he was tired of hearing the attacks on Cullen and that the state senator did the right thing by leaving to help slow down the process. But then the writer switched gears and claimed he "came to see" that the problem was as big and difficult as Gov. Walker said it was. That a drastic solution was needed...

JG Letter Excerpt:
There were TV ads running saying this budget was an attack on the middle class. I realized that about the only middle class left was made up of public employees. We can't afford to support them in the style to which they had become accustomed. -- J.K.

At first I thought those statements may have been written with a deliberate counter effect in mind, that the writer was letting everyone know what's at stake and no one in their right mind would support the use of government power to eliminate the (at least what their perception is of) middle class. But I don't think so.

What in the world are these people thinking?

NOTE: The letter is not available on the open Web.

Why Is Rock Absent Among Counties Asking To Overturn Walker's Rejection Of Medicaid Dollars?

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County Leaders Ask Legislature to Overturn Walker's Rejection of Medicaid Dollars.

Green Bay Progressive Excerpt:
GREEN BAY - On a media call Monday, county officials from throughout Wisconsin pushed for the Wisconsin Legislature to overturn the decision by Governor Walker to reject billions in federal Medicaid funds for the state’s BadgerCare program.
Read more>>>

Here's the current list of counties introducing resolutions, in alphabetical order: Brown, Columbia, Dane, Dunn, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Lincoln, Marathon, Milwaukee, Oneida, Racine, Richland, Sauk, Vernon, Winnebago.

So where's Rock County?

I hate to bring such late breaking news, but the next Rock County Board meeting is - April 25th - and this is NOT on the agenda!!

No doubt, Rock County supervisors are ready and anxious to hear from their constituents. You can find your supervisor here and kindly ask them where is our resolution? Or attend the meeting in-person.

Wall Of Emotion Drives Republicans On Gun Legislation

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Headline - Gun Control Bill Hits a Brick Wall In Senate

Despite recent polls showing broad public support, 46 senators voted last week against a watered-down proposal to strengthen and expand existing background checks on gun sales.

So why was there such a great divide between the Republican party and the American majority will? One senator, Mark Begich, a Democrat from red state Alaska who voted with the majority of Senate Republicans said it boiled down to emotions. He said the emotions surrounding the debate arising from the recent events of gun violence was unconducive to policymaking, essentially causing people to make irrational judgment calls.

“It’s dangerous to do any type of policy in an emotional moment,” Begich said, as quoted by the New York Times. “Because human emotions then drive the decision. Everyone’s all worked up. That’s not enough.”

Begich received some harsh criticism from politicians and pundits on those remarks, but I think he's got a point.

Begich, in short order, explained that emotions stemming from the Newtown massacre was driving the national dialogue and the 54 who voted for it. I'll concede that. That's the way it should be providing those emotions were secured and unsolicited without tangible promises of personal gain or loss. For the 54 senators voting for the gun check bill, that appears to be the case. Just raw human emotions of compassion and goodwill towards our fellow man based on our natural drive to make things better in our imperfect world. But that left me wondering exactly which emotions were driving the 46 against the bill?

For that I turn to Ron Johnson, the slacker senator from our state of Wisconsin who was not only among the 46 voting against the majority will, but was also prepared to filibuster it the old fashioned way if necessary.

CapTimes Excerpt:
Among Johnson’s Wisconsin constituents, 81 percent approve of the measure, according to a recent Marquette Law School poll. It's even supported by an overwhelming majority of members of the NRA, whose leaders have gone to the mat to kill it.

So if the Newtown massacre or the majority will in his own state couldn't drive Ron Johnson's emotions to support the gun check bill - what drove him and many republicans to oppose it?

Democracy campaign Blog Excerpt:
Turns out the NRA reported spending more than any other outside special interest group to support Johnson's 2010 election victory over incumbent Democrat Russ Feingold.

Four dozen SuperPACs and nonprofit groups representing the Democratic and Republican parties and an array of powerful special interests reported spending $4.7 million in the Johnson-Feingold contest. The NRA was Johnson's biggest benefactor and also spent more than any other outside group on the list - $1.18 million - or 25 percent of the total.

Aaaah. There it is. The love of gun lobby money appears to be the emotion driving Ron Johnson's vote while the fear of being primaried or challenged by gun lobby money drove Begich's emotions.

Love and fear - inarguably the two most powerful emotions driving the majority of our personal decisions are indeed inescapable human qualities. To expect Johnson or anyone else to have a special immunity to those emotions is an unreasonable expectation.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, they did however succumb to the personal gains and losses the wall of gun lobby money could pose to their senate careers based on their vote. On that count they failed. Miserably.

Think Progress - Republican Tells Victim's Mom he Supports Background Checks, Then Votes Against Them

Sen. Tim Cullen Named Legislator of the Year By Conservation Group

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Here's a bit of good news for a local favorite. Sen. Tim Cullen was honored by the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation for his tireless efforts on the state's controversial mining bill.

I'd also give Cullen my "State Defender" award - if I had one - on the same legislation when he caught the wrath from the GOP's chief scold and whip, Grover Norquist, for proposing a tonnage tax on mining companies for any extracted mineral resources taken from Wisconsin land. You might recall that Norquist came down like a sledgehammer giving a stern warning to any Wisconsin Republican who dare violate his debt-ballooning tax pledge by siding with Cullen. Gov. Scott Walker of course was among the first to fold like a cheap ironing board from the pressure.

WWF Press Release Excerpt:
Senator Tim Cullen was awarded the WWF Conservation Legislator of the Year Award due to his outstanding efforts on legislation revising Wisconsin’s laws regulating iron mining. After becoming Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Mining, he held over 20 hours of highly transparent public hearings, bringing experts from the mining industry, conservation and environmental groups, the University, business, the Department of Natural Resources and the US Army Corps of Engineers to provide accurate scientific information on mining and mining regulation.

The Wisconsin Wildlife Federation is comprised of 182 hunting, fishing, trapping and forestry related organization and is dedicated to conservation education and the advancement of sound conservation policies.

Video: The Truth About Private School Vouchers

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Source - WEAC

Area Legislators Schedule State Budget Townhall

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Mark your calendars and please attend.

State Budget Listening Session with Sen. Tim Cullen,
Rep. Andy Jorgensen, Rep. Deb Kolste, and Rep. Janis Ringhand

Monday, April 22
1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Blackhawk Technical College, Room 1400B
6004 S. County Road

Facebook - Source

Wisconsin DOA - State Budget Home Page

Local Taxpayers Can Raise Taxes On Themselves To Replace Lost Funding To Vouchers

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The Janesville Gazette publishes Politifact editorials regularly in their Sunday edition that I usually totally ignore, but a personal jab in the title by the newspaper at a state legislator caught my eye. As you probably know, I'm not a big fan of Politifact to begin with.

Politifact's title to the story is "Rep. Sondy Pope says most public school students get less state money than private school students," which by the way they rate as "Half-True."

The Gazette no doubt reserves the right to title stories as they see fit. They re-title it to "Pope needs to go back to school on student-funding claim." It's like, where did THAT come from? I can see suggesting someone go back to school on a "false" or a "pants-on-fire" rating. But a half true? So I decided to read the full story and not only was it amusing, it turns out that Rep. Pope was speaking far greater truth than the titlers wanted to give her.

She said...

"The vast majority of our public school students are receiving less state support than their private voucher peers."

Politifact did their usual digging and found out that indeed yes, 81 percent of Wisconsin's public school districts "received less in general state aid per-pupil than the $6,442 amount guaranteed to choice schools if they spend that much." That's exact in quotes, but I highlighted keywords of the statement because according to the story, it matches her assertions that her statement is strictly directed at the state aid portion of school funding. Since state legislators hold no authority over the funding school levies from local property taxes, that just about aces it for her claim.

But Politifact dug a little deeper and to be frank, that's the way it should be.

However, after admitting that researchers have a difficult time with funding comparisons between the two types of schools, Politifact decides to reconstruct their investigation and change Pope's statement into something entirely different. Now the question is no longer only about state aid between the schools, but all the funding they could find including local property taxes and "categorical aid."

PF Excerpt:
If you included that categorical funding, fewer public districts would fall below the $6,442 level. About 67 percent of public districts -- not the claimed more than 80 percent -- are below the choice aid level...

Okay, 67 percent might not equate with "vast majority," but it's still a majority and it took a sideshow by Politifact to bring it down.

Later in the article, they cut down the percentage even further. But the real question should not be about trying to discredit what percent defines another person's "vast majority." It should be asking why ANY percent of public school districts are getting less than private schools in state aid in the first place.

It gets even better when Politifact explains how school funding works in voucher districts. They used Milwaukee and Racine as examples...THIS IS GOLD.

Here's how it works:

The state offsets a big part of its costs by reducing general aid to Milwaukee and Racine, and in turns allows them to make up the difference by raising local property taxes. MPS officials say, given the size of the reduction, they are compelled to raise the tax to protect education.

This property tax component is fiercely debated, because Milwaukee Public Schools levies for those funds but by law is not allowed to count those students for purposes of the state’s aid formula. The effect is a shift onto Milwaukee property taxpayers due to the lost state aid.

Don't stop ...keep going. But wow..."allows" them to make up the difference by raising local property taxes. Got that Beloit, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Sheboygan, Superior, Waukesha, and West Allis-West Milwaukee school districts? YOU ARE NEXT. If it's any consolation any one of us can substitute our own school district in place of MKE or Racine in the above paragraphs if Walker gets his way.

It is that argument Politifact uses to bring Pope's vast majority percentage down to 33% of public school districts getting shortchanged, but only after school districts effected by vouchers raise taxes on themselves to restore the funding! That is the other half of Politifact's reasoning to give Pope's statement a "Half True?" Good grief!! But the best is saved for last as we return to Politifact's conclusion on Pope's statement.

But the narrow way she sets up the comparison is both a virtue and a vice, creating a technically accurate statement that leaves too little room for important details necessary to explain such a complex comparison.

We rate her claim Half True.

What they seem to be complaining about is that she gave herself very little room - to be wrong - by making a narrow yet accurate statement. Pope basically said the glass is half full. They fill it to the top in an attempt to prove she's half wrong.

Then there's the Gazette's title. Just crazy.

ADDITIONAL: More tax shifts coming our way

Democurmudgeon - Freeloading Businesses Shift Tax Burden to Wisconsinites