Accountable to No One

Friday Governor Doyle vetoed AB 1182. The bill would have required the Department of Administration to submit a report to the Joint Finance Committee documenting the costs and savings associated with Doyle’s Accountability, Consolidation and Efficiency (ACE) initiative. Doyle vetoed a similar measure in the state budget last year.

The Governor’s latest pretext for treating the legislature like so many mushrooms is that the reporting requirement will raise “a barrier between the Department of Administration and the Legislature.”

So let me get this straight: providing the legislature with information they’ve requested would raise a barrier between the legislature and the Administration, but usurping their authority to appropriate funds through the use of partial vetoes, and implementing administrative rules to undo legislation, is sure to foster an amicable relationship.

Honestly, who comes up with this crap?

The fact is the legislature passed AB 1182 after several state agencies, the University and the media began to question the cost-effectiveness of several ACE projects. The bill also followed the Legislative Audit Committee vote to audit several IT projects including the state server consolidation, a cornerstone of the ACE initiative.

In his veto message the Governor said he finds it ironic that AB1182 requires more paperwork for DOA when the goal of ACE is to make government less bureaucratic. I find it ironic that the Governor refuses to provide information to the legislature and the public on an initiative that starts with “accountability.” It really makes you wonder what the Administration is trying to hide.

And I think the timing of the veto is ironic given that Doyle’s most notorious ACE project - involving Adelman Travel - will be carefully scrutinized in Federal court next week. I guess we're all accountable to someone.

C'mon Kathleen

WKOW's Tony Gali broke this story about Dane County employee Tim Sullivan who recently took a leave of absence from his $43,000 a year job to work on political campaigns. The county continued to pay Sullivan's health care and dental benefits which are estimated to cost taxpayers between $400 and $900 per month.

This is not the first time Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk has been caught billing the taxpayers for the health care benefits of her campaign workers. In January Falk was forced to reimburse taxpayers for the costs associated with the leave of absence her Executive Assistant Lesley Sillaman took to work on Falk's campaign for Attorney General.

Say Anything

Nearly as remarkable as Jim Doyle's complete about face on the issues of off reservation gaming and legislative oversight, is that the media continues to give Doyle a pass on those subjects.

Attorney General Jim Doyle not only opposed any expansion of off reservation gaming, he strongly supported legislative oversight of gaming and encouraged the legislature to "take back that power."

In August 2000, Jim Doyle told WisPolitics:

"I'd like to see the Legislature take that power back. They conceded to the governor back in the '80s -- this power to negotiate. And I believe Wisconsin's the only state in the country where that's happened. And it's really kind of amazing to me that the Legislatures never taken this back.

This was before I was attorney general, but they thought they were sticking it to the governor back in the '80s by giving him this power. And I don't blame the governor on this one at all. ... it was the Democratic Legislature that did that. And here you see where the sticking-it-to politics can kind of come back and get you. I hope the Legislature will take this back, and they can act. There's various things the Legislature can do to require some kind of approval."

Doyle went on to say:

" If I were governor I would not be moving gambling off reservations."

But Attorney General Doyle didn't just say he thought legislative oversight of gaming was desirable from a public policy standpoint, he issued opinions stating that it was legally permissible. He even suggested that Wisconsin was the only state in which the Governor had sole authority to approve gaming compacts.

Six years older and over a million dollars richer, Doyle claims that legislative oversight is prohibited by federal law, and not a single reporter has asked the Governor how he came to that conclusion.

So late Friday afternoon, Governor Doyle vetoed AB 461, a bill that would have given the legislature the power he once urged them to take back. He did not provide a credible reason for his decision.

I guess when it comes to the press; Doyle can just say anyting, even if it totally contradicts what he said before.

UW Admissions Policy is another Sharp Stick in Taxpayer’s Eye

I’m beginning to think the mission of the UW System is to do everything humanly possible to alienate the legislature and anger taxpayers. The UW System’s latest policy is certain to have legislators spinning their heads three hundred sixty degrees and projecting green stuff in the UW's direction --- deservedly so.

The only reason the system still enjoys the taxpayer support it does, is that the children of state residents who make the grade have always been guaranteed admission to one of the UW System schools. Now they’re being told that they need to have “special talents” or a commitment to diversity and community service.

My son turns ten this summer and I’m already concerned that he might not make the cut. I wonder for example if the Admissions board will consider his participation in Boy Scouts as a positive or a negative, because aside from scoring in the 99th percentile on his Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exam, we’re not sure what his “special talents” might be. But hey, I can walk on my hands, does that count?

This latest attempt to dumb down the UW admissions policy in the name of diversity comes after the legislature rejected Governor Doyle’s plan to give illegal aliens a break on tuition, increasing the odds that children of law abiding state taxpayers will not get a seat at the school of their choice.

Admissions policies should reward people who work hard and play by the rules. Polices like these fly in the face of those values.

Tim Michels Should Use it or Lose it

I confess, I was one of the three people who voted for Marcus Gumz for U.S. Senate in the WisPolitics straw poll this weekend. I could see that my choice surprised the gentlemen conducting the poll, so I want them to know that I was not mocking the poll, but rather casting a protest vote against a couple of pols.

My impression is that neither Tommy Thompson nor Tim Michels ever intended to enter the race for U.S. Senate, and while I don't think either of them should, I wasn’t about to stroke their egos with my vote.

I believe Tommy could knock off Herb Kohl if it were really his ambition to be a U.S. Senator, but because it is not, the cost of the effort would not be worth it for him, his family, or the party.

Tim Michels on the other hand would be running a fools errand if he challenged Kohl this year.

Two years ago, Michels rose up out of nowhere and built an impressive statewide organization that included several thousand impassioned volunteers and small dollar donors. He also proved to be a quick study, greatly improving his public speaking and debate skills.

The Michels campaign is often criticized for "going dark" or not running television ads the week after the primary election. Michels, who had already poured more than a million dollars into his campaign, wanted others to pitch in.

Some people say he shouldn't have run if he wasn't willing to spend whatever it took to beat Russ Feingold. In all fairness to Michels, Feingold could not be beat in 2004, no matter how much money Michels were willing to spend. The proof of that is in the number of people who split their ticket and voted for Bush and Feingold.

I am not suggesting that Herb Kohl enjoys the same kind of support as Feingold, but he remains popular and he has unlimited resources at his disposal. Michels can't outspend Kohl, and waking up Kohl's checkbook will do far more to help Democrats than Republicans.

Having said all that, Tim Michels should realize that his fifteen minutes of fame are just about up, and he’d better use it or lose it. Michels needs to stop playing cat and mouse with the Republican Party just to keep his name in the press. If he wants a future in Republican politics, Michels should get off the sidelines and use his popularity to help Mark Green, Paul Bucher or any number of vulnerable legislative candidates throughout the state.

The last guy who tried to knock off Feingold has done more than his share to help Wisconsin Republicans. Former Congressman Mark Neumann has campaigned, hosted fundraisers and signed letters of support for hundreds of Wisconsin Republican candidates since his loss to Feingold in 1998. He even appeared at Saturday's convention to give a nominating speech for Attorney General Candidate Paul Bucher.

If Michels isn’t going to run in 2006, he should help other Republican candidates win; otherwise he’s nothing more than yesterday's news.

Doyle’s Dilemma

Attorney General Jim Doyle was a staunch supporter of legislative oversight of gaming. All that changed in 2002 when candidate Doyle’s campaign got a boost of over $700,000 from the tribes.

Now Governor Jim Doyle is on the hot seat as he anticipates the arrival of the Gaming Oversight Bill (AB 461), next week. The bill would give the legislature a say in proposals to expand gaming in Wisconsin. Doyle’s spokesman said the Governor is certain to the veto the bill. But Doyle’s action on AB 461 is a real gamble either way.

Wisconsin Tribes have already put over a million dollars into the Governor’s campaign, and it’s no secret that he’s counting on them to spend a whole lot more before November. Doyle’s problem is that the tribes are not united in opposition to AB 461.

The Potawatomi Tribe wants the Governor to sign the bill because they want to stop the Menomonee Tribe from building a new casino in Kenosha. Right now the decision to approve the new casino rests solely with the Governor, and since he’s playing footsy with all the tribes, the Potawatomi don’t like their odds of getting the Governor to do the right thing.

Doyle’s has made millions for his re-election campaign by pitting one special interest over another. Groups on both sides of an issue give until it hurts to get Doyle to do their bidding. Whether it’s trial lawyers versus hospitals and doctors, insurance companies versus paper companies, or taking the rent to own industry for a bundle and then siding with AARP, Doyle has been completely shameless.

Doyle figures that the public will pay little attention to these issues and that the special interests groups who get the shaft won’t dare to take him to task.

But a veto of AB 461 will not only raise the specter of tribal money in Doyle’s campaign, it will hurt him politically in Milwaukee where he is already underperforming.

And Doyle must have been a pretty lousy Attorney General to recommend legislative oversight of gaming when he now says it clearly violates federal law. Perhaps the Governor got his new legal interpretation from a UW Law Professor as he did when he vetoed medical malpractice legislation.

It's a good thing Doyle is no longer Attorney General. God only knows how many other bad legal opinions he issued during his 12 year tenure.

A Very Sad Day

It was a long and very sad day, but I got to spend much of it with friends and associates I have known for many years, people I like and respect enormously. We gathered together to support Scott Jensen and Sherry Schultz at their sentencing hearings.

I will never apologize for my association with Scott Jensen and Sherry Schultz. They are good people who were, as Boots and Sabers aptly put it,

“tried and convicted for activities that hundreds of legislators and previous Speakers did before Jensen ever set foot in Madison.”

Scott and Sherry have conducted themselves with dignity and respect throughout this process, and although they will have to endure further indignities that seem unimaginable, I know they will come through it with their self respect intact.

Belling Can't Stand Being Wrong

I enjoy listening to Mark Belling's radio show every now and then, but I do so far less often these days.

While I find Belling highly entertaining at times, I have also found him to be intellectually dishonest and completely incapable of admitting his mistakes. Simply put, Belling's show is more often about Belling and his own ego than it is about debating the issues and educating and entertaining his audience. Belling is at his best when he sits in for Rush Limbaugh because he is forced to temper his mean-spirited attacks and keep his personal prejudices in check.

But when it comes to his own show, anything goes, and if Mark Belling doesn’t like you or you beat his favorite candidate, you’d better look out.

Belling had it in for U.S. Senate Candidate Tim Michels in 2004. This year Belling has his sights set on crushing JB Van Hollen and Mark Green. I have no idea why he dislikes these men so intensely, but I doubt he’d give you an honest answer if you asked him.

What I do know is the more Belling makes his radio show about himself and his own aspirations, the less able he is to stand up for the conservative cause.

I share Belling’s frustrations about RINO’s in the legislature and the direction in which the state is going, but his audience is not served when Belling refuses to respectfully confront issues and candidates head on. Moreover, Belling does the public and the conservative cause a great disservice when he misrepresents someone’s position on the issues as he does with Congressman Mark Green.

I almost wrote an opinion column when Belling got into hot water with the Hispanic community over his racially charged remarks. I thought back then that he should have been fired, not so much for making the remarks, though they were inexcusable, but for behaving like a petulant little kid and refusing to take responsibility for his actions. Given his subsequent behavior, I doubt Belling would have ever apologized if his job hadn’t been on the line.

I have avoided speaking out about Belling because frankly, I’d just as soon be invisible where that man in concerned. He rips the flesh off anyone who disagrees with him and he uses the air waves to do it. But lately his hypocrisy and personal feelings have begun to leave a lasting stench.

For weeks Belling has railed on Mark Green for not being conservative enough on fiscal issues. He points to Green’s support for the ethanol mandate and claims Green didn’t do enough to support passage of the TPA. From my vantage point, Mark Green did all he could to push TPA, once the legislature had a bill to rally around.

And while I agree with Belling that Scott Walker is an extremely talented politician, he’s not pure when it comes it fiscal issues. Yet I don’t remember Belling going off on Walker when he proposed that the state provide 2/3 funding for public schools regardless of how much money that will require and whether the general fund can continue to support that kind of commitment.

Still, Belling is canonizing Scott Walker, who left the Governor’s race to tend to the disastrous county budget, and now he wants to resurrect Tommy Thompson because Mark Green is just not his guy. I love Tommy Thompson too but he’s not known for the kind of deep cuts that will be needed to balance the state budget next year. And Tommy not only supports an ethanol mandate, but he hates the TPA.

Belling needs to get over his resentments and start looking at the facts. He might want to start by talking to Mark Green about his candidacy rather than just spewing his venom about him.

As for Tommy Thompson running again, sorry Mark, but I'd bet anything you got played. I hope you can handle being wrong twice in the same election year.

Walker is Right

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker reported that the county could face a funding gap of $89 million next year, growing to as much as $298 million in 2011.

Walker is not responsible for creating the financial nightmare in Milwaukee County government, but he has demonstrated real leadership in his effort to address it. Throughout his tenure, Walker has tried to make civic, community and elected leaders understand just how dire the situation was.

Yet County Board members and union officials rejected proposal after proposal to significantly reduce the cost of county government to offset the increasing costs of the obscene pension giveaway that sent former County Executive Tom Ament and other board members packing.

The most Walker has been able to do is to stave off tax increases, and while that is no small feat, it is also no longer enough.

Milwaukee County has no choice but to restructure and make deep and dramatic cuts. Of course there are those who still believe a tax increase is the only solution. Scott Walker is not one of them, and he is standing firm in his opposition to new proposals to raise the county sales tax by anywhere from a .25% to 1%.

Walker understands that an increase in taxes will drive more businesses and families out of the only county in the state to lose both over the last decade. County Supervisor Gerry Broderick, author of a plan to increase Milwaukee’s sales tax by 0.50%, says local taxes "are the dues we pay for the quality of life we enjoy."

Broderick is dead wrong. Taxes are the price Milwaukee County residents are paying to sustain a Rolls Royce pension deal and free lifetime health benefits for county employees. And every time Milwaukee County loses jobs and population, the rest of the state pays to make up the difference in state aid.

Thanks to Scott Walker for standing up and telling the truth. Maybe next year we’ll have a new Governor who will offer him a helping hand rather than making small-minded remarks about the county’s problems and suggesting that Walker’s honesty is inappropriate.

“The county is going to have to take care of the county's problems," Doyle said, noting the fiscal impact of the self- inflicted changes in county benefits. "I can't imagine the damage to Milwaukee County by Walker saying they are on the brink of insolvency."

Walker’s reply was restrained.

“After the pension scandal, "What more damage can be done to Milwaukee County's reputation?" Walker asked.

Perhaps Governor Doyle thinks it would be better to lie about Milwaukee County’s fiscal outlook the same way Doyle lies about eliminating the state’s budget deficit which currently sits at $2.1 billion.

Convicted Democrats Get Amnesty for Legal Fees

Democratic State Representatives Spencer Black and David Cullen take their hypocrisy to a new level with an Assembly Resolution to require Scott Jensen, Steve Foti and Sherry Schultz to reimburse the state for their legal fees.

Why is this resolution necessary? Wasn't it understood that anyone convicted of a crime in connection with the caucus investigation would be required to reimburse the state for their legal fees? Chuck Chvala and Brian Burke have already done so, and Judge Ebert will no doubt require Scott Jensen and Sherry Schultz to do the same when they are sentenced in May.

The fact is that the only people not repaying the state for the legal fees are convicted Democratic staffers Tanya Bjork, Raghu Devaguptapu and Doug Burnett. The three owe a total of $32,100, with $24,363 attributed to Tanya's Bjork's defense.

If Black and Cullen are so concerned about what's right and fair, they should demand to know why Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager has not pursued repayment from the former staffers.

MilwaukeeWorld. Com writer Michael Horne thinks Lautenschlager has given them a pass because of her own relationship with Bjork's husband, lobbyist Scott Tyre. Whatever the reason, it's time for the three to pay up.

Oh, and if Scot Ross is really interested in running for Secretary of State on a reform agenda, he should pay back the $3,985 for his legal fees in the caucus investigation, and pledge not to accept any political action committee contributions for his campaign.

Ross' Run is a Rouse

Melanie Conklin should've done a google search on Secretary of State Candidate Scot Ross before penning her recent puff piece.

If she had she'd have discovered that Scot worked for the Assembly Democrat Caucus under former Democratic leader Shirley Krug, and that he admitted to illegally campaigning on state time. She would have also known that Scot still owes the state of Wisconsin $3,985 in legal fees.

Instead, she conducted a light-hearted interview about how Ross intended to go up against the famous Lafollette family and why he had decided to run. Ross told her he was running to speak out against the influence of special interests in elections and voter id legislation.

My theory is that those clever folks at the DPW plan to use Ross' election committee to funnel tens of thousands of dollars of special interest money from WEAC and other employee unions to coordinated campaign efforts. Election law allows Ross' campaign to accept $97,000 in PAC and another $43,000 from the DPW for a total of $140,000 in PAC/Party contributions this election cycle.

Why else would an experienced campaigner but extremely flawed candidate run for an office he can't possibly hope to win during such an important election year?

These are exactly the kind of games we could expect to see with publicly financed campaigns.

Keep our Beltline Beautiful

During his State of the City speech to the Madison Rotary Wednesday, Mayor Dave announced his opposition to a proposed transmission line in the Southwest corridor ("Rockdale to West Middleton").

The American Transmission Company (ATC) says the line is needed to support the growing electric power demands of Dane County and the southern Wisconsin region. ATC reports that Dane County's use of electricity is growing at a rate that's nearly twice the statewide average.

Mayor Dave said he opposes the power line because he has serious doubts that additional lines are needed and he does not want the blight of a power line running along the County's pristine beltline highway.

I heartily support Mayor Dave's opposition to ruining the pristine beltline that is the southwest corridor - with a high voltage transmission line. I've always admired his steadfast refusal to drive that highway, thereby denying the reality of the four and six lane behemoth put through the city years ago to eliminate massive congestion and acknowledge the incredible growth occurring throughout the west side of Madison.

Now ATC wants to obstruct our view of strip malls and Nedrebos, West Towne's parking lot and the Princeton Club with ugly metal transmission poles? Stand tall, Mayor Dave. Keep our beltine beautiful.

I just have one question: Where are you going to get the electricity for those electric mass transit rail cars you proposed running down University Avenue during that very same speech?