Thursday March 28, 2024

An Independent Progressive Media Outlet

FacebookTwitterYoutube
Newsletter
News Feeds:

Progressive Thinking

Discussion with education and reason.

A Crucial Vote You Haven’t Heard About

Posted by Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Matt Rothschild
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, Matt Rothschild
Matt Rothschild is the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a
User is currently offline
on Tuesday, 25 October 2016
in Wisconsin

mta-madisonMADISON - For a while now, I’ve been trying to interest reporters in Wisconsin in one of the most under-covered story of the last year: the fact that we now have 78 communities – second only to Massachusetts – that have voted overwhelmingly that they want to amend the U.S. Constitution to proclaim that corporations aren’t persons and money isn’t speech.

On Nov. 8, Wisconsin citizens in 19 more communities can express themselves on this vital idea. Check it out here:

A crucial vote November 8 you haven’t heard about

In another promising development on the reform front, Assembly Democrats held a press conference last week laying out their ideas for redoing the disastrous campaign finance bill that passed last fall. We’ve added a couple of our own ideas, as you’ll see here:

Assembly Dems point way toward reform

Meanwhile, we keep reporting on the role of big money here in Wisconsin.

For instance, we discovered that outside groups – from the left and the right -- are outspending the candidates themselves by a long shot:

Special interest electioneering groups outspending legislative candidates

We also found out that an outside group that was created for Gov. Walker’s failed presidential run is still bringing in money, including $100,000 from one New York company:

Who’s still donating big bucks to Walker’s presidential support group?

And we noted that the vast majority of Republican legislators received a 100% on their report cards from Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce:

WMC honors legislators in its pocket

I hope this info is useful – or at least mildly interesting – to you.

Talk to you soon.

Tags: Untagged
Rate this blog entry
0 votes

Go Vote…Even on Saturday

Posted by Kathleen Vinehout, State Senator 31st District
Kathleen Vinehout, State Senator 31st District
Kathleen Vinehout of Alma is an educator, business woman, and farmer who is now
User is currently offline
on Monday, 24 October 2016
in Wisconsin

voterid_handSenator Kathleen Vinehout writes about voting in the upcoming election. She provides important information for voters related to the voting process with links to help those with questions and contact information for her office if someone is having problems.


MADISON - On a beautiful October Saturday afternoon, my college-student son and I went to vote. Afterwards, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Just between you and me, I worried about my son voting. Would he come home before Election Day? Would he know the rules about mail-in ballots?

Mail-in early voting is complex.

You must request the ballot by mail by downloading the ballot request form. Get the form here. You fill out the ballot request form and make sure you mail it so your clerk receives it by 5:00 pm November 3rd 2016.

Then you watch for the ballot in the mail. Complete the ballot, have it witnessed – with the complete address of the witness – attach a copy of your ID, and mail the ballot so your clerk receives it by 8:00 pm Election Day.

As a Mom, I saw how easily any step of this complex process could go wrong. Call me “Nervous Nelly” when it comes to young family members voting, but it is just too important. Fortunately, Nathan came home over the weekend. I called the clerk, who said, “Sure come on over. Bring your ID.” Together we completed our civic duty.

Voting on Saturday afternoon was illegal in both the April and August elections. But a federal lawsuit knocked down the restriction on weekend in-person voting.

Weekend early voting is good news for anyone who works away from home on weekdays, or works long hours, or usually votes after church on Sunday.

Early in-person voting is happening all across Wisconsin. Check with your municipality for early voting hours. Rural voters usually must call their clerk and set up a time convenient for the clerk and the voter.

Voters must be age 18 by Election Day, be a U.S. citizen, not in prison or on parole or probation for conviction of a felony, treason or bribery. You also must have an identification card. Much legal attention has been paid to the nature of the identification card and what the state should do for folks that do not have and cannot get an ID.

Acceptable identification cards include a driver’s license, state issued ID, tribal or military ID, veterans ID, US passport or Wisconsin college ID. A valid college ID for voting purposes must contain your signature, the date issued and be valid for not more than two years after the date the ID was issued. In addition, students must bring documentation to prove they are currently enrolled.

Changes in state law due to lawsuits challenging Wisconsin’s strict voter ID made it easier for people who cannot get an ID because they are missing required documentation. For people without the required documents to get a free photo ID, you can petition the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to verify your identity. It is important to file a petition as soon as possible.

One new law not changed by the courts: local clerks must receive mailed ballots by 8:00 pm on Election Day. Because of the new law, officials are urging voters to mail their ballots at least six days prior to the deadline and some have suggested no later than November 1st to ensure the clerk receives it by the official deadline of 8:00 pm Election Day.

In some rural areas, getting absentee ballots from the clerk to the voter and back to the clerk is delayed because the United States Postal Service closed local processing centers. As a result, local mail is slower, sometimes taking several days to travel a few hours away.

All registered voters can vote early, either in person or by mail. Voters can register in person on Election Day. If you are not sure if you are registered, you can check here: https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/UpdateMyNameorAddress

You can also use that website to change your name or address, find your local clerk, find your polling place and see a sample ballot.

If you have trouble with the website, let me know. My office will be glad to help look up your polling place. You can contact my office toll free at 877-763-6636. You can also contact the League of Women Voters for help at http://www.lwvwi.org/Vote2016.aspx

Now go vote!

Tags: Untagged
Rate this blog entry
0 votes

What Do Rigged Elections Really Look Like?

Posted by John N. Powers, Wittenberg
John N. Powers, Wittenberg
John N. Powers, Wittenberg, a Vietnam Veteran, has his Bachelor's and Master's d
User is currently offline
on Monday, 24 October 2016
in Wisconsin

capitol-nightPower to draw new legislative district boundaries after 2010 election gave GOP 60% of State Assembly seats with only 46% of the votes and resulted in restrictive voter ID laws, environmental laws written by corporate lobbyists, John Doe changes to protect politicians and attacks on labor.


WITTENBERG, WI - You want to talk about rigged elections? Look no further than Wisconsin. Five years ago, Republicans in Madison spent two million taxpayer dollars in secret meetings to approve new legislative district boundaries. These elected officials were not involved in deciding on the new boundaries, they were simply given the new maps-after they signed an oath not to discuss the maps with the pubic that had elected them. The new district boundaries had immediate results in the 2012 election. There were 1.4 million Democratic votes cast that year and 1.2 million Republican votes. Yet Republicans won 60 of the 99 Assembly seats while the Democrats won only 39. That means Democrats cast 54% of the votes but won only 40% of the elections. Gerrymandering at its best-and worst.

The federal judges in the lawsuit that resulted from this process said “the people of Wisconsin deserve better.” What the people of Wisconsin got was hundreds of millions of dollars cut from public education, hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks for corporations, a state jobs agency that catered to political donors, some of the most restrictive voter ID laws in the nation, environmental laws written by corporate lobbyists, John Doe changes that protect politicians in Madison (and only them) from being investigated for bribery or corruption, a mandate that sex education in our schools teach abstinence only, and attacks on labor. That is just the short list. Republicans even eliminated language in state law that said workers should receive wages that provide for an adequate standard of living.

These changes were not made at the request of Wisconsin voters. They were taken by Republicans from the playbook of the American Legislative Exchange Council. A former Republican state senator, who was there, said our legislators were “pawns awaiting bills written by special interests.”

This is what rigged elections look like. And this is the direction Wisconsin will continue to take unless we vote out of office the very people who rigged the elections in the first place. We don’t even have to meet in secret to do so. Let’s just pick a day to meet in public to cast our votes. How about November 8th?

Tags: Untagged
Rate this blog entry
0 votes

Blue Jean Nation 'So long Abe'

Posted by Mike McCabe, Blue Jean Nation
Mike McCabe, Blue Jean Nation
Mike McCabe is the founder and president of Blue Jean Nation and author of Blue
User is currently offline
on Wednesday, 19 October 2016
in Wisconsin

lincoln-walks-awayLincoln defined government as “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” We need Lincoln’s spirit now more than ever.


ALTOONA, WI - No dictionary ever captured the essence of democracy’s meaning better than Abe Lincoln did in his legendary Gettysburg Address. Lincoln defined it as government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

For a century and a half after the Civil War the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln. Today’s GOP, however, has separated from Lincoln and the relationship seems destined to end in divorce. Modern-day Republicans have rejected Lincoln’s commitment to equality as they flirted for decades before eventually jumping in bed with white supremacy. They also have renounced Lincoln’s idea of democracy. For years now the likes of Rush Limbaugh have been saying over and over again that America is a republic, not a democracy. And dittoheads across the country dutifully repeat the mantra.

It’s silly to argue over whether America is one or the other when we were so obviously intended to be both. The U.S. was set up to be a democratic republic. The republic the founders gave us also can accurately be described as a representative democracy or a constitutional democracy. The founders wisely and ingeniously struck a balance between majority rule by elected representatives of the people and protection of individual and minority rights by rule of constitutional law. To say we are a republic but not a democracy is to not only disregard the true meaning of these words but also to disrespect the founders’ delicate balancing act.

They understandably wanted no more to do with monarchy and sought to replace a king’s rule with democracy. But they also were rightly fearful of mob rule and felt the need to temper the democratic will with “inalienable” rights for individuals that could not be voted out of existence. They did a better job designing the system than we have done taking care of it. While some among us waste time bickering about whether America is a republic or a democracy, evidence mounts that we may no longer be worthy of either name.

At a time when the republic faced perhaps the greatest threat to its continued existence, Lincoln gave the country not only the perfect definition of democracy but also reason to believe a new birth of freedom in America was possible. In our time, all of us — whether Republican, Democrat, independent or something else — need to channel our inner Lincolns and dedicate ourselves to a new birth of democracy and equality. We need to figure out how to restore government of the people, by the people and for the people. We need to imagine an economy that is of the people, by the people and for the people and strive to make it so.

We need Lincoln’s spirit now more than ever. The party of Lincoln has waved goodbye to Abe. The rest of us need to summon him back.

Tags: Untagged
Rate this blog entry
0 votes

Private School Subsidy for Special Education Raises Concerns

Posted by Kathleen Vinehout, State Senator 31st District
Kathleen Vinehout, State Senator 31st District
Kathleen Vinehout of Alma is an educator, business woman, and farmer who is now
User is currently offline
on Tuesday, 18 October 2016
in Wisconsin

teaching-studentsPublic school leaders are concerned about the $12,000 cost of special needs vouchers and the quality of education provided under them at private schools. The money comes from local public schools and is paid to private companies.


MADISON - “When you write about tax money going to private schools, please tell people about special education vouchers,” a rural school board member told me. “Because of a change in state law, our school district is paying for special education students to sit at home in front of a computer.”

October is budget time for school districts. The rural school board member just saw the new budget and learned of the high cost for special needs students who are now attending an online school with $12,000 per student of school funds. The school board member asked that I not mention the district or his name to protect the privacy of local students.

The story of how school districts are paying private or online schools $12,000 per special needs student with little guarantee to parents or taxpayers of the quality of that education reads like a litany of everything wrong with state government.

The plan originated in secret. A budget amendment was made available to the public well after midnight. The vote was speedy and partisan. The document was long and complex. Many other controversial actions were included in the same amendment. The motion passed in the wee hours of the morning. Few paid attention to the details related to special education vouchers and open enrollment.

Now the cost is hitting local school board budgets.

Late last May, GOP leaders introduced a 29-page amendment to the state budget. One of the provisions, scheduled to go into effect this September, allowed special education students to attend private schools with a $12,000 public subsidy. Another provision nearly doubled the cost of open enrollment for a special education student and barred the child’s home school district from stopping the transfer due to financial reasons.

The latter provision opened the door for local special education students to attend on-line schools like “Wisconsin Virtual Academy.”

However, press attention at the time focused on controversial changes like allowing persons without a college degree to be public school teachers or forcing public schools to accept private school students on their athletic teams. Much attention focused on the plans to take control away from the Milwaukee School Board.

A group called “Stop Special Needs Vouchers” made up of concerned parents worked against the plan. These parents raised critical questions about sending tax money to private schools. They saw risks for students who attended private schools and a drain on sorely needed resources for students who stayed in public schools.

The group warned parents that children in a private school would lose rights and protections under federal law. Special education students are guaranteed needed services. Services might include speech therapy, assistance from a reading specialist, or occupational therapy. Private schools are not required to hire special education teachers or therapists. Nor are they required to follow a student’s Individualized Education Plan.

The families of “Stop Special Needs Vouchers” warned legislators that taking $12,000 per student away from public schools meant less money would be available for special needs students who remained in the district.

I spoke with one local superintendent whose district loses $12,000 per special education student but only received $2,400 in state aid per student. The district’s money goes to Wisconsin Virtual Academy. WVA is operated by K12, Inc. a publically traded company co-founded by William Bennett former Secretary of Education under President Reagan.

With so much money leaving a district through a variety of private school subsidies, it is hard to balance the budget.

“Why are schools going to referenda? To survive,” the superintendent told me.

Superintendents and school board members are worried the move to isolating special needs children in special schools or virtual schools changes forty years of policy to educate special needs students in the least restrictive environment.

“The biggest problem is that the kids aren’t getting much in terms of education,” said the rural school board member. “The special education student is going to suffer the rest of their lives because of a poor education.”

Tags: Untagged
Rate this blog entry
0 votes
Tweet With Us:

Share

Copyright © 2024. Green Bay Progressive. Designed by Shape5.com