MADISON - This week I published an op-ed calling for a 21st Century Voting Rights Act to achieve today what the original VRA of 1965 set out to do: protect the equal right to vote for all.

To meet that standard today, we need to go beyond the original VRA and insist on a 50-state pre-clearance requirement to undo and prevent further voter suppression.

This is a bold thing to demand at a time when it seems like the deck is more stacked against us in Washington than ever. But right now, when we’re in the greatest legitimacy crisis our government has ever seen, is precisely the time we absolutely must demand this.

Thousands of your fellow supporters have already signed on to show their support for the 21st Century Voting Rights Act, but I didn’t see your name on the list. Will you join this effort today?

Join thousands of your fellow supporters now. Sign the petition to show your support for a 21st Century Voting Rights Act today.

A modern Voting Rights Act must include certain provisions, supplemented by state voting rights legislation if necessary, in order to truly restore legitimacy to our elections:

• Establish an independent Office of Voting Rights, solely to review and approve any proposed changes to voting rights regulations in the country.
• Establish a national standard for ID requirements that states cannot exceed.
• Mandate same-day voter registration.
• Mandate a minimum length of time for early voting.
• Ban any change to voting laws within 90 days of an election.
• Publicize any changes to voting regulations or procedures for a minimum length of time in multiple languages.
• End felony disenfranchisement, which keeps one in 14 Black citizens nationwide from voting but only restrict one in 56 non-Black citizens.
• End partisan gerrymandering so that the voters can choose their officials instead of officials choosing their voters.

Voting is the most important democratic right. Any infringement on the right to vote is a threat to the legitimacy of our democracy. This could be our generation’s civil rights moment, our 1965, and we must rise to meet it. We need a 21st Century Voting Rights Act. The onus is on us to demand one, and on Congress to pass it.

Sign the petition to show your support for a 21st Century Voting Rights Act today.

Just as the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 addressed many of the worst voter suppression tactics of its day, like poll taxes and literacy tests, so must the new 21st Century Voting Rights Act address modern abuses.

Thank you for standing up for our legitimacy,

Russ Feingold

MADISON - According to Mike McCabe, Wisconsin appears to have lost its ambition to be first, or best. In this commentary, Blue Jean Nation’s Mike McCabe discusses our state’s shortcomings, and what we should do to get it back on track.

Listen to Mike on WORT 89.9 FM Radio HERE.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/healthcare-family-dr-s5.jpgThe U.S. has the least efficient health care system among 11 developed nations, and solutions to this problem are not being developed in Washington. Wisconsin used to blaze new trails as a model for the nation to copy. Time to return to our pioneering roots.

Constituents show up to talk about health care and other issues with the person elected to represent them. He didn't show up to listen.

GREEN BAY - About a hundred constituents showed up last night at the Brown County Central Library last night to share their concerns with their new Congressman Mike Gallagher. He didn't show up to listen.

Granted, the "Town Hall" listening session had been organized by local liberal and Democratic advocacy groups, but did that make them any less his constituents? Gallagher had been elected last fall to represent the 8th Congressional District and all the people who live in it.

I had the "good fortune" to be on a stage in 2009 with then Congressman Steve Kagen as he fielded questions from Tea Party advocates about the bill that would become ObamaCare. It was not very pleasant. But he hung in there, and answered every question as best he could. He was elected to represent them too.

Many Republican elected officials today seem to prefer hiding out from their constituents, "speaking" only to them on FaceBook, on telephone conference calls, or at pre-arranged campaign stops at friendly venues. They screen all questions, and answer only those they select. They certainly don't dare to meet all the people they represent face to face.

According to news reports, health care coverage and the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a Republican bill to replace the Affordable Care Act, was the topic most wanted to discuss. Gallagher had supported the bill during a House vote earlier this month. A line of area residents presented their personal concerns, told stories about children with pre-existing conditions, told their fears about losing their health care, and fears about rising costs. An empty chair sat on the stage where their "representative" was supposed to listen.

Some critics called it political theatre. But that's the easy political cop out. So was Gallagher's "out of town on business" excuse. If people cannot talk to their representatives, who do they represent?

It appears many in Washington today, and not just Republicans, represent only the industries and businesses who pay their bills. Gallagher is just joining the long line.

That's not what our "representative form of government" was supposed to be about.

Republicans failed to plan for potential Federal changes to Medicaid and for healthy outcomes for families that may be affected.

MADISON - There are families all over Wisconsin losing sleep at night over the uncertainty that President Trump and Governor Walker have caused for individuals whose lives are affected by Medicaid.

Wisconsin Democrats value the health and success of all of our citizens and want to make sure we all have an opportunity for a healthy life. We have long advocated to accept the Federal Medicaid dollars Wisconsin taxpayers deserve. Taking that expansion would have put over $1.07 billion in our state budgets.

We have listened to the advocate communities and worked hard to quell the uncertainties we know families are feeling.

The opportunity for a healthy life should not be impacted by political games. Unfortunately Republicans have failed to plan for potential Federal changes and for healthy outcomes for families that may be affected.

Walker and the Republicans who control the legislature are pushing the biggest budgets in the history of Wisconsin, yet they have cut $800 million from the UW.

MADISON - A budget is all about priorities and Republicans and Governor Walker have made it very clear that the UW is not their priority.

Since elected, Governor Walker’s state budgets have spent nearly $282 billion dollars – over $127 billion in GPR alone. These are the biggest budgets in the history of Wisconsin, yet Governor Walker and Republicans have cut $800 million from the UW in the last few budgets.

The funds are there, but Republicans have chosen not to restore their $800 million cut.

Democrats will not agree to continue this cut to the UW because we value the UW and the economic engine it is. Wisconsin deserves better than another state budget with cuts to our UW classrooms.

Truly the great state of Wisconsin deserves a strong UW system and the educational opportunities a strong investment in our UW schools brings for our people.

A recap of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's summer meeting this week and more on the Walker follies in Madison.

MADISON - In case you couldn’t make our annual meeting on Monday night, I’d like to give you this recap of the inspiring event.

Longtime members Roger and Kristi Williams provided a tremendous testimonial about our work, and urged everyone to consider doing as they have done: leaving something for the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign in their planned giving.

Then Kim Wright of Midwest Environmental Advocates spoke, noting that “the same money that is clogging the arteries of our democracy” is also imperiling our clean water future. She added: “We really rely on the Democracy Campaign to give us the information that we need.”

Deshawn McKinney, president of the UW-Madison Wisconsin Union and a spoken word artist, performed a couple of his powerful poems and urged people to get out of their silos and their comfort zones and to lift up those from marginalized communities.

Kevin Kennedy, former head of the Government Accountability Board, denounced the “quagmire of selfishness” that the current leaders in our state capitol have fallen into. He also gave a short history of Wisconsin’s efforts to ensure clean and transparent government. “Recently, we’ve taken more than a step backwards,” he noted. He urged us to “persist like Sisyphus.”

The question and answer period was lively, and everyone had a good time, and we hope you can make the event next year. In the meantime, you can view this year's event in its entirety on WisconsinEye.

Meanwhile, we’ve continued to crank stuff out this week.

We noticed that Walker again has gone on public visits to companies whose employees just happened to have showered him with a lot of dough:

Walker celebrates with donors who gave him $100K+

We also noted that the DNR just gave a permit to an out-of-state company, Meteor Timber, to destroy rare wetlands in our state:

Approved sand plant will destroy rare wetlands

And we posted a speech I gave recently on the threat that Donald Trump poses to our democracy:

Video of WDC Executive Director Matthew Rothschild on Trump and fascism

I’ll be giving another talk on this same urgent topic on Memorial Day at 1:00 at the Gates of Heaven, in James Madison Park in Madison. View our calendar of speaking engagements and other WDC related events for more information.

Hope to see you there.

We can steer clear of the social, political and economic turmoil and upheaval this new economy has the capacity to create. If heads are buried in the sand, chaos will reign.

ALTOONA, WI - Those in power in Wisconsin’s Capitol want everyone to notice that the state’s unemployment rate has come down some. They are equally eager to have everyone to look past other troubling facts, such as wage and job growth that is lagging behind the national average, a poverty rate that’s higher than it’s been in 30 years, and a middle class that’s disappearing faster than anywhere else in the country. They pay no attention to rising economic inequality and hope no one notices that the income gap is growing faster in Wisconsin than in other states.

As unwilling as they are to acknowledge much less do something about these politically inconvenient realities, they are even more reluctant to engage the public in any kind of discussion about even greater challenges that lie ahead.

There is a reason why most Americans believe our kids will be worse off than their parents. The U.S. is hurtling toward an increasingly jobless economy and everyone can see it coming. Even the politicians can see it but don’t want to deal with what is plainly visible on the horizon. Instead they look for scapegoats, telling frightened workers that immigrants are stealing their jobs. Or they offer empty promises that closed factories can be reopened and lost assembly line jobs will somehow magically reappear. This is the cruelest kind of hoax.

Today’s immigrants aren’t replacing yesterday’s factory workers on the assembly lines, robots are. Immigration is not the culprit, technology is. Even if new factories replace the old shuttered ones, how many people will work in those plants? Driverless vehicles are coming. When they arrive, what happens to the truck drivers and bus drivers and cab drivers?

Call this emerging American economy what you will. Some call it global, some call it high-tech. Others label it an information or knowledge economy. Still others see little left but a service economy. Probably the most accurate description is post-human. Workers have every reason to feel vulnerable, and those feelings are only going to intensify.

Fewer and fewer workers have union representation. There was a time when virtually every American household included at least one union member. Today, less than 11% of all Americans and only 6% of private sector workers belong to a union. Labor unions were an outgrowth of the industrial revolution. That revolution came and went. In what came after, unions struggled to adapt and steadily lost membership. Workers lost bargaining power.

In the short term, steps can be taken to empower working people, from affordable and debt-free education and job training to universal access to everything from health care to high-speed Internet. But in the longer term, if our society is going to hold together in an increasingly jobless economy, we are going to have to renegotiate the social contract. Totally new approaches to maintaining social cohesion are going to have to be considered. Maybe part of the answer is moving to the 30-hour workweek that Amazon and other companies are trying out. That would make work available to more people. Maybe the time will soon come for a universal basic income. That would require all of us to see the value in making sure no one is left behind. Maybe making union representation a civil right could be a piece to the puzzle. Perhaps some combination of these or other ideas will light the way.

If minds are open, we can steer clear of the social, political and economic turmoil and upheaval this new economy has the capacity to create. If heads are buried in the sand, chaos will reign.

— Mike McCabe

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/sandy-hook-mother-s5.jpgTime for Assembly to Step Up for Spouses and Children of Law Enforcement Officers Killed in the Line of Duty.

MADISON - This week brought two more examples of how the Koch Brothers have Wisconsin in their back pockets.

First, we reported that the Koch Foundation has poured money not just to UW-Stout but to many other UW schools, including UW-Madison, as well as to private colleges in our state.

Koch support to Wisconsin higher ed tops $1 million

Then, we noted that the Republican legislature is doing the bidding of the Koch Brothers by pushing a bill that would make regulations on corporations vanish after seven years on the books. Poof, they’re gone:

Koch and other big business groups back bill to bury regs

While on the subject of corporate influence, we posted an article on how recent WEDC recipients have been feathering Walker’s nest:

Walker got $51K in campaign contributions from WEDC recipients

And finally, we exposed a so-called “riot” bill as an infringement on the First Amendment:

“Riot” bill is unconstitutional

I hope you find these offerings interesting.

Best,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
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P.S. Remember, this Monday evening is our annual event at the Lussier Family Heritage Center, registration starting at 5:30. We’re delighted to have former GAB director Kevin Kennedy as our keynote speaker, and Kim Wright from Midwest Environmental Advocates will also talk, and we’ll have some spoken word from Deshawn McKinney, president of the UW-Madison Wisconsin Union Directorate. The address is 3101 Lake Farm Rd, just south of South Towne in rural Madison (yes, there is a rural part to Madison!). Please RSVP your attendance BEFORE Monday. Hope to see you there.