One Wisconsin Now

Tuesday was a Happy Day in Milwaukee as most of the original cast of the popular show came to town for the unveiling of the Bronze Fonz. There was a full schedule with a dedication/unveiling, a parade through downtown and a ceremony at Miller Park just before a Brewer game. During the television coverage of the Brewer game the man of the hour, Henry Winkler, was interviewed in the stands. While most of the interview focused on the show and the days activities, the interviewer briefly opened the door to Winkler’s passion, education. Noting that Winkler’s daughter is a teacher that earned her degree in Wisconsin, the interviewer asked him why education is so important to him. For a brief moment he got very passionate and said the following:

We have No Child Left Behind which is leaving every child behind. Children are raining through cracks in this country. If we don’t do something now - and not just lip service – if we don’t take care of children now, this country is in trouble.

Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty is making his second trip of the summer to Wisconsin. He will be going to John McCain fundraisers in both Madison and Milwaukee that will cost $1,000 per couple. Rather than run around Wisconsin trying to raise money for campaigns, it might be advisable for Pawlenty to go back home and fix the mess that he has made in Minnesota.

Under Governor Tim Pawlenty Minnesota’s property taxes are up even though he made a campaign promise not to raise taxes. The Gopher State has actually endured a 70 percent rise in property taxes since 2002. [Sticker Shock, Minnesota 2020, 2/10/2008; Star Tribune, 3/30/03] Not only has Pawlenty’s tenure resulted in higher taxes but also in overcrowded schools and bad roads that are the worst that they have been in decades. In addition, Pawlenty’s signature job creation plan was totally panned by an independent auditor as useless and a waste of money. Even though Minnesota’s housing foreclosures are up to some of the worst levels in the nation, Pawlenty vetoed a bill that would have helped hundreds of families facing the loss of their homes. [Star Tribune, 5/29/08]

Given Pawlenty’s terrible record in Minnesota on issues from A to Z, it is a bit surprising that he has been chosen to be a lead cheerleader for John McCain. On the other hand, McCain is the same U.S. Senator that has eventually adopted almost all of the failed policies of the Bush Administration. Those are policies which have led us to economic, health care, energy and foreign policy disasters. It makes you wonder if John McCain has made failure a prerequisite to being one of his key advisors.

The federal government will expand its sanction of Milwaukee schools this year, according to a report published in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 38 schools currently receiving federal government aid for low income students will be hit with cuts to that aid. The Department of Education calls these schools "identified for improvement" and refers to the slashing of budgets as the result of "escalating academic standards". Worded in this fashion, it is possible to think that the cuts are suitable measures to take in the face of poor performance. After all, the government set standards and the schools failed to comply, isn't some punishment in order?

In a word, no. These schools faced an arbitrary increase in standards, a reduction in funding and a failing plan for urban centers across this country. The failing grade goes to the Bush Administration, so why are Wisconsin citizens coming home with the bad report card?

Upon sitting out the vote on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) remarked that what women really need is “education and training.” Puzzling, because in 2007 Sen. McCain avoided the vote on the America COMPETES Act and voted against the College Cost Reduction Act. The America COMPETES Act promotes education in engineering, technology, and science—fields not typically pursued by women—and was supported by the American Association of University Women (AAUW). The AAUW also supported the College Cost Reduction Act—which aimed to increase Pell grant awards to restore the grant’s purchasing power and reduce subsidized student loan interest—given the fact that “because women are more likely to borrow money for college than men are and will earn less on average after graduation, female graduates are more likely to struggle with their loan debt.”

It has already been clearly demonstrated that John McCain has not learned the lessons of the failed Bush policy on education and education funding. He seems fully prepared to go even further in slashing funding for our schools and other critical education programs. McCain’s proposals would specifically shortchange Wisconsin nearly $541 million.

Below is a list of the important education programs that will suffer under John McCain’s proposals:

Head start $13,253,368

Federal Pell Grants $53,700,000

Career & Technical Education State Grant $68,970,032

Special Education Grants to States $228,438,948

21st Century Community Learning Centers $22,143,900

Improving Teacher Quality State Grants $5,390,764

Grants to Local Educational Agencies $148,942,386

We already know that the recently announce economic plan by John McCain is going to be a boon for corporations and the most wealthy. We also know that his plan will do very little to help the average American, and in many cases will be hurtful to them and their interests. To pay for even just a portion of his massive giveaways, McCain will have to pull from critical funding and services. One good example of this is in the area of education.

As part of McCain’s economic plan, he has called for a yearlong moratorium on increases in discretionary federal spending. He projects that this move will save some $100 billion but he conveniently forgets to mention that he has included the education of our children in this funding cut. This McCain proposal would take even more resources away from public schools that have already been deeply underfunded by the current administration. According to the National Education Association, McCain’s plan would shortchange some 4.2 million disadvantaged children in reading and math assistance. It would also cost states and schools $12.5 billion in reduced services to children with disabilities.

Contact Speaker Michael Huebsch and his co-hort Representative Stephen Nass, and let them know that you object to their destroying Wisconsin's world-class educational institution.

Wisconsin used to take pride in its university system supported by a bipartisan consensus to create a world-class educational facility.

Now, under the leadership of the GOP-led state Assembly, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and its sister campuses are under assault, deadly assault.

From the blog Waxing America:

All Children Matter, a pro-private school vouchers group founded by a Michigan Republican billionaire was fined $5.2 million for illegally funneling money into Ohio campaigns. This is the same group that is under investigation in Wisconsin after the State Elections Board determined in 2006 that it violated election rules here.

In a 5-0 decision, the Ohio Elections Commission ruled that All Children Matter illegally funneled $870,000 to Ohio through a Virginia PAC, allowing it to exceed the state’s $10,000 limit on PAC contributions. One of the people donating to the illegal effort was Ohio’s largest operator of charter schools, David Brennan. Brennan and his wife have also spent large amounts of cash in Wisconsin. Most notably the couple gave the maximum total of $20,000 to Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Mark Green in 2006.

The following unfortunately went unpublished as a letter to the editor in response to Sam Clegg's column that ran in the Herald this week concerning the death tax.  In addition to accusing OWN of framing the estate tax debate as a class warfare issue to propose an unreasonable solution to the state budget shortfall, he appeals to a Congressional report on the death tax that, amazingly, contains arguments that are all exactly congruent to his own.  Clearly, though, the truly unthinking are the masses who subscribe to our bleeding heart views on economic policy. 

In the meantime, Sam cries for the rich kids of the world.

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While I’m certain that freshman and economics major Sam Clegg is currently flooded with requests to speak at the next meeting of the United Nations Committee on Economic and Social Affairs, I feel compelled to issue the following statements regarding the “death tax” in Wisconsin in the hopes that at least the university community will lend an ear.

Daniel Miller contends that the estate tax actually runs small, self-made farms and businesses into the ground, is economically inefficient, deprives the neediest populations of the money it would otherwise be receiving from charity, and ultimately redistributes the hard-earned wealth of honest Wisconsinites to “desperate masses” of the shiftless and the undeserving. And, says Clegg, because of the high-minded, unimpeachable rhetoric of progressive groups like One Wisconsin Now, the legislature will resort to scape-goating the ultra-rich to close the budget shortfall.

So brace yourselves, readers, for some liberal propaganda. To give you some national figures, according to the Federal Reserve, only 4% of family businesses have a net worth of more than $2 million, leaving those 96% of family businesses in the United States who are worth less than $2 million exempt. Furthermore, the USDA reports that the average farm household net worth ranged from $576,000 for small farms to $1.5 million for very large family farms, which is well within the exemption range. The little guys are still protected.

Miller insists that “substantial expenditures” and an “undesired allocation of resources” are required for profitable rates of compliance, but fails to describe how. And keeping the estate tax is actually a great incentive for the super-wealthy to donate to charities if they wish to avoid the tax, because charity is tax-exempt.

The estate tax only taxes those born into wealth – not the ones who earned it. And, under the federal law, the inheritors still get to keep at least their first $1 million for free – tax-exempt. In fact, that figure is closer to $2 million now since changes to the law in 2002.

Ultimately, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue reports that for the next biennium, estate tax collections are estimated to be $244.9 million. True, it will not plug the $300 million hole. But it will certainly come close.

It’s true that a proposal more in line with conventional American wisdom might also close the budget gap. But if a progressive, liberal economic policy has any underpinning at all, it is that everybody should at least have a set of minimums of access to the system, beyond which it is their responsibility to “make it”. Adam Smithians, rejoice.

It is you, Sam Clegg, who has framed this debate as if supporters of the death tax compare tax breaks for the rich to murder. It is you who appealed to class warfare to vindicate your opinion. And it is you who perpetuates the political culture war that poisons our university community.

In the words of Archbishop Hélder Câmara: “When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist.”

Mitra Jalali is a senior at UW-Madison majoring in Political Science.

Seriously, what is it with State Senator Glenn Grothman and his unhealthy obsession with race? Monday, it was reported that he is planning yet another whack at affirmative action in Wisconsin. He is planning to introduce an amendment similar to the one passed in Michigan banning affirmative action. Grothman defends the idea by appealing to every urban legend on race endlessly repeated by angry white men.

Glenn Grothman has a long and shameful record of stoking racial divisions.

Wisconsin school boards would have an easier time firing teachers if State Senator Glenn Grothman has his way. The West Bend Republican is drafting legislation to let districts get rid of what he calls "lemons" in the classroom, without going through years of legal disputes. Grothman says it's getting harder to get rid of teachers unless they do something truly outrageous in the classroom. He says it can take years of legal expenses to terminate a teacher's employment.

Wisconsin Education Association Council President Stan Johnson opposes the idea, saying it singles out public school teachers. Johnson says review policies are already in place to keep bad teachers from staying in Wisconsin schools, and Grothman's legislation would only hurt those who have worked their way through that process. He says a similar proposal was introduced last session, but it failed to pass out of a committee chaired by Grothman.