The End?
Posted: July 13, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: LOTR, North Park Street Leave a comment »Well, folks, today marks an important transition. Brandon had already started writing for North Park Street two months ago, leaving the warm confines of the Campus First for the larger demographic appeal, and visibility of NPS. I now join Brandon as an author for North Park Street and as such will be leaving this blog idle for the time being.
It has been an absolute pleasure writing on here and I would like to thank my readers for their faithfulness, their engagement, and for the encouragement to continue writing. I hope that everyone will continue following my ruminations about UW-Madison, Politics (both campus and otherwise), and life over at my new abode.
Until then, many fond farewells, this is not a goodbye, only another beginning.
Do you want some cheese with that “whine”?
Posted: July 11, 2011 Filed under: Bipartisanship, Brett Hulsey, News, Politics | Tags: Brett Hulsey, Democrats, Redistricting, Republicans Leave a comment »After blasting both state and national Republicans (and politicians in general) last week, I must now fire back at the state Democrats.
The Republicans recently released their plans for redistricting the state from the 2010 census, and immediately and without surprise, the Democrats cried foul and wanted the proposal thrown out. While their argument is certainly sound, from statements that it is a ploy to secure districts (it is) or that it is purely to benefit themselves (mostly true, Ron Kind becomes pretty solidly safe as well). I agree with the Democrats; the process is wrong and the results make Wisconsin look poor.
But are we honestly supposed to believe that the Democrats wouldn’t have done the same thing had they secure control over all branches? Had Barrett carried a Democratic wave in 2010, wouldn’t we be looking at a map where Paul Ryan would absorb more of Milwaukee and less suburbs? Sean Duffy, in an already contentious district, would surely have seen changes.
Most importantly, let’s not pretend that only the Republicans would’ve done this. It’s easy to do so, but it is wrong.
When folks say that this is unprecedented and the process hasn’t happened like this before, it’s true; but only because for the past fifty years Wisconsin has had a split legislature/governor during this process. I think that concerns like those of Kelda Helen Roys (D-Madison) being moved out of her current district should NOT have a bearing into the process. Should we protect the incumbents naturally? I don’t think so and I wouldn’t think so regardless of who it was.
I think it is especially telling that in the complete Democrat controlled state capital until November of 2010 did NOT bring forward reform measures. Rep. Brett Hulsey (D-Madison) has been a prolific tweeter on the matter but wouldn’t a skeptical public think that its odd that the multitude of Democrats purportedly supporting this did not present this before the new legislature and Governor took office? I know Hulsey wasn’t there before but a lot of others were and could have done it. Legislators look into the future and they clearly did not expect everything to be overturned in November, yet it happened, and now the Democrats are scrambling to recover.
My prediction? Governor Walker will be open to a more open process than the brothers Fitzgerald. The recalls against the GOP is pretty solidly in place and there is not much to gain or lose for those legislators but the Governor has another three years left (sorry Madison, he won’t be recalled. The numbers aren’t there) and will need Democrats for some of it at the very least. This is a very good place to begin some healing and still end up with a plan favorable to the majority party but with some willingness to work together as it will be needed at some point.
And remember: we are a purple state. Neither party rules very long here so learning the lesson of bipartisanship is something that will be learnt, one way or another.
Republican Brinksmanship: Playing Chicken with a Blind Driver
Posted: July 8, 2011 Filed under: Politics, Republicans, Uncategorized | Tags: David Brooks, Debt Ceiling, Republicans, Tea Party 3 Comments »The Republican Party has taken its lumps, particularly in Wisconsin, but nationally still controls the House of Representatives and is exerting an almost unfathomable amount of power over the political process.
Most specifically, when it comes to the current argument over the debt ceiling, noted conservative (small “c”) blogger David Brooks of the NYTimes has said it best:
If the Republican Party were a normal party, it would take advantage of this amazing moment. It is being offered the deal of the century: trillions of dollars in spending cuts in exchange for a few hundred billion dollars of revenue increases.
A normal Republican Party would seize the opportunity to put a long-term limit on the growth of government. It would seize the opportunity to put the country on a sound fiscal footing. It would seize the opportunity to do these things without putting any real crimp in economic growth.
But this isn’t the “normal” Republican Party. This is the party of Palin and Bachmann. A party whose most hardcore supporters have coerced into being a bludgeon against all things government and anything short of virtual anarchy. The Tea Party is the epitome of all that is wrong in today’s politics. They have no wiggle room: you are either with us or you are trying to take away our freedoms and rights that Paul Revere rode forth through the Battle of Waterloo on his trusted steed Shadowfax to proclaim on Twitter (or something like that).
Brooks continues:
The members of this movement do not accept the logic of compromise, no matter how sweet the terms. If you ask them to raise taxes by an inch in order to cut government by a foot, they will say no. If you ask them to raise taxes by an inch to cut government by a yard, they will still say no.
The members of this movement do not accept the legitimacy of scholars and intellectual authorities. A thousand impartial experts may tell them that a default on the debt would have calamitous effects, far worse than raising tax revenues a bit. But the members of this movement refuse to believe it.
He has more great lines in the op-ed that you really should read in full.
I have said before, that I work in a Republican office in the Assembly and all I can say to my party is: stop being so damned willfully ignorant and do your damned jobs. From one conservative to another, the rise of the Tea Party and their willfully ignorant masses is indication of nothing more than we better make economics courses mandatory in K12.
The Decline of the Statesman and the Rise of Rhetoric
Posted: July 7, 2011 Filed under: Bipartisanship, Democrats, Gay Rights, Politics, Republicans | Tags: Democrats, Gay Rights, Politics, Republicans, Wisconsin 2 Comments »First off, I want to say that I work in a Republican’s office in the State Assembly; a Republican that I support and voted for. Additionally, I know many lawmakers from both parties and have friends on each side and folks that I’d rather not talk to on each side.
People have asked me why I chose to work for “pure evil” as one friend put it, or for the “bad guys” as another one did, or simply for the Republicans when I don’t agree with everything they do. Well, it’s true I don’t agree with them all the time, but I disagree with the Democrats just as much; basically, the Parties suck. Let’s stop equating people to parties.
I decided to work for the Republican that I work for because I knew him personally and knew that he would take my thoughts into account when I presented them. I knew that on the issues that I care a lot about, we share some similar beliefs and while I disagree with both the process and the fact of stripping collective bargaining rights, I can fairly say he isn’t evil.
This brings me to a major problem with the American political process; we’re voting for parties not candidates in a system that wasn’t built to do that. We can’t differentiate people from party; it’s not possible to have Republicans who support Gay Rights because the platform doesn’t include that. Similarly, Pro-Life Democrats are being pushed from the party, with the most recent example being Bart Stupak from Michigan.
Am I the only one who has a problem with this? I WANT Republicans who stand up for what they think is right even if the political strategy of inter-party politicking isn’t in accordance. I WANT Democrats who can vote against one of their party’s rallying cries and show up to work the next day with a clear conscience.
Not to say that I agree with those decisions, but I want politicians with the balls to actually do it! Our system NEEDS more politicians likes Senator Grisanti from New York who stood up and detailed his thoughts on why, despite being born and raised in a Catholic background and being taught that marriage is between a man and a women, he voted in the affirmative for New York’s recent passing of same-sex marriage. The video speaks for itself and speaks volumes of what we want from legislators.
In case you didn’t watch the video (you really should, it’s four minutes of what being a legislator is all about), then just read this quote from Republican Senator Roy McDonald, another supporter of the bill.
“You get to the point where you evolve in your life where everything isn’t black and white, good and bad, and you try to do the right thing,”
“You might not like that. You might be very cynical about that. Well, fuck it, I don’t care what you think. I’m trying to do the right thing.
“I’m tired of Republican-Democrat politics. They can take the job and shove it. I come from a blue-collar background. I’m trying to do the right thing, and that’s where I’m going with this.”
Let’s stop seeing things as good and bad. Let’s just try to do the right thing in whatever capacity we have. Let’s value that individualism that brings each legislator to the table. Everyone’s background is different and no two people should see eye to eye on every issue of the party’s platform. Let’s think for ourselves and do the right thing regardless of if its a Democratic idea, a Republican idea, or a Klingon idea.
