Boots & Sabers

The blogging will continue until morale improves...

Category: Politics – Wisconsin

Evers fails to act to stem rise in violent crime

by | 0622, 17 May 2222 | , | 15 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a part:

Two facts have become very clear this election year. First, crime is a huge priority for Wisconsinites. Second, crime is not a priority at all for Gov. Tony Evers.

 

Since Tony Evers took office, crime — particularly violent crime — is way up in Wisconsin. Reviewing the crime statistics compiled by Wisconsin’s Department of Justice tells a tragic story. In comparing 2018 (the last year before Evers took office) to 2021 (the last full year), there were 82% more murders in Wisconsin, 16% more aggravated assaults, and 111% more vehicle thefts.

 

Even more tragic, while murders were up by 82%, arrests for murder were only up 15%. And while aggravated assaults were up by 16%, arrests for aggravated assaults were down by 4%. We have more violent crime, and we are arresting fewer of those violent criminals.

 

[…]

 

After the shootings in Milwaukee last week, Evers once again took to media outlets to express his sorrow and outrage. And once again he is not acting to make any changes to keep it from happening again. Evers’ lieutenant governor, Mandela Barnes, who is also running for U.S. Senate, tweeted about the need for gun control — the old hobby horse of totalitarians throughout modern history — without even bothering to give any specific policy prescriptions.

 

In each of Evers’ budgets, he failed to offer any policy initiatives to reduce crime. Instead, under the label of “criminal justice reform,” Evers proposed spending more money on education and training for crooks in jail. He campaigned on closing the juvenile facilities of Lincoln Hills and Copper Lake, but four years later, they remain open waiting for a better solution for Wisconsin’s young criminals. Evers is consistent in advocating to legalize marijuana as a means of reducing crime, but such policies are more about appeasing college kids and crusty hippies. Nowhere in Evers’ budgets is there anything designed to lock up more criminals, empower law enforcement, or compel district attorneys and judges to conduct themselves with the rigor and vigor that justice and victims deserve.

 

Safe behind the walls of his taxpayer-provided mansion with armed guards escorting him wherever he goes, Governor Evers has consistently demonstrated disinterest in the explosion in violent crime that is wrecking lives and destroying the quality of life in the state. Wisconsin needs a new governor who cares more about victims than criminals.

Regents Bring California Values to Wisconsin’s Flagship Campus

by | 2056, 16 May 2222 | , , | 0 Comments

Disgraceful.

(Reuters) – Jennifer Mnookin, the longtime dean of the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law, has been named the next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Officials announced her appointment Monday, saying she will take over the top administrative post at the state’s flagship public university on Aug. 4. Mnookin has led UCLA’s law school since 2015, during which time the school has expanded student financial aid, increased fundraising and student diversity, and added several academic centers.

Abort Democrat policies, not babies

by | 2022, 15 May 2222 | , , , | 0 Comments

Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News last week:

The issue of abortion had been simmering on the back burner of the midterm election as the nation awaited the Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. After the egregious breach of trust and decorum when someone leaked the draft ruling, the issue may still be on the back burner, but it is boiling over.

 

While the leaked ruling is a draft and not the final version, it does indicate that the Supreme Court has decided to reverse and strongly reverse the terrible Roe v. Wade ruling in the same virtuous spirit as Brown v. Board of Education. Justice Samuel Alito’s draft is a masterpiece of legal reasoning written in a strident prose designed to firmly correct the court’s 50-year injustice.

 

When the Supreme Court issues its ruling, and assuming that it will be to reverse Roe, it will not make abortion illegal or legal in the United States. Such a ruling will simply divorce the federal courts from making that decision for anyone and restore the issue to the elected branches of state government to decide. Roe was a massive usurpation of rights and responsibilities left to states in our federal Constitution and hopefully Dobbs will return the issue to the appropriate public policy forum.

 

Several liberal states have already passed laws legalizing abortion up to the point of infanticide. Other states have been increasingly restricting abortions. In both cases, states have been acting to ensure that their state laws will reflect the will of the people should Roe ever be overturned.

 

In Wisconsin, attempts to change abortion laws for the better or the worse have failed to make it into law. Consequently, should the Dobbs decision reverse Roe, Wisconsin’s current abortion law passed in 1849 will be in effect. That law makes it a felony to conduct or assist in an abortion in all circumstances except in the case that the mother’s life is at risk. For those of us who ardently oppose killing babies, the Wisconsin law is ideal. In a politically divided state like Wisconsin, we are in the minority. Public opinion polls for years have shown that a majority of people support abortion very early in a pregnancy with steadily declining support for abortion as the pregnancy progresses with late-term abortions being opposed by a strong majority of people. Should Roe be overturned, abortion policy will no longer be a theoretical policy plank in a party platform and Wisconsin’s elected officials will be responsible for their positions. Earlier this year, the Republicans failed to advance a bill that would have revise Wisconsin’s abortion statute to make abortion legal up until the point that the baby’s heartbeat is detectable. The abortion abolitionists and the secretly pro-abortion wings of the Republican caucus united to bottle up the bill without a vote. It may be an untenable position for Republicans to hold in the long term in a politically divided state. For the sake of the babies, let us hope that they can hold it.

 

While abortion policy is critically important to the thousands of babies who are murdered in Wisconsin every year, it is not as powerful a political issue as those on either side of the issue would like to think it is. There is a sliver of the electorate for whom abortion is the most important, and sometimes only, issue that decides their vote. Polls and electoral results in Virginia and Ohio seem to indicate that the anti-abortion single-issue voters outnumber the pro-abortion single-issue voters by a smidge. But either way, these voters tend to be extremely reliable voters and abortion stances are already strongly divided along party lines. There are a few pro-abortion Republicans left, but there are almost no anti-abortion Democrats to be found anymore. In other words, these voters were already very likely to vote, and their votes were already baked into the political projections.

 

If anything, Democrats are desperately hoping that a vigorous debate about abortion will distract some voters from the fact that Democratic policies are ruining our country. Runaway inflation not seen since the early 1980s is destroying our quality of life and erasing the economic gains of the middle and lower classes. Gas prices are through the roof. There are shortages of necessities like baby formula. Rising housing prices and interest rates are robbing young families of the dream of home ownership at the same time as rent is rising. Criminals are gutting neighborhoods.

 

If Democrats are hoping that a reinvigorated debate about abortion will save them from an electoral correction for their disastrous policies, they are mistaken. At the end of the day, most people care far more about themselves than they do about tiny innocent unwanted babies, but that is why abortion exists in the first place.

 

Nursing Board President Resigns in Protest Over Evers’ Veto

by | 2052, 10 May 2222 | | 5 Comments

To be fair, Evers does everything for political reasons irrespective of the underlying policy implications. He’s consistent like that.

The president of the Wisconsin Board of Nursing resigned to protest Gov. Tony Evers’ veto of legislation to allow registered nurses to be licensed as advanced practice nurses.

 

In his resignation letter, Dr. Peter Kallio wrote the “veto appeared politically motivated to appease a small group of doctors who want to dictate nursing practice and that, unfortunately, makes this Board of Nursing ineffective.” He accused Evers of “a pure disregard for our profession.”

 

His term was set to expire in July. Kallio also resigned from the Controlled Substances Board.

 

SB 394 would’ve allowed advanced practice nurse practitioners to issue prescription orders, among other things.

Abort Democrat policies, not babies

by | 0721, 10 May 2222 | , , | 0 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a part:

While abortion policy is critically important to the thousands of babies who are murdered in Wisconsin every year, it is not as powerful a political issue as those on either side of the issue would like to think it is. There is a sliver of the electorate for whom abortion is the most important, and sometimes only, issue that decides their vote. Polls and electoral results in Virginia and Ohio seem to indicate that the anti-abortion single-issue voters outnumber the pro-abortion single-issue voters by a smidge. But either way, these voters tend to be extremely reliable voters and abortion stances are already strongly divided along party lines. There are a few pro-abortion Republicans left, but there are almost no anti-abortion Democrats to be found anymore. In other words, these voters were already very likely to vote, and their votes were already baked into the political projections.

 

If anything, Democrats are desperately hoping that a vigorous debate about abortion will distract some voters from the fact that Democratic policies are ruining our country. Runaway inflation not seen since the early 1980s is destroying our quality of life and erasing the economic gains of the middle and lower classes. Gas prices are through the roof. There are shortages of necessities like baby formula. Rising housing prices and interest rates are robbing young families of the dream of home ownership at the same time as rent is rising. Criminals are gutting neighborhoods.

 

If Democrats are hoping that a reinvigorated debate about abortion will save them from an electoral correction for their disastrous policies, they are mistaken. At the end of the day, most people care far more about themselves than they do about tiny innocent unwanted babies, but that is why abortion exists in the first place.

Blake Drops Civil Right Lawsuit

by | 2103, 9 May 2222 | | 4 Comments

Perhaps they realized how ridiculous it is? Nah… can’t be that.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Jacob Blake has dropped his federal civil rights lawsuit against the Wisconsin police officer who shot him during a domestic disturbance and left him paralyzed from the waist down.

 

Neither attorneys for Blake, whose August 2020 shooting sparked the protests in which Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot two men and wounded a third, nor Kenosha Officer Rusten Sheskey indicated in their court filings why the lawsuit was being dropped, including whether a settlement had been reached.

 

A man who answered the phone at the office of Blake’s attorney, Patrick Salvi II, hung up when asked about the decision to drop the lawsuit, and Sheskey’s attorney, Kenneth Battle, had no immediate comment.

Pro-Abortion Violence Erupts in Madison

by | 1433, 8 May 2222 | , , | 94 Comments

Once again we see that it is the liberals who have such a strong propensity for violence when they don’t get their way. Antifa. BLM. Occupy Wall Street. Protests outside of justices’ homes. Attacking Senator Paul. The list goes on.

MADISON, Wis. — Madison police and the Fire Department are investigating a fire at an office building on the city’s north side that they said was arson.

Crews were called to the 2800 block of International Lane Sunday just after 6 a.m. and flames could be seen coming from the facility.

[…]

Officers and arson investigators have not determined the cause of the fire, but police confirmed at least one Molotov cocktail was thrown at the office during the incident.

Police confirmed that the office of Wisconsin Family Action was damaged in the incident. The group is a PAC that lobbies against abortion rights and gay marriage.

Evers bestows Office of Environmental Justice on Wisconsin

by | 1032, 8 May 2222 | | 1 Comment

Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News last week:

In the face of a contracting economy, high gas prices, the worst inflation in 40 years, raging violent crime, and a collapse of government education, Gov. Tony Evers has ordered the Department of Administration to create an Office of Environmental Justice. Wisconsin clearly has a governor with his finger on the pulse of what is important to the people of Wisconsin.

 

This was not Governor Evers’ first attempt at creating an OEJ. He put the creation of the office into his draft of the most recent state budget. The Legislature, seeing no reason to enlarge government with another expensive office full of environmental activists who would erode the state’s economy as they empty the taxpayers’ pockets, declined to put the OEJ into the final version of the budget that Evers signed into law. Not to be denied, Evers has now created the OEJ by executive order under the mistaken belief that the state Constitution grants the governor to do whatever he wants via executive order when he does not get his way in the Legislature. The key to understanding the OEJ, and how bad it will be for Wisconsin, is to understand that it is not about the environment. The mission of the OEJ is not to make sure that Wisconsin protects the environment. The OEJ is not a regulatory agency to ensure that the state has reasonably clean air and water. OEJ officials will not be helping to clean up industrial accidents. The key word in the Office of Environmental Justice is not “environmental.” The key word is “justice,” as Tony Evers and the woke left defines it. I invite the reader to take a moment and go read the executive order creating the OEJ. It is easy to find. It is Executive Order #161 and it is only three pages. As with all government proclamations, there are a series of “whereas” clauses that build the justification for the order being issued. Eight of the ten “whereas” clauses in Evers’ order are about racial or social equity.

 

Only one “whereas,” the sixth one, claims that there is an environmental issue that justifies the creation of a new government office. Meanwhile, the order is replete with phrases like, “promoting environmental equity,” “environmental justice movement,” “communities of color in urban ghettos,” and “right to equitable treatment.”

 

The goal of the OEJ is not to make sure that Wisconsin has a cleaner environment. The goal is to ensure that Wisconsin’s environmental regulations meet the racial and social “equity” standard of the woke left. In the nine directives for the OEJ detailed in the executive order, there is no mention of environmental goals. Instead, the new office is directed to do things like review the impact of state laws, regulations, and policy on equitable treatment, develop recommendations using the Wisconsin environmental equity tools, and “develop a framework and strategy for environmental justice work across the administration.”

 

The message from the Evers administration is clear. In Wisconsin, there will be one more state agency to harass and bully businesses and homeowners for any environmental transgressions, real or perceived. Except now, running afoul of the environmental regulatory apparatus could also be deemed racist, transphobic, or whatever violation of “equity” can be applied from the Office of Environmental Justice. Governor Evers continues to run roughshod over the legislative process to push the woke agenda through state government. Meanwhile he continues to nap while Wisconsinites are facing real economic and social hardships. One term in office is one too many for this governor.

West Bend Girls Soccer Teams Merge Due to Low Participation

by | 2032, 7 May 2222 | , | 6 Comments

Declining enrolment continues apace in the West Bend School District. Do they still have all of those same buildings as when they had 1,000 more kids? (hint: yes)

Despite being rivals in the past, West Bend East and West girls soccer combined this spring to form one co-op team.

 

This year the participation from both schools was low enough that the soccer teams could combine without having high numbers. There is precedent for such a move, as the girls golf team, girls swim and dive, boys swim and dive and snowboarding teams already function as co-ops.

 

“In fact, we were at the point where we would only be able to field a varsity team for each school,” said Erin Felber, the West athletic director. “This is not conducive to helping build a program and it isn’t safe for student-athletes to potentially have to play at the varsity level when they are not ready.”

Democrats Pour Money into State to Defend Evers

by | 1812, 6 May 2222 | | 0 Comments

They’re nervous.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Democratic group is focusing its television advertising spending in the upper Midwest states of Michigan and Wisconsin where Democratic incumbent governors face tough reelection bids.

 

The Democratic Governors Association’s announced Wednesday that it is spending $75 million on ads in seven states, with $23 million going to help Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and $21 million for Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.

 

The spending in Wisconsin is more than triple the $6.2 million that the Republican Governors Association said two months ago it planned to spend in the state, at least initially. The RGA said it would spend $3.5 million in Michigan starting in mid-October.

Evers bestows Office of Environmental Justice on Wisconsin

by | 0730, 3 May 2222 | | 6 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a part:

The key to understanding the OEJ, and how bad it will be for Wisconsin, is to understand that it is not about the environment. The mission of the OEJ is not to make sure that Wisconsin protects the environment. The OEJ is not a regulatory agency to ensure that the state has reasonably clean air and water. OEJ officials will not be helping to clean up industrial accidents. The key word in the Office of Environmental Justice is not “environmental.” The key word is “justice,” as Tony Evers and the woke left defines it. I invite the reader to take a moment and go read the executive order creating the OEJ. It is easy to find. It is Executive Order #161 and it is only three pages. As with all government proclamations, there are a series of “whereas” clauses that build the justification for the order being issued. Eight of the ten “whereas” clauses in Evers’ order are about racial or social equity.

 

Only one “whereas,” the sixth one, claims that there is an environmental issue that justifies the creation of a new government office. Meanwhile, the order is replete with phrases like, “promoting environmental equity,” “environmental justice movement,” “communities of color in urban ghettos,” and “right to equitable treatment.”

 

The goal of the OEJ is not to make sure that Wisconsin has a cleaner environment. The goal is to ensure that Wisconsin’s environmental regulations meet the racial and social “equity” standard of the woke left.

Tim Michels’ Residency Questioned

by | 0730, 2 May 2222 | | 7 Comments

Good reporting from Wisconsin Right Now. There’s no doubt that Michels is a born Wisconsinite who lived in the state for many years. But if you get rich, buy homes on the coast, and live there, can you still be the governor of Wisconsin?

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels left some key facts out of his campaign biography: Namely, a $17 million Long Island Sound home located in a Greenwich, Connecticut neighborhood. The home was purchased in October 2020 through an oddly named LLC that makes ownership hard to trace. However, we have uncovered a building permit buried in a tranche of public documents that lists the owners as Tim and Barbara Michels.

 

Furthermore, from 2013-2021, all three Michels children attended and graduated from high schools in Connecticut and New York City, Wisconsin Right Now has documented. They are not boarding schools, and the kids were extensively involved in high school sporting activities there.

 

The youngest son graduated from a Greenwich high school in 2021, where he was on the sailing team, skippering yachts. That’s just the start of the family’s extensive east coast lives over the past decade. Tim and Barbara Michels accumulated more than $30 million in homes in Connecticut and New York City, with some of the ownership hidden through LLCs.

 

Michels and his wife gave Weill Cornell Medicine in New York a large donation last year in honor of their daughter’s inspirational recovery from brain cancer. A story on that gift reveals, “By 2017, the family was living in the New York area…” That article describes the family as “natives of Wisconsin.”

The language of the story is a little inflammatory. I doubt that the use of LLCs to purchase the homes was an attempt to hide anything. It is common practice for wealthy people who buy multiple properties. And I also give allowance for the issues of residency are a bit more nuanced for people with a bit of money. There are legions of Wisconsin retirees who are officially residents of Florida or Arizona, but they still consider themselves to be Wisconsinites.

Still, those issues of nuance are not applicable when running for public office. You live here or you don’t. The fact that the Michels kids have built lives in another state seems to indicate that they live there. We can reasonable think that their parents do too – even if they live a more nomadic lifestyle between multiple homes. Even if the parents are still spending most of their time in Wisconsin, it is a valid issue for the voters to consider where Tim Michels’ mind is really focused when his family life is oriented on the East Coast.

The table is set

by | 2208, 1 May 2222 | | 0 Comments

Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News last week.

If you turn on your television this week or browse a few Wisconsin websites, you are going to be inundated with ads about Tim Michels, who has announced that he is running for governor as a Republican. A Republican nomination that Rebecca Kleefisch was cruising to win has turned into an intramural brawl to take on the feckless Gov. Tony Evers in what looks like a red wave election year.

 

The story of Michels’ announcement is swirling in the smoke of backroom Republican politics. Former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch has been working throughout the state since losing office in 2018 with a clear intention of running for governor. She has traveled the state, supported Republican causes, and remained a potent political figure in Republican circles. When she officially announced that she was running for governor, prominent Republicans throughout the state lined up to endorse her. She hoped that her strength would freeze out other contenders. It did not.

 

In a year in which a Republican stands a good chance of becoming governor, more Republicans threw their hats in the ring. Kevin Nicholson began running for governor after Sen. Ron Johnson announced his re-election. Nicholson wanted to be a senator but settled for governor. Nicholson’s campaign is focused on being the anti-establishment Republican who can appeal to the Trump wing of the party. After a dust up in Madison, state Rep. Timothy Ramthun entered the race on a platform of election integrity. He wants to relitigate the 2020 election and is also appealing to the anti-establishment Trump voters. His entry cleaved off the more radical fringe of Trump voters who might have otherwise voted for Nicholson. That is how the race sat for two months. Now comes Michels. Despite Kleefisch’s strengths, the buzz in the backrooms of the Republican hive was that Kleefisch had been unable to seal the deal — whatever that means. Her fundraising has lagged expectations and she was not connecting with the Republican base. That was the buzz despite rolling reports that Kleefisch was a hit at every event she attended. Still, the Republican bigwigs thought they needed a ringer.

 

Allegedly after meeting to discuss the race, former Gov. Tommy Thompson decided to bow out and let the younger Tim Michels jump into the race. Michels ran once before for statewide office 18 years ago and lost, but he has been a Republican financier throughout his adult life.

 

What is a Republican voter to do? It is always wise to use the time-tested rubric of William F. Buckley to vote for the, “most right, viable candidate who can win.” In a projected red wave election, the aperture of “who can win” is a little wider than most years, but the rubric holds.

 

Ramthun is certainly right, but is not a viable candidate who can win. Underfinanced with little statewide name recognition and a narrow appeal, he cannot win.

 

Nicholson is viable, but questions remain on his ideology and ability to win. As a former liberal who converted to conservatism (as many people do), he has been involved in conservative activism since bursting on the scene in 2018 to lose the Republican primary for Senate. Still, talking is not doing and Nicholson has never held elected office where his conversion could be tested. Electing him to one of the most powerful governorships in the nation should not be the first test. Also, with a narrow appeal to anti-establishment Trump voters, his ability to win a statewide election is questionable.

 

Kleefisch meets all of the criteria. She is a proven conservative who never wavered even in the withering fire of the early Scott Walker administration. She has been indefatigable in her support of conservative causes and conservative candidates. She is not running on issues of the past, but on conservative issues that matter now like school choice, election integrity, government reform, and in a year in which the Supreme Court might push abortion policy back to the states, Kleefisch is ardently pro-life. She is the real deal who we can confidently expect to move conservative policy if elected. She has already won a statewide race and appeals to a broad electorate.

 

I am firmly in the Kleefisch camp, but an open mind is a healthy mind, but as the old sales saying goes, Michels needs to offer a compelling reason to change. Going back to the Buckley rubric, Michels is definitely viable as a rich candidate who can self-finance his campaign. He has not proven that he can win a statewide election, but in a red wave year, it is probable that he would. The real questions are about his ideology and grit.

 

No doubt that Michels is conservative with a stellar pedigree. A veteran and businessman who has supported conservatives for decades, there is no doubt as to his core conservatism. But his family business is also one of the largest government contractors in the world. Will he be a champion for restraining government spending even when that spending flows into his family fortune? Perhaps.

 

Also, with the whirls of proverbial cigar smoke still wafting about him from the Republican backrooms, will Michels be the kind of conservative crusader Wisconsin had in Walker or Florida has in DeSantis? Perhaps. If Kleefisch was not in the race, Michels might be the best choice. But Kleefisch is in the race, so why should conservatives take a chance on Michels when they have a sure bet with Kleefisch?

 

The next 15 weeks before the primary election will be saturated with the hot politics of a contested primary election. Primaries can be good and healthy for a party to sharpen ideas and fortify positions. When it comes to making a decision, actions matter more than words and prior performance is the best predictor of future performance. Vote accordingly.

Senator Johnson Slams Biden’s Ministry of Truth

by | 1508, 29 Apr 2222 | , | 7 Comments

Yup

“The fact that a federal department with approximately 240,000 employees would set up a ‘Disinformation Governance Board’ to enforce the government’s judgement of what information is allowed in the public square should frighten anyone who values liberty and understands how crucial free speech is in maintaining that liberty,” the senator told the Daily Caller.

The table is set

by | 0434, 26 Apr 2222 | | 2 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Note that I wrote it on Sunday before Michels released his media campaign and before his interview with Jay Weber on WISN1130 yesterday morning. I can’t say that I’ve seen anything to change my mind yet. Here’s a part:

I am firmly in the Kleefisch camp, but an open mind is a healthy mind, but as the old sales saying goes, Michels needs to offer a compelling reason to change. Going back to the Buckley rubric, Michels is definitely viable as a rich candidate who can self-finance his campaign. He has not proven that he can win a statewide election, but in a red wave year, it is probable that he would. The real questions are about his ideology and grit.

 

No doubt that Michels is conservative with a stellar pedigree. A veteran and businessman who has supported conservatives for decades, there is no doubt as to his core conservatism. But his family business is also one of the largest government contractors in the world. Will he be a champion for restraining government spending even when that spending flows into his family fortune? Perhaps.

 

Also, with the whirls of proverbial cigar smoke still wafting about him from the Republican backrooms, will Michels be the kind of conservative crusader Wisconsin had in Walker or Florida has in DeSantis? Perhaps. If Kleefisch was not in the race, Michels might be the best choice. But Kleefisch is in the race, so why should conservatives take a chance on Michels when they have a sure bet with Kleefisch?

Send Johnson back to Washington

by | 1623, 23 Apr 2222 | | 10 Comments

Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News last week. I think I’ll write next week’s about the Republican primary for governor. I have so many thoughts… you?

 

When candidate Ron Johnson left his relative obscurity as a successful businessman to become one of thousands of impassioned patriots who were compelled to run for office in response to President Barack Obama’s leftist governance, many people underestimated the impact he would have on Wisconsin. Now, 12 years later, Johnson is asking the voters to send him back to Washington again to continue to work on behalf of Wisconsin. The fact that so many liberals hate Johnson so much is reason enough for conservatives to come out in force to support him, but he has also earned another term on the merits.

 

Despite being new to elected office and a rookie in the U.S. Senate, Senator Johnson quickly rose to prominence during his first term. As an outspoken critic of government and the swamp in Washington, he was a steadfast opponent of President Obama’s destructive policies. Johnson fought against Obamacare, open borders, and runaway government spending. He drew the ire of leftists, but also upset the entrenched Republican establishment in Washington because he was not one to go along to get along.

 

Perhaps Johnson stood out a little more because he was so different than the kind of Republican senators that the country had become accustomed to over the past several decades. Wisconsin’s senators had been so beige that they were often indistinguishable from the plush chairs. Then here comes Johnson and he is immediately in the thick of everything.

 

Before the end of his first term, Johnson had become the chairman of the powerful Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Under his leadership, that committee passed over 300 bills with 132 of them becoming law. He used his position to delve into the bureaucratic establishment to shine the light on how our government really works — and how it doesn’t.

 

Johnson is now the ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and on the Budget, Foreign Relations, and Commerce, Science and Transportation committees. It is telling that Johnson is not only serving on the committees that work on hard issues, but that his fellow senators trust him on those committees.

 

Throughout his senate career, Johnson could always be relied upon to speak his mind. He was one of the first elected Republicans to publicly condemn Hunter Biden for the information found on Hunter’s laptop and question how such illegal and unethical activities might compromise the “Big Guy,” President Joe Biden. Johnson was derided at the time for advancing unproven conspiracies, but now, two years later, even The New York Times accepts that the incriminating information in the laptop is authentic.

 

Johnson has been outspoken about the sloppy and insecure elections in Wisconsin and elsewhere, was an early critic of the federal government’s COVID responses, and rang the warning bell about government spending triggering inflation. It seems that whenever the leftists are railing against Johnson for straying from the accepted mainstream dogma of the moment, he is proven to be correct.

 

As Johnson runs for his third term, he is still looking forward. Two terms in the Senate have not diminished his energy or his willingness to challenge the status quo. Johnson is continuing his fight against the immense government deficit spending that has now caused the worst inflation since IBM introduced its first personal computer with DOS 1.0. He is hearing the concerns of parents and advocating for more choice in education. Johnson is seeking to correct the worst abuses of government during the pandemic.

 

The Biden administration is a rolling disaster for the country and the only way to slow it is to elect Republican majorities in the House and Senate. Although it is a presidential off year where the opposition party normally does well, the quirk of the maps favors the Democrats in the Senate this year. While the House looks likely, not certain, to swing to the Republicans, the Senate is still a tossup. It will take an overwhelming voice from the people for the Republicans to take control of the Senate and Senator Johnson is one of the 51 people that Americans must elect to make that happen.

 

Finally, it is worth noting that after two terms and a record of action, Senator Johnson matters. He is not the stolid backbencher who harrumphs on cue when called upon by his caucus leadership. Indeed, Johnson is a case study for the maxim that not all leaders have a title. He is his own man with his own voice, and he uses it voraciously on behalf of Wisconsin and the issues in which he believes. We must send him back to Washington not because he wants it, but because Wisconsin needs it.

As Expected, Tim Michels Enters the Race for Governor

by | 1915, 22 Apr 2222 | | 0 Comments

The table is finally fully set.

MILWAUKEE — Republican businessman Tim Michels is running for Wisconsin governor, TMJ4’s Charles Benson reports.

 

Michels is the co-owner of Brownsville, Wis.-based Michels Corporation with his brothers. Michels Corporation is an infrastructure and energy contractor.

 

Michels is jumping into the race with about fours months until the August primary. He ran for U.S. Senate in 2004 and lost to Russ Feingold.

I like Tim Michels. He’s a good guy who has done a lot for Republican causes and for the state. But I just don’t see what the differentiator is between him and Kleefisch. At least, I don’t see what the positive differentiator is. Kleefisch is right on almost all of the issues. There are questions about Michels when it comes to government spending. Is he really going to fight for less spending on things like roads when his company is the recipient of that spending? Maybe. Maybe not. Why take the chance?

Send Johnson back to Washington

by | 0710, 19 Apr 2222 | | 8 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a part.

When candidate Ron Johnson left his relative obscurity as a successful businessman to become one of thousands of impassioned patriots who were compelled to run for office in response to President Barack Obama’s leftist governance, many people underestimated the impact he would have on Wisconsin. Now, 12 years later, Johnson is asking the voters to send him back to Washington again to continue to work on behalf of Wisconsin. The fact that so many liberals hate Johnson so much is reason enough for conservatives to come out in force to support him, but he has also earned another term on the merits.

 

Despite being new to elected office and a rookie in the U.S. Senate, Senator Johnson quickly rose to prominence during his first term. As an outspoken critic of government and the swamp in Washington, he was a steadfast opponent of President Obama’s destructive policies. Johnson fought against Obamacare, open borders, and runaway government spending. He drew the ire of leftists, but also upset the entrenched Republican establishment in Washington because he was not one to go along to get along.

 

Perhaps Johnson stood out a little more because he was so different than the kind of Republican senators that the country had become accustomed to over the past several decades. Wisconsin’s senators had been so beige that they were often indistinguishable from the plush chairs. Then here comes Johnson and he is immediately in the thick of everything.

 

[…]

 

As Johnson runs for his third term, he is still looking forward. Two terms in the Senate have not diminished his energy or his willingness to challenge the status quo. Johnson is continuing his fight against the immense government deficit spending that has now caused the worst inflation since IBM introduced its first personal computer with DOS 1.0. He is hearing the concerns of parents and advocating for more choice in education. Johnson is seeking to correct the worst abuses of government during the pandemic.

 

The Biden administration is a rolling disaster for the country and the only way to slow it is to elect Republican majorities in the House and Senate. Although it is a presidential off year where the opposition party normally does well, the quirk of the maps favors the Democrats in the Senate this year. While the House looks likely, not certain, to swing to the Republicans, the Senate is still a tossup. It will take an overwhelming voice from the people for the Republicans to take control of the Senate and Senator Johnson is one of the 51 people that Americans must elect to make that happen.

 

Finally, it is worth noting that after two terms and a record of action, Senator Johnson matters. He is not the stolid backbencher who harrumphs on cue when called upon by his caucus leadership. Indeed, Johnson is a case study for the maxim that not all leaders have a title. He is his own man with his own voice, and he uses it voraciously on behalf of Wisconsin and the issues in which he believes. We must send him back to Washington not because he wants it, but because Wisconsin needs it.

Tommy Thompson Declines to Enter Governor’s Race

by | 2056, 18 Apr 2222 | | 1 Comment

Good for him.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, a Republican elected to four terms starting in the 1980s, announced Monday that he will not run again in a bid to take on the Democratic incumbent in the battleground state.

 

A campaign by the 80-year-old Thompson would have put him on the ballot for the first time in a decade and 24 years after his last win. The winner of the Aug. 9 Republican primary will advance to face Gov. Tony Evers

 

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