News Highlights of the Days - 3/22 and 3/23

Tuesday and Wednesday have both been very busy days for me, so I haven't been Facebooking much. I've been accumulating topics, and links, and I'm just going to post them here with a bit of explanation. 

1) A very coherent article about some of the ways in which the Budget Repair Bill, the Budget, and the current Republican policies target, in particular, women and people of color.  I would also add that the elimination of SeniorCare (which may not happen after all, but has been discussed a lot) might also affect women a lot.

http://womensmediacenter.com/blog/2011/03/exclusive-wisconsin-budget-battle-targets-women-and-people-of-color/

2) Medicaid under attack. There are several ways in which Medicaid is under attack. Wisconsin Act 10, if published (currently being challenged due to the way in which it was passed), will enable to Director of the Department of Health Services and the Governor to make sweeping changes to the Medicaid program.

One of the changes that is being talked about is SeniorCare. SeniorCare is a Wisconsin state prescription plan for seniors, which is much less expensive (and, I believe, much less confusing) than Medicare Part D. If SeniorCare is gutted, elderly residents in Wisconsin would be forced to spend more money by going through Medicare Part D. And it turns out that many of those prescription plans are run by companies that donate heavily to the Republicans, including the Republican Governors Association which gave money to Walker's campaign: http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/walkers-13-million-reasons-for-funneling-seniors-out-of-seniorcare.html

Another issue with Wisconsin Act 10 (the non-fiscal version of the Budget Repair Bill): It doesn't actually deal with the Medicaid shortfall. That's because it's a non-fiscal Budget Repair Bill (which really sounds like an oxymoron to me). So we can make drastic changes to the program without legislative review...but right now, we're still on track to financial problems:

http://m.host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/health_med_fit/article_97a1a8a2-54d1-11e0-86a8-001cc4c002e0.html
  
They are finally starting to talk about what Medicaid changes might be made, and the State Journal explains them: http://m.host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/health_med_fit/article_b64a1730-54d1-11e0-83ae-001cc4c002e0.html

I can't remember if I posted this already, but DHS has announced that they are freezing enrollment for BadgerCare Basic (a self-funded plan for childless adults that was created last year when the state discovered that once BadgerCare Plus was opened to childless adults, there was a huge waiting list of people who were eligible but couldn't get on due to enrollment limits): http://www.thewheelerreport.com/releases/March11/0318/0318dhsbasic.pdf



3) An article that sums up the legal aspects of what has been happening in Wisconsin, leading to why the April 5th Supreme Court Justice election is so critical, and is truly the only time the people of WI will *definitely* get to vote on this issue (there's no way to know whether a recall effort against Walker will actually pick up steam in 9 months). 

http://onmilwaukee.com/living/articles/jagler032311.html

And for some explanation of the type of person that Prosser is, it's important to learn about his history: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/118410829.html

4) Related to the election on April 5th, our local taxi cooperative (yes, in Madison, we have a cooperatively owned cab company) has decided to provide free rides for people needing assistance getting people to the polls: http://www.facebook.com/UnionCab/posts/10150117370887535

5) At this point in the fight to move Wisconsin forward, or at least, halt the backwards movement, there is a lot of focus on money. Who gave it, who spent it, who offers it, where the state spends it, how the state spends it, where we boycott...

Last week, a number of Wisconsin Republicans went to DC for a fundraiser. Just to help them feel at home, protesters crowded the streets and the building where they were. The fundraiser was sponsored by a lobbyist that works for the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association. Hint: The Wisconsin Transportation Builders don't build trains, buses, light rail or bike paths. They focus on roads. Lots of roads. The same roads that Walker was hoping to use our high speed rail money for, until the Feds took it back (because if you can't play with the toys as they are meant to be played with, you don't get to play with them at all).

http://uppitywis.org/blogarticle/dc-fundraiser-wisconsin-gop-was-roadbuilder-sponsored-payoff


6) Open Records. Wisconsin has a fabulous open records law. We the people can request records from the state. There are parameters, of course, and not everything can be obtained, but many things are available.

Last week, there was a settlement on a suit from Walker's office regarding an open records request filed by The Isthmus (a local paper) and the AP, for emails to the Governor regarding the Budget Repair Bill. The settlement involved handing over emails from February 11th (when the bill was introduced) to February 17th, I believe (when Walker was claiming he was getting thousands of emails all in support).


http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/article.php?article=32818&sid=f0fef0d190953479f851f9fd91700995

Today, it turns out that a watchdog group requested emails sent by Republicans discussing how to handle the absence of the Democrats. And by "handle" I mean "punish". It seems like the intent of the request may have been to determine whether Fitzgerald was aware of the potential mis-use of the State Patrol. But it reveals so much more.

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20110323/GPG0101/110323141/Emails-show-how-GOP-state-senators-planned-punish-14-AWOL-Dems?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

You can actually see all the emails at: http://www.scribd.com/collections/2926400/Documents-Regarding-WI-Senator-Scott-Fitzgerald


7) Open Meetings
After Dane County Judge Sumi ordered a restraining order on Wisconsin Act 10, the state Attorney General, JB Van Hollen, requested to appeal (http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/118462359.html). Part of his argument seems to be that a judge doesn't have the authority to rule on legislative actions. The problem is, her ruling had nothing to do with the content of the law, and everything to do with whether the actions taken by members of the legislature were legal or not. If we can't challenge our lawmakers regarding their methods, we lose another bit of our power within the democracy that we have. 

The appeal has to be filed on behalf of someone and in this case, that happens to be Secretary of State Doug La Follette. Except, it seems that Van Hollen forgot to mention this to La Follette:

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_1cd4920c-541c-11e0-8303-001cc4c03286.html

And the Dane County DA is pretty sure that the details of *how* the law got passed *is* important, and he says so: 

http://m.host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_fa0f0f36-54d9-11e0-abbb-001cc4c002e0.html



 8) Budget Odds and Ends:

It turns out that a major bipartisan effort might end up being...saving the state's recycling funding. Democrats like it because recycling is a way to love the earth. Republicans like it because they hate unfunded mandates, and because, well, landfills are expensive, and you can always trust the Republicans to analyze the fiscal impact.

http://m.host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_e791e3fe-5404-11e0-8d8a-001cc4c002e0.html


On the other hand, the Walker administration continues to disappoint some traditionally conservative voters: Farmers. Preserving farmland is apparently not as critical as encouraging development. It seems like there should be a way to preserve farmland *and* create jobs. But here in the dairy state, we apparently no longer need farmland: 

http://m.host.madison.com/mobile/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_b719c790-7f9f-5405-8fbb-6530abbca388.html

The state power plants have been both a major issue and a non-issue during the recent debates over the Budget Repair Bill. It was one of the 3 major items that I highlighted in my first analysis of the bill, because it gave major power to the governor to sell all of the state's power plants...in no-bid sales.  But, along with Medicaid (another one of my 3 major items), it was pretty much ignored during the first week of the protests (though it was discussed at great length during the JFC and Assembly hearings). Until, of course, Walker was recorded having a phone conversation with someone who identified himself as David Koch. Suddenly, despite a denial from a Koch brothers spokesperson, there was an obsession with the idea that there was a secret deal between Walker and the Kochs to sell the power plants at a good rate. I have tended to dismiss that as too much conspiracy, not enough proof. However, the idea of no-bid sales with minimal legislative oversight is pretty scary...and screams of big centralized government and disempowerment of the voters and legislators!  And while this part does not appear in Wisconsin Act 10, it is still going to come up again later:


http://m.host.madison.com/mobile/article_c7c57cc8-51b3-11e0-a99f-001cc4c03286.html




9) Non-budget Related Items:

Walker has fired the lawyers who were defending the state in a challenge to domestic partner laws passed under former Governor Doyle (a Democrat). The reason the state hired lawyers in the first place was that JB Van Hollen (see above: WI AG) refused to defend the law when it was challenged.

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/on-topic/article_ad99f656-5593-11e0-bafd-001cc4c002e0.html


A bill has been proposed (but has not yet passed) that would create incredibly strict restrictions on the locations for wind farms (restrictions which would make several wind farms that were in planning stages unable to function). And indeed, we now have the first cancellation of a project. Again, because Wisconsin is open for business. Just not *all* business:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/business/118397164.html

And finally, after spending $500,000 on a system to prevent childcare fraud (an issue uncovered by a Wisconsin journalist a few years ago, involving child care centers creating phony children, enrollment records, etc, in order to collect money from the state program to help fund childcare for low-income families so that parents can work), Walker's administration has canceled the contract with the company that was working on this program: http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/118342669.html. 

Yet again, this is a particularly bipartisan issue: no one wants to see money intended for childcare going to the owners of centers: the Dems because social services are good, and the Repubs because fiscal transparency is important. Pay attention to this story, because coming up tomorrow, we'll talk about education and the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program.

In fact, most of what I plan to write about tomorrow (hopefully!) is education: Charter schools (including SB-22, which is being discussed by the Ed Committee today), Choice schools, and the education components of the Biennial Budget. I might even provide some links to information about the potential splitting of the UW-Madison from the UW system.