We Can Make Wisconsin Progressive, Again … IF

Posted on June 27, 2017 by Kenneth Germanson

Rather than being content to sit back and cry in their beer over the 2016 election losses, some 200 or more activists gathered in Stevens Point on a cool summer weekend to see if they could fashion a way to restore Wisconsin to its former place as a beacon of progressivism.

For the most part, these folks were supporters of Bernie Sanders in the primaries and their enthusiasm and hard grassroots activities helped to propel the Vermont Senator to easily win the Wisconsin primary over Hillary Clinton. Now they gathered to see if there was a way to re-ignite that enthusiasm and to devise strategies that would lead to saving the state from the ravaging disaster that it has become under the regressive leadership of Gov. Scott Walker and an unfairly elected and backward-thinking GOP Legislature.

Students rallying in a march to support science in April 2017

The gathering was the founding convention of Our Wisconsin Revolution, one of the statewide groups being formed in some 13 states under a loose national umbrella organization, Our Revolution. The national group is seeking to spread the concept that through organizing on progressive issues, sponsoring worthy candidates for offices at all levels and working at the grassroots our governments at all levels can be restored to serve the best interests of all Americans.

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Those who showed up came on their own dime, paying for their own gas and overnight lodging and they were serious about getting things done – not merely getting together in a feel-good session of speechifying and in lamenting over how others screwed-up the 2016 election. To be sure, there were occasional references to the failure of Candidate Clinton to pay attention to Wisconsin voters and the general failure of the Democratic Party; yet, most were happy to lay that aside as ancient history and concentrate on deciding “what do we do now?”

And work they did, convening in the early afternoon of Friday, continuing through a working supper and ending after nine o’clock, with the whole effort beginning again Saturday and ending about four o’clock. First, of course, came the frustrating but necessary business of approving by-laws. The convention almost got bogged down on nit-picking detail, but thanks to strong leadership, the effort was completed with only minimal delay and with apparent unanimous harmony.

Secondly, came the approval of a platform, a chore that found virtually every progressive goodie being added to an already long list of desires. Hardly a liberal dream was forgotten! Thanks again goes to the planners for setting up a tight agenda that forced the chair to call a halt to the process. There are just so many ornaments to put on a Christmas tree before the branches sag and the tree collapses. Not every liberal idea will get enacted, of course, but the platform does give guidance to choosing candidates and stimulating volunteers and donors. The platform was given tentative approval.

Then came the hardwork: devising strategies and action that will bring progressive governance back to Wisconsin.

The planning committee is also to be commended for what appears to be a highly workable and possibly successful structure that calls for development of committees in each of the eight Wisconsin congressional districts; the committees will be charged with organizing voter registration and education campaigns as well as encouraging progressive individuals to run for political office at all levels. To be successful, each CD group will have to recruit activists who are willing to put in time and effort to work door-to-door campaigns, staff phone banks, run forums and do all the grunt work necessary to win elections.

Decisions will have to be made as to what candidates to support at each level; while most hope the endorsed candidates will run as Democrats, the group is open to Third Party and independent candidates.

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Some encouraging signs from the Stevens Point conclave came in the diversity in ages among the participants with a goodly number of gray and balding heads among the fresh faces of the young, including an articulate, poised 18-year-old who ran (unsuccessfully) for one of the seven at-large board seats. While there was a heavy concentration of folks from Madison, all parts of the state had significant representation. Few of the participants seemed to be doctrinaire ideologues; rather they were looking to the practical goal of winning elections with truly progressive candidates.

There were some discouraging notes, however. Our Wisconsin Revolution will have to guard against being tagged as a bunch of elitist intellectuals, which will turn off the underpaid working people of the state, many of whom switched to Trump in 2016. There were too few persons of color among the group, nor were there many representatives of organized labor, both of which will be needed to form an effective effort.

Nonetheless, the founding convention was largely successful in building the framework for what could be the beginning of the end of the shameful Scott Walker-GOP control of Wisconsin. Chosen as interim co-leaders were Terrance Warthen, an African-American from the 1^st Congressional District, and Sarah Lloyd, who farms in Columbia County and was candidate for 6^th District Congressperson in 2016. Both showed leadership and energy during the conference and seem well-suited to provide early leadership for Our Wisconsin Revolution.

Success for the goals of Our Wisconsin Revolution rests upon whether it can stir up interest in enough persons who will be willing to roll up their sleeves to work for progressive change in Wisconsin. That’s the big “IF.”

If you’re so inclined, why not join in the cause? Check it out here and then run – don’t walk – to the next OWR meeting in your area. – Ken Germanson, June 26, 2017.

Wisconsin Becoming Kansas II

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Kenneth Germanson

Wisconsin’s Gov. Scott Walker appears to be a clone of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback. Both are are leading their states in a downward slide of economic devastation, where schools find it more difficult to educate, the roads become havens of potholes and health care dries up for those with few resources.

Brownback has been leading a five-year crusade to create a state that shows that lower

Kansas Gov. Brownback

taxes and trickle-down economics can lead to economic prosperity. Only it hasn’t worked. The promised growth has been disappointing, with the state’s gross domestic productivity increasing only 0.2% compared with the national average of 1.6%. As the New York Times editorialized June 9:“State revenues dwindled along with job growth. Budget deficits ballooned. Education funding plummeted, and the state suffered multiple credit downgrades as Mr. Brownback played the mad doctor of supply-side economics.”

Finally, however, Kansas voters have wised up. Recently legislators bolted from Brownback’s no-budget increase policy to call for a budget boost of $1.2 Billion, even overriding a Brownback veto. The governor had lost much of his support for his failed policies in the last election when a dozen of his most ardent supporters were ousted from their legislative seats.

Wisconsin Gov. Walker

Gov. Walker’s single-minded quest for “no tax increase economics” has plunged Wisconsin into a similar abyss. Wisconsin schools are continually being robbed of funds, while Walker argues that school districts are able to make up for the drop in aids, thanks to the “benefits” of Act 10 that freed them from dealing with teachers unions and gave districts a right to cut teacher salaries and benefits (with larger class sizes). This anti-education policy can only lead to disaster, since Wisconsin employers are constantly pleading for more qualified workers and that won’t happen with out a good school system.

Similarly, Wisconsin’s highway program is being starved with Walker’s refusal to entertain gas tax increases or license fee boosts. Ongoing highway projects — with their accompanying road delays and detours — are being threatened for delays or postponements while potholes wreak havoc on the front ends of our cars and trucks. Walker’s only answer now seems to be a hare-brained scheme to charge tolls to out-of-staters or to rob funds from other state programs, most of which help the poor and needy.

Meanwhile, his conservation policies are threatening our wetlands, our clean water needs and our wildlife. That’s hardly a wise course for a state that relies upon its lakes, rivers and the Great Lakes as lures for one of its best economic resources: tourism.

There are signs that even the most conservative of Republican legislators may balk at Walker’s “no-tax-increase” policy, with many favoring a gas tax increase, for instance.

Sadly for us Wisconsinites, the six years of Walkernomics have proven to be a disaster; the promised new businesses have failed to materialize as Wisconsin remains among those states with the poorest record of job-creation. (Note: Walker can honestly boast of a drop in the unemployment levels, but that has been accomplished as the state stagnates in population growth and in wage levels.)

While there are encouraging signs in the Republican legislature of resisting Walker’s failed “trickle-down” policies, it’s a good bet the conservative leaders in both houses will not go far enough in turning back this trend toward turning Wisconsin into a backwater state without a good future.

The answer lies in the 2018 election when voters will speak again. Maybe they’ll show they’re no longer going to be fooled by Walker’s backward economic thinking, just as the voters in Kansas have shown. – June 9, 2017