Wisconsin GOP Fast Tracks Lobbyist’s Checks, Will Not Hold Redistricting Hearing

Talk about bad public relations under the dome of the Wisconsin Statehouse!.

No one can wonder why the average voter in this state shakes their head and bemoans the elected officials who claim to be doing the people’s business.

It was a most audacious move on the part of Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald when he announced a plan to put on the fast track a bill to allow lobbyists to hand off clients’ campaign checks to lawmakers during the legislative session.  Clearly I am not reading the correct newspaper or have my radio dial tuned to the right station as I have missed the public clamor for allowing more campaign cash to get into the hands of politicians in a more expedient fashion.

But I have read the countless editorials in state newspapers, along with those in small home-town publications that have sincerely and earnestly requested that a simple public hearing be held on the matter of constructing political boundaries.  There is no way that the Republican controlled legislature could not have sensed the public desire for a dialogue, a mere public hearing, concerning redistricting.

Yet there was no attempt made for a hearing that might very well help address a piece of the foundational problem that faces our political system.  That being the partisan nature of how legislative boundaries are designed to meet the needs of a certain political party.

So with time slipping away this legislative session the GOP leadership decided to neglect the request of the people from around the entire state and instead concentrate on a matter that allows for lobbyists to pour money into the system at the same time policy is being crafted, debated, and passed into law.

There is no way that anyone, liberal or conservative, can rationalize as how this improves the legislative process.  A quid pro quo style of operating, and that is exactly what this allows, will only create more chicanery, divisive politics, along with a deeper sense of apathy among the electorate.

Maybe Senator Fitzgerald might amend the bill to require lobbyists to present checks to politicians in front of the camera for Wisconsin Eye to record and air.  That might be one way to stem the flow of money to our elected officials.

Pink Handgun?

Madison police are searching for a gun in a murder this week, and today released a photo of the deadly weapon.

The photo struck me as odd.   While  I was aware that gun manufactures have targeted children with pink rifles, I had no idea that marketing also had extended to luring women to buy guns by adding a pink color to the weapon.  They even name it ‘The Pink Lady’.

Which leads me to ponder if we might pass a law requiring all handguns be totally pink.  How would that blend with the masculine aspect of gun ownership?   Considering we can not even send a baby boy home from the hospital in a pink blanket.

 

 

Are Olympic Policies Pro-Gay?

Catching up on reading can create amusement.  Like this article about Steve McConkey.

I am suspecting McConkey did not have a problem with Russia’s stand on gay people.  Probably was unable to watch Johhny Weir, too.

About midway through last month’s Sochi Winter Olympics, Steve McConkey issued a press release as president of 4 Winds Christian Athletics, a Madison-based ministry that works primarily with U.S. track and field athletes.

McConkey bemoaned what he called the “pro-homosexual policies” of the U.S. Olympic Committee, noting the committee recently added sexual orientation to the non-discrimination policy that participating athletes must agree to. McConkey said he could envision a time when Christian athletes who oppose homosexuality will be victims of “reverse discrimination” for their beliefs.

He also accused the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of “trying to sway athletes to promote liberal causes, including homosexuality and climate change endeavors.”

The themes of the press release were familiar to those who follow McConkey’s efforts. He opposed the IOC’s earlier decision to include transgender athletes, and in a December press release, he criticized Nike for its supposed ties to Planned Parenthood and for starting a political action committee in support of gay marriage in its home state of Oregon.