Free Republic

Wisconsin's public employees are leaving their unions in droves, which should be no surprise: With passage of Act 10 in 2011, public unions in the Badger State lost many of their reasons for being. The "budget-repair bill" pushed through the Legislature by Republicans and signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker limited bargaining to wages only, and then only up to the cost of living; it also required unions to recertify each year and barred the automatic collection of union dues. Relying on federal financial records, the Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice found union membership has declined by 50% or more...

Shortly after Barack Obama won reelection in November, New Jersey governor Chris Christie pointed out that Republicans’ cloudy political prospects had a bright silver lining. “One of the reasons you have 30 Republican governors in America, and why we’re the only organization to add Republican strength,” Christie said, “is because people see us getting things done.” Christie’s stance countered most of the elite postelection commentary, which gleefully pronounced the Republican Party’s political irrelevance. But the governor was right. Since Obama first took office in 2008, Republicans have picked up a net nine governorships, bringing their total to 30 states,...

Wisconsin Governor Doyle has ruined the state (WI is a microcosm in the mold of the Feds). Our dem gov bowed out of the gov race a couple months ago. So, of course the GOP is running several candidates. Who's going to fill the dem opening, so far, NO ONE! What Democrat can run on the lib ticket? Is Wisconsin paving the way for a democrat defeat across the nation in 2010? The DNC's only hope is bambi. What hope is that? WE HAVE NO SERIOUS DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR IN THE STATE OF WISCONSIN!THIS IS HUGE! IS THIS...

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, whose approval ratings have plunged as he struggled with a weak economy and a multibillion-dollar budget deficit, will not seek a third term in 2010, a person informed of the decision told The Associated Press. The person, who was not authorized to announce the decision, told The AP on Saturday that Doyle, a Democrat, would make the announcement public in a Monday news conference. The person also said Doyle would serve the rest of his second four-year term. [Snip] Meanwhile, it's been a rough year for Doyle. Faced with a record high $6.6 billion budget shortfall,...

The education establishment and its political allies employ multiple methods to keep kids trapped in rotten schools. One tactic is to use control of school boards to prevent or limit the creation of charter schools. Another is to smother existing voucher programs with rules and red tape. Real world examples are currently playing out in Milwaukee and New York City. The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program provides vouchers for some 20,000 low-income, mostly minority children to attend private schools. Because the 20-year-old program polls above 60% with voters, and even higher among minorities, killing it outright would be unpopular. Instead, Democratic...

STATE DEMS' TV AD TARGETS DOYLE'S LIKELY FOE

From the Office of Governor Jim Doyle: Governor Jim Doyle today signed a letter to President Obama to encourage a strong state-federal partnership in promoting clean energy and tackling global climate challenges. Governor Doyle, joined by Governors Schwarzenegger (California), Rell (Connecticut), Crist (Florida), Sebelius (Kansas), O'Malley (Maryland), Patrick (Massachusetts), Corzine (New Jersey), Richardson (New Mexico), Paterson (New York), Gregoire (Washington), and Kulongoski (Oregon), offered to meet with the President and his energy and environmental cabinet to develop a comprehensive national plan that builds on the momentum of strong state policies. "Taking on the challenge of climate change, improving our energy...

MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle said Friday that his support for exploring nuclear power is in line with the position of fellow Democrat and presidential candidate Barack Obama and not a reversal from his previous stance. But state Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said Doyle told him in 2003 he would veto any bill that lifted a moratorium on building new power plants. Huebsch said Doyle's position had "thawed" by 2007, when the governor said he'd be open to studying nuclear power as an option. The change in Doyle's position comes as he's been actively campaigning for...

Like schoolchildren who left their summer vacation homework undone until this weekend, state lawmakers and Gov. Jim Doyle are under growing pressure to finish work on the state budget that Doyle introduced in February. Local schools and municipalities need to know soon how much state aid they will be receiving to set their own budgets, but a conference committee with members from both legislative houses has made little progress since convening in July, including a fruitless two-hour session Thursday. The political stakes are high for the governor as well as the leaders of the Assembly and the Senate as they...

Governor Jim Doyle today announced new efforts to keep Milwaukee safe. The Milwaukee anti-crime legislative package will fight crime and get illegal guns off the street by closing loopholes, improving information sharing with law enforcement, and using advanced technology to improve crime tracking. ”There is nothing more important to the future of Milwaukee and the future of this state than ensuring the safety of our kids and families,” Governor Doyle said. All of us must work together to get illegal guns off our street and put a stop to senseless acts of violence in our neighborhoods.” To ensure the safety...

Following California's lead, Rep. Spencer Black wants Wisconsin to do its part to address global warming by setting standards to reduce the state's greenhouse emissions by roughly 25 percent. Black, D-Madison, announced this morning he plans to introduce legislation that would require that greenhouse emissions be reduced to 1990 levels by 2029. He said the main sources of greenhouse gases in Wisconsin are power plants, especially coal-powered plants. But whatever plan is developed to reduce emissions could also include such measures as stricter emission standards for cars and incentives to purchase vehicles that run on bio-based fuels, which don't contribute...

(Note: This column appears in the Madison weekly Isthmus.) I’m sorry now that I once said Jim Doyle looks like a cross between a basset hound and Richard Nixon. It was unfair to the hound and trivializes the Nixonian side of Doyle’s character. Make no mistake, the chilling aspect of last week’s banana republic moment at the state Elections Board was its Nixonian overtones. “What’s really scary about this,” one business leader told me, “is that we have now have a governor who is willing to use the powers of government to punish political appointees. This time, it’s the Elections...

MADISON, WI (AP) -- Archival footage of former President Richard Nixon declaring that he is not a crook is merged with headlines and references to probes of Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's administration in the latest no-holds-barred TV ad of the campaign season. The spot, paid for by the Republican-leaning Coalition for America's Families, began airing Wednesday across the state. It is the most recent of several paid for by independent groups supporting either Doyle or his Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Mark Green of Green Bay. Doyle's campaign responded with its own statement saying Green takes a "Nixonian approach" to governing....

A new poll shows Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle locked in a tight race with Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Mark Green. But the poll shows former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson - who has reportedly been considering running for his old job - leading Doyle by nearly a two-to-one margin. The poll by Strategic Vision, an Atlanta-based polling firm with Republican ties, shows Thompson leading Doyle 58 percent to 30 percent. Thompson, the state's longest-serving and most popular governor, leads Green in a potential Republican primary match-up by better than a three-to-one margin: 69 percent to 20 percent. Doyle leads Green by...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The campaigns of Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager and Gov. Jim Doyle said Friday they would return tens of thousands of dollars in donations tied to a company the state investigated for questionable marketing practices.Lautenschlager and Doyle, both Democrats up for re-election in November, received donations in the last year from two executives of Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based International Profit Associates. The state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection referred an investigation into complaints IPA was misrepresenting its business consulting practices to the state Department of Justice in late 2004, said Mike Bauer, administrator of DOJ's Legal...

MADISON, WI (AP) -- Employees of at least seven companies donated to Gov. Jim Doyle's re-election campaign around the same time the state picked their firms for no-bid contracts totaling more than $36.1 million, according to an Associated Press review.They include two IBM salesmen who gave Doyle more than $11,000 over a three-year period as the business won more than a dozen contracts worth more than $6 million. Also, three Oracle Corp. employees gave Doyle $3,250 within days of the company winning a contract that could be worth up to $29 million to provide software and technical support to the...

Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed a Republican-authored bill Friday that would have forced doctors to tell women seeking an abortion after their fifth month of pregnancy the fetus could suffer pain.When a fetus can feel pain is a matter of debate in the medical community. The bill's supporters say some research supports the theory that a fetus can feel pain at the 20th week of pregnancy. Opponents say none of those claims have been proved. Doyle, a Democrat, said no evidence conclusively proves when a fetus can feel pain. The Republican-controlled Legislature shouldn't be allowed to decide what is scientific fact,...

(Calls for investing in worker training...) MERRILL, WI - Wisconsin has experienced a remarkable economic turnaround and there's a shortage of trained people to hold jobs, Gov. Jim Doyle said Wednesday evening as he kicked off a series of town hall meetings leading up to his annual State of the State message to lawmakers. "I am proud to report to you (that) in November we had more people working than in any time in history," Doyle said. "The jobs are there. We've got to get people trained for those jobs, and it's important we make that investment." About 100 people...

('Seinfeld' holiday has a highly placed fan) For "Seinfeld" fans, today is Festivus, the holiday "for the rest of us." The once-fictitious holiday created by George Costanza has spun off into a grass-roots celebration of its own, complete with a best-selling book of Festivus lore and an official Festivus Pole manufactured by a Milwaukee-based firm. But who would have known that its observers include Gov. Jim Doyle, or that he is arguably Wisconsin's best-known "Seinfeld" fan? Doyle has placed a Festivus Pole - the unadorned aluminum pole "known for its very high strength-to-weight ratio" - among the other holiday paraphernalia...

Authorities investigating a state travel contract given to a major donor to Gov. Jim Doyle's campaign are also looking for links between donations from utility executives and state regulators' approval of the sale of a nuclear power plant, sources said.The probe began after a utility company whistleblower complained to the state attorney general's office in November about possibly improper contacts last year between one of the utilities and top aides at the state Public Service Commission. Heading into a re-election campaign next year, the Democratic governor is facing increasing scrutiny over campaign donors' influence.Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager earlier this month...