U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell recently put forward the claim that Medicare and Social Security are major problems in respect to the national debt. To be sure, Social Security is part of the debt, but only because George W. Bush spent down the reserve fund to pay for the war in Iraq. The debt is not owed to some foreign country, but to the American taxpayers like you and me.
To mask the robbing of the trust funds, the Republicans in Congress call Medicare and Social Security “entitlements,” as if they are something draining on the Federal budget. In fact, they are self-funded out of payroll taxes. They have nothing to do with the Federal deficit. It is as if you purchased an insurance policy on your home, and when the house burned down, you were told by the insurance company that they had spent all your premiums, and would not pay you the “entitlement” of an insurance settlement.
It is time to replace Congressmen like Sean Duffy with someone who will represent us, rather than the Koch brothers and all the Wall Street one-percenters. That is why I am voting for Mary Hoeft for our 7th District House Representative. She will bring back true representation of northwestern Wisconsin interests in Congress.
Keith O. Anderson, Cumberland
Showing posts with label LTE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LTE. Show all posts
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Letter: Rep. Quinn Not Up to the Task
Campaign season is in full-swing and Rep. Quinn and his supporters are falling all over themselves touting his budget motion that “saved” Chetek-Weyerhaeuser Area School District (CWASD). Quinn’s motion was hardly a profile in courage and should not persuade anyone to give him a second term.
Quinn merely allowed CWASD to maintain existing property tax rates -- a simple fix that cost the state nothing and would have been low-hanging-fruit for any representative with a pulse. Meanwhile, he did nothing to stop $3.2 million in general aid cuts to Rice Lake, Barron, Prairie Farm, and Spooner schools elsewhere in the budget.
Imagine if Quinn had never set foot in Madison. Would anything be different? The few laws he claims credit for either tinkered with eligibility requirements for woefully underfunded programs ($1.7 million statewide between broadband grants and teacher loans doesn’t accomplish much) or would have been introduced by another GOP backbencher seeking a NRA “A+” rating.
On the rare occasions when Quinn demonstrated the capacity for meaningful, independent thought, he was stymied by his own party. The man who campaigned on his “bipartisan leadership” couldn’t even get votes on sparing UW 2-year campuses from budget cuts, enacting term limits (conveniently exempting himself), or a modest boost for broadband funding.
Quinn is certainly visible within the district and many people like him personally, but we didn’t elect him to work the crowd at the fairgrounds. He is paid to represent us, to advocate for our interests and get things done in Madison that will really benefit us here at home. Unfortunately, he has shown that he is not up to the task.
Daniel Agne, Rice Lake
Quinn merely allowed CWASD to maintain existing property tax rates -- a simple fix that cost the state nothing and would have been low-hanging-fruit for any representative with a pulse. Meanwhile, he did nothing to stop $3.2 million in general aid cuts to Rice Lake, Barron, Prairie Farm, and Spooner schools elsewhere in the budget.
Imagine if Quinn had never set foot in Madison. Would anything be different? The few laws he claims credit for either tinkered with eligibility requirements for woefully underfunded programs ($1.7 million statewide between broadband grants and teacher loans doesn’t accomplish much) or would have been introduced by another GOP backbencher seeking a NRA “A+” rating.
On the rare occasions when Quinn demonstrated the capacity for meaningful, independent thought, he was stymied by his own party. The man who campaigned on his “bipartisan leadership” couldn’t even get votes on sparing UW 2-year campuses from budget cuts, enacting term limits (conveniently exempting himself), or a modest boost for broadband funding.
Quinn is certainly visible within the district and many people like him personally, but we didn’t elect him to work the crowd at the fairgrounds. He is paid to represent us, to advocate for our interests and get things done in Madison that will really benefit us here at home. Unfortunately, he has shown that he is not up to the task.
Daniel Agne, Rice Lake
Monday, August 15, 2016
Letter: Cutting Education Guts Our Middle-Class
Lack of vision by our present administration has set Wisconsin’s economy back on its heels. Believing in the misguided “trickle down” Republican philosophy, combined with voting in lockstep by our majority party, including Representative Quinn, has created a mess. An experienced and mature representative would not have voted for this budget. Wage and job growth is lagging behind the national average; the poverty rate has reached its highest level in 30 years; and we lead the nation in shrinkage of the middle class.
Radical cuts to our main economic engine - the University System - has been a huge contributor to our poor economic standing. UW colleges and universities exist In 39 Wisconsin communities. They provide good jobs and contribute to local economies. The UW System impacts our state economy to the tune of 15 billion dollars. Facts are facts. We need to grow our economy and cutting the university system does just the opposite - starving the goose that lays the golden egg harms our economy.
A gem in Wisconsin is UW Madison. It has connections with 218 companies, supports 9,300 jobs, and has brought over $1 billion in research funds to Wisconsin. It also holds over 1,600 patents that span every major industry. Research at our universities creates innovative ideas, that are commercialized in the private sector.
Under the current budget, UW Eau Claire was forced to cut 179 full-time employees, resulting in less money earned, reduced tax revenue, and less investment in the community. UW Barron County has also been forced to cut employees creating similar results.
Until now, our legislators have shared our pride in the UW system and supported it. We need legislators that share our belief that investing in education and research is wise for our future economic growth. Joe Huftel is that person in the 75th Assembly District. He has the right experience and is mature enough to stand up for the interests of the people rather than cow-towing to special interest groups.
Dee Taylor, Rice Lake
Radical cuts to our main economic engine - the University System - has been a huge contributor to our poor economic standing. UW colleges and universities exist In 39 Wisconsin communities. They provide good jobs and contribute to local economies. The UW System impacts our state economy to the tune of 15 billion dollars. Facts are facts. We need to grow our economy and cutting the university system does just the opposite - starving the goose that lays the golden egg harms our economy.
A gem in Wisconsin is UW Madison. It has connections with 218 companies, supports 9,300 jobs, and has brought over $1 billion in research funds to Wisconsin. It also holds over 1,600 patents that span every major industry. Research at our universities creates innovative ideas, that are commercialized in the private sector.
Under the current budget, UW Eau Claire was forced to cut 179 full-time employees, resulting in less money earned, reduced tax revenue, and less investment in the community. UW Barron County has also been forced to cut employees creating similar results.
Until now, our legislators have shared our pride in the UW system and supported it. We need legislators that share our belief that investing in education and research is wise for our future economic growth. Joe Huftel is that person in the 75th Assembly District. He has the right experience and is mature enough to stand up for the interests of the people rather than cow-towing to special interest groups.
Dee Taylor, Rice Lake
Thursday, August 4, 2016
Letter: Quinn's Words Don't Match His Votes
A lot of people I know, even some who lean toward the Democrats, voted for Rep. Quinn in 2014 because he was a nice enough guy or because they knew him as a student. Some people liked what he said. I liked what he said too. A year ago I was so impressed by his words defending UW-BC from budget cuts that I even asked him if he was switching to the Democratic Party.
But his words haven’t matched his votes. Quinn promised in a radio interview in October 2014 that he would “stand on principle” and vote against any budget that eroded local control. But that didn’t stop him from “proudly” voting for Gov. Walker’s budget that included at least two dozen provisions ending local control and imposing unfunded mandates. Eleven rural Wisconsin Republicans had the courage to vote against the budget, but not Rep. Quinn. He did not “stand on principle”. He caved in.
How did this happen? Maybe it’s hard to get elected without accepting a whole lot of campaign money from die-hard conservatives living south of Hwy. 29. Those are people with extreme ideas about society and government. In 2014 Quinn took $73,000 from down there. That’s a whole lot more than he received from people in our 75th Assembly district. And a month ago, the Koch brothers’ PAC group, Americans For Prosperity, publicly stated they are rushing resources up to Rice Lake to defend him. Look at the tiny print on the bottom of that foot-long “vote for Quinn” card that you found hanging on your doorknob. That card was hung there by paid staff working for the Koch brothers.
I can understand that some folks voted for Quinn so that he would “Stand with Walker”. But none of us were prepared to see him go down to Madison and sit in his lap. It has been quite a disappointment.
Gerry Lisi, Chairperson of the Barron County Democratic Party
Appeared in the Rice Lake Chronotype, July 27, 2016
But his words haven’t matched his votes. Quinn promised in a radio interview in October 2014 that he would “stand on principle” and vote against any budget that eroded local control. But that didn’t stop him from “proudly” voting for Gov. Walker’s budget that included at least two dozen provisions ending local control and imposing unfunded mandates. Eleven rural Wisconsin Republicans had the courage to vote against the budget, but not Rep. Quinn. He did not “stand on principle”. He caved in.
How did this happen? Maybe it’s hard to get elected without accepting a whole lot of campaign money from die-hard conservatives living south of Hwy. 29. Those are people with extreme ideas about society and government. In 2014 Quinn took $73,000 from down there. That’s a whole lot more than he received from people in our 75th Assembly district. And a month ago, the Koch brothers’ PAC group, Americans For Prosperity, publicly stated they are rushing resources up to Rice Lake to defend him. Look at the tiny print on the bottom of that foot-long “vote for Quinn” card that you found hanging on your doorknob. That card was hung there by paid staff working for the Koch brothers.
I can understand that some folks voted for Quinn so that he would “Stand with Walker”. But none of us were prepared to see him go down to Madison and sit in his lap. It has been quite a disappointment.
Gerry Lisi, Chairperson of the Barron County Democratic Party
Appeared in the Rice Lake Chronotype, July 27, 2016
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Letter: Teacher loan bill promotes Rep. Quinn--not teachers
Rep. Quinn and Governor Walker are making news up here about his bill for student loan debt relief for teachers who take jobs in rural schools. It got a unanimous 94:0 vote in the Assembly and a 31:1 vote in the Senate.
At first glance it seems to be a great idea. However, it is fair to ask if it is a truly effective measure or something designed at the last minute for the upcoming election. A similar bill proposed by Democrats two years ago was not allowed out of committee. No new dollars were requested to fund the bill. It doesn’t seem to address the real problem: the number of teachers applying for jobs anywhere in Wisconsin has dropped in half over the last few years. And it certainly is no substitute for genuine higher education debt reform, an issue the legislature avoided. It’s all college grads, not just new teachers, with backpacks full of debt.
Rural schools in our area are in trouble, no question about that. Dozens of referendums held statewide this April, asking for a record number of dollars, just to keep the doors open. A truly disturbing teacher shortage as young people choose careers with more security. A statewide expansion of the Milwaukee voucher program that will only accelerate declining enrollment in public schools once it is set loose on rural Wisconsin. Signs of future turmoil for all rural schools on display with the spectacular mess in the Spooner School District.
Rural Wisconsin schools present a unique challenge. On the one hand, people are very loyal to their local public schools and proud of the quality education our kids are getting. On the other hand there are declining enrollments, all across rural Wisconsin. Cutting state funding and pushing school funding more and more onto the property tax, the big change that Republicans brought to school funding, will not sustain quality schools up here for long.
The school funding formula favors urban areas over rural. It pulled a million dollars out of Rep. Quinn’s district this year, a difficult bite compared to the rest of the state. Cuts were moderated only for one district, Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, because of consolidation. That is no surprise, since closing schools and consolidating districts seems to be where Republican leadership would like to take us. What was surprising is that Rep. Quinn told us after the budget was signed how pleased he was with the “big win for Wisconsin schools”.
Serious legislators from rural districts need to put bipartisan effort into proposals that will change the State’s school funding formula in ways that will sustain rural schools. Fair Funding for our Future is the most important of those proposals. That will take a lot of hard work, but well worth it for the benefit of rural public schools.
Gerry Lisi, Chairperson for Barron County Democratic Party
Appeared in Chetek Alert April 13, 2016
At first glance it seems to be a great idea. However, it is fair to ask if it is a truly effective measure or something designed at the last minute for the upcoming election. A similar bill proposed by Democrats two years ago was not allowed out of committee. No new dollars were requested to fund the bill. It doesn’t seem to address the real problem: the number of teachers applying for jobs anywhere in Wisconsin has dropped in half over the last few years. And it certainly is no substitute for genuine higher education debt reform, an issue the legislature avoided. It’s all college grads, not just new teachers, with backpacks full of debt.
Rural schools in our area are in trouble, no question about that. Dozens of referendums held statewide this April, asking for a record number of dollars, just to keep the doors open. A truly disturbing teacher shortage as young people choose careers with more security. A statewide expansion of the Milwaukee voucher program that will only accelerate declining enrollment in public schools once it is set loose on rural Wisconsin. Signs of future turmoil for all rural schools on display with the spectacular mess in the Spooner School District.
Rural Wisconsin schools present a unique challenge. On the one hand, people are very loyal to their local public schools and proud of the quality education our kids are getting. On the other hand there are declining enrollments, all across rural Wisconsin. Cutting state funding and pushing school funding more and more onto the property tax, the big change that Republicans brought to school funding, will not sustain quality schools up here for long.
The school funding formula favors urban areas over rural. It pulled a million dollars out of Rep. Quinn’s district this year, a difficult bite compared to the rest of the state. Cuts were moderated only for one district, Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, because of consolidation. That is no surprise, since closing schools and consolidating districts seems to be where Republican leadership would like to take us. What was surprising is that Rep. Quinn told us after the budget was signed how pleased he was with the “big win for Wisconsin schools”.
Serious legislators from rural districts need to put bipartisan effort into proposals that will change the State’s school funding formula in ways that will sustain rural schools. Fair Funding for our Future is the most important of those proposals. That will take a lot of hard work, but well worth it for the benefit of rural public schools.
Gerry Lisi, Chairperson for Barron County Democratic Party
Appeared in Chetek Alert April 13, 2016
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Letter: Rep Quinn Anything but "Effective"
In Larry Schroeder’s March 30th letter he asserts that Rep. Romaine Quinn is “an extremely effective representative.” Unfortunately for all of us in the 75th District, nothing could be further from the truth.
In his 2 years in the Assembly Quinn has voted on over 500 pieces of legislation. In all but 2 instances he has voted with Speaker Robin Vos. Obviously, both Vos and Quinn are Republicans, but it is still amazing that two men representing very different constituencies from opposite ends of the state would agree 99.6% of the time.
Quinn is listed as the author of 16 pieces of legislation. Despite his unwavering loyalty to his Party Boss, only 2 of these have actually been enacted into law. Since baseball season is upon us, consider what happens to a ballplayer with a .125 batting average — he gets sent back to the minors.
Even Quinn’s latest “success” (AB 820) just sets requirements for towns hoping to someday participate in a Rural Broadband program that isn’t going to be funded anytime soon. Speaking to the Wisconsin State Journal, Quinn admitted that his proposal “falls well short of fixing the state’s rural broadband infrastructure.” How’s that for effective?
The 75th District may as well have no representative at all. Just give Robin Vos 2 votes on everything. At least then we could save ourselves Quinn’s $51,000 salary and $13,000/yr in per diems for something more useful.
Dan Agne, Haugen
Appeared in the Rice Lake Chronotype, April 5, 2016
In his 2 years in the Assembly Quinn has voted on over 500 pieces of legislation. In all but 2 instances he has voted with Speaker Robin Vos. Obviously, both Vos and Quinn are Republicans, but it is still amazing that two men representing very different constituencies from opposite ends of the state would agree 99.6% of the time.
Quinn is listed as the author of 16 pieces of legislation. Despite his unwavering loyalty to his Party Boss, only 2 of these have actually been enacted into law. Since baseball season is upon us, consider what happens to a ballplayer with a .125 batting average — he gets sent back to the minors.
Even Quinn’s latest “success” (AB 820) just sets requirements for towns hoping to someday participate in a Rural Broadband program that isn’t going to be funded anytime soon. Speaking to the Wisconsin State Journal, Quinn admitted that his proposal “falls well short of fixing the state’s rural broadband infrastructure.” How’s that for effective?
The 75th District may as well have no representative at all. Just give Robin Vos 2 votes on everything. At least then we could save ourselves Quinn’s $51,000 salary and $13,000/yr in per diems for something more useful.
Dan Agne, Haugen
Appeared in the Rice Lake Chronotype, April 5, 2016
Friday, March 11, 2016
Letter: Officials should listen to public
I know most people don’t really want to pay close attention to the “sausage-making” that goes on in Madison when it comes to passing bills into law, but this is really important.
According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, since 2011, Assembly Republicans like Romaine Quinn, Adam Jarchow, Dean Knudson, and John Murtha have supported more than 100 pieces of legislation that are unfunded mandates or restrict local authority over local issues. Sen. Sheila Harsdorf has helped get these bad bills passed so Gov. Scott Walker could quickly sign them into law. All because they have to get back to their districts to smooth things over with the voters so they can be re-elected for the purpose of keeping us on this destructive path.
We elect people within our district to speak for us in Madison and work to pass laws that serve the people. With total Republican control of our Assembly and Senate, our elected officials went to Madison and got to work on the issues for special interest groups. Large corporations and organizations like ALEC, a Tea Party think tank, now suggest language for bills. Those bills get rushed through public hearings to meet legal requirements or are amended at the last minute and discussed in session in the middle of the night – all because they know if most people understood what they were doing, there is no way they’d be re-elected.
Right now, the Republicans in the Assembly and Senate are working on changes in laws that will disrupt services to seniors and people with disabilities, remove shore land zoning from local authorities, and interfere with local school board elections.
How does this serve the people? It does not. It only serves special interest groups who want to bilk Wisconsin tax payers.
We must pay attention and ask our elected officials why they say they support local control, like zoning, and then go back to Madison and put an important local control issue like shore land zoning into the control of Madison. I know the answer. It’s because they are serving a special interest group, not the people who live in this state.
We’ve been lied to and it is time to stand up and fight for our rights to clean air, water, and land.
This is not a Democratic, Republican, or Independent issue. We must hold our elected officials accountable and then we must elect people who will truly represent all of us.
Carol Johnson, Deer Park
Appeared in the March 2, 2016, Chronotype
According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, since 2011, Assembly Republicans like Romaine Quinn, Adam Jarchow, Dean Knudson, and John Murtha have supported more than 100 pieces of legislation that are unfunded mandates or restrict local authority over local issues. Sen. Sheila Harsdorf has helped get these bad bills passed so Gov. Scott Walker could quickly sign them into law. All because they have to get back to their districts to smooth things over with the voters so they can be re-elected for the purpose of keeping us on this destructive path.
We elect people within our district to speak for us in Madison and work to pass laws that serve the people. With total Republican control of our Assembly and Senate, our elected officials went to Madison and got to work on the issues for special interest groups. Large corporations and organizations like ALEC, a Tea Party think tank, now suggest language for bills. Those bills get rushed through public hearings to meet legal requirements or are amended at the last minute and discussed in session in the middle of the night – all because they know if most people understood what they were doing, there is no way they’d be re-elected.
Right now, the Republicans in the Assembly and Senate are working on changes in laws that will disrupt services to seniors and people with disabilities, remove shore land zoning from local authorities, and interfere with local school board elections.
How does this serve the people? It does not. It only serves special interest groups who want to bilk Wisconsin tax payers.
We must pay attention and ask our elected officials why they say they support local control, like zoning, and then go back to Madison and put an important local control issue like shore land zoning into the control of Madison. I know the answer. It’s because they are serving a special interest group, not the people who live in this state.
We’ve been lied to and it is time to stand up and fight for our rights to clean air, water, and land.
This is not a Democratic, Republican, or Independent issue. We must hold our elected officials accountable and then we must elect people who will truly represent all of us.
Carol Johnson, Deer Park
Appeared in the March 2, 2016, Chronotype
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Letter: Time to act, not debate
40,000 people from across the planet attended the Paris climate talks, but around here it seems that people wonder what all the fuss is about. After the great weather we’ve had recently that’s probably understandable. Some people are convinced that climate change is a farce meant to promote some job-killing liberal agenda or at best an unavoidable demonstration of natural cycles. Around here we have closely linked climate change “belief” to political affiliation.
It is happening though, even here where the affects at present seem to be limited to a shortened maple syrup season and changes in the usual patterns of bird migration. The Department of Defense now says that climate change is getting a lot worse and adds great risk to national security. The DOD warns of mass migrations from new areas of severe heat drought and from land areas subject to rising seas. Less of the globe will be inhabitable very soon, and those peoples will be on the move.
The irony is that the most effective solution to the climate threat is coming from conservative political thought. It uses a free-market approach that has actually been demonstrated to work in British Columbia: carbon fee and dividend. It doesn’t depend on government regulation or “letting government pick winners and losers”, a major problem for Republicans. It will be more effective overall than power plant regulations as President Obama has ordered. It can be applied globally and to be effective must be.
Look up Citizen’s Climate Lobby to get the details on how carbon fee and dividend works, and how it accomplishes massive carbon reduction without increasing government size or regulation. There are also plenty of articles on-line about Republican solutions for climate change, many appearing in the last few months.
As these conservative solutions to climate change become better known, Republican voters will be increasingly willing to acknowledge their concern. It is already happening. A University of Texas poll shows that 59% of Republicans worry that climate change is occurring. Concern is even higher among younger Republicans. Politicians are listening. 12 Republican House members have signed on to the Gibson resolution to move Congress to act.
Politically we have plenty of polarizing issues. Now that there are reasonable solutions from both Right and Left, we should stop wasting time debating whether there is a climate problem. There is, it’s critical, and we need to move the debate to the best ways to solve it.
-Gerry Lisi, Rice Lake
Gerry Lisi is Chairperson of the Democratic Party of Barron County
This letter appeared in the Rice Lake Chronotype on December 7, 2015
It is happening though, even here where the affects at present seem to be limited to a shortened maple syrup season and changes in the usual patterns of bird migration. The Department of Defense now says that climate change is getting a lot worse and adds great risk to national security. The DOD warns of mass migrations from new areas of severe heat drought and from land areas subject to rising seas. Less of the globe will be inhabitable very soon, and those peoples will be on the move.
The irony is that the most effective solution to the climate threat is coming from conservative political thought. It uses a free-market approach that has actually been demonstrated to work in British Columbia: carbon fee and dividend. It doesn’t depend on government regulation or “letting government pick winners and losers”, a major problem for Republicans. It will be more effective overall than power plant regulations as President Obama has ordered. It can be applied globally and to be effective must be.
Look up Citizen’s Climate Lobby to get the details on how carbon fee and dividend works, and how it accomplishes massive carbon reduction without increasing government size or regulation. There are also plenty of articles on-line about Republican solutions for climate change, many appearing in the last few months.
As these conservative solutions to climate change become better known, Republican voters will be increasingly willing to acknowledge their concern. It is already happening. A University of Texas poll shows that 59% of Republicans worry that climate change is occurring. Concern is even higher among younger Republicans. Politicians are listening. 12 Republican House members have signed on to the Gibson resolution to move Congress to act.
Politically we have plenty of polarizing issues. Now that there are reasonable solutions from both Right and Left, we should stop wasting time debating whether there is a climate problem. There is, it’s critical, and we need to move the debate to the best ways to solve it.
-Gerry Lisi, Rice Lake
Gerry Lisi is Chairperson of the Democratic Party of Barron County
This letter appeared in the Rice Lake Chronotype on December 7, 2015
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