Garthwaite to Introduce Another Do-nothing Bill - Assembly Democrat Disintegration Continues

The Kenosha News is reporting that Rep. Garthwaite has agreed to lead the way in the Assembly for a piece of legislation that is to be introduced by State Senator Bob Wirch. The legislation would mandate that state government (primarily the UW and prison systems) purchase at least 10% of their food goods from Wisconsin producers. This mandate would increase to 20% in 2020.

While "feel good" legislation like this mildly annoys me, I really don't have a problem with this particular bill other than that I don't necessarily agree that prisoners deserve to eat the fine products produced in our state. At the end of the day, however, I doubt that this bill will accomplish anything at all. I predict that Wisconsin's prisons and the UW already procure more than 10% of their food goods from Wisconsin producers. If this bill passes, it will probably just mandate what is currently standard practice in our institutions.

In other news, the payday loan scandal continues. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that the Assembly Democrats' payday loan bill narrowly passed committee today on a 6-5 vote. Rep. Dean Kaufert, a Republican supporter of payday loan reform issued a warning to Democrats stating,"Don't pose for holy pictures. You're in the soup. You're trying to find your way out of this.  . . . Trying to rush this through, get it by, get the stories over - I don't know; it's not pretty."

The Associated Press is reporting that Majority Leader Tom Nelson continues to deny his support to ethically challenged Democrat Speaker Mike Sheridan. Payday Gate is becoming a case study in public relations mismanagement and continues to threaten the reelection chances of vulnerable Democrats like Phil Garthwaite.

While Assembly Democrat Leadership Crumbles, another Vulnerable Democrat gets Himself into a Scandal

News stories about the troubles of Rep. Garthwaite's bosses in Madison continue to proliferate. The latest news is that the Democrat Majority Leader and Speaker are at odds, questions are being raised about the Democrat leader's travel reports, and apparatly the Speaker's campaign finance reports are all sorts of messed up.

Meanwhile, a Democrat Rep. who like Garthwaite stands a good chance of being defeated in the next election has found himself in the middle of a growing scandal. State Rep. Cory Mason, a Democrat from Deerfield, WI who represents Racine, WI is under attack for accepting campaign contributions from the owner of a company who would have received a state sanctioned monopoly thanks to legislation authored by Rep. Mason.

According to WKOW-TV, "Campaign finance reports and state e-mails show former Racine lawmaker Jeff Neubauer made a campaign contribution to the author of proposed environmental legislation with benefits to Neubauer's company on the same day the proposal was unveiled at news conferences."

After reading a few other articles about this, the facts appear to be this:

1. A former Democrat legislator, Jeff Neubauer wrote a bill that would give his business a near monopoly on certifying cleaning products as green. The bill would also mandate that all state buildings use so-called "green" cleaning supplies. Obviously, this legislation would bring in substantially increased revenues to Neubauer.

2. Neaubauer gave this bill to Rep. Mason along with a campaign check.

3. Mason introduced the bill and began ushering it through the legislature.

This story has been floating around for about two weeks but today's revelations from WKOW-TV bring it to a new level. The fact that campaign cash exchanged hands on the very day that this terrible legislation was introduced stinks like rotten cheese. This is relevant to Garthwaite in two ways.

If Garthwaite's leaders force him to vote for this stinky proposal, he could get dragged into this mess too. More likely, however, is that this will mean that fewer campaign dollars will be available for Garthwaite during the fall.

Mason is going to be in rough shape when the next election comes around. That means that all the cash Assembly Democrats were counting on from the Trial Lawyers Lobby, the Teacher's Union, and Tribal Gaming Interests will have to be spread thinner, leaving less money for Garthwaite to defend his terrible record.

Assembly Democrat Leadership Woes Forcast a Tough Fall for Vulnerables Like Garthwaite

This tersely worded story from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Patrick Marley spells trouble for Assembly Democrats. According to this and other stories, rumors spread around the Capitol Friday that Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan was in jeopardy of losing his leadership post over an alleged, inappropriate relationship the married speaker had carried on with a lobbyist.

Sheridan, Rep. Garthwaite's boss in the Assembly, denied these allegations Friday, stating that the lobbyist was just a friend and that they had gone on just one date. He has since amended his story stating, "I have dated a gal who is a lobbyist. It's not been a conflict, and I have no problem saying that..." The Speaker also told the Journal Sentinel that, "We (He and the lobbyist) went to a Christmas party. I think we went out with like a group of people a couple different times and that type of thing." "Like a group of people." "That type of thing." Why does the Speaker of the State Assembly sound like a kid who broke curfew and doesn't want to fess up to his parents about what he was out doing?

The Assembly Democrats already faced a tough election fight. The mood of the country and state is swinging back against their big taxing, big spending policies. Their total lack of focus on jobs and the economy over the last year doesn't help their cause much either. This potential scandal, however, adds a whole new dimension to the challenges that vulnerable Representatives like Garthwaite will have next fall.

For starters, this issue will further divide an Assembly Democrat Caucus that is already split over the proposed mayoral take over of the Milwaukee Public Schools. Coupled with their failure to put the Jeff Wood incidents behind them, the Assembly Democrats will be distracted this spring and will likely leave this session without having accomplished anything of substance on jobs, the economy, or anything else. What will they have to run on in the fall? A failed stimulus bill and honey regulation?

Secondly, an embattled and divided Assembly Democrat leadership will not be able to properly organize and fund raise for members facing tough challenges. Democrat Majority Leader Tom Nelson was already set to be in the fight of his life over budget pork that cost his district and comments he made in regards to the Democrat auto insurance premium hike of 2009
Sheridan too will now be preoccupied with his own survival.

Traditionally, Assembly Democrats have counted on large third party expenditures from public employee unions, trial attorneys, and tribal gaming interests to bail them out of situations like this. This year, however, those groups will be focused on getting a Democrat into the vacant Governor's mansion first, maintaining a precarious majority in the State Senate second, and keeping vulnerable Assemblymen like Garthwaite in office a distant third. This all spells trouble for the Democrat from Grant County next fall.

Newspaper: Democrat Leader Tom Nelson and his colleagues like Rep. Phil Garthwaite "are not telling the truth"

This is one of the best editorials I've read yet about Rep. Phil Garthwaite's "Big Sloppy Kiss" to his trial attorney campaign supporters. It was published by the Oshkosh Northwestern on October 29th.

Editorial: Insurance law bad for deal for state motorists

Imagine, for a moment, that you've made some long overdue improvements to your house. Your neighbor suggests that to protect the value of your investment you should consider additional home insurance. Good idea, you think.

Your neighbor says, "You might want to increase your insurance coverage from $150,000 to $200,000." You dial up your insurance agent for a price quote because you know that buying more insurance is going to cost more money. More coverage equals a higher premium and in the end you decide that more insurance is not worth the price. But your neighbor insists that you should not have to pay more for additional coverage. "Any premium increases are due to the business decisions of insurance providers …"

Knowing what you know about your insurance policies, do you believe him?

Yet that is what Assembly Majority Leader Rep. Tom Nelson and his Democrat cohorts in the state assembly want you to believe. In fact that is exactly Nelson's comment regarding legislature's edict in the state budget that increased the mandatory minimum amounts of liability coverage, increased the mandatory minimum amounts of uninsured-driver coverage and mandated coverage for underinsured drivers.

Nelson's attempt to duck responsibility for a forecasted statewide 40 percent increase in auto insurance ignores Economics 101. It is simple pricing rule, whether the product is a cup of coffee or an insurance policy. If you buy the larger size, it is going to cost more. Jim Guidry of the Office of the Commission of Insurance spelled it out when he told the Associated Press that premiums in general are expected to go up for consumers who purchased only the minimum limits because of the changes.

Nelson and his colleagues, including Rep. Gordon Hintz of Oshkosh, are not telling the truth by shifting the blame to the insurance companies. If, by some chance, they actually believe that forcing consumers to buy more insurance will not raise rates, there is a serious problem in Assembly.

First, it was wrong to stick the insurance mandate in the budget bill. A public policy initiative that significant deserves the benefit of a legislative hearing and debate. Second, it creates a mandate that many out-of-work motorists will not be able to afford. Third, it shows the Democrats as true hypocrites. Remember their press releases tout that the recently passed budget did not increase taxes on Wisconsin residents. OK, the insurance mandate is technically not a tax, but it will take money out of your pocket just the same as a tax would.

Fortunately there is still a modicum of common sense in the legislature. Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, is drafting legislation that will roll back those insurance mandates. In announcing his legislation — let's call it the 'Ellis Auto Insurance Sanity Act' — the veteran lawmaker said, "Under the new law, Wisconsin drivers will go from having among the lowest insurance rates in the nation to having among the highest."

Ellis is right and the Democrats are wrong and should be ashamed.

The Final Thought: Insurance mandate will lead to higher premiums and should be repealed.