Daniel Cody - “Left on the Lake”

What a day.

It’s great to get to meet so many members of the Democratic party of Wisconsin at our convention that I normally don’t get to talk to and today was a great day for doing that.

I was on the floor of the convention almost the entire time this evening and heard some really great speeches from people like Rep. Steve Kagan, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, party chair Joe Wieneke, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, Senator Russ Feingold, and of course Rep. Gwen Moore. More tomorrow…

A bit of inside baseball here, but the timing of this announcement from Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton is interesting seeing that today is the first day of the annual convention for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. It’s a great piece of news from Lawton, and not completely surprising that one of the few women in the executive branch of Wisconsin government would support the sole female candidate for President.

As it usually goes, campaign co-chairs and the like are usually brought up to Washington D.C. if and when the candidate they pulled for wins, which would create an interesting situation here in Wisconsin were Sen. Clinton to win in 2008. Who would replace Lawton, assuming everything worked out as predicted, as Lt. Governor? It will be interesting to hear more about this over the course of the weekend and see where it goes.

Lt. Governor Lawton is one of the best and brightest leaders in Wisconsin, and she should be congratulated for being selected for an important position within a top tiered candidates campaign organization.

One a side note, if you make it by the convention this weekend in Milwaukee at the Hilton, be sure to stop by the 4th CD area on the floor and say hi!

Weblogs and those who write them are often accused, sometimes correctly, of being long on talk and short on action. it’s easy to sit behind a keyboard day after day and Monday-morning-quarterback everything that comes across the newswire after all. It’s a lot harder to go out and get involved in your community and make an impact in tangible way.

Sometimes you can have the two worlds meet in the middle, where online activism and real world action meet. That’s why I was happy to see a tool from Progressive Majority Wisconsin come through my Inbox today that you can use to register your feelings about the Universal Health Care plan Democrats unveiled this week with the Republican Assembly leader.

I’d encourage anyone interested to fill out the form here.

For example, you can use it to ask why it is Assembly Republicans are more interested in protecting the bottom lines of insurance and pharmaceutical companies instead of the welfare of Wisconsin’s residents. Why they’re more interested in misrepresenting the actual costs to taxpayers instead of the savings taxpayers will see.

Or you can use it to ask Rep. Huebsch why he and his party won’t put the best interests of Wisconsin ahead of their personal ideologies.

Raise a hand if you’re surprised, the Bush administration says Congress - in their Constitutional role as one of the “checks” on the executive branch - has no right to subpoena it for information about illegal activity or get testimony from staff members. Basically, as our friends across the pond so eloquently put it, bugger off.

Which is what we’ve all come to expect from this administration and from this President, isn’t it? A failure who on the way out the door just can’t help but thumb his nose one more time at the people who elected him.

President Bush, moving toward a constitutional showdown with Congress, asserted executive privilege Thursday and rejected lawmakers’ demands for documents that could shed light on the firings of federal prosecutors.

Bush’s attorney told Congress the White House would not turn over subpoenaed documents for former presidential counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor. AP

It’s the height of hubris and just plain wrong when any elected official thinks the rule of law no longer applies to them.

I know. Shocking, isn’t it?

Last winter, the Department of Labor announced that it would review the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Why would the Labor Department suddenly start taking “comments” on a bill that has been in place and served American families well for almost 15 years?

Because the Bush administration is beholden to big corporations and to be honest, they don’t like it, because it cuts into the holier-than-thou bottom line. Today, the New York Times has a story about the comments it’s been receiving from the general public and the predictable response from big corporations.

Personally, I am a big supporter of FMLA because I’m a big supporter of families. FMLA allows employees to balance their work and family life by taking up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a personal illness, the illness of a family member or for a new baby or adopted child.

This is timely for me because I just came off seven weeks of FMLA after the birth of our son Carter who was born in mid-April. For the past two years, I’ve been avoiding vacations or using any sick days I absolutely didn’t need to take so that when he was born, I could spend quality time with our new child without having to make a choice between paying the bills and spending quality time with my newborn son.

To me, that’s important.

It’s no secret that millions of people have benefited from the Family and Medical Leave Act. Whether it’s been taking time off to care for a sick parent, or being at home to help in the recovery of a sick or disabled spouse, or a new parent spending quality time with their new child, it’s been an important tool on the side of American families so they aren’t forced with the horrifying choice between their family and their job.

It’s also no secret that groups like the National Association of Manufacturers are lobbying very hard to weaken FMLA and why it’s so important to keep an eye on issues like this that affect almost every working American in one way or another.

Personally, the last seven weeks for me were very rewarding and beneficial to our family, and despite the inability to find more than three consecutive hours of sleep, something I’ll always look back on with fond memories. I can’t imagine not having that time, and that’s the thing the big corporations hate about FMLA: the more people who utilize it, the more they’ll support it.

One of the things overlooked in today’s budget bill the Wisconsin State Senate passed was the ability for University of Wisconsin academic staff and faculty to take a seat at the collective bargaining table.

Not many people know that University of Wisconsin faculty and academic staff are the largest group of workers in Wisconsin denied collective bargaining rights, and it’s about time they were given the same rights to organize and join the collective bargaining process to make their voices heard.

As someone who works closely with a large number of people who would be affected by this improvement, I can say that it’s been met with overwhelming support from the people it would affect, and rightfully so. Organized labor already has a strong presence on UW campuses, and if this legislation passes, it will only get stronger.

Due in large part to the proposal by Senate Democrats for Universal Health care for Wisconsin residents (see more detail here), I think Wisconsin Democrats have an excellent chance of not only increasing their majority in the State Senate in 2008, but taking back the State Assembly as well.

The Democratic controlled Senate is going to pass the measure that will give every Wisconsin resident top of the line health insurance while lowering costs for individuals and businesses. The Republican controlled Assembly will not pass it because frankly they’re beholden to the big insurance companies campaign checks, and this is a very important point going forward in this debate, their primary reasoning for opposing universal health care is because it’s an ideological issue.

They don’t believe “the government” can do anything right, nor should do it even try to do anything right. It’s not about what’s best for the people of Wisconsin, it’s about their belief above all else that government is bad.

So while they scream and shout and make up talking points about “20 BILLION IN TAX INCREASES!!#@”, just remember it’s a cover for the real reason they’re against this or any government social program that benefits the greater good of it’s citizens.

Republicans just don’t believe that government can do anything right, which is why when they’re in power, nothing is done right. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy.

But back to the Republican controlled Assembly. If this bill dies with them, which by all accounts it looks like it’s going to do, it’s going to be the #1 campaign issue for the 2008 elections.

Every Democrat running for Assembly is going to hammer home the fact that if it weren’t for Republican obstructionism in the Assembly, you Mr. and Mrs. John Q. Taxpayer would have top of the line health insurance for a fraction of what you’re paying now. And what are Republicans going to come back with? Something about “taxes” I’m sure, but once the facts about this plan make it out in to the public realm, that’s going to sound like the lame argument it really is.

The message: If you want top of the line health insurance coverage for a fraction of what you’re paying now vote Democrat in 2008. If you want the status quo, vote Republican.

Health care is one of the top three issues that voters are concerned about, and after years of double digit premium increases, rightfully so. State Democrats have hit a home run with their proposal and it’s going to be one of the major factors that lead to Democrats regaining control of the State Legislature in 2008.

How can small business owners argue with numbers like this:

Mike Rayome, human resources director for Graphic Packaging in Wausau, said the plan would save his company $4.4 million a year on health coverage for its 800 employees in Wisconsin.

He encouraged businesses across the state to run the numbers to see how the plan would affect their costs. “I was just shocked,” he said, adding, “You have to consider what’s best for the state of Wisconsin and put partisan politics aside.”

A simple question I’m curious to hear from conservatives about, but would welcome any other feedback as well:

If you could pay around $200/month for top of the line health care instead of what you pay now through either your own insurance or through your companies plan, would you do it?

Especially if it were to save over a billion dollars in taxes for the state that would be used for property tax relief?

If you’re a business owner, would the tradeoff be worth it for you if you could save thousands of dollars in insurance costs as well?

Wisconsin State Democrats are pushing a plan for universal health care coverage for Wisconsin residents. You can find more details here.

One other point, this would give private citizens the same coverage that “over compensated” public employees like myself get. Under the state plan, I now pay around $175/month for top of the line family coverage.

When I was an employee for a small business in the private sector a few years ago, the costs were around $800/month and rising at a yearly rate of about 15%, so I can only imagine what they’re paying now.

UPDATE: From the office of State Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, here are some of the details of the plan:

- No co-pay for preventative care or chronic disease management.
- $20 co-pay is all you pay for all doctors office visits.
- No co-pay for children.
- Prescriptions covered at $5 for generic and $15 for name brand formulary.
- $300 annual deductible per adult and $600 per family.
- Choose your own doctor. Choose your own health plan.
- Annual out-of-pocket expenses capped at $2000 per individual or $3000 per family.
- No exclusion for pre-existing conditions.
- Doctors, nurses and patients now in charge of healthcare decisions, not out of state bureaucrats from pharmaceutical and insurance companies.
- All the benefits the Governor and legislators enjoy!

Poor Vice President Dick Cheney, he just can’t seem to make up his mind about whether or not he and his office are part of the executive branch of government or not.

When he wanted to cover up who the identities of the members of his secret energy policy committee back in the early years of the Bush presidency, he naturally claimed executive privilege.

But now that Congress is in the hands of the Democrats and they’re exercising their Constitutional right over oversight, he thumbs his nose at the process and claims that he’s not part of the executive branch! As some of the more low wattage bulbs in the right-wing Wisconsin blogosphere might say, “WHALLAH!”.

Democrats are calling him on it however, saying that if he claims he’s not part of the executive branch, then his office won’t be funded through it:

“The Vice President has a choice to make. If he believes his legal case, his office has no business being funded as part of the executive branch. However, if he demands executive branch funding he cannot ignore executive branch rules. At the very least, the Vice President should be consistent. This amendment will ensure that the Vice President’s funding is consistent with his legal arguments. I have worked closely with my colleagues on this amendment and will continue to pursue this measure in the coming days.” - House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel

Sometimes Democrats don’t get enough credit for standing up to the most dishonest, subversive, and corrupt administration in the history of this country, so they deserve credit for this

First off, the man who was pulled from his car - apparently at random - yesterday and beaten by a mob deserves sympathy from the community and all the best wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery. The mob that committed the brutal act deserves the nothing less than an aggressive prosecution and absolute justice.

That said, once again the entire right wing media machine in Wisconsin has found an issue that they’re using in their continuing attempt to make inner city Milwaukee and anything having to do with the African American community appear in a bad light. They’ve got a bunch of thugs on camera beating a white man, and that’s just the type of thing that re-enforces their narrative that the City is no place for decent folks, and everyone that cares about their kids should pick up and join them in the absolute squeeky clean safety of the suburbs.

And to their point that this crime that happened near an African American festival reflects poorly on the entire African American community, I’d simply ask if they would be willing to apply the same misguided logic to every fight and beating that happens at any of Milwaukee’s ethnic festivals during the summer months.

When a large group of thugs break the law at Germanfest or Polishfest or Italianfest or Festa Mexicana, does that indict the entire ethnic group that happens to be celebrating the event in relative peace and frivolity? Of course it doesn’t, nor does the morality of the entire African American community deserve to be dragged through the mud by right wing media and bloggers throughout Wisconsin.