The Capital Times, Feb. 6
Robin Vos and Scott Fitzgerald are contemptible liars
When the Foxconn fiasco was in its earliest stages, it was already clear to The Capital Times that the arrangement between former Gov. Scott Walker and the scandal-plagued Taiwanese corporation was “a travesty.” In 2017 we explained, “No matter what final form the agreement takes, it can and should be opposed by Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives. There are no partisan nor ideological ’sides’ in this debate. The division is between those who want to create jobs in a smart and responsible way that yields long-term benefits and those who propose to throw money at corporations that play states and nations against one another.”
It was evident to any honest observer that the company’s promise to develop a manufacturing plant in southeastern Wisconsin that would ultimately employ as many as 13,000 workers represented an absurd and unobtainable promise by a foreign corporation that wanted to get on the good side of Donald Trump before the president started imposing tariffs.
Only a major fool would have promised to support the Foxconn fantasy with a promise of perhaps $3 billion, perhaps $4.5 billion, in tax dollars to secure the project.
Scott Walker was a major fool.
When the details of the boondoggle began to be revealed in 2017, we explained: “The Foxconn deal represents the worst form of crony capitalism - an agreement to transfer billions of dollars in taxpayer funds to a foreign corporation. It locks Wisconsin into a semi-permanent relationship with a rogue organization that has an international reputation for treating workers poorly, harming the environment, and failing to follow through on agreements.”
Walker’s ineptitude became obvious. That’s one of the reasons why he was defeated for re-election last fall.
But the blame was never entirely on Walker.
In August of 2017, we wrote an editorial headlined: “Legislature needs to fix Scott Walker’s flawed Foxconn deal.” Noting former state Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller’s observation that “the governor has been suckered once again,” we argued, “Now, it falls to the Legislature to address the fundamental flaws in the deal Walker has cut with Foxconn. The power of the purse gives legislators the authority to check and balance Walker’s deal making, and they have a responsibility to do just that.”
Instead of stepping up for sound economic development and fiscal responsibility, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Burlington, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, lined up with Walker. They joined the governor in approving an arrangement that lacked meaningful guarantees and oversight.
Like Walker, Vos and Fitzgerald were ready to pose for pictures with the president and visiting executives, but they refused to perform even the most basic watchdog duties.
The Foxconn executives were not fools. They recognized that, under the deal they had entered into, they could get away with rearranging, and even abandoning, commitments. And, ever since Vos and Fitzgerald marched their respective legislative chambers onto the Foxconn playing field, the corporation has been in a constant process of moving the goalposts.
Last week, Reuters reported that Foxconn was reassessing its plans to manufacture LCD display panel screens in Wisconsin. Then the company signaled that it was still interested in developing an assembly facility. And tech-industry observers warned that the unsettled circumstance was likely to continue.
No one should have been surprised to learn that the company was at least reviewing options for backing out of the commitment to manufacture the LCD display panel screens. As Reuters explained, “Foxconn can make more money by manufacturing the panels in East Asia, assembling them in Mexico and then importing to the United States.” Beyond that, LCD profit margins are down and technological developments are already threatening to shrink the market.
Nor should anyone be surprised that, after the Reuters report was published at a particularly inconvenient moment for a company that is very interested in ongoing negotiations about tariffs and trade, Foxconn would go into damage-control mode and tell the Trump administration that it would still build something in the 2020 election battleground state of Wisconsin. Foxconn will keep trying to stay on Trump’s good side as long as it can.
What was surprising was the attempt by Robin Vos and Scott Fitzgerald to blame newly elected Gov. Tony Evers for chaos that extends - at least in part - from their dereliction of duty. The Republican legislators reacted to the initial Reuters report by announcing: “The company is reacting to the wave of economic uncertainty that the new governor has brought with his administration. Governor Evers has an anti-jobs agenda and pledged to do away with a successful business incentive for manufacturing and agriculture.”
PolitiFact tagged Vos and Fitzgerald as “pants-on-fire” liars for that one.
There is no “wave of uncertainty,” Evers is not anti-jobs. The governor is trying to manage the mess he inherited from Walker.
The “pants-on-fire” label is amusing. But it does not begin to call Vos and Fitzgerald out for the damage they have done to Wisconsin. They were negligent. They failed the taxpayers. Then, when things went awry, they tried to put the blame on an honorable official who is doing his best to salvage something from a mess that others created.
Robin Vos and Scott Fitzgerald are contemptible liars. Their continued presence in state government shames Wisconsin.
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The Journal Times of Racine, Feb. 17
Hunting contests are not a ’cruel stain’ on state
Here in Wisconsin there is a tradition of hunting. From the Saturday before Thanksgiving until the Sunday after Thanksgiving, it’s gun deer hunting season. Many schools in northern Wisconsin actually have the entire week of school off because if they didn’t, they wouldn’t have enough teachers or students to hold class - they are out hunting.
It’s a tradition handed down from generation to generation and it’s a part of our state’s history.
Yet, one Wisconsin bill is looking to diminish the sport and put some of those hunters at risk of penalties.
The bill is Senate Bill 30 and prohibits the organization of and participation in “contests for killing wild animals.”
The bill defines contests as an organized or sponsored competition with the objective of taking, capturing or killing a wild animal for entertainment or for the chance to win designated prizes. “Contest” does not include lawful fishing.
However, the bill prohibits a person from organizing, conducting or sponsoring a contest, providing a venue for a contest or participating in a contest.
There goes the big-buck contests that many bars, gas stations and businesses sponsor.
There goes the tradition.
The number of people out deer hunting has been going down in recent years.
Between 1999 and 2017, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources data show total deer licenses - some hunters buy more than one - fell by 50,414, or 5.8 percent to 824,475, according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
Fewer licenses means less money going to the state for environmental and conservation initiatives to protect our state’s natural resources.
In explaining the bill earlier this month, state Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, said in a news release: “Wildlife killing contests are a cruel stain on Wisconsin’s long legacy of conservation. These contests lead to the indiscriminate killing of wildlife in order to win cash prizes, guns, or belt buckles. Not only are questionable tactics used to attract and kill the animals, but often, the animals are not used for any purpose after they are killed and their carcasses are left to rot.
“This senseless violence is not the same as ethical hunting. Wisconsinites have a historic reverence for wildlife, and these wildlife killing contests directly contradict that long and proud history and serve no useful purpose. California and Vermont have passed similar legislation.”
Wow. That is extreme. Part of the hunt, for most hunters, is bringing home the meat. It’s not something to be wasted and it’s certainly not “senseless violence.”
If someone gets a 20-point buck, that person deserves to be able to celebrate. And if it’s the biggest buck in town, they deserve to win a free drink or a free tank of gas or $100 bucks in cash - whatever is the local prize.
We have a rich hunting heritage here in Wisconsin. If hunting needs to be better regulated, or rules need to be adjusted, then that should be taken up in another bill or through administrative rules that are more targeted.
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Wisconsin State Journal, Feb. 17
Graduation trend good, but too many families leave Madison schools
Madison shouldn’t get hung up on a single year of graduation data for city schools.
The trend over several years is more telling.
So while the four-year graduation rate for black students in the district fell by 7 percentage points to 65.6 percent in 2018, that was still an improvement from two years ago, and from several prior years. The trend has been steady improvement since this decade began, with a big jump in diplomas two years ago.
Only half of black students in Madison schools graduated on time in 2011. So even with last year’s decline, the 65.6 percent who graduated in 2018 is a more than 15 percentage point improvement from seven years ago.
The percentage of Hispanic students graduating in four years also has increased more than 20 points since 2011, to 80.6 percent.
The district still has a long way to go to close achievement gaps between minority and white students, 87.8 percent of whom graduated on time last year. Some key factors are outside the control of our schools.
But the general pattern is one of progress. And when the percentages of students who graduate within five years are tallied, 78.2 percent of black students, 85.2 percent of Hispanic, and 92 percent of white students in the class of 2017 have earned diplomas.
Across Wisconsin, 89.6 percent of high school students graduated on time in 2018, including 69.3 percent of blacks, 82.3 percent of Hispanics, and 93.5 percent of whites.
The academic success of students is important because it increases the prosperity and happiness of citizens.
But another statistic also needs attention, especially in Madison. Our schools must be a place of pride where the vast majority of parents want to send their children. Unfortunately, the families of more than 1,246 students last year choose to transfer out of the district. That compares to 442 students and their families who chose to enroll in Madison from another district. Overall, that’s a net loss from Madison of more than 800 students, costing millions in state aid.
The Madison School Board’s long, tiring and damaging debate over whether to keep a single police officer in each of the city’s four main high schools is part of the problem. Given the scary number of school shootings across the nation, parents want to know their children are safe. One armed and highly trained officer in each high school is easily justified and reassuring - especially given the high caliber of school resource officers, all of whom are black or Latina.
Madison must do a better job of convincing parents that, in the interest of helping struggling and in some cases disruptive students, the district won’t sacrifice the overall educational environment for the vast majority of young people of all backgrounds who are behaving in class and want to learn.
Madison is holding a primary election for three School Board seats on Tuesday. Then the important discussion about K-12 education in Madison and across Wisconsin will intensify as voters prepare for the April 2 election.
Madison’s efforts to graduate more students and stem the flight of families from the district demand lots of attention.
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