Today's Blog: Time for the Guv to morph into Chris Christie My husband and I and a couple hundred friends watched in Green Bay as ...(more) Search Archives

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Time for the Guv to morph into Chris Christie (6/28/2011)

Time for Gov. Walker to talk more about the cake (3/4/2011)

Today, reality hits home (3/1/2011)

FoxPolitics News going on hiatus (1/28/2011)

Brown County Executive candidate forum Feb. 8 (1/28/2011)

Education done right (1/27/2011)

To Obama, the ‘We’ is Government (1/27/2011)

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Some of the excuses offered for prophylactic (yeah – there’s no problem yet!!!) reform:

• “we’re close to the precipice when local elections will be thoroughly tainted by special interest cash.” (King)
• Local governments should lead, because state and federal governments haven’t (Cieslewicz)
• Races “are becoming increasingly expensive…the campaigns are still just affordable enough that public financing could have a big impact” and not cost too much. (Cieslewicz)
• “There’s still an opportunity to respond proactively…because we haven’t reached the point where there’s a parade of local officials into courtrooms and jail.” (Mike McCabe, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign)

As it is, Council candidates are limited to $250 per individual. A contributor to a Madison mayoral candidate maxes out at just under $2,200. Alder Paul Skidmore hit the nail on the head, pointing out the existing $250 limitation – “somehow if a developer gives [me] more than $5, that’s bad.”

How about this – you Mad-men might even have the opportunity to do a check-off on your state taxes to fund the whole thing. Oh right, that’s really worked everywhere it’s been tried.

And this – from Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause and a very nice guy – even if he gets a bit winsome once in a while… “If there’s a place in the Midwest where this seems to fit with the character of the city and its political culture, this is it.”

Geez, not even Frank Zeidler asked for public campaign financing.

I know – it’s not the most fun in the world, but asking your neighbor and all your relatives and the owner of the dry cleaner where you’ve been taking your shirts for 20 years and your pastor and your best friends and even your kid’s piano teacher is exactly how you not only build strength and collaboration, but you build grassroots support, dollar by dollar.

For crying out loud – by admission of the resolution’s sponsor, no problem exists!

So you guys, just do the right thing and sit down and start working those phones.

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