One would think that if a particular political party was in control of the governor’s mansion, the state Senate, and the state Assembly, that their members wouldn’t squabble. But we’re talking about Wisconsin Democrats.
Years ago, when Chuck Chvala ran the state Senate, he got into some legendary and public verbal fisticuffs with state Senator Gary George of Milwaukee. What’s happening now isn’t nearly as dysfunctional, but it’s noteworthy.
Let’s start with the Assembly. No Milwaukee Democrat was elected by his peers to a leadership position in the lower house of the Legislature. Democrats have already selected their scapegoat, Pedro Colon of Milwaukee, and they’re talking about it. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Dan Bice has the details in the second item of his latest piece.
Over in the state Senate, Democrats, apparently clueless as to the struggling economy and Wisconsin’s looming multi-billion dollar state budget deficit, are adamant about reintroducing their $15.2 billion government health care program, the largest tax increase in the history of America. They stubbornly plan to do so even though their own governor opposes the outlandishly expensive plan.
And then there’s the latest dustup involving state Senator Fred Risser. No one has been a state lawmaker in America longer than Risser. No matter your politics, you’ve got to have a soft spot for the Madison octogenarian. He deserves respect, and yet he’s being dissed by his own party.
Risser has been a fixture on the State Building Commission. He even has the state judicial building across the street from the state capitol named after him. Risser wants to remain on the Building Commission.
He may have been around longer than anyone else, but Risser is not the Senate Majority Leader. Russ Decker is. Decker decides who serves where, and Decker has decided the kindly old senator is off the Building Commission. Risser isn’t happy.
Seems Risser wants to push once again for a statewide smoking ban, an idea that Decker opposes. This isn’t tough stuff to figure out. Decker’s spin is that there should be a younger senator placed on the Building Commission to gain valuable knowledge. Using that flawed logic, Risser shouldn’t have been Senate President as often as he has.
Here’s the story.
No, I’m not happy with the lay of the land in the Legislature. But those wacky Democrats will certainly provide me lots of material.
