[note: Below are my responses to a series of questions being posed to the 54th District Assembly Candidates on the Oshkosh News website. Go to this web address if you would like to see the responses of the other candidates http://www.oshkoshnews.org/candidatesforum/index.html Peace, -Tony]
Tony Palmeri's Introductory Comments
Greetings to all blog participants. My name is Tony Palmeri, and I am the Green Party candidate for the 54th Assembly District. I would like to thank Oshkosh News, the League of Women Voters, the Oshkosh Public Library, Professor Miles Maguire, and all others involved in the creation of this blog. I would also like to thank my opponents for participating.
Blogging is a kind of “cutting edge” media activism. As many of you know, I am somewhat of a media activist myself. I operate a daily news website, I write a monthly column of media criticism for the Valley Scene called “Media Rants,” and for many years I produced and co hosted (with former Oshkosh Mayor James Mather) “Commentary,” an award winning public affairs program originating from the Titan-TV studios on the UW Oshkosh campus. (see www.tonypalmeri.com for links to all of the above).
My media activism is in large part responsible not only for my decision to run for the assembly this year, but also my decision to run as a Green Party candidate. Following our legislature very closely in the state’s major media over the last dozen or so years, I have noticed the following patterns:
*The leadership of the establishment, corporate parties (Democrats and Republicans) have become obsessed with raising money.
Madison now features a “pay to play” culture that has given us indictments of top legislative leaders, wealthy special interest hijacking of the state budget, and unconscionable waste of taxpayer money. Want an example? Wisconsin used to pay a state employee about 11 bucks an hour to maintain a road sign inventory. But now, the state pays the HNTB Corp. $80 an hour to do the same job. Why? Top HNTB executives have made $140,000 in campaign contributions to Wisconsin politicians in the last decade, including $46,275 to top recipient Jim Doyle.
*The maverick Wisconsin politician—the man or woman of courage willing to defy party loyalty and vote his or her conscience, has all but disappeared.
Policy is now formulated and moved forward by three key politicians (Governor Doyle, Speaker Gard, Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald) and special interest lobbyists. The majority of the 99 members of the Assembly and 33 members of the Senate have literally become their leaders’ lapdogs, often voting for measures that have received little or no public input. Want an example? Consider what Attorney General Lautenschlager said about the mislabeled “Jobs Creation Act”: “Not only did those interested in the bill have but one working day to digest and study its multitudinous provisions, but legislative leaders refused to allow an opportunity for further public comment and testimony in regard to the changes that had been made.”
*As the legislature has become less and less responsive to the public’s needs, it has become almost impossible to defeat the incumbents responsible for this mess.
The legislature spent millions of dollars of taxpayer money after the 2000 census to make the legislative districts even friendlier to incumbents than they already were. Half of the incumbents have no opponents and in many of the remaining districts face only token opposition.
Given this pathetic state of affairs, should we find it surprising that Wisconsin faces a billion dollar structural deficit before even beginning to discuss the 2005-2007 budget? Should we find it surprising that a reckless and irresponsible legislature in Madison resorts to gimmicks like raiding the tobacco fund, employing Enron-like accounting methods, and seeking to avoid its responsibility to make tough budget decision by saddling us all with a “Taxpayer Bill of Rights?” Should we find it surprising that major decisions are made in closed partisan caucuses that violate the spirit if not the actual letter of the State’s Open Meetings Laws?
Should we find it surprising that the Democratic Governor and Republican legislature have developed no credible strategy to create jobs (or retain good ones that already exist) in the 54th district? Or that our health care costs continue to skyrocket while the Democratic governor and Republican legislature are held hostage to the private insurance lobby? Or that the Democratic Governor and Republican legislature agreed on a shameful budget deal that resulted in a $250 million cut in the UW budget and subsequent $150 million tuition increase, meaning that students and their families are now paying $150 million more for $100 million less? Should any of this be surprising given what I described above?
The good news is that voters in the 54th District this year have a chance to send a leader to Madison to force a change of course. I say it is TIME FOR TONY!
When you send me to Madison, I will use my skills as a media activist to educate our community about what is happening in the legislature and the Governor’s office, and I will lead a citizens’ movement to force reform. Like a modern LaFollette, I will “call the roll” and let all citizens know what interests are controlling legislators’ votes and actions. When the Democrats and Republicans go into their immoral and possibly illegal closed partisan caucuses, I will hold a Citizens’ Caucus on the steps of the State Capitol. EVERYONE WILL BE INVITED TO MY CAUCUS.
I will meet regularly with the City Council, County Board, and School Board. I will hold regular town hall meetings in a variety of settings. And I will regularly visit our K-12 schools to educate our young people about the importance of citizen activism.
I am currently working full-time, teaching three classes (which include almost 100 students) at UW Oshkosh. But my passion for giving the government back to the people is so strong that I am trying as hard as possible to continue to campaign full-time until November 2nd. If I am slow in posting blogs, it is because my students must come first.
Thank you for the opportunity to communicate with you in this forum.
–Tony Palmeri
Tony Palmeri welcomes your feedback
Tony Palmeri's Legislative Priorities
The 54th district is in the midst of what is the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Thousands of good paying, good benefit providing manufacturing jobs have been lost. In my door to door campaign I have met a substantial number of unemployed and underemployed people near panic about what the future holds. Many of those fortunate enough to be employed are concerned about losing their jobs, wages not keeping pace with the cost of living, not being able to afford health care, and not being able to afford a college education for their children. Meanwhile Father Carr, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, and other relief agencies are facing record demands for services.
With that as a backdrop, my legislative priorities will center on three broad areas:
1. Developing a job retention and creation strategy for the 54th District.
2. Protecting the Shared Revenue Program.
3. Government Reform (Restore Clean Government to Wisconsin)
1. Developing a job retention and creation strategy for the 54th District:
2. Protecting the Shared Revenue Program: I think it’s wrong that the city of Oshkosh has to raise fees and close down the Pollock Pool because the politicians in Madison recklessly cut our shared revenue funds. The Wisconsin Alliance of Cities is currently developing reforms of the shared revenue program that would provide incentives for regional cooperation. We need to take a serious look at the WAC proposals, and we also need to make sure that local elected officials are involved closely in any debate and policy formulation regarding shared revenue.
3. Government Reform (Restore Clean Government to Wisconsin): None of the legislative agenda mentioned above, and none of the agendas advocated by any other candidate, can be pursued actively as long the legislature remains broken. The corrupt system that produced indictments of top legislative leaders is still solidly in place, with the Democratic governor and Republican legislature together stifling any hope for real reform of our campaign finance system. Our budget woes and inability to afford real needs are in large part the result of the Democrats’ and Republicans’ inability to say NO to their favored interests. Until we get a complete overhaul of our financing system, eliminate the corrupt closed partisan caucus system, and overhaul the State Elections and Ethics Boards, we will forever be mired in legislative mediocrity and will not be able to meet the needs of our citizens.
We all know that the Democratic and Republican leadership in Madison, wallowing
in campaign cash and safely tucked away in closed partisan caucuses, will not
serve the citizens of the 54th district unless they are pushed to do so by a
citizens' movement. When the voters of Oshkosh send a Green to Madison, it will
send the politicians a loud signal that the citizens have awakened and want
real reform.
Tony Palmeri welcomes your feedback
Tony Palmeri on Paying Public Employees
First, the Democratic governor, Republican legislative majority and Democratic minority need to stop blaming public employees for the state’s fiscal mess. The mess was created by the politicians, not the public employees. The decimation of the state workforce being carried out by Doyle, the Republicans, and the Democratic sheep will have profound and disturbing impacts on the state’s ability to provide needed services.
Second, the state must bargain in good faith with the 19 represented public employee units. For the state to give special raises of up to 12% for 822 higher wage, nonunion employees at the same time it demands sacrifice from low wage employees is outrageous. The special raises must be repealed and adjusted to reflect the same pain experienced by all other state workers.
Third, UW faculty must be allowed to have the ability to bargain collectively if they choose to do so. Our university system CANNOT recruit and maintain excellent faculty if the state continues to drive their salaries and benefits further behind those of peer institutions in other states.
Do you favor taking steps to control public employee health care costs?
The question seems to assume that we are stuck with the current health care system, which is a grotesque creature of the private insurance lobby. If we are stuck with this horrible system, then of course it makes sense to ask public employees to contribute more to their health plans. But I do not accept that we are stuck with a health care system that is immoral, inefficient, and costly.
I support taking steps to control health care costs for everyone, including public employees. The fairest and most effective way to do that is to pass a state run, universal health care plan. This of course should be done at the federal level, but with Washington even more under the grip of the private insurance lobby than Madison, it is not likely to happen there. Thus, Wisconsin needs to once again become the progressive leader and pass universal health care legislation at the state level. A universal plan would be paid for by private and employer contributions just like the current system, but the removal of private insurers would cut administrative costs dramatically and thus save money for everyone.
Before being booted out of office, Mary Panzer created a special Senate committee charged to look for ways to control health care costs at the state and local levels. Sadly (but true to form), Panzer did not ask the committee to look at a State universal coverage option or the inferior (but still better than what we have now) AFL-CIO Wisconsin Health Care Plan which has been endorsed across the state by many elected officials and labor leaders.
Do you support any additional pension benefits for public employees?
I am not sure I would call it an “additional benefit,” but I support the creation of statutory language that would solidify the principle that THE STATE PENSION FUND BELONGS TO THE RETIREES, NOT TO THE STATE.
In order to protect retiree pensions, the State System is in serious need of reform. First, all proposed reforms of the System must come with an actuarial analysis. The legislature passed and governor Thompson in 1999 signed Act 11, a significant reform of the system, without a complete actuarial analysis. That is simply irresponsible and reflects a failure of the legislature or governor to lead.
Second, elected officials must be removed from the pension system so that they do not have a conflict of interest when voting on it. The only way to remove them from the system is to return to the citizen legislature, in which all elected representatives are expected to have employment outside the legislature.
Finally, pension reform deals need to be discussed openly. Writing of Act 11,
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said: “It was passed quickly with little
debate and without a full actuarial study; it was wrongly described as having
no impact on taxpayers; it sweetens a plan that was already very generous; its
sweetest benefits go to top officials with the most seniority and the highest
salaries.” Those who do not mind the flawed process that gave us Act 11
because they feel it was a good reform should realize that the same government
that does something positive for the public in secret can just as easily screw
that same public. For proof, just look at the mislabeled “Jobs Creation
Act,” a sweetheart deal for big developers largely developed outside the
view of the public.
Tony Palmeri welcomes your feedback
The Sunday (9/26) Appleton Post-Crescent had this to say about health care: "The news continues to be grim. Three statistics came out in recent months. Nationally, health-insurance premiums went up more than 11 percent in 2004, the fourth consecutive year of double-digit increases. Five million fewer jobs nationally offered health insurance in 2004, compared to 2003. And, in Wisconsin, 10.4 percent of people don’t have health insurance, up from 8.7 percent in 2001. In the fourth quarter, employees will find out how much their insurance is going up in 2005. How bad does this crisis have to get before government takes meaningful action?"
The only "meaningful action" we can take on this issue is the creation of a single payer, universal health care system. This of course should be done at the federal level, but with the US Congress solidly under the control of the private insurance and pharmaceutical lobbies, it is not likely to happen there.
Thus, it is time for Wisconsin to regain its long-lost reputation as the nation's progressive leader and pass a universal health care plan at the state level.
The good news is that legislation that would create a universal system already exists. Assembly Bill 229 and Senate Bill 90 await only the kind of the leadership the legislature is willing to exert on concealed weapons and TABOR. I am willing to exert that leadership.
According to the Legislative Reference Bureau's analysis of AB229/SB90: "To
administer the universal health plan, the bill creates a Department of Health
Planning and Finance (DHPF), with six regional offices, that is directed and
supervised by an 11-member Health Policy Board that is also created in the bill.
The
Health Policy Board appoints the secretary of health planning and finance and
is required to review that appointment after 36 months. The bill also creates
six
regional health councils that are attached to DHPF and that report at least
twice a year to the Health Policy Board on the health care needs, problems,
and concerns of the region."
In essence, the bills would end the reign of HMOs in Wisconsin. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has said that the costs of such a plan are "indeterminate." But does anyone honestly believe a government run plan would cost MORE for individuals, employers, counties, and municipalities than the current system?
A single payer state run health insurance program would cover all of the uninsured, upgrade coverage for most Wisconsinites and save money due to the massive reduction in administrative costs. Under a state run plan, everyone would be covered for care at any hospital, doctor’s office or clinic. There would be no copayments or deductibles. Patients would have free choice of provider, and doctors and nurses would be freed from the large administrative bureaucracy that wastes money and diverts resources from care providing. Most important, private health insurers and HMOs would be eliminated—in the process saving millions now wasted on profits and executives’ incomes.
Part of the question asks "how would we judge the success of your plan?" Clearly, the only way to judge the success of a health care plan is whether it treats health care as a HUMAN RIGHT and whether it provides quality care to EVERYONE regardless of their age or employment status. A universal health care plan is the only plan that can meet these criteria. I do not think any of the plans offered by the other candidates will result in universal coverage for all citizens.
I am under no illusion that I will be able to get Governor Doyle, the legislative Republicans, or even the Democrats sponsoring AB229 amd SB90 to show any leadership in getting it to pass. Thus, when I am elected I plan to mobilize daily protests and marches outside of the Capitol until the legislature and governor take this issue seriously.
Bobby Peterson of ABC for Health, Inc. of Madison recently wrote in the Capitol Times, "a universal system of coverage . . . won't happen until we get 5,000 people to rally regularly at the State Capitol. I'll be there. Will you?" YES, I WILL BE THERE!! --Tony Palmeri
Tony Palmeri welcomes your feedback
1. Do you believe Wisconsin has too many tax-funded services?
No. The overwhelming majority of residents of the 54th district want a quality public education system, police and fire protection to keep the community safe, necessary social services, and a clean environment. The residents understand that none of this can be done without money drawn from taxes. BUT THE RESIDENTS ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT WISCONSIN’S CURRENT TAX SYSTEM IS NOT FAIR.
How are Wisconsin’s taxes unfair? First, let’s look at individual income tax rates. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, from 1972 – 1985 Wisconsin’s lowest rate was 3.1% and the highest rate was 11.4%, Today, the lowest rate is 4.6% and the highest is 6.75%. This means that whether your income is $40,000 or $400,000 you are still at 6.75%.
According to the Fiscal Bureau, as of 2001 only four states applied a higher tax rate than Wisconsin’s to their lowest bracket (Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oregon), yet 15 states applied a higher rate than Wisconsin to their top income brackets.
A study by the The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy in 2002 showed that the richest 1% of Wisconsin taxpayers paid 8.1% of their income in state and local taxes, and only 5.9% after federal itemized deductions. Middle-income taxpayers paid 11.9%, or 11.3% after the federal offset. The poorest 20% of taxpayers paid 10.2%.
Fairness dictates that the lowest bracket be returned to the its 1972 level of 3.1%. Fairness also dictates that the top bracket be increased for persons making more than $200,000 per year. A recent study by the reputable Feldman Group showed that 75% of Wisconsin’s residents favor increasing taxes on individuals making more than $200,000.
Second, big corporations in Wisconsin are not paying their fair share of taxes.
Former Governor Tommy Thompson’s Administration secretary Mark Bugher told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the corporate tax is "so shot full of exemptions and loopholes and credits and exceptions and complications that it becomes almost irrelevant to the revenue stream of the state." Corporations would be paying at least $600 million more in state taxes this year if they were still paying the same share as in 1979. Meanwhile corporate tax-dodging schemes cost the state at least $100 million per biennium. And in what was perhaps the biggest outrage of the last legislative session, the governor and legislature adopted a “single sales factor” formula for big business taxes that will rob still another $45 million per year from the budget beginning in 2006.
The argument for corporate tax breaks is that they create jobs. Yet no credible evidence exists to show that job creation has in fact occurred, and in fact the evidence seems point in the opposite direction. The Center on Wisconsin Strategy’s “State of Working Wisconsin” Report has shown consistently that Wisconsin lags behind other states in the creation of jobs that come with high wages and good benefits.
The Feldman Group study cited earlier showed that 80% of Wisconsinites favor closing tax loopholes. I will fight to get the loopholes closed when I become your representative.
If 75% of Wisconsinites favor raising taxes on people making more than $200,000 and another 80% favor closing corporate loopholes, why haven’t those things happened? Simply because we have the most corrupt legislature in the United States. Our tax code is the result of huge campaign contributions and high priced lobbyists. It’s shameful and it needs to stop.
2. Would you support altering the state sales tax as a means to pay for state government and/or lowering property taxes?
I am opposed to any increases in the state sales tax. The sales tax is a regressive tax, and to increase it while the corporations are getting away with tax dodging murder is unconscionable.
I could support the Wisconsin Counties Association’s “Fiscal Fairness Plan” of a few years back that that would apply the sales tax to all but a few items (food, prescription drugs, and a few others) while reducing the sales tax rate from 5.0% to 3.0%. They estimated that such a change would have increased revenues by $745 million in fiscal year 2003. I say I could support this change rather than DO support it because I would first want to see the WCA’s numbers validated by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. I would also want to hear testimony on the effect to small businesses of expanding the sales tax.
Let me close my answer with two additional thoughts. First, the massive increases in tuition paid by college students and their families is in fact a TAX. For the governor and legislature to say they have not raised taxes while they have supported massive tuition increases is simply disingenuous.
Second, I agree with Democratic Representative Spencer Black, who says: ”Democrats have been losing the debate over taxes in the public arena because of timidity. Instead of trying to avoid the issue or offering a pale version of Republican tax rhetoric, it is long past time for Democrats to take on the big business lobby and the right wing on taxes.” Why Representative Black remains in the Democratic Party is a mystery to me. Only the Greens are willing to fight for the principle of progressive taxation and for the principle that all taxation should be based on ability to pay.
Tony Palmeri welcomes your feedback
Tony Palmeri on the DNR and Lake Winnebago
What legislative initiatives would you undertake to address Lake Winnebago Pool Lakes water quality issues, and how would you propose that these be funded? Do you believe changes need to be made at DNR? If so, what changes would you propose?
I will respond to the second question first.
Do you believe changes need to be made at DNR? If so, what changes would you propose?
Yes, changes need to be made at the DNR. Two decades of political corruption—for which the Republicans and Democrats are equally responsible—have turned the DNR into what Wisconsin River Alliance Executive Director Denny Caneff calls a “beleaguered, almost fear-driven agency.”
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources was created in 1967 by a Republican governor and a bipartisan majority in both houses. They created a 7-member citizen commission called the Natural Resources Board. The function of the Board was to insulate the DNR from day-to-day political pressure or special-interest lobbyists.
The 1967 Legislature also created the Wisconsin Public Intervenor Office. It was designed as an independent watchdog agency charged with intervening to protect public rights in the water and other natural resources. The Public Intervenor—always a thorn in the side to big developers and industry puppets in the legislature and governor’s office--ensured “fair play and due process” in environmental decision-making.
As a result of Wisconsin’s corrupt budget politics of the 1990s (which has left us with a massive structural deficit and no rainy day fund in addition to an underfunded and understaffed DNR), the DNR Secretary is now under the thumb of the governor and a vital Public Intervenor office no longer exists. The result? A Democratic/Republican “Job Creation Act” that assaults our water quality standards, provides no evidence of job creation, and will COST us jobs in the state’s $11.4 billion a year tourist industry.
We need to restore the political independence of the DNR Secretary and restore a fully funded and functional Public Intervenor’s Office. With Jim Doyle and John Gard in opposition to these reforms, the only way to get them is via a citizens’ movement, similar to the movement that forced the government to create the Natural Resources Board and Public Intervenor’s Office in 1967. Now as then, conservationists, hunting and fishing rights advocates, and all others concerned with our environment must be prepared to march en masse on the capitol. I’ll be part of the march.
What legislative initiatives would you undertake to address Lake Winnebago Pool Lakes water quality issues, and how would you propose that these be funded?
Poor lake water quality is the result of a number of contributing factors: land run-off, wetland losses, discharge pipes, rich sediments, and shoreline development are generally identified as the major ones.
The combination of Democrat Jim Doyle and the current Republican legislature represent the worst executive/legislative team in the history of the state when it comes to environmental protection. Thus we need an activist legislator not saddled with Democratic and Republican special interest baggage to pursue the following initiatives aggressively:
*Reform of Wisconsin’s Political Institutions: Since we will not get clean water from dirty politics, the most important legislative initiative is Senator Ellis’ bills to reform our campaign finance laws and restructure the state’s election and ethics boards. Without major reform of our corrupt political institutions, it will be difficult if not impossible to rescue our environment from the grip of polluters and compromised politicians.
*Repeal the “Jobs Creation Act”: This atrocious piece of special interest legislation removes DNR oversight from shoreline activities which can increase polluted runoff. The Job Creation Act is such a complete assault on the state’s “Public Trust Doctrine” (the idea that the state’s water resources are a public good to be enjoyed by everyone rather than a private resource to be exploited for profit) that it virtually turns that doctrine into a meaningless phrase. The Job Creation Act set in motion a process for development that places every single one of the state’s waterways under grave threat. In 2003 voters approved a constitutional right to fish—the Job Creation Act places that right under serious threat.
*Fund Non-Point Control Programs: The Legislature passed strict rules for agricultural runoff, but has not allocated enough money to enable farmers to comply.
*Restore and Protect Wetlands: Wetlands help to protect bodies of water like Lake Winnebago by filtering out nutrients. Earlier this year I and all citizens of the 54th District concerned with environmental protection were horrified to read about Representative Underheim’s sponsorship of Assembly Bill 780 (“Creating a New Exemption from State Wetland Regulation”). According to the environmental watchdog organization 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, Underheim’s bill will further complicate wetland regulations, is vague, will be burdensome to local communities, and is probably unconstitutional. I believe local Oshkosh resident Jan Moldenhauer’s response to Underheim’s bill was the most appropriate: “hey, what’s a wetland between friends?”
How To Fund Environmental Initiatives: Monies for environmental protection should come from the states bloated and inefficient transportation program. Last year’s audit of the Major Highway Projects program found cost overruns of up to 262%, and that $380 million could be saved through value engineering and other practices. Budget watchdogs claim that between 1988 and 2003 state spending on Major Highway Projects increased by 101%, while expenditures to pay off debt service on the project increased 360%. All of this is unconscionable and a product of the political corruption I discussed earlier. Again, WE WILL NOT GET CLEAN WATER FROM DIRTY POLITICS.
I must close by reminding readers that the terrible environmental problems we face cannot be solved by Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats are saddled with a governor who in his haste to please Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce would not listen to Attorney General Lautenschlager, former DNR Secretary George Meyer, and every major environmental organization in the state--all in agreement that the Job Creation Act lowers at least 23 environmental standards. Only 14 Democrats voted against the bill, and I don’t see any of them involved in a citizen’s movement to overturn it. Expect more environmentally destructive proposals from Doyle in the next session. Most Democrats dutifully follow Doyle just as the Republicans dutifully follow Gard, and those who don’t are content to send out “not me” press releases to organizations that support them.
If we are serious about environmental reform, we need an activist in the Legislature. Green Party candidates believe that mobilizing citizens and working with citizen movements is the essence of being an effective legislator. I look forward to working with citizens to revive our Public Trust Doctrine and ensure that all residents of the 54th District have the opportunity to enjoy Lake Winnebago.
Go to this web address if you would like to see the responses of the other candidates http://www.oshkoshnews.org/candidatesforum/index.html Peace, -Tony]
Tony Palmeri welcomes your feedback
Tony Palmeri On the Taxpayer Bill of Rights
I am opposed to TABOR. We only need look at Colorado's experience with TABOR to understand why we must defeat it in Wisconsin:
At a candidates' forum a few months back sponsored by the Oshkosh Area School District, Representative Underheim insisted that the Wisconsin TABOR Legislation will not be the same as Colorado's. HE CANNOT KNOW THAT FOR CERTAIN, especially since Mary Panzer--one of the few moderate Republican voices on TABOR, was defeated by the arch-conservative Glenn Grothman in the September primary. Even Senator Roessler at the candidates' forum acknowledged that a Colorado-like TABOR was a possibility. And yet because he could not say no to Speaker Gard, Mr. Underheim signed a letter locking himself into voting for whatever TABOR proposal comes before the legislature. Even Representative Carol Owens (Republican-53rd District) did not allow herself to be bullied into signing the letter.
A Denver think thank identified 5 major problems with TABOR:
The fact that the 54th District hosts a public University makes it all the more disturbing that Mr. Underheim would commit himself to voting for TABOR. Kevin Reilly, the new UW System President, says that TABOR "would hurt us tremendously. We know what it did to Colorado. It has turned it into almost a private university."
Wisconsin's tax code is most assuredly in need of fixing. That's why 80% of Wisconsinites think that people making more than $200, 000 per year should face a tax increase, and why 75% of Wisconsinites believe corporate loopholes should be closed. If large numbers of people want to see those kinds of tax changes, why is the legislature on the verge of passing a constitutional amendment (TABOR) that would lock in the current tax code and make those changes impossible? Simply because our corrupted political institutions have produced a situation in which the legislature responds only to wealthy, powerful, and well-connected special interests. When elected I will not only oppose TABOR, but will advocate strongly for tax fairness and sweeping reforms of our political institutions.
Tony Palmeri welcomes your feedback
Tony Palmeri on Good Government
Yes, I support the Ellis-Erpenbach Campaign Finance Reform legislation, but let’s get real: absent a major citizens’ movement, THERE IS NO WAY THAT THE DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS WILL PASS THIS LEGISLATION. Republican Senator Ellis is a pariah in his own caucus, while Democratic Governor Jim Doyle lied in his 2002 campaign when he said that campaign finance reform was his top priority.
Indeed, Doyle was a guest with Jim Mather and I on “Commentary” during the 2002Democratic primaries. He told us that comprehensive reform of our political institutions and campaign finance reform would be his first priority if elected. Here’s what Jay Heck of Common Cause in Wisconsin in June of this year said about Doyle’s efforts: “[Doyle] has not expended an ounce of political capital or energy into making comprehensive campaign finance reform a reality in Wisconsin since taking office.” Instead, he is raising money at a clip that has outpaced even Tommy Thompson.
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once called Wisconsin the "laboratory of reform." Today the Democrats and Republicans have turned us into a laboratory of lobbyist influence, pay to play, and passing the buck. It’s so bad that in 2002 the Green Bay News Chronicle for the first time in its 30-year history refused to endorse any candidates, saying “Republicans and Democrats alike have brought the state to the brink of bankruptcy. They, through their conniving ways, worked to subvert the entire political system.”
In addition to Ellis-Erpenbach, we need and I will fight for:
*An end to the closed partisan caucuses. Mike McCabe of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign says that, “A lot of the business that the public ought to be privy to is done behind closed doors . . . The opportunity for meaningful public input is almost nonexistent. Deals are struck in leaders’ offices and party caucuses. The public has no access to those places.” It is difficult to see how ANY reforms can pass the legislature as long as the legislative leaders (themselves tools of special interest power brokers) get to bully the representatives in closed caucus.
*Closing the Sham “Issue Ad” Loophole. Twice in the last year the State Elections Board had the opportunity to close the loophole. Because Democrats on the Board reversed their previous support for ending the loophole, what would have been the most significant reform of Wisconsin’s campaigns in 25 years did not pass. McCabe asks, “If Democrats are ‘100 percent committed to campaign finance reform,’ why are they working to keep five- and six-figure special interest donations out of public view and keep voters in the dark about who is really paying for election campaigns? This rule would have stopped at least $4 million from being passed under the table if it had been in effect for the last election.”
*Elections Board and Ethics Board Reform. The current Elections and Ethics Boards are structured in such a way so that they must rely on Democratic and Republican politicians on the Joint Finance Committee for funding to investigate political mischief. So ineffective are the Boards that it took the Wisconsin State Journal and various reform groups to uncover the caucus scandal.
Senate Bill 11 (sponsored by Senator Ellis) died in the last session (big surprise, eh!!). The Bill replaces the current Ethics and Election Boards with a “Government Accountability Board” composed of one governor-appointed member from each political party whose candidate for statewide election received at least 1% of the vote in the most recent general election and who is to be designated by the chief officer of that party. Four public members would be selected by the governor (subject to advice and consent of the senate) from a list compiled by a nonpartisan committee consisting of the chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the deans of the UW and Marquette Law Schools, and the chief officers of the Wisconsin Counties Association, Wisconsin Towns Association, League of Wisconsin Municipalities, League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Newspaper Association, and State Bar of Wisconsin. These are 4-year staggered terms. To her credit, Republican Representative Terri McCormick (Appleton) is a co-sponsor of this legislation.
Redistricting Reform. The current legislature spent millions of dollars of taxpayer money to draw legislative districts in a way that makes it almost impossible to beat the incumbents. Redistricting based on incumbent protection is a farce and a sham. States like Iowa employ much fairer models of redistricting.
Jay Heck says “In 1977, Wisconsin had the cleanest elections and the most honest and untainted public policymaking process in the nation. Today, our politics are conducted in a special interest cesspool, and public policy is made behind closed doors with a campaign cash register. Even the Chicago Tribune has taken notice of the ongoing mess here.”
That special interest cesspool is bipartisan—Democratic and Republican.
We need a Green in the legislature to provoke the citizen action necessary to
arrive at real reform.
Tony Palmeri welcomes your feedback
What do you think are the most important social issues facing the state and what would you propose to do about them?
First, as a Green I do not accept the false dichotomy between “public policy” and “social” issues. All issues are interconnected. The great Senator Gaylord Nelson recognized the interconnectedness of social and environmental issues, for example, when he founded Earth Day. He insisted that the goal of Earth Day should be to create “an environment of decency, quality and mutual respect for all other human creatures and for all living creatures.”
The policies being pursued by the current governor and bipartisan majorities in both houses of the legislature are the exact opposite of what Nelson called for. In Wisconsin if you are a poor or a person of color you are much more likely to live in a toxic environment, much more likely to have contact with the justice system, much less likely to have access to quality health care, and much less likely be able to afford college. Absent a citizens’ movement, neither of the corporate, establishment parties will do what it takes to bring an environment of decency to our state.
Second, Greens do not run away from so-called social issues or wish that they would go away. So as to be brief, I’ll focus just on abortion and gay marriage as examples.
I believe all human beings agree that our goal should be as few abortions as possible. But how do we get to that point? The only way is to create a just society that supports families and values children. If we really supported families, why do we tolerate them working for less than living wages? Why did we create a welfare “reform” program that has locked people into low wage, dead end jobs? If we really supported children, why do we allow so many of them to attend run down schools? Why did we recently tighten the BadgerCare eligibility criteria so that less children can benefit from the program?
On gay marriage, it is not enough to be against AJR 66, just as 100 years ago it was not enough to be against Jim Crow legislation. One hundred years ago the ethical position was to be FOR civil and human rights for all. That is STILL the ethical position to take. If a church chooses not to recognize a marriage, that is their right. But for the state to practice discrimination is wrong. Defending the rights of gay, lesbian, and transgender people is the great civil rights issue of our time. The Greens do not shrink from defending the human rights of all people.
In short, I believe that an Assembly seat is in a real sense a bully pulpit for urging social and economic justice, ecology, peace and nonviolence, and grassroots democracy. Those are my core values and I will apply them to all issues that come before the legislature.
Tony Palmeri welcomes your feedback
Tony Palmeri on Transportation
Do you support a user fee/toll system to pay for the reconstruction of the Marquette Interchange and the freeway system in southeast Wisconsin?
No. A user fee/toll system is a regressive form of taxation.
The Marquette Interchange reconstruction is an $810 million project. Our representatives in Washington must obtain as much federal support for the project as possible.
Additionally, the legislature needs to act on the results of a 2002 audit of the Department of Transportation’s Major Highway Projects program. The audit found a pattern of excessive cost overruns (sometimes up to 262%) and a lack of fiscal restraint. In other words, money that could be used to support projects like the Marquette Interchange reconstruction is simply being wasted.
Are there ways to bring down the costs of road construction and maintenance in the state?
Yes. First, we should follow the model of other states and incorporate “value engineering” practices. Transportation watchdogs claim that such practices can save over $350 million per year.
Second, we should eliminate gas tax indexing, a discgraceful form of taxation without representation that allows the legislature to collect an ever increasing amount of transportation money that is used to support questionable highway projects. If the politicians have to vote on tax increases (which is their ethical responsibility), they are less likely to waste money.
Third, the governor should appoint a blue ribbon commission charged with planning a 21st century alternative transportation model for Wisconsin (light rail, biker-friendly policies, etc.).
Fourth, we need to eliminate the current Transportation Projects Commission (currently includes the governor, three citizens appointed by the governor, 10 members of the legislature and the DOT secretary as a nonvoting member) and replace it with an elected Citizen Oversight Board (COB). An elected Board would be much less likely to be composed of “insiders” with some an interest in pet road building projects.
Do you think local governments can do a better job of stretching the available funds?
In 2002 Wisconsin spent 47% of its transportation budget on just 11% of its roadways. Half the budget is spent on 12,000 miles of state highways while the remaining half (according to the Legislative Audit Bureau) is allocated to 98,000 miles of local roads and highways, the State Patrol, the Department of Motor Vehicles, 71 public transportation systems, railroads, airports, harbors, bike paths, transportation services for people with disabilities and the elderly, and other items.
Local governments in general are doing the best they can with the limited resources available to them. It is the state government that is not a good steward of funds, whether we are talking about transportation or any other item.
What local governments must do is participate more actively in “smart
growth” policies that deemphasize sprawl and thus reduce the need for ever
expanding construction of new roads.
Tony Palmeri welcomes your feedback