The new legislative session opened on Monday, and leaders in both political parties said the right things about the need for bipartisanship in the Capitol. Those pleasant words will soon be tested by rehashing last year’s bitter battle over a bill to make it easier for mining companies to set up shop in Wisconsin. 

Both parties want this legislation, but can't agree how many environmental safeguards need to be in place. Democrats want more. Republicans obviously want less. 

Of course, Republicans have majorities in both houses and Scott Walker in the Governor’s Mansion, so they could conceivably ram through whatever they wanted. That didn't work last time around, when Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center, refused to vote for a Republican bill that didn't do much to protect the environment and local communities affected by mines. 

In a state that just witnessed two years of protests, and a series of recall elections, the moderate approach to mining legislation that appeals to Republicans a some Democrats is best. Unfortunately in politics nowadays, if you are not talking about a member of the opposite party, moderate is a dirty word.

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Back to School

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Republicans respond to that idiot Todd Akin

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Right-Wing Rock Stars

I rarely laugh at one of my own cartoons, but I can't look at this without chuckling. My favorite detail is the way Scott Walker is twirling the drumstick between his fingers.
This cartoon is a good example of why I love editorial cartoons so much. Unlike animated cartoons or film, this cartoon requires the reader to use just the slightest bit of imagination to make the gag work. I think everyone of us will image Mitt Romney in his dorkiest voice saying "We sound great together." I don't think I could find an actor to deliver that line as perfectly as the reader will deliver it to themselves.
That's the beauty of comics. They guide us to the gag, but we have to put it all together and engage with the art for it to really work. No other form of popular entertainment requires so much cooperation between author and audience. The jokes are rewarding because you have to work for them.
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Splitting the Tea Party vote

I was happy to see Tommy Thompson make it through the Republican primary in the race for Herb Kohl's old Senate seat. But it's clear that Tommy did not win because the Wisconsin’s Republican Party has become more pragmatic and moderate. Tommy won because businessman, Eric Hovde and perennial candidate, Mark Neumann split the vote of the most conservative Republicans.
Over 60 percent of people who voted in the Republican primary voted for somebody besides Tommy. Tommy, one of the biggest names in Wisconsin politics since the 1990s and a one-time presidential candidate, eked out political newcomer Hovde by less than 20,000 votes.
So I'm not optimistic about the GOP in Wisconsin moderating anytime in the future. Should Tommy beat Democratic candidate, Tammy Baldwin in November, conservatives will claim it was his name-recognition, not his moderate disposition that led him to victory. Should Tommy lose, Republicans will only be more resolute to nominate "real" (meaning radical) conservatives in the future.

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Race-Baiting

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The sharp young man