Paul Soglin: Waxing America

Wisconsin Budget Delayed for... Golf Outing Fundraisers

Yesterday, Cory Liebman had the best headline and lede:

If the (Golf) Shoe Fitz...

If anyone wanted to get something put into our state budget, you may have missed your opportunity.  Providing a chance to bend the ears of an entire quarter of the votes on the budget committee, Sen. Scott Fitzgerald and brother Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald held a high end golf and dinner reception yesterday.  Smack dab in the middle of very serious budget deliberations, the brothers Fitz thought it was a good idea to hold a fundraiser catering to high rollers.

...One has to wonder how many special interests were represented at this fundraiser and exactly how many of them expressed their own ideas about our state's budget to the two well placed electeds?

...This is a disturbing example of special interests at its worst and elected officials playing their influence for all it is worth.  I have wondered how any pol could resist such a massive demand of the public, such as the one for meaningful health care reform.  It appears that such progress all-too-often dies not in the chambers of the Capitol but on special interest golf courses, like the one visited yesterday in Beaver Dam.   

While we're sure that the forces opposed to health care reform were well represented at the Fitzgerald Open, and you can bet AT&T sent a lobbyist or three, somehow we doubt that the UW was golfing at $600 per participant, or that the state's public schoolteachers had a foursome enjoying drinks while riding golfcarts.  Too bad for those folks relying on the state's public schools and its public higher education institutions; the decisions that drain their resources stem from contributions to legislators like the brothers Fitzgerald at events of this sort.

- Barry Orton

Mattel Toys Screws With Wisconsin's Fighting Bob La Follette

As September 8 approaches with FightingBob Fest at the Sauk County Fairgrounds in Baraboo, we are reminded that Mattel and their ilk are bent on undoing a century of progressive legislation designed to protect the consumers and workers of this nation.

With each load of tainted toys, they managed to bypass:

• child labor laws
• worker safety regulations,
• worker compensation statutes
• consumer protection regulations
• occupational safety standards

As the New York Times noted in Wednesday's editorial:

Unfortunately, the Bush administration, which disdains America’s regulatory system, has cut personnel and squeezed budgets at both the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, impairing their ability to monitor the quality of products made in China or, indeed, anywhere else.

Anyone foolish enough to think that the evasive, deceptive, and dangerous nature of foreign manufacturing is limited to lead paint toys, tainted dog food, and poisoned toothpaste must have voted for George W. Bush, or at least bought a bridge in Minneapolis from him.

Putting Trolleys Behind Us and Focusing on Crime

Now that Mayor Dave Cieslewicz has abandoned the trolley proposal for Madison, let us hope that his administration responds to the public demand that he focus his energies on crime.

Here are some related reflections on the administration of city government and its impacts on crime:

• As my first two year term as mayor came to an end and I faced re-election in 1975, some of my firmest supporters were my toughest critics for having brought little change to City Hall. While laying the groundwork for a variety of programs like the State Street Mall and Child Care Program, I spent those first two years proving to the public and myself, that I could govern the city, not just in an acceptable manner, but better than average.
• I carefully listened to the managers, not just for their professional and technical expertise, but their management skills as well. They were not always right, neither was I, but we learned and grew.
• There is a compact between the voters and the elected officials. Take care of the basics, and the voters will give the elected leaders a pretty free hand to experiment and improve the community. Malls, Civic Centers, large housing projects from Capital Centre to the Triangle.
• A city cannot survive without its middle class. They pay the bills, they fill the schools; they may not develop the malls but they are the creative class.
• A city will not retain its middle class if taxes are too high relative to the surrounding communities, if their children are not safe, or if public education is weak.
• Poor communities are not the only source of crime.
• Crime is more likely to emanate from poor communities. That is because the drug dealers, the pimps, the thugs are more likely to intimidate its residents into sheltering them.
• Rich communities as well as poor ones are vulnerable to crime.
• A community needs strong values to combat crime; but it also needs the will of the people to carry out the mission. The Police Department and other city agencies are simply resources in that struggle.
• If the local government fails to support the will of the people, the people surrender and flee and the neighborhood is lost.
• There are three variables that control the crime rate in a community. One is far more significant than the others.
  • The most significant is demographics, particularly the number of young men in the 18-35 age bracket. As our nation's population in that age group shifts, crime shifts accordingly.
  • The second variable, is in-migration of criminals. That will occur when gangs attempt to open new territories and markets. This occurred in Madison in the mid 1980's through the early 1990's.
  • The third variable is the community response which includes community policing, programs to combat poverty, and programs to strengthen the neighborhood.
• A comparison of Madison in the 1990's and the 2000's:
  • Young men committing crime started to decline in 1991; that demographic is even lower now.
  • The city was under greater pressure from gangs in the 1990's but also had a more effective response. Consequently, the in-migration of thugs is worse now than then, because the city has not effectively sent a message that Madison is not an easy target and because the city has not pressured neighboring communities to control their crime. Of course, that is hard to do if you are not setting an example.
  • The present community response is wholly inadequate. The response, "we do not have sufficient funds to provide community police officers, NRT staffing of building inspectors, public health nurses, social workers, blah, blah, blah, is totally inadequate. Fail to do that and you might as well kiss the city goodbye.
  • If the city cannot do these things, what is its purpose?
  • (Brenda Konkel is correct, evictions are a matter of state law. I should have been more careful.)
• To pay for these programs, the city must do the following:
  • Not be afraid to raise property taxes. People will complain but they will be good natured about it if they think their money is spent wisely.
  • Enlist the private sector for contributions to effective community service programming. Use the Madison Community Foundation.
  • Encourage as much commercial, business, and high density residential  development in Madison as possible. Those developments are profit centers. Unlike single family housing which does not pay 70% of the costs of services they use, the higher density developments are great source of revenue to pay for social services.
  • Commit to quality in management that will provide better service at less cost.

50+ Things You Won’t Hear on Talk Radio

A new “book” by radio talker Charlie Sykes has inspired Wisconsin’s lefty bloggers – and we are legion – to collaborate on this post. We are so technologically advanced that we were able to do it via the Internet, without even having an all-day meeting to try to reach consensus. Contributors include:

• Jim Rowen of The Political Enivronment
• Michael and Anne Mathias, of  Pundit Nation
• Cory Liebman and Scot Ross of One Wisconsin Now
• Bill Christofferson and Steve Hanson of Uppity Wisconsin 
• Jay Bullock of  Folkbum's Rambles and Rants
• Joel McNally  1290 WMCS Radio
• Gretchen Schuldt of  Milwaukee Rising
• Brew City Brawler
• Illusory Tenant
• and, of course,  Waxing America.

Quite a distinguished group. Perhaps the most blog brainpower assembled since Thomas Jefferson blogged alone.

Sykes repackaged and expanded on a little schtick he started more than 10 years ago, with what was then called, Rules of Life for Teenagers.  It ran as an The Urban Legends op ed column in 1996 with 14 rules, and now has grown to 50 – and a book, “50 Rules Kids Won’t Learn in School.”

Sykes’ rules, which will make you either groan or say “Duh!,” are getting predictably good reviews from Sykes’ fellow wingnut bloggers, for such “insightful” sayings as “Life isn’t fair; get used to it.” (Did he steal that one from Jimmy Carter?)  (Soglin actually agreed with some of them in one of his posts. That tells you how good they are.)

If you must, here’s a website where you can find more of the 50 Rules. But you can stay right here and read 50+ Things You Won’t Hear on Talk Radio. You are welcome – nay, more than welcome, invited even – to add your own, in the comments section or by email.

1. Might does not make right.

2. Repetition doesn’t make anything right.

3. Ditto wishful thinking.

4. Ditto the size of your IQ.

5. Size only matters if you’re insecure.

6. Guns do kill people.

7. The rich get rich and the poor get poorer; it’s the Republican way.

8. You are your brother’s and sister’s keeper.

9. People don't choose to be poor, any more than they choose to be gay.

10. The Fairness Doctrine is not an “Equal Time” rule.

11. The economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the environment, not the other way around. – Gaylord Nelson.

12. When you go to war, God is not on anyone’s side.

13. Reagan raised taxes.

14. I'm sorry.

15. I was wrong.

16. I shouldn't have interrupted you.

17. Bill Clinton isn't still President.

18. George Bush made a mistake.

19. Gays are human beings.

20. The American public turned against the Vietnam war before the press did.

21. There were no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq.

22. Saddam Hussein was not behind 9/11.

23. Abstinence programs don't stop teens from having sex.

24. Abortion is a choice best left to a woman and her doctor, not the government.

25. Prayer doesn't improve test scores.

26. You are not entitled to your own facts.

27. Joe Wilson didn't lie. Valerie Plame was covert.

28. Bill Clinton was incredibly popular.

29. Al Gore didn't say all those things you think he said.

30. Climate change is real.

31. Tax cuts don't increase revenue.

32. The Clinton Administration employed more women and minorities in top positions than the Bush administration.

33. Illegal immigrants commit fewer crimes than American citizens.

34. Universal health care is cheaper and of better quality in most Western nations than our "free market" approach in the US.

35. Compassionate Conservatism is neither.

36. When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed. – Mother Teresa.

37. Blaming parents for their out of control teenagers may feel good but it does not lower homicide rates.

38. Iraq was not a breeding ground for Al Qaeda terrorists until the United States invaded.

39. No Democrat was ever caught fondling a FEMA director and saying, "You are doing a heckofa job Brownie."

40. Politicians should leave the science to the scientists.

41. Political scientists should learn that politics is not a science.

42. Medical decisions should be between doctors and patients, not between big insurance companies and their accountants.

43. Even people that I disagree with are innocent until proven guilty.

44. Being poor is not a character defect.

45. You didn’t grow up rich in the suburbs because you’re so smart. (You were born on third base; that doesn’t mean you hit a triple.)

46. Radio airwaves belong to the public; broadcasting on them is a privilege, not a right.

47. The greatest tragedy in mankind's history may be the hijacking of morality by fundamentalists.

48. The poor go to heaven, too.

49. In fact, it has been said that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

50. Taxes are not inherently evil.

51. The US health care system really isn't the best in the world.

52. Dick Cheney is not omniscient.

53. The president really can't just do anything he damn well pleases. Even if he's a Republican.

54. The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. -- Bertrand Russell.

55. Gay marriage won't hurt your marriage.

56. Poverty causes social problems.

57. The Constitution mandates a separation between church and state.

58. The right to privacy is a constitutional guarantee.

59. Justice Scalia has expressly repudiated strict constructionism.

60. The U.S was founded not on Christian but on Enlightenment principles.

61. Bill Clinton was, at worst, slightly right of center.

62. It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena… attributed to Theodore Roosevelt.

63. The United States is the only country in the world to have dropped nuclear bombs on a civilian population--twice.

64. Be a class act. Class seems to be inextricably related to kindness, consideration, and a general recognition of human worth. -- Roy Beers.

65. Being black in America is hard. It doesn’t just give you special privileges.

66. Being gay could not possibly be a choice since no child who ever heard the hatred tossed around playgrounds would ever choose it.

67. Living in poverty is hard work. It’s not for the lazy.

68. The truly conservative position on gay marriage would be to insist upon it.

69. We’re going to need all the immigrants we can get here to pay into Social Security to support the Baby Boomers in retirement.

70. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

71. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth.

72. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

73. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall be satisfied.

74. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

75. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.

76. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.

77. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

78. Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.

79. If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive.

And finally, a few of local interest to Sykes & Company:

80. Really -- hair is supposed to move!

81. Jessica McBride is not a journalist.

82. Midnight fireworks can backfire.

83. Paul Bucher has never been a judge, not even for one day.

Soglin Podcast With Sly, WTDY, The Pulse:Meadowood Crime

Here is the podcast with Sly from Friday on Madison West Side Crime  and Meadowood:

Paul Soglin - West Side Crime

I am was saddened when I opened up The Capital Times this morning and read:

Landlord law tops mayor's list: Seen as help in fighting crime

The chronic nuisance proposal would identify addresses where police calls and other problems are frequent, and require landlords to come up with a plan for improvement. It would also allow the city to take action against the landlords if their properties don't improve.

It is truly depressing.  They just do not get it. Stop and ask yourself two questions:

• If jobs, and job training, quality childcare, transportation to home and work, and quality health are the keys to ending poverty and in turn stopping crime, how does a law that requires landlords to control tenant behavior become the top priority?
• If the Madison Police department with a $50 million budget cannot control crime in Meadowood, how are a rag tag collection of untrained landlords going to do it, especially with half the Madison Common Council making it virtually impossible to evict?

Do not get me wrong. A solid code enforcement program with Building Inspection and the property owners working together is critical.  They can start with the vehicles that are either abandoned or improperly registered or licensed (some belong to families too poor to register, others belong to punks who use them in the commission of crimes.).  Then they can move on to the 'neutral' parts of buildings and look for contraband that no one wants to keep in their home and risk possession of anything from drug paraphernalia to weapons charges. After that they can meet to examine exterior lightening and other safety items.

For that we need a new ordinance? Phooey.

Then they can gain the confidence of the good families in these buildings who would also like to see the gang bangers, drug dealers and other thugs thrown out. You need them and they will not help until there is trust. Can you say Community Policing? Family enhancement? Public health nurses and social workers?

Duh.

Of course, some of the problems are from 15 year old teenagers who live in those buildings who have not graduated to the Big House. Tell me how this new landlord ordinance is going to change their lives and behavior. Oh. We will evict them. More phooey.

Hey I know. Let's have a study.

Well study this:

Put in community police officers $$$$$$$$$$$$$ and nurses, more $$$$$$$$$$$, work with employers and local religious organizations.

And yes, kick out the older thugs and make it clear they are not welcome anywhere in the metro area.

Sorry.  This was supposed to be a short post on the podcast. Got carried away. The solutions for Meadowood was supposed to be Monday's post.  I suppose I will do it again. I love talking to myself.

Cieslewicz Pulls A Giuliani in Meadowood

Madison violent crime in 1991 (the year the mayor cited)  was almost one half the national rate.  Now, 2007, it is almost equal to the national rate. (Former NYC Mayor Giuliani did no better a job in lowering crime than the mayors of many other major cities. Shifting demographics was mostly responsible for lowered crime nationally starting in 1992.)

While virtually every city in the country had a significant drop in crime since the peak in the 1990's Madison has not.

There is a reason, beyond the control of the mayor and the Madison Police Department:

• Madison has had a significant growth in poverty, which fuels crime.

However:

• To portray that Madison is 'safe' when violent crime is growing is deceptive, and prevents us from getting to real solutions.
• To ignore the vast growth in poverty only worsens the situation.

Once we get past the wonkish numbers debate, the public, especially those living in neighborhoods impacted by rising crime, want answers and solutions, not studies, and not "We will get back to you."

Solutions for Madison neighborhoods are available, they are available now. As one Meadwood neighborhood noted: crime and poverty is a higher priority for ordinary people than trolleys.

The good news is the neighbors have the values and the will to fight for their community. The question is will their city provide the resources to back them up or will they be put off with folks who need 'time to think,' and 'time to study.'

The answers are obvious, they are found in past posts on crime and gangs in this blog.

The life of cities is determined by the commitment and faith of the middle class. If they lose hope, if they stop believing in their community, the city is lost.

Right now most Meadowood residents want to stay and fight. When that is lost, Meadowood is lost. The clock is ticking.

Consolidation of Government: The Problems

When I posted on the proposal from Representative Sheldon Wasserman, (D-Milwaukee) and Frank Lasee (R-Green Bay) to examine merging Wisconsin government, Consolidate Counties? Soglin Agrees With Lasee? , I did not do justice to some of the underlying issues.

For example, RAG, who is not pleased with my I-35W Bridge Opinions, commented:

Having spent more than three decades in government, I can tell you one of the greatest fallacies is the "consolidation is cheaper" mindset...

...But there is value in local accountability in government where office holders become accessible and accountable.

Absolutely correct. The presumption that consolidation automatically saves money, usually premised on a mistaken belief that fewer top administrators are needed, is a fallacy. Often the savings from the elimination of one position is easily devoured by problems of span of control, and lack of responsiveness.

The value of local accountability is not to be underestimated. When organizations are flat and the staff has a direct connection to the people served, there is more, not less innovation, as the people who deliver the services are more creative and understanding of their jobs.

Bob Keith,Cool Dadio Media wryly noted:

thought somewhere, but now lost in my dusty Political Science 101 book was the notion that inefficient government was actually a last protection for "the people."

He may be correct, but I hope that we do not rationalize and justify lousy government on the basis that "if it doesn't work, we are all safer." There should be a better and more logical safeguard for the people than making government inefficient.

Finally, not on this site, but elsewhere, one commentator noted that maybe the place to start consolidation was town governments, not counties. No disagreement here.

I still return to intergovernmental compacts and contracting for services between units of government to see how they get along as the way to encourage mergers and consolidation.

Bridge on I 35W - Democratic Culpability

The conservative Wisconsin bloggers took exception to my pointed comments, Minnesota I35W: Infrastructure and Republicans on the Bridge of Treason and observations Bush, I-35W Bridge Collapse: Dumb As a Bucket of Bolts about Republican culpability in the collapse of the bridge.

My inclusion of Democratic fellow-travelers who joined with Republicans to weaken this nation's infrastructure, undermine its economy, and result in death and injury, did not mollify them. Nor do my complementary piece, Unlike Bush, Minnesota Governor Pawlenty Learns Something, acknowledging that at least one of the Neanderthals had learned something.

It seems that the criticisms focus on three areas:

• Not including Wisconsin Governor Doyle on the list of thugs for raiding the state transportation fund.
• Not including the Minnesota legislature among the guilty.
• Not admitting that I was encouraging more government spending.

To the last charge I plead guilty. As for the second charge, the Minnesota legislature is no more guilty than the poor victims trapped on the bridge. Governor Pawlenty repeatedly make it clear through his two terms that he would veto any increase in the Minnesota gasoline tax which would be used to repair the highways and roads. He has repented.

On to Governor Jim Doyle.

Both nationally and locally, the Republican mantra of cut taxes for the rich and the effort to undermine government so that Grover Norquist can drown it in a bathtub, was as successful as it was horrid.

Since the Reagan years and accelerated by the Gingrich Congress, the American people bought this nonsense and severely punished those politicians who justified government spending for non-defense purposes. A few Democrats stood their ground, many were defeated.

When Jim Doyle was elected Governor in 2002, he inherited the worst budget mess in Wisconsin history and one of the worst in the United States. There is no denying that it was a Republican creation.

Just look at the control of the state capitol for the previous decade. Both houses of the Wisconsin legislature were Republican.

There was no way Doyle could get the funds for mandated and entitlement programs. General purpose revenues were not sufficient to cover the inherited structural deficit and Republicans were certainly not going to raise taxes.

The only choice for the Governor was to find an alternative revenue source, the transportation fund. Republicans and the Governor reached a compromise; not pretty, but it kept programs going.

I wish Doyle had not used the transportation funds, but he did not create the budget mess and more importantly he did not create the poisonous culture that demanded tax cuts for the rich no matter what the price.

Lost in all of this is that the problem is far greater than roads and bridges. It is health and schools, our waterways and the arts.

The irony, is that in the proposed budget now under attack by Assembly Republicans, Governor Doyle is attempting to raise revenues from the oil industry, which the GOP is thwarting.

A final note. I concur that money should be used to repair existing roads and bridges, not build new ones, for three reasons. 

• Old ones pose a danger and a threat, new ones do not.
• New projects are a greater risk for pork, old ones do not.
• In all areas we have to look at new ideas and alternatives.

Friends at the Daily Rag, took issue not once, Should Soglin be licensed as a sewage treatment plant? 

He's wrong when he injects partisan politics into the blame game...not calling out 1) The specific failure of Minnesota's legislature -- in which Democrats rule the roost -- for not raising the state's gasoline tax in years and (2) The failure of Wisconsin's governor, a Democrat, and legislature to stay away from raiding the transportation fund for other purposes.

and  Does the "hippie mayor" confuse Jim Doyle for a Republican?

So, to recap, we have the Journal-Sentinel on the left and Mark Green on the right both warning that raiding the transportation fund threatens the state's infrastructure.

The Badger Blog Alliance: Re: Exploiting tragedy:

Man, it's tough to know what to say to that. We've got the evil Repub meme revived, but for no apparent reason other than to drive the simple-minded or predisposed to further partisanship with no basis and no purpose. Other than to spur on more government spending.

And Rick at Shark and Shepherd, It Must Have Been A Republican Bridge

But since we just can't wait, the kneejerk "Republicans won't spend money" argument that we are starting to hear has nothing to do with the problem...But, of course, both Republicans and Democrats preferred that the money be spent on new projects because that is what gets you in the paper back home. As the Journal notes, earmarks for pork projects were pervasive in the highway bills passed by the Democrat congresses as I am sure they were when the GOP had the majority.

Consolidate Counties? Soglin Agrees With Lasee?

I spent the weekend trying to decide if I should acknowledge the proposal and subsequent post from Representative Frank Lasee, (R-Green Bay), Too Many Counties?

What the hell.

Not only is Lasee correct in raising the issue but his logic is sound. The size of our Wisconsin counties was based on a one day round trip ride to the county seat. As Lasee, notes, that would be by horse and buggy.  Now most of us, accounting for traffic problems, can make the trip in less than thirty minutes, at most an hour, with a bicycle.

Lasee is also correct in noting that many counties are contracting for services. This should be encouraged at all levels of government - cities, villages, towns, school districts. There should be accompanying financial incentives from the state. Highway services, public safety, public health (yes, public health), and, of course, data processing maintenance and technical services.

The purpose of such contracting is not just to achieve economies in the service provided but to build trust and confidence between the parties. With that trust and confidence will come voluntary efforts to merge.

Lastly, there is the question of agreements to merge or consolidate. Elected officials have an easier time approving an agreement if it takes effect when they, and most of the public employees, are no longer holding power or office. The problem is there are some agreements like the City of Madison/Town of Madison agreement which stretch out for an interminable twenty years.

A state commission with incentives to approve agreements with a rational implementation period (five years), that meet logical man-made and natural boundaries (the city of Madison was cowed into its agreement by the threat of Fitchburg jumping the Beltline all the way to Monroe Street), and respects sound land use and resource planning is what we need.

I hope Lasee's  proposal gets the attention of liberal Democrats.

Unlike Bush, Minnesota Governor Pawlenty Learns Something

While President George W. Bush learned nothing  Bush, I-W35 Bridge Collapse: Dumb As a Bucket of Bolts, the challenge is to see how many states like Wisconsin will follow Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and make the leap from fantasy land to reality following the tragedy.

The Republican Governor of the Gopher State is now "willing to support an increase in the state gas tax to pay for repairs to the state's aging transportation system." 

Pawlenty, tragically, had to examine the fatality lists and the twisted metal before realizing the folly of his 'no tax increase' mantra.

The problem is this. A bridge collapse is instant, decisive, dramatic, and the devastation and death present a certain finality that even the most obtuse do not miss. Meanwhile, like the salts that ate away at the I 35W bridge, corrosives are destroying our infrastructure, our educational system, and our environment, slowly but just as fatally.

Every day in America, more lives are loss from similar tragedies and similar polices that show the consequences of failing to invest in the future:

• Hospitals ill equipped to tend to their patients, particularly the indigent.
• School children headed to a life in prison at best, death from drugs or violence at worse because we do not invest in early childhood development and education.
• Airline accidents or thousands of flights canceled, wrecking financial havoc,  because of understaffed and overworked controllers or poorly designed airports.
• Businesses closed down, millions of dollars in residential and commercial food destroyed from poorly maintained electric generation and transmission facilities.
• Public beaches closed and wildlife threatened because of inadequate hazardous waste disposal

We will have to wait to see if Pawlenty can connect the dots and understand that this is bigger than the bridges.

In the meantime, Bush, the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, and the Wisconsin Assembly Republicans are yet to discover the first dot.