The Badger Herald: Opinion: Grothman from far right

Opinion

Grothman from far right

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Also by Rob Deters:

SUVs and Earth Day do not mix (April 24, 2003)
Senate Republicans: be wary of 'nuclear option' (April 13, 2005)
Strange allies for environmentalism (April 20, 2005)
Reflections on 'real world' (April 27, 2005)

Tuesday, September 21, 2004 12:00 a.m.

6 Vote 0 Votes

A funny thing just happened in my hometown. There was a revolt. And the results are disturbing for the course of our state politics.

In Washington and Ozaukee counties, current president of the state senate, Mary Panzer, was unseated in her primary run by far-right ideologue Rep. Glenn Grothman. Panzer ran a terrible reelection campaign and has recently made a series of mistakes that showed her to be one who has rested too long on her laurels as head of state government.

A little background on the 20th Senate District:

I’m from West Bend, a wonderful little town that is as homogenous, conservative and monotonous as you can get. At my high school I could count the number of minority students on my fingers and toes (and might not need the toes).

My family moved there in the mid-’70s when an influx of new families started (slightly) to bring in a bit of new blood to the area, some of which was a tad Democratic. But they remain in the extreme minority; Democrats tend to be sacrificial lambs in electoral politics.

Panzer made a series of missteps and stumbles in the last legislative session (and the emergency one she called during the Democratic convention). She couldn’t get TABOR passed in the state senate, a conservative pet project; was supported by WEAC (the teachers union, the kiss of death in conservative country) and had a tenuous and strained relationship with her home district.

In contrast, Glenn Grothman is a true blue right-wing ideologue. He supports concealed weapon permits and is a staunchly pro-life, even to the point of never allowing an exception for a woman’s health. Most importantly, to the residents of my hometown who don’t understand economics, he is pro-TABOR.

In an interview with representatives of the teachers’ unions of the 20th Senate District, Grothman made the comment that he favors charter schools because of their strong moral component but dislikes public school because they teach values. That statement doesn’t even make sense until you realize what values he is referring to (tolerance and acceptance), and morals he thinks should be imparted (draw your own scary conclusions).

Grothman typifies the new Republican ideologue. He is opposed to spending a single dollar on improving Wisconsinites’ lives if it relates to children or families. Opposition to abortion and gay marriage is the definition of morality. A shallower, scarier and weaker set of moral guideposts I find hard to define.

If he is the future of the Republican Party in this state (and many certainly hope he is), then Wisconsin is in serious trouble.

The election in Ozaukee and Washington counties had a 36 percent turnout, crushing previous primary turnouts in 2002. Polls ran out of ballots and my own mother, going to her polling place, saw a sea of serious men in suits voting. She was sure that these pro-TABOR forces were determined to make their voice heard.

This is where we have our largest problem.

New state senate leader Scott Fitzgerald is far more to the right than Mary Panzer was. He plans on bringing TABOR to a vote, having a revote on the gay marriage ban and a resurrection of the concealed weapon permit law. Fitzgerald and Grothman are just part and parcel of the shrinking tent of conservative politics in Wisconsin. The tent is too small for centrist pragmatists like Mary Panzer.

These radicals do not want to improve the lives of Wisconsin residents. TABOR is the worst idea to ever come down the pike in Wisconsin politics. It will cripple public schools, raise your tuition, reduce basic government services and it’s all in the stalking horse of lowering taxes.

Wisconsin has always had excellent public services provided for by the state. Good schools, good roads, a well-funded criminal justice system (and penal system), nice parks, all of which are threatened to the point of extinction by these new Republicans.

If I were a conservative in this state, I would be very, very concerned of creating an enormous backlash with these policies.

I always knew my hometown was righteously conservative. Now I’m afraid it’s gone off the deep end.

Rob Deters (rvdeters@wisc.edu) is a third-year law student.

6 Comments | Leave a comment

Anonymous | September 21, 2004 1:35 PM | Reply

I think folks in Madison tend to forget that the rest of the state doesn't agree with most of the politics here. The rest of the state calls Madison a bunch of idiots. As we see here in Mr. Deters' column, the same goes vice versa.

I would be interested to hear an honest intellectual debate about the benefits and perils of a taxpayers' bill of rights. Folks in Madison won't even talk about the merits. However, as Deters correctly points out, there are many areas throughout the state where this idea is wildly popular.

Instead of each group demonizing the other, wouldn't it be a refreshing change of pace if the groups could get together and talk rationally about policy? Naw - what's the point of politics if we can't bludgeon the other guy for fun and profit?

Anonymous | September 21, 2004 1:37 PM | Reply

Anonymous | September 21, 2004 4:00 PM | Reply

I think certain sarcastic commenters would be wise to learn not to double-submit their comments.

Anonymous | September 21, 2004 4:01 PM | Reply

I think certain sarcastic commenters would be wise to learn not to double-submit their comments.

Anonymous | September 21, 2004 4:43 PM | Reply

The so-called taxpayer's bill of rights is a bad idea for a number of reasons.

First of all there is the fact that different communities have different needs. Why hold them all to the same standard for purposes of deciding how much tax money they need?

Second, there's that whole thing about unfunded mandates. If the state passes a law that forces a municipality to do something expensive but doesn't budget any money to do the expensive thing, the only way the municipality can comply with the law is by raising extra money through property taxes. There are also unfunded federal mandates to deal with on top of that. This problem is already huge and would be an order of magnitude worse under a TABOR like law.

Third it goes against the whole idea of local control. Local communities should be able to decide what levels of service they want, and they already do that by electing people to their local governments to make those decisions. By taking those decisions away from them we are undermining the whole idea of having elected officials represent people.

Lastly, far from solving any problems, the TABOR is mainly a way for conservatives to "score poltiical points" by appealing to the public's desire for keeping down tax burden and glossing over the potential negative effects of passing legislation like this. It goes along with the myth that Wisconsin is a high-tax state, and that state spending is out of control. Don't get me wrong, Wisconsin has a fair share of budget problems, but the TABOR is not going to solve them or increase the quality of life in Wisconsin.

Anonymous | September 28, 2004 12:01 PM | Reply

Mary Panzer lied about graduating from UW. It's an insult to me and to every other alum for her to state that she's got a diploma when she hasn't graduated. If I were to do that in the real world, I would be dismissed from my job, and I would begin to pray that no one found out that I lied on my resume. Good riddance!

Kevin in the WB