[media-credit name=’DAN POWELL/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]LA CROSSE — Paralleling the combatant chants of "Four more years" and "Dump Doyle" from outside the Logistics Health Inc. headquarters Friday, the 2006 gubernatorial candidates battled just as hotly inside during their third and final debate.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., addressed questions from a panel of pre-selected Wisconsin citizens, rousing a spirited discussion of social issues including education, health care and ethics in government.

Doyle said education is his No. 1 priority and cited his Wisconsin Covenant plan to guarantee admission to the University of Wisconsin System for eighth-graders who stay in school, maintain at least a B average, stay out of trouble and take college-preparatory classes in high school.

But Green said there is already a covenant in place that Wisconsin's best and brightest high school students will be admitted to the UW System.

Green added Doyle broke that covenant because in-state tuition at UW-Madison has gone up more than 50 percent under Doyle's leadership and admission criteria have changed to favor out-of-state applicants.

Though Doyle does not set tuition, the increase was caused in part due to cuts in state funding Doyle and the Legislature agreed to in the state budget.
Doyle said he supports the state funding two-thirds of school-operation costs, adding that based on budget cuts Green supports, schools would be forced to fire teachers to make ends meet.

"I've made sure we have a good base foundation backing every student," Doyle said.

Green outlined a plan to provide $300 million more for education, which would include hiring 7,000 more teachers.

"I want to see 70 cents of every education dollar we spend targeted toward classrooms and kids, and not buildings and bureaucrats," Green said. "I also have a program that will go out there and make sure we recruit and retain the best teachers that we can find."

When questioned about the racial "achievement gap" among Wisconsin students, Doyle said he supports school breakfast programs and small class sizes, while Green said he supports charter schools and the school choice program.

Three questions focusing on health-care issues incited a contentious debate between the candidates.

"Pretty clearly, what the governor's been offering isn't working," Green said. "We can't keep going down that road."

Green said under Doyle's leadership the number of uninsured people in Wisconsin has increased, while health-care costs in the state rose faster than the national average.

Green added he supports tax breaks for companies that invest in wellness programs, tax credits for long-term care insurance investment and extended use of Health Savings Accounts.

"Health Savings Accounts are fine, but they currently take care of about 1 percent of the population," Doyle said. "I advocate every single person in Wisconsin being able to deduct the full cost of their health-insurance premiums."

Doyle also said he wants to insure all children in Wisconsin and be the first state to have electronic medical records available to hospitals statewide. Doyle added that he supports getting prescription drugs from Canada, which Green voted against in Congress.

Regarding ethics in government, Doyle and Green sparred over the use of campaign donations.
Doyle charged Green exploited a "loophole" in state law to keep money he transferred from his congressional campaign account to his gubernatorial campaign account.

Green said Doyle's people "rigged" the State Elections Board and changed the rules retroactively to target him.

The SEB ordered Green's campaign to rid itself of $467,844 in donations from political action committees not registered in Wisconsin. Current law prohibits candidates from accepting money from PACs not registered in the state.

"I couldn't take [the money]. The Green Party candidate couldn't take it. But Congressman Green, for some reason, is saying he can take it," Doyle said.

Though not invited to any of the three debates, Green Party candidate Nelson Eisman ran two TV ads in Madison and La Crosse. In the ads — one running before the debate and one running after — Eisman said he should have been allowed to participate and that he has bolder plans than either Doyle or Green.

We the People/Wisconsin sponsored Friday's debate, marking the final gubernatorial face-off before the Nov. 7 election.