Get Your Facts RIGHT!
I have grown tired of the Democrats' campaign of misinformation in their attempts to bash the conservative candidates this election cycle.
The most important race in Wisconsin this fall is the gubernatorial race between incumbent Governor and Democrat Jim Doyle and Republican Congressman Mark Green. If you have not watched either of the televised debates, not to worry: what you missed can be summed up in one sentence. These candidates agree on almost nothing. Doyle and Green are light-years apart, and I could not be more relieved that my candidate is the one who gets it right.
The most pertinent difference to students is their stance on education. The difference that is of most importance to our state as a whole is corruption. And the difference no one should concern himself with is abortion (I will explain later).
Something that all of us UW-Madison students should be aware of is the 52 percent increase in our tuition since Doyle took office four years ago. Doyle's claim regarding education is that he has increased financial aid. But why would we prefer a student loan to being able to pay for college out of our savings? If tuition is rising 52 percent every four years, no wonder Doyle has had to increase financial aid! On the other hand, Green wants to cap your tuition so that massive increases in financial aid are no longer necessary to keep tuition affordable.
Students need to pay attention to what Doyle does, as opposed to what he says in his campaign speeches, regarding education. At the same time, Wisconsin needs to pay attention to what is being done (or not done) about government corruption. Under Doyle, our state Capitol has had a giant "for sale" sign erected over it. If you have any doubts, simply look up the name Georgia Thompson, the state employee who is now serving a prison sentence for influencing the state to wrongly award a large contract to Adelman Travel Group. Was this company the best candidate to receive this contract? By no means. Their only qualification for the contract seems to be that they have given a massive donation to the Doyle campaign.
Mark Green is running a clean campaign fueled by clean campaign contributions. The money Mark Green is using in his campaign comes from perfectly legal donors; there is nothing dirty about them. Green first ran for Congress in 1998. Over the past six years, he has raised more than enough money to get re-elected three times. Mark Green converted this saved money into a state account to support his new campaign for governor. It has been legal precedent in Wisconsin for 29 years that this transfer of funds is perfectly acceptable. When Democrat Tom Barrett shifted his funds to run for governor four years ago and his then-opponent Jim Doyle challenged it, the State Elections Board ruled Barrett's actions as allowed and proper.
Recent e-mails released to the public provide evidence that Doyle's attorney lobbied the State Elections Board, which seems to be stacked with his aides and friends, to suddenly change a 25-year precedent. It is very strange that this 25-year precedent was altered just after Green transferred the funds, and then applied retroactively to him. Coincidence?
You may be wondering why I mentioned abortion as the issue of least significance this November. The governor is not the National Legislature, nor is he the Supreme Court. The Democratic Party uses this old crutch to treat women as pawns and win votes.
Democrats like to complicate this issue to panic women.
While Green may be pro-life, he has not insinuated that he would take steps to shut down legal procedures in doctors' offices. It would be preferable that abortions take place between a familiar doctor and patient. What the Republican Party does not want to see is this very private issue made public, and by public I mean public good, as in tax dollars flowing to Planned Parenthood. Let's be honest; if my ninth-grade sister needs permission to take Tylenol, then why should she not need the consent of my parents to get an abortion? I would say the loss of a pregnancy, wanted or unwanted, is not something 14-year-olds should have to cover up or go through alone.
Oh, and you can quit with your 92 percent stuff, because we are not amazed that Republicans actually agree 92 percent of the time.
Erica Christenson ([email protected]) is the chair of the College Republicans.