January 19, 2012
December 17, 2011
Thank you Governor Walker!
At this time of gratitude, people across Wisconsin have been attempting to express their thanks to Governor Scott Walker for his brave leadership of our state.
November 29, 2011
You know you’ve got too many pollsters when…
Rasmussen: 83% Have A Lot To Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving
November 17, 2011
Courtesy Announcement: Be a Pollworker!
From We’re Watching Wisconsin:
WISCONSIN NEEDS YOU TO VOLUNTEER TO BE A POLL WORKER NOW!!!
Want to be sure that Wisconsin elections are conducted in a fair, uniform transparent manner according to
Wisconsin laws and the New Photo ID ACT?
Volunteer NOW to become a poll worker. Poll workers are election officials. Poll workers are hired by their
municipality, trained by their local elections clerk, and are paid to perform this civic duty.
The deadline for volunteering to be a poll worker through your County Party Chairman is NOW. To be considered a “first-
choice nominee” your name must be submitted to your municipality by your County Party BY November 30th. Poll workers
chosen will be assigned to conduct elections in 2012-2013—Recalls, Presidential, State and local elections.
If you wish to volunteer as an “independent” you can do that at your municipal clerk’s office prior to November 30th, but
you will not be considered a “first choice nominee.”
Poll workers do it all:
• Poll workers are assigned as Special Voting Deputies to conduct elections in nursing homes and other residential
facilities where the residents cannot get to the polls, so the polls are brought to them. This is a separate poll
worker position and there is a separate list for these volunteers.
• Poll workers can be assigned to conduct absentee voting in the clerk’s office prior to Election Day.
• Poll workers conduct the elections at their polls on Election Day
• Poll workers are assigned to register voters on Election Day—Same-day voter registration.
• Poll workers count absentee ballots and make decisions about those ballots regarding “voter intent”.
• Poll workers count ballots and verify election results after the polls close.
At the registration table, poll workers will be required to verify the citizen’s 28-day residency requirement along with their
proof of residency. Poll workers will be verifying the citizen’s PHOTO ID before they receive a ballot. Poll workers will make
sure the voter signs the poll book before a ballot is given to them. Poll workers help to count the ballots after the polls
close. Help protect the integrity of Wisconsin’s elections!
Elections are “The People’s” process and “The People” play a central role in them by volunteering as poll workers!
Become one of “The People” that makes this all happen.
Become a poll worker–Your Municipality, Your State, Your Country Needs You
NOW!
For more information talk to your county party chair asap.
November 8, 2011
November 7, 2011
Badgers path to the Rose Bowl
Forget politics for a day – let’s worry about the real issue: can the Badgers make the Rose Bowl? Is it still possible? Or was our year with Russell Wilson wasted?
First: Yes, it is still possible for the Badgers to make the Rose Bowl. However they MUST win out the rest of the year. Minnesota, Illinois, and Penn State all must fall to the U of W.
Second: They must win the Big Ten Championship in Indianapolis. A bit of a given, but yes, this is still a requirement.
Third: We’ll assume that under condition 1: Wisconsin beats Penn State, and for simplicity assume that Ohio State beats Purdue. Now for the matrix of who will go to the B1G Championship: the key game is the Nov. 19 Penn State vs. Ohio State game.
- If Penn State beats Ohio State on Nov. 19th:
- If Penn beats Nebraska on Nov. 12th = PENN STATE
- If Penn loses Nebraska on Nov. 12th = WISCONSIN
- If Ohio State beats Penn State on Nov. 19th:
- If Ohio beats Michigan on Nov. 26th = OHIO STATE
- If Ohio loses Michigan on Nov. 26th = WISCONSIN
So here’s your quick summary cheer guide:
- Nov. 12: Go Nebraska!
- Nov. 26: Go Michigan!
November 2, 2011
Why was the Waukesha Recount so expensive?
From the JSOnline:
A statewide recount confirmed Prosser’s victory by about 7,000 votes, but it drew unflattering attention to Waukesha County election procedures. The county’s recount lasted longer than any other county and cost nearly $130,000.
Waukesha’s recount was expensive (and lengthy) for several reasons:
- Kathy Nickolaus recused herself from the canvass board (that would decide the validity of challenged ballots) and the County brought in a retired judge to oversee the process and chair the canvass board. Not sure the cost, but I’m guessing the judge was compensated.
- In the interest of transparency, the entire recount was livestreamed on the internet so that everyone could watch it.
- To ensure an accurate record, the County had a Court reporter there for the entire recount to record every comment made by every representative of every side of the recount. (Court reporters aren’t cheap fyi).
- To ensure that nothing was overlooked, for the first few weeks – while candidate representatives were challenging disputed ballots, the tabulators were prohibited from counting.
- Every possible issue was examined in length, at detail, and reviewed again. The problem was Waukesha County was overly thorough.
October 6, 2011
Today the Treasurer, Tomorrow the Attorney General?
Trivia Question: What is the sole constitutional duty of the Attorney General?
Commissioners of public lands. SECTION 7. The secretary of state, treasurer and attorney general, shall constitute a board of commissioners for the sale of the school and university lands and for the investment of the funds arising therefrom. Any two of said commissioners shall be a quorum for the transaction of all business pertaining to the duties of their office.
With conservatives now concerned about the Department of Justice’s involvement with the Concealed Carry regulatory process, will the Attorney General become the next position to become a Gubernatorial appointee?
No elected Attorney General? It’s not that uncommon. 7 states do not have elected attorney generals, including New Jersey. Not only will getting rid of the Secretary of State and Treasurer end up costing Wisconsin taxpayers more, but it could lead to the elimination of an elected Attorney General as well.
From a fiscal conservative standpoint – the logic of more elected officials at first seems counterintuitive. Why do we need more elected officials getting paid by the taxpayers? We tend to see elected officials as part of the bureaucracy, and bureaucracy is bad.
However – there are significant differences between elected officials and appointed bureaucrats. One is pay – in Menomonee Falls the Village President makes less than $10,000 per year. The Village Administrator makes over $100,000 a year. Both people have important functions, and while the Administrator may spend 60+ hours a week at his job, the President is probably spending 20+ hours in Village business. Hourly – the pay advantage goes to the Administrator. It seems that being an elected official is a “intangible bonus” in lieu of compensation.
On the other hand, there is another effect – WisTax found that the more elected county board members – the lower the spending was, as much as $10 less spending per resident per additional elected official. While this isn’t directly applicable to statewide offices, it does raise a question – is cutting elected offices good for the state?
October 2, 2011
Why AJR 26 is a Bad Idea for Fiscal Conservatives
I used to support abolishing the Secretary of State and Treasurer’s Office. But some people pointed out some new information to me. Looking at it further, I realized something – I was wrong.
AJR 26 is the proposal to abolish the Secretary of State and the State Treasurer. 20 Representatives and 3 Senators are cosponsoring the proposal.
Wisconsin’s State Treasurer makes $68,556 – as does the Secretary of State.
This is a relatively low salary compared to other states (Nebraska – $85,000, Rhode island – $99,214). More importantly, it is low compared to the appointed offices.
Take the Office of the Commissioner of Railroads ($80,000-$125,000). The department has 6 employees (4 less than the Treasurers Office). The Commissioner of Railroads salary, like all other “administrator” salaries, is determined by Wis. Stat. 20.923. 20.923 creates ten “Executive Salary Groups” (ESGs) to “establish a consistent and equitable salary setting mechanism for all elected officials, appointed state agency heads, division administrators and other executive-level unclassified positions.”
“Administrators” are classified into the ESGs that have defined salary ranges. ESG 1 includes positions such as the Executive Secretary of the Art Board, and the State Law Library Librarian. These positions tend to be not widely known. ESG 5 is the Railroad Commissioner, State Fair Park Director, and other more well known positions. ESG 8 includes powerful positions such as the Secretary of Administration (with a department budget of over $1 billion), Secretary of Health Services ($8.7 billion), and the Chancellor of UW-Madison. ESG 9 is only for the President of the entire UW System. No appointed official is in ESG 10.
Elected officials salaries are based on the ESG, but instead of having a floating salary range, they receive a fixed salary based on the ESG group minimum. The Secretary of State, and the State Treasurer is assigned to ESG 1 and his salary is “15.4% of the minimum of the salary range” for ESG 1 – which works out to $68,556. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction gets 27.4% above the minimum for ESG 7 or around $120,000. The Governor gets 21.6% above the minimum for ESG 10 which makes him over $140,000.
If the Treasurer were no longer to be elected, the functions would still continue presumably under the Department of Administration. Most likely these 10 FTE employees would need a supervisor, who would likely be assigned an ESG. Even if the ESG was just ESG 1 – the person who would replace the State Treasurer could make just under $100,000.
Abolishing the Treasurer would not save any money – rather it would give someone a raise of about $30,000.
If we wanted to save money – we could consolidate departments rather than eliminate elected officials. What if we gave the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (department head makes $90k-$140k), to the State Treasurer, and the State Historical Society (director makes $195,000) to the Secretary of State? This may not be the best alignment – but a framework like this can help us come to a better answer.
BTW for some fun trivia: any guesses on who is the highest paid state employee in Wisconsin? The Governor isn’t ($137,092), nor is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ($152,495). It’s not even any of the 12 executive staff members of the State Investment Board ($307,007 to $560,461). It’s UW Football Coach Brett Bielema ($2.5 million).
