Today's Cap Times

In today's Cap Times they quote Kathleen Vinehout explaining that the Dems have lost the rural vote.  I have said this for a long time.  There is an amazing number of people who live in the Madison area who never get out to the rural areas and then talk to the people.  So they are stunned when you have election results like last Tuesday, I was not.  the rural population on paper they should be Dems but they have bought into the very effective propaganda by the right.  Frank Lutz is a genius.  He is able to find the one issue and then break it down to a couple word sound bite.  He then gets everyone on the same page, brilliant.  Unfortunately what the State needs now are some pragmatic politicians that can come up with real solutions.  I would say common sense but that has been attributed to Walker and those solutions are not common sense or solutions.  So what happens to the children of the state when education is defunded?  Do you really believe that private schools will open up all over and agree the educate the children with declining public money (the cuts included in act 10)?  I don't see the performance being any better either, all you have to do is look at Milwaukee where private school choice has existed for a long time.  This is going to damage the state going forward, we'll need right to work for less just to be able to provide jobs to the uneducated.  Then there is the matter of repealing environmental regulations in a state where tourism is a big part of the economy.  I don't see this helping matters.  Then there is writing legislation for single companies.  No, I think that they can play by the same rules as everyone else.  Look at Ashley furniture, they couldn't build anywhere other than the wetland that legislature ruled, over the objections of everyone who knew something, was ok to build on.  What happened when their factory flooded as many said would happen?  They asked for and got help from the State for a problem that they created.  This is appalling.  Now we have Cabelas in Green Bay building in a wetland.  What do you think will happen when it floods?  They will ask for help and we'll give it.  The GTAC mine could have been built under existing law.  The law doesn't need to be changed.  The mine was confident that they were going to get their way.  Had they filed an application it most likely would have been approved before the ill fated vote.  These rule rewrites end up costing the State in the end.  We need people who are willing to preserve what made this state special, public education, protect the environment, a leader in the treatment of workers,...  Unfortunately for the tea party the state traditions are pretty liberal.