Night of the Living Dems: Wisconsin's New Legislative Majority to Resurrect Their "Scary" Agenda

Beware the "undead" ideas of our Democratic legislators rising up to haunt the state, at least until the next election in two years. I recently got a snapshot of what is coming this way in 9th District Senator Joe Leibham's "2009 Legislative Issues Survey," and it's not pretty.

The scariest thing about Leibham's list of mainly liberal agenda is that nearly half of the 42 proposals would suck more money from individuals or businesses, either directly or indirectly. Even in the best of times, that would drain the economy, but with our current recession, it would insure an economic nightmare for the state.

The smart thing to do would be to permanently cut government spending and lower taxes (duh) to allow a true recovery. Of course, if controlling Dems were to grudgingly lower taxes for now, it might be wise to hang onto those extra pennies if we can for when the taxes/fees inevitably shoot up again: Big government is an insatiable beast.

Other proposals on the survey dig up familiar Democrat goals, such as ending school choice in Milwaukee, repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and adding restrictions to legally purchasing and possessing firearms and ammunition. These battles continue, and it is not too early to start encouraging good conservative candidates to think about running in a couple of years.

Then, there's the proposed mandate to teach the history of labor unions in all public schools. Nothing wrong with learning about labor in American history, but to make a law requiring it is blatantly partisan. The schools I am familiar with already have teachers who pump out plenty of liberal propaganda on issues like human-caused "global warming," anti-gun, anti-military, anti-capitalism, etc. Funny how those who complain the loudest about powerful big business will turn a blind eye to the powerful unions that, if allowed to, will act like parasites, not caring if their demands weaken or kill their hosts.

Speaking of parasites, two questions on the survey dealt with illegal immigrants: Should Wisconsin allow the children of illegal aliens in-state resident tuition at UW schools, and should we pay for benefits like Medicaid and food stamps for illegals? Compare that with another proposal for hunters to not be allowed to practice baiting. So, let's not let hunters attract their prey, but let's lure law-breaking moochers to the state in droves. Great logic, don't ya think?

Yet, even the push to reward illegals cannot top the neurotic absurdity of the proposal to restore the position of Public Intervenor, where we pay that government official to sue other state government agencies for alleged environmental violations. Picture your left hand grabbing your right hand by the wrist for ripping off too much toilet paper – you get the drift.

Though we cannot stop the Dems’ agenda from advancing, luckily, we’ve got defenders like Republican Joe Leibham in Madison. The senator says in his survey’s introduction he is going to work with “both sides of the political aisle to make good common sense and fiscally responsible decisions for our state’s future.” What a reassuring, confident voice of normalcy for these surreal times. I trust he will not be yanked out of his seat on important core principles in reaching across the aisle.