In her most recent newsletter, Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts touts the passage of Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) reform and laments:

“Unfortunately, alcohol use seems to be an ingrained part of the Wisconsin culture, and until this culture changes, strengthening Wisconsin’s operating while intoxicated (OWI) laws will not be easy”

If you just read her newsletter, perhaps you would be struck by her tough stance on drunk driving and her bold, resolute determination to make a difference.  She can talk the talk but when it comes to walking the walk…well that’s another matter entirely.

Rep. Pope-Roberts had the opportunity to make a real stand on principles this last week with the vote on the expulsion of Rep. Wood.  Rep. Wood as you may recall is the representative currently facing multiple (three in just the last year alone) counts of OWI and was facing expulsion for those charges.  However, instead of standing on principle, Sondy chose to flip-flop and stand on party line.  This amounted to giving Woods a simple slap on the wrist, called censure, which carries no practical penalties.

I’m left with one of two conclusions:

1) She feels that OWI laws and that whole ‘culture of alcohol use’ thing applies to just us mere mortals but not for members of the political class like her and her colleague. 

2) She’s a career politician who will say whatever she feels she needs to say to look good in front of her constituents but do the opposite when it suits her or her party leadership tells her.

Either way, it’s time for a change. 

The primary purposes that I created this site earlier this year was to be able to highlight issues, votes, and elected officials that are relevant to folks in Dane County but live outside of Madison, particularly west of Madison.  I appreciate the difficulty for so many of us that are busy with life, family, and/or careers to stay up to date on current events.  Knowing who all your representatives are from the federal level on down is difficult.  I sometimes wander into national issues but I will always do my best to get back to a local level or angle.

With regards to the Dane County RTA, keep in mind that it all started with the enabling legislation passing in the state budget.  Of particular interest to District 79 residents, remember that our representative, Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts, voted in favor of this.  This legislation is where it all started and set the stage for our county board to create the RTA in it's current form (as an unelected, appointed body) last Thursday night.

Next in line, our esteemed Governor line item vetoed the provision that the voters of Dane County would have the opportunity for a binding referendum on this issue.  This simple thing is all that many of folks who appeared last Thursday night in opposition to the RTA were asking for.  I guess he didn't believe we deserved a say in this matter.    

Lastly, this then went to the Dane County Board.  Here is how the vote to join the Dane County RTA broke down there: 

While not exact, the geographic line has pretty much been drawn.  Those inside Madison want more money for transit and they’ve voted to create this RTA to get at it. 

When times are tough, they’re tackling the tough, important issues in Madison. Tough issues like ensuring our kids not only learn “knowledge of state, national, and world history” but specifically “knowledge of state, national, and world history, including knowledge of the history of organized labor in America and the collective bargaining process.” That’s right! We will need to make sure we carve out time in our schools to ensure that our kids are properly taught about the importance of unions. I can’t imagine having to enter the workforce in this economic climate without being armed with such critical information - reading, writing, arithmetic, and collective bargaining.  I have nothing against unions but it seems odd to me to carve out of all of state, national, and world history (that’s a lot of stuff) that we need to specifically ensure kids get instructed on the important topic of organized labor. Why are they spending time legislating this?  Is this really for our kids or if someone is pulling the strings here?

Other important educational issues that they’re tackling? Sex education! This one is co-sponsored by our own District 79 representative, Sondy Pope-Roberts. Where previously such education only needed cover the following four areas:

1. Self−esteem, responsible decision making, and personal responsibility
2. Interpersonal relationships
3. Discouragement of adolescent sexual activity
4. Family life and skills required of a parent

Those sound pretty good and rounded to me.  But apparently it's not enough to make Madison happy.  They are proposing that it MUST cover:

1. Communication between the pupil and the pupil’s parents or guardians about sexuality
2. Reproductive and sexual anatomy and physiology
3. Puberty, pregnancy, parenting, body image, and gender stereotypes
4. Skills to make responsible decisions about sexuality and sexual behavior throughout the pupil’s life span
5. The benefits of and reasons for abstaining from sexual activity
6. The health benefits, side effects, and proper use of contraceptives and barrier methods approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections
7. Methods for developing healthy life skills, including setting goals, responsible decision making, communication, and stress management
8. How alcohol or drug use affects responsible decision making
9. The impact of media and peer messages on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to sexuality.

But, wait, there's more!  Act now and they'll make sure that the following MUST be included also:

1. Use instructional methods and materials that do not promote bias against pupils of any race, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnic or cultural background or against sexually active pupils or children with disabilities
2. Promote self−esteem and positive interpersonal skills, with an emphasis on healthy relationships
3. Identify counseling, medical, and legal resources for survivors of sexual abuse and assault, including resources for escaping violent relationships.

Whatever happened to local communities (or better yet, parents) deciding when, where, and what they wanted to teach their children about sex education? Clearly the crowd in Madison, including our own ‘representative’, feels they know better than parents what our kids need to know. The text above comes from the Assembly version of the bill (AB 458) but if you’d like to comment or speak about the Senate version, there is a public hearing coming up this Thursday:

Senate Education Committee - Public Hearing Notice

Thursday, October 29, 2009 9:30 AM 201 Southeast in the State Capitol

In contrast to the state budget which increased spending, increased taxes, increased fees, and ‘enhanced’ collection of those fees and taxes, the Village of Mt Horeb is facing true hard decisions in their budget.  As a consequence of all the spending, or more accurately where the spending went, in the state budget, townships and villages have to deal now with a 15 percent reduction in state aid.  Unfortunately, they truly will need to make tough choices. 

Representative Sondy Pope-Roberts appeared before the Mt. Horeb Village Board to try and explain this.  At one point she plainly admitted “It is not a budget any of us can come forward and brag about”.  Funny, I seem to remember many quotes from the Democrat majority bragging about how they made all the difficult decisions and did right by the people of Wisconsin in this budget.   Remember, they spent all those late nights, working hard through the night for us? 

The bottom line is that this nightmare of a budget was created in wee hours of the night, behind closed doors, largely in secrecy.  Our representatives, at least those in the Democrat majority, didn’t make the hard decisions we elected them to do and at the end of the day spent more money than they have – again.  This is clear as the budget passed on partisan, party lines.  When our representative sides with her party over the people she represents then you have to ask who is she representing?

At least the state budget, for better or worse, is done, right?  Too bad we can’t just wake up and find out it was all a terrible dream. 

There is an interesting article by Brett Healy in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sharing his thoughts and analysis on the recently passed budget.  Bottom line?  Our “representatives” in the Democrat-led state government spends $3.63 billion more than the last budget.  I shudder to think what it would be if they hadn’t made all those “hard decisions”.    

Remember the property tax limiting QEO that was eliminated in the state budget?  In reading the Mt. Horeb Mail, it looks like we’re going to be feeling the effects of that one in the years to come.  Maybe not this year but we’re setting ourselves up for pain in the coming years.  At the end of the day, this is going to have a negative impact on our teachers, the school districts, and ultimately our children.

Unfortunately, this isn’t a dream and we have to live with the consequences.  We also need to remember who was supposed to be representing us when this bill was passed.  Our district’s representative, Assembly Member Sondy Pope-Roberts, supported this horrendous state budget (party before the people I guess) and should be held accountable when she next comes up for election.