Saturday, August 19, 2023

It's very simple, folks

 
Headline:  Wisconsin Public Radio, 8/16/2023
His favorability rating, on average, is only about 40%. With independents, he's in the 30s in the latest polling. And Trump has had a repelling effect with independent unengaged voters, who lean toward one party or the other and often decide the outcome of elections. 
More than half of independents — 52% — said they think Trump has done something illegal, the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found. That's up 11 points since March, just before the first indictment in New York was released related to Trump's hush-money payments to women he was alleged to have had affairs with.
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2024 presidential nomination polls: Chris Christie slips ahead Tim Scott with showing in latest Emerson poll

 
Poll results:  Real Clear Politics

Emerson  College Polling, 8/19/2023

Though still holding a commanding lead, Trump has slipped a bit from a peak of 62% in Emerson's April poll.



August 2023

July 2023
When hubris is synonymous with humiliation (Talkin' about you, Francis Suarez).  (7/25)

June 2023
Polling at 5%, Mike Pence to announce presidential campaign in Des Moines.  (6/1)

May 2023
Among West Virginia GOP voters, if you're not Trump, you're nobody.  (5/30)
GOP continues to boogie its way to doomsday.  (5/2)

April 2023

March 2023

February 2023

December 2022

November 2022

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Update on the Mirro site in Manitowoc Wisconsin


Photos by Retiring Guy
Headline:  Seehafer News, 8/18/2023

An example of the use of 'understatement'. 
As far as the overgrown weeds on the plot, Nickles said, “We don’t want to put a lot of money into it if we know that’s going to be happening, and it looks like 2024 is when that would be happening. So, we’re trying our best to just maintain it as best we can, I understand it’s not the prettiest site, but hopefully one year from now you’ll see construction and work being done, then those weeds will be gone.” [emphasis added]






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Wisconsin GOP legislative leadership lives in a mixed-up, shook-up world when it comes to youth priorities

 
Photos:  Wisconsin Senate, Wisconsin  Assem/bly
Top headline: AP News, 8/18/2023
Botton headline:  PBS Wisconsin, 5/1/2023

From the AP
Children ages 14 and 15 would no longer need a work permit or parental permission to get a job under a bill Republican Wisconsin lawmakers released on Friday. [emphasis added]
The proposal comes amid a wider push by state lawmakers to roll back child labor laws and despite the efforts of federal investigators to crack down on a surge in child labor violations nationally. 
Under current law, 14- and 15-year-olds in Wisconsin are prohibited from working most jobs unless they have permission from a parent or guardian and have verified their age with the state Department of Workforce Development.

The social media bill requires anyone 18 and youngers to get parental permission to open a social media account.  It's the nanny state in full flower.

Meet the voices of reason.
 



Related posts:
August 2023. 

July 2023

June 2023

May 2023
Family leave freakout.  (5/23/2023)
Here's the legacy the "lock-'em-up" prison mentality of Wisconsin's GOP legislative leaders.  (5/23)
Wisconsin GOP legislative leaders show their true colors with efforts to defund campus diversity offices.  (5/21/)
Wisconsin GOP legislative leaders decide transgender athlete ban is top priority.  (5/11)
Wisconsin GOP remain in Dark Ages when it comes to legalization of marijuana.  (5/3)
Local control?  It's the Wisconsin GOP favorite toilet seat!  (5/2)

April 2023
Wisconsin GOP fights crime and inflation with dog whistle legislation.  (4/26)
Wisconsin GOP leadership fights crime and inflation by putting up barriers to health care.  (4/17)
Wisconsin GOP leadership blows on the unemployment benefits dog whistle.  (4/11)

March 2023
Your Wisconsin GOP state legislative leadership at work (transgender assault edition).  (3/26)
Wisconsin GOP leadership remains adamantly opposed to reproductive rights.  (3/22)
Wisconsin GOP leadership promotes a no transparency workplace.  (3/21)
Wisconsin GOP leadership drags its heels on legalization while residents go elsewhere to buy weed.  (3/17)

February 2023
Wisconsin GOP leadership fights crime and inflation by ignoring Black priorities and promoting voter suppression.  (2/15)
Wacky white Wisconsin GOP boys club once against demonstrates its inability to govern.  (2/12)

2022
Wisconsin GOP shows off the diversity of its legislative leadership.  (12/21)
With another heated Wisconsin election around the corner, Republicans delude themselves into thinking they can defuse abortion as an issue.  (12/7)
It took all of 15 seconds for these 6 white guys -- the Wisconsin GOP legislative leadership -- to slam the door on reproductive rights.  (10/4)
Reproductive rights? Fuggedaboudit! What else would you expect from these Wisconsin GOP Gomers? (8/27)
Distrust of elections? What about contempt for Wisconsin's all-white, all-male GOP leadership?. (3/28)
Apparently, the all-white, all-male Wisconsin GOP leadership must think they're something special.  (3/8)

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Wisconsin gerrymandering spotlight on Assembly District 70: Packing Stevens Point, cracking Portage and La Crosse counties

 
What's wrong with this picture?
 
GOP packing of Stevens Point and cracking of Portage County.
te
Map:  Wikipedia  
Check out the Stevens Point detail!



The UW Applied Population Lab defines 'cracking' as 
drawing districts in such a way as to divide a concentration of specific types of voters across several districts such that they are a minority in each one, with practically no hope of achieving representation in any of the districts. This practice also helps make districts less competitive. [emphasis added]
The UW Applied Population Lab defines 'packing' as 
the practice of drawing particular districts in such a way as to ensure that another party's candidate wins that seat by a tremendous margin. Although the opposing party is all but guaranteed the seat, packing makes surrounding districts less competitive, and thus tips the balance of power in the legislative body overall toward the ruling party.

Diluting the Democratic vote in Steven Point 

The indefensibly drawn 70th district sprawls from northeast to southwest across 5 counties:  Portage (gray box), Wood (black), Jackson (orange), Monroe (red), and La Crosse (green).

Nothing compact about, as it stretches on a diagonal across "communities of interest" for 111 miles.

Get-along-to-go-along Nancy VanderMeer (R-Tomah) has represented the district since January 2015.  In November 2022, she defeated her Democratic challenger by 32 percentage points.


Related reading:

PBS Wisconsin, 11/4/2021
For decades, Portage County was part of the 7th Congressional District, which spans Wisconsin’s Northwoods. In 2011, Republicans in control of the state’s redistricting process decided to put it in the 3rd Congressional District, changing its shape by having a branch reach out and up from its trunk along the Mississippi River and connect to the center of the state. 
The reason was political. Anchored by the communities of Stevens Point and Plover, which together comprise over half of its population, Portage County has voted for Democrats up and down the ticket for decades. In 2011, District 7 Congressional was home to freshman incumbent Rep. Sean Duffy, a Republican, who had flipped an open seat vacated upon the retirement of a Democrat who had previously held it for over 40 years. State Republicans then moved Portage County into the District 3 seat, held by Democratic Rep. Ron Kind. The switch shifted the county’s voters, with its majority of Democrats, into Kind’s district and away from Duffy’s.  [emphasis added]

We have this white male menagerie to thank for the state's current maps..

Meet the defenders of fair elections.



Other posts in the series:
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Wisconsin gerrymandering spotlight on Assembly District 68: Packing and cracking Eau Claire (chapter 2)

 
What's wrong with this picture?
 
GOP packing and cracking of Eau Claire a second time.

Map:  Wikipedia  

Check out the Eau Claire detail!




The UW Applied Population Lab defines 'cracking' as 
drawing districts in such a way as to divide a concentration of specific types of voters across several districts such that they are a minority in each one, with practically no hope of achieving representation in any of the districts. This practice also helps make districts less competitive. [emphasis added]
The UW Applied Population Lab defines 'packing' as 
the practice of drawing particular districts in such a way as to ensure that another party's candidate wins that seat by a tremendous margin. Although the opposing party is all but guaranteed the seat, packing makes surrounding districts less competitive, and thus tips the balance of power in the legislative body overall toward the ruling party.

Diluting the Democratic vote in Eau Claire, part 2    

The 68th Assembly District includes portions of Chippewa (gray box), Eau Claire (green box), and Clark counties (red box), with Clark, one of Wisconsin's most conservative counties, taking up the largest chunk.   (The orange box is the area where the City of Eau Claire has been packed and cracked.)

It bears repeating.  With a population of 104,000, Eau Claire County has enough residents to fill nearly two Assembly districts.  It doesn't deserve to be sliced and diced as has happened with this latest round of GOP gerrymandering.

Karen Hurd (R-Fall Creek) has represented the district since January 2023.   In November 2022, she defeated her Democratic opponent by 20 percentage points.

Related reading:

Urban Milwaukee, 7/25/2023
It’s time to create a Wisconsin Model of independent redistricting that works for our particular dynamics and diversity. We can learn much from other states and cities with independent redistricting models, but we aren’t Iowa, nor are we Michigan. We do have the same need to modernize how we draw district lines so voters can choose their elected officials instead of political parties choosing their voters. 
Computer programs draw maps in minutes, utilizing oceans of data to form perfectly gerrymandered maps. Information is collected about your purchasing habits, groups you belong to, if and where you attend church, your interests and your profession. This data collection isn’t going away, but we can harness it to form competitive districts that motivate candidates to win your vote based on their values, rather than their political affiliation.  [emphasis added]

We have this white male menagerie to thank for the state's current maps..

Meet the defenders of fair elections.



Other posts in the series:

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Friday, August 18, 2023

Cheating to win elections: Wisconsin GOP attempts to defend the indefensible use of cracking and packing in drawing legislative districts

 
Located in southern Wisconsin, the district includes central Rock County, cracking Janesville in the process, and most of southeast Dane County.

A drastic realignment of the 43rd District's boundaries placed former representative Don Vruwink (D-Milton) in a Republican-leaning district, where he lost in 2022 by 247 votes.  Jenna Jacobson (D-Oregon) has represented the district since January 2023.  She defeated her Republican opponent by nearly 25 percentage points.

Headline:  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 8/11/2023
Map:  Wisconsin State Legislature (boxes added)

Somehow, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Tyler Katzenberger can write an article about legislative district without mentioning 'gerrymandering', 'packing', and 'cracking'.  

It's called journalistic malpractice.

The UW Applied Population Lab defines 'cracking' as 
drawing districts in such a way as to divide a concentration of specific types of voters across several districts such that they are a minority in each one, with practically no hope of achieving representation in any of the districts. This practice also helps make districts less competitive.
Th UW Applied Population Lab defines 'packing' as 
the practice of drawing particular districts in such a way as to ensure that another party's candidate wins that seat by a tremendous margin. Although the opposing party is all but guaranteed the seat, packing makes surrounding districts less competitive, and thus tips the balance of power in the legislative body overall toward the ruling party.


Meet the leaders of the packing and cracking brigade!

Bad optics:  Wisconsin Senate, Wisconsin  Assem/bly

Wouldn't you rather have this diverse group in the majority?
 


Related reading:
PBS News, 12/7/2022
In the latest round of redistricting, in which rulings from the conservative state and U.S. supreme courts allowed Republican legislative maps to prevail over objections from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, Wisconsin’s Assembly skew only got worse. 
That’s according to the “efficiency gap,” one of the measurements political scientists have developed to illustrate partisan gerrymandering. The efficiency gap measures how many votes are “wasted” — having no chance to affect the outcome — when one party’s voters are either packed into lopsided districts (Think of Dane County where almost 80% voted for Evers), while others are broken up, or cracked, into districts where the margins are closer, but the party drawing the maps is almost guaranteed to win.

Other posts in the series:

See also:  Spotlight on Wisconsin gerrymandering

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GET ME REWRITE: Transphobe queen Barbara Dittrich is at it again

 
Headline:  Wisconsin Public Radio, 8/15/2023
The bills, which Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has promised to veto, were introduced on Aug. 11 by state Rep. Barb Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, and fellow Republicans. Nearly identical legislation was introduced in 2021 but failed to pass before the end of the legislative session.
Meet Babs' best friend


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