On the State of the State Reactions

Just a few quick notes on this article in the Northwestern:

Michelle Litjens, chairwoman of the Winnebago County Republican Party, said she would like to say she was surprised by DoyleÂ’s speech, but sheÂ’s not."

He started out saying that it was his affordability agenda but all he talked about was spending more money," Litjens said. "He talked a lot about fiscal responsibly but also talked a lot about spending; it was quite an oxymoron."

I think she has no ground to stand on here. She is criticizing plans that, for a modest cost, will help more people get college degrees, nursing care and health insurance. All items that contribute to the good of society and the economy.

If she wants to officially come out as against this, I am willing to take that fight every day.

Ronald Kane Hardy, co-chairman of the Lake Winnebago Green Party, said that while Doyle proposed quite a progressive platform, heÂ’d be impressed if he saw one-third of what Doyle said make it to the statehouse floor.

Hardy said he had hoped for more out of Doyle.

"I think a lot of people in Wisconsin would have liked to hear him speak out about gay marriages," Hardy said. "This is a fight that many of his supporters are going to be fighting and it would have been a positive message for him to send to potential allies if he were to make a stand on the amendment."

First off, I like Ron a lot. I do think he is a little off-base criticize Doyle on these two points. It is not on Doyle to get bills to the statehouse floor - we need to get them through Republican committees. We have seen time and time again that good legislation will not be allowed to the floor by the committee chairs (I'm talking about you, Underheim and Roessler!).

As to the marriage amendment, Doyle is the best friend that the LGBT community and their supporters have in the state. Even though it was controversial, he has vetoed every bill brought forward to discriminate on the basis of sexuality. If it were not for Doyle, these bad laws would all ready be in place. The whole point of going the amendment route is because the Republicans have to go around Doyle to get this bigotry into law. He has stood firm for the rights of all people.
As have the Democratic leaders. Our state DPW Chair, Joe Wineke proudly testified against the amendment, and your very own humble Winnebago Dems Chair is part of the Speakers Network for Action Wisconsin fighting this.

I thought the State of the State address was great. I did not get a chance to watch it live as I was at the County Board meeting (more on that later), but listened to it online later. I am excited about the debate on Wisconsin's future through the 2006 Election Season.

UPDATE - Ron talks about the difficulty in getting legislation to the floor on his blog:

(Doyle) put forward a fairly progressive agenda, most of which will never see his desk in the form of legislation due to the fundamentalist majority in the state legislature.