The Catch Up

On Friday I wished Bob Uecker a happy 89th birthday… on his 90th birthday. An alert reader pointed out my error. Aside from Uecker’s entry into his tenth decade, let’s see what else happened last week.

They do the right thing, just barely. The Madison City Council rejected a proposal to give themselves a 60% pay increase, but by only one vote. The resolution to increase Council pay from $15,000 to $24,218 required 15 votes from the 20 member council and it came up just short. Credit alders Nasra Wehelie, Barbara Harrington-McKinney, Isadore Knox, Charles Myadze and Bill Tishler for voting no. Ald. Amani Latimer Burris abstained. The city is facing a large deficit, council races have been competitive in recent years and this council is the most diverse ever. The stated reason for the increase was that it would somehow attract more poor people to run for office, a dubious claim at best. So this proposal was so devoid of merit that I expected it wouldn’t even come to a vote and yet it failed by the narrowest of margins.

Too clever by half. I’ve been scratching my head trying to figure out why Assembly Republicans are advancing a referendum that would restrict abortions after 14 weeks when they know that Gov. Tony Evers will veto it. Even pro-life groups oppose this and Democrats are welcoming the chance to underscore Republican opposition to abortion rights. Democrats simply win elections on this issue, so why even bring it up?. Over the weekend the Wall Street Journal provided the answer in an editorial titled, Who’s Radical Now? The strategy, apparently, is to gain the upper hand by portraying Democrats as opposed to any restrictions on abortion when most Americans support abortion rights, but not without limits. The GOP has been trying this basic strategy ever since Roe was overturned and it hasn’t been working. They’ve been drowned out by the very pro-life groups that oppose this 14 week referendum because they see it as much too permissive. The pro-life movement wants to ban all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest, and it’s that message that is more likely to get through to the public than Speaker Robin Vos’ clever gambit.

Wildlife fund shortfall, The account at the DNR that pays for fish stocking, habitat improvements and a host of other conservation projects is projected to run a $16 million deficit next year. That’s because there has been a slow, but steady, decrease in the number of hunting and fishing licenses sold while the Legislature refuses to increase the fees. I’ve been spending the same $24 to buy a gun deer license for the last two decades and I can buy a fishing license for as little as $7. The reasons for the decline in hunting and fishing are cultural and complex and, frankly, I don’t think there’s much the DNR can do about it, though they are making heroic attempts to try to attract folks to these sports. But simply getting fees in line with inflation over the last 20 years would address some of the shortfall.

Or maybe not. Last week I praised House Speaker Mike Johnson for negotiating with Democrats on government funding and a package of aid for Ukraine and Israel linked to increased border security. But then Donald Trump slammed the immigration deal being worked out in the Senate and Johnson wasted no time in saying, essentially, that anything Trump was against would be DOA in his house. That may be just accommodating political reality, but nonetheless the Speaker took a step back in my book.