Issue Position: Misleading Ads During Campaigns

Issue Position

Every campaign we are all flooded with misleading and confusing ads through TV, Radio and in our mailbox.
During the last campaign big money bombarded voters in the 93rd District with mail and ads that made ridiculous and misleading claims about me. If you recall the claim was that I took money from Veterans and gave it in the form of tuition breaks to illegal immigrants. I remember getting calls asking that I explain this. The most memorable was a fellow in the military who started out quite stern with me as he was apparently expecting some double talking politician and he wouldn't let me talk until he lectured me for a few minutes. When he finished, and I asked him if I could speak, I explained how they twisted the facts.

I voted for the 2009 budget bill, which is the most important job of any legislature to pass a balanced budget and pay the bills to keep the state functioning. In that budget bill one of the specifics to help us balance it was that veterans use their Federal benefits first before dipping into state obligated benefits. Yes, that was what they wanted you to believe was taking money from veterans. And what they didn't want you to know was that along with other members I tried to fix this provision. Here is part of an article written in 2010 in Madison.Com: A provision in the 2009-2011 state budget required veterans to use federal tuition benefits, if at all possible, instead of those available under the Wisconsin G.I. Bill.

Some veterans viewed this as a setback. Rather than being able to stack the state and federal benefits - getting in some cases up to 16 semesters of tuition - they would be limited to about eight semesters.

Under the bill, introduced by Rep. Steve Hilgenberg, D-Dodgeville and backed by Representative Jeff Smith, D-Eau Claire, veterans would be eligible for up to about six years of college tuition-free through a combination of state and federal benefits.

The state Assembly approved the bill on a unanimous vote but the Senate did not take action on it.

The second part of their claim came from another provision in the 2009 budget that only provided that ALL students who graduated from a Wisconsin high school are eligible for IN-STATE tuition. When I told the veteran in the other end of the phone he practically brought tears to my eyes when he said, "That is what I fought for, sir".
That is why I recommend that citizens follow what I call IRCD:
Ignore and throw away.

Research the claim and learn the facts through Snopes, google, etc.

Call or email the candidate that is being slandered by the claim.

Demand to hear the other side.

When there is talk about money in politics that is what we are talking about. It costs a lot of money to place all those ads and mail all those glossy cards. It must work because they keep doing it and, worse, it must pay off for them to convince voters to vote a certain way. The payoff is in favors and your tax dollars funneled to those big money interests.
If you have never heard of the 19th century Robber Barons I would recommend that you research it yourself and I'm afraid the resemblance of what we are seeing today is pretty frightening; The wealthiest interests (back then, it was railroad owners) buying our politicians and then directing them to pass laws that increase their wealth.
It took the voice of Fighting Bob LaFollette to lead voters to throw out the corrupt leaders and reform Wisconsin government to become a progressive leader in government for the people. As FDR said "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."
And there is no lack of false accusations from shady organizations during campaign years. Claims like you might lose constitutional rights or the budget wasn't balanced when passed. The facts are usually quite different than the claims. For all the fear mongering I want to know when anyone lost their constitutional rights and, the fact is, in Wisconsin we have a constitutional obligation to pass a balanced budget. That is just FACT!!
Shouldn't we also ask ourselves "Why does someone with so much money who probably resides somewhere other than Wisconsin, want to buy my government?" So I just ask that you follow IRCD and make yourself a smart voter. I am always happy to talk to citizens who legitimately want to hear truth and encourage you to call me.

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