The Milwaukee Post

Wisconsin's economy is in its best condi- tion since the 1960s. Our tax burden, once one of the highest in the nation, has improved to the middle. The state budget is running a surplus. Employers are openly fighting to move here. Milwaukee's down- town, depressed only a decade ago, is in the midst of a historic boom. This is the perfect formula for Gov. Scott Walker and legislative Republicans to sail to re-election in 2018. They took over in 2011 a state that was being run into the ground by Democrats. The budget was a mess with multiple fund raids. Public education was being slashed because of unsustainable employee benefits. Employers were bailing. Businesses were being run off by obnoxious regulators and bureaucrats. The Republican case is simple: The Democrats ruined this state and we are fix- ing it and bringing it to glory. There's only one problem. For some reason, the voters are prepared to throw them out and give the state back to the Democrats. Years of political wins and a sense that things are now permanently better has led conservative activists to become compla- cent. There is the stench of malaise. Success is being taken for granted. Donald Trump's shocking win in Wisconsin in November of 2016 has led Republicans to think they can now win everything here without lifting a finger. But reality isn't cooperating. What "should be" isn't what is happening. The Democrats are going to shellack the Republicans this fall, undo the Walker Revolution and ruin the state again unless some things change in the next few months. The first thing Republicans have to do is understand this is happening. As much as they may be astonished by it, they are going to lose unless things change radically. Last week, the Democrats won a state Senate special election in a northwest Wisconsin district the Republican carried in 2016 by a whopping 26 percentage points. President Trump carried the same district by nine points. Yet the well-known GOP can- didate ran an awful campaign with an awful message and lost by nine points. But that race wasn't the one that ought to shock the Republicans out of their doldrums. There was a special election for a state Assembly seat last week in the area surrounding West Bend. Washington County is the most Republican county in the state. A Democrat has no more chance there than I have of win- ning the giant slalom at the Olympics. But the result was way closer than it should have been. Rick Gundrum won by about 600 votes out of 4,200 cast. That's not a nail-biter but it was a lot closer than any Republican should have to win by in that area. Part of the problem is the political cycle. I have written obsessively in this column about the Wisconsin trend of electing gover- nors of the opposite party as the president. Only twice in nearly a half-century has Wisconsin elected a governor of the same party as the president. Our governor elec- tions are in the alternate years that the pres- idency isn't on the ballot and parties out of power often do well in the "off" years. In addition, there is long precedent for the first "off-year election" in a new president's term to be disastrous for his party. The Democrats won big in 1982 in Reagan's first off-year election, the Republicans won a national landslide in 1994 in the first Clinton off-year election, the Democrats scored big in 2002 in G.W. Bush's first off year and we know what happened in Wisconsin and elsewhere in 2010 in the first Obama off year. But the other thing that is happening is Republicans have gained all the power in Wisconsin and are therefore fighting with one another. Last year's state budget battle was an example as is my frustration with the Legislature for obstructing anti-crime bills. The Democrats have no power left so the only fights are among Republicans. This has left some hard feelings. Another problem: Some of the GOP "Never Trump" crowd has alienated itself from other Republicans by their refusal to support a president leading a national conservative revolution. Whatever the internal party spats are, they are noth- ing in comparison to the fights that will be necessary if a leftist loon like Paul Soglin is elected governor and the state Senate is con- trolled by Chris Larson and Mark Miller. The Foxconn development is the biggest thing to happen in this state in decades but it is a hard sell to persuade people outside of the Milwaukee area how they benefit or why their taxes should subsidize it. The Democrats have demonized it. Then, there's the backlash some voters have against Trump himself. The new American Renaissance isn't enough for the people who just can't stand Trump and figure that vot- ing for Democrats in elections is the only thing they can do about it. So how do Republicans avert disaster and avoid losing all their power in this state? 1. Accept that this is happening and dras- tic effort is required. 2. Start bragging up all of our accomplish- ments the last seven years and tell the story the state media won't. 3. Make it very clear that a Democrat win in this state will take us right back to the state Dark Ages they presided over in the last decade. Somebody cue John Belushi for the "Animal House" speech. (Mark Belling is the host of a daily WISN radio talk show. His column appears weekly in the Milwaukee Post. Send your personal correspondences to Mark Belling at Clear Channel Communications, c/o WISN, 12100 W. Howard Ave., Greenfield, WI 53228). MARK BELLING STANDING UP for MILWAUKEE Republicans may lose everything in Wisconsin in 2018 OPINION Last week's question What do you think of President Donald Trump's first year in office? Or, what do you think of the new Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Drexel Town Square Health Center in Oak Creek? I would have to give President Trump an A- for his first year in office. I love his Supreme Court choice and his other judicial nominees. I am in full agreement of the tax reform bill recently passed and the repeal of the individual mandate of Obamacare. The reduction of regulations within the federal government is another positive step. He needs to keep pushing on immigration reform and border securi- ty. Though I wish he would tone down some of his tweets, it is fun to see how it drives liberals and the media crazy. — Jim Weber Greenfield *** Regarding President Trump's first year in office, even though I don't sup- port him, but I do give him credit for one accomplishment: raising as an issue the power of an executive order. It's come up especially because immigra- tion policy has been often created through executive order under Trump and President Barack Obama. Trump has easily reversed Obama's executive orders with his own. Many students of the U.S. Constitution, not just in America but also overseas, are looking up the histo- ry of the Constitution and the long- term impact of executive orders and the decisions of judges. Too many deci- sion have gone through for years now unchallenged. Trump is finally bringing this out: What is the power of an executive order? If you look at it, exec- utive orders can be replaced, and judges who make rulings sustaining executive orders can be removed from office if they declare them as laws because they are not laws.They cannot make or change the Constitution. — Thomas Reed West Allis *** President Trump's first year in office has been a huge success. The economy is growing, more people are working, and because of our new tax structure paychecks will increase and many com- panies will return from overseas. The nation is much greater and stronger as Trump as president. — Chester Skrobis Oak Creek *** If Donald Trump's goals were to mar- ginalize America on the world stage; divide us racially, economically and reli- giously at home; give huge gifts to cor- porations while ballooning the deficit; unleash twitter storms, expletives and chaos; and edge us ever closer to war — then his first year in office has been a smashing success. The Republicans should be so proud. — Sandy Sue Szanderek Bay View *** President Trump has been acting like Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. He's got the same attitude: If you're not with him, get out of the way. That's the same thing Hitler did in Germany all those years. — Tommy Sukkert South Milwaukee *** I think it's wonderful that the new Froedtert&Medical College of Wisconsin is in Oak Creek. Otherwise, people had only one choice, which was the old, now-closed clinic. When Aurora took over the facility, I think they had a lot of the same people there. Having what is like a second hospital will be a real lift for the Oak Creek area and people will have choices where to go. — Diane Shtaida Milwaukee This week's question What needs to happen to avoid a government shutdown after a temporary reprieve? Editor's note: When responding to the Question of the Week, please include your full name with spelling, phone number and city where you live. Phone numbers will not be published. Anonymous responses are no longer accepted by the publication. Call 744- 6370, Ext. 15 and leave a brief answer. Readers may also send an email with a brief answer to: dmuck@conleynet.com. Question of the week 8 • Milwaukee County Post • January 26, 2018

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