Journal Sentinel

NRA objects to even minimal training requirements for concealed carry

October 5, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

The National Rifle Association says it's "concerned about the implementation of Wisconsin's new concealed carry law," the Journal Sentinel reports:

What's the NRA concerned about -- that people won't get the proper training they need?

No, that they might be required to get too much training -- a whole four hours worth, and have to fire a weapon!

Clearly, someone at the state Dept. of Justice, which is writing but has not yet released the rules, has been leaking to the NRA. That's actually an improvement over what might be expected from Atty. Gen. J.B. Van Hollen. At least he's not letting the NRA write the rules.

But it will be interesting to see whether he has the backbone to stand up to the NRA on this one. Most politicians back down in the face of NRA bluster, even though the organization has had laughably little influence at the ballot box. (Example: Gov. Jim Doyle was their Number One national target for defeat in 2006. How'd that work out?)

Bad River Band Can Regulate Water Quality, Protect Wild Rice Crop

October 5, 2011 by The Political E...

Excellent development: The Bad River band of the Lake Superior Chippewa has won the right to set high water quality standards, thus making sure than any mines in the area would have to discharge only high-quality waste water.

As the Journal Sentinel explains:

Gov. Jobs? More like governor jobbing Wisconsin

October 4, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

To boldly go....Gov. Scott Walker's job-creation fervor so far has been mostly all tax cuts for corporations ... and hot air. The state's employment shortfall actually has worsened in Walker's first year but the one thing he wants us to believe is that "job creators" -- that would be businesses which, in the main, are creating virtually no jobs while shedding scads of others -- are "uncertain" about the future and thus need more hand-holding and palm-greasing from the state Capitol.

And look at this: Walker's antics have come at the cost of the state's highest budget in history, significant cuts in wages and benefits for state employees and more spending on loyalist hacks. He's replaced scads of civil servants with political appointees answerable to him, paying some of them tens of thousands of dollars more annually than the veteran professionals they have replaced, despite their lesser experience.