WI Assembly Education Committee to hold public hearing on contraception madate of 2009

The Assembly Committee on Education has scheduled a public hearing for Assembly Bill (AB) 337, the "Strong Communities…Healthy Kids Act," on Wednesday, November 16, at 10:00 a.m. in Room 417 North (GAR Hall) of the State Capitol building in Madison.

Please consider attending the hearing and registering for or testifying in favor of this critically important legislation.

Assembly Bill 337 is legislation authored by State Representative Jeremy Thiesfeldt (R-Fond du Lac) that reverses the contraception education/instruction mandate of 2009, giving public school districts the freedom to adopt abstinence-only human growth and development curricula. Chastity/abstinence is the only message that will protect our children's bodies and preserve their innocence, and local school districts should be given this option. The bill also prohibits school-based volunteer health providers from providing instruction in human growth and development. Sexual development is not properly under the purview of a school health room physician or nurse, especially one from Planned Parenthood. The bill prevents Planned Parenthood nurses and physicians from teaching about abortion and contraception in our public schools. The Senate companion bill to AB 337, Senate Bill 237, passed the Senate on November 2.

Thank you for speaking up for our children!

PLW

Gov. Walker says Capitol evergreen is a Christmas, not holiday, tree

Gov. Walker said Monday that the evergreen decorated with ornaments and adorned with a star in the center of Wisconsin's Capitol Rotunda is a Christmas tree, not a holiday tree as it's been called for the past 25 years.

The roughly 30-foot-tall tree was called a Christmas tree from the first display in 1916 until 1985. That's when politicians bowed to concerns about government endorsing religion and started referring to it as a holiday tree.

The Madison-based Freedom From Religion Foundation has opposed the term Christmas tree, saying it offends nonreligious people and amounts to a government endorsement of Christianity.

Read more

They are upset because Christians are celebrating a Christian holiday...  I don't get upset when they celebrate the Chinese Revolution, Earth Day, Bastille Day, Darwin Day, or of course their biggest holiday on April 1st. 

Photo

GE Moves 115-Year-Old Waukesha headquarters to China

General Electric Co.'s health-care unit, the world's biggest maker of medical-imaging machines, is moving the headquarters of its 115-year-old X-ray business to Beijing to tap growth in China.

“A handful” of top managers will move to the Chinese capital and there won't be any job cuts, Anne LeGrand, vice president and general manager of X-ray for GE Healthcare, said in an interview. The headquarters will move from Waukesha, Wisconsin, amid a broader parent-company plan to invest about $2 billion across China, including opening six “customer innovation” and development centers.

The move follows the introduction earlier this year of GE Healthcare's “Spring Wind” initiative to develop and distribute medical products and services in China, GE said in a statement today. More than 20 percent of the X-ray unit's new products will be developed in China, LeGrand said.

Business Week

Business is best run with local ownership, and the state should support that effort.

Tomorrow's special election in La Crosse - don't forget to vote

Pro-life David Drewes

A Wisconsin State Assembly special election will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, November 8, in the 95th Assembly District (AD). The 95th AD comprises the City of La Crosse.

The Pro-Life Wisconsin Victory Fund political action committee (PAC) has proudly endorsed David Drewes (R) in the 95th AD special election.

For those of you who live in the City of La Crosse, tomorrow's special election is too important to miss. Plan to exercise your right to vote tomorrow, November 8, and encourage your family and friends to do the same. Vote for life, and may God bless Wisconsin!

Pro-Life Wisconsin

Catholic bishops in Wisconsin urging not to bring guns into church

Roman Catholic bishops in Wisconsin are urging their parishioners not to bring weapons to church now that a new law permits state residents to carry concealed firearms.

"Intuitively, we understand that acts of violence, destruction, and murder are antithetical to the message and person of Jesus Christ and have no rightful place in our society, especially sacred places," the bishops said just before the law went into effect on Tuesday.

"We ask that all people seriously consider not carrying weapons into church buildings as a sign of reverence for these sacred spaces," they said.

The statement, issued by Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki and four other bishops, said a decision on whether to ban weapons was up to individual churches.

Residents with a valid permit are allowed to carry concealed handguns, electric weapons such as stun guns or tasers, knives other than switchblades, and billy clubs.

Machine guns, short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns remain prohibited.

An employer may bar an employee from carrying concealed weapons at work, but cannot prohibit an employee from keeping concealed weapons in the employee's vehicle, even if it is parked on employer property.

The law mandates four hours of instructor-led training to carry a concealed weapon, or completion of a hunter safety course through the state.

Reuters

In other words, if you own a gun, you are a psycho murderer. 

Maybe I'm weird for not being afraid of guns.  I'm more afraid someone would go up to Communion in the state of mortal sin or that the priest is going to bring in the clowns than I am that someone has a gun on them. 

I hate to break it to everybody, but a person could bring in a gun prior to any law passed as well.  Bad people usually don't care what the law or the bishops say on the matter.

But I'm sure these ladies will happily oblige. 

Wis Senate Republicans repair woefully inept sex-ed mandate

MADISON (WKOW) -- Sex-education in Wisconsin schools is in for big changes after a bill passed Wednesday night in the State Senate.

Senate Bill 237 repeals parts of the Healthy Youth Act put forth by Governor Jim Doyle last year.

It makes teaching about contraception optional in schools, and requires school districts to teach that abstinence is the only effective way to prevent pregnancy and STD's.

The bill passed on party lines Thursday night after about an hour of testimony, mainly from Democrats.

It now moves on to the Assembly, but Thursday is the last floor session scheduled until January. The Assembly may not even have time to consider the bill this year.

WKOW

MacIver: It's Working!

Wisconsin Personhood seeks co-sponsorship in state assembly

On Wednesday State Representative Andre Jacque (R-Green Bay) began circulating for co-sponsorship the Wisconsin Personhood Amendment, legislation that would amend the Wisconsin Constitution to apply personhood rights to preborn children at all stages of development. Click here to read the amendment language, and click here to view PLW’s legislative memo.

From a pro-life perspective, the Wisconsin Constitution contains a glaring error at its outset. In specifying the beneficiaries of its human rights, our state constitution leaves out the preborn. It applies rights to only those people who are “born.”

Representative Jacque is proposing a minimal but absolutely essential correction, a personhood amendment, to make the Wisconsin Constitution cover all people, every person, at any stage of development. The amendment seeks to extend the inalienable right to life found in the Wisconsin Constitution to all preborn children from the beginning of their lives. 

Should Roe v. Wade be overturned someday and the abortion issue remanded to the states, an activist Wisconsin Supreme Court could use the word “born” in our current state constitution to deny the right to life of the preborn by interpreting an independent right to abortion in that document. In so doing, the court could nullify any present or future pro-life laws in our state. The changing makeup of the Wisconsin Legislature could also jeopardize any pro-life laws in our state. Every two years our state election process determines the majority party in Madison. Legal protection of the preborn should not (and must not) be contingent upon which party controls the state legislature. The right to life should not be subject to the whims of a politicized supreme court or an ever-changing legislature. 

The introduction of the Wisconsin Personhood Amendment is a watershed moment in the history of the pro-life movement in our state. It seeks to end abortion in Wisconsin, not to regulate or restrict it. We have been working toward the introduction of such an amendment for the last five years, and we thank Representative Jacque for demonstrating the courage of his convictions in finally making it a reality.

The personhood amendment will face stiff opposition from the pro-abortion industry.  Shockingly, the strongest opposition to the bill at this point is coming from Wisconsin Right to Life (WRL). In February WRL published a position paper vowing to oppose any effort to grant Wisconsin’s pre-born babies full constitutional rights as persons, labeling such efforts a “threat to [the] protection of Wisconsin unborn children.” They worked hard to ensure a personhood amendment was never introduced. Having failed in that effort, they are now calling every state legislator demanding that they not sign on to the bill. WRL admits that their legal reasoning for opposing a state personhood amendment is speculative. WRL offers no case law to back up their asserted problems, admitting that they are only “probable”. Pro-Life Wisconsin, on the other hand, offers recent Wisconsin case law clearly demonstrating that the proposed amendment is not a risk to our current, pre-Roe abortion law (Section 940.04, Wisconsin Statutes) by “implied repeal” or otherwise. Click here for PLW’s legal analysis rebutting their misguided objections.

The pro-life movement is founded on the bedrock principle that all human beings, at all stages of their development, deserve full protection under the law. Why oppose proactive people of good will endeavoring to provide full and lasting legal protection for preborn children? Pro-Life Wisconsin remains committed to constitutionally protecting Wisconsin’s preborn children, regardless of opposition from the abortion industry or from within the right to life movement. 

 how you can help at Pro-Life Wisconsin

Wisconsin Senate GOPs lead effort to damage school voucher program

Madison - Wisconsin's school voucher programs could not move beyond Milwaukee and eastern Racine County, under a bill the state Senate approved Tuesday.

Republicans in June included a provision in the state budget that established a voucher program in eastern Racine County and would put in place similar ones in other school districts when they met certain criteria.

Green Bay meets three of the four criteria for having a voucher program and is likely to meet all four soon. Some Republicans, led by Senate President Mike Ellis of Neenah, opposed expanding the voucher program beyond Milwaukee and Racine County and cut a deal this summer to prevent Green Bay or others from having voucher schools.

Ellis said Tuesday the change would ensure the Legislature decides which districts allow voucher schools, rather than having a formula automatically determine that.

"I want the Legislature to decide and I want the Legislature not to be hamstrung," he said.

The state's initial voucher program started 20 years ago and allows low-income students in Milwaukee to attend religious schools and other private institutions at taxpayer expense. Each voucher is worth $6,442 annually.

The budget expanded the program by eliminating a cap on the number of students who could participate, raising the income limits and allowing students from Milwaukee to attend private schools outside the city limits at taxpayer expense.

The budget also created a formula to establish voucher schools for second-class cities (which generally are those with populations from 39,000 to 149,999) that have 50% or more of their students eligible for free or reduced lunch and meet certain state aid requirements.

MJS

Reversal of forced contraception indoctrination proposed

The Senate Committee on Education has scheduled a public hearing for Senate Bill (SB) 237, the “Strong Communities…Healthy Kids Act,” on Wednesday, October 19, at 12:00 p.m. in Room 201 Southeast of the State Capitol building in Madison.

Please consider attending the hearing and registering for or testifying in favor of this critically important legislation.

Senate Bill 237 is legislation authored by State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) that reverses the contraception education/instruction mandate of 2009, giving public school districts the freedom to adopt abstinence-only human growth and development curricula. Chastity/abstinence is the only message that will protect our children’s bodies and preserve their innocence, and local school districts should be given this option. The bill also prohibits school-based volunteer health providers from providing instruction in human growth and development. Sexual development is not properly under the purview of a school health room physician or nurse, especially one from Planned Parenthood. The bill prevents Planned Parenthood nurses and physicians from teaching about abortion and contraception in our public schools.

For those of you who reside in the Beloit area, the Beloit School District has been developing human growth and development curriculum proposals through an ad hoc committee since last December. The district is currently without a sex education program. Listening sessions on curriculum proposals will begin on October 24 and continue into early November.

Thank you for speaking up for our children!

Pro-Life Wisconsin

Great news!

AFL-CIO Trumka: Wisconsin Governor ‘Lucifer,’ Will Support a Recall

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (AP Photo)

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said that his union coalition would participate in a planned recall campaign targeting Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) – a man Trumka referred to as “Lucifer.”

“Would I support going after Lucifer?” Trumka said, after being asked if he would support a recall of Walker. “Let me think about that. That's a tough one. Of course we’re gonna' be there.”

“I mean, the guy has overreached, he’s been a bad governor,” said Trumka. “He tried to use a contrived deficit to take people out.”

cnsnews

Wouldn't invoking a religious figure get most kids kicked out of a public school?

Esenburg: Why WRTL cannot be charged

What I was concerned with is whether WRTL could be said to have given out these gift cards (or, if you prefer, offered the gift cards) to an elector or any other person as an inducement to get an elector to vote or refrain from voting.

The problem that I see with application of the statute to WRTL is that the gift cards were offered or given not as an inducement to vote but as an inducement for people to get others to apply for absentee ballots. Even if we can characterize the latter as trying to get people to vote, this is a huge distinction. Here's why.

Tom wants to read the statute to say that it is unlawful to offer a thing of value to a person in order to induce that person to persuade another to vote. This is not what the law says. In fact, if we were read the statute in the way that Mr. Foley wants, it would apply to any compensated "get out the vote" effort. If a political party or a candidate or even the League of Women Voters pays people to encourage or facilitate voting, they will have violated the statute. Not only is that a nonsensical reading of the statute (the law can be an ass but it usually isn't), it is a reading that would place it in dire constitutional jeopardy. The freedom of association involves, I think, the right to organize to get out the vote including paying the organizers.

the whole thing at Shark and Shepard

Milwaukee DA investigating Wisconsin Right to Life for voter bribery

Milwaukee County prosecutors have opened a John Doe investigation into voter bribery allegations stemming from last month's state Senate recall elections, according to sources.

Details of the secret investigation are sketchy, but it is clear the Milwaukee County district attorney's office is investigating charges that Wisconsin Right to Life offered rewards for volunteers who signed up sympathetic voters in the recall races. Several people familiar with the investigation said subpoenas were being distributed "like candy."

Prosecutors had earlier acknowledged that they also were looking into complaints about get-out-the-vote block parties sponsored by a liberal group, Wisconsin Jobs Now.

But Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf, who investigates election law violations, now won't discuss either matter.

"Absolutely no comment," Landgraf said.

This comes on top of the yearlong John Doe investigation into possible political activity by former and current aides to Gov. Scott Walker.

That secret investigation burst into the public this month when a dozen FBI agents and other law enforcement officers raided the Madison home of Cindy Archer, a top official with Walker at the state and county. Then came word last week that Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie and two others had been granted immunity to testify in the investigation.

John Doe investigations are secret proceedings in which witnesses can be subpoenaed and compelled to testify under oath about potential criminal matters and are forbidden to talk publicly about the case.

How seriously do people take these prohibitions?

Just look at the reactions of those with Wisconsin Right to Life when asked whether they had been contacted in the John Doe investigation.

"Are you trying to get me in trouble?" bellowed James Bopp, an Indiana attorney representing the group opposed to abortion rights. Bopp repeatedly declared it "wrong" for No Quarter to ask about the John Doe proceeding and hung up.

Barbara Lyons, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, was a little more civil but equally tight-lipped.

"I'm not going to comment on anything you ask," Lyons said in a recent interview.

continue at MJS

Something tells me that WRTL has never played poker before.  I mean, what ever happened to "no comment?"  Even if the organization is found not guilty, doesn't a panicked response make you think they might be just a weeee bit worried they did something wrong?  I mean how about "we are cooperating completely with the investigation" or "we trust that the DA will find we did nothing unlawful."  Or how about "bellowing" "Are you trying to get me in trouble?"  Ummm, I hope you have an ace up your sleeve.

Sen. Grothman introduces new Raw Milk bill to legalize the sale of milk

A Wisconsin lawmakers who believes local dairy producers should have the right to sell their raw milk[imagine that!] says he's not giving up on his proposal to make it legal. State Senator Glenn Grothman of West Bend and two other Senate Republicans are co-sponsoring a bill that would end most state regulations for licensed producers who want to provide unpasteurized milk to the public.

Grothman said he thinks the measure will pass next year. Similar legislation was being drafted earlier this year by Rep. Don Pridemore of Harford.

The bill would allow producers to sell raw milk if they had a special license from the state, and if the customer brought their own sanitized container. The farm would also be required to hold a Grade A permit to be eligible.

The issue has come back into the forefront after a judge recently ruled to block a Calumet County farm from selling raw milk through a membership program designed to make customers part-owners of their operation.

Last year, former Governor Jim Doyle vetoed a proposal that would have allowed farmers to sell their raw milk if there were certain safeguards in place to protect the public. But Governor Scott Walker said in January of this year that he would likely sign a similar bill if it were to come across his desk.

Supporters have long claimed that raw milk tastes better, contains bacteria that helps fight disease and is more natural. But opponents say the entire dairy industry can suffer if just one illness or death from the product were spotlighted in the media. [excuse me while I roll my eyes]

Wis Ag Conn

A critical member of the Senate Ag Committee who currently is not supporting the bill is Sen. Jessica King of district 18 (she is a newly elected "recall senator". She needs to hear from at least 10 supporters in her district (Fox River Valley) that you support the raw milk bill. PLEASE give her a call and email her also.


HT SQ

UW Badger Catholic and embryonic stem-cell research

Two opponents of embryonic stem cell research expressed enthusiasm for a recent UW discovery of highly functional stem cells that do not require embryonic cells to function.

Justin Brumbaugh, a UW-Madison graduate student who helped lead the study, said the stem cells, called induced pluripotent cells, do not require embryos or fetal cells but have the same capabilities as embryonic stem cells.

Nico Fassino, chair of Badger Catholic, said he strongly opposes embryonic stem-cell research, but applauds scientists' efforts to create an alternative that does not "take advantage of defenseless persons."

"I think that's a really beautiful scientific breakthrough," Fassino said. "I really hope they're able to apply this to … the medical field, so this has a wide and positive impact on curing a lot of the ailments that embryonic stem-cell research is currently aimed at."

According to Fassino, the Catholic reservation toward embryonic stem-cell research does not come from an inherent dislike for scientific progress but from the belief that every human life begins at conception, making the destruction of embryos for science murder in their eyes.

"[The study] demonstrates that nature will find a way," said Matt Sande, Director of Legislation at Pro-Life Wisconsin. "There's always an ethical way to achieve a medical and scientific way if we are diligent and patient."

During his campaign, Gov. Scott Walker did not take a decisive stance for or against stem cell-research as a whole, but did firmly oppose research involving embryonic stem cells.

UW Cardinal

Wisconsin State Unions worked to defeat the 2006 Traditional Marriage Amendment

"Wisconsin was one of just four states where labor unions contributed to committees working on the same-sex marriage bans in 2006 and the state where labor money played the largest role. All of the labor organizations' contributions went to opponents of the constitutional amendment.

Wisconsin unions contributed $377,7000 to Fair Wisconsin (a Madison homosexual activist group)

Teachers' unions gave $350,000.

The Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) gave $325,000,

Wisconsin Federation of Teachers gave $15,000;

Madison Teachers added $7,500….."

On Page 41, you will see that George Soros gave $65,000 towards the defeat of Wisconsin's Marriage Amendment.

The Money Behind the 2006 Marriage Amendment(page 39)

Labor Union reps must pay for parade if GOP banned, Wausau mayor says

The mayor of a Wisconsin town said on Tuesday a local labor council would have to reimburse the city up to $2,000 for a Labor Day parade if organizers exclude Republican lawmakers from attending.

The move in Wausau, Wisconsin, came after a county labor official said last week that Republican politicians were not welcome at the event due to their party's stance against collective bargaining when state lawmakers voted to curtail it earlier this year.

Wausau Mayor Jim Tipple told Reuters on Tuesday that the decision to exclude elected Republicans "flies in the face of public policy."

"This is not a political rally, it's a parade, for God's sake," Tipple said, noting that taxpayer money is used by the city to pay for staging the event. Tipple's office is nonpartisan, and he claims no affiliation with either political party.

He said the annual cost of the parade, including insurance, setting up and taking down a stage, and police personnel, runs anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 each year.

Reuters

Labor Unions valdalize school locks hours before Gov. Walker visit

Custodial staff at Messmer Preparatory school were replacing locks Friday morning after the previous ones had been filled with metal and glue overnight, said the school's Development Director Jeffrey Robb.

"We're very disappointed," he said.

The vandalism came hours before Gov. Scott Walker was scheduled to visit the school to read to second- and third-graders. Walker plans to read, "Oh! The Places You'll Go," by Dr. Seuss.

"This visit is talking about education," Robb said, but there have been political elements brought into it. Robb said that cars lined the street by the school sporting anti-Walker signs Friday morning.

Protesters plan to be at the school during Walker's visit, according to Jacob Flom of the Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society.

"We're not going to let him go anywhere, especially in our community, without him being protested," he said.

Flom said he doesn't know who's behind the vandalism[ROFL!], but acts such as that aren't effective for the protesters' cause. Instead, he said, a better way to be effective is for people to show up in support of the protest.

MJS

In related news, John Huebscher the WCC director wrote kind of a tribute to labor unions historically for The Compass(GB).  He is right.  Labor Unions did help defend rights of the working class.  In stark contrast, the behavior of the public sector unions of today is nothing short of shameful(unlike many good unions today and the their noble predecessors of the past).  Particularly when you look at the amount of vacation time the WEAC receives, they can in absolutely no way relate to the railroad unions of the past(referenced in the article).  It is important that despite the fact that these unions atrocious behavior recently, that moral labor unions are certainly something we should support and be grateful. 

Screaming "Show me the money!" isn't convincing me WI Unions...

State employees urged by union to wear black today to protest the date of the first paycheck (for most state employees) that will reflect the changes due to Act 10 and Act 32. Rally tonight in Madison.

MacIver Institute

Still waiting for a reasonable explanation of your position my dear labor unions.  I've seen the numbers.  Walker's plan makes sense.  I'm open to hearing alternatives.  It turns out screaming loudly only makes me put in ear plugs.

Do Wisconsin Unions Reflect Catholic Social Doctrine?

Pope Leo XIII supported unions...up to a point.

In the context of the Wisconsin recall vote on Tuesday, Michael Sean Winters over at the National Catholic Reporter brings up, as many others have, the importance of labor unions in the tradition of the Catholic Church’s social teaching. While Mr. Winters has a point that the Church has been in support of unions, what he and many others fail to note are the parameters which the Holy Fathers have given for that support. There are limits, and these limits are almost always ignored.

The news out of Wisconsin yesterday morning was in some places headlined “Unions Lose.” Whether or not that’s true, it certainly betrays the perception that at the heart of the political angst in Wisconsin are the questions of public unions, collective bargaining and the closed shop rules that dominate. A “closed shop” means that you cannot work at the “shop” unless you belong to the union. Wisconsin public schools are a closed shop.

Because of the historic support for unions, many Catholics are lamenting the lack of support that the bishops are giving the Wisconsin unions. How dare they not use their pulpits, suggests Mr. Winters, to rally Catholic action against Governor Walker and his GOP hoods. But then looking at the actual social teaching ought to help us decipher the situation.

Let’s start with Pope Leo XIII, the founder of modern social doctrine, and his Rerum novarum which says:

continue at Regnum Novum 

A very good read.  Sadly, the Church's social teaching has got a reputation of being "bad" because so many on the left continue to misrepresent it.  The Church defines the teaching, not a particular political party.