Uppity Wisconsin

New Hampshire just joined the list of states allowing gay marriage, after a quick trip through the legislature and a world-record-breaking signing by the governor. 

And yet, Wisconsin has somehow lost its progressive way on this issue.  2006 was the sad year in which Wisconsin legalized discrimination, both legally and morally.  It's time to fix this. Let's try again.  Let's keep trying until we get it right.

David Elliot represents the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty

Wisconsin voters this November will be asked their opinion on whether the death penalty should be reinstated. Bringing back capitol punishment after a 153-year hiatus makes about as much sense as driving down I-94 in reverse.You see, even as Wisconsin is considering a nonbinding referendum on the issue, states around the country are backing away from the death penalty. The number of executions is down, public support is down and the number of death sentences sought by prosecutors and handed down by juries has dropped sharply over the past decade.In recent years, a number of states have debated placing a moratorium on executions or doing away with the death penalty altogether. These states include “blue” states like New York and New Jersey as well as “red” states like Montana and North Carolina.

The truth, as both Democrats and Republicans are coming to realize, is that capital punishment is a failed social experiment. It has not made us more safe. It makes egregious errors. And its cost is increasingly more than we can bear.

I'm normally a fairly positive person, and God knows I hate to regurgitate anything that Nancy Reagan said, but here it is:

Just Say No!

It's been a difficult time for progressives. The house and senate and presidency have been firmly controlled by the Republicans. Corruption in Washington has reached levels that are incomprehensible to me. There's a new story every day, so it seems. We've become embroiled in a war that most of the country does not support, and the war has killed as many as 650,000 people in a foreign country. We made up a reason for invading the country, and continue to make up excuses for our war, our conduct, our history of torture (and saying that it's justified).

The Republican party is proudly pointing to the "economic progress" of the country. There's been plenty of economic progress for the people with money, for the people with investments, for the friends of the Republicans. But damn little for any of the rest of us. For most of the country. For the poor, for the middle class, for the people we used to think were the backbone of America. They give us answers like fences, Health Savings Accounts (if you can't afford to take your kids to the doctor, it's a cinch you can't afford those).

It's bad enough that the Republicans in Wisconsin have managed to float two referenda for this ballot that are mostly just intended to bring out conservative voters. And it's horrific enough that they've managed to word the marriage amendment so that it opens the door to removing rights that people in the state already enjoy.

But now one of the principal proponents of the death penalty amendment seems to be saying that you shouldn't believe what the amendmen says - Heck, we don't really mean what we say about DNA - we're just trying to slip it in and hoped that false assurances would help. According to an article in Sunday's Wisconsin State Journal:

Sen. Alan Lasee, R-De Pere, the referendum's lead sponsor, cautioned against reading too much into the resolution's wording.

Lasee said the ballot question with its DNA clause is meant to poll voters on a general concept -- how would they feel about the death penalty if safeguards could be built in to avoid convicting innocent people? It has never been his intent to limit the death penalty to convictions involving DNA evidence, he said.

Please remember when you go to the polls on Sept. 7 that even the proponents of the bill are now saying that it is a sham intended to pull the wool over your eyes and get you to vote for the death penalty in very limited circumstances - which they will then use as a wedge to get a wider death penalty implemented.

Vote No on the death penalty amendment. We've lived without it in Wisconsin for a long time. We can keep on living without it just fine, thank you.

Today we have a guest editorial by David Elliot from the Wisconsin Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty - Please remember these facts when you go to vote on Nov. 7. - Ed.

Suppose the Wisconsin Legislature approved a government spending program that cost taxpayers millions of dollars, yet failed to provide a single social service or discernible product.

Heads would roll, and angry voters would elect someone - a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent, anyone - to fix the problem and reverse the wasteful spending of precious tax dollars.

Yet Wisconsin voters today are being asked to vote in favor of a nonbinding referendum to reinstate the death penalty - a government program that is immensely costly, makes mistakes, and, in most cases, fails to execute even those who end up on death row.

In a fairly outspoken blog posting , Mark Pocan discusses the two state referenda coming up in November. And I agree - they're both completely poliitically motivated from the far-right, and stupid. Please do all you can to defeat both the death penalty and gay marriage/civil unions amendments.