Email date: 6/19/08
In this update:
1. Poll shows broad public disenchantment, yearning for reform
2. Chicken soup for the citizen’s soul
3. The problem behind all the problems
4. Ziegler gets religion
A new poll shows people in Wisconsin don’t like the direction the state is heading and don’t trust current state officials to do the right thing, but still remain optimistic that Wisconsin’s political problems can be fixed.
The poll contains particularly bad news for the state’s judges, as about half of those polled say they believe judges’ decisions are based on politics and pressure from special interest groups. The survey results also reveal a profound disconnect between reform-thirsty citizens and their elected representatives who continue to resist changing their ways.
Yet state residents haven’t become cynical and strongly believe that a wide range of political reforms could make government work better. For more on this, go here.
Wisconsin’s unique history is comfort food for those disgusted and disheartened by current political conditions. People much poorer than us and much less educated than us faced conditions at least as bad and turned those dark days into a glorious gift to future generations.
If today’s politics has got you down, check this out. And then pass it on.
While we all can draw inspiration from our state’s rich political heritage, there is one especially vexing challenge we face today that our grandparents and great-grandparents and those who came before them did not. It’s the subject of our latest Big Money Blog.
Annette Ziegler got herself in hot water by blowing off rules requiring her to recuse herself in cases where she had financial conflicts of interest. Now, as we pointed out in a recent blog, she has grown quite fond of the practice. But that newfound willingness to follow the letter of the law is creating another problem for Ziegler. And it’s leading some to make new calls for her removal from the bench.