Over the past several weeks, I have talked to you about some of the policies we have debated in the legislature where Republicans and Democrats have disagreed:

- Republicans believe the private sector creates jobs; Democrats believe the government does
- Republicans believe in cracking down on election fraud through Voter ID; Democrats decry the measure as racist
- Republicans believe in balancing the budget without raising taxes; Democrats have a bucket-list of government programs that would stretch from Madison to Milwaukee

These policy differences I have outlined are real and important, and as a taxpayer of the 24th Assembly District, you deserve to know about the sort of legislation your government is considering. But what is sometimes hard to see in newspaper accounts and voting tallies that all often describe politics like some kind of spectator sport (Scott Walker vs. the Unions, Round 76!), is that what often divides Republicans and Democrats is not party, but ideology.

Consider comments made during floor debate last Tuesday.

The Assembly was considering AB 110, a bill that would create scholarships to send special needs children to the public or private school of their choosing, subject to certain restrictions.

Rep. Sondy Pope-Roberts (D-Middleton) offered a series of amendments to the proposal. The policy changes she advocated were varied and largely technical, but the animus behind her opposition to the proposal became clear later that night.

The bill’s author, Rep. Michelle Litjens (R-Oshkosh) had taken to the floor to state that she strongly believed in the merits of her proposal, and that parents of special needs children know best. Parents know what kind of attention and care their children need; parents should be able to decide if their children are better served in a new school. Parents should be placed in charge of these decisions, not bureaucrats.

Rep. Pope-Roberts (D-Middleton) disagreed, by first comparing all Wisconsin parents to a pair of accused child abusers. (I’m not making this up.)

“Parents don’t always make the best choice for their students. Did you read the State Journal here last week? Parents whose daughter was living in the basement [sic], running the streets, foot-in-pajamas in the snow, being abused, parents making best choices for their children? I don’t think so.”

Pope-Roberts continued, “In a school that my daughter attended, many times I saw children coming to school without hats, without mittens, without boots, without proper coats, without breakfast; parents do not always make the best choices for their children. Some parents certainly, but we can’t make a blanket statement that parents always know what is best for their children because it just isn’t true.”

It goes without saying that yes, some parents do a lousy job of raising their kids.

But this Dane County Democrat has provided a illustrative summary of liberal attitudes towards the public at large. Here, they are specifically expressed in Pope-Roberts’ dismissal of parental rights: freedom is dangerous . . . not everyone will make the right decision, so no one should make any decisions . . . people don’t know best, government knows best.

Conservatives believe otherwise. Conservatives believe parents know best. I believe individuals should be free to make their own decisions. And yes, sometimes they will make the wrong one. But only people can learn from their mistakes. Government never learns.
 

To view my comments on the floor of the Assembly, click here

MADISON – Assistant Majority Leader Dan Knodl (R-Germantown) today blasted union leaders who continue to put politics over policy.

Last week, the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association (MTEA) and the Milwaukee Public Schools requested the legislature grant the district the ability to renegotiate compensation and fringe benefits. In response, other public sector unions, including Madison Teachers Inc., the Green Bay Education Association, the Kenosha Education Association, and the Racine Education Association, wrote a letter to MTEA and complained that asking for such legislation would “enable Governor Walker to claim victory” and would “prove detrimental to recalling him . . .”

“The level of cynicism apparent in this letter is appalling,” said Rep. Knodl. “It seems Big Labor would rather see Milwaukee teachers laid off and funding cut from children’s classrooms than miss an opportunity to score points against Governor Walker.”

The proposal at issue was passed by the Assembly on Tuesday, March 13, and the Senate on Wednesday, March 14.