Liberal Governor equals liberal policies

Democrat Governor Doyle has stacked the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents with far-left liberals. Regents are appointed by the governor to serve a 7 year term subject to Senate confirmation. The Democrat controlled state Senate refused to vote on several appointees of Republican Governors Thompson and McCallum. This meant that at the time of Doyle's election he had the right to appoint nine new members to the seventeen member Board. Doyle has stacked the Board with radical liberals. The recent changes in admission policy are one result.

The Board of Regents sets admission policies and appoints the Chancellors, and has general oversight of the System:

The Board appoints the President of the UW System, the chancellors of the 13 universities, the chancellor of UW-Extension and UW Colleges, and the deans of the 13 colleges. All appointees serve at the pleasure of the Board. The Board also sets admission standards, reviews and approves university budgets, and establishes the regulatory framework within which the individual units operate.

The UW System announced this week that race and ethnicity will be given more consideration and academic performance less weight. The Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel reported that "The University of Wisconsin System is changing its admissions policies to consider race, income and other non-academic qualities of applicants with the explicit goal of boosting student diversity. Until now, all campuses with the exception of UW-Madison have used set academic requirements such as grade point averages and test scores to make the majority of admissions decisions. The change means no student will be guaranteed admission to the system no matter how good his or her grade point average, test scores or class rank..." Parents and taxpayers around the state are justifiably outraged. But they may not know where that anger should be directed. The buck stops with liberal Governor Doyle and his handpicked cronies on the Board of Regents.

The state Senate should have the guts to hold hearings and vote up-or-down on these left-wing appointees. That balance of power holds the Governor accountable for appointing Regents that could actually be confirmed by a Republican controlled Senate. But unfortunately the Wisconsin State Senate is controlled by a small group of "Republican" moderates. I use the term "Republican" loosely here. Instead of voting, the appointees are allowed to serve with full voting priveleges until replaced by a new appointee.

It didn't take long for every politician with their finger in the wind to get out a press release condemning this policy. The political class can sense an 80:20 issue pretty quickly. Senator Hardsdorf objected in a press release, "The attitude that students can be rejected because of race or perceived lack of social involvement, and should de-emphasize academic achievement, sends the wrong message. There are different approaches to achieving diversity without expanding discretion at the hands of a few that would be empowered to close out opportunities for many. Initiatives can include outreach, early intervention, and enrichment programs that help bolster achievement and expand opportunity. The goal of all levels of our education system should be to stress the value of academic achievement, and we shouldn't expect less of any child in Wisconsin.”

Hard to argue with that. But Harsdorf misses the chance to illustrate the principle at stake here. The Senator's conservative colleague Glenn Grothman swings at this pitch and hits it out of the park. Grothman sees the inherent racism involved here and goes right to the principle. Grothman called for an end to admission based on race and background. Seems pretty commonsense to most conservatives.

I have a dream. I have a dream that my children will one day live in a state where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Grothman's position is that of mainstream America. It is the official position of the Republican Party, national and Wisconsin. The Republican Party platform adopted last week calls for a constitutional amendment for "Equal Opportunity for Everyone":

"The Republican Party of Wisconsin believes that all human beings are created equal in the eyes of God, that all human beings have inherent civil rights and that government should promote equal opportunity for all. We believe that individuals should be allowed to succeed or fail based upon their own merits, not because they are members of particular subgroups. We therefore support an amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution that would prohibit the state or any of its political subdivisions or agents, from using race, color, ethnicity, national origin, gender, or religion as criterion for discriminating against or granting preferential treatment including the lowering of standards to any individual or group with regard to public education, government employment, or government contracting."

Maybe this is a good place to find out who the real Republicans are, and who the RINOs are. Ask your "Republican" officials if they support this proposed constitutional amendment. If they do, why hasn't it been brought to a vote when Republicans control both the state Assembly and Senate?

This issue may have caught the general public by surprise. And you can bet Democrats will be trying their best to get on the side of the 80% that oppose lowering standards in the name of diversity. They may try to deny it, but this is a partisan issue. It has been a partisan issue in the past. It will continue to be a partisan issue in the future. The 2004 Democrat National Committee official platform embraced affirmative action:

We support affirmative action to redress discrimination and to achieve the diversity from which all Americans benefit.

Liberal Democrats cannot be trusted with the reins of power. Dump the RINOs. Dump the Regents. And most important - DUMP DOYLE.

keenan @ OnTheBorderLine