Unfortunately for Democrats this fall, the voters realize that at the roots of their policies are designs to raise old taxes and create new ones. Sure they will use phrases like "fair" to describe their schemes, but it would be more accurate to just say "more."

From Sen. Barack Obama’s plans to unravel Social Security by increasing middle class taxes and cutting benefits, while never addressing the future shortfalls that the program faces, to local Democrats seeking to unseat the popular Bill Kramer in the state Assembly by advocating job-killing tax increases on our local businesses and families, voters will see that the "change" Democrats are offering is the same kind that George McGovern, Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale offered America.

We need to look no further than proposals by Democrats in the state Senate this past legislative session in Madison. They sought to tax sick people through the hospital tax; they sought to tax small businesses and middle class workers to fund a $15 billion government takeover of health care; they sought to raise taxes to pay for commuter rail from Kenosha to Milwaukee.

In these challenging economic times, everyone but Democratic candidates understands that you cannot raise taxes to alleviate frustrations of Americans. People are genuinely concerned about their jobs; the last thing this fragile economy needs is to have yet more money taken out of the economy that would otherwise bolster job security. Ultimately, there is no government program that can substitute for a job.

In 2006, Democrats promised to overhaul federal spending rules by reforming the earmark process. And we can’t forget the words of House Majority leader Nancy Pelosi saying they "had a common-sense plan to lower gas prices." Sadly, Democrats have not come close to helping us out with either issue. And Wisconsin’s own Dave Obey, hailing from upstate, shut down the Appropriations Committee when Republicans tried to force a vote on opening up more of these United States to drill for our own oil and ease the pain at the pump. Sadder still, we can’t forget the efforts of Steve Kagen and Russ Feingold, Democrats from the House and the Senate respectively, who are proposing we sue OPEC. In polls taken nationwide, more and more Americans approve of exploration and drilling for domestic sources of oil as called for by the Republicans.

As General Motors shutters its plant in Janesville and the community hemorrhages jobs, one need look no further than environmental activists as a primary culprit. Activists like Democrat Steve Schmuki of the Waukesha County Environmental Action League, who is running against Kramer, have long advocated policies that have hurt our local economies. Or another Democrat running against Kramer, Ruth Page-Jones, who as head of the union-front group Wisconsin Alliance For Excellent Schools advocates for "fair" taxes which have led to a decline in our manufacturing base and confidence in Wisconsin’s business climate. All these ill-advised schemes have prevented Wisconsin and Waukesha from attracting and retaining jobs. Again, when Democrats say "fair" they mean "more." Government doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem.

So this summer, if and when Democrats knock on your door and ask for your support this fall, you should ask them: Why do you oppose drilling for our own oil in our own country? Which Waukesha businesses don’t pay enough in taxes? Why should Waukesha citizens forsake their quality health care and peace of mind for schemes to raise taxes and have government take over decisions that should remain between patients and doctors?

These are real questions to real challenges. Since taking over control of the U.S. Congress and the state Senate in 2006, local Democrats and Obama, as well, have obfuscated and done little to reassure us that they are serious in their promises. It is largely political spin and hyperbole and our friends, families and neighbors deserve better than platitudes and catchphrases like "fair taxes" and "change" and scare tactics like suggesting that without higher taxes, schools will be going out of business.

Democrats have failed to be honest with voters since 2006. Noting the examples above along with the comment from Democrat Senate leader Harry Reid that the war in Iraq is lost and the surge is a failure, even before it was fully implemented, show they need to be held accountable. Even the very liberal New York Times has acknowledged the surge is working. Waukesha families need empathy and action, not empty promises and vague rhetoric.

(Keith Best is a member-at-large of the executive committee of the Waukesha County Republican Party. He is a longtime resident of Waukesha.)

Many smokers are realizing the significant savings they can achieve by quitting. In fact, a new report out on adult smoking rates shows Wisconsin dipping below 20 percent for the first time. And in the face of local government smoke-free laws that are becoming familiar in Wisconsin, more smokers are determined to quit. Even employers are delivering incentives, ranging from monetary rewards to coverage of smoking cessation medication through insurance plans.

At more than $5 per pack, a pack-a-day smoker is sending nearly $2,000 up in smoke annually. That’s the equivalent of 500 gallons of gas or about six months of groceries for some families. And that doesn’t take into account the money that smoker is likely spending on additional out-of-pocket health care costs and other expenditures that are a direct result of their habit.

On top of that, tobacco-related government spending amounts to a hidden tax of $603 each year on every Wisconsin household. Add it all up and it is money that most Wisconsin families can ill afford in this tight economy.

Of course, it’s not just about dollars and cents. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in Wisconsin, claiming more than 8,000 lives each year. Of that, more than 850 Wisconsinites die due to secondhand smoke exposure. Families are losing moms, dads, uncles and aunts prematurely and we must do more to prevent the ravages of tobacco-related disease.

Like our neighboring states, Wisconsin needs a comprehensive statewide smoke-free law in place to save lives and money. Until we do, local governments should continue to pursue meaningful smoke-free laws of their own to eliminate harmful exposure to secondhand smoke. And while many Wisconsin businesses have stepped up by offering smoking cessation benefits to support employees who want to quit, it’s something all businesses should consider.

For more information on how to quit, visit www.ctri.wisc.edu or call (800) QUIT-NOW today.

(Maureen Busalacchi is the executive director of Smoke Free Wisconsin.)

In this economy, it is simply necessary to cut the size and the spending of state government. Politicians in Madison who say that it doesn’t need to trim back during difficult times send a clear message to the taxpayers: The government’s priorities are more important than your priorities, and the government deserves your hard-earned dollars more than you do.

At a time when families and small businesses are struggling, that message is dead wrong. Budgets big and small are being stretched thin in every corner of the state, from seniors on fixed incomes, to businesses forced to lay off workers, to families hit hard by rising food and gas prices. With people suffering in nearly every walk of life, only the most out-of-touch politicians and bureaucrats would continue to put the wants of the government ahead of the needs of the taxpayers.

Earlier this year, when our state budget was faced with a $650 million deficit, Assembly Republicans responded by fighting for less government, not higher taxes, as the solution. The final budget repair bill signed by the governor included $270 million in cuts - in addition to spending cuts of $200 million approved in the original budget last year - which were specifically outlined last week by the Department of Administration. The lion’s share of those cuts is put on the Department of Transportation, to the tune of $103 million (about 38 percent of the total figure), followed by $53 million in medical assistance efficiencies and $25 million from the University of Wisconsin System.

Unfortunately, however, these cuts have placed an unfair burden on the Department of Transportation, and more importantly, Wisconsin drivers. The state transportation account is funded with the gas tax and vehicle registration fees, and it goes to pay for essential repairs that keep our roadways safe and our highways open for travel, business and transport. When you consider the damage and strain brought about by recent flooding, transportation dollars and the need for a strong infrastructure are more important than ever before.

These cuts to the transportation fund, on top of repeated raids of the fund by the Doyle administration to support unrelated programs, have placed an unnecessary burden on Wisconsin drivers, and just to protect other areas of the bureaucracy that shouldn’t be immune from deeper cuts.

Under Republican leadership, the state Assembly is doing its part to cut back during tough times; we will be cutting $2 million to further reduce the burden of government on the taxpayers of Wisconsin. We have implemented a hiring freeze, held unfilled positions open and suspended out-of-state travel to rein in unnecessary spending.

These spending cuts, both in the Assembly and throughout our state government, are a good start. We should plan to make many of these cuts permanent, to bring taxes more in line with the people’s ability to pay.

It’s worth reminding, too, that Democrats in Madison as recently as one year ago were fighting tooth and nail for a proposal that would have raised taxes in Wisconsin by more than a staggering $18 billion. While that figure does make a debate over $270 million in cuts seem a bit trivial, it really speaks to the importance of making the tough decisions, in good times and bad, to hold the line on spending and say "no" to tax hikes that would have had a devastating effect in this economy.

(State Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, is speaker of the state Assembly.)

Just 18 months ago the Wisconsin Crime Lab was awash in an ever-increasing backlog. When I took office, cases were coming in twice as fast as they were being worked. This math didn’t add up - the impact was that cases that could be solved with modern technology remained unsolved.

Recently the department marked two milestones showing great progress in this effort to promptly process DNA cases.

As of the end of May, the backlog that had been growing out of control actually shrunk by almost 150 cases since I took office. By increasing efficiency, we are keeping up with incoming cases and then some.

In May, as well, the crime lab completed 321 DNA cases. This is more than any other month in the history of the state crime lab. Remarkably, it is more than three times what was being done during an average month in 2006. While this is great news and a definite milestone in our plans to actively assist and manage the crime lab to eliminate the DNA backlog, all this progress was made while Wisconsin’s newest DNA analysts were still completing their training.

The new analysts recently completed their year-long training. I was very proud to welcome Wisconsin’s newest, certified, trained and prepared-to-go-to work DNA analysts to the active fight against crime.

Even better news for Wisconsin taxpayers is that this year-long training program was paid for by federal grant dollars. To my knowledge, no state has ever embarked on such an ambitious effort to hire and train more than two dozen new analysts. While we were training these analysts, senior crime lab analysts were able to continue to work their cases virtually uninterrupted by training responsibilities. Progress continued.

Importantly, all the work these analysts do, all the cases they work, are at the request of local police and sheriff’s departments and Wisconsin’s district attorneys, front-line crime fighters.

While many may see backlog numbers, intake cases and cases worked, increased use and efficiency of laboratory robotics and new analysts and increased lab space as mere statistics, what I see are the people and victims of crime that law enforcement all over our great state are working night and day to bring justice to.

The Department of Justice is duty bound to assist law enforcement in fighting crime in ways they can not alone. Progress at the crime lab is progress in the fight against Wisconsin crime. It is good news.

(J.B. Van Hollen is attorney general of Wisconsin.)

For decades local governments (usually in big cities) have targeted guns in an effort to stop crime. These efforts have done little to stop criminals and have infringed on the rights of law-abiding citizens. Criminals who use guns are going to ignore laws and regulations. Yet, countless government leaders have blamed their crime problems on firearms when in fact they should have been blaming the criminals.

Gun rights advocates must remain vigilant. Already there are those who are saying the court’s decision doesn’t stop some regulation of firearms. Sure, felons and mentally ill people shouldn’t have guns. But many other restrictions, such as firearms registration, only affect good citizens and should be stopped.

The right to bear arms ensures the freedom of Americans. Others who desire liberty around the world are often easily thwarted by governments who have made sure their citizens are unarmed and pose no threat. The court’s decision is a tremendous victory for the future of freedom in this country and the rights of the individual.

We’d like to address a few items that came up during the discussions:

First of all, while we are fine with regional partnerships and cooperation, we remain firmly against the formation of a regional transit authority. There is plenty of room for mutually beneficial cooperative transit measures that could save money. That makes sense. What doesn’t make sense and is not in the interest of Waukesha County residents is to establish a regional transit authority that has the power to raise your taxes and will have aims that mostly benefit Milwaukee.

***

In regard to mass transit, all efforts that affect Waukesha County should be based on automobiles and buses. The idea of light rail should be derailed for good. It just isn’t practical. The expense and inflexibility of such a system are deal breakers. Instead let’s focus on buses. We could potentially see a future where someone opts to go downtown Milwaukee via a hybrid double-decker bus instead of a car. But if that doesn’t happen and no one uses the buses, at least there won’t be all kinds of expensive light rail tracks in place going unused.

***

Here’s the best idea that came up this week:

"Maybe we have to just leave Waukesha County out of the RTA now and once they see how well it works, hope they’ll be clamoring to get in."

- state Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greendale

Don’t count on too much clamoring from out west, Jeff. But, yes, let’s leave Waukesha County out of it.

***

Here’s the worst idea that came up this week, this one from another transportation panel:

Transportation experts said Wisconsin needs to implement toll roads because the state doesn’t have enough money for road repair and construction in the region.

Just think, all those taxes you pay and there still isn’t enough to fix our roads. By the way, is there really anything about Illinois that we want to emulate?

***

There’s a buzz word that was floating around the discussions this week: NEGATIVITY.

Leaders repeatedly referenced Mark Belling’s recent Freeman column critical of mass transit. But instead of taking his opinion into consideration, many of the leaders chalk it up to the NEGATIVE climate surrounding the regional transit issue. This dismissive attitude from some of these leaders toward those who oppose a regional transit authority is arrogant and condescending. The reason there is negativity toward a regional transit authority is because it is a bad idea that would cost taxpayers a lot of money.

Of course, we realize we will now be labeled as part of the NEGATIVE alliance against light rail and high taxes. We can live with that.

***

And while we’re talking about reforms to SEWRPC, a healthy dose of sunlight on its spending and decision-making would help taxpayers across its seven-county region better assess SEWRPC’s performance - not just for Milwaukee, but your town and wallet, too.

First, some numbers (rounded-off):

Using 2007 official estimates, Milwaukee County’s 951,000 residents total 47.5 percent of the region’s population of 2,003,000.

But because each SEWRPC county has three seats on its 21-member board, Milwaukee County has only 14 percent (one-seventh) of the board seats.

It gets worse.

The city of Milwaukee, with 603,000 residents, gets none of the SEWRPC board seats because of the county-only appointment procedure.

That’s the situation even though Milwaukee’s city population exceeds each of all six non-Milwaukee County SEWRPC counties - ranging from Waukesha County’s 379,300 people to Walworth County’s 85,600.

And even more discriminatory:

City of Milwaukee taxpayers transferred $396,000 in property tax dollars to SEWRPC for its current operating budget, while Walworth, Washington, Ozaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties paid between $145,400 to $196,000.

Beginning to see the picture?

Suppose this were Waukesha’s situation. Would that be OK with you, in the name of regionalism?

(In fact, Waukesha County’s contribution to SEWRPC this year of $669,000 was exceeded only by Milwaukee County’s $834,000. Since Waukesha County gets the same number of SEWRPC seats - three - as the less-populated, lesser-paying counties, Waukesha County taxpayers might ask whether SEWRPC is a good deal for them, too.)

For the city of Milwaukee, this is disenfranchised governance, and taxation without representation - circumstances made more unacceptable because no senior, so-called "core staffer" at SEWRPC is a city of Milwaukee resident, or is a minority individual, though most of the region’s minorities live in Milwaukee, where minorities now constitute the majority.

The frequent absence of minorities on SEWRPC’s advisory committees, where much of the agency’s policy development takes place, enhances the belief that SEWRPC has a pro-suburban tilt.

Examples of that suburban orientation:

* SEWRPC spent nearly $1 million studying and endorsing adding 120 miles of new freeway lanes in the region at the loss of millions of dollars in Milwaukee taxable property. The plan was opposed by majorities at the Milwaukee Common Council and Milwaukee County Board.

* SEWRPC is helping with hurried approvals for a $25 million Interstate 94 interchange to a proposed shopping mall at Pabst Farms in western Waukesha County - even as a far, far less expensive bus line bringing Milwaukee workers to jobs in Waukesha County was eliminated.

* SEWRPC has failed since 1975 to write a much-promised regional study about affordable housing. Yet it has spent millions on operations and studies since 1975, including nearly $1 million on the freeway plan, and close to another $1 million on a separate three-year study, now nearly complete, that will likely recommend Lake Michigan water diversions for suburban communities.

Bottom line: Milwaukee’s issues and relationship at SEWRPC have second-class status.

SEWRPC has a budget this year of $7,280,000 made up 100 percent of public dollars, but often behaves less like a public agency, and more like a private business, according to records and interviews.

For example, it selected current SEWRPC Deputy Director Ken Yunker to be executive director beginning in 2009, though did not conduct a search or other public outreach.

SEWRPC bought its current (City of) Pewaukee office building headquarters in 2001 without equivalent consideration of other properties, and agreed to pay $20,000 to Waukesha County for departing early from leased space in the Waukesha County Historical Society and Museum.

SEWRPC pays for public relations services rather than rely on in-house personnel, though it has not yet implemented one proposal from the PR firm: changing the agency name from Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission to Regional Planning Commission of Southeastern Wisconsin.

Conclusion: Though a governmental agency, SEWRPC is tucked away from the population centers of its region, spending public money with little accountability, citizen awareness or taxpayer participation.

The creation of a new urban regional planning commission would be good for Milwaukee; the removal of Milwaukee County’s big annual tax payment might put the brakes on new car spending for staff and some consultants, and bring about other belt-tightening.

A new commission, perhaps with additional jurisdictions, could team up with SEWRPC. That would redefine and expand regional cooperation and produce better, more inclusive results.

Planning can and should be energetic, proactive and trend-setting. It should welcome fresh ideas and formats - especially in these challenging times - and make new approaches work for the most people possible.

As constituted and managed, SEWRPC fails that test.

(James Rowen has written for newspapers and served as a senior mayoral staffer in Madison and Milwaukee. His blog can be found at http://www.thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com)

According to the Wisconsin Technology Council, the nonpartisan science and technology adviser to the governor and the Legislature, angel investment and early-stage investment in Wisconsin jumped 43 percent last year, to a new record high of $147 million in investment capital for the businesses and jobs of tomorrow. That’s far outpacing the national average: According to the Center for Venture Research, early-stage investments grew by only 1.8 percent nationally in 2007.

Wisconsin’s leap forward is no small feat. Families are struggling with the rising cost of gasoline and food, a difficult housing market and worries about job security, and in the same way businesses throughout the country are struggling with the credit crunch and uncertainty about how long this economy will stay in its slump. So for an area that could probably be expected to suffer - businesses looking for start-up cash and entrepreneurs with brand-new ideas - a 43 percent jump is almost unheard of.

So, what caused it? Why was angel investment so successful in Wisconsin? A lot of it has to do with the successful and wildly popular angel investment tax credit program. Simply put, this innovative program, facilitated in large part by the Wisconsin Angel Network, provides resources that connect potential investors from throughout the country to small and growing businesses in the state, and provides critical tax credits to facilitate the investment. Ideally, the businesses win because they get access to much-needed funding, the investors win as the businesses succeed, and the state wins because jobs are created, families are supported and the economy continues to grow.

As a welcomed byproduct, angel investment as an industry has grown in Wisconsin as well. As recently as 2005, only six of these investment groups existed in the state: that number has grown to 20 in 2007. The amount these groups invested last year - $11.7 million - is up 600 percent from five years ago.

Republicans and Democrats in the state Assembly joined together with the governor this past session to strengthen and improve the angel investment program, sending a clear message to early stage investors that Wisconsin is open for business. The companies themselves certainly do their part: Wisconsin’s work force is second to none when it comes to hard work and dedication. The successes these businesses achieve are a testament to our state’s ingenuity and enthusiasm, not to mention what can be achieved when the government rewards ambition and investment instead of looking to get its own piece of the pie.

The state actually gets a great bargain for the price of these tax credits. Every dollar invested by the state in the program can leverage up to $4 in additional private-sector angel and venture investments, much of it from larger funds that tend to make larger investments in later-stage deals.

Our most recent state budget included a significant expansion and improvement of the angel investment tax credit program. When fully phased in, the total amount of tax credits that can be claimed for all tax years will be increased by $17.5 million (58 percent), to a total of $47.5 million, and the maximum individual investment will be increased from $500,000 to $2 million. The list of eligible businesses was also expanded to include, for the first time, qualified projects that use renewable energy. A bipartisan group of legislators in the state Assembly also worked with Gov. Jim Doyle this session to pass two bills to increase these tax credits and expand the list of eligible businesses, but both bills suffered a political death in the state Senate.

The angel investment program is by no means the only measure that the state Assembly passed to strengthen the economy in a time of need. We passed a higher education tax credit to help companies invest in their work forces, helping them to pay for their employees to get advanced training or pursue a higher education degree. We cut the state tax on capital gains if that money is re-invested into a Wisconsin-based business, and passed tax credits for businesses that invest in research and development for nanotechnology and biotechnology. Perhaps most importantly, we said "no" to nearly $18 billion in job-killing tax hikes that would have saddled our state with the worst business climate in the country.

While the 43 percent growth in angel investments is encouraging, times are still tough. Cash is tight for summer vacations, businesses and families are struggling to "make do with less" and budgets of every size are being stretched thin. But we’re working hard in the state Capitol to encourage the jobs of tomorrow and protect the jobs of today, while taking full advantage of the opportunities that exist to invest in our economy even in tough times.

(State Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, is speaker of the state Assembly.)

Not just cutting off the nose to spite the face: Without Milwaukee’s involvement, it would be like lopping the head off a body of knowledge for the region.

Milwaukee is clearly the center of the region and gets due attention. However, it can’t thrive without counties like Waukesha, where many of its workers and financial backers live. Although there are definite differences between the counties - Highway 83 in the town of Genesee would never be mistaken for National Avenue in Milwaukee - there is a vested interest to explore every avenue of benefit.

A prime resource is found in SEWRPC (the location of which in City of Pewaukee is purely arbitrary).

County supervisors here debated the worth of staying with the planners last year, though took no action. And we have wondered what level of attention Waukesha County gets in relation to its down payment that ranks second only to Milwaukee County.

But ultimately the planning organization gives the region resources, options and a historical perspective that might otherwise come at a premium.

A few positive recent examples are its two-year water study in relation to accessing Great Lakes water, research into a rural and metropolitan Wi-Fi system and assistance to Pewaukee and City of Pewaukee during its oft-reviewed merger discussions.

Others - notably, the push for an expensive light-rail system that might alleviate nothing but taxpayers of some more money - are not viable for the county. Though its ranks do make a case for that option sometime in the future, playing particularly in Milwaukee’s favor.

On Tuesday I was able to visit the set of the movie inside the refurbished Milwaukee Historical Museum on Old World Third Street. It was exciting to see the action up close and get a glimpse of what it takes to make a major motion picture.

While the filming was going on inside the building, outside was no less active. Nearly a dozen semi trucks crowded the street; crew members, cast and extras moved in and out of a roped-off area in Pere Marquette Park, and dozens of people took the opportunity to share in the experience. The event had a true buzz about it.

I was told by a publicist for the film that the cast and crew have been very well received and we have shown the folks from Hollywood that we appreciate their business. We certainly appreciate the money they are spending all over Wisconsin, but why are they here and not Minnesota for example?

The answer is simple: tax cuts.

It was no coincidence that location scouts for "Public Enemies" began scouring Wisconsin in January of this year. Why? Because Jan. 1 was the first day film production companies were able to receive tax credits for doing business here. The film industry tax credit legislation that I authored, known as Film Wisconsin, passed the Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support in 2006, creating a brand-new stream of revenue for our state.

Film Wisconsin provides a refundable tax credit of 25 percent on direct production expenditures and a 25 percent investment tax credit for investing in Wisconsin-based productions. In addition, production companies doing business in Wisconsin can get a 15 percent film production investment credit on expenditures for property and equipment.

Businesses need to make money to exist. Hollywood studios and production companies are no different. Passage of Film Wisconsin sent a clear message to those companies that we wanted them to come here and we were ready to compete for their business.

For too long Wisconsin failed to compete for entertainment industry dollars, even though it’s one of our country’s largest export markets. For 20 years we’ve referenced the same handful of films shot in Wisconsin like "The Blues Brothers" and "Major League"; all the while states like North Carolina, New Mexico, Louisiana and even Illinois cut taxes on film productions and made millions upon millions of dollars.

Without passage of Film Wisconsin we would still be hoping that Hollywood would bring its money here instead of being proactive and grabbing our share. Tax cuts and tax credits work. They create jobs, they increase revenue, and they have the ability transform an old economy like Wisconsin’s into a modern, vibrant one.

When we cut taxes on film productions, films companies started doing business here. It’s a simple cause and effect relationship and the lesson can be applied to several different situations. If we cut taxes on wages, you would have more money in your pocket to save or spend. If we cut taxes on retirement benefits, our retirees would think twice about leaving Wisconsin and flocking to Arizona or Florida. Cut taxes on businesses and they flourish, putting more money back into the economy and hiring more employees, both of which are good for the overall growth of Wisconsin’s economy.

As a state, we have to learn from our experiences. Tax cuts should not be public enemy No. 1. They work and we need to keep cutting taxes to get our economy growing again.

(State Sen. Ted Kanavas, R-Brookfield, represents the 33rd District.)

DART. To Gov. Jim Doyle. The governor was a little off his game this week as he decided to attend a campaign fundraiser golf outing Tuesday - the day after the state was hit with widespread flooding and Lake Delton drained, washing away several homes. Doyle’s priority as governor should have been on the flooding and on rallying the people of Wisconsin in the face of a major crisis. Raising campaign money should have been put on hold. The governor was in contact with emergency officials from the golf course and it’s unlikely his golf outing caused any problems with emergency response, but his full attention should have been on the water hazards around the state, not those next to the fairways.

DART. To the Delafield Police Department. Delafield police this week released details about an abduction attempt - that happened May 24. According to police, a man wielding a rock approached a 34-year-old Janesville woman in the middle of the afternoon near the Main Street Soap Shop and attempted to force her to leave with him. Police said they didn’t release information about the incident until this week because they were waiting for a police sketch of the suspect to be completed by the Janesville Police Department, who they were working with on the incident. A simple description of the man would have been adequate. Police should have immediately alerted the community about the incident.

I’m not a native of Wisconsin, nor do I pretend to be anything more than a humble visitor to your state. I speak as a two-term member of the President’s Cancer Panel, a sworn opponent of this disease and a father who wants kids in Wisconsin to have the same protection from secondhand smoke that my three children enjoy in Austin, Texas. I believe the choice facing the people of this great state is a life or death one that will affect generations to come.

When I last visited Wisconsin in March, I was honored to join Gov. Jim Doyle in speaking to a group of more than 1,000 enthusiastic and determined citizens from all walks of life, from all over the state, all in support of a statewide smoke-free bill. At the time, the Breathe Free Wisconsin Act had passed committees in both houses with strong bipartisan support but unfortunately, lawmakers never got the chance to vote on it. The bill was held hostage by a small handful of legislators until the session ended.

I believe this was just a temporary setback and I’m proud to see that the people of Wisconsin are not letting it slow them down.

Since my last visit, the cities of Eau Claire, Marshfield and Monona have passed smoke-free ordinances giving 90,000 more Wisconsin citizens protection from the dangers of secondhand smoke. The city of Middleton is lining up to do the same. And nearly 70 percent of Wisconsin voters support the idea of a smoke-free state; 78 percent think it’ll pass soon.

Here’s why that’s so important: Secondhand smoke is deadly. In Wisconsin, close to 4,000 people are diagnosed with lung cancer each year, more than half of whom die from the disease. What’s worse, lung cancer - while more deadly than breast, colon and prostate cancer combined - is almost entirely preventable. Eighty percent of all lung cancers are caused by smoking, both firsthand and secondhand.

Some say that customers who want to avoid exposure to this hazard shouldn’t go to establishments where smoking is allowed. But what about the employees at those businesses, the hard-working men and women who have to earn a living to support their families? Don’t they have a right to be protected?

I am proud to join the majority of people in this state in support of a historic and life-saving effort. Momentum is building, time is of the essence and I’m confident Wisconsin will reach the finish line.

(Lance Armstrong is a champion cyclist, a cancer survivor and founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation.)

We are very pleased with the choice of Gray. He seems particularly well-qualified to tackle Waukesha’s budget problems. Gray oversaw a $133 million budget in Oshkosh which is pretty close to Waukesha’s. He is credited with developing a budget process in Oshkosh that didn’t impact instructional programs and pushed new resources for programs. Time will tell, but we think he might be exactly what Waukesha needs.

We’ve been hearing good things about Gray from people who know him in Oshkosh. And The Freeman’s interaction with him so far has been terrific. Our education reporter has found him to be very helpful and a good communicator - the same qualities we have valued so much in current Superintendent Dave Schmidt.

We are proud of the way the school district handled the hiring process. Not only did the district seek community input, it used it. We will always seek a process that is as open to the community as possible. There were opportunities to make the selection process even more transparent than it was and get even more community feedback, particularly after the two finalists were selected, but overall we were impressed by the way district officials handled it.

One point of criticism: The board should have announced its decision Thursday night after meeting in closed session. The board waited until the next day to formally announce who the new superintendent would be. A decision of this significance should have been released to the public right away.

The position of Waukesha school superintendent is very crucial to the community. We are pleased that school officials sought and listened to opinions from all viewpoints in our community in making their decision. This is extremely encouraging and perhaps is symbolic of a new era of community cooperation regarding the schools.

We congratulate Gray on his new position and wish him the very best as he prepares to take the helm of a great school district.

- Freeman editorial board

The metropolitan Milwaukee area has already met the federal ozone standard, and deserves to be removed from the ozone nonattainment list.

Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Racine and Waukesha counties met the ozone standard in 2006, and continued to meet the standard throughout 2007. Gov. Jim Doyle recognized our progress toward cleaner air, and submitted those counties for redesignation to attainment last year.

So why won’t the EPA grant the regulatory relief these communities earned through reduced pollution?

Those five counties are being held hostage by a single monitor placed at the state line in Kenosha County. Worse yet, that ozone monitor doesn’t even measure Wisconsin air quality - it measures what blows across the state line from Illinois.

You may be wondering why an ozone monitor in Kenosha County sets the regulatory standard for the entire metropolitan area. It’s a great question.

The Clean Air Act imposes ozone regulations on all the counties in a geographical region based upon the ozone levels detected at the area’s worst monitor, which in this case, is the monitor located near the state border in Kenosha County.

However, the Clean Air Act also establishes ozone nonattainment boundaries based upon metropolitan areas defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. As a result, Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington and Racine counties are all lumped together as one region under the Clean Air Act.

You will notice that Kenosha County is missing from that list of five counties.

Indeed, the Clean Air Act suggests that Kenosha County should not be included in the metropolitan Milwaukee area for ozone nonattainment purposes because the Census Bureau places Kenosha County in the Chicago Metropolitan area.

Community leaders, businesses, workers and lawmakers should be outraged that the misapplication of Clean Air Act policies is causing these five counties to continue suffering under burdensome ozone regulations despite having met the federal air quality standard.

The businesses in those counties have significantly reduced air pollution, and deserve to be designated as having attained the ozone standards under Clean Air Act.

It’s that simple.

It’s time to remove the barriers to economic expansion and job creation in Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Racine and Waukesha counties by rewarding decades of hard work to reduce air emissions.

We should not allow an ill-placed ozone monitor that measures Illinois’ air quality to deny the relief that southeastern Wisconsin has earned. Each and every monitor in the five-county region - including those located where people actually live and work - are meeting the standard.

Wisconsin officials need to take a stand on this issue.

Using what for all practical purposes is an Illinois monitor to impose regulatory burdens on Wisconsin counties meeting the ozone standard is no longer acceptable. These counties have suffered for too long under flawed policies that burden the entire region with expensive, uncompetitive and unwarranted regulatory mandates.

We have made great progress over the years in lowering ozone levels, and will continue to see more success as new "on the books" pollution reductions are implemented in the near future.

Our regulatory relief is long overdue.

It’s time to follow the Clean Air Act and designate Kenosha County as a separate ozone nonattainment area apart from the rest of the metropolitan Milwaukee area.

(Scott Manley is environmental policy director for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.)

Now before anyone starts drawing a caricature of me, hear me out first. In today’s hard times and shrinking salaries, asking anyone to raise their own taxes voluntarily in a school referendum is beyond silly, especially for the kind of money the Waukesha School District now needs. In these difficult financial times, I believe too many people will find it much easier to vote NO in a school referendum. Eight of the current nine board members experienced the divisiveness and negativism of the failed 2005 referendum and the ninth board member now refers to the other eight as a "joke." No wonder a few board members think there must be a better solution than a long-shot referendum.

After all non-viable solutions are explored, the school board may soon have to consider taking a vote of dissolution. At that point the district really won’t "shut down." It will probably be consolidated into a financially healthier surrounding district like, let’s say Elmbrook. Once that happens, all the Waukesha students will then fall under the new district’s revenue limit of per pupil spending. This will mean a huge resurgence of cash into Waukesha’s children’s education. Immediately there will be the equivalent of at least $16.5 million or even more to put back programs, lower class sizes again, put librarians back in the libraries, go back to buying computers again and start doing maintenance that hasn’t been done since the last successful referendum in Waukesha.

You might ask, how can this happen? Because Elmbrook spends so much more per pupil than Waukesha. But what will be the tax effects, you might ask. Well for Elmbrook, taxes are going to go down because now they will have Waukesha’s "poverty aid" and they will actually get some state aid. What will happen to Waukesha taxes? Well, in Waukesha, taxes will probably go up by $1,200 to $1,400 per household. Why would this happen, you may ask? Well, two reasons: first, we would be paying to support education at the level Elmbrook has been paying all along and second, because we would lose state aids because of Elmbrook’s wealth. It’s sort of a double whammy.

But what are the alternatives, you might ask. A referendum, but again I don’t think anybody thinks that’s possible with the political and economic climate here in Waukesha currently. You might ask why I say that. Because the amount of money necessary to put the Waukesha schools, after these millions and millions of cuts over the last decade, back close to where they were will probably require a referendum for something in the neighborhood of $750 per household. Really, don’t you think that asking the same people who voted down the last $250-a-year referendum on a 2-to-1 margin, this time for $750 a year is ludicrous?

So here we are. The board can ask for a Band-Aid referendum to put off more cuts temporarily for another year or two, but even that is going to probably cost more than most people are willing to pay in additional taxes at this point. Many people, including even me for instance, have said that this is a state problem. I still believe that, but the Legislature, knowing full well how bad Waukesha and many other school districts have it, still tried to push their state budget problem back onto us by delaying even more school aid payments in the recent budget fix. Our own Bill Kramer was one of those who voted repeatedly to shift his budget problem back here onto our schools, by the way. I don’t really have any faith that they’re going to solve the school funding problem in Madison, at least in any reasonable time frame that will help the Waukesha schools.

We can elect different legislators maybe, but neither party seems to currently show much of a desire to develop a new school funding formula in any hurry. Our best chance is electing somebody else, but that doesn’t necessarily guarantee success in the short term for the Waukesha schools either. I’m afraid that as far as the Waukesha schools have fallen financially, dissolution may be necessary in order to preserve some basic level of educational quality here. At some point if the schools get much worse, Waukesha homes will get even harder to sell in this already impossible real estate market. There really aren’t many options at this point other than for the board to vote for dissolution. That’s the reality of what our legislators have done to us.

Pretending things aren’t so bad really doesn’t help anything and just further hurts the students. The school board is going to end up having to do it sooner rather than later (within a year or two) if they follow their constitutional responsibility of providing a "free good public education." They’ve already fired 177 teachers since I left the board, and laying off 30 more teachers every year to comply with the current revenue limits, with class sizes as high as they already are, definitely won’t make this district any better for students or for taxpayers

(Roger Danielsen, a Waukesha resident, is a former Waukesha School Board member. He is also a Democratic candidate for state Assembly in the 97th District.)

Advocacy and civic engagement are still very important to the overall health of our society. Throughout my 17 years at La Casa de Esperanza, I have witnessed tremendous progress and change in our community. Waukesha County has grown significantly to become one of the strongest economies in the state of Wisconsin. The community has welcomed and embraced diversity, demonstrated a strong commitment to education and greatly rewarded hard-working individuals with economic success.

Naturally, our community has experienced challenges and not everyone has prospered equally. According to the American Community Survey, poverty in Waukesha County is growing at a faster rate than the rest of the state of Wisconsin. The number of individuals living in poverty in Waukesha County grew by 56 percent between 1995 and 2005 compared to only 25 percent for the state as a whole. While we still have one of the lowest poverty rates in the state, Waukesha County has benefited from the many strong nonprofits that have responded so effectively to the changing needs of the community. Our nonprofits offer valuable programs and services - in health, housing, nutrition and hunger relief, education, work force development, senior services, and many others - to improve the quality of life of the most vulnerable populations living among us.

Yet we are finding that sometimes direct services alone are not enough.

As nonprofits and direct service providers, we are in a unique position to fully understand the challenges that our clients face. On a daily basis, we listen to their stories, do our best to offer and refer them to the necessary programs and services, and hope and pray that they will find peace and prosperity in their lives.

It is time that we take this specialized understanding of these issues, and start enacting systemic change in our communities. This entails taking our stories, expertise and statistics to our elected officials who are responsible for making laws on critical topics such as kindergarten through 12th-grade education, health care, housing and more.

Nonprofits can no longer keep this valuable information to ourselves and hope that the right decisions will be made by policymakers. By becoming civically engaged, we can expand beyond the realm of providing direct services. As advocates, we can actually increase our impact and fulfill our responsibility to the communities and individuals that we serve and so strongly believe in.

We know from watching the presidential elections that other special interests are constantly influencing public policy with values that may be very contrary to our own. It is time that nonprofits act as agents of change to educate and promote social issues that are important to us - policies that support workers, improve education and create strong families.

Nonprofits can no longer afford to only act as direct service providers. As poverty continues to increase and the slow economy hurts families, we must find long-term solutions and change public policy before we can no longer keep up with the demand for services. Together, we must advocate and serve.

(Anselmo Villarreal is executive director of La Casa de Esperanza.)

Pete stated that "The city had counted on a grant for $500,000 to cover most of the $659,000 in new salaries." Waukesha never "counted on" the grant. It was clearly stated when the new fire station was voted on, and again when the grant was discussed, that the cost of the new firefighters would have to be covered in the 2009 budget, and that even if we were fortunate enough to receive the grant, the city would need to decide how to cover the cost in future city budgets.

The majority of the common council had been through this process before when we received a federal grant to start our school resource officer program in our three public high schools. When the grant ended, the vast majority of the Waukesha Common Council voted to fully fund this program in city budgets due to its overwhelming success in solving and preventing crimes in the city and its schools. This example was discussed and it was crystal clear that voting for the new fire station was committing to find the funds in future city budgets.

The most difficult job of local government is keeping taxes as low as possible while continuing the high quality of city services that have attracted record numbers of individuals and businesses that are choosing to make Waukesha their home. Public safety is the No. 1 responsibility of city government. It is truly amazing that despite the tremendous growth in Waukesha over the last 28 years, when the city has almost doubled in size to become the seventh largest city in the state, there hasn’t been a new fire station built since 1980.

Contrary to Pete’s assertion that "This is poor planning" and "a colossal screw-up," the previous city administrator, fire department, vast majority of the common council, and I were proactive in supporting a new fire station and its staff along with a police work station to help continue making Waukesha one of the safest cities of its size. If a house or business burned down or someone died of a heart attack on the growing northwest side of the city because of a too slow response time, then there would be community outrage that the city had waited too long to act.

The big unknown was not only if we would receive the grant but there was no way to know when we would find out if we were successful. City staff and I were not, as Pete said, "overly optimistic" or guilty of "poor guidance and bad information." We were honest and straight forward about the information and cost, gave proper guidance and made the safety of our citizens our top priority.

Approving the fire station was not only the right decision but after waiting 28 years to build a new station, the city is saving taxpayers money by building it now because further delays would just cost taxpayers more. Immediately upon finding out that the city did not receive the grant, our new and extremely competent City Administrator Lori Luther and I met to come up with a plan to explore and research all our options for next year’s budget.

To expect us to have a comprehensive plan in less than a week is ridiculous. Instead of waiting until September, which has always been the time for creating a budget, we hope to present the common council and the public with possible options as early as July for discussion and decisions.

I doubt Pete Kennedy would have recently written about all the positive things I’ve accomplished as mayor during my first two years if he hadn’t taken the time to listen to me explain the inside details of what I’ve done. It should be a columnist’s responsibility to get the facts before writing his column and it is disappointing that this was not the case here as Pete has done in the past.

(Larry Nelson is the mayor of Waukesha.)

It was very clear from the common council meeting held Monday that the voice of the residents in City of Pewaukee does not matter. A project to provide city sewer and water was initiated by Harken (Yacht Equipment), but proposed to the residents as a "city financed project." This begs the question: Who is the city? The last time I checked, the city was made up of the taxpayers. The way City of Pewaukee has always handled projects is that the city doesn’t roll special projects like these into the general tax base and make all taxpayers pay for benefits they may not ever use. The individual taxpayers directly affected by the project pay for that through special assessments. This has allowed City of Pewaukee to pride themselves on relatively low taxes as compared to other municipalities and (it) has become an attractive community for business and residential development. Therefore, the city in this case is defined as the nine taxpayers affected by this project.

In early May, special assessment estimates and vote cards were sent out to taxpayers affected and the majority of the taxpayers voted no against wanting sewer and water. At the public hearing held Monday, taxpayers were present to voice their opinions to the common council, only to have every comment shot down and overridden and argued by Mayor Scott Klein. Finally, one resident asked, "Why did the city send out vote cards?" Klein responded, "It is the City of Pewaukee policy to do so."

Discussion continued and the city policy that has been followed for the past 25-plus years was also discussed. Case after case was presented to clearly demonstrate the precedent that has been followed by the city when a majority of the taxpayers vote no.

The most similar case was Steinhafels. When Steinhafels inquired about moving into City of Pewaukee, the majority of residents also voted no. The common council then informed Steinhafels that since the taxpayers did not want the services, they would need to make a business decision as to whether or not they would still like to proceed and cover the entire cost of the project themselves. Steinhafels decided it was still financially feasible for them to continue and are now located in City of Pewaukee, but residents were not required to pay for the sewer and nor were they required to hook up.

Now Harken wants to move into City of Pewaukee and the policy is suddenly changed and a new precedent set to accommodate this situation. One may ask why and I am still questioning, but I won’t go there and will chalk that up to politics.

Overall, it is nice to know my voice as a tax-paying resident doesn’t matter. I would personally like to thank Mayor Klein (and council members) Kathy Novack, Mike Hasslinger, H.R. Hathaway and Dale Noll. Special thanks to Klein for his lack of listening abilities and Noll for his predetermined decision as noted on his Pewaukee Patriot Web site. In Noll’s case, he didn’t need to appear at the meeting since it was clear from reading his blog that he was voting in favor of the Harken project regardless of how affected taxpayers voted. Good job (Alderman Noll), thanks for representing the people! I will be thanking them for the next 10 years as I pay my approximately $350 per month for the $32,000 assessment that doesn’t even allow me to use the services. I will need to pay an additional $10,000 to $15,000 to connect the service in the road to my house.

One thing that wasn’t mentioned at the public hearing was the fact that Harken wants to build in the area so they can reduce the city’s overall tax burden. Remember that not only does City of Pewaukee have a $3 per $1,000 lower tax rate than the village of Pewaukee, but now (Harken) will be in the Waukesha School District versus Pewaukee ... I still have one unanswered question: "Can I write this charitable donation to Harken off on my income taxes?"

(Kim Kiser is a City of Pewaukee resident.)