Ranked choice voting - it’s hard to imagine a more complicated way to hold an election. Voters have the option of picking more than one candidate in each race. Clerks count one set of the votes, eliminate candidates, then count another set of votes, eliminate more candidates, then count yet another set of votes, and so on until they declare a winner. The candidate with the most initial votes often does not win, casting even more doubt on elections than was already built in. Several states have at least partially adopted ranked choice voting, and it’s already cost republicans two seats in congr ..read more

Governor Evers has a big problem with the Wisconsin Constitution. It goes back to 2020 when he shut down churches, tried to extend the term lengths for local elected officials, and continually invented new ways to declare public emergencies. This past summer, he used the Frankenstein veto to expand school funding increases for the next 400 years – even that’s been unconstitutional since 2008. Evers is constantly challenging the legislature over its clearly defined constitutional responsibilities. He’s still trying to wrestle away its constitutional authority to draw district voting maps. Now h ..read more

As far as a liberal is concerned, government can never have too much money. So, it was no surprise when Governor Evers vetoed three tax cut bills that would have provided desperately needed relief to Wisconsin’s middle class (especially retirees.) What was surprising was his claim that those tax cuts would essentially bankrupt the state, and it would no longer be able to fund its basic duties. The state budget grew by $10 billion this past year. Total spending this biennium will be $100 billion. On top of that, the state is collecting so much in taxes – it’s currently sitting on a $7 billion b ..read more

It’s a dark day for constitutional government in Wisconsin. The constitution puts the legislature squarely in charge of drawing district maps. The left pulled no stops to make sure that didn’t happen this time around. A liberal-controlled supreme court threw the old maps out and created a new requirement out of thin air that’s not in the constitution for them to be “politically neutral.” Next, Governor Evers drew his own maps that gerrymandered many republican lawmakers out of their own districts. In the face of this outright assault on constitutional government, with the other two branches ga ..read more

Almost since day one of his first administration, Gov. Evers has led Wisconsin from one constitutional crisis after another. Most of those incidents have involved him trying to assume powers that the constitution specifically assigned to the legislature. Redistricting, confirming appointments, and, of course, the power of the purse. The legislature gets to decide how to spend state funds. Wisconsin’s $3 billion in covid relief from the feds was different. That was federal money and the federal government gave the governor full control of it. However, while that money was sitting in the bank wa ..read more

MacIver Newsmakers Podcast: Sen. Ron Johnson and Ranked Choice Voting by The MacIver Institute ..read more

MacIver Newsmakers Podcast: Sen. Duey Stroebel and Ranked Choice Voting by The MacIver Institute ..read more

MacIver Newsmakers Podcast: Rep. Glenn Grothman on Ranked Choice Voting by The MacIver Institute ..read more

Happy new year Milwaukee. By now you’ve realized that your sales tax just jumped from 5.5 to 7.9%. It’s hard to feel sorry for you. After all, you voted for this, or rather you voted for the people who openly said they wanted to do this. For years, your local leaders have complained that Milwaukee was the largest city in the country without a local sales tax. They fought against conservative reforms that would help them lower costs and better manage the city budget. They scoffed at their quarter of a billion dollars in annual state aid, saying it was never enough. While they blew what money th ..read more

Wisconsin’s Christians are still celebrating the 12 days of Christmas leading up to Epiphany, and it’s a good thing they have thick skin. Otherwise, they might be really offended over Gov. Evers’ messaging over the past couple of weeks. First, just days before they celebrated the birth of the baby Jesus, Evers released a video message reaffirming his commitment to abortion. Then, in his actual video message for Christmas, Evers listed off all the ways he could of to celebrate the holiday. Going to church somehow didn’t make the list. (Evers ensured that everyone understood the meaning behind K ..read more