The Post-Crescent from Appleton, Wisconsin • 54

The News-Record Wednesday, April 23, 2008 Page 16 Interest groups liijacked' state Supreme Court election I I doesn't go far enough. We must pass the reforms in Senate Bill 12, which include a redefinition of issue ads that are clearly campaign ads, and which therefore allow regulation of those ads, including financial disclosure. After the governor called the special session, he did nothing to prompt the Legislature to act, and nothing has happened. Every week, the legislature convenes and adjourns a skeleton session of this special ses- sion without so much as a word of debate. times there are, legitimate issue ads.

For example, an advertising campaign that centers around an issue that is before the Legislature at the time, ads that urge the viewers to call their legislators to ask them to vote a certain way, are appropriate and legitimate issue ads. There is no way an issue ad in a Supreme Court race, or any court race, is appropriate. Citizens simply do not in fact, they cannot call a judge and ask him or her to rule on a specific case. That would amount to an ex parte communication, which is prohibited by law. Millions of dollars were spent in this election, many of them accusing one or the other candidate of exploiting loopholes to thwart justice, when in fact all of those advertisements exploited a loophole in order to even be aired.

This never should have happened. Every legislative session since 2000, 1 have introduced comprehensive campaign finance bills, most of which were cosponsored by Democratic Sen. Jon Erpenbach. Every session, the governor and legislative leaders vow to reform the way our campaigns are financed. Every session, the bills die, almost always without even a vote by the Legislature.

This year, Gov. Jim Doyle with great pomp and circumstance called a special session of the Legislature to deal with campaign finance reform. He introduced bills that mirrored Senate Bill 12, Sen. Erpen-bach's and my comprehensive reforms, and another bill that would have provided full public funding for Supreme Court races. Full financing for Court races is a good idea, but it It was an election campaign that never should have happened, a campaign the likes of which Wisconsin voters should never have to endure again.

The recently concluded state Supreme Court race was ugly, demeaning to the court and disrespectful of Wisconsin voters. Almost all of that ugliness came not from the candidates themselves but from outside interest groups who literally hijacked the election. According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, outside interest groups 14 identified by the WDC spent $4 million to influence this election. That's at least four times the amount spent by the two candidates themselves. Democracy suffers when the candidates themselves are drowned out by big-spending interest groups whose message is often The time for platitudes and hollow rhetoric is long I Single mom says limiting assistance for those in college not rational distorted and who have little if any accountability for those distortions.

This was not an election between Michael Gable-man and Louis Butler as much as it was a contest between Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the Coalition of American Families and the Club for Growth Wisconsin against the Wisconsin Education Association, the Greater Wisconsin Committee and Planned Parenthood. Some of the dirtiest, most distorted advertising came from the groups running so-called issue ads. These ads are particularly egregious because they exploit a loophole in campaign laws that allow the groups who run these ads to evade existing campaign finance laws that require disclosure of how much money is spent and who the parties are that are contributing the funds. Guest Columnist I've been told by county workers that, while there is an unlimited amount of day care assistance for full-time workers, there's a '24-month maximum for day care used for college purposes. If I were to drop out of school tomorrow, however, day care assistance would Oorrl tiiiiiible fin Your From Tux Rental! EWEH Ui ZIHHEMIll I past.

It's time to act. For the sake of preserving our democracy, we have to reinstate the primacy of candidates in their own elections and we have to di minish the undue influence of outside interests. Sen. Michael Ellis: 920-751-4801 or sen.ellislegis.state.wi.us honestly, I don't have time to dwell on that. Nor do I have time to fight to change some regulations that are harming not only low-income citizens going to college, but oppressing a society that could be pushing for higher-educated self-sustaining families.

Gwen Zimmerman Is a Neenah resident She can be reached at pcletters postcrescent.com 1 STATE SEN. NIHE ELLIS Guest Columnist The distinction is that issue ads do not use the magic words "support" or "vote for." Instead, they usually besmirch a candidate and end with a plea that the viewers call the candidate and tell him or her you disapprove of their positions or actions. The fact that almost always these ads appear around election time and that they rarely focus on actual issues and more on specific candidates exposes the lie that these are legitimate issue ads. In fact, they are thinly disguised campaign ads. There can be, and some resume without a restriction on months, provided I have a full-time job.

I don't understand how limiting assistance to people who are going to college has any rational grounds. Once through college, single mother or not, I plan on getting a good job and being able to support myself and my family without any assistance from the county. Right now, however, Fm finding it next to impossible to completely cover day care, in addition to all other expenses, while remaining in school. If I were to get any full- Complete Rental Starting At 959.99 PAUL era 1 However, I just can't see any legitimate reason that I'm seemingly being left behind to pay for all costs simply because I'm still attending school. I work hard, I study hard and I try to give my son a well-balanced, loving home.

But I know I'm the working poor. I understand that some people see me as a freeloader on the state, but if the unmatched attention to detail ui mil time job right now, without a completed college education, I'm fairly certain that I would remain on county aid. Don't get me wrong I'm more than thankful for the help that has been given to me; It has allowed me to get through three years of schooling, providing healthy food and good health care for myself and my son. 1 each Ornish 1 it jm up-? a April "We offer from a select Tm a 23-year-old single mother of a 3-year-old boy and I attend school full-time at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. I work 20 to 25 hours per week as a waitress at a local restaurant and recently received an unpaid internship at a nonprofit organization.

I'm attending college in hopes that an education will give me and my son the push we need to get off of state financial assistance. However, the current county assistance program won't let me. In addition to the limited income from my part-time job, I survive on money from school grants, child support and disability payments that my son receives through SSI. Since my son was bornt I have received BadgerCare and FoodShare from the county, as well as financial help for day care through the state. I have just received notice that my benefits are all ending.

I've been calling my social worker, unable to leave a message because her voicemail box is continuously full. The county has calculated that I make $1,208 per month, which is actually around $200 more than I've figured, and this is apparently too much money for my son and me to be eligible for health care benefits or food stamps. I was also told that my day care assistance was no longer in place. From what I can decipher about the day care assistance, I've used 24 months of financial aid through the state since I've entered college. piece of solid wood furniture from the Home Qalkry.

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