Shame on Rep Steve Kestell

During the Republican's all out assault on women's rights last week, Rep. Steve Kestell (R-3rd Grade) made a rather insulting comment.

Jenni Dye, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, did a much better and more appropriate response to Kestell's adolesence than I would or could:

NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin Condemns Representative Kestell’s Insensitive Comments
Abortion Bans and Sex Selective Abortions Are No Laughing Matter

Madison, WI – NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin condemned the Assembly’s passage of AB 217 and its author’s insensitive and outrageous comments during discussion of AB 217. The bill would create a cause of action to allow abortion providers to be sued by the mother, father or grandparents for providing a sex selective abortion and places the penalty for a sex selective abortion solely on providers.

In committee, the proposal’s author, Representative Steve Kestell made light of the abortion ban, commenting that the bill was necessary because if sex selective abortion occurs it can create a “quite a mismatch.” Kestell then chuckled and asked, “can you imagine being a fourteen year old guy in school looking to ask someone to prom?” The Assembly passed his bill on Thursday evening.

“Representative Kestell’s comments about sex selective abortion are outrageous. If even one woman chooses to end a pregnancy because of coercion or pressure to have a child of a certain sex, that represents a departure from true freedom of choice and is one woman too many. This is not a laughing matter,” said Jenni Dye, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin.

“It is unbelievable that we are even having to point out that this issue is more serious than prom dates. Insensitive comments such as Representative Kestell’s—justifying a sex-selection ban so young men will have more dating options—demonstrate how little thought he has actually given towards women.”

“Meanwhile, abortion bans do nothing to change underlying cultural norms of sexism and gender bias that place greater value on boys over girls. Representative Kestell should support bills that promote gender equality, rather than making flippant comments,” added Dye.

A 2011 report on sex selection from the World Health Organization and other international-health groups indicates that restricting access to abortion services without addressing social norms and cultural factors is likely to result in a greater demand for unsafe, clandestine procedures that place women’s health and lives at risk. Anti-choice proponents are using the unfortunate circumstance of gender bias and inequality that may lead to sex-selection abortion as justification to advance their longstanding goal of banning abortion.

Republican Legislators Moonlight As Privatized Education Lobbyists

State Representative Roving Vos (R-Koch Brothers' Backside) sent out the following email:

From: "Rep.Vos"
Date: October 14, 2011 12:25:28 PM CDT
To: "*Legislative All Assembly" , "*Legislative All Senate"
Subject: Waiting for Superman


Representative Robin Vos

along with Education Committee Chairs

Rep. Steve Kestell and Sen. Luther Olsen

would like to invite you to attend

a screening of the award-winning documentary

Waiting for Superman

2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 19th in 412 East.

Open to legislators and staff.

Popcorn will be provided.


WTMJ Radio Host and Author Charlie Sykes

will lead a panel discussion following the movie presentation.


Panelists:

Dr. Tony Evers, State Superintendent of Schools (invited)

Daniel A. Nerad, Superintendent, Madison Metropolitan Schools

Kimber Liedl, Policy Director, Governor Walker

Kaleem Caire, President/CEO, Urban League of Greater Madison

Zeus Rodriguez, President, St. Anthony School, Milwaukee

Jim Lynch, Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (invited)

John Forester, Wisconsin School Administrators (invited)

John Matthews, Executive Director, Madison Teachers, Inc. (invited)

Representative Sondy Pope-Roberts (invited)

WEAC representative (invited)

RSVP to rep.vos@legis.wisconsin.gov

State Representative Robin Vos
State Capitol - Room 309 East - Post Office Box 8953 - Madison, Wisconsin 53708
Phone: (608) 266-9171 - Toll Free: (888) 534-0063 - Fax (608) 282-3663
Email: Rep.Vos@legis.wisconsin.gov

For those that weren't aware, "Waiting for Superman" is a propaganda film that disparages public education and claims that the only solutions is to privatize the entire education system.

I question whether this is appropriate conduct by Vos, Luther Olson and Steve Kestell.  They've received lots of campaign donations from the various front groups that are all aimed at privatizing our educational system.  Now, they are using government emails and a government office in a the State Capitol to shill for charter schools.

Even more questionable is inviting the likes of Charlie Sykes, who is deeply beholden to his masters at the Bradley Foundation, an extreme right wing group that sponsors the propagandist WPRI (Weasels Promoting Republican Ideology) of which Sykes is the figurehead of an editor.  (It should also be noted that Sykes' current and third wife - the one he cheated on his second wife with - Janet Riordan, aka Liz Woodhouse, is the Bradley Foundation's Director of Communication.)

It makes me wonder who is paying for this nonsense.

But this all fits in with the Walker/Republican/Koch Brothers/ALEC agenda.  Walker's budget, which slashed education funding by nearly a billion dollars,  is already doing a lot of harm to school districts around the state.  The ones that haven't been affected, or at least pretend they haven't been will be joining the others in having major difficulties next year, leading to higher taxes and/or greatly reduced services.

Then has the schools are beginning to fail due to the lack of funding or are forced to raise taxes just to keep from sinking even faster in the Republican-created abyss, the Republicans will make a strong push to privatizing the entire state's public education system. They will back this maneuver by pointing out that the schools aren't making it, all the while ignoring the fact that they are the sole reason why the schools are having problems.

Nice gimmick, isn't it? The Republicans will set up the schools (or any other service that the government provides) for failure by cutting them off at the knees financially.  Then when the schools do start to fail, they use that as an excuse to take them over and privatize the schools (or whatever service in question).

Tommy Thompson, Alberta Darling, Margaret Farrow and company did the same thing in the late 1990s to the Milwaukee Child Welfare system.  They underfunded Milwaukee County's foster care system, then took it over and privatized it.  Today it costs tens of millions of dollars more each year to operate and is actually worse than the underfunded system when Milwaukee County ran it.

Scott Walker also tried to do the same thing as Milwaukee County Executive with the Income Maintenance Program.  He severely understaffed it even though it had adequate funding.  Then when it inevitably started to fail, he tried to privatize it.  Fortunately he was thwarted by the Milwaukee County Board and then by Governor Jim Doyle.  Otherwise it would have cost tax payers many millions of dollars as well.

Just when you think that the Republicans have reached the nadir of poor behavior, they always come up with an even lower point.  And then they wonder why the people are in open revolt and want to get them out of office with all due haste.