Letters to the Editor

Citizens of the 49th have been doing a great job with their support, they are writing letters to the editor to express their feelings. We would like to post a few letters here to let you know what people are thinking.

October 26, 2008
Dear Editor,
I am writing to express my support for re-electing Phil Garthwaite to the 49th Assembly. Phil has worked hard during his first term in office as our “voice for Southwest Wisconsin”, serving on the Transportation Committee, Agriculture Committee, and the Rural Affairs & Rural Economic Development Committee. He has fought to give Wisconsin citizens affordable access to healthcare, appropriate funding for their public schools, safer roads, and fair policies for farms and small businesses. As both my father and father-in-law were veterans of WWII, I appreciate the tremendous support Phil Garthwaite shows for all our veterans.

Unfortunately, a Michigan based special interest group, All Children Matter, has launched a vicious attack on Wisconsin politicians, including Phil Garthwaite, by buying radio time and mailing flyers that are filled with lies and deception. Because of their unethical tactics, this group has already been levied a $5.2 million fine by the bipartisan Ohio Elections Commission and is currently under investigation in Wisconsin.

It is disappointing that rather than distance himself from these types of unethical tactics, Travis Tranel chose to do the same in his campaign flyers. So much for the “positive campaign” he told voters he wanted following the primary election. The last two flyers his campaign sent to my mailbox only slammed Phil Garthwaite and did not say anything about his own issues. Although no statement printed on those flyers said anything about Travis Tranel, they spoke volumes to me. If he was that easily influenced by special interest groups, what would he be like in Madison? Would he be unable to speak his own mind then, too?

Phil Garthwaite ran a positive campaign in 2006 and has continued to do so in 2008. While he has been in Madison working on the issues he promised to make a priority in his 2006 election bid, Phil has not forgotten the people he represents. He was there helping the Village of Bagley clean up after the flood. He was there speaking at the dedication of the Mt. Hope Veterans Memorial. He was there announcing or auctioneering at numerous events and fundraisers throughout the 49th Assembly district. Please join me in supporting a man who is true to his word and true to his roots. Vote for Phil Garthwaite on November 4th!

Sincerely,
Carol Harris
Bagley, WI

Negative Advertising - Got Questions?

This is in regard to your interest in the issue advocacy mailing you received concerning my legislative record during my first term in the Wisconsin State Assembly. I would like to start out by setting the record straight about the vote in the piece of mail you received. The vote that is cited is October Special Session Senate Bill 1. That bill was a 1,625 page document that outlined the entire 2-year 57 billion dollar state budget. A so called “issue advocacy group,” aka special
interest group, from Michigan has pinpointed 2 lines in that bill referring to illegal immigrants. They have now sent out mail to nearly everyone in our district saying I support various entitlements to illegal immigrants. Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is true that I did vote for SB-1 and I will tell you why. At the time that SB-1 was proposed there had been a month’s long stalemate about the state budget. There was partisan bickering going on between the Senate and the Republican leadership in the Assembly. The budget was 100 days late when this vote was taken; local governments all over our area were having lots of financial trouble as a result. Local governments and school districts were calling my office and letting me know that if the State Legislature didn’t pass a budget soon there would be serious problems: roads not being taken care of, major cuts to local services like fire, police, garbage, to name just a few. Also if the budget stalemate took too much longer, huge property tax increases were very likely. I wasn’t about to sit by and let our local governments and local tax payers pony up the dough for political bickering in Madison.

Something needed to be done to protect the tax payers so I voted yes in hopes of ending the budget crisis. Now this group has turned a vote I took to save property tax payers millions of dollars into something completely untrue for political purposes.

You might be wondering why this group has decided to get involved in “issue advocacy” against me. Well the group that sent these mailings is named “All Children Matter”. They are a Michigan based big dollar special interest group. The big issue they support is tax payer funding for private schools in big cities like Milwaukee. Well, I have always opposed sending money that should be spent on good public schools in rural areas, to places like Milwaukee. The first
budget proposal from the Republican Majority would have cut state money to schools in our area by about one million ($1,000,000.00) dollars. That would have resulted in a one million dollar ($1,000,000.00) property tax increase for people in our local communities. I voted against their proposal and now they are spreading lies and half-truths about my positions.

Additionally, I co-authored a bill that would have made these outside groups play by the same rules that all candidates need to follow. If my bill had become law this group, All Children Matter, would have contribution limits, so that all of their money couldn’t come from just a few ultra-wealthy supporters. They also would be legally required to publicly say who is paying for these mailings. As it is now, they get to operate in the shadows and don’t need to tell the public
anything about who supports them or why. It is obvious that they don’t want my vote or my bill to stop them from sucking money away from our rural communities into private schools in Milwaukee.

It is interesting to note that All Children Matter was fined $5.2 million dollars in Ohio for illegally funneling money to Republican candidates in 2006. All Children Matter is also currently under investigation by the Government Accountability Board here in Wisconsin for sending illegal literature to voters in Racine County in 2006. All Children Matter has given over $130,000 to Republican legislative candidates in Wisconsin, most of whom oppose reforming the rules that govern these groups, and that support tax payer funding for private schools.

I hope this clears up both my record and gives you an understanding why these groups have decided to distort my legislative record for their own political gain. Thanks again for your interest in getting to the truth about these deceptive mailings.

Rep. Phil Garthwaite, 49th Assembly District
Garthwaite For Assembly
P.O. box 178
Platteville, WI 53818
phil08@philgarthwaite.com
philgarthwaite.com

A Blog Post Revisited

I have had incredibly little time to post on here, but I thought I'd take some time to check in with you.

As we get closer to November 7th, you are starting to hear the fear-mongers peddle their "message." By and large their commercials, phone messages, and newspaper ads are old, recycled cliche's.

"Tax and Spend Democrats." "They'll take your guns." "They want abortion on demand." "They want to take away your rights."

It's the same old, same old with very little original thought.

I had posted before, and will post again;

I SUPPORT THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES!

I SUPPORT THE BILL OF RIGHTS AND THE AMMENDMENTS ENUMERATED 1-10, INCLUDING THE 2ND AMMENDMENT, THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS.

I'd also like to ask a question. Who has done more to defend the U.S. Constitution? George W. Bush? Or Russ Feingold?

Seems to me that the Bush Administration has done more to strip us of our Constitutional rights than any Democrat. If I were a Republican, I'd be more worried about the Republicans stripping down the 2nd Ammendment than I would any Democrat.

I don't want your gun. I want you to have it. And if you don't have one, but want one, let me know. My mother sells them!

More food for thought:

http://philgarthwaite.com/2006/06/so-where-do-you-stand.html

8 Weeks And Counting

And so it begins...

We've got 8 weeks until the general election. I'm looking forward to the journey. I'll be out and about walking doors and pressing the flesh, so I won't have much time for blogging.

Thank you for your votes last night. Even though I was in an uncontested primary, it was great to see the showing of support. We let the 49th district know that we have had enough and are ready for a change.

Congrats to Ron Kind, Herb Kohl, and Kathleen Falk on their primary victories. I suspect Congressman Kind will be around our district quite a bit in the next 8 weeks. I know he has to take care of business in Washington as well as campaign here, but he is certainly capable of balancing things. Hopefully he and I can work the area a bit together.

Also be sure to give John Simonson all the support you can in his race against Dale Schultz for the 17th Senate seat.

This is an exciting time, and a good deal is at stake. I look forward to the ride. Feel free to come along.


Life is not a journey to the grave with the intentions of arriving safely in a well preserved, beautiful body, but rather to skid in broadside, half worn out, all used up, and loudly proclaiming, "Wow! What a ride!"

So Much To Do, So Little Time To Blog

My apologies to all who have been checking this blog. I have been pounding the pavement and meeting and greeting. That will continue from now through the election. I won't make any more apologies for not blogging, because I am not going to apologize for campaigning. But I'll try to check in now and again.

A few thoughts:

-I've had quite a few people ask about voting in the primary and general elections. You can still register on the same day as you vote. Have your driver's license and/or proof of residence, and you should be fine. Also, they are using new computer equipment, but you can also vote the good, old-fashioned way with a pencil.

-Coming up this week I will be at a couple of candidate forums. The first is at the Arthur Haus in Arthur on Wednesday at 7:30 pm.

-On the 7th, (Thursday) I will be at a forum in Platteville at the City Municipal Building at 7:00 pm.

This weekend we have Platteville Dairy Days and events in Bloomington, Cassville, and Muscoda.


I'll see you around!

Mark Green. Governor/Business Czar/Dictator

Mark Green recently announced his plans for Wisconsin's business climate. Not surprisingly, he seems to think the answer is for more autonomy. Like his idols in the Bush Administration, he wants more unchecked, non-transparent executive control. Of course, with the stellar job that Congress has been doing dishing out pork and tax breaks to big business, we certainly can trust Mark Green to do a complete 180 if he were governor, right? Not so much. More like a complete 360.

Check out the analysis of Green's "ideas" from Paul Soglin.

http://www.waxingamerica.com/2006/08/green_misses_by.html

Or from Xoff. (Bill Christofferson)

http://www.wisopinion.com/blogs/2006/08/got-jobs-need-money-call-gov-green.html


I think we've had enough of these kinds of self-serving "solutions", don't you?

Busy, Busy, Busy.

I am going to be a bit sporadic on the blog, as I've been out and about quite a bit and not around a computer. I'm probably going to be "bulk blogging" in the future. Maybe every few days I'll drop in a handfull of blogs. That allows me to keep on walking and talking.

The Grant County Fair is coming up in a few days in Lancaster. (23rd-27th) Stop by our booth and have a visit. I look forward to it.