Tiffany is a Bad Choice for Governor
Wisconsin will choose a new Governor in November. At this time there are nine Democratic candidates for the August 11 primary. The Republican’s have just two. But Representative Tom Tiffany will be the candidate. He has been endorsed by Trump.
Tom Tiffany becoming governor will be a disaster for Wisconsin. This is not a biased, partisan opinion. An objective, factual look at Tiffany’s 15 year record in the Wisconsin legislature and the House of Representatives proves he is unfit to lead the state for many reasons.
Rep. Tom Tiffany’s positions on most issues are misguided, based in ignorance and not in the best interests of his constituents. His thinking is founded in partisan, ideological talking points rather than any understanding of the real world or concern for the common good. He is extremely conservative and ardently supports Trump’s destructive policies. Imposing this agenda on Wisconsin will be a disaster for the people, the environment and the economy.
When one examines Tiffany’s own words, and compares them with the facts from reliable sources, it becomes very clear he is either misinformed, ignorant or deliberately distorting the truth for political advantage.
I get his email newsletter and it is typically full of clueless statements that indicate Rep. Tiffany is short on knowledge and long on partisan talking points. It is always full of misleading statements, twisted facts, and attacks on Democrats. It is written to manipulate the public’s fears, prejudices, and lack of accurate information on issues.
Obviously his newsletter is a promotional rag intended to sell Tiffany and his extreme right wing views. No one expects this kind of political communication to be “fair and balanced” or truthful. But it is unfortunate that Tiffany’s policy positions are not as well thought out as his self-serving propaganda.
Tiffany’s email rants frequently attack government “regulations.” He identifies “cutting regulations,” and “limiting government overreach” as the way to “protect Wisconsin families.” This is standard conservative dogma. According to Republicans, like Tiffany, without government regulation we would all live in a free market utopia. But this simplistic, antiquated world view isn’t true, and doesn’t address our real problems.
Regulations are actually necessary laws and rules to protect public health, safety, and provide a minimum of fairness in our economy. They weren’t created by “out-of-touch bureaucrats” to hamstring business or limit freedom. They resulted from real life problems created by unregulated capitalism. In the past people got sick from unsafe food, polluted water, and quack medicines. People got defrauded by dishonest, often fraudulent, business practices. Workplaces were unsafe and child labor was common. The weak got crushed by the powerful. Poverty, inequality, discrimination, and insecurity were common problems.
Tiffany is either ignorant of the importance of effective regulation, doesn’t care about the impact on people or is blinded by his “free market” ideology. Going back to the unregulated “good old days” of the 19th century is not what Wisconsin needs in the 21st century.
Tiffany frequently sponsors “legislation” with deceptive titles and objectives. Rather than being serious proposals to address real problems, these often are not needed, harmful to people or simply ridiculous. These rarely gain any traction in Congress, but they create the impression that Tiffany is busy working for the people and they provide misleading sound bites for press releases and the newsletter.
Tiffany pontificates about big government “socialism” and freedom. But he doesn’t understand that government and public services are essential to modern societies. He doesn’t understand the importance of career civil servants whom he denigrates as “unelected bureaucrats.” They are the essential workers responsible for all the public services we all depend upon. In reality government is the guarantor of our freedom and the foundation on which prosperity is built. This is especially true in Northern Wisconsin where government is a primary employer and provider of family supporting jobs.
To justify his extreme positions on issues Tiffany cherry picks sources, distorts facts, and misuses statistics to mislead his constituents. He overly simplifies complex issues and exaggerates the impact of minor problems. He obviously knows nothing about science and little about economics and history. These criticisms become abundantly clear by reading his statements on climate change, green energy, crime rates, voter “fraud,” economic development, immigration and foreign policy (in past articles I provided examples and documentation of this and will do so again in future articles).
With the exception of Madison and Washington, D.C., Tiffany has only lived in rural or small town Minnesota and Wisconsin. He has a degree from small town UW River Falls in agricultural economics. He has “managed” several rural fuel delivery services. For 20 years he ran a seasonal tourist business in northern Wisconsin. He is a small town, small minded, small businessman with ossified beliefs and a very limited background.
What does all this tell us about candidate Tom Tiffany?
Tom has no respect for the voters. He assumes they can be easily manipulated with misinformation and appeals to fear and division.
Tom has little imagination, problem solving skills, or innovative policy ideas. He is an unthinking, misinformed advocate for an extreme right wing agenda and the failed, non-solutions of the past.
“Freedom” according to Tom means the “free market” can rape and pillage at will with no regulatory controls. You and I will be the collateral damage of an unregulated economy.
“Freedom” does not mean having free and fair elections, ending gerrymandering, limiting campaign spending, or having government of, by and for the people. Freedom does not include freedom from want, living wages, affordable healthcare, affordable housing, or workers being free to have a union. Nor does freedom mean the ability for women to control their own bodies.
Tom is a puppet. He will be a reliable governor for the big money campaign contributors and the conservative agenda. He will represent mega-corp, the extractive mining and forest industries and not Wisconsin citizens, workers, farmers, or small business owners.
Wisconsin faces many complicated, financial, technical, science related problems. We need the most competent, experienced, knowledgeable leader possible. We need a person who can balance competing interests and bring people together for the common good. A governor is primarily an administrator, negotiator and facilitator.
Tiffany’s resume indicates none of these necessary qualifications. He is a partisan true believer and a foot soldier in the partisan, divisive, ideologically driven culture wars that are Wisconsin’s major problem. Governor Tom Tiffany will be a disaster for Wisconsin.