Compassionate conservatism at work

Talk about not getting it. Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee have employed slash-and-burn, or maybe search-and-destroy, tactics to programs designed to help poor children and their families.

And they've been callous about it.

They rejected grants for caregivers of newborn infants, even though it would save -- not cost -- the state money.

Rep. David Ward had an interesting perspective on the motion.

“I was primary caregiver for my son over this period of time in his life, and I have to say bonding with your son at that age is an overrated experience,” Ward said.

The GOP also felt the need to punish someone for years of mismanagement and fraud at OIC, one of the agencies which has overseen the W2 (Welfare to Work) program in Milwaukee County.

The punishment: Close the Milwaukee regional office of the state Dept. of Workforce Development, because it didn't catch what was happening at OIC -- either during the Doyle years or during all of those years Tommy Thompson was playing footsie with the top people at OIC. That, of course, makes it even harder to monitor W2 programs in Milwaukee.

The rest of their frustration they took out mostly on the children and their mothers, killing one reform after another, and raising by 15% the monthly amount low-income parents will have to contribute to child care -- placing it out of the reach of some.

They even killed off a Doyle proposal to rate child care centers and pay them according to their rating, as a way to encourage improvement and accountability. The result, as Doyle correctly said, is that the state pays the worst day care center the same as it pays the best. That doesn't offer much incentive to improve.

State Sen. Lena Taylor gets the quote of the week, summing up the actions of the 12-4 Republican majority:

"Shame, shame on you."

Stories: Journal Sentinel Capital Times Wis. State Journal

UPDATE: Doyle goes on the offensive, blasting the committee action and pledging a public fight to restore the reforms he proposed. Saturday story.