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The Assemblys higher education committee passed an amended version of a Republican-backed campus speech bill Tuesday that requires University of Wisconsin System institutions to punish students who take part in disruptive protests.

Changes to the legislation spelled out more specifically the types of disruptions that could lead to discipline for UW students and employees. They also toughened penalties for those who run afoul of the new rules by requiring universities to expel any student who violates the policy three times.

First Amendment advocates had warned that the bills original language was unconstitutionally vague and raised concerns that its mandatory punishments would treat all disruptions with the same severity as the at-times violent demonstrations that have prompted Republican lawmakers across the country to introduce similar legislation.

The amendments and the bill itself passed the Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities on party-line votes.

Much like a lengthy public hearing on the bill weeks earlier, the sometimes heated debate during Tuesdays meeting often touched on pitched partisan battles over higher education nationally.

Republican members argued that their ideas are under fire on college campuses from left-leaning students and faculty, saying the legislation was needed to preserve open debate at UW institutions and protect the free speech rights of controversial speakers.

Rep. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan, said the bill would ensure there is no idea or issue that will be shouted down in a public forum.

Democrats painted the legislation as an unnecessary overreach by Republican lawmakers who want to shut down protests they disagree with.

There is no problem that youre trying to solve here, other than an agenda issue for your party, said Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison.

The amended bill directs the UW Board of Regents to create a disciplinary process that sanctions students who engage in violent or other disorderly conduct that materially and substantially disrupts the free expression of others. The legislation previously barred a wider range of disruptive speech that Kremer acknowledged was too vague.

It also states that System institutions must strive to remain neutral on public policy controversies.

Another amendment requires universities to launch an investigation and hold discipline hearings if they get two or more complaints alleging someone violated the policy.

Democrats cautioned that the requirement could open the door to students filing complaints against people they disagree with creating, according to Rep. Dana Wachs, D-Eau Claire, a constant kerfuffle on our campuses about what somebody said.

Lawmakers in several states often, but not always, Republicans have introduced similar legislation in an effort to crack down on protests that they say use a hecklers veto to shut down talks by controversial speakers.

They cite as examples the high-profile demonstrations that led college officials to cancel talks at the University of California-Berkeley; in Wisconsin, lawmakers have criticized a protest that disrupted a lecture by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro for several minutes at UW-Madison.

Language in the Wisconsin bill mirrors model legislation proposed by the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute.

A Senate version of the bill has been referred to that chambers Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges.

UW System administrators have not taken a position on the bill, though they asked lawmakers at the public hearing to dial back its mandatory punishments for students who violate the policy.

The UW-Madison faculty advocacy group PROFS has registered against it, saying in a statement Tuesday that UW institutions should be given the autonomy to address their own speech issues.

Rep. Jesse Kremer, R-Kewaskum, who co-authored the legislation along with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and the chairpersons of the Assembly and Senate higher education committees, said existing UW policies have not been sufficient in protecting free speech.

Its not working weve seen that, Kremer said.

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Republican bill to penalize disruptive speech on campus moves forward in Legislature - Madison.com

Susana Martinez and Brian Sandoval were swept into office as part of the 2010 GOP wave two Hispanic governors in Western states who each had the potential for political stardom.

Ms. Martinez has struggled in New Mexico, fulfilling her campaign promise of fighting against tax hikes but failing to get the states economy moving again. The unemployment rate has fallen just 1 percent since she took office in 2011 and is among the bottom third of the country.

Mr. Sandoval, meanwhile, is riding high in Nevada, politically speaking, despite or perhaps because he broke his no-new-taxes promise. His states unemployment rate, which topped out at nearly 14 percent in 2011, is now under 5 percent, and hes managed to score some conservative victories on social policies like school choice.

Seventeen new Republican governors were elected in 2010 as part of the national GOP wave, and like their congressional counterparts, they promised to usher in a new era of booming economies, slimmer government and a bulwark against President Barack Obama.

Most have been successful in reviving their economies, and many made major strides in conservative policies such as limiting the power of public employee labor unions. But theyve not always been rewarded by their own voters.

The class of 2010 did very well. They put in place some substantial tax cuts, said Chris Edwards, who studies state governors for the Cato Institute. But he added: States get into fiscal trouble because of a lot of things outside of their control, like oil prices in a state thats dependent on oil, like Oklahoma. Sometimes they have to do things that are unpopular to balance that.

The wave of new GOP governors included a dozen who captured seats from Democrats or independents, including the big states of Florida, Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Five other GOP governors won seats that had been held by a Republican who was term-limited or lost in a primary.

Jon Thompson, communications director for the Republican Governors Association, said it was Republican governing in these states that helped President Trump take the White House.

Without Scott Walkers success in Wisconsin, Rick Snyders success in Michigan and John Kasichs success in Ohio, it would have been a lot tougher for Donald Trump to win these states in the 2016 presidential election. These governors ushered in a new wave of Republican power, and it culminated with the election of President Trump to the White House in 2016, he said.

Governors shot out of the blocks with a series of big promises.

In Wisconsin, Mr. Walker promised to bring the public sector labor unions to heel after a bitter battle that saw him have to win in the legislature, then in the courts, and then survive a recall election. Gov. John Kasich won a similar showdown in Ohio, though voters later overturned his new law.

In Iowa, Gov. Terry Branstad promised 200,000 new jobs by 2016. He and his critics debate whether hes reached that goal, but as Mr. Branstad departs for a new job as the Trump administrations ambassador to China, theres little doubt the economy is humming: Unemployment in the state has shrunk from 5.6 percent to 3 percent.

Gov. Rick Scott also promised 700,000 jobs would be created in Florida, and hes nearly doubled that, with 1.3 million private-sector jobs added between January 2011 and January 2017. Unemployment, which was a staggering 10.5 percent in January 2011, was just 5 percent at the beginning of this year.

Other GOP governors took on social issues, with Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam pushing charter schools and Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin winning a bill pushing the states health department to create an abortion-free society curriculum for high school students.

In Michigan, Gov. Rick Snyder steered clear of hot-button issues, instead putting his effort into cleaning up the troubled city of Detroit. He put the city into managed bankruptcy in 2013, appointed an emergency manager to handle city assets and struck a deal with public-sector unions over benefits.

Within 16 months the city was out of bankruptcy, and Mr. Snyder gave talks around the country about how he achieved such a feat, even stirring up rumors of a presidential bid in 2016 that did not come to fruition.

Mr. Walker and Mr. Kasich did both mount presidential bids that stumbled, while South Carolina Gov. Nikki R. Haley, also part of the class of 2010, was mentioned as a potential vice presidential pick. Instead, she has become President Trumps ambassador to the U.N.

The governors have struggled with some issues including whether to embrace Obamacares expansion of Medicaid. Only six of the 2010 GOP governors agreed to some sort of expansion, while the others declined it, saying they feared putting their future budgets in jeopardy.

Of the 17 GOP governors newly elected in 2010, all but one won re-election in 2014.

Mr. Thompson said that it was Republicans economic agenda that brought them political victory.

While Republican governors have been successful on multiple avenues of reform, a main focus was making their states strong engines of economic growth, and on that policy, they have exceeded expectations, he said.

The exception was Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania, who faced challenges on both the right and the left in his state legislature. Mr. Corbetts biggest downfall was slashing funding to public education, which Democratic challenger Tom Wolf hammered him on during the election. But his relationship with Republicans in Harrisburg was also frosty. He was the first Pennsylvania governor to lose re-election in over 40 years.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley also departed early, resigning earlier this year over reported ethics and campaign violations.

Most of the rest of the Class of 2010 is term-limited and unable to run again, save for Mr. Walker in Wisconsin.

Democrats say this is a good thing for them looking toward 2018.

I think that in terms of popularity, in measures of how voters think about it, youve had GOP governors for eight years, and people are tired of those governors, said Jared Leopold, spokesman for the Democratic Governors Association.

He said hes seeing Republican candidates drift even further toward the right than their sitting Republican governors, something he thinks will turn off voters.

Whats interesting in the 2018 class running to replace these guys is theyre far more to the right than these sitting governors, he added. The people of those states dont believe those have been successful.

Sticking to campaign promises hasnt always been easy, however, nor has it been a path to political success. In Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback pushed a major cut on personal income tax and eliminated income tax on profits for limited liability companies. The state has struggled with budget shortfalls and elimination of other services as a result.

His political standing is so low that analysts said it nearly dragged down the GOP candidate in a special congressional election earlier this year.

One difference between the successful and the struggling governors is the nature of the legislatures they deal with.

Voters tend to reward governors who find ways to work with their statehouses, said Nathaniel Birkhead, a professor at Kansas State University who studies state legislatures.

Governors might be better off to find balance with legislators of [a] different party, he said. While we expect fidelity to campaign promises, we tend to reward those who compromise.

Even those states where the legislature is controlled by the same party as the governor can prove to be obstacles, particularly when the legislatures are considered strong compared to the chief executive.

In Nevada, for example, Mr. Sandoval wanted to enact major tax cuts to help fund his public education program, but the state legislature forced him to negotiate. He ended up agreeing to extend existing taxes that had been set to expire during his term.

Mr. Sandoval later agreed to the largest tax increase in the states history, yet remains one of the most popular governors nationwide.

Jon Ralston, a top political analyst in the state, said Mr. Sandoval did pursue conservative policies such as school choice, but the tax battle overshadowed that. Fortunately for Mr. Sandoval, hes been blessed with a business climate thats attracting major businesses to the state, thereby boosting his standing.

It doesnt hurt that hes also been able to charm his legislature and his voters.

The guy is just so likable in addition to getting so much done, Mr. Ralston said. Even though he passed the largest tax increase in state history, with a Republican-held legislature, he remains one of the most popular governors in the country. Who else could do that?

Ms. Martinez, meanwhile, has faced a Democratic legislature and frequently battled it.

She upheld her campaign promise of not raising taxes, even vetoing the legislatures budget in April because it called for tax hikes. Lawmakers sent her a new bill last week with more taxes something the governor has said she will not support.

I think I could say that, as far as I can tell, New Mexicans would have been more satisfied if the governor had found a way to cooperate more, said local pollster and analyst Brian Sanderoff. People get tired of the gridlock and fighting. They have worked together on some issues, and shes found success there.

One such area is the voter ID law that restricts illegal immigrants from obtaining a drivers license. Ms. Martinez repeatedly pushed the issue, which finally passed in 2016 with the cooperation of the state legislature.

Part of Ms. Martinezs success, however, is due to the Department of Homeland Security, which claimed the states ID law failed to comply with the Real ID Act and would not be accepted in federal buildings or airports starting in 2018.

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Republican governors elected in 2010 delivering to their states what Congress hasn't - Washington Times

Right now, congressional Republicans are in about the best possible position on health care: They showed that they can pass something (anything!) in the House, and now no one is paying any attention to it any more.

Its unlikely, though, that the Senate will end up doing nothing with the American Health Care Act, the Republican bill that passed the House earlier this month. Meaning that the party will again have to grapple with a complicated, deeply unpopular bill that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office figures will mean 23 million fewer people with health insurance in 10 years time.

New survey data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, though, serves as a reminder that pushing forward with the legislation could be politically problematic well past this year.

Only Republicans have a broadly favorable view of the legislation, with two-thirds of them holding that position. Democrats and independents, on net, view the AHCA more unfavorably than favorably. Only about 3-in-10 overall view it positively.

By contrast, nearly 50 percent of respondents held a positive view of the Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare) the legislation that the AHCA would replace. Three-in-10 hold strongly favorable views of Obamacare; 4-in-10 hold strongly negative views of the AHCA.

And thats why the AHCAs unpopularity is so problematic.

Obamacare is about as popular now as it has been at any point since its inception in 2010. Generally, opinions have been pretty consistently split, with about half the country viewing it negatively and half positively. The percent viewing it favorably now, though, is seven points higher than those viewing it unfavorably, one of the widest margins in the foundations polling.

Those views are not universally held, though. By party, theres a distinct split.

If that graph looks familiar to you, its because it strongly mirrors approval ratings for the man behind the name Obamacare, Barack Obama.

Theres a different scale there; Democrats like Obama more than Obamacare. But the pattern is the same: A broad partisan gulf, with favorable views rising among Democrats and independents over the last few years of Obamas time in office.

So far, were seeing a similar split in partisan views of Donald Trump. Republicans view him very positively and Democrats very negatively, without much movement up or down among either group.

So if the AHCA were passed and partisan views of it held in the way that views of Obamacare did? Congressional Republicans would be passing legislation that starts out less popular than Obamacare and which will likely be mired in the same partisan trenches over the length of its existence. Sure, theyll say, people will come to like the improved health-care plan that is much better than Obamacare. To which theres an easy response: As more people got coverage under Obamacare, views of the program didnt move much. It was only when the risk to Obamacare from Republican control of Washington emerged that the program became popular on net but even now, its only barely above water.

There is one key difference. A number of polls over the course of the last eight years determined that the Affordable Care Act was more popular than Obamacare indicating that views of the legislation were a function of partisan views of Obama himself. Perhaps views of the AHCA will be separated from views of Trump. After all, three-quarters of respondents in the foundations poll figured that none or only some of Trumps campaign pledges made it into the AHCA itself. His ownership of it is less obvious.

Oh, and theres another key difference: It has to pass. With poll numbers like these, that should certainly not be considered a certainty.

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A new reminder of the possible political disaster looming for Republicans on health care - Washington Post

Common Dreams

The Republican Party's Sickness of the Soul Common Dreams Sometimes people look at the cruelties in Republican policies and ask, How can these people live with themselves? Here's how: By telling elaborate lies and fictions so you don't have to face the cruelty and consequences of your own deeds every time ...

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The Republican Party's Sickness of the Soul - Common Dreams

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. The first speech of a marathon Memorial Day weekend went as well as Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) could have hoped. He quoted his old boss, Ronald Reagan. He thanked the military for saving America, from its founding through those long years when communism threatened to establish atheist dictatorships around the world.

And after he wrapped, retirees in star-spangled polo shirts chased him down to thank him and to say how well hed done the other night on Fox News.

These people arent going to vote for Democrats, Rohrabacher said, strolling along the water on the way to his house. A lot of Republican women voted for Hillary. That is not going to translate into anything else next year. Trump is a very boisterous guy, and that was a turnoff for some people, but these are Reagan-type conservatives.

Democrats dont share that read on Rohrabachers district. In 2016, for the first time in 80 years, the Democratic presidential nominee carried Orange County, sweeping up districts including Rohrabachers beach-bound 48th. A stretch of pristine beaches and increasingly diverse suburbs, the 48th District had previously been one of the nations wellsprings of modern conservatism.

Down the ballot from Hillary Clinton, Democrats didnt recruit candidates to take advantage of Californias anti-Trump swing, and Rohrabacher kept his seat. But now, Democrats are trying to fix that and they view Rohrabacher, elected in 1988 and rarely challenged since, as a target.

Yet Rohrabacher, 69, is not behaving like a politician facing oblivion. Many of the 23 Republicans in districts that backed Clinton, or only narrowly backed Trump, have agonized over the American Health Care Act and grimaced when asked about the probe into possible Russian meddling in the election.

The reason: Like the north Atlanta suburbs where Jon Ossoff is trying to flip a seat for Democrats, Orange Countys coast is tempting Democrats with a rising electorate college-educated, rich, only two-thirds white.

Rohrabacher understands as much This is not a blue-collar area, he said but he does not acknowledge a larger political threat.

Rohrabacher, without question the most resolute supporter in Congress of closer ties to Russia, never grimaces. In an interview this weekend, and in the wake of stories about Russians sounding him out as a spy and colleagues joking that he was paid by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Rohrabacher simply restated his strategic theory: It is better for America to be friends with Russia than spit at it as an enemy.

I was hard-core anti-communist and anti-Soviet; I was never anti-Russian, said Rohrabacher, who paused the interview occasionally to say hi to neighbors on the walk home. The very same groups of people who are unrelenting in their hostility today wanted to be friends with Russia when it was run by atheistic communist dictators.

Democrats, who have put the 48th and other Orange County districts on their 2018 dream board, are convinced that Rohrabacher is busily un-electing himself.

He is who he is, but Republicans vote for him because hes a Republican, and weve never had much luck finding a challenger, said Fran Sdao, the chair of Orange Countys Democrats. This year, theyre coming out the woodwork.

Even lower-information voters, she suggested, could not miss the stories of Rohrabacher defending Trump or the Russian intrigue spilling into the paper every day. Hes gotten a lot more attention because of the Russia stuff.

Outside Orange County, Democrats cant quite agree on how big a part Russia should play in their 2018 comeback strategy. In the 48th District, its at least an irresistible hook. Los Angeles-area Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D), whose role on the House Intelligence Committee has made him a party star, has spent parts of congressional recesses introducing new candidates to party clubs; he did so for the Democrats favored candidate against Rohrabacher, Harley Rouda, earlier in May.

Rouda, a 55-year-old lawyer and businessman, had been in electoral politics for just a few weeks. If Hillary Clinton had won, I dont think Id be sitting here, Rouda said over coffee at a spot near Laguna Beachs sandy coast. If Romney was president, voters wouldnt be as engaged and enraged as they are now. Its about Trump and his cronies.

To take the House, Democrats are salivating over half a dozen California districts; in each one, theyre scouting for candidates who can run against the Republican majority by making their opponents infamous and sidestepping their own ideological swamps. Rouda, who donated $1,000 to John Kasichs presidential campaign, blends country club issues such as balancing the budget with left-wing issues such as a $15 minimum wage and a move toward single-payer health care.

Trump even praised the health-care system in Australia, he said.

Confidently, Rouda and Democrats speculate that simply informing Orange County voters who represents them in Congress would knock Rohrabacher out, and a few other Republicans besides. In 2010, Republicans found conservative districts that had been controlled by Democrats for generations falling their way, simply because they had candidates, money and a president to rally against.

Thats why raising enough money is so important, Rouda said. The Democrats tend to be very aware of his record; Republicans, I dont think, fully understand where he is. Most Republicans in this district are moderate. They do not want to see offshore drilling. They do believe in climate change. And we have a congressman who doesnt agree with them.

In some districts, embattled Republicans are adjusting by looking for political space. In Orange County, Rohrabacher sees no need. Over 24 hours of Memorial Day events, no voters came up to him to complain. A few encouraged the president to tweet less; more thanked the congressman for doing his job.

For many, the perception of that job has been shaped by a conservative media that has dug in against Democratic story lines. The Fox News segment that many constituents said theyd watched portrayed Rohrabacher as an avuncular victim of character smears, a surfer and public servant who had been attacked unfairly.

McCarthyism by its nature hurts people, makes it harder for them to do the jobs they do, Foxs Tucker Carlson said. Has this affected your life? I mean, youre running for reelection is this an issue in your campaign?

They have been putting out these hit pieces that are aimed at trying to convince people that I have been engaged in some type of illegal act or something, Rohrabacher replied. Its the same thing they are doing with Trump.

Later in the interview, Rohrabacher said hed been looking for proof that the coverage of Russia would amount to something. He cited the stories of Russia-linked hackers breaking into the Democratic National Committee allegations that did not convince him.

In The Washington Post interview Sunday, he asked how the newspaper had been able to run an article saying definitively that a murdered DNC staffer had nothing to do with the release of party documents to WikiLeaks and other sites.

I hope youre wrong, he said. The story says these various people had determined that there was a Russian connection to the hacking. Well, I havent seen any. Can you tell me any conclusion where the Russians were involved?

As he hustled to his next event, pausing at home to make (and share) an energy drink with yogurt, Rohrabacher explained that he knew too much about spycraft and intelligence to believe every accusation that blipped across the news.

There are people who work for the intelligence agencies who are very dedicated conservatives, right-wingers, patriots, he said. There are people who work for the agencies who are on the left. Just because they work for the agency, that doesnt mean you can always trust them. If an intelligence agency verifies this or that, I dont take that for granted.

Read more at PowerPost

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His district voted for Clinton, but this Republican congressman isn't worried - Washington Post