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From ballot boxes to classrooms to doctors offices, the Republican party in the age of Trump is all in on giving the government more control over your life.

Wisconsin has a decentralized system of elections that allows local municipalities to administer their own elections. This system automatically includes checks and balances that ensure our elections are free, fair, and secure. But Wisconsin Republicans who support Trumps Big Lie the false assertion that the 2020 elections were stolen want to metaphorically step into the voting booth with you.

Michael Gableman is a former Wisconsin State Supreme Court Justice who is overseeing a partisan investigation into the 2020 election, which was authorized by the Republican state legislature. In a March 2022 report, Gableman recommended giving partisan legislators the authority to overturn election results. Even more harrowing, his report recommended the state government create a special bounty program that incentivizes government agencies to police elections, even though there is no history of widespread fraud in Wisconsin. Think about that Republicans want to pay people money to find fraud that they have no evidence exists. What could go wrong?

Next door in Iowa, Republicans in the state legislature proposed having video cameras record every single K-12 classroom in the state. That would not only undermine local control of the school boards and school districts, it is downright creepy to think about anyone, including a room of government bureaucrats, watching every minute of any childs day at school. The bill was subsequently pulled.

And across the country, Republicans are racing to enact legislation that bans abortion, should the Supreme Court overturn Roe vs. Wade. That puts elected officials and government bureaucrats squarely in the doctors office between pregnant women and their doctors. Buoyed by Texass 15-week abortion ban (currently being challenged in US Supreme Court), Florida Republicans passed their own 15 week ban and in Idaho Republicans are moving ahead with a six week ban of their own.

Elections, classrooms, and doctors offices are more than enough to demonstrate a trend. But the closer you look, the more you realize the Republican Partys push for more control of your life goes further. Republicans also want the government to help raise your kids, decide what curriculum is taught in school, and even weigh in on youth sports.

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Wisconsin Republicans: The Party of Big Government? - UpNorthNews

Zach Klein| Guest columnist

Voters in 2015 and 2018 overwhelmingly approved measures reforming the way Ohio draws its state legislative and congressional district maps, writing into our constitution processes that were supposed to promote bipartisanship and bring fair maps to Ohio.

If redistricting commission members failed to live up to that duty, voters made sure that the Ohio Supreme Court could intervene and hold lawmakers accountable for trying to rig the district lines.

Up until this point, the Republican members of the redistricting commission have flouted their constitutional duty to draw fair maps that reflect the will of the voters.

More: GOP OKs Ohio legislature maps tweaked from rejected ones; Democrats say process 'hijacked'

Just this week, we saw Republicans on the commission reject maps drawn in the public view by a pair of bipartisan mapmakersonly to turn around and approve another likely flawed, secretly GOP-drawn map.

Now former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder'sNational Redistricting Action Fund andthe American Civil Liberties Union of Ohiohave asked the Ohio Supreme Court to holdcommission members contempt of court.

The groups are suing overlegislative maps put forward by the GOP-dominated commission.

At a time when democracy feels in crisis and the institutions that exist to safeguard it are showing their wear and tear, the Ohio Supreme Court's rulings inspire faith in the process voters laid out to eliminate partisan gerrymandering.

Despite Republican attempts to rig the system, the Ohio Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Maureen OConnor, should be commended for rightfully enforcing the law even in the face of harsh partisan criticism.

This is a case study in how the rule of law and an independent judiciary is designed to work in a democracy.

More: Ohio Republicans discussing impeachment of Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor after map ruling

The court is not to blame for the redistricting commissions inability or unwillingness to abide by the rules and draw the fair maps Ohioans deserveand demanded. The justices are simply doing their job to uphold the law by evaluating the merits of each individual map presented to them. When the maps presented are clearly unconstitutional and purely partisan, the court has no choice but to continue to reject those maps.

Likewise, the court is not to blame for the crisis in which we find ourselves, a month away from our states primary election with no district lines in place. Its a manufactured problem created entirely by Republican commission members.

Had they acted in good faith from the start, we would have had fair maps months ago and election officials across the state would be busy preparing for our primary. But Republicans didnt act in good faith and now elections officials are faced with an unprecedented crisis.

More: Disingenuous Ohio Republicans disregard will of people to maintain dominance

The city attorneys office has won our share of cases, but weve lost some too. But no matter the outcome, we respect the legal process. We dont threaten to unseat judges or call into question their impartiality. We dont disparage their commitment to the law. We respect their decision and get back to work on behalf of the people of Columbus. Thats our job.

Republicans on the redistricting commission created this mess and now its their job to fix itnot the Democrats on the commission and certainly not the court.

Gerrymandering is a scourge whether its a blue or red state. And in Ohio, voters laid out a process thats simple: draw fair maps. Its what a number of citizen-led groups have done when they submitted maps for review to the commission, and its what Republican commission members must do in order to salvage what chance we have at holding our scheduled primary.

More: Opinion: Lawmaker's 'rigged' map would steal Ohioans' right to representation

The Ohio Supreme Court is upholding its duty to the law, the Ohio Constitution and the people of Ohio. It is living up to the redistricting reforms Ohioans passed not once, but twice.

In stark contrast, Republican commission members continue to lack the courage to do right by the voters, refusing to uphold their end of the deal and instead passing one partisan map after another. But something has to change.

Two of the Republican commission members must do as our chief justice has done, and thats simply to do their job to uphold the constitution and pass fair maps that meet the constitutional standard voters expect and deserve. Democracy depends on it.

Zach Klein has served as Columbus city attorney since 2018, .

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Cowardly Republicans trying to 'rig the system' in Ohio, Columbus city attorney says - The Columbus Dispatch

Photo courtesy of the Senate Republican Conference Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt, at podium, joins New York City Council Members Joe Borelli and Bob Holden at the entrance to Rikers Island in September 2021 to criticize the states bail system and the new Less is More law, which releases prisoners for technical violations of parole.

Speaker Carl Heastie, who leads the New York State Assembly, seems to have a definite view concerning bail reform that appears to differ from that of the governor, Kathy Hochul.

A little background: the Democrats got their behinds kicked in the last election over the issue. You will recall that the liberal contingent in the Democratic-led New York State Legislature quite correctly passed legislation in an effort to equalize the way in which the bail system in the state treated suspects after arrest. Those who had resources could fork out the big bucks needed to get released from custody, while those without deep pockets had to languish in the pokey because they didnt have the money necessary to get out. This became an issue in the last election when the Democrats who sponsored the so-called bail reform bill found out that they had lost some middle-class voters who thought that people released on bail were likely to go on and commit more crimes.

That led to some problems for the liberal Democrats and alienated some of the middle-class voters. In other words, the concept of bail reform was certainly correct in that it was philosophically right, but it led to political problems for the Democrats.

It shouldnt surprise anyone that the message was received by the battered Democrats who are now showing some signs of division. On one side are the liberals in the state legislature. They are correct in their assertions that the poor are more likely to have to stay in jail due to their inability to post bail. Meanwhile, the rich and middle-class voters want to be protected and have reacted strongly against idea of bail reform. Never mind the statistical analysis that suggests that those released are not committing crimes at the level the critics of bail reform are suggesting. But hey, political reality is what people believe, correctly, or not.

This is where it gets interesting. Governor Hochul, who is no fool, gets the message and starts to suggest that the baby should get split. If I am reading her words correctly, she thinks that dangerous folks should be kept in jail while the powerful Speaker, Carl Heastie, takes the politically and factually correct position that it isnt right for poor people stay in custody just because they cant afford bail.

Obviously, Heastie has to listen to what the liberal Democrats in his conference are telling him while, like it or not, Governor Hochul knows which way the more conservative wind is blowing. It is clear that she sees the political danger here. If the Democrats continue to lose seats, their huge majority in both houses may be threatened and her own election prospects will be diminished by her endorsing this bail reform.

Since there is honor among politicians, I am sure that both Heastie and Hochul understand and honor each others positions. Let there be no mistake: the Heastie position is correct, so-called bail reform is a worthy idea. It is just one more piece of proof that the political game is loaded in favor of those with money. As a person of color, Heastie knows that and understands what injustice is all about.

So what will happen? Obviously, the governor has no cards to play since she cant make the Legislature do what they dont want to do. The Republicans and conservatives have found a powerful card to play here. They are winning elections based on this split and are unlikely to change positions now. They think that have discovered political gold and will play the bail reform card to the hilt. There may be an agreement between the Speaker and the Governor to allow for the difference of opinion. The Speaker is right, and the governor knows what to do to win an upcoming election.

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Publisher's Corner: Republicans will play the bail reform card to the hilt - Legislative Gazette

Americans are more worried about inflation than at any point since 1985, and that concern is quickly escalating, according to a new poll, a potential problem for Democrats and the White House ahead of the midterm elections in November.

A Gallup poll released Tuesday showed that rising prices were the No. 1 economic concern for Americans, with 17 percent calling inflation the nations most important problem.

Inflation stress divided slightly among income groups 63 percent of adults earning $40,000 or less were very concerned, compared with 58 percent of those earning $100,000 or more and starkly along political lines. About 79 percent of Republicans were seriously worried about inflation, versus 35 percent of Democrats.

That reflects the ongoing phenomenon were seeing in polarization, said Lydia Saad, director of U.S. social research at Gallup. She noted that people increasingly answered economic questions differently when their party controlled the White House, and often in a way that reflected the administrations messaging. Democrats are just going to downplay problems, just like Republicans did when Trump was in office, she said.

President Bidens administration initially expected rapid inflation to fade. As it has lingered, the White House has switched to arguing that it is part of a global phenomenon and has been exacerbated by Russias invasion of Ukraine. That is accurate but probably not the full story, since inflation in the United States is higher than in many other developed economies.

Prices in the United States rose 7.9 percent in the 12 months through February, according to the latest reading of the Consumer Price Index released this month. That was the highest level of inflation since early 1982.

Ms. Saad said it might be a silver lining that the worry index was lower now than at the start of the 1980s, when about half of American adults ranked rising prices as the nations top problem. Inflation had been elevated for years back then, peaking at about 14.6 percent in 1980.

Even so, rising prices have been undermining confidence in the overall economy, according to the Gallup numbers and other consumer sentiment readings. Survey data from the University of Michigan shows that Republicans have been more pessimistic about the economy than at any point since 1980. Democrats, while more optimistic, were less confident in March than they had been at any point since Mr. Bidens 2020 election victory.

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Americans, especially Republicans, are getting more worried about inflation. - The New York Times

Voldymyr Zelensky is being hailed as latter-day Winston Churchill by both Democrats and Republicans.The Democrats newfound embrace of the former British statesman is interesting, given that it was only a year ago when Joe Biden banished a bust of Mr. Churchill from the confines of the Oval Office.

Biden was following the lead of his former boss, Barack ObamaBarack Hussein ObamaJuan Williams: GOP plays the race card on Ketanji Brown Jackson Lawmakers skeptical of Biden effort to resurrect Iran nuclear deal Relearning our lesson on dealing with extortionists MORE, who didnt think Churchill deserved being honored in such a way.

Winston Churchill once said of one of his political rivals, hes a humble man with much to be humble about.

Churchills quote rings true to me in the sense of what Republicans should be preparing to do once they take the majority this coming November.

My old boss, Denny Hastert, used to have a mantra when he was Speaker of the House about the utility of underpromising and overdelivering.

Republicans often tend to overpromise and underdeliver.

For example, during the tea party years, they frequently promised to balance the budget, reform entitlements and repeal ObamaCare.

Similarly, when George W. Bush won reelection in 2005, he promised to fundamentally reform the Social Security program.

The Contract with America made many bold promises for the 1994 elections, which they published as a supplement to the once popular TV Guide magazine.But you had to read the fine print to really understand what Newt GingrichNewton (Newt) Leroy GingrichMORE and Dick Armey were promising to voters.They werent promising that their radically common-sense agenda would be signed into law. They were promising that it would get a vote on the House floor within the first 100 days of Republican rule in 1995.

Much of what the Newt and his gang promised had nothing to do with a policy agenda.It had everything to do with cleaning up the House itself, which had been used and abused for four decades by a rapacious Democratic majority. And so the Republicans promised crazy stuff like requiring all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply to Congress, selecting an independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of the House, cutting the size and the power of the committees by a third, limiting the terms of committee chairmen, banning the casting of proxy votes in committee, and requiring that committee hearings be open to the public.

In the context of today, none of these things seem all that revolutionary. But back in 1995, cleaning out the House of Representatives and bringing power back to the people was seen as truly game changing.

Twenty-seven six later, it is time for the Republicans to channel the revolutionary spirit of the class of 1994, focusing first on fixing the process and then getting to the policy items that differentiate the GOP from the Democrats.

Fixing the process is essential because House Speaker Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiSarah Palin says she'd serve in Don Young's seat 'in a heartbeat' Clyburn files to run for 16th House term House staff turnover highest in 20 years: study MORE (D-Calif.) and House Democrats have completely trashed it ever since they took over in 2018.

First, they have to get rid of proxy voting on the House floor.The purpose of having a Congress in the first place is bringing people together.You cant bring people together if they can work for home.

Second, they have to fix the budget and appropriations process. The president still hasnt submitted his budget for the year and it is almost the end of March.

Third, power needs to flow back to the members and away from the leadership.There needs to be a return to regular order, where the committees are given the opportunity to find solutions to problems and not have their jurisdiction subverted by a power-hungry Speaker.

Fourth, members need to be able to offer amendments to the legislative process.The rights of the minority should be protected.

Finally, no member should be banished from serving on all legislative committees. What Pelosi and the Democrats have done to kick members that they dislike of all committees is despicable. It disenfranchises the hundreds of thousands of constituents who live in the districts of these members.

When Republicans take the House majority, they should be modest in their policy goals but aggressive in fixing a broken process. It wont be easy to get major things done with a closely split Senate and a president of the other party. Cleaning up the House should be far easier and today is far more important.

Feehery is a partner at EFB Advocacy and blogs atwww.thefeeherytheory.com. He served as spokesman to former House SpeakerDennis HastertJohn (Dennis) Dennis HastertFeehery: Traitor to his class Feehery: Biden's weakness on Ukraine invited Russian invasion Feehery: The end of innocence MORE(R-Ill.), as communications director to former House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas), and as a speechwriter to former House Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.).

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Feehery: Time for Republicans to channel the revolutionary spirit of the class of 1994 | TheHill - The Hill