The year of divisiveness

Happy New Year! 2019 is rapidly coming to a close, and what a year it has been. Not necessarily in a good way. We remain as divided as we have ever been politically, and as a result, little has gotten done. In Wisconsin, power is divided between the democrat Governor and the republican controlled legislature. Little surprise then that aside from passing a new state budget that keeps the government funded, little got done. In Washington, democrats control the senate, but republicans hold the White House and the House of Representatives. Little progress was made on the national level as well, aside from passing a bloated spending bill. Along the way, we have seen political obstructionism at its worst. The end game these days seems to be using whatever means necessary to ensure the other side fails. We have seen that at the state level, where legislators stripped Governor Tony Evers and his Attorney General of many of their powers, even before they took office. Evers called a special session to address gun control, and they didn’t even have a debate before adjourning. He called for a meeting to approve the release of money to fight homelessness, and no lawmakers showed up. We have seen it in Washington where political dirty tricks rose to new heights. As we approach the new year, we hope for better behavior. Perhaps even an effort to work together. But keep in mind, 2020 is an election year, so things are likely to get worse before they get better.