Voting is like driving. “D” is for going forward. “R” is for going backward.

I saw this soundbite on a bumper sticker years ago. I painted it onto a piece of scrape plywood and I put it up on my county road prior to elections. Hopefully someone might get a clue by seeing this tidbit of common sense.

Tom Tiffany claims to be the champion of common sense. He frequently pontificates about bringing  the “common sense” of the good people of rural, small town Wisconsin – the “real Americans” of the “heartland” – to Madison or Washington, D.C. But this is just more of his deceptive, empty rhetoric.
The truth is Tiffany’s “common sense” makes no sense at all. It is harmful to people and destructive to our society and economy. This statement is easily proven by looking at his voting record and his harmful beliefs and actions.

It is clearly common sense that water is life and we all are dependent on nature. So protecting the environment and not polluting the air we breath, the water we drink and the soil that grows our food should be a high priority. But Tiffany’s voting record on environmental issues is awful.

In the Wisconsin legislature Tiffany led the efforts to end Wisconsin’s mining laws that required proof that a company could mine without polluting our water. He voted to cut funding for the DNR resulting in staff cuts that weakening oversight of pollution by industry and large scale farming operations.

As a result Wisconsin now has serious problems with contaminated ground and well water from PFAS forever chemicals, agricultural chemicals and manure runoff.

At the federal level Tiffany has voted for the Trump cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and funding for scientific research across many agencies and universities. Current research in Lake Michigan to find controls for the invasive Zebra mussel is being impacted. The mussels are decimating white fish populations and impacting commercial fishing.

Tiffany doesn’t even mention environmental protection on his campaign website (although he rants about “unaccountable bureaucrats” and oppressive “regulations”). All this is not common sense, it is shortsighted stupidity.

On his website Tiffany claims to be concerned about schools and the education of our children. But after 15 years of voting for cuts to K-12 education this is extremely hypocritical.

He says we should “prepare kids for success” and to do this children “should be in school learning to read, write, and do math.” This sounds like a reasonable, common sense goal but the context of this statement shows it is not about student achievement. Rather it is an attack on schools for allegedly teaching diversity, equity and inclusion – the much ballyhooed DEI that Trump and other racists use to attack common sense efforts to build a more fair and just society.

Of course, actually preparing children for future success involves much more than inculcating the three Rs. But calls to “return to the basics” in education or demand “higher standards, and honest report cards” (Tiffany’s words) are great election campaign fodder. On education Tiffany offers  empty promises but with no real solutions or funding.

Tiffany’s common sense that isn’t includes opposing green energy. Parroting Trump, he calls solar- and wind- generated electricity “unreliable” and “intermittent.” He says as governor he will “[Power] Wisconsin with reliable, affordable energy again“(meaning with fossil fuels).

But he is wrong about the value of these technologies. Plus private industry generates electricity, not state government. He has no ability to “power” anything but campaign hot air. 
Solar and wind are very reliable and increasing in popularity because they work and significantly reduce people’s electricity bills. Just ask anyone with solar panels. Yes, the sun doesn’t always shine, nor the wind always low, but when it does you are producing electricity at a lower cost than any other fuel.

If you are hooked into the grid (99% are) or off grid with battery backup there are no problems with intermittent power. Homeowners wouldn’t see any difference except for the lower power bills.
Regarding affordability, the average payback for solar installation in Wisconsin is 9-13 years (and Wisconsin is not the best for sun). The life expectancy of solar panels is 25-30 years.

Given the volatility of petroleum prices, solar looks very affordable and predictable. Plus no foreign countries and no multinational corporations control the supply of sunshine.

So Tom’s “common sense” opposition to green energy turns out to be just common ignorance.

Tiffany has supported Trump’s disastrous, illegal and inhumane immigration actions. His campaign website says, “Tom led the fight to secure our borders and end sanctuary cities...” He promises to protect “Wisconsin workers from being undercut by foreign labor.” He says the “prosperity of all Wisconsinites will always be his top priority.”

Again, Tiffany is demonstrating his ignorance rather than any common sense.

As I wrote about in three articles in October and November of 2023, undocumented immigrants are a very minor problem. The vast majority of them are law abiding, hard working, tax paying decent people who came here for all the same reasons our ancestors came. They are seeking freedom, safety, opportunity and a better life.

Experts have documented that immigrants are less likely to commit violent crimes than the rest of us. They are doing jobs the rest of us don’t want – not taking away our jobs. They are not illegally taking advantage of social services. They rarely come here to have babies.

Trump and Tiffany are lying to stir up division and hate for political gain.

Yes, being undocumented is against the law. But it is not criminal. It is same level of “crime” as driving, hunting, selling insurance or building a garage without a license or permit. It is a civil misdemeanor not a criminal offense. So arresting people without warrants, and detaining them without charges, or due process, in concentration camp conditions, is unjust, illegal and inhumane.

As often happens with bad leadership, there is “collateral damage.” Trumps deportation and incarceration mania is having an impact on the economy and creating severe labor shortages in many industries. Farmers in Wisconsin and Minnesota are being heavily impacted.

All this will impact everyone at the grocery store. Add in the price increases from Trump’s stupid tariff wars and American consumers are in for hard times.

None of this is necessary or common sense. It is simply stupid. Remember voting “D” is for moving forward.