Marketplace Today Blog

By Diana Marrero
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

News that former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson just signed on to a private equity fund’s advisory board set off new speculation that the popular Republican politician likely will not run for the U.S. Senate.

Political observers on “Tommy watch” see Thompson’s new role as an indication that he might not be seriously considering a matchup against Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold.

Peak Ridge AgTech Fund said Wednesday that it added Thompson to its advisory board. The fund, run out of the Madison office of Peak Ridge Capital, invests in young companies working on improving agricultural production.

Thompson, a partner at the law firm Akin Gump, has long served on a number of company boards.

Great Lakes funding: House Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D–Wausau) sees himself as a great supporter of the Great Lakes. But when a Michigan Republican began circulating a letter around the U.S. House asking lawmakers to pressure Obey to increase funding for the Great Lakes, Obey lashed out, arguing too many of his colleagues demand funding for certain programs while declining to support the spending bill that carries out the request.

In his letter to colleagues Thursday, Obey noted that many members who “profess concern about the Great Lakes in fact voted against the bill which contained that funding when it came before the House last year.”

“I would ask whether that is enough to give hypocrisy a bad name,” he wrote.

Midwest lawmakers have criticized President Barack Obama’s budget for asking Congress to set aside $300 million next year for Great Lakes restoration efforts, saying it’s not enough. Congress approved $475 million for the Great Lakes last year.

Rep. Mike Rogers, author of the letter that set off Obey, called the Great Lakes “the crown jewel of our region,” noting that 40 million people rely on the lakes for drinking water and that the lakes are being threatened by invasive species, contaminated sediment and pollution.

“Full funding of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is imperative to continue the protection of our Great Lakes,” wrote Rogers, who voted against the spending bill last year that significantly increased funding for the restoration of the Great Lakes.

Meanwhile, Obey says he will look “very carefully at the administration’s request to determine whether their proposed cutback is justified or whether it is not.”

“We will decide that issue on the merit, not in a knee-jerk way,” he wrote.

Butler’s nomination: A key Senate panel once again voted to support Louis Butler’s nomination for the federal bench in Wisconsin’s Western District. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 12–7 along party lines to advance Butler’s nomination.

Butler, a former state Supreme Court justice, must be confirmed by the full Senate. It’s unclear whether Republicans will try to block his nomination.

Republicans have been critical of Butler, noting that Wisconsin voters twice rejected him at the ballot box. They also say they are troubled by several of his rulings as a judge.

Butler was among seven nominees who failed to gain Senate approval before the chamber adjourned for the year in December. Republican leaders could have agreed to allow the nominations to continue pending in the Senate but insisted on sending the names back to the White House — signaling their opposition to the nominees. Obama resubmitted Butler’s name to the Senate in January.

U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl (D–Wisconsin) said he hopes his colleagues in the Senate will vote to confirm him without additional delay.

Feingold and campaign finance: Sen. Russ Feingold asked colleagues on a key Senate panel Tuesday to help craft legislation to curtail corporate influence in elections after a recent Supreme Court ruling struck down earlier limits. Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat who worked with Republican Sen. John McCain to curb corporate money in politics, said lawmakers should act swiftly in response to the court’s ruling.

“This terrible decision deserves as robust a response as possible,” he said. “Nothing less than the future of our democracy is at stake.”

So far, McCain, who is being challenged by a conservative Republican in Arizona’s GOP Senate primary, has not signed on to work with Democrats on ways to mitigate the Supreme Court decision. Critics say the ruling will open floodgates to corporate influence in elections.

Limbaugh remark: In a recent video, Osama bin Laden criticized former President George W. Bush for failing to address global warming. Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh seized on the message during his show Jan. 29, joking that bin Laden sounded as if he were mouthing “Democratic talking points.”

“Does this not sound like an average Democrat? It sounds like this could easily be Russ Feingold, the senator from Wisconsin,” Limbaugh said.

Feingold’s office declined to comment.