3 BILLS SHOW HOW GOP FLIP-FLOPS ON VALUES

I really wish these professional Republicans would make up their minds.

They've told us for years now that there's too much government in our
lives. In Washington they decry government regulation as something akin to
old communism.

Here at the State Capitol the governor and most of his minions in the
Legislature rail about the need for more privatization.

Funny thing, though, those rantings about the evils of government seem to
apply only to constituencies near and dear to the GOP's heart -- mainly the
captains of big business. Most stalwart Republicans also don't think that
we ought to be telling the World Trade Organization to consider working
conditions and the environment in its operations. Free market works best,
you know. Never mind for whom.

Alas, though, once again we discover that big, bad government is only big
and bad when it might interfere with those with the big bucks and big
campaign contributions.

Take this last week at the State Capitol, for instance. No less than three
bills were introduced by Republican legislators aimed not at curtailing the
reach of big government, but making government even more intrusive than it
already is.

For instance, there's a proposal by West Bend Republican Glenn Grothman to
make it tougher for girls under 18 to get birth control pills. No matter
the circumstances, parents would have to be notified first. By all means,
we ought to make sure government is sticking its nose into family decisions
involving intimate matters like sex.

Then DuWayne Johnsrud, the Eastman Republican who thinks we ought to be
able to shoot cranes, wants state government to bar any future "Weedstock''
festivals. That's the annual event that promotes the legalization of
marijuana. Certainly we need a law against that.

And then our own Rick Skindrud, the Mount Vernon GOPer who often laments
the intrusion of government, thinks we need a state law to make it illegal
for the UW's athletic department to spend "taxpayer money'' on Rose Bowls.

Never mind, of course, that the department never has spent taxpayer money
- -- ticket or booster money, yes, but not money from taxes -- on the Rose Bowl.

Yet, surely, we need another law.

Sex, marijuana protests and football spending all need "more and better''
government regulation.

But just try to get these same legislators to regulate credit card charges
or investigate banking fees or slow down on deregulating utilities or the
telecommunications industry.

Funny how their view of government changes then.