Opps, after further review I have come to the conclution that the word "we" is not a third person term.

Don_Diego:
I notice that where you refer to yourself in the third person you used the plural “we”. Have you multiple personalities or do you make some grandiose claim to speak for all who read these comments?
I have posted in defense of the unborn and obeying the law, against union tactics and unionization of public school teachers and in favor of drilling for oil. I am in favor of freedom and opposed to ever increasing government spending and the inevitable tax increases that spending demands. If you choose to characterize my opinions as “pro-business” you are free to do so, but I suspect that you are too quick to characterize due to your resistance to considering the merits of opinions you don’t like.

billnewbie- we have all read your pro-business conservative posts before. While you never "defend" the WMC, your prior posts give you away. Don't think yourself too subtle or nuanced.

Billclyde- I am against lobbying by anyone, unions or otherwise, and I am against electing judges.

markr and Janesvillean - sure, ok, Wiley may have couched his concerns in softer terms in the past, but, to blast a major trade association for participating in the process, to the degree McCain-Feingold has polluted the process, is simply cowardice. Not to mention that he has remained silent on WEAC buying the DPI seat every 4 years.
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Wiley has lived in an ivory tower for his entire professional career - he has never created one job, he has never spent a single dollar of his own money to train employees, never had to pay a payroll before he himself was paid.
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Yet, Wiley claims paying a professor $150k to $200k for maybe 12 hours of class time with students - maybe 12 hours, usually it is a TA who directs class time - simply because the UW will lose talent if we are not competitive with other institutions, is the base cause for sky-rocketing tuitions.
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Janesvillean and Markr, I suggest you re-read the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights before you try to define what is extreme and what is not.
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WMC could be doing more (lobbying) for charter schools, learning annexes, tech schcols, and distance (internet) learning to earn degrees, but until Wiley and his kind stop defending the educational status quo, then I guess the battle of ideas will be elections rather than classrooms.

long time gone, you're just typing without knowing the facts. You don't know what you're talking about. On at least two other occasions, while he still had a lot to lose, Mr. Wiley addressed this issue. To say that he did not is absolutely false.

Professor, excellent point. It's always an issue that major donations were used to "buy" an election, and nobody ever blames the real guilty party: ourselves. We're the idiots that cast the votes that truly determine the outcome of any election.

If Don_Diego is consistent we can expect a number of other posts from him condeming groups that attempt to influence a campaign in the coming months. I am sure he is also against labor unions, AARP, groups such as the Sierra Club, etc donating to or buying ads during a campaign, right Don?

LTG, that's a pretty low blow. The law prevents generals from criticizing the President and other policymakers. And as noted, Wiley has been among the voices criticizing WMC in the past.
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And certainly criticizing a lobbying group is not an "extreme" position. Advocating overthrowing the government is "extreme", but ever since Ronald Reagan started calling people who wanted better environmental or social policies "extremists", people seem to think the word means somebody who takes any contrary political position. How sad for us.
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intrigued, you have made many good points. It is indeed strange that WMC is attacking the very manifestation of the "Wisconsin Idea", i.e. that having an educated populace is better for everyone in the state including businesses.

I've never completely understood WMC's disdain for the UW system. Sure they have had some major gaff's in the last few years but all in all (OK, I'm a 2 time alumnus) I think it is an awesome system that contributes greatly to Wisconsin's quality of life. In addition, where does WMC want the future economic leaders in Wisconsin to come from? Universities in other states? If WMC is such a great organization why is Wisconsin bleeding jobs the way it is? Why aren't they attacking GM for closing the Janesville plant and the other companies in the state that have taken their business elsewhere? Seems like that would be more in their jurisdiction.
Finally, Mr. Wiley did come out with much of this in the alumni magazine about a year ago. It was a great article. This is clearly not the first time he has voiced this opinion.

Neither WMC nor WEAC should be able to buy any election. But, 'we the people' can't be concerned about that. We have more important things to worry about, like the circumstances surrounding Brett Favre. People know and care more about that than they do about the supreme court, or any other aspect of our state and national affairs. And, I'm sure we in Wisconsin will all drink to that, too....

Why do these pointy-headed academics always take their shots on their way out the door?
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I may agree or disagree with Wiley's assessment, but no way would he risk his stature, his pay raises that were dependent on Legislative/Board of Regent approval, AND his post retirement, cushy consulting gig he now has, to make these same claims a few years ago.
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A reporter should ask Wiley how many times he has been invited to the WMC offices, or talked to WMC after a legislative hearing, or saw WMC folks at the Madison Club, and never ever never made these same claims.
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Lastly, how many times has Wiley criticized WEAC for their politicization of the office of DPI??
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DPI is the most useless office in WI, and yet as leader of academic excellence and quality research, Wiley is a coward to stand-up to his colleagues in the educational arena.
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He is no better than the generals who retire from their military branches and THEN, go public with all that is/was wrong with execution of the war.

Re-examine my post señor, I was not defending WMC but instead pointing out Wiley's pretentiousness. Forgive me if my post was too nuanced.

billnewbie is defending a group that bought another seat on the Supreme Court donating millions to the most expensive Supreme Court race in history. Way to go billnewbie.

I have disagreed with Wiley on a number of issues, but he is spot-on here. WMC paid a lot of the bills in the recent, rancorous Supreme Court election and has regularly atacked funding for UW.

If Wisconsin wants UW to remain a vital force in attacting business and training workers, it needs the tools (people, money, political support) to do so. WMC's actions and those of some of the legislature are very short-sighted.

Plus, you've got to love a guy who doesn't "go gentle into that good night."

Maybe WMC should do some self examination, after all no one in the state has more experience with political extremism than Wiley.
What an example of the pot calling the kettle black!