Editorial
By Roy Griffaw
President, RTO Online Inc.

Kudos to His Excellency for making a political living by the simplest of mottos;  Profit bad, People stupid.

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle (D) caved today, vetoing SB 268, a law that would have given consumers in Wisconsin the same choices available in 47 other states.

Despite wild claims to the contrary by the honorable State Senator Glenn I'm-really-a-Democrat-but-if-I-say-so-I-won't-get-re-elected Grothman, SB268 went above and beyond all other state laws, offering rent to own consumers unprecedented protections.

The primary reason given by activists for opposition to SB 268 was a statement made by the national trade association that there could be hundreds of RTO stores in Wisconsin. Had that statement not been made, Democrats would have come up with some other reason to trade outrage for donations; Like the tried and true "RTO preys on the poor" argument. Note to AARP who joined other groups in opposing SB 268 - How is Paul Harvey's peddling $1,500 air mattresses to old people not preying on the elderly, but renting a refrigerator to a working single mom is preying on the poor? Proof I suppose that if a reason for being unreasonable does not exist, a liberal will create one.

I don't know what surprises me more, that Jim Doyle caved, or the fact that his utter weakness and lack of true leadership surprises me at all. As the saying goes; A leopard, or in this case a snake, never changes it's spots. Doyle will continue to do a strip-tease for Wisconsin industry in an effort to gain contributions, votes and political advantage. But in the end a strip tease is still a tease.

As Attorney General, Doyle swam through the red ink of Wisconsin business owners on his way to the Governors mansion. He made his bones winning class action lawsuits, in his words non-tax revenue sources, against companies trying to do nothing more than give the state's consumers what other states enjoy and what Wisconsin consumers demand. But you don't get headlines in the Dairy State for working hard and being reasonable. The easy road has always been Doyle's route of choice; same spine, different office.

After taking office, Governor Doyle made what appeared to be an honest effort at actual leadership. He then sadly, but in hindsight predictably, went screaming back to his roots; surrender at the first sign of resistance and support whoever whines the loudest. Doyle has apparently decided that 4 negative newspaper articles in 24 hours outweigh the majority considered opinion of both houses of the Wisconsin legislature. Kudos to His Excellency for making a political living by the simplest of mottos;  Profit bad, People stupid.

I'm reminded of the man who put one hand in boiling water and the other in ice water. On average he felt pretty good. If one averages Governor Doyle with the other quintessential Wisconsin politician Joseph McCarthy, on average I suppose it's not so bad.

Advice to Wisconsin industry - Move. Good night, and good luck.