127 results for author: Phil Anderson
Leadership to Move Forward
The struggle is not over. The blue wave was successful in many places across the country. But it was not a tsunami. It did not wash away all the obstacles to building a better, more just America.The good news is we no longer have complete Republican control in Wisconsin and nationally. The downside is that we have a divided government, and legislative gridlock will be the likely result. But this does not mean we can't move forward with a progressive agenda. There is a positive path forward that can build on the success of this election. We can continue the process of building grassroots support for a progressive agenda in preparation for 2020....
Wisconsin’s Other Choices
Electing a governor or president gets a lot of press attention. Voters have plenty of opportunity to learn about these candidates. But in a federal system of government, like ours, other state and local offices are also important. Too often these “down ballot” candidates don't get the attention they deserve. Often people going to the polls don't even know who is running for these offices. They don't know the qualifications, political philosophy, or agenda of these candidates. They don't know what difference one candidate or the other might make. In short, they can't vote knowledgeably.This article is for voters in northwest Wisconsin. It looks ...
More Wisconsin Choices November 6th
This article is for voters of northwest Wisconsin and continues our look at the other candidates on the November 6th ballot.Wisconsin Assembly Democrat Nick Milroy is the incumbent in the 73rd Assembly district (most of Douglas County). He has been elected to three terms and is unopposed in this election. Nick has been a biology teacher and has worked as a biologist for state, federal, and tribal agencies. Nick is a strong advocate for people and the environment.Beth Meyers is the Democratic, two term incumbent representative for Assembly district 74 (Bayfield, Ashland, Iron and Price and parts of Douglas counties). She has been a social ...
Causes of Poverty
History often repeats itself but we seldom learn from the past. The Gilded Age is being repeated. A tiny few have unprecedented fortunes while many working people stay in poverty and the middle class is shrinking. Today Victorian attitudes about the poor still hold sway in 21st century America.In Victorian England “respectable” people believed the poor were poor because of their laziness and moral failings. They were in poverty because they didn't work hard enough. This is a commonly held belief in modern America. Today many politicians repeat the same false belief that people are poor because of their own behavior. Immigrants are rapists and ...
Socialism Supports the Troops… So Why Not the Rest of Us?
This year a number of candidates for state and national offices are running as democratic socialists. Many of these candidates are women and minorities. AND they are being successful in the primary elections! It appears that younger voters are looking for real solutions to our problems and are not as susceptible to meaningless attack ad labels.Bernie Sanders is a democratic socialist. But Bernie does not intend to change the structure of the economy. Rather he simply advocates making the economy work better by being more inclusive. His support for universal healthcare, affordable college, regulation of Wall Street, and increasing the minimum wage ...
A Tale of Two States
“It's the economy stupid.” James Carville, aide to Bill Clinton in the 1992 presidential race.In the Wisconsin election for governor the state of the economy is a big issue. Governor Scott Walker claims to be improving the state's economy and making Wisconsin “open for business” with his conservative policies. But prosperity has not trickled down to many working people or to many areas of the state. Minnesota took a different path and the results have been better. Who gets elected does make a difference in the lives of people. Wisconsin voters should take note of these differences.Wisconsin and Minnesota are very similar in many ...
“Supporting” the Troops Hypocrisy
“White House Takes Aim at Financial Protections For Military,”“The Trump administration is taking aim at a law designed to protect military service members from getting cheated by shady lending practices.”National Public Radio, August 13, 2018.“Mulvaney Looks to Weaken Oversight of Military Lending,” “The Trump administration is planning to suspend routine examinations of lenders for violations of the Military Lending Act, which was devised to protect military service members and their families from financial fraud, predatory loans and credit card gouging, according to internal agency documents.” New York Times, August ...
Why Care about the Environment?
“Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species -man- acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.” Rachel Carson author of Silent Spring“These temple destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and, instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the mountains, lift them to the Almighty Dollar.” John MuirIn 1969 the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire. There was so much oil and flammable chemicals floating on the river that it could burn. I saw this river when I worked on the US Steel ore boats in the early 1970s and went up the Cuyahoga ...
MOM AND APPLE PIE
“...remember the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could.” Abigail AdamsIn 1776, Abigail Adams, the wife of John Adams, wrote a letter to her husband asking that the political and legal status of women be improved under the new government being formed. She was asking that the revolutionary rhetoric about being “created equal” and “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” include women. The founding fathers did not remember the ladies in 1776, nor in 1789 when writing the Constitution. Nor ...
IF A TREE DIES IN THE WOODS
If a tree dies in the woods does it make a sound? Does it tell us something? Should we be paying attention?My wife and I live in the woods. We are fortunate to have some nice mature trees on our property. Walking through the woods recently, I noticed a nice white pine had inexplicably died. It was a beautiful, healthy, 26 inch diameter tree, maybe 70 feet high. But this summer it died suddenly. Why? Everything dies. Nature is always in flux. Is this normal life and death? Or is this a harbinger of things to come?We don't know why this particular tree died. The most logical explanation is the wild swings in weather we have been having. This ...