309 results for author: Phil Anderson

Taxes, Debt and War

“War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes.” President James Madison (1751-1836) Today well over half the discretionary federal budget (your income tax dollars) go for war, weapons of war and the bureaucracies of war – the “armies” from which “proceed debt and taxes.” A large percentage of the national debt is the result of Pentagon spending and the cost of wars. We spend more on “defense” than the next 10 military powers in the world combined (and most of those ten are our allies). In 1953 President Dwight Eisenhower said, “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in ...

Perfect Is The Enemy of The Good

“We’d all like to vote for the best man, but he’s never a candidate.” Kin Hubbard (1868-1930), an American cartoonist, humorist and journalist. “How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?” Anonymous I have been reading about and hearing from progressive's who are not happy with President Biden. He is too old, too corporate, too harsh on immigrants, too soft on environmental issues and most significantly he is a war monger. He got us into another no-win war in Ukraine. Even worse he is complicit in the crimes against humanity being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza and the West Bank. All this ...

We Can’t Soar With Turkeys

“It’s hard to soar with the eagles when you’re surrounded by turkeys.” This saying is insulting to turkeys. The wild turkeys in my neighborhood are beautiful, intelligent birds with strong and adaptable survival skills. Perhaps this is why Ben Franklin proposed having the turkey as our national bird. The eagles are also survivors, having come back from near extension because of DDT, a man made chemical. Today my wife and I often see them “soaring” at a roadside carcass to gorge on carrion. This is not the noble, patriotic image we associate with eagles. But who am I to criticize? I too have occasionally dined on roadkill. But this ...

Who has better policy ideas?

Wisconsin Assembly majority leader Robin Vos claims that Republicans have “better policy ideas for the State of Wisconsin.” He claims this will allow Republicans to continue winning elections for the legislature. But he was only putting a positive spin on being forced to accept Gov. Evers more democratic redistricting maps. Republicans may continue to win elections despite no longer having as many gerrymandered “safe” districts. But they will not win because they have “better policy ideas.” If they win it will be because they are better at manipulating the public using fear, divisiveness, misinformation and huge amounts of dirty money for ...

Wisconsin Happenings

The big story in Wisconsin is the new Assembly and Senate district maps. For a decade Wisconsin has had the most gerrymandered electoral districts in the country. The Republican legislature, fearing the Wisconsin Supreme Court creating a map, reluctantly passed Gov. Evers' redistricting plan – the least democratic option of those before the Court. Gov. Evers signed the bill and Wisconsin now has a much more competitive and democratic political landscape. This didn't happen because Republicans were willing to compromise to resolve the redistricting controversy. Nor were they acting in the best interests of Wisconsin citizens. It was simply another ...

Honest Debate vs Political Spin

As I have pointed out in prior articles, Rep. Tom Tiffany's positions on most issues are misguided and not in the best interests of most of his constituents. Tiffany's positions on the environment are especially harmful. His thinking is founded in partisan talking points and not good science, knowledge, and the history or what is actually happening to the environment. I am not being partisan in making these statements. When one examines Tiffany's own words, and compares them with the facts from reliable sources, it becomes very clear he is either misinformed, ignorant or deliberately distorting the truth for political advantage. Below are just two ...

Everybody wants to use God…

“You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” Anne Lamott, American contemporary author. “The will of God (or Allah) is the passing off of the responsibility of mankind.” Unknown source “Religious freedom exists to safeguard the right to practice religion free from persecution... Practicing religion is about what you do or don’t do, not about controlling what others do.” Dale Richter, writing in the blog host website Medium.com Recent national and world events demonstrate the dangers of mixing religious dogma and public policies. The continuing massacre ...

We Share the Blame…

“Is it for freedom or our comfort and convenience? Is it to profit for big business we pledge our allegiance? Are we prisoners in the land of the brave and the bold? Held by indifference, our hearts grown hard and cold?   From Sara Thomsen's song “Is It For Freedom.”   As a nation, our hearts have become hard and cold to the killing of innocent people all over the world. We are so accustomed to our government constantly bombing someone, somewhere that we can not see the humanity of the victims. Claiming to be defending freedom, democracy or protecting “national security” we have become prisoners of militarism. We ...

Spiritual Fruit Not Religious Nuts

“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.” Barry Goldwater, former Republican Senator (1909 – 1998). Mixing religion, politics and government is bad. This has been proven many times, in many places, over the history of the world. One need look no further than the current situation in the Middle East to understand that ...

Tiffany’s Foreign Policy Foolishness

“... when confronted by small men doing big and stupid things, we need to resist with all the wit and creativity we can muster...” Bill McKibben, environmentalist and author “Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative.” John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873), an influential British political and economic thinker. It would be impolite for me to suggest that Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany, being extremely conservative, might fit J.S. Mills famous maxim. It would not be inappropriate, however, to point out how Tiffany's own statements exemplify a small town, small minded, small ...