Economics
HOW DO WE FORGET?
How do we forget over two hundred years of the Wisconsin dream? How do we look at what our fathers and mothers bequeathed us, and throw it all away for the promise of more jobs, or less taxes? Are we so much less than previous generations that we can throw out any measure of the ideal we expect for our children and our children's children? I am asking these questions of my neighbors and fellow statesmen, because that is exactly what Scott Walker is asking us to do with his current budget proposal.
In one fiscal proposal the governor is asking us to dump the Wisconsin ...
WALKER’S SHALLOWNESS
A letter to the editor
Oh what a difference a week can make in the lives of people in the news. If you doubt me, check with newscaster Brian William, former Olympian athlete Chris Jenner, Or, closer to home, Gov. Scott Walker. At least Jenner wasn’t caught lying, but rather being honest.
The last week of January was good to Walker. His speech to conservative and reactionary Iowans went over well though, of course, he was preaching to the choir. But then came his February 1 interview with ABC’s Martha Raddatz, who quizzed him on foreign affairs matters, and his ...
WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM?
The power of money in politics is on our minds these days, especially since the Koch brothers just announced that they will be spending almost a BILLION dollars on the 2016 election.
What’s in it for the Koch brothers? To bypass party politics altogether.
Why? To govern on their terms.
What would that mean? In 1980, David Koch ran for vice president on the Libertarian ticket. The party platform answers this question. Here are a few excerpts:
Repeal federal campaign finance laws, and abolish the Federal Election Commission.
Abolish Medicare and Medicaid....
WISDOM FOR JUSTICE
Religion at its very best is universal. It knows no boundaries, transcends all divisions and labels, judges not, excludes none. It is the ancient and eternal quest for a decent humanity, for caring societies and communities, for seeking unity with others. It accepts. It knows the human acts of thinking, questioning, doubting, of fearlessly seeking the truth, as deeply moral endeavors. It moves convictions to actions.
The Wisconsin faith based organization known as Wisdom is the embodiment of religion at its best. A member of the international network known as the ...
IMPORTANT PETITION – FAIR COMMUNITY ENERGY CONVERSATION
RePower Madison, a citizens action group in the Madison area, is asking people to sign the petition linked below asking Madison Gas and Electric executives to establish a "full and fair community conversation." Although the results of the petition were to be delivered on January 26th,the petition is being left open beyond this date and can be signed by any concerned citizen.
Contact: Mitch Brey, 920-323-9585
Date: January 26 2015
More than 750 Customers Deliver Petition to MGE asking for a Fair Community Energy Conversation
A petition in response to MGE’s ...
What Happened To the Notion of Us? A Declaration of Action
What is to become of us as a nation? Do we talk about each other in those terms or do we talk about how we function as a nation as “us and them.” I am not blameless. My worldview has been shaped by my experiences. I am human and I am guilty of viewing those on the other side of the political fence as having little empathy for others.
But deep in my heart, I do not want to believe it to be this way.
We are all being played - played by the Koch Brothers, the 1% ers and their ilk. We are constantly bombarded that “others” are to blame - the poor, the Unions, the ...
MINNESOTA WON AND WISCONSIN LOST
A letter to the editor:
Minnesota’s Governor Dayton did just the opposite of Wisconsin’s Governor Walker. Dayton raised taxes on the super wealthy and corporations who had already received the huge Bush tax cuts, and the results speak for themselves:
Minnesota ended 2014 with a $1.23 Billion Surplus that is expected to keep rising
Wisconsin faces a $2.2 Billion Deficit for 2015
In the past 25 years the nation’s economy has grown by 83 percent, and workers today produce twice as many goods and services per hour on the job as they did in 1989. But after ...
NOT A DEMOCRAT . . . . A HUMBLE OPINION
As the dust settles on the November elections and the Democrats assess the damage, one thing seems increasingly clear. . . it is no longer clear at all just who or what is a Democrat. Given the apparent identity crisis, a process of elimination may be in order. . .
If you are not willing to openly fight the historic wealth inequality that has replaced democracy in America, you are not a Democrat.
If you are not publicly advocating the breakup of “too big to fail” Wall Street banks, you are not a Democrat.
If you do not rigorously support criminal prosecution ...
Quotations From Republican Senator Dale Schultz
By the Middle Wisconsin Editorial Board
“We are now literally dismantling the state government, and people need to think long and hard about what they want for a future in our state,”
“The K-12 system in the last few years has laid off 3,000 personnel, and it looks to me like that’s going to accelerate. Out my way, I would not be shocked if a huge percentage of school districts wind up going to referendum to have the privilege of raising their own property tax because the state has walked away from its principal responsibility of providing for a ...
Wisconsin Becoming a Low-Wage Economy
By Jeanne Larson
UW-Milwaukee Professor Marc Levine's October 2014 study for the Center for Economic Development, "Is Wisconsin Becoming a Low-Wage Economy? Employment Growth in Low, Middle, and High Wage Occupations: 2000-2013," uses Bureau of Labor Statistics data to illustrate a troubling long-term trend in Wisconsin: the number of low-wage jobs is growing much faster than middle- or high-wage occupations.
Levine divided Wisconsin's 750 occupations into three tiers based on median wages, the midpoint where half the workers in the job are paid more, half are paid ...
