Government
When The Chickens Come Home
Wisconsin Public Radio recently reported that the Walker administration is not enforcing fire safety codes. The laws requiring fire suppression sprinklers in apartment buildings are in conflict with another anti-regulation law passed by the Walker wrecking crew.
As I have written in the past, there are consequences to the destructive, mean spirited, short sighted, ideologically driven agendas of the radical Republicans now in charge of Wisconsin and the nation. The consequences of their senseless actions frequently hurt people. Refusing to enforce basic fire safety for ...
GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS
In the last five months, seven Door County communities have shown their support for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would get money out of politics and give citizens their voices back in our elections.
The city of Sturgeon Bay, the towns of Baileys Harbor, Egg Harbor, Forestville and Liberty Grove along with the villages of Egg Harbor and Ephraim, all have unanimously approved resolutions backing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that proclaims that corporations are not persons and money is not speech.
They are part of a tremendous grassroots movement ...
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY FOR ALL IN A POLARIZED AGE
Thomas Berg, leading scholar on law and religion, will speak at the fall Veninga Lecture Series on Religion and Society on October 12.
Thomas Berg is professor of law and public policy at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul
As Berg puts it, "We live in polarized times, and in recent years, disputes over religious liberty have contributed to the polarization. Many Americans tend to emphasize liberty and equality of, for example, Muslims or same-sex couples. Many others tend to emphasize it for conservative Christians.
There seems little overlap between those ...
Ruminations on Foxconn
The giant electronics manufacturer Foxconn has announced it will locate in Wisconsin. It supposedly plans to spend $10 billion to create a “campus” to build LCD panels. The politicians were, of course, tripping over themselves to get in on the photo op. But I wonder if the old adage applies: “If it sounds too good to be true...it probably is.”
The announcement was held at the White House. Foxconn CEO Terry Gou, President Trump, Governor Walker, and House Speaker Paul Ryan were in attendance. Trump, with typical arrogance, said it wouldn't have happened if he ...
PITY THE NATION BY LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI
PITY THE NATION BY LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI
Pity the nation whose people are sheep,
And whose shepherds mislead them.
Pity the nation whose leaders are liars, whose sages are silenced,
And whose bigots haunt the air waves.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice,
Except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero
And aims to rule the world with force and by torture.
Pity the nation that knows no other language but its own
And no other culture but its own.
Pity the nation whose breath is money
And sleeps the sleep of the too well ...
HEALTH CARE: STEPS TO THE FUTURE
An older man contacted me recently with a problem. A visit to the doctor left him with thousands in unpaid bills. Medicare deemed the tests “routine” and not a “medical necessity.” But the gentleman was told, for his occupation, the tests were absolutely necessary.
He was left with a medical bill costing more than his 2017 income.
The top-notch staff at the Department of Health Services (DHS), discovered the man was likely eligible for Medicaid. But the man wasn’t interested.
The constituent relations department within DHS has been a godsend over the ...
FIREFIGHTERS EARNED AND DESERVE THEIR PENSIONS
By Steve Wilding, Fire Fighter, Oak Creek Local 1848
Every day, firefighters like me put our lives on the line for communities across the state. Whatever time of the day it is, when the bell rings in the firehouse, we take the call. We strap up, hop on our trucks, and race to the car accident, house or office building fire. We do it without question, knowing the risks or dangers that may lie ahead. We work hard and long hours and our bodies deteriorate quickly due to long-term stress, but we know that we can retire with dignity thanks to our defined benefit pension.
...
LIBRARIANS DESERVE RETIREMENT SECURITY
I was a librarian for a total of 30 years in Wisconsin and spent the last 23 years working in La Crosse schools. Becoming a librarian was definitely a calling. I enjoyed teaching others to read and appreciate literature, the challenge of research and teaching children to do it, and mastering and teaching the new technologies as they came along. Not everything is easy in this profession. Each day presented a new set of challenges, but when working with children, there is never a dull moment. Librarians often take home low pay, but have the promise of a guaranteed secure ...
Wausau Fair Maps Town Hall
On June 21st, the Citizen Action of WI North Central Organizing Co-op hosted Sachin Chheda with the WI Fair Elections Project. He brought Wendy Sue Johnson, a plaintiff in Whitford vs. Gill. They were joined by Hans Breitrnmoser, a Lincoln County Board Supervisor and North Central Organizing Co-op member who recently worked to pass a County resolution asking for non-partisan redistricting. Since that time, 18 other counties have passed similar resolution (Wood County started with the first resolution in 2014...all others came after Lincoln County).
Most recently, Katie ...
Constitutional Roulette
The far right efforts to re-write the U.S. Constitution moved closer to happening this week. The Wisconsin Assembly passed several resolutions calling for a national constitutional convention. This highly risky proposal is unnecessary. It is a dangerous gamble with our democracy and current political system. And it is a con job designed to achieve an objective very different than claimed by its supporters.
Article V of the U.S. Constitution allows a convention for proposing amendments if two-thirds of the states (34) call for one. Amendments and other changes must be ...
