Politics


ACTION NEEDED ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Earth from Space
ACTION NEEDED ON CLIMATE CHANGE By Rev. Janet Wolfe Pope Francis issued his encyclical in June encouraging us to take action now on climate change. Then the Environmental Protection Agency issued its Clean Air Plan last week. Both of these are important to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the biggest contributor to global warming. Protecting the environment should not be a partisan issue, because it is extremely important for the future of the planet, for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Ninety seven percent of scientists believe that ...

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WORKERS INDEPENDENT NEWS

Workers Independent News
WORKERS INDEPENDENT NEWS (A Multimedia Voice for Workers) Doug Cunningham is the producer of Workers Independent News. This is a multimedia voice for workers. On the web you can read his daily labor news updates. You can also hear labor news on the radio. Check the website for a station near you. www.LaborRadio.org WIN (Workers Independent News) is the voice of working families in a world where the corporations dominate. There is no other national daily news on unions. Eleven per cent of US workers are unionized, a minority. News of unions are outgunned. For ...

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RIGHT-SIZING THE PENTAGON (how to reduce military spending and maintain security)

Budget
RIGHT-SIZING THE PENTAGON (how to reduce military spending and maintain security) By Philip Anderson   I believe we can reduce military spending without hurting national security. Reducing the huge cost of our military requires many reforms large and small. It requires reducing waste. We need to take the profit out of war. We need to demilitarize our foreign policy. And we need to “right size” the military. Reduce the waste. Waste is endemic in the military and is the obvious place to begin reducing costs. Waste happens everywhere at every level from ...

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PREVAILING WAGE

Steam Rollers
PREVAILING WAGE By John Spiegelhoff Prevailing wage is the minimum hourly wage employers must pay certain workers who work on construction projects where state dollars are used to fund the construction. The prevailing wage includes the employer's cost of benefits. Prevailing wage is used in any construction project funded in whole or in part by federal or state funds. For example, state-funded projects can be projects to construct highways, roads, wastewater treatment plants, public utilities, colleges, schools or park and recreation improvements. The prevailing wage ...

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WISCONSIN’S RANKING FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

Storefront with sign in window
WISCONSIN’S RANKING FOR SMALL BUSINESSES By Joyce Luedke DO YOU KNOW? June of 2015 in the latest Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation survey. ***The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurship , respected around the world, focuses on education and small business start-ups.  See page 10 for rankings and page 67 for Wisconsin’s profile. *** Wisconsin’s job creation ranking in the nation fell from 31st in December, 2014, to 38th in March*** Wisconsin’s ranking for small business start-ups dropped from 45th in 2014 to 50th in, 2015. *** Wisconsin lags the nation: ...

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BOBFEST 2015

Bob Fest 2015 Image
BOBFEST 2015 By MW Editorial Staff Mark your calendar: Saturday, September 19 is Fighting Bobfest 2015 at Breese Stevens Field, Madison. Time is 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. It is back by populist demand and is sponsored by The Progressive magazine and The Cap Times. Speakers include: Russ Feingold, Lizz Winstead, John Nichols, Mark Dimondstein, Scot Ross, Ed Schultz, Senator Tammy Baldwin, Kevin Alexander Gray, Jesse Hagopian, Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Jim Hightower, John Fugelsang, Rep. Mark Pocan, Young Gifted & Black Coalition and Ruth Conniff, editor of The Progress...

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CHOOSE “WE” INSTEAD OF “ME”

CHOOSE “WE” INSTEAD OF “ME” By John Spiegelhoff Preamble to the U.S. Constitution: We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. I had a coach during high school that always said, “There is no I in TEAM.” He was a wise teacher. He knew that the only way to succeed was to play ...

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A Wisconsin Tragedy in Three Acts

Theater Stage with Stool
A Wisconsin Tragedy in Three Acts By Nancy Kaplan, Kath Michel and Pat Slutske (of Grassroots North Shore) The word 'free' is heavily used by the Right, even in contexts where it is not appropriate.  They use it wantonly in order to control perception and influence people. Because everything 'free' must be good (like motherhood or apple pie), the word has a halo effect on other words in a phrase or sentence, magically making them inherently good too. But beware!  Right wingers use it to mask their true intentions: to strip us of the liberty and freedom democracy ...

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ELEVEN STEPS TO A MORE OPEN AND HONEST GOVERNMENT

ELEVEN STEPS TO A MORE OPEN AND HONEST GOVERNMENT By Mike McCabe Those who call the shots in Wisconsin’s Capitol show themselves to be most comfortable working in the dark . They tried to butcher the state’s open meetings law, and only backed down when their action whipped up a public firestorm. They want to do away with the highly respected state audit office. They’re itching to turn a nationally acclaimed, politically independent elections and ethics watchdog agency into a lapdog . They must have a lot to hide With open government laws under assault, ...

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Medicare and Medicaid Turn 50: Born from Compromise ~ Continuing in Controversy

Picture of Senator Vinehout
Medicare and Medicaid Turn 50: Born from Compromise ~ Continuing in ControversyBy Senator Kathleen Vinehout“Whatever you do,” the elderly woman in Gilmanton told me a few years ago, “Keep your government-run hands off my Medicare.”Medicare and Medicaid turned 50 years old on July 30, 2015. After decades of political leaders grappling on the issue of health care, it was in 1965, that then President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law.Today we take for granted what was a seminal political accomplishment. Medicare, a federally run program, provides ...

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