Voting/Elections
Lifelong Republicans: Let’s return to Grand Old Party
This letter is intended for lifelong Republicans who dislike what the party has become under Trump. If you still support conservation, local control, small government, fiscal responsibility, and using bipartisanship and compromise to help identify and solve problems please reconsider your vote.
Election integrity is under fire, not from nonexistent “voter fraud”, but from gerrymandering and laws which deny legitimate voters access to ballots and the polls. Republicans are not willing to stop there. Republican states seem intent on refusing to recognize popular ...
Comparing the U.S. Senate Candidates on Retirement Issues
Wisconsin and the nation is facing a retirement security crisis. Many people will have inadequate income for a secure retirement. Over 400,000 seniors in Wisconsin will be living in poverty by 2030. As a result, Wisconsin will need to spend an additional $3.5 billion on public assistance programs.
Why is this happening? There are many reasons. Low pay jobs don't allow saving for retirement. One million people have no retirement program at work. Individual savings plans, like 401Ks and IRAs, don't work well for many people. They have high management fees, ...
The Prophetic Words of Plutarch
“The abuse of buying and selling votes crept in and money began to play an important part in determining elections. Later on, this process of corruption spread to the law courts. And then to the army, and finally the Republic was subjected to the rule of emperors.” “An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.” - - Plutarch
When first reading this quote, I thought - “This person must be an American describing the current state of our nation!” But Plutarch was not an American. He was a Greek philosopher/historian ...
Ron Johnson’s Stance on Social Security is Wrong
I worked for 45 years to earn a living for myself and my family. For decades, I paid into Social
Security, setting money aside so that when I retired, I could keep a roof over my head and food
on the table. Like so many people across our state, I knew that Social Security and Medicare
would support me in the next phase of my life.
This past weekend marked the 87th anniversary of Social Security. Over the last 87 years, this
program and Medicare have become overwhelmingly popular programs that millions of working
people rely on. Yet, while this anniversary should ...
Fear Mongering
The Republican Party wants us to fear Mandela Barnes, but what frightens me is the prospect of another
6 years of Ron Johnson in the US Senate. Despite looming global catastrophe, Johnson remains a climate
change denier of the first order, calling it “ bullsh*t ,” doubling down on fossil fuel production, confirming
judges who gut the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases, and consistently voting against climate
action legislation, most recently the transformational Inflation Reduction Act.
In Mandela Barnes, I see a talented leader who, as chairman of the ...
Women for Women Postcard Campaign
Have you always wanted to help out with an election but you just were not sure where you feel comfortable? Women for Women has an awesome postcard campaign that needs your help. The AFL-CIO has provided us with 1200 postcards and we certainly need your help! Choose 25 to 50 postcards, and we won't stop you if you want more. They are already addressed and stamped and we provide you with a script of writing ideas. When you are done, toss them in the mail. Helping out has never been easier. Contact Nancy Stencil at 715.581.7983, call or text.
Are you registered to ...
Protect Voting by Mail
Wisconsinites, wherever we live and no matter our physical abilities or disabilities, should have the freedom to vote.
But by banning ballot drop boxes, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has made it more difficult for people in rural and urban areas from voting by absentee ballot.
And it tried to deny persons with physical disabilities from getting assistance in the delivery of their absentee ballots, but federal law still requires such assistance.
What’s more, a Republican-dominated committee of the Legislature said it didn’t want clerks to be able to fix the ...
Mandela Mash: Using Beer to Break Through the Political Noise
By now, if you live in Wisconsin, I’m hoping you’ve seen our new beer called “Mandela Mash.” We publicized it with a lot of fanfare last Friday, and it’s shipping to stores early next week.
Here’s the tongue-in-cheek ad we posted:
"You’ve waited 12 years for this, but you just didn’t know what the flavor was gonna be.
Nothing has tasted quite right up until now
Sometimes it tasted dumb, sometimes it tasted crazy, sometimes it tasted seditious.
But now? It tastes JUST RIGHT!
Introducing Mandela Mash: A Legit Lager.
This ...
Confidence in Elections
I worked the polls on the August 9th Primary. I have confidence in Wisconsin’s nonpartisan election administration, led by the Wisconsin Election Commission.
There is truly a pool of knowledge at each polling place. Each of Wisconsin’s 1,852 municipalities has a clerk who has been trained to administer elections. Some municipalities are large enough to have deputy clerks, who are also trained. Each polling place has multiple election workers, who must also be trained.
These clerks and poll workers are our friends and neighbors who step up to help with a vital ...
The Assault on Voting and Fair Elections
On July 20, Republican Wisconsin state legislators on the Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR), at the behest of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg), voted to suspend an emergency rule regarding common sense clerk corrections for small omissions on absentee ballot witness certificates. While this action should have no substantive effect on election administration for now-existing Wisconsin Election Commission guidance makes clear this correction process is permissible, it is yet ...