Voting/Elections
VOTE ON FEBRUARY 16
MARK YOUR CALENDAR. PLAN TO VOTE AT THESE FOUR ELECTIONS IN 2016:
February 16….nonpartisan primaries
April 5….vote for a new Supreme Court justice and many local officials including every county board member, and Wisconsin’s Presidential Preference vote.
August 9….partisan primary (not including president)
November 8…elect President of the United States, all members of the State Assembly, half the State Senate and other local partisan positions.
Wisconsin now has some of the strictest voting laws in the nation. You will need a photo ID to vote.
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JAY KRONENWETTER TO RUN FOR MAYOR OF WAUSAU
(Editor's Note: The following is information that Jay sent me about his candidacy and himself. Biographical background details from him that were in bullet points are presented in prose.)
I was born and raised in Wausau and after law school came home to start my legal practice. Having attended school in some fine cities such as Madison, Pittsburgh and San Francisco, I can confidently express my opinion that the people of Wausau, my neighbors, make this a town with unique benefits and opportunities that no other city can claim. True, we have much we can learn from the ...
OPEN RECORDS REQUEST…..ORR
OPEN RECORDS REQUEST…..ORR
This fall, Wisconsin Republicans put game-changing legislation on a fast tract. From October 21 to November 16, they dismantled the independent Government Accountability Board (GAB), changed campaign finance laws such that Wisconsin now has the loosest restrictions on dark money of any state, and exempted themselves, and only themselves, from the secret John Doe process.
I wanted to know whether Wisconsin citizens were pushing for these changes, and whether citizens’ demands compelled the fast-track approach.
From the end of October ...
TAKE-NO-PRISONERS POLITICS IS NOT NEW TO THE USA…..
TAKE-NO-PRISONERS POLITICS IS NOT NEW TO THE USA…..
Do you remember a few years ago when HBO presented the series of John and Abigail Adams? The Adams were portrayed as leaders and saviors of our fledging US democracy. HBO attempted to change the story of Adams presidency. What really happened is this:
In 1796, President John Adams and his wife Abigail brought a take-no-prisoners politics to Washington D.C. This brought fear and division into the new country. It also brought out the worst behavior in Adams’ Federalist (Republican) supporters.
In 1798, under ...
PROTECT LOCAL CONTROL OF LOCAL SCHOOL REFERENDUMS
Some state legislators have introduced Senate Bill 355 and Assembly Bill 481 that would tell us when school districts can go to referendum and how often. The bills dictate the financing methods as well.
These bills take away local control. Local public schools need to be kept in the hands of our local citizens. How can state politicians take over our public schools?
Public schools have received the largest funding cuts in state history. Small rural districts are struggling to keep their doors open and the furnace turned on. SB 355 and AB 481 would put more pressure ...
CAN WE TAKE BACK OUR DEMOCRACY?
Yes, we can, according to Harry Boyte, who spoke at the 20th Conference on the Small City and Regional Community at University of Wisconsin-Marathon County on October 6, 2015. Boyte defined the small city as a population less than 50,000 population. Boyte firmly believes that democracy is being renewed and recovered in small towns across the USA.
He noted that the level of citizen engagement is the lowest in 40 years. However, 70% of the people still believe in local government. People still trust their local governments which can be the incubator for new ideas.
Ac...
ALL REAL POWER RESIDES IN THE PEOPLE
ALL REAL POWER RESIDES IN THE PEOPLE
(A Closer Look at Wisconsin Civil Service)
By William Franks, Jr. AFT-W Local 4848 Retiree, Emeritus Chief Steward and former Equal Opportunity Specialist of Senior Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development
Senator Fred Risser’s (The Dean of Wisconsin Legislators) grandfather, Ernie Warner, introduced the legislation in 1905 responsible for creating what we now refer to as the Wisconsin Civil Service System. Warner was a Republican Lafollette Progressive. As I listened to Senator Risser’s interview on Wisconsin Public Radio, ...
PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO WHO….OR WHAT?
PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO WHO….OR WHAT?
By Kathie Marsh and Pat Murphy
Republicans in the Wisconsin Assembly passed legislation which will all but eliminate democratic government in Wisconsin. Those politicians represent a new breed who make their legislative priorities clear: secure and lock down every single lever of power in the state.
Today, Republicans must pledge allegiance to the Party, not the People. They represent only voters who agree with them, especially those who contribute big bucks to their campaigns.
You would think citizens would be outraged, but ...
A LAUNDRY LIST OF BAD IDEAS
A LAUNDRY LIST OF BAD IDEAS
By Phil Anderson
In the last several weeks there has been an avalanche of policy changes floated by the Republican leadership in Wisconsin. All of them seem to be solutions looking for a problem.
Three prior attempted policy changes were the “Wisconsin Idea,” voter ID, and “reforming” the open meeting laws. None were the result of thoughtful, well researched examinations of problems facing Wisconsin residents. Nor were their “solutions” likely to do any good.
Given the Republican propensity to shove legislation through ...
IS DEMOCRACY ON THE ROPES?
IS DEMOCRACY ON THE ROPES?
By Pat Slutske
(Reprinted with permission from Grassroots North Shore)
Lately we've been calling your attention to specific challenges progressives are facing right now — issues like the attempts to gut our open records law, or attacks on the Legislative Audit Bureau and the Government Accountability Board. The attack on the venerable civil service, created more than 100 years ago to stymie corruption and cronyism in government, is simply the latest of these outrages.
These are matters calling for intense and immediate action. But to ...
