AUSTERITY IS THE ENDGAME
Austerity is the endgame, the final subjugation. It is the offspring of Ronald Reagan’s corrupt ideology that “government is the problem” and Bill Clinton’s corrupt deregulation of Wall Street - - the unholy marriage of neocon and neolib. It is the weapon of the oligarchy, the instrument of bondage and control.
We are in a rigged game, a game designed to transfer money upward while blaming all things public for our impoverishment, a game designed to starve government of the people while sparing nothing for government of the corporation. It is a game that ...
Socialism in the U.S. Military
Calling your opponent a socialist is a favorite American political slur. The public has been programed to equate socialism, or any deviation from pure free market capitalism, with being un-American. The Constitution, however, does not say much about organizing the economy. Capitalism is not synonymous with freedom or democracy. It is entirely possible to have a socialistic, or even communistic, economy and a representative democracy.
Bernie Sanders is unique in openly claiming to be a democratic socialist. He does not intend, however, to change the structure of the ...
THE MANY BENEFITS OF UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MARATHON COUNTY
The University of Wisconsin system was the topic of an event hosted by D.J. and Mary Clare Freeman featuring Mandy Wright, a candidate for the 85th Assembly District; Katie Kalish, an Associate Dean and English faculty member at UW-MC; and Noel Radomski from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Katie Kalish has been part of the UW system since 2006. The guiding principle of the Wisconsin Idea is to reach every family in the state. The 13 UW campuses reach students and their families all across the state.
The UW-Marathon Campus is one of the Access Institutions. One ...
Selective Memories
The good old days are the memories of things that never were. We remember what we want to and disregard the rest. Every Memorial Day, in our zeal to honor those who have served, we have a national picnic feast of selective memory about war.
Our government is engaged in selectively remembering the Vietnam War. The Department of Defense is spending $65 million in a project to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the war. It is all about “honoring” the troops. As President Obama stated,
“As we observe the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, we reflect with solemn ...
LOCAL CONTROL
Local control has been the bedrock of democracy and is responsive to the needs and health of the community. At an alarming rate, the party in control of Wisconsin since 2011 has been assaulting our rights and freedoms to determine our destiny at the local level.
Since 2011, Republican lawmakers have passed 128 measures that restrict or reduce local control impacting Farmland Preservation, Public Instruction, Regional Transit, Shoreland Zoning Standards to name just a few. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau reported this in a May 16 memo.
Eighty of these ...
Vote on August 9th
Remember to vote on August 9, 2016, and bring your IDs!
WEALTH AND MONEY PART XII: THE UNCONDITIONAL BASIC INCOME
“We must do away with the absolutely specious notion that everybody has to earn a living. It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest. The youth of today are absolutely right in recognizing this nonsense of earning a living. We keep inventing jobs because of this false idea that everybody has to be employed at some kind of drudgery because, according to Malthusian-Darwinian theory, he must justify his right to exist. So we have inspectors of inspectors and people making instruments for ...
BUDGET CUTS AND THE WISCONSIN IDEA
“In many ways a cut of this size feels like a betrayal from Wisconsin,’ he (University of Eau Claire Chancellor James Schmidt) recalled telling faculty early this year (in 2015), when the looming statewide cuts were predicted at $300 million. It also feels like a death in the family.’” “Schmidt said they’ve had just as big of a negative impact on campus morale.”
Over the past five years, the University of Wisconsin System has seen budget cuts of $500 million. In the 2011-2013 budget, $250 million was cut from the UW System. An additional $250 million was ...
WEALTH AND MONEY PART XI: ENDING GOVERNMENT DEBT
The town of Plentyville had public land used to grow food for its people. The farmer was hired to plant the yearly crop and at harvest time the village sold the produce to its citizens for sustenance through the winter. Proceeds were used to provide community services.
The system worked well until a year when the farmer had problems with his tractor and had to spend his savings on repairs. Low on money, the farmer bought his annual seeds and fertilizer from the supply store on credit. This, of course, left him in debt. Because the supply store was waiting for payment ...
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE CORPORATE ASSAULT ON PUBLIC EDUCATION TO FRIENDS WHO KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT?
HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE CORPORATE ASSAULT ON PUBLIC EDUCATION TO FRIENDS WHO KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT?
Diane Ravitch received an email from a daily reader of her blog who asked her how she could explain the downside of corporate reform to friends at a dinner party in the suburbs who know nothing at all about the issues. She said that her friends were liberal Democrats, but their own children are grown, and they don't read the blogs. What could she say that was direct, accurate, and informative?
They exchanged emails and began creating a list explanatory comments. The ...
