National Security: Less is More
The Pentagon, and all the other national “security” spending, is a major reason we have taxes, deficits, and budget problems.
The Center for Defense Information, a think tank run by former military officers say:
“Pentagon costs, taken together with other known national security expenses for 2015, will exceed $1 trillion.”
“There is much more than $495.6 billion in the budget for the Pentagon, and there are piles of national security spending outside the Pentagon...”
They list total national security spending outside the Department of Defense ...
WHAT DOES THE FARM BILL MEAN?
In February, the US Congress passed the Farm Bill in the amount of $958.6 Billion. This money will be spent in the next ten years. Its official title is the Agriculture Act of 2014. US farmers make up less than 2 per cent of the population. Why do they receive so much money?
According to the Wisconsin Farmers Union, this legislation is really about food and nutrition. Seventy per-cent of the funds will support SNAP, WIC and the U.S. school lunch program. SNAP is the federal food stamp program, now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. WIC is the public ...
How Is Wisconsin Faring?
1. Job Growth:
Wisconsin is ninth out of the 10 Midwestern states in private sector job growth. Only Illinois ranks lower.
Wisconsin is 32nd in all job growth from 2011 through 2013.
A job analysis by the Wisconsin State Journal shows Wisconsin, in 2010, ranked 16th in private sector job growth under Democratic Governor Doyle. At the end of 2013, Wisconsin ranked 36th.
Wisconsin ranks 45th in projected job growth.
Wisconsin placed 2nd in job losses during the month of February 9,500 jobs in the public and private sector were ...
MORAL MONDAY: Income Disparity
A History of "Moral Mondays"
By Virginia Kirsch
Republicans in North Carolina have steadily been defunding public education, health-care and unemployment benefits. They also have restricted voting rights and abortion service. In 2013 Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II said “Enough!”
Rev. Barber called for people to gather at the State House in Raleigh, North Carolina and established Moral Mondays to draw attention to these moral issues. As many as 100,000 people came. The Moral Monday Movement has grown into a statewide progressive coalition. The movement has ...
“New Math” in America Today… 8 Billionaires = 1,401,069 Teachers
There were 1,401,069 public school teachers west of the Mississippi River* in 2013, including Hawaii, Alaska, and the two largest school systems in America – Texas and California. At a national average of $56,383 (a livable wage), their combined income was $78.9 billion.
The top 8 incomes in America in 2013 were:
In other words, eight people made as much as all of the teachers west of the Mississippi and had $4.3 billion to spare. (* Average teacher salary used because it represents a fair and just wage – a wage level at which a person can support ...
WORKERS OF THE WORLD…MARCH!
May 1 is known as May Day and also as International Workers’ Day. Workers march in parades all over the world. It is a day we celebrate the workers of our country and express our gratitude to them for building our nation and keeping it running.
On May Day, 2012, thousands of workers marched in New York City to protest the state of the economy and the widening gap of the rich and the poor. In 2014, we remember our workers and continue to push for an increased minimum wage…up to $10.10. There are now 25 states that have increased their minimum wage.
Here are other ...
The Thomas Street Plan: Four-Lane Road Into Two-Lane Bridge Based On Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Funding, Not Necessary Road or Traffic Improvement
Lost federal funding from breaking federal guidelines drives a costly Thomas Street plan that will impact the Wausau School District, Northcentral Technical College, and Marathon County
A careful review of information on the Thomas Street project, including local news coverage, reveals the answer to a question that has been frequently brought up by Wausau residents: why would the city build a four-lane road on Thomas Street into a two-lane bridge? The City’s own research indicates a four-lane stretch of road on Thomas Street is both unnecessary and costly.
The ...
What the U.S. Navy Can Teach Us About Fighting Climate Change
(This article was previously published in the Stevens Point Journal & Wausau Daily Herald)
The U.S. military has its problems. It’s overfunded, wasteful and unnecessarily deployed in many cases. But I’m surprised, even shocked, with its contributions for solving climate change.
You won’t find many climate change deniers in the military, especially in the U.S. Navy. They know climate change is occurring and they know what causes it — humans burning fossil fuels.
Remember, the military developed steel, radar, GPS and microchips last century and these ...
Why You Can’t Do Social Justice Alone
Last summer’s California drought caused severe water shortages. That resulted in higher prices of grain which increased the price of beef. Therefore fast food places cut workers’ wages and the worker sent less money to his family in Mexico. In Mexico, people were dealing with that same drought, which caused immigration in the first place. Kristin Moe raises this issue in her article “Get Intersectional!” in Yes Magazine, April 2014.
Who or what is to blame? - - - Climate change? Labor policies? NAFTA flooding Mexico with cheap US corn? - - - Probably ...
Stories of America
There once was a story of America. It told of the aspiration of centuries of heartbreaking human struggle, of the shining proof that people from every nation on Earth, every walk of life, and every religious belief, could come together in a spirit of community. It told how a magnificent government was formed, how universal needs such as water and roads, breathtaking national parks, law enforcement, and the education of our children, were understood to be the property, and the responsibility, of all. It spoke to the longings of humanity. It spoke to the human heart.
Nati...
