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 wedge issues and small tax cuts have worked as the carrot to lure voters who ...

TELL LAWMAKERS TO KEEP THEIR HANDS OFF GAB.

TELL LAWMAKERS TO KEEP THEIR HANDS OFF GAB. By Joyce Luedke An August 25, 2015, editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel states: “As we suspected, a state audit released last week found no major problems with Wisconsin’s nonpartisan Government Accountability Board, which handles ethics complaints and supervises state elections. Of course, you wouldn’t know that from the rhetoric coming from Republicans in the Legislature, some of whom want to gut this government watchdog. Citizens of this state need to send them a strong message: NO. When even the MJS writes an editorial asking citizens to speak up to support the GAB and what it is ...

A Wisconsin Tragedy in Three Acts

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 affords. Their war against democracy — an insidious, well-planned, and ...

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, it’s easy to focus entirely on condemning the attacks and seeking to prevent ...