Commentary
After another state budget failure, we need a Democratic realignment in Wisconsin
As the leader of a large-scale grassroots group that urged a full veto of the state budgets in both 2019 and the 2021, you may expect me to rail against Gov. Tony Evers’ decision this summer to sign largely intact the GOP’s latest instrument of fiscal sabotage. This is not that column. Endless hand-wringing over what […]
We can’t stop climate change by investing in fossil fuels
The latest report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reiterated what we already know: We need to be taking swift, bold action to address climate change. If we don’t, the consequences are dire. The report called it a “code red for humanity.” While Gov. Tony Evers and President Joe Biden have […]
Lower drug costs to transform health care
Every ten days, I need treatment that requires the injection of artificial clotting factors. Since I am a hemophiliac, this treatment could literally mean the difference between life and death. All because I’m missing one of the thirteen proteins that serves as one of the dominos in the “typical” clotting process. Each treatment requires $18,000 […]
Why the Wisconsin Supreme Court doesn’t want to take on redistricting
The conservative legal outfit Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) is once again urging the Wisconsin Supreme Court to take control of drawing the state’s political maps. But the best arguments against doing so have come from none other than the conservative justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court itself. Despite being rebuffed a few […]
Punishing the unvaccinated is the wrong medicine for COVID-19
After more than half of a million Americans died of COVID-19, a seeming miracle occurred: the development of multiple vaccines found to be safe and extraordinarily effective against Sars-cov2. Yet not everyone has bought into the miracle. While about 53% of Americans have taken the vaccine, 47% of the population remains unvaccinated. The number of […]
Is America experiencing a different kind of civil war?
Wars are not always fought by armed military forces with guns, bombs, stealth fighters, and sophisticated weaponry. And the enemy is not always clearly defined. Even the reasons for war often lack clarity. But the division and fighting still rage, nonetheless. At first glance, you might think characterizing the divisiveness that America is experiencing today […]
A backwards step on the rent moratorium
(Español abajo) The Supreme Court’s decision to end the rent moratorium is a potential death sentence for many Americans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in issuing the moratorium, had warned that forcing people “to move, often into close quarters in new shared housing settings with friends or family, or congregate settings such as […]
There’s victory in defiance
This week marked the one year anniversary of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. Jacob was shot seven times in the back while his children watched from the backseat of his car. This week also marks the one year anniversary of a 17-year-old white supremacist (who’s name I refuse to say) who was driven […]
Three-fifths ‘No Compromise’ paralyzes the U.S. Senate
I’m calling on President Joe Biden to do what it takes to protect our right to vote — up to and including taking steps to overturn the strange and dangerous practice of endless delay in the U.S. Senate. I thought I was paying attention in high school civics. Where does it say a three-fifths vote […]
Will Joe Biden’s executive order spark real change in food production?
President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order aimed at increasing competition across all sectors of the economy. This is a long time coming and a good first step in addressing a number of long term problems. One important point of interest for agriculture is the change to the Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyards Act […]
How do you solve a problem like Ron Johnson?
The Cook Political Report recently categorized Sen. Ron Johnson’s 2022 re-election race as a “toss-up” — making Johnson the only incumbent in the country to earn that dubious distinction, which is particularly unusual for a two-termer whose challenger is yet to be determined. And that was even before Johnson’s top-polling prospective opponent, Lt. Gov. Mandela […]
Vos kisses Trump’s ring
In a disgusting display of cowardice and obsequiousness, Speaker Robin Vos felt it necessary to bow down to Donald Trump and to kiss his ring (or somewhere south of that). This is the same Robin Vos whom Trump had slammed back in June as a liar and a fake leader who was “working hard to […]