334 results for author: Phil Anderson

Wisconsin Taxes 101

A favorite “wedge” issue of the conservatives is taxes. Everyone loves to hate taxes so it is easy to misrepresent the facts. Wisconsin is accused of being a “tax hell” with higher tax “burdens” than other states. Is this true? Of course this depends on what sources you cite and how you manipulate the numbers. Ultimately people will believe what they want to believe. This article provides some basic information on Wisconsin taxes from reputable sources to help better understand the issues. What do Wisconsinites pay in state and local taxes? Everyone pays taxes in one form or another. Everyone who works pays federal payroll taxes ...

You Can’t Fix Stupid

On Monday, January 30th, the current administration moved to reduce government “regulation.” Trump signed an executive order requiring all federal agencies to repeal two regulations for each new one proposed. At meetings with business executives from large companies he has promised to cut regulation by 75 percent. “If there’s a new regulation, they have to knock out two. But it goes far beyond that, we’re cutting regulations massively for small business and for large business,” Trump said during the signing of the order. The administration stresses that the new policy is intended to help small businesses. Trump claims small businesses ...

SENDING MESSAGES

Two big news stories of the last week are the missile attack on Syria and the “mother of all bombs” being used in Afghanistan. The juxtaposition of these stories with the April tax filing deadline is so ironic it demands comment. These two attacks on other countries are classic examples of why we have budget problems. These stories also speak volumes about who we think we are, vs who we actually are, as a society. The U.S. attacked an airbase in Syria with 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government. Our missile attack was intended to “send a message” to Syria that use of chemical ...

Build Diplomacy Not Bombs

“Even though tiny – only 1 percent – the leverage that foreign aid exerts on behalf of U.S. security interests is incredible.” Lt. Gen. Dan Christman, U.S. Army retired. “...if you don’t fund the State Department fully then I need to buy more ammunition...” Gen James “Mad Dog” Mattis, Secretary of Defense, testifying as Commander of the Central Command in March 2013 before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The Trump administration's budget plan calls for increasing military spending by $54 billion (about 10%). This will be “paid” for by cutting the Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department and many domestic ...

SEND THEM BACK TO KINDERGARTEN

“They hurt people.” This was my friend's comment a few years ago about reactionary Republicans. My friend isn't a liberal activist. Although he votes, he isn't political or opinionated in any significant way. He is a small business owner, husband, and father busy supporting his family and being a good neighbor. But I was impressed with his simple, but accurate, summary of the impact of conservative ideology. I am reminded of John McCutcheon's song “The Kindergarten Wall.” This happy little song talks about what we all should have learned in kindergarten. Many Republicans could learn from it. The chorus says, Of all you learn here remember ...

Real Solutions for Budget Problems

The Wisconsin state budget is short-sighted with politically motivated band-aids being proposed. Real, long term, sustainable budget solutions are possible. Wisconsin doesn't have to go through these battles every two years. But this would require real leadership and a willingness to address the actual causes of the fiscal problems. For too many years the state budget problems have been kicked down the road by both parties. No one wants to address the simple fact that essential public services (sewers, water, law enforcement, courts, roads, schools, and necessary regulation of business, etc.) must be paid for. Costs of these necessary services ...

LIBERALS MADE AMERICA

“The two parties which divide the state, the party of Conservatism and that of Innovation, are very old and have disputed the possession of the world since it was made...” Ralph Waldo Emerson Liberalism provided the founding principles of the United States. Liberals are the folks that made America what it is today. Without the political and social activism of liberals in the past our lives would be very different... and not for the better. Liberalism has guided all the advances in American society since 1776. We should keep these facts in mind when reactionaries denigrate liberals, and liberal public policy, as un-American. Wisconsin ...

The Great Bamboozle Begins

If you read or listened to President Trump’s inaugural address you may have been surprised by what he had to say. At first blush it sounds progressive! He calls for returning power to the people. He says “a nation exists to serve its citizens.” He expresses concern for working people and calls for broadly sharing the wealth. “For too long, a small group in our nation's Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished -- but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered -- but the jobs left, and the factories closed” And he pledges to work for the benefit of all of ...

ON THE BOOKSHELF

(This article looks at World without Us by Alan Weisman) “If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.” E.O. Wilson, biologist and author “You share 25% of your genes with a banana. Get over yourself.” Bumper sticker Supposedly when asked what the study of nature told him about God, the biologist J. B. S. Haldane said, "The Creator must have an inordinate fondness for beetles. He made so many of them." Humans think we are the highest pinnacle of evolution (or God's ...

OLD FASHIONED AMERICA AND THE “WELL-BEING” STATE

“If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're misinformed.” Mark Twain This quip accurately describes the results of today's for-profit news media and cable TV. Americans are uniformed and misinformed on many topics. One example of misinformation is life in the “socialist” Scandinavian countries. The media portray them as welfare states that have nothing to teach us. These countries supposedly suffer from high taxes and oppressive bureaucracies that kill initiative, free enterprise, and personal freedom. A new book, “The Nordic Theory of Everything: In Search of a Better Life” by Anu ...