Government
Sacred Sites, Not Corporate Influence, Deserve Protection
After years of court battles, Kohler can begin construction of a luxury golf course on land eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and home to Native burial sites. A federally mandated 2018 archeological study of the original course unearthed human remains in seven locations.
Kohler is now exploiting a legal loophole. After the courts revoked their wetland permit, the company redesigned the course to avoid wetland permitting – and, importantly, federal requirements for archaeological studies triggered by such permits. The new layout is likely to ...
Medicaid, Medicare Cuts Hurt All, by Pam Fricke
By Pam Fricke
We were promised the Trump Administration would not cut Medicare or Medicaid benefits. President Trump himself said it over and over and over again.
Well, folks, brace yourself for more broken promises. You will see big changes that will hit home here in St. Croix County.
All Wisconsin Republican members of Congress, including our very own Tom Tiffany, voted to approve the changes in the big ugly bill which will cause tens of thousands of Wisconsinites to see cuts to supplemental nutrition assistance (SNAP, or food stamps), Medicaid, Medicare and ...
YOU CAN’T FIRE THE FACTS
YOU CAN'T FIRE THE FACTS
by: Paul Hambleton
President Trump’s firing of Dr. Erika McEntarfer—an accomplished, bipartisan-confirmed economist—for releasing unfavorable job numbers is more than political overreach. It’s an attempt to erase reality. But here’s the thing about truth: you can’t fire it, silence it, or make it disappear. Facts have gravity. They always come back down.
Our reality-denying president removed McEntarfer for overseeing the release of jobs data that he didn’t like. Rather than investigate the numbers or offer a solution, he accused ...
Food Stamp Folly
"We all do better when we all do better" was the late Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone's simple, yet profound, statement of economic truth. In a stable, sustainable economy no one should be left behind even if they are poor or not as “productive.” This is not just kindness or charity. It is a recognition that an economy, like a chain, is only as strong as its weakest link.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP – formerly called food stamps) illustrates how Paul Wellstone's economic principle works in the real world. It is an example of how helping ...
Another Black Eye for United States
President Trump has revived the practice of separating small, immigrant children from their parents.
His first administration seized over 5,000 immigrant children to discourage other immigrants from entering the United States. A federal judge halted the practice in 2018.
Five years later, some of those families have still not been reunited.
The Trump administration claims the judge’s decision in 2018, prohibiting separation at the border, does not pertain to its current practice of taking children from their parents inside the US.
A current example of this policy is ...
WISCONSIN ALLIANCE FOR RETIRED AMERICANS
This last week we held awareness rallies for Social Security in Wausau and in Wisconsin Rapids.
The Wisconsin Rapids Field Office was the hardest hit office due to the DOGE employee buyouts in March when they lost 58% of their staff - leaving just 3 employees to manage all the public’s earned benefit work. The Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans decided to pay them a visit today to thank them for their service by demanding private interest keep their hands off their Social Security.
SSA is 90 years strong this week on August 14 and the program doesn’t run ...
Deja Vu History or a New Society?
Contemporary times have a feeling of deja vu, especially for a history teacher. Our new administration has its inspiration in an incompletely understood past. We can begin with an economic system built on protectionist tariffs which harkens back to the 16th to the 18th centuries in Europe. It was called mercantilism.
The system was simple, a country’s rulers wanted to produce wealth. What better way was there to do that than by having a trade surplus with every kingdom the country traded with. That resulted in countries trying to produce items, at higher cost ...
Nuclear War Scenarios
(one of two in a series)
“The likelihood of a nuclear catastrophe is greater today than during the cold war, and the public is completely unaware of the danger.” Former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry
This year is the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Most Americans, if they think about the issue at all, probably think the threat of nuclear war ended with the break up of the Soviet Union. They believe peace through strength, mutually assured destruction (MAD) and deterrence worked. Nuclear war was avoided and America won the ...
Abolishing Nuclear War
“Nuclear weapons do not provide security. They are instruments of mass suffering. Preventing nuclear war is a public health imperative.” Physicians for Social Responsibility
We can abolishing nuclear weapons. It is a realistic, achievable goal. It is not a Utopian fantasy. But people must demand the United States change course and join the worldwide effort to abolish them. The politicians will not act unless pressured by people.
We know what needs to be done. We know why it must be done. We know how it can be done. We have the blueprints to make it happen. We ...
AND WE WOUND UP ON RACHEL MADDOW
Since Middle Wisconsin has been offline for a few weeks for repairs, you have missed a lot.
We are holding protests every Friday in August from noon until 1 PM at Representative Tom Tiffany's Office. This beach bash one was notably the best, landing us with honorable mention on Rachel Maddow. Every Friday has a different theme and on August 15 we brought about awareness for Toxic Tom doing nothing to protect water in Wisconsin. This awareness is anything from PFAS to wanting to open the state to bad mining business. Below are a few photos highlighting what we do and ...