Government
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 ...
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 ...
TROTTING OUT THE WHIPPING BOY
For as long as there have been politicians, there have been whipping boys. Politicians need someone to punish for their own shortcomings.
No one is better with the whip than Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. He is highly skilled in the use of divide-and-conquer tactics, a master at pitting one group of struggling and vulnerable people against another. It’s his favorite play, the governor’s political equivalent of Vince Lombardi’s Power Sweep or USC’s famed “Student Body Right.”
Walker turns to this page in his playbook repeatedly, whenever he’s feeling ...
WHO CARES?
“Who cares?” was House Speaker Paul Ryan’s reply to a question from Scott Pelley on a 60 Minutes segment after Trump tweeted lies about the election.
The question “Who cares?” must be applied to the impact the repeal of the Affordable Care Act by the president-elect and Republicans will have on the lives of our fellow Americans.
***“Who cares” about people who were denied coverage for pre-existing conditions?
My Mom was a small business owner in northern Wisconsin and was the hardest worker I have ever known. One of her young employees was ill for ...
THE URGENT NEED FOR SKEPTICISM
1953:
Few Americans remember the CIA orchestrated coup that overthrew the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran. Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh won the election in 1951 and began implementing reforms to benefit the citizens of Iran. With the full support of his people, Mosaddegh nationalized the Iranian oil industry which had been under British control since 1913 through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (now BP - British Petroleum). For 40 years the corporation had plundered the oil wealth of Iran, leaving her people with next to nothing.
Naturally, U.S. based corpora...
FROM HOPE TO HOPELESS?
My father was 23 years old in 1941. He was well aware of the terror occurring in the world and the need for it to be stopped. He enlisted in the US Army on November 29, 1941, as America learned of barbaric acts of terror and brutality by the Imperial Army of Japan, such as the Rape of Nanking. He knew that a hardline militarism, nationalism and totalitarianism represented a real threat to the freedom of people everywhere. He was well aware of the loud, racist and hateful rhetoric and continued lies and conquest of Europe's countries by Adolf Hitler.
He was aware of ...
WEALTH AND MONEY PART XIX: AMERICA BECOMES THE HOST
While mentally struggling for an appropriate title for this particular article in the Wealth and Money series, “THE EMPIRE DEVOURS ITSELF” came to mind. But this misses a critical distinction. The people of America are not the corporate and moneyed power structure in control of our government, our military and our economy. They are not the empire. Indeed, the people of America have become the victims of the empire. We are now the “colony.” If we are guilty of any wrongdoing, it is the sin of complacency.
But complacency unwittingly enabled the U.S. corporate and ...
New Non-Profit Starts with Goal of Stopping More Enbridge Acquisitions
By Mark Borchardt
All signs indicate Enbridge plans to take more property for expanding their easement and adding more oil pipelines.
Enbridge has: surveyed additional property along the entire pipeline route through Wisconsin,
convinced the state legislature to change Wisconsin eminent domain law in Enbridge’s favor,
announced to investors their plans for a new pipeline on new land next to Line 61 through Wisconsin.
If you are like me, you already live with four pipelines in an 80 foot wide swath through your property. When Enbridge takes more land, it ...
ABOLISH NOT MODERNIZE NUKES
The United States is the only country to ever use nuclear weapons. On August 6th and 9th we mark the 71st anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is not enough to just remember the tragic (and many believe unnecessary) loss of civilian lives from these events. We must work to abolish nuclear weapons.
The leadership of our country is still mired in the old Cold War mentality. They still believe nuclear weapons are necessary for national defense. They have not learned from the mistakes of 71 years of excessively militarized foreign policy.
Many ...
