FOXCONN DEAL MUST RESPECT WORKER FREEDOM
(Phil Neuenfeldt is president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO. You can read more labor news at www.facebook.com/UnionLaborNews.
You find more labor news at www.scfl.org
Kevin Gundlach is president of the South Central Federation of Labor. The SCFL is an umbrella organization, consisting of 100 private and public sector unions representing thousands of workers in south central and south west Wisconsin.)
As Wisconsin shells out $3 billion to subsidize the private corporation of Foxconn, legislators will hand over an incentive package that is both the largest in state ...
WHO ELECTED THIS WHITE MAN?
Who elected this white man to the office of the POTUS?
In her much discussed book The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker, political scientist Katherine Cramer locates voters' discontent in the disconnect between rural and urban worlds.
She says very little about racial resentment, focusing instead on rural citizens' perceived lack of power and resources (those goodies flow to the larger cities of Madison and Milwaukee) and their perceived lack of respect from the elites in power.
No doubt her research has some ...
When The Chickens Come Home
Wisconsin Public Radio recently reported that the Walker administration is not enforcing fire safety codes. The laws requiring fire suppression sprinklers in apartment buildings are in conflict with another anti-regulation law passed by the Walker wrecking crew.
As I have written in the past, there are consequences to the destructive, mean spirited, short sighted, ideologically driven agendas of the radical Republicans now in charge of Wisconsin and the nation. The consequences of their senseless actions frequently hurt people. Refusing to enforce basic fire safety for ...
SOCIAL JUSTICE AND ITS IMPLICATIONS ON IMMIGRATION IN CENTRAL WISCONSIN
Join us on Thursday, October 5th, for our Women for Women Meeting
Time: 6:00 to 7:30 pm
Location: Marathon Co Democratic Office, 833 S 3rd Ave., Wausau
Topic: Social Justice and Its Implications on Immigration in Central Wisconsin
Presenter: Sister Peggy Jackson
Across from the street from the Merrill Post Office is a sign that reads “I was an immigrant and you welcomed me.” This billboard was erected by the Holy Cross Sisters of Merrill. The sisters have always promoted social justice issues and have been a friend to refugees and immigrants in central ...
GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS
In the last five months, seven Door County communities have shown their support for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would get money out of politics and give citizens their voices back in our elections.
The city of Sturgeon Bay, the towns of Baileys Harbor, Egg Harbor, Forestville and Liberty Grove along with the villages of Egg Harbor and Ephraim, all have unanimously approved resolutions backing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that proclaims that corporations are not persons and money is not speech.
They are part of a tremendous grassroots movement ...
Bottom Up Economic Development
My wife tells me I should be more positive with my articles. I should write more about good things that are happening. Being a cranky curmudgeon this is not easy to do. Plus the current political situation provides a continuous stream of great negative topics.
The Foxconn giveaway in Wisconsin is an example. But economic development doesn't require huge tax expenditures to create jobs. There are other ways to create jobs and build economic security. There are many positive stories about local people across the country finding local solutions. These stories show alterna...
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY FOR ALL IN A POLARIZED AGE
Thomas Berg, leading scholar on law and religion, will speak at the fall Veninga Lecture Series on Religion and Society on October 12.
Thomas Berg is professor of law and public policy at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul
As Berg puts it, "We live in polarized times, and in recent years, disputes over religious liberty have contributed to the polarization. Many Americans tend to emphasize liberty and equality of, for example, Muslims or same-sex couples. Many others tend to emphasize it for conservative Christians.
There seems little overlap between those ...
WISCONSIN DESERVES FAIR MAPS
Politicians have always been reluctant to give up their power to draw their own district lines. And we know how that power was abused in 2011, which has resulted in a legislature with rigged district lines that is more concerned about pushing the agenda of special interest groups rather than doing what’s best for the voters in Wisconsin.
But there is hope. First, there is the lawsuit that has made its way all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, Gill v Whitford. That case could decide that our current maps are unconstitutional, and force the legislature to redraw the ...
WISCONSIN’S LONG JOURNEY TOWARD A LIVING WAGE
“For an adult with a family who has to pay for food, clothing, and a place to live, and be able to pay for a car, the minimum wage is clearly not high enough,” wrote Bethany of Eleva-Strum High School.
Wisconsin was one of the first states to enact a Living Wage. The law gave authority for determining a living wage to an Industrial Commission made up of a balance of employers, employees and the public. The year was 1913.
Two years earlier, people attending a national conference of the National Consumers’ League in Milwaukee called for a minimum wage. Advocates ...
On Tolerance
“Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.” President John F. Kennedy
“Tolerance is giving to every other human being every right that you claim for yourself.”
Robert G. Ingersoll
I recently had a discussion with a person about GLBT rights. This person asserted that she was a “Christian” and didn't “believe” in homosexuality. Therefore she could not “support” public events like the Duluth-Superior Pride parade and festivities. But as President John Kennedy said, allowing ...
