A “Defense” Spending Surge
“In America, nothing – and I mean nothing – seems capable of reversing massive military spending and incessant warfare.” William Astore, a retired USAF Lt. Colonel, historian, author and commentator on military issues.
Pentagon spending for fiscal year 2026 (October 1, 2025 to September 30, 2026) is projected to be $961.6 billion. This is an 8.1% increase over FY2025. I say “projected” because with federal spending no one knows what the totals will be until after the fact. The dollars budgeted may not match the amounts authorized by Congress (in appropriation ...
Tiffany is a Bad Choice for Governor
Wisconsin will choose a new Governor in November. At this time there are nine Democratic candidates for the August 11 primary. The Republican's have just two. But Representative Tom Tiffany will be the candidate. He has been endorsed by Trump.
Tom Tiffany becoming governor will be a disaster for Wisconsin. This is not a biased, partisan opinion. An objective, factual look at Tiffany's 15 year record in the Wisconsin legislature and ...
Celebrate Earth Day In Wausau With Us
For those who love and respect the natural world, Mother Earth, and for those who love the people we share this very special planet with, this has been a troubling year. As never before, both our planet and her people have been under assault, in rhetoric and in executive order. This has been a year of angry divisiveness, splintering the human family with hatred. It’s also been a year of “drill baby drill” for dirty fossil fuels and price increases, and a rejection of clean, stably priced solar and wind energy. When it comes to renewable energy and battery ...
Stop ICE Warehouse Detention Protest 4/25 12:00-2:00 Rib Mountain Drive
Our neighbors are being picked up and hauled away. We are learning now this has been happening in very small numbers for years. But now those numbers are being ramped up to meet quotas. ICE head, Todd Lyons, said he would like his goons to implement a system of trucks that rounds up immigrants for deportation in a system similar to how Amazon delivers packages. This is being done by people with 47 days of training. The 47 in homage to Trump, not for any practical reason. ICE wants to warehouse people in 23 mega detention centers across the United ...
Giving Up is Unforgivable
“The right to vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most nonviolent tool or instrument in a democratic society. We must use it.” John Lewis, former U.S. Representative and “good trouble” civil rights leader.
Wisconsin has an election on Tuesday, April 7th. As John Lewis said, voting is a necessary, essential duty of citizens in a democracy. Unfortunately too many of us don't take this “precious...sacred” obligation seriously enough. Usually around 40% of eligible voters don't bother to show up and the percentage is often higher in off-year or nonparti...
Marathon County Earth Day
Get ready for spring and Earth Day! Tree planting will take place on Saturday, April 25 at 11 AM at Schofield Park on 606 E. Randolph Street, Wausau. Any questions, please contact Dan Barth at dmbarth57@gmail.com
Banning Gerrymandering
Wisconsin Governor Evers has called a special session of the legislature for April 14th to pass a constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering. Extraordinary public pressure will be needed for this important reform to have any chance in the Republican controlled legislature.
Prior to the latest redistricting compromise, Wisconsin had the worst gerrymandered legislative maps in the country. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled the old districts unconstitutional and required new state legislative districts be created. Fearing the liberal controlled Supreme Court would ...
A Longtime Republican’s Values Would be Unrecognizable in Today’s Party
Kevin Hermening’s recent announcement of his run for state assembly prompted the memory of a photo my Aunt Irene happily showed me some years ago. Over age 80, she was seated behind Mr. Hermening on his motorcycle, two committed
Republicans about to go for a ride at a fundraiser.
Were my aunt, a long time leader of Republican women, able to look down upon the 2026 Republican Party, there is not much in it she would recognize.
A fiscal conservative, relentlessly advocating for balanced budgets, she would be taken aback by the Big Beautiful Bill signed into law ...