Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

It was a fair bet that the quiet Wisconsin gubernatorial race would get a little louder after the spring elections. And sure enough this week the big teachers union, WEAC, surprised a lot of people by endorsing Madison’s State Senator Kelda Roys. That was surprising to me mostly for the timing of it and, toContinue reading “WEAC Weighs in Early”

Somebody’s playing politics with gerrymandering. Actually, I suspect everybody’s playing politics with gerrymandering. After long and winding court fights, for the first time in a decade and a half Wisconsin conducted legislative races in 2024 under fair maps. The result was what was predicted by the experts: a slightly red state now has a LegislatureContinue reading “Redistricting Gamesmanship”

Chris McIntosh said that leaving his job as UW Athletic Director was “bitter-sweet” for him. It certainly was for the fans. It was bitter to watch him operate in his job and sweet to see him go. McIntosh took a program that Barry Alvarez and Pat Richter built into a great success and ran theContinue reading “Good Riddance, Chris McIntosh”

I spent a lot of last weekend watching the Masters golf tournament, the most pretentious spectacle in all of sports. The fans are “patrons” and the golf course is “the property.” “Stuffy” doesn’t begin to describe either the event itself or the broadcast. The property was referred to more than once as “the sacred sod,”Continue reading “The Masters and Immortality”

The Rothman Affair may be running its course. That’s fine by me. After all, we’ve got a significant UW leader leaving every other day. We’ll write about Chris McIntosh some other time. Last week two senior members of the Board of Regents appeared before a Senate Committee and, despite believing that they were constrained inContinue reading “The Rothman Paradox”

I just filed my taxes. It took me all afternoon. And there’s nothing exotic about our situation. No fancy investments, no foreign income, no capital gains… Just straight income and the standard deduction. So, why should it be this hard? And why should I be sitting here thinking that I missed something, got it wrongContinue reading “A Better, Fairer, Simpler Tax System”

Yesterday, despite it being a glorious brisk and bright April day in Wisconsin, was a tough one for good government in a state that once prided itself on it. But before we get to that let’s talk about the good news. These days the very definition of good government is one without Donald Trump inContinue reading “A Bad Day For Good Government”

The State Journal sports page carried a story the other day that caught my eye for what was missing. The story was about how the Badger football program has been snapping up the best talent from Wisconsin high schools. My first reaction was, ‘good for them!’ The Badgers once prided themselves on building a recruitingContinue reading “Did They Make the Grade?”

My father grew up in South Bend, Indiana. In 1968, when I was nine-years old, we were in South Bend visiting my grandparents for Easter. Bobby Kennedy was in town as well. RFK was there because the Indiana primary was less than a month away and his political future depended on the result. The MondayContinue reading “Dyngus Day”

Here’s a little intrigue to warm up a gloomy spring. University System President Jay Rothman has been invited to fall on his sword or, alternatively, to hand over his sword, surrender his university-provided housing and darken the doorstep of the Board of Regents no more. The Regents have asked Rothman to resign immediately or announceContinue reading “What’s the Deal With Rothman?”