Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

Wisconsin Democrats have the right idea. They just have the wrong plans.  Last week Legislative Democrats announced a series of more than a dozen initiatives designed to lower the cost of living for average Wisconsin families. Their ideas covered things as diverse as school lunches, the homestead tax credit, and a bunch of ideas aimedContinue reading “Cut the Gas Tax”

In my entire life until now, and for more than a century before I was born, there was a coherent left and right in this country. The right believed more thoroughly in free markets, smaller government, lower taxes and a more robust foreign policy. The left had more faith in a larger role for governmentContinue reading “Is Populism a Mirage?”

The other night we watched Conclave, a movie about the selection of a new Pope. The basic story line is that a liberal Pope, much like Francis, has died and there is a struggle between liberal and conservative Cardinals to replace him. My wife is a Lutheran. She found it entertaining. But I was raisedContinue reading “Why Are Liberal Catholics Still Catholic?”

Every year I get a few parking tickets. You think that’s a coincidence? I think not. One afternoon last summer I walked out to my car to find it gone. I thought maybe I’d forgotten where I had parked it. I finally located it a couple blocks away with a ticket on the windshield. TheContinue reading “Pardon Me”

First, let me say that Trump’s a wimp. I mean it’s 21 degrees in DC as I write this. It’s three below here. Moving the inauguration indoors is the act of a weak man. And what will the one billion Trump followers who planned to attend the most well-attended inauguration in history (period!) do? PartContinue reading “Confront Trump With Moderation”

This week’s quote comes to us from convicted felon and President-Reelect Donald J. Trump who said of his first day in office, this Monday: “Your head will spin when you see what’s going to happen.” A) Taken hard, low-paying jobs that nobody else wants. B) Paid taxes for services they can’t access. C) Provided workersContinue reading “The Q&Q For 1/18/25”

It’s only $4 billion. Let’s not act like it’s a lot of money. The biggest issue of the new legislative term is what to do with the state’s $4 billion surplus. I have a really boring suggestion.  Last year the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers couldn’t agree on what to do with theContinue reading “The Most Boring Way to Spend $4 Billion”

“Which one is the aberration, Biden or Trump?” said Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware. “Has the United States permanently moved in a populist and right-wing direction, and Biden was just a temporary interruption?” Coons isn’t sure yet. “I think it is an open question,” he said. It isContinue reading “An Answer in Two Years”

I just finished reading Fareed Zakaria’s Age of Revolutions. It’s an excellent book and I’ll review it in more detail in another post, but today I wanted to focus on just one of his observations. It’s about meaning. Zakaria says that one of the reasons for the rise of worldwide far-right populism is the veryContinue reading “Meaning”