dave cieslewicz

The “Sins” of Tim Walz

The Republicans and conservative news outlets are, predictably, trying to paint Tim Walz as a socialist. Here’s the list of his sins as recounted in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal editorial: • Increasing taxes, though Minnesota already has the fifth-highest top income-tax rate among the states, 9.85% at $193,000 of earnings for a single filer. Mr.Continue reading “The “Sins” of Tim Walz”

Dems Nudge to the Center

Wesley Bell won last night. You might ask yourself three questions. Who is Wesley Bell? What did he win? Why should I care? I can answer all three. Bell is the district attorney of St. Louis County in Missouri. He was challenging a member of the hard-left “Squad” in the House of Representatives, Cori Bush.Continue reading “Dems Nudge to the Center”

Harris Decides to Gopher Walz

The news broke just now that Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate. This is weird. It’s weird because nobody would have seen this coming a couple of weeks ago. Then Walz went on Morning Joe and, in the wake of J.D. Vance’s “cat ladies” comment, said, “these guysContinue reading “Harris Decides to Gopher Walz”

August Primary Recommendations

If you’re a center-left moderate in Dane County, well, you don’t have much to choose from in the Democratic primaries. All the candidates are pretty much the same, which is to say hard, not center, left. Election day is August 13th, but early voting is open now. The sprawling research staff and all the summerContinue reading “August Primary Recommendations”

An Odd Angle

The Lincoln statue in front of Bascom Hall on the UW Madison campus is often photographed, but not often at night. I took this shot as I walked home on a breezy warm summer evening from my Sheepshead game at the Memorial Union. I won 75 cents. Also, since Kamala Harris will announce her runningContinue reading “An Odd Angle”

The Q&Q For 8/3/24

This week’s quote comes to us from none other than Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz who said on MSNBC last week that: Who was Walz referring to? A) The Minnesota Vikings. B) Jesse Ventura and Hulk Hogan, both professional wrestlers, one a predecessor as governor and the other a speaker at this year’s GOP convention. C)Continue reading “The Q&Q For 8/3/24”

Two Weeks, Two Different Worlds

I stand ready to stand corrected. Note that I am not yet standing corrected, but I’m getting ready to. The subject is Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. When Democratic leaders rushed to anoint Harris after Joe Biden was forced out, I was depressed. It was like somebody put a nice juicy, medium rare steak inContinue reading “Two Weeks, Two Different Worlds”

Project 2025 is About Abortion

Why is Donald Trump running so hard from the Heritage Foundation’s 920-page Project 2025 document? Why are the Democrats trying to tie him so closely to it? In a word, abortion. Yesterday, Trump had the director of Project 2025 — which was also about gathering resumes for a second Trump administration — tossed under theContinue reading “Project 2025 is About Abortion”

I’m Puzzled

Let’s take a break from politics to talk about…. jigsaw puzzles. I love these things. I always have one going up at our cabin. My current project is simply called “America” and it’s got postage stamp size logos for each state. My technique is to dump all the pieces in the center of my tableContinue reading “I’m Puzzled”

Harris Needs to Capture the Center

Here’s some unsolicited advice for Kamala Harris from a center-left, moderate Democrat who wants to see her win — and most definitely wants to see Donald Trump defeated. As the party gets closer to its Chicago convention the relief and elation caused by Joe Biden’s stepping aside and the quick rallying of the party behindContinue reading “Harris Needs to Capture the Center”