Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

There’s a well-meaning idea circulating around the halls of Congress that would move toward fairly compensating college athletes. But just because it’s well-meaning doesn’t mean it’s the best answer to the problem. Here’s a description from a story last week in USA Today: A bipartisan trio of U.S. senators on Thursday unveiled a discussion draftContinue reading “College Athletes Need a Union”

How much power do you want a president to have? Pres. Joe Biden knows that there are some things he just can’t get by Congress. So, like most presidents, he’s trying to get them done by executive fiat. His first end-around is forgiving student debt. The Supreme Court, correctly, I believe, struck down his attemptContinue reading “Biden’s Back Door Strategies”

Here’s today’s political science quiz. Let’s say you’re the Democratic Party. You’re faced with the prospect of a third party candidacy based on a centrist philosophy that theoretically could take more votes away from Joe Biden than from Donald Trump. What do you do? A) Name Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as your point person to speakContinue reading “DC Lobbyists to the Rescue”

I have grave concerns about the great state University of Wisconsin. I speak not of wokeness or diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Lack of tolerance for views that don’t conform with liberal orthodoxy is a concern, but that pales in comparison to what worries me this morning. Funding shortfalls? That’s also a significant problem. TheContinue reading “What’s Become of My Alma Mater?”

The hard-left is losing the language wars. So far. The New York Times commissioned a poll to learn what words and phrases Americans actually use and which ones have fallen into disuse, are being rejected or haven’t even entered the consciousness of most people. The results are below, ranked by most commonly used to notContinue reading “Language Matters”

Last summer I was walking my dog, Maple, on the Southwest Bike Path, a couple blocks from our home. She stopped and got low to the ground, like she does when she feels threatened and wants to make herself look smaller and more fierce (she succeeds on the first count). I looked around for whatContinue reading “Pigging Out”

Democratic strategists are beside themselves regarding the centrist group No Labels, which released its platform yesterday. They should stop whining and moderate their party’s positions to meet the challenge. If you haven’t followed this much, here’s a quick update. A couple of years ago centrists — tired of the extremism of both parties — hadContinue reading “Dems: Stop Whining About No Labels”

It was a classic limousine liberal moment. Actress and head of the actors union Fran Drescher appeared at a news conference last week to announce that her union had voted to join the writers in a strike. Her voice shook with indignation and she raised her fist. “The eyes of the world and particularly theContinue reading “Limousine Liberals and Solidarity”

Watching actors union leader Fran Drescher take on the capitalist running dogs and proclaim her solidarity with the union movement yesterday, I couldn’t help but think how her struggles are so much like the struggles of long ago. For example: “They had chains which they fastened about the leg of the nearest hog, and theContinue reading “It’s Just Like the Stockyards”

While I wait for the second half of the baseball season to get underway I thought I’d spend another day musing about the Brewers’ owners’ threat to leave Milwaukee unless the taxpayers pony up about $300 million to spiff up AmFam Field. If the Brewers are making a credible threat then they have to haveContinue reading “Is the Brewers’ Threat Real?”