Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Independence Day than to reprise the Harper’s letter. Issued three year ago by a group of distinguished scholars, writers, scientists and artists and published in Harper’s Magazine, it was titled, A Letter on Justice and Open Debate. In normal times a statement like this might haveContinue reading “America is About Classical Liberal Values”

We have a classically liberal Supreme Court. In three and a half major cases this term SCOTUS’ decisions made America better. As a classical liberal, I support the Court’s decisions in three of these cases and I kind of support the fourth (hence the half). But before I get to that it’s important to noteContinue reading “Why I Like This Supreme Court”

It’s pretty simple. To see how simple it is let’s take this short quiz. When the issue is abortion Democrats win. If the issue becomes affirmative action they’ll lose. If you’re a Democrat which issue do you want to emphasize? If you answered affirmative action, we’re into social promotion here at YSDA so you getContinue reading “Keep Focus on Abortion, Not Affirmative Action”

Now that the Supreme Court has done as expected and shot down Pres. Biden’s loan forgiveness plan, this is a good time to review the arguments against this ill-conceived scheme. It’s the furthest thing from progressive. On average those with four-year degrees earn $1.4 million more over their careers than those who didn’t pick upContinue reading “SCOTUS Right on Student Debt”

What goes around comes around. State Senate Republicans are just learning that lesson now. They encouraged Scott Walker appointee Fred Prehn to hang onto his seat on the Natural Resources Board long after his term had expired. They refused to confirm Gov. Tony Evers’ replacement for Prehn and they argued that, until they did, PrehnContinue reading “Wolfe Hunt”

The Madison School Board is still dithering around on whether to reinstate out-of-school suspensions of disruptive students. The district suspended the practice in 2021. Now kids who are acting up or worse are kept in school, but sometimes with a monitor who stays with the kid the whole day. This ties up sparse resources thatContinue reading “Expel the Bad Kids”

Tony Evers has put himself into a corner. This is his third budget process and it has produced the best one so far from his perspective. The budget includes a billion dollars more for education, not as much as he proposed, but a big increase for his top priority. It also includes an historic changeContinue reading “Sign the Damn Budget”

A couple weeks ago Republicans on the Joint Finance Committee rejected Gov. Tony Evers’ plan to spend $750 million in state money on broadband expansion. Democrats howled. I have even heard some Dems charge that this is all part of a plot to keep people dumb and uninformed because those are the kind of peopleContinue reading “GOP Was Right On Broadband”

It’s likely that this week the Supreme Court will end race-based affirmative action in college admissions. It’s possible that the court’s ruling will go beyond that to shake affirmative action programs in other realms. We’ll see. Here’s the political danger for Democrats: They’re likely to over-react. A year ago SCOTUS handed them a gigantic politicalContinue reading “Chill on Affirmative Action Ruling”

Be careful what you wish for. For those who wanted to see Roe v. Wade overturned little has gone right since they got what they wanted exactly a year ago today in the Dobbs decision. The public is more pro-choice. According to Gallup polling, 69% of Americans think abortion should be legal in the firstContinue reading “A Year Since Dobbs”