Author Archives: dave cieslewicz

I know. I know. You’ve been clamoring for this. You want to know my recommendations in Tuesday’s Democratic primaries and you want to know my predictions for the Republicans. What’s that? You couldn’t care less what I think about either? And anyway, you’ve already voted? Okay. Fine. But I’m going to tell you what IContinue reading “My Picks for Tuesday”

All three Republican candidates for Wisconsin governor have said they will fire local district attorneys who refuse to enforce Wisconsin’s 1849 law against abortion. So, to be consistent, I assume they will also fire prosecutors and remove county sheriffs who refuse to enforce gun control laws or won’t go after voters who actually commit voterContinue reading “Enforce Every Law? Really?”

By nature, I’m a skeptical guy. So, when a few retired or defeated pols offered up a new centrist political party recently I wasn’t as quick to embrace it as you might think I would be. The new Forward Party is the project of Andrew Yang, a wealthy tech entrepreneur and failed Democratic candidate forContinue reading “Let’s Try Going Forward”

Democrats and pro-choice activists are giddy over the overwhelming pro-choice vote that came out of Kansas on Tuesday. They have every right to be, but a note of caution is in order as well. The top of the line numbers were surprisingly good. A constitutional amendment that would have allowed the Kansas Legislature to banContinue reading “Kansas”

Dakota Hall is the head of something called the Alliance For Youth Action. As far as I can tell, the organization’s top priority is for taxpayers to pick up what college grads owe on their student debt. You know, the amount they owe on the educations that opened the door to their making twice asContinue reading “Pictures of Chairman Mao”

In a New York Times oped well worth reading, a professor and a writer (okay, grain of salt administered right here) criticize Democratic pols and progressive groups for their fundraising and grass roots strategies. I think they’re right on the mark. In their August 1st article, Lisa Putnam and Micah Sifry argue that: “National DemocraticContinue reading “It’s Not About Grass Roots”

This morning it was confirmed that Speaker Nancy Pelosi is going to Taiwan. It has not been explained why she’s going to Taiwan. Pelosi has been all but told not to go by her own President. The U.S. military has said they think it’s a bad idea. Her trip is not sanctioned by the StateContinue reading “What’s Pelosi Thinking?”

“Disruption” is all the rage. The word seems to have gained popularity first in the tech world, but now it gets used for virtually everything. New adult absorbent pad entrepreneurs are “disrupting the incontinence space.” I made that up, but you get the point. But me, well, I’m tired of all this disruption. I don’tContinue reading “Midwest: The Virtues of Stability”

Here’s my take on Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. He’s not an ideologue, but a survivor. He stays in power by finding the center of gravity in his Republican caucus and putting himself there.  And he’s been phenomenally successful. He is the longest-serving speaker in Wisconsin history and he is easily the second — some mightContinue reading “Will Robin Vos Save Democracy?”

Leah Hunt-Hendrix knows what blue collar Americans need. Of course she does. After all, Hunt-Hendrix went to Duke and Princeton. She’s the trust-funded granddaughter of Texas oil billionaire H.L. Hunt. She has lived in diverse places like New York, the Middle East and San Francisco. She has flown over the Midwest on multiple occasions. SheContinue reading “Leah Hunt-Hendrix Embodies the Dem’s Problem”