Category Archives: Uncategorized

The UW Madison is about to do yet another really dumb thing. According to a story in today’s Wisconsin State Journal, Chancellor Rebecca Blank, who will soon (but not soon enough) leave for her new job at Northwestern, is proposing that the school should pay athletes for being students. That’s right. Blank would pay theContinue reading “The Pay for Grades Hoax”

This week we’re inaugurating a new weekly feature here at YSDA: a Sunday morning essay about the Midwest. I’ve been thinking about the Midwest for a long time, at least going back to my days as Mayor of Madison. I would go to national conferences, many in Washington, DC, and get the feeling when IContinue reading “Midwest: Bad Weather”

America is likely to get a moderate third party in the same way that a woman needs a man, which as we all know, is the way a fish needs a bicycle. I’ll pause here and let you sort that out. Okay, let’s move on then. My point is that it’s all but impossible toContinue reading “A New Party of the Center”

Sen. Ron Johnson is a national embarrassment for Wisconsin. I want him gone. So, in the August Democratic primary I’ll vote for the candidate that I think has the best chance to beat RoJo. That’s my only real consideration. I wish I could have another one. That other consideration would be what that Democrat standsContinue reading “Senate Race: Anybody Else?”

We’ve been struggling with a way to write about the move by the Madison School Board to change the name of Jefferson Middle School — in a way that says something more enlightening then that it’s a really bad idea. Well, our old friend Harry Peterson published an oped in the Wisconsin State Journal recentlyContinue reading “Don’t Cancel Jefferson”

What is it with my alma mater? Last year the UW became a national curiosity (to put it gently) when it banished a boulder for committing the offense of being referred to by an ugly name. Once. A century ago. At a time when the ugly name was in common usage. On the heels ofContinue reading “UW Screws Up Again”

I agree with everything in the Economic Justice Bill of Rights being touted right now by the Legislature’s most liberal Democrats. And I think it’s a terrible idea. This is a political document and, as such, it reveals just how out of touch liberal Democrats are. It’s a political document because, with Democrats in deepContinue reading “Economic Justice Bill of Rights Misses the Mark”

Since we reduced YSDA from a daily blog to three days a week we find ourselves leaving stuff on the cutting room floor. And, of course, without our wisdom and guidance, you’re left wondering what to think about important issues. Well, let’s solve that problem by doing some quick hits. First, there’s the heartbreak ofContinue reading “Wednesday Catchup”

I’m spending the week in California, where the weather is wonderful, and the politics are like the weather in Wisconsin. The latest bright idea to come out of the Golden State is reparations for slavery, or for something. We’ll get to the ‘or for something’ problem in a minute, but specifically, what’s going on isContinue reading “Reparations Are a Terrible Idea”

Since we released our e-book, Light Blue: How center-left moderates can build an enduring Democratic majority, earlier this month sales have been, uh, modest. Then we remembered that one of the very best marketing strategies for books is to get them banned. And there’s plenty of stuff in Light Blue that should get the bannersContinue reading ““Light Blue” Banned!”