Category Archives: Uncategorized

Paul Skidmore was a long-time Madison alder from the west side. At an online City Council meeting in September, 2020 somebody mutttered an ugly word directed at a Black woman who was speaking before the Council. It was so muted and subtle that nobody even noticed it in the moment, but it came to lightContinue reading “A Strange Silence”

I got a helpful mailer the other day. It’s my “Nonpartisan Voter Guide for the Wisconsin Supreme Court.” This even-handed, strictly fact-based document provided me with valuable, nonpartisan and unbiased data on candidates Chris Taylor and Maira Lazar. It pointed out, for example, that Taylor had worked for Planned Parenthood and was a long-time supporterContinue reading “More Sleaze in Wis Supremes Race”

It’s astonishing to me that governors Gavin Newsom and JB Pritzker are presumptive front runners for the Democratic nomination in 2028. Their records in California and Illinois are horrible and they’d be easy prey for whoever the Republican nominee is post-Trump. The other day in the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove, an old-fashioned center-right RepublicanContinue reading “Let’s Nix Newsom and Pritzker”

I guess the Democrats just want an issue for the fall. That’s the only way I can explain their opposition to a Republican bill that would keep the Stewardship Fund land acquisition and management program alive for another couple of years. To be sure the Republican bill is inadequate. It would reauthorize the program atContinue reading “Dems: Take the Money and Run”

Chances are I did something yesterday that you didn’t. I voted in the spring primary. Only about one-in-ten eligible voters bothered to show up and I can’t really blame those that stayed home. There was only one race on my ballot, a quiet affair to eliminate one of three candidates for a Dane County circuitContinue reading “The Souter Society”

This one won’t be as awful as the last two, but it’s still pretty bad. I refer to the latest contest for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Because the previous contests in 2024 and 2025 were battles for ideological control of the Court, they attracted national attention and truckloads of money from outsideContinue reading “More Reason to Appoint Justices”

Wisconsin taxpayers have spent $70 million in the last couple of years to subsidize the construction and operation of data centers. That’s because a provision in the 2023-2025 state budget created a sales and use tax exemption for these things. The exemption is broad, covering everything from computer hardware and software to office furniture. AndContinue reading “Why Are We Subsidizing Data Centers?”

This week Analilia Mejia won an upset victory in the Democratic primary to fill the U.S. House seat vacated by New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill. She defeated former moderate Democratic Congressman Tom Malinowski and nine other candidates. She ran well to the left of the field, gaining the endorsements of Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren andContinue reading “Warning Signs From Jersey”

Republicans want to change the subject. So, the other day they passed a series of bills in the Wisconsin Legislature aimed at reviving transgender issues where they hold mostly popular positions. The bills would ban the participation of transgender females in girl’s and women’s sports, prevent minors from getting gender-affirming treatments and require parents toContinue reading “Social Issues Can’t Save the GOP This Time”

It’s possible that taxpayers will be on the line for most of a $20 million loan given to the UW Athletic Department in 2020. As a rule, UW athletics pays for itself. Football and men’s basketball produce enough revenue to pay for themselves and everything else. But when the pandemic shut everything down the campusContinue reading “Taxpayers Shouldn’t Bail Out UW Athletics”