Opinion

The Insiders, Kanavas & Chvala, debate Republicans' fight to keep their legislative district lines intact. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.

The Insiders, Kanavas and Chvala, debate whether Scott Walker is the education governor. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.

The Insiders, Chvala and Kanavas, are back with a lightning round focusing on Trump, Walker and Obamacare. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.

Repealing prevailing wage laws would hurt veterans disproportionately with no cost savings to justify the action.

A federal court has ordered the Wisconsin Legislature to redraw voting districts in time for the 2018 elections. This is a victory for voters, who have been voting in gerrymandered districts that were ruled unconstitutional in November.

Gov. Scott Walker recently proposed expanding Wisconsin’s Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC. To the casual observer, this may not sound like exciting news, but for more than 100,000 Wisconsin families, expanding the EITC will mean more job opportunities, higher take-home pay and a less-resistant path to prosperity.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. Trump called the Affordable Care Act...

Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson called Trump’s Muslim ban “a pretty reasonable proposal” and asked critics to read Trump’s executive order and “tell me (Johnson) what you disagree with”. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit did just that.

Trump has reprised Nixonian rhetoric, calling Trump supporters the “silent majority” and himself the “law and order” president. And, like Nixon he may be heading toward a constitutional crisis.

On Tuesday night, Trump will address Congress. Perhaps we will learn more about the Trump budget, including cuts to the safety net, domestic spending and humongous tax breaks for the rich and corporations. And, by mid-March the White House is supposed to release a budget outline. Will Trump release a health plan?

Federal tax reform should lower and simplify everyone's taxes, not complicate the tax code even more.

The city gets only 66 cents in state spending for every dollar in state taxes paid.

A recent, in-depth story in the liberal American Prospect, “Milwaukee’s Voucher Verdict,” raises troubling questions about choice schools.

Study finds three-fold increase in Milwaukee metro area. Jewish leaders blame Trump.

Governor advises Iowa legislators on bill to decimate unions.

A differentiation strategy might work better than Walker’s low-cost approach.

New voting data shows their power, but makes their trust in Trump a mystery.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. We Americans are pragmatic – when...

Ed Garvey, the friend of many, the leader of "what could have been" and a good man has died and I am saddened.

All administrations lie, but what we are seeing here is an attack on credibility itself.

Governor Scott Walker's new budget, which includes spending increases for health care and schools, seems to have taken some observers by surprise. It probably shouldn't have, since Walker has signaled rather clearly that he rejected what we called the "sour politics of austerity."

There is a lot of reason to ask questions about why the Republicans who control the state Legislature are using taxpayer dollars to hire private lawyers to represent them in a lawsuit challenging the state’s legislative district maps.

Gov. Scott Walker's proposed 2017-19 budget eliminates a state requirement that most public schools offer a minimum number of hours of instruction per school year.

Signs on the door of the East Side Madison eatery identified it as a “sanctuary restaurant” with “a place at the table for everyone.” “All are welcome and safe here,” they declared.

The Republican Party could be putting plans in place to give Democratic Congressman Ron Kind the sort of challenge he hasn’t faced in his 20 years in the House.

Ron Kind For Governor would tickle the Democrats to no end. He is the Democratic bench in Wisconsin – and he’s perhaps the one Democrat with a good shot at defeating Walker.

Recently, a group of 11 individuals, all appointed by Gov. Walker to the Group Insurance Board, almost unanimously voted to overhaul health care in Wisconsin by adopting a risky self-insurance scheme that will not only disrupt our entire health insurance market, but may end up costing taxpayers millions more.

Ironically, if Priebus has shown "weakness," it has been that he hasn't been effective enough in reining in Trump. Trump's fanboys don't want Priebus to be "strong." They want him to be a sycophant.

The personal characteristics they share are evident: inveterate narcissism, hopeless delusion, coarse speaking styles, insatiable tastes for revenge and improbable hair.

While the 5% tuition cut makes for a good sound bite, it's a lost opportunity to help the students that really need tuition relief.

Earlier this week, Department of Financial Institutions Secretary Lon Roberts attempted to mount a defense of Gov. Scott Walker’s paltry plan that fails to provide real relief for student loan borrowers. Secretary Roberts’ column, however, merely highlights the many inadequacies of Walker’s proposal, which is geared toward his own re-election plans rather than helping working Wisconsinites.

Managing federal education dollars is costing Wisconsin taxpayers millions and benefiting children hardly at all.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin announced last week that she would oppose Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. That’s fine by me, though I think Gorsuch is about as good a nominee as liberals can expect from the likes of Donald Trump.

The Democratic Party is lost in the wilderness. I went looking for it.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate John Humphries wants to set the record straight about his consulting contract with the Dodgeville School District, where he was the full-time administrator before deciding to run for office.

Wisconsin legislators, faced with increasing costs to stay and eat in Madison, are in the process of increasing the so-called nontaxable per diem payments they receive.

Because the six-times-a-year magazine, which is completely supported by subscribers and not taxpayers, sometimes delves into subjects like global warming and its impact on the state's wildlife, Walker has decided it has to go.

Donald Trump promised all of us that he was going to help America's forgotten working people who've been abandoned by the powers that be in this country. I'm trying to figure out, though, how this city slicker's initial actions are going to help the beleaguered working stiffs he claims to care so much about.

What was surprising is that despite foot-dragging in the governor's office, solar jobs in Wisconsin climbed to more than 2,800, up from 1,941 in 2015.

If the state has a bad reputation now, let's make it clear that wasn't so in the recent past. Yes, Wisconsin has always been the "dairy state" and famous for being a beer capital and the state with the publicly owned and highly successful professional football team the Green Bay Packers. But Wisconsin has also been known for its progressive government dating all the way back to the late 1890s

When Ed Garvey's good friend John Skilton called me early Wednesday morning to tell me Ed had passed away a few hours before, it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Today, Wisconsin Democrats are at their lowest ebb since, well, 1957. That’s 60 years, folks.

Sure, Democrats should play hardball but they shouldn't overreach.

National TV news anchors were calling out Wisconsin voters February 7 immediately after the US Senate barely approved Betsy DeVos as new education secretary.

The Republicans in Congress, many back home during a recess, are being pummeled in ways far deeper and longer than the old Tea Party did to Democrats.

MMAC conduit spending in state superintendent, Milwaukee school board races

He had voters who discounted his wildest behavior because they wanted a change. But even they can’t go on for four years watching him dog-paddle at the shallow end of the pool.

The United States Supreme Court summarily affirmed the decision of a Three Judge Panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Independence Institute v. Federal Election Commission. By affirming the panel in this case, the U.S. Supreme Court seriously undermined the legal rationale that the Wisconsin Supreme Court relied upon when it dismissed the John Doe investigation into possible illegal campaign coordination during the Governor Walker Recall Election.

The Ninth Circuit issued an unanimous ruling in State of Washington v. Trump rejecting the Trump Administration’s motion for an emergency stay of the District Court’s temporary injunction.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. During his budget address, Governor Walker...

Here’s hoping that alert citizens and reporters will keep watching local government to keep that tide down.

Should House Speaker Paul Ryan have attended a town hall meeting set up by Forward Kenosha on Sunday night?

If you cut construction worker wages by repealing prevailing wage laws — which everyone agrees will happen if prevailing wage laws are eliminated — veterans will be harder hit because veterans are more likely to work in the construction industry.

The Wall Street Journal placed this state’s fight with Ireland over butter on their editorial page Saturday and to be honest there is no way we come across looking reasonable.

Throughout his career there was never a time when Garvey did not weigh in with his hopes and ideals about the needs of voters and try to press our attention towards better policy outcomes.

Breathtakingly, even prior to the formal introduction of Judge Neil Gorsuch as President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, several Democrats hinted at a filibuster, a truly unprecedented move. Following Gorsuch’s introduction, no response rivaled that of Wisconsin’s Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

To get the state's scandalously-managed youth prisons into compliance with something called the federal "Prison Rape Elimination Act," Scott Walker in his budget is proposing a 16% solution. 50 new staff hires are needed for compliance: Walker's budget proposes eight.

For now, we should be cautiously optimistic about Story Hill and the West side of Milwaukee being spared the loss of property, tax base, clean air, and peace of mind - - essentially, that segment of the plan is collapsing if its own unfunded weight and space limitations within the narrow corridor.

The denial of climate change, the contempt for facts and a preference for the "alternative varieties," the disdain for science and public service, and the all-purpose elevation of right-wing ideology has spread from the Trump campaign to his administration and now to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

If our Republic is to be rescued from the anti-democratic and corrupt Trump-Putin partnership, there is a relatively short list of influential Republicans who will have to step to the fore and put the American people ahead of partisan agendas.

One state's rivers or air pollution can seep or fall into another state.

Though its costs were completely covered by subscribers, and the Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine had a long and useful run, Scott Walker and Secretary Cathy Stepp are using the state budget to wipe out the credible, high-quality publication that published items no longer wanted by official Wisconsin.

There are greedy corporations and their self-interested, thoughtless politicians who carry their water and team up to disregard the "water is life" truth.

It's hard to imagine that any agency crying poverty as much as the Wisconsin DOT could be so reckless with the taxpayer dollar.

In 2015 more people in state died from drug overdoses than car crashes.

Donald Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court ought to be resisted.

With a contested race for state superintendent of public instruction and a legislative session that is swinging into gear, much is at stake for public education in Wisconsin.

A horrible turnout, a big night for Evers, and who the heck is William Crowley?

If Twitter is simply another platform for a journalist to be a journalist, just as websites are an extension of their print or TV product, then should they be held to journalistic standards for expressions of 140 characters or less?

It could end badly for the president.

Those who voted for the 45th president have two distinct world views on what’s offensive: One they apply to Trump, the other to anything negative said about Trump.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday morning in a case whose outcome observers say could provide local governments with a workaround to compliance with the Open Meetings Act.

On average, Wisconsin parents pay more than $9,000 each year for child care. That is nearly as much as one year of in-state tuition at the University of Wisconsin — Madison.

Rather than helping Americans, overregulation has stifled innovation, stalled economic growth, and cost taxpayers billions of dollars in lost income.

I have held regular in-person town hall meetings since I began serving in the House of Representatives. In fact, I host more than 100 public events each year. I’m extremely proud of this, and it’s something I believe is not only important for the sake of democracy, but it’s invaluable to me as I work to best represent the interests of my district.

Walker is once again attempting illegitimately to exert control over the UW System, contrary to the organizing statutes. The power grab exercised through the budget process reduces regents to mere functionaries, infringing on their statutory independence.

While I no longer serve in the State Legislature, I maintain a strong interest in the public policy discussions taking place in our state capitol. As a citizen and taxpayer, I am pleased to see that policy makers from both sides of the aisle remain focused on moving forward additional measures to combat the opiate addiction epidemic confronting our state.

Jeff Mayers of WisPolitics.com moderates a discussion with John Nichols of the Cap Times and Brian Fraley of Edge Messaging LLC during the Wisconsin Counties Association Legislative Exchange.

"Ed was one of the smartest, funniest and most decent people I have ever known," recalled Sanders, when he learned Wednesday that Garvey had died at age 76.

Progressive Caucus Vice Chair Mark Pocan says the president must resolve “direct conflicts in both domestic and foreign policy” or face constitutional consequences.

Superintendent candidate John Humphries declared in November that he was “thrilled” with Trump’s pick. Lowell Holtz, hailed DeVos’ confirmation this month as a “positive development.

For the Republican legislators looking for $300 million in the 2017-2019 state budget for road building, there’s a ready solution.

Contact your state Legislators and ask them to support allowing a “winter hold” on employees to help your community and the businesses that keep it working.

Federal policy guidelines that were adjusted for inflation last week are worth examining because they help illustrate the challenges faced by low-income working families. They show, for example, that single parents with one child are currently ineligible for BadgerCare if they have a full-time job that pays more than $7.81 per hour.

So here we are on Election Day in Wisconsin, and where are all of these "social justice warriors" and "defenders of democracy"? I can tell you they certainly aren't on the ballot.

I know how important it is to find ways to cut costs and increase efficiency. But because of repeated budget reductions across the UW System, our institutions have become more cost conscious.

The alternative is consolidation — fewer health plans, fewer consumer choices, potential disruption and reduced access.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. Recently Ohio Governor John Kasich vetoed...

“Where else can you buy hope for a dollar?” This sad statement from gamblers shows the level of desperation too many reach in trying to secure their present and their future.

A pair of recent Federal Appeals Court rulings have opened the door toward greater fairness in Wisconsin’s election process. Now our legislative leaders face a choice: will they boldly walk through that door and join the national movement toward nonpartisan redistricting? Or will they slam the door shut and defend their politically-motivated districts drawn behind closed doors?

Over the next few months, we will learn much more about the budget details. In the meantime, here are a few items of small print that didn’t make it in the Governor’s Budget Address.

What is the “Reform Dividend” the Governor spoke about in his budget address? Where is it? How much is it? An inquiring mind wanted to know.

The equalized aid formula is broken. A number of plans were proposed to fix the formula including ideas I supported. But the Governor’s new plan does nothing to fix the formula.

The back and forth between the establishment GOP and the populist insurgent wing of the party is perhaps best personified by the relationship between White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. Americans love proclaiming Constitutional Rights protect...

Last week, we saw two blatant (and highly egregious!) examples of the havoc that results when the Republican majority opts to use its authority for nefarious and self-serving purposes.

This rise in student debt has caused some people to adopt a “sky is falling” mentality that leads them to the conclusion there is only one possible remedy to the problem: More government. Here in Wisconsin, some people are insisting that state intervention is the only panacea that will address student debt. This proposal is very costly – and unnecessary.

In what amounts to a huge admission of near-catastrophic failure, Gov. Scott Walker proposes bailing out the state's severely underfunded public schools, many of them teetering on insolvency since he enacted Act 10 more than five years ago.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. As we begin to celebrate Black...

As law professors RonNell Andersen Jones and Sonja R. West recently wrote in The New York Times, while the First Amendment prohibits government censorship and offers protection against lawsuits, journalists have few constitutional rights to government documents and sources, or from being maligned by people in power. Trump, they noted, appears set on blowing up the “mutually dependent” relationships the White House press corps has had with presidential administrations from both parties.

We sure don’t need our state’s U.S. senators signing off on bills allowing wolves to be indiscriminately killed.

Ed Garvey was a modern-day Fighting Bob La Follette. He carried the torch of the progressive movement in Wisconsin for the last three decades. He was a corporate dragon-slayer, and an indefatigable fighter for democracy. He was our teacher, our preacher, and sometimes our comedian, as he was gifted with a delightful wit.

A suburban Milwaukee GOP lawmaker is resurrecting a bill that would fine so-called sanctuary cities up to $5,000 a day.

Outside electioneering activities, like mailings, broadcast ads and robocalls, from anti-abortion organizations totaled about $159,700 between January 2010 and December 2016 – all to support Republicans and oppose Democrats seeking legislative and statewide offices.

Several large farms with an interest in the issue of high-capacity wells have been throwing tens of thousands of dollars over to Republican legislative campaign committees.

Tucked into Gov. Scott Walker’s budget are two proposals that would further imperil good government in Wisconsin.

If past is prologue, Judge Gorsuch’s record gives us every assurance that he will be a jurist bound by the text of the Constitution.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck says President Donald Trump lacks humility.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" local radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents on the words of President Donald Trump.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck says Donald Trump's team has declared an all-out war on the media.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck remembers progressive icon Ed Garvey, who died Wednesday.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's proposal for a law to protect offensive speech.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents on education as Wisconsin voters face a primary in the state race for superintendent of public instruction.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents on the resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" local radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents on the court challenge over Donald Trump's travel ban.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck talks about Gov. Scott Walker's budget proposal requiring school employees to pay health insurance costs as a condition to get extra money.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents on Gov. Scott Walker's ultimatum to Wisconsin schools.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" local radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's education funding proposals.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents on President Donald Trump's Thursday news conference.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" local radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents after Sen. Elizabeth Warren was rebuked by Senate leadership.

Gov. Scott Walker has taken the first step in Wisconsin’s biennial budget process by introducing his executive budget. Walker calls it a “reform dividend” budget that is able to boost spending thanks to the reforms enacted in earlier budgets. There is a lot to like about Walker’s budget, but it suffers from a fundamental flaw: it spends way too much.

While there is certainly opposition to various policies, and some of it is quite intense, the efforts by Organizing for Action at town hall meetings to create and feed a fake perception is subversive and reprehensible.

Almost exactly a year ago, the Conservative Lion of the Supreme Court of the United States, Antonin Scalia, passed away. His death triggered a titanic political battle that is only now beginning its final phase.

With the unveiling of Governor Walker’s new budget this week, it’s clear the great reformer state is not done.

We must prioritize investment in our rural communities, to keep them strong and to keep our state strong. By connecting the state with broadband infrastructure we can retain our way of life while simultaneously ensuring that the best jobs and opportunities are available to all Wisconsinites- not just those who choose to live in urban centers.

Put aside political tactics and let’s talk about emotions — specifically, how to cope during what many progressives and centrists regard as among the darkest political days of their lives.

Rebecca Blank and Tony Evers are accomplished public leaders, Blank as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Evers as state superintendent of public instruction. These days they each sound eager to ingratiate themselves with a governor who has decided, for political expediency, to pause his hammering of their institutions for at least the 2018 election cycle.

Voters who really understand what government can and cannot do may be what's needed to achieve better results.

As former classroom instructors, education administrators and school board officials, we know how important it is to invest in the children of this great state. We also appreciate the significant value that comes when educators are empowered with the tools necessary to control costs and make every dollar go further for the sake of students, and when parents have the opportunity to exercise more choices for their kids to access a quality education.

We continue to analyze the entire proposal and as we have delved into details of the policy items it contains, there are several areas about which we have concerns. Here are a few of the items we are closely tracking.

Only “we the people,” through the agency of our own democratic government, can guarantee health care to everyone in America.

Our country needs to return to its federalist roots and allow states more power to innovate without unfunded mandates and federal regulations that have impeded the path of prosperity for far too long.

When appointing judges, President Trump and the Senate should cast a wide net. Their search should include nominees who fulfill their jurisprudential philosophies, whatever those may be. But the search also should focus on nominees who will be productive, high quality judges who can work effectively with their colleagues.

The state of our state is strong, and the state of our budget is outstanding. This is very good news, and we are able to make these important investments because our common sense conservative reforms are working.

The examples abound when it comes to Republicans' frightful predictions about Obama’s policies.

Instead of a knee-jerk reaction, how about doing an in-depth study to truly understand how best to protect the environment in Wisconsin?

Incumbent state superintendent and challenger have fierce disagreements.

Governors often say this: You win or lose a campaign for re-election in the year before the actual election. Which explains the broad reach of proposals in the 2017-19 budget that Republican Gov. Scott Walker gives lawmakers Wednesday ...

American manufacturers and steel workers, like the men and women who work at Neenah Foundry, today help build our nation’s water infrastructure and they deserve a solid commitment from the president and Congress on a strong Buy America standard that rewards their hard work.

Concrete Clete and Don The Bridge are rolling in their graves, disgusted that a state once so progressive in building infrastructure now can only seem to throw its resources at building monstrous interchanges around the state’s bigger cities, while allowing the rest of our rural roads and bridges to crumble.

A look at history should give President Donald Trump pause if he and his administration think they understand the workings of Russian minds.

The return of the Wisconsin Legislature and the unveiling of the latest state budget plan has come with a mix of proposals tied to the state’s knowledge economy. Here’s a quick rundown of the pluses and minuses so far.

Today, a new generation of entrepreneurs and their partners are building Wisconsin’s 21st century “knowledge economy” on a foundation that has long included expertise in manufacturing and agriculture, but which has expanded to include health care, software, financial services, energy innovation and more.

A century or more ago, there were plenty of people in Wisconsin who cringed at the thought of all those horseless carriages, motorized bicycles and boats buzzing about. And yet, it was precisely that kind of innovation that built a signature part of Wisconsin’s modern economy – and which can be repeated today with an aggressive welcome to autonomous vehicles.

We spend a lot of time thinking about what we will SAY in meetings with elected officials. We want our message and our ask to be perfect. However, we should also take note of what we DO in meetings, through our nonverbal messages.

Too often, school choice is Wisconsin is considered to be an issue only for Milwaukee.

For seven years, Republicans vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act — Obamacare — insisting that they had a better plan to substitute immediately upon its repeal. Now that President Trump has taken the first steps toward repeal, we learn that Republicans have no such plan.

Over the past decade, WisconsinEye has proven that it will not only deliver on its promise to provide the evenhanded, gavel-to-gavel coverage the viewers have come to appreciate, but it will go above and beyond to create invaluable programs that speak to the hearts and minds of the people of Wisconsin – all without losing sight of its mission.

The latest edition of the WisPolitics.com Book Club podcast features an interview with Jack Mitchell, a professor in the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, about his new book, "Wisconsin on the Air: 100 Years of Public Broadcasting in the State That Invented It."