Opinion

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. When President Trump turned his attention...

A solution to addressing some of the concerns of the faculty could involve slowly testing one or two of the 13 two-year campuses and seeing how they succeed with enrollment rates and budget decreases.

Bringing together the best minds in the Middle East with the best minds in the Midwest is a win-win for us all.

The Russian interference investigation overshadows everything: Trump’s trip to Asia, 2018 elections – GOP control of Congress, Trump’s reelection and the GOP legislative agenda.

Trump and the GOP-led Congress have done nothing for regular folks.

The tax cuts are a bust for regular folks, including most Wisconsinites.

The voters didn't count in 2016. They are not going to count in 2018. If they are ever going to count again, the system has to be rebuilt in ways that makes ideas and participation more important and slogans and insults less so.

As the workforce continues to shrink, employers would be wise to consider veterans as their first choice.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker formally announced his re-election campaign on Sunday. What are his prospects for victory? What are his strengths and vulnerabilities and who is his likely opponent?

In an interview with Edge Messaging President Brian Fraley, state Rep. Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, reflects on his service this Veterans Day weekend.

As feared, it’s mostly become a local carrier of USA Today stories.

Attorney General has been reluctant to pursue opioid manufacturers. Why?

The incredible decline — and remarkable staying power — of state teacher’s union.

Favored Republican towns allowed to levy a local sales tax, but not Milwaukee.

New research shows votes — for both blacks and whites — were suppressed in 2016.

It was supposed to assure his reelection. Not anymore.

A great way to get donations from billionaires like Sheldon Adelson.

So claims his supporters at WILL. Let’s consider the evidence they offer.

Perhaps not, but legislative districts straddling its border are changing.

Walker says so in new ad that slams Illinois. Is its claim true or false?

And why do I get nothing back in return but a bigger federal deficit?

The GOP retreat from fiscal conservatism is twofold: The tax plan helps balloon federal deficits, and it does nothing to address the rising costs of entitlements as the population grows older and sicker.

Despite latest media narrative, Americans know exactly why Obamacare is a mess ... and who is at fault.

It is our hope that the personal biases and excuses that have driven bills to legalize medical marijuana into the ground for the last decade can experience the swell of support we know exists for medical marijuana as a treatment option for patients when their physicians approve. It is our hope that, this time, common sense and human dignity will win.

The party's coastal elites sneer at hardworking Democrats in the heart of the country. Hollywood mocks their traditional cultural views while pretending the entertainment industry isn't a snake pit of degradation.

The idea of running as a Republican by attacking one of the state's most popular GOP politicians is puzzling given that Nicholson is trying to persuade people that he is, indeed, Republican.

No one begrudges a politician with strongly-held beliefs but when threatening to scuttle tax reform in the name of your pet cause becomes a predictable part of your oeuvre, it may be time to soften your tactics.

Roy Moore is what happens when political parties and religions prioritize power over principles.

Wachs' attempt to link his Republican political opponent to the misdeeds of Franken, Conyers and Moore comes as sexual assault and harassment are being treated with the gravity they deserve. Yet Wachs has decided to take a cheap political shot.

Wisconsin could lower the drinking age to 19, then charge 19- and 20-year-olds a fee for an addendum to their driver's license that would allow them to drink legally. To gain this privilege, the applicant would need his or her parents' permission and to attend a training class on alcohol use. The funds raised by the new license would both pay for the classes and help offset the state's loss of federal funds.

The Trump Effect in Wisconsin likely will help Walker. After all, Wisconsin voters knew full well who Trump was when they went to the polls, and they voted for him anyway. If there’s evidence that associating with Trump hurts Republican politicians in the state, I haven't seen it.

On "Outside the Bubble" NewsTalk 1130 WISN's Dan O'Donnell speaks out against political tribalism and offers a candid assessment on President Trump, Governor Walker and many other topics.

I’m an urban liberal who voted for Hillary Clinton, but when I sit for hours in my deer stand I remind myself of the value of being settled and maybe I start to understand, just a little bit, what it means to feel unrooted in a world you don’t know. This doesn’t make me want to change my political stripes, but it does argue for a change in attitude.

Madison has a lot to offer Amazon. But Amazon won’t take it and Madison shouldn’t have bothered.

Hunting is not just killing and it’s not just about the individual hunter. We have obligations to the prey, to fellow hunters and to society in general. And those are lessons that are getting lost in the story of the kindergarten deer hunter.

Hordes of Wisconsin government workers are employed to ‘check boxes’ for the feds.

Recently, however, there's been an alarming trend to make it more difficult for people to get access to their own government.

The 21 law, like Prohibition in the '20s, didn't really cut down on drinking — it sent it to the modern-day speakeasies. And that, of course, spurred raids by the cops followed by huge fines and even jail.

Instead of reform, the GOP federal tax plan is really yet another attempt to foist the "trickle-down" theory on an unsuspecting public — you know, the theory that has failed time and again since it was first introduced by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

Millennials — identified as those born roughly between 1980 and 2000 — represent the generation that will be the political, governmental and business leaders of the future.

Rep. Pocan has been pressuring his colleagues to do something — anything — to address what is our national embarrassment: the killing and wounding of tens of thousands of mostly innocent people by firearms every single year.

Richard Cordray had just announced he is stepping down as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau when the special interests that prey on American consumers came running.

While the record shows just how cynical his worry about Democrats' outside money is, the truth is that Gov. Scott Walker doesn't just wallow in money lavished on him by outside contributors. He's owned by them.

Of all the crazy things Donald Trump has done since he assumed office last January, he needs to be talked out of doing something even crazier, and that's his pledge to do away with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

North Carolina Rep. Walter Jones, a Republican who has been in Congress since 1994, has been quietly writing letters of condolence to the families of thousands of service men and women who have lost their lives fighting in the nation's wars during this still-young 21st century. He's been doing so as penance for his vote in 2002 to authorize the U.S. to invade Iraq, which he now regrets.

There is a surprising 38th parallel in politics that routine candidate ads are not supposed to cross even if third parties do. The line is using legally unproven crimes and scandals from the past against an opponent in last minute ads -- despite their availability in news stories.

The timing was impossible to ignore. Exactly a year after Trump took office, the US electorate awoke.

The campaign against U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin doesn’t even have a final opponent and yet the leading primary contenders, Kevin Nicholson and Leah Vukmir, are attracting gobs of secret money in a battle for bucks more important to them than any ideological position they take.

The Foxconn legislation creates special treatment for Foxconn whenever the corporation is sued in Wisconsin courts.

We have come a long way in integrating people with disabilities into society. But individuals with mental health and conduct disorders are an exception. We need to provide, support, and encourage mental health facilities in our communities. And we need to provide treatment for these individuals, not just seclusion from the general public.

They’re at it again. Despite overwhelming support for an open Internet, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai wants to undo net neutrality in the United States. And the big winner will be the giant telecommunications companies — and pretty much no one else.

I can’t help but look at the Foxconn deal and wonder what might happen if Wisconsin took the $3 billion it plans to give the Taiwanese-based manufacturer to locate its sprawling plant here, and instead offered that money to entrepreneurs and start-ups.

Opportunities to dramatically rewrite the tax code don’t come around very often. Sen. Baldwin and the rest of our congressional delegation need to deliver on their past promises and stand up to corporate cronies and the hundreds of thousands of special-interest groups benefiting from our broken tax system.

The future of our state could and should be bright, but right now it doesn’t look that way to those who have seen their optimism eclipsed by the reality of economic insecurity and stagnation.

Twenty years ago, prison overcrowding in Wisconsin led to hundreds of inmates being housed by private prisons, costing millions of taxpayer dollars each year. At the same time, new prisons were constructed and opened at a rate of nearly one prison per year, also costing millions of taxpayer dollars. Today, we stand on the verge of repeating this costly history.

Among other things, it means a much higher taxpayer bill when the inevitable need to rebuild and modernize a critical transportation artery is addressed.

The incredible and shocking display of disorder which occurred during the Dane County Board of Supervisors meeting was more than just differing opinions about a local matter. It was anarchy on full display by anarchists.

The fact that now it is politically risky to put forth an honest approach making it clear streets and roads must have more funding so they can be serviced adequately, underscores how far from a functional governing style we have fallen.

What is at the heart of this matter is that some of the hunting interests in the state see a slippage in the number of young people who feel exhilaration over the notion of toting a weapon into the woods and killing animals. There was no huge expression of desire from youngsters on this matter.

A bill passed in the State Assembly that allows anyone to go hunting, no matter how young.

State prisons already overcrowded; bill would add 1,800 inmates, cost $57 million per year.

Without the Supreme Court ruling in our favor this year, Wisconsinites will continue to find themselves without equal representation in their state government, which will inevitably fall hardest on the backs of communities of color.

Problems there linked to Act 10’s elimination of union workers’ rights.

Keep a sharp lookout for any and all numbers he throws out on the 2018 campaign trail - - from jobs to Foxconn spending to any data point in between - - because there will be a good chance his numbers are wrong but somehow make him look great again.

DNR adds another 240 waterways that are officially impaired, bringing total to 1,300.

Inspired by the rush to give it all to Foxconn, the mining rights giveaway bill has passed Tuesday night, and Walker will sign it.

Just as he did with his closely-held Act 10 cards, Walker hid his damaging environmental intentions when he ran for Governor in 2010 - - but in a classic example of political deflection and false projection accused Democratic opponent, Tom Barrett, of harboring a secret environmental agenda.

The consequences are real, unintended or not, and the so-called fixes have built-in problems.

Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, joins James Wigderson on RightWisconsin Conversations to talk about the likelihood of getting Heal Without Harm passed and what the state can do to combat human trafficking. They also talk about Kleefisch’s passion for hunting, how he got into politics, and going into enemy territory with a new radio program on liberal talk radio.

Evers using Walker's requirement the Department of Public Instruction use state DOJ lawyers in lawsuit related to REINS Act to raise funds for gubernatorial campaign.

The National Journal has already described the Republican primary as a contest between Bannon/Breitbart and local conservatives. This recorded conversation is a troubling sign that Nicholson’s campaign might see the race that way, too, and they’re choosing the wrong side.

The decision by the student government at UW-Stevens Point to deny recognition to students attempting to form a chapter of Turning Point USA is a sign of a wider intolerance of free speech on college campuses.

If Wachs is serious – finally – about showing women respect, it’s a conversation he needs to have with his own political party.

Hampered by state revenue limits, counties are often forced into costly borrowing to cover the costs of transporting and housing Wisconsinites caught up in this epidemic in other parts of the state. And property taxpayers are forced to pick up the cost.

A law signed by Gov. Scott Walker Saturday will allow children and their parents to do some of the same things my father and I did as a boy. It's plenty controversial: the legislation allows children of any age to hunt if a trained adult is within arm's reach.

And how tax reform and transportation upgrades can help Wisconsin take full advantage.

Sen. Ron Johnson is right to challenge the GOP's tax reform plan.

If progressives simply stand pat with their current “just say no” to a constitutional convention, we will not even have these discussions to find out what other wonderful ideas might exist to improve a document that was originally written when it was legal to own slaves and women did not have the right to vote.

Michael Brennan’s nomination for a lifetime appointment as a judge on a federal appellate court whose jurisdiction includes Wisconsin is tainted in ways that should make Wisconsinites wary.

Rep. Joel Kleefisch, the chairman of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, is an ebullient presence at the Capitol, eager to share his hunting stories to anyone in earshot and show off his trophy-filled office, which includes a bearskin, an alligator and a turkey, among others. He said he’s taken “well more than 30” new hunters out for their first time. On Monday, I became one of them.

We must indeed remember the millions of Americans who have been and continue to be sent to foreign lands to fight for dubious causes and imperial crusades. One day, let’s hope that the last war fought will seem like a distant memory, and that the veterans who pass away will not be replaced by new ones returning from foreign occupation.

Let’s stop treating adults like children. Set the drinking age where it belongs; at the age of majority.

Anyone who still thinks Johnson is looking out for the little guy needs to realize “pass through” tax benefits don’t just go to small businesses such as dry cleaners, repair shops and actual mom and pop businesses; like most other Republican tax schemes, the really enormous tax advantages go to millionaires like Johnson and very large businesses.

Ryan has abandoned the biggest lie of his career about the urgency of reducing the nightmare of U.S. budget deficits, but his new lies about Republican tax cuts benefitting the middle class will create a brand-new American nightmare.

This past week we announced a restructure of the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means. The committee will be charged with researching our tax code and developing a new, low, fair and simple plan.

As President Donald Trump combines threats to unchain the dogs of war with attacks on freedom of the press and on dissent by citizens, it is more important than ever to recall what was said in 1917 by Robert M. La Follette.

What the tax bill actually means is more money in the offshore accounts of the billionaire grifters who are enriched by Ryan’s redistribution of wealth upward — and who generously reward the speaker’s service to them with donations to Republican campaign funds.

Foxconn will bring thousands of family-supporting jobs to Wisconsin, transforming our economy. We will look back at this moment as a turning point for Wisconsin, the point in which we became the economic powerhouse of the Midwest.

The launching of UW-Madison Center for Research on the Wisconsin Economy is much needed.

Last week two amazing advocates and grieving mothers, Bonnie and Bev, brought Faces of Addiction and Hope, a story quilt, to the state Capitol during our last session day of the year. It was a stark reminder we still have more work to do in the opioid crisis.

As of November 1st, Wisconsin residents and families can apply for a 2018 health plan, renew their current plan or pick a new plan through the ACA’s Health Insurance Marketplace.

Some are head scratchers. Many have gotten little attention.

Maybe it's time we review all of the "adult things" we've attached ages to, and make them more consistent all along the line.

Paperwork takes staff away from daily responsibilities and educating kids, officials say.

The rhythms of nature are so much slower than our hectic lives. The shades of brown and grey so much subtler.

Are they incompetent or flouting the law? And how will they oversee Foxconn?

Hunting is a way of life and a proud tradition in Wisconsin. I wish you the best of luck as you head out into the woods with your friends and family for a safe and productive hunt.

Marsy’s Law for Wisconsin simply seeks to give victims like me equal legal footing — nothing more, nothing less.

Recently introduced legislation a felony in search of a crime.

Countless Republicans, concerned about retaining control of the senate and the advancement of their political agenda, are willing to make excuses for their complicity in advancing Alabama U.S. Senate Candidate Ray Moore.

Currently, In Wisconsin, there is no statutory guidance on how correctional facilities restrain pregnant women. This is out of step with correctional practices nationwide.

Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans under 50.

Donald Trump has a rare infinity for putting his foot in his mouth and fanning the flames of controversy.

The legislation would fix a failed two-decade-long experiment with over-regulation in Wisconsin.

While it does reduce corporate tax rates for some companies, the vast majority of American businesses are left out of any benefit whatsoever.

If the Republican leaders choose partisan delegates, then Wisconsin would be represented at the constitutional convention by a lopsided number of Republicans.

When Gov. Scott Walker announced his re-election campaign team today, it was like an invitation to a reunion for some of the players in the John Doe II scandal.

Disruptive protests help recruiting efforts of alt-right.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents after a federal grant for more Madison police officers fell through.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents on President Donald Trump's derision of Sen. Elizabeth Warren as "Pocahontas."

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents after Wisconsin's Ron Johnson became the first GOP senator to officially oppose a tax overhaul plan.

RUSD drops off the failing district list, MPS receives the lowest district score in the state, choice programs are finally rated, and charter schools excel.

While there is still time for other candidates to enter the race, the voters of the 58th Assembly District are already presented with two quality candidates -- Steven Stanek and Tiffany Koehler -- from which to choose.

A "no" vote from Senator Johnson would mean there is no tax relief at all and no fixing of the major flaws in the federal tax code that President Trump has accurately described as a giant self-inflicted wound on the U.S. economy.

Last week, Governor Walker signed into law my contribution to the HOPE Agenda, AB 335, which cracks down on the distribution of fentanyl analogs.

When I hear some segment of white voters being maligned as clueless, my first thought runs to backers of Donald Trump, those people who actually believed he intended to help the working class. Author Joan C. Williams sees the opposite: It is college-educated white liberals who are the clueless ones.

Madison's mayor sounds like a politician who’d embrace the conflict.

First, the newspaper revenue model, especially the once-robust classified advertising business, would be considerably heathier. ... Part two of my answer is that, internet or not, the newspaper business would still be much changed from the old days because much of society has split into ideological tribes affecting their media choices.

Before Walker, Wisconsin politics were spirited yet civil, but have been replaced today by scorched-earth, single-party governance so toxic that Walker refuses to appear in public before any skeptical audience. Sycophants only, please.

Students from historically underrepresented and disadvantaged groups report experiencing a less favorable campus climate than majority students. Students of color, students with a disability, LGBQ and transgender/non-binary students feel less safe and less welcome on campus.

In recognition of Veterans Day on November 11, I want to recognize the members of the U.S. Armed Forces who are part of University of Wisconsin–Madison’s heritage and its future.

We have finally reached a point, with majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives and a White House willing to take bold steps, where we can create this heightened economic growth for all Americans.

The president’s tax plan won’t help small businesses and entrepreneurs. It will hurt them while bestowing huge rewards on big businesses and the very rich.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will give us a tax code that’s simple, fair and easy to understand.

President Donald Trump’s tax reform plan will allow entrepreneurs and small businesses more room to improve, invest and expand, propelling economic growth and creating more family-supporting careers, all while freeing up Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money.

Wisconsin’s rural communities face a unique set of challenges. That’s why we’re tackling these issues head on with a comprehensive plan to meet the needs of rural communities across the state.

Walker’s re-election is anything but assured. A recent poll by a respected national survey firm found that Walker trails a generic Democratic opponent for re-election by 48 percent to 43 percent.

Over the last seven years many public educators have acclimated to Walker’s world and maybe even suppressed memories of the initial bomb, but it still stinks what Walker and his GOP cohorts have done to public schools and professional educators in Wisconsin.

Ryan and other conservative leaders may have no choice but to address the Affordable Care Act’s many failures in bite-sized pieces. A key provision to sink their teeth into is the health insurance tax, often called the “HIT.”

And what’s the secret -- so far -- of his success?

When full-time staffers and part-time board members who set agency policy (including former Republican Rep. Dean Knudson) plead for three more employees, the Legislature and governor should do more than just listen.

A record 16 candidates have registered, making predictions difficult.

Republican bill cuts taxes for wealthy, corporations, hikes them for many families.

In an interview with KUMD talk show host Lisa Johnson, DNR Chief Conservation Warden Todd Schaller discusses Wisconsin's mentored hunting law, which allows children of any age to hunt with a mentor within arm's reach.

President Trump's trip to Asia this month gives an opportunity to change course by stating a policy the two Koreas, Japan and China understand.

Your proposal may be a good idea or a bad idea, but it is not a new idea. Change course and pledge to go on a listening tour and visit every two year college and hear them out. That is the Wisconsin Idea.

The energy marketplace has already embraced renewables as part of a balanced portfolio.

Unplugging – whether literally, figuratively, or both – is one way to demonstrate to others that we care about them and that we are listening. Building on that, if our family, friends, and colleagues benefit from uninterrupted time, does our inner self not deserve a little uninterrupted time as well?

The federal push for less discipline under President Barack Obama is having a negative effect on Wisconsin classrooms while attempting to solve a problem of discrimination that does not exist.

The state mandated report cards are a game changer for school choice. When differences between schools are controlled for, private schools in the choice programs and public charter schools show significant student growth.

Walker’s misguided policies are jeopardizing the university’s and Wisconsin’s future.

Do you support lowering Wisconsin's drinking age to 19 if the state would not lose federal highway funds?

Do you feel things in Wisconsin under Gov. Scott Walker are generally going in the right direction, or do you feel things have gotten off on the wrong track?

The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, debate the merger of the UW colleges with nearby four-year institutions. Sponsored by Michael Best Strategies and the Wisconsin Counties Association.

The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala & Jensen, share their Thanksgiving thoughts after what has been a divisive year. Sponsored by Michael Best Strategies and the Wisconsin Counties Association.

The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala & Jensen, handicap Gov. Scott Walker's chances of re-election as he launches his bid for a third term. The "Two-Minute Take" is sponsored by Michael Best Strategies and the Wisconsin Counties Association.