Opinion

And then it’s time to unite behind the victor.

Policy changes are needed to avert future flooding.

Recent revelations by two of Walker’s former cabinet secretaries, along with other examples of his sorry performance when it comes to openness, make it vital that the FOIC set the record straight.

There’s trouble in farmland: low prices, Trump tariffs, the continued loss of small and medium dairy farms. Despite these concerns, Wisconsin farmers are growing about 4 million acres of corn and more than 2 million acres of soybeans this year. That’s in part because farmers are long on hope. It’s also because of government programs that mitigate loss and encourage production.

The death of Arizona GOP Senator John McCain on Saturday reminds the nation of how low American politics has fallen. 

All the polls show Evers to be the front-runner in the Democratic primary, while beating Walker by wide margins in two recent polls. Apparently Walker agrees and his campaign has already begun what it excels in, negative attacks against Evers.

Both Walker and Trump are demagogic politicians. Their modus operandi is scapegoating others.

Walker knows he is in trouble and has been sounding the alarm for months. He will run a no holds barred race to save his political career.

Think you know everything about Tommy Thompson? Guess again.

Edge Messaging's Brian Fraley talks with colleague Dan Deibert about the latest Marquette University Law School Poll.

Beyond the vote totals, who were the other winners and losers in yesterday’s election?

Walker is very vulnerable, but his challengers are blowing it with far-left campaigns.

Decisions by Milwaukee county exec, Journal Sentinel, suppressed news of acting sheriff's lucrative pension.

Nearly all the manufacturing will be done by robots, company says.

Running for position, yet won’t agree to sign waiver of benefit, one of biggest pensions in county history.

Governor is so unpopular he must bludgeon his opponent or change his identity. Or both.

State lags the Midwest in renewable energy, yet suddenly making great progress.

A government safety net is the best way of assuring the economy can evolve and grow.

So claims a NYT story. But the party generally fares better by allowing differing views.

65% in this state get insurance at work. Would they support Medicare for All?

Assumption that government spending reduces freedom limits the ability to assess government programs.

Trump’s attack on Affordable Care Act mostly hurts Republicans, the data shows.

The University of Wisconsin football team’s star wide receiver, Quintez Cephus, was suspended indefinitely from the team on Monday after he was charged with sexually assaulting two reportedly intoxicated women in his apartment in April.

On Daily Standard Podcast, Charlie Sykes talks with Bill Kristol about U.S. Sen. John McCain's legacy.

The Daily Standard Podcast features a discussion on whether GOP candidates should embrace President Trump and Alex Jones' removal from Facebook, Apple, and YouTube.

On the Daily Standard Podcast, deputy online editor Jim Swift joins host Charlie Sykes to discuss the life and legacy of John McCain, the plans to rename the Russell Senate Office Building after him, and more.

On the Daily Standard Podcast, host Charlie Sykes is joined by Politico's Ben White to discuss the recent job numbers, the latest about President Trump's growing trade war and more.

On the Daily Standard Podcast, host Charlie Sykes talks with Politico Magazine's Blake Hounshell about recent primaries, special elections the upcoming midterms and more.

Daily Standard Podcast host Charlie Skyes talks with Michael Warren and David Byler about Scott Walker's run for a third term, the Wisconsin U.S. Senate race and more.

Jim Swift and Haley Byrd join host Charlie Sykes to discuss the special election in Ohio 12, the Chris Collins arrest, and Paul Ryan and his legacy.

He ran hard early not against Donald Trump, but Paul Ryan. And he might have peaked too soon.

At a workshop of the Convention of States, a project to call an Article V constitutional convention for the purposes of amending the federal Constitution to limit the power of the federal government, right-wing provocateur David Horowitz was a featured panelist.

“Medicare for All” is simply a repackaged attempt to revive an old progressive dream of single-payer health care.

Maybe one-third of Democrats will show up at the polls and vote for a candidate with little name identification who has spent very little money. But all the signs point to Tony Evers, and if he ends up victorious, his fellow candidates have only themselves to blame.

This corrosion of civic education is manifesting itself in the types of leaders Americans are choosing and in what citizens expect of those leaders once they take office.

As your (congressman, senator), I will support our president when he deserves it and try to push him to be a bit better when I can. I will adhere to a positive vision of conservatism, one in which every American has the freedom to live his or her life according to their own wishes.

Naturally, both candidates are in a difficult position — Trumpism has thoroughly overrun the Republican Party, and opposing him on the wrong issue could be costly in a GOP primary. But “strength” isn’t demonstrated by how exuberantly one can suck up to party leaders — it’s proven by standing up to those very leaders.

The divisiveness of the primary must give way to a united conservative movement or every one of Wisconsin’s conservative reforms is in jeopardy.

The Democrats got what are probably the best possible outcomes in their own gubernatorial primary and in the Republican primary that determined who will challenge U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.

UW students already demonstrate a healthy approach to football by showing up late to games. They might do even more for social justice when they stop showing up at all.

It's been little more than eight months now, but we're already seeing yet more proof that trickle-down economics doesn't work. Never has, never will.

The adage stolen from the baseball classic "Field of Dreams" — build it and they will come — is being proven once again by our insatiable appetite to build bigger and wider highways.

Is kneeling during the playing of the national anthem to exercise the fundamental American right to peaceably protest somehow less honorable than a president of the United States groveling to a murderous anti-American strongman in full view of the rest of the world?

Chances are slim that the Scott Walkers and Leah Vukmirs of the world will mingle with the workers when there's work to be done for those with the deep pockets.

Walker has always walked a fine line when it comes to campaigning, never missing an opportunity to gain an edge even if it borders on being illegal.

Supply-siders now led by Trump enacted tax cuts they claimed, once again, would grow federal revenues. Instead, they are sure to add yet another trillion dollars to the national debt in the next few years.

Walker's health insurance maneuvering is the most perplexing. Along with Donald Trump, he has been a fierce opponent of the Affordable Care Act for reasons that are hard to understand.

Republican leaders seem to have two standards — one for union folks, another for corporate kingpins.

The two governors, one a Republican and the other a Democrat, have agreed to serve as co-chairs of the Historical Society's campaign to raise $50 million to help pay for the $120 million project, which will replace the outdated building at the top of State Street.

Single-payer advocates have pointed out for years that if Americans pooled all the money that's paid by businesses and individuals for health care coverage and enact a modest tax like we currently do for Medicare there would be more than enough money to fund our entire health care system and include every American in it from birth to death.

David Blaska and Brian Schimming share thier thoughts on U.S. Sen. John McCain.

In Wisconsin’s senate primary, the GOP establishment won again. Leah Vukmir, who had the backing of the state party apparatus, beat Kevin Nicholson, who hammered her for being insufficiently supportive of President Trump in the past.

Scott Walker is an effective candidate—he managed to win and hold the governorship in Wisconsin while amassing a solidly conservative governing record. But, unlike some other successful GOP governors, Walker doesn’t seem to be immune to national level trends.

Two former Republican presidential candidates from the Midwest sought a third term as governor, but only one still has a shot at the rare feat.

Tuesday's announcement that Foxconn is partnering with three of Milwaukee's most prominent corporate citizens to create a venture capital fund has the potential to be a watershed moment for southeastern Wisconsin.

As he seeks a third term as Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker’s campaign strategy has evoked laughter and apprehension – laughter because he is so shamelessly contradicts his own past in seeking to make nice with the progressive forces lined up against him, yet apprehension because his 10-1 money advantage and slippery history raise worries he can deceive enough voters with another change of skin.

Campaign operatives, in exploring how best to win, wonder if Evers should be borrowing from Barack Obama by way of Abraham Lincoln – assembling a “team of rivals” to knit the side together and carry the message in rallies across the state.

The number of students enrolled in teacher preparation programs is shrinking and schools are seeing fewer people apply for teaching positions. The Public Policy Forum found that between the 2008 and 2013 school year, enrollees in Wisconsin teacher training programs declined by 29 percent.

Given the increasingly bleak environment for traditional print media, I still have hope for the future of the Journal Sentinel as its diligent reporters and editors attempt to find ways to do more with less. My column — and all opinion columns — are ending to make room for what’s called “solutions-based journalism,” which is reporting that aims to lift up those people and organizations already working on possible answers to problems.

Regardless of party or post, now is the time to stand up against Trump’s attempts to run roughshod over our democracy, over basic decency, and over the good of the whole. Silence is complicity.

Walker wants to take credit for saving us from a mess of his own making.

Wisconsin’s Group Insurance Board voted to remove an exclusion for transgender health insurance coverage for state employees. That means gender confirmation surgery and related treatment will be covered by insurance beginning in January 2019.

We must ensure that we are staffing our correctional facilities adequately, for the safety of our officers as well as the inmates.

New state report shows roads funding down 28%, yet debt service doubling under Walker.

I believe that Speaker Ryan will be forever known as the family-first Speaker. For this reason, I think it is fitting that his signature achievement is a bill that will help other families by allowing them to keep more of their hard-earned money, all while growing the economy and enabling Wisconsinites to realize the American dream.

The project that was awarded to Wisconsin, approved by the legislature, and signed into contract by WEDC has fundamentally changed in ways that impact the project cost, investment, employment, and tax subsidy. Yet very little has been shared with the public about the impacts of these changes.

It will be all hands on deck as the real work now begins to defeat Governor Scott Walker.

If Gov. Scott Walker really wants to help Wisconsinites get to work, he needs to first focus on saving JobLines and the jobs that depend on it before funding a new initiative.

So Walker has no interest in seeing the inside of any of the state facilities where record-breaking numbers of citizens are incarcerated at the cost of a billion taxpayer dollars a year, and where thousands of state citizens work in a system where he's at the top of the organization chart.

The flooding that ravaged Dane County - - home to the State Capitol, our largest public university, and a powerful urban and rural economy - - cannot be dismissed as a fluke in isolation.

People are tired of the con and are ready to have policy delivered by a calm, competent figure they can trust.

Governments impact population and property value growth in ways both substantial and subtle.

As the flood waters recede, let's hope that the plainly obvious significance of public spending and public service so evident in Wisconsin's flood-ravaged communities doesn't dry up until the next calamity brings us back to basics.

Kewaunee County already soaks up that honor.

Wisconsin has been hit again by flooding that scoured away cars, pavement, and land. We've also got Scott Walker's 'chamber of commerce mentality' management that scrubbed away important information about why the flooding is likely to get worse, having ignored expert, public warnings about insufficient stormwater management and funding since 2003.

On the Steve Scaffidi show on WTMJ-AM, RightWisconsin Editor James Wigderson discusses the legacy of U.S. Sen. John McCain.

Wisconsin’s event barn owners and operators are unhappy about the direction of a legislative study committee on the state’s alcohol distribution laws so far. These “wedding barn operators,” as they’re commonly known, have good reason to be concerned.

Kevin Nicholson’s campaign for U.S. Senate has decided to indulge themselves, nay, wallow in the swampy mud of politics he regularly decries.

Dallet still has a confused idea of what the Supreme Court does in Wisconsin. She called for more immigration and less incarceration of criminals. Apparently she thinks the Court controls border security and whether or not someone commits a crime.

Both Vukmir and Nicholson have made it clear that they will be stalwart allies of the president, regardless of the president’s policies and behavior. Both have defended the president’s policies on trade and on foreign relations even when it might have seemed more politically advantageous. It’s silly to pretend that either one could be Never Trump.

The Church must quickly act to hold the decision makers responsible for their choices and to make clear to others that there is no tolerance for those in authority who abuse their privileged positions.

I respect the congressman's decades of service, but for years Congress has issued policies to shift rather than reduce healthcare costs.

Problems with the WisVote software are being blamed for the Milwaukee County canvass of the August 14 Democratic Sheriff’s primary showing almost exactly double the number of votes actually cast on Election Day.

Libertarian Phil Anderson’s education plank is that, “Any revenues raised to pay for K–12 education should be controlled by parents, who may use the funds for public schools, private schools, or home schooling.” Their kids are not “our children.” Let parents choose.

Wisconsin voters expect and deserve political news coverage to be non-partisan, not bi-partisan.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. As a member of the Child...

With the remaining $45 million available, the Department of Justice has initiated a second round of school safety grants focused on bolstering the baseline mental health and security improvements from the first round of funding.

This race won’t be a cakewalk for Baldwin. Three months out from November, she’s quickly going to learn that her own decisions as Wisconsin’s junior senator might be what costs her the election. She’s never proven she’s been for us.

I spent my summer in blissful ignorance of the tragedy that would end it.

When Ted Warshafsky nominated Julian Bond for vice president, they suddenly found themselves talking about poverty, racism and war on national TV. It was beautiful.

To their credit, several Dem gubernatorial contenders have mounted campaigns that think big about what a governor and a state can do.

We know from the work of John McCain and Russ Feingold that partisans can come together with the purpose of upsetting the calculations of the elites who have made it their business to control our politics and our governance.

Despite what Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and the feudal serfs of corporate capital keep claiming, Americans want strong unions. That’s the message from polling that shows more than 60 percent of voters nationwide approve of organized labor.

Newspapers across the United States are editorializing today in defense of freedom of the press — a necessary act at a time when Donald Trump’s disdain for the basic premises of the American experiment is most on display in his visceral reaction to journalists and journalism.

Overcoming the deep divisions fostered by Scott Walker’s “divide-and-conquer” approach to governing, and getting state government focused on serving all of Wisconsin, is going to be an all-hands-on-deck project. Tony Evers is a smart enough man to know that he is lucky to have Mandela Barnes at his side.

Trump is the enemy of truth. Journalists are still the best protection of a democratic nation.

Proposed state deal gives company subsidy if no more than 7 percent of workers eliminated.

We should want people on the Supreme Court of the United States who are of high character, possess extraordinary legal minds, and spend their time in the mainstream of legal thought. All of this is true of both Kavanaugh and Kagan. It is also noteworthy when the nominee or justice has an interest in legal and civic education in Milwaukee and beyond.

I don’t think we have to continue down this path of continued consolidation and outside investment in agriculture. I believe there is a place for family farms on the land.

McCain served as a Republican senator for Arizona for over 30 years. While there were many policy issues he focused on throughout his tenure, one of his hallmark legislative achievements was in campaign finance reform.

When we couple the increasing needs of children with historic budget cuts to schools, we can see through the school room window that challenges cannot be solved by our local school districts alone.

One answer to rising health costs is to create our own health care marketplace.

As governor, I pledge I will do everything in my power to restore the funding our schools deserve, the rights, wages, and benefits you lost, and the autonomy and respect you deserve.

WILL’s latest study, Silent Successes, shows how, over seven years, the tone of the media coverage has been overwhelmingly negative. In fact, only two percent of stories about Act 10 have been positive. With such overwhelmingly one-sided media coverage, it is little wonder that popular support for Act 10 has been waning.

Cracking has been used successfully by Wisconsin Republicans to create voting districts that favor their party and make it often impossible for Democrats to get elected, regardless of the will of citizens. Other tactics include something known as “Packing,” which places undesirable voters of a political party all into one district.

Eight years ago, Scott Walker campaigned for governor by bragging about how he drove an old Saturn wagon and packed his own ham sandwiches for lunch. Now he’s using a state plane, paid for with our tax dollars, for things like going for a walk or making sure he’s back in Madison in time to catch a football game.

America is not a fascist state yet. But it could get there in a hurry.

Almost three years ago, the Republican leadership in Wisconsin found new ways to give their big donors and their corporate buddies more power to influence our elections and our public policies.

Roe v. Wade is, unfortunately, not a coherent constitutional argument

We have the sitting Republican governor running for reelection, Donald Trump and legislative Republicans lying through their teeth about Foxconn. Evers won't say a word.

Are TIFs – tax increment districts – necessary tools for economic development in blighted areas – or just “smoke and mirrors” designed to spend taxpayer money on projects that do not need it?

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents on DeForest Police Chief Daniel Furseth, who rejected a severance deal from the village after racist comments by him came to light.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch," radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents after Tony Evers won the Democratic primary in the race for governor.

The Wisconsin Republican primary for U.S. Senate may come down to who loves President Donald Trump the most.

Healthcare in America is far from a free market. But as it turns out, opening up that market to even a little bit of competition has done wonders for district pocketbooks, and in turn, for all of Wisconsin’s taxpayers.

Baldwin's passion for inactivity has led to her only accomplishment of note — sitting idly by when she could have done something to stop the opioid abuses at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tomah.

It is hard to see how basic trends could shift much in these final days, but it’s hard to see a down side in choosing a solid Walker opponent, unbloodied by a contentious primary, who will be credible, tough and focused on education, crumbling roads, health care and our poor economic performance compared to neighbors like Minnesota.

In Wisconsin, those deeply worried about the environment have watched Gov. Scott Walker and fellow Republicans chisel away at the state’s bipartisan tradition of natural resource conservation for many years by denying climate science, weakening and eliminating regulations and reducing the capacity for professional research.

The Republican Party’s campaign against Tony Evers began minutes after he won the Democratic primary, and voters should expect to see plenty more through November given Gov. Scott Walker’s slim record of accomplishments to tout.

Bizarrely, these Trump guys align themselves with a fellow who has never shown a scintilla of personal courage or physical toughness. Face it, Trump is just a preening, silver-spoon bully who prefers that real sacrifice be made by others.

Conservatives have leveraged religion since the 1980s as an effective political hammer — remember the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition? So where have liberal faith leaders been and why do their communities pale as a political force?

The Natural Resources Board on Wednesday passed an emergency rule that will change the way many Wisconsin deer farms do business and the way many hunters handle their kills.

We often get people who believe far fewer than half of our Wisconsin applicants are accepted at UW-Madison. In reality, we’ve been accepting about two-thirds of Wisconsin applicants for many years.

The Child Sales Tax Rebate and the sales tax holiday continue our ongoing efforts to reduce taxes on Wisconsin citizens, and we'll look for more opportunities to make progress in the future.

Although efforts by the Middleton-Cross Plains school district to fire the teacher were unsuccessful, Evers’ was free to start revocation proceedings. He might not have been successful, but there was a plausible argument in support of revocation. Evers chose not to proceed.

Some call him Wisconsin's "Mr. Invincible." But in what many expect to be a Democratic year at the polls, the two term Republican Governor Scott Walker, who also survived an intense recall challenge, may find his quest for a third term an uphill climb.

I’m proud to work with my colleagues and the experts in our state agencies to provide everyone in Wisconsin with even more drinkable, fishable and swimmable water.

As the primary election nears, I find myself worried about progressive disunity, and the threat that it could help deliver a third term to Scott Walker.

Like so many others, I will greatly miss my friend. We will all be poorer without his leadership. He was a modern-day rough rider, and those of us who knew him well will longingly remember those days when we could join the charge by his side.

These are empirical questions we can answer.

Following his victory in the Democratic primary for governor Tuesday night, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers made big promises on education but omitted any plans for funding them in his victory speech.

We are moving Wisconsin forward. Now, we have a plan for the next four years. We call it Wisconsin Wins the 21st Century.

Not a replacement facility. Community-based alternatives work much better, more cheaply.

Central to the Republican stratagem is restricting voting by groups that tend to vote Democratic: youth, minorities, the poor and disabled.

If Walker and Brad Schimel are successful, millions of Americans will face economic ruin. The 2.4 million Wisconsinites with a pre-existing condition could be immediately kicked off their plan, no matter how minor the previous injury or how serious the current condition.

Evers and his fellow Democrats want to treat criminal offenders with kid gloves.

Stakes are high, including control over 2020 redistricting.

Ashland County asks voters for property tax hike to handle costs; referendum defeated.

He dealt in deals, barbs, facts and fiction.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. Growing up as a boy in...

It took the arrival of Foxconn, the world’s leading contract manufacturer of consumer electronics, to open more homegrown corporate eyes to taking on more risk by making technology investments at home and abroad.

Ryan-backed candidates did well on Tuesday night. Bryan Steil, Ryan’s preferred successor, won the Republican primary to represent the outgoing speaker’s district after the midterm elections. State Sen. Leah Vukmir won her primary to take on Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., by a 10-point margin. Ryan endorsed her in June.

His stance on school choice may kick thousands of low-income Milwaukee students out of their schools.

Call this "fake news" if you want, but I think if independent journalism some day disappears, we, the people, can count on getting the government we will deserve.

Although Social Security has never missed a payment in more than 70 years, the constant repetition of such falsehoods as “Social Security is broke” or “the trust fund money was stolen” have led many, particularly the young, to fear that Social Security will not be available when it is their time to retire.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker will face Democrat Tony Evers in the Nov. 6 general election.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin will face Republican state Sen. Leah Vukmir in the Nov. 6 general election.

The WisOpinion Insiders, Jensen & Chvala, analyze the governor's race post-primary. Sponsored by Michael Best Strategies and the Wisconsin Counties Association.

The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, look at the race between Dem incumbent U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and GOP challenger state Sen. Leah Vukmir. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.

With the primary results in the books, the WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, assign winners and losers in races for governor, U.S. Senate and other contests. Sponsored by Michael Best Strategies and the Wisconsin Counties Association.

As Gov. Scott Walker launches pro-Foxconn ads, the WisOpinion Insiders, Jensen & Chvala, debate how the deal is playing outstate. Sponsored by Michael Best Strategies and the Wisconsin Counties Association.

The WisOpinion Insiders, Jensen & Chvala, analyze how President Trump's trade war is affecting his supporters in Wisconsin. Sponsored by Michael Best Strategies and the Wisconsin Counties Association.