Opinion

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. With a legacy going back almost...

There is no emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border. Illegal crossings have been declining for years, most outlawed drugs enter the U.S. through border stations and terrorists are not coming across the border.

The Foxconn deal concocted by Trump and then Wisconsin GOP Governor Scott Walker was heralded as the “eighth wonder of the world”. They promised high-paying factory jobs to make big television flat screens. One big catch – Wisconsin taxpayers had to pony up more than $4 billion, including direct cash payments, to Foxconn.

Trump’s State of the Union address was the opposite of Wisconsin Democratic Governor Tony Evers’s State of the State address in humanity, tone and substance.

The more we know about the efforts by officials in Racine to shield public records from public view, the more outrageous it seems.

Both candidates for the state’s highest court claim they will be utterly impartial. Should voters believe them?

My guess is that none of the political decision-makers negotiating the Foxconn deal had the business experience to dig deeply. If so, they plainly did not use their common sense.

The recent attacks against me go far beyond this campaign. The underlying argument, no matter how it is packaged, is that you cannot be a person of faith and, at the same time, be a faithful judge who treats everyone with respect. Their message is clear: people of faith need not apply.

Let’s remember the courage of those big and small who refused to kneel to a culture that did not want to be confronted with its own flaws.

The company is cutting back plans. Will it walk away entirely?

Foxconn workers, insiders say Racine project is failing in Bloomberg story.

But their proposed tax cut is unfunded and doesn’t address state’s tax inequity.

After weeks of negative press, his Supreme Court campaign is reeling. Who vetted him?

A huge success! — according to the MacIver Institute. Ah, not exactly.

Gov. Evers and Republicans differ on value of the Manufacturing and Agriculture Tax Credit. Who's right?

In fact, some argue New Urbanism enhances conservative values.

Vos and Fitzgerald support lawsuit overturning Obamacare, but voters don’t.

We Energies wants to pollute Lake Michigan, adding to toxic mercury levels harmful to babies.

Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Brian Hagedorn is running for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Therefore, it is important to know what he believes about liberty interests, particularly on constitutional issues, whether they are federal or state constitutional matters.

Foxconn stops construction after receiving vast amounts of corporate welfare, Republicans try to cover up their failure.

Taxpayer-funded lobbyists are spending your tax dollars pushing to loosen property tax caps, the creation of new local taxes and fees, and changes to property tax assessment laws that will result in higher property assessments.

Resistance is the only Democrat agenda. Bipartisanship is a laughable concept. Compromise is out of the question. Democrats want just one thing: Trump’s defeat.

Evers’ contention that his push for statewide decriminalization will somehow solve racial inequities in the justice system is either pie-in-the-sky naivety or willful dishonesty.

In framing adherence to Christian beliefs as bigotry and thus unfitness for public office, Wisconsin’s liberals have established a new religious test that requires candidates to either publicly rebuke their spiritual beliefs or be politically crucified for them.

“Millionaires and billionaires” have been the boogeymen of the modern Democratic Party for years, but over the past 12 months, the party has lurched even farther to the left.

Cieslewicz says he's looking for a "boring" candidate to take on Trump in 2020.

If in the end Foxconn does pull the plug altogether, far from accepting “blame,” Evers should take the credit.

In his final budget request as State Superintendent, Governor Evers and the Department of Public Instruction submitted a plan that included $63 million to support and improve school mental health programs. As a former special educator, I know this funding will have major positive impacts on the well-being and productivity of students across Wisconsin.

There is widespread disappointment, even despair among some citizens, that neither President Donald Trump nor Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has addressed the most critical issue facing the country: corn syrup.

State Rep. David Murphy, a Republican from the Fox River Valley community of Greenville, fashions himself as the free speech expert for the University of Wisconsin campuses.

Some 600 college students on 24 Wisconsin campuses were interviewed during the 2017-18 school year and roughly 75 percent responded that it was either very important or somewhat important to them to have transportation options other than an automobile to get around.

Many of the so-called 1 percent are outraged over U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' 70 percent proposal which, incidentally, was the highest tax bracket through the late '50s, the '60s and the '70s. It was slashed to 50 percent in the early '80s and is now at 37 percent on income earned over $600,000.

Last month's Marquette University statewide poll didn't have much good news for the Republicans who continue to control Wisconsin's two legislative houses.

Ron Fiedler served as secretary of Transportation for five years — 1987-1992 — during Tommy Thompson's reign as governor and in my estimation, there wasn't anyone better.

What's so extraordinary about America's ever-widening gap between the rich and poor is that it's being caused by policies our politicians are enacting right before our eyes and we let them get away with it.

The loophole has been a major thorn in the side of Wisconsin local governments that are trying to balance their own budgets.

Evers showed once again that his style shuns nastiness and name-calling, preferring instead to make points that respect the opinions of others while using a subtle approach to tell them they're wrong.

With the new administration taking shape, advocacy groups across the state are asking how do we operate in the new normal? How are we going to get legislation passed? The answer is simple: activate people at the grassroots level!

His approach is raising an argument for Democrats across the country with the results probably varying according to location. How hard do you push for change? Is going in increments better? Or is a bold leap better? All these approaches are going to be fodder in the presidential debate as well as in state politics.

Several public officials still cling to the thinning hope that Wisconsin wasn’t a prize chump in yet another Foxconn fiasco. But industry observers are making harsh comparisons. Several suggest Foxconn is ducking, dinking and delaying until Trump leaves office so it can then blame departure on any successor.

President Trump has done his most damage to the US image in foreign reputation and action, yet American voters are choosing Democratic presidential candidates for 2020 based on their domestic policies.

Now that President Trump’s State of the Union speech has been rescheduled to Feb. 5, let me admit to a quixotic viewpoint. I actually can’t wait.

When they realized the Democrats had defeated the GOP’s aging golden boy Scott Walker and swept all statewide offices, the Republicans took advantage of their gerrymander control of the legislature to stick it to the new governor while the agreeable old governor was still in office. They called an unsubtle lame duck session limiting Evers power and that of the new attorney general, Josh Kaul.

Wouldn't Tammy Baldwin be a uniquely compelling 2020 candidate?

Governor Tony Evers has delivered his expected veto of the tax cut sent him by the GOP Legislature. This is good. Using one-time revenue to make permanent tax cuts is not sound.

Don’t hold your breath, so to speak, waiting for evidence that “possessing small amounts of marijuana” has anything to do with the incarceration rate.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. This column first appeared in...

Anyone who equates homosexuality and bestiality does not belong on our bowling team, let alone the high court.

Evers can act from the high ground. He can simply state that it should not be the mission of our guard to curtail or intimidate the vulnerable who seek a harbor from danger.

Competition among political ideas is good for democracy. But the opposite also is true. When districts aren’t competitive in general elections, the real election occurs in the primary, which typically is dominated by partisans.

If slightly higher gas prices represents a bridge too far for Wisconsin Republicans, there is an easy way to reduce or eliminate the impact of a higher gas tax on Wisconsin drivers: Abolish the Unfair Sales Act.

While Walker uses Twitter to showcase his travels and burgers runs, the decay he left behind hurts state residents, public budgets and the people's natural resources.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos managed in a state without two spare potholes-filling nickels to rub together to steer to and through his district a quarter of a billion federal and state road-and-interchange widening dollars that will trigger sprawl beyond bulldozed Mount Pleasant farms even if Foxconn never diverts a gallon of Lake Michigan water to produce a single big screen LCD TV.

Foxconn says it isn't going to build a factory in SE Wisconsin, so it shouldn't retain various water diversion and air pollution permits and permissions which the factory was said to require.

Clean drinking water initiatives, more school funding and expanded dental coverage in BadgerCare. We're seeing more of Democratic Governor Tony Evers' priorities in his first budget, and, by implication, the range of just some of what Walker and his legislative allies had dismissed from public agendas or damaged statewide since 2011.

RightWisconsin Editor James Wigderson joined WTMJ-AM’s Steve Scaffidi on Monday to talk about Andrew McCabe’s appearance on 60 Minutes and his book, Donald Trump’s emergency and more.

If high-speed rail can't make it in population dense California, what made anyone think it could work in Wisconsin?

Is Evers sincere about cutting taxes or is he really just interested in sticking it to the state's manufacturers?

As you can see from the numerous posts about Mark on Facebook in recent days, he was well-liked by nearly everyone and had good reasons to be liked.

Rep. Mike Gallagher questioned both the national emergency declaration by the president and the budget compromise which passed with little deliberation.

If we start choosing which rights were going to defend, and we fail to defend an individual’s right to their religious beliefs – to one’s own conscience – then what right does the WRA hold dear that will be able to stand against the omnipotent state without the rule of law to protect it?

It is time for new ideas, new people, someone who lives and breathes progressive principles.

Republicans say they want to work together, but have yet to act on it.

Our economy works best when we level the playing field, strengthen communities, support local businesses and expand economic opportunities.

The purpose of government is supposed to be to protect life, liberty, and property from violence or fraud. the government should not be concerned with keeping people from vice or bad habits and regulating or prohibiting activities that take place between consenting adults.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. The Green New Deal resolution introduced...

John Imes, executive director for Wisconsin Environmental Initiative, shares insights from the GreenBiz 19 conference in Phoenix.

The legislators who went out of their way to disregard Colin Kaepernick did not just dismiss him. They dismissed much of what is best about Wisconsin history. Kaepernick’s advocacy on behalf of racial justice merits recognition by the state where he was born.

What made the remarks by Barnes responding to Trump's State of the Union address so powerful was his reminder that Trump’s politics are being upended by citizen action.

Could Soglin be beat? Yes. But he won’t lose to a candidate who simply runs against him. He will lose only to a candidate who — like the winning contender in 1973 — makes a more compelling case for what a mayor of Madison can and should be doing.

The incumbent’s best hope is not in a fight for the votes of the other contenders in the primary but for a big boost in turnout.

Instead of offering a standard deduction at a set value, Wisconsin’s sliding-scale standard deduction is highly progressive in nature; individuals with the lowest incomes can claim the highest amount, and the higher a taxpayer’s income, the less of a deduction he or she is eligible to claim.

The behavior of public employees on the job is subject to public scrutiny in nearly every circumstance under Wisconsin law. That means the public has a right to see disciplinary records of all employees.

Wisconsin should be better prepared for the impact on the state’s federal workforce located here in the Badger state.

What the new law proposed by Sargent and Larson would actually do is limit freedom of speech in a way that benefits them.

Fears by legislative fiscal hawks that the Transportation Stakeholder Task Force would be nothing more than a “tax force” seemingly have come to pass.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson tells MacIver News Service he’s hopeful the Senate will take up another resolution that would deal realistically with security at the U.S. Mexico-border.

This is who Trump really is: He’s an authoritarian, he’s a fascist, he has no respect for the institutions of our democracy.

Analysis from the Badger Institute over the years confirms that tolling on interstate highways is a workable approach for rebuilding and widening the state’s aging Interstate system.

There’s a way to end old welfare programs that discourage gainful employment and replace them with a new policy that rewards work, without saying "so long" to compassion.

With a liberal governor, the conservative majorities in the Legislature are relegated to a rearguard action to defend the magnificent gains made in the last eight years. But the Legislature’s rampart might be flanked if Wisconsin’s liberals are able to seize control of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court.

Foxconn’s Wisconsin commitment is uncertain. But should we have expected anything less? Foxconn has a history of grand promises followed by local disappointment.

While most of us are tempted to wail on and on about the despicable personal character of Trump, leaders like Evers and Baldwin forgo the politics of bellicosity and focus on ideas to help ordinary people.

Anonymous critics of Amy Klobuchar's management style are taking shots as the U.S. senator from Minnesota announces a run for president.

Scott Klug and I share similar backgrounds — we’re both 1950s-born baby boomers from Midwestern manufacturing towns with master’s degrees in journalism and careers in media. His was in television in Seattle and Washington, D.C., before his time as a news anchor in Madison in the 1980s. But brother, do we part ways in assessing today’s media.

When Noble Wray left his native Milwaukee to join the Madison police force in 1984, he may not have imagined how the topic of racial equity in policing would dominate his career. Yet, here he is — at 58 and the grandfather of two — reflecting not only on his decade as Madison’s police chief until 2014, but today as one of the nation’s most prominent African-Americans training police on racial bias.

Over the last couple of decades Midwestern dairy farmers and the Mexican workers who endure danger and hardship to come north and milk their cows have developed a deep, interdependent relationship.

Yes, it will be different than a Walker budget. But precisely how?

Lots of possible taxes and fees, but can legislators agree on any?

For the first time in Wisconsin history, a majority of those working in the governor’s office are women.

We are aware of the evolving dynamics and the changing nature of the employment mix on the Foxconn campus -- more engineering and design talent, and fewer “plant floor” jobs. Foxconn is an innovative company on the leading edge of a rapidly-changing industry, so it’s natural for their plans to evolve.

Why it's the smart, compassionate and fiscally responsible thing to do.

Like Brexit, the changes at UW-Stevens Point, I am sure, seemed a good idea at the time.

Two recent news stories, seemingly unrelated to the media fire drill over the Foxconn Technology Group project, help to explain why the company could significantly evolve its Wisconsin operations over time.

Other states are vying to the lead in producing industrial hemp. Wisconsin can starve and over-regulate its own process, or it can let research and market forces take the lead. The latter is the best chance for state farmers.

Hard-working families in Wisconsin deserve a tax cut. But you also deserve for it to be done responsibly and to make sure we know how we’re going to pay for it in the future.

I’m extremely disappointed Evers vetoed our common-sense tax cut for middle class taxpayers. Sending a portion of the surplus back to taxpayers should be an easy decision.

Male participation in Milwaukee's school choice program was associated with a 53 percent reduction in drug-related offenses and an 87 percent reduction in property damage offenses.

Gov. Tony Evers issued an executive order Monday to “promptly” remove the state’s National Guard troops from Arizona. Members have been serving in Arizona since the end of June, following President Trump’s call for the National Guard to help secure the border.

In light of Gov. Tony Evers veto of the Legislature's tax cut bill, the WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, consider which branch's tax cut vision will prevail, or not. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.

With calls for recreational marijuana in neighboring states, the WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, take up Gov. Tony Evers' planned budget proposal to legalize medical marijuana. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.

With reports from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau that tax revenues will drop this year, the WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, consider the budget process facing Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican Legislature. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.

This week on "The Insiders," Chvala and Jensen discuss whether former Gov. Scott Walker is the future of the state GOP. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.