Opinion

Increasingly, however, I’ve seen the NIMBY label weaponized as a blanket term for all neighborhood activism. Under this overly simplistic narrative, concerns ranging from the trivial to the serious get lumped together. Any community opposition, no matter the issue, is written off as stubborn interference.

People with more than a passing knowledge of farming know CAFOs are actually cutting the bottom out from under smaller producers who can’t compete. Making liberal standards for new and expanded CAFOs isn’t going help small- and medium-sized producers. It can only hurt them.

The ACA works well; millions are covered. Premiums are down nationally and in Wisconsin.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. Last week, the GOP-led Senate Intelligence...

Let’s reframe and reset the debate and move Wisconsin Medicaid expansion forward.

A political storm, unlike any other, is coming.

The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com. Early in his administration, Wisconsin Gov....

State lawmakers are demanding an audit of Wisconsin’s Public Finance Authority following a report in the Wall Street Journal that it is responsible for selling the riskiest municipal bonds in the country.

In this excerpt from his memoir, "For the Good of the Game," the ex-MLB Commissioner Bud Selig recounts the political struggles to get financial help to build a new Brewers ballpark in the mid-1990s.

The following is an excerpt from "Disassembled: A Native Son on Janesville and General Motors – a Story of Grit, Race, Gender and Wishful Thinking and What it Means for America," written by former Janesville Democratic Sen. Tim Cullen and edited by Doug Moe. The book can be purchased here

Hamilton and council members are to blame for losing hundreds of jobs, Sheehy says.

New report shows big decline in federal aid for state while he was governor.

State Sen. Lena Taylor helped kill a deal bringing hundreds of jobs to depressed Century City area.

The list is long and could get longer. Handicapping the favorites.

Federally-required agricultural promotion organizations may not benefit small dairy farms.

Health insurance for kids declined in some states including Wisconsin under Walker. Why?

Wisconsin companies finding success are doing so by providing strong wages and benefits, prioritizing inclusivity, which expands their candidate pool, and addressing barriers to employment such as housing and transportation when possible.

The problem with many zero-tolerance policies is that they fail to account for the context, motive, intent and circumstances of any given situation; and thus, can lead to absurd results.

The president would be well-served to recognize that increasing biofuel volumes to appease ethanol interests would undermine the very communities at the center of his "America First" and "Energy Dominance" agendas.

Should a government body have the power to decide if a drug or treatment is too expensive for a sick patient?

A majority of Wisconsinites show that they don't know some of the most important parts about the impeachment proceedings — demonstrating that lack of support for impeachment is based on a lack of data.

If elected president, Warren would wield her executive power authority to direct the federal government’s involvement into nearly every classroom in the country resulting in more mandates on Wisconsin’s public schools.

In a divided government, there are two ways to lead: With an outstretched hand or a cocked fist; as a hopeful dealmaker or as a jaded partisan. Governor Evers has once again chosen the latter, and in so doing has thrown away any hope of compromise with the Wisconsin Legislature for a chance at politically embarrassing it.

Either he can admit that he lied about when state law required him to hold that special election or he can admit that his Administration was too incompetent to read applicable federal law before issuing his executive order.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett is sounding an awful lot like The Godfather’s Tom Hagen these days as he tries to pressure both the State Legislature and Milwaukee County voters to approve a sales tax increase next spring.

It’s a modern Halloween tradition as predictable as trick-or-treating and bobbing of apples: Mandatory outrage over supposed cultural appropriation in costumes.

Creative leadership could save money, pay for more services.

In an Oct. 1 meeting with reporters at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue tied the current dairy crisis to economies of scale, telling reporters, “In America, the big get bigger and the small go out.” It might have been refreshing to hear a politician speak so plainly, had the line not been so apathetic that it hit the attending farmers like a kick in the guts.

Now is the time for centrist Democrats who want to defeat Donald Trump to move on from Joe Biden so that either Amy Klobuchar or Pete Buttigieg have some chance at winning the nomination.

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway is proposing a $40 wheel tax on car registrations in order to fund her transit plans and plug holes in her overall budget.

To put it bluntly, it's nothing less than extortion.

The gap between the haves and have-nots in the U.S. grew to its largest level in more than 50 years, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.

Kaul announced that Wisconsin was joining a coalition of 28 other attorneys general to push back on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's astonishing new debt collection rules.

The Iowa County Board voted 14-2 earlier this month to spend up to $50,000 to join a court challenge to the PSC decision that effectively thumbed its nose at more than 1,000 citizens who pleaded with the commissioners to deny the American Transmission Company permission to construct the 120-mile-long line.

Wisconsin Public Radio recently launched a new podcast series it calls "Derailed," revisiting how Wisconsin blew its best chance to expand passenger rail service in the state.

During a news conference on the Expo grounds, the biggest gathering of dairy farmers and suppliers in the world, Perdue said, "In America, the big get bigger and the small go out." And if that wasn't enough of a downer to those who had banked on a Trump administration to provide some help, Perdue added that in America, no small business should expect a guaranteed income or a profit.

The Republican state senator, often referred to as Wisconsin's most anti-environment legislator, is running for the 7th Congressional District seat recently vacated by Republican U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy.

Name-calling and character assassination don't cut it where the really tough are needed.

The response by the Wisconsin Legislature's two Republican leaders, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' call for a special session to consider two gun safety laws is nothing short of pathetic.

This is a highly regressive tax that would be levied on a household necessity without regard to income.

Koval's resignation Sunday was a siren in the night alerting others to take up his battle with the cop-bashers.

An enormous task is before you: to provide a leader for your police department who thoroughly understands and is to show he or she can lead community-oriented policing department-wide, sees the community as an ally, is well-educated, trained, experienced, respectful to everyone and understands the use of physical force by police is a sacred and public trust.

At a time at which climate change is threatening the niches of thousands of Wisconsin species, at which invasive species are posing increased harm to our ecosystems, at which animal diseases are still spreading throughout the state, we should be doubling down on our efforts to protect wildlife, not tearing down our efforts.

Not only would the Protecting the Right to Organize Act undermine protections for Wisconsin workers, it would jeopardize the Badger State’s aforementioned economic growth.

The Midwest shows that Trump’s vote could actually grow in 2020.

Every mature voter knows there is a need to enhance revenues if we are to meet the needs of the citizenry. An honest approach making it clear that streets and roads must have more funds, so they can be serviced adequately, should not be politically risky in this city.

Gross negligence in the storage of guns must have a legal price associated with it. Too few states have legislation with teeth to insure that children are protected.

Students should be expected to read diaries, journals, letters of their loved ones and original historical documents throughout their education. To achieve that end they must be schooled in cursive writing.

The Joint Finance Committee approved the plan and funding for the Dairy Innovation Hub at the University of Wisconsin.

WILL and other elements of the Koch Machine are free to broadcast whatever propaganda they want, but the Fourth Estate should look beneath the surface and beyond “he says she says" reporting to help people understand what is really going on.

While U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson is definitely Trump's Wisconsin bullpen ace, former log-rolling champion, reality TV show personality and ex-GOP Congressman Sean Duffy is a late-season call-up who could throw an inning or two.

There are more signs that the right's goal in Wisconsin is to harden GOP rule and keep our swing state's electoral votes reliably Republican and permanently maintain Wisconsin as a low-wage, pro-polluter, one-percenters' playground with an intentionally-weak and underfunded public sector.

When Republicans tried playing with the election dates of the Democratic Presidential Primary Election, Democrats (and their accomplices in the state media) cried foul. But Evers’ playing with the election date of the special election, at some cost to local municipalities, has so far been met with silence.

In an email to his constituents on Thursday, Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, R-New Berlin, broke the bad news: the new Blue Books are ready.

Over 180 credit unions and banks across Wisconsin already offer student loan refinancing products and/or student loans.

There’s no shortage of good ideas, but we can do more. There’s too much at stake to tell dairy farmers to “get big or go out.”

Less than six months after taking office, Evers reinstated the pardon board — opening a door for Vasser and others like him.

Is it too much to ask that our state’s deliberative body of government actually engage in some deliberation? Evidently, when it comes to gun laws, the answer is yes.

Wisconsin Environmental Initiative Executive Director John Imes shares his experiences at the VERGE 19 conference and expo in Oakland, California.

Instead of anecdotal discussions that touch on a past vote or the latest crisis created by President Trump, Democrats need to have a full and robust debate on these issues.

Clearly, the future of the family-owned dairy farm is not a concern of Perdue; just as clearly, the future of rural America is not a concern of the trade-war-obsessed Trump administration.

Evers has still been able to outmaneuver Fitzgerald and Vos, especially on budget issues. And now, the governor is calling for a special session to consider ways to promote public safety, but Fitzgerald’s response is simply to say “no.”

Johnson attacks FBI, CIA, and the whistleblower to defend Trump.

Democrats are listening to the will of the people, and basing our plans on priorities that will improve lives.

Every Wisconsinite should be able to drink water from their tap, but for a lot of people, that is not the reality.

More than 50% are committed with guns. As a teen I could have been one of those statistics.

Who’s (still) afraid of occupational licensing? It appears that, yet again, the answer is right-wing organizations and their Republican allies in the Wisconsin Legislature.

Simplifying, standardizing, and modernizing PA practice authority in Wisconsin will increase the number of PAs in the state and help us to close the gap created by the provider shortage. The CARES Act is crucial to meeting that goal.

Creating a license for public insurance adjusters is not necessary in Wisconsin

One especially pro-growth reform would be to conform to Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 168(k), which allows investments in short-lived assets (machinery and equipment) to be fully claimed as an expense in the first year, rather than incrementally over the depreciable life of the asset.

‘Rich people shouldn’t be the beneficiaries’ of a federal program that gives investors tax breaks to help disadvantaged areas, critics say.

Dental therapists in Minnesota help more low-income kids and adults get the oral care they need.

When its Legislature authorized dental therapists a decade ago, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to license dental therapists. It’s a profession that is new to the US but is common elsewhere in the world.

Lincoln announced, on September 22, 1862, that if the rebels did not end the fighting and rejoin the Union by January 1, 1863, all slaves in the rebellious states would be freed as punishment. The Confederacy did not rejoin the Union and that is how we got the second Emancipation Proclamation.

Whereas many states offer tax incentives for solar, the policies that have propelled Europe and a few states in this country into higher solar use are incentives based on installations’ energy productivity. The combination of tax and production-based incentives create a faster payback period.

Hate and the violence it frequently produces is an illness, not unlike alcoholism. Twelve steps can get us to wellness.

Regardless of where students attend school in Wisconsin, these high debt loads will have a significant impact on their lives after graduation, and more should be done by Wisconsin politicians to help reduce student debt in the state so that young Wisconsinites aren’t struggling with repayment.

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has bumbled his way into center of impeachment investigation.

Election reforms that are designed to wrest control from the major parties and to fix political dysfunction are gaining support.

Running a small business is extremely difficult, and new digital small business tools have made it easier for me and for many others. The last thing we want is our elected officials to make our businesses or our lives any more difficult, but I’m afraid that will be the result of overregulation of the digital economy.

October marks the annual celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month. This month is a chance to celebrate job seekers with disabilities who are striving to work, and employers who are recruiting talented employees with disabilities.

According to the latest Fox News poll, 55 percent of Wisconsin voters are dissatisfied with the direction of the country. If Republicans are going to win this election cycle, they have to address the issues that matter most to Wisconsin voters.

With just 19% of MPS students proficient in math and 16.5% in English language arts, what changes will the district make to improve student achievement?

The Republican-led state Legislature has long championed pro-growth tax reform.

Can whoever succeeds Koval as Madison police chief succeed in a city so prone to criticism?

Often maligned, Rockford, Illinois is the subject of a whimsical new book. The city delivers its civic boosterism with passion and good humor.

It’s heartening to realize that all of Wisconsin apparently still cares mightily about the quality of local public education. Which, to me, hadn’t always been clear.

The Capital Times' Paul Fanlund writes about an exhibit featuring 80 Pulitzer-winning images at the Missouri History Museum in St. Louis.

Few decisions are more important to terminally ill, mentally capable people than deciding on what terms they will leave this life.

Many municipalities across our state require just one type of piping material, ductile iron, for water infrastructure projects. By restricting the materials that can be used, these local governments are creating monopolies, driving material costs through the roof.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which I chair, started investigating the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal in March 2015. ... The information we have obtained only heightens my suspicions that there was corrupt behavior occurring within the Obama administration during the 2016 campaign and presidential transition.

State GOP leaders mislead as they fight gun control efforts.

Thompson Center Director Ryan Owens discusses the latest news relating to the impeachment inquiry with UW-Madison professor Kenneth Mayer.

Under the leadership of President Trump, we’re working to address systemic trade imbalances that have hurt the agricultural sector.

Multiple DUI convictions demonstrate that laws imposing tougher penalties do not deter drunken driving. It is encouraging to hear Sen. Alberta Darling report that treatment, diversion programs and other alternatives are being expanded. They provide a possible cure to the root cause of drunken driving.

Drop in homeownership among African-Americans and Hispanics underlines an affordable housing crisis since the Great Recession.

The Convention of States resolution that’s before the legislature would curb the federal government’s ability to spend recklessly, impose term limits on politicians who seem to get too comfortable on Capitol Hill, and reassert our 10th Amendment states’ rights.

It’s time to get serious about investing in our kids, our schools and our educators, because what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state.

The WisOpinion Insiders, Jensen & Chvala, discuss Gov. Tony Evers' muffed call for a special election to fill the northern 7th Congressional District seat once held by Republican Sean Duffy. Evers is now looking at new dates to satisfy federal law. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.

Amid national concern about mass shootings, the WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala & Jensen, consider how the GOP-run Wisconsin Legislature will respond to Gov. Tony Evers' call for action against gun violence.

As majority Democrats in the U. S. House of Representatives conduct their impeachment inquiry, the WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, weigh in on the political impact in Wisconsin. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and Michael Best Strategies.

With Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, a leading candidate next year for Wisconsin's 5th Congressional District, the WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, consider other candidates and scenarios in the race to succeed outgoing GOP U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner.