Ronald Reagan had it. Mike Johnson seems to have it, too. Not the angry face of the early Barry Goldwater. Not the glowering criminal mug shot of the Sore Loser who vows to be your vengeance. But a family man of real faith.

Part of me is relieved that House Republicans finally got their dysfunctional caucus functioning well enough to elect a new Speaker. The other part of me laments that it’s a radical conservative.

All too often, we Americans take our freedom for granted. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly. So many have been willing to sacrifice these fundamental liberties in the past few years.

While states around us have upped their minimum wages — Illinois is at $13, Minnesota at $10.59, and several other states are on track to increase the minimum to $20 — our Legislature keeps insisting that it’s not necessary to raise the minimum because the free market is taking care of it.

Wisconsin hospitals are proud to provide some of the best care in the country. Let there be no doubt: Our hospitals and their dedicated teams will continue doing their part to make high-quality health care affordable and accessible to all.

Even though Gov. Tony Evers will ultimately veto this cruel, transphobic piece of legislation, the very fact that every Republican Assembly member and state senator voted in favor of it shows how much Republicans feel the need to discriminate against trans kids.

Lawmakers in Washington and Madison are playing games while our climate crisis grows.

For years, Republicans in Wisconsin and around the country got away with pushing through voter suppression laws they privately acknowledged were designed to hold back voters who don’t support them. But they can’t hold back the tide forever.

Tactic is backfiring as Democrats and public officials resist.

Unfortunately, trust, good will and respect for the institution are in short supply these days.

Has anyone stopped to ask modern progressives why they are so insistent that teenagers have easy access to sexually explicit books?

UW-Washington, Fond du Lac closures the latest canaries in the coal mine.

Price transparency helps employers protect workers’ health benefits … Those of us bearing the burden of high health care costs — taxpayers, patients, employees and employers — are tired of excuses. We need our state legislators to support the Know Your Healthcare Costs Act as a next step toward commonsense health care reform.

There seems to be a predicament in state politics that can be easily taken care and it should garner support from both Democrats and Republicans. It’s the length of terms for those who serve on commissions and boards.

As more retirees are swayed by the massive advertising campaigns each fall it’s becoming clear that the plans may not be such a great bargain at all, neither for the people who are covered, nor for the government’s Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

U.S. farm policy has been systematically transformed over several generations to one that is bad for the land, bad for air and water quality, bad for animals, bad for farmers, bad for eaters, bad for taxpayers, bad for the planet.

Forcing federally funded public works projects to pay the so-called prevailing wage is a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Prevailing wage standards, which state and local policymakers also frequently adopt, prevent the government from driving down standards when it acts as a purchaser of goods and services.

When people no longer have a voice in their government Democracy disappears and government only works for the few; rather than the many.

Cities can help lead the way out of the climate crisis and save taxpayers money in energy costs in the process. As mayors of five Wisconsin cities, that’s exactly what we’re committed to doing.