Opinion

In the early 2000s, leaders of both the education and tourism industries sat down to compromise on a uniform school start date. Both sides negotiated that Wisconsin would have a uniform start date for public schools of after Sept. 1. This date has proven over the years to be a success and has created a good balance for Wisconsin schools and tourism.

In "Two Minutes with Mitch" radio personality Mitch Henck gives his two cents on conservative media.

$22.05 billion – or 28.9 percent of Gov. Scott Walker’s proposed 2017-19 budget – will come from Washington.

Currently, Milwaukee County Jail’s policy mandates that inmates be shackled for all medical procedures despite the fact that the Wisconsin DOC and Federal Prison Bureau no longer require the practice of childbirth shackling. States that banned the practice have not reported any increase in escape attempts or threats to staff.

Draconian handgun laws in Chicago, Washington D.C. and other cities have done little to stem a rising tide of violent crime. What they have done is making it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to self-protect with guns. That indisputable reality doesn’t keep Democratic lawmakers from insisting that making easier for non-criminals to legally carry guns will make society less safe.

The proposed balanced budget amendment would lead to economic catastrophe and an Article V constitutional convention would imperil our fundamental rights.

Pushing forward in the fight against the state's opiate epidemic, the Legislature's budget committee moved a package of legislation Monday that should help victims, families and law enforcement.

Healthcare policy is complex. But solving problems is possible. If those in Washington have given up, let’s consider new ideas at our state Capitol. We might land on an idea that really works.

To those who are ready for something better – please join the effort to fix our broken campaign finance reform system, so that we get health care reform that actually works for We The People.

Last week Republicans struggled to do what they had done so easily dozens of times in the past: pass a bill to repeal Obamacare. But it got tricky this time because they had to make good on the “replace” part of their “repeal and replace” mantra that worked so well for them in every election since the law was passed.

Trump’s histrionics should be viewed for exactly what they are: Calculated distractions intended to keep one from peering behind the curtain of lies that he routinely espouses.

Republicans, who couldn't launch enough investigations into Hillary Clinton's emails or who said what about Benghazi — both issues that even Republicans knew were phony — can't bring themselves to get behind probing the lies that are as clear as the noses on their faces.

The Wisconsin Retirement System is a great example of government working well. Thanks to decades of prudent management by both Democrats and Republicans, it has provided an ample retirement income to generations of Wisconsin’s public employees and remains one of the only fully funded public pension systems in the nation.

“How often do ethics change in massage therapy?” wonders Sara Cerwin, a Milwaukee massage therapist who says the state should ease up on continuing education requirements.

Gov. Scott Walker's fresh appeal to Donald Trump for federal permission to drug test public aid recipients is another Walker pre-election dog whistle to the GOP base.