
Patty Schachtner: Wisconsin deserves better than Foxconn’s constant waffling
Foxconn’s Wisconsin commitment is uncertain. But should we have expected anything less? Foxconn has a history of grand promises followed by local disappointment.
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Foxconn’s Wisconsin commitment is uncertain. But should we have expected anything less? Foxconn has a history of grand promises followed by local disappointment.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Trying to keep an open mind, it will be helpful to read factual analyses that one hopes will be forthcoming from public sources such as the Legislative Fiscal Bureau and private researchers at the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

Backed by Trump promises and $4 billion in subsidies, company admits factory jobs not coming.

Brian Hagedorn, who is running for the state Supreme Court, wrote a blog beginning in 2005 in which he addressed readers as “fellow soldiers in the culture wars” while posting sometimes provocative comments on homosexuality and abortion.

While regulations that punish negligent or malicious actions are necessary to keep wrongdoers from repeat and predatory behavior, overregulating good-faith businesses has stifled job growth, efficiency, and tech innovation.

Marquette Poll shows where voters of both parties agree. Will GOP leaders take the hint?

For nearly a decade, the GOP-controlled Wisconsin Legislature micromanaged the state’s cities, particularly Madison and Milwaukee. It will have a harder time usurping local control with Gov. Tony Evers in office.

Voters overwhelmingly favor fair maps, yet Vos charging taxpayers millions to fight this.

It looks like it’s up to the voters to demand stronger recusal rules from the state’s highest court and support for these rules from all judicial candidates. The very integrity of our judges at all levels — from the state Supreme Court to municipal court judges — is on the line.

CJ Szafir and Libby Sobic of WILL have written a report, “Roadmap to Student Achievement,” a two-year effort to create a number of policy recommendations to improve student performance.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Trying to keep an open mind, it will be helpful to read factual analyses that one hopes will be forthcoming from public sources such as the Legislative Fiscal Bureau and private researchers at the Wisconsin Policy Forum.

Backed by Trump promises and $4 billion in subsidies, company admits factory jobs not coming.

Brian Hagedorn, who is running for the state Supreme Court, wrote a blog beginning in 2005 in which he addressed readers as “fellow soldiers in the culture wars” while posting sometimes provocative comments on homosexuality and abortion.

While regulations that punish negligent or malicious actions are necessary to keep wrongdoers from repeat and predatory behavior, overregulating good-faith businesses has stifled job growth, efficiency, and tech innovation.

Marquette Poll shows where voters of both parties agree. Will GOP leaders take the hint?

For nearly a decade, the GOP-controlled Wisconsin Legislature micromanaged the state’s cities, particularly Madison and Milwaukee. It will have a harder time usurping local control with Gov. Tony Evers in office.

Voters overwhelmingly favor fair maps, yet Vos charging taxpayers millions to fight this.

It looks like it’s up to the voters to demand stronger recusal rules from the state’s highest court and support for these rules from all judicial candidates. The very integrity of our judges at all levels — from the state Supreme Court to municipal court judges — is on the line.

CJ Szafir and Libby Sobic of WILL have written a report, “Roadmap to Student Achievement,” a two-year effort to create a number of policy recommendations to improve student performance.