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Steven Walters: Meet the Legislature’s fiscal big shots
16 members of Finance, mostly Republicans, decide what’s in the state budget.

David Craig: The spending hypocrisy of Tony Evers (and his media cheerleaders) knows no bounds
Evers likes to defend his actions by trumpeting that “the will of the people is the law of the land,” but I’m hard-pressed to imagine a less democratic policy in modern history than tethering generations of Wisconsinites to perpetual tax increases that neither they nor their elected officials ever voted for.

David Blaska: Republicans are battling for their soul at Wisconsin’s GOP convention
Believing they can purge their way to victory, cultists would rather lose with the My Pillow Man than elect a moderate Republican. The reality is that Donald Trump’s hold on Wisconsin voters is communion wafer thin.

Spencer Black: Petty politics puts stewardship fund in jeopardy
With so much support and such a strong record of success, why are Republican legislators hesitating to back stewardship? It appears the reason is petulance.

Ron Johnson: The ugly truth about the ‘big beautiful bill’
Years after Covid, the overspending continues—even with a Republican Congress.

Gregory Humphrey: Reporters must use civics education for tumultuous political times
Reporters must do their complete job with every news story they write or air. That means adding the reason the actions Trump makes run counter to constitutional safeguards and the laws of the country.

Jill Jacklitz: My brother was disabled. Defunding disability programs will cost lives.
A leaked version of a proposed budget for the federal Department of Health and Human Services would eliminate direct funding for many programs for people with disabilities

Frank Schneiger: The dire threat to nonprofits that serve the people some want to forget
As the Trump administration’s demolition of our civic institutions proceeds, there is little attention paid to the human impact these cuts will have on the government workers who are being summarily dismissed.

Mike McCabe: The costliest casualty
America is stuck at the moment, as if in a state of suspended animation. Few are satisfied with where we are at right now, making many long for yesterday. But yesterday’s gone. Tomorrow, it’ll soon be here. Might as well get to imagining how it could be better than before.

John Nichols: Pope Leo XIV embraces social justice
The theologian and veteran Vatican watcher Rich Raho, who has met the new pope, announced, “In Pope Leo we can expect a social justice warrior.”

Dan Knodl: Governor Evers and Supreme Court play as legislators
A healthy democracy relies on process, balance, and respect for the distinct roles each branch of government plays. When one branch chooses to override the others, the result isn’t policy progress. It’s a warning sign.

Melissa Ratcliff: This Mother’s Day, let’s give moms the care they deserve: Expand postpartum Medicaid
Extending Medicaid coverage to 12 months postpartum is a commonsense, life-saving step that would benefit families across our rural, suburban and urban communities.

Bill Kaplan: Representative Van Orden’s Medicaid theatrics
Van Orden is more interested in theatrics to obscure his votes than protecting the Medicaid coverage of 152,900 in the 3rd CD.

Kirt Johnson: Turning Point vs. Wisconsin GOP: Time for a reality check
Turning Point’s assertions that they would do so much better running RPW are totally unfounded, disingenuous, and self-serving.

Dave Zeug: ‘The walleye wars’
Recent reports about harassment of tribal spear fishermen exerting their treaty rights brought memories of the spring of 1988.

Gregory Humphrey: Father of Abundant Life Christian School shooter, must face weight of courts for height of irresponsibility
Society can no longer abide with deaths and tragedies due to willfully stupid and selfish gun owners. A 3-year-old girl would be alive if common sense had been employed.

David Blaska: Is the Madison school shooter’s father guilty?
Would the felony charges against him have been filed in a less progressive jurisdiction than Dane County?

Sarah Kuhns: Inmates shouldn’t have to barter for menstrual products. Prisons must do better.
As of April 2024, only 25 states in the U.S. mandate free access to menstrual products in correctional facilities. Wisconsin is not one of them.

Michelle Bryant: First COVID, now tariffs
Black businesses need us to show up! … Trump’s so-called Liberation Day threatens to return Black entrepreneurs to an employer’s figurative plantation.

Dave Zweifel: Perkins Coie defies Trump’s trampling of rights
John Skilton, one of Madison’s most celebrated attorneys, dropped me a note earlier this week to which he attached the recent ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell that declared in strong terms that Donald Trump’s action targeting the Perkins Coie law firm is clearly unconstitutional.

WisOpinion: ‘The Insiders’ discuss Musk’s role in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court election
The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, talk about the role Elon Musk played in the recent Wisconsin Supreme Court election. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.

Rewind: Your Week in Review for May 9
On this week’s episode of “Rewind,” WisPolitics.com’s JR Ross and CBS 58’s Emilee Fannon discuss lawsuits from Dem voters challenging Wisconsin’s congressional lines, controversy over the Evers administration’s guidance for how state employees should respond to visits from federal immigration officials, the Joint Finance Committee removing 612 items from Gov. Tony Evers’ budget and more.