
Submit columns for consideration to wisopinion@wispolitics.com

Jerry Hanson: Our democracy is gone
In just seven months the Republican majority in Congress gave away the Democracy that has served Americans for nearly 250 years.

Jeff Smith: Big Beautiful Bill will mean pain for Wisconsinites
While it’s being celebrated in some corners of Washington, here in Wisconsin, it spells trouble for everyday working families.

Gregg Hoffmann: Ill-informed politics hurts energy transition
If he is serious about running for governor, Tiffany needs to demonstrate he knows how to navigate the Wisconsin system for making decisions like the power plant transitions. He can start by not prematurely blaming regulators for a problem that they have little power over.

Dave Zweifel: A ray of hope for public broadcasting
Retired University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism professor Jack Mitchell doesn’t see the Corporation for Public Broadcasting closing as a death knell for public broadcasting.

Jessica McBride: Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s most ridiculous moments during his Downtown violence presser
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson held a press conference on downtown violence on Aug. 8, but it was filled with ridiculous moments – and a lot of vagueness and blame-shifting.

David Blaska: Pooping and popping at Madison’s Social Justice Center
Madison’s woke progressives invoke “economic justice, social justice,” and “racial justice” as phonetic talismans to justify redistribution, disorder, and race-shaming.

Scott Walker: With conservatives winning arguments, the left resorts to chaos
When radicals lose an argument, they try to silence the opposition. I was reminded of that simple truth yet again this week.

Kali Daugherty: Kids with autism deserve care, not cuts
It showed how far he’s come — progress that, not long ago, felt out of reach. I made mental notes of the areas where we still need to do some work, but mostly I just sat with the joy of seeing comments like “participates well in class” and “a pleasure to have in class.”

Angela Rachidi: A win for Wisconsin families: Childcare in the 2025-2027 biennial state budget
Wisconsin’s 2025-2027 biennial budget includes several provisions aimed at improving the affordability of childcare in the Badger state, ending the misguided effort to directly support private childcare providers’ operating expenses with taxpayer dollars — and instead focusing on reducing costs for families through regulatory reform and targeted assistance.

Jamie Stiehm: The evil that Trump does will live on after his presidency
Donald Trump’s conquering of the country is complete. The blows he’s inflicted on American democracy will take a lifetime to heal.

Dave Zweifel: Caroline Grover left a legacy of beauty and kindness
Caroline Grover, the gentle woman her family referred to as Mother Teresa, will be put to rest tomorrow in Gresham where she was born 86 years ago.

Jeff Spitzer-Resnick: ‘As a Jew, I can never accept the slaughter of innocents’
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza under Israel’s blockade is now receiving daily press coverage. But it was clear in March, after Israel broke the ceasefire in Gaza, that conditions had become increasingly desperate.

Gregory Humphrey: Partisan hands off the FBI!
The news this morning is unsettling. The FBI is forcing out more senior officials, including a former acting director who resisted Trump administration demands to turn over the names of agents who participated in Jan. 6 Capitol riot investigations and the head of the bureau’s Washington field office.

Tom Still: Midwest ‘startup city’ rankings show Wisconsin on emerging path
Chances are you have never heard of Cove, Mumbies, Service ID or Vitaminis, but if the owners and supporters of those four young companies are successful, those might be familiar names in the years ahead.

Jon Hochschartner: Schumer and Jeffries must go
In this historical moment, as President Donald Trump and his fascist allies are dismantling American democracy, I’m frequently unsure what the best progressive strategy moving forward is. One thing of which I’m certain, though, is Democratic congressional leadership, in Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, must be replaced.

Gail Carlson: Wisconsin’s changing climate is making us sick
As I write this column, Wisconsin is in the midst of a severe air quality crisis, with alerts due to smoke from distant wildfires that have persisted in the “unhealthy” category.

Bill Barth: Divided governing stymies partisans
For those who think only Wisconsin has confronted the corruption of gerrymandered legislative districts, look south across the border.

John Nichols: Representative Democracy Will Live or Die In Texas
The small-d democratic logic of an argument made by Texas state Representative Ann Johnson—who, with her Democratic colleagues in the state legislature, has left Texas in order to prevent Republican legislators from carrying out President Trump’s order to radically gerrymander its congressional maps—is beyond debate.

Christa Westerberg: Ann Walsh Bradley and the cause of openness
This month, for the first time in 30 years, the Wisconsin Supreme Court is without Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. It is also without one of its most consistent advocates for transparency in government.

Daniel Gage: After-school victory shows what’s possible — but Wisconsin families still face an uncertain future
It’s been a troubling summer for anyone who cares about children, families and the thousands of students who rely on summer and after-school programs across Wisconsin.

WisOpinion: ‘The Insiders’ weigh in on the state budget amid last-minute negotiations
As Joint Finance begins its final push on the Wisconsin state budget with the fiscal year ending Monday, the WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, discuss when–and if–it will cross the finish line and whether Republicans can win any Dem votes. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.

Rewind: Your Week in Review for July 25
On this week’s episode of “Rewind,” Wisconsin Public Radio Capitol Reporter Anya van Wagtendonk and Associated Press Capitol Correspondent Scott Bauer discuss the developing field in the 2026 governor’s race after Gov. Tony Evers announces he won’t seek a third term, Dem efforts to win the majority in the state Senate, AG Josh Kaul joining his 26th lawsuit against the Trump administration and more.