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Dave Cieslewicz: Kaul’s Catch 22
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul announced yesterday that he won’t run for governor after all. This makes him the best qualified candidate.

Jessica McBride: Kaul’s record as attorney general
Crime Lab mess, botched victims’ audit & angry mom

Lauren VanDeHey: Wisconsin should mandate coverage for fertility services
One in six people will experience infertility, and the cost of one unsubsidized IVF cycle can exceed $20,000. Furthermore, some may need multiple cycles to achieve a single pregnancy.

Will Flanders and Kyle Koenen: DPI changes on school report cards reflect moving goalposts, not better scores
Before we get into this solution or that, or the debate over more funding or less, let’s start with an honest assessment of the status quo.

Patrick J. Wood: Not them. Us.
On October 10, we observe Homelessness Awareness Day—not to feel good about our awareness, but to commit to action.

James E. Causey: Lee Hawkins’ family history book shows depth of harm from slavery and Jim Crow
The pressing question we must confront is whether America will seek to rectify its historical transgressions by taking tangible steps to ensure the well-being of those still living.

Judith Davidoff: Why the attacks on free speech are working
UW-Madison journalism ethics conference explores the question

David Blaska: Woke just got canceled in prime time
Heading up CBS News, Bari Weiss may make legacy media — if not Must Watch TV — at least less insufferable.

Eileen Harrington: The slash-and-burn approach to government reform
A government reform effort led by Vice President Al Gore, starting in 1993, was ambitious, focused and successful. DOGE has been the opposite.

Dave Zweifel: ICE fiasco plays out in Chicago
Individual circumstances don’t matter. There are quotas to fill, campaign promises to keep. Everyone is fair game.

David Couper: Local police must resist federal overreach on immigration
For policing to remain legitimate in a free society, it must be rooted in trust, fairness, the Rule of Law and respect for all people. It’s time for all of us to step up and resist.

Gabriel Shapiro: Data centers not worth the cost
Choosing to invest in data centers means losing progress in our transition to renewable, locally produced energy, by raising electricity prices and keeping coal and natural gas plants open.

William Osmulski: How to live like a king on welfare in Wisconsin
Keeping your income below 200% FPL is not hard to do, and it qualifies you for tens of thousands of dollars of public benefits. If done strategically, you can live at a much higher standard of living than you ever dreamed possible.

Mark Lisheron: School-bus Wi-Fi finally gets reined in while pandemic-era home internet subsidies only now dribble out
Two more ways government manages to screw up subsidies

Kristin Brey: I owe my livelihood to social media. I’m still trying to limit my screen time.
Research has repeatedly tied heavy social media use to worse mental health. And yet, millions of us stay. It’s like cigarettes in the 90s, we know it’s bad for us. Yet we keep inhaling.

Anthony Hernandez: Trump education cuts quietly declare that opportunity should be rationed on race
What’s under attack isn’t just a set of programs. It is a vision of America itself — one where diversity is an asset, education opens doors, and opportunity expands rather than contracts.

Gregory Humphrey: Trump needs to understand noncitizens have ‘same free speech rights as the rest of us’
We actually needed a United States district judge to write that the First Amendment belongs to everyone present in this country, citizen or not. The ruling rebuked, with pure moral force, that it is unconstitutional to weaponize immigration law against dissent about any issue in the public square.

John Nichols: Trump tries to silence critics of capitalism
Critiques of capitalism, which have always been a part of the American political discourse, are gaining traction these days.

Paul Fanlund: How Jeff Bezos keeps throwing Kamala Harris under the bus
A year ago, the Washington Post spiked its opinion staff’s editorial endorsing Kamala Harris for president. A year later, a revamped, right-wing Post opinion staff has smeared Harris over her new book about the campaign.

Michelle Bryant: An open letter to Assata Shakur: What I wish I could have said
Your death marks the end of a life that was as fiercely contested as it was deeply inspiring. You were more than a person; you were a symbol, a beacon, a challenge to a world that too often refused to see Black people as human.

WisOpinion: ‘The Insiders’ look ahead to 2025 in politics
The WisOpinion Insiders, Chvala and Jensen, offer their views on the major political stories upcoming in 2025. Sponsored by the Wisconsin Counties Association and the Tommy G. Thompson Center on Public Leadership.

Rewind: Your Week in Review for Dec. 13
On this week’s episode of “Rewind,” WisPolitics.com’s JR Ross and CBS 58’s Emilee Fannon discuss a court appearance for those charged in the 2020 Republican false electors case, a challenge to Joint Finance Committee oversight of state Department of Justice settlements, the Department of Public Instruction adopting reading curriculum without JFC approval, Gov Tony Evers’ opposition to a plan from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to require state workers to return to the office, property tax hikes and more.