A little while ago, I suggested that people check in with bloggers Rick Esenberg and Paul Soglin as they debate urban issues.
Rick, my colleague and the durable, conservative punching bag on Eric Von's "Backstory" Thursday afternoon drive-time roundtable on AM 1290 in Milwaukee, blogs here.
The liberal Paul, for whom I worked in his first incarnation as Madison Mayor, blogs here.
I tend to stay out of much of the bloggers' back-and-forth: a great deal of it is goofy-talk among journalist wannabees, but the Soglin-Esenberg discussion is worth reading because they both have something to say.
Uppity Wisconsin
Making Wisconsin Progressive Again
Obama: Now; GOP: No
Thu, 02/05/2009 - 8:09am | mal contends
Update II: Senators Reach Tentative Deal on Stimulus Package
Update: On stimulus, Senate Dems ready to go it alone
President Obama called for action today in a Washington Post op-ed piece implicitly reminding obstructionist Republicans that their policy views are what got us here in the first place and are precisely what was rejected by voters the last election.
President Obama called for action today in a Washington Post op-ed piece implicitly reminding obstructionist Republicans that their policy views are what got us here in the first place and are precisely what was rejected by voters the last election.
In recent days, there have been misguided criticisms of this plan that echo the failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis -- the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can meet our enormous tests with half-steps and piecemeal measures; that we can ignore fundamental challenges such as energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive.
Kill the filibuster
Fri, 12/12/2008 - 8:19am | mal contends
Update III: History of the Filibuster and Cloture - Great for those who seem believe that we just cannot survive without this relic from the 1850s.
Update II: Thank you William Greider: Stop Senator No, Senate Dems should disable the rule that gives Mitch McConnell a virtual veto over anything he wants to kill. Advocating the filibuster defies reason.
Update: Bush is acting now, good for him.
The take-away from last night is: Kill the filibuster.
At this moment when a depression is facing the American people on the heels of two historic elections and Democrats' huge majorities in the House and Senate, are we going to let the antiquated filibuster halt needed legislation next session?
Southern Republican senators [Bush seems to be a non-actor] would throw the country into a depression to lower the wages of workers and break unions.
Obama Backs Labor Sit-In
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 6:36pm | GlobalGirl
Growing up and working in Wisconsin Rapids, I quickly developed an appreciation for blue collar labor, though I found some of my fellow workers’ social views not always enlightened.
But the respect for working people has of course stayed with me, often leading to anger at the genuine hostility that Republicans have for those Americans forced to sell their labor to indifferent and similarly hostile employers.
So, I was very eager to see what Obama’s reaction would be to the proposed bail out of the Big Three automakers that would save the jobs of millions of workers.
Obama’s stated intention to see these jobs saved either this year or next is gratifying.
Obama’s huge public works program recently outlined is also encouraging.
Krugman: Large fiscal expansion needed
Mon, 12/01/2008 - 9:46am | mal contends
Update: National Bureau of Economic Research says the U.S. economy fell into a recession last year.
Among the pathological programs pursued by the Bush administration is its enterprise to turn the national debt from prospects made in 2001 of the debt being completely paid off in 10 years to upping the debt to $10 trillion.
'Deficits don't matter,' infamously mumbled Dick Cheney at a high-level meeting that was recalled by former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil.
Worse is the wish list that the rightwingers wanted from the future administrations dealing with the massive debt: Eliminating those awful programs like Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare which would become unsustainable because of the debt purposefully piled up by Bush and Cheney.
Nobel Prize-winning Paul Krugman warns today that president-elect Obama should not clean up the fiscal mess immediately in the face of a dangerous recession, and views government spending as a economic imperative to ending the recession:
Among the pathological programs pursued by the Bush administration is its enterprise to turn the national debt from prospects made in 2001 of the debt being completely paid off in 10 years to upping the debt to $10 trillion.
'Deficits don't matter,' infamously mumbled Dick Cheney at a high-level meeting that was recalled by former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil.
Worse is the wish list that the rightwingers wanted from the future administrations dealing with the massive debt: Eliminating those awful programs like Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare which would become unsustainable because of the debt purposefully piled up by Bush and Cheney.
Nobel Prize-winning Paul Krugman warns today that president-elect Obama should not clean up the fiscal mess immediately in the face of a dangerous recession, and views government spending as a economic imperative to ending the recession:
(C)ircumstances right now are anything but normal. ...
A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats
Sun, 11/02/2008 - 3:38pm | GlobalGirl
I find it curious that John McCain and Sarah Palin have latched unto Barack Obama’s response to Joe the Plumber as a negative and a cause for criticism.
Calling Obama’s desire to spread the wealth around “socialist,” is telling of how detached McCain and Palin are from the American people and the quest for the American Dream.
An essential part of the American Dream is the notion that if you work hard enough, you can get ahead. Inherent in that belief is the idea that you can share in the bounty of your labor—and you can use this new-found wealth to purchase and own your own home; create a better future for your children by sending them to college; and live without fear and want.
GlobalGirl's blog | 
1 comment | 
Tags: Politics, 2008 election, American Dream, Jobs, joe the plumber, McCain, Obama, Palin, socialism, taxes, wealth
Build Baby, Build
Sat, 11/01/2008 - 9:26am | mal contends
Update: THE OPPORTUNITY OF INFRASTRUCTURE
Build big stuff out of little stuff.
Not as catchy (or as fun for Republicans) as "drill, baby drill" or 'let's buy and sell financial derivatives ,' but look for the national conversation to depart from the PR bromides that the mass media demands of presidential campaigns into the reality-based world of substance.
Wisconsin's Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) had been laying the intellectual groundwork for years for labor-intensive, publicly financed capital projects, and the recognition and proliferation of patriotic manufacturers—"'original equipment manufacturers' (OEMs) – that produce and sell automobiles, electrical appliances, and mining, transportation, and farm equipment."
COWS is a 501(c)(3) based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, famous for the “Wisconsin Idea,” working for "competitive market economy of shared prosperity, environmental sustainability, and capable democratic government."
Build big stuff out of little stuff.
Not as catchy (or as fun for Republicans) as "drill, baby drill" or 'let's buy and sell financial derivatives ,' but look for the national conversation to depart from the PR bromides that the mass media demands of presidential campaigns into the reality-based world of substance.
Wisconsin's Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) had been laying the intellectual groundwork for years for labor-intensive, publicly financed capital projects, and the recognition and proliferation of patriotic manufacturers—"'original equipment manufacturers' (OEMs) – that produce and sell automobiles, electrical appliances, and mining, transportation, and farm equipment."
COWS is a 501(c)(3) based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, famous for the “Wisconsin Idea,” working for "competitive market economy of shared prosperity, environmental sustainability, and capable democratic government."
Wisconsin Millworkers Ought to Pay Back McCain
Mon, 10/06/2008 - 4:46am | GlobalGirl
Paper mills dumping their employees has taken a toll on the lives of the type of people who are casual political voters and will make Wisconsin a landslide win for Obama.
From the Wisconsin Rapids area to Wausau to Green Bay-Appleton, 1,000s of millworkers are seeing how valued their labor and their lives are in 21st century America capitalism and world trade.
From the Wisconsin Rapids area to Wausau to Green Bay-Appleton, 1,000s of millworkers are seeing how valued their labor and their lives are in 21st century America capitalism and world trade.
Jerks like McCain owning 13 cars and nine houses don't get it as he offers the option of buying health insurance fired workers cannot afford, and then slashing their unemployment benefits, while blasting the notion that Americans buy products produced by American labor.
I don't think McCain has any idea the destruction that losing one's job can cause, which is why I feel that Ohio and Pennsylvania will join Wisconsin in telling McCain and the Republicans to go to hell.
Bush-McCain Mid-Finger Salute to Workers
Tue, 07/15/2008 - 6:30am | GlobalGirl
Update - Kimberly’s last remaining paper mill closing, taking 475 jobs (July 31, 2008)
Great two-part series by Barry Adams in the Wisconsin State Journal, Paper mill jobs disappearing; stunned workers look for alternatives, and in this morning’s Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, we read the news, Midwest Airlines to cut 1,200 jobs.
I grew up in Wisconsin Rapids and spent two summers at a mill working as a summer replacement employee (SRE), when I was a student at UW-Madison.
It was work, and a 20-something art history undergraduate woman was not always treated with immense kindness by long-time colleagues.
But Adams' articles capture well the devastation wrought far and wide. Few who grew up in the Rap don’t know at least one friend or family member who hasn’t lost a job in the last several years.
I grew up in Wisconsin Rapids and spent two summers at a mill working as a summer replacement employee (SRE), when I was a student at UW-Madison.
It was work, and a 20-something art history undergraduate woman was not always treated with immense kindness by long-time colleagues.
But Adams' articles capture well the devastation wrought far and wide. Few who grew up in the Rap don’t know at least one friend or family member who hasn’t lost a job in the last several years.
When Thinking Job Creation, Don't Overlook Where Planners Put Big New Highways
Sat, 06/02/2007 - 2:17pm | James Rowen
What Causes Job Creation Far From Where Job-Seekers Live
Coincidence or intelligent design?
Mon, 05/07/2007 - 11:18am | xoff
Did you ever notice how there is just enough news to exactly fill the pages of the newspaper?
Or how there are enough "help wanted" ads to fill the classifieds every Sunday?
Is it a miracle, or intelligent design? Jessica McBride knows.