Page is What Wisconsin Needs

Harris for President

Character Matters

What About Choice?

Women in This Country Deserve Better

Trump is wrong on immigration

Use Compassion to Guard Against Misinformation

Reject Trump's Chaotic Proposals on Deportation

Republicans Against Trump

Why I'm a Democrat

Hambleton For District 10

Respect Our Veterans

Hambleton Cares About Our Health

Why Prices May Vary

Inflation is a major concern today as many families struggle to pay their  bills.  It has also become a political issue since the former president and his political party adopted the strategy of blaming Biden for today’s inflation.  A strategy that has been largely successful despite the fact that it is yet another lie.  If you dig deep into the issue, you will find the opposite is true.  

Our looming national debt and the interest on that debt is a major driver of inflation.  The three biggest reasons for that debt go back to the unpaid tax cuts by Presidents Reagan, Bush and Trump that largely benefited rich individuals and corporations.  They borrowed money by selling government bonds to bestow these gifts on their favored donors leaving the rest of us and our children and grandchildren to pay back the principle and interest on these bonds.  A second driver of inflation was the COVID epidemic.  First Trump denied the epidemic and then he bungled the response.  Supply chains were disrupted and shortages caused prices of goods to spike.  The third driver of inflation has been price gouging by large oil, food, and other companies that still continues even though supply chains have normalized. These companies raised prices even while recording record profits.  

So if you plan to vote for a particular candidate or party because you are angry about prices at the gas pump or grocery store, base that vote on the real culprits and not on a political lie. 

On August 27 the St. Croix County Board got good news about our St. Croix County Health Care Campus in New Richmond...

If in your neighborhood you’ve seen the sign “Vote like our democracy depends on it—because it does”, then you’ve seen a League of Women Voters (LWV) election sign paid for and put up by an LWV member....

I was a delegate to the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where Vice President Kamala Harris earned her official nomination for the presidency. Here are the enduring memories I came away with...

Donald Trump is like the Wizard of Oz from the classic 1939 film. The Wizard rules Oz using elaborate tricks and lies. Near the end of the film the truth is revealed, and we see a flawed, ordinary man trying to convince people “to pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” in order to keep his deception of many years a secret.

On the first Wednesday in August, on a picture-perfect Wisconsin day, all roads led to Eau Claire. I was among the thousands of people from all over Wisconsin, Minnesota, and surrounding states who traveled to see Vice President Kamala Harris and her newly minted running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. 

Lines were long and security to get into the rally was understandably tight, but the feelings of joy, excitement, and community among those gathered was unmistakable and undeniable. The crowd was made up of people of all ages – I saw parents with young children, older people who navigated the rally with the aid of their walkers, Baby Boomers, Millennials, and so many young people. 

Walz took the stage amidst a roaring Midwest welcome – everyone was on their feet, cheering. He galvanized the crowd when referring to the attack on reproductive rights, and used what has become one of his catchphrases, “Mind your own damn business.”  

As he introduced Vice President Harris and she took the stage, the roar of approval from the crowd was deafening. At one point during her speech some people started chanting, “Lock Him Up,” but she  immediately asked for them to stop, saying, “We’ll let the courts handle that.” She instead focused on the fight for freedoms: access to health care; protecting Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security; freedom from book bans; freedom to choose whom to love; and freedom regarding reproductive health.

Together, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz brought a feeling of energy and optimism as they focused on moving forward rather than moving backward. “We’re not going back” was the rallying cry echoed by both the candidates and the crowd.

From now through the November 5 election, please do whatever you can to help elect these “joyful warriors” to lead America to a better future for all of us.

Donald Trump’s fingerprints are all over Project 2025, a right-wing plan to reshape America.  While it was being developed, Trump called the Heritage Foundation a “great group,” and promised they would produce “detailed plans for exactly what our movement will do.” With the help of 140 members of Trump’s administration they did so.

Part of their detailed plan would eliminate the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Head Start, Title 1, and end free school lunches. Many students currently qualify for Individual Education Plans, which provide additional support and modified curriculum to help them succeed. Perhaps children in your family were helped by IDEA.  Not anymore if Trump is elected and has his way.

Head Start has served 40 million families since it began. In addition to helping children be more ready to start school, Head Start graduates are significantly more likely to finish high school and attend college, and are far less likely to become teenage parents or involved in the criminal justice system.

Title 1 funding goes to districts with a large percentage of low-income students. Currently 65% of the schools in Pierce and St. Croix County and 77% of those in Polk and Dunn Counties receive Title 1 funds. 

Where would the funds from these successful programs go?  Project 2025 would steer them to voucher schools, which are not required to accept students currently being served by these programs.

Conservatives also call Project 2025 “a “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise.” The fact that Trump and his supporters promise to attack educational services and funding for America’s most vulnerable children is disturbing. The mandate for reasonable voters is to support candidates for every office who promise to help America’s children in difficult circumstances rather than promising to harm them.