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America, CDA, Common Council, Development, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Local Government, Regulatory Capture, WEDC

Competition: Good for Individuals and Society

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Pres. Biden plans measures to increase market competition. David Leonhardt reports Biden’s New Push (‘The U.S. economy suffers from a lack of competition. President Biden wants to change that’): The U.S. economy has been less dynamic in the 21st century, by many measures, than it was in the late 20th century. Fewer new businesses are starting.…

America, Culture, Horde, Politics, Sen. Ron Johnson, US Senate Race 2022, Wisconsin

Johnson Picks His Predictable – and Ironic – Platform

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Jessie Opoien reports At WI convention, Ron Johnson calls for GOP to ‘take back our culture’:  Johnson called on Republicans to run candidates at every level of public office, arguing that the GOP has spent too much time focused on federal elections while letting seats go at the local levels. “Take back our school boards, our…

America, History, Holiday, Milwaukee, Politics, Sen. Ron Johnson, U.S. Senate, Unfit, Wisconsin

Ron Johnson Got the Reception He Deserved

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Ron Johnson held up a Senate vote to make Juneteenth a holiday, and when he at last relented, he did so only begrudgingly (“While it still seems strange that having taxpayers provide federal employees paid time off is now required to celebrate the end of slavery, it is clear that there is no appetite in Congress…

America, Cycling, Federal Government, History, Holiday, Local Government

Juneteenth

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Sometime later today, Pres. Biden will sign a bill, having passed overwhelminmgly in both the House and Senate, to make Juneteenth a national holiday.  The House saw only 14 members opposed (one being Tom Tiffany, R-WI 7) and the Senate voted after Sen. Ron Johnson withdrew his opposition to a vote. Making Juneteenth a national…

America, Education, Good Ideas, School District

The Power and Value of Open Enrollment

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It’s beneficial in-and-of-itself that people should read, reflect, and commit themselves to ‘lifelong learning.’ Some years ago, the Whitewater Unified School District had a fine goal of inspiring students to become “engaged lifelong learners.” Yet in smaller communities, without the money or numbers for plentiful schooling alternatives, government taxes for a school system, establishes rules…

America, Culture, Freedom of Speech, Justice, Local Government, Race

‘A New Generation Challenges the Heartland’

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 Last July, Tim Craig and Aaron Williams reported A new generation challenges the heartland (‘Big changes in small towns are fueling a racial justice movement across the Midwest’). They wrote last summer that The number of young people of color living in the Midwest has surged over the past decade, as the older white population…

America, Authoritarianism, Congress, Documentary, Never Trump, Politics, Trump, Trumpism

Frontline: Trump’s American Carnage

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In the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, FRONTLINE investigates how Donald Trump’s presidency laid the groundwork for bitter divisions, violence and ultimately insurrection. “Trump’s American Carnage” investigates Trump’s siege on his enemies, the media and even the leaders of his own party, who for years ignored the warning signs of what…

Alt-Right, America, Authoritarianism, Congress, Herrenvolk, History, Law, Mendacity, Trump, Trumpism

Confederates, Copperheads, and Conservatives

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It’s an understatement to say that a democratic society that endures a violent mob seizing its capitol building is a society in distress. We find ourselves in the twenty-first century facing movements as malevolent and mendacious as the nineteenth century’s Confederates and Copperheads. Karen L. Cox writes What Trump Shares With the ‘Lost Cause’ of the…