Yesterday I wrote that Another Local Paper Changes Hands. With the failure of legacy publishing, what are rural communities to do? (Obvious point: FREE WHITEWATER is not an online newspaper – never aspired to be, never will be. This is a website of independent commentary: aligned with no faction, beholden to no faction.) A few…
Politics
Crime, Politics, Trump
Why Michael Cohen Is a Key Witness
by JOHN ADAMS •
Corporate Welfare, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Immigration, Local Government, Politics, Regulations, State Capitalism, That Which Paved the Way
Immigration as a Community Lifeline
by JOHN ADAMS •
Art Cullen writes Help wanted: Rural America needs immigrants: President Trump argues that keeping immigrants and refugees out of our country is a matter of vital national security. He has made it his campaign thesis and shut down the government over it. Here in Storm Lake, Iowa, where the population is about 15,000 and unemployment is under…
Bad Ideas, Business, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Demographics, Economics, Economy, Foxconn, Local Government, Mendacity, Politics, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, Trump, WEDC, Wisconsin
‘Inside Wisconsin’s Disastrous $4.5 Billion Deal With Foxconn’
by JOHN ADAMS •
The published case against Foxconn – with reporting & analysis from some of America’s finest journalists and economists – is overwhelming. Their careful, published work has set out the plain facts for well over a year. And yet, as a multi-billion dollar public failure, there are even more startling accounts still emerging. Austin Carr reports…
Culture, Never Trump, Ocasio-Cortez, Politics
Why Won’t You Smile?
by JOHN ADAMS •
One can guess that libertarians oppose the anti-market economics of Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez. It’s odd, to me, though, how much time conservatives have spent complaining, critiquing, and analyzing that democratic socialist from New York. In those conservative critiques, however, one sees more than an economic or foreign policy disagreement: some of these conservatives are upset that…
Bad Ideas, Business, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Demographics, Economics, Economy, Foxconn, Local Government, Mendacity, Politics, Scott Walker, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, WEDC
Foxconn: The ‘State Visit Project’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Willy Shih, of Harvard Business School, writes that Foxconn’s Wisconsin Factory Is What The Chinese Call A ‘State Visit Project’: Last week I wrote that Foxconn’s giant flat-screen factory in Wisconsin was facing an economic reality check, and might not get built after all. On Friday, after a call between Foxconn chairman Terry Gou and President Donald Trump,…
Culture, Politics
Dupes of Bogus Stories: Partisan or Biased?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesterday, I posted to a study that found a disproportionate amount bogus news accounts on Twitter came from elderly conservatives. (For reporting about the study, see Older, right-leaning Twitter users spread the most fake news in 2016, study finds. For the study, see Science, Fake news on Twitter during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, PDF link.) What about those…
Bad Ideas, Business, CDA, Corporate Welfare, Development, Economics, Economy, Foxconn, Local Government, Mendacity, Politics, Scott Walker, State Capitalism, State Government, That Which Paved the Way, WEDC, Wisconsin
Laughable Spin as Industrial Policy
by JOHN ADAMS •
Alternative Title: Oh, no baby, of course I still love you… Josh Dzieza reports After a ‘personal conversation’ with Trump, Foxconn says it will build a factory in Wisconsin after all (At some point…): Days after Foxconn’s Louis Woo told Reuters that the company is no longer planning to build a factory in Wisconsin, Foxconn says the factory plan…
Elections, Politics, School District
About That ‘Same Ten People’ Problem…
by JOHN ADAMS •
If Whitewater wants – as some profess – to be free of a ‘same ten people’ problem (where a tiny few remain in office seemingly forever), then the solution is no harder than electing representatives other than from a tiny group of the same ten people. How funny, then, that one finds from among the members…
Bigotry, Congress, Politics, Race, Trump
Congressman Steve King, But Not Only Steve King…
by JOHN ADAMS •
Bigoted congressman Steve King has lost his committee assignments, should be censured, and truly should leave politics forever. And yet, and yet, while King should go, King shouldn’t head for the exit alone: The condemnations of Mr. King stood in stark contrast to the lawmakers’ willingness to tolerate President Trump’s frequent offensive and insensitive remarks about migrants, black people, Native Americans and other…
Assault Awareness & Prevention, Harassment, Misconduct, Politics, Presidential race 2020
Sanders Says He Was ‘A Little Bit Busy’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Sydney Ember and Katie Benner report Sexism Claims from Bernie Sanders’s 2016 Run: Paid Less, Treated Worse: In February 2016, Giulianna Di Lauro, a Latino outreach strategist for Senator Bernie Sanders’s presidential operation, complained to her supervisor that she had been harassed by a campaign surrogate whom she drove to events ahead of the Democratic primary…
Laws/Regulations, Litigation, Politics, State Government, Tony Evers, Wisconsin
Evers Turns the Board Around
by JOHN ADAMS •
Tony Evers, by his nature, avoids initiating a confrontation. He seems to have found a political and legal strategy to match his natural disposition. Patrick Marley reports Tony Evers says it will take a lawsuit to get him to go along with lame-duck legislation: Incoming Gov. Tony Evers said Wednesday he would not go along…
Politics, Religion
Who Said It Better: Falwell or Christ?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Assault Awareness & Prevention, CDA, Charity, City, Corporate Welfare, Culture, Dogs, Economy, Education, Federal Government, Foxconn, Free Markets, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Local Government, Police, Politics, School District, State Capitalism, State Government, University, UW System, WEDC, Wisconsin
The Broad Outlines of 2019
by JOHN ADAMS •
For many years, I would begin the year with predictions for the twelve months ahead. Events since 2016 have made predictions harder, but one can still discern some short-term developments for the city. These prospects, of course, form an online of topics to ponder, and about which to write (often requiring that one return to the…