The most revealing moments in President Obama's “State of the Union” address were not in his remarks, but the reaction to them by those listening on the Republican side of the aisle. When he proposed to recover a "financial responsibility fee"—in plain English, a bank tax—from the largest and most heavily leveraged Wall Street firms, the Republicans sat on their hands and scowled, while...

On the eve of his first “State of the Union” address, Barack Obama confided that he would "rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president." But his proposal to freeze domestic spending is exactly the kind of policy that could result in four years of stagnation—rewarded by an election defeat at the hands of dispirited and disillusioned voters. If he continues to surrender his mandate, he just...

Early last year, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel launched the “Cashing In On Kids” series detailing alleged fraud in the Wisconsin Shares program, which provides day care subsidies for low-income parents. Although the Journal Sentinel has highlighted...

Wisconsin was among the first states to grant its African-American residents the right to vote, thanks to the protest vote of a former slave who became a well-respected Milwaukee resident. Just after the Civil War, Ezekiel Gillespie, born into slavery in the South in 1818 as the son of a slave owner, successfully sued the state to affirm the right of Wisconsin’s black citizens to vote. Gillespie had been turned away from the...

Having taken the oath of office just one year ago, Barack Obama is a flashing meteor that sputtered out too soon—or so the national media narrative tells us. According to this story line, the young president is a presumptuous liberal who disappointed his own idealistic followers while irritating...

If you’ve been hearing from collection agencies about your old credit card debt, you’re not necessarily at their mercy. Although collection agencies—and the lenders and debt buyers that hire them—are stepping up their efforts...

A new radio ad sponsored by the right-wing Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC)—attacking the proposed Clean Energy Jobs Act, just introduced in the state Legislature—is, as usual, full of misinformation. Voices of...

If Harry Reid's private remarks about the skin tone and speaking style of Barack Obama were offensive, the Republican crusade to oust him from his leadership position is worse. For Republicans to claim that he deserves the punishment inflicted on Trent Lott—the former Republican majority leader forced to resign because of a racial gaffe—shows their bad faith and their misunderstanding...

Day care providers should expect up to 90 suspensions in the Wisconsin Shares program in the next few weeks, according to information presented at a meeting of day care providers on Saturday. The potential suspensions, in addition to the more than 100 day cares that had payments suspended last year...

The Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) takeover legislation is like a vampire, a state Capitol insider told the Shepherd. It isn’t dead until someone drives a stake through it. And while the highly controversial MPS takeover bill—authored by state Sen. Lena Taylor and state Rep. Pedro Colon, both Milwaukee Democrats—is on life support in the state Legislature, it isn’t dead yet...