Lately, one of the bigger political issues in Wisconsin has been the attempt to recall Scott Walker. Regardless of success or failure, the recall’s potential impact on the state’s people is of the utmost importance to me.
When religion meets government, there is often a much-deserved hullabaloo. This occurs especially around the holiday season. People rightly worry about the government promoting one religion and discouraging others. The recent decisions by Gov. Scot Walker and President Obama have put a renewed political focus on one aspect of the holiday season: the Christmas tree.
In 2012, presidential candidates are expected raise and spend approximately eight billion dollars in campaign contributions, an increase of 20 percent from the 2008 election.President Barack Obama alone is expected to raise about one billion dollars for his campaign, and don’t expect that money to come from teaching unions or the ACLU; despite Obama’s promise of liberal change, his 2008 campaign accepted more money from the financial sector than anyone in history.
“Stop the problem before it starts.” This timeless adage has been offered as a solution to dilemmas both big and small, each time serving as valuable and effective words to live by. In the case of certain problems facing the UW-Madison campus, the situation is no different.
We are a little bit worried about this recall, and we are not alone. All you hear across this campus and across this city is that maybe organizers will get enough signatures to initiate a recall election, but there is nobody who can take down Scott Walker. For all of his critics, Walker also has loyal fans with very deep pockets, and that is a major factor in a race where campaign finance regulations are thrown out the window. He may not be well liked, but Walker certainly is feared. Unfortunately, that fear may be powerful enough to derail this whole effort.
I have been talking with my progressive friends about Gov. Scott Walker lately. I’ll be the first to admit that Walker’s policies have had mixed results at best. I stand with my progressive friends in opposing his budget cuts—after all, it is a recession which is the worst time to cut government spending. But my friends also want to hold a special recall election to kick him out of office early. I disagree.
If last week's weather is any indication that winter is finally upon us, then be wary because snow will be piling up any day now. For years, Wisconsin has used salt to keep our streets and highways safe. When salt hits ice, it causes a physical reaction that lowers the freezing point and causes the ice to melt so it is easier to plow.
The Daily Cardinal Editorial Board recently met with ASM members to discuss their upcoming internal budget, especially the request for $100,000 to fund a series of internal training sessions-we were not impressed.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a much-anticipated report regarding Iran’s nuclear programs Tuesday afternoon, including hard evidence of certain military aspects of the program that suggest Iran could eventually posses a nuclear weapon. Crucially, the report released Tuesday is the most comprehensive and damning account of Iran’s nuclear program yet, and as such the report will send shockwaves throughout the international community. Reports released late last week and early this week describe Israel as preparing for a military strike against Iran, while defense planners in the United Kingdom are preparing military contingency plans if the United States or another ally chooses to resort to military force in response.
Oh, how messy the Republican presidential race has been lately.
For the past six months, the Associated Students of Madison’s 18th session has received a constant barrage of criticism from all sides pertaining to the organization’s general internal ineffectiveness. Any member of ASM knows and understands that the concerns for the organization put out by the media and general campus avenues are valid, at least to some extent. General student body members who are versed in the history of ASM also know that these concerns are not unique to this session.
A couple of months ago, if you had asked my what the Keystone XL Pipeline is, I couldn’t have told you. And why should I? America’s dependence on oil makes oil pipelines and oil imports a normal part of American conversation. Although we might not question a new pipeline that travels across a large portion of the United States, we should rethink our feelings on pipelines in the US.
This week the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker finally began. For months, anti-Walker Wisconsinites have been heartily preparing to kick their least favorite governor out of office. Now that the time has finally come, Wisconsin will be subjected to more annoying political ads, more out-of-state presence and more political divisiveness. To put it bluntly, I am not a fan of recalls.
In a relatively quiet vote last week, the Republican-controlled state Senate passed a bill that would require reforms to sexual education in Wisconsin. If the bill passes, it will recommend teachers teach abstinence as the only certain way to avoid pregnancy. The bill would also require teacher to endorse the values of marriage and parental responsibility. This program, currently used in 26 states, does not require that educators inform students on the health benefits and correct usage of contraceptives. When asked to explain the reasoning for the bill, state Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, said, “This is small government at its best. This is about local control.”
The United States has long had an interest in nation-building. Aside from our military involvement in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, we’re also firing drones into Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen. Thanks to Wikileaks, we now know that the CIA is in the process of establishing secret drone bases in places like Djibouti, Ethiopia and the Seychelles Islands. In addition to close alliances with Israel and Turkey, the United States has formed a sphere of influence around Iran and guaranteed that it has an impact on the development and repercussions of the Arab Spring—for better or worse.
The recent decision of the Student Council to reappoint Mr. Magallon and Ms. Haung to their former seats was a disturbing but unsurprising revelation. It is blatantly obvious that a cabal within Student Council has an agenda to undermine the legitimacy of the Judiciary as a co-equal branch of branch of ASM and exaggerate an already large accountability gap. Of course Council’s actions are technically legal (no matter how stupid) but are nevertheless devious. The near unanimity confirming Beth and Niko suggests ethical considerations run secondary to what has accurately been described as cronyism. Whereas the Court acted in the student interest, Council’s decision is an affront to that prerogative. Those seeking elected office no doubt seek to enact positive change at this university and assume an enormous responsibility given the level of autonomy afforded ASM. However, there is a widely held perception by students that ASM is irrelevant; this action only lends additional credence to that notion, and undermines the efforts of students actually committed to serving their peers.
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