29 total articles : showing 1-10 next 10 >
Joel McNally: Anti-immigration policies boil down to prejudice
With Gov. Jim Doyle and Democrats in control of both houses of the Legislature, long overdue reforms affecting limits on teacher pay and funding of transit that were blocked by Republicans for years were included in the state budget with little fuss. Sadly, one issue remains excruciatingly difficult even for allegedly open-minded Democrats to resolve on either the state or national levels. That issue is immigration. read story
Joel McNally: Buying Wisconsin's court
What's the point of spending millions of dollars to buy Wisconsin Supreme Court justices if those justices aren't allowed to rule in your favor in court cases? read story
Joel McNally: Allow immigrants to get licenses to drive
Sure, there are far more important issues in a proposed state budget that closes a $6.6 billion deficit, but how people drive in this state is something that affects most of us. read story
Joel McNally: Don't let cops stock up on costly junk
Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn testified before Congress that more federal funding for local police departments would not only stimulate the economy, but also reduce poverty. By reducing crime, he argued, police bring hope to impoverished communities and stop employers from being driven out of cities where jobs are needed the most. read story
Joel McNally: Van Hollen's gun ruling ought to trigger bewilderment
Here's a quote from my column back in 2003: "If guns are supposed to deter crime, concealing them really doesn't make any sense. We should all go back to wearing them on our hips. With everybody packing heat, only the fastest gun in Milwaukee would ever dare commit a crime." Little did I realize young J.B. Van Hollen could read that and not be intelligent enough to realize it was a joke. read story
Joel McNally: Setting teachers free
In addition to far more serious concerns about our schools such as whether we have either the ability or desire to educate all children, we are about to experience a firestorm of controversy over teacher pay. read story
Joel McNally: The fear of public art
Whenever politicians try to pass themselves off as art critics, intelligent citizens have to wonder whether all the other decisions made by public officials are rooted in such profound ignorance. read story
Joel McNally: Piano wire justice is wrong answer to corporate misdeeds
It takes a lot for us to start feeling sorry for high-flying financial executives who, left unregulated by an administration that believed the free market should be free to do anything it wanted, destroyed our nation's economy and wiped out all our 401(k)s. read story
Joel McNally: Fewer prisoners, safer streets
Political courage appears to be contagious. President Barack Obama's bold budget takes on the most powerful forces in Amerca to begin to end three decades of reverse Robin Hood government taking from the poor and the middle class and giving to the rich. read story
Joel McNally: Prisons for profit
One of the most shocking revelations of recent weeks was that two judges in Pennsylvania potentially destroyed the lives and futures of thousands of juveniles by incarcerating them for minor offenses in exchange for millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks from a private prison company. Even more shocking is that some officials in Wisconsin, including Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, advocate private prisons for profit in our own state that would open the door to the same kind of corruption and human destruction here. read story
