Political Heat

Obama changed itinerary, so Burke couldn't meet with the president In a state run by conservative Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin is full of progressives who are all Monday-morning quarterbacks, ready to disseminate their complaints to whomever will listen. I should know: I am typically one of them. In this instance, however, I take issue with my fellow progressives. Their hearts are in the right places, but their attitudes and condemnations seem too readily released, with very little regard for the timeline of events over what has transpired. The latest episode involves Democratic candidate for governor Mary Burke taking time to meet with western Wisconsin constituents rather than going to an event where President Barack Obama would be speaking . Some progressives took the time to especially mock Burke, who they assumed was snubbing the president. Comments across Facebook have described Burke as “avoiding” the president, whose poll numbers have slipped in the Badger st...

Dem challenger Burke should support progressive policy stances if she wants to win The Marquette Law School Poll was released today . Several results of the poll were released via Twitter this afternoon, and many of the results indicate Wisconsin has a leftist perspective on certain issues. On the issue of minimum wage, an overwhelming number of Wisconsinites approved raising the base rate at which low-income people got paid. About a quarter of citizens wanted the minimum wage to stay where it is right now, at $7.25 per hour. More than a third wanted the wage raised to $9.00 per hour, and another quarter of Wisconsinites want to see a $10.00 minimum wage hike. 4.8 and 9.9 percents wanted to see the minimum wage raised to $11.00 and $12.00 per hour, respectively. Overall, a total of almost 73 percent of Wisconsin citizens want a minimum wage raise of some kind , when asked specifically about which wages they preferred. Only about 27 percent wanted no change, didn’...

Hypocrisy in criticism as governor tries to shut off debate on wages “I think [a proposal to raise the minimum wage] is nothing more than a misguided political stunt,” Gov. Scott Walker said recently . That’s the way to talk about policy proposals, I guess, if you’re Gov. Walker. A popular policy change -- three out of every four Americans support a minimum wage raise -- Walker somehow thinks that it’s all a gimmick, that Democrats support helping the poorest of workers simply for cheap votes. What can we make of Walker’s plan to cut taxes, then? Isn’t that a “political stunt?” Of course it isn’t. Tax cuts could never be a political stunt. Not in an election year, right? The average homeowner is set to receive about $150 in tax savings from Walker’s plan. Meanwhile, an increase in the minimum wage by $2.85 (up to $10.10 per hour) would increase wages for those single full-time workers by about $5,928 annually. With 94,000 minimum wage workers recorded in the state of Wi...

Walker seeks relevancy through criticisms of Obama Gov. Scott Walker apparently believes that the Barack Obama needs to be a one-issue president. Speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Walker described President Obama’s latest push for raising the minimum wage and extending unemployment benefits as a “desperate” attempt to distract the American public from problems with the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. “They want to desperately talk about anything other than Obamacare,” Walker said . Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker The issue over extending unemployment benefits for long-term workers is relevant now because those benefits expired for millions of Americans just this month . It isn’t too far-fetched to understand why President Obama might want to discuss the issue. As for the minimum wage, Obama brought that issue up almost a year ago, in his State of the Union address in February. “Tonight, let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one wh...

Half of minimum wage workers are over 25 years old; 3 out of 8 are over 30 Gov. Scott Walker recently stated his absolute opposition to raising the minimum wage. “I started out just like Paul Ryan did down the road from me working at McDonald's. Jobs that involve the minimum wage are overwhelmingly jobs for young people starting out in the workforce.” The median age for a fast-food worker is 29 years old. In 2012, nearly 76 percent of workers earning the minimum wage or below were older than 19 years of age , and about 50 percent were older than 25. Three out of every eight workers earning the minimum wage or lower are over the age of 30 , a proportion that’s higher than those between the ages of 16 and 19. They are not “overwhelmingly” teenagers, as Gov. Walker suggests. In fact, just the opposite is true. Minimum wage earners (and those earning less) are overwhelmingly 20-somethings or older. Via the Economic Policy Institute But still, wouldn’t the minimum wage hi...

Economy was improving at a far better rate under his predecessor; other economic indicators show we're lagging behind the rest of the nation It’s not uncommon to hear a remark during an election period, especially in one seeking to oust an incumbent, that goes along these lines: “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” That line won’t work in Wisconsin, however, because some improvements have been made economically. Yet, our state lags behind the rest of the nation in several economic factors. The improvements that we HAVE seen aren’t necessarily due to a local policy or set of policies, but rather may have to do with the overall economic improvements seen nationwide. So, while the state has improved, we need to consider whether it was due to any “reforms” that Gov. Scott Walker implemented or not. With that in mind, it’s clear to see that Walker’s “successes” have failed Wisconsin’s working and middle classes, and as a result, the state has lagged economi...

Many other years deserve the distinction, and 2013 comes nowhere close to them Today I speak about a recent assertion by Republican Sen. Tom Coburn regarding his belief that the year 2013 was one of the worst years for the United States. Text of the audio is found below the jump. Record music and voice