Progressive Thinking

GREEN BAY - If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. That seems to be the Republican motto when it comes to keeping those pesky Democratic voters from voting. A few years back, they invented the great “voter fraud” epidemic, with no real evidence that it ever existed, to justify a voter ID law in Wisconsin. Since many more poor people, espec ...

GREEN BAY – I have been listening to the “debate” coming out of our nation’s capitol all day on CNN and just can’t help but comment. Today, the Republicans in the House voted to hold the budget of the United States hostage so that they could make a statement about ObamaCare. They would fund the budget but not the implementation of the Affordable C ...

A few months ago Burke wasn't on the radar screen of possible Democratic candidates for governor in 2014, and now she seems to be the hand picked candidate pushed by the party establishment. But having family money and running with the country club set have not been known to buy you love in traditional Democratic circles. GREEN BAY - According t ...

GREEN BAY - Maybe, if you don’t look at it, it will go away? That seems to be the conservative stand on the Affordable Health Care Act, commonly known as ObamaCare. In Washington, the right wing in the House has voted 40 times to kill ObamaCare, while the pressing problems of the nation like job creation and immigration go unanswered. Governor Sc ...

GREEN BAY – The American Legal System boasts that it gives the accused the right to a trial before his or her peers. Unfortunately for justice, it sometimes does not guarantee the same right for the victim. Such was graphically the case in the trial of George Zimmerman last week in Florida for the murder of Trayvon Martin. In case you were vacati ...

Senator Smith writes about the work of the Department of Justice Office of School Safety and their role for protecting our schools across Wisconsin. This legislative session could’ve been better, but there was one glimmer of hope. The Office of School Safety (OSS) at the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) was a bright spot for lawmakers th ...

Senator Smith writes about how the local elections last week paint a different picture about Wisconsin’s finances and the inaction by Republicans to invest in our local governments. MADISON - Last Tuesday the 2nd of April was the spring election. It was clear based on the referenda questions on ballots throughout Wisconsin that something isn’t ...

Senator Smith sets the record straight on the need for Republicans in the legislature to release $15 million from the Joint Finance Committee to Chippewa Valley health care providers. EAU CLAIRE - On February 28th Governor Evers signed Senate Bill 1015 into law. This bill moved $15 million that had been targeted for HSHS to expand behaviora ...

Senator Smith explores the HSHS closure and what it means for preventing other large-scale health system closures in Wisconsin. EAU CLAIRE - We were hit hard in west central Wisconsin with the announcement that Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) would permanently close Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa ...

Senator Smith writes about the rash of childish appointment rejections by Republicans in the state senate and how it is impacting Wisconsin’s ability to attract talented people to serve. MADISON - In the five years since taking office, Governor Evers has offered appointments ranging from cabinet secretaries to numerous boards and commissions ...