The Stakes Get Even Higher

While today may be a federal holiday we're still working away. Unfortunately, in Wisconsin, it doesn't look like they'll be working anytime soon.

In case you haven't heard, the Middle East isn't the only place where unrest is rocking political and social stability. The unrest continues in Wisconsin - and strangely enough, in the Badger State, much like in many Middle Eastern countries, the reason for the work stoppage boils down to a small group of people who have an inflated sense of entitlement.

Specifically, the governor of Wisconsin remains defiant in the face of overwhelming protests against his draconian - and unconstitutional - attack on labor.

However, we feel it is important to point out that not every state-level Republican in Wisconsin agrees with the governor.

In fact, over the weekend, Wisconsin Senate Republicans came up with a compromise plan of their own. While their plan is still extremely flawed and unacceptable due to the elimination of collective bargaining rights of many state workers, it is at least a compromise, which is far more than their arrogant governor is willing to allow. The unions have already publicly said - even before the governor began his current line of attack - that they are willing to work to change their agreements in order to help their state's budget issues.

We have said it in these pages for several years now and will continue to say it likely until we are all dead and gone: the soul of effective government is compromise.

Governors - any governor of any American state - are NOT dictators. They do not EVER have the right to say, "This is what I want to happen. This is what we'll do - period." Governors have both rights AND responsibilities. Dictating what will occur without allowing for debate falls into neither of those categories.

Every governor - including the current delusional one in Wisconsin - has the responsibility of working for the best interests of ALL people in the state, INCLUDING union members. They, as governors, may disagree with unions. That has nothing to do with their obligation to protect the interests of the people, which in this case means standing with the unions.

Taking away the rights of collective bargaining is NOT in the best interests of union members or the citizens of the state of Wisconsin.

Are unions flawed? Yes. So are government structures and corporations. If we're going to agree to eliminate one, we need to be willing to eliminate them all.

However, that is not the most appropriate action.

The correct action in all three cases is to work to improve each - unions, corporations, and governments - while eliminating the worst parts of each.

The key is to keep working.
The lazy thing to do is to dictate to everyone what will happen - and to pompously expect them to obey.

Funday Friday: You Know It's Spring When…

In the midst of ongoing war on the working class that was declared by the blindingly ignorant governor of Wisconsin, with the internal warfare on display in the Republican Party, and even while the true wars for independence are breaking out in the Middle East, we're taking a step back from the news of the world today. For this Friday we'd like to focus on something that almost all of us have a healthy appreciation for.

Baseball.

Every year, about this time, baseball teams at virtually every level - from hometown league teams to college and pro teams - begin early season practices, and for some teams, full games.

Even if baseball isn't your favorite sport - and for some of us, it's not -  every single one of us appreciates what it means when we see the "boys of summer" dragging out the gloves, bats, and other baseball equipment.

It means that even if there is another cold blast coming, it won't last for long.

It means that soon, the air outside will be filled with scent of new mown grass, crisp, clean uniforms - and if you're in the right place at the right time, some great ballpark food.

It means that the spring rains will come soon to wash away the leftover winter grime from those outdoor places that only Mother Nature - or a great grounds crew - can clean.

It means that there will soon be days where the temperature is neither too cold or warm, and the sunshine will fill a bright blue sky with a field of green beneath it.

It means one more year for us all, one more trip around the sun.

It means that no matter how our politics may have divided us, we can find common ground rooting for our favorite teams, taking part in one of the core elements of the traditional American spirit.

In short, it means there is still hope.

For all of us. For our nation. For our team. For the young people we love who grab the ball, glove, and bat and head for the door, now that the weather is getting warm enough at last.

Hope springs eternal.

Play ball!

A Tale Of Two Ideas

The difference between heat and light in politics is often more impassioned - but simpler - than most people understand.

For example, in South Dakota, their state legislature is attempting to pass a law that - as it has been written, would allow any direct family member of a pregnant woman, including her fetus's biological father, to legally kill any doctor who attempts to offer abortion services to said pregnant woman.

In Nebraska and five other states, the legislative branches of government are attempting to bar individuals who choose to buy their health coverage through a private health insurance exchange, from obtaining coverage with their own money, that would include abortions.

Certainly, these legislative arguments are getting heated. They're dealing with the hot-button issue of abortion.

We understand that the debate between the pro-choice and anti-choice people is passionate. We also understand it includes far more than just the two points of view.

On the one side alone, there are those who are truly pro-life: against war, against euthanasia, against the death penalty, and against abortion. There are also those who are honestly only kind of pro-life: they're pro-war, pro-death penalty, and/or pro-euthanasia - but against women having the right to choose to have an abortion.

None of those designations truly matter.

The real debate that both citizens and legislators need to be having is what is legal. What is just? What is actually likely to happen if we take certain actions? What is constitutional?

Those people that are trying to stop abortions by enacting new state laws have obviously forgotten both their high school biology, and their citizenship issues classes.

Laws don't make women pregnant - and they won't prevent abortions or unwanted pregnancies now, any more than they did in the days before Roe v. Wade.

Abortions happen. And in America, they are constitutionally legal. Period.

Whatever your religious or personal moral stance on abortion, the fact that the procedure is legal in this country is not likely to change any time soon, if ever.

Any attempt to evade the current federal law that legalizes abortion will end up dead in the water, thanks to our Constitution.

Those that continue to try to change the subject to pro- or anti- abortion battles are choosing to be obtuse about the real issue.

Americans can do effective things to actually attempt to decrease unwanted pregnancies - like creating a living minimum wage, providing family planning services, teaching comprehensive sex education, and helping businesses to generate jobs for Americans. Or they can keep wasting taxpayers' time, energy, money, and resources, and getting people worked up over decisions that will inevitably be passed on to higher level courts, and likely get tossed out again.

If someone is truly against others having abortions, they should do everything they can to prevent unwanted pregnancies from ever happening in the first place.

Last time we checked, having legislators attempt to pass unconstitutional laws, then filling the pockets of lawyers over pointless lawsuits defending those unconstitutional laws, is not only a lousy form of family planning - it simply isn't effective.