Ron Johnson’s Imaginary Health Care Issues
Ron Johnson, who's taken back half of what he's said since entering the race for U.S. Senate, has had one consistent story he tells on the stump and in interviews.
Bill Christofferson, 08/21/2010
Bill Christofferson Archive
Justice Prosser and the Pedophile Priest
Will the rising tide of scandal about pedophile priests, and the Catholic church’s handling of them, splash up on,or perhaps even sink, State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser’s re-election campaign next year?...
Bill Christofferson, 04/10/2010Walker’s Wild Train Attack Runs Off the Rails
Scott Walker’s blast at Tom Barrett and Jim Doyle over the award of a train contract that is bringing jobs to Milwaukee is hysterical in both senses of the word. Walker’s way-over-the-top...
Bill Christofferson, 03/16/2010Separate but Equal, Presumably
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker wants to split Milwaukee Public Schools into 10 to 12 smaller, autonomous school districts, the news media report. Swell idea. There could be eight African American districts,...
Bill Christofferson, 03/14/2010Shameless, WPRI Prepares New Poll
Just days from embarrassing national media exposure questioning its ethics and credibility, WPRI is back with another poll, coming your way soon. WPRI is the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, although some suggest...
Bill Christofferson, 03/10/2010Some Questions for Our Friend Scott
When Steve Walters was reporting for the Journal Sentinel’s Madison bureau, a lot of Democrats thought he just put Tommy Thompson’s news releases — or Jim Klauser’s memos — right in the...
Bill Christofferson, 03/08/2010Walker Promises More Private Pools
Good news, Wisconsin taxpayers. There are more swimming pools in your future. Look for one in a backyard near you — but not at the park. Campaign press release: Scott Walker, Milwaukee...
Bill Christofferson, 03/03/2010Nuclear Waste Problem Solved; Carry Your Own
State Rep. Kevin Petersen, a Waupaca Republican who clearly believes in individual responsibility, has an idea to solve the problem that has stumped the nuclear industry, scientists and the government for 50...
Bill Christofferson, 02/19/2010Walker’s Deficit Plan: Dig a Deeper Hole
So let me get this straight. Wisconsin’s facing a budget deficit of something like $2-billion, and Scott Walker’s idea is to dig the hole deeper with a big corporate tax break? And the...
Bill Christofferson, 01/25/2010Don’t Let Them Nuke Wisconsin’s Climate
Wisconsin citizens will have their first chance on Wednesday, Jan. 27, to tell state legislators that making it easier to build more nuclear reactors should not be part of a proposed Clean...
Bill Christofferson, 01/16/2010The Real State of Milwaukee County
Happy days are here again, according to Scott Walker, the county executive who’s made such a mess of Milwaukee County government that his long-term solution is to abolish county government. Walker’s “state...
Bill Christofferson, 01/12/2010What the Voters Thought of Louis Butler — and Why
The Obama administration is going to renominate Louis Butler for appointment as a federal judge. The Senate returned the nomination to the White House, along with several others, when it recessed at...
Bill Christofferson, 01/07/2010Will Wis. GOP Candidates Pass the Test?
You may haveheard that national Republicans are considering a litmus test to see if the party’s candidates are conservative enough to call themselves Republicans and get backing from the party. To qualify, a...
Bill Christofferson, 12/03/2009Dems Join Peace Groups in Afghanistan Protest
It’s not exactly man bites dog — maybe it’s more like dog bites itself — but Milwaukee Democrats will join peace activists Wednesday in expressing their concerns about President Obama’s plan to...
Bill Christofferson, 12/01/2009Expanding Our Rights
We hold these truths to be self evident … Rights, that among these are lying, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. What’s that? You don’t remember the right to lie being enumerated?...
Bill Christofferson, 11/11/2009Reclaiming November 11 for Peace
Across the country, and in Wisconsin, there’s a movement quietly taking shape to reclaim November 11 as a day of peace. What is now called Veterans Day was originally designated in the...
Bill Christofferson, 11/09/2009Veterans Day Parade Excludes Vets for Peace
So, let me get this straight: Inviting non-veteran Scott Walker to march in the Veterans Day parade is not political, but having the word “peace” in an organization’s name is? Members of...
Bill Christofferson, 11/03/2009Peace Demonstration to Greet Obama in Madison
From Madison Area Peace Coalition: BOOKS, NOT BOMBS Peace Demonstration for Obama’s Visit to MadisonWednesday, November 4th President Obama is coming to Madison this week, and peace activists will assemble to call for...
Bill Christofferson, 11/02/2009Get a Life? Activists Have a Good One, Thanks
Why do we chronic malcontents do what we do, and keep on keeping on, even when it seems like no one is listening, and our protests appear to be falling on deaf...
Bill Christofferson, 11/01/2009Can Wisconsin Afford More Nukes?
Wisconsin urgently needs to reduce its carbon footprint while providing safe, secure, dependable and affordable energy. One proposed solution is to build new nuclear reactors to boil water to produce electricity. But...
Bill Christofferson, 10/28/2009Polling’ Firm May Have Made Up Numbers; Wis. Media Dutifully Report Them
The decline in (or complete lack of) standards for news media coverage of political polling in recent years has been hard to watch. There was a time when newspapers like the Milwaukee...
Bill Christofferson, 09/27/2009Peacemakers Honored for Lifetimes of Work
Two Madison college professors with religious backgrounds, who have worked tirelessly to change the world, will be honored for their lifetimes of activism on Oct. 3 by the Wisconsin Network for Peace...
Bill Christofferson, 09/14/2009At Journal Communications, Rich Get Richer While Others Get Pay Cuts and Layoffs
Hard times have fallen on Journal Communications and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Thirty-four more buyouts, Editor and Publisher reports. More layoffs are likely. The Newspaper Guild already had accepted 6.6% wage cuts...
Bill Christofferson, 08/02/2009Scott Walker, Flaming Liberal Baptist???
Remember the lesson we learned in the 2008 presidential campaign? If your pastor says something and you don’t condemn it, it’s like you said it. Given that, you’ll be surprised to learn...
Bill Christofferson, 07/28/2009Persecuting the Innocent in the Name of Reform
“Money is the mother’s milk of politics,” Jesse Unruh once said when he was speaker of the California state Assembly in the 1960s. There may be a little rumble in Big Daddy...
Bill Christofferson, 07/20/2009All We Are Saying Is Give Nukes a Chance’
Apologies to John Lennon. But that refrain was in my brain after reading Tom Still’s plea that Wisconsin consider nuclear power. “What do we have to lose?” he asks. (More on that...
Bill Christofferson, 06/23/2009With Walker, Truth Stranger Than Fiction
When I asked last week whether AirTran would get naming rights for the Scott Walker for Governor Harley ride, in return for its corporate sponsorship, I thought I was being facetious. Sometimes...
Bill Christofferson, 06/19/2009Pancakes and More for Moratorium Weekend
It is Iraq Moratorium weekend again, Friday-Sunday, with lots of Wisconsin events to call for an end to the wars and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. I’ll be at the Midwest Renewable...
Bill Christofferson, 06/17/2009One More Reason We Don’t Need More Nukes in Wisconsin
To the list of safety, environmental, and economic concerns about nuclear power, add another: Utilities do not have enough money set aside to decommission existing nuclear reactors when they are shut down,...
Bill Christofferson, 06/17/2009Policy Initiatives 140 Characters at a Time
Gov wannabe Scott Walker thinks big and small at the same time, it appears. He is taking major policy positions on Twitter, which limits users to 140 characters per message. So far,...
Bill Christofferson, 06/13/2009US Supreme Court Speaks; Are Ziegler and Gableman Listening?
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that Wisconsin Justices Annette Ziegler and Michael Gableman must disqualify themselves from hearing any cases involving Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. That is an oversimplification, but not...
Bill Christofferson, 06/08/2009Send a Message: Don’t Nuke Wisconsin’s Climate
An online petition campaign to preserve the state’s existing law regulating licensing of new nuclear power reactors has been launched by the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice (WNPJ) in cooperation with...
Bill Christofferson, 05/28/2009Growing Coalition Challenges Nuclear Energy Fix
You wouldn’t know it from the news media — they can only cover one story at a time, and there’s a state budget crisis — but there is a growing, resurgent movement...
Bill Christofferson, 05/20/2009Nuclear Power a Bad Investment, WISPIRG Finds
Nuclear power, being heralded by some as the solution to the global warming crisis, has a few problems, and they’re not minor. One is safety; the potential for an accident or terrorism...
Bill Christofferson, 05/18/2009Rave at Rove on Tuesday
Let’s Rave at Rove! Karl Rove is coming to town to talk down the EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT. He’s found the time in between investigations of his behavior by Congress into tampering...
Bill Christofferson, 05/15/2009Labor, Immigrant Rights March Tops Teabaggers’
Funny how big a crowd of 5,000 (if it really was that big) played in the media when it was right-wing teabaggers coming to protest paying for their government services. It was...
Bill Christofferson, 05/01/2009The Walker Train Wreck: Day One
Musings on Day One of Scooter Walker’s second ill-fated run for governor: *** Announcing first on Twitter and Charlie Sykes’s show was a stroke of genius — if you think the hard...
Bill Christofferson, 04/27/2009Nuclear Waste Problem Solved!
A graduate student in nuclear engineering at UW-Madison, Brian Kiedrowski, has solved the nuclear waste disposal problem — something the nuclear industry and the federal government have failed at for 50 years....
Bill Christofferson, 04/26/2009I Beg Your Pardon; Did You Say Screw Earth Day?
Grist, the provocative online environmental magazine with an attitude, asks whether Earth Day, bring celebrated on Wednesday for the 40th year, still has any purpose or relevance. As the biographer of Gaylord...
Bill Christofferson, 04/20/2009On Tragic Anniversary, a Journey to Stop Violence
On Monday, April 20, the 10th anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School , Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort (WAVE) sets off on a journey, covering 450 miles in three days, to raise...
Bill Christofferson, 04/18/2009Midge Miller, Resting in Peace
Her name was Marjorie, but everyone called her Midge. Midge Miller, the quintessential West Side Madison liberal and tireless activist for peace and progressive causes, has left us at age 86. The...
Bill Christofferson, 04/18/2009Worth 2,000 Words
Just a couple of regular guys, fed-up taxpayers taking part in a mainstream, grassroots revolt:
Bill Christofferson, 04/14/2009Nuclear Waste Is Good for You
Have you heard? High level radioactive waste is no big deal. Not to worry. Soon we’ll have a way to dispose of it, maybe just fuse it into glass cubes and you...
Bill Christofferson, 04/08/2009Source of Koschnick’s Funny Numbers Revealed
Ever wonder where Randy Koschnick’s campaign gets the funny numbers it uses in its bogus claims about Shirley Abrahamson’s record? Now it can be told, thanks to the latest campaign finance report...
Bill Christofferson, 03/30/2009With Koschnick on the Bench, Leggies Would Rule
The last debate is over, and you have to say one thing for Randy Koschnick: He’s consistent. There’s another thing you can say, too. With him on the Supreme Court, you can...
Bill Christofferson, 03/29/2009Wisconsin’s Pro-nuke Convert a Paid Lobbyist for Nukes
Just in time for the 30th anniversary of the Three Mile Island accident on March 28 comes more evidence that the nuclear industry is making Wisconsin a prime target for making nuclear...
Bill Christofferson, 03/26/2009Bring the Guard Home Campaign Ramps Up
A campaign to challenge the deployment of National Guard troops to Iraq and Afghanistan is about to ramp up in Wisconsin, with a three-day visit by the lead national legal counsel next...
Bill Christofferson, 03/23/2009Six Years of War Sparks Dozens of Actions This Week
Thursday marks six years since the “shock and awe” invasion rocked Iraq and the US kept the world safe from Saddam Hussein’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Dick Cheney continues to insist...
Bill Christofferson, 03/15/2009