Editorial cartoon 

Published: August 27, 2010
Tags: cartoon, flood, laterals, MMSD

Lawmakers take aim at public worker pensions

Published: August 27, 2010
Tags: National Association of State Retirement Administrators, National Conference of State Legislatures, Pommer, Wisconsin Retirement System

By Matt Pommer
Public employee pensions are back in the spotlight as several states try to change benefits for current and future retirees.
For example, state legislators packed a session on modifying public employee pensions at the recent meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures in Louisville, Ky.
Legislators in Colorado, Minnesota and South Dakota earlier this [...]

View from around the state: Science says wind power safe

Published: August 23, 2010

The Wisconsin Division of Public Health has reviewed more than 150 scientific and medical reports related to wind turbines and public health.
Division staff have listened and responded to concerns about wind turbines from the public, municipal leaders and local health officers. The division has sought the expertise of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, [...]

Editorial cartoon 

Published: August 20, 2010
Tags: cartoon, high-speed rail, Oconomowoc, Rail, station

Health care debate offers market medicine

Published: August 20, 2010
Tags: Congress, democrat, health care, Health Care Reform Act, Medicare, Paul Ryan, Pommer, Republican, Richard Lamm

By Matt Pommer
“The miracles of modern medicine are simply outrunning the public’s ability to pay for them.”
Almost a quarter-century has passed since then-Colorado Gov. Richard Lamm made that statement. Soaring private health insurance and looming growth in Medicare in intervening years may seem to some to underline the view.
“You can’t afford to do everything to [...]

State needs answers to health care costs

Published: August 13, 2010
Tags: BadgerCare Core Plan, BadgerCare Plus, Congress, democrat, governor, Health Care Reform Act, Mark Neumann, Medicaid, Obama, Republican, Scott Walker, SeniorCare

Matt Pommer

The leading Republican gubernatorial candidates say they are opposed to the Health Care Reform Act recently passed by the Democratic Congress and signed by President Obama.
That’s just swell, but they should be telling us how they plan to handle state health issues connected to BadgerCare Plus, BadgerCare Core Plan, SeniorCare and Medicaid.
Approximately 1.1 million [...]

Editorial cartoon 

Published: August 6, 2010
Tags: cartoon, Illinois, KRM, Rail, regional rail, Wisconsin
Comments: 1

Social Security has roots in Wisconsin

Published: August 6, 2010
Tags: Edwin Witte, Franklin Roosevelt, house, Pommer, Senate, Social Security, University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin

By Matt Pommer
Social Security marks its 75th anniversary this week, but it almost didn’t happen, according to the Wisconsin citizen who played a key role in its development.
Passage was doubtful in the Senate Finance Committee “in part because there was no popular demand for old age insurance, or very little, and still more because there [...]

Editorial cartoon

Published: July 30, 2010
Tags: cartoon, Milwaukee, sinkhole

Letter to the editor: MMSD misdirection and misrepresentation continues

Published: July 30, 2010
Tags: Milwaukee, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, MMSD, MMSD commission, sanitary sewer, storm-water management, Tom Barrett

To the editor:
For over 30 years, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has failed to address what is wrong with the sanitary sewer system in metro Milwaukee and instead misrepresented and misdirected the problem.
The problem is simple to understand: Rainwater is allowed to enter our inadequate sanitary sewer system causing sewage overflows directly into our waterways. [...]