I am so outraged by the selection of Sarah Palin I am almost beside myself!. 

How dare John McCain think Hillary Clinton supporters will flock to his camp because Sarah has the same parts as Hillary?

I have been an Obama supporter since I saw him introduce Russ Feingold at a rally in 2004.  But I admire Hillary for her intelligence, experiences, and many accomplishments. 

How dare John McCain pander to women is such fashion? 

What a catch...a hunter and NRA MEMBER, a governor (look how successful GW has been), an outsider (from D.C. and her house), someone married to an Alaskan Native American, a Christian-pro-life-pro-war-pro-gun-pro-homeschooling-pro-drilling beauty queen!  A trophy VP!  Caribou Barbie!

I could go on for hours about her radical religious beliefs that would harm women.  Is there a chance the Supreme Court could outlaw BIRTH CONTROL all together?  Certainly outlawing abortion will end the chance of using fertility drugs. NASCAR fans will love her husband's snowmobile racing.  Home Schoolers will love her contempt for public school. Anti-abortion nuts will love her Down Syndrome baby.  Gun nuts (and criminals) will love her NRA membership.  Wall Street will love her total lack of knowledge of finance, banking, lending, and cheating.  Osama will love her lack of knowledge and experience in International Affairs.  Lobbyests will love her lack of understanding of the way Washington D.C. gets corporations what they want.  Torture lovers will love her lack of understanding of the Constitution.

Sarah Palin has a bachelor's degree, has a husband who works for BP, is under investigation for abusing her power as governor, and was President of her local PTA.  As mayor of Wasilla, Alaska her biggest decision was to build a sports complex on land the city did not have clear title to and left the city 22 million dollars in debt.  Her only decisions have been bad.

 I believe Michelle Obama is more qualified to be president than Sarah Palin.  Sarah, you ain't no Hillary Clinton!

Karen Erb, Kenosha County Vice-Chair

Money.   It’s what all campaigns are asking for right now, and of course, there is a finite supply of it.   It is critical to political parties, campaigns, and our personal lives.   Some campaigns seem to have endless supplies of it, while others always seem to be asking for more.   It rules our political system and creates many fights in people’s homes. Our governments collect their money through a variety of means, and must make decisions on how to spend it.   As a Democrat, I believe that the priorities should be in making access to our basic rights as Americans equal to everyone, whether it is education or health care.   It appears, however, that after the recent fiasco of more money for the failed war policies in Iraq and the president’s veto of children’s health care (and of course Paul Ryan’s support of our president’s veto) that our priorities are going in the wrong direction. As veteran’s day recently passed, ...continue reading

Democrats won't miss Gonzales The founding fathers of our vast country took great care in planning against the largest possible coupe to overthrow our government. For example, the electoral college and having three separate powers of government, executive, legislative, and judicial. However, cut throat politics have devoured their vision of liberty and justice for all as the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales confirmed. The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) mission states that they are “…to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.” Is this why the DOJ is under investigation, by our legislative branch none the less, for firing 8 Democratic attorneys and replacing them with Republican attorneys? Is this also why they are under investigation for using DOJ employees to publicly smear Democratic political candidates? Politics aside, what right does the DOJ have smearing any individual? This surely affects the ability for an American to pursue ...continue reading

A message to those represented by and in leadership of Labor: Soon it will be Labor Day, and we'll be celebrating a holiday that came about thanks to the labor movement in the late 1800's.  It was first started in 1882 in New York by the Central Labor Union, and by 1885 was celebrated in most industrial centers of the country.  By 1894, 31 states and the United States Congress, acting on behalf of the District of Columbia and the territories, established Labor Day the first Monday in September as a legal holiday via legislation. Unfortunately, we see fewer workers being represented by a union, and at the same time, it's getting harder to form a union.  There is a piece of legislation working its way through Congress called the "Employee Free Choice Act" (EFCA). This bill would: Certify a union on the basis of majority sign-up Facilitate first-contract mediation and arbitration Enforce stronger penalties for employers who block attempts to form a ...continue reading

The Wisconsin Senate Democrats are talking about it.   Our Governor is talking about it.   Michael Moore is talking about it in a big way ($11.5 million at this point – Sicko earning through July 8, 2007). Our health care system is in crisis.   There is no question that this is the case.   How bad is it?   If you look at simple poll numbers, almost 40% of Americans believe it is the number 1 priority for the 2008 presidential candidates.   What do Americans want to be done?   According to polls, regardless what issue you put as number 1 for presidential candidates, 67% of us want universal coverage. Governor Jim Doyle came up with BadgerCare Plus, and intends to implement this plan.   State Senator Bob Wirch and the Senate Democrats have come up with an interesting approach to our health care crisis.   No matter how we want our legislators to fix the problem, at least it's finally up for debate. As noted above, 67% of ...continue reading

Chair column as published in the Kenosha News, May 2007 The mainstream media has a strong foundation in American society.   Our current system of radio, television, and newspapers are a result of massive consolidations along with market winners and losers.   The question is, however, of the media outlets that remain, are they liberal or conservative?   Do they help Democrats, and as a result exist to hurt Republicans?   Or is the opposite the case?   Is it impossible to tell?   The answers to these questions lie in a complex web of reporter, editor, and owner bias.   I only hear that the media is liberal when it is perceived as “not conservative enough”.   Clearly, Fox News is not liberal media.   This network was created to strictly embolden the neo-conservatives.   In fact, a recent 15 minute watch of the channel while working out at the Y revealed a segment blasting Democrats for calling out ...continue reading

Chair column for April, published in the Kenosha News Two major things happened this week that got politicos going, the Virginia Tech shooting and the 2007 tax filing deadline, and I’m going to talk to both.   It’s interesting, however, because although guns and taxes are typically Republican talking points, I’m making them Democratic points this month.   Guns: I would like to express my deepest sympathy to those around this country who are dealing with the tragedy that occurred on the campus of Virginia Tech this past Monday.   It’s unconscionable to think that our gun-culture-rich society would even be surprised that something like this could happen.   There are going to be people who are going to come out and speak from their soapbox on one of two angles: 1. If kids and teachers on campus were allowed to carry weapons, the shooter would have been killed right away. 2. This is further proof that we need more gun ...continue reading

Chair column for March, published in the Kenosha News The elected GOP representatives in this state and country are working against us by providing tax cuts to the energy companies, the same companies that have gouged us at the pump and polluted the air we breathe.   In 2000, we paid less than $1.50 per gallon of gas, whereas today’s price is over $2.50 per gallon.   What do we, as citizens, get in return?   A GOP attorney general that backs out of an EPA lawsuit seeking better pollution controls on coal-fired power plants.   Why would J.B. Van Hollen do this?   Well, he received a lot of money for his campaign from utility companies, that’s why.   Paul Ryan (our GOP representative) is working on convincing us that we pay too much at the pump because of so-called “boutique blends” in gasoline.   Paul Ryan is only saying this because he is pushing bills being presented to him by the same people that backed ...continue reading

Chair column for February, published in the Kenosha News For the past few years, it has bothered me that so many people are working to divide the people in this country by fear and hate while special interest groups come out as the only “winners”.   In a discussion with my partner, David, he defines modern politics (mainly driven by the far-right) as collision politics. Looking at a few issues, we can see how collision politics work in dividing us based on emotion. Abortion – Thanks to collision politics, you can only be pro-life or pro-choice.   There is no middle ground anymore, even though many of us have feelings that align with both sides of the argument.   Most of us would agree that third trimester birth is preferable to third trimester abortion.   In addition, most of us favor the option of abortion in cases of rape, abuse, medical issues, or incest; but not Republicans.   Where we differ the most is in the first ...continue reading

Chair column for January, published in the Kenosha News Just a couple decades ago, "Made in America" meant we shopped at Wal-mart.  They imported an estimated $25.2 billion of their 2006 inventory from China.  This new way of "doing business" helped to put the United States' trade deficit at $68.9 billion in December 2006 alone.  Especially in a time of war, manufacturing locale is a matter of national security. Most companies in China are partially owned by their government, have government supplied healthcare, and have workers that are willing to earn a lesser wage due to their currency-imposed lower cost of living.  Their currency policy does not help us.  If the United States government could simply lift the burden of healthcare off of our employers by providing a universal health care system, we may have kept the manufacture of IBM computers in America. Although some of our corporations helped to create trade, safety, and intellectual protections here ...continue reading