Sen. Ron Johnson’s comments about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 deserve our attention. In wrongly stating “… we got the $800 billion stimulus which basically went into the pockets of public unions,” Johnson suggests working class women and men caused our economic mess. Johnson is wrong. By 2008, our economy had been […]
Regarding our compromise with Iran, it’s not even close. Rejecting the agreement would be an absolute disaster for the United States and Israel, for it prevents Iran from developing a nuclear bomb and moves them closer to the community of nations. Some in Congress think rejecting it will lead to new negotiations, but there is […]
Last week, I had the privilege of speaking at the opening ceremonies of the Dave Obey Civic Resource Center at the University of Wisconsin Marathon County in Wausau, sharing lessons learned while serving with Chairman Obey in the U.S. House of Representatives during the most challenging times our nation faced in a century. As Wisconsin’s […]
We should all be grateful that President Barack Obama, whom I consider to be my friend, has taken time to think the issue of making war against Syria all the way through and for asking to hear our opinions — brave actions recent presidents of these United States failed to do. In effect, by asking […]
Times are tough for everyone in Wisconsin, especially for small business owners and their employees who work hard every day to please their customers. Their budgets are tighter than ever, and they are driving down all of their business expenses to survive, the largest one being costs for health insurance. When making business decisions, every […]
My father, Dr. Marv Kagen, died last fall after practicing dermatology for 60 years. Before he passed, I asked him what he enjoyed most about practicing medicine. “That’s easy,” he said. “Every day, I cared for the richest and poorest people in town and I treated everyone equally at the same price. Can you do […]
In 2011, Rep. Reid Ribble voted to give away our right to privacy and, last week, we see its shameful consequences. With Ribble’s permission, federal agents searched and seized personal telephone and electronic communications. In a single vote, Ribble erased what thousands of patriotic Americans died for — our right to privacy and our freedom […]
Steve Kagen, M.D. Former Member of Congress – Wisconsin American Sustainable Business Council – Advisory Board In 2006, I ran for public office for the first time in my life to end discrimination against my patients with pre-existing medical conditions – and I succeeded. After a century of trying, we finally established health care as […]
The Republican Congress eventually will need to decide who must pay our nation’s debts created by the losing policy of feeding the rich and starving the poor. Currently, our debt is $15 trillion – $12 trillion coming from Republicans and $3 trillion from Democrats. This was no accident. The last administration nearly destroyed America by […]
Professional politicians in Washington and their partners on Wall Street are lining up for another payday – this time by promoting “free trade” deals with Korea, Panama and Colombia. But if you’re not in Washington or on Wall Street, there’s a problem. These new deals are just like the old deals. They are job-killers – […]