Category Archives: Public Services

What’s next

By Frank Paynter | Published: March 10, 2011

The State Capitol policeman who let me into the locked-down Wisconsin Department of Administration today was frank. “My union was eliminated today,” he said. “And it’s doubtful that there will be enough money in the budget to replace the expired bullet proof vest I’m wearing.” It’s hard to know what to say to that. I [...]

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Coming up this week in Madison

By Frank Paynter | Published: February 21, 2011

Current law requires the Governor to deliver the biennial budget message to the Legislature on or before the last Tuesday in January this year (extensions are permitted). The Governor must also provide the Legislature with a biennial state budget report, the executive budget bill, and suggestions for the best methods for raising any additional needed [...]

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Madison

By Frank Paynter | Published: February 19, 2011

Anna Grindrod Feeny’s video (above) provides an objective framework for the rallies and protests. Here’s my take… The State of Wisconsin is now a battleground. Tea Party conservatives and their corporate backers allied with the Republican party have taken a stand against organized labor. Wisconsin has a Republican Governor, a Republican dominated Senate, and a [...]

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Obama and the Insane Clown Posse

By Frank Paynter | Published: December 18, 2009

Eric Holder owes America a special prosecutor. We need to bring charges against Bush, Cheney, and their willing accomplices. (That would be you, Hate Radio pundits; and you, PNAC; and sadly lots of others.) President Obama shows no inclination to get the mess sorted out. In fact he seems to enjoy the cluttered agenda, the [...]

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We ARE Number Thirty-seven

By Frank Paynter | Published: September 18, 2009

Yes we are! We are number thirty-seven in the World Health Organization’s last published ranking of quality of health care by country. And we are proud of it! We did, after all, beat out Cuba (39), Mexico (61), and Bangladesh (88). Rwanda, Chad, and, Somalia? We are way better than them. It does kinda irk [...]

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Single payer without compromise

By Frank Paynter | Published: August 27, 2009

The time has come for the Democratic majority to act in unison to implement universal single-payer medical care in the US. The US corporatocracy, the profit taking machine that dominates every facet of our lives, must stand aside. No sly winks and nudges. No fear mongering. No lobbying, vote buying, or bullying. Here is how [...]

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Slouching Toward Medicare

By Frank Paynter | Published: August 20, 2009

For me the odometer rolls over in December. I’ll turn 65 then. I’ve been fortunate all my life where health care is concerned. As a kid, in my parents’ home, I was unconscious of how the medical bills got paid. Those were simpler times, before the corporations ran rough-shod over public and private life, before [...]

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August 20 is Elders for Health Care Reform Day

By Frank Paynter | Published: August 19, 2009

A week or so ago, Ronni Bennett (Time Goes By) called for our reflections on health care reform. She proposed: That next week, on Thursday 20 August, elderbloggers rise up on their blogs in support of health care reform including a public option That we denounce the say-no-to-everything Republicans and their handmaidens, the Blue Dog [...]

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