Politics

Plenty of Horne: Raclaw to Challenge Veteran in 14th Supervisory District
Plenty of Horne

Raclaw to Challenge Veteran in 14th Supervisory District

Supervisor Nyklewicz will face a rare challenge for his seat when Milwaukee Police detective Sebastian C. J. Raclaw announces his candidacy for the Milwaukee County Supervisor for the 14th District

Plenty of Horne: Beer Protest Spill a Spash!
Plenty of Horne

Beer Protest Spill a Spash!

The Spirit of ’07 Milwaukee Beer Party Protest and Demonstration was a good old-fashioned publicity stunt that brought cameras and crowds to the Milwaukee Ale House on Tuesday, July 10th, 2007.

Plenty of Horne: Brewpub Owners to Protest “Brewpub Tourism Development” Act
Plenty of Horne

Brewpub Owners to Protest “Brewpub Tourism Development” Act

Who could oppose a bill with the apparently forthright name of “Brewpub Tourism Development Act”?

Plenty of Horne: Tommy Thompson to Graze Through Iowa
Plenty of Horne

Tommy Thompson to Graze Through Iowa

Thompson will graze his way through the cornbelt, feasting at cookouts, pizza parties, restaurants, and even participating in an ice cream social, that pinnacle of Iowan hospitality.

Time to grant women equal rights

Time to grant women equal rights

By Martha Burk The new Congress has been busy, what with scandals in the Justice Department and votes to rein in war spending with some accountability and better training for the troops. Both are good things, and proper priorities. But both are likely to end with standoffs as they go head-to-head with the White House, no doubt because the 2008 election season is already well under way. The president is determined not to give Democrats an edge with voters. But some members of this Congress are already looking ahead and hoping to boost the party’s stock with the majority of voters – women. These Congress members are going beyond non-binding resolutions and bills that won’t get past the president’s veto pen. They are talking about passing the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The ERA states “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” Recently renamed the Women’s Equality Amendment and introduced March 27 by its chief sponsor, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), to a standing-room-only news conference, the ERA would grant equal constitutional rights to women — something we have yet to achieve. It’s a simple concept that had the blessing of both political parties until the Republicans struck it from their platform in 1980, with the Democrats following in 2004. The ERA was first introduced in Congress in 1923, but was not passed and sent to the states for ratification until 1972. Unlike the 27th amendment, ratified after hanging around for 200 years, the Equal Rights Amendment was passed with a time limit of only seven years for approval by the states. In that brief time, it was ratified by 35 states, but was stopped three short of the required 38 by millions of corporate dollars backing Phyllis Schlafly’s anti-woman storm troopers. They feared unisex toilets more than they valued freedom from discrimination. Schlafly always resurfaces at the Republican platform committee hearings leading a band of zealots campaigning for their own constitutional amendment banning abortion. She says Republican women want to do that. (No doubt a few do. We saw just how few last November, when 100 percent of anti-abortion ballot initiatives were defeated.) Much has changed in the 35 years since Congress first passed the ERA. Women have become the majority of both the population and of the electorate. Most are now in the work force full time, including nearly three quarters of mothers with children between 6 and 18. Women head one third of all households, and a whopping 61 percent of single parent families. While much has changed, little progress has been made. On average, women still make only 76 cents to a man’s dollar, working full-time and year-round. They hold 98 percent of the low paying “women’s” jobs and fewer than 15 percent of the board seats in major corporations. Three-quarters of the elderly in poverty are women. And in every state except Montana, women still pay higher rates than similarly […]

Plenty of Horne: Rep. Wood Stiffs Firm
Plenty of Horne

Rep. Wood Stiffs Firm

Rep. Wood Stiffs Firm

Plenty of Horne: Doyle to Taste Good Life of Milwaukee
Plenty of Horne

Doyle to Taste Good Life of Milwaukee

Governor James Doyle will be in Milwaukee on Thursday, October 5th to attend a fundraiser on his behalf to be held from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. at Good Life.

Plenty of Horne: The Other Sheriff Dave
Plenty of Horne

The Other Sheriff Dave

There is another Sheriff Dave just two counties to the south, in Kenosha.

Plenty of Horne: Petri Kin Dazzles on Jeopardy!
Plenty of Horne

Petri Kin Dazzles on Jeopardy!

Introduced to the audience as being "originally from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin," Petri seemed worldly for her years -- and for her hometown.

Plenty of Horne: Site Reveals D.C. Staffer Salaries
Plenty of Horne

Site Reveals D.C. Staffer Salaries

Millionaires Kohl, Sensenbrenner, others Generous with Taxpayer Money

Sen Schultz: We Need Necro Laws Now!
Sen Schultz

We Need Necro Laws Now!

Schultz says he hopes to introduce a bill in the legislature next session to remedy this lacuna in Wisconsin jurisprudence.

Plenty of Horne: Whose Scandal is it, Anyway?
Plenty of Horne

Whose Scandal is it, Anyway?

Republicans try, fail to shift blame to Dems on Kenilworth project