Reform

The Wisconsin Assembly is expected to pass tomorrow what supporters call the most significant drunken driving reforms in a decade. The bill would make four-time OWI a felony if it happens within five years of a third offense. Repeat offenders would have to breathe into sobriety...

Gov. Jim Doyle is working on a host of public school reforms aimed at getting youngsters to perform better and to bring in billions in federal grants. But to get the money, Wisconsin would have to repeal a law that bans the use of student test scores to evaluate teachers. U.S....

Janesville Congressman Paul Ryan says there's a big difference in what President Obama says about health reform, and what he actually plans to do. House Republicans chose Ryan to respond to Obama's town hall meeting on health care in Green Bay Thursday. He said the Democrats in...

A longtime supporter of campaign finance reform says a recent rule change in the Assembly does more harm than good. Assembly leadership this week approved a rule that bans campaign fund raising during budget negotiations. The move has been applauded by campaign finance reform...

Officials from the governor on down are expressing the need to reform Wisconsin's child-care assistance program. And they're also blaming each other for the fraud and abuse the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel uncovered over the past two days. Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, said she...

Barack Obama told 7,000 people in Green Bay Monday that Republican John McCain is a late-comer in reforming Wall Street. The Democratic presidential hopeful laid out his own prescription for financial reform. Obama vowed to end what he called "the era of greed and irresponsibility." He...

When Republicans controlled the state Legislature, Democrats tried in vain to promise affordable health care to all Wisconsinites by a certain date. Now, with the prospect of Democrats ruling the Capitol, the liberal-leaning Citizen Action group is pressing the issue again. It got...

To the Editor: In his letter last week, local Republican Jim Schroeder told us that President Bush's tax reform put "an average of $2,000 more in everybody's annual pay envelope." Excitedly, I started looking in my pay envelope. White House economists like averages. For example,...