Report on Feb. 28 Political Cafe

Jerry Collins

Dear Friends,

Here is the report of Active McFarland’s Feb. 28 Saturday morning political café. We look forward to seeing you at the next political cafe at the McFarland House Cafe, Saturday March 7, 9:30-11:00 AM.

Attendees: Kay Altfeather, Ron Berger, Denny & Jean Blackmore, Julie & Bob Crego, Rita Hampton, Dave Jenneke, Sandy Martinelli, Sharon Payne, Dawn Shegonee, Clair Utter

Today, Active McFarland welcomed three new people to our café, in addition to some of our regulars.

1)  Denny recommended the following book about the Koch family called “Sons of Wichita.”

 http://www.amazon.com/Sons-Wichita-Brothers-Americas-Powerful/dp/1455518735/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425151217&sr=1-1&keywords=sons+of+wichita

2) Clair raised several issues about national and local matters. For one, he thinks Democrats and progressives have not addressed voters’ concerns about the need for fiscal responsibility. He recalls how Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire, a Democrat, used to do this quite effectively. This issue suggests the need to think about messaging in ways that represent the progressive view about government waste and inefficiency, most notably in military spending. Bob said he would look into suggestions from the grassroot network about this.

Clar also expressed his concerns about local issues in McFarland related to housing development and renovation of parks for which people in Active McFarland may be divided. The group agreed that Active McFarland should be a venue that allows for a diversity of opinion while also committing ourselves to a common cause.

3) The discussion also turned to a few other topics: how the budget cuts (and the expansion of subsidies to private schools) are adversely affecting public schools; the need for messaging to persuade people that politics matters; and so-called “right to work” legislation, including the fact that a lot of workers don’t like unions.

4) Dawn recommended a Huffington Post article that compares the economies of Minnesota and Wisconsin:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-gibson/mark-dayton-minnesota-economy_b_6737786.html

Denny suggested a theme: “The laboratory of success is our next-door neighbor.”

4)  Regarding the environment, Dawn shared her concerns about mining in Wisconsin and the need for more visual messaging to address environmental issues; and Ron shared his interest in thorium as an alternative to conventional nuclear power:

 http://www.ted.com/talks/kirk_sorensen_thorium_an_alternative_nuclear_fuel

 Submitted by,

Ron Berger 

Active McFarland: Exercising Democracy
Email: activemcfarland@gmail.com

Website: www.activemcfarland.org or

http://activemcfarland@bravesites.com 
A Grass Roots Organization made up of people from the McFarland area promoting democracy at all levels of Government