Articles In This Issue

• Keeping Racism Alive - David Blaska

• Hong’s ‘Millionaire Tax’ Would Hit Small Businesses, Critics Say - TrueNorthNews

• Redistricting - A.F. Branco

Keeping Racism Alive

David Blaska, Blaska Policy Werkes - May 6, 2026

Racism has been very good for the likes of Al Sharpton. The irreverend is said to be worth a cool $5 million, what with his gig on cable news MS Now. Al’s National Action Network is but one of the multitudinous grievance arms dealers in the civil rights industrial complex.

But singing “We Shall Overcome” 59 years after Father Groppi’s march over Milwaukee’s 16th Street Viaduct is a tougher sell than MAGA caps in Tehran. It’s why Madison’s Independent police monitor must tease out statistics until they cry “uncle” before professing to detect a picocurie of racism. Yet, try they must, for racism must not be allowed to wither away. Too much politics is at stake!

This week, outfits ranging from the NAACP to the Southern Poverty Law Center (which helped finance the Charlottesville riot) are treating the latest U.S. Supreme Court decision like the extinction event it is.

The Cliff’s Notes version of Louisiana v Callais holds that, six decades after passage of LBJ’s Voting Rights Act, congressional districts should no longer be gerrymandered by race — which the Founders never countenanced in the first place. When you think about it, packing voters to assure a “safe” black legislative district creates an equally “safe” white seat. Ask why James Clyburn is the one black man in a congressional delegation amid six white Republicans — in a state that elected Tim Scott a U.S. Senator.

Because it’s the Democrat(ic) party that stands to lose, not black voters.

Hong’s ‘Millionaire Tax’ Would Hit Small Businesses, Critics Say

TrueNorthNews - May 11, 2026

State Assemblywoman and gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong introduced legislation this spring to raise certain income taxes to approximately 18%.
The bill is intended as a tax hike for the “super rich” and “billionaires.” However, the proposed bill affects earners far below the desired range.

AB 1209 raises taxes by 15.69% on filers in Wisconsin’s top income tax bracket, defined as anyone making over $352k. This alone would make Wisconsin the 9th highest income tax state..

Additionally, the legislation creates a new tax bracket for joint fillers starting at $750K, imposing a tax that begins at 17.70%. Currently, California has the highest state income tax, with certain brackets paying 13.3%.

Critics however, note that since Wisconsin is home to only a handful of billionaires, the majority of payers of this new tax will be small, family-owned businesses.

In Wisconsin, the overwhelming majority of small businesses file as individuals, pass-throughs, and S-corps, rather than corporations. According to LLC Services Wisconsin’s small business statistics, close to 80% of small businesses file this way, meaning a substantial majority of people hit by this 17.7% tax will be small businesses.

Redistricting

A.F. Branco, Creators Syndicate - May 11, 2026