July 16, 2013

To save about $700 per semester on tuition, Adam Strozier dual enrolls at Milwaukee Area Technical College and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Still, by the time he’s finished, the junior political science student will have racked up $23,000 in debt from federally subsidized student loans.

As Congress continues to struggle to reach a compromise on a stalemate that allowed the interest rate on the government-backed loans to double to 6.8%, students such as Strozier are left wondering how much more burdensome their debt loads are likely to become.

Last week, a Democratic proposal that sought to retroactively lower the interest rate on need-based loans to the previous mark of 3.4% failed in the Senate. On Thursday, it was reported that a bipartisan agreement was reached in the Senate similar to a bill passed earlier in the House, but that agreement later stumbled on a $22 billion price tag over the next 10 years.

In May, more than 200 Milwaukee fast-food and retail workers staged a one-day protest to demand higher wages. Michael Vanga, 18, was among them.

He has been working at a local Taco Bell for less than a year, and earns $7.50 an hour. He is the only wage-earner in his household; both his parents are jobless. The family is moving to a home with lower rent, but for his family and others like it, a raise in the minimum wage is critical, he said.

On Monday, three members of Congress donned “Raise Up MKE” T-shirts and echoed that message, discussing wage stagnation and what they consider employee exploitation during an event at the Department of Workforce Development downtown.

Trayvon Martin is dead and George Zimmerman was found not guilty — leaving many looking to the president to lead the thoughtful, national conversation about black-white relations they thought was promised in his 2008 campaign speech on race.

Yes, there’s a double standard. No previous president has been asked so often for his personal feelings on race. But for the first black president, that double standard is part of his life, and of his presidency. And black leaders say that, especially after last year’s election, the time has come to deliver more than what he has so far.

“The president is now in his second term. Because of the Voting Rights Act and the Trayvon Martin case” and the disproportionately greater impact on the black community from the recession, said National Urban League President Marc Morial, “I think that the table is set for the president to think about how he can address these issues not just in words, but renew some of the issues that he’s championed.”

Poll
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore believes Scott Walker wouldn’t even get through the Republican primaries if he ran for president. Do you agree with Moore?

Yes: 62%
No: 38%
Total Responses: 5137

The politician who beat Scott Walker in his first run for elective office said Wednesday that the Wisconsin governor doesn’t have a chance to become president in 2016.

In fact, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, a Milwaukee Democrat, said that if Walker decides to run, he wouldn’t even get through the Republican primaries.

“I’ve known him a really long time and I think he would lose,” Moore said during a 45-minute telephone interview with Journal Sentinel editors and reporters. “I think he has a lot of self-confidence, with the emphasis on self.”

Every May Day, thousands gather in Milwaukee to support comprehensive immigration reform. We march for our family members, our neighbors and our friends. Side by side, we stand in solidarity — speaking out to support millions. With the majority of Americans standing with us, a consensus has been reached throughout the country: Congress must act now and pass a broad and inclusive path to citizenship for our aspiring new Americans.

There are approximately 11 million immigrants living in the shadows of our society. They came to our country for the same reasons many of us move to new cities and states: to provide a better life for themselves and their families. They came in hopes of reaching the American dream.

However, as more are attracted to our shores in search of a new beginning, it has become increasingly evident that we can no longer tolerate the status quo of our broken immigration system, and we must fix it in a bipartisan, comprehensive manner. This is not a new idea. Heavyweights from both sides of the aisle, including President George W. Bush, have realized that we need a comprehensive solution to our broken immigration system.