President
Mike Nichols is president of the Badger Institute. From 2009 to 2013, he was a senior fellow at the institute, syndicated newspaper columnist and communications consultant.
A graduate of Boston College and the University of Chicago, Nichols is the author of numerous papers and articles focusing on public policy, including an analysis of data-driven policing, failures in special education funding and accountability, problems and misspending in the Milwaukee Public Schools’ parental outreach program, the high cost of technical college labor contracts, public campaign financing, fraud in the FoodShare program, problems with discord and lack of productivity on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, rampant expansion of the School Lunch Program, the limitation of public subsidies of business, union influence on school boards, positive environmental impacts of the frac sand industry and conservatism in central Wisconsin.
Nichols is also the author of “The Waking,” a mystery published by HarperCollins, and “Just a Few Sleeps Away,” a work of non-fiction focusing on the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He spent almost 20 years as an award-winning newspaper reporter and columnist for newspapers in Illinois and for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where he often wrote about Wisconsin policy, politics and people. He lives in Milwaukee with his wife. They have three children.
Editor’s Note
Growing our reach and influence
by Mike Nichols
Editor’s Note
The infantilization of America
By Mike Nichols
A pandemic tipping point
A refusal by MPS and the teachers union to resume in-person classes is a boon to other schools
By Mike Nichols
Editor’s Note
What, exactly, have our governments just done for us?
By Mike Nichols
Q&A with Kevin McMahill
A cop’s toughest call: if and when to use force to apprehend a suspect
By Mike Nichols
Police use of force rare here
What happened in Kenosha is an anomaly, defying the critics’ charge that police violence is systemic
By Patrick Hughes and Mike Nichols
With police in retreat, view from Fond du Lac Ave. is bleak
Cutting cops unnecessarily to placate protesters will do nothing to help George Floyd or Jacob Blake
By Mike Nichols
Editor’s Note
In a truly horrible year, perhaps there have been planted the seeds of miracles
By Mike Nichols
Frontlines: Building something that lasts
How people — and finely crafted furniture — leave an indelible imprint on our lives.
By Mike Nichols
Editor’s Note
Balancing risks with freedom
By Mike Nichols
Legislators in lockstep
Election reforms that are designed to wrest control from the major parties and to fix political dysfunction are gaining support.
By Mike Nichols
Editor’s Note
Think politicians and bureaucrats are looking out for you? Think again.
By Mike Nichols
The resurrection of socialism
Democrats on the far left embrace redistribution of income and other modern-day socialist ideals.
By Mike Nichols
Editor’s Note
In a free society, it’s better when we the people — not the government — make the decisions.
By Mike Nichols
In Wisconsin, we have a front-row seat to the pitfalls of liberal media bias
It’s clear that Gannett newspapers, at least the one in Milwaukee, have a progressive mindset.
By Mike Nichols
Editor’s Note
The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s journalism center and Gender and Women’s Studies major raise some questions — and eyebrows.
By Mike Nichols
Clinging to an old picture
Suggesting that changes are necessary to centuries-old fire department practices — given the drastic decrease in the number of fires today — isn’t an affront to firefighting heroes.
By Mike Nichols
Editor’s Note
Digging into the decline of marriage, fire department staffing, overused TIFs and driverless transit.
By Mike Nichols
Tolling is the only realistic solution to transportation funding dilemma
Wisconsin ranks 38th in the latest state highway systems report.
By Robert W. Poole Jr. and Mike Nichols
February 13, 2018
Resolutions for Wisconsin policy-makers
Priorities should include tax reform, corrections, professional licensure and tolling.
By Mike Nichols and Michael Jahr
January 9, 2018
Madison’s goofy, divisive flag flap
Erecting cultural barriers ices out America’s melting pot.
By Mike Nichols
Editor’s Note
WPRI has transformed itself into the Badger Institute — a name that reaches back to the industrious miners of long ago but also moves us forward in new directions.
By Mike Nichols
Foxconn deal: Unprecedented decision, disparate opinions
Deal raises questions about everything from job creation to how free markets and economies work best.
By Mike Nichols
August 16, 2017
Look down the road in transportation funding debate
Right now, three major sources of revenue — the state gas tax, the federal government and bonding — are problematic and unsustainable.
By Mike Nichols
July 19, 2017
State legislators should focus on these tax numbers
Badger State residents still pay a mother lode of taxes — way more, given how little the average Wisconsinite makes, than almost anyone else in America.
By Mike Nichols
July 5, 2017
Help students succeed before they get to college
Admitting students with little chance to graduate helps no one; tying UW System funding to graduation rates would force change.
By Ike Brannon and Mike Nichols
March 1, 2017
Minimum markup law: Why is this relic still on the books?
It’s almost impossible to find a legislator willing to defend the markup law on policy grounds; it’s also impossible to find a legislator willing to even hold a public hearing and risk rankling special interests.
By Mike Nichols
February 10, 2016
Walker still has chance to embrace federalism
The proliferation of grants-in-aid has driven up federal and state spending and taxes, hampered the prosperity and independence of Wisconsin’s citizens and ultimately moved America dangerously closer to centrally controlled governance.
By Mike Nichols
October 1, 2015
Senate remembers – finally – that Madison is not Washington
Some folks in Wisconsin believe that we are simply another part of the federal government and should march in lockstep.
By Mike Nichols
July 8, 2015
Children with special needs discriminated against – until now
The special education voucher program will help a small but deserving group of kids who repeatedly have been denied the opportunities available to their non-disabled peers.
By Mike Nichols
May 20, 2015
Prevailing wage law rife with problems
There’s ample evidence that Wisconsin’s prevailing wage law is harming taxpayers and contractors, frustrating good government servants and diverting resources away from those in need.
By Mike Nichols
May 2015
What’s a conservatarian?
Come hear author Charles C.W. Cooke explain.
By Mike Nichols
March 24, 2015
Take this federal money or else …
Federal grants-in-aid, in truth, are anything but free. Many serve a valid purpose. But they also can drive up federal and state spending, taxes and debt.
By Mike Nichols
March 11, 2015
Labor battling public sentiment and new economic era
Even Democrats favor a right-to-work law that would end compulsory union dues from unwilling workers.
By Mike Nichols
February 20, 2015
The tiff over training
“The idea that if they lose union dues that will impact training is nonsense,” says Scott Manley of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.
By Mike Nichols
February 20, 2015
There’s no polarization on special needs vouchers
According to a WPRI poll, 62% of Wisconsinites somewhat or completely support a special needs voucher proposal, while 27% are somewhat or completely opposed.
By Mike Nichols
January 22, 2015
It’s Time to Toll
Wisconsinites need to get used to the idea of electronic tolls on our freeways. It’s a free-market solution to an overwhelming problem: lack of cash to pay for modestly modern highways.
Mike Nichols – November 24, 2014
Good Riddance. What’s Next for MPS?
Everybody who cares about their kids has to also start caring enough to educate the Milwaukee School Board as it looks for a new superintendent.
Mike Nichols – February 20, 2014
Despite naysayers, skills gap exists
Lori A. Weyers, president of Northcentral Technical College in Wausau, says the IT worker shortage is reaching a “crisis” stage.
By Mike Nichols
August 13, 2015
After Two Long Years, DOJ Finds No Discrimination
The complaint against Milwaukee’s school choice program was a thinly veiled political ploy.
Mike Nichols – May 2013
Funny What We Get Worked Up About
There’s the recent bellowing about the so-called $1.8 billion “structural deficit” Wisconsin could theoretically face some three years down the road, and the absolute indifference to the real federal deficits that could well be this country’s ruin.
Mike Nichols – September 11, 2014
Right-to-Work: Freeloading or Just Freedom?
The burgeoning debate over right-to-work is really over two different things: the rights that workers, either as individuals or collectively, should have in the workplace; and whether right-to-work states are more conducive or less conducive to long-term prosperity.
Mike Nichols – December 15, 2014
Stop Using the Word “Outsourcing”
“Expanding” or “growing” or “selling in foreign markets where there are billions of customers hungry for American stuff” would be a lot more accurate descriptions than “outsourcing.”
Mike Nichols – August 2014
Walker Shouldn’t Roll Dice on Kenosha Casino
Better to say no to all new casinos and let the free market determine Wisconsin’s economic future.
Mike Nichols – October 15, 2013
Rescue Call
Deficit hawk will bring a sober message to WPRI’s annual dinner
By Mike Nichols
Mining Success
Wisconsin’s booming frac sand industry is lighting up the economy and may even help reduce global warming.
By Mike Nichols
“It’s Put Up or Shut Up”
Rep. Mike Huebsch talks about the GOP’s legislative agenda for change. By Mike Nichols
A deadly grip
► Wisconsin’s opioid scourge: Its origins and possible solutions. By Ike Brannon and Devorah Goldman
► Slow descent into darkness. By Jan Uebelherr
► A toll on rural Wisconsin. By Mike Nichols and Jan Uebelherr
Anatomy of a Failed School District
Picturesque Bayfield has it all: dreadful student performance, community infighting, a powerful teachers’ union, outlandish spending. What can be done? By Mike Nichols
Dave Obey’s Big Payoff
Retirement has its perks when you leave office after 41 years in Congress. By Mike Nichols
Fraud… Who Cares?
The State’s FoodShare program feeds 700,000 – and appears utterly unconcerned about cheaters. By Mike Nichols
Free Market Paths for Better Lives
WPRI celebrates success stories like Aaron and Ildeliza
by Mike Nichols
Inside MPS
Superintendent Thornton fails to inspire innovation and openness, three former administrators say in candid interviews
by Mike Nichols
Justice Decried
Discord has split the state Supreme Court, damaging its productivity and its reputation for fairness. By Mike Nichols
MATC’s Reality Moment
Last fall, the tech board happily endorsed super-sized staff salaries and benefits. Will the recession end the party? By Mike Nichols
Milwaukee’s Story
Stephanie Findley learned the hard way that while the public favors school reform, the political system is rigged to kill it. By Mike Nichols
More than shoestrings
Former inmates need hope, and jobs.
By Mike Nichols
MPS’ Parental Enticement Program Spent Freely, Widely
But, oh, the questionable expenditures. Now some are banned. By Mike Nichols
Occupational licensure
► A system run amok: Our government is killing jobs and thwarting business creation. By Mike Nichols
► Licensing complaints often have nothing to do with health or safety concerns. By Jan Uebelherr
Open Shop
Even Democrats favor a right-to-work law that would end compulsory union dues
By Mike Nichols
Rebels for Life
Victor Barnett has built the model of a successful anti-poverty program
by Mike Nichols
Renewing Civil Society
Paul Ryan talks about poverty’s challenge to the American Dream
by Mike Nichols
Serving Whose Interests?
When teachers are elected to school boards, they have two conflicting masters. By Mike Nichols
Take this money or else
Uncle Sam’s “economic dragooning” of the states has to stop
By Mike Nichols
The Subsidy Game
Great hype and uncertain success mark the repeated public investments in a Manitowoc energy firm.
by Mike Nichols
The value of a job
Has America lost its will to work?
By Mike Nichols
Thornton’s Losing Battle
MPS’ failure to shut down a struggling charter school reveals the board’s stubborn refusal to embrace reform. By Mike Nichols
True Portrait
Forget the caricatures. Conservatives are the new face of central Wisconsin.
by Mike Nichols
What Happens If Burke Wins
It’s Jan. 5, 2014. Mary Burke is sworn in as governor. Will she make liberal dreams come true?
By Mike Nichols
What professors don’t want to hear
Conservative students forfeit freedoms to survive in a liberal environment.
By Mike Nichols
Yes, There is a Free Lunch
Consider the middle-class students feasting on a food subsidy intended for poor families. By Mike Nichols
