Steven Helmer Publications

 I'm trying to read an Agatha Christie mystery When my phone rings. It's pre-recorded message from a candidate Telling me what a vote for them will bring. It's only a matter of time before my mailbox Is filled with enough flyers to kill a forest full of trees. I guess it's getting to be that time again, The time when I become Mr. Popularity. I'm not the kind of guy who keeps his mouth shut. If I see something I don't like, I am quick to be argumentative. To date, I've written plenty but never received a reply. I guess I'm just not important enough to hear back from my representative. Things have changed though. I now hear from them with regularity. They care about me, at least for now, because they need my vote. Making me Mr. Popularity. _________________________________________________________________ Here are some of my other poems: The Night the Wisconsin Badger Tapped Out (A Poem) A Cat Dad (A Poem) Where the F*ck is My Phone? (A Poem) In the Way (A ...

 As a moderate independent, I tend to take the middle ground when it comes to legislation. In other words, it's rarely as good as one party says it is and usually not as bad as the other claims. That said, there are a lot of red flags about the "Big Beautiful Bill" that was just passed by Congress today and only needs Trump's signature to become law. It starts with the number of Republicans who needed to be strong-armed and/or bribed with incentives for it to pass by a very small margin. It includes the very deliberate effort to pass the bill in the middle of the night, when most people were asleep. And the biggest red flag of all is the world's richest man, Elon Musk, who stands to benefit from the tax cuts more than anyone else, effectively ending his friendship with President Donald Trump because he thinks it is bad for the country. As a result, while there are things I am OK with (for example, I personally don't see an issue with a reasonable 80-hour per m...

I'm not going to discuss who I will or will not vote for during the Wisconsin Supreme Court election on April 1. I will, however, discuss the election itself. To give a brief recap. Wisconsin Supreme Court judges serve a 10-year term with no more than one judge running for office in any election. While judges are supposed to be non-partisan, the court currently has a liberal majority but with Justice Ann Walsh Bradley retiring, the outcome of this election can either keep it liberal with Susan Crawford winning or tilt it to the right if Brad Schimel wins. This in turn could determine the outcome of a number of state-related things ranging from abortion rights to election districts. The main problem is it has stopped being just a race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and has become a de facto measuring stick for President Donald Trump and his agenda, with nearly $100 million being spent, including a large portion from groups and individuals (like Elon Musk) from outside the state. Pe...

Everyone makes mistakes, especially when starting a new job. And, along those lines, I do try to remind myself government officials like Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz have only been in their current jobs for about two months. The same for Vice President J. D. Vance. So, while discussing potentially classified military plans via a text messaging app is not the best decision and accidentally adding a civilian (who also happens to be the editor of the Atlantic) to that group chat only made that questionable decision worse, I normally would be willing to be OK with no harm being done and lessons learned. Unfortunately, this is the Donald Trump administration and that's not what's happening. Here's my word of advice to Hegseth, Waltz, Vance, etc. as an independent voter - own up to your mistake and apologize. Period. This Trump-like systematic denial, spin and even blame shifting is unprofessional and honestly embarrassing. It's c...

I am an opinionated guy. I've been on this planet for nearly 50 years, raised two daughters and have been a member of the workforce since I was a teenager. I think I have the right to be. However, today I am taking a vow to keep my opinions to myself, at least when it comes to politics and social media. Image courtesy of Pixabay This actually isn't the first time I've taken this vow. I did it once before, several years ago, but recently began breaking that vow. It didn't take me long to remember why I made it in the first place. First, when it comes to politics, nobody cares about my opinion or anyone else's. They just want to hear their opinion being parroted by someone else.  The thing with that is as an independent, I can appreciate both sides to every argument. I may not agree with one side but can still see where they are coming from. Unfortunately, that balanced view is clearly unwanted in such a divided country. The victim culture is prevalent for both libera...

We are days away from the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump as they try to convince voters they deserve to be President of the United States. I have already weighed in on who I plan to vote for but even though I have a candidate I favor; I do feel this year's election has been a bit sparse as far as issues are concerned. The campaigns have focused on specific topics ranging from immigration to who will better protect democracy, but other, just as important issues haven't been discussed at all or at least haven't gotten the media coverage. Image courtesy of Pixabay Here are three questions I myself would be asking: What are your plans to fight the growing national debt? As of my writing this, America's national debt is $35.29 trillion dollars, or roughly $104,000 per person. Meanwhile both candidates are proposing things (tax cuts, more border patrols, etc.) that are much more likely to increase that debt than reduce it. With one-third of that debt held by ...

I usually try to avoid discussing politics. I have my political beliefs but choose to them to myself. So, my decision to post this should speak volumes. For the record, I consider myself an independent who, for the most part, leans a bit to the right. In fact, I have cast a ballot in all seven presidential elections since my 18th birthday and only voted Democrat once. In comparison, I voted for the third-party Libertarian candidate in two of the elections.  The thing is, I don’t really dislike the Democrats. On paper, I support most things they support. It’s just when they talk about taxing the rich, I always somehow seem to be lumped into that category even though I’m living paycheck to paycheck like most people.  That’s why I am as surprised as anyone that I plan on voting for Kamala Harris in November. Image courtesy of Pixabay I don’t agree with everything Harris talks about in her platform. I’m also not completely convinced the excitement over her isn’t anything more tha...