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The Midwest blog
The Little Schoolhouse in Ripon and the Oak Grove in Jackson, 1854Two small Midwestern towns each claim the birth of the Republican Party in 1854. Here is what happened in both, and why the argument is fair.Charles Curtis rose from Kansas to Senate leader and vice presidentCurtis was the first vice president of Native American ancestry, and his record is a mix of achievement and controversy that deserves honest telling.The Reagan Democrats of Macomb County and the Voters Who Changed SidesWhy blue-collar Democrats in a Michigan county switched to Reagan, how each party reads the shift, and what it teaches about winning them back.How the States Rewrote Welfare Before Washington Finally Caught UpBefore the 1996 federal welfare law, governors asked Washington for waivers to try work rules and time limits, and what they learned shaped the national bill.Wisconsin's Act 10 Fight From the Capitol Crowds to the Recall VoteThe 2011 law that limited public-sector bargaining in Wisconsin set off an occupation, a walkout, a recall and a decade-long argument, told in order.How a Citizen Initiative Gets on the Ballot, Signature by SignatureMost initiative drives fail on procedure and not on popularity, so here are the steps in order, with where to find the exact rules for your own state.