Press
Madison — Constituents from across the congressional districts of U.S. Reps. Ron Kind, Steve Kagen, and Tom Petri have signed a petition urging him to both strengthen and vote in favor of critical legislation on the House floor Friday to transform the economy into one harnessing the power of green technology.
Madison — Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) has launched a newspaper ad campaign which argues the solution to the state’s $6.6 billion budget deficit is tax cuts for the rich — the same economic plan enacted by George W. Bush and Congressional Republicans, which caused the nationwide economic crisis that plunged 47 states into deficit.
Madison – After months of insisting the state budget crisis was smaller than official estimates, the conservative Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance has turned silent in light of decreased revenue collections putting the budget deficit at $6.6 billion.
Madison – Despite representing the three cities in Wisconsin with the highest unemployment rates, Rep. Paul Ryan has offered a GOP budget plan to continue the reckless Bush economic policies of tax cuts for the rich, privatization and ignoring investment in American infrastructure.
Madison – The judicial ethics of Jefferson County Judge Randy Koschnick are under fire after breaking his own clean campaign pledge by attacking Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson in a television advertisement with several dubious claims.
Madison – Rose Fernandez, described in a recent newspaper article as “a nurse by training who has never held an education job,” received $1,350 in contributions from top personnel at the Virginia-based K12, Inc., the for-profit company expected to reap $5 million in Wisconsin taxpayer funds to administer virtual schools – a number which would grow if Fernandez is able to expand the program as Secretary of the Department of Public Instruction.
Madison – A painstaking analysis by One Wisconsin Now of more than 4,000 decisions made by the Wisconsin Supreme Court during the current term of Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson proves Jefferson County Judge Randy Koschnick has misrepresented Abrahamson’s record. A full accounting of her decision making shows the Chief Justice has supported the state’s position in cases involving crime and public safety 90 percent of the time.
Madison – Jefferson County Circuit Judge Randy Koschnick has heard 1,830 cases involving 19 lawyers who made contributions to his prior judicial campaign, including 35 cases which are currently open.
Madison – Rose Fernandez, former head of the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual Schools Families, is part of a network involving lobbyists, non-profit organizations, elected officials and even the law-breaking All Children Matter, seeking to give for-profit companies like the Virginia-based K12, Inc. Wisconsin education tax dollars. An interactive website detailing this network and its in-state and out-of-state players is available at FernandezFiveMillion.com, compiled by One Wisconsin Now.
Madison – U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) has tried to sell himself as a neo-budget hawk, but this directly contradicts the eight consecutive federal budgets he voted for which increased federal spending by $1 trillion annually, according to One Wisconsin Now.
Madison – Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance President Todd Berry’s upcoming appearance with top state Republican elected officials at a right wing organizations’ anti-fair taxation summit is yet another example of the conservative agenda of the Taxpayers Alliance, according to One Wisconsin Now, a statewide liberal advocacy organization.
Madison – Architects of the 2006 same-sex marriage ban who insisted it would not impact legal protections for domestic partners have reversed their position now that Governor Jim Doyle wants to give certain basic legal protections like hospital visitation and inheritance to those in domestic partnerships.
Madison – Jefferson County Judge Randy Koschnick had a higher reversal rate in 2008 than three quarters of all other circuit court judges and since 2000 more than one in four of his decisions were overturned, according to data released by the Wisconsin Law Journal.
Madison – One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross issued the following statements on the Assembly Republicans budget gimmicks announcement.
“For 14 years, Republicans used one iron fist to rule the Assembly and used the other to grab as much special interest cash as they could carry. Assembly Republicans used our tax dollars to enrich their donors and reduce the rights of workers, the ability of schools to finance education and prevent real health care reform from passage. With leaders like Scott Walker and Scott Jensen, they stretched Wisconsin’s finances beyond the breaking point. Following these Assembly Republicans further down the path of failure would be an enormous mistake to say the least.”
Madison – As Wisconsin banks have taken over $2.4 billion in taxpayer-financed Troubled Asset Relief Program bailout funds, two of the state’s largest banking lobby associations have joined with Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce to fight efforts to close the $75 million-a-year ‘Las Vegas Loophole,’ which helps companies dodge Wisconsin taxes by opening up a post office box in a state without corporate income tax.
Madison – Jefferson County Judge Randy Koschnick’s criticism of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for overruling him on evidence in the murder trial of Matthew J. Knapp, conveniently ignores that Koschnick ruled in the same case to exclude an essential piece of evidence which subsequently convicted Knapp – two pairs of the murderer’s shoes stained with the victim’s blood. The Supreme Court overruled Koschnick and allowed prosecutors to use the bloody shoes to convict Knapp.
Madison – Complaints by the Big Oil-funded American for Prosperity about taxes are a smokescreen to prevent Wisconsin lawmakers from enacting a windfall tax on the excessive profits gained by the oil industry by gouging consumers with record-setting gas prices.
Madison – Rep. Karl Van Roy (R-Green Bay) broke a pledge made just this month to his constituents to assist job growth by voting against two critical job creation bills passed with bipartisan support in the State Assembly Tuesday.
Madison – Wisconsin Republican officials are responding to bipartisan overtures at the state and federal level by Democratic leaders by summarily rejecting efforts to create jobs, invest in infrastructure, reform health insurance and tackle the $5.4 billion deficit.
Madison – One Wisconsin Now said a laughable attack by Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) against the University of Wisconsin and Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson may constitute an illegal use of taxpayer funds given Nass failed to attack his own Republican Party of Wisconsin for doing the exact same thing just last August.
Madison – Citizens from across Wisconsin are calling for state Supreme Court Justices Annette Ziegler and Mike Gableman to recuse themselves from a case favored by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the big-business lobby which spent over $4 million during their campaigns. Today, One Wisconsin Now delivered 1,200 petitions to both Justices, signed by citizens calling for their recusal.
Board members of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance have donated over $288,000 to Republicans and conservative candidates since 1991, compared to just $24,500 to Democrats and liberals, raising serious questions about the organization’s reputation as an objective source for tax policy and research.
Madison – Donors to the lawbreaking All Children Matter have just made an unprecedented 146 last-minute legislative contributions totaling $79,725 to 33 Republicans and 4 Democrats over two weeks in mid-October. These individuals, who have given All Children Matter more than $10 million, made 134 maximum contributions allowed under Wisconsin law during this final barrage.
Madison – Former State Rep. Debi Towns continues to receive the backing from an organization that supported her last-minute attempt as she left office in 2006 to help divert tax dollars from the over $100 million four-year-old kindergarten system to for-profit private school operations.
Milwaukee – After media reports revealed former Appleton City Council member Jo Egelhoff had removed the library of blog posts she had written from the “Fox Politics” website she owns, One Wisconsin Now managed to retrieve nearly 180 posts and have cataloged the extremist and often-disturbing full library at www.FoxPoliticsRevealed.com.
Milwaukee – The campaign of John Gard attacked a Congressional watchdog committee after it released a report showing Gard benefited in late October 2o06 from a campaign visit by the former U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary as part of an “unprecedented” misuse of federal agencies to benefit Republican candidates.
Madison – One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross released the following statements after a judge today dismissed Attorney General JB Van Hollen’s partisan lawsuit against the state of Wisconsin.
Madison – Two conservative groups trashing Democrat Trish O’Neil with an onslaught of inaccurate and racist ads and mailings for calling the “Healthy Wisconsin” plan a “place to start,” have curiously ignored her Republican opponent Keith Ripp, who told a video interviewer the plan was “great.”
Milwaukee – Potential voter intimidation plans by the Republican Party of Wisconsin were exposed after the leak of an RPW email calling for volunteers at “inner city” polling locations called “more intimidating” by the RPW’s director of election day operations.
Milwaukee – Nearly 3,000 Wisconsinites have signed a petition calling on Republican Attorney General and John McCain for President state co-chair JB Van Hollen to investigate suspicious absentee ballot mailings coming from McCain and the Republican Party of Wisconsin. One Wisconsin Now, which launched the drive, delivered the petitions to Van Hollen’s office Monday.
Milwaukee – The paid business lobbyist who has served as the most vocal special interest opponent to allowing more than 120,000 hard-working Milwaukee citizens to earn modest paid sick leave benefits, accumulated 150 full sick days totaling nearly 1,250 hours while an employee of the state legislature.
Madison – Wisconsin Attorney General JB Van Hollen refused to join a civil lawsuit along with 11 other states against one of the nation’s largest predatory lenders, which just netted a record-$8.4 billion settlement. Financial disclosure records show Van Hollen owned stock totaling as much as $150,000 in at least three subprime lenders.
Milwaukee – One Wisconsin Now has filed a complaint with the state’s Government Accountability Board (GAB) against Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and its seven-member lobbying team for failure to report lobbying activities.
Milwaukee – One Wisconsin Now is calling on the Government Accountability Board to act on the recommendations of the former State Elections Board and penalize All Children Matter for violating Wisconsin election laws in 2006. The Election Board ruled in 2007 that All Children Matter broke the law, but the pro-private school vouchers group hit with a stunning $5.2 million fine in Ohio this April for illegal money funneling has yet to be punished by the GAB.
Milwaukee – New media reports that the top aide to Wisconsin Republican Attorney General had “multiple conversations” with the head of the state Republican Party over a partisan voter disenfranchisement lawsuit filed by DOJ require Van Hollen drop the suit immediately, according to One Wisconsin Now.
Attorney General’s Taxpayer-Financed Political Voter Suppression Lawsuit in Court Today
8/20/08
Van Hollen Takes Helm As McCain state Campaign Co-Chair
“I’m honored to help lead John McCain’s Wisconsin campaign, and I’m looking forward to his victory in November.”
Milwaukee – Sen. John McCain’s continuing refusal to accept responsibility for the current economic crisis brought on by the George W. Bush policies he supported in the U.S. Senate and wants to continue is another example of how on the economic woes facing Wisconsin families, McCain still doesn’t get it.
Milwaukee – The newly-announced election task force by Attorney General JB Van Hollen and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm must make its first task a complete investigation of the John McCain presidential campaign’s recent statewide absentee ballot application mailing, which numerous recipients report contains faulty information which could negate their registration.
Milwaukee – Less than a month after a blustery press release complaining about an advertising purchase by the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the Republican Party of Wisconsin is strangely silent now that the reliably inaccurate Coalition for American’s Families has reserved almost $900,000 for television ads on Eau Claire, La Crosse and Green Bay television.
Milwaukee – Republican Attorney General JB Van Hollen has put the Republican Party ahead of the taxpayers of Wisconsin by filing a frivolous election lawsuit and must, as state co-chair of John McCain’s presidential campaign, recuse himself from all election-related litigation this year, according to One Wisconsin Now.
Milwaukee – Sen. John McCain has served as a rubber stamp for the disastrous agenda of George W. Bush, and a new comic series created by One Wisconsin Now called “McCain & UnAble,” shows what would happen if the wealthy ideological soulmates were forced to go out into the real world and deal with the consequences of their failed policies.
Milwaukee – State Rep. John Murtha recently made statements to a newspaper reporter that he believes he owed state taxes in 2007 – but he didn’t have any additional details to offer or know the amount paid. Given that he has paid no state income taxes during the last five years, Rep. Murtha’s inability to recall whether he owes taxes in 2007 raises questions about his candor and credibility.
Milwaukee – Health care was again the top issue on the minds of Fighting Bob Fest participants in the One Wisconsin Now Progressive Issues Survey taken at the Sunday event in Baraboo. While progressives have been pushing for affordable health care for all, conservatives have stood in lockstep against reform and instead continue to support insurance industry-supported private Health Savings Accounts.
Milwaukee – As Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin come to Cedarburg to make their first stop together in Wisconsin, progressive leaders from across Wisconsin agree: McCain’s record in the Senate supporting George W. Bush’s disastrous agenda has hurt working families and people in every corner of the state.
Milwaukee – Fighting Bob Fest participants can cast their vote for the most important issues facing Wisconsin, as One Wisconsin Now will hold its 2nd Annual Progressive Issues Survey, Project ’09, at the Baraboo event this Saturday.
Milwaukee – An effort by the Institute for One Wisconsin asking concerned citizens to email the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce’s board members and their companies using the Institute’s webtools has generated over 10,000 communications in just over a week, including an urgent call by a WMC senior staffer, who used the Institute’s email device to implore WMC’s members to not back down from financing its fall issue ad campaign.
Milwaukee – Minnesota Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty is making his second trip of the summer to Wisconsin – this time for a pair of Milwaukee and Madison fundraisers for Sen. John McCain at $1,000-a-couple. Given his abysmal record for Minnesotans, One Wisconsin Now is suggesting Pawlenty might want to spend his time instead trying to fix the mess he has made in the Gopher State.
Milwaukee – In anticipation of Sen. John McCain’s Racine town hall meeting Thursday, concerned Wisconsinites who will be unable to attend the event offered five questions they would like Sen. McCain to answer about his support for the disastrous Bush agenda.
Milwaukee – Scot Ross, Executive Director of One Wisconsin Now, issued the following statements regarding the state Supreme Court’s decision in the Menasha Corp. case and Justice Ziegler’s written opinion.
Milwaukee – Sen. John McCain’s record in the U.S. Senate has been a “disaster for women,” according to leaders from across Wisconsin, who say his opposition to fair pay, reproductive freedom and access to affordable health care, and his support for unfair trade deals and tax breaks for the wealthy and Big Oil will leave women even further behind economically.
Chart of calls made by Mike Gableman and the subsequent contributions.
Milwaukee – One Wisconsin Now has filed an official grievance with the state Office of Lawyer Regulation requesting a formal investigation of Supreme Court Justice-elect Mike Gableman for potential professional misconduct regarding dozens of phone calls made from the state phone of then-Ashland County District Attorney to the phone numbers of people who donated in the weeks surrounding a fundraiser Gableman hosted for then-Gov. Scott McCallum.
Milwaukee – Wisconsinites will have a chance to use their own voices to urge Wisconsin U.S. Representatives to reject Senator John McCain’s $4 billion Big Oil tax giveaway, thanks to the massive online petition One Wisconsin Now (OWN) launched today.
Milwaukee – One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross released the following statements in response to the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute’s criticism of the historic “Healthy Wisconsin” plan to reduce Wisconsin’s health care costs by $2 billion and ensure access to affordable and quality health care for all:
Milwaukee – One Wisconsin Now (OWN) is marking the 45th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act’s passage by calling on Senator John McCain to promote policies in the U.S. Senate that close the pay gap between women and men once and for all.
Wisconsin Attorney General JB Van Hollen’s refusal to investigate Supreme Court Justice Elect-Mike Gableman for dozens of phone calls made from his Ashland County District Attorney’s office and cell phone to political donors, partisan campaign and party offices runs in stark contrast to Van Hollen’s public integrity promises as a 2006 Attorney General candidate.
With each passing week, food and gas prices climb higher and higher, while thousands of Americans are losing their jobs and their homes. Seniors are still forced to choose between buying food or their prescription drugs. Gas prices across Wisconsin are topping $4 a gallon. After eight years of a Bush agenda that has been rubber-stamped by Senator John McCain in the U.S. Senate, 82 percent of Americans say the country is seriously off on the wrong track. [ABC News/Washington Post Poll, 5/12/08] Since President Bush took office, Senator McCain has supported Bush’s positions 100 percent of the time in the U.S. Senate in 2008. McCain’s support of Bush’s policies reached 95 percent in 2007. [Congressional Quarterly Voting Study, 110th Congress]
Milwaukee – Economic policies spearheaded by the Bush Administration and supported by Sen. John McCain in the U.S. Senate have been devastating to people across Wisconsin, according to a group of concerned citizens who offered their personal stories today in anticipation of McCain’s upcoming visit to Wisconsin.
Milwaukee- Americans for Prosperity is playing the blame game about the causes of the sputtering economy, while ignoring one of the largest negative forces hurting Wisconsin – record gas prices. In a release today, the tax-exempt organization that’s founded and financed by big oil and fueled by the gas profits of the nation’s largest privately-held company, is trying to divert attention from the $4-a-gallon gas prices some Wisconsinites say big oil gouges consumers for at the same time oil companies continue to reap billions quarterly in profits.
Milwaukee – Senator John McCain has been a rubber stamp in the U.S. Senate for the failed agenda of George W. Bush. That’s the message behind the Stamporee event One Wisconsin Now (OWN) is holding outside the Wisconsin Republican Convention in Stevens Point today.
Milwaukee- Stay home, Governor Pawlenty. That’s the plea from One Wisconsin Now (OWN), as Pawlenty travels to Stevens Point to serve as the keynote speaker at the Wisconsin Republican Convention on Friday.
Milwaukee – Sen. John McCain says “there is no equal opportunity without equal access to excellent education,” but this is just another example of the “Double Talk Express.” McCain is waging war on education through stripping teachers of the very tools they need to educate our youth. Most unsettling – his planned freeze on spending which would slash $10 billion in grants to local education agencies.
Madison – With tomorrow’s fifth year anniversary of George Bush’s declaration from the deck of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended,” a group representing veterans, military families and state progressives joined at the State Capitol to criticize the endless war, citing the devastating loss of life and heavy toll on the American economy.
Milwaukee – One Wisconsin Now has launched a website to highlight both the $8.3 billion cost of the Iraq War paid by Wisconsin, and Sen. John McCain’s willingness to go along with George W. Bush and continue this failed effort– even for as long as 100 years. The site is available at: http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/iraqtax..
Milwaukee – Sen. John McCain comes to Wisconsin tomorrow offering no change from the failed economic policies of President George Bush. Despite the recession, housing and health care crises, McCain supports more tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, more failed trade policies costing Wisconsin jobs. McCain also proposes a health care plan that taxes benefits and he gives no relief to those facing foreclosures on their homes.
Milwaukee – With tomorrow’s tax day filing deadline, Wisconsin taxpayers continue to foot a $8.3 billion and growing “Iraq Tax.” Despite the tragic loss of life and damage to the nation’s economy, Sen. John McCain supports the Iraq War and has said he would continue to do so, even if it lasts 100 years.
Milwaukee – Major donors to All Children Matter, the pro-private school voucher group under investigation by the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, have donated nearly $130,000 to members of the Wisconsin Legislature. All Children Matter was hit Friday with a $5.2 million fine for illegally funneling money into Ohio campaigns.
Milwaukee – All Children Matter, the pro-private school vouchers group founded by Michigan Republican billionaire Richard DeVos was leveled with a $5.2 million fine Friday for illegally funneling money into Ohio campaigns. All Children Matter remains under investigation in Wisconsin after the State Elections Board determined in November 2006 it violated rules about express advocacy in opposing John Lehman’s bid for the State Senate.
Milwaukee – Burnett County District Attorney Ken Kutz is requesting a “special prosecutor” for One Wisconsin Now’s verified open records law complaint filed with the Burnett County District Attorney’s office after Burnett County Judge Mike Gableman refused repeated requests to release emails from his taxpayer-financed state account.
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