WISTAX Watch is asking the conservative Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance to explain why its latest report focusing on fee increases in cities and villages ignores county governments. The state is in the midst of a gubernatorial campaign between Milwaukee’s conservative county executive, Scott Walker and Milwaukee’s mayor, Tom Barrett. It defies logic that WISTAX focuses on […]
One Wisconsin Now has been wondering from which broom closet in the GOP bathhouse of stupidity ample GOPer seat-filler Joel Kleefisch yanked his “sex offender” license plate idea. Turns out it’s from the bowels of Soviet-era Russia and Fidel Castro’s communist Cuba. (Cue shocking music) According to a national wire story published in the Milwaukee […]
We here at One Wisconsin Now have worked tirelessly for close to a year developing WISTAX Watch‘a comprehensive expose on the pro-corporate, conservative bias of Wisconsin’s most vocal and visible tax policy think tank, the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance (WISTAX). Among the most blatant examples of its bias is the overwhelming amount of contributions to Republican […]
Rep. Marlin Schneider got called out by the Associated Press for a claim he made on the number of constituents who contacted him about his laughably-unconstitutional bill limiting the public’s right to the online Circuit Court Access Program. It reminded us of a similar constituent claim made by right-wing seat-filler Sen. Mary Lazich. Back in […]
Gotta quiz for you…Which supposedly “independent” and “unbiased” organization in Wisconsin fits the following? Its president and leading voice is a former Republican administration official and local Republican party executive committee member. Members of its board of directors since 1994 have donated nearly $1.3 million to Republicans and conservative political candidates.Fifteen of these same 33 […]
Jim Rowen, a member of the One Wisconsin Institute family, reports over at The Political Environment that the good work of activists is resulting in a series of public focus groups planned by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission to get public input on “the implications of transferring Lake Michigan water to Waukesha and other […]
The favorable private school voucher study paid for by the state’s leading private school voucher advocates is riddled with fundamental research flaws, implying the “study” was designed to reach a pre-conceived conclusion in favor of a particular political agenda. That the state’s leading private school voucher gang funded a study that supports the private school […]
WMC Watch News: WMC’s new board chair is calling for bipartisan efforts to stimulate job growth in Wisconsin. Laughable, given the extremely partisan disposition of the organization he now heads and his own partisan campaign contributions.Thomas J. Howatt—the newly crowned chair of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Wisconsin’s largest pro-corporate lobbying group—told WisBusiness that WMC is […]
Yet another story has popped about Republican Tommy Thompson maybe/maybe not throwing his hat in a race somewhere in Wisconsin. But the real question is: will the right wing call it “dithering”?The right fell in love with “dither” late last year when Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was mulling his gubernatorial run. Brian Fraley—from over at […]
MADISON, Wis. — Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has strongly opposed measures to provide more Wisconsin children, pregnant mothers and uninsured adults have affordable health care, at the same time taking more than $120,000 in campaign contributions from the health care industry in just the last six months alone. “The health insurance industry knows they […]
Readers of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel business section will know the name John Torinus. Torinus seems to be a busy man in the business community: he is the current chair and former CEO of Serigraph, Inc.; a current board member of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce—our state’s largest pro-corporate, anti-public investment lobby group; and a past […]
Hi – A group of us are currently starting planning for a Netroots Wisconsin event, in cooperation with Netroots Nation. This will be a regional conference along the lines of Netroots Nation, and we are currently aiming at September 2010 in Madison. We are looking for people to help with: Planning the conferenceLooking for sponsorsany […]
Um, T. Wall pays individual taxes? Not most years‘¦ ‘[O]ur businesses are pass-through businesses, that is to say our taxes are paid through the individuals. I and my investors pay taxes individually on behalf of our businesses. The only business that has double taxation, which is a C-corp, is something that’s traded publicly and we’re […]
One of the more rousing cheers during the State of the Union last night came after President Obama called out the ridiculous ruling from the Supreme Court last week that threw open the door to a new flood of corporate cash into campaigns. The Bush boys, Justices Roberts and Alito, swore up and down during […]
The latest Rasmussen poll shows Sen. Russ Feingold with a slight deficit to non-candidate and oft-cited Tommy! Thompson. Some have raised concerns that Rasmussen words its questions in a way that favors Republicans and conservatives. Not to the level of Strategic Vision’s fraudulent polling, by any stretch, but noteworthy, nonetheless. “I think they write their […]
The failed conservative economic policies of giving endless tax breaks to corporations and the rich finally got a full-throated repudiation last night as voters in Oregon passed a tax increase on the wealthy and corporations to fill that states gaping budget hole. Voters sick and tired of watching corporations get rich while state services and […]
MADISON, Wis. — Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker wants to double Wisconsin’s projected $2-billion state budget deficit with a series of tax breaks that mostly benefit corporations and high-income people. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau reported Wisconsin faces a $2 billion deficit in 2011-13, making Walker’s budget-busting tax breaks for the rich a doubling of the […]
Before criticizing Doyle for statewide job losses during a recession, Walker should pay attention to what’s going on in his own backyard. In 2009 Milwaukee County lost over 30,000 jobs — with the unemployment rate jumping from 5.5% to 9.2% in just one year. (bls.gov) And just what sort of “economic development” has Walker been […]
So let me get this straight. Wisconsin’s facing a budget deficit of something like $2-billion, and Scott Walker’s idea is to dig the hole deeper with a big corporate tax break? And the news media treat him seriously? As Gov. Jim Doyle was getting ready to deliver his State of the State speech, Walker, surrounded by […]
Did you hear the “news”? Tommy Thompson might run (possibly) for something (again) (maybe)’¦ EXCITING’¦ (SORT OF!)’¦ POLITICO reported last week that Tommy Thompson—who earned the nickname Dr. No for his “relentless partisanship” as a Wisconsin state rep—isn’t “saying no” to running for the Senate (or Governorship) in Wisconsin. Cory at Eye on Wisconsin and […]
Nine out of ten times isnt just a coincidence; its a pattern of behavior. And nine out of the last ten years, silver-spoon fed real estate developer Terrence Wall paid no state income tax. Because one of Madisons wealthiest business men didnt make any money in the last ten years. Right. When T-Walls income tax […]
Master Terrence Wall Street simply does not like the Recovery Act. In fact, he dislikes the Recovery Act almost as much as he disdains paying his fair share of taxes that the rest of us pay. The Untaxable Terrence, has not only used his Twitter to criticize efforts through the Recovery Act to turn America […]
Hardworking State Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) bravely stood up to recent media reports that he had still not paid back taxpayers for the $38,000 tab we had coming after footing the bill for his legal woes over his use of taxpayer resources for campaign business and his obstruction of an open records request: He […]
Meet the Corporation I had always heard of these faceless corporations so I thought it wouldn’t be very much fun to meet one. But now that the Supreme Court has officially made them persons (sorta like they did with George Bush) I thought maybe I’d do what I’d wanted to for a long time ‘ […]
In his effort to portray the ‘fail, Democrats, fail’ movement also known as the teabaggers, consistent pro-GOPer mouthpiece Patrick McIlheran attempts to further the fallacy that teabagging is a non-partisan explosion of discontent, rather than Republicans who want President Obama and Democrats to, well, not succeed. Paddy Mac’s method: interviewing some joker who at one […]
The polling project between the UW-Madison Political Science department and the states shrillest right-wing, corporate-friendly think tank has turned out to be as suspicious as we first feared. Documents obtained by One Wisconsin Now through the states open records law reveal that political considerations were front and center in the decision making surrounding the polling […]
WisPolitics is reporting that Wall “took shots at Feingold’s maverick image, saying the Middleton Dem votes with leadership nine out of 10 times.” Wall might be surprised to see a 2009 Congressional Quarterly report that tells an entirely different story. Not only did Feingold show up to work 100% of the time last year, he […]
If you haven’t had the chance yet to grab your wagon and take the kiddies down to “Tax Free’ Terrence Wall’s $2 million pumpkin patch, there’s no time like the present. Take a virtual tour here.As One Wisconsin Now previously reported, Wall Land Investment, LLC, one of multi-millionaire Madison developer Terrence Wall’s companies, has reclassified […]
MADISON, Wis. — A University of Wisconsin polling project downplayed opposition to private school vouchers after a conservative think tank paying for the polling raised political concerns, documents obtained by One Wisconsin Now show. The poll is an on-going project between the state’s leading conservative think tank, the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, and the University […]
Wisconsin citizens will have their first chance on Wednesday, Jan. 27, to tell state legislators that making it easier to build more nuclear reactors should not be part of a proposed Clean Energy Jobs bill. A special State Senate committee considering the bill, (SB 450) will hold a public hearing at 10 a.m. in Room 412 […]
After helping to bloat the state corrections system (in the 1990’s prison spending rose 246%), and taking political contributions from the for-profit private prison industry, Walker has now created a $5 million hole in Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke’s 2010 budget in his zeal to lie about raising the property tax levy. To cover this […]
Here’s the latest WisOpinion “That’s Debatable” featuring One WI Now’s Executive Director, Scot Ross on the MacIver Institute’s fake news service — check it out! http://www.wisopinion.com/index.iml?mdl=article.mdl&article=25627
Looks like Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker has his rapid response done through the Journal Communications company. No sooner had One Wisconsin Now posted our analysis showing Scott Walker’s proposed county budget increases of 35% were higher than the state’s two other largest municipalities, the City of Milwaukee and the state of Wisconsin, than his […]
Happy days are here again, according to Scott Walker, the county executive who’s made such a mess of Milwaukee County government that his long-term solution is to abolish county government. Walker’s “state of the county” speech on Tuesday painted a rosy picture of his tenure, proposed even more privatization of services, and promised to reduce […]
MADISON, Wis. — If Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is interested in providing an honest assessment in his 2010 “state of the county” address, it will be a long apology to the people of Milwaukee County for his failed leadership, skewed priorities and playing politics with county operations. “Under Scott Walker, the state of Milwaukee […]
MADISON, Wis. — As Milwaukee County Executive, Scott Walker proposed budgets to increase spending 35 percent, far ahead of the more modest spending plans of Gov. Jim Doyle and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, according to an analysis by One Wisconsin Now. “Walker poses for holy pictures when discussing taxes and spending issues, but the devil’s […]
Wisconsin Environment slammed the right-wing Wisconsin Policy Research Institute (WPRI) yesterday about their inaccurate and misleading report about the Governor's initiatives to grow the renewable energy industry and create green jobs.
Over the past months, a staffer from the conservative MacIver Institute has been attending press conferences in Madison and Milwaukee, armed with a camera to take footage and attempt to get interviews with legislators and other elected public officials. Be warned: The MacIver Institute is a not a news service. It is not a member […]
The Obama administration is going to renominate Louis Butler for appointment as a federal judge. The Senate returned the nomination to the White House, along with several others, when it recessed at Christmas. A GOP flack offers this negative comment on Butler: “Voters across the state decided not to elect him to continue serving on […]
From the Oshkosh Northwestern: “A crowd of about 150 parents, teachers and concerned Oshkosh residents packed into a commons room at West High School Tuesday night for a public forum on upcoming spending cuts as high as $5 million. About 30 people spoke out against budget cuts that would close schools and layoff teachers.”The article […]
Todd Berry, the head of the conservative Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance who must be on the speed dial of every reporter in Wisconsin, wound up in a story in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel about the IRS plan to begin regulation of paid tax preparers. Berry blamed the complexity of the tax code this way: “The reason […]
Citing ‘new technology’ that supposedly didn’t exist eight years ago when he took hold of the budget reins of Milwaukee County as its executive, Scott Walker announced yesterday that he, himself, has ‘launched a public accountability link’.From the Walker press release:‘New technology allows us to post information for greater transparency in government spending,’ said Walker. […]
Walker’s legacy of managing the Milwaukee County parks: mid-year budget deficits, pool closures, underfunding, complete and utter mismanagement by his appointed staff, and taking credit for a national award that was granted because of the efforts of a creative director and private citizens who took park maintenance into their own hands. Walker’s often used strategy […]
Corporate-friendly economic policies weren’t missing from the 90s (see NAFTA and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) but without a doubt, it’s the 00s that will be remembered as the decade when the George W. Bush Administration took laissez-faire, trickle-down capitalism to new heights’putting pro-corporate, upper-class economic policies ahead of hard-working Americans’only to have the middle-class economy tank […]
As is the tradition, a tour through the best and worst of the year. The Best The year started off on the high note that was watching the Worst President Ever leaving the White House for the last time, which brought with it another yearly best: the endless video compiliations of the worst Bush moments. […]
Multi-millionaire developer Terrence Wall, who gained notoriety for his $34,000 pumpkin patch property tax dodge and his phantom Delaware post office box to avoid taxes on his millions in development assets, is laughably trying to link U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold to the aborted airplane attack from last week. What Wall’s breathless press release fails to […]
“It’s a Festivus Miracle.” Turns out Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker’s fight to dismantle the rights of all public sector employees in Milwaukee was big, giant George W. Bush-sized lie. Walker has made a career of blaming working men and women for his mismanagment of county government. His nonsense escalated exponentially as he continued his […]
The corporate, conservative machine has given its loyal subjects at WISTAX and WPRI marching orders... Blame everyone but the health insurance cartel for skyrocketing health insurance costs.
Wisconsin’s unemployment rate continues to drop, and while the economy still has a ways to go before it’s fully recovered from the disastrous economic policies of George W. Bush (worst President ever), we’re getting there, thanks in no small part to the Recovery Act and steady leadership from democrats in Madison. Let’s go back, gentle […]
After decades of trying to spin outsourcing as good and natural in a capitalist economy, and after perpetually labeling Wisconsin a ‘Tax Hell,’ Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) is now complaining’and seems somewhat surprised’that our state government is employing more workers than manufacturers.Read the GOP talking points memo, er news release, here. Of course WMC […]