You wouldn’t know it from the big headline in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel or if you listened to any of the right wing paranoia, but the voter registration system in Milwaukee is working exactly as it should. Organizations have been very successful in registering voters in very large numbers, something that is critical in a […]
The issue of religion in the United States has always been one the Supreme Court has been quick to avoid. We can hardly blame them; it’s perhaps the most contentious political topic this nation faces. However, it cannot continually be avoided, and so here in Wisconsin is a case involving a man named Gary Kazmarek. […]
Update: Readers can contact the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (MJS) on this matter at: Letters to the Editor http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=766191 Milwaukee, Wisconsin’Donna Ganong is a 70-year-old widow running a corner tavern on Milwaukee’s near-south side. In early July, Mrs. Ganong tried to help a crying, hungry dog in an alley, and the Milwaukee police fined her $350 for […]
Kathy Kelly, a leader of the Witness Against War walk from Chicago to St. Paul, was arrested Sunday in a nonviolent action at Fort McCoy. In another post, she explains why she and others do what they do. —Xoff By John LaForge TUNNEL CITY, Wisconsin — The long history of anti-nuclear protests in Wisconsin caught […]
Back in April I found out about the Witness Against War walk being put on by Voices for Creative Nonviolence. Kathy Kelly was at a member meeting for the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, where I am a work study student, since my GI Bill was just used up it is a great opportunity […]
The Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF) has done an analysis of Senator John McCain’s oil industry subsidies plan and it doesn’t look pretty. At a time when Big Oil has all of us over a barrel and is making such obscene profits, John McCain is proposing massive tax giveaways and other hand outs […]
Over the weekend the Wisconsin State Journal ran a story about the search for a new head for the Department of Commerce. It addresses how the right choice for the job is particularly important right now, during a challenging economy. The story goes on to quote state Senator Ted Kanavas (R-Brookfield) who trots out the […]
WMC has launched a (multi-)million dollar fundraising campaign to its members to finance continued issue-based smear campaigns against progressives who don’t kow-tow to WMC’s pro-corporate, anti-worker agenda. We all know WMC has distorted the records of numerous public officials over the years, most notably in recent efforts to get the ethically-challenged Mike Gableman and Annette Ziegler […]
The Green Bay Press Gazette is reporting that the City of Green Bay will have to spend more money by going to federal court next month. The lawsuit was filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation and 14 area residents at the end of last year. It involves a religious display that City Council President […]
It looks like we can all expect the races for the state Assembly to get really ugly this year, primarily because Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) plans on buying up as much ad time as possible. Some observers expect them to spend as much as $7 million to keep their iron fisted control of the […]
My name is Julianne Bukey. I’m a senior at Scripps College, and I’m working for the summer at NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin. You may have seen this video of me asking John McCain a question about insurance coverage for birth control at a McCain Town Hall meeting in Racine, Wisconsin on Thursday, July 31, 2008. Once […]
The Iraq Moratorium will mark its 12th month of locally-based, grassroots actions on August 15 — as always, the Third Friday of the month — with events across the country. Wisconsin has had more events than any other state except California. Rice Lake just announced yesterday that it would begin monthly vigils in August, and […]
Although conservatives will try their best to shoehorn all sorts of conspiracy theories into ACORN’s hugely successful voter registration drive, everything in the process worked exactly as it should. Some 35,000 people were registered to vote and only about 3 percent of those registration cards had any problems at all. That amounts to 2,000 cards […]
John McCain has made energy his primary issue in recent weeks. It seems to be a strange choice for a U.S. Senator that has skipped every major energy vote in the last two years. That means that McCain was AWOL on 15 important votes on things like renewable energies, energy efficiency, biofuels, and even offshore […]
The bureaucratic mind never ceases to amaze. The Department of Corrections has decided it is just too risky to allow a non-profit, in-state group to send free books to inmates in Wisconsin prisons. Citing security concerns that the books somehow might contain contraband, Corrections has informed Wisconsin Books to Prisoners that it will no longer […]
Today Senator John McCain is scheduled to stop at the Enrico Fermi 2 nuclear power plant near Monroe, Michigan. He has been a big cheerleader for greatly expanding nuclear power all across the nation. As he has made this a major piece of his energy policy he has also frequently insisted that nuclear power is […]
Former Assembly Speaker John Gard has challenged his opponent Congressman Steve Kagen to town hall meetings that would focus on energy. Gard has clearly jumped on the conservative bandwagon on energy and has been focusing on his desire to drill our way out of our energy crisis. He has not moved off the right wing […]
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported today that all the usual business suspects are going to pump cash into an effort to fight the paid sick day referendum. The story further reveals that if they don’t get the result that they want on the referendum, that they will spend even more money by challenging the will […]
All of the big oil companies have been announcing more record profit for the quarter. Exxon Mobile just reported that it brought in nearly $12 billion dollars in the last three months, which is not only a record for them but also a record for any U.S. company. Similarly the other big oil companies have […]
Thursday I attended Senator John McCain’s town hall meeting in Racine. After passing out OWN’s latest press release to the local and national media, I sat down at a seat right where the Senator from Arizona entered the gym style room that held the event. Since it was billed as a ‘town hall’ I prepared […]
5th paragraph, and Obongo states: “I consistently believe that when it comes to whether it’s Native Americans or African-American issues or reparations, the most important thing for the U.S. government to do is not just offer words, but offer deeds.” http://starbulletin.com/2008/07/28/news/story05.html “Deeds” = 5% tax to pay for LaShaniqua 7 inner city Milwaukee babies. Maybe […]
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.
Witness Against War, a 450-mile walk from Chicago to St. Paul for the Republican convention, organized by Voices for Creative Nonviolence, continues to wend its way across Wisconsin. The walkers leave Prairie du Sac Thursday morning, July 31, headed for Baraboo. The schedule for the next week or so follows below the fold:8/1 Fri 5 […]
At a time in the year when Big Oil is once again reporting record profits, the Sierra Club is announcing a TV ad that puts Senator John McCain’s energy policies under close scrutiny. While working people have been experiencing so much pain at the pump, Big Oil has continued to reap billions of dollars in […]
In anticipation of Senator John McCain’s Racine town hall meeting Thursday, several concerned Wisconsinites that will be unable to attend offered five questions that they would like McCain to answer. John Valko, President of UAW Local 180 in Racine is concerned about the loss of good paying, family supporting jobs. He wants to ask Senator […]
What began as a protest at Milwaukee’s Summerfest over an Army “virtual reality” game that allowed 13-year-olds to shoot a machine gun from a Humvee at life-sized human targets has sparked national attention. The ACLU says the Army is violating international law by targeting children in its recruiting. More here. UPDATE: Wall Street Journal story.
Approximately 2.1 million ex-offenders, who have served their sentences, are denied the right to vote in the United States. According to an ACLU study, 62,324 people with felony convictions in Wisconsin are not allowed to vote; however, 61% of these people are no longer incarcerated. Wisconsin law states that ex-offenders are allowed to vote after […]
State Senator Kathleen Vinehout wrote a column in the Tomah Journal recently. It debunks the conservative talking point that lower business taxes are a cure-all for everything that ails us. Conservatives have relentlessly parroted the talking point so often that some just accept it as fact without even looking at the actual data. The right […]
Sen. John McCain used to make no secret of his support for a privatized Social Security run by his investment donors on Wall Street. He backed off of that this summer, but now he’s come roaring back on the privatizing wagon. In 2006, McCain voted convert Social Security surpluses into a private account, but then […]
(cross-posted from Wisconsin Labor 2008 blog: http://labor2008.typepad.com/wi/) State Sen. John Lehman with Working America – Wisconsin canvassers at the Working America press conference in Racine today.
We already know that Senator John McCain’s economic plan would give some $4 billion in handouts to Big Oil at a time when they are gouging the public and making record profits. We also know that John McCain dramatically reversed himself in June regarding the federal ban on offshore drilling. He changed his position on […]
Working America ‘- the AFL-CIO’s grassroots organization for workers who don’t have unions on the job -‘ is holding a press briefing and door-to-door canvass Monday in Racine starting at 3:00 p.m. to strengthen the voice of Wisconsin working people. ‘We meet single mothers, seniors, college students, manufacturing and service workers and everyone in between. […]
(cross-posted from Wisconsin Labor 2008 blog: http://labor2008.typepad.com/wi/2008/07/rep-steve-kagen.html) WATCH Rep. Steve Kagen in Appleton talk about the value of the Employee Free Choice Act:
John McCain loves to wear his Navy hat whenever he can. He loves to let everyone know that he is a veteran and that, being a veteran, he is one of us and he supports us unequivocally. He stands up on all those stages during his speeches with this pretentious idea that he deserves to […]
One Wisconsin Institute is hosting the first Protect Wisconsin’s Vote Education Summit, an educational forum including a panel discussion and short film screenings.
Witness Against War, a 450-mile walk from Chicago to the Republican convention in St. Paul, is between Milwaukee and Madison this week, with stop at Lake Mills in between. You can read here about the walkers’ trek through Milwaukee on Monday, see some photos, and link to more information and the full schedule. Anyone can […]
Coln had no problem waltzing over to Georgia Pabst of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to ballyhoo his desire to see me terminated from my position as Executive Director of Esperanza Unida. At the end of the article Georgia Pabst wrote: “Miranda said he was inviting Coln to join him in a town hall meeting to […]
Using the false pretext of widespread voter fraud, conservatives constantly attack the ease with which some people can vote. The centerpiece of their attack on voting is the insistence on requiring a current photo ID to vote. A study by Rutgers and Ohio State University last year shows the effects of such strict requirements. The study found […]
My pal Bill Kraus at Common Cause in Wisconsin decided to take a poke at OWN yesterday on the FightingBob.com blog for our efforts advancing progressive values, ideas and policies to ensure a Wisconsin with equal economic opportunity for all. Bill has a long and admirable career of doing what he thinks is best to make […]
On Thursday evening the One Wisconsin Institute is hosting the Protect Wisconsin’s Vote Education Summit in Milwaukee.
Today is Iraq Moratorium day, a day to take action to end the war and occupation of Iraq. This month, it leads into three days of action to prevent war with Iran. A number of Moratorium events will connect the two, as participants in today’s events make cell phone calls to Congressional offices, leaflet about […]
As a top advisor to predatory lenders, as well as John McCain ex-Texas Senator Phil Gramm has been taking heat for calling people concerned about the tanking economy and the loss of the homes, jobs and futures as ‘whiners’ experiencing a ‘mental recession.’ Having studied the career of Gramm as part of a research paper […]
Two weeks ago, Jesse Helms began what will hopefully be a long and unimpeded period of not existing. Elizabeth Dole, who succeeded Helms after his welcomed retirement, ascended to his seat after a long career of executive appointments and wrecking Bob Dole’s first marriage. Yesterday in the Senate, she tried to name an AIDS/HIV prevention bill after […]
Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce's $2 million investment in Annette Ziegler has turned around a quick $265 million return for business - an extraordinary deal given today's economy.
And sometimes I can’t believe my own eyes. WashPost:: CINCINNATI — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called for sweeping educational reforms today in a speech before the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an association which he said “means more to me than any other,” despite his historic opposition to many of its policies. […]
Update: “While the executive director of Esperanza Unida was traveling in Turkey, some 11 workers at the south side job training agency signed a petition saying they had not been paid in four weeks and that some checks had bounced. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, July 17 , 2008)” via Global Girl – Madison, Wisconsin – When I […]
Earlier this year the One Wisconsin Institute launched an online resource that was the first of its kind. WMCWatch.org is a virtual library on Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, the state’s big business lobby. This valuable resource provides the legislation both supported and opposed by WMC, names the key people behind WMC, and lists the candidates […]
The latest non-profit mouthpiece for business found at wilead.org may be a new organization, but it looks like it has a relatively old way of picking its battles. Example: a press release today by organization head and former GOP staffer Brian Fraley calling for an end to the minimum markup law for gas in Wisconsin. […]
Friday, July 18, is Iraq Moratorium day #11. It is a day, as is the Third Friday of every month, on which individuals and groups across the country take some action to call for the end to the war and occupation of Iraq. As usual, Wisconsin is a hotbed of activity, with events scheduled across […]
Today I spoke at the Bush Legacy bus event in Madison. I didn’t say much, I didn’t feel that I had to. If you spent any longer than five minutes on the bus, you were surely to be reminded of the horrors of this presidency, and of the enormous hardships we face in our very […]