Day 100 of Sen. Ron Johnson Refusing to Do His Job
Ron Johnson has now spent 100 days ignoring the oath he swore to uphold the U.S. Constitution and refusing to do his job.
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Ross And Esenberg Discuss New Report On Act 10
Scot Ross refuted a report that found there have been few impacts on the state's education workforce since the act's passage. [Wisconsin Public Television]
GOP insider Rick Graber to lead Bradley Foundation
"He certainly checks Bradley's biggest boxes," said Scot Ross, head of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, which closely tracks the foundation. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Republicans on trial
The lawsuit launched by liberal groups One Wisconsin Institute... argues that Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-led Legislature enacted changes in state election law to make it harder for people of color to vote [Isthmus]
One Wisconsin Institute Files Post-Trial Brief in Case Against Gov. Walker Attacks on Voter Rights
Plaintiffs in the federal voting rights trial One Wisconsin Institute et. al. v Gerald Nichol et. al. have submitted their post-trial brief in the case.
Will Rebecca Bradley Refuse to Recuse from Case Involving Campaign’s Top Booster?
To continue on a case where she has such obvious conflict of interest would show that her ethics are as warped as her views she expressed on the LGBTQ community.
Rep. Gwen Moore’s Plan to Shame Scott Walker, Paul Ryan, GOP for ‘Criminalizing Poverty’
One Wisconsin Now has “endorsed with the intensity of 1,000 suns” U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore’s “Top 1% Accountability Act of 2016.”
One Wisconsin Institute Statements on Schott Senate Panel Vote
It is long past time for the Senate to do its job and fill the longest judicial vacancy in the nation.
Walker Denies Legal Counsel to Agency Sued by His Campaign Chair’s Legal Fund
Gov. Walker is denying legal counsel to a state agency because the lawsuit was brought by his campaign chair’s legal fund.
Wisconsin State Rep. Jesse Kremer Declares Race Not a Problem in U.S. Until Election of First African American President
Jesse Kremer issued a press release yesterday declaring the country has been “torn apart” by the “divisive racism” of the first African American President of the United States.
Finance committee OKs money for voter ID outreach
Liberal group One Wisconsin Institute has challenged the law in another lawsuit, but that action is still pending and the ID requirement was in effect for the February state primary election and April's presidential primary. [Associated Press]
Voter ID Education Campaign Funding: Throwing Good Money After Bad Policy
A committee today considered a request to spend $250,000 on an “educational campaign” about the voter ID law enacted by Scott Walker and the GOP-controlled legislature.
Ron Johnson’s Bad Endorsement: Trump U as Solution to Student Loan Debt Crisis
Trump University left students across the country deep in debt. Will Ron Johnson continue to endorse more for-profit colleges as a solution to the student loan debt crisis?
Republicans Escalate War on Voting Rights
Republican suppression strategy on voting rights is to pass laws making voting as difficult as possible for disfavored classes of voters... This is what is being addressed in... One Wisconsin Institute v. Nichol. [MAL Contends]
Would Trump University Have Gotten Less Scrutiny in Wisconsin Under Law Change Proposed by Gov. Walker After Taking $10,000 Trump Contribution?
Donald Trump gives Scott Walker the maximum contribution for his re-election campaign, Scott Walker turns around and seeks to make oversight of the for-profit college racket more difficult.
Scott Walker: Trump donation was not accompanied by any Trump U conversations
The liberal group One Wisconsin Now raised questions about the timing of that proposal in relation to the ongoing Trump University investigation and Trump's donation to Walker. [Capital Times]
House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Plan Doesn’t Include Common Sense Student Debt Refinancing
It's appalling Ryan would call his plan a better way while refusing to help any of the 43 million Americans with over $1.3 trillion in student loan debt.
Paul Ryan’s endorsement may swing some Wisconsin Republicans from never to maybe on Trump
The next time Paul Ryan is held out as the intellectual heart of the Republican Party remember he is voting to give Donald Trump the codes to our nation’s nuclear arsenal. [Capital Times]
Russ Renews Call for Refinancing of Federal Student Loans
Russ Feingold is standing with student loan borrowers in Wisconsin and renewing the call for common sense reform to allow them to refinance their loans.
Paul Ryan hopes Trump endorsement a turning point in race
Scot Ross of the liberal One Wisconsin Now said, "Paul Ryan doesn't get to split the baby; you endorse Trump and you endorse the sexism, the racism and his dangerous views on foreign policy." [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Citing ‘Common Ground’ Speaker Paul Ryan Endorses Donald Trump for President
House Speaker Paul Ryan today announced in a newspaper column that he will vote for Donald Trump, an act a Ryan spokesperson subsequently indicated was an endorsement.
Paul Ryan: I’ll vote for Donald Trump
“Donald Trump is a racist, misogynistic narcissist who has won the Republican presidential nomination by appealing to the most repugnant elements in American politics,” said Scot Ross. [Racine Journal Times]
GOP Goal Less Access for Democratic Voters
One Wisconsin Institute argues that changes in election law by the Republican-led legislature were intentionally done to make it harder for minorities to cast ballots. [Urban Milwaukee]
Analiese Eicher: Indentured servitude isn’t answer to student debt crisis
The crisis of college affordability and student loan debt demands solutions. Turning students into modern-day indentured servants is not among them. [Wisconsin State Journal]
Check Out WICourtsMatter.org to Find Out More About Why Courts Matter
The website includes information about current court vacancies and the U.S. Supreme Court, issues at stake in the courts and other court related news and advocacy work.
Wisconsin at vanguard of national legal fight on voter ID
The legal fight over Wisconsin’s photo ID voting requirement put it back in the political spotlight this month, with the state a key front in the national battle surrounding such laws. [Wisconsin State Journal]
Protecting Women’s Reproductive Rights — Another Reason Courts Matter
Imagine a Wisconsin where a woman would not be able to legally have her birth control prescription filled. It has happened, and it’s a powerful example of why courts matter. [Capital Times]
This week in the war on voting
[One Wisconsin Institute says] the laws impose a disproportionate burden on people of color. The trial is expected to conclude late next week. [DailyKos]
Princeton prof : Minority participation did not decline due to voting laws
One Wisconsin Institute countered that a comparison between the 2012 recall election and 2014 election would have shown a decrease in voter turnout. [Capital Times]
The 4 Most Damning Revelations In Wisconsin’s Voter ID Trial
One Wisconsin Institute is challenging restrictions on early voting and the elimination of straight-ticket voting that Wisconsin Republicans have implemented over the past few years. [Think Progress]
Bizarre Republican Polemics Defending Voter Obstruction
The Republican case for voter obstruction as made at the bench trial of One Wisconsin Institute v. Nichol has veered into the vacuous and the bizarre. [MAL Contends]
Testimony Concludes in Federal Voting Rights Trial Challenge to Republican-Led Attacks on Electoral Participation in Wisconsin
The real voting fraud in Wisconsin has been exposed, and it is these politicians manipulating the rules on voting to give themselves an unfair partisan advantage.
Testimony in Voter ID lawsuit offers insight into real motives for law
The suit was brought by One Wisconsin [Institute]...with the argument that Republican officials passed the law and other related rules as an intentional means of disenfranchising voters. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Scot Ross: Court should strike down GOP’s voting rules
While it might be working for Republicans, this assault on voting is not working for Wisconsin. [Capital Times]
Indefensible: Eligible Voters Stripped of Constitutional Right to Vote by Decisions of Department of Motor Vehicles
The only thing the laws passed by Gov. Walker and the GOP-controlled legislature are stopping is legal voters from having their voices heard on election day.
Voter Suppression Law Held Unlawful, Opinion Points Way for Wis. Voting Rights
In the Wisconsin voting rights case, a series of voter suppression laws enacted into law by Wisconsin Republicans since 2011 are challenged. [MAL Contends]
Clerks defend GOP-backed changes to Wisconsin election law
Election clerks from predominantly white suburbs of Milwaukee testified Tuesday in support of new state voting laws. [Associated Press]
Meet the expert witnesses testifying in Wisconsin’s federal voter ID trial
Plaintiffs are arguing that lawmakers intended to discriminate against non-white voters by passing the voter ID requirement. [Capital Times]
Political Historian: New Wis. Voting Laws Are Discriminatory
Recent Wisconsin laws limiting voting hours and requiring people to present ID at the polls, taken together, amount to state-sponsored discrimination. [Associated Press]
Department of Motor Vehicle Chief’s Testimony in Federal Voting Rights Trial Reveals Troubling Racial Disparity in Voter ID Law
Wisconsin Republicans created a bureaucratic labyrinth to both deny legal voters the ID cards they need and to give themselves an unfair partisan advantage.
Without new state rule, some voters might have lost vote this fall
Some voters might not have been able to cast ballots this fall if not for a new state rule put in place on the eve of a trial over Wisconsin's voter ID law, the official responsible for issuing ID cards testified Monday. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Federal Trial Exposes the Real Fraud in Wisconsin Elections: Gov. Walker and GOP Manipulating Rules on Voting for Unfair Partisan Political Advantage
In federal court today, a leading national scholar on voting fraud testified that there have been zero cases of in-person voter impersonation in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin Voting Rights Drama Plays Out in Court
You have to hand it to the liberal political research group One Wisconsin [Institute]... So effective was the testimony at trial, it grabbed headlines and could change access to the ballot—and the even the outcome of the next elections. [The Progressive]
Wisconsin Voting Rights Trial: GOP’s DoJ Is Back to Citing Polls as Constitutional Argument
The polling argument today is back at another Wisconsin voting rights trial, One Wisconsin Institute v. Nichol (U.S. District Court of the Western District of Wisconsin (Case 15-cv-324). [MAL Contends]
Testimony: Minorities bear brunt of voter ID law
"These DMV statistics show there's a disturbing pattern of voters being denied the franchise," said Mike Browne, deputy director of the liberal One Wisconsin Institute, one of the plaintiffs. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
In federal court, Wisconsin DMV administrator outlines challenges in issuing free voter IDs
People who die waiting for a state-issued voter ID are recorded as a "customer-initiated cancellation" by the state Department of Motor Vehicles. [Capital Times]
Sen. Ron Johnson Skips Hearing on Nomination to Fill Nation’s Longest Federal Judicial Vacancy
Sen. Ron Johnson failed to appear at a hearing today on the nomination of Donald Schott to fill a vacancy on the Federal Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Experts Testify on Gov. Walker and Legislative Republican Schemes to Suppress Legal Voters: It’s Working
In testimony in the federal voting rights case, experts agreed that, “it’s working” when it comes to the campaign by Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled legislature to suppress votes.
UNSPUN: May 18, 2016
[WMTV-TV]
Witnesses detail difficulties obtaining IDs in Wisconsin voter ID case
A federal judge heard testimony Tuesday from Wisconsin residents who have faced difficulties obtaining photo IDs for themselves or family members. [Capital Times]