Koch

Walker scores big with Koch brothers, other wealthy donors in informal poll

Liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now, which opposes school vouchers, described the makeup of the task force as being “packed” with voucher supporters, executive director Scot Ross said in a statement. The group pointed to $20,000 in campaign contributions that went to the GOP members of the committee from pro-voucher groups. [Wisconsin State Journal]

Right-to-work group launches after governor, legislators say issue not a priority

“It’s the same playbook from four years ago that tore Wisconsin apart,” Ross said in a statement. “Gov. Walker says anything to get elected and now he and his Republican front groups are ready to launch a frontal assault on Wisconsin’s middle class working women and men.” [Racine Journal Times]

Will Scott Walker Run in 2016?

Governor Walker has access to an ungodly amount of money. His campaign co-chair runs the $500 million right wing funding Bradley foundation. His largest donor is the wealthiest woman in Wisconsin. [MSNBC]

Is Justice Roggensack’s ‘Experience’ Open Pit Mine Bill Backer’s Insurance Plan?

MADISON, Wis. — As the State Assembly appears poised to approve controversial open pit mining legislation that weakens state environmental protections observers are universally acknowledging a lengthy court fight is certain to follow. One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross questioned whether incumbent State Supreme Court candidate Pat Roggensack’s record of siding with corporate special […]

OWN Sunday Breakfast Hash: “Worst. Sequel. Ever.”

With few exceptions, sequels always pale when compared with the original. There are usually more car chases, faster edits and the awkward repackaging of the same jokes from the original. So as we watch the debate over who will serve as the leader of the free world, it is abundantly clear Mitt Romney and the […]

Out of State Money Pours into Wisconsin

One month before voters have the final say in the governor’s recall election, outside groups fueled by out of state money are making their voices heard. While some Wisconsin businesses like Wisconsin Public Service and Kohler Company donated money to the Republican Governor’s Association, much of the group’s money comes from elsewhere, including a $1 […] [WLUK-TV]

Gov Walker (R-Koch) gets a bailout for a new ad from corporate funded group

Governor Scott Walker (R-Koch) has been raising money to keep his anti-workers’ rights butt in the Governor’s office in light of the looming recall, and he’s been successful, raising $12 million. But he needs more so he’s gone to the Corporate funded Republican Governors Association (RGA) for a bailout and they acquiesced in form of  […] [FreakOutNation]

Tactics Resemble 2010 Tea Party Voter Caging Scheme

The tactics used by Fitzgerald to challenge recall petitions resemble a scheme planned for the 2010 elections by the Wisconsin GOP and Tea Party groups, including the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity. Some of those same Tea Party groups are also involved in the current recall “verification” effort. Recordings released by One Wisconsin Now in September 2010 […] [PR Watch]

2010 ‘Lie of Year’ Award Winner in Madison to Address Gathering of Corporate CEOs

MADISON, Wis. — 2010 Politifact “Lie of the Year” award winner, GOP pollster Frank Luntz, addressed a gathering of CEOs sponsored by the state’s big business lobby today in Madison. One Wisconsin Now Deputy Director Mike Browne said Luntz will have his work cut out for him trying to boost Gov. Scott Walker’s record of […]

Let’s #OccupyWalker

Scott Walker and Wall Street share a common agenda: destroy the middle class while protecting the interests of big corporations and the rich. But we’re fighting back. On Monday November 14, One Wisconsin Now will launch #OccupyWalker — an online movement to publicize the disastrous policies of the pro-corporate, anti-middle class Scott Walker administration. #OccupyWalker […]

Domino effect: Results in Ohio could spell trouble for Walker’s agenda

Gov. Scott Walker’s now denying the results in Ohio have any bearing on Wisconsin, but back in February when a prankster pretending to be David Koch called his phone, Walker spilled the beans about connecting with other anti-union, Republican governors: WALKER: That’s all they wanna talk is what are you doing to help in the […]

John Nichols: Cain, Koch, Walker and the smoking man

Herman Cain’s smoking campaign manager, Mark Block, was the Koch brothers’ man in Wisconsin until two days before Gov. Scott Walker’s inauguration. That’s when he switched from controversy-plagued campaigning at the state level to controversy-plagued campaigning at the national level. The group One Wisconsin Now described the plan as “a coordinated plot by the Republican […] [Capital Times]

For a Close Aide to Herman Cain, Scrutiny Comes on Two Fronts

Until this week, Mark Block was famous as the guy who inhaled in a Herman Cain campaign Web video that went viral. Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, a liberal advocacy group, mordantly credited Americans for Prosperity with “derailing a discussion about how we had to move to more clean energy, which is where […] [New York Times]

Cain’s smoking campaign manager has seen ups, downs

Before pack-a-day smoker Mark Block became a YouTube sensation, he was a quirky, controversial and enduring character on the Wisconsin political scene. He won some. He lost some. He got in trouble. He bottomed out. He bounced back. And now his career has taken its most improbable turn. Critics on the left saw the organization […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

Koch group selling Walker agenda ahead of recall

Koch Industries and its front group Americans for Prosperity spent roughly a million dollars helping to put Scott Walker in the governor’s mansion and another half a million dollars protecting his recalled state senators. Now, Koch’s AFP and their sister organization the MacIver Institute are teaming up to help Scott Walker yet again. Just in time […]

Herman Cain’s Koch Connection

Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, talks with Rachel Maddow about the Koch brothers backing of Herman Cain, whose candidacy is oddly successful for someone without a fully formed campaign operation. [MSNBC]

Is Walker afraid that public jobs summits would get “Occupied?”

After charging the “public” $50 to hear what he has to say about job creation in Green Bay, holding small invitation-only events in La Crosse and Milwaukee, and hosting a “job creation forum” at the University of Wisconsin Research Park MGE Innovation Center (which apparently is so private it’s not even listed on the UW Research […]

Herman Cain, the Koch Industries’ Candidate in 2012

Cain’s dense connections with the Kochs, combined with his and his staffers’ apparent ignorance of even the basic principles of various schools of political and economic thought, are deeply troubling. He is increasingly appearing to be the first presidential candidate who is not only beholden to corporate money, but in fact running on a corporation’s […] [PolicyMic]

Cain’s ties to right-leaning billionaires may hurt him

Cain’s links to the Koch brothers could undercut his outsider, nonpolitical image among people who detest politics as usual and candidates connected with the party machine. To some liberals, Cain’s rise with the help of AFP shows the incredible influence that outside groups controlled by superwealthy individuals with specific agendas can have on the political […] [KVVU-TV]

Long ties to Koch brothers key to Cain’s campaign

Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain has cast himself as the outsider, the pizza magnate with real-world experience who will bring fresh ideas to the nation’s capital. But Cain’s economic ideas, support and organization have close ties to two billionaire brothers who bankroll right-leaning causes through their group Americans for Prosperity. “Herman Cain is the first […] [The Sacramento Bee]

Right-wing blogger calls for armed violence against workers

In mid-April, professional blogger Andrew Breitbart came to Madison to show his support for Gov. Scott Walker’s attack on worker rights. He shared a stage with other notable speakers like Sarah Palin and Vicki McKenna. Of course the tea party’s puny turnout was overshadowed by the huge uprising of middle-class workers and labor union supporters, […]

Koch Industries Securing Anti-Koch URLs Including AntiKoch.com

Progressive activist group One Wisconsin Now points out that, last week, “Koch Industries registered at least three anti-Koch domains:StopKoch.com, StopKochIndustries.com, and AntiKoch.com.” One Wisconsin Now reports the URLs involve Melbourne IT, a firm specializing in “online brand protection.” Visitors to the reserved Koch-bashing domains are redirected to a Melbourne page which states, in part, “This Internet […] [Brand Channel]

Koch on the defensive, buying anti-Koch URLs

The billionaire Koch Brothers appear to be on the defensive against the Stop Koch, Save Wisconsin buzz on the internet lately, after spending over $40,000 to get Gov. Scott Walker elected less than a year ago, $400,000 supporting Walker’s agenda earlier this year, and $250,000 on Republican state senators in Wisconsin’s recent recall effort. Last Wednesday, following Wisconsin’s […]

The Koch brothers will stop at nothing to surpress the voice of the people

The billionaire Koch brothers will stop at nothing to try and buy power in Wisconsin just so they can have their way with democracy. The latest proof of their attempts to deceive voters and grab political power comes from Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a group founded by the Koch brothers. Americans for Prosperity was caught […]