Headlining the local section of today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a story basically about how Scott Walker is so horrible at his job as Milwaukee Co. Executive that the state of Wisconsin is going to take over aid programs in the county. Read the consequences of Walker’s inaptitude here (bottom of the article).Walker called Wisconsin’s […]
Interesting item by Dan Bice today in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel… Ready, fire, aim It’s still not clear who was behind a push poll against School Board President Peter Blewett. Blewett put out a statement saying the poll by the Parker Group of Birmingham, Ala., suggested that he authorized fellow board member Charlene Hardin’s infamous […]
After the first Supreme Court debate, Randy Koschnick’s right-hand-sleaze-man Seamus Flaherty set the tone for the coming public debate on the Supreme Court: more lies, more mistruths, more distortions. During the debate, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson pointed out the Judge Koschnick was incorrect in stating the Wisconsin was the only state in which a decision […]
There’s an old political term you may have heard, called “waving the bloody shirt.” There are multiple theories about its origins, but it usually refers to a politician using images of past violence to stir up the electorate’s prejudices and win support. The word demagogue is often used in connection with it. Which brings us […]
(Note: So yinz know, this guy’s from dahn nere in Pittsburgh, n’nat.) With so much going on at the national and state levels, one question progressives may still be asking themselves: Do I support the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Arizona Cardinals in Sunday’s Super Bowl? Consider: Pittsburgh owner Dan Rooney endorsed now-President Barack Obama and […]
The right wing and the Alliance Defense Fund are back at it. Please read this from the Coalition to Protect Women’s Health & Safety — critical information about reproductive freedom and efforts by the right wing to stop women from accessing safe and legal reproductive services: The Coalition to Protect Women’s Health & Safety […]
Dear Minority Leader Fitzgerald (the Assembly one), Happy 2009! We, the articles and sections which make up the Wisconsin Constitution, noticed that on top of financing the cost of you and your family’s health care, that you are spending some of the people’s tax dollars having your ample staff waste time and resources creating something […]
As my fine colleague at OWN Cody pointed out several times recently, bull-headed Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is fighting tooth and nail to ensure Milwaukee County doesn’t get a dime of President Obama’s stimulation package. Walker went so far as to guarantee the citizens of Milwaukee that he wouldn’t be ‘asking for any new’¦things […]
Didn’t take long for Lodi’s Keith Ripp to get his marching orders on partisan politics in Madison. Yesterday, Ripp stood against job creation and having Wisconsin tax dollars pay American workers when he voted against a common sense bill to ensure the state only do contract business with companies in the United States.The bill passed […]
Earlier in January, more than 40 people were arrested after an undercover investigation in Juneau County that helped to break up a drug-dealing ring. And currently there’s a $5,000 reward for information about an armed robbery in Juneau County on December 9, 2008. One would think the top cop in that county, District Attorney Scott […]
Yesterday, OWN launched a campaign asking citizens from across Wisconsin to call on Wisconsin law firm Whyte, Hirschboeck and Dudek to drop a case involving one of their attorneys working on behalf of the ultra-conservative (and James Dobson financed) Alliance Defense Fund. Amy Salberg, a lawyer with Whyte, Hirschboek and Dudek, has been working with […]
Gary Sherman wants to get rid of the pre-coital couple sitting in their bathtubs atop the mountain — and he couldn’t be more right. Sherman is again sponsoring important legislation to ban prescription drug advertisements in Wisconsin. The federal law change in the ’90s allowing pharmaceutical advertising on television, is up there with deregulation of […]
Scott Walker says the solution to 1,100 lost jobs at Harley Davidson is a payroll tax cut. How in the hell is a payroll tax cut going to help someone without a job? And how do we pay for the lost revenue? Will you cancel your annual taxpayer-financed motorcycle trip to campaign for governor promote […]
University of Wisconsin-obsessed Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) launched a laughable attack yesterday against the UW and Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson because an internship with Abrahamson’s campaign was on the UW Law School website. Nass said this was misuse of taxpayer funds and by god, he wants justice. He wants answers. Funny, but we […]
Mike McCabe of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign isn’t one to let the facts spoil a good story when he’s on a crusade for his version of clean politics. Case in point: The Badger Herald’s upbeat story, headlined, “Candidates to run cleaner Supreme Court race,” which says: After the negative tone of last election, during which […]
Barely twenty-four hours into his first day as the nation’s 44th President, Barack Obama made it clear that he is not going to tolerate business as usual in the nation’s capital. Obama’s first act in office placed a freeze on the salaries of top White House aides and to implement new limits on lobbyists working […]
It’s a sign of the demented times in which we are hopefully emerging that the big news on Capitol Hill was prospective Attorney General nominee Eric Holder vocally affirming that torture is, well, torture. Well done, indeed. Specifically he was answering a question about waterboarding, a torture in which torturers torture the subject by inflicting […]
Disconnected From Obama’s America is the headline of a Washington Post article today. Its adorned with a picture of a burly man wearing a mustache, some chest hair, and a camouflage cap hiding a gray head of hair standing in front of a wall of mounted deer heads. The article is about this rural ‘Democrat’ […]
Reince Preibus must not have gotten the memo about the over $288,000 the board members over at the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance have donated to his Republican and conservative pals. Otherwise, he’d be using President Todd Berry’s talking point about the state finances not being as bad as the $5 billion-plus deficit everyone else understands as […]
The news is so big that if this blog were the Drudge Report, the headline would be bold, italicized, underlined, AND capitalized: today, the John McCain for President Campaign co-chair (and Wisconsin Attorney General) JB Van Hollen dropped his partisan lawsuit against the GAB.For those who haven’t been in the loop on democracy lately, Van […]
For the second time in a week, Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald has made it clear to Speaker Sheridan and the rest of the state that he really doesn’t much care to work on much of anything, especially not the budget crisis. Since he was elected the newly leader of the Assembly, Speaker Sheridan has made […]
WisPolitics, the online political news service, in its report to subscribers: — .. [Gov. Jim] Doyle said it’s “total nonsense” for people to suggest the state shouldn’t accept federal stimulus money… Some have criticized the use of federal stimulus to fund state services, saying the one-time fed infusion will cause larger budget problems down the […]
Though Scott Walker is being very public about his refusal to accept any federal economic aid to Milwaukee County, according to today’s Journal Sentinel his own chief of staff is looking for a little stimulation right behind his back.Under an open records request, the Journal Sentinel uncovered e-mails from Walker’s chief of staff, Tom Nardelli, […]
A story in the Capital Times today details the recent programming changes and the resulting listener uproar on the Mic, 92.1 FM, Madison’s only progressive talk station. As 2008 ticked over into 2009, the Mic, rather quietly, announced that popular daytime show ‘The Thom Hartmann Program’ was going to be replaced by evangelical money-help […]
Congresswoman Gwen Moore deserves a Profile in Courage award for being one of only five House members willing to vote against a one-sided resolution on Gaza that essentially blames all of the violence on Hamas and gives Israel a free pass. Predictably, Moore was roasted on Republican talk radio, which has never met a war […]
How many cases of frostbite will it take to end the war and occupation of Iraq? Iraq Moratorium activists in Wisconsin ponder that, with the weather forecast for Friday, Jan. 16, this month’s Iraq Moratorium day, for subzero temperatures and even worse wind-chill readings. There are warnings about frostbite and hypothermia. Iraq Moratorium-Wisconsin noted, in […]
$288,460.50 That’s the amount of money the listed members of the board of directors at the oft-called non-partisan Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance have donated to Republicans and conservative candidates since 1991. Did they donate to Democrats and liberals? Yes. A whopping $25,475. To sum: 92% to conservatives. Eight percent to liberals. They’re welcome to do that. […]
Today Viroqua, Wisc. learned that one of its biggest employers, NCR, is closing its doors to all of its 81 employees. Also closing shop today in Viroqua is the Vernon Area Rehabilitation Center (VARC)’a place where some people go to get a job after they get laid off. And Nelson Muffler, the place where people […]
Frothing political lifer Mary Lazich has just urped up her latest list of things she won’t vote for in the coming session. Health care of course, is tops on her no-way list. Good news is that Lazich, who despite her hatred of government has been in office and collected a salary, per diem, a pension […]
Yesterday the Journal Sentinel ran a whole story about Milwaukee County Exec. Scott Walker saying theenks but no theenks to any federal economic stimulus money that could come the county’s way. In the midst the failing U.S. economy and the ‘$300 million in backlogged repairs for parks, annual shortfalls of up to $43 million in […]
Less than 12 hours after OWN asked concerned citizens to demand WMC-backed Justices Gableman and Ziegler recuse from the Virnich and Moores case, over 700 petitioners saw the obvious conflict of interest and signed the OWN petition. (If you haven’t signed the petition yet, join the party here!) Having previously been part of the Virnich […]
Herbert Hoover Walker, the Man Who Would Be Governor, wants to stick it to Milwaukee. Trouble is, Walker is the Milwaukee County executive, not some two-bit political hack from Elroy, as one of his GOP opponents once called Tommy “Stick it to ‘em” Thompson. Walker’s already said county taxpayers shouldn’t pay for programs that only […]
Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson’s opponent, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Randy Koschnick, had barely filed his nomination petitions when he began pressing the flesh — at a gun show in LaCrosse. Koschnick told WXOW-TV the gun show gave him a chance to meet voters. It was such a good chance he campaigned there two days in […]
Newly-minted Assembly Minority Leader Jeff Fitzgerald was barely installed as the official leader of his Republican caucus before letting us know his agenda is to protect big insurance companies ahead of Wisconsin children and families. Asked about common sense legislation to require insurance companies to cover treatment for autism and hearing aids and cochlear implants […]
The headline reads “Case could rewrite corporate law in Wisconsin” and arguments before the Wisconsin State Supreme Court begin this week. Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce has already made it known how it would like the Wisconsin Supreme Court to rule. And who can forget the millions of dollars WMC spent supporting corporate-friendly and ethically-challenged judges […]
Camp Hope, a 19-day presence in Barack Obama’s Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago, is intended to remind the president-elect of the progressive agenda he espoused during his campaign. The statewide Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice has endorsed Camp Hope, which has daily activities planned Jan. 1-19, and Wisconsin activists will be taking part. More […]
Wisconsin’s National Presto Industries, known to the public for making Salad Shooters and Fry Daddies, has a dark side that it doesn’t advertise. The Eau Claire-based company produced artillery fuses during World War II, artillery shells in the 1950s, and during the Vietnam war, from 1966 to 1975, manufactured more than two million eight-inch howitzer […]
So you say it’s below zero out there, and your garage door’s frozen shut, and you don’t know if your car will start anyway, and even if it does that shopping malls make you so tense and irritable you want to sit down in the aisle and cry, and you don’t even have the slightest […]
In the Thursday morning report, WisPolitics ran a piece on a study from the California-based Reason Foundation that called the benefits of the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee commuter rail line as ‘not credible.’ One might ask, what is this Reason Foundation? Who’s behind the curtain, pulling the strings? And why exactly do WE care? We live here after […]
Doesn’t cost the taxpayers a dime. Helps service the greater needs of all members of the community. Improves diversity and public service. Promotes health, education and understanding. But that didn’t stop four Racine alders from voting against a permit for a new Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender center. Thankfully, this quartet: Jim Kaplan, Q.A. Shakoor […]
Voices for Creative Nonviolence, the Chicago-based group that staged a 500-mile Witness Against War walk to the Republican convention in St. Paul, will sponsor a presence from Jan. 1-19, in President-elect Obama’s Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago. It’s called “Camp Hope: Countdown To Change.” It’s called Camp Hope because organizers earnestly hope his presidency will […]
Yesterday, in this space, we took a very tiny poke at Rick Esenberg, Esquire, after WisPolitics announced Atty. Essenberg was not a candidate for the State Supreme Court. We observed that for someone to get elected to the high court some time on the bench, somewhere, has been almost mandatory. And Esenberg has never been […]
From WisPolitics: Marquette University law professor Rick Esenberg has decided not to jump into this spring’s state Supreme Court race. Esenberg, who also writes the blog “Shark and Shepherd,” said he was approached about a run but decided against it. Jefferson County Judge Randy Koschnick is the only candidate to announce that he will challenge […]
Finally, the UW just might have an actual advocate in the State Assembly. Rep. Kim Hixon, a University of Wisconsin-Whitewater professor was appointed Tuesday to lead the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee. Who’s spot is Hixon taking? Former chair and enemy of intellectuals everywhere, the venerable Steve Nass. Nass was on a permanent crusade […]
Jefferson County Judge Randy Koschnick wants to take a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court but does he plan to bring the same dissension to Madison that he has fostered in Jefferson? A report in the Captial Times Tuesday reveals a lot about Randy Koschnick. It is based on the comments of his fellow Jefferson […]
Five. Five people remain under investigation for casting an improper ballot on Election Day in Milwaukee County. Five. Out of nearly 500,000 votes cast. And the crusade to criminalize voting continues. The de-facto leader this time around? Milwaukee County Assistant DA Bruce Landgraf. Despite the lack of any substantiated evidence of a ‘wide-spread conspiracy’ to […]
In the most recent edition of The Milwaukee Magazine, former news director of WTMJ radio in Milwaukee Dan Shelley exposes hyper-right-wing radio host Charlie Sykes (and others like him) for what they are’angry right-wing puppets that ‘exploit the fears and perceived victimization of’¦conservative-leaning listeners.’ Shelley explains how these right-wing blowhards use scare tactics, carefully screened […]
In a development that should surprise no one, the lame-duck Bush Administration continues its refusal to comply with Federal records retention laws that require the White House to save and archive all electronic communication. And worst of all, no one knows how many emails are missing, or how we can get them. A recent inquiry […]
Wisconsin’s Iraq Moratorium campaign, which asks people to act on the Third Friday of every month to end the war and occupation of Iraq, continues to grow. A new organizing effort in western Wisconsin, with the theme of “Health care, not warfare,” has sparked new Moratorium events on Friday, Nov. 21, in Rice Lake, Superior, […]
The slime machine behind the infamous and racist Mike Gableman ‘Willie Horton’ ad has a new benefactor ‘ Jefferson County Judge Randy Koschnick. Darrin Schmitz, who continues to serve as a Gableman mouthpiece on the numerous on-going ethics investigations of the newest Supreme Court Justice, was the first to let reporters know Koschnick was gearing […]