Witness Against War, the 500-mile walk from Chicago to St. Paul, is in its final week, and will arrive this weekend in time for the Republican convention. Bill Christofferson, an antiwar atheist, walked with the group of Catholic Workers for a day last weekend, on the Mississippi River from Pepin to Maiden Rock, and reports […]
Just over a week ago, the One Wisconsin Institute launched an email campaign asking concerned citizens to send a message to the board members of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC). To date over 10,000 communications have been generated in that very short time. This is just another example of how people all across the state […]
At the beginning of this month, Sen. John McCain made a stop (read ‘gimmick’) in Sturgis, South Dakota in an attempt to energize motorcycle enthusiasts, joking about tire gauges and getting some cheers after making hollow statements like ‘This is my first time here but I recognize that sound. It’s the sound of freedom and […]
Yesterday we told you about the early success of our email campaign to the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) board. Since then many more people have responded and thousands more emails have been sent flooding the inboxes of those that sit on the WMC Board. If you have not yet had the opportunity to speak […]
Last week Rep. Frank Lasee announced his latest harebrained scheme, to drill for oil in the Great Lakes. There is nothing like handing over your most precious resource to an industry that can’t be trusted. And for what? For the remote chance that they will find (or spill) oil in 15 years and possibly save […]
The staff and leadership of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) have proven that they are drunk with partisanship. The only hope is for both the rank and file and higher profile members to have a long overdue intervention. The long list of events over the last several months should finally inspire the legitimate business interests […]
Tuesday was a Happy Day in Milwaukee as most of the original cast of the popular show came to town for the unveiling of the Bronze Fonz. There was a full schedule with a dedication/unveiling, a parade through downtown and a ceremony at Miller Park just before a Brewer game. During the television coverage of […]
We have seen the Bush energy policy at work now for nearly eight years, it seems to be a plan based on not leaving any big oil and gas company behind. The policy appears to be the following simple formula: give a free pass to these massive special interests in any way possible, give them […]
A story has been popping around the internets about a lawsuit John McCain’s mom filed against his first wife back in 1980. While this tale may at long last make the story of McCain leaving his injured first wife to court the millionaire beer baroness to whom he is now married of interest to the […]
Once again, elected officials have pounced on a report by the Tax Foundation to mislead taxpayers into thinking that Wisconsin can’t afford to adequately fund its public institutions. The latest cases are Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) and Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin), who separately cited a new study by the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, claiming […]
Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty is making his second trip of the summer to Wisconsin. He will be going to John McCain fundraisers in both Madison and Milwaukee that will cost $1,000 per couple. Rather than run around Wisconsin trying to raise money for campaigns, it might be advisable for Pawlenty to go back home […]
Eleven events are scheduled in Wisconsin on Friday, August 15, as part of the Iraq Moratorium, a growing national, grassroots effort to end the war and occupation of Iraq. This is the 12th month of such actions. Wisconsin has had more local events than any other state except California, with six times the population. Two […]
John McCain has described “Buy American” provisions as “ludicrous” [Congressional Record, 10/7/05] and has even gone so far as to sponsor and pass amendments to waive them. On Tuesday, the same day Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett held a press conference at the Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council, Steelworkers leafleted USW worksites across the state […]
Today marks the 73rd birthday of the single most successful government program in the history of our country, Social Security. As such, it is rightfully being honored by the Alliance for Retired Americans (AAR) at events all across Wisconsin. They will be holding noon events in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Madison. AAR is the same […]
Pro-corporate soulmate Supremes Mike Gableman and Annette Ziegler get closer by the day. The latest revelation, Gableman’s going to pull a Ziegler and rule on cases where Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce is involved ‘ despite WMC dumping nearly $2 million during his run to get on the high court. Ziegler earned front page headlines after […]
From the legislator who brought the great state of Wisconsin a plan to arm teachers with guns in an effort to curb school violence (you all remember his hilarious appearance on the Daily Show about 2 years ago’¦), comes another idea worthy of all kinds of jokes and ridicule ‘ lifting a ban on drilling […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.