Yesterday investigators from the Milwaukee Police Department issued a report on voting in Milwaukee in 2004. It is important to note that Police Chief Edward Flynn said that the report’s findings are the views of the investigators, and the department would not take a stand on the policy issues. Most of the report focused on […]
We’ve finally seen the results of the Milwaukee Police Department’s Special Investigation Unit’s 18-month taxpayer-financed look into allegations of voting problems in Milwaukee from 2006…er, 2004. Xoff breaks it down here, offering required reading for anyone expecting to run into a conservative yammering about the need to (supress the African American, Latino and student vote) […]
Illusory Tenant gives Supreme Court hopeful Mike Gableman’s the what-for in response to the Burnett County judge’s continuing distortion of incumbent Justice Louis Butler’s record. Click here to read the post.
Mike Gableman’s campaign has now put out at least two negative pieces citing State v. Richard A. Brown (Case # 1995CF950507) in which they made false statements about the record of incumbent Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler — false statements which are a violation of Supreme Court rules. Quoting the DA letter: “Butler provided the […]
Yesterday the Dane County Bar Association sponsored a debate between Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler and Burnett County Judge Michael Gableman. During the debate Gableman criticized an ad from the Greater Wisconsin Committee regarding his suspicious appointment to the Burnett County bench. In the debate, Gableman said that the claims in the ad were ‘untrue.’ […]
The right wing is apoplectic over the first results of the continuing investigation by One Wisconsin Now into Mike Gableman’s Suspicious Appointment to the Burnett County Bench by former GOP Governor Scott McCallum. Our results show Gableman was appointed after donating to $2,500 McCallum’s campaign and hosting a fundraiser. No record of Gableman’s ever applying […]
This Wednesday morning, February 27th, The Assembly Committee on Jobs & the Economy will hold a hearing on Wisconsin’s minimum wage. The Committee’s hearing starts at 10:00am in room 400NE, and it will consider Assembly Bill 274, which would raise the minimum wage and index it for inflation. Although federal increases in the minimum wage […]
Last week One Wisconsin Now released documents regarding the very suspicious appointment of Michael Gableman to the Burnett County bench. In response, the Gableman campaign told the Wisconsin State Journal that Gableman was ‘unaware of the selection process’ when McCallum chose him. OWN has now released documents which prove that Gableman campaign statement false. OWN […]
Former Republican Governor Scott McCallum has refused to answer reporter’s direct questions about his suspicious appointment of Michael Gableman as Burnett County judge. Instead he decided to speak through a Gableman campaign press release. In the statement, McCallum admitted that he manipulated the judicial appointment process established by his own executive orders. In doing so, […]
Tomorrow One Wisconsin Now’s Executive Director Scot Ross, will be a guest on Madison’s Air America affiliate, the Mic 92.1. He will discuss judicial ethics and the findings of OWN’s recently released report on Michael Gableman’s suspicious appointment. Scot will be appearing on Lee Rayburn’s show at about 7am. If you are not located in […]
Long before the days of touch screens and state-issued driver’s licenses, incentives were still high for either party to politicize electoral reform in a high-stakes electoral system where 49% doesn’t get you into office. Progressive-era wealthy elites rushed to dismantle Populist voting majorities after the election of 1896. Similarly, Democrats erected rules in response to […]
An investigation by One Wisconsin Now into the appointment of Michael Gableman to the Burnett County Circuit Court by former Republican Governor Scott McCallum raises serious questions about the current Supreme Court candidate’s judicial ethics and qualifications. After hosting a fundraiser and making a substantial contribution to Governor McCallum, Gableman leapt over six announced local […]
The Wisconsin Primary was as exciting as the results were telling. Given the numbers, Wisconsinites are not just ready for change, but they are ready for a clearly progressive change. Yesterday, more than one million people braved the cold to vote for candidates promising progressive policy from universal health care and poverty solutions to education and […]
After threatening to delay his trip to Africa over a new FISA bill, Bush eventually gave up his fear mongering and decided to pack his bags after all. And if you’re like me, you look forward to the barrage of hypocritical language that inevitably follows a George Bush international tour of political hackery. In his […]
During the budget crisis Rep. Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) was one of the loudest and most extreme cheerleaders for obstruction. Given that history, it should be no surprise to find Nass at the center of another effort to obstruct. This time he is trying to single handedly prevent some 17,000 working Wisconsinites from getting the chance […]
1988: “Read my lips: no new taxes.” -George H.W. Bush, Republican National Convention on the eve of his nomination 20 years later: “No new taxes.” -Senator John McCain, 2008 Republican presidential candidate Houston, TX, 2008: “I’m very proud to endorse John McCain for the presidency of the United States of America.” -George H.W. […]
Wisconsin’s “paper of record” reported today on a negative claim made in a series of letters sent out by the Michael Gableman campaign that are not factual. Gableman’s campaign said that in State v. Brown, a case heard by the State Supreme Court, a sexual predator was set free. Although it has been repeated in […]
They discoed in DC and dressed as dogs in Austin to add a lighter touch to the serious issue of ending the war and occupation of Iraq. Iraq Moratorium #6 had a serious and somber side as well. In Madison, three were arrested in a shopping mall (above) where they held a solemn vigil honoring […]
Well before the end of the year we warned that the estate tax would be ended, costing our state some $300 million. As Wisconsin’s budgetary problems gained more news coverage, conservatives planned to bridge the gap by drastically cutting many good programs for the most needy. In response, we launched an online petition asking legislators […]
Since talk radio is so disproportionately dominated by the rabid right wing, I find myself listening to one of the few alternatives available. One station that I enjoy is Milwaukee’s WMCS 1290 AM. The station has a very strong African American audience, but has been doing a great job of broadening their audience in recent […]
John “100-Year-War” McCain, fresh from a flip-flop vote in favor of waterboarding, campaigns in Wisconsin Friday. LaCrosse activists plan to protest his stands when he holds a town hall meeting there. And now there is a last-minute effort underway in Milwaukee to confront him there, too, when he speaks at Serb Hall, traditional stopping place […]
With the state facing a $650 million budget deficit, it is clear the state needs to end the $300 million estate tax loophole for the rich which just went into effect in January. One Wisconsin Now launched a petition drive calling on the state legislature to stop this giveaway to the heirs and heiress of […]
The Planned Parenthood Action Fund launched a multimedia campaign in Wisconsin today to educate voters about Sen. John McCain’s troubling anti-health care voting record. The ad campaign, which features online spots on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Web site highlights how this supposedly independent thinker is in lockstep with the most extreme fringes of the Republican Party. […]
In December One Wisconsin Now sent a letter of concern to the Wisconsin Judicial Campaign Integrity Committee (JCIC). It was about a very questionable set of letters sent out by Supreme Court Candidate Michael Gableman. The letters could have been interpreted that Gableman would rule a specific way on specific cases if they again come […]
Friday is Iraq Moratorium #6, a loosely-knit national grassroots effort to end the war and occupation of Iraq. Nearly 90 events already are listed on the national website, from sea to shining sea. They range from street corner vigils to die-ins, with a dash of street theater thrown in. There have been 600-plus events since […]
If you’ve got a big fat corporate check to spare Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce has an event for you! Over the next couple weeks, the state’s big business lobby is going to be traveling around the state hosting member events to rally support and cash in its efforts to restore corporate fealty to the state […]
Note to Mike Gableman: You can tell a lot about a person by the company he keeps. Oft-overturned judge and Supreme Court candidate Mike Gableman made a questionable visit at this weekend’s Americans for Prosperity dittofest. The host organization, the big-oil funded Americans for Prosperity is run by Mark Block, who is no stranger […]
To most people in the world $100 million is an unimaginable amount of money. Apparently that is not the case when you are a right wing ideologue looking to short change programs for the needy. In today’s Capital Times story, about OWN’s petition on the estate tax, Todd Berry of Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance gives us […]
Today the Capital Times ran a story, in its business section, highlighting OWN’s efforts on the estate tax. Legislators allowed the estate tax to expire at the end of last year costing Wisconsin some $300 million over three years. At the same time, conservatives are looking to bridge a $300 million gap in the budget […]
A new web site has been developed at LessJobsMoreWars.com The site focuses on recent comments by Presidential Candidate John McCain, that there will be “more wars” under a McCain Administration. The new site is complete with two versions of the below video. It is a humerous take on a very serious subject, what the War […]
This weekend, Americans for Prosperity gathered together a bunch of Republicans and right wingers to talk about why more of your tax dollars should go to corporations. Given that Americans for Prosperity is the tax exempt mouthpiece for big oil, it’s no surprise. Here are the facts about Americans for Prosperity and Big Oil: […]
The following unfortunately went unpublished as a letter to the editor in response to Sam Clegg’s column that ran in the Herald this week concerning the death tax. In addition to accusing OWN of framing the estate tax debate as a class warfare issue to propose an unreasonable solution to the state budget shortfall, he […]
In September we reported that State Supreme Court Candidate Michael Gableman had a terrible record at the State Court of Appeals. According to the Wisconsin Law Journal, Gableman was affirmed at the Court of Appeals only 67 percent of the time. When using the same criteria, even the average judge was affirmed 81 percent of […]
As we approached the new year OWN pointed out that the estate tax in Wisconsin was set to expire. Just last month we informed the public that this move would cost the state some $300 million. Ironically that is the same amount of our current budget deficit. It is in the name of that deficit […]
If you have ever heard of the state of Wisconsin’s largest lobbying group, Wisconsin Manufactures Commerce, it was probably in reading some article about a corporate taxation bill or the Annette Ziegler controversy. However, what the average Wisconsinite doesn’t read about is how the state’s largest business lobbying group is voting against the people of […]
…and really the coverage of these primaries is misleading, at least on the Democratic side with the proportional delegates. Watching the vote counts certainly gives the winning side some bragging rights to hang their hats on, not being able to see projected numbers of delegates really changes the feeling of finality, even after tonight.
Well as the vote counts start to pour in tonight, its clear that the increased emphasis placed on the super delegates in the media in the last weeks is justified. At least at this point, Obama seems to be pulling away from Hillary with the regular delegate count (which is actually decided by us, the […]
Seriously, what is it with State Senator Glenn Grothman and his unhealthy obsession with race? Monday, it was reported that he is planning yet another whack at affirmative action in Wisconsin. He is planning to introduce an amendment similar to the one passed in Michigan banning affirmative action. Grothman defends the idea by appealing to […]
Last week Republican Congressman Paul Ryan scored some press coverage by unveiling his annual ‘Budget Boondogle Awards.’ The coverage included a blurb in the state’s largest newspaper, complete with a comparison to the late Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire. Once again Paul Ryan is being given a pass, playing the role of an authority on sound […]
Hey Everyone, Welcome to the new website! Make sure and try out all the new tools we have available, and take a minute or two to try the new buttons etc. Any questions or commments, please let us know at own@onewisconsinnow.org thanks! Robert & the OWN Team
now that rudi is gone, how ever are we going to be reminded of 9/11? well, just to make sure we all remember that day, here’s a compilation (not my work, i wish…) of rudi 9iu11ani’s never-ending exploitation of that day. oh, and by the way…the Florida strategy? Ha. 9iu11ani spent $50 […]
Rolling out their economic stimulus package for the state, Senate Democrats are calling for an end to the ridiculous “Las Vegas Loophole.” Under the loophole corporations dodge $90 million owed to Wisconsin taxpayers by setting up a skeleton subsidy in a place like Nevada, which doesn’t collect corporate incomes taxes. Remember, as long as they […]
Yesterday the Wisconsin Judicial Campaign Integrity Committee announced that it was bringing on two new members, both conservatives. Although they appointed two yesterday, bringing on John Torinus raises the most concerns and questions. This is a committee focusing on the judicial code of ethics, yet Torinus has used his space in newspaper columns to excuse […]
If you were left scratching your head after the rosy picture presented by Scott Walker in his State of the County speech, consider his track record when it comes to economic prognostication. Bloggers will remember his gem from the Walker blog two years ago: “As President Bush said on Friday, ‘the American economy heads into […]
I really expected Edwards to push on until the convention, hold his delegates and become king-maker there. I wonder what kind of deal was made… And here’s to OWN getting a shout-out at the end of the internet debate between the candidates for WI Supreme Court last night. I wonder how long its going to […]
On Tuesday Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler and Burnett County Judge Michael Gableman participated in their first debate. It took place on a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee program called Panthertalk. During the internet based event, a caller asked both candidates about a clean campaign pledge that they have both been asked to sign, by the Wisconsin […]
The Assembly Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing for tomorrow introducing an abortion procedures ban. One must wonder what the real motives are behind this flawed legislation, because the things addressed in it are already illegal under federal law. One would certainly hope that our legislators are not wasting this kind of time and money simply […]
Finally. I never have to waste a January night listening to more lies and promises of privatization from this, the worst president I’ve ever known. As it was, I had to leave when GWB said he wanted health care decisions to be made my “patients and doctors, not in the halls of congress.” So quickly […]
Last year the Wisconsin conservation community held their annual lobby day, where citizens engaged their legislators in support of conservation priorities. Those priorities are selected by more than 50 Wisconsin conservation organizations. Last year over 430 people came to the Capitol to speak with their legislators about the critical issues. One of the major topics […]
Last night in his final State of the Union address, George Bush said this of Iraq: “When we met last year, many said that containing the violence was impossible. A year later, high profile terrorist attacks are down, civilian deaths are down, sectarian killings are down.” Delivered on the day when five American soldiers were […]