WEDC offers taxpayer support for Walker campaign contributors
A new report by One Wisconsin Now adds a twist to the jaw-dropping shamelessness over at the WEDC. [Isthmus]
WEDC chief: More time needed to prove value of troubled jobs agency
The liberal group One Wisconsin Now this week put out a report which found that executives at companies that received financial incentives from WEDC have donated $429,060 to Gov. Scott Walker's campaign since 2010. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
139 ALEC Bills in 2013 Promote a Private, For-Profit Education Model
The Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation is one of the top school privatization funders in the country, currently spending over $31 million over the past eleven years promoting “school choice” nationwide, according to One Wisconsin Now. [PR Watch]
Student Loan Debt Keeps Buyers Out of the Market
The homeownership rate for those individuals who are still paying off student loans is 36 percent lower than among their peers who have no student debt, according to research from the One Wisconsin Institute [LA Times]
Students watch, wait as Congress debates student loans
Ross said that dealing with the need-based rate increase would be a start, but that “greater steps need to be taken to deal with this crisis.” [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Senate to take up student loans, resuming partisan debate
The problem of student loan debt “has been wildly under-covered,” said Scot Ross of One Wisconsin Now, whose group has been very vocal on the issue and opposes the GOP plan for letting interest rates on student loans float. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Shadow of student loans could hurt housing market as graduates swim in debt
Americans paying off student loans are, depending on income, 25 to 36 percent less likely to own a home than those who are free of student debt, a One Wisconsin survey of 61,000 people found last month. [Tampa Bay Times]
Congress should reverse rate hike on student loans
The growing share of debt for young people is hampering their ability to take out a mortgage or purchase a car, according to Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
State Debate: Congress gets hit for failing to act on student loans
One Wisconsin Now, which has been leading the fight against letting the interest rates rise, presents some real life stories on its site of students and recent graduates struggling with their debt. [Capital Times]
We must hate our children
It’s no wonder that people who’ve paid off their student loan debt are 36 percent more likely to own homes than those who haven’t, according to new research by the One Wisconsin Now Institute and Progress Now. [Salon]
The 1 Chart That Shows Student Debt Is Completely Out Of Hand
It takes the average student loan borrower a little more than 21 years to completely pay off student debt, according to a survey of 61,000 Americans completed by One Wisconsin Institute. [Huffington Post]
Backlash: Student Loan Burden Prevents Borrowers From Buying Homes, Cars
Research from ProgressNow found that the average time it takes to pay off student debt is twenty years. Students with bachelors degrees can expect to repay their loans in 19.7 years. [Forbes]
Student Debt Repayment Causes Concern Among Many Borrowers
On average, student loan borrowers take about two decades to repay their debt. Graduates of community colleges take almost as long as their counterparts from four-year schools to repay, according to a separate survey from the One Wisconsin Institute released last week. [Huffington Post]
Pocan Pushes for Action to Prevent Student Loan Rates from Doubling
According to a study from One Wisconsin, it will take Wisconsinites on average almost 19 years to pay off their student loan debt from a four-year university, taking away money that could be spent in our local economies. [U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan]
One Wisconsin Now begins 20-day report on Walker’s “depressing failures”
Scott Walker is marking his 20th year serving in office in Wisconsin. So to commemorate the occasion, One Wisconsin Now has begun a 20-day report on Walker’s “depressing failures” while in office. It begins with the governor’s “cozy relationship” with the Bradley Foundation and other school privatization advocates which are aimed at destroying public education. [Capital Times]
Ron Johnson says poor blacks are responsible for financial crisis
Cody Oliphant on the One Wisconsin Now blog reports on Sen. Ron Johnson’s latest broadside against our “dependent” nation in which he complains about everything from food stamps to Social Security. So, in case you missed it, he says, poor black people are responsible for the country’s financial crisis, and unless we throw them to the wolves […] [Capital Times]
Twenty Years of Walker Failures Day 2: Failing to Protect Women’s Health
OWN is highlighting different Walker fails over the course of 20 days. Day two discusses right wing legislation attacking women’s health care. Scot Ross commented, “When given the choice between protecting women’s access to safe and legal health care services or pandering to the most extreme right-wing of the Republican Party, Scott Walker has sided […] [Common Dreams]
New bill: If you swear you’re poor, then you can vote without an ID
One Wisconsin Institute (affiliated with the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now) filed a brief arguing that Wisconsin’s ID law would be significantly more burdensome than the ID law in Indiana that was upheld in 2008 by the United States Supreme Court. [Capital Times]
Murphy’s Law: Don’t Mess With the Press
The MacIver Institute calls itself and “think tank” that promotes “free markets” and “limited government and mostly supports the GOP. It’s closest counterpart on the left is probably One Wisconsin Now. [Urban Milwaukee]
Our view: Keep student loan rates affordable
It is not just students who are affected. Professionals who go through technical, four-year, or even graduate school have student loan debt. So do single moms. [La Crosse Tribune]
GOP throws UW students another $3
Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, calls the tuition freeze a “great idea” but says Republicans have only expressed outrage over high tuition as an excuse to cut the UW’s budget. [Capital Times]
As Wisconsin’s Walker Appears to be Testing Waters, ‘Truth Squad’ Debunks ‘Pants on Fire’ Claims
The “Scott Walker Truth Squad,” as activists from Progress Iowa and One Wisconsin Now call themselves, told reporters at a news conference that Walker has the credentials to win favor among Republican caucus kingmakers, such as The Family Leader, an organization headed by Bob Vander Plaats, and that the political support makes him a candidate to fear. “I know […] [Ames Patch]
Walker touts Iowa roots, offers vision for GOP success
Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, criticized Walker for being more focused on a 2016 presidential bid than on being Wisconsin’s governor. [WisPolitics]
Funding for United Council of UW Students axed by Joint Finance Committee
Scot Ross, Executive Director of advocacy group One Wisconsin Now, lambasted the JFC for failing to include any funding for financial aid or grants in the budget. [Capital Times]
Scott Walker in Iowa: Quid Pro Quo Among Political Pals or 2016 Trial Balloon?
Scot Ross, the executive director of the Wisconsin group, said Walker has exaggerated and is “spinning yarns” about the successes of his conservative agenda as he “pursues his ambition for higher office,” according to a news release. Ross said Walker’s jobs creation record is one of the worst in the country, that Wisconsin “is rated […] [Johnston Patch]
Eyes are on Governor Walker for Iowa speech and 2016
“We are at the bottom of job creation and yet he’s not doing his job. Instead, he’s crisscrossing the country going to Connecticut, New York, and Iowa,” Scott Ross of One Wisconsin Now said. [WBAY]
Plain Talk: We can’t afford to ignore student debt
A recent survey by the advocacy group One Wisconsin Now estimated that the huge student debt load is costing the auto industry alone about $200 million a year. [Capital Times]
GOP lawmaker to Election Day observers: Get a little closer
“Wisconsin enjoys some of the highest rates of voter participation in the nation, a distinction we are rightfully proud of,” said Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now. “Yet it seems the GOP in Wisconsin wants to take us in the opposite direction with their latest proposal to make it easier to harass and […] [Capital Times]
State Government and Political Round-up: Budget measure would make all state juniors take ACT test
Scot Ross, who heads the liberal One Wisconsin Now group, says Walker is not doing his job in Wisconsin while the state lags near the bottom in creating new jobs. [Pierce County Herald]
Lawyer Rick Esenberg revels in public policy fights
OWN’s Scot Ross stated that Esenberg, “has been provided financial resources to try and be a thorn when the courts don’t rule in conservatives’ favor.” Ross then adds that conservatives constantly speak out against judicial activism, but claims that this law firm is as judicially activist as they come because of its attempt to advance […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Right-wing groups made Wis. their testing ground for school choice
One Wisconsin Now recently published a detailed report on the Bradley foundation. Scot Ross states that Bradley is “the most powerful organization in America that no one seems to know about.” One Wisconsin Now calls the Bradley Foundation a “massive, pro-priviatization propaganda campaign” that attempts to turn people against the public school system. [Isthmus]
Rep. Shankland, One Wis. Now on how to address high student loan burden
Members of the Wausau Daily Herald Editorial board interviewed Rep. Katrina Shankland and members of One Wisconsin Now to discuss historically high student loan debt levels. [Wausau Daily Herald]
Wis. Republicans gather as party seeks to grow
And Scot Ross, director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, said Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature have focused on an agenda that benefits the rich and hurts the middle class. [San Antonio Express]
Conservative law firm sues MATC over labor contract
“Taxpayers can personally thank Gov. Walker’s campaign co-chair for this lawsuit, that if successful, will cost them $150 million,” said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now’s executive director, referring to the cost savings MATC said it achieved through bargaining with the union. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
State will not have to pay redistricting case fees
Mike Browne, OWN spokesperson, criticized the “shady” redistricting process as an “anti-democratic disaster.” [Badger Herald]
Ex-Indiana Governor wins $250,000 prize from Bradley Foundation
Last week, the liberal One Wisconsin Now reported that the Bradley Foundation has given $31 million since 2001 to groups and individuals supporting private school vouchers. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
NRA money helps explain Wisconsin’s inaction on background checks
One Wisconsin Now’s Scot Ross sees the outrage over the UW System’s budget surplus as another example of ignoring the real problem in higher education — student loans. [Capital Times]
Scot Ross fills the void left by Graeme Zielinski
Zielinski’s cause — to incessantly rile conservative figures on social media — nevertheless lives on through the tweets of One Wisconsin Now, the liberal advocacy group headed by provocateur Scot Ross [Capital Times]
Students gain ally on debt with liberal advocacy group
Many Wisconsinites are putting off buying new cars or buying homes, according to survey of 2,658 Wisconsin residents by the liberal One Wisconsin Institute. [Eau Claire Leader-Telegram]
One Wisconsin Now press conference
Press conference discussing the trillion-dollar student loan debt crisis and the Institute’s research on the impact on Wisconsin’s economy. At Chippewa Valley Technical College. [WisPolitics]
Kristen Dexter: Education costs hit home with students, parents
My children and my neighbor’s children are carrying a burden that’s real, immediate, and threatens to hobble the economy for decades to come. [Capital Times]
Resounding rejection of voter suppression
“The attempts in Wisconsin to make it harder for legal voters to vote and have their voices heard — from ending same-day voter registration to rigging election districts and restricting early voting hours — are not just wrong, they are unpopular,” said One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross. “Voters have spoken and their message […] [Capital Times]
Gun control filibuster: Ron Johnson picks losing side
One Wisconsin Now, which has been hammering Johnson through its website, Our Dumb Senator, chimed in on Twitter: “#OurDumbSenator RoJo wants to protect “right” to sell guns to criminal without background check.” [Capital Times]
Wisconsin GOP lawmakers want to limit impact of courts
With some of their major legislative achievements thwarted by the courts in the past two years, Wisconsin Republicans are advancing a bill that would limit the ability of circuit judges to block state laws for the long term [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Thursday State News Briefs: Spring flooding gets more severe throughout state
A new effort is being made to prevent circuit judges from blocking laws passed by the Legislature while they’re being appealed. [Pierce County Herald]
Student Loan Debt Sucker Punch
My name is Scot Ross and I'm a student loan debtor. I know the regret of economic opportunity lost to a loan payment. [The Progressive]
Adelaide Davis: A Call to Action in Defense of Education
In 2011, the student debt hit $1 trillion with $3,000 of new student debt accrued every second, according to Businessweek Magazine. Simultaneously, the cost of education has exploded, promising student loan debt will only continue to rise in the future. In his State of the Union address, President Obama promised to make university education more […] [Capital Times]
Child care fraud tipster honored as ‘Whistleblower of the Year’
Scott Southworth, the Juneau County district attorney, who will be recognized as “No Friend of Openness” for refusing to release records sought by the Capital Times and the advocacy group One Wisconsin Now. His violation of the state open records law resulted in an $8,950 fine. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
New report: Total student loan debt has nearly tripled since 2004
Recent research conducted by the One Wisconsin Institute found student loan debt also has a dramatic, negative effect on the state economy. Individuals with bachelor degrees with student loan debt were making average monthly payments of $350 on loans with an average term of nearly 19 years, according to research by the liberal organization based […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Ron Johnson opposed Violence Against Women Act
It's simple: U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson thinks VAWA is unconstitutional and voted against it. [Rachel Maddow]