he two guest columns on Saturday’s State Journal Opinion page are a vivid study in contrast. On the one side, Mike Browne of One Wisconsin Now concludes that “Walker…. bought a win.” On the other, UW-Madison political science professor Ken Mayer presents a well-reasoned summary of the inherent flaws in the hatred/blame politics practiced by […] [Wisconsin State Journal]
Gov. Scott Walker’s billionaire backers, along with outside spending from corporate-funded special interest groups such as Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and the Republican Governors Association and Shadowy groups such as the “Coalition for American Values” outspent Democratic challenger Tom Barrett and groups supporting him 8-to-1, according to Mother Jones. [Wisconsin State Journal]
After the smoke cleared, Wisconsin’s historic venture to the recall polls in June ended as it had in November 2010: Gov. Scott Walker defeats Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, this time by six points. About 2.5 million voters wanted to get in on the fight, almost a half million more than the first bout in 2010. Still, […] [Baltimore Post Examiner]
Governor Scott Walker is not trying to win the Wisconsin recall election that will be held June 5. He is trying to buy it. If the embattled governor does prevail, he will provide essential evidence not of his own appeal but of the power of money to define our politics. [Economy in Crisis]
In his effort to fight off recall, Gov. Scott Walker (R) reached way outside the box when it came to campaign cash.The One Wisconsin Now website reports that he spent much of the past year “on a cross-country cash grab” and loaded up on dough from the right wing to the tune of some $20 million. [AFL-CIO]
Exploiting a loophole in Wisconsin election law — which removes contribution limits for officials seeking to prevent a recall election — the governor has raised unlimited amounts of cash from wealthy donors. Even after the recall election was scheduled, 23 wealthy donors gave the governor an addition $1.7 million to offset expenses run up before […] [Capital Times]
Progressive advocacy group One Wisconsin Now continued to analyze Walker’s campaign finance records throughout the 2010 campaign for governor. They found that his campaign improperly reported well over $500,000 in contributions from inside and outside Wisconsin. The organization also filed a formal complaint with the Government Accountability Board regarding Walker’s serial breaking of campaign finance […] [WisDems]
In March 2012, One Wisconsin Now released a report showing Governor Scott Walker had spent more time out of the state of Wisconsin than in the state working for the citizens. One Wisconsin Now pointed out Walker used approximately 600 hours of personal time from August 2011 to January 2012. So what was Scott Walker […] [Politiscoop]
Critics of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have condemned his funding cuts to schools and tax breaks for businesses and wealthier individuals… We rated Half True a claim by the liberal One Wisconsin Now group that tax breaks approved for corporations and the rich would cost taxpayers $2.3 billion over a decade. The changes aren’t a cost to taxpayers in […] [PolitiFact]
Gov. Scott Walker has largely shrugged off Democratic attempts to link him to the ongoing John Doe investigation that has led to arrests and convictions for several of his former close associates in Milwaukee County. Some of his allies are going on the offensive, attempting to discredit the probe by challenging the credibility of Milwaukee […] [Capital Times]
The advocacy group One Wisconsin Now has filed public record requests regarding what it describes as “the suspicious timing of a new television ad from Gov. Walker’s campaign, containing previously undisclosed information from an administration jobs report, and denials of consultation between the agency producing the report and the governor.” [Recall Walker]
The first governor in Wisconsin history to have a criminal defense fund has taken quite a bit of flack regarding the John Doe probe into allegations of wrongdoing by his former and current aides, appointees and campaign donors… But watchdogs aren’t so sure. The advocacy group One Wisconsin Now has filed public record requests regarding […] [Capital Times]
This ad and posting from One Wisconsin Now featuring the hypocrisy in Walker’s “divide and conquer” anti-union disclosure to a billionaire, megabucks campaign donor catches Walker in a classic ‘I mean the opposite’ moment. [The Political Environment]
This time, according to the advocacy group One Wisconsin Now, thirty-nine “mega donors” giving in excess of $10,000 a piece accounted for $2,430,000 of Walker’s haul. [The Nation]
Last week, the liberal advocacy organization One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint asking the board to investigate six GOP-backed candidates…Mike Browne, One Wisconsin Now deputy director, said his group will not file challenges to keep fake Democrats off the ballots. “Our concern in this has been not whether someone is running for public office, but […] [St. Paul Pioneer Press]
Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol said his office won’t review a complaint questioning whether fake Democratic candidates in last year’s recalls committed election fraud because he notarized the Declaration of Candidacy for one of them. But Mike Browne, deputy director of One Wisconsin Now, maintains the fake Democrats made a sworn declaration they were […] [Wisconsin State Journal]
The progressive group One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint with the GAB and the district attorneys in the counties that last year’s fake Democrats were from, according to spokesperson Mike Browne. [Badger Herald]
An attorney will ask state officials today to remove the fake Democrats whom the GOP put up to assure that all six recall elections will have their final voting on June 5. The GOP’s Ben Sparks says the fake Democrats ensure “election fairness” but the liberal group One Wisconsin Now has asked prosecutors to file […] [RiverTowns.net]
The move by Levinson comes as other Democrats push back against the effort to run the protest candidates. The liberal group One Wisconsin Now has asked the accountability board, as well as several district attorneys, to investigate whether the Republicans running as Democrats committed felonies by filing sworn affidavits that they would “represent” the Democratic […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
A host of candidates filed paperwork Tuesday to run in the upcoming round of recall elections – including a half dozen fake Democrats that a Milwaukee attorney will try to kick off the ballot. The move by Levinson comes as other Democrats push back against the effort to run the protest candidates. The liberal group […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Magney has also confirmed that liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now has filed a complaint with the board against the fake candidates. [Dane101]
One Wisconsin Now has sent letters to nine Wisconsin State Senators asking that they too drop their memberships in ALEC. “ALEC’s agenda is too radical and controversial for some of the largest corporations in the United States, organizations no one would ever accuse of being left-leaning,” said One Wisconsin Now Deputy Director Mike Browne. “What does it […] [Blue State Press]
One Wisconsin Now and some bloggers seem to think it is illegal for the Republicans to run “fake” or “placeholder” candidates in the Democratic primaries. One blogger, Chris Liebenthal, cites Democratic election lawyer Jeremy Levinson in support of that position. I know and like Jeremy Levinson. I respect him and, in fact, he was gracious enough to accept […] [Shark and Shepard]
Last week One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Board alleging that “fake” Democratic candidates in last year’s Senate recall elections violated state law by lying about the political party their candidacies represented. The idea is old news, however, to Vickie Mulkerin. The Middleton woman sent a complaint to the GAB in June of […] [Capital Times]
Liberal groups such as One Wisconsin Now have asked the Government Accountability Board to investigate these placeholder candidates, but Schimming said the GOP has been open about their intentions to set a clear date for the elections. [WisPolitics]
Just as it did last summer, the state Republican Party announced plans this week to run candidates in the Democratic primaries for the upcoming recall elections. This time, however, some people are claiming they may have violated the law in doing so. Reid Magney, spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, confirmed that One Wisconsin Now, […] [Capital Times]
Thanks to an astute friend of Cog Dis, we know the names of all six reprobates as the GOP shamelessly boasts about their lack of respect for the voters. Gladys HUberner will run for governor, Issac Weix for lieutenant governor, Gary Ellerman, Tamara Varebrook, James Engel and James Buckley will run in four state Senate […] [Cognitive Dissidence]
Last summer, the state Legislature reduced the amount of money low- income families can receive in tax credits by $56.2 million. That put Wisconsin among a handful of states that are effectively raising taxes on their poorest residents in 2012, according to a study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. At the same time, […] [Capital Times]
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]
Falk, the former Dane County executive, sought Friday to win over Barrett, who has declined to say whether he might also seek to be the Democratic challenger to Walker. Barrett is also running for Milwaukee mayor in the April 3 election… Mike Browne, a spokesman for the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, pointed out in […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
In an interview with Fox News legal eagle Greta Van Susteren, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says his upcoming recall election will be a “Waterloo” moment for national unions that will “invest everything possible to try and take me out to send a message.” … A recent open records request by the activist group One Wisconsin Now shows that from […] [Center for Media and Democracy]
In light of the recent repeal of the Wisconsin’s Healthy Youth Act, school sex education has been thrust into the spotlight as a critical controversial issue, as reported by Reuters. According to NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, there are roughly 900,000 teen pregnancies in the United States each year, and 48 percent of all new sexually transmitted infection (STI) […] [Badger Herald]
Under a ruling by the state Supreme Court today, groups like the conservative Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and the liberal Greater Wisconsin Committee, two powerhouses when it comes to independent political ads, would have to disclose where their money is coming from. he rules are being challenged in a federal court in one case in a […] [Capital Times]
In recent days Scott Walker’s infamous quote about returning to the private sector to make some “real money” has made its rounds across the social networks, Facebook and Twitter. The governor currently earns a mere $144,000 a year for his cushy position. [Politiscoop]
Gov. Walker’s schedule shows a stunning lack of interest in governing, while massive chunks of time were blocked off for personal time. The old adage that actions speak louder than words certainly applies here. The Governor claims he’s working to create jobs, but his actions, or lack thereof, tell a much different story. [Cognitive Dissidence]
The Progressive, Statistical minded watchdogs at progressive One Wisconsin Now have done the state’s voers another great service by examining how Gov. Scott Walker spends his time. [Uppity Wisconsin]
Gov. Walker claims that he has hired new criminal defense lawyers for the purpose of cooperating with the Milwaukee County District Attorney. However, for a year, the campaign itself was paying an attorney to ‘cooperate’ with the DA by providing needed emails, etc. [Dane 101]
A One Wisconsin Now analysis of Gov. Walker’s schedules from August 2011 through January 2012 reveals that little time was scheduled by the state’s chief executive for communicating with legislators or working on a legislative agenda but that huge amounts of time were blocked off as “personal”. [The Political Environment]
Instead of hunkering down and working to address the issues that confront the state Walker has allowed “personal” time to trump the work he was elected to do. [Caffeinated Politics]
In late 2006, a Grant County jury ordered Daniel Virnich and Jack Moores to pay a $6.5 million judgment, the largest in Wisconsin that year. The lawsuit brought by receiver Michael Polsky had accused the two men of plundering a stereo components company, through excessive payments to themselves. [Wisconsin Watch]
Gov. Scott Walker said Friday he has set up a legal defense fund to pay for two attorneys representing him in a Milwaukee County investigation, under a state law that allows such a move for officeholders if they’re charged or under investigation for election or campaign violations. [Associated Press]
Democratic lawmakers are requesting the Assembly close a loophole in the state budget that would allow for the expansion of school voucher programs across the state. When the Legislature passed the budget last year, it included a provision permitting the school voucher program to expand. However, after passing the budget, lawmakers then decided to limit […] [Badger Herald]
One Wisconsin Now is also creating a website that will highlight national efforts at helping students with excessive debt. At the height of the Occupy protests last fall, young people held signs announcing how much they owed in student loans. While the pundits were asking each other what, exactly, the protesters wanted, a big part of […] [Isthmus]
Scott Jensen, the discredited former Wisconsin Assembly speaker, remains a force within the Assembly Republican caucus. [Capital Times]
Three days before new election maps were made available to the public, Republicans supplied copies of some of them to former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, who now heads a group that spends heavily to elect GOP lawmakers. The emails show the Republicans drawing the legislative maps were willing to share their work with Jensen and […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
The former aide to Gov. Scott Walker received a new judge Thursday, postponing a scheduled arraignment; the latest turn of events in an investigation into Walker’s former employees. Tim Russell, a former Milwaukee County employee under Walker’s tenure as Milwaukee County Executive, who faces charges of embezzlement, has requested and received a new judge in Milwaukee County Court. […] [Badger Herald]
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]
The gubernatorial recall campaign of former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk has gone to an old friend of the candidate to handle its messaging. At the helm will be Scot Ross, Falk’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign communications director and who up until last month was executive director of the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now, or OWN. [Wisconsin Reporter]
Pocan believes that while ALEC is doing the work of a lobbyist, it is not complying with the reporting and registration requirements asked of all lobbyists. The bill would redefine “lobbying” to include contact with any member, employee, or agent of a body that “proposes uniform, model, suggested, or recommended legislation. [PR Watch]
The state’s budget projections have deteriorated by $216 million, opening a new shortfall for Gov. Scott Walker to confront amid the political dogfight of a likely recall election. The estimates by the Legislature’s nonpartisan budget office show that a drop in expected tax collections has opened the hole, which after counting the state’s previous cash […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]