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Executives Open Pockets to Help Walker Fight Recall

The Walker campaign finished the quarter with a combined total of more than $2.6 million cash on hand in the recall and general campaign funds. The campaign has raised more than $12 million since Jan. 1, 2011. According to the campaign, 16,406 of those contributions were $50 or less, representing 76.5 percent of the overall number […] [Biz Times]

Former Aide to Walker Pleads Guilty in John Doe Investigation

A former county-level staffer for Gov. Scott Walker pleaded guilty to two felony charges on Tuesday as the ongoing 20-month investigation into Walker’s former campaign staff continues. Darlene Wink, a former Milwaukee County employee under Walker’s tenure as Milwaukee County Executive, entered a guilty plea for two felony charges of soliciting political contributions while working in a […] [Badger Herald]

New Website Tracks Walker Gate

One Wisconsin Now has posted a new website that tracks the scandal unfolding around Scott Walker, his former County Executive staff and gubernatorial appointees. [The Political Environment]

Hyper-Partisan Media Trackers’ Epic Fail

Over at the “non-partisan” rag that is Media Trackers, Collin Roth wrote a piece a few days ago attacking Scot Ross, the former Executive Director of One Wisconsin Now, as being “hyper-partisan.” Roth goes on to allege Ross was the “subject of similar crimes” to those alleged to have been committed by three close aides to then-Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. [Blogging Blue]

One Wisconsin Now – Meet Uncle RICO

One Wisconsin Now, along with multiple affiliated groups, turned in recall petitions signed, allegedly, by 1 million Wisconsin residents on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2011.  The Wisconsin Government [lack of] Accountability Board finally decided tonight to follow black letter law and release the scanned documents to the public. [The Dinner Table]

Ross Moves From One Wisconsin Now to Falk’s Campaign

This is old news in political circles – the job switch happened last week – but for those who haven’t heard, One Wisconsin Now’s fiery front man has left his executive director’s post. [Capital Times]

Lawsuit Against Walker ‘Voter Suppression’ Bill to Continue

Dane County Judge dismissed motions today that would have stopped the lawsuit against Gov. Scott Walker’s voter identification bill, that experts say is both not needed and could lead to legal voters being disenfranchised or subject to a de facto poll tax.“Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to keep legal voters from exercising their right to hold […] [Milwaukee Community Journal]

Scott Walker’s Plutonomy: An Economy for the One Percent

Walker’s choice to be on Wall Street the day of the recall filing is so astounding, for many it goes far beyond the notion of a tin ear. “Walker could not have sent a clearer signal to Wall Street, that he is on the side of the 1 percent ready to do their bidding and […] [PR Watch]

Reforming the Recalls

New bill would make it a felony to sign a recall petition twice, a second bill would only allow a recall if an elected officer committed a crime or violated state ethics. The Government Accountably Board estimated that it could cost local taxpayers nearly $20 million to finance a statewide recall election with a primary. [Menomonee Falls Patch]

Wisconsin Recall Elections a Sure Thing, But New ID Law May Block Anti-Walker Vote

Wisconsin will soon witness major election and legal battles to combat Walker-supported laws limiting the rights of public workers and restricting voting booth access. Laws passed in 2011 virtually eliminate public-employee bargaining rights and restrict voting to those with approved IDs, which could potentially disenfranchise tens of thousands of state residents. “First you take away […] [In These Times]

Recall of Walker Almost Certain

The recall of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker seems to be a foregone conclusion, with the news that yesterday, over 1 million signatures, on recall petitions, were turned into Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board (GAB).  The number of signatures needed to   recall Gov. Walker, is just over 540,000 signatures. [Examiner]

One Wisconsin Now Statement on Recall Petitions

In just one year, Gov. Scott Walker has failed the people of Wisconsin as no other elected official in our state has. Continuing job loss, while nationally the rest of the country gains jobs. The largest cuts to public education of our students in our state’s history. [WBAY]

1 Million to Recall Walker, What it Means

Democrats and their leftwing allies are touting the fact that they reached their 1 million-signature goal in the effort to recall Governor Scott Walker. While recall advocates only needed to gather 540,208 valid signatures to force an election, reaching the 1 million mark was a symbolic goal that they set to prove the strength of the movement. […] [Big Government]

Recall Signatures Arrive in Madison

“In just one year, Gov. Scott Walker has failed the people of Wisconsin as no other elected official in our state has. Continuing job loss, while nationally the rest of the country gains jobs. The largest cuts to public education of our students in our state’s history. More than 65,000 people including 29,000 children about […] [Milwaukee Small Business Times]

Walkergate Exclusive: Add a New Campaign Violation to the List

One Wisconsin Now has been following his campaign finance reports for years and recently reported that he has violated campaign finance laws more than 1100 times which, if enforced, could tally up to more than $500,000 in fines for his campaign. [Cognitive Dissidence]

Walker Kickin’ It Old School

A complaint filed this week by One Wisconsin Now alleges the Walker campaign failed to properly report nearly 1,100 individual campaign contributions totaling more than $500,000 has begun to gain national attention. [Root River Siren]

Could Walker be More Closely Tied to the John Doe Investigation?

We already know that [Walker’s] campaign improperly reported over $500,000 in campaign contributions by failing to disclose them. This constitutes over 1,000 campaign finance violations, punishable by fines of up to $500. Therefore, Walker could face up to $557,000 in fines, according to the progressive group One Wisconsin Now. [Fire Dog Lake]

Senator Grothman Introduces Bill to Eliminate Campaign Donation Disclosure Rule

Allegations that Gov. Scott Walker improperly reported campaign contributions over 1,000 times since 2009 have come back into the spotlight with the introduction of SB 292. Liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now has filed two complaints with the Government Accountability Board over what they say are more than $500,000 in improperly reported contributions to Walker’s campaigns – […] [Dane 101]

Walker Accused of Violating Over 1,000 Campaign Finance Laws

Wisconsin law requires that a candidate disclose contributions which exceed $100 — something that Scott Ross, director of One Wisconsin Now, says he repeatedly declined to do.“Scott Walker has improperly reported well over $500,000 in contributions from inside and outside of Wisconsin,” Ross said. “Scott Walker has absolutely no interest in following the campaign finance […] [Raw Story]

Walker Expects a Recall Election

Walker also defended raising out-of-state cash to bolster his campaign for the recall. Last month, Walker’s campaign reported raising $5.1 million since July. The liberal advocacy group, One Wisconsin Now, said nearly half the money was raised from out of state. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

Value of Gableman’s Legal Services Disputed

In addition to working on Gableman’s ethics case, McLeod assisted Gableman in responding to a public records request from the Journal Sentinel and in a complaint filed by the liberal group One Wisconsin Now against Gableman with the Office of Lawyer Regulation. Gableman and Michael Best have not said whether Gableman paid for those services. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

Walker Opponents Not Caught Up in Holiday Spirit of Latest Campaign Ad

“The jobs losses, cuts to schools and education, and enrichment of corporations paint a far more Dickensian picture than Walker’s ad,” said Scot Ross, leader of the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now. “Good thing he and the family are ‘volunteering’ for a food kitchen, because his policies are going to make even longer lines […] [Republic]

Gableman voted with law firm after receiving free legal services

Separate from the formal ethics charge in 2008, the liberal group One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint that same year against Gableman with the Office of Lawyer Regulation. McLeod represented Gableman in that matter, according to correspondence from the Office of Lawyer Regulation. The agency dismissed the complaint against Gableman in April 2009. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

Wisconsin Recall Calculus: $5M Distant Dollars v. 500,000 Citizens

A One Wisconsin Now analysis reveals that ten percent of Walker’s money came from Texas—including a $250,000 check from the Bob Perry, the Lone Star conservative who warped American politics by attacking Vietnam veteran John Kerry with “Swift Boat” lies. [The Nation]

Walker far outraising recall organizers

“In all our years of analysis, we have never seen a politician try to win a Wisconsin race with so much non-Wisconsin money,” said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now executive director [La Crosse Tribune]

Walker Recall Drive Gathers 597,000 Signatures in Month

In the past few weeks; Walker has rolled out a series of TV commercials touting his accomplishments. According to One Wisconsin Now, a liberal watchdog group, the governor has spent about $2.2 million on advertising time. [Green Bay Press-Gazette]

Walker opponents gear up for recalls

One Wisconsin Now, a left-leaning nonprofit, created a $10,000 reward fund for any information leading to the arrest of people who deface or destroy petitions. [Badger Herald]

One Wisconsin Now helps ensure recall participation is possible

Ross says One Wisconsin Now is merely playing a watchdog role, “to make sure those who want to participate in the recall process are able to.” To this end, the group has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone who defaces or destroys recall petitions. [Green Bay Press-Gazette]

Recall count will take extra month

According to Sparks, signing a petition multiple times can be illegal if an individual does so with intent to inflate the number of signatures. He also charged liberal groups like One Wisconsin Now have actively encouraged people to sign petitions more than once. [Badger Herald]

GOP looks for possible fraud in recall petitions

Wisconsin Now, a left-leaning nonprofit organization, published “Recall Petitioners’ Rights” in late November, stating one can circulate or sign a recall petition even after already signing another recall petition but that only one signature per person will be counted [Badger Herald]

Walker recall verification efforts ramp up

Recall Walker supporters are taking steps to ensure that only valid signatures are submitted for counting. Conservative tea party activists, who say they are nonpartisan, and Republican Party opponents want to make sure that any questionable signatures are challenged. When asked to cite some of these incidents, Ross Brown, founder of We the People of […] [Isthmus]

Letters: P-C’s criticism of One Wisconsin Now misdirected

One Wisconsin Now never encouraged, advocated nor suggested those participating in the recall petition signing process to sign more than one petition. To state differently is false. Our memo is comprehensive and detailed. Our memo is meticulously researched. Our memo provides people with the facts. And we respectfully disagree with The P-C that informing the […] [Appleton Post-Crescent]

Editorial: Recall petition statement self-defeating

In a “recall petitioners’ rights” memo, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, One Wisconsin Now lists this item: “You can circulate or sign a recall petition even if you have already signed another recall petition (note, however, that only one signature per person will be counted.)” [Appleton Post-Crescent]

Tea Party Declares Wisconsin First Battleground of 2012 Elections

Recall supporters say they are not intimidated by the tea party effort. “I think this is just some right wing, outside corporate front group trying to profit off of people around the country about the situation here in Wisconsin,” Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, says. “I think that any corporate-sponsored front group […] [WBAY]

Tuesday State News Briefs: State leads the nation in job losses

A liberal group announced a $10,000 reward today for information that leads to the conviction of anyone who destroys recall petitions. The head of One Wisconsin Now, Scot Ross, said his group hopes to discourage the destroying of recall petitions — which is a felony under state law. Ross said the reward was motivated by […] [Pierce County Herald]

Pro-Recall Group Outs Facebook Page That Boasts About Destroying Signatures

Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, denounced the anonymous group, in a Madison press conference. “We cannot allow democracy to be threatened by those who would illegally destroy recall petitions with valid signatures on them,” Ross said. “We intend to keep the public informed about its rights during the signature gathering process and alert those […] [Mount Pleasant Patch]

Liberal group offering $10,000 reward for election fraud

We’ve already seen several alleged cases of recall petition fraud. Now one liberal group is offering up to a $10,000 reward if you see recall petition fraud. “We have been troubled there may be allegations that there may be efforts to illegally destroy legitimate recall petitions,” said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now’s Executive Director.Ross says […] [MSNBC]

At issue: Campaign money disclosure

A new Republican bill would do away with the requirement and exempt political donors from disclosing where they work. The liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now and WEAC, the state’s largest teachers union, have signed up to oppose the bill. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a government watchdog group that tracks campaign spending, also opposes it. […] [Wisconsin State Journal]

Walker says he’s not responsible for recall effort against him

But Scot Ross, executive director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, noted Walker did not talk about cutting collective bargaining during the campaign and said Walker was precisely the one who caused the recall effort. “Gov. Walker is responsible for tearing Wisconsin apart and the division which has led to this unprecedented recall effort […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

Walker to air TV ad during Monday Night Football

Stephan Thompson, executive director of the state Republican Party, put out a statement touting the 30-second ad. The head of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, though, chided Walker’s team for using a political newcomer to praise Walker’s proposals. “It’s no surprise that someone from the most Republican part of Wisconsin, who is specifically opposed to […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

John Nichols: Cain, Koch, Walker and the smoking man

Herman Cain’s smoking campaign manager, Mark Block, was the Koch brothers’ man in Wisconsin until two days before Gov. Scott Walker’s inauguration. That’s when he switched from controversy-plagued campaigning at the state level to controversy-plagued campaigning at the national level. The group One Wisconsin Now described the plan as “a coordinated plot by the Republican […] [Capital Times]

Ethics board clears senator

The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board has dismissed a complaint against Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, in which he was accused of using his position as a lawmaker to benefit his wife. The liberal group One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint against Olsen after he inserted language in a bill that would allow the Cooperative Educational Service […] [Baraboo News Republic]

For a Close Aide to Herman Cain, Scrutiny Comes on Two Fronts

Until this week, Mark Block was famous as the guy who inhaled in a Herman Cain campaign Web video that went viral. Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, a liberal advocacy group, mordantly credited Americans for Prosperity with “derailing a discussion about how we had to move to more clean energy, which is where […] [New York Times]

Wisconsin GOP Stumbles in Effort to Rig Recalls

Republican efforts to inoculate themselves against recall hit a snag Monday when a moderate Republican announced his opposition to a plan that would permit recalls to happen in newly-drawn partisan districts. Scot Ross of the liberal One Wisconsin Now says of the last-minute bill that “if Mary Lazich thought recall signature notarization was such an issue, she […] [PR Watch]

Republican Senator Schultz to vote against recall changes.

Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) told the Associated Press on Monday that he would not votefor a bill introduced on Friday by Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) that would immediately put into place new legislative districts created by the recent Republican-led redistricting plan.”Mary Lazich believes that only Republicans should get to vote,” said Scot Ross, […] [Dane 101]

Cain’s smoking campaign manager has seen ups, downs

Before pack-a-day smoker Mark Block became a YouTube sensation, he was a quirky, controversial and enduring character on the Wisconsin political scene. He won some. He lost some. He got in trouble. He bottomed out. He bounced back. And now his career has taken its most improbable turn. Critics on the left saw the organization […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]