One Wisconsin Now, the progressive watchdog group that has provided the closest monitoring of Walker’s budgetary gamesmanship, explains: “Since his inauguration in early January, Walker has approved $140 million in new special-interest [Unions]
Protesters clogged the hallways of the Wisconsin state Capitol on Thursday as the Senate prepared to pass a momentous bill that would strip government workers, including school teachers, of nearly all collective bargaining rights. [La Crosse Tribune]
Scot Ross, head of the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now, said: “No Wisconsin governor has deployed the military against public employees as far back as the 1930s, showing just how radical the steps are that Gov. Walker is taking to consolidate his power.” [Wisconsin State Journal]
Today I’ll estimate that 15,000 people swarmed the city square if you look at the Dept. of Administration’s estimate. If you listen to One Wisconsin Now-30,000. Based on this photo, and what I saw yesterday when DOA also counted 10,000, probably 15,000-20,000 – but I’ll try not to overstate and stick to 15,000. [BlueCheddar]
The Ed Schultz Show is coming to Madison tomorrow (Thursday). Thank god for Big Ed—he cares. He asked, “What is the Democratic Party doing?” One had to feel sorry for One Wisconsin Now’s Scott Ross when Ed pressed the point. Scott blinked. Not Ross’s fault—the Democratic Party has been very quiet. [Garvey Blog]
Scot Ross of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now said no governor has used the military against public employees as far back as the 1930’s. He said current events show “just how radical the steps are that Gov. Walker is taking to consolidate his power.” [RiverTowns.net]
Reaction to the appointment is mixed. Scot Ross, director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the hire “looks like pre-emptive insurance.” But Glen Jones, head of the Wisconsin Troopers Association, said Stephen Fitzgerald is “head and shoulders above” other candidates. [Appleton Post-Crescent]
“No Wisconsin Governor has deployed the military against public employees as far back as the 1930s, showing just how radical the steps are that Gov. Walker is taking to consolidate his power,” said Scot Ross, executive director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now. [Wisconsin State Journal]
Shrapnel from the crashing Truth-O-Meter then hit the progressive political organization, One Wisconsin Now. The group added up the cost of three Walker tax giveaways, noting the governor had added $140 million in new special interest spending to the state’s mounting budget deficit. [Capital Times]
The priest, John Patrick Feeney, who is now 81, went on to abuse other children before he was sent to jail in 2004. Hell of a guy, that David Prosser. He does “work hard” and “write well.” One Wisconsin Now was on this last year. [Brew City Brawler]
Scot Ross of the progressive Advocacy Group One Wisconsin Now added: “You take away people’s rights and then use the National Guard to back it up. If this was happening in another country, we’d call it a Banana Republic.” [Capital Times]
Scot Ross, executive director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, questioned hiring Stephen Fitzgerald just before Walker presents a budget to lawmakers to erase a two-year shortfall of more than $3 billion. “It looks like pre-emptive insurance – ‘I need you to carry my water and I’m going to give your dad a six-figure […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
“That Gov. Walker’s new secretary in charge of these programs has both advocated for states ‘dropping out’ from federal Medicaid assistance and has not made a commitment to keeping SeniorCare is enormously troubling,” said Scot Ross, executive director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now. [Wisconsin State Journal]
Scot Ross of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now says it’s troubling that Walker’s health secretary – Dennis Smith – has suggested in the past that states drop Medicaid altogether. Ross also said it’s troubling that Smith has not committed to keeping Wisconsin’s Senior-Care prescription drug program. [RiverTowns.net]
But many Democrats haven’t been impressed with their ideas, accusing Republicans of recycling failed policies and rushing through ill-conceived legislation that will worsen the state’s gaping budget hole.“I don’t think they’ve offered anything new,” said Scot Ross, executive director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now. “Except a reduced voice for working families.” [Wisconsin State Journal]
“Gov. Scott Walker and the Republicans are willing to do anything to ensure the wealthiest Wisconsinites never have their taxes raised again,” said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now Executive Director. “The people of Wisconsin are once again seeing Republicans bend over backwards to address the corporate special interest wish list and ignore the promise to […] [Ashland Current]
But one of Walker’s political antagonists, Madison-based One Wisconsin Now, has slammed the three bills. In a Jan. 28, 2011, news release, the liberal advocacy group said: “Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled state legislature have added over $140 million in new special interest spending.” So, which is it? Tax cuts or spending? [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
“And speaking of Ryan, One Wisconsin Now notes that the budgetary messiah of the GOP “voted for eight straight Republican budgets that increased spending by a staggering 50 percent.” [DailyKos]
Signers include: Citizens Utility Board, Clean Wisconsin, Sierra Club John Muir Chapter, Wisconsin Environment, Midwest Environmental Advocates, WISPIRG, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, Physicians for Social Responsibility Wisconsin, Wisconsin Resources Protection Council, Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice, Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger, Nukewatch, Coulee Progressives, One Wisconsin Now, and Town and Country […] [WisBusiness]
State Sen. Glenn Grothman has a dream – a dream to stop state workers from having time off on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Critics have been quick to point out that Grothman has a history of what some would call “culturally insensitive” legislation. [Wisconsin State Journal]
A lawsuit over public records brought by a Madison advocacy group last year against Juneau County’s district attorney is over. But the war of words between One Wisconsin Now and Scott Southworth continued this week in the wake of a legal spat that originated with an opinion Southworth issued last year to all five Juneau […] [Juneau County Star Times]
But to Wisconsin progressives, Priebus is known as the state Republican Party operative who allegedly tried to suppress the votes of minorities and students in both the recent midterm congressional elections and the 2008 presidential election — in apparent coordination with David Koch’s Americans For Prosperity…. An audiotape of the meeting was obtained by the […] [Alternet]
In fact, progressive nonprofit organization One Wisconsin Now has already begun its attack campaign. In a Jan. 13 press release, the group claimed that voter ID is a “big government solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.” I disagree completely. [Green Bay Press-Gazette]
It’s a goal that started as a campaign promise, one that drew scorn from critics such as the liberal group One Wisconsin Now. [Milwaukee Magazine]
For a bill designed to make it easier for Wisconsin businesses to operate without the fear of a lawsuit, there was a surprising lack of business owners who turned out to testify on its behalf. One of the few who did wasn’t exactly straight with the facts. [Capital Times]
The DA has agreed to pay One Wisconsin Now $8,850 for its legal expenses and $100 in damages. The liberal group filed the lawsuit in September, suspecting Southworth was withholding emails it requested in April. [Milwaukee Magazine]
One Wisconsin Now reported that Southworth had agreed to pay the group’s legal costs and expenses, as well as $100 statutory damages to settle the case. “One Wisconsin Now has fully prevailed against District Attorney Southworth’s withholding these critical public records,” said Executive Director Scot Ross. “[He] needs to explain to the public fully why […] [Juneau County Star Times]
A liberal activist group has agreed to drop a lawsuit it filed alleging that Juneau County District Attorney Scott Southworth violated the state’s open records law. The agreement reached Tuesday between One Wisconsin Now and Southworth says that all of the records requested in April were turned over in October. [Associated Press]
How fitting it was, though, that the letter was published on Jan. 7. According to One Wisconsin Now, it was on Jan. 7 that the average CEO in Wisconsin had already earned more income (in one week’s time, mind you) than the state’s median household will earn in the entire calendar year. [Wisconsin State Journal]
Indiana’s bill served as the model for Wisconsin’s photo identification bill, said Executive Director of One Wisconsin Now Scot Ross. He added the comparison is faulty. “Close to 99 percent of the voting age population in Indiana had the required voting identification. It’s completely different in Wisconsin,” Ross said. [Badger Herald]
This isn’t the first time that the Vandenbroek Republican has had car troubles. Over the last 20 years, he has been cited for operating while intoxicated, driving without a license and participating in a hit-and-run accident – details of which have been posted on a new website called www.meetthemajority.com. The website was created by the […] [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
In September, a nonpartisan watchdog group called One Wisconsin Now filed complaints with the federal and state attorneys general, charging that state Republicans and tea party organizations had engaged in vote suppression, targeting minorities and college students. In a statement released Friday, Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, warned against the practice becoming […] [Christian Science Monitor]
“The Republican Voter ID bill will waste tens of millions of dollars and create zero private sector jobs,” said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now executive director. “The Republicans have come up with a budgetbusting, big government solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.” [Milwaukee Courier]
The liberal advocacy group, One Wisconsin Now, has promised to challenge the law in court. The group says the bill will end up costing the state money because the Department of Motor Vehicles offices will have to extend their hours to meet the demand for the ID cards between now and the spring election. [Superior Telegram]
Not everyone was so gracious. Scot Ross, head of the Madison-based liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now, accused Priebus of trying to suppress voter turnout over the years in Wisconsin. “Now that Reince Priebus will have the RNC’s treasury at his disposal, those across the county interested in fair and clean elections will be on […] [La Crosse Tribune]
One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross said, “When voter suppression allegations have surfaced in Wisconsin for the past decade, the name Reince Priebus isn’t far behind.” [Think Progress]
Despite promises that their top priority is job creation, the new state Republican legislative majority is immediately trying to ram through a Voter Identification bill which will not create jobs and will likely cost tens of millions of dollars in order to meet constitutional requirements. “The Republican Voter ID bill will waste tens of millions […] [Winnebago Dems]
The bill’s critics say they’ll consider a legal challenge if the voter ID bill is passed. One Wisconsin Now director Scot Ross made that promise on Wednesday, saying that Wisconsin would have to expand the number of Department of Motor Vehicles stations in order to ensure there is enough access for people to get IDs. [Sheboygan Press]
Republicans propose a voter ID bill that would require residents to show identification when registering to vote, a law Jim Doyle repeatedly vetoed. They say it will reduce fraud, but Scot Ross, director of One Wisconsin Now, says “Voter ID is the Republicans’ attempt to rig elections in their favor by disenfranchising minorities, students and […] [Isthmus]
With large GOP majorities in both houses, the bill on photo ID is expected to pass easily. But Scot Ross, executive director of the group One Wisconsin Now, said he would consider filing a lawsuit once the Legislature acts, over concerns that the requirement would infringe on the right to vote. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
“Voter ID is the Republicans’ attempt to rig elections in their favor by disenfranchising minorities, students and seniors citizens,” said Scot Ross, director of the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now. He argued that in order for the law to be found constitutional, the state would have to spend millions of dollars to add additional […] [Associated Press]
The article was e-mailed to me by One Wisconsin Now, a liberal advocacy group, whose Anna Landmark responded to my observation that it will be interesting to see how Smith administers programs he’s been so critical of. “Smith won’t be administering these programs, he’s been given the job by Gov. Walker to dismantle them,” she […] [Capital Times]
Scot Ross of One Wisconsin Now said his liberal group is among those that will attempt its own tally in an effort to determine which jobs Walker should and shouldn’t get credit for creating. [Wisconsin State Journal]
“This is an unprecedented power grab to undercut the Legislature,” Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, told The Capital Times. He said Walker’s proposal to circumvent the authority of government agencies would turn the governor’s office into “the state’s largest waiting room for lobbyists.” [Isthmus]
Scot Ross, executive director of progressive policy group One Wisconsin Now, said the governor is not prioritizing real problems. [Statehouse News]
One Wisconsin Now held a separate music show in Madison last night to raise money for relief groups and food pantries. Director Scot Ross said about 350 people showed up. Walker’s inaugural ceremony at the Capitol did collect food for Milwaukee’s Hunger Task Force. [Pierce County Herald]
Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, echoes Miller’s thoughts. “This is an unprecedented power grab to undercut the Legislature,” says Ross. “That is a pretty big warning sign for people in the Capitol.” Ross says Walker’s proposal to circumvent the authority of government agencies would turn the governor’s office into “the state’s largest […] [Capital Times]
Walker took some criticism from liberal groups such as One Wisconsin Now for not sending the proceeds of the ball to charity, as Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle had done in his inaugural events. Doyle’s events benefited Boys & Girls Clubs around Wisconsin, providing them $233,000 in 2003 and $323,000 in 2007. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]
Scot Ross Interview with WI Gazette [Wisconsin Gazette]
Walker promised to veto all tax increases. And he promised a lower tax burden for “all” individuals and job creators. That included a list of specific tax cuts that the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now says adds up to $5 billion in revenue. [PolitiFact]