January 2011 Archives

It is long-since known, JB Van Hollen will do anything, go to any length, dispatch any resource at the taxpayer-financed Wisconsin Department of Justice to further his partisan political agenda.

We all remember how Van Hollen's top lieutenant was seeking help on the health care lawsuit with the Republican State Leadership Committee -- one of the biggest Republican campaign outfits in the nation.

We remember how Van Hollen refused to defend the state's domestic partner registry after saying on the campaign trail that future domestic partner protections were in no way threatened by the ill-fated 2006 state Consitutional amendment to deny some basic decency rights to committed same-sex couples.

But on no other issue has this partisan hack, son of privilege shown his stripes more clearly than on Voter Rights issues.

Time and time again, Van Hollen has strategically promoted the false notion of widespread voter irregularity in Wisconsin.

During the 2010 deliberations on the failed Voter Protection Act, Van Hollen made it known in the capitol in the final hours of the bill's discussion that he would be announcing some kind of charge against one or two people who may have voted improperly. (As is almost always the case, it was two felons on paper who were not eligible to vote despite being out of prison.)

Now, as the Republicans and Tim Carpenter are trying to slam through the nation's most restrictive, and of course, unnecessary Voter ID, here comes the an "announcement" from Van Hollen's task force on voter issues.

Like clockwork.

Van Hollen shot out a press release from his Voter task force letting Wisconsin now, what voter rights allies have been shouting from the rooftops: an infintessimal 14 improper votes have been shown out of the 3 million cast in Wisconsin in 2008.

To put this in perspective. There were 40 UFO sightings in Wisconsin in 2008.

Indeed, there were more than three times as many "documented" sightings of unidentified flying objects than there were documented instances of improper votes.

With all of Van Hollen's partisan bluster, it cannot be underscored the importance of Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm's no-nonsense pronouncement:

In the course of our work we have never found any evidence to support allegations of organized, large scale vote fraud or dissuasion. Before we do anything that alters existing access to voting we should make sure we do it for a compelling reason based on a clear need.

It has become clear that any credibility Van Hollen had to lead Wisconsin's Department Justice as an unbiased prosecutor and law enforcement official has long since evaporated.

Pretty simple. Van Hollen has insisted there is widespread voter fraud. He's either lying about it, or utterly incompetent in finding it.

After all, if 14 cases of improper voting is widespread fraud, what is Van Hollen doing about the impending extraterrestrials hordes moments away from enslaving humanity.

 

 

We all know requiring folks to present a photo ID before they are allowed to vote is an expensive solution to a problem that doesn't exist -- not to mention, fairly undemocratic. Editorial boards across the state have been giving the GOP's "21st Century Poll Tax" due criticism; the latest comes from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Photo ID advocates say the measure isn't about voter suppression. We say: Prove it.

The paper goes on to bulletpoint same-day registration, automatic voter registration, and an Election day failsafe as measures that could thwart Voter ID voter suppression. Interestingly, same-day registration and automatic vote registration have been targets of GOP and Tea Party criticism in the past, so its unlikely we'll see the right wing take their advice there.

Everyone from JB Van Hollen to Scott Walker on down has criticized Wisconsin's "liberal" voting laws while overlooking the greatest consequences: high voter turnout and government participation.

[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel]

 

 

Walker signs Chamber of Commerce (WMC) payoff into law

Wisconsin conservatives: putting corporate profits before people, every time.

 

Voter disenfranchisment bill on fast track

It won't create any jobs or stimulate the economy, but legislation requiring voter identification appears to be on the fast track at the Capitol.

 

RoJo turns his back on Tea Party caucus

...and the Tea Party is none too happy about it.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

 

GOP-backed voter ID requirement draws criticism

"The voter identification bill will disenfranchise voters, add to the state's already $3.3 billion deficit and not create a single private-sector job," said Scot Ross, of One Wisconsin Now.

 

Milwaukee County DA: 'No evidence to support allegations of organized, large-scale vote fraud'

"In the course of our work we have never found any evidence to support allegations of organized, large-scale vote fraud or dissuasion," Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, a Democrat, wrote in a letter to the committee. "Before we do anything that alters existing access to voting we should make sure we do it for a compelling reason based on a clear need."

 

Obama pushes innovation in Manitowoc visit

Obama showcased Orion as a leader in solar power and energy-efficient technology, the kind of technologies the president argues are key for America's future competitiveness. The jobs at the facility "are good for all of us because they make everybody's energy bills cheaper. They make the planet safer," Obama said.

Walker spending $48 million for job-less HSA tax shelter for the wealthy

Walker's first bill signed doesn't create one single job and adds to the deficit.

 

Illinois Wind Energy Association turns the tables on Walker, welcomes Wisconsin's fleeing wind energy companies

"Today the Illinois Wind Energy Association (IWEA) invited wind power developers working in Wisconsin to focus their efforts on Illinois, where Governor Pat Quinn and the Illinois General Assembly have worked to streamline regulations for the wind energy business.

"Wind developers have been apprehensive about investing in Wisconsin since Governor Scott Walker proposed legislation that would effectively ban wind development from the Badger State. With these new job-destroying regulations on the table, IWEA is happy to highlight the much more business-friendly climate just to the south."

 

Paul Ryan is not who you think he is

"Ryan's "Roadmap" is a twisting and winding 20,000 word novel that could be summed up in just a few sentences. First, it dramatically increases taxes on the working and middle classes and cuts taxes for the wealthy. In addition, he continues to play up the "individuals" control of their health care as the manifest destiny for his Roadmap when in reality, his plan is little more than a Wall Street prospectus whose endgame ultimately calls for the government to subsidize private health care insurance control - not your health care."

Voter suppression doesn't come cheap

Not only would the Republican's Poll Tax bill, also called voter ID, cost the taxpayers millions to expand DMV access, but their next target, ending same-day registration, will also cost millions to implement. Voter suppression has a hefty price tag. 

Fraud allegations against voter vouching completely false

Parisi also says the existence of fraud related to vouching is unproven. Our review showed that it has not surfaced in Wisconsin in the course of several high-profile election fraud investigations.

[PoltiFact] rates Parisi's claim True.

Southworth calls complete defeat against OWN, a victory

"One Wisconsin Now has fully prevailed against District Attorney Southworth's withholding these critical public records," Executive Director Scot Ross said. Southworth disagrees, and claims his own victory. We'd like to know: since when is a victory defined by having to pay over $9,000 in legal fees to the other party?

Priebus' Republican National Committe: A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of David Koch's Americans for Prosperity?

The new RNC chair Reince Priebus, implicated in Americans for Prosperity's voter-caging scandal, carried a lot of water for the Koch-led group in Wisconsin. Now he's rewarded.

 

Walker axes biofuel boiler

A plan to spend $100 million to convert a coal-burning boiler to one that would use Wisconsin-grown plant-based fuels at UW-Madison's Charter Street power plant was axed Thursday by Gov. Walker's Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch.

 

Dem leader: Republcian jobs bills are "jobless"

Not only do the Republican's first bills passed in the legislature not create jobs, they add $75 million to the deficit.

 

See an item you'd like featured in the Morning Must-Read? Let us know at mustread@onewisconsinnow.org.

Have a great weekend!

Tort reform supporter bends truth about own lawsuit history

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. Thomas "Cap" Wulf, the president of Wulf Brothers Inc., a Door County-based heating and cooling company, claimed the current court system forces him and other state business owners to operate in an "atmosphere of fear."

When asked by the committee if he or his business has ever had to sue anyone, Wulf said, flat-out, 'No.' Public court records, however, show he lied to the committee and has filed suit several times. More details in the full article in the Capital Times.

 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Walker's wind plan "would kill jobs."

"If Gov. Scott Walker is serious about creating jobs in Wisconsin...he should not turn his back on job-creation opportunities that are available in green industries. Yet he seems to be doing exactly that."

 

Plale sells out Wisconsin working familes, gets a job in Walker administration

Former Sen. Jeff Plale of South Milwaukee will serve as Division of State Facilities administrator. He will make $90,000 a year. Plale and then-Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, a Weston Democrat, shocked their party last month when they both voted against new contracts for state employees, killing the deals.

One Wisconsin Now prevails in lawsuit against Juneau County DA Scott Southworth for withholding public records

 

GOP lawsuit "reform" bill a payoff to big business, won't create a single job

The GOP rode into power claiming that job creation would be job one. We're still waiting.

 

Van Hollen now officially wasting taxpayer dollars in useless healthcare reform lawsuit

Wisconsin adds absolutely nothing to these proceedings -- most of the filings have already been completed. Yet Van Hollen is still assigning DOJ staff to this fool's errand.

If the healthcare reform bill is repealed, 2.5 million Wisconsinites could lose coverage.

After the stirring job-creation effort put up by the new Republican-controlled U.S. House majority by reading the Constitution, Paul Ryan's gang was going to have to really stretch to out-do that bit of uselessness.

Turns out, they are more than up to that challenge.

Today, the new Boehnerites in the GOP House Majority are wasting tax dollars today to put up a symbolic and useless fight against the modest federal health insurance reform act, passed in the spring of 2010.

They will lose. But it's telling how determined they are to make the lot of us once-again beholden to the health insurance cartel.

In honor of this, One Wisconsin Now proudly reprints an editorial authored by two of our former interns, William Barnes and Porter Pearce, who laid out exactly why this reform was so important -- particularly for young people.

To our millennial readers, enjoy...and be outraged by the travesty of today's House theater.

By Porter Pearce and William Barnes, April 1, 2010

With the billions bandied in bailouts for Wall Street and the auto industry after our country's economic collapse, many university and technical college students were left asking, "Where does that leave me?" And until recently, the answer was in an ocean of ever-rising tuition bills and a desert of diminishing job opportunities.

Passage of the Affordable Health Care Act of America, however, not only will ensure more than 30 million additional Americans receive health care, but also college students will have a needed safety net to give us some peace of mind as we navigate this treacherous economic landscape.

The health care reform provides unprecedented advantages to young adults both in college or slowly entering the workforce. Prior to President Barack Obama's health care reform bill, students were dropped from their parents' health care plans upon graduation or at age 23. Once off, those students would have two options upon graduation: scramble for the first job with any form of health benefits, or go without health care and risk preventative care as well as a financial catastrophe.

No longer. Thanks to health care reform, young adults can remain on their parents' plans until age 26 and insurance providers cannot drop those young adults if they get sick and insurers cannot cap the amount they will pay for medical expenses.

Also, by 2014, single, uninsured adults making below 133% of the poverty level will be eligible for Medicaid.

Finally, as of 2014, single, uninsured adults making below four times the poverty level will be able to receive subsidies to buy insurance from a state health exchange, which will offer several competitive private plans.

Not only will this health care reform greatly help college students directly; it also will help them indirectly by aiding small businesses in providing coverage for their employees. Small businesses make up 76% of businesses in Wisconsin, which means that many of the companies who will employ these students are in the small-business bracket.

Until now, skyrocketing health care costs made it so a mere 38% of Wisconsin small businesses were able to offer health insurance to employees in 2008. With this law in place, as many as 77,000 additional Wisconsin small businesses will be able to offer coverage through small business tax credits that will make premiums more affordable.

Also, companies with fewer than 100 employees will have the option of buying from their state health exchange, which may give them better alternatives to buying directly from private insurance companies.

With this law in place, undergraduates and recent graduates now will have additional flexibility to get their feet planted, find a job and have access to health insurance, therefore saving them from the worry that any unforeseen medical or personal accident could financially cripple them for the rest of their lives.

With the Affordable Health Care Act of America, we have a law that will give fundamental safeguards to the students of America, affording us much-needed peace of mind in a time of such uncertainty.

Well said, today, as it was then.

Job creation and reducing the state's $3.3 billion budget deficit Payback to big business donors seems to be the top priority of part of Gov. Scott Walker.

Today, the Senate is debating the corporate no-accounability bill, also known as tort reform. Basically, it creates a system in which the consumer will never be able to hold a business that causes harm accountable in civil court.

Right now they are debating a series of Democratic amendments that would give the citizen at least some reasonable redress against deep pocketed corporations.

So far, Republicans have rejected all of these common sense improvements.

The imbalance of corporate power over the rights of individuals will grow stronger in Wisconsin.

And none of that is going to create family-supporting jobs.

Walker plan would kill wind energy, $1.8 billion in economic development

Buried in a regulatory reform bill proposed by Gov. Scott Walker earlier this week lies a provision that wind energy insiders say could shut down 12 wind farm projects, cost investors billions and essentially kill the industry in the state.

Walker says BadgerCare too big

Walker called for Medicaid reform, saying that BadgerCare has grown too large. Walker said he wants to maintain a safety net for those who need it, but wants to prevent BadgerCare from becoming a permanent entitlement or a long-term alternative to private health coverage.

Repeat driving offender Steineke to head anti-auto insurance push

New state Rep. Jim Steineke (R-Vandenbroek) has been cited for drunk driving, a hit-and-run incident and for driving without a license, so of course, he's the perfect guy to lead the Republican push to roll back mandated auto insurance coverage. When asked about his prior record and the effort to repeal the new insurance requirments, Steineke said he didn't think twice and "[didn't] particularly care what people think."

 

Here's to a good week!

The news you need to start your day.

Is the Ingeteam wind turbine plant Walker's next Talgo?

Walker already chased the Talgo plant and the rest of the 13,000 jobs the high speed rail line would have created out of Wisconsin. Are wind-energy jobs that far behind? Walker's new regulations on wind (except for the giant loophole he left for a big money campaign donor) could send green jobs packing.

 

Walker's wetland plan criticized

A bill proposed this week by Gov. Scott Walker to sidestep a Department of Natural Resources' review of a wetland at a Green Bay-area retail project is drawing sharp criticism from environmentalists while also signaling his willingness to use his powers to advance his economic agenda.

 

Why Voter ID is bad for Wisconsin

If you missed it yesterday, we got a lot of great feedback on our "Why Voter Fraud is bad for Wisconsin" post. Check out the post and join the Voter Protection Task Force we're organizing to fight back against this attack on our right to vote.

 

Have a great weekend!

Many of you have written in response to our email yesterday about the voter ID bill. Some of you were very enthusiastic in your support of our efforts to fight back against this assault on our voting rights. But others of you had questions about the bill, and wondered why we oppose requiring qualified voters to show an ID at the polls. "You have to show an ID to rent a video, why not to vote?" someone asked. "With all the voter fraud out there, I think voter ID is a good idea," another person wrote.

I want to address these questions and fully explain why this bill is wrong for Wisconsin.

First of all, the right to vote is guaranteed to citizens of Wisconsin in our state constitution. The right to rent a movie, open a checking account, go to the bar, get on an airplane or any other similar activity is not, and requiring an ID for these types of activities is not a barrier to exercising a constitutionally-protect right. Voter ID is fundamentally different.

There is absolutely no evidence of a widespread conspiracy to commit voter fraud. Wisconsin's Republican Attorney General JB Van Hollen has made prosecuting so-called voter fraud one of his top priorities. However, after a two year investigation into the 2008 election, Van Hollen has found a scant 11 potentially improper ballots out of nearly 3 million total votes cast. Of those, eight involved felons who voted while out in the community on probation or parole, a situation that voter ID would not remedy. That leaves 3 potentially bad votes out of 3,000,000 votes, or about 0.000001% of all votes cast. Voter ID is a solution in search of a problem.

The bill's authors, Republican Rep. Jeff Stone and Sen. Joe Leibham, have modeled their bill after Indiana's Voter ID law, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. According to the Supreme Court case upholding Indiana's Voter ID bill, the lower court found "99 percent of Indiana's voting age population already possesses the necessary photo identification to vote under the requirements."

Wisconsin's population is substantially less likely to have a state-issued identification. Those without state-issued photo identification and who would need to obtain one under the Wisconsin Voter ID bill include:

• 23 percent of all elderly Wisconsinites over the age of 65
• 17 percent of white men and women
• 55 percent of all African American males and 49 percent of African American women
• 46 percent of Hispanic men and 59% of Hispanic women
• 78 percent of African American males age 18-24 and 66 percent of African American women age 18-24

[Driver License Status of the Voting Age Population in Wisconsin, 6/05]

Yes, the bill as written does have a provision to provide free identification for some Wisconsinites. Each and every one of these people would have to take the time off (in many cases unpaid) from work or family obligations to flock to Wisconsin DMVs. However, access to the DMV is a problem in Wisconsin; Indiana provides its residents exponentially more access to its Department of Motor Vehicles offices to obtain identification.

Wisconsin and Indiana have similar voting age populations (4.35 million vs. 4,8 million), but Wisconsin is 50 percent larger geographically than Indiana (54,314 sq. miles vs. 35,870 sq. miles). Indiana not only provides its residents 50 percent more DMV offices than Wisconsin (140 to 91), but also nearly three times the total hours these facilities are open.

Also consider:

• Twenty-six percent of Wisconsin's 91 DMVs are open one day a month or less, while none of Indiana's are open less than 100 days a year and nearly all are open over 250 days a year.
• Wisconsin has only one DMV with weekend hours, while Indiana has 124 offices with weekend hours.
• Three Wisconsin counties have no DMVs, no Indiana county is without a DMV.
• Over half of Wisconsin's 91 DMVs are open on a part-time basis, while Indiana provides full-time DMVs in every county.

[Wisconsin DMV service centers and hours, by county; Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, locations and hours]

The need to expand the numbers and operational hours of Wisconsin DMVs to provide appropriate access could increase the $70 million biennial Wisconsin DMV budget by as much as 50 percent on top of the current $5 million price tag to provide free identifications.

Requiring eligible voters to produce ID at the polls is an unnecessary hurdle to exercising our right to vote which will prevent many people from voting. The "widespread voter fraud" that this bill is aimed at "fixing" does not exist, and the microscopic number of double votes will be FAR outpaced by the number of people who will be prevented from voting by the voter ID requirement. In a time when Wisconsin faces a $3 billion budget deficit, we simply cannot afford to double the DMV budget. Voter ID is a big-government, budget-busting solution in search of a problem; a solution that will make it more difficult to practice our most fundamental right.

That is why we oppose voter ID. I hope this email helps to answer your questions about this bill. If you're ready to join this fight, please sign up for our Voter Protection Task Force to push back against this assault on our democratic rights.

Gov. Scott Walker is dead-set on repeating all of the mistakes of the Bush administration which caused the national economic collapse.

Walker has called for over $5 billion in tax breaks, shifts and loopholes that will require drastic cuts to education, health care and yank cops and firefighters off the streets. Instead of prioritizing job creation, Walker has chosen to reward his ideological allies and donors, championing ill-advised deregulation, costly privatization and anti-corporate accountability.

Walker's plan even includes ending the state's corporate income tax altogether -- at a staggering $1.5 billion price tag for the biennium.

A story in today's Wisconsin State Journal talks about Walker's plan to try and make Wisconsin more attractive that Illinois, tax-wise, in light of Illinois' plan to increase its corporate tax rate and some individual income tax rates.

Most notable, however, is a graphic about the individual and corporate income tax rates in the upper Midwest, which if Walker was interested in learning from mistakes, would take to heart and end this nonsense about hacking the state's corporate income tax rate.

The WSJ data shows that amongst the Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, Michigan is near the bottom in both its corporate income tax rate (4.95 percent) and its top individual tax rate (4.35 percent).

With all due respect to Michiganders, the state of Michigan has regularly had the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation and is among the highest in the nation for home foreclosures.

Walker has already decided to put the Commerce Department in the hands of his corporate donors -- modeled after Indiana -- and its unemployment rate that's 33% higher than Wisconsin's.

The facts are the facts: A state's economy is predicated on its ability to generate revenue to support infrastructures like education, health care, safety and transportation.

The economic and jobs failure of Michigan's low corporate tax rate and its low individual income tax rate for the wealthy should be a warning to Walker and his GOP-majority allies in the state legislature.

So far, however, economics and history appear to be courses Walker avoided during his abbreviated time in college.

GOP introduces voter ID bill

Voter ID is a big government solution in search of a problem. There is absolutely no evidence of a widespread conspiracy to commit voter fraud, or 'to vote more than once.' Our Republican Attorney General investigated the 2008 elections looking for any and all signs of so-called 'voter fraud' and turned up 11 improper votes out of 3 million votes cast and 8 of those were felons who voted when they weren't eligible -- something voter ID wouldn't fix.

In order to pass the constitutional test like Indiana's law, Wisconsin would have to DOUBLE our DMV budget and capacity. See this One Wisconsin Now press release for more stats about Wisconsin's lack of equitable DMV access. Much more on this issue to come.

 

Walker wants business 'border war' with Illinois

Is this a prelude to the elimination of the corporate income tax Walker promised the CEO's and corporate board members at the Milwaukee Metropolitcan Association of Commerce?

 

Commerce Department privatization criticized

Gov. Scott Walker's proposal to partially privatize the state Commerce Department drew derision Thursday from a union leader and others who said it would weaken accountability, increase risks for conflicts of interests and not improve economic development in Wisconsin.

 

After waiting over seven hours, just before 8:30 Tuesday night, Dawn Kellner testified before a joint state legislative committee to offer her tearful opposition to Gov. Scott Walker's first bill - which would provide unprecedented immunity from accountability for those who harm citizens.

Dawn Kellner is the grieving mother of Jared Kellner, the 15-year-old boy who was killed on his way to Summerfest on June 24, 2010, when a 13-ton hunk of façade from Milwaukee County's O'Donnell parking structure broke free and killed the youngster.

Ms. Kellner powerful testimony is available here (7 hour and 19 minutes).

Struggling, but valiantly keeping her composure, Ms. Keller implored the committee to reject Walker's bill:

After my son died, Governor Walker told the media that he wanted to reachout to me to join in any potential lawsuit. So why is it that his very first proposal as Governor is to protect people like those who killed my son? Nobody wants to put hard-working businesses out of business, but this bill protects bad businesses like those that killed my son. Why? Why does Governor Walker want to protect the worst of the worst? Punitive damages keep bad businesses in check.

To Governor Walker and the legislators who are determined to protect their corporate donors from immunity at the expense of Wisconsin's families, you owe Ms. Kellner an explanation to her face: Why?

Well, there's one more industry we can add to Walker's list of businesses and industries that AREN'T open for business in Wisconsin: wind turbines.

But, his latest move does prove that if you're a big campaign donor, you can have whatever you want! Develop wetlands? Sure! Don't want to be accountable for your products giving people cancer? No problem! Make it impossible to be sued for neglecting or abusing someone's grandma in your nursing home? Absolutely!

From today's MJS:

A regulatory reform bill proposed Tuesday by Gov. Scott Walker would place new restrictions on wind development and calls for a special exemption for a Neenah-based businessman and contributor to Walker's gubernatorial campaign....

The special exemption involves water quality requirements for a wetland in Brown County owned by businessman and automobile dealer John Bergstrom....

Bergstrom has been a big campaign contributor for years to state candidates and committees from both parties, donating $16,700 since July 2008, records show.

Walker has proposed lowering standards and liabilities for nursing homes, doctor malpractice, businesses and drunk drivers to allegedly make the state more "business" friendly, yet wind turbines suddenly get more restrictions? Shouldn't people be more important to the Republicans than businesses, and wouldn't a robust wind turbine industry in Wisconsin be beneficial to our economy, both in terms of luring companies to Wisconsin to build turbines and create jobs, and to generate more wind power to reduce our need for expensive non-renewable energy?

More from the MJS:

The wind firms said proposals that would make wind siting more restrictive could send wind developers, and the construction and manufacturing jobs linked to wind power, out of state.

"Repealing or modifying the wind siting law will send a message to manufacturers, developers, and investors that Wisconsin is not open for this particular business, which can which can be a key contributor to Wisconsin's manufacturing renaissance," a coalition of wind developers and suppliers said in a letter to the administration and legislative leaders....

Bill Rakocy, a partner in the development firm Emerging Energies of Wisconsin, said his wind farm, the state's newest wind development, would have only one turbine instead of eight if an 1,800-foot setback were imposed.

The Shirley Wind project opened in November in southern Brown County.

"If the setbacks are expanded further than they already have been, it would create a major obstacle to wind, and the construction jobs and manufacturing opportunities that could go with it. It would be an unfortunate turn of events," he said.

Businesses, hear that big sucking noise coming out of the east wing of the Capital? It's Walker's campaign account -- if you really want this administration to be friendly to you and your industry, better grab your checkbooks and start writing checks.

Welcome to the first of OWN's Morning Must-Reads, a daily round-up of the news from around Wisconsin that you need to know.

Morning Must-Reads for 1/12/2011

Walker's wind payback

Walker ran on a promise to reduce regulations on businesses, but apparently if you're a business competitor of a wealthy Walker donor, watch out. A regulatory reform bill proposed Tuesday by Gov. Scott Walker would place new restrictions on wind development and calls for a special exemption for a Neenah-based businessman and contributor to Walker's gubernatorial campaign.

 

Vicitims of corporate malfeasance and negligence outraged at Walker's plan to slash accountability for big business.

Critics say the legislation will weaken the power of Wisconsinites, including nursing home patients and their families, to sue businesses and care providers when they or their loved ones are harmed or killed. One outspoken critic of Walker's plan is the mother of the 15-year-old boy who was tragically killed when a concrete slab fell off the Milwaukee County O'Donnell Park parking structure. Other opponents of Walker's plan warned the bill would make it much tougher for victims of drunk drivers to receive restituion.

 

Did Joe Knilans (R-45/44/Brother's Basement?) commit voter fraund?

Newly-elected State Rep. Knilans has already run into some issues with his current residential 'arrangement' -- namely that the basement he's living in isn't up to code. Turns out, though, if Knilans is telling the truth about living in his brother's basement, he may have committed voter fraud. Read more at Rock Netroots.

Wisconsin Attorney General JB Van Hollen is doing what conservatives do best these days -- wasting taxpayer dollars performing totally empty gestures in an effort to gin up the Tea Party base.

See yesterday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Van Hollen is pushing hard for Wisconsin to join the multi-state lawsuit against the historic federal health insurance reform bill signed into law last year. Set aside for one second that overturning the law would cost billions, and bring back pre-existing conditions, arbitrary lifetime limits on coverage and a whole host of other crapulence, and joining the lawsuit at this point is still a big fat loser for Wisconsin taxpayers.

Van Hollen has assigned two state attorneys to work on the lawsuit and of course won't say how much that and the other costs associated with the suit are, merely claiming they're "minimal." Um, yeah. Well since Wisconsin is facing a $3 billion budget deficit, shouldn't we be looking at spending our limited state resources wisely? And shouldn't someone be asking: What does Wisconsin gain from joining the suit?

Van Hollen hasn't yet explained that yet, simply saying that Wisconsin joining the suit "makes a difference." As  Illusory Tenant so adroitly pointed out, most of the real work on the lawsuit has already been done by other states (Florida, Virginia) who's leaders were more willing than our now ex-Governor Doyle to flush the taxpayers money down the toilet chasing the Tea Party's fantasy. I'm struggling to see what "difference" throwing Wisconsin taxpayer dollars at this suit will do.

But let's not forget where this all got started in the first place.

Back in April of last year, when Van Hollen originally tried to join the suit, One Wisconsin Now exposed coordination between Van Hollen's top deputy at DOJ and the Republican State Leadership Committee, a 527 political organization, funded in part by health industry corporations that spent over $57 million to elect GOPer candidates since 2002. Van Hollen got a $10,000 contribution from the RSLC in 2009.

We obtained emails from Van Hollen's office that indicated then-Deputy Attorney General Ray Taffora contacted the RSLC looking for information and direction on the lawsuit, and got a response from RSLC the morning after the historic health care reform billed passed.

Check out the emails at: http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/-/Press%20Releases/VanHollenHealthEmail.pdf

Of course, Van Hollen didn't honor the full open records request, so we'll never know the full extent of the partisan motives and behind-the-scenes pressure from the corporate health care delivery industry at the core of the lawsuit against health care reform. Governor Doyle and the Democratically-led Legislature had the foresight to stop Van Hollen from following this fool's errand; Walker and Van Hollen would rather score political points on the taxpayer's dime.

Throughout 2009 and 2010, OWN documented the billions of dollars in corporate handouts that Walker was promising on the campaign trail, all the while he was promising to balance the state budget and put people back to work.

So public expectations, if not OWN's, were high that the first bills he would introduce in the Special Session that he called for (at taxpayer expense), would do just that, balance the budget and put people to work.

Not the case.

As reported by the AP:

Instead of chipping away at the two-year budget problem, they include tax cuts that would increase the deficit by at least $80 million a year, based on figures released to The Associated Press by Walker's office. Exact cost estimates to be given to legislators from the nonpartisan Fiscal Bureau were not available as of Friday.

Other measures, like revamping the Commerce Department, will likely have only a marginal cost or none at all. Walker hopes that the new public-private hybrid agency he wants to create focused solely on job creation will help him meet his goal to increase jobs by 250,000 over the next four years.

Some of those Fiscal Bureau estimates not available Friday were available today: Read more on GOPromiseBreakers.com. 

Just a day after announcing a $40 million tax cut to businesses without any requirement to create jobs, Walker, along with other Republican governors, is pressing the Obama administration to allow him to drop people from Medicaid, or BadgerCare, as it's called here in Wisconsin. BadgerCare, as you may know, provides free or reduced-premium health insurance for children in poverty, the unemployed, and for people whose employers don't provide health insurance coverage and can't afford for-profit plans.

Given the new DHS Secretary Dennis Smith's hostility towards Medicaid, reflected in a series of papers written for the right-wing Heritage Foundation, this is likely just the first step. In a December 2009 paper titled "Medicaid Meltdown: Dropping Medicaid Could Save States $1 Trillion," Smith advised states to pull out from the federal Medicaid program as the "rational choice," and that failure to do so "might be viewed as irresponsible on the part of elected state officials."

On the campaign trail, Walker had already made clear his disinterest in protecting the program, by suggesting time limits and other restrictions that would result in over 400,000 people dropped from health coverage.

Cap Times health reporter Shawn Doherty writes today, "It will be fascinating to see how Wisconsin's new health secretary administers programs he has been so critical of."

I think we already have our answer: Smith won't be administering these programs, he's been given the job by Gov. Walker to dismantle them.

Behold, our latest project -- MeetTheMajority.com, where we pull back the slimy, cold-blanket of rhetoric and deception and expose the extremism and failed policies of the new members of the conservative legislative majority.

Here are just a few of the highlights from the new corporate-controlled conservatives:

Rep. Kathy Bernier of Chippewa Falls who said the state domestic partner registry to provide some equality for committed same sex couples is "just another burden for county clerks." So far, in the county where she was clerk had a total of five domestic partner registration. I know, equal rights are just SO DARN BURDENSOME!

Sen. Pam Galloway of Wausau, who said, "Some companies have taken jobs overseas to preserve jobs here...It isn't that all jobs have left. It's important to look at which jobs are leaving, are they worth preserving?" Call me silly, but I happen to believe that ALL American jobs are worth saving.

Rep. Jim Steineke of Kaukauna who said, "I propose phasing out the corporate income tax altogether, because I think the corporate income tax doesn't do anything real beneficial to any of us." Of course, his crazy idea to blow an even bigger hole in the budget deficit is a blip on the Crazy Radar compared to his 100-page long police report.

Yech. I need a bath. And that's just scratching the surface. Check out the rest of the insanity and inanity at http://meetthemajority.com.

In a counter-intuitive move, Walker told Politico yesterday that even though he campaigned "aggressively" against the federal health insurance reform legislation, and on his first day in office granted Atty General Van Hollen permission to join a lawsuit against the reforms, he will still apply for federal health reform grants and won't block the law's implementation in Wisconsin.

But, here's the catch: Walker claims he's going to use those grants to put in place his own health "reforms." Probably to pay for tax cuts and gifts to his corporate campaign donors.

Remember when Walker claimed that he would use the federal train dollars to pay for roads? And then the Republican Congressional delegation said that wasn't possible, and Obama pulled back all that money to give to Illinois, New York and California, ending the possibility of a 21st century transportation system for Wisconsin for another generation. Well, now he claims that he'll use the federal health reform dollars to pay for his own "reforms."

I sure hope in the end those dollars come here and are used as intended - to guarantee quality, affordable health care for every Wisconsinite who needs care, regardless of employment - but if Walker's "reforms" don't do exactly that, then I hope Obama refuses those grant applications and sends the money to states who will do the right thing with it.

Newly sworn-in Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has aggressively opposed health reform. On his first day in office, Walker authorized Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to pursue a lawsuit against the reform law.

But in an interview with POLITICO, Walker acknowledged that he is still applying for health reform grants. He also won't block the law's implementation.

"If we can find a way to define our own reform, obviously within the realm of health care, and as long as [the federal government] doesn't restrict how we can do that, then I think we'd be inclined" to do so, Walker said. "Right now, I'm not going to concede that we can't put in place our own reforms." [www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47065.html]

One Wisconsin Now's "Rock the Pantry" progressive rally to help feed Wisconsin is set for the this evening at the same time Gov. Scott Walker will be hosting a big money partisan political inauguration fundraiser to benefit his campaign and the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

All proceeds from tickets to One Wisconsin Now's "Rock the Pantry," to be held at Madison's historic Majestic Theatre, will go directly to charities assisting people hit hardest by the economic collapse.

Gov.-elect Scott Walker has already distinguished himself with plans to cut taxes for the rich and big business and turn our taxpayer-financed Commerce Department over to his corporate campaign donors. One Wisconsin's Now's "Rock the Pantry" is a gathering for progressives who are more than ready to fight Walker's efforts to leave working families to the mercy of corporate special interests.

Despite pressure from around the state, Walker has refused to relent on plans to make his inaugural a partisan political fundraiser. Gov. Jim Doyle, by contrast, used proceeds raised from his 2003 and 2007 inaugural events, to donate over $500,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wisconsin.

"Rock the Pantry" will be held at the Majestic Theater on King Street in Madison from 7-10p.m. The event will include progressive speakers, DJ Andrew Larson from Saturn's 8 and the supergroup "Big Band," which features nationally-renowned local musicians.

Progressives are ready to challenge Scott Walker as he pulls out the failed economic policy playbook that tanked our national economy. When Scott Walker tries to slash education, health care and pull police and firefighters off the streets to repay corporate campaign donors with more tax breaks, working families from across Wisconsin will fight him every step of the way.

See you at 7 tonight.