"If we don't change and change soon, I may bump into my lawyer friend again, but it just might be in Texas." -- Senator Ted Kanavas's threat to move to Texas, 6/30/09
What do you think of when you think of Texas? The Dallas Cowboys (shudder)? How about Enron? George W. Bush (double-shudder)?
Despite those horrible inhabitants, State Senator Ted Kanavas (R-Brookfield) thinks the grass is greenest in the Lone Star State. Not happy to just echo WMC's talking points and bash Wisconsin, Texas Ted goes a few steps further and actually names the state in which he'd rather live.
Fox News "accidententally" identified known-Argentian-loverboy Mark Sanford (R-Governor, South Carolina) as a Democrat today. Here's a screen capture (via HuffingtonPost):
Just an honest mistake the news network that slobbered all over the disastrous Bush administration would whoops mis-label Sanford as a D-sinner?
Not quite. Here's another screen capture of known-underage-boy-seducer former Congress Creep Mark Foley (R-Florida) also from the Huffington Post:
Energy independence, green economy, green collar jobs -- the keys to our economic recovery and our national security. The new economy that will rise from the ashes of the de-regulated mess left by the Bush administration will be led new green manufacturers based in the US, employing American workers and developing green technologies. President Obama made it clear a new, green economy is one of his top priorities with the influx of stimulus cash for state projects with an emphasis on energy efficiency. Read More »
A story in the Journal Sentinel this morning might as well been a press release from the garbage lobby: “Plan would make Wisconsin's garbage fees highest in nation, group says.” Wow, that’s quite a claim! I wonder who this group is and why they care about Wisconsin? Read More »
There are few things as ubiquitous as the golden arches of McDonald’s. Rarely is one more than a quick car ride away from the glorious greasy gut bomb of a quarter pounder with cheese or an order of mystery meat McNuggets.
But here in Wisconsin, there is one industry that has penetrated our communities, large, small and in-between, more than the ever-present home of the Hamburglar – payday lenders. More than 500 payday lenders currently operate in Wisconsin; there are more payday lenders in Wisconsin than McDonald’s. Within walking distance from my apartment in Madison there are at least three payday loan predators (and only one McD's).
Here at OWN we got the following listing for an event for folks who have unfortunately lost their jobs in these tough times. Please pass the word around to your friends and neighbors who are looking for some support!
Have you or a friend been laid-off, downsized, or part-timed and now you’re looking for work?
The Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans has organized a third town meeting for workers who have lost their jobs, been part-timed or are underemployed. Workers and their partners living in Stoughton, southern Dane, northern Rock counties or other communities are invited to attend.
A new video from Public Citizen demonstrates just how easy it is for un-patriotic corporations to set up an offshore tax haven and avoid paying taxes in the US.
An intern at Public Citizen, Jessica, calls a lawyer in Panama about setting up a shell corporation there. The lawyer tells her "Panamanian corporations basically pay no taxes on any foreign derived income." So if Jessica's Panamanian corporation makes money in the US, she doesn't pay any taxes in Panama.
Activists in the One Wisconsin Now community have sent over 5,300 email messages to the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) demanding the big business special interest group drop its lawsuit preventing paid sick days from becoming law in Milwaukee. OWN launched the action last week in advance of the court hearing today about paid sick days and the frivolous suit brought by MMAC.
70% of Milwaukee voters supported the paid sick days referendum last November, a clear mandate. And paid sick days are good for business. Workers without adequate paid sick days often come to work when they are sick out of fear over losing their job. In the process, they spread the sickness through the workplace, making their co-workers sick, extending their own illness, and lowering their productivity. In fact, a study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research showed local employers would save as much as $17 million annually in increased productivity when paid sick days become law.
If you’d like to compose your own message to the Board of Directors of MMAC you can do so by visiting:
Career politicians really get my goat. Even worse is a career politician who makes his bones by selling out Wisconsin’s students to for-profit corporations in exchange for campaign contributions.
Exhibit A: Brett Davis (R-Oregon)
Brett used to be the chair of the Assembly Education Committee. And during his career in the legislature, Brett’s been leading the charge to take money from our public schools and funnel it to for-profit corporations and private schools. Davis authored 2007 AB 870, which would have allowed charter schools funded by Wisconsin tax dollars to send money to for-profit out-of-state corporations. He also led the charge to grow the voucher program in Milwaukee – because, you know, taking money out of public schools will help them improve, duh. He even got an “award” from the now-defunct right-wing front group Wisconsin Institute for Leadership for his “work on virtual schools.”
Public school haters and ultra-conservatives profit chasers of all stripes have taken notice.
Virginia-based K12, Inc. is the for-profit company contracted to create curriculum for the Wisconsin Virtual Academy. In its prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, K12, Inc. anticipated $5 million in 2008 revenues from Wisconsin taxpayers. [K12, Inc. SEC Prospectus, 12/12/07, pg. 69]. Davis’ work to pump money into virtual schools has a direct impact on K-12, Inc. – more virtual schools means more money for K-12. And in a related story, Brett Davis got $500 in campaign cash from executives at K-12. Shocker.
Citizens of the fightin’ 80th will remember the flood of smear literature, paid for by the law-breaking PAC All Children Matter, supporting Brett Davis that drowned Green County mail boxes last election. All Children Matter are funded by a small group of ultra-wealty, uber-conservative profit hawks like the Walton family (of Wal Mart fame), Dick and Betsy DeVos (of Amway pyramid scheme fame) and Wisconsin’s very own crazy voucher couple George and Susan Mitchell. ACM has one mission: prop up elected officials with “issue ads” in return for toeing ACM’s line and pushing for more privatization of public schools. The financial backers of All Children Matter have given Brett Davis $13,000 in campaign contributions.
Hey Everyone -- if you find yourself at the Monona Terrace in Madison, make sure you stop by the One Wisconsin Now table to get a sneak-peak at our latest project 9 in 09!
Maybe pressure from the public kept Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce on the sidelines in the spring Supreme Court race. Perhaps a new progressive majority at the Capitol forced WMC to “reassess” its pro-corporate, anti-worker lobbying efforts.
Or maybe the corporate titans at WMC were just biding time, saving their money, energy and whatever modicum of influence they might have on what really matters: busting unions.
Now, the WMC Issues Mobilization Council is out with a radio ad targeting Ron Kind for his support of workers and co-sponsorship of the Employee Free Choice Act. And once again, the ad is full of fear-mongering, false claims and scare-tactics. Here are some of the low-light from the WMC radio ad, and some of the FACTS about the Employee Free Choice Act. Read More »
Keith Ripp used to be a farmer and heifer raiser. Now he’s “representing” the good people of the 47th district—his home town is Lodi. According to his campaign website, “Agriculture is one of my main issues..it contributes $51.5 billion to the state’s economy.”
But as soon as Ripp fell in with the State Republican Bad Ideas Caucus in Madison, suddenly farmers, agriculture (12% of all jobs in the state) and the Wisconsin economy took a back seat to petty partisanship. In one of his first votes, Ripp voted against the state economic stimulus bill last month.
My how time flies.
In an epic display of revisionist history worthy of the George W. Bush Library Foundation, Keith Ripp is now talking up the state stimulus package for constituents in his hometown newspaper.
By referring to “we” in the above statement, Mr. Ripp should really clarify. We really means the legislators other than Keith Ripp who voted for the stimulus. Keith Ripp voted NO on the stimulus bill. Just to be clear.
Time and time again, he has grossly distorted Chief Justice Abrahamson’s record. Fortunately, we here at OWN are willing to do the due diligence and research that Koschnick has no interest in doing.
Randy Koschnick has claimed over and over again that Chief Justice Abrahamson “sides with criminals 60% of the time.” I’ve seen Koschnick at several events, and this is 60% number is a constant drum Koschnick beats over and over and over again.
Randy Koschnick was all too content to pick and choose the cases that would fit his false characterization of Chief Justice Abrahamson—but we did not. We looked at all types of criminal cases that came before the Supreme Court. And the facts are indisputable: either Randy Koschnick is grossly distorting Chief Justice Abrahamson’s record, or he just simply does not understand how the Wisconsin Supreme Court operates. Whatever the truth is, Randy Koschnick is on the wrong side of it.
But this isn’t the only time OWN has caught Koschnick with his hand in the ‘Distortion Jar.’ Remember Koschnick’s breathless criticism of the Chief Justice taking contributions from lawyers? OWN once again did the research, and found that Koschnick took money from lawyers and then ruled on over 1,800 cases involving those lawyers.Koschnick even took money from the District Attorney in Jefferson County, guaranteeing that Koschnick would rule in cases involving a campaign contributor. Koschnick didn’t recuse from those cases either. Funny how facts can get in the way like that! Randy Koschnick has zero credibility on judicial ethics. I’m beginning to wonder if he even knows what judicial ethics mean. Our justices must be help to the highest ethical standards, and Randy Koschnick has time and again broken the trust of the people of Wisconsin and shown that he’s all too willing to distort the facts for his own political gain.
“This would be a bad idea in good times,” Mooney also says. So when the economy is down, not the right time for fair pay. And when the economy is up isn’t good either. I’m still trying to figure out when would be a good time for Mr. Mooney to share some of his wealth with his workers…yeah not finding one. This guy and the corporatists at WMC will NEVER find time for fairness.
But I guess there’s a part of me that expects it from these top 2%-ers. Paying their workers a fair wage would mean less money in their pockets, and while it certainly is greedy, self-serving, and un-American, it’s the standard of these flag-waving, chest-bumping robber barons. After all, this is the same crowd that cheered while President Bush cut taxes for the rich in a time of war! Guys like Mooney and WMC don’t want to pay their fair share to support the troops, and they don’t want to pay their fair share to the workers. They never have, and if they had their way, they never would.
If you can’t pay a prevailing wage in Wisconsin to your employees then you shouldn’t be in business. There, I said it. Go. Leave. Get out already. Take WMC with you. Then finally the real people of Wisconsin might get a break from the never-ending crying and bitching and moaning from greedy businesses who don’t give a shit about workers. Workers are the ones who make you rich! We’re the ones who buy your goods. We’re the ones that labor endlessly, and whose efforts these corporatists so willingly exploit. It’s the workers who toil away for whatever scraps they can grab from the owners who hoard their wealth.
There are lots of companies out there who would gladly take help from the state AND pay their workers fairly. If Mooney doesn’t want help from the taxpayers, he can stick it. Don’t take the money then. That leaves more room for the kind of companies we want here in Wisconsin: profitable companies that care about community, the environment, and paying their workers fairly.
The ballots were tallied and in our play-in game, you voted House Minority Leader John Boehner's grandstanding obstructionism over Sen. Norm Coleman's never-ending legal circus.
No recount. No nonsense. Norm Coleman: You lost.
We've got eight match-ups in two divisions - the Hannity Division and the O'Reilly Division. In each contest, you choose between two offensive right-wing acts to see what moves on to the next round.
Tournament time is here, and we need your help to pick the winners.
We designed our own bracket and filled it with the worst-of-the-worst we've heard from the right so far this year -- it's called March Badness 2009 and your vote decides the winner.
The winner will advance to the official March Badness 2009 bracket that comes out Thursday. So make sure to vote now at http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/MarchBadness and stay tuned this week for the full March Badness bracket and to help pick the "winners."
Much to the chagrin of the corporate honchos at WMC, strong unions ARE actually good for the economy, according to a new report by the Center for American Progress. Better yet, unions are good for the Wisconsin economy. But perhaps most importantly, unions can actually help Wisconsin businesses weather this economic storm.
Of course, those of you still under the hypnosis of WMC’s never-ending stream of anti-union, anti-worker rhetoric and stances over the years (see here, here, here, here, and here), will no doubt crow that somehow workers getting a fair share of the wealth they helped create is a bad thing. “Bad for business” WMC and the conservo-bots will say. “Businesses will leave in droves” they’ll cry. But that’s just not the case. But what WMC really means is “The Corporate CEOs we represent deserve all the wealth. Forget the little guys and gals.”
Earth to WMC: if people have no money to spend, no one can buy your goods. After all, there’s only so many ultra-rich CEO’s you can sell stuff to, and not all of you manufacture private planes or gold-plated toilets. You need to expand your market—to the common folk. And what do unions do best? Help the workers to paid fairly, which means more cash to buy stuff--you know, the American way. Consumer spending drives 70% of the economy, and stronger unions mean more consumer spending, period. In Wisconsin between 2004 and 2007, union workers are paid, on average, 11.9% higher than their non-union counterparts. But union memberships are down dramatically: according to the CFAP study, unionization is down 50% since 1983. I wonder what parallels we can draw…who was in charge for the majority of that time in Wisconsin? Conservative corporatists at the Capitol and WMC.
Unionization numbers aren’t just declining because less people want to join. According to a Peter Hart Research Associates poll, 3 in 5 people would join a union if they could. Thanks largely to the scare tactics of WMC and groups like it (Club for Growth, Wisconsin Institute for Leadership, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce etc.), it’s harder today to join a union. And as I mentioned before, WMC’s lobbyists are busy as ever this session, working hard to block good pro-worker legislation. (here, here, and here).
Now Scott Walker, literally and figuratively following in McCain’s footsteps, gave his “State of the County” speech Monday night at the same Bucyrus International plant. Given the implosion of the economy brought on by conservatives like Bush, McCain, and McCain right-hand-economic-man Phil Gramm, one would think Walker might want to distance himself from the failed policies of the Bush years and the McCain campaign. Think again. Walker trotted out the same old conservative talking points about “tax-cuts,” firmly toeing the Bush line.
“History shows that tax cuts lead to prosperity,” Walker said. What history is that? The last eight years, when Bush handed out billions to the wealthy and corporations while the economy went to garbage? Tax cuts for the rich in a time of war? Walker must be getting the official Bush Administration History Revision report. What about the history of the Great Depression and the New Deal which proved beyond any doubt that the type of stimulus Obama’s pushing, that is government spending and infrastructure construction, will work? Read More »
WMC is always against corporations paying their fair share in taxes. Now, they’re using the economic downturn to try and frighten all of us into laying down while WMC rams its radical pro-corporate agenda down our throats.
“More than $200 million in new taxes on employers. In a recession? That’s going to make things worse. Wisconsin will be less competitive. Our families will have fewer jos. {With fewer jobs, our communities have fewer resources for schools, and parks, and roads.} When business taxes go up, businesses may not move here.”
Scared yet? Don't worry, the horror show continues.
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