"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. 

Stop me if you heard this one before.

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:

But wait there's even more. 

Just a few choice selections from twitter about adulterer & former "rising star" GOP Governor Mark Sanford:

The Pro-Family Values Party: Larry Craig, Mark Foley, David Vitter, John Ensign, and now SC Gov. Mark Sanford. (progressflorida)

It's interesting to discover that the governor who didn't want stimulus funds was getting stimulated elsewhere! (robschendel)

Gov. Sanford: "marriage should only be between a man, a woman, and another woman from Argentina." (walterolson)

So, does a career go down the toilet the other direction in Argentina? (socratic)

1999: Sanford votes to BAN gay adoption 2009: Sanford, a father of 4 sons, spends father's day with his mistres. (progressflorida)

At least Gov Sanford's foreign policy isn't suffering... (rodrigoduarte)

Couldn't have said it better myself. The "family values" party disintegrating before our very eyes. 

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!

You can register for the event by calling Buzz Davis at 608-873-4886 or register online at http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/event/detail/townhall/wrby

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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.

Here's a gem.

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.

[Public Citizen Video via YouTube]

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.
 

If Randy Koschnick is one thing, he’s consistent.

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.

Turns out Koschnick isn’t just consistent, he’s consistently wrong. One Wisconsin Now looked at over 4,000 decisions made by the Wisconsin Supreme Court during the current term of Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson. Chief Justice Abrahamson sided with the state’s position on criminal cases more than 90% of the time.

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. 

It just never ends, does it?

Now, rich corporate CEO’s are all a-flutter over *gasp* paying workers a fair wage. In Gov. Doyle’s budget, a new provision requires companies that receive help from the state to pay their workers the prevailing wage.

J. Michael Mooney,  chairman of the MLG group, an investment and real estate developer, called the idea of a paying a decent wage to workers “economic suicide.” A quick look at MLG’s Real Estate Investment website shows they have a portfolio value of $330 million. They have a “presence” in four states: Wisconsin, Florida, Minnesota and Texas. The “Executive Board” of MLG is a bunch of rich white guys. I guess the diversity policy at MLG only applies to what label designer suit each white male board member wears. Excuse me if I don’t sympathize with this pompous Uncle Money Bags.  

“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.

Your March Badness 2009 bracket is ready.

http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/marchbadness/

March Badness is One Wisconsin Now's tournament where you choose what's the worst of the worst on the right so far in 2009.

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.

Click here to fill out your March Badness 2009 bracket.

It's easy. And it's a fun way to make your voice heard about the nonsense of the right wing in 2009.

After you've cast your votes, you can also print out a bracket and keep up-to-date on all the "winners."

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.

We're stuck on 17 entries, so we've got to have a play-in game. Click on the March Badness logo or go to http://www.OneWisconsinNow.org/MarchBadness to cast your vote for one of these two:

Is it the legal circus surrounding Norm Coleman? Or the obstructionism of House Minority Leader John Boehner? Go to OneWisconsinNow.org/MarchBadness to cast your vote now!

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."

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.

In a new radio ad out this week, WMC is subjecting  hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin citizens who are paying their fair share to their audio propaganda sledgehammer. It seems the bottom dwellers at WMC are doing their darndest to capitalize on the fear many of us are feeling about the economy.Here's a sampling of the radio ad script:

“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.