http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/blog_rss/coryliebmann Stuff that is on Cory's mind. During the last two elections for the state Supreme Court, conservatives have tried to run as crime fighting super heroes. As part of this charade they all but turned the necessary and noble profession of being a public defender into an indictment. So it was a curious move that they would trot out a man that has spent well over half of his entire career as a public defender. Surly, given the course of his legal career, Randy Koschnick would never go down that substance free road right? If the Tuesday press release from his campaign is any indication, he is going down that road even if he has to twist himself into a pretzel doing it. True to right wing form, he trots out his first two supporters from law enforcement. He quickly sticks with the recent model by then taking unjustified pot shots at his opponent using the same kind of bumper sticker approach to law that made us so sick the last time around. The press release goes on to say the following: Judge Koschnick said he’s spent time listening to the law enforcement community across the state and there’s one issue in particular that keeps coming up. It’s the frustration felt by law enforcement officers after spending hundreds of personnel hours and thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to catch an alleged criminal only to have the courts set them free via a broad interpretation of the law. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHgk http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHgk/commentary#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:34:26 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHgk Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHgk/ The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that a University of Chicago based researcher is enthusiastic about Milwaukee’s paid sick days ordinance. Inexplicably the business page reporter described it as “controversial.” A strange use of words since it was overwhelmingly passed by nearly 70 percent of Milwaukee voters. The only people that are creating a controversy are the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) and their mouthpiece Steve Baas. The researcher referenced in the story is Susan Lambert, a professor in the School of Social Service Administration and an authority on the relationship between employment and the well-being of those that are employed. Lambert says that she thinks that Milwaukee’s Paid Sick Days ordinance is “great overall.” She went on to point out the following: A key barrier to sustained employment is having the opportunity to take time off when you or your child is ill," said Lambert, who's speaking Sunday in Milwaukee as part of an annual lecture for alumni and friends of the University of Chicago. "That certainly is reported by workers, especially in low-level hourly jobs, as something that prevents them from sustained employment. Lambert also went on to explain that such unnecessary turnover among this group of workers only leads to higher costs for employers in the form of additional recruiting, hiring and training. It seems reasonable to me that even those new employees could be vulnerable to the same forces and create what amounts to a revolving door of unnecessary costs to business. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHg8 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHg8/commentary#comments Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:48:39 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHg8 Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHg8/ WMC’s empty suit on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Michael Gableman, has responded to the complaint filed against him by the State Judicial Commission. Gableman ran what is widely acknowledged as one of the sleaziest campaigns in the history of the high court. The specific charges in this matter surround Gableman’s Willie Horton-style TV ad against his opponent former-Justice Louis Butler. It clearly implied that Butler, while serving as a public defender, enabled a sex offender to be released and that the offender then went on to commit more egregious crimes. At best the Gableman ad was a clear effort to mislead the public and at worst it was a premeditated and contemptible lie. Either way Gableman’s actions clearly violated the Code of Judicial Conduct which is the case being made by the Judicial Commission. Part of Gableman’s breathtaking “defense” against the Judicial Commission is that the state’s statutes on judicial candidates making misleading or confusing statements is unconstitutional. Based on that he apparently believes that he has the right to mislead the public whenever he chooses! Only in Gableman’s small world would an elected official fight tooth and nail to defend his perceived “right” to lie to the public without repercussion. What is next from Gableman? A passionate argument defending his imaginary “right” to libel? Actually, as absurd as that may sound, one could very reasonably suggest that he is trying to make that very case right now. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHgd http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHgd/commentary#comments Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:58:24 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHgd Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHgd/ The Wisconsin Institute for Leadership (WIL), called for an economic stimulus plan today. How shocking that the corporate lobbyist mouthpiece completely ignored the needs of working families in it! Their policy proposals are nothing more than a big biz wish list that completely locks out the average Wisconsinite. If WIL wasn’t such a shill for these powerful interests, wouldn’t they have at least mentioned the critical role that the average family plays in our economy and account for it? Wouldn’t any legitimate economic stimulus package include help for struggling working people that are barely getting by? Apparently WIL still hasn’t learned the lessons of the last eight years that ignoring the economic needs of the average person only sets us all up for long-term failure. WIL isn’t offering a serious proposal here, but they are giving us a prime example of what corporate lobbyists do best: look out for their own narrow interests while ignoring the needs of everyone else. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHgl http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHgl/commentary#comments Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:14:58 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHgl Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHgl/ Just a couple years ago when Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker first ran for Governor, he attacked Governor Doyle for his use of the veto pen. On his campaign blog Walker wrote an item entitled “Veto Power” (8/6/05). In it he criticized Doyle for the use of what has been called a Frankenstein Veto (bringing together words from two or more sentences to create new passages). He further said that he thought this use of the veto was illegal. He even went so far as to ask state legislators to take legal action against the Governor. Given all of this bellyaching over Doyle’s vetoes in 2005, what does it say about Walker that he seems to be going even further as a county executive in 2008? The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported that in vetoing items in the county budget that Walker took this “creative” use to new heights. He largely bypassed the so-called Frankenstein Veto for the much more extreme “Vanna White” version. He did that by using random letters and even spaces from paragraphs to create entirely new meanings in the 2009 budget text. At one point he reworked two full pages of text by taking out letters and spaces simply to create the phrase: “restore contract funds.” In 2005 Walker called Doyle’s use of the veto “bad policy” and “illegal”, so I have to wonder how he would describe his own Vanna White ways now. It is also strange to hear the stone cold silence on the right concerning Walker’s vetoes, when they regularly froth at the mouth at even the hint of Governor Doyle exercising his veto power. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHgf http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHgf/commentary#comments Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:33:22 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHgf Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHgf/ Unfortunately Wisconsin enshrined discrimination against gay families in its constitution in 2006. But that didn’t stop hundreds of Wisconsinites all across the state from protesting California’s passage of Proposition 8 . Over the weekend people in Wisconsin stood in solidarity with others all across the country demanding equality for gay and lesbian families. While reading the accounts of some of the protests over the weekend, I also came across a very telling piece in the Boston Globe today . Massachusetts is one of the only states in the nation that allows same-sex couples to get married. Although those that oppose equality claimed that the sky would fall and that the institution of marriage would collapse, the Globe piece reports that the very opposite is true. Even though the State of Massachusetts is often maligned by conservatives for lacking “traditional” values, it has long ranked as having one of the lowest divorce rates in the country. Some 5 years after the state sanctioned gay marriage, it still has the lowest divorce rate in the nation. Not exactly the disaster for marriage that the extreme right chants about every time the subject is broached. The Globe piece also shows that attitudes of people living in Massachusetts have drastically changed toward gay marriage as they have been exposed to it over the past five years. In 2004 only 42 percent of the people in Massachusetts approved of gay marriage, while today a full 59 percent approve. Proposition 8 has rightly become a rallying cry for the advocates of full equality. While the fight against such discrimination continues, the State of Massachusetts should also be held up as an example. An example of equality actually enriching the institution of marriage, not tearing it apart. An example of how tolerance can overcome even the most deep seated fear. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHV9 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHV9/commentary#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:15:31 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHV9 Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHV9/ Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s partisan lawsuit against the Government Accountability Board (GAB) endangered the right to vote for scores of Wisconsinites. It also forced taxpayers to pay the bill coming and going. Thanks to J.B. we had to pay for both filing the frivolous lawsuit and for defending against it. Now we find out that it may have cost the state in a few other ways. Over the weekend the Associated Press reported that two assistant attorneys general told Van Hollen’s top aide that they were close to reaching a favorable settlement on cases in which they were representing the GAB. They also advised him that filing Van Hollen’s suit against the GAB would derail their progress in the matter saying: However, as I also indicated, there is virtually no likelihood of exploring, much less settling, these cases if this office files an action against GAB ... If such a filing is in the offing, you need to know this. Not only was the partisan suit “in the offing” but Van Hollen actually filed it a very short time after being warned about the consequences that it would have on his office’s defense of the GAB in other cases. Thankfully Van Hollen’s partisan lawsuit was thrown out of court before it was allowed to disenfranchise Wisconsin voters in an election that by all accounts ran very smoothly . Unfortunately, there still were other casualties of his partisan lawsuit: taxpayer dollars and important cases where he should have been focused on defending the State of Wisconsin not suing it. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVY http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVY/commentary#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:45:23 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVY Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHVY/ Progressives have been warning about the disaster that is the Bush economy from the very beginning. Unfortunately conservatives pretended that "the fundamentals" of our economy were "strong." That is until big corporations, the investor class and the wealthy started to feel the pain that has been hitting working people for years now. After nearly eight years of right wing economic policy, here are the results as compiled by the Economic Policy Institute : Unemployment There were 9.5 million unemployed workers in September 2008, up 25% from 7.5 million in January, and up 40% from 6.7 million in March 2007. Job Openings There were 2.9 unemployed workers for every job opening in August 2008, up from 1.9 in January and 1.8 one-year ago. Median Wages Median weekly wages for a full-time worker have fallen by 1.6% over the last year. Foreclosures There were 265,968 home foreclosures in September 2008 alone, 21% higher than last September. There were 765,558 foreclosures in the third quarter of this year, 71% higher than the third quarter last year. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHV4 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHV4/commentary#comments Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:47:33 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHV4 Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHV4/ On Monday morning the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Transit Authority (RTA) voted for a stable, sufficient and dedicated local funding source for local transit including the KRM Commuter Rail. By a vote of 6 to 1, the RTA approved a report that includes seeking a half percent increase in the sales tax in the three county region (Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha). Naturally, Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker’s appointee to the RTA was the lone vote against progress. Even the appointee of his Republican counterpart in Racine voted in favor of the plan. After today’s supermajority vote it will now go to the Governor and the legislature. Now is the time for people to encourage their public officials to fully support this important investment in our infrastructure. A new poll shows that there is strong support among the general population in the three-county region for raising the local sales tax to fund and expand public transit and to remove it from the property tax. This poll comes on the heels of Milwaukee County voters passing a referendum to modestly raise sales tax to remove transit, parks and others important services from the property tax. The same poll revealed that a full 82 percent say that it is important for the greater Milwaukee region to have a modern efficient transportation system. They further agreed that such a system would be essential to the economic growth of the region. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVm http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVm/commentary#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:13:37 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVm Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHVm/ The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has reported that Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) has been awfully quiet both just before the November 4 election and immediately after it. Although they had named keeping the state Assembly in Republican hands as being a priority and tried to raise $1 million by Labor Day, they apparently ended up doing very little. One can reasonably look at the election and consider it a clear repudiation of WMC and their legislative agenda. After all, they did run television ads promoting three Assembly challengers (in the 49th, 88th, and 91st districts) and all three went down to defeat. Of the 5 candidates they supported with radio ads, only one (in the 47th district) won, and that one is headed for a recount. Two of the incumbents who were defeated at the polls, Hines and Moulton, were attacked in part for their 100% adherence to the WMC agenda and they both lost. Also, in both districts 57 and 92 voters elected candidates to replace faithful WMC rubber stamps. There are only a few answers for WMC’s complete failure in this election cycle and none of them are very flattering. Either they were not able to actually raise the amount of money that they needed, or they raised it but funneled it through other groups as to avoid culpability for producing more negative ads, or they simply spent their money and their message was soundly rejected by voters. Whatever the exact explanation, don’t look for WMC to tell us about it. Who could blame them? No one would want to discuss the last several months which have been a complete WMC train wreck. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVT/commentary#comments Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:53:35 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVT Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 3 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHVT/ Another presidential election has come and gone in Wisconsin, and once again by all accounts it went as smoothly as possible . Although the right wing, led by Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, whipped up as much frenzy and paranoia as they could, there has been no sign of the mischief that they predicted on Election Day. Before the election, Van Hollen went as far as to jeopardize hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin votes by filing what was clearly both a partisan and frivolous lawsuit which was rightfully thrown out of court . As in 2004 , this year Wisconsin seemed to have a very smooth Election Day with very high turnout. Actually, this year Wisconsin had the second highest turnout in the nation. This is something to be encouraged and not stifled for purely political purposes. After having his partisan lawsuit thrown out of court, J.B. Van Hollen suggested that he might appeal the matter to a higher court. Given the smooth election that we just had in Wisconsin, J.B. should abandon his partisan suit and stop wasting taxpayer dollars over a problem that for all practical purposes does not even exist. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVk http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVk/commentary#comments Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:13:11 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVk Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHVk/ At the beginning of the year I openly wondered if the “Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights” (TABOR) was totally and completely dead because the only one attempting to revive it was off the wall State Representative Frank Lasee (R-Bellevue). He announced his intentions even though TABOR and similar proposals had already been repeatedly shot down by a broad array of advocacy groups and elected officials. If the wacky rep’s plan to re-re-introduce the flawed legislation wasn’t enough to actually kill it perhaps his being tossed out of office will finally serve as the well deserved death nail for the right wing scheme. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVz http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVz/commentary#comments Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:07:52 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVz Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 1 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHVz/ Ever since Wisconsin voted to enshrine discrimination against gay families in its constitution, conservatives usually respond to the subject with the  same mantra, “the people have spoken.” So it seems odd that many of those very same conservatives have conveniently forgotten that line of reasoning concerning the many progressive referendums that passed all over the state on Tuesday. City of Milwaukee voters overwhelmingly approved a requirement that employers provide paid sick days to all workers. The paid sick day referendum was passed with a whopping 68 percent of the vote. Can someone on the right say mandate? Instead, we can expect to hear only complaints and insults from the right about voters in the state’s largest city. Many of them will likely support the protracted legal battle that is being promised by the business elites in Milwaukee. Even though such a massive majority of the people have spoken, conservatives appear content in ignoring their voices and burning tax dollars on needless lawsuits. Health care reform has long been a top issue in our state and across the nation. In 2006, many communities across the state passed referendums calling on the state legislature to act on the issue. At that time, I contended that the call for health care reform very well could have been a major issue in flipping control in the state senate . Once again, on November 4, many people voted on similar referendums all across the state again. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHV8 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHV8/commentary#comments Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:25:36 EST http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHV8 Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 3 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHV8/ After  repeated problems involving door-to-door sales crews in Wisconsin, legislation was proposed in the state legislature that would regulate the practice. That legislation was almost singlehandedly blocked by the Eau Claire state Rep. Terry Moulton who chaired the committee responsible for taking up the measure. Blocking such common sense legislation is bad enough, but doing so with questionable motives makes the act much worse. The Associated Press confirmed this week that Rep. Moulton received $1,000 in June from three executives of Southwestern Company, a company that hires such door-to-door sales crews. The Tennessee based company was the only one registered against the legislation. Moulton received the campaign cash after he succeeded in blocking the measure in his committee. Moulton claims that he “worked my butt off” on a compromise on the proposed legislation. Unfortunately the bills original author added that Moulton certainly did work hard but it was mostly for the executives at Southwestern not for the best interests of his constituents. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVD http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVD/commentary#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:14:26 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVD Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHVD/ Last week I wrote about Republican State Senate candidate (18th SD) Randy Hopper and how he was complaining about taxes and suggesting that the current tax structure has been unfair to him. In that blog, I wrote that he has a credibility problem on the issue since he only paid Wisconsin personal and business income taxes once since 1997. Now we have another conservative candidate, Tom Tiffany (12 SD), complaining about the burden of taxes while having not paid state income taxes since 2005. Not only did Tiffany manage to avoid paying individual taxes for two years but at least one of his businesses also didn’t pay income tax last year. Given that record on taxes, it is really no surprise that he was a former spokesperson for the Big Oil financed Americans for Prosperity. That extremist right wing group would just as soon have corporations contribute absolutely nothing in the form of income taxes. If Tom Tiffany is going to run around his district complaining about a tax burden, he should probably say, “I don’t mean me, though, because I haven’t had to pay state income taxes for a number of years.” http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHV2 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHV2/commentary#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:08:50 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHV2 Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHV2/ Former State Rep. Debi Towns continues to receive the backing from All Children Matter , an organization that remains under a legal cloud in Wisconsin after the State Elections Board determined in November 2006 that they violated rules about express advocacy. Top donors to the lawbreaking pro-private vouchers group have given Towns over $8,000. They have also sent out smear mailings on her behalf and placed a large television buy in her media market. All Children Matter is the $10 million out-of-state, pro-private school vouchers group financed by right wing billionaires and millionaires, including Dick and Betsy DeVos and the Wal-Mart heirs. All Children Matter, which has blanketed the state with racist attacks against numerous Democratic elected officials and candidates, was fined $5.2 million by the Ohio Elections Commission on April 4 for illegally funneling $870,000 into Ohio campaigns. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVQ http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVQ/commentary#comments Mon, 27 Oct 2008 16:55:01 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVQ Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHVQ/ After media reports revealed former Appleton City Council member Jo Egelhoff had removed the library of blog posts she had written from the “Fox Politics” website she owns, One Wisconsin Now managed to retrieve nearly 180 posts and have cataloged the extremist and often-disturbing full library at FoxPoliticsRevealed.com . OWN is happy to provide people with the opportunity to read the extremist views Jo Egelhoff tried to hide. FoxPoliticsRevealed.com is an unsettling walk through Egelhoff’s extremist mind, whether it’s supporting the gouging of big oil, increasing class sizes and ending early education for our kids, or spiking help for veterans, slashing family planning and applauding George W. Bush’s veto of children’s health care funds. Until now, just a handful of the millionaire blogger's posts had been resurrected, including: criticizing "gas price whiners," calling Social Security, Medicare and SeniorCare "giveaways" and "charity," bemoaning why "must I fund for the benefit of my neighbor," supporting a 50 percent in shared revenue and pulling cops off the streets. FoxPoliticsRevealed.com shows even more of these extremist views. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVK http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVK/commentary#comments Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:50:17 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVK Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHVK/ Apparently right wing blogger turned state assembly candidate Jo Egelhoff is confused about her various positions. Dan Bice reports in Friday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that she pulled down many of her blog postings prior to starting her current campaign. With good reason, as the story points out, she has written many things on her blog that many of her supporters and even general constituents in the district would find disturbing. One priceless example is that as a candidate she received the endorsement of the National Rifle Association but apparently they didn’t know that as a blogger she was pretty adamant against concealed carry. An NRA lobbyist was quoted in the story reacting to some of her blog commentary saying, “Nice having watchdogs out there keeping people in line.” Egelhoff awkwardly tries to explain away her reversed positions which happened just in time for the NRA endorsement, but only seems to dig the hole even deeper. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVF http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVF/commentary#comments Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:09:36 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVF Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHVF/ Republican State Senate candidate (18th SD) Randy Hopper is running a pretty standard campaign for a conservative. In a recent debate he complained about taxes and suggested that the current tax structure has somehow been unfair to him. The only problem with that claim is revealed in a report today by the Fond du Lac Reporter . It shows that Hopper has only paid Wisconsin personal and business income taxes once since 1997. It is outrageous that Hopper would try to play the role of some sort of a tax victim in public while in reality he has managed to use every loophole in the book to avoid personal and business taxes on a regular basis. Even though Hopper owns 5 separate businesses and is quite successful, the lowest paid worker in his district probably pays more personal taxes in one paycheck than Hopper has for several years. If Hopper can afford high-priced tax attorneys to figure out ways of avoiding Wisconsin income taxes and business taxes most of the last 10 years, that’s nice for him, but he should be willing to admit it. When he talks high taxes from now on he should qualify his comments by saying “but I don’t mean me, because I’ve only had to pay income taxes once in the last nine years.” Unfortunately that may give him a big credibility gap with the hard working people in his area, but at least it would be honest. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVH http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVH/commentary#comments Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:44:56 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVH Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHVH/ From the moment that state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filed his frivolous lawsuit against the Government Accountability Board (GAB) it was clear to any honest observer that it was without merit and motivated by rank partisanship. That was confirmed later when it was revealed that Van Hollen’s office had multiple communications with Republican Party officials prior to filing the suit. While trying to defend his partisan actions, Van Hollen insisted that the GAB was not following the law even though it was carrying out the proper checks as required. Van Hollen’s insistence on checking names retroactively all the way back to 2006 would have caused mass chaos at the polls and could have disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of voters. All of this drama over some nonexistent requirement that Van Hollen, a McCain co-chair, made up out of whole cloth. http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVr http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVr/commentary#comments Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:36:21 EDT http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/post/coryliebmann/CHVr Cory @ One Wisconsin Now http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/profile_picture/9ad40ac09a26a36f86_dlqmv2gn9.jpg Cory @ One Wisconsin Now 0 http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/page/community/comment_rss/CHVr/