Progress Now Action

Is there anything you've been wanting to ask him -- or tell him? 

John McCain returns to Wisconsin!

John McCain will host a Town Hall meeting on Thursday May 29th at the Greendale Martin Luther High School. The doors will open at 3:30pm.

To RSVP for the event, please click here or email Wivolunteer@johnmccain.com. No confirmation nor reply from campaign staff is needed to attend the event.

Click here for more information on the event and news and photos from the campaign trail.

Click here for a map of the event location.

Shortly after taking office State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen began handing out jobs to partisan cronies. For example, he made Ray Taffora his Deputy. He did this even though Taffora had no real prosecutorial experience and was little more than a politically connected corporate hack. Taffora served as counsel for Tommy Thompson and assisted former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen in redistricting and negotiating an end to the caucuses. Just last month we learned that Van Hollen not only hired his former campaign field director, put then promoted him repeatedly. Although his background outside of politics is mostly unknown, Van Hollen saw fit to promote him to his current job as a DCI analyst. J.B. has been quite kind to those that supported his political ambitions. That has not necessarily been the case for others working at DOJ even though they are well respected by their peers and have long time law enforcement credentials.

Last month as Van Hollen was again promoting his former campaign field director, he was busy chasing out one of the most respected criminal investigators in the state. Jim Warren suddenly “retired” saying in emails that it was “shoved down his throat” and that dealing with the Van Hollen administration was “constant war.” Now the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that Van Hollen has demoted a 14 year arson and homicide investigator. Apparently she wrote joking emails about J.B. Van Hollen (and/or his political crony hires) and the ever sensitive AG saw fit to cut her pay by nearly 40 percent. Rather than tap her expertise and knowledge, Van Hollen would rather make a statement and throw it all away. That is not good for DOJ and that is not good for the people of Wisconsin. In Van Hollen’s Department of Justice there really does appear to be a “war”. It is between the partisans and the professionals and unfortunately the partisans are currently winning.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wants to hear from you on Iraq.

After an editorial criticizing John McCain's me-too policy on the war, the paper invites reader comment, probably for a Sunday newspaper spread: 

Should the United States set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq? Send a letter to: Journal Sentinel editorial department

Please take a few minutes to express yourself, in 200 words or less. 

For some reason WTMJ radio insists on poisoning Milwaukee airwaves with the constant venom flowing from right wing talker Michael Savage. Apparently, for him and WTMJ, nothing is sacred. Savage is the same guy that wished aids and death on a caller that identified himself as being gay. His list of poisonous and offensive comments is a mile long and touches just about everyone. His most recent attack came against U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy on the same day that doctors announced that he had a malignant brain tumor.

In the opening of his show Savage played a montage mocking Senator Kennedy splicing in news reports about his tumor and audio from Kindergarten Cop in which Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character says, “It’s not a tumor.” As if that were not enough, Savage then played a song from the group “Dead Kennedys.” How far will WTMJ allow Savage to go before they finally see his vitriol for what it is? How long will they subject the public and our airwaves to the worst hate speech available? WTMJ should have pulled the plug on this Savage attack on decency long ago.

We already know that John McCain has a small army of lobbyists that either work or raise money on his behalf. Although some have started to resign he still has over one hundred at last count. He also has some 70 registered lobbyists that have bundled money on his behalf. Even more, the Center for Responsive Politics reports that McCain has received more than $610,000 in direct donations from lobbyists. The lobbyist army working for John McCain represents all of the corporate elites and even foreign interests including some of the worst regimes and dictators.

Today’s John McCain stands in stark contrast to the John McCain from 1997. At that time he was trying to recover after his involvement in the Keating Five scandal. At that time he twice introduced legislation that “would ban a candidate or a candidate’s authorized committee from paying registered lobbyists.” McCain was quoted at the time as saying that, “registered lobbyists who work for campaigns as fundraisers clearly represent a conflict of interest. When a campaign employs an individual who also lobbies that Member, the perception of undue and unfair influence is raised.” Reading these comments makes me wonder what the 1997 McCain would think about the current one. Whatever the reason for his politically convenient change, one thing is certain. John McCain is now knee deep in lobbyists and up to his ears in “conflicts.”

Conservatives sing the praises of “the market” when it comes to many issues. More recently they have applied their theories to health care. Unfortunately their calls for a “market driven” solution consist of little more than promoting health savings accounts. Frankly, the verdict of “the market” has already come in and it has determined that HSA’s primarily benefit the wealthy. This is certainly no surprise to progressives who have been pointing this fact out for several years.

In yet another study of HSA’s, the Government Accountability Office found that they are being used by more affluent households as tax shelters. It found that the average adjusted gross income of tax filers who made HSA contributions was $139,000 as compared to $57,000 for all other tax filers. The study also found that many HSA participants appear to be using their accounts as a tax shelter rather than paying for out-of-pocket health care costs. The GAO found that 41 percent of tax filers reporting HSA contributions in 2005 did not withdraw any funds from their accounts at any time during the year.

Even after the constant harping about HSA’s being the best thing since sliced bread, it has failed to catch on in “the market” as a whole. The only popular “market” for HSA’s appears to be the wealthy who are in search of more tax shelters. Although conservatives always chant the mantra of letting “the market speak,” they are choosing to ignore its voice on health savings accounts.

John McCain has had trouble living up to his squeaky clean image recently. He has talked about reform in Washington and more specifically about lobbying reform. Unfortunately his actions don’t reflect his pronouncements about the need for change. First it was discovered that he had at least 118 current and former lobbyists working for him. Then the details of their lobbying surfaced in very embarrassing fashion. Two of his aides once lobbied for the Burmese junta, the very same regime that has refused to allow international aide into their country to help the victims of the recent cyclone disaster. Both of those aides resigned prompting a new policy meant to stop the PR nightmare. Unfortunately for John McCain, the lobbyist questions have only begun.

First it was the two McCain aides that lobbied for the Burmese junta, now former Texas Congressman Tom Loeffler has resigned because of his lobbying efforts for the government of Saudi Arabia. If McCain is going to accept the resignation of these lobbyists one must wonder why he has not asked for the same from his chief political advisor Charlie Black. Black and his firm have lobbied for not just foreign leaders but for some of the most brutal regimes imaginable.

What do we do in Milwaukee when the temperature finally hits 70 degrees? Go to the lakefront? Grill brats in the back yard? Skinny dip? Take off our longjohns?
If it's the Third Friday -- Iraq Moratorium day -- we meet in the heart of downtown for an hour, fill all four corners of the intersection with people, flags, banners and enthusiasm, and call for an end to the war and occupation. We had a diverse group of kids, college students, parents, and grandparents, about 70 in all, counting one small dog with a "Puppy for Peace" jacket.

We're getting used to support from rush hour drivers, who honked their horns almost non-stop tonight, including a lot of county bus drivers and one trucker driving a huge tractor-trailer with a big air horn. One driver got out of his car (while the light was red) to chat and say something supportive to one of the vigilers. We leaflet pedestrians, and one young Iranian couple, downtown shopping, stopped to express their support. But our favorite anecdote of the day was the two Army recruiters who drove past in an Army vehicle -- while one of them gave the protesters a thumbs-up.

The Institute for Wisconsin’s Future (IWF) released a new report on Wisconsin non-profit hospitals and their billions of dollars worth of tax-exempt property. The report finds that those properties could be generating at least $117 million in property taxes yearly to help ease the property tax burden on individual taxpayers and small businesses. The report includes a list of all 124 tax-exempt hospitals and medical centers, located in 100 communities statewide. It includes tables with data on each non-profit hospital in the state, including potential local property tax payments.

Wisconsin’s property tax exemption for non-profit hospitals dates back to a time when they largely served the poor. But now, as the IWF report says, “these former almshouses are massive, sometimes luxurious institutions.” In addition, most of the facilities that were once located nearest to the poor are closing while large palace-like structures are being erected in wealthier areas. Increasingly the larger non-profit hospitals are behaving more like their counterparts in the for-profit world. According to data that IWF obtained from the Wisconsin Hospital Association, these hospitals posted nearly $1 billion in income in 2006.

I don’t envy the lobbyist that has to argue a case for what has become a massive industry in Wisconsin. Non-profits with a combined revenue of $11.5 billion. A combined 2006 profit of $1 billion. Non-profits owning a combined $5.8 billion in real property. Erecting palaces in more affluent areas while closing down operations in the poorest areas of the state. With this kind of data, how can even the most seasoned lobbyist defend the status quo with a straight face?

On Thursday the House of Representatives approved an expansive new veterans education benefit that would be paid for by a tax on wealthy Americans. It would provide the equivalent of a free four-year college education at a public university. Some Republicans joined Democrats in passing the aid that would benefit veterans who enlisted after the September 11 attacks. Unfortunately the group of Republicans that voted for the plan did not include Wisconsin Republicans Paul Ryan and F. Jim Sensenbrenner.

Paul Ryan not only voted against providing veterans the new education benefit, but then gave a quote to the New York Times saying, “I can’t think of a worse time to raise taxes.” It is telling that Ryan all but ignored who would be the direct beneficiaries of this particular tax and he also ignored exactly who would be taxed under it. People earning over $1 million would be making a very small sacrifice to pay for the new education benefits to our troops, who have sacrificed so much. It is amazing that the same people that were so willing to send our troops off to war, are now so hesitant to honor them in a real and substantive way. Apparently for Ryan it’s all about ideology and protecting rich people’s money.

Just when I think that the Bush Administration could not go any further in abusing the men and women in our military, they prove me wrong. Not only did the President send them into a preemptive unnecessary war, but he also did not send them with the proper equipment or a plan to get out. As the men and women in uniform have come home with the most severe injuries imaginable, we found that the conditions in Walter Reed were abominable. Now the same crowd that constantly touts their “support for the troops” has been caught mistreating them again.

Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and VoteVets.org released an e-mail obtained from a Veterans Affairs employee directing VA staff to refrain from diagnosing soldiers and veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The March 20, 2008 email was not sent by just some rank and file worker, but by the VA hospital’s PTSD program coordinator. The email was sent to a number of VA employees including psychologists, social workers, and a psychiatrist. The email stated that because of an increased number of “compensation seeking veterans,” the staff should refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD. The email further instructed the workers to rule out PTSD and instead consider a diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder instead. Essentially the instructions were to misdiagnose returning veterans in an effort to cut VA costs, regardless of the costs to the health of the soldiers.

The State Senate took the lead today to end the loophole that lets Wal-Mart and other big corporations evade $15 million annually by exploiting the state tax law (and the taxpayers).

Under the tax evasion scheme, tells the Institute for Wisconsin's Future, Wal-Mart would have one part of its business pay another part of the biz for rent allowing it to "reduce" its Wisconsin profits and consequently, reduce the amount of money it's required to provide the taxpayers of Wisconsin.

Senator John McCain and the media have manufactured a squeaky clean image for the Arizona Republican. They pretend that he is above reproach while, at the same time, his actions belie much of the rhetoric. Although there are other examples in his long legislative past, several recent developments also go to the heart of the issue.

John McCain has practically built an industry of criticizing our campaign finance system and the influence of lobbyists in Washington. While repeatedly taking that stand publicly, it turns out that he is not so discriminating when it comes to raising campaign cash. He has at least 59 lobbyists bundling money for his presidential bid. He has also brought on staff that were lobbyists for things like the big drug companies and shady lenders. Recently McCain’s choice to run the GOP Convention had to resign amid reports that his firm represented the military regime in Burma.

Although Wisconsinites passed the “marriage amendment” in 2006, polls at the time showed that they were supportive of domestic partnerships and civil unions. Advocates warned that the amendment would endanger both. Supporters of the amendment disingenuously claimed that it was only an effort to legally define marriage and not one to kill domestic partnership benefits and civil unions. A similar scenario happened in Michigan and last week their State Supreme Court ruled that public universities and other entities of the state government cannot provide domestic partner benefits to the partners of gay employees. The courts decision was based on the constitutional amendment on marriage that passed in that state.

It is only a matter of time before someone on the extreme right challenges domestic partnership benefits in Wisconsin, using the exact same formula used in Michigan. If those that supported the “marriage amendment” were really serious in 2006, they would take action now to prevent that from happening.

This week Senator John McCain is focusing on the environment and climate change. Although he has been vocal about the issue on the stump, his actual voting record is both inconsistent and severely lacking. In reaction to McCain’s speech Monday, League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski commented that “he has not substantively improved his plan over the bill he introduced years ago – legislation that the science now shows is out of date.”

John McCain’s lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters is a pathetic 24 percent. Despite his focus this week, he has managed to miss every major vote on the environment during the 110th Congress. That telling record gives him one big ZERO on the most recent LCV scorecard. Given McCain’s record on the environment, it is difficult to take anything that he says seriously.