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Judges appointed by Reagan and Bush shoot down Wisconsin GOP redistricting.

Wisconsin lawmakers will have to redraw voting maps for two districts in Milwaukee because their first attempt unfairly weakened Latino voting power, a panel of federal judges ruled Thursday.

The maps changed voting boundaries throughout the state, were drawn by the GOP-controlled Legislature last year and signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker in August.

The three-judge panel found that the maps unfairly hurt Latino voters in two south side Milwaukee districts by diluting their voting power.

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Wisconsin GOP Votes To Ban Private Insurance Abortion Coverage And Teaching Contraception In School

Wisconsin just can’t stop attacking women. Last week, Republicans introduced a bill claiming that single moms are the cause of child abuse. And earlier this week, Wisconsin Republicans stated the battered women should divorce their abusive husbands. The GOP raised the bar again today by banning private abortion insurance and repealing a law requiring the teaching of contraception in school.

The Wisconsin House was supposed to talk jobs and the economy but they ended up arguing about social issues. The first bill to pass was an anti-abortion bill that bans private insurance companies from covering abortion as part of the health insurance exchange as set up by the Affordable Care Act. Abortion coverage had been allowed as long as it complied with the Hyde Amendment but Wisconsin Republicans decided to ban coverage of abortions in cases of rape and saving the life of the mother. Essentially, Wisconsin is banning women from having private abortion coverage. Democrats were helpless as the bill was slammed through the assembly by a vote of 61-34.

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annnnnd the GOP war on women (that doesn’t exist according to them) continues. 

WI Assembly Representative Caught Double Voting, Solution: Cover the Windows

Republicans in charge of the State Assembly took yet another shot at transparency, this time, literally.  I came to the gallery today to find this.  The windows to every gallery door had paper and tape over them.  Why would they do this you may ask?  The answer is quite simple.  Last time they were on the floor, Arthur who runs the page Shit Scott Walker is Doing to My State, got some controversial footage.  It was of Representative Joel Kleefisch (R-ALEC) voting for absent members.  Some dismissed it as common practice but the impression the general public had was quite different.  Whether common practice or not people don’t like to see this happen.

The Republicans, who control the Assembly by a large majority, must have been embarrassed by Joel getting caught.  Clay Barbour and Mary Spicuzza, of the Wisconsin State Journal, quickly attacked Arthur and his footage and said that he was breaking policy himself by filming from the gallery.  The problem is that Arthur was not filming from the gallery–this was a direct lie.  And when confronted with the fact that they literally lied to their entire reading audience, they brushed it off and the lie remains to this day.  Fortunately for Arthur the footage was picked up by a number of people at MSNBC and also Keith Olbermann who named Kleefisch as his “worst person.”  And the Republicans, obviously failing in their poorly disguised attack of Arthur through Clay and Mary, did what they always do.   They covered it up.  Again, literally.  They covered up the windows so no one can film from outside the gallery as Arthur was doing when he caught Kleefisch.

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Judge rules that Wisconsin Voter ID law will not be enforced in April calling it “extremely broad and largely needless”.

A Dane County judge on Tuesday barred the enforcement of the state photo ID law at polling places during the general election on April 3, calling it an “extremely broad and largely needless” impairment of the right to vote.

Circuit Judge David Flanagan said the Milwaukee Branch of the NAACP and Voces de la Frontera had demonstrated that their lawsuit against Gov. Scott Walker and the state Government Accountability Board would probably succeed on its merits and had demonstrated the likelihood of irreparable harm if the photo ID law is allowed to stand.

Flanagan granted a temporary injunction (read the injunction here) ordering Walker and the GAB to “cease immediately any effort to enforce or implement the photo identification requirements” of the law, pending a trial on a permanent injunction scheduled before him on April 16.

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Under Scott Walker, Wisconsin leads the nation in jobs lost

by John Nichols | The Cap Times

Gov. Scott Walker has repeatedly assured Wisconsinites that his assaults on local democracy, public services, public education and collective bargaining rights would create jobs and prosperity.

In contrast, the governor has argued, the decision of Illinois officials to tackle budget challenges with fair tax policies, respect for public employees and efforts to maintain services would cause doom and gloom for that state.

The Illinois comparison has been a constant in Walker’s speeches, media appearances and press releases since January. The governor has been unrelenting in his claim that the best measure of Wisconsin’s progress when it comes to job creation is against Illinois.

“They didn’t fix the problems,” Walker ranted in May with regard to Illinois officials. “In contrast, we’ve done that. And I believe that’s going to help us attract not only businesses coming in from Illinois (but) reassure employers here in the state of Wisconsin that this is the place, now is the time, to grow.”

This has been Walker’s steady mantra, repeated as recently as this month when he traveled to Chicago.

Unfortunately for Walker — and for the state that suffers under his misdirection — the measure has been made.

And the governor has been proven wrong. Way wrong.

The October jobs figures for the United States were just released. Illinois led the nation in job creation, adding 30,000 new jobs.

And what about Wisconsin?

Under Walker, Wisconsin now leads the nation in job losses.

[FULL STORY]

So, what we have here is an actual case study for the kind of policies the GOP wants to push right now…

npr - Wisconsin Gov. Wants Protesters To Pay For Security

by EYDER PERALTA | npr.org

The Wisconsin State Capitol building has been the scene of protests since February, when Gov. Scott Walker started the process of passing a law that severely limits collective bargaining for public employees in the state.

Yesterday, the Walker administration took a step that is likely to antagonize protesters further. His administration enacted new regulations that would require permits to protest at the Capitol and other state buildings.

The controversial part is that the bill allows officials to charge groups for the security and clean-up costs of such events.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the policy went into effect Thursday:

“State law already says public officials may issue permits for the use of state facilities, and applicants “shall be liable to the state … for any expense arising out of any such use and for such sum as the managing authority may charge for such use.”

“But Edward Fallone, an associate professor at Marquette University Law School, said the possibility of charging demonstrators for police costs might be problematic because some groups might not be able to afford to pay.

“‘I’m a little skeptical about charging people to express their First Amendment opinion,’ he said. ‘You can’t really put a price tag on the First Amendment.’”

The Sentinel reports that the policy also states that police “could require an advance payment as a requirement for getting a permit and also could require liability insurance or a bond.”

According to the AP, protests during the collective bargaining debate cost the state $8 million in extra police protection.

WTAQ, a local news station, reports that some First Amendmentexperts expressed concern about the law:

“Chris Ahmuty of the American Civil Liberties Union said he could see agencies charging or requiring insurance depending on whether a group opposes them. He also said the policy leaves too much discretion to the Capitol Police.

…

“Media attorney Bob Dreps of Madison said the state can put some regulations on the time, place, and manner of free speech. But he said it would be “laughable” to define a rally as having four or more people.”

Governor Walker’s administration told the Sentinel the point of the new regulation is “to provide equal and continual access for all Wisconsinites to their state buildings in a way that is reasonable and safe.”

[SOURCE]

18 Arrested in Wisconsin Assembly for Using Cameras; Guns Still Allowed

by Brendan Fischer | PRWatch.org

Eighteen people were arrested Tuesday for using cameras in the Wisconsin Assembly gallery, including the editor of The Progressive magazine, Matt Rothschild.

[SOURCE]

S.C. Johnson has not paid any Wisconsin state income tax for 9 years running

Inside the SC Johnson vs. David Cay Johnston dispute on corporate taxes

By Dave Umhoefer

When a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist bumped heads with S.C. Johnson, one of the nation’s largest private companies, the collision renewed a tax-fairness debate that flared with reports that General Electric  had no U.S. tax bill despite billions in profits last year.

Reuters columnist David Cay Johnston questioned the corporate tax strategies he said allowed the company to avoid paying even one dollar of Wisconsin corporate income tax — not just for one year, but nine years running.

One focus: A huge annual write-off of interest on a loan the Wisconsin-based company made to itself — from its small Puerto Rico subsidiary, and later a Delaware subsidiary, to the parent company.

Punching back, S.C. Johnson — a manufacturing giant in consumer products such as Windex and Ziploc and other popular brands — denied any illegal or unethical actions. It accused the former New York Times tax reporter of sensational and inaccurate “gotcha” reporting.

[FULL STORY]

In Wisconsin, you are required to have a state ID to vote, and it’s free, except they don’t tell you it’s free - this guy tried to inform co-workers of this and was fired

Madison — A low-level state employee was fired Thursday after he sent an email to his fellow employees telling them about the state Department of Transportation’s policy on giving out free photo identification cards for voting.

Chris Larsen, who had worked in the mail room at the state Department of Safety and Professional Services, sent an email Thursday morning to all employees at the agency’s headquarters explaining that the DOT would provide photo IDs to people only if they specifically asked to have the fee waived.

A couple of hours later, Larsen was fired.

“It’s insane,” he said.

John Murray, the executive assistant at the Department of Safety and Professional Services, confirmed Larsen had been fired Thursday and said the firing is under review. He said Larsen had a series of documented work rule violations, including past instances of inappropriately using work email.

Larsen, however, said he had not previously been disciplined.

In May, Republicans approved a requirement that voters show photo ID at the polls starting next year. They also told the DOT to give out free IDs for voting purposes to ensure the ID requirement was not an illegal poll tax.

The department began giving out the free IDs in July but told employees in a memo to provide them for free only if people asked not to be charged. If they don’t ask, they are charged $28.

The policy has prompted outrage from some, including one supporter of the photo ID law.

Larsen, 38, sent his email to fellow employees at his workplace after learning of the policy. He said he sent it so others would know they could get free IDs if they needed them to vote.

Larsen said a supervisor told him when he was fired his use of email was inappropriate. He said he’d held the job since December as a limited-term employee.

The “Sly in the Morning” show on WTDY-AM (1670) in Madison first reported on Larsen’s termination.

Here’s the full text of Larsen’s email:

“Do you know someone who votes that does not have a State ID that meets requirements to vote? Tell them they can go to the DMV/DOT and get a free ID card. However they must ask for the free ID. a memo was sent out by the 3rd in command of the DMV/DOT. The memo specifically told the employees at the DMV/DOT not to inform individuals that the ID’s are free. So if the individuals seeking to get the free ID does not ask for a free ID, they will have to pay for it!!

“Just wanted everyone to be informed!! REMEMBER TO TELL ANYONE YOU KNOW!! ANYONE!! EVEN IF THEY DON’T NEED THE FREE ID, THEY MAY KNOW SOMEONE THAT DOES!! SO TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!”

[SOURCE]