Free Republic

Madison - Gov. Jim Doyle said Thursday that the budget deficit has exploded to up to $6.5 billion - a historic gap he wants fixed by laying off up to 1,100 employees, furloughing non-emergency workers eight days a year, rescinding 2% pay raises and making new cuts in aid to schools and local governments. Doyle said the $5 billion deficit he and lawmakers faced in March has soared because tax collections are running far below estimates. The potential $6.5 billion gap will occur over a three-year period ending June 30, 2011. "We are facing tougher choices than ever about what...

Part 280 of 278 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War MADISON, Wisconsin – After lengthy delays and an extraordinary session that extended into the wee hours of Saturday morning, the Republican-controlled Senate passed a bill that overhauls the rogue state Government Accountability Board. But does the final version of the bill, with a controversial amendment, protect and defend the constitution? At the end of the day, the cold feet coalition prevailed. The amended bill goes a long way in decentralizing the GAB, the agency that oversees Wisconsin campaign finance, election, ethics and lobbying laws. But while it divides the political...

A former church secretary was sentenced Wednesday to six years of probation for stealing about $30,000 from the town of Burke church where she worked and had been a longtime member. Her lawyer, Joel Winnig, and Assistant District Attorney Paul Humphrey had agreed to recommend 90 days in jail as a condition of six years of probation, but Circuit Judge Ellen Berz did not order the jail time.

In a feministic attempt to be hip, the Hillary Clinton campaign decided to do something “fun” and ask Democratic senators – all female of course – to hold up signs with their answers to questions about the Democratic presidential candidate front-runner.  It’s sort of like, remember how Michelle Obama held a sign with the #bringbackourgirls in an effort to “fight back” at the terrorist group Boko Haram that kidnapped hundreds of girls from a Nigerian school? As if that would make any difference at all.  This entire exercise is sort of like that, only much lamer. Besides, what better way...

Part 279 of 277 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War MADISON, Wisconsin — As the Senate seems to be coming to terms on a “compromise” that would retain at least a couple of retired judges on the state Government Accountability Board, one of the targets of the rogue agency’s unconstitutional investigation is asking senators to think again. On Thursday, Eric O’Keefe of the Wisconsin Club for Growth sent Wisconsin policymakers a detailed communication outlining “potential misconduct” by GAB chairman Gerald Nichol.” O’Keefe cites several “troubling statements” Nichol has made in recent weeks that have exposed the judge’s partisanship serving on...

MADISON, Wisconsin — Oftentimes the best way to know where you’re heading is by looking back to see where you’ve been. The same holds for politicians. A review of Russ Feingold’s voting record shows a politician who built his U.S. Senate career on raising taxes and growing government. Based on his campaign to return to the seat he lost to Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in 2010, it’s clear that ultra-liberal Russ Feingold hasn’t had an epiphany-driven conversion on slowing growth of government. During his tenure, from 1993 to 2011, Feingold voted to raise taxes nearly 290 times, costing American...

An American researcher says it is highly likely that the United States is responsible for the crash of a Russian passenger plane over Egypt this week. On Saturday, the Airbus A321-200 broke up in midair and crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing 224 people on board. An investigation is underway to find out how the disaster happened; however, the airline has said that technical faults or human errors could not have caused the tragic crash. "New information from sources with contacts in the CIA are reporting that the US recently sold ships to Egypt in return for a drone base...

Kraft Heinz To Close Seven Plants, Cut 2,600 Jobs Thu, 11/05/2015 - 9:37am Andy Szal, Digital Reporter Kraft Heinz on Wednesday announced that it will close seven facilities and cut 2,600 jobs as part of its continued efforts to reduce costs. The plan includes shuttering the nearly century-old Oscar Mayer plant in Madison, Wisconsin, which houses the company's U.S. meats business. The meats operation will instead move to Chicago along with about 250 of the plant's workforce of more than 1,000. Kraft Heinz will move its Illinois office from the former Kraft headquarters in suburban Northfield to downtown Chicago early...

Kraft Heinz announced Wednesday that it will move Oscar Mayer and the company's U.S. meats business from Madison, Wis., to Chicago — a move that will add 250 jobs to Chicago's Aon Center. The company also announced plans to consolidate its production facilities during the next two years, which will result in the shutdown of seven North American manufacturing facilities: Fullerton, Calif.; San Leandro, Calif.; Federalsburg, Md.; St. Mary's, Canada; Campbell, N.Y.; Lehigh Valley, Pa., and the one in Madison. The closings will result in the loss of about 2,600 manufacturing jobs at the company, including 700 in Madison. About...

New Berlin —In the wake of the Oct. 22 attack on a Bichon poodle in which a coyote carried the dog off but later dropped it, New Berlin police say they have information about what to do in coyote encounters. In the Oct. 22 incident, the dog was near a patio when it was snatched up and the dog owner was actually on the patio. He and his teenage son gave chase making noise and finally the coyote dropped the dog who needed stitches to close its wounds. The attack was the only one that police Capt. Michael Glider said...

MADISON, Wis. – Government Accountability Board Judge Gerald Nichol has said he has no regrets about the early-morning raids and other constitutionally challenged tactics used to go after conservatives. “I don’t have a problem with the way we played that role,” he said last month when asked about the GAB’s integral involvement in an unconstitutional John Doe investigation that upended the lives of dozens of citizens who were never charged with any wrongdoing – all in the name of political speech. “It obviously angered one specific party,” he added. Nichol and his fellow retired judges who preside over the state’s...

Bash asked, "Will you defund Planned Parenthood?" "This is what I mean when I say being an effective opposition party. I think being an effective opposition party means being honest with people upfront about what it is we can and cannot achieve," he said. "But we also have to push issues where we can push issues, we have to speak truth to power," he added. "We have a president that isn't willing to listen, that isn't going to sign lots of our bills into law, we have a Senate that has a very difficult process when it comes to actually...

Newly-elected Speaker Paul Ryan said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that he's "redesigning" his leadership job. "I'm redesigning this job. I don't think it can work going forward like it's worked in the past. I can't pick up where John (Boehner) left off. It has to be done differently," Ryan said, referring to Rep. John Boehner's, R-Ohio, recently ended tenure as speaker. The House elected Ryan as speaker last Thursday and Boehner resigned from his leadership post and congressional seat. Ryan told host John Dickerson that he wasn't elected "dictator of the House" and...

Gov. Scott Walker has signed legislation sponsored by his fellow Wisconsin Republicans that could protect him and his colleagues from political investigations.The legislation was quickly approved by the Wisconsin General Assembly and the Senate only days after it hit the floors of both chambers.A spokesman for Walker said the governor signed the legislation because he supported “common-sense reforms that protect free speech and ensure transparency and accountability.”Democrats say Walker only wants to make sure he never again faces the kind of scrutiny that was produced by investigations that the former GOP presidential candidate has seen over the past three...

MADISON, Wisconsin — This week the Wall Street Journal revealed just how expansive Wisconsin’s political John Doe investigation was, targeting not only Badger State conservatives but national political figures such as Jeb Bush and Newt Gingrich. Now Wisconsin Watchdog has learned the unconstitutional probe also went after state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald and other Wisconsin conservative leaders who may not be aware that they, too, were targets of a widespread spying operation. The information comes from the same sealed court documents referenced in the Wall Street Journal editorial board piece published Tuesday. Sources have shared with Wisconsin Watchdog the...

Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin was elected the 62nd speaker of the House on Thursday, taking the gavel that he never sought to wield from John A. Boehner, who relinquished it under fire. But the personal jubilance and high expectations felt by Mr. Boehner, who was elected in a sweeping Republican takeover of the House in 2011, have been replaced with a grim recognition that Mr. Ryan's ascent stems not from electoral victory but rather the chaos in the ranks of his party's sizable majority. Mr. Ryan received 236 votes, a comfortable margin that included several of the hardline...

Part 274 of 272 in the series Wisconsin's Secret War By M.D. Kittle | Wisconsin Watchdog MADISON, Wis. – As Kevin Kennedy goes about trying to save his job and his rogue state agency, the director of the state Government Accountability Board is twisting, if not torturing, some facts. In his supplemental testimony on the agency released this week, Kennedy takes issue with state Sen. Leah Vukmir’s question on the GAB’s early involvement in a political John Doe probe into 29 conservative organizations and the campaign of Gov. Scott Walker. The Supreme Court in July ruled the investigation unconstitutional and...

We found out earlier this morning that Paul Ryan has changed his mind and will reluctantly support the upcoming budget deal even though “the process stinks.” Rand Paul wants nothing to do with it and wants to filibuster it in the Senate. But will it even get that far? We found out from the House Freedom Caucus earlier today that they will be opposing the scheme for a variety of reasons. Washington, DC – The House Freedom Caucus issued the following statement related to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, H.R. 1314:“The latest budget deal continues the sad pattern...

Representative Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) 58% (R-WI) 2014 gun control vote could present another obstacle to this path to the Speakership of the House. It is certainly one more aspect of Ryan’s past that caused Gun Owners of America to warn that a Ryan Speakership would simply be “Boehner on Steroids.” Ryan’s 2014 gun control vote came amid the emotional outpouring that followed Elliot Rodger’s May 23, 2014, Santa Barbara attack. Although Rodger passed a background check, registered his guns with the state–as is required in California–and only used ammunition magazines of 10 round or less, Ryan voted for Representative...

Washingtonians agree almost universally on two political phenomena: The House Republican conference is ungovernable, and tax reform is dead That was yesterday. In a matter of days we will have Speaker Paul Ryan, whose track record shows a man that may make the impossible happen. This is based on three key assets. 1. Passion. With a vice presidential candidacy already under his belt, Rep. Paul Ryan declined to run for president in 2016 to devote all of his energy as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee to his long-time true passion – tax reform. His passion derives from...