Free Republic

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, took part in a nationwide criminal scheme to coordinate fundraising with conservative groups, prosecutors said in court documents unsealed Thursday. No charges have been filed against Walker or any member of his staff. The documents were filed in December as part of an investigation into alleged illegal fundraising and campaign coordination by Walker and his campaign, the Wisconsin Club for Growth, the state Chamber of Commerce and other groups.

The media narrative of the Establishment versus Tea Party in Republican primaries misses what is really happening. The Tea Party movement has morphed from staging rallies to direct action and is learning in every campaign cycle. Take Wisconsin for example. In Wisconsin, the Tea Party knocked off 35-year Congressional incumbent Tom Petri by forcing a primary. Rep. Tom Petri decided not to run for re-election rather than face a serious Tea Party backed primary challenger this fall. Make no mistake, the Tea Party is winning in Wisconsin, but the media won’t tell you that. The Tea Party in Wisconsin has...

With its cover story [1] on Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, The New Republic has hit an all-time low. Written by TNR Senior Editor Alec Macgillis, it reads as a commissioned hit job meant to lessen Walker’s chances of entering the GOP presidential race.Let’s start with the cover: superimposed over a photo of the governor standing by his desk is the title: “Scott Walker is So Hot Right Now: Too bad he owes his success to a toxic strain of Racial Politics.” Inside the issue, the title becomes: “The Unelectable Whiteness of Scott Walker: A Journey Through the Poisonous,...

<p>Scott Walker is already thinking about how to defeat Hillary Clinton. “You gotta move it from a personality race, because if it’s a personality race, you got a third Clinton term,” the Wisconsin governor told a lunchtime crowd of about 30 last Tuesday assembled at the Lakewood, N.J., home of Rich Roberts, one of his biggest financial backers. “The only way we win that election is to transform her personality to Washington versus the rest of us. Senator Clinton is all about Washington, everything about her is all about Washington.”</p>

Presidential hopefuls Sen. Rand Paul, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Sen. Rick Santorum are in Iowa to deliver their prescriptions for how to unite the Republican Party. […] It is Paul’s third trip to Iowa since the 2012 election. The Kentucky senator says the GOP should maintain its core message but make the party more attractive to black and Hispanic voters. …

Scientists have created a life-threatening virus that closely resembles the 1918 Spanish flu strain that killed an estimated 50m people in an experiment labelled as "crazy" by opponents. Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison used a technique called reverse genetics to build the virus from fragments of wild bird flu strains. They then mutated the virus to make it airborne to spread more easily from one animal to another. "The work they are doing is absolutely crazy. The whole thing is exceedingly dangerous," said Lord May, the former President of the Royal Society and one time chief science adviser to...

Madison — Felon and former state Sen. Gary George will be able to mount his long-shot primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore after all. The state elections board voted unanimously to reject a challenge to George's nomination signatures and allow him on the ballot to challenge fellow Democrat Moore for Congress. The Government Accountability Board met at the Capitol on Tuesday to certify candidates for the Aug. 12 ballot. Milwaukee union official Sheila Cochran had challenged hundreds of the signatures George submitted on his nomination papers, saying they were collected by convicted felons, among other problems. Board staff said,...

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Wisconsin Friday struck down the state’s ban on same-sex couples marrying, joining federal judges across the nation to have reached a similar decision in the past six months that such bans are unconstitutional. “I conclude that the Wisconsin laws prohibiting marriage between same-sex couples interfere with plaintiffs’ right to marry, in violation of the due process clause, and discriminate against plaintiffs on the basis of sexual orientation, in violation of the equal protection clause,” U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Crabb wrote. She held off on issuing an injunction stopping enforcement of the ban, as...

A 12-year-old Wisconsin girl who police say was repeatedly stabbed by two classmates trying to curry favor with a fictional horror character has been released from the hospital, the victim's parents said Friday night. The girl narrowly survived being stabbed 19 times. A spokeswoman for the girl's family issued a statement Friday saying the girl was released from Waukesha Memorial Hospital. "She is excited to be out of the hospital, see her pets and continue along the road to recovery. Our family is extremely grateful for the outpouring of support and love from not only the local community, but from...

A United States District Court judge has ruled that Wisconsin's gay marriage ban is unconstitutional. Judge Barbara Crabb issued a motion of summary judgment for the paintiffs, stating that Article XIII of the Wisconsin Constitution "violates planitiffs' fundamental right to marry and their right to equal protection of laws under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution."

As the Obama administration tightens the noose around the necks of coal, power plants and mining, one Wisconsin state senator is worried the next victim could be a proposed iron-ore mine just south of Lake Superior.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) on Saturday railed against Tea Party groups for hurting establishment candidates and incumbents just to fundraise. “That is a fact. It is not a conjecture, and so many of these groups it is basically donor capture. They are there to perpetuate themselves," he said at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, La., as recorded by The Daily Beast. Johnson explained that he feels that some Tea Party groups don't actually represent the grassroots Tea Party movement, with which he identifies. “I value the membership of the Tea Party movement. I am right there with them...

Fox News’ Sean Hannity sat down with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Thursday at the Republican Leadership Conference to talk about the accomplishments conservative governors have made across the U.S. “All of you inherited deficits you turned into surpluses, high unemployment now low unemployment,” Hannity said of Jindal and Govs. Rick Scott (FL), Rick Perry (TX), John Kasich (OH), Scott Walker (WI), and Nikki Haley (SC). “What can the Republicans in Washington learn?” Washington can actually learn a lot from states if they want to—it’s just common sense, Jindal replied. Lawmakers inside the beltway always talk about the things...

MILWAUKEE -- There was a profanity-laced outburst in court Thursday from a teenager accused of shooting 10-year-old Sierra Guyton. Sylvester Lewis faced a judge for the first time today. The outburst came after Lewis refused to sign a "no contact" order, which ordered him to stay away from Sierra Guyton's family and eyewitnesses.

In a case that may continue to refine Wisconsin gun law, an appeals court panel on Tuesday is set to hear a Milwaukee man's claim for the return of his gun, which police say was used in a crime, though no one was convicted. Judges may consider both the limits of so-called open carry and the court procedures by which hundreds of gun owners each year seek return of weapons confiscated under a variety of scenarios. Briefs filed in the case explain the situation: Aaron Ols, 37, was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct while armed, but prosecutors amended...

Bertha (Schmidt) Weingarten at age 20 Bertha Schmidt Weingarten 1914 - 2013 My Mother was born Bertha Schmidt, in Brook Park, Minnesota, on December 21, 1914.  She was an early Christmas present who arrived shortly after the start of World War I.   She was the seventh child to be born in a log cabin with two little loft bedrooms.   Her mother, Emma, left her abusive husband when Bertha was 12.   At the time Bertha was one of ten children.   Divorce was very rare.   Her father had taken to drinking.  The situation must have been very bad for her...

Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker, who survived a 2012 recall effort by groups angered over his successful push to end withholding of dues paid by state employees to their unions, is set to square off against Democratic challenger Mary Burke for Election Day honors this November. And recent polling shows that the recall victor could face a tough fight to keep his job this time around. Burke, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s nominee for governor, is a current school board member in Madison. She’s also a former top executive at Wisconsin’s Trek Bicycle Corporation, a company founded by her father...

Realistically, Walker’s the best chance conservatives have at a nominee who’s both acceptable to them and capable of stopping the RINO dynamic duo of Jeb Bush and Chris Christie in the primaries. Two months ago, that scenario was right on track: Walker led Democrat Mary Burke 48/41 in his race for a second term as Wisconsin governor. Two months later, the lead is up in smoke. It’s 46/46 among registered voters with Burke’s name-recognition rising.Granted, Walker leads by three here among likely voters, but nothing’s going to stop me when I’m in an eeyore spiral. Dude, I’m nervous: In...

SNIP To lead the Republican majority staff, Gowdy selected Philip Kiko, a key aide to Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., when the latter served as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and more recently a registered lobbyist for the Smith-Free Group, a K Street lobbying firm with a diverse roster of clients. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, swiftly welcomed Gowdy’s choice, calling Kiko “a man of unquestioned integrity with a record of distinguished service” in and out of Congress... SNIP However, emails obtained by Fox News show that some conservatives are unhappy with Kiko’s appointment, chiefly because of his recent lobbying...

Challengers see themselves in the Texas senator, even in races where their odds of an upset are considered steeper than Cruz’s surprise victory over a GOP establishment figure two years ago. He’s made endorsements in the Oklahoma and Nebraska Senate races, plus the Nebraska gubernatorial race, and sent almost $26,000 to federal candidates through his leadership PAC. “Ted Cruz would be extremely helpful as an endorser and a fundraiser,” said C. Edmund Wright, a consultant to longshot South Carolina Senate hopeful Lee Bright, in an email. “Rand Paul and Mike Lee would be great also.” But, he said, “the reason...