State Representative Spencer Black says he's considering an independent run for governor next year. Which has Governor Doyle asking if Black and dissatisfied progressives who are urging him on "really want to have a Republican governor or not?"
It will be interesting to see if Democratic Governor Jim Doyle's upcoming campaign finance report shows he gave back an illegal $5,000 corporate contribution his campaign accepted last year.
After spending the past four years denying that taxpayer money, state workers and public offices were used to run election campaigns, former Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen, former Assembly Majority Leader Steve Foti and one-time Foti aide Sherry Schultz are doing an about-face. They now admit what they strenuously denied for so long but contend it was all perfectly legal.
Prominent among the list of budget-time fundraisers today are some pricey events by Democratic Governor Jim Doyle and Republican Assembly Majority Leader Mike Huebsch.
The state's $3 per ton garbage fee used to help pay for local recycling programs and discourage the dumping of out-of-state trash in Wisconsin was slashed to $2.25 per ton in budget deliberations by the Joint Finance Committee.
A while back it was reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that 10 corporations led by Wal-Mart and, ironically, Aurora Health Care are clipping state taxpayers for about $6.4 million a year because they do not offer health care benefits to 2,900 of their employees and families. This forces those workers to enroll in BadgerCare, the state's tax-supported health care program for the poor.
We've started this new weblog to create yet another channel of news, information and opinion about the money in Wisconsin politics, corruption at the Capitol and the condition of our democracy. We'll shine light in dark places and bring you the latest on the Democracy Campaign's efforts to win campaign finance reform, media reform and other pro-democracy reforms.