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Written by Wisconsin Conservation Voters, Ryan Billingham
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Thursday, 21 December 2017 08:42 |
Trump’s EPA Appoints Former DNR Secretary Who Left the Agency in Tatters
MADISON – In a damaging blow to Wisconsin’s – and its neighbors’ – environmental and public health, former Wisconsin DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp is now in charge of environmental protection for the entire Midwest.
As regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 5, Stepp will oversee all of the upper Midwest including Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio.
The news comes at a time when the Walker Administration, and many of its allies in the legislature, are rolling back crucial protections for the state’s environment and public health.
Executive Director Kerry Schumann had this to say:
“Before Cathy Stepp's appointment as secretary of the Wisconsin DNR, the agency was widely considered one of the best of its kind in the country. Under her watch, the agency’s environmental enforcement abilities were dismantled, its scientists kicked out, its website scrubbed of climate change information and, under the orders of the Walker Administration, she shifted its focus from protecting Wisconsin's natural resources to handing out favors to polluters. It makes sense the Trump EPA is looking for people like Cathy Stepp, people who are willing to sell out our environment to the highest bidder. The consequences will be stark. With environmental rollbacks like the Foxconn disaster, the pending removal of wetlands protections, and the elimination of all our air quality standards in the state, Wisconsin will also have fewer and fewer protections from the EPA to help maintain water we can drink, air we can breathe, land that doesn't flood, and its public health.”
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Written by Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Brad Bainum
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Monday, 18 December 2017 17:06 |
Plan would hike taxes on 53% of Americans while the richest 1% receive nearly 83% of the bill's tax benefits.
MADISON -- The Tax Policy Center today released a new report on the #GOPTaxScam that once again confirms that Republicans' latest iteration of their tax plan is as bad as every version that came before it. According to the TPC, the GOP tax plan supported by Senator Ron Johnson, Speaker Paul Ryan, and U.S. Senate candidates Leah Vukmir and Kevin Nicholson would:
- Hike taxes on 53% of Americans;
- Gift the richest 1% of Americans 82.8% of the bill's tax cuts; and,
- Ensure that nearly 4-in-5 members of the richest 1% get a tax cut, even as most Americans are forced to pay more in taxes.
The GOP tax plan also repeals the Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, which would have the effect of spiking Americans' healthcare premiums by 10% and leaving 13 million more Americans without health insurance coverage. The TPC report comes as national polling shows that 50% of Americans correctly expect to face a tax hike under the GOP tax plan and that 47% of Americans disapprove of the legislation. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel today reported deep skepticism toward the GOP plan in rural Wisconsin, and quoted former Republican Governor Tommy Thompson as saying, "I don’t think (people) understand [the plan]. I don’t think they think there’s going to be anything in it for them. … A business tax cut from 39 to 22 (percent) doesn’t mean jack to them." Johnson famously held out on supporting the bill until he could be certain he'd be gifted a Badger Bribe tax cut for his family business, but Vukmir, Nicholson, and Ryan have throughout dutifully supported their party's efforts to hike taxes on working families in a corrupt transfer of wealth to corporate special interests and the megadonor class. "This tax plan is corrupt DC-corporate special interest collusion at its worst," said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Martha Laning. "Rather than focus on delivering needed real tax reform for middle-class Wisconsinites and small business owners, Republicans are instead forcing through a scam tax hike on half of Americans in a massive giveaway to corporate special interests and billionaire CEOs. |
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Written by Wisconsin Conservation Voters, Ryan Billingham
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Monday, 04 December 2017 17:03 |
http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/utah-mountains-s5.jpgThe largest elimination of protected areas in U.S. history will not stop there.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 December 2017 18:00 |
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Written by Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Melanie Conklin
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Friday, 01 December 2017 20:24 |
Wisconsin deserves transparency on Gallagher's relationship with former National Security Advisor Flynn.
MADISON - In the wake of President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn pleading guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation today, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin renews the calls for Rep. Mike Gallagher to finally denounce Flynn’s support and condemn his criminal behavior.
Gallagher’s constituents deserve to know the details behind his involvement with Flynn, including a high-priced fundraiser where his supporters paid $5,400 a piece to join a “Homeland Security & Anti-Terrorism Round Table discussion with the General [Flynn]” or get a “photo opp” with him for $2,700. Flynn came to Wisconsin to headline a Gallagher fundraiser hosted by the Republican Party of Waukesha County on June 1, 2016.
Even before today’s bombshell news, it was disconcerting that Gallagher enthusiastically welcomed support from Flynn, a man who regularly spread fake news, shared anti-Semitic and Islamophobic media postings and was forced out of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) for erratic and untruthful behavior.
Since Flynn’s forced resignation as National Security Advisor, Gallagher has refused to disavow Flynn, despite the fact that Flynn was secretly lobbying for the Turkish government, lied to the vice president and was vulnerable to blackmail as a result.
Now that Flynn has pleaded guilty to the extremely serious offense of making false statements to the FBI, Gallagher should do the right thing and disavow Flynn’s support as well as disclose the details of all political advocacy and communications he and his campaign had with Flynn.
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Last Updated on Saturday, 02 December 2017 10:46 |
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