Mega rich behind dark money ads in Senate race would gain. Nicholson donor Dick Uihlein could save up to $340,000,000; Vukmir donor Diane Hendricks would get a $867,000,000 cut.

MADISON - Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed its Leah Vukmir and Kevin Nicholson-endorsed version of the #GOPTaxScam that would increase taxes on millions on middle-class families -- nearly half of middle-class families, to be exact -- while slashing corporate tax rates and taxes for the richest Americans.

Among other things, the House GOP tax plan completely eliminates the estate tax -- the tax that's levied on "property (cash, real estate, stock, or other assets) transferred from deceased persons to their heirs," but only where the property value exceeds $5.49 million per individual. The estate tax simply doesn't impact most Americans -- and eliminating it only benefits the super-wealthy, like Kevin Nicholson and Leah Vukmir's megadonors (take it from a Wisconsin farmer). 

Here's a look at how Kevin Nicholson and Leah Vukmir's respective billionaire donors would be rewarded by the House GOP bill's elimination of the estate tax (assuming they would at-present be taxed at the 17% effective rate):

• Illinois billionaire Dick Uihlein has already invested a whopping $15 million in groups backing out-of-state billionaire puppet Kevin Nicholson, but that's just a drop in the bucket compared to the benefits Uihlein would reap under the tax cuts Nicholson wants to gift Uihlein in return:
  
  Estimated Net Worth: $700,000,000 - $2,000,000,000
  Estimated Cut From Estate Tax Repeal: $119,000,000 - $340,000,000
• Wisconsin billionaire Diane Hendricks is campaign finance co-chair for right-wing state Senator Leah Vukmir, who reportedly kicked off her campaign with "a private audience with [the] influential billionaire." We don't know everything Vukmir has promised Hendricks, but is there any way tax cuts for the wealthy weren't discussed? Here's how Hendricks would benefit from the estate tax repeal Vukmir is calling for:
  
  Estimated Net Worth: $5,100,000,000
  Estimated Cut From Estate Tax Repeal: $867,000,000

"Kevin Nicholson and Leah Vukmir are calling for a massive transfer of wealth to their biggest donors, and they want hardworking Wisconsinites to pay for it," said Brad Bainum, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson for the 2018 Senate race. "It's clear what's happening here: Nicholson and Vukmir aren't looking out for Wisconsin working families -- their only concern is rewarding their corporate special interest big donors."

Slogan is a deceptive cover-up of government run by Republican donors.

MILWAUKEE – Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Matt Flynn today made the following statement highlighting the way Scott Walker’s dismal record contrasts with Walker’s new campaign slogan, “Moving Wisconsin Forward.”

Flynn said, “Since the day I announced my candidacy for governor, I have called my candidacy a campaign for ‘moving Wisconsin Forward again.’ Apparently, this message is so appealing that the incumbent governor decided to borrow the slogan for himself. The only difference is he leaves out the crucial word, ‘again.’

“Walker removed ‘again’ to leave voters with the impression that he has been moving Wisconsin forward all along. Wisconsin voters know better. Since he first took office in 2011, he has consistently moved Wisconsin backwards.

“Walker is simply a policy mule for a Republican donor cartel. These donors want to socialize all their risk, privatize any profits, and transfer the public assets of Wisconsin into their pockets. Here are a few of their objectives which Walker has obeyed:

• Walker drove down wages by passing Act 10, Right to Work, and by repealing prevailing wage.
• He turned down more than $800 million in train money and more than $500 million in Medicaid money.
• He is turning over almost $3 billion in taxpayer cash to a Chinese company and exempting them from clean water regulations that American companies such as Miller Brewing and Harley-Davidson have to obey.
• He has cut funding to the University of Wisconsin System, eliminated statutory tenure, and insulted the professors by calling their opposition ‘a collective groan,’ and falsely stating they were more interested in themselves than in their students.
• He has permitted industry to write their own environmental permits, polluting our water.
• He permitted a foreign private corporation to force private Wisconsin property owners to give up their property under the doctrine of eminent domain, which had previously been reserved for state purposes.
• He broke up one of the best government accountability agencies in the world and created a giant slush fund for his campaign donors in the form of the WEDC.
• He led the effort to add Wisconsin to the call for a Constitutional Convention that will amend the United States Constitution to permit Republican donors to steal public assets well into the future.

“This atrocious record is Walker’s idea of ‘moving Wisconsin forward.’ He has turned Wisconsin through a gerrymandered legislature into a donor occupation group. It’s time for a new governor.

“Forward has been Wisconsin’s state motto since admission to the union, and it accurately captures most of our state’s progressive history. We gave America kindergarten, Earth Day, workers’ compensation insurance, and other forward-thinking ideas. Wisconsin has been called the birthplace of progressivism.

“Scott Walker’s time as governor has repealed or damaged almost every aspect of Wisconsin progressivism. His time is up. Wisconsin is ready for change.”

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Matt Flynn is a Navy veteran, attorney, and former Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. He attended law school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For additional information, visit www.ForwardWithFlynn.com.

According to uncovered secret agenda, Schimel at Mar-a-Lago with elite donors. DPW Chair demands Schimel come clean with Wisconsinites on his role.

MADISON - Last weekend, according to an agenda obtained by MapLight, Brad Schimel appears to have attended an opulent retreat and fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago that the Republican Attorney’s General Association (RAGA) did its best to hide. 

The weekend’s activities included: a dinner with $125,000-per-year donors to the RAGA, golf tournaments, catamaran tours and numerous fundraisers. Most alarmingly, on the agenda, was a panel dubiously titled “Rule of Law Restoration Update: 370 Days since the election of President Trump.”

Secrecy for the event was a top priority, as it was not made public and the agenda notes that “cell phone use and picture taking is prohibited in all areas.”

“These lavish, secretive retreats making policy with rich donors behind closed doors are exactly why Wisconsinites have lost their faith in partisan politicians like Brad Schimel,’ said Martha Laning, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. “He should disclose to Wisconsinites what plans and promises he made at this event, especially to any regular RAGA donors like Koch Industries and major opioid manufacturers that have already done so much to harm to the people of Wisconsin. 

“Schimel needs to immediately disclose if he attended, and if so, disclose if he met with representatives of pharmaceutical companies that manufacture opioids that Schimel claims he's investigating. With donors like these, it’s no wonder Schimel uses his DOJ to disenfranchise voters, rob people of their health care and place the needs of big business over those of hard-working Wisconsinites. The people of our state deserve an Attorney General who puts them first, and it’s clear Brad Schimel does not.”

To qualify, students would need to be Wisconsin residents and enrolled in school full-time. Evers is also pledging to include the “Higher Ed, Lower Debt” proposal in his first budget as Governor to help over 800,000 Wisconsinites to refinance their student loans.

MADISON – Tony Evers, State Superintendent of Public Instruction and Democratic candidate for Governor is announcing his plan to provide students at Wisconsin’s 13 two-year UW College campuses and online program with a 50 percent cut in tuition, if elected Governor in 2018. To qualify for the tuition reduction, students would need to be Wisconsin residents and enrolled in school full-time.

Since 2010, our UW Colleges, which primarily serve out-state communities from Baraboo to Barron County and Washington County to Wood County, have suffered a 32 percent decline in enrollment. Over 60 percent of new freshmen enrolling at UW Colleges in 2016-17 were first-generation college students, with 1 out of 5 students being 24 years old or older.

“As the state that created Kindergarten in the 1850’s and the Wisconsin Idea in the 1900’s, we have a strong tradition of public education -- one that has been eroded under Governor Walker’s leadership. This is a meaningful first step toward restoring that tradition. In Walker’s stagnant economy, it’s harder than ever for folks to make ends meet with just a high school diploma. Our two-year campuses play a pivotal role in helping students stay close to home while getting the skills they need to get good-paying jobs. This proposal will help strengthen our UW Colleges, create a better-trained workforce and make college more accessible to all Wisconsinites,” Evers said.

Evers’ proposal would provide full-time students with a 50 percent tuition cut in their freshmen and sophomore years at two-year colleges, where annual tuition is currently $4,750. The proposal is expected to cost less than $20 million a year and would provide substantial financial relief to thousands of Wisconsinites.

“As the saying goes, budgets are about priorities. Scott Walker and legislative Republicans are fine with giving 11 multimillionaires $22 million in tax breaks, without requiring them to create a single job. I believe we can spend that money better. Instead of helping millionaires get richer, we can use this money to help make college a reality for thousands of Wisconsinites. We must invest in the people and communities of this state to move Wisconsin forward again,” Evers said.

Evers is also pledging to include the “Higher Ed, Lower Debt” proposal in his first budget as Governor, which would allow over 800,000 Wisconsinites to refinance their student loans like a home mortgage. Thanks to Walker’s policies, Wisconsin now ranks among the five worst states in the nation for percentage of college graduates with student loan debt. Seventy percent of the class of 2015 in Wisconsin is graduating with debt, averaging nearly $30,000 per student. “Our young people should not be forced to deal with a mountain of debt just as they are starting to build careers and families,” Evers said. “We simply must make this common-sense investment in the next generation of leaders,” Evers concluded.

“I support you and will work for you” says Milwaukee area Congresswoman.

MILWAUKEE - Congresswoman Gwen Moore endorsed Mahlon Mitchell’s candidacy for Governor Monday, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to endorse in the Democratic primary for Governor.

Her son, Supervisor Supreme Moore Omokunde read the following statement from Congresswoman Moore at Mitchell’s Milwaukee event:

“I’m sorry that I am unable to join you in person at your announcement of your candidacy for Governor.

“I am so proud of you, and I am so glad that I reached out to you before any of the current candidates announced. As I survey the field forming I am even more impressed with your cognitive and emotional intelligence, your Statewide Leadership experience, your public policy acumen and service. I think you would be a great Governor.

“I support you, and will work for you.”

Candidate for Governor holds Town Hall at Atlas Coffee Mill, 425 West Water Street, Appleton beginning at 6pm Tuesday, November 14.

APPLETON, WI - Mike McCabe's Principle over Party campaign continues to make its way around the state, this time focusing on the Fox River Valley. Stops on Tuesday include visits to local small businesses and a Town Hall at Atlas Coffee Mill (425 West Water Street, Appleton) beginning at 6pm Tuesday, November 14.

The People Powered Campaign has been making its way across the state since its kick-off in early September. Recently Mike McCabe was in Superior, Ashland, Eau Claire, and River Falls just to name a few stops. Regardless of the location, Mike's message remains the same.

“There is risk involved in taking this stand against the influence of big money. But there is an even greater risk if everyone keeps going along with the corrupt way election campaigns are regularly being funded. If big money rules again in the next election for governor, some candidate will win but the people will lose,” McCabe said.

In 1995 McCabe was a founding member of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan watchdog group that specializes in tracking the money in state elections and works to make people matter more than money in politics. He led the group for 15 years as its director and during that time exposed money’s influence and called out wrongdoing by state officials, earning a reputation as a leading government whistle blower and one of the nation’s best political money trackers.

Before the Democracy Campaign came along, the only way to see who was donating to elected officials and candidates for office was to travel to the old state Elections Board office in Madison and personally examine mountains of paper reports. The Democracy Campaign entered all of the information on those reports into an electronic database and published it online, making it vastly easier to follow the money in Wisconsin politics. For its efforts under Mike’s leadership, the Democracy Campaign was named the Citizen Openness Advocate of the Year in 2012 by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council and the state chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

He continued, "I am running for governor for one reason and one reason only. To do everything I can to get our government working for all of us and not just a privileged few."

***

For more information on the campaign visit: GovernorBlueJeans.com .

Flynn attacks Walker’s record of stagnation as the corrupt WEDC votes on the controversial Foxconn contract

MADISON - Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Matt Flynn today made the following statement criticizing the Foxconn deal as Governor Scott Walker’s corrupt Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) votes to sign the contract with Foxconn.

“What could make Governor Walker take such a desperate gamble? We are nearly seven years into Walker’s destructive policies to attempt to produce his ‘minimum acceptable’ 250,000 jobs. With next year’s election on the horizon, the Governor has decided to buy jobs for hundreds of thousands of dollars each. His partner is a foreign corporation known for demanding exemptions from clean water laws and driving its workers to literally jump out of windows to escape its factories in China.

“This deal is so bad that, at every turn, facts about it have been concealed or distorted. In fact, even the consultancy of Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, hired by Walker’s administration, estimates that a whopping ‘40% to 50% of the construction-period spending and ongoing jobs associated with the project could be filled by non-residents.’ Facts are inconvenient to him, so Governor Walker got the figure changed to 0%.

“For most of Wisconsin’s history, we were a state where incomes were above the national average. Yet, since Walker has been in office, our real family median incomes have been below the national average. By contrast, neighboring Minnesota has posted stronger job numbers than ours and their real median family incomes now sit nearly $5,000 higher than ours.

“Minnesota abandoned their GOP special interest policies and instead invested in their people through education and infrastructure. Those investments paid off both in higher incomes and more new business startups. This is the real source of innovation. Companies like Apple and Microsoft were enabled by big public investments in research and human capital.

Economic growth is created by investing in people, the source of all real wealth creation, not by the over-priced buying of jobs from Chinese electronics firms.

“Walker has had his chance to try to make his policies work. They didn’t. It’s time for change in Wisconsin.”

###

Matt Flynn is a Navy veteran, attorney, and former Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. He attended law school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For additional information, visit www.ForwardWithFlynn.com.

Flynn will set things right again after the destructive government of Scott Walker.

MILWAUKEE - Gubernatorial candidate Matt Flynn today released his policy priorities for Wisconsin. His fiercely Forward-thinking policies include increasing wages, producing higher-wage jobs, protecting our clean water, fully funding public education, ensuring that all Wisconsinites have access to health care, repairing our roads, and creating much-needed political reform. 

“For seven years, the wages of Wisconsin families have stagnated. Governor Walker gutted public services so that the highest-income people get tax breaks,” Flynn said. “That record of backwards leadership is coming to an end. My administration will be focused on moving Wisconsin Forward again.”

Move Wisconsin Forward Again

More Jobs with Better Wages

Wages remain too low for too many Wisconsin workers. We are lagging behind the rest of the country. Too many are working several part-time jobs just to get by. Too many are struggling to provide for their families, living paycheck to paycheck, without opportunity for advancement.

To end Scott Walker’s record of stagnation, we will:

1. Increase the minimum wage to a $15 per hour livable wage.

1. Create a fairer, progressive tax structure.

1. End “Right-to-Work” and “Act 10” so that employees can bargain for better wages, hours, and working conditions again.

1. Restore prevailing wage.

Clean Water

Walker and the Republicans have seriously lowered Wisconsin’s environmental and water standards. Those standards were developed over decades by governors and legislators from both parties. High capacity wells and CAFOs are taking too much water out of our state and have contaminated wells in some areas. Some Wisconsinites drink bottled water because of the pollution.

Walker exempted Foxconn, a foreign company, from important Wisconsin laws protecting our clean water. But Wisconsin companies like Harley Davidson and Miller Brewing have to obey those laws. I do not want Chinese industrial water management anywhere in Wisconsin. If foreign companies come to our state, they will obey Wisconsin law.

To protect our clean water resources, we will:

1. Restore water quality standards to protect our families.

1. Restore a fully independent DNR with adequate resources and an adequate number of scientists.

1. Create a state fund to assist municipalities and residents in removing lead service lines.

1. Require all foreign companies to obey all American and Wisconsin laws.

Education

Wisconsin used to be known for having the best public education in the country. Then came Scott Walker. We will fully fund public education in this state. We will stop the Walker policy of slashing education after his election and then restoring a little funding before his re-election. The long-term impacts of his education policies are disastrous for Wisconsin’s economy.

This means we will fully fund our public schools, technical colleges, and the UW System. We particularly need to restore the University of Wisconsin’s status as a premier research institution. Walker has vandalized the University of Wisconsin, tried to change the mission statement, eliminated statutory tenure, and made deep cuts to funding.

To restore the excellence of public education in Wisconsin, we will:

1. Fully fund public education in this state, in both urban and rural districts, including transportation and broadband. This will require fixing the funding formulas so that no district is unfairly disadvantaged.

1. Fully fund the UW System campuses and WTCS.

1. Reaffirm the mission statement of the University of Wisconsin.

1. Restore statutory tenure.

1. Promote and advertise the excellence of the University of Wisconsin.

Health Care

Donald Trump is trying to destroy the Affordable Care Act. As Governor, I will support the Affordable Care Act and work to make health care more affordable.

Scott Walker turned down hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid payments by the federal government. This was merely the return of our own federal taxes. I will lobby for and accept all federal funding to meet our health care obligations. I am not willing to put politics ahead of people’s lives.

To improve our health care system, we will:

1. Support BadgerCare for All. This sensible law will allow patients to buy an affordable health plan through BadgerCare Plus as Trump shrinks access to the private market.

1. Accept federal funding for Medicaid expansions.

Roads and Infrastructure

The plan of Walker and the Republicans for roads and infrastructure is neglect and debt. We have rural areas going back to gravel roads. Walker also turned down more than $800 million in train funds from the federal government which was simply a return of our federal taxes.

To restore our roads and state infrastructure, we will:

1. Lobby for and accept all federal funds for transportation and infrastructure projects.

1. Pay for necessary road and infrastructure projects through a combination of user fees on gas, registration, and trucks.

Clean government

Wisconsin has a long history of clean government reforms going back to the 19th Century. Scott Walker has progressively corrupted this state over the past seven years. He broke up one of the best government accountability agencies in the world and tried to gut the state’s open records law. He created and still oversees a giant slush fund in the form of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) to benefit his donors.

Every policy must start with clean government. I will clean up the corruption in Madison. In particular, I will reform the WEDC to a department that makes honest loans by honest standards, without regard to political contributions. I will restore a clean government accountability agency, and I’ll work with journalists, legislators, and citizens to make our state the most transparent in the country.

To restore clean, honest government, we will:

1. Reform the WEDC to a department that makes honest loans by honest standards, without regard to political contributions.

1. Reaffirm our commitment to open records and transparency in government.

1. Create automatic voter registration. Every American citizen living in Wisconsin who gets a license at the DMV will be automatically registered to vote. Licensees would be allowed to opt-out of voter registration if they choose.

1. Establish a neutral reapportionment commission to redistrict legislative districts every ten years to prevent partisan legislators from picking their voters, rather than voters picking their legislators.

Foxconn

Scott Walker got taken to the cleaners in the Foxconn deal. He does not have the skill or experience to negotiate a $3 billion deal. He gave away our state’s resources to a foreign corporation in exchange for a promise to create jobs near the Illinois border. But there are no guaranteed number of jobs and no guaranteed wage levels.

Part of the $3 billion could have been spent on our most important economic public assets, including the University of Wisconsin System and public education. Part of it could have been used to invest in start-ups and small businesses in all 72 counties of our state. Part of it could have been used to repair our roads. These three things would have created more jobs statewide and brought more money into all communities, including rural communities and urban communities, throughout Wisconsin.

As governor, I will hold Foxconn to their duty of good faith and fair dealing and other contractual obligations under Wisconsin law. If they violate those obligations, I will move to recoup the money paid to them.

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Matt Flynn is a Navy veteran, attorney, and former Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. He attended law school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

For additional information, visit www.ForwardWithFlynn.com

LA CROSSE, WI - The La Crosse Chapter of Our Wisconsin Revolution is holding the first candidate forum open to the public on Monday, November 6th, 2017 from 6-8 pm at the Brick House (228 5th Ave S) in La Crosse, WI.

All declared candidates have been invited to attend. The forum allows for McCabe to further express his vision for the future of Wisconsin and the need to return to public service.

"The list of problems facing Wisconsin is long. No matter what problem is at the top of your list, I’m guessing you are frustrated by how our government is dealing with that problem. The root cause of that frustration is the poisoned political culture that dooms us to a government and economy that work great for the rich and powerful at everyone else’s expense. Concern for the common good has fallen out of fashion. Genuine public service has given way to a lot of back scratching, nest feathering and ladder climbing," McCabe cited as one of the reasons for his candidacy.

"Our state and our country are in trouble. This is no time for timid. This is no time for same old same old. There has to be clarity of vision. We can’t be bashful about standing for things like living wages for every worker, health care for all, debt-free education, high-speed Internet to every doorstep, and a clean energy economy. And we can’t bury our heads in the sand about how Wisconsin’s reputation for clean, open and honest government has been trashed. We all have to take responsibility for cleaning up the mess."

Mike has worked for decades as an independent watchdog exposing the legal bribery of elected officials. He called out both Democrats and Republicans whenever he saw wrongdoing or ethical misconduct. He challenged both Democrats and Republicans to change their ways. His life’s work has involved putting principle over party to try to get government working for all people and not just a privileged few. He is running for governor in the same way for the same reason.

For more information about the campaign visit: GovernorBlueJeans.com

Walker is increasingly vulnerable to a strong Democratic challenge. A recent Public Policy Poll showed Walker losing to a generic Democrat by 5 points, with a job approval rating of only 43 percent.

MADISON – Today, Governor Scott Walker will be in Waukesha announcing he’s running for his third term as Governor of Wisconsin. Waukesha is all too familiar with Wisconsin’s economic stagnation under Walker. Earlier this year, GE announced they would be closing their plant to move to Canada, laying off over 300 employees.

Tony Evers, State Superintendent and Democratic candidate for Governor released the following statement:

“Last year, Wisconsin saw nearly a 70 percent decrease in job creation. Wages are declining and too many Wisconsinites are having to work two or three jobs just to put food on the table or cover their medical bills. Meanwhile, Walker is making bad deals like the Foxconn mess, which hands over $3,000,000,000 of your hard-earned money to a foreign corporation. Everywhere I go, from Milwaukee to Marshfield, Reedsburg to Rice Lake, everyone keeps asking, “What about us? What about our schools, our roads and our jobs?”

A year out from the election, Walker is increasingly vulnerable to a strong Democratic challenge. A recent Public Policy Poll showed Walker losing to a generic Democrat by 5 points, with a job approval rating of only 43 percent.

“Wisconsinites are sick and tired of Walker’s broken promises, divisive politics and unquestioning support of Donald Trump’s agenda. I’m running for Governor to put an end to Trump and Walker’s relentless attacks on our families and values. I will take on the Madison politicians and restore the respect, trust and confidence we need to get our government working again. It’s what I’ve done throughout my career as a teacher, principal and school administrator, and it’s what I’ve done as state superintendent, responsible for educating 860,000 kids. I’m the only candidate for governor with the experience necessary to clean up Walker’s mess, end the assault on our values and bring Democrats and Republicans together to solve our problems.”

Tony Evers has been elected three times to serve as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, winning 70 of 72 counties in his last election, with 70 percent of the vote statewide. Evers has spent his entire career educating our kids, previously working as a science teacher, a high school principal and as school district superintendent. As State Superintendent, Evers runs one of the largest agencies in the state, with responsibility over 70,000 educators and 860,000 students. Evers is the father of 3 children and 6 grandchildren, raising his family in communities throughout Wisconsin, including Plymouth, Baraboo, Tomah, Oakfield, Omro, Oshkosh and Verona.