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Secret Email System Revealed in "John Doe" Probe of Walker Staff

The morning after his "State of the State" address where Governor Scott Walker reassured Wisconsin "We are turning things around. We are heading in the right direction," the Milwaukee County District Attorney charged two more Walker staffers with multiple felony and misdemeanor counts of misconduct in public office.

Darlene Wink and Kelly Rindfleisch were charged with conducting partisan campaign work while on the public payroll. The alleged crimes took place while Walker was Milwaukee County Executive and running to be governor. These charges are no joke in the state of Wisconsin, where in 2005, two Senate Democrats and the Republican Assembly Speaker were sentenced to jail time for similar crimes in an episode dubbed "the Caucus Scandal."

Spoof Program Handed Out at Walker's State of the State Address

Well-dressed women in suits handed out "official" programs at Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's State of the State address last night. The back of the program read "2011-2012 Legislative $ession Brought to you by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)," and featured pictures of the Koch Brothers and a long list of Walker campaign contributors.

Following a welcome prayer in the pamphlet is the faux Walker address, which highlights actual statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor showing that Wisconsin suffered six straight months of job loss compared to consistent job growth at the national level.

Two Years After "Citizens United," Amending the Constitution is Essential

January 21 marks the second anniversary of Citizens United v. F.E.C., where a narrow majority of the U.S. Supreme Court asserted that the Constitution prevents Congress from limiting the amount of money that can be spent influencing our elections. The Center for Media and Democracy is working with a constellation of groups in support of amending the Constitution to reverse the decision and address the distortion of the democratic process.

One Woman Tackles Walker's Top Lieutenant

Lori Compas is the Fort Atkinson woman who almost single-handedly led the grassroots petition drive to recall 17-year incumbent and Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau.

The Decision to "Recall Fitz"

Compas started the "Committee to Recall Scott Fitzgerald" after growing frustrations with Fitzgerald's role as top lieutenant to Governor Scott Walker and due to his lack of concern for Wisconsin's middle class families.

"None of Walker's controversial policies would be in effect today if he didn't have a buddy in the legislature pushing it through," said Compas. With its ALEC Exposed project, CMD determined that Fitzgerald was the former state chair of ALEC and is a member of the ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force, which crafted the controversial Voter ID bill. As Senate Majority leader, Fitzgerald has played a key role in implementing the Walker agenda, including Wisconsin's version of Voter ID and dozens more from the ALEC playbook. Jeff Fitzgerald, his brother, is the Speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly.

Events Marking Second Anniversary of "Citizens United"

January 20 marks the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's disastrous decision in Citizens United v. F.E.C., where a narrow majority of the Court asserted that the Constitution prevents Congress from limiting the amount of money that can be spent influencing our elections. A series of events are planned this week to mobilize opposition to the decision and to generate support for a constitutional amendment to reverse it.

WI Recall Petitions Under Guard as "GAB CAM" Goes Live

So many signatures were delivered demanding the recall of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and other state officials, that one scribe dubbed it the "greatest popular democracy movement in Wisconsin history." Over 30,000 volunteers collected over 1.9 million signatures and delivered them to the state's nonpartisan elections board on January 17.

Volunteers exceeded all expectations, delivering 1 million petitions for the recall of Scott Walker, an amount equivalent to 46 percent of the votes cast in the last gubernatorial race. Never had so many, in the history of the United States, petitioned for the recall of a governor.

One Million Petition for the Recall of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

The petition drive to recall and remove Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has surpassed all expectations, collecting over one million signatures in just 60 days.

Petitioners were only required to collect 540,000 by law. They far exceeded this number, making a successful legal challenge of the recall highly unlikely. This is the largest recall in U.S. history. Volunteers also gathered over 845,000 signatures to recall Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, as well enough signatures for four of the state senators who voted for Walker's collective bargaining bill in March 2011, adding hundreds of thousands more petitions to a pile estimated to weigh over one ton.

The Governor was not immediately available for comment. At the moment the recall petitions were being filed, he was the guest of Citibank on Wall Street at a high-dollar recall fundraiser.

Filmmaker Seeks Support for "Wisconsin Rising" Film

Hundreds of thousands surrounded the Wisconsin State Capitol building a year ago in response and protest of Governor Scott Walker's radical agenda, including his proposed "budget repair bill" to balance the budget on the back of state workers. There to document history in the making, was independent filmmaker Sam Mayfield from Burlington, Vermont. Sam was seen everywhere with her high definition camcorder, at Walker press conferences and climbing though Capitol windows with protesters. In the many months she was in Wisconsin, she obtained hundreds of hours of footage -- often at moments when hers was the only camera present. Among her hundreds of interviews with newsmakers and protesters, the Center for Media and Democracy's Mary Bottari was interviewed for the project on the role that ALEC played in shaping the Walker agenda. "People really need to pay attention to this and start bird-dogging these institutions, these legislators and these corporations and taking back their democracy," Bottari said of ALEC.

Rep. Farley Proposes Some Strong Arizona Sunshine on ALEC "Scholarships"

This story is part of a collaboration between In These Times and the Center for Media and Democracy, as part of a special series on ALEC's recent conference in Arizona.

With the 2012 legislative season and another episode of the Great American Campaign Circus dawning over the nation, Arizona may find itself the proving grounds for possible reform in the age of "pay-to-play" politics.

ALEC and Westin/Starwood: Who is Your Hotel in Bed With While You're in Bed at Your Hotel?

Tucson-based civil rights attorney Stacy Scheff believes that Westin Kierland may have violated federal constitutional law when they threw a journalist (and paid guest) out into the dead of night--due to the simple fact that the journalist evicted had written critically of (and was not liked by) the organization hosting a conference at the hotel. (A new story about these events is available here).

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