Mary Bottari's News Articles

News

Framing the Debate: How Walker Won the Ad War

by Mary Bottari — June 14, 2012 - 8:11am
  • Topics: Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • Since 1993, the Center for Media and Democracy has tracked corporate spin and government propaganda. Because we are based in Madison, Wisconsin, we had an up-close view of the unprecedented television air war surrounding the recall election of Governor Scott Walker.

    Final numbers are not yet in, but the recall race is expected to cost some $70-80 million, the most expensive in Wisconsin's history, dwarfing the previous total of $37 million spent in the 2010 gubernatorial election. Most of this money was spent on behalf of Governor Walker and most of it was spent on television.

    News

    Will Scott Walker Be Given a Pink Slip, an Orange Jump Suit or a Second Chance?

    by Mary Bottari — June 3, 2012 - 7:14am
  • Topics: Democracy, Wisconsin Protests

    • Madison -- Since September of 2010 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS) has been detailing an ongoing "John Doe" criminal investigation being run out of the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office involving Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's former staff and associates. The wide-ranging investigation has included allegations of campaign finance malfeasance, embezzlement of veterans funds, bid-rigging, and even child enticement during the period when Walker served as Milwaukee County Executive, but was running for governor.

    On June 1, 2012, the MJS broke the story that Milwaukee County prosecutors were forced to move from a regular investigation to a secret "John Doe" criminal investigation more than two years ago after being stonewalled by the County Executive's office. Court records released in the trial of one of the defendants showed that prosecutors said Walker's office had been "unwilling or unable" to turn over requested records. This new information contradicts Walker's repeated claims that he has been "fully cooperating" with the investigation since the start.

    Op-Ed

    Is "Right to Work" Next on Walker's Agenda?

    by Mary Bottari — May 29, 2012 - 10:21am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Labor, Politics

    • Many are wondering if making Wisconsin a "Right to Work" state is next on Governor Scott Walker's agenda if he wins the recall election on June 5. Right to Work laws weaken unions by allowing members to opt out of paying dues. Workers get the benefit of working in a union shop (higher wages, better benefits), but are not required to pay their fair share for union representation. Right to Work laws have been used effectively in the South to bust unions and keep wages low, which is why they are dubbed "Right to Work for Less" laws by opponents. The recent push for this legislation is emanating from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), where corporations and right-wing legislators vote as equals behind closed doors on "model" legislation.

    News

    ALEC in Wisconsin: The Hijacking of a State

    by Mary Bottari — May 21, 2012 - 9:11am
  • Topics: ALEC Exposed, Corporations, Politics

    • Wisconsinites were shell shocked in 2011 by a wide-ranging legislative agenda in their State Capitol that seemed to come out of the blue. Anti-consumer bills, union busting legislation, voter ID, enormous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy along with requirements for "super majority" votes to raise revenue were fast tracked through the legislature.

    The extreme agenda sparked massive protests regularly topping 100,000 and an 18-day Capitol occupation. In the middle of all this, mild mannered UW Professor William Cronon posted a personal blog speculating that the legislative onslaught may not be home grown, but might have to do with a little known cadre of politicians and corporations known as the American Legislative Exchange Council. The Wisconsin GOP kicked up a media firestorm when it demanded all of Cronon's emails in a fruitless attempt to prove that this highly regarded historian was involved in partisan political activities.

    Op-Ed

    Caught on Tape: Walker Plans for a Single Party State

    by Mary Bottari — May 11, 2012 - 6:51am
  • Topics: Right Wing, Tort Reform, Corporations, Economy, Wisconsin Protests

    • Video was obtained and released by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel less than a month before the June 5th recall election for Wisconsin governor that shows newly elected Governor Scott Walker in a frank conversation with one of his biggest supporters.

    News

    ReMatch! Barrett to Face Walker in Historic Recall Election

    by Mary Bottari — May 9, 2012 - 7:59am
  • Topics: Wisconsin Protests

    • Wisconsin voters chose Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to run against incumbent Governor Scott Walker in the first gubernatorial recall election in the state's history. It has been 450 days since the first protests against Walker's bill to strip state workers of collective bargaining rights sparked massive protests and an 18 day occupation of the Capitol building. Now, there are only 28 days left before a general election that will decide the next governor of the state.

    Barrett told MSNBC: "It will be a wild and woolly 28 days."

    News

    Walker Raises and Spends More Money than Any Candidate in Wisconsin History

    by Mary Bottari — May 2, 2012 - 9:40am
  • Topics: Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • The headlines in Wisconsin are all about the $25 million dollar man -- Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Walker's campaign committee has raised an eye-popping $25 million for the recall, $13 million since January 2012 when close to 1 million signatures were filed with the Wisconsin elections board triggering a recall election. Walker spent a huge sum $5 million on direct mail, rivaling the $4.5 million spent on TV. The direct mail allows him to build a national data base of funders to tap for the recall.

    News

    Scott Walker and Barack Obama Have the Same Campaign Slogan, Who is the Commie Pinko Now?

    by Mary Bottari — May 2, 2012 - 8:44am

    Right-wing media is all fired up! The Washington Times, Fox and Breitbart bloggers have uncovered concrete evidence of President Obama's commie pinko sympathies. Obama's new seven minute campaign commercial ends with one word: "Forward."

    News

    99% Spring Has Sprung: Shareholder Actions Underway Across the County

    by Mary Bottari — April 29, 2012 - 7:27am
  • Topics: Corporate Campaigns, Activism, BanksterUSA

    • This spring, in coordinated actions across the country, retirees who lost their pensions, families whose homes are underwater, students with impossible debt, the unemployed and underemployed, family farmers, immigrants, vets and more will be knocking on the doors of corporate boardrooms, holding CEOs of major American firms responsible for crashing the economy then turning their backs on their fellow Americans. With hundreds of shareholders on the inside and thousands of folks on the outside, the largest shareholder demonstrations in U.S. history are underway and spreading across the land.

    Their goal is nothing short of transformational: to wrest control of our democracy back from the robber barons and CEOs that systematically block any effort to create an economy and a body politic that serves the needs of the vast majority of Americans and not the elite few.

    News

    Walker Says that "Job Creators" Will Be Back After the Recall

    by Mary Bottari — April 25, 2012 - 10:59am
  • Topics: Corporations, Economy, Labor, Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • The banner headline in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel this morning "State posts largest percentage job loss in U.S. over past year" underscores a serious problem that folks living in Wisconsin are already familiar with. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wisconsin was the only state in the country to have statistically significant job losses in the past year. Wisconsin lost 23,900 jobs between March 2011 and March 2012. The majority were government jobs, but that number included 6,100 private sector jobs, the most private sector jobs lost in any state.

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