Nikolina Lazic's News Articles

Join Us For a Special Screening of "Hot Coffee" Tonight in Madison With The Filmmaker!

  • Topics: Tort Reform
  • We are joining the Wisconsin Association for Justice to welcome filmmaker Susan Saladoff for a special screening of her powerful and illuminating documentary, "Hot Coffee." It's about how corporations are distorting the truth and the law to limit the rights of people hurt by corporations. We think it is a must-see film!

    If you've been following our reporting on the American Legislative Exchange Council, you know that the first bill ALEC alumnus Scott Walker signed into law this year was far-reaching, so-called "tort reform" legislation that echoed some key ALEC model provisions and limited the rights of Wisconsin citizens injured or killed by corporations. Recent ALEC award winner Rick Perry, Texas governor and GOP presidential candidate, is touting similar changes he signed into law that protect corporate wrongdoers at the expense of injured Americans.

    From Bad to Worse: New JFC Version of Medicaid Power Shift Compounds the Problems

    Guest post by Ken Taylor and Jon Peacock of Wisconsin Council on Children and Families

    Medicaid provisions in Wisconsin's Joint Finance Committee (JFC) budget are raising constitutional issues and open meetings concerns.

    The Joint Finance Committee version of the budget bill incorporates provisions from the budget repair bill (Act 10) that shift the power over Medicaid and BadgerCare policymaking from the legislature to the Department of Health Services (DHS). However, it compounds the problems created by the concentration of so much lawmaking power in the executive branch because it removes requirements that the DHS policy changes –- which would be allowed to supersede 24 parts of the statutes –- have to be made by rule. The rulemaking process would have included public hearings and an opportunity for citizen participation in the process.

    Icing on the Cake for Corporations, Crumbs for Working Families

    Guest post by Jon Peacock of Wisconsin Children and Families to PR Watch

    As the Joint Finance Committee wrapped up its work on the biennial budget bill late last Friday night, June 3, one of the final motions that was offered was a brand new proposal for a large corporate tax break. At about 11:00 pm Friday, the Committee voted 12-4, along party lines, for that motion to create a new tax credit for corporations that produce goods in the state –- gradually reducing their state income tax by as much as 95 percent, once the $129 million per year tax break is fully phased in.

    Kathleen Gallagher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote a good article on the subject earlier this week. As she reported, James Buchen, vice president of government relations for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, called the amendment "the icing on the cake for us be able to go out and sell Wisconsin as manufacturing heaven."

    CMD at Netroots Nation, June 16-19, Minneapolis, MN

    Center for Media and Democracy's Executive Director, Lisa Graves, the Director of our Real Economy Project, Mary Bottari, and Senior Fellow on Health Care, Wendell Potter, will be speaking at this year's Netroots Nation convention. The conference will take place from June 16-19 at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Further details and the agenda click here. Stop by the CMD table at the Exhibition Hall and sign up for our IPad 2 raffle. For the very lucky, there may even be cheese curds!

    Nurses' Open Letter to Wisconsinites –- Carry on!

    Guest post by Jean Ross, RN and Co-President for National Nurses United

    The fight in Wisconsin continues to be an ongoing an inspiration to the entire nation. As a registered nurse for 37 years, I have been part of a proud tradition of protest as well. My number one priority, as it is for all nurses, is to advocate for my patients. This is a daily struggle we must wage against corporate insurance and hospitals that care more about the bottom line than patient care. As nurses we fight every day for our patients -- by marching on our administrators, disrupting our halls of government, and protesting in the streets.

    Wisconsin Protests, Monday, April 25 - Sunday, May 1, 2011

    CMD REPORTS: MAY DAY MARCH UNITES WORKERS

    9:05 a.m. - Rebekah Wilce reports for CMD:

    Today in Madison, Immigrant Workers Union and allied groups marched from Brittingham Park down West Washington Avenue to the Wisconsin State Capitol, demanding worker's rights and immigration reform.

    May Day, or May 1st, became International Workers' Day in 1886, when it was the beginning of a multi-day general strike in Chicago that demanded an eight-hour work day. On May 4, 1886, the strike ended in what became known as the Haymarket affair.

    Wisconsin Protests, Monday, April 18 - Sunday, April 24, 2011

    CMD REPORTS: "THUNDA AROUND THE ROTUNDA" TO RUMBLE INTO MADISON SATURDAY

    9:30 p.m. - Summer Abdoh reports for CMD:

    On Saturday, April 30, the fight for collective bargaining will bring a different type of activist to Madison's Capitol Square. As many as 10,000 motorcyclists from around Wisconsin and across the Midwest will ride in support of Wisconsin workers at the "Thunda Around the Rotunda" event.

    Read more here.

    Wisconsin Protests, Monday, April 11 - Sunday, April 17, 2011

    CMD REPORTS: SARAH PALIN: THE KOCH BROTHER’S UNION MAID

    10:00 p.m. - Mary Bottari reports for CMD:

    Tax Day was approaching and the righties were out to denigrate government workers and government spending. Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska, who quit her job in 2009, headlined a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, bought and paid for by the front-group Americans for Prosperity (AFP), but billed as a “grassroots” Tea Party event.

    Wisconsin Protests, Monday, April 4 - Sunday, April 10, 2011

     

    CMD REPORTS: WISCONSIN COMMON CAUSE: COUNT EVERY VOTE

     

    9:15 a.m. - Mary Bottari reports for CMD:

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