Right Wing

Maine's Governor Orders Removal of Public Mural Depicting Workers

by Anne Landman — March 31, 2011 - 12:20pm

The Governor of Maine, Paul LePage, ordered a commemorative public mural depicting Maine's labor history be removed from the state's Department of Labor, saying he had gotten complaints that the artwork was too pro-labor. The 36-feet long, 8-foot tall work by Judy Taylor of Tremont, Maine depicts workers like Rosie the Riveter, child laborers, shoemakers, textile workers, strikers and the first female American cabinet member, Frances Perkins, who served as U.S. Labor Secretary. The governor had the mural taken down in secrecy, over the weekend, and had it stored in an undisclosed location. The governor also plans to assign new names to the building's conference rooms, which are currently named after prominent labor leaders. In response to the mural's removal, Maine video producer Geoff Leighton proposed balancing out the mural by adding to it images of well-known recent American business moguls, like WorldCom's Bernard Ebbers, who was convicted of fraud and conspiracy, former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay, and ponzi-scheme investor Bernie Madoff, "who were significant in bringing wealth to the wealthy, despite onerous government regulations and pesky unions."

News

Reviewing the Legal Battle Surrounding WI's Union-Busting Bill

by Brendan Fischer — March 30, 2011 - 1:22pm
  • Topics: Right Wing, Democracy, Ethics, Wisconsin Protests

    • Judge MaryAnn Sumi has once again ordered a halt to further implementation of Governor Walker's union-busting bill, but did not declare whether the Legislative Reference Bureau "publishing" the bill on Friday made it law,* or whether any party is in contempt by arguably violating Sumi's first order. How did we get here, and where are we going?

    Op-Ed

    Is Your Underwear Undermining Your Values? What Is Jockey's CEO Doing at a Tea Partiers' Convention and with David Koch?

    by Lisa Graves — March 29, 2011 - 10:12am
  • Topics: Right Wing, Corporations, Democracy, Wisconsin Protests

    • MADISON--Is your underwear undermining your values? The new scrutiny of CEOs that has been ignited by the historic Wisconsin labor protests has turned up concerns close to home, very close to home--for the vast majority of people who wear underwear. To take a page from the ubiquitous Capitol One ad campaign, what's in your blue jeans? Is your underwear choice unwittingly paying the salary of a CEO who shares your values or who actively works against them?

    News

    A CMD Special Report: Who Are the Headliners at Koch-Funded AFP Conventions?

    by Lisa Graves — March 29, 2011 - 9:57am
  • Topics: Right Wing, Corporations, Democracy, Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • MADISON -- In the midst of the controversy of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's ties to David Koch and Koch Industries, the Center for Media and Democracy has conducted an analysis of the headliners at Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) conventions in the state in the past two years. The events featured select candidates who were running for office, including gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker, Attorney General candidate J.B. Van Hollen, judicial candidate David T. Prosser, Jr., and Congressman James Sensenbrenner. The AFP events also featured an array of national speakers who have supported AFP and its "Tea Party" related activities.

    Since our founding in 1994, the Center's mission has been to research and expose corporate- and CEO-funded PR activities and special interest groups, like AFP. The Center also profiles who's who at key meetings, such as David Koch's posh strategy sessions in Palm Springs and Aspen as well as at events funded by Koch and other petro-chemical industrialists trying to influence pollution policies, such as meetings of the Heartland Institute. This report on AFP Wisconsin is part of that continuing reporting on groups attempting to influence elections and public policies. Because many of the headliners were the same at both the 2009 and 2010 AFP events in the state, this article provides a guide to both of the most recent annual events.

    News

    Debate Over Swing Vote on High Court in Labor Battle Sparks Discussion of Judicial Agenda and Demeanor

    by Erica Pelzek — March 22, 2011 - 4:37am
  • Topics: Left Wing, Right Wing, Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • Amidst the ongoing labor struggle in Wisconsin and national efforts to cut programs while giving breaks to business, the race for a swing vote seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has heated up.

    Justice David Prosser, who is up for reelection, has been the subject of TV ads attempting to tie his views and judicial decisions to controversial Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Prosser has rejected these claims and stated that a statement earlier this year by his campaign staff that he should be re-elected to "complement" Walker's efforts was not approved by him in advance.

    At the March 21 debate at Marquette Law School between the two candidates -- Prosser and JoAnne Kloppenburg -- in the non-partisan race for the highest court in the state, Prosser faced questions about his temperament and the lack of judicial collegiality on the Court. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MJS) endorsed Prosser during the primary while noting that in "an interview with the Editorial Board [in February], he was surprisingly blunt in his criticisms of the chief [Justice Shirley Abrahamson], blaming her for the backbiting and divisiveness of the court."

    Kochs Fund $5.6 Million Ad Campaign in Ohio

    by Anne Landman — March 21, 2011 - 11:40am

    Billionaires Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries are funneling $5.6 million through the astroturf group FreedomWorks for an Ohio TV ad campaign starting March 18, 2011 that continues the attack on labor unions that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker started in February. FreedomWorks, a non-profit group heavily involved with organizing the Tea Party, does not disclose its corporate donors. The 30-second TV ad focuses on Ohio, but features discredited Fox News footage taken of an out-of-state protest, inserted in the ad order to depict Wisconsin union protesters as being aggressive. The ad blames unions for what it claims is a debt "crisis" in Ohio. It says, "We won in Wisconsin, but the fight must go on," and urges viewers to call a phone number to "Thank Governor Kasich for leading the fight against Union corruption in Ohio."The ad doesn't mention that a Wisconsin judge temporarily blocked implementation of Governor Walker's anti-union bill over a potential violation of open meetings laws incurred in the way the highly-contentious bill was pushed through Wisconsin's legislature.

    Main Source: 
    The Cleveland Leader, March 18, 2011
    News

    Scott Fitzgerald and WIsconsin GOP Pull Back From the Brink

    by Brendan Fischer — March 16, 2011 - 5:09pm
  • Topics: Right Wing, Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has backed off a March 14 announcement that he would effectively eliminate Senate Democrats' right to vote during committee hearings and sessions. At first glance, it may appear that Fitzgerald and company are retreating from weeks of out-of-control decision-making, but the more likely explanation is that blocking votes may be unconstitutional and illegal. Plus, the move was completely contrary to Fitzgerald's prior claims that he was only trying to force the fourteen back into Wisconsin and "back to work." In a temporary win for legislative sanity, Fitzgerald seems to have backed down for now.

    News

    Consider the Source: MacIver News Service

    by Anne Landman — March 15, 2011 - 6:51am
  • Topics: Right Wing, Ethics, Politics, Wisconsin Protests

    • The MacIver Institute, also known as the John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy, is a Wisconsin-based, free-market think tank formed in 2009 which also acts as a "news service," supplying videos and reports to media outlets, like newspapers and television broadcasters. But just who is the MacIver Institute?

    News

    Out-of-State Republican Recall Efforts Confound

    by Erica Pelzek — March 10, 2011 - 11:29pm
  • Topics: Activism, Right Wing, Election Protection, Real Economy Project, Wisconsin Protests

    • The Utah-based "American Patriot Recall Coalition" (APRC) registered recall committees online February 18 for eight of the 14 "AWOL" Wisconsin Democratic senators, leaving the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) -- and many Wisconsinites -- with raised eyebrows.

    "Any group from anywhere can register a recall committee, however that group must have a local person who lives in the district of the officeholder who's being recalled," explained Wisconsin Government Accountability Board Public Information Officer Reid Magney.

    News

    The "League of American Voters" Makes Misleading Robo-Calls

    by Lisa Graves — March 4, 2011 - 3:16pm
  • Topics: Astroturf, Right Wing, Front Groups, Propaganda

    • MADISON--Citizens from across Wisconsin have been calling the Center for Media and Democracy to complain about robo-calls they received pushing Scott Walker's agenda against public workers. The robo-calls have been bought and paid for by a shadowy Washington, DC-based group that calls itself the "League of American Voters" (LAV).

    As the Center has reported previously, LAV has one employee, a failed politician from West Virginian named Bob Adams, and is the pet project of FOX "analyst" Dick Morris, a pollster who was fired in disgrace in 1996 for conducting phone calls with the President while conducting business with a prostitute serving his foot fetish at DC's Mayflower Hotel. After Morris' falling out with Democrats in the aftermath of the scandal, he became a frequent talking head on FOX and a serial author of books bashing Democrats. The latest book he is pushing is one that praises the reactionary positions of some of the politicians elected last year, like Walker: "Revolt! How the Governors Are Changing American Politics ... Permanently." His pulp pieces are peddled on LAV's website as rewards for donations.

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