Real Economy Project

Op-Ed

Wisconsin Common Cause: Count Every Vote

by Mary Bottari — April 9, 2011 - 11:12am
  • Topics: Democracy, Real Economy Project, Wisconsin Protests

    • Many voters went to sleep in Wisconsin and thought they woke up in Florida on Friday after a "Republican activist" county clerk announced that she discovered an extra 14,315 votes in a hotly contested Supreme Court race. Not surprisingly, the votes went to the conservative candidate giving incumbent justice David Prosser a 7,500 vote lead over challenger Joanne Kloppenburg.

    News

    Court Race Throws a Spanner in the Works of Wisconsin Wingnuts

    by Mary Bottari — April 6, 2011 - 2:15pm
  • Topics: Activism, Banking, Corporations, Democracy, Economy, Labor, Politics, Real Economy Project, Social Justice, Wisconsin Protests

    • While Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan prepares to shut down the federal government to prove that government is bad, analysts say the radical agenda of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker suffered a major set back today as his good friend incumbent Justice David Prosser was defeated for Wisconsin Supreme Court.

    Op-Ed

    Two Who Marched With King Take the Long Road from Memphis to Madison

    by Jennifer Page — April 4, 2011 - 10:00am
  • Topics: Democracy, Economy, Real Economy Project, Wisconsin Protests

    • Now, let me say as I move to my conclusion that we've got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point, in Memphis. We've got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together. –- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his last speech in Memphis

    Editorial

    Wisconsin Governor Defies Court, Prepares for Coronation

    by Mary Bottari — March 31, 2011 - 7:56am
  • Topics: Democracy, Economy, Real Economy Project, Wisconsin Protests

    • Wisconsin continues to spin out of control and a constitutional crisis looms as a judge this week again ordered Walker's administration to halt implementation of his bill stripping Wisconsin public workers of collective bargaining rights. Walker's team moved to publish the law in defiance of the court order last Friday night and began implementation of the bill on Saturday. These actions prompted an irate judge this week to clarify her previous standing order, making it "crystal clear" that "further implementation of the Act is enjoined."

    Op-Ed

    "Have You No Decency?"

    by Mary Bottari — March 25, 2011 - 9:59am
  • Topics: Corporations, Democracy, Economy, Real Economy Project, Wisconsin Protests

    • William Cronon is a professor of history, geography and environmental studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the prize winning author of many books such as Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England, which revolutionized the study of environmental history. He is known as a guy with such a deep and abiding love of Wisconsin and its traditions that he leads the "get to know us" bus tour of the state offered to new faculty each year. Glaciers, rocks and history are on his agenda; politics and cheese he leaves to fellow-Wisconsinite and Capital Times editor John Nichols.

    But this mild-mannered professor kicked a hornet's nest this week with an op-ed in the New York Times on Governor Scott Walker, and the push back was immediate. The Wisconsin GOP is now demanding his emails.

    Op-Ed

    Will “Bitches” and “Turds” Decide the Fate of Wisconsin?

    by Mary Bottari — March 23, 2011 - 7:06am
  • Topics: Corporations, Democracy, Economy, Real Economy Project, Wisconsin Protests

    • The reign of lawlessness continues in Wisconsin.

    Last week, a local court issued a stay temporarily blocking the implementation of Governor Scott Walker's radical proposal to do away with most collective bargaining rights for public workers and cripple labor's ability to collect union dues. The court put a halt to the publication of the bill (an act performed by the Secretary of State), so there could be a hearing on whether or not the Wisconsin Senate violated the state's strong open meetings law in its rush to ram the bill through.

    News

    You Can Run But You Can't Hide: Protests Follow WI Senators to DC

    by Erica Pelzek — March 16, 2011 - 8:20pm
  • Topics: Activism, Corporations, Real Economy Project, Wisconsin Protests

    • Protesters flooded The Homer Building in Washington, D.C., where BGR Group, an enormous and infamously right-wing lobbyist group has its offices.

    BGR hosted a $1,000-a-head fundraiser Wednesday for the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Special guests included Wisconsin Republican senators, notably Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald -- the "Fitz" of "FitzWalkerstan," as legislators and protesters in Madison have dubbed Fitzgerald and Governor Scott Walker's now-Republican "state."

    Other guests slated to attend: Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, and two senators eligible for recall, Alberta Darling and Glenn Grothmann.

    Op-Ed

    WI Firefighters Spark "Move Your Money" Moment

    by Mary Bottari — March 12, 2011 - 12:28pm
  • Topics: Banking, Democracy, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • On the day that the bill passed the Wisconsin Assembly effectively ending 50 years of collective bargaining in Wisconsin and eviscerating the ability of public unions to raise money through dues, a new front opened in the battle for the future of Wisconsin families.

    Bagpipes blaring, hundreds of firefighters walked across the street from the Wisconsin Capitol building, stood outside the Marshall and Ilsley Bank (M&I Bank) and played a few tunes -- loudly. Later, a group of firefighter and consumers stopped back in at the bank to make a few transactions. One by one they closed their accounts and withdrew their life savings, totaling approximately $190,000. See a video clip. After the last customer left, the bank quickly closed its doors, just in case the spontaneous "Move Your Money" moment caught fire.

    News

    Pro-Worker Ads Defend America's Middle Class

    by Anne Landman — March 11, 2011 - 8:02am
  • Topics: Activism, Democracy, Economy, Labor, Real Economy Project, Wisconsin Protests

    • MADISON--New political ads by corporate and CEO-funded groups have been flooding Wisconsin repeating misinformation from the controversial Walker administration about the budget and labor rights.  The total sum spent is not yet known.  Labor rights groups have responded to the crisis with some ads to make sure the people know that Walker and his corporate allies are refusing to negotiate and are determined to destroy labor rights.  Here are some of these ads: 

    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.

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