Public outrage over Wisconsin's disastrous agreement with Accenture LLP to develop the state's voter registration system already had forced changes to the contract protecting voter privacy and enabling state officials to inspect the computer source code the company writes to program the computers used for voter registration. Now it looks like public scrutiny is saving state taxpayers millions.
At this week's Elections Board meeting, Accenture spokeswoman Meg McLaughlin claimed that the company already has spent more than $20 million on the project. Under the voter-list contract, Accenture is due to receive $13.9 million for its work. In May, Elections Board director Kevin Kennedy publicly stated that he was open to giving Accenture more money. But now that possibility has been effectively closed off, thanks to public pressure. Board members now all insist that Accenture will not get a penny more than the contract calls for.
Kennedy once described the Elections Board and Accenture as "partners." The marriage appears to be on the rocks. Two weeks ago, Kennedy shot off a letter to McLaughlin pinning the blame squarely on Accenture for Wisconsin's certain failure to meet the looming January 1 federal deadline to have a working computerized voter registration system. This week, McLaughlin fired back, pointing fingers at the state and devoting eight pages to a point-by-point description of all the ways Kennedy has parted company with the truth.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Little House Of Horrors
If anyone is still wondering why the state Assembly is called the "lower house" of the Legislature, look no further than what one reporter called the "bizarre turn of events" when the GOP-led body apparently voted to override Governor Jim Doyle's veto of higher payments to nursing homes serving patients in the state's Medicaid program.
The Assembly's presiding officer, Republican Steve Freese, refused to allow Milwaukee Democrat Pedro Colon to cast his vote, which would have sustained the governor's veto. When the vote was being tallied, Colon was talking to Republican representatives in the Assembly parlor. When Colon returned from the parlor he was not allowed to register his vote, although it is the longstanding custom of the Assembly to record the votes of temporarily absent members. Meanwhile, the Republicans Colon was speaking to at the time he missed his vote had their votes recorded, meaning their seat mates pushed their voting buttons for them although they weren't physically present – a common practice that technically isn't allowed under Assembly rules.
When asked by reporters to explain his actions in the wake of all this childishness, Freese said it is not his responsibility to make sure people are in their seats and voting, and went on to say that at times in the past he hasn't called missing people in for votes because they had been mean to him.
The whole hullabaloo most likely will end up being academic, since overriding a veto requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature. It is considered highly improbable that the Senate will be able to muster a two-thirds majority to reverse the nursing home veto.
Just in case you're laboring under the mistaken impression that truth is stranger than fiction only in the Assembly, check out this and this about Senator Tom Reynolds, a Wauwatosa Republican who even right-wing radio talk show host Charlie Sykes calls a "nut job." Reynolds once proposed creating a private Autobahn next to I-94 where drivers could drive as fast as they want for a fee. Now he's one of three legislators working to end election-day voter registration, a longstanding tradition in Wisconsin that is widely credited for higher than average voter turnout in the state.
Then there's the revelation that an aide to another state senator made more than 200 calls during work hours on a state phone to a campaign worker for Menomonee Falls municipal candidates the aide supported. Phone records show that the aide to River Hills Republican Alberta Darling, Chris Slinker, also put in a call to an Appleton print shop that produced campaign materials for Menomonee Falls trustee candidates.
You'd think the fact that five of the most powerful politicians in Wisconsin face criminal trials for misusing state offices and taxpayer money in this same way would serve as a cautionary tale for staffers like Slinker, who now plans to challenge fellow Republican Sue Jeskewitz for the Assembly seat she currently holds in a 2006 GOP primary. Indeed, Slinker says "I would have to be a complete idiot to (do campaign work) from the office."
Like Forrest Gump's mama used to tell him, "stupid is as stupid does."
The Assembly's presiding officer, Republican Steve Freese, refused to allow Milwaukee Democrat Pedro Colon to cast his vote, which would have sustained the governor's veto. When the vote was being tallied, Colon was talking to Republican representatives in the Assembly parlor. When Colon returned from the parlor he was not allowed to register his vote, although it is the longstanding custom of the Assembly to record the votes of temporarily absent members. Meanwhile, the Republicans Colon was speaking to at the time he missed his vote had their votes recorded, meaning their seat mates pushed their voting buttons for them although they weren't physically present – a common practice that technically isn't allowed under Assembly rules.
When asked by reporters to explain his actions in the wake of all this childishness, Freese said it is not his responsibility to make sure people are in their seats and voting, and went on to say that at times in the past he hasn't called missing people in for votes because they had been mean to him.
The whole hullabaloo most likely will end up being academic, since overriding a veto requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of the Legislature. It is considered highly improbable that the Senate will be able to muster a two-thirds majority to reverse the nursing home veto.
Just in case you're laboring under the mistaken impression that truth is stranger than fiction only in the Assembly, check out this and this about Senator Tom Reynolds, a Wauwatosa Republican who even right-wing radio talk show host Charlie Sykes calls a "nut job." Reynolds once proposed creating a private Autobahn next to I-94 where drivers could drive as fast as they want for a fee. Now he's one of three legislators working to end election-day voter registration, a longstanding tradition in Wisconsin that is widely credited for higher than average voter turnout in the state.
Then there's the revelation that an aide to another state senator made more than 200 calls during work hours on a state phone to a campaign worker for Menomonee Falls municipal candidates the aide supported. Phone records show that the aide to River Hills Republican Alberta Darling, Chris Slinker, also put in a call to an Appleton print shop that produced campaign materials for Menomonee Falls trustee candidates.
You'd think the fact that five of the most powerful politicians in Wisconsin face criminal trials for misusing state offices and taxpayer money in this same way would serve as a cautionary tale for staffers like Slinker, who now plans to challenge fellow Republican Sue Jeskewitz for the Assembly seat she currently holds in a 2006 GOP primary. Indeed, Slinker says "I would have to be a complete idiot to (do campaign work) from the office."
Like Forrest Gump's mama used to tell him, "stupid is as stupid does."
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
The Wisconsin Equivalent Of FEMA
Wisconsin's decision to outsource work on the development of a federally mandated voter registration system is backfiring big time. The project already was plagued by cost overruns, but now we find out through an open records request that there are so many bugs in the computer system being developed for the state by Accenture that Wisconsin will not meet the federal government's final January 1, 2006 deadline for state compliance with voter registration requirements in the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
The Elections Board's response to this revelation has been positively FEMA-like. First, the board looked for someone else to blame. The most convenient culprit was the "unrealistic deadline set by Congress." Pointing fingers at the feds is always a sound damage-control strategy, so long as no one notices that Wisconsin was granted a two-year extension from the law's original implementation deadline of January 1, 2004 or that states like Minnesota already have completed the work and complied with the federal law, at a fraction of the cost of Wisconsin's contract with Accenture.
Then, just as President Bush was nonchalant in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation and federal homeland security officials were caught unaware of desperate conditions in the Superdome and convention center, Elections Board director Kevin Kennedy claimed in a press release issued yesterday that voter list problems are "not unique" to Wisconsin and, besides, the board is just now learning of Accenture's failings.
Mimicking ousted FEMA director Michael Brown, Kennedy says the board "learned last week of similar situations" in other states that have contracts with Accenture. "Brownie" made the mistake of not watching TV, where images of the human suffering were being beamed to an international audience. Kennedy evidently neglected to read the newspaper, where word of Accenture's screw-ups in other states has been reported since at least early March.
The Elections Board's response to this revelation has been positively FEMA-like. First, the board looked for someone else to blame. The most convenient culprit was the "unrealistic deadline set by Congress." Pointing fingers at the feds is always a sound damage-control strategy, so long as no one notices that Wisconsin was granted a two-year extension from the law's original implementation deadline of January 1, 2004 or that states like Minnesota already have completed the work and complied with the federal law, at a fraction of the cost of Wisconsin's contract with Accenture.
Then, just as President Bush was nonchalant in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's devastation and federal homeland security officials were caught unaware of desperate conditions in the Superdome and convention center, Elections Board director Kevin Kennedy claimed in a press release issued yesterday that voter list problems are "not unique" to Wisconsin and, besides, the board is just now learning of Accenture's failings.
Mimicking ousted FEMA director Michael Brown, Kennedy says the board "learned last week of similar situations" in other states that have contracts with Accenture. "Brownie" made the mistake of not watching TV, where images of the human suffering were being beamed to an international audience. Kennedy evidently neglected to read the newspaper, where word of Accenture's screw-ups in other states has been reported since at least early March.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Bopping The Donkey
It looks like indicted former Senate Democratic leader Chuck Chvala has enlisted a most unlikely legal ally as he tries to beat a rap that includes felony charges of extortion, illegal campaign contributions and criminal misconduct in public office. Word is Chvala has added nationally prominent right-wing attorney James Bopp to his legal defense team.
This is the same James Bopp who serves as general counsel for the anti-abortion group National Right to Life. It is the same James Bopp who has led the legal fight against campaign finance reform and who unsuccessfully tried to get the national McCain-Feingold campaign reform law overturned in court. In fact, if you Google Bopp, the top result of the search is "Find a Republican Lawyer."
This is the same James Bopp who serves as general counsel for the anti-abortion group National Right to Life. It is the same James Bopp who has led the legal fight against campaign finance reform and who unsuccessfully tried to get the national McCain-Feingold campaign reform law overturned in court. In fact, if you Google Bopp, the top result of the search is "Find a Republican Lawyer."
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Tee Up Those Checkbooks
There’s nothing like having a key committee vote on a controversial legislative proposal shortly before a fundraising event in order to maximize a special interest’s gratitude – in cash.
On Friday, September 2 the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Insurance recommended 6-1 that the full Senate reject an Assembly proposal to require insurance companies to pay for much of the cost of removing polychlorinated biphenyls – PCBs – that were dumped in the Fox River by paper companies from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Both the committee and the Senate are controlled by Republicans.
First, the vote was scheduled on the Friday afternoon before Labor Day weekend to give it as little attention as possible.
But second, the favorable vote for insurance companies also came less than a week before the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate’s $1,000 per person golf fundraiser scheduled September 8 at Sentry Insurance’s golf course in Stevens Point.
Hmmmmm. . . committee action, fundraiser, any connection?
On Friday, September 2 the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Insurance recommended 6-1 that the full Senate reject an Assembly proposal to require insurance companies to pay for much of the cost of removing polychlorinated biphenyls – PCBs – that were dumped in the Fox River by paper companies from the 1950s to the 1970s.
Both the committee and the Senate are controlled by Republicans.
First, the vote was scheduled on the Friday afternoon before Labor Day weekend to give it as little attention as possible.
But second, the favorable vote for insurance companies also came less than a week before the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate’s $1,000 per person golf fundraiser scheduled September 8 at Sentry Insurance’s golf course in Stevens Point.
Hmmmmm. . . committee action, fundraiser, any connection?
Kegglers Fess Up
Most special interest groups routinely claim they contribute to political candidates out of civic duty and for other altruistic reasons and staunchly deny that they target their contributions to go to legislative leaders and others in key positions to move their agenda.
But every so often one of them, like the Bowling Proprietors of America, tells it like it really is. Check this out.
But every so often one of them, like the Bowling Proprietors of America, tells it like it really is. Check this out.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Bowling For Gard
Bowling interests want to throw a strike with Assembly Bill 414, a proposed statewide smoking ban that would not cover them and prevent communities from enacting local laws that would.
Like many other special interests, they’ve figured the best way to do that it to give the Assembly’s head pin, Speaker John Gard, some cash for his 8th District Congressional campaign.
Gard’s campaign received a $1,000 contribution on June 14 from the Bowling Proprietors of America. It was one of only three contributions the group gave to federal candidates nationwide from April through June. This group has never made political action committee contributions to any Wisconsin candidate for statewide office or the Legislature.
On June 21, the Assembly Rules Committee, which determines the schedule of proposals the Assembly will debate, altered the Assembly’s June 23 calendar by making AB414 “a special order of business.” That’s legislative jargon “for urgent matters and for proposals of particular interest to the party leadership,” according to the Legislative Reference Bureau.
The proposal narrowly passed 48-45 with Gard voting ‘aye.’ It awaits Senate action.
Like many other special interests, they’ve figured the best way to do that it to give the Assembly’s head pin, Speaker John Gard, some cash for his 8th District Congressional campaign.
Gard’s campaign received a $1,000 contribution on June 14 from the Bowling Proprietors of America. It was one of only three contributions the group gave to federal candidates nationwide from April through June. This group has never made political action committee contributions to any Wisconsin candidate for statewide office or the Legislature.
On June 21, the Assembly Rules Committee, which determines the schedule of proposals the Assembly will debate, altered the Assembly’s June 23 calendar by making AB414 “a special order of business.” That’s legislative jargon “for urgent matters and for proposals of particular interest to the party leadership,” according to the Legislative Reference Bureau.
The proposal narrowly passed 48-45 with Gard voting ‘aye.’ It awaits Senate action.
WI Contributions To Shadow Groups Nearly $291,000 In First Half Of '05
Wisconsin corporations and individuals contributed $290,876 to groups that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to pay for negative political advertising and other electioneering activities during the first six months of 2005.
So-called 527 groups like the well-known America Coming Together and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are named for the Internal Revenue Service code that regulates them.
Ten of Wisconsin’s 107 contributors doled out $10,000 or more in contributions during the six-month period. Topping the list was Daniel Bader, of Milwaukee, a long-time generous giver to Democratic candidates and organizations, at $50,000; and Mary and Terry Kohler, of Sheboygan, who have been big contributors to Republican candidates and conservative causes, at $45,000.
The top five 527 recipients of Wisconsin contributions are the Democratic Governors Association at $90,000; three pro-Republican groups – the Club for Growth at $51,950, College Republican National Committee at $37,235 and GOPAC at $36,950; and the pro-Democratic Laborers Political League Education Fund at $33,320.
The Wisconsin contributions are nearly evenly split, as they were in the 2003-04 election cycle, between Republican- and Democratic-leaning 527s. Republican 527 groups received $147,404 and Democratic 527s accepted $143,272 from Wisconsin contributors. The remaining $200 went to a 527 group that has supported Republicans and Democrats.
So-called 527 groups like the well-known America Coming Together and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are named for the Internal Revenue Service code that regulates them.
Ten of Wisconsin’s 107 contributors doled out $10,000 or more in contributions during the six-month period. Topping the list was Daniel Bader, of Milwaukee, a long-time generous giver to Democratic candidates and organizations, at $50,000; and Mary and Terry Kohler, of Sheboygan, who have been big contributors to Republican candidates and conservative causes, at $45,000.
The top five 527 recipients of Wisconsin contributions are the Democratic Governors Association at $90,000; three pro-Republican groups – the Club for Growth at $51,950, College Republican National Committee at $37,235 and GOPAC at $36,950; and the pro-Democratic Laborers Political League Education Fund at $33,320.
The Wisconsin contributions are nearly evenly split, as they were in the 2003-04 election cycle, between Republican- and Democratic-leaning 527s. Republican 527 groups received $147,404 and Democratic 527s accepted $143,272 from Wisconsin contributors. The remaining $200 went to a 527 group that has supported Republicans and Democrats.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Schoolhouse Rock, It Ain't
For an "evil, adult version" of How a Bill Becomes a Law, check out this article in Rolling Stone magazine. This first-person account of a month on the Hill speaks volumes about the rot at the top in our nation's capital. But it also sounds themes that are hauntingly familiar to anyone who is familiar with the goings-on in our State Capitol right here in Wisconsin.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Dick Armey Declares War On Wisconsin's High Court
As the Democracy Campaign reported in an e-mail update earlier this month, a national Republican front group run by former House GOP leader Dick Armey of Texas is about to launch an offensive aimed at influencing the makeup of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Armey's group plans to spend $2 million to unseat conservative Justice Patrick Crooks, who angered right-wing interests with rulings on medical malpractice and product liability cases.
The source of the millions Armey plans to raise to defeat Crooks will be carefully concealed. His group flies below the radar, engaging in campaign practices allowing it to sidestep both federal and state reporting requirements.
Armey's army won't be alone in this battle. Big business lobby Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce also plans to weigh in heavily in the campaign to throw out Crooks. WMC is soliciting corporate contributions from member companies for a "Job Defense Fund" it will use to engage in anti-Crooks electioneering.
WMC also will have to take pains to dodge state and federal campaign disclosure laws because reporting the source of funds would reveal the corporate contributions, which are illegal under both federal law and state law in Wisconsin.
This effort to buy justice is part of a rapidly growing national trend. The Institute on Money in State Politics has released a new report showing that special interests raised more than $19 million to air ads in state Supreme Court races in six other states, with about three-fourths of the money coming from contributors interested in the issue of limiting liability in lawsuits.
Armey's group plans to spend $2 million to unseat conservative Justice Patrick Crooks, who angered right-wing interests with rulings on medical malpractice and product liability cases.
The source of the millions Armey plans to raise to defeat Crooks will be carefully concealed. His group flies below the radar, engaging in campaign practices allowing it to sidestep both federal and state reporting requirements.
Armey's army won't be alone in this battle. Big business lobby Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce also plans to weigh in heavily in the campaign to throw out Crooks. WMC is soliciting corporate contributions from member companies for a "Job Defense Fund" it will use to engage in anti-Crooks electioneering.
WMC also will have to take pains to dodge state and federal campaign disclosure laws because reporting the source of funds would reveal the corporate contributions, which are illegal under both federal law and state law in Wisconsin.
This effort to buy justice is part of a rapidly growing national trend. The Institute on Money in State Politics has released a new report showing that special interests raised more than $19 million to air ads in state Supreme Court races in six other states, with about three-fourths of the money coming from contributors interested in the issue of limiting liability in lawsuits.
Thursday, August 11, 2005
Here's Smoke In Your Eye
A recent Democracy Campaign report, “Gagging Democracy,” shows wealthy special interests that want to trash local land use, salary and public health laws that cost them money have contributed seven times more to legislative campaigns than groups that oppose preemption laws. Majority Republicans have accepted about 13 times more from special interests that oppose local control than those that favor it.
An aside the report doesn’t identify are legislators who have supported seizing local control even though they represent communities that want their own standards.
Topping the list was Assembly Majority Leader Michael Huebsch of Onalaska. He represents five of the 21 local governments that have passed laws to regulate smoking in bars and eateries, including Onalaska, the city and county of La Crosse, Holmen and West Salem. Yet Huebsch voted in favor of a bill to strike down local smoking ordinances.
It’s probably just a coincidence that Huebsch accepted 75 percent, or $49,544, of his large individual campaign contributions in 2003-04 from special interests outside his district.
Others who voted for the proposed state smoking standard but represent communities with tougher laws include Republican Representatives Leah Vukmir, Dean Kaufert, Mary Williams, Kitty Rhoades, Terri McCormick and Greg Underheim, and Democratic Representative Dave Travis. The proposal awaits action in the Senate.
Six representatives voted in favor of a proposal signed into law by Governor Jim Doyle that prevents communities from setting minimum wages higher than those dictated by the state, even though they represent some of the communities that set higher wages before the new state law. They are Republican Representatives Mark Honadel, Curt Gielow and Vukmir and Republican Senators Dan Kapanke, Alberta Darling and Tom Reynolds.
An aside the report doesn’t identify are legislators who have supported seizing local control even though they represent communities that want their own standards.
Topping the list was Assembly Majority Leader Michael Huebsch of Onalaska. He represents five of the 21 local governments that have passed laws to regulate smoking in bars and eateries, including Onalaska, the city and county of La Crosse, Holmen and West Salem. Yet Huebsch voted in favor of a bill to strike down local smoking ordinances.
It’s probably just a coincidence that Huebsch accepted 75 percent, or $49,544, of his large individual campaign contributions in 2003-04 from special interests outside his district.
Others who voted for the proposed state smoking standard but represent communities with tougher laws include Republican Representatives Leah Vukmir, Dean Kaufert, Mary Williams, Kitty Rhoades, Terri McCormick and Greg Underheim, and Democratic Representative Dave Travis. The proposal awaits action in the Senate.
Six representatives voted in favor of a proposal signed into law by Governor Jim Doyle that prevents communities from setting minimum wages higher than those dictated by the state, even though they represent some of the communities that set higher wages before the new state law. They are Republican Representatives Mark Honadel, Curt Gielow and Vukmir and Republican Senators Dan Kapanke, Alberta Darling and Tom Reynolds.
Monday, August 08, 2005
What Bush And Doyle Have In Common
Everyone knows President Bush has. . . how shall we say. . . a way with words. And everyone has a personal favorite among his countless misstatements and malapropisms. Here's one that's sure to stand the test of time, uttered on August 5, 2004: "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
Whatever afflicts Bush, it seems Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle's got it too. Explaining how he foiled a plot by Republican lawmakers to politically embarrass him by cleverly exercising his veto powers, Doyle said: "They thought they had set a clever little trick box here by which you either had to choose between ruining schools or raising property taxes. In fact, I found a way to make sure we could do both."
Perhaps such verbal gaffes are just the inevitable fate of the oft-quoted. Or maybe they're guilt-inspired Freudian slips of the tongue. After all, before he was elected governor, Doyle spoke plainly about the excessive veto authority possessed by Wisconsin chief executives. "I don't think you should be able to go in and take a word out there and a word out here and create a whole new sentence," he said at the time. Now that he has the power to single-handedly ruin schools and raise property taxes, he sings a different tune. "Let's just say I see the world differently from the position I'm in right now," the governor offers in his defense.
It's hardly the first time Doyle's vantage point has changed his thinking. Before his election as governor, he promised to make campaign finance reform and a thorough clean-up of Capitol ethics his first order of business. After taking office, he ran screaming from the issue.
Whatever afflicts Bush, it seems Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle's got it too. Explaining how he foiled a plot by Republican lawmakers to politically embarrass him by cleverly exercising his veto powers, Doyle said: "They thought they had set a clever little trick box here by which you either had to choose between ruining schools or raising property taxes. In fact, I found a way to make sure we could do both."
Perhaps such verbal gaffes are just the inevitable fate of the oft-quoted. Or maybe they're guilt-inspired Freudian slips of the tongue. After all, before he was elected governor, Doyle spoke plainly about the excessive veto authority possessed by Wisconsin chief executives. "I don't think you should be able to go in and take a word out there and a word out here and create a whole new sentence," he said at the time. Now that he has the power to single-handedly ruin schools and raise property taxes, he sings a different tune. "Let's just say I see the world differently from the position I'm in right now," the governor offers in his defense.
It's hardly the first time Doyle's vantage point has changed his thinking. Before his election as governor, he promised to make campaign finance reform and a thorough clean-up of Capitol ethics his first order of business. After taking office, he ran screaming from the issue.
Friday, August 05, 2005
If You Add Up All The Special Interests, Do They Equal The Public Interest?
More than a half-million people in Wisconsin have no health insurance and hundreds of thousands more are a pink slip away from being unable to take their kids to the doctor. State school funding policies are such a disaster that one school district recently declared bankruptcy and voted to shut down. Every lake in Wisconsin is contaminated with mercury and there have been repeated air quality alerts this summer.
You'd think that maybe the Legislature and the more than 650 advocacy groups supposedly trying to influence lawmakers on behalf of the people of our state would be focused on issues like health care reform, school finance, and air and water pollution.
Guess again.
You'd think that maybe the Legislature and the more than 650 advocacy groups supposedly trying to influence lawmakers on behalf of the people of our state would be focused on issues like health care reform, school finance, and air and water pollution.
Guess again.
Reports filed with the state Ethics Board show lobbying groups spent a record $16.2 million in the first half of the year trying to influence public officials. Lobbyists spent 145,000 hours twisting arms and scratching backs, the equivalent of more than 137 eight-hour days for every state legislator. But they didn't spend it pushing for universal health care coverage or a revamped school funding system or more rigorous environmental protection.
Aside from the state budget, which lobbyists spent 42,900 hours trying to shape, the number one issue was . . . drumroll, please . . . a decades-old dispute between insurance companies and the paper industry. Nearly 3,400 hours were devoted to lobbying on Assembly Bill 222, legislation requiring insurers to give the paper mills money from policies up front and then fight among themselves in court over the exact amount each owes to clean up PCBs dumped in the Fox River.
Another of the 10 most heavily lobbied bills was one of the state preemption bills we highlighted in our "Gagging Democracy" report detailing how state legislators are overruling actions by locally elected officials to benefit big campaign contributors. Lobbyists spent 835 hours bending legislators' ears about Assembly Bill 414, which preempts local ordinances banning smoking in restaurants and bars.
Overall, the biggest spender on lobbying was the big business group Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, which threw $545,408 at influence peddling during the six-month period. WMC was followed by Wisconsin Hospital Association, Wisconsin Insurance Alliance, Wisconsin Education Association Council and paper company Georgia-Pacific Corporation.
Georgia-Pacific spent $337,547 lobbying during the first half of this year, most of it on the insurance bill (AB 222). This compares to the $6,995 the company spent on lobbying during the first six months of 2003. Similarly, the Wisconsin Insurance Alliance poured $400,697 into its lobbying effort during the past six months, compared to the $55,842 it spent during the first half of 2003.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Breaking The Code
If anyone wonders why the Democracy Campaign and other critics of Wisconsin's contract with Accenture to develop a computerized statewide voter registration list made such a big deal about the underlying computer source code remaining the private property of the company under the original agreement, take a look at this. (You need RealPlayer to view it. If you don't have it, go here.) The video clip features sworn testimony computer programmer Clinton Curtis gave at a congressional hearing. Curtis describes how easy it is to alter vote totals and fix election results, and says it can be done without a trace . . . unless you can inspect the source code.
Our citizen lawsuit challenging the Accenture deal ultimately fell short of the goal of getting the contract cancelled, but it did succeed in forcing changes to the contract to permit inspection of the source code.
Our citizen lawsuit challenging the Accenture deal ultimately fell short of the goal of getting the contract cancelled, but it did succeed in forcing changes to the contract to permit inspection of the source code.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Doyle Budget Super Sizes Big Business
Governor Doyle's 2005-07 state budget increases the amount of multi-million dollar grants, cheap loans and tax breaks the state can give to big business and wealthy contributors, the Democracy Campaign has found.
Doyle used his veto pen to increase the number of geographic areas - from 81 to 98 - that the state's Enterprise Development Zones program can create to hand out its $243 million in tax credits to business. This and other Commerce Department programs were created to help small- and medium-sized businesses locate in areas of high poverty or unemployment. The problem is millions of dollars in tax breaks, grants and cheap loans have gone to Fortune 500 companies like Wal-Mart, Home DePot, General Motors and others to build or expand headquarters in affluent burbs, like Brookfield, Menomonee Falls and Mequon. For more details see the Democracy Campaign's "Serving the Have-Mores" report.
Doyle also vetoed a provision added by the Legislature to require the Enterprise Development Zones program and the Wisconsin Development Fund to make at least 50 percent of their awards to small businesses. "In order to continue to grow Wisconsin's economy, the department must retain its flexibility to fund deserving businesses that will have a significant impact on local economies throughout the state," he said.
Wal-Mart?
Increasing the number of zones dilutes the benefits available to businesses that really deserve the help and vetoing the small business requirement lets his administration continue to award as much corporate welfare to big business and wealthy contributors as it wants.
By the way, Doyle has received $4.26 million in campaign contributions since 1993 from business, manufacturers, insurance and other wealthy special interests that benefit from these programs, including $3.31 million, or 78 percent, since 2002 when he successfully ran for governor through 2004.
Doyle used his veto pen to increase the number of geographic areas - from 81 to 98 - that the state's Enterprise Development Zones program can create to hand out its $243 million in tax credits to business. This and other Commerce Department programs were created to help small- and medium-sized businesses locate in areas of high poverty or unemployment. The problem is millions of dollars in tax breaks, grants and cheap loans have gone to Fortune 500 companies like Wal-Mart, Home DePot, General Motors and others to build or expand headquarters in affluent burbs, like Brookfield, Menomonee Falls and Mequon. For more details see the Democracy Campaign's "Serving the Have-Mores" report.
Doyle also vetoed a provision added by the Legislature to require the Enterprise Development Zones program and the Wisconsin Development Fund to make at least 50 percent of their awards to small businesses. "In order to continue to grow Wisconsin's economy, the department must retain its flexibility to fund deserving businesses that will have a significant impact on local economies throughout the state," he said.
Wal-Mart?
Increasing the number of zones dilutes the benefits available to businesses that really deserve the help and vetoing the small business requirement lets his administration continue to award as much corporate welfare to big business and wealthy contributors as it wants.
By the way, Doyle has received $4.26 million in campaign contributions since 1993 from business, manufacturers, insurance and other wealthy special interests that benefit from these programs, including $3.31 million, or 78 percent, since 2002 when he successfully ran for governor through 2004.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Progressive Or Porkressive?
A life-long Republican businessman from Sturgeon Bay says he thinks Democratic Governor Jim Doyle's administration is good for Wisconsin. What he didn't say is that his company will probably be the beneficiary of $8 million worth of state business grants courtesy of Doyle's 2005-07 state budget.
"I've been a Republican all my life. I won't hesitate to say, this administration is good for Wisconsin. This is an administration that is progressive," Mike Kelsey, president of Palmer Johnson Yachts, told the Appleton Post-Crescent in a July 15 published report.
Last February, Doyle sent the Legislature a budget asking to spend $6 million to build a boat slip to be used by Palmer Johnson and Bay Shipbuilding Company. In addition, the governor wants to give Palmer Johnson $2 million to help it build a yacht construction facility. Both proposals sailed through the Republican-controlled Legislature and are waiting for final approval by Doyle with the rest of the budget.
There is no record Kelsey has made campaign contributions to a legislative or statewide candidate since 1993 but fellow executive William Parsons has contributed $1,555 - all to GOP candidates - since 1997.
Let's see what Doyle's 'porkressiveness' gets him down the line.
"I've been a Republican all my life. I won't hesitate to say, this administration is good for Wisconsin. This is an administration that is progressive," Mike Kelsey, president of Palmer Johnson Yachts, told the Appleton Post-Crescent in a July 15 published report.
Last February, Doyle sent the Legislature a budget asking to spend $6 million to build a boat slip to be used by Palmer Johnson and Bay Shipbuilding Company. In addition, the governor wants to give Palmer Johnson $2 million to help it build a yacht construction facility. Both proposals sailed through the Republican-controlled Legislature and are waiting for final approval by Doyle with the rest of the budget.
There is no record Kelsey has made campaign contributions to a legislative or statewide candidate since 1993 but fellow executive William Parsons has contributed $1,555 - all to GOP candidates - since 1997.
Let's see what Doyle's 'porkressiveness' gets him down the line.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Disappearing Act
Wisconsin Right to Life is the latest special interest group to go below the radar with its efforts to influence state elections. In 2002, the anti-abortion lobbying group ranked 13th among interest groups in so-called "independent expenditures," disclosing campaign spending in 69 Assembly races and 12 Senate races. In 2000, WRL was the 7th highest spender in legislative races, reporting campaign spending for or against candidates in 64 Assembly districts and eight Senate districts.
In 2004, WRL reported no independent expenditures to influence state races. That's right, zero. Yet the group issued a press release trumpeting a "one net pro-life seat gain in the Assembly and a one net pro-life seat gain in the State Senate" and boasting that it was the "only organization on either side of the abortion issue who can claim responsibility" for electoral gains.
WRL says it reached over 100,000 households with phone calls and mailings for state legislative candidates and says radio ads "on behalf of state legislative candidates" reached hundreds of thousands. The group claims it also distributed literature door to door and in churches.
But not a penny of the expense of this statewide effort was publicly disclosed. Like so many of the major special interest groups in Wisconsin, WRL is exploiting a loophole in Wisconsin's campaign finance laws to escape disclosure requirements. An April 2004 Democracy Campaign report called attention to the growing trend toward hidden campaign spending.
The loophole WRL and other groups are using to sidestep disclosure and evade campaign contribution limits is one the U.S. Supreme Court ruled can and should be closed. After this high court ruling, the Democracy Campaign asked the state Elections Board to adopt a truth-in-campaigning rule closing the loophole and wrote a draft rule for the Board's consideration. On three procedural motions, the Board voted to move forward with the rulemaking. But when the time came for a vote on final approval, the state Democratic Party's appointee – who had voted three times in favor of the disclosure rule – switched sides and cast the deciding vote to kill the rule.
The flip-flopping Democratic designee, Martha Love, was not reappointed to the Elections Board. New Democratic Party chairman Joe Wineke replaced her recently with Robert Kasieta of Verona.
In 2004, WRL reported no independent expenditures to influence state races. That's right, zero. Yet the group issued a press release trumpeting a "one net pro-life seat gain in the Assembly and a one net pro-life seat gain in the State Senate" and boasting that it was the "only organization on either side of the abortion issue who can claim responsibility" for electoral gains.
WRL says it reached over 100,000 households with phone calls and mailings for state legislative candidates and says radio ads "on behalf of state legislative candidates" reached hundreds of thousands. The group claims it also distributed literature door to door and in churches.
But not a penny of the expense of this statewide effort was publicly disclosed. Like so many of the major special interest groups in Wisconsin, WRL is exploiting a loophole in Wisconsin's campaign finance laws to escape disclosure requirements. An April 2004 Democracy Campaign report called attention to the growing trend toward hidden campaign spending.
The loophole WRL and other groups are using to sidestep disclosure and evade campaign contribution limits is one the U.S. Supreme Court ruled can and should be closed. After this high court ruling, the Democracy Campaign asked the state Elections Board to adopt a truth-in-campaigning rule closing the loophole and wrote a draft rule for the Board's consideration. On three procedural motions, the Board voted to move forward with the rulemaking. But when the time came for a vote on final approval, the state Democratic Party's appointee – who had voted three times in favor of the disclosure rule – switched sides and cast the deciding vote to kill the rule.
The flip-flopping Democratic designee, Martha Love, was not reappointed to the Elections Board. New Democratic Party chairman Joe Wineke replaced her recently with Robert Kasieta of Verona.
Spinning Incompetence
In response to the splitting headache that the Accenture voter-list deal has become, the state Elections Board recently did what any embattled government agency would do: It hired a spin doctor.
The Elections Board's new "public information officer," Kyle Richmond, certainly will earn his keep. Sweating over missed deadlines, the Board has been busy renegotiating its contract with Accenture. Now the Board is revising its agreement with another private contractor working on the project, Deloitte Consulting. Under the new arrangement, Deloitte stands to earn an additional $1.5 million for project management services.
State taxpayers already were on the hook for at least $26.8 million in costs to develop the federally mandated voter registration system, including the $13.9 million the state has agreed to pay Accenture, the original $2.7 million earmarked for Deloitte Consulting for project management, and $10.2 million for state Elections Board staff oversight, hardware and data entry. In contrast, Minnesota relied on state employees to do its statewide voter list and completed the work at a cost of $5.3 million.
Richmond is between a rock and a hard place in his role as public apologist for the voter-list debacle. Justifiable sympathy does not excuse his recent stumbles, however. Earlier this month, he was telling citizens contacting the Elections Board to express their outrage with the Accenture contract that "the contract has not been 'reopened' as some have claimed."
We reminded him that his boss, Elections Board executive director Kevin Kennedy, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in May that he "wants to reopen the contract." When asked about whether the Elections Board might agree to pay Accenture more, he said "I wouldn't rule that out." The Elections Board subsequently agreed to a number of amendments to the contract in June. We know because we have the documents.
In a display of semantic gymnastics that would make Bill Clinton proud, Richmond insisted to us that Kennedy's quotes do not contradict what he later told angry citizens. And he held firm that the contract had not been reopened and instead characterized the numerous amendments to the Accenture agreement merely as "selective changes to the components and delivery dates stipulated in the contract."
So glad you cleared that up, Kyle. I guess it all depends on what the meaning of "reopen" is.
The Elections Board's new "public information officer," Kyle Richmond, certainly will earn his keep. Sweating over missed deadlines, the Board has been busy renegotiating its contract with Accenture. Now the Board is revising its agreement with another private contractor working on the project, Deloitte Consulting. Under the new arrangement, Deloitte stands to earn an additional $1.5 million for project management services.
State taxpayers already were on the hook for at least $26.8 million in costs to develop the federally mandated voter registration system, including the $13.9 million the state has agreed to pay Accenture, the original $2.7 million earmarked for Deloitte Consulting for project management, and $10.2 million for state Elections Board staff oversight, hardware and data entry. In contrast, Minnesota relied on state employees to do its statewide voter list and completed the work at a cost of $5.3 million.
Richmond is between a rock and a hard place in his role as public apologist for the voter-list debacle. Justifiable sympathy does not excuse his recent stumbles, however. Earlier this month, he was telling citizens contacting the Elections Board to express their outrage with the Accenture contract that "the contract has not been 'reopened' as some have claimed."
We reminded him that his boss, Elections Board executive director Kevin Kennedy, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in May that he "wants to reopen the contract." When asked about whether the Elections Board might agree to pay Accenture more, he said "I wouldn't rule that out." The Elections Board subsequently agreed to a number of amendments to the contract in June. We know because we have the documents.
In a display of semantic gymnastics that would make Bill Clinton proud, Richmond insisted to us that Kennedy's quotes do not contradict what he later told angry citizens. And he held firm that the contract had not been reopened and instead characterized the numerous amendments to the Accenture agreement merely as "selective changes to the components and delivery dates stipulated in the contract."
So glad you cleared that up, Kyle. I guess it all depends on what the meaning of "reopen" is.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
And Here We Thought Every Day Is Paul La Schiazza Day
The Appleton Post-Crescent recently sifted through more than 1,000 proclamations issued by Governor Jim Doyle since he took office in 2003. Most are silly but perfectly harmless and a few are downright hilarious, but one in particular caught our attention. Doyle proclaimed June 4, 2004 Paul La Schiazza Day. On May 10, 2004 La Schiazza made a $1,000 contribution to Doyle's re-election campaign. La Schiazza is president of telecommunications giant SBC Wisconsin.
During the 2002 election campaign for governor, La Schiazza supported Scott McCallum. But La Schiazza and other top brass at SBC took a sudden interest in Doyle once he became governor. The company certainly has been rewarded for its attention to political detail. Among the wishes granted are corporate tax breaks, business deregulation legislation, a lucrative state contract to provide high-speed Internet access to state public and private schools, libraries and the technical college system, and now an obscure budget item allowing the Public Service Commission to increase the penalties SBC can impose for some late payments by customers that will pad the company's bottom line to the tune of $1.7 million.
An official Paul La Schiazza Day pales in comparison to those goodies. And besides, Doyle seems...well, let's say...undiscriminating whens it comes to handing out proclamations. A couple of weeks after La Schiazza was recognized, Doyle named June 17, 2004 Heat Awareness Day. This year, the week of May 7 was proclaimed Emu Week. May 11 was Root Canal Awareness Day. The week of May 21 was Tinnitus Awareness Week.
You have to wonder who thought it would be a good idea to make October 2004 the Month of the Young Adolescent and Pornography Awareness Month. But then again, last October was a month to remember for a dizzying array of causes. Doyle also proclaimed it Childhood Emergency Care Injury Prevention Month, Brain Injury Awareness Month, Respite and Crisis Care Awareness Month, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month, Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month, Nieman-Pick Disease Awareness Month, Physical Therapy Month, United Way Month and Cranberry Month.
Since proclamation fever is running high in the Capitol's east wing and the governor and his people obviously are scraping the bottom of the barrel for stuff to recognize, a little help from the citizenry appears to be in order. Nominations anyone?
During the 2002 election campaign for governor, La Schiazza supported Scott McCallum. But La Schiazza and other top brass at SBC took a sudden interest in Doyle once he became governor. The company certainly has been rewarded for its attention to political detail. Among the wishes granted are corporate tax breaks, business deregulation legislation, a lucrative state contract to provide high-speed Internet access to state public and private schools, libraries and the technical college system, and now an obscure budget item allowing the Public Service Commission to increase the penalties SBC can impose for some late payments by customers that will pad the company's bottom line to the tune of $1.7 million.
An official Paul La Schiazza Day pales in comparison to those goodies. And besides, Doyle seems...well, let's say...undiscriminating whens it comes to handing out proclamations. A couple of weeks after La Schiazza was recognized, Doyle named June 17, 2004 Heat Awareness Day. This year, the week of May 7 was proclaimed Emu Week. May 11 was Root Canal Awareness Day. The week of May 21 was Tinnitus Awareness Week.
You have to wonder who thought it would be a good idea to make October 2004 the Month of the Young Adolescent and Pornography Awareness Month. But then again, last October was a month to remember for a dizzying array of causes. Doyle also proclaimed it Childhood Emergency Care Injury Prevention Month, Brain Injury Awareness Month, Respite and Crisis Care Awareness Month, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month, Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month, Nieman-Pick Disease Awareness Month, Physical Therapy Month, United Way Month and Cranberry Month.
Since proclamation fever is running high in the Capitol's east wing and the governor and his people obviously are scraping the bottom of the barrel for stuff to recognize, a little help from the citizenry appears to be in order. Nominations anyone?
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
No Trespassing! Property of Special Interests
Republican Representative Frank Lasee of Bellevue recently railed about a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that allows local governments to take someone’s property and give it to developers or corporations that will use it to generate more taxes. “Government can take it for no better reason than somebody with deeper pockets wants it,” Lasee said.
Interesting….the same Frank Lasee recently voted in favor of a bill approved by the Assembly that would require communities to give up their land if a utility came along and said it needed it for a power line or plant project. The proposal grew out of outrage by some legislators over the Douglas County Board’s refusal to acquiesce to the demands of American Transmission Company to run a power line across county property.
So Lasee’s got a problem with government taking property for no other reason than someone with deep pockets wants it, but he doesn’t have a problem with private companies with deep pockets taking property?
Well, the utility industry and their friends have some pretty deep pockets. Utilities have contributed $324,695 to legislators’ campaigns and its projects have the blessing of other wealthy special interests like manufacturing, business, construction, agriculture and transportation that have contributed millions more. By the way, the utilities and those other special interests have contributed $49,213 to Lasee’s campaigns, about one-third of his total special interest contributions since 1993.
Interesting….the same Frank Lasee recently voted in favor of a bill approved by the Assembly that would require communities to give up their land if a utility came along and said it needed it for a power line or plant project. The proposal grew out of outrage by some legislators over the Douglas County Board’s refusal to acquiesce to the demands of American Transmission Company to run a power line across county property.
So Lasee’s got a problem with government taking property for no other reason than someone with deep pockets wants it, but he doesn’t have a problem with private companies with deep pockets taking property?
Well, the utility industry and their friends have some pretty deep pockets. Utilities have contributed $324,695 to legislators’ campaigns and its projects have the blessing of other wealthy special interests like manufacturing, business, construction, agriculture and transportation that have contributed millions more. By the way, the utilities and those other special interests have contributed $49,213 to Lasee’s campaigns, about one-third of his total special interest contributions since 1993.