http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/mining_wisconsin_senate_s5.jpgLate night secret dealings. No notice to local elected officials. No local powers to say “no”. Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about a last-minute, late-night budget motion to take away local powers to oversee sand mines and quarries in Wisconsin.

Principle Over Party campaign will barnstorm the state with a message about getting government working. Will be in Green Bay on Sept 14th at the Brown County Library.

GREEN BAY, WI - After his official kick-off in Curtiss, WI on Sept 12, 2017, McCabe’s Principle Over Party campaign will barnstorm the state with a message about getting government working for all of us and not just a few, a living wage for every worker, health care for all, debt-free education and job training, and high-speed Internet to every doorstep.

The second rally stop will be in Green Bay on Sept 14th. Several stops will be made that day culminating with a larger event from 5pm - 7pm at the Brown County Library. (515 Pine Street, Green Bay) The event is free and all are welcome.

“Wisconsin is up to its eyeballs in problems. Same goes for our country as a whole. The problems grow out of political and economic inequality. Our society has been made more and more elitist, both politically and economically. It has been divided into royals and commoners,” McCabe said. “I am running for one reason and one reason only – to re-establish the ideal that our government should work as well for the commoners as it does for the royals.”

For 15 years, McCabe led the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan watchdog group that tracks the money in elections, exposes corruption and works to make people matter more than money in politics. (wisdc.org/wdcaccomplishments.php) He went on to start up the grassroots group Blue Jean Nation, which works to empower regular people to challenge the political establishment.

McCabe does not belong to any political party, but is entering the Democratic primary. The campaign’s website is GovernorBlueJeans.com.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/wisc-capitol-dome-s5.jpgHere is what happened in the Capitol last week as the Legislature finalized the state budget.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/wisc-leaving-s5.jpgFamilies losing hope as Wisconsin suffers through another dismal jobs report.

League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, other organizations, file amicus brief calling on the Supreme Court to require the state legislature to redraw the voting maps in time for the 2018 elections.

MADISON – The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin joined other organizations this week in filing an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Gill v. Whitford, the case in which a federal district court ruled the Wisconsin Assembly districts unconstitutional based on partisan gerrymandering. The brief calls on the Supreme Court to uphold a lower court ruling which requires the state legislature to redraw the voting maps in time for the 2018 elections. The brief can be found here.

The amicus brief demonstrates how Wisconsin’s 2011 redistricting has resulted in legislation that is much more extreme than would be expected from a more typical shift in the majority from one party to another. By creating “safe districts” in which a particular party is assured of victory in elections, the gerrymandered districts insulate lawmakers from accountability to their constituents.

“We have seen a serious breakdown in the legislative process in recent years. We have seen a bill that appeared to be traceable back to the desire of one wealthy donor. We have seen cases where thousands of constituent calls and emails were simply ignored. This is running roughshod over democracy,” said Andrea Kaminski, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.

The brief demonstrates the ill effects of gerrymandering specifically on legislation related to government accountability, funding for public education and protection of our natural resources. The League holds positions in all of these areas and is active in the State Capitol working to pass policies that are responsive to the needs of the public.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/walker-terry-gou-foxconn-s5.jpgRepublican budget prioritizes special interest giveaways over schools and roads.