In all, Wisconsin’s eight House members and two senators reported assets worth between $54 million and $171 million. These holdings generated income between $1.2 million and $7.4 million in 2013.
Category: Money & Politics Column
Vos’ attacks on elections and ethics watchdog draw return fire
The Government Accountability Board judges Vos says he’s looking out for disagree with his analysis and resent lawmakers’ failure to get their input — the very thing Vos accuses the GAB staff of doing.
GOP dominated in cash, turnout
Gov. Scott Walker and the Republicans rode to victory in the Nov. 4 elections because they got more votes. But money and redistricting did play a huge, perhaps decisive role.
State accused of breaking rules in power plant assessment
A DOR employee who has worked in the division that oversees property tax assessments shares the concerns of town officials who say the DOR’s move was not legal: “There is no statutory authority for the department to have done what it did.”
Gov. Scott Walker has sizable cash advantage
During this roughly 13-month period, Walker raised a total of $24.5 million, compared to Burke’s $15.5 million. He received about $10.8 million from other states, or 44 percent of his total. Burke attracted $3.2 million in out-of-state donations, or 21 percent of her total.
Ad wars heat up Wisconsin governor’s race
Walker’s message is that he is taking Wisconsin forward while Burke would drag it backwards. Burke’s message is that Walker has done a lousy job and she can do better.
Pols raise cash behind closed doors
Campaigns shroud fundraisers in as much secrecy as Yale’s Skull and Bones society. The giving of money to politicians occurs, as much as possible, out of public view.
Wisconsin lags on renewable energy
“We’re definitely falling behind,” says Gary Radloff, a researcher with the Wisconsin Energy Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “It’s pretty remarkable and measurable.”
Congressional candidates hope to defy pundits
The pundits have proven much better than quixotic candidates at making electoral predictions. And two highly reliable sources, Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball, say only one of Wisconsin’s eight congressional seats is even possibly in play.
State comes clean on alleged scandal
“This looks like a cash cow for Georgia-Pacific,” Dirty Thumb told the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. Follow the money.
Mike McCabe’s blistering manifesto
A manifesto for a populist change aimed at a national audience, it focuses largely on Wisconsin, portrayed as a fetid swamp of corruption, where lobbyists and campaign donors provide the soundtrack to which policymakers dance.
Wisconsin Public Television spotlights redistricting success story
Wisconsin Public Television found that the strategists’ predictions in the more than 50 GOP-held Assembly seats facing Democratic challengers in 2012 were accurate, on average, to within a single percentage point. The GOP incumbents won all but three of these races.