Supremes weigh government grab of private land

Can a government define a piece of land as a building parcel, collect taxes on it from the owners for years, then abruptly tell them they can’t use it, sell it or be compensated for it?

The U.S. Supreme Court will answer that question when it rules this year on a case concerning a piece of land along the St. Croix River, near Minnesota’s Twin Cities.
Read more at World Net Daily

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Wisconsin holds 'A day without Latinos' rally to protest immigration bills

A group of Hispanics in Wisconsin are holding "A day without Latinos" rally in the state's capital on Thursday to protest two state bills that they claim are "anti-immigrant."
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As UAW contract ends, Wisconsin workers’ rights expand

A worker-freedom organization is sending a special legal notice to unionized employees of the Big Three automakers in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan.


The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation wants United Auto Workers members at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler to know their new workplace rights now that they are residents of right-to-work states. Those new rights kick in Sept. 15, after the old UAW contracts, which included forced union dues, expire.


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Legal defense of rogue John Doe agents costs taxpayers nearly $1.2 million

So how much has it cost Wisconsin taxpayers to defend the rogue prosecutors of a political investigation that has been ordered shut down by the state Supreme Court?


More than $1.1 million and counting – $1,189,199.70 to be precise, according to information obtained by Wisconsin Watchdog through a records request. The records were provided by the state Department of Administration.
And the bill continues to grow.


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Wisconsin’s Shame: ‘He Could Have Been Shot. Over Politics’

It was still dark outside when “Jonah” (not his real name) heard the pounding on his front door. As luck would have it, he was awake — or mostly awake. He’d gotten up at 4:00 a.m. on October 3, 2013, to see his parents off to the airport. They were leaving on a quick trip to raise money for the children’s charity his father runs. Jonah was 16 at the time, old enough to stay home alone for a short time, but not old enough to deal with what awaited him on the other side of the door.
The pounding continued, and Jonah peered out the window to discover its source. To his horror, he saw uniformed officers, their guns drawn. “Police,” they yelled. “We have a warrant.” An officer shined a flashlight on a document Jonah couldn’t read. Unsure what to do, but unwilling to defy the authorities, he let them in.


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Wisconsin’s Shame: ‘Every Aspect of My Life Is in Their Hands — and They Hate Me’

‘They came with a battering ram.”
Cindy Archer, one of the lead architects of Wisconsin’s Act 10 — also called the “Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill,” it limited public-employee benefits and altered collective-bargaining rules for public-employee unions — was jolted awake by yelling, loud pounding at the door, and her dogs’ frantic barking. The entire house — the windows and walls — was shaking. She looked outside to see up to a dozen police officers, yelling to open the door. They were carrying a battering ram. She wasn’t dressed, but she started to run toward the door, her body in full view of the police. Some yelled at her to grab some clothes, others yelled for her to open the door.

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Wisconsin treasurer fulfills campaign pledge by laying off staff

MADISON, Wis. — Newly elected state Treasurer Matt Adamczyk ran on a campaign pledge of cutting 80 percent from a $545,000 annual budget. A few weeks into his first and supposed only term, he has, through lay-offs, already gotten rid of his two-member staff.  Adamczyk also declined to fill an empty deputy treasurer position that was paying close to $107,000 a year in salary and benefits. “I’m a big believer that in government it’s not our job just to give people jobs,” Adamczyk told Wisconsin Reporter.

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Target of secret John Doe probe is fighting back and speaking out

MADISON, Wis. — On the eve of the one-year anniversary of sweeping raids in Wisconsin’s politically charged John Doe investigation into conservative activists, Eric O’Keefe, one of the targets of that probe, is going public in a big way.  Speaking at length for the first time O’Keefe, a director of the conservative Wisconsin Club for Growth, tells Wisconsin Reporter he was shocked by the prosecutors’ tactics: predawn, paramilitary-style raids on the homes of conservatives, and the confiscation of their papers and electronic equipment.  “We ran a meticulous political operation; not only did we comply with Wisconsin’s laws — we were over-compliant, as we knew that Kevin Kennedy (director of the state Government Accountability Board) was hostile to WCFG as well as independent political speech in general. So we ran only issue ads — and none pertained to the elections for governor.”

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Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds 2011 union law

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the 2011 law that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers, sparked massive protests and led to Republican Gov. Scott Walker's recall election and rise to national prominence.

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Wisconsin Political Speech Raid

Americans learned in the IRS political targeting scandal that government enforcement power can be used to stifle political speech. Something similar may be unfolding in Wisconsin, where a special prosecutor is targeting conservative groups that participated in the battle over Governor Scott Walker's union reforms.

In recent weeks, special prosecutor Francis Schmitz has hit dozens of conservative groups with subpoenas demanding documents related to the 2011 and 2012 campaigns to recall Governor Walker and state legislative leaders.  Copies of two subpoenas we've seen demand "all memoranda, email . . . correspondence, and communications" both internally and between the subpoena target and some 29 conservative groups, including Wisconsin and national nonprofits, political vendors and party committees. The groups include the League of American Voters, Wisconsin Family Action, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Americans for Prosperity—Wisconsin, American Crossroads, the Republican Governors Association, Friends of Scott Walker and the Republican Party of Wisconsin.   One subpoena also demands "all records of income received, including fundraising information and the identity of persons contributing to the corporation." In other words, tell us who your donors are.

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Stephano: What really went down in Wisconsin

FOX/Opinion by Jennifer Stephano - What happened in Wisconsin Tuesday night was not about an election or a politician. It wasn’t about collective bargaining or budget deficits. It was about something far more important and far more intangible. It was about who and what we are as Americans. ✧ The people of Wisconsin had a choice. Would they, and in turn the rest of America, whose eyes were riveted on this small northern state, be a people with their hand constantly extended to the public trough shouting “give me, give me, give me”? Or, as the Tea Party has tried to exemplify, would we become the people pushing the plough, demanding, “give me liberty,” whatever the cost. It was about Barack Obama’s view of America versus the Tea Party’s. And once again, the Tea Party emerged victorious. Read more at Fox News...

Jennifer Stefano is the Pennsylvania state director for Americans for Prosperity. Read More......

Unions angry with Dems over lack of help in Wisconsin recall

Top union officials are lashing out at Washington Democrats, claiming they haven't done enough to help them unseat Gov. Scott Walker (R) in Wisconsin's recall election. ✧ President Obama has been silent on the race since his campaign released a statement endorsing Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett (D) immediately after his primary victory two weeks ago. The Obama campaign is helping Barrett with get out the vote operations, but the president has not publicly mentioned the race. ✧ The Democratic National Committee has been similarly tight-fisted. The DNC sent out a fundraising email for Barrett and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) will be in Wisconsin for a fundraiser next week, but the national party has refused entreaties to give the state party money. ✧ The election is on June 5, ten days away. Read more at THE HILL... Read More......

Wisconsin schools buck union to cut health costs

7/7/2011 - The Hartland-Lakeside School District, about 30 miles west of Milwaukee in tiny Hartland, Wis., had a problem in its collective bargaining contract with the local teachers union. ✧ The contract required the school district to purchase health insurance from a company called WEA Trust. The creation of Wisconsin's largest teachers union -- "WEA" stands for Wisconsin Education Association -- WEA Trust made money when union officials used collective bargaining agreements to steer profitable business its way. ✧ Read more at the Washington Examiner...

(Hat tip: Kim) Read More......

Fox: Wisconsin GOP Holds Off Democrats in Recall Elections

Madison – Republicans held onto control of the Wisconsin Senate on Tuesday, beating back four Democratic challengers in a recall election despite an intense political backlash against GOP support for Gov. Scott Walker's effort to curb public employees' union rights. ✧ Fueled by millions of dollars from national labor groups, the attempt to remove GOP incumbents served as both a referendum on Walker's conservative revolution and could provide a new gauge of the public mood less than a year after Republicans made sweeping gains in this state and many others. ✧ Two Democratic incumbents face recalls next week, but even if Democrats win those they will still be in the minority. Read more at Fox News... Read More......

Fake ‘Democrat’ Comes Forward In Wisconsin Recalls

Wisconsin Republicans have now put forward a ringer Democratic candidate to force a primary in the recall against GOP state Sen. Dan Kapanke, as part of the state GOP's strategy to combat the recalls.

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Wisconsin's budget repair bill passes -- profound drama continues

Richard Fernandez at The Belmont Club refers to the Wisconsin 'budget repair bill' as The Shaking of the Foundations

"...referring “to the Wisconsin Senate’s 18-1 vote earlier in the evening in favor of legislation, supported by Gov. Scott Walker, that would strip politicians of the power to reward government employee unions for their political support.”

And likely to spread from state to state... Read More......

Largest Small Arms Army in the World

FEDERALIST PAUPERS, 12/2/2010 Title: Why the Terrorists Can Never Win - The state of Wisconsin has gone an entire deer hunting season without someone getting killed. That’s great. There were over 600,000 hunters. ✧ Allow me to restate that number. Over the last two months, the eighth largest army in the world – more men under arms than Iran; more than France and Germany combined – deployed to the woods of a single American state to help keep the deer menace at bay. ✧ But that pales in comparison to the 750,000 who are in the woods of Pennsylvania this week. Michigan’s 700,000 hunters have now returned home. Toss in a quarter million hunters in West Virginia, and it is literally the case that the hunters of those four states alone would comprise the largest army in the world.

These numbers are part of why those of us who grew up in rural parts of the country simply don’t comprehend the gun-grabbing impulses of some. Every single year, millions of Americans carry high power rifles into the woods and more or less do as they please – some shoot at deer, some just drink a lot – and it is a complete non-story. The number of people injured and killed by these guns will pale in comparison to those injured and killed in driving accidents during the same time period. ✧ But however well or badly we handle our guns, woe will befall he who thinks he can conquer America. Read more at Federalist Paupers... Read More......