Wisconsin | Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - Part 14
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Wisconsin Tag

The completely hyperventilated headline at the progressive "Crooks and Liars" website is Scott Walker Fan Indicted For Massive Voter Fraud. What apparently happened is that someone who allegedly is a Walker supporter voted multiple times in multiple elections and encouraged others to do so. The total fraudulent vote count is in the single digits, maybe as high as 10-12 votes spread among different jurisdictions. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has more details:
A Shorewood man has been charged with more than a dozen counts of illegal voting, accused of casting multiple ballots in four elections in 2011 and 2012, including five in the 2012 gubernatorial recall. Robert D. Monroe, 50, used addresses in Shorewood, Milwaukee and Indiana, according to the complaint, and cast some votes in the names of his son and his girlfriend's son.
Does this matter? Yes, of course. We have seen razor-tight elections. A few votes here or there could make a difference.

The big breaking news in the "John Doe" anti-Conservative Wisconsin investigation is that the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals released previously sealed court exhibits detailing accusations made at the time the Wisconsin prosecutors commenced the proceeding. So you get screaming headlines such as these: Headlines Scott Walker Accused of criminal scheme What is not being reported, is that multiple judges have found that the alleged criminal conduct was not in fact criminal even if the factual allegations were true. Here is part of Federal Judge Renda's opinion, which remains in effect halting the John Doe investigation, in a case brought by two of the targets:
The standard to apply in these cases was recently made clear by the Supreme Court in McCutcheon. Any campaign finance regulation, and any criminal prosecution resulting from the violation thereof, must target activity that results in or has the potential to result in quid pro quo corruption…. It is undisputed that O‘Keefe and the Club engage in issue advocacy, not express advocacy or its functional equivalent. Since § 11.01(16)‘s definition of political purposes must be confined to express advocacy, the plaintiffs cannot be and are not subject to Wisconsin‘s campaign finance laws by virtue of their expenditures on issue advocacy….

The Daily Beast is promoting Mary Burke as the Woman Who Could Beat Scott Walker:
Republicans call her “Millionaire Mary,” but Mary Burke has plenty of assets aside from her wealth to make her a strong contender to derail the reelection of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, along with his dreams of the presidency. Polls show the former Trek Bicycle executive either tied with Walker or trailing by just a few percentage points, while the Republican governor, who weathered a recall election in 2012, looks headed for a closer race than anyone expected.... “The things he has done with women’s choice issues puts Wisconsin right there with Mississippi,” she said over an iced tea Tuesday afternoon. Burke, who was in Washington for an Emily’s List dinner that night, has the pro-choice group’s endorsement, and it is making a big push to elect more Democratic women as governors.... At 55, Burke is a political novice, and in a polarized electorate, that might be a winning formula.
The polling is, indeed, competitive, but Walker has faced such challenges before and prevailed. It's Wisconsin, so of course it will be relatively close, but close is not good enough and Burke knows it.
So Burke has resorted to War on Women rhetoric that even Politifact Wisconsin rated False: Politifact Wisconsin Mary Burke Scott Walker Equal Pay Walker just signed a $504 million dollar tax cut:
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, on Monday signed into law a measure that uses the state's projected surplus to give a tax break of more than $500 million to workers and property owners. The law puts into place $504 million in tax cuts, consisting of $406 million in property tax relief and a $98 million state income tax break for those in the lowest tax bracket. A typical state homeowner will see a $100 reduction in property taxes and a worker who makes $40,000 will save about $58 annually, according to the governor's office.
The collective bargaining changes are paying off to the extent that Burke is not making it a major issue.

We previously wrote in detail about the “John Doe” investigation in Wisconsin targeting a wide range of conservative groups and Scott Walker supporters relating to the failed Democratic attempt to recall Walker.  See Secret probe of conservatives makes Wisconsin ground zero in First Amendment war for the details. We also noted the Big defeat for anti-conservative Wisconsin “John Doe” probe, when a judge recently quashed subpoenas. In a new development, Eric O'Keefe, one of the targets of the investigation, is demanding that the prosecutors end the probe or face a federal lawsuit (full media release embedded at bottom of post):
Eric O’Keefe, who has been identified in media reports as a target of a secret “John Doe” investigation in Wisconsin, today demanded that state prosecutors end their action against him or face a federal civil rights action. O’Keefe is director of the Wisconsin Club for Growth, which was also targeted for alleged unlawful “coordination” with Governor Scott Walker’s campaign for fiscal reforms. “This investigation is political payback by elected prosecutors against conservative activists for their political successes in Wisconsin,” stated O’Keefe. “They are violating the constitutional rights of private citizens and must be held accountable.”

Really, as much as I didn't want to hear his name, Graeme Zielinksi was the perfect spokesman for the Wisconsin Democratic Party. A true reflection of the anti-Scott Walker politics practiced in Wisconsin: After a couple of tweets on March 1 comparing Walker to Jeffrey Dahmer, Zielinski...

Graeme Zielinski, Communications Director for the Wisconsin Democratic Party, was one of the key Democratic operatives behind the anti-Scott Walker intimidation campaign which we featured here so often around this time last year, Wisconsin’s long, strange trip. Zielinski stood out from the usual protest operatives because of his...

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit has upheld the Wisconsin union law that was the subject of massive protests in 2011, including a takeover of the State Capitol and widespread threats and acts of intimidation.   The decision was unanimous in most respects. ...

in Wisconsin, GOP retakes state Senate and full control of state government: Republicans recaptured the state Senate on Tuesday, once again giving them the complete control of state government that they used to enact sweeping changes in the last legislative session. Yet this, Tammy Baldwin tops Tommy...

Wisconsin may be the new Ohio, according to Scott Rasmussen: In Election 2000, Florida was the decisive state in the Electoral College. In 2004, Ohio was the ultimate battleground that put George W. Bush over the top. This year, it might come down to Wisconsin...

Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS PAC has just committed $1.2M to helping help former governor Tommy Thompson defeat his democratic opponent in the Wisconsin race for U.S. Senate. This was in additional to prior spends of $500,000 and $961,000, and puts his group's contibutions at over...

for splitting the vote between Eric Hovde and Mark Neumann, allowing Thompson to win the primary with under 40% of the vote. I have a bad feeling about this, via Althouse: Thompson was up 9 points in the polls a month ago, and now he's down 9 points. It's useless...

I attended the Paul Ryan/Mitt Romney rally in Waukesha, WI, this past Sunday evening, where the crowd of nearly 10,000 mirrored other huge turnouts around the country. There was a group of about 15 protesters, organized by SEIU, Obama for America, and MoveOn.org, lining the entrance...

Anne is at the Romney-Ryan rally in Waukesha.  She says the crowd is so large they had to move the rally from indoors to outdoors to accommodate all the people. We're still trying to confirm the crowd size estimate.  (Campaign says 10,000, which is similar to...

PPP called it pretty closely in Texas, and now is showing a toss-up among Eric Hovde, Tommy Thompson and Mark Neumann. Thompson, the former Governor, had been considered the clear favorite, but not anymore. The primary is August 14. Per reader Charles, Hovde is backed by...