A little-noticed U.S. Supreme Court decision from June 21 has dealt a blow to public sector unions and demonstrated the conservative majority's preferential treatment for corporate "rights." The decision in Knox v. SEIU could have an impact on future election cycles.
By Brendan Fischer and Laura Stiegerwald
The evening after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Wisconsin chapter of the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity held a "Hands Off My Health Care" rally to plan next steps in their effort to defeat "Obamacare." The plan apparently involves American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model legislation.
As the race for Wisconsin's open U.S. Senate seat heats up, China has taken the spotlight. Republican candidate Eric Hovde has launched an ad blaming the outsourcing of U.S. jobs on the corporate tax rate.
The ad appears to be in response to Democratic candidate Tammy Baldwin's recent ad on China. Baldwin slams China, for violating trade rules by dumping paper on the U.S. market and harming the Wisconsin paper industry, which employs some 50,000 workers.
In a little-noticed ruling amidst clamor over the healthcare decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an Arizona law requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote, holding it was preempted by the National Voting Registration Act (NVRA). The law was adopted as a "model" bill by the American Legislative Exchange Council [ALEC] in 2008. For the second time in one week, the conservative U.S. Supreme Court has curtailed ALEC's anti-immigrant agenda.
Though evidence suggests laws requiring photo ID at the polls will suppress votes from Democratic constituencies like students and people of color, voter ID supporters have long claimed the laws are merely a nonpartisan, common sense effort to promote "election integrity." But recent developments in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin show that Republicans are counting on voter ID laws to deliver the presidency to Mitt Romney in 2012.
The corporate exodus from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is testament to the power of citizen activism in preserving our democracy. Over the past few months, in response to public pressure, 20 corporations and more than 50 legislators have severed ties with the right-wing organization that brings together politicians and corporations to vote, behind closed doors, on controversial "model" bills that are then introduced in statehouses across the land. While a coalition of clean government organizations has been working to drag ALEC out of the shadows, citizens across the country have also been showing up at ALEC meetings with clever protest signs, uploading ALEC-related videos on YouTube and even organizing a national day of occupy protests to draw attention to ALEC's corporate agenda.
If notorious Montana copper baron William Andrews Clark were alive today, he would be celebrating the U.S. Supreme Court decision that nullified Montana's 100 year old Corrupt Practices Act. Legal observers said Monday that the Court's ruling applies its controversial 2010 Citizens United decision to all state electoral races down to dog catcher and leaves little room for states or localities to regulate "independent" corporate campaign contributions.
The Koch-funded astroturf group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), has launched a $3 million dollar ad buy in U.S. Senate races across the country, and is spending more than $400,000 on ads attacking Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). Baldwin is running for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by retiring Democratic Senator Herb Kohl. As a non-profit organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code, AFP is not required to disclose their spending or funding, but in this case AFP Wisconsin issued a press release announcing the amount of its ad buy.
It may not be uncommon to find fault with Politifact and its "Truth-O-Meter," (see update at bottom), but a recent rating by Politifact-Wisconsin was so far off we had to comment. The following letter was published in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on June 23:
Dear Editor:
PolitiFact recently rated "false" a claim that the Koch brothers gave twice as much to Gov. Scott Walker as Tom Barrett raised. It is PolitiFact that deserves the "false" rating. In rating the claim "false," PolitiFact wrote, "There is no proof of how much Americans for Prosperity, which gets money from the Kochs but also other sources, spent on Walker's behalf."
The media is indiscriminately using the term "job-killer" to describe government policies and programs, but without verifying or substantiating the claims, according to a new study. Use of the phrase by major media outlets has exploded since President Obama took office and rapidly circulates throughout the press with little or no fact checking of the "job killer" allegations.
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