Bruce Murphy at Urban Milwaukee gave us an idea last week just how slanted and narrow-minded WMC has become. They now pull GOP Capitol staffers through the revolving door to bigger paydays, and have the nerve to call a Dane County judge conflicted after buying up “justices” and literally legalizing corruption at the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
One sign of how ideological the WMC has become is its lobbyist Lucas Vebber, who was hired by the group after spending nearly three years as an aide to Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald. Vebber did a series of tweets dumping on Mayor Tom Barrett which were so inflammatory that Right Wisconsin packaged them into a story. Vebber’s attack might have made sense if he was still serving the GOP caucus, but seems ill-advised for someone serving a group trying to get support from all political leaders in the state for business priorities. Barrett works regularly with the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and many business leaders in Milwaukee probably wouldn’t appreciate Vebber’s diatribe.And by the way, why is donating to an environmental group considered a partisan thing in the first place? That sounds like “a you problem” for WMC/WisGOP, not the judge’s problem.
Vebber popped up in the news again today, in a rather bizarre story published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The headline, “Judge’s donations spark controversy,” is rather overstated, if not downright silly. The big controversy is over a $50 donation — I kid you not — that Dane County Circuit Court John W. Markson made to the environmental group Clean Wisconsin. Markson made a ruling favoring Clean Wisconsin’s position, that the state DNR must impose conditions on the expansion of Kinnard Farms (which is adding more than 2,000 cattle at its farm in Kewaunee County) in order to safeguard water resources.
Markson’s ruling came last July and it has been public knowledge since December 2015 that he has made annual contributions of $50 to Clean Wisconsin. Any “controversy” that arose was contained in a column by the right-wing Media Trackers group back in July, which hasn’t gotten any traction. But on Friday [September 30] Markson made a ruling that the DNR should pay Clean Wisconsin and Midwest Environmental Advocates for their legal fees, which prompted the Journal Sentinel to write this story….
But there was one person who found this controversial. Lucas Vebber, who emailed this salvo to the newspaper: “It wasn’t enough for Judge Markson to refuse to recuse himself when it came out that he was helping to fund (a) radical environmental organization that had a case before him…These actions raise significant questions about the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, and they cannot be allowed to stand.”…
This objection, moreover, is by the group that wrote the rule adopted by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that opened the door to justices refusing to recuse no matter how large a campaign contribution they received. Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce spent millions of dollars on campaign donations to elect Justices Michael Gableman, David Prosser, Annette Ziegler and Pat Roggensack, then convinced them to support a recusal rule that is nationally notable for its lax standards, and then benefitted from the decision by these justices to refuse to recuse and rule in favor of killing a John Doe probe of illegal campaign coordination by the WMC and other defendants. Yet the WMC is outraged that a circuit court judge gave $50 to an environmental group.
WMC is such a partisan group of hypocritical jags that they are now running one-sided ads calling a Dem candidate for the Wisconsin State Senate a tax-hiker …when WMC and the Republican candidate in that election want to raise taxes even more!
The ad from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce’s political advocacy arm has run since late last month and criticizes Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris for proposing a 3-cent gas tax increase to generate money for road projects in lieu of borrowing. It also urges people to call Harris and tell him that his liberal tax policies are bringing families down.Exactly right, Scot. WMC is nothing more than a GOP front group- or is the GOP a front group for the oligarchs at WMC? I’m having a hard time telling which group is calling the shots here.
Harris told Wisconsin Eye, the state’s version of C-SPAN, last month that he wants the tax increase because borrowing will cost the state more in the long run. Harris’ opponent in the 18th Senate District race, Republican Dan Feyen of Fond du Lac, told Wisconsin Eye in July that he would be open to a 5-cent gas tax increase.
A modest gas tax increase was among the things floated on the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce’s website by President Kurt Bauer in December 2014 in lieu of borrowing for roads, as well as raising vehicle registration fees.
“WMC is attacking a Democrat for supporting the same policy that they do, and that his opponent does,” said Scot Ross, executive director of liberal group One Wisconsin Now. “There is no explanation for this dishonesty other than they are more interested in electing Republican politicians than advancing an issue agenda.”
It’s well past time that WMC and its members pay a heavy price for the poisonous damage their organization has inflicted onto Wisconsin politics and everyday life. So let me give you this list of the members of WMC’s officers and Board of Directors, and make them pay what they have allowed. I admit, this won’t be easy (I have an Associated Bank account that my paycheck goes into, although I try to keep it relatively low so they can’t make any money loaning out my funds), but hitting these overwhelmingly mediocre white businessMEN in the pocketbook is the only way these scumbags will consider backing off, and stop messing up our state so much.
WMC OFFICERS
CHAIR
ROBERT D. KAMPHUIS, Chairman, President & CEO
Mayville Engineering Company, Inc., Mayville
VICE CHAIR
JAY L. SMITH, Chairman & CEO
Teel Plastics, Inc., Baraboo
PRESIDENT/CEO
KURT R. BAUER
WMC, Madison
SECRETARY
TOD B. LINSTROTH, Senior Partner & Past Member & Chair of Management Committee
Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Madison
TREASURER
GINA A. PETER, Executive Vice President, Commercial Banking Division Manager
Wells Fargo Bank, Milwaukee
WMC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
JEFFREY W. BAILET, M.D., Executive Vice President, Aurora Health Care / Co-President, Aurora Health Care Medical Group
Aurora Health Care, Milwaukee
KURT R. BAUER, President/CEO
WMC, Madison
SIDNEY H. BLISS, President & CEO
Bliss Communications, Inc., Janesville
DAMOND WILLIAMS BOATWRIGHT, Regional President of Hospital Operations
SSM Health Care of Wisconsin, Madison
STEVEN G. BOOTH, President/CEO
Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc., Milwaukee
DAVID H. BRETTING, President & CEO
C.G. Bretting Manufacturing Company, Inc., Ashland
THOMAS A. BURKE, President & CEO
Modine Manufacturing Company, Racine
NATE CUNNIFF, Senior Vice President – Business Banking
BMO Harris Bank, Brookfield
BRAD W. DENOYER, CPA, Partner
Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, Madison
JOHN N. DYKEMA, President/Owner
Campbell Wrapper Corporation; Circle Packaging Machinery, Inc., De Pere
SCOTT A. FAWCETT, President & CEO
Springs Window Fashions, LLC, Middleton
PHILIP B. FLYNN, President & CEO
Associated Banc-Corp, Green Bay
JAMES D. FRIEDMAN, Senior Partner
Quarles & Brady LLP, Milwaukee
PHILIP C. FRITSCHE, SR., President
Beaver Dam Area Chamber of Commerce, Beaver Dam
ROBERT GERBITZ, President, COO
Hendricks Commercial Properties, Beloit
STEVEN H. JOHNSON, Factory Manager
John Deere Horicon Works, Horicon
ROBERT D. KAMPHUIS, Chairman, President & CEO
Mayville Engineering Company, Inc., Mayville
PATRICIA LEONARD KAMPLING, Chairman, President & CEO
Alliant Energy Corporation, Madison
ROBERT L. KELLER, Chairman
J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc., Neenah
CLIFFORD J. KING, CEO
Skyward, Inc., Stevens Point
JAMES M. LEEF, President
ITU AbsorbTech, Inc., New Berlin
ALLEN L. LEVERETT, CEO
WEC Energy Group, MIlwaukee
TOD B. LINSTROTH, Senior Partner & Past Member & Chair of Management Committee
Michael Best & Friedrich LLP, Madison
STEPHEN D. LOEHR, Vice President
Kwik Trip, Inc., La Crosse
SCOTT A. MAYER, President
QPS Employment Group, Brookfield
PATRICK J. McCONNELL, CEO/Owner
FLASH, Inc., Green Lake
JAMES J. McINTYRE, President and CEO
The Greenheck Group, Schofield
J. R. MENARD, Executive Vice President & Treasurer
Menard, Inc., Eau Claire
ROBERT MOSES, President/CEO
Prairie du Chien Area Chamber of Commerce, Prairie du Chien
KAREN L. NICHOLS, Executive Director
The Chamber of Manitowoc County, Manitowoc
PAUL PALMBY, Executive VP & COO
Seneca Foods Corporation, Janesville
RICK W. PARKS, President/CEO
Society Insurance, Fond du Lac
GINA A. PETER, Executive Vice President, Commercial Banking Division Manager
Wells Fargo Bank, Milwaukee
JOHN PFEIFER, President
Mercury Marine, Fond du Lac
NICHOLAS T. PINCHUK, Chairman & CEO
Snap-on Incorporated, Kenosha
AARON B. POWELL, Partner/Chief Strategy Officer
Flexion Inc., Sun Prairie
JOSEPH T. PREGONT, President & CEO
Prent Corporation, Janesville
MICHAEL W. SALSIEDER, Retired President & General Counsel
Kolbe & Kolbe Millwork Company, Inc., Menomonee Falls
ERIC W. SAUEY, Chairman & CEO
Seats Incorporated, Reedsburg
EDWARD H. SCHAEFER, President & CEO
Citizens Community Federal, N.A., Eau Claire
KARL A. SCHMIDT, President & CEO
Belmark Inc., De Pere
KRISTINE N. SEYMOUR, Regional Vice President of Market Development IL/MI/WI and Sales Leader for MI/MN/WI
Humana, Inc., Waukesha
RAJAN I. SHETH, Chairman/CEO
Mead & Hunt, Inc., Middleton
DIRK SMITH, President & CEO
Super Steel, LLC, Milwaukee
JAY L. SMITH, Chairman & CEO
Teel Plastics, Inc., Baraboo
SUSAN L. TURNEY, M.D., CEO
Marshfield Clinic Health System, Inc., Marshfield
S. MARK TYLER, President
OEM Fabricators, Inc., Woodville
DONALD D. WAHLIN, CEO
Stoughton Trailers, LLC, Stoughton
MICHAEL S. WALLACE, President/CEO
Fort HealthCare, Fort Atkinson
TODD WANEK, President & CEO
Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc., Arcadia
DAVID J. YANDA, President & CEO
Lakeside Foods, Inc., Manitowoc
PS- See Todd Wanek of Ashley Furniture on that list? He's given big money WMC's "issues mobilization" organization to run ads to get GOPs elected, along with tens of thousands of dollars to the campaign of Governor Scott Walker- with combined contributions that are well over $100,000. And the John Doe docs also showed that Wanek was part of a group of oligarchs that sat in on a WMC-arranged conference call with Gov Scott Walker in December 2011 to discuss "recall-related polling and strategy" (a call that took place during Walker's regular work schedule. Where was Scotty calling in from?). Oh hey! Look at where Scott Walker was yesterday, attending a ribbon-cutting commemorating Ashley Furniture’s remodeling of its Arcadia headquarters. Amazing how that stuff works out, doesn't it?
They say they are Wisconsin's "Chamber of Commerce", but they sure don't seem to operate like any proper Chamber I've ever seen or heard of.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the answer is. The deck is so stacked against progressive interests in this state.
When I found out what a POS John Menard was I stopped going to Menards. I don't care if I spend a little more on what I buy, I am happy knowing that I did not put 1 cent in the pocket of John Menard.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the WMC does not want to see Wisconsin have new businesses growth.
These new businesses would compete for employees by possibly raising wages and benefits. That is something that they don't want to see because it could cut into their profits.
If the attitude of WMC is, screw Wisconsin workers because we want higher profits. My attitude is, screw WMC with my purchasing choices.
Thanks for posting that list.
You're welcome. Giving our money to real job creators and not the slime that make up WMC is one of the few options we have at this time. Well, barring an uprising at the ballot box in 27 days, of course (which is badly needed), and where politicians pay a price for being puppets of WMC.
DeleteAs you mention Greg, these guys don't want new ideas and competition, and then they whine about how they can't find workers and that the talent base is drying up.
Screw em, they create nothing.
The treasurer of the WMC, Gina Peter, is listed as a "commercial banking division manager" for Wells Fargo. Is that the same Wells Fargo that was behind the creation of fake bank accounts?
ReplyDeleteOf course it is. Obviously Wisconsin doesn't have Wells Fargo's corporate offices, but Wisconsin branches were in on the scam.
DeleteAnd guess who'd want fewer protections for account holders when it comes to those scams? Yep, WMC