Wis Democracy Campaign shows Walker, WisGOPs are owned by massive out-of-state money

Wanted to forward you to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's newly-released list of the top 50 donators to Wisconsin Dems and top 50 donators to Wisconsin Republicans. This list is limited to candidates for state offices (governor, AG, State Senator, State Rep, etc), as well as donations to the respective parties' campaign committees in the Assembly and the Senate, and covers the 10 years from Jan. 1, 2008 to the end of 2017.

If you look at the Democracy campaign's list of top donators to Wisconsin Democrats, they're all from Wisconsin. It includes at least three former and current elected officials, and a few big-time health care execs.

Abele, Chris & Miriam Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee County Executive $389,728.00
Uihlein, Lynde Milwaukee, WI Brico Fund $288,200.00
Kagan, Steve, Gayle, Melissa, Stephanie, & Thomas Appleton, WI Kagen Allergy Clinic $118,830.75
Abert, Grant Madison, WI Kailo Fund $110,860.00
Kelly, Terence & Mary Madison, WI Venture Management LLC $97,580.00
Bakken, Mark & Margaret Merrick Madison, WI HealthX Ventures $96,883.33
Thomsen, Mark & Grace Milwaukee, WI Gingras, Cates & Wachs $89,444.29
Katz, Donald & Rebecca Madison, WI Katz Family Office LLC $88,800.00
Faulkner, Judith & Gordon Madison, WI Epic Systems/Access Community Health Center $84,500.00
Sensenbrenner, Joe & Mary Ellen Madison, WI Center for Resilient Cities $84,420.00
Walsh, David & Nancy Madison, WI Foley & Lardner $78,250.00

Now compare that to the top contributors to Republicans in the same time period. Some of these names may be familiar to you, even though most of them don't live here.

Hendricks, Diane Afton,WI ABC Supply Co $604,500.00
Perry, Bob & Doylene Houston, TX Perry Homes $500,000.00
Uihlein, Richard & Elizabeth Lake Forest, IL Uline Shipping Supplies $395,150.00
Kern, Robert & Patricia Waukesha, WI Generac Corp $292,990.00
Fabick, Jere & Renee Milwaukee, WI Fabco Equipment Inc $288,000.00
Humphreys, David C Joplin, MO TAMKO Building Products $280,000.00
DeVos, Richard M & Helen Grand Rapids, MI Alticor $271,000.00
Adelson, Sheldon & Miriam Las Vegas, NV Las Vegas Sands/Adelson Clinic $270,000.00
Atkins, Sarah Arlington, VA TAMKO Building Products $260,000.00
Herzog, Stanley St Joseph, MO Herzog Contracting Corp $260,000.00

8 of the top 10 GOP contributors are from out of state, including GOP mega-donor slime like Sheldon Adelson and the DeVos family. If you wonder why we give so many taxpayer dollars to voucher schools, or why Walker just signed a bill reaffirming support for Israel by preventing any area of state government from boycotting Israel for human rights abuses, and why US Senate candidate Leah Vukmir was the Israel bill's biggest proponent, following the money explains a lot.

And little surprise that the list is headed with our own psychotic self-absorbed billionaire, Diane Hendricks.


Give as much money as her, and Scotty will talk to you, too.

And while the numbers are skewed a bit from the loophole in state election law that allowed Walker and other WisGOPs to raise unlimited funds for their recall elections in 2011 and 2012, it still seems noteworthy that only 4 individuals contributed more than $100,000 to Democrats in the 10-year period the WDC tracked, while at least 50 individuals gave Walker and other Republicans $100,000 or more. You wonder why Walker doesn't seem to have a clue about the issues that everyday people deal with?

Of course, one of the biggest sources of GOP in-state funding hasn't been through individual donations, but instead from dark money groups that don't have to reveal their donors. This includes the $1.5 million that John Menard gave to Wisconsin Club for Growth, an organization that served as Walker's money-laundering front in 2011 and 2012. It also doesn't include the multi-millions in "independent" expenditures from the Scott Jensen-run front group for the DeVoses and the rest of the voucher lobby, nor does it count Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce and other business oligarch groups.

Which reminds me, it's time to once again list who is on the Board of Directors of WMC, since they don't want you to know.

WMC OFFICERS
CHAIR
JAY L. SMITH, Chairman & CEO
Teel Plastics, Inc., Baraboo

VICE CHAIR
STEPHEN D. LOEHR, Vice President
Kwik Trip, Inc., La Crosse

PRESIDENT/CEO
KURT R. BAUER
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (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
DARYL ADEL, Business President
Kerry, Beloit

SIDNEY H. BLISS, President & CEO
Bliss Communications, Inc., Janesville

DAMOND WILLIAMS BOATWRIGHT, Regional President – 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

DANIEL DEFNET, Executive Vice President, Commercial Banking
Johnson Financial Group, Racine

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

PHILIP B. FLYNN, President & CEO
Associated Banc-Corp, Green Bay

JEFF T. FRENCH, National Managing Partner, Consumer & Industrial Products
Grant Thornton, LLP, Appleton

PHILIP C. FRITSCHE, SR., President
Beaver Dam Area Chamber of Commerce, Beaver Dam

LOUIS P. GENTINE II, CEO
Sargento Foods Inc., Plymouth

ROBERT GERBITZ, President & CEO
Hendricks Commercial Properties, Beloit

MICHAEL F. HAMERLIK, President & CEO
WPS Health Solutions, Madison

STEVEN H. JOHNSON, Factory Manager
John Deere Horicon Works, Horicon

WILSON R. JONES, President & CEO
Oshkosh Corporation, Oshkosh

PATRICIA LEONARD KAMPLING, Chairman & CEO
Alliant Energy Corporation, Madison

ROBERT L. KELLER, Chairman
J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc., Neenah

SUZANNE KELLEY, President & CEO
Waukesha County Business Alliance, Waukesha

CLIFFORD J. KING, CEO
Skyward, Inc., Stevens Point

JAMES M. LEEF, President & CEO
ITU AbsorbTech, Inc., New Berlin

ALLEN L. LEVERETT, President
WEC Energy Group, Milwaukee

SCOTT A. MAYER, Chairman & CEO
QPS Employment Group, Brookfield

JAMES J. McINTYRE, President and CEO
The Greenheck Group, Schofield

J. R. MENARD, Executive Vice President & Treasurer
Menard, Inc., Eau Claire

ROSALIE F. MORGAN, President
EMCS, Inc., Milwaukee

ROBERT MOSES, President & CEO
Prairie du Chien Area Chamber of Commerce, Prairie du Chien

BARBARA NICK, President & CEO
Dairyland Power Cooperative, La Crosse

MICHAEL NIKOLAI, President, COO & CEO
Waupaca Foundry Inc., Waupaca

JAMES J. OSTROM, President & CEO
Milk Source LLC, Kaukauna


Lets keep this "top 50 donors" list from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign in mind over the next 6 1/2 months, as I bet we can make many connections as a result.

"Repay, do not forget." - Robert Plant, "The Battle of Evermore"