It’s still several weeks before the general elections, with big bucks yet to flow, but already Wisconsin’s recall-o-rama is awash in campaign cash — and at least one record will surely fall.
Author Archives: Bill Lueders
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
Disclosure statements part of public’s right to know
Recently the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee inserted language into the state budget bill that would have restricted public access to the statements of economic interest that public officials in Wisconsin must file. But the negative reaction from open government advocates, myself included, state media, members of the public and a conservative think tank forced lawmakers to back down.
Posted inGovernment, Money & Politics
Campaign financing dead in Wisconsin
Gov. Scott Walker signed the budget June 26, effectively ending the state’s 33-year-old system of providing public funding to candidates who agree to abide by overall spending limits.
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
Is money to blame for Supreme Court dysfunction?
News of a physical altercation between two state Supreme Court justices has, ironically, brought the people of Wisconsin together. Everyone, it seems, agrees there is something terribly wrong with our state Supreme Court.
Posted inGovernment, Justice & Safety, Money & Politics
Two probes launched over court altercation
The Wisconsin Judicial Commission and the Dane County’s Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that they are conducting separate ethical and criminal investigations into an alleged physical altercation between two Wisconsin Supreme Court justices.
Posted inMoney & Politics Column
A timely topic, a search for the truth
Editor’s note: The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is debuting a column called Money & Politics. Written by Bill Lueders, the Center’s Money and Politics Project director, the column will cover a wide range of topics related to money and politics, tied into contemporary events. And it will invite readers into a process of discovery, […]
Posted inGovernment, Justice & Safety, Money & Politics
Supreme Court spat got physical
Several sources told Wisconsin Public Radio and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism that an argument before the court’s release of a decision upholding a bill to curtail the collective bargaining rights of public employees culminated in a physical altercation in the presence of other justices.
Posted inWisWatch Blog
E-mail ruling a blow to openness
Every action that sanctions official secrecy creates opportunities for abuse.
Posted inWisWatch Blog
Public information belongs on the Internet
The unleashed power of the Internet has given the public unprecedented access to information, and there is no way to put the genie back in the bottle.