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 71 
 on: August 09, 2011, 11:14:18 am 
Started by Brooke - Last post by Brooke
Nation watches as Wisconsin prepares for recalls Tuesday

StoryDiscussionImage (2)More (3)Font Size:Default font sizeLarger font sizeNation watches as Wisconsin prepares for recalls Tuesday
MARY SPICUZZA | mspicuzza@madison.com | 608-252-6122 madison.com | (330) Comments | Posted: Monday, August 8, 2011 6:15 am




Related: Spending breaks record in 5 recall elections
Related: Both parties suspect other of deceit in recall elections
Related: AP analysis: Parties spent $4.2 million in 6 state recalls
Related: Some absentee ballot applications may have errors
Related: In recall campaigns, union is a dirty word — on both sides
Related: National chairman: RNC is 'all in' on Wisconsin recall elections
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Related: Interactive map of Senate recall elections
SENATE RECALL SPENDING
Overall spending in the nine Wisconsin Senate recall elections:

$5.1 million  Candidates 
$13.2 million Registered interest groups 
$13.2 million  Unregistered interest groups (estimated)
$31.5 million  Total spending

ON THE ATTACK
 
Money flowing into the race between Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and her recall challenger, Rep. Sandy Pasch, D-Whitefish Bay, has shattered previous spending records for any legislative race in Wisconsin. Nearly $8 million — much of it on attack ads like these — has been spent in that race alone, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

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The money pouring into this summer's recall elections already has shattered campaign spending records across Wisconsin.

And with six Republican senators fighting for their seats on Tuesday, then two Democratic senators facing recall next week, high stakes and intense national interest in the historic recalls mean spending totals will only continue to rise.

Cash flowing into the recall elections from third-party interest groups already has approached $30 million, election watchdogs say, and total spending by third-party groups and candidates could top $40 million.

That total would double spending on all 116 of last fall's state legislative races combined. About $19.25 million was spent in those races for 17 Senate seats and 99 Assembly seats, which included 312 candidates on the primary ballot and 225 candidates in the November 2010 general election, said Mike McCabe, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign executive director.

The money spent so far in this summer's nine recalls — one already has been decided — is believed to have already broken Wisconsin's record for state Senate and Assembly races set in 2008, when candidates and groups spent about $20 million on 115 elections.

Big spenders

Candidates and registered interest groups are required to report their expenses to the state, but unregistered third-party groups are not, making exact spending difficult to track.

Still, 31 interest groups registered in the Wisconsin recalls had reported spending about $13.2 million as of Friday, McCabe said. That's more than three times the $3.75 million spent by registered groups on all of last fall's races. Based on the extent of campaign advertising, such as television ads and direct mail, McCabe estimated last week that undisclosed activity already had topped $13 million.

"This is off the charts," he said.

Interest groups are spending big on both sides.

Conservative organizations such as Wisconsin Club for Growth, Wisconsin Family Action, and Citizens for a Strong America have targeted Democratic candidates with attack ads.

Pro-union and liberal groups such as We Are Wisconsin, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, and Democracy for America also have been heavily involved in the recalls, with a combination of attack ads targeting Republicans and get-out-the-vote efforts backing Democrats.

High stakes

The recalls could drastically change the political landscape in Wisconsin.

Gov. Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers, who won control of the governor's office, Senate and Assembly in November, have been able to pass a broad slate of conservative legislation since they took power in January. Losing control of the Senate to Democrats would mean a sudden roadblock for Walker's agenda.

"Rarely in American politics do you have a chance for a do-over," UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said. "This is as close to a do-over as you are going to get."

Since taking office, Walker has drawn national attention over his controversial plan to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from most public workers. It drew tens of thousands of protesters to the state Capitol for days on end starting in February and led Wisconsin's 14 Democratic senators to flee to Illinois in an effort to fight its passage.

The measure, which has since become law, triggered the recall efforts against the senators. Republican senators were targeted for backing Walker's plan, while Democratic senators were targeted for leaving the state to delay a vote.

The focus of the recalls has since expanded, shifting away from the collective bargaining fight toward issues such as taxes and funding for public schools and seniors. Few outside groups and candidates mention unions these days.

"I believe it's because the broader population agrees with what we did," said Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, who faces off against Democrat Nancy Nusbaum on Tuesday.

Democratic challenger Jessica King, who is running against Sen. Randy Hopper, said the frustration goes beyond policy to a growing lack of confidence that lawmakers will be civil and include them.

"A lot of people feel shut out of the process," she said. "People are really looking for someone to advocate for them."

Referendum on Walker?

Many also view these races as a sign of whether Walker will face recall next year — and even as an indicator of President Barack Obama's chances to win re-election in 2012.

That likely explains why the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama PAC, a Sacramento, Calif.-based organization formed to support conservative 2012 presidential candidates, is involved in the Wisconsin recalls. It sponsored a TV ad last month backing the six GOP senators up for recall on Tuesday and accusing liberal groups backed by Obama of being behind the recall efforts.

That was just one of dozens of TV ads by third-party groups in recent months.

In another, paid for by Citizens for a Strong America, Democratic recall challenger Shelly Moore is slammed by someone who sounds like Morgan Freeman. Schoolchildren accuse Darling of making it harder for them to learn in another ad paid for by We Are Wisconsin.

"What we've seen is outside groups have basically unlimited amounts of money to spend on advocacy," Franklin said.

In interviews with the Wisconsin State Journal, recall candidates across the state panned outside groups' attack ads.

"What's disappointing is the outright lies," said Republican state Sen. Luther Olsen. "In all honesty, the truth means nothing anymore."

Olsen, a 20-year school board veteran who has chaired education committees in the state Assembly and Senate, said he has always made education a top priority. But he and other GOP senators have been attacked in ads by third-party groups over recent cuts, including the more than $1 billion cut from public schools and higher education in the 2011-13 state budget.

"It has always been my position that they don't lead to better elections," his opponent, Rep. Fred Clark, said of the outside groups. "I would rather see none of them spend money, whether they are supporting me or Sen. Olsen."

Clark said last month he was willing to sign a joint statement with Olsen asking such groups to stop running attack ads in their race.

Olsen's campaign refused, saying it would discourage free speech, but Olsen said he offered to sign an agreement that any false ads stop running. No agreement was signed.

'This is about power'

Jay Heck of government watchdog Common Cause Wisconsin said people are viewing what happens Tuesday as a sign of which direction the nation is heading politically leading up to the 2012 elections — in part because the state is considered one of the most closely divided in the country.

"Everyone is looking at Wisconsin as the barometer," Heck said.

That national focus has not escaped senators who face removal from office.

"They want to use us as an example. They have to take us out to prove that they can do it," Darling said of national liberal groups. "This is about power."



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 72 
 on: August 04, 2011, 04:54:47 pm 
Started by Lisa Wolfe - Last post by Lisa Wolfe
Wellpoint joins Koch to help fight Senate recalls
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JONATHAN D. SALANT | Bloomberg News madison.com | (16) Comments | Posted: Thursday, August 4, 2011 9:01 am
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WASHINGTON — Republican and Democratic groups are pouring money into Wisconsin with eight legislative recalls scheduled this month and control of the state Senate hanging in the balance.
The Republican State Leadership Committee, based in Alexandria, Va., has spent about $370,000 on the special elections, while the Washington-based Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has spent about $250,000, according to documents filed with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board in Madison.
Wellpoint Inc., an Indianapolis-based health insurer that has been critical of the new federal health-care law, is among the top donors to Republican organizations active in the contests, including $450,000 to the RSLC and $250,000 to the Republican Governors Association.
Wellpoint gave $842,000 to the RSLC for the 2010 elections. State officials are playing a key role in implementing — or fighting — the new health law. Kristin Binns, a Wellpoint spokeswoman, didn't return a phone call seeking comment.
"Big Labor has made Wisconsin their Waterloo," the RSLC states on its website, seeking donations to help the Republican lawmakers facing recall elections following their support of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's legislation to take away bargaining rights of state workers. Walker said the law was necessary to trim spending and balance the state budget.
Overall, the national groups trying to elect Republican governors, legislators and other state officials almost doubled Democratic fundraising, new Internal Revenue Service records show.
The Republican groups reported raising $28 million between Jan. 1 and June 30, compared with $15 million for their Democratic counterparts. Unlike the national political parties, these committees can accept contributions from corporate and union treasuries, and unlimited donations from individuals.
The RSLC's chairman, Ed Gillespie, is a former aide to President George W. Bush. Gillespie worked with former Bush political strategist Karl Rove in 2010 to create American Crossroads. American Crossroads and its related organization Crossroads GPS spent $38 million last year in support of Republican congressional candidates. In March, Crossroads GPS spent $750,000 in ads supporting Walker's new anti-labor law, according to the Center for Media and Democracy.
"Wisconsin is a huge priority," said Carolyn Fiddler, a DLCC spokeswoman.
The Republican and Democratic state legislative groups are just two of more than two dozen outside groups active in the special elections.
The Democrats need to capture three Republican-held seats to secure a majority in the state Senate. The first Wisconsin recall, on July 19, saw the Democratic incumbent hold his seat. On Aug. 9, six Republican senators who supported Walker's labor bill will face recalls. Two more Democratic incumbents will face recall elections on Aug. 16.
"A lot of Republicans have looked to Wisconsin to see what they're getting away with and what Republicans elsewhere can get away with without incurring too much backlash," Fiddler said.
Among the national groups that focus on state races, the most prolific fundraiser was the RGA, which raised $22.2 million in the first six months of this year. Of that sum, $1 million came from David Koch, the executive vice president of Wichita, Kan.-based Koch Industries Inc. Another $500,000 was given by Kenneth Griffin, chief executive officer of the Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel Investment Group.
The head of the RGA, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, is mulling a run for the White House in 2012. In a statement, the RGA said its fundraising was a record for the first half of a year before a presidential election, and was more than it collected in all of 2007.
Koch also gave $1 million last year to the RGA, which helped elect Republicans such as Walker. His anti-union legislation had the support of the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity advocacy group. Melissa Cohlmia, a spokeswoman for Koch Industries, didn't respond to a request for comment.
Other RGA contributors included Texas businessmen Trevor Rees-Jones, who donated $257,300, and homebuilder Bob Perry, who provided $250,000.
The Democratic Governors Association raised $11 million, including $100,000 donations each from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Several companies regulated by state governments contributed to both governors' associations, including Dallas- based AT&T, which gave $255,000 to the Republican governors and $150,000 to the Democratic governors; and Atlanta-based utility Southern Co., which gave $100,000 to both.
"We're supportive of and work constructively with the governments in our regulated states — regardless of party — in order to develop sound energy policy that protects the interest of our customers, promotes economic development and creates jobs," said Valerie Hendrickson, a spokeswoman for Southern.
AT&T also gave $60,000 to the RSLC and $10,000 to the Democratic Attorneys General Association. An AT&T spokeswoman, Claudia Jones, declined to comment.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce contributed $125,000 to the Republican governors and $100,000 to the Democrats.
The Democratic Attorneys General Association raised $1.6 million, including $357,650 from law firms. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld donated $15,000 and Nix Patterson & Roach LLP, trial lawyers, contributed $50,000.


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 73 
 on: August 03, 2011, 04:55:10 pm 
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Out-of-state groups send in cash to deliver recall message
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JESSICA VANEGEREN | The Capital times | jvanegeren@madison.com madison.com | (26) Comments | Posted: Wednesday, August 3, 2011 5:30 am
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Sandwiched between Klinke Cleaners and Check ‘n Go in a strip mall in Sun Prairie is one of the biggest financial players in Wisconsin’s historic round of recall elections.
But don’t be fooled by the 1223 W. Main St., #304 address. The conservative, pro-business Wisconsin Club for Growth boasts no posh suite, just a simple mailbox at a UPS store. While its office presence may be lacking, its political influence is not.
To date, Wisconsin Club for Growth has spent an estimated $3 million to $4 million on “issue” ads for and against candidates in the state’s recall elections. That’s far more than the $1 million it spent cumulatively on elections in the state over the past four years.
The power of that money is being seen in select markets across the state by television viewers who are being assailed by hard-hitting, 30-second attack ads. And, keep in mind that as an issue ad organization, Wisconsin Club for Growth does not have to report who its donors are or what it spends.
Wisconsin Club for Growth is just one of 56 groups that have simultaneously cranked open the campaign spending spigot, releasing a record stream of cash into Wisconsin to influence the state’s nine recall elections. Most of the groups have ties to outside interests: labor unions, national political parties, business advocates, the tea party, school choice or President Obama’s re-election campaign, among others.
The result is an estimated $10 million to $12 million spent by outside groups on advertising in various forms since statewide protests erupted in February over Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s proposal, since enacted, to curb the collective bargaining rights of most public workers.
Total spending could hit $20 million to $25 million, estimates Mike McCabe, the executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which has been tracking special-interest spending. Common Cause of Wisconsin predicts as much as $30 million will be spent.
Both conservative and liberal groups cite the historic effort to unseat nine state senators – three Democrats and six Republicans – as a test of how far a GOP governor and Republican-led Legislature can push a pro-business, anti-union agenda and budget strategy that cuts state spending at the expense of public education, public workers and health care programs, among others, before feeling repercussions at the polls.
But the groups are not just focused on maintaining or overturning Republican control of the state Capitol. Officials with a number of the special-interest groups say they are also looking to send a message and lay the groundwork for the 2012 presidential race.
“The behavior by these groups is proof they see these elections as having broad national consequences,” says Charles Franklin, a political science professor with UW-Madison. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t be pouring money into the state.”
Indeed, Wisconsin has become ground zero in a national showdown over opposing political philosophies about the role of government. If the Democrats take control of the state Senate through the recall elections, observers say it will signal a resurgence of the Democratic Party after its crippling losses in the 2010 elections.
Democrats in Wisconsin have scored one win already, with Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, easily retaining his Senate seat in a recall election last month. The contest continues Aug. 9, with recall elections for six incumbent Republicans, followed by the final recall elections for two incumbent Democrats Aug. 16. Democrats must win five of the remaining eight elections to take control of the state Senate.
To date, 42 political action committees and 14 “issue ad” groups have contributed to the $10 million to $12 million that has been spent on advertising for the nine recall elections. McCabe says these special-interest groups could “easily” break the $15 million mark by the time the elections are over.
Broadcasters are not required by law to report what the issue ad groups spend on ads. But many are cooperating with Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s project to report on outside spending in Wisconsin races. A final tally on how much is spent will not be known until after the Aug. 16 elections.
Political action committees, or PACs, are private groups that can be created by unions, special-interest groups and corporations to support candidates or issues in an election. PACs must register with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board and report where their money comes from and how it’s spent.
In contrast, an issue ad group, does not have to register with the state board or report its spending. It’s parent organization often has an innocuous name, like Citizens for a Strong America.
By avoiding so-called “magic words” in their ads – “vote for,” “support,” “elect,” “vote against,” “defeat,” “reject” – the issue ad groups bypass reporting requirements. Still, an ad without the magic words gets its message across to voters.
“Coca-Cola never says ‘Buy Coca-Cola.’ Walmart never says ‘Shop at Walmart,’” McCabe says. “But you know from watching the commercial they want you to buy Coca-Cola and they want you to shop at Walmart.”
To date, the top issue ad spender in the recall elections is Wisconsin Club for Growth. We Are Wisconsin, a coalition of labor groups including the AFL-CIO and AFSCME that was created in March to back Democrats in the Senate recalls, has spent about $4 million, the bulk of the $6.1 million spent by the 42 PACs.
McCabe says the growth in both the number of groups pouring money into the recall elections and the large sums they’ve raised and spent on ads is a drastic change from what was happening in the state even a few years ago.
“Spending by registered groups (PACs) in the fall of 2010 was $3.75 million,” McCabe points out, for all legislative races statewide. “When this is done, their spending will have more than doubled, perhaps tripled, that amount, for just nine recall elections.”
The special interest money game has exploded in the past decade. In the fall 2000 legislative election season, 16 PACs and five issue ad groups bought ads in Wisconsin. Total spending was just under $3 million, with the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state’s largest teachers union, topping the list of spenders at $1.05 million.
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, who pioneered the use of the issue ad in Wisconsin in 1996 and injected unregulated corporate money into election advertising for the first time, also was a major spender.
Those two groups, WEAC and WMC, used to be the dominant two spenders, McCabe says. Then what he calls “phony front groups” that represent outside interests began to proliferate, not to lobby for issues they support, as WEAC and WMC did, but simply to influence elections.
“They emerge during election seasons, and they spend boatloads of money,” McCabe says. “They’ve really taken over.”
On July 20, Denise Feriozzi, the executive director of Emily’s List, a national, Washington D.C.-based organization dedicated to electing pro-choice, Democratic women to office, landed in Wisconsin. Her visit was a first on many fronts.
While Emily’s List commonly endorses and contributes to female candidates for office at all levels, Feriozzi says there is more at stake in Wisconsin.
Walker and the Republicans “ignited a national firestorm of outrage by trying to take away the programs and services that matter most to American women and families,” says Feriozzi, citing cuts to education and reproductive health care as two examples.
Feriozzi described Emily’s List’s involvement in the Wisconsin recalls as “unprecedented.” In addition to endorsing all five of the women trying to unseat Republican senators (former Brown County Executive Nancy Nusbaum; Rep. Sandy Pasch of Whitefish Bay; educator Shelly Moore; former Oshkosh Deputy Mayor Jessica King, and Rep. Jennifer Shilling of La Crosse), the organization is activating its national phone bank to allow its members to call Wisconsin voters and will be knocking on doors the weekend of Aug. 6-7 to talk to voters about what’s at stake.
Feriozzi says thousands of dollars will be spent through Wisconsin Women Vote!, an independent expenditure arm of Emily’s List, to run ads in the Twin Cities TV market against Moore’s competitor, incumbent Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, and against Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, who is being challenged by Shilling.
One ad, titled “Send Kapanke Packing” begins with a black Lincoln Town Car with tinted windows speeding down a country road on its way to pick up two businessmen. On its way, it passes a young girl sitting at a desk, an elderly couple sitting alongside the road on a park bench and a family of four eating dinner.
“Put middle-class families first. And send Kapanke packing,” says the narrator. The ad is being run in conjunction with We Are Wisconsin.
Feriozzi says Republicans in Wisconsin and in Washington are “overreaching because of some mandate they think they got from the voters during the last election. I expect what happens in Wisconsin to have significance up and down the ballot in 2012.”
So do many others.
To date, the Washington, D.C.-based Progressive Change Campaign Committee, (known as Bold Progressives), in conjunction with Democracy for America, has spent roughly $1 million on ads in Wisconsin, says co-founder Adam Green. The organization, normally focused on candidates for federal office, plans to spend another half a million before the recall elections conclude.
Green says the various outside groups are involved in Wisconsin’s recall elections to stop a larger pattern of what they see as an attack on middle-class families.
“A Democratic win sends a message that when Republicans flagrantly buck the will of the voters and attack workers, they will be punished,” Green says. “It is collective bargaining plus other issues. It’s cuts to schools, while tax cuts are being given to large corporations.”
Nationally, he sees a parallel track that Republicans are following, including Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan’s proposal to give tax cuts to the wealthy while cutting Medicare.
Bold Progressives has been one of the more prominent national voices criticizing President Obama for straying too far from the principles of the liberal base, says Green. It has told its members not to volunteer for Obama in 2012 if he makes any cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.
“We’re in Wisconsin to send a message to Obama,” Green says. “When Democrats like the Wisconsin 14 stand strong for working families, they will be rewarded by our votes.”
Wisconsin’s recall elections aren’t just being used as a vehicle to send Obama a message from the left. Messages also are coming from the right.
The California-based Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama, a sister group to the national Tea Party Express PAC, is raising money and running ads in Wisconsin. One ad calls for supporters to help “tell Barack Obama and his liberal hacks” that they “reject their unhelpful intervention” in Wisconsin politics.
The ad states: “Gov. Walker and the Republicans are providing the adult leadership Wisconsin needs to restore fiscal responsibility to the Badger State. But Barack Obama’s political allies, including MoveOn.org, are spending millions to block these important reforms. Now, they are even trying to recall the Republican senators who stayed in Madison and did their jobs well.”
The fight over collective bargaining rights, which began in February and led to the recall efforts, saw all 14 of Wisconsin’s Democratic senators leave the state for weeks to avoid voting on a bill that ultimately was passed by Republicans alone, using a controversial procedural move. Walker’s direct assault on union power is part of a similar effort in other GOP-led states. The recall elections will repudiate or endorse that effort.
“A number of governors across the country who have also moved to trim spending, leading to a reduction in employee benefits and employee rights, are watching and waiting,” says Franklin, the UW prof. “Wisconsin is an indicator of how far they can go.”
The list of powerful political players spending money on the recall efforts continues to grow.
Club for Growth; Citizens for a Strong America, a conservative group funded by the billionaire Koch brothers that has bought several hundred thousand dollars worth of ads; and the pro-school choice American Federation for Children, a relatively unheard-of group in Wisconsin until now, are among those supporting Walker and the GOP senators targeted for recall.
National Club for Growth spokesman Barney Keller says Wisconsin represents a larger debate playing out nationally over how much economic freedom versus regulation should be allowed in America. In his organization’s view, stripping collective bargaining rights from workers is a positive step toward economic growth.
“Collective bargaining locks in the price of labor,” Keller says. “We think that is inefficient and anti-growth. People should be paid for what they’re worth.”
The American Federation for Children, a Washington D.C.-based group chaired by Michigan billionaire Betsy DeVos, has begun running ads in Wisconsin in support of Walker and the Republicans’ effort to expand the school voucher program in Wisconsin. Former Republican Rep. Scott Jensen is the federation’s senior policy adviser.
In addition to running ads, the American Federation of Children also sponsored automated telephone calls to the Republican senators’ constituents during the petition drive for the recalls, urging them not to support a recall just because they might disagree with their senator over asking union members to pay more toward their pension and health care costs.
Among Wisconsin Club for Growth’s TV ads was one that aired in June and featured video clips of Democratic candidate Shelly Moore, who’s opposing Republican Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, loudly addressing crowds at several rallies.
The ad ends with a narrator saying, “Tell Shelly Moore we need solutions, not shouting.”
The average voter would likely not realize the ad is being paid for by a special-interest group, says McCabe. Instead, they would think it was paid for by Harsdorf.
“A lot of times, these groups do the dirty work,” McCabe says. “They get down in the gutter for the candidates.”
He says because the average voter doesn’t understand the sophisticated level on which the political game is now played, most voters don’t separate attack ads from the candidates themselves.
“Even though people say they tune the ads out, you’ll hear people talk about the issues and many of them will use sound bits they heard on the commercials,” McCabe says. “On some level these ads are working, which is unfortunate, because they are the worst places for people to get their information.”
While the state’s political fights, including the barrage of ads, have turned off some voters, they are what prompted one Wisconsin father and educator to agree to be featured in an issue ad.
Jay Jones, the father of three and resident of a small town north of Berlin in Waushara County, agreed to participate in an ad against Republican Sen. Luther Olsen. The ad, paid for by Bold Progressives and Democracy for America, criticizes Olsen for voting to cut state aid to public education.
As a result of that reduced funding, a small kindergarten through fourth grade school with about 75 kids will close this fall. Jones’ two younger children will be moved to a different school.
“I was not a huge political activist. In fact, I was kind of turned off by politics,” Jones says. “But I couldn’t just stand by and watch was happening to our schools.”
He says his appearance on the commercial prompted a few difficult discussions with some people, even a call from one person who shouted “You’re liars!” and then hung up after his wife answered the phone.
“I didn’t anticipate all the stuff that would happen when the commercial came out,” Jones says. “But it’s worth it. The changes to collective bargaining make me angry, but it’s really the cuts. The cuts aren’t good for anybody.”
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Posted in Govt-and-politics on Wednesday, August 3, 2011 5:30 am Updated: 5:42 am. Recall Election, Mike Mccabe, Wisconsin Club For Growth, Wisconsin Education Association Council, Scott Walker, Sheila Harsdorf, Charles Franklin, Citizens For A Strong America, Denise Feriozzi, Adam Green, Shelly Moore, Dave Hansen, Barney Keller, Nancy Nusbaum, Jennifer Shilling, Jessica King, Sandy Pasch, Dan Kapanke


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Both parties suspect other of deceit in recall elections
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Both parties suspect other of deceit in recall elections
SCOTT BAUER | Associated Press madison.com | (13) Comments | Posted: Wednesday, August 3, 2011 9:00 am
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http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/madison?photo_name=e59df64e-bdd8-11e0-8692-001cc4c002e0&title=capitol building protest file photo&t_url=http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/host.madison.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/d/f2/df24a410-bb8b-11e0-b95f-001cc4c03286/4e35782fefba0.image.jpg&fs_url=http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/host.madison.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/d/f2/df24a410-bb8b-11e0-b95f-001cc4c03286/4e3578321bea1.hires.jpg&pps=buynow http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/madison?photo_name=e59df64e-bdd8-11e0-8692-001cc4c002e0&title=capitol building protest file photo&t_url=http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/host.madison.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/d/f2/df24a410-bb8b-11e0-b95f-001cc4c03286/4e35782fefba0.image.jpg&fs_url=http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/host.madison.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/d/f2/df24a410-bb8b-11e0-b95f-001cc4c03286/4e3578321bea1.hires.jpg&pps=buynowCRAIG SCHREINER – State Journal
A large crowd rallies to protest Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining bill at the Capitol in this February 2011 file photo.
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The Wisconsin Democratic Party on Tuesday called for an investigation into whether a conservative group tried to suppress turnout in next week's recall elections targeting Republican state senators by telling voters that absentee ballots received a day after election day would be counted.
Meanwhile, elections regulators said the Democratic National Committee promised to stop calling voters in one of the Republicans' districts after it gave some of his constituents the wrong election date in automated calls last week.
With control of the state Senate at stake, the two sides have spent millions in the lead-up to the Aug. 9 recall elections targeting six Senate Republicans and the Aug. 16 elections targeting two Democrats. Retaining GOP control of both legislative chambers would allow Republican Gov. Scott Walker to continue to advance his conservative agenda unimpeded, while a net gain of three seats would give Democrats control of the Senate and a check on the governor's power.
The Wisconsin Democratic Party filed a complaint Monday with the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections, alleging that absentee ballot applications mailed out by Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group that has spent heavily to help the Republicans, were intended to suppress turnout. And on Tuesday, state Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate sent a request for an investigation to U.S. Attorney James Santelle. His office declined to comment on the matter.
The mailing, which the group says was sent to about 10,000 voters in the six Republican senators' districts, states that absentee ballots received the Thursday before the election will be counted, which is accurate. But in a section that gives step-by-step instructions, the letter states that ballots received before Aug. 11 by city clerks would be counted.
Americans for Prosperity state director Matt Seaholm said Tuesday that a typo was to blame for the error and he called the complaints over the mailing frivolous.
"You see this all the time at the end of an election, people trying to make a headline out of something," he said.
Seaholm said his group only sent the absentee ballot applications to people who signed up for its mailing list, including some Democrats.
"We want to make sure they get out and vote, that's the whole point of this," he said.
Two Democrats who received the AFP mailing and live in the districts of Republican Sen. Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls and Rob Cowles of Allouez also filed complaints with the elections board.
"I believe I was targeted by this Republican group because I am a Democrat and a senior citizen," Charles E. Schultz, of Hudson, wrote in his complaint. Schultz told The Associated Press he is an active Democrat and a liberal and has no idea how he would have gotten onto the AFP mailing list.
Seaholm said there were supposed to be separate mailings for the Aug. 9 and Aug. 16 elections, and that each was to list the different deadlines on which ballots must be received. But he said the letters that went to the six Republican districts were not caught before they were sent. Aug. 11 is the deadline for requesting ballots for the Aug. 16 elections, and ballots will be counted if received by election day.
Americans for Prosperity is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on television ads in support of the Republican candidates. The group was founded by billionaire conservative activists David and Charles Koch.
On the Democratic side, the DNC was placing robocalls last week to voters in Republican Sen. Dan Kapanke's western Wisconsin district urging them to vote in the election, but wrongly gave the date as Aug. 16.
Reid Magney, a spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, said once the DNC was contacted and told of the error they told election officials the calls would stop. A spokesman for the DNC did not immediately return a message Tuesday.
The date errors in both the calls and the absentee ballot applications spurred the GAB to urge voters to be cautious in the days leading up to the election. While it is legal for groups to send absentee ballot applications to voters, accountability board director Kevin Kennedy said anyone who wishes to vote absentee should contact local election officials and not rely on mailings they may receive.
The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot by mail is the Thursday before the election. Voters can cast absentee ballots in person up until the Friday before the election and they can be returned by mail up until election day.
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Posted in Elections on Wednesday, August 3, 2011 9:00 am Updated: 9:59 am. Recall Elections, Government Accountability Board, Mike Tate, James Santelle, Americans For Prosperity, Matt Seaholm, Reid Magney, Kevin Kennedy,


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 on: August 03, 2011, 04:53:54 pm 
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Buyer Beware
Broglio believes Cards knew of arm injury when trading him to Cubs for Brock
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Deadline Deal: Brock For Broglio
In 1964, the Cubs made one of the most infamous trade deadline deals in baseball history, sending Lou Brock to St. Louis for Ernie BroglioTags: CubsDeadline Deal: Brock For Broglio
SAN JOSE, Calif., and COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Despite spending nearly a half-century as prominent evidence of the "curse" on the Cubs, Ernie Broglio cheerfully takes all calls that come his way for appearances, autographs and answers.
But until now, Broglio said, he's never publicly shared what he thinks is the key to the story behind his star-crossed arrival in Chicago. He added that plenty of people ask him what happened, but few, if any, ask him why he was involved in what might be the most lopsided trade ever.
* * * * * * *
As a rookie pitcher with the Cardinals in 1959, the Bay Area native and his wife, Barbara, spent nearly $21,000 to buy a house in a residential neighborhood of San Jose, Calif. The next year Broglio won a league-high 21 games, had a 2.74 ERA, finished third in the Cy Young Award voting and doubled his salary to $20,000.
Many families with homes on their street have come and gone in the past 52 years. The Broglios, however, still live in the same house where they raised their four children.
Now a 75-year-old great-grandfather, Broglio has Type 2 diabetes, but he regularly takes long walks, goes golfing and tutors teenage pitchers.
  • Enlarge\l ""
ESPNNow a 75-year-old great-grandfather, Broglio has Type 2 Diabetes, but he regularly golfs and tutors teenage pitchers.The wall of fame in his throwback den flashes back to Broglio on the cover of Sports Illustrated facing Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda of the Giants and to plaques presented to him for the 1960 season when the young righty was St. Louis' finest. The wall also showcases shots of Hall of Fame legends Bob Gibson, Stan Musial, Sandy Koufax and Lou Brock.
Last week the white-haired and welcoming Broglio adjusted his glasses and drew close to the Brock photo to read aloud for an ESPN camera crew the inscription from the left fielder who was never his teammate. Brock wrote that Broglio was a "hellava (sic) player" and that "history and time have tied us together."
That history goes back to the trade deadline, June 15, 1964. That day began with Brock a Cub and Broglio a Cardinal.
Chicago had a 27-27 record, sufficient for sixth place in the 10-team National League and better than most years in an inglorious era. The perennial second-division team hadn't been to a World Series since 1945.
Things weren't much different at the moment for their archrival Cardinals, who hadn't made it to the Series since winning the championship in '46 and were in eighth place, three games under .500.
The two mediocre ballclubs swapped six players before the deadline, with the Cubs shipping Jack Spring, Paul Toth and Brock to the Cards for Doug Clemens, Bobby Shantz and Broglio.
Brock and Broglio were and remain the significant names.
* * * * * * *
Broglio is up there, or more aptly down there, with Bartman and the Billy Goat in the annals of angst for baseball's longest-suffering franchise. Brock evokes Redbird reverence befitting the National League stolen-base king and 3,000-hit club member.
But when the trade was made, many considered the deal a steal -- for the Cubs. They had essentially exchanged an unproven and defensively challenged outfielder three days short of his 25th birthday for an established 28-year-old pitcher who'd won 18 games the previous season.
"Everybody thought it was a good trade at that time," Hall of Fame Cubs outfielder Billy Williams said last weekend in Cooperstown, where he returns annually for induction festivities. While describing Broglio as a "great pitcher," Williams gestured to demonstrate the precipitous drop of the "12 to 6" curveball he recalls the 6-foot-2 Broglio throwing as a Cardinal.
"Perhaps, at that time, the best curveball in baseball," according to Brock, who also was interviewed in Cooperstown.
"The only track record I had was two left feet," he said.
Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst, a Cardinals coach at the time, said last weekend the St. Louis management asked for his thoughts on Brock before the trade. He said he was impressed with Brock's speed and his potential, but "nobody knew that Lou was going to be good that quick and right off the bat."
Brock, who was concerned he'd be demoted to the minors until the move to St. Louis, said the trade instilled in him a new confidence because "I now had value -- who is that value? Ernie Broglio. What has he done? 20-game winner."
His former team's perspective, Brock said, was easy to understand.
"Broglio could be a starter as well as a long relief man and he had been a winner with the Cardinals, and there was no reason why he should not have been a winner in Chicago."
But Broglio said there was indeed a reason and that the Cubs have never known what he believes motivated the Cardinals to trade him besides the opportunity to get Brock.
"They got a heckuva ballplayer; they gave up damaged goods," Broglio said. "I think that they knew I had a bad arm."
Broglio said he was already over a problem he had experienced two years before, when he had cortisone shots every other start for a troublesome shoulder, but he had hurt his elbow late in '63 and was still suffering as he struggled to a 3-5 record at the time of the trade. He said he received regular treatment for the elbow from the Cardinals' trainer and occasional cortisone shots, too.
  • Enlarge\l ""
Getty ImagesLou Brock hit .297 and stole 888 bases in 16 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals."I think the Cardinals knew a lot -- a lot more than what I knew of the injury," Broglio said. "So that's why I think they decided that they send the bad arm problem, get rid of him."
Schoendienst said although he knew beforehand of St. Louis's interest in Brock, he wasn't aware of a desire to deal Broglio. "I'm sure the Cardinals didn't make the trade because they thought his arm was bad. I'm sure they didn't."
According to Broglio, there were telling signs in some of his bad performances.
"If I remember right, at one time I threw about four or five wild pitches in one ballgame and Bob Uecker was catching and I kind of jokingly said, 'How come you didn't protect me?' He couldn't. He couldn't have caught the ball or stopped the ball," Broglio said, laughing.
"They were so far in front of home plate that there was an indication that I had problems with my elbow."
The records from '64 reveal that Broglio threw three wild pitches in a game the Cardinals hosted on May 19. Uecker was behind the plate as Broglio also gave up five walks in 6 1/3 innings. The opponent and winner? The Chicago Cubs.
* * * * * * *
Brock said that when he joined the Cardinals, manager Johnny Keane gave him marching, actually speeding, orders and said he needed to become the team's version of the Dodgers' record-setting base stealer, Maury Wills. Although he was skeptical, Brock said he came to consider it the green light that turned his career around.
Thriving immediately for his new team in his new role, Brock batted .348 and stole 33 bases as the catalyst for the surprising world champions of 1964. He spent 16 seasons in St. Louis, surpassed single-season and career stolen-base records set by Wills and Ty Cobb, won another World Series in '67 and a pennant in '68, and earned induction into the Hall of Fame in 1985.
"If he could have stayed with the Chicago Cubs and put those kinds of numbers on the board for the Chicago Cubs, I think you might be seeing we wouldn't have to wait another hundred years to see a World Series," Williams said.
Broglio had just four wins the rest of the '64 season with Chicago, and after his elbow locked up in August, he had surgery in November. Broglio returned to pitching three months later in spring training but allowed more than six runs a game for the Cubs in 1965 and '66. He won three games, lost 12 and never appeared again in the major leagues.
When told of Broglio's assertion that the Cardinals knew they were dealing away damaged goods, Williams said, "That's how the game was played then. Any time a general manager felt he could put stuff on another organization, that's what they did.
  • Enlarge\l ""
AP Photo/Harry L. HallErnie Broglio appeared in just 59 games for the Cubs, posting a 7-19 record and 5.40 ERA."When he came to Chicago, you really knew something happened, you knew something was going on," Williams said. "It probably lost 2 or 3 miles per hour off his fastball; the curveball didn't go down."
"[The Cubs] didn't have a clue about it, and I pitched with pain," Broglio said.
"In those days, you didn't approach the front office, you didn't approach anybody. I didn't want to lose my job."
Cardinals general manager Bing Devine, who engineered the Brock-for-Broglio deal, wasn't with the team to enjoy the first fall fruits of the trade. He was fired that August, before the team surged to the top of the standings, and was later named Executive of the Year by the Sporting News. St. Louis rehired him in 1968, after he had missed both World Series titles achieved with Brock.
Devine died in 2007 and Cardinals trainer Bob Bowman, who treated Broglio, and Cubs general manager John Holland, who traded for him, are also dead.
* * * * * * *
The 1964 surgery to reset Broglio's ulnar nerve left a nine-inch scar on, above and below his elbow that he calls "snake river." And he said there's also numbness to this day in two of his fingers.
Although he laments returning so quickly from the operation and wonders whether his career might have been salvaged if Tommy John surgery had been an option back then, Broglio said he's not bitter about the trade or its enduring burden.
In fact, Broglio reaped a gratifying benefit from being traded for Brock -- a lasting friendship with him. Their most recent get-together was two years ago when Brock, whom Broglio calls a "great individual," invited him to a benefit in St. Louis for his 70th birthday.
"Ernie is top of the charts," Brock said. "He is a good man, a man with integrity. We have a good relationship because we laugh, we talk, and people, for whatever reason, are still interested [in the trade]."
Brock and Broglio were in Chicago for a Cubs old-timers game in 1987 and were introduced to the Wrigley Field crowd. The reaction to the announcement of Broglio's name, he said, was "probably the only standing ovation boos that any athlete would ever get."
But for Brock, whose superb career was emblematic of many a missed Cubs opportunity, the fans stood and were "clapping, hooraying and everything else," Broglio said.
A self-deprecating sense of humor has probably served Broglio well in coming to terms with his unfulfilled pitching promise and his role in the success of others.
"I congratulate all the Hall of Famers," he said. "Some I played ball with, some I helped put there."
William Weinbaum is an "Outside the Lines" producer and worked with Geoff Brown and Jeff Ausiello on this report and the Brock-for-Broglio TV feature scheduled to air on "Baseball Tonight" on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

 76 
 on: August 03, 2011, 04:53:36 pm 
Started by Lisa Wolfe - Last post by Lisa Wolfe
Buyer Beware
Broglio believes Cards knew of arm injury when trading him to Cubs for Brock
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Comments/chicago/conversations/_/id/6053505/ernie-broglio-shares-real-story-chicago-cubs-historically-bad-trade
By William Weinbaum
Special to ESPNChicago.com
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There was an error processing the video you requested. Please try again.
Deadline Deal: Brock For Broglio
In 1964, the Cubs made one of the most infamous trade deadline deals in baseball history, sending Lou Brock to St. Louis for Ernie BroglioTags: CubsDeadline Deal: Brock For Broglio
SAN JOSE, Calif., and COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Despite spending nearly a half-century as prominent evidence of the "curse" on the Cubs, Ernie Broglio cheerfully takes all calls that come his way for appearances, autographs and answers.
But until now, Broglio said, he's never publicly shared what he thinks is the key to the story behind his star-crossed arrival in Chicago. He added that plenty of people ask him what happened, but few, if any, ask him why he was involved in what might be the most lopsided trade ever.
* * * * * * *
As a rookie pitcher with the Cardinals in 1959, the Bay Area native and his wife, Barbara, spent nearly $21,000 to buy a house in a residential neighborhood of San Jose, Calif. The next year Broglio won a league-high 21 games, had a 2.74 ERA, finished third in the Cy Young Award voting and doubled his salary to $20,000.
Many families with homes on their street have come and gone in the past 52 years. The Broglios, however, still live in the same house where they raised their four children.
Now a 75-year-old great-grandfather, Broglio has Type 2 diabetes, but he regularly takes long walks, goes golfing and tutors teenage pitchers.
  • Enlarge\l ""
ESPNNow a 75-year-old great-grandfather, Broglio has Type 2 Diabetes, but he regularly golfs and tutors teenage pitchers.The wall of fame in his throwback den flashes back to Broglio on the cover of Sports Illustrated facing Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda of the Giants and to plaques presented to him for the 1960 season when the young righty was St. Louis' finest. The wall also showcases shots of Hall of Fame legends Bob Gibson, Stan Musial, Sandy Koufax and Lou Brock.
Last week the white-haired and welcoming Broglio adjusted his glasses and drew close to the Brock photo to read aloud for an ESPN camera crew the inscription from the left fielder who was never his teammate. Brock wrote that Broglio was a "hellava (sic) player" and that "history and time have tied us together."
That history goes back to the trade deadline, June 15, 1964. That day began with Brock a Cub and Broglio a Cardinal.
Chicago had a 27-27 record, sufficient for sixth place in the 10-team National League and better than most years in an inglorious era. The perennial second-division team hadn't been to a World Series since 1945.
Things weren't much different at the moment for their archrival Cardinals, who hadn't made it to the Series since winning the championship in '46 and were in eighth place, three games under .500.
The two mediocre ballclubs swapped six players before the deadline, with the Cubs shipping Jack Spring, Paul Toth and Brock to the Cards for Doug Clemens, Bobby Shantz and Broglio.
Brock and Broglio were and remain the significant names.
* * * * * * *
Broglio is up there, or more aptly down there, with Bartman and the Billy Goat in the annals of angst for baseball's longest-suffering franchise. Brock evokes Redbird reverence befitting the National League stolen-base king and 3,000-hit club member.
But when the trade was made, many considered the deal a steal -- for the Cubs. They had essentially exchanged an unproven and defensively challenged outfielder three days short of his 25th birthday for an established 28-year-old pitcher who'd won 18 games the previous season.
"Everybody thought it was a good trade at that time," Hall of Fame Cubs outfielder Billy Williams said last weekend in Cooperstown, where he returns annually for induction festivities. While describing Broglio as a "great pitcher," Williams gestured to demonstrate the precipitous drop of the "12 to 6" curveball he recalls the 6-foot-2 Broglio throwing as a Cardinal.
"Perhaps, at that time, the best curveball in baseball," according to Brock, who also was interviewed in Cooperstown.
"The only track record I had was two left feet," he said.
Hall of Famer Red Schoendienst, a Cardinals coach at the time, said last weekend the St. Louis management asked for his thoughts on Brock before the trade. He said he was impressed with Brock's speed and his potential, but "nobody knew that Lou was going to be good that quick and right off the bat."
Brock, who was concerned he'd be demoted to the minors until the move to St. Louis, said the trade instilled in him a new confidence because "I now had value -- who is that value? Ernie Broglio. What has he done? 20-game winner."
His former team's perspective, Brock said, was easy to understand.
"Broglio could be a starter as well as a long relief man and he had been a winner with the Cardinals, and there was no reason why he should not have been a winner in Chicago."
But Broglio said there was indeed a reason and that the Cubs have never known what he believes motivated the Cardinals to trade him besides the opportunity to get Brock.
"They got a heckuva ballplayer; they gave up damaged goods," Broglio said. "I think that they knew I had a bad arm."
Broglio said he was already over a problem he had experienced two years before, when he had cortisone shots every other start for a troublesome shoulder, but he had hurt his elbow late in '63 and was still suffering as he struggled to a 3-5 record at the time of the trade. He said he received regular treatment for the elbow from the Cardinals' trainer and occasional cortisone shots, too.
  • Enlarge\l ""
Getty ImagesLou Brock hit .297 and stole 888 bases in 16 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals."I think the Cardinals knew a lot -- a lot more than what I knew of the injury," Broglio said. "So that's why I think they decided that they send the bad arm problem, get rid of him."
Schoendienst said although he knew beforehand of St. Louis's interest in Brock, he wasn't aware of a desire to deal Broglio. "I'm sure the Cardinals didn't make the trade because they thought his arm was bad. I'm sure they didn't."
According to Broglio, there were telling signs in some of his bad performances.
"If I remember right, at one time I threw about four or five wild pitches in one ballgame and Bob Uecker was catching and I kind of jokingly said, 'How come you didn't protect me?' He couldn't. He couldn't have caught the ball or stopped the ball," Broglio said, laughing.
"They were so far in front of home plate that there was an indication that I had problems with my elbow."
The records from '64 reveal that Broglio threw three wild pitches in a game the Cardinals hosted on May 19. Uecker was behind the plate as Broglio also gave up five walks in 6 1/3 innings. The opponent and winner? The Chicago Cubs.
* * * * * * *
Brock said that when he joined the Cardinals, manager Johnny Keane gave him marching, actually speeding, orders and said he needed to become the team's version of the Dodgers' record-setting base stealer, Maury Wills. Although he was skeptical, Brock said he came to consider it the green light that turned his career around.
Thriving immediately for his new team in his new role, Brock batted .348 and stole 33 bases as the catalyst for the surprising world champions of 1964. He spent 16 seasons in St. Louis, surpassed single-season and career stolen-base records set by Wills and Ty Cobb, won another World Series in '67 and a pennant in '68, and earned induction into the Hall of Fame in 1985.
"If he could have stayed with the Chicago Cubs and put those kinds of numbers on the board for the Chicago Cubs, I think you might be seeing we wouldn't have to wait another hundred years to see a World Series," Williams said.
Broglio had just four wins the rest of the '64 season with Chicago, and after his elbow locked up in August, he had surgery in November. Broglio returned to pitching three months later in spring training but allowed more than six runs a game for the Cubs in 1965 and '66. He won three games, lost 12 and never appeared again in the major leagues.
When told of Broglio's assertion that the Cardinals knew they were dealing away damaged goods, Williams said, "That's how the game was played then. Any time a general manager felt he could put stuff on another organization, that's what they did.
  • Enlarge\l ""
AP Photo/Harry L. HallErnie Broglio appeared in just 59 games for the Cubs, posting a 7-19 record and 5.40 ERA."When he came to Chicago, you really knew something happened, you knew something was going on," Williams said. "It probably lost 2 or 3 miles per hour off his fastball; the curveball didn't go down."
"[The Cubs] didn't have a clue about it, and I pitched with pain," Broglio said.
"In those days, you didn't approach the front office, you didn't approach anybody. I didn't want to lose my job."
Cardinals general manager Bing Devine, who engineered the Brock-for-Broglio deal, wasn't with the team to enjoy the first fall fruits of the trade. He was fired that August, before the team surged to the top of the standings, and was later named Executive of the Year by the Sporting News. St. Louis rehired him in 1968, after he had missed both World Series titles achieved with Brock.
Devine died in 2007 and Cardinals trainer Bob Bowman, who treated Broglio, and Cubs general manager John Holland, who traded for him, are also dead.
* * * * * * *
The 1964 surgery to reset Broglio's ulnar nerve left a nine-inch scar on, above and below his elbow that he calls "snake river." And he said there's also numbness to this day in two of his fingers.
Although he laments returning so quickly from the operation and wonders whether his career might have been salvaged if Tommy John surgery had been an option back then, Broglio said he's not bitter about the trade or its enduring burden.
In fact, Broglio reaped a gratifying benefit from being traded for Brock -- a lasting friendship with him. Their most recent get-together was two years ago when Brock, whom Broglio calls a "great individual," invited him to a benefit in St. Louis for his 70th birthday.
"Ernie is top of the charts," Brock said. "He is a good man, a man with integrity. We have a good relationship because we laugh, we talk, and people, for whatever reason, are still interested [in the trade]."
Brock and Broglio were in Chicago for a Cubs old-timers game in 1987 and were introduced to the Wrigley Field crowd. The reaction to the announcement of Broglio's name, he said, was "probably the only standing ovation boos that any athlete would ever get."
But for Brock, whose superb career was emblematic of many a missed Cubs opportunity, the fans stood and were "clapping, hooraying and everything else," Broglio said.
A self-deprecating sense of humor has probably served Broglio well in coming to terms with his unfulfilled pitching promise and his role in the success of others.
"I congratulate all the Hall of Famers," he said. "Some I played ball with, some I helped put there."
William Weinbaum is an "Outside the Lines" producer and worked with Geoff Brown and Jeff Ausiello on this report and the Brock-for-Broglio TV feature scheduled to air on "Baseball Tonight" on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

 77 
 on: August 01, 2011, 04:55:28 pm 
Started by Trent - Last post by Trent
Obama’s deal with ‘nutters’ is bad for America
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Obama’s deal with ‘nutters’ is bad for America
Cap Times editorial madison.com | (11) Comments | Posted: Monday, August 1, 2011 5:30 am
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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is all smiles as he walks to the Senate floor to announce that a deal has been reached on the debt ceiling on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sunday, July 31, 2011.(AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)
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“Given the choice between a Republican and someone who acts like a Republican, people will vote for the real Republican all the time,” said Harry Truman. If the 33rd president was right, then Barack Obama just did himself and his party a world of hurt.
Faced with the threat that tea party-pressured Republicans in the House really would steer the United States toward default, Obama had to do something. But instead of bold action — borrowing a page from Ronald Reagan to demand a straight up-or-down vote on raising the debt ceiling; borrowing a page from Franklin Roosevelt to pledge to use the Constitution to defend the full faith and credit of the United States — the president engaged in inside-the-beltway bargaining of the most dysfunctional sort.
In cutting a deal with Republicans that places Democratic legacy programs — Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — at risk while cutting essential programs for working families and the poor, Obama has positioned himself to the right of where mainstream Republicans such as Howard Baker, Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush used to stand in fights with the fringe elements of their party.
Now the fringe is in charge of the GOP. And Obama is cutting deals to satisfy Republicans that Britain’s banking minister describes as “right-wing nutters.”
Obama and Democratic congressional leaders are claiming that they have done everything in their power to avert deep cuts in Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And it is true that they have given the Republicans (and their paymasters) less than House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan was demanding with a proposal that turned Medicare into a voucher program and began privatizing Social Security.
But a compromise without total destruction can still do a lot of damage.
The president’s bow to the political extremism — and the economic irrationality — of a tiny circle of “right-wing nutters” in Congress will, according to reports based on briefings by White House and GOP aides, “raise the debt limit by about $2.7 trillion and reduce the deficit by the same amount in two steps. It would cut about $1 trillion in spending up front and set up a select bicameral committee to put together a future deficit-reduction package worth $1.7 trillion to $1.8 trillion. Failure of Congress to pass the future deficit-reduction package would automatically trigger cuts to defense spending and Medicare.”
An aide familiar with the deal told The Hill newspaper that the Medicare cuts would not affect beneficiaries. “Instead,” according to the report, “health care providers and insurance companies would see lower payments.” But that’s still a squeezing of Medicare.
Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-chair Raul Grijalva says Obama and his negotiators have bent too far. Like many progressives, Grijalva favored a straight up-or-down vote on the debt ceiling. “Had that vote failed,” he argued, “the president should have exercised his Fourteenth Amendment responsibilities and ended this manufactured crisis.”
Instead, the president blinked. And in so doing Obama agreed to what Grijalva described as “a cure as bad as the disease.”
“This deal trades peoples’ livelihoods for the votes of a few unappeasable right-wing radicals, and I will not support it,” Grijalva declared Sunday. “Progressives have been organizing for months to oppose any scheme that cuts Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security, and it now seems clear that even these bedrock pillars of the American success story are on the chopping block. Even if this deal were not as bad as it is, this would be enough for me to fight against its passage.”
How widespread that sentiment will be within the House Democratic caucus remains to be seen. While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has signed on with the president, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says she must meet with caucus members before taking a position.
Congresswoman Donna Edwards, D-Maryland, slammed the deal: “Nada from million/billionaires; corp tax loopholes aplenty; only sacrifice from the poor/middle class? Shared sacrifice, balance? Really?” she tweeted Sunday.
Grijalva objected, in particular, to the lack of shared sacrifice.
“This deal does not even attempt to strike a balance between more cuts for the working people of America and a fairer contribution from millionaires and corporations. The very wealthy will continue to receive taxpayer handouts, and corporations will keep their expensive federal giveaways. Meanwhile, millions of families unfairly lose more in this deal than they have already lost. I will not be a part of it,” the Arizona congressman explained. But Grijalva’s gripe was political as well.
“For decades Democrats have stood for a capable, meaningful government — a government that works for the people, not just the powerful, and that represents everyone fairly and equally. This deal weakens the Democratic Party as badly as it weakens the country,” explained Grijalva. “We have given much and received nothing in return. The lesson today is that Republicans can hold their breath long enough to get what they want. While I believe the country will not reward them for this in the long run, the damage has already been done.”
How much damage? How much damage to vulnerable Americans? How much damage to the global reputation of the United States as a functional state? How much damage to a U.S. economy that is threatened by rising unemployment? How much damage to the image of the Democratic Party as a defender of working families?
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Posted in Editorial on Monday, August 1, 2011 5:30 am Updated: 7:57 am. Barack Obama, John Boehner, Debt Ceiling, Paul Ryan, Raul Grijalva


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 78 
 on: August 01, 2011, 04:54:39 pm 
Started by Trent - Last post by Trent
Madison360: Recalls aside, give GOP puppet masters an A+
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Madison360: Recalls aside, give GOP puppet masters an A+
PAUL FANLUND | The Capital Times | pfanlund@madison.com madison.com | (34) Comments | Posted: Monday, August 1, 2011 9:00 am
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One way or another, this month's recall elections will give us metrics on the unwavering hard right politics of Gov. Scott Walker and fellow Republicans in the Legislature.
But for another group, the unseen puppet masters who authored this year's grand governing strategy, the mark already must be an A+. That's because even if Democrats retake the state Senate in recall elections, the damage done will take years to unwind.
I'm really not sure whom to compliment: the hard liners at Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the millionaires who fuel the Wisconsin Club for Growth or the billionaire Koch brothers. Or, more likely, it's a cabal that includes them all plus more shadowy figures. For that matter, we do not know whether this was a 2010 invention, or, as some suggest, it had roots years ago when the GOP elite decided to purchase control of the state Supreme Court.
What we do know is that these forces are all about concentrating ever more wealth and power in the hands of the few through lower taxes for corporations and wealthy individuals, business-dictated regulation, fewer consumer protections and an emasculated labor movement.
This whole year has been a landslide victory for the haves over the have-nots. Looking back, one has to credit the GOP cabal for many things, starting with the element of surprise.
Rep. Peter Barca of Kenosha, minority leader of Assembly Democrats, recalls a conversation last fall amid a series of campaign appearances before Realtor groups. Rep. Robin Vos, the Rochester Republican who now co-chairs the Joint Finance Committee, foreshadowed 2011.
"I can remember after one of those sessions, he said to me, 'Peter, it's looking good for us and bad for you. If we get the control, we're going for broke,' " he recalls Vos saying. 'We are going to push the envelope.'" Barca adds: "I remember going to my car and thinking, what does that mean exactly?"
Now he knows: "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine they were talking about this far on every single issue," he tells me in a conversation in my office.
Or consider Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the Democrat who lost to Walker, saying it was a full month after his defeat, at a press club luncheon, when Walker first talked about decertifying public employee unions. "Wow, that didn't get mentioned" during the race, Barrett told me he was thinking.
So, the groundwork was laid by the 2010 elections in which the GOP won the governorship and control of both houses, just as Democrats had in 2008. The GOP brain trust then proceeded, per its plan, to totally ignore the nearly half of the electorate that voted for the other side. They pushed a radical right agenda as far and as fast as they could, damn the consequences. After all, this was about fundamental realignment, not about the political fate of Walker, whose poll numbers are now dropping.
A strategic pillar was selling a phony rationale — Wisconsin is "broke" — to justify unprecedented action. (A search of our digital library had 72 stories so far in 2011 that includes Walker's name with the words "state" and "broke.")
Another piece of the plan, the most well-known, was targeting public sector employees and especially their labor unions. The GOP elite's war on the middle class could not succeed absent a villain. In a fundraising appeal last week, Walker was still talking about those evil "public employee union bosses" pouring millions into efforts to recall Republican senators.
Wages and job prospects have been eroding for private workers for years while the wealth gap between them and the affluent has widened dramatically. So let's turn people against teachers and police officers and, from now on, refer to the rich as "job creators" whether accurate or not.
So, armed with a trumped-up crisis and a villain, the Republicans have approved what Democrats cite in Legislative Fiscal Bureau numbers as $2.3 billion in corporate special interest "giveaways" over the next decade, all while cutting back on tax credits for the working class and seniors.
As Rep. Kelda Helen Roys, a Madison Democrat, puts it to me, "Republicans in Wisconsin ... are basically a single-issue party for tax breaks for the wealthy, whether it is for corporations or individuals."
They then reduce public school funding and revenue authority by $1.6 billion while increasing taxpayer money for private schools. So what if your child's class cannot afford basic supplies and class sizes jump, Walker and allies have stuck it to those "union bosses."
Meanwhile, GOP voices frame things for reporters and editorial boards as "common sense" responses to crisis and insist that it is Democrats who refuse to compromise. This "Alice in Wonderland" approach has worked to confound Democrats. "You have so many in the media who have been willing to swallow hook, line and sinker this very disingenuous argument that we are broke," says Barca.
The next step, and I suspect this matters little to the GOP cabal, is to move aside as right-wing legislators push pro-gun and anti-choice actions to satiate tea party types. It doesn't put more money or power into their hands, but hey, it may help solidify their control.
Then they help pass unwarranted voter identification legislation that will suppress turnout on the other side and draw legislative boundaries that are the most blatantly partisan in state history. These actions may be inside baseball to the general public, but could be crucial in withstanding an eventual backlash caused by ignoring half the electorate.
And what about swing voters? Democrat Roys says Republicans have "paid so much attention to their special interests, they know they will have unlimited funds and can change minds and convince the small number of swing voters they need" with a tsunami of unregulated campaign ads.
Finally, if Republicans do retain a majority in the Senate, which is quite plausible given the conservative tilt of the battleground districts, they can declare themselves vindicated.
Damn effective, I have to say.
We will see this month if Democrats are able to make the case that Republicans' real goal is not reinventing Wisconsin's collapsing manufacturing economy, but instead to further concentrate wealth and power in the hands of the few, to make Wisconsin a sort of Mississippi of the north, unfettered by organized labor influences that, while imperfect, lift wages, benefits and working conditions for all.
"I don't think, overall, we have won that argument," says Barca.
The GOP cabal's over-arching strategy is greedy, cynical, and — to date at least — seems to be working.
Copyright 2011 madison.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
Posted in Madison_360, Blogs on Monday, August 1, 2011 9:00 am Updated: 10:30 am. Prison, Paul Fanlund, Koch Brothers, Scott Walker, Republican Party, Politics, Recall Election, Peter Barca, Robin Vos, Wisconsin Club For Growth, Tom Barrett, Kelda Helen Roys,


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 79 
 on: July 25, 2011, 04:59:04 pm 
Started by Trent - Last post by Trent
Marilyn and MJ12
Kennedy, Monroe and the mind-control memo
 
By Robin Ramsay   June 2011   
Baron/Getty Images
FT276


I know there hasn’t been much glamour in this column, but how about Marilyn Monroe, JFK and UFOs? The Daily Mail revived this one on 19 April with “Was JFK killed because of his interest in aliens? Secret memo shows presid­ent demanded UFO files 10 days before his death”. JFK was proposing joint Soviet-American space exploration (in 1963!)[1] and, though the memo’s intent isn’t entirely clear, he seems to have been asking the CIA to review their UFO files in the hope of providing information about the ‘unknowns’ – presumably unidentified sightings – to persuade the Soviets that the UFOs they were seeing were not US espionage devices: “It is import­ant that we make a clear distinction between the knowns and unknowns in the event the Soviets try to mistake our extended cooperation as a cover for intelligence gathering of their defense and space programs.”

The veracity of this document has been questioned,[2] but it did arrive from the CIA after a Freedom of Information request, so it might be genuine.
From this, the Mail slid seamlessly into the MJ-12 (Majestic) disinformation quagmire, informing its readers about the ‘burned memo’, in which the Director of Central Intelligence (MJ1) writes to other MJ members and warns them inter alia: “As you must know, LANCER [Secret Service code for the presid­ent] has made some inquiries regarding our activities which we cannot allow.”[3]

Never mind that the account of this document’s discovery – allegedly pulled from a fire while the CIA were burning sensitive material – is an insult to our intelligence; as we know that the MJ-12 material was cooked-up by the USAF, it’s obviously a fake.

At this point the “Daily Mail reporter” who wrote the story missed a trick. For, had s/he searched a little further, s/he would have come across the Marilyn Monroe-JFK-UFO memo.[4]

This purports to be notes made from a transcript of a phone-tap of a conversation between journalist Dorothy Kilgallen and her friend Howard Rothberg. It includes this paragraph:

“Rothberg indicated in so many words, that she [Marilyn Monroe] had secrets to tell, no doubt arising from her trists [sic] with the President and the Attorney General. One such ‘secret’ mentions the visit by the President at a secret air base for the purpose of inspecting things from outer space. Kil­gallen replied that she knew what might be the source of visit. In the mid-fifties Kilgallen learned of secret effort by US and UK governments to identify the origins of crashed spacecraft and dead bodies, from a British government official. Kilgallen believed the story may have come from the New Mexico story in the late forties. Kilgallen said that if the story is true, it would cause terrible embarrassment for Jack and his plans to have NASA put men on the moon.”

Did JFK really talk about national security issues with Marilyn Monroe? This seems implausible to me, and one second-hand source, quoting Rothberg, says the document is a fake.[5] It hardly matters. If you look carefully at the fuzzy, often photocopied text,[6] right at the bottom on the left is what appears to be “MJ-12”. Yes, the “M” is indistinct, but the “J-12’ is quite legible. It’s another product of the Majestic disinformation mill!



Notes
1 Google “NSAM 271” for details.
2 See msnbc.msn.com.
3 The “burned memo” is displayed at bibliotecapleyades.net.
4 See blackmesapress.com.
5 thedisclosureproject-steelmagnolia.blogspot.com.
6 See ufosnw.com.

 80 
 on: July 22, 2011, 04:56:20 pm 
Started by Trent - Last post by Trent
‘Captain America’ is solid, old-fashioned
CHRISTY LEMIRE | Associated Press Movie Critic madison.com | No Comments Posted | Posted: Friday, July 22, 2011 7:00 am
MAIDMENT — Associated Press/Paramount Pictures
From left, Tommy Lee Jones portrays Colonel Chester Phillips, Hayley Atwell portrays Peggy Carter, and Chris Evans portrays Steve Rogers in “Captain America: The First Avenger.”
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER
2 1/2 stars
Stars: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones.
Rated: PG-13 for intense sequence of sci-fi violence and action
How long: 2:06
Opens: Friday
Where: Point, Eastgate, Star Cinema, Cinema Cafe
CLICK HERE FOR MOVIE TIMES
MOVIE TIMES FOR "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER"
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Let Tony Stark make the wisecracks and Nick Fury give the intimidating commands.
As Steve Rogers, Chris Evans brings an earnest dignity and intelligence to “Captain America: The First Avenger,” the final Marvel Comics set-up for next summer’s all-star blockbuster “The Avengers.” There’s little humor here outside a few moments in which this superhero discovers the full breadth of his powers and the presence of Tommy Lee Jones, who shows up and does that bemused, condescending thing he can do in his sleep.
Director Joe Johnston’s film feels weighty and substantial, even in the dreaded and needless 3-D, and it has a beautiful, sepia-toned, art-deco look about it. The lighting, production design, costumes, even the perfect shade of red lipstick on retro-chic Hayley Atwell all look just right. Plenty of action awaits, but it’s not empty or glossy. You are not in for a giddy, winking, high-flying summer fling. And that’s OK — there’s something appealing about such an old-fashioned approach.
Evans, who previously played a Marvel comic-book hero as the smart-alecky Human Torch in both “Fantastic Four” movies, takes a very different tone here as the World War II fighting hero. Rogers is a scrawny kid from Brooklyn with dreams of military glory who keeps getting rejected each time he tries to sign up for service. (In a creepy but seamless special effect, Evans’ head is placed on a skinny body; that deep, serious voice of his gives the character gravitas and heart.)
Scientist Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) sees something special in him, though, and enlists him for a daring experiment. Through some high-tech injections, Steve is transformed into a super soldier known as Captain America. Despite his newly buffed physique, the government believes the best use of this human weapon is to send him out on tour selling war bonds.
But Rogers isn’t the only one who’s been juicing: Hugo Weaving plays the former Nazi leader Johann Schmidt, who will reveal himself to be the villainous Red Skull. He’s formed his own splinter group, Hydra, and insists that his minions greet him with a Hitler-style salute. He’s built some formidable weaponry with the help of Toby Jones as his put-upon scientist assistant.
The rest of the abundant supporting cast includes Jones as Col. Chester Phillips, who’s skeptical of the kid’s abilities; Dominic Cooper as the clever and charming inventor Howard Stark; and Atwell as British agent Peggy Carter. Atwell’s gorgeous looks make her a great fit for the part, but her character is better developed than you might imagine; she’s no damsel in distress, waiting for Captain America to save her, but rather a trained fighter who’s very much his equal.
But “Captain America” is far more engaging when it’s about a scrappy underdog overcoming the odds than it is about generic shoot-outs and exploding tanks. It only scratches the surface in trying to examine the perils of premature fame. And in satirizing our country’s tendency to fetishize patriotism, “Captain America” doesn’t have much that’s new to say: We worship and cling to our heroes, whether or not they want or deserve our adulation? Is that it?
Still, such a reserved take on the subject might just be preferable to heavy-handed preaching. And we’re surely in store for an over-the-top spectacle when “The Avengers” hits theaters next year. ‘Til then, this is a nourishing appetizer.
Copyright 2011 madison.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
Posted in Reviews on Friday, July 22, 2011 7:00 am Updated: 11:15 am


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