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Center for Media and Democracy Submits Amicus Brief Defending Campaign Disclosure Rules

MADISON--The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) has filed a brief with the Wisconsin Supreme Court defending proposed disclosure rules passed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, rules that are being challenged by the Koch-funded group, Americans for Prosperity. In the brief, CMD also questions whether rights granted by Wisconsin's Constitution can be legitimately extended to corporations.

Americans for Prosperity Road Show is Classic Astroturf

For some, when the going gets tough, the tough gas up the custom-painted luxury motorcoach.

Americans for Prosperity protester in Madison, WISo it is with the Wisconsin branch of the Koch-backed group, Americans for Prosperity (AFP), whose four-day, ten-city bus PR event across Wisconsin to support controversial Governor Scott Walker started in Kenosha March 3 and concluded in Madison on March 7 -- but not at the Capitol, where the bus would have been surrounded by the tens of thousands of people gathered to oppose Walker's union-crushing "budget repair" bill. Instead, AFP ended its tour at the Alliant Energy Center, where protesters against Walker's radical proposals who were outside in the cold easily outnumber the pro-Walker crowd in inside the rented space.

And so it went with AFP's "Stand with Walker" Wisconsin road show. At every stop, the AFP PR gambit was met by some supporters, but it was also greeted often by an equal or a substantially greater numbers of opponents. A little-watched YouTube video of AFP's stop at Serb Hall on March 3, 2011 shows a group of about a dozen Scott Walker supporters, and a sidewalk packed with what appears to be about several hundred demonstrators against the governor's extreme proposals.

Wisconsin Democrats Say “Moderate Republicans” Particularly Susceptible to Recalls

The Democratic Party says it has 15 percent of the total statewide signatures needed to recall eight Republican legislators.

As recall efforts heat up and national and local news reports these efforts in Wisconsin could have historical implications, Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW) Communications Director Graeme Zielinski warns there may be surprises for some "more moderate" Republicans.

Wisconsin Protests, Monday, March 7, 2011

TWO WEEKS IN MADISON - A TRIBUTE

NEW ETHICS COMPLAINT FILED WITH FOCUS ON KOCH MONEY IN STATE

CMD's Erica Pelzek reports:

Koch money - Get used to this look - it will be yours, too!Monday morning, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin filed a complaint with the state's Government Accountability Board against Gov. Scott Walker, citing comments Walker made during a prank call phoned in by a Buffalo, NY blogger Ian Murphy masquerading as David Koch, one of the billionaire co-owners of Koch Industries and a top contributor to Walker's gubernatorial campaign.

Wisconsin Protests, Sunday, March 6, 2011

12:30 p.m. - AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY TOUR ROLLS INTO MADISON

Mary Bottari reports:

After a disastrous bus tour around the state where protesters regularly outnumbered a small number of participants, the Americans for Prosperity "Stand with Walker" Bus Tour rolled into the Alliant Energy Center in Madison and about three people got off, according to a person on the scene. About a thousand protesters lined the driveway to the Alliant Energy Center with festive signs: "Atlas Shrugged, Workers Mugged" "We Changed our Mind, Now Resign!" "Americans for Plutocracy" and more.

CMD Volunteers to "Clean Up" Capitol (and the Spin Over Clean-Up Costs)

Walker Claim "We're Broke" Is False

(Updated 3/6/11)  MADISON--Responding to claims by the Walker Department of Administration that the cost to clean up the tape from citizens' signs in the Capitol would be $7.5 million, the Center for Media and Democracy today announced that it was willing to clean up the tape on the capitol's walls for a much lower bid, $75,000, although the actual cost for acetone and cotton balls and a little bit of elbow grease could be much closer to $7,500 or less.

The "League of American Voters" Makes Misleading Robo-Calls

MADISON--Citizens from across Wisconsin have been calling the Center for Media and Democracy to complain about robo-calls they received pushing Scott Walker's agenda against public workers. The robo-calls have been bought and paid for by a shadowy Washington, DC-based group that calls itself the "League of American Voters" (LAV).

Dick Morris FOX analyst with Wall Street signAs the Center has reported previously, LAV has one employee, a failed politician from West Virginian named Bob Adams, and is the pet project of FOX "analyst" Dick Morris, a pollster who was fired in disgrace in 1996 for conducting phone calls with the President while conducting business with a prostitute serving his foot fetish at DC's Mayflower Hotel. After Morris' falling out with Democrats in the aftermath of the scandal, he became a frequent talking head on FOX and a serial author of books bashing Democrats. The latest book he is pushing is one that praises the reactionary positions of some of the politicians elected last year, like Walker: "Revolt! How the Governors Are Changing American Politics ... Permanently." His pulp pieces are peddled on LAV's website as rewards for donations.

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