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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Wisconsin Recall Elections Fueled by Out-of-State Cash

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Monday, February 27, 2012   

MADISON, Wis. - Money from outside Wisconsin is flooding into the state in an effort to influence the upcoming senate recall elections, and the number of dollars involved is staggering. Mike McCabe of the non-partisan watchdog group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign says nearly all the money fueling the recall is coming from somewhere else.

"The biggest group supporting the Democrats spent $10.7 million dollars; $10.1 million of it came from outside Wisconsin. The major Republican group, by our best accounting, spent about $9 million, virtually all of it from outside of Wisconsin."

The "Citizens United" decision by the Supreme Court, which said limits cannot be placed on political spending by corporations and unions, has opened the financial floodgates, McCabe explains.

"There was an awful lot of money in state politics already; there were ways that groups could get around the law and spend money collected from anonymous donors - spend unlimited sums - but the 'Citizens United' decision clearly opened some new pipelines."

McCabe calls the decision a disaster for democracy.

The influence of outside money also will be strongly felt if Gov. Walker has to face a recall election, which most observers say is more than likely. A national group founded by billionaires Charles and David Koch just dumped nearly $750,000 into a TV ad blitz supporting Walker, McCabe notes. In this age, when money is speech, these huge donations don't speak, they shout, he says.

In addition to the likely recall election for Walker, four Republican senators probably face recall. McCabe says it's hard to tell exactly when the elections will actually be held.

"You have to kind of gaze into a crystal ball, because there are so many different variables. There can be legal challenges. Fake primaries can be generated; all kinds of stuff can happen. Extensions can be requested and sometimes granted, and sometimes a court will deny those extensions. All are variables that can affect when a recall election actually occurs."

McCabe's best guess is that the recall elections will take place early this summer.

A full report on the numbers is available at www.wisdc.org.




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