Category: Wisconsin

Wisconsin Attorney General: Agreements with CVS and Walgreens Over Opioid Crisis Finalized

Bradley Vasoli

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul (D) announced on Thursday that his and numerous other states have finalized an agreement whereby the CVS and Walgreens pharmacy companies will pay $10.7 billion to those jurisdictions over opioid-epidemic concerns. 

The deal comes as a result of litigation by prosecutors across the nation alleging that the corporations failed to ensure that their pharmacies properly dispense painkillers, resulting in illegal trafficking and use of the drugs that has contributed to widespread deadly addiction. 

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Wisconsin Congressman Gallagher: Nationwide TikTok Ban to Be Introduced This Month

Bradley Vasoli

U.S. Congressman Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8) this week touted an emerging effort in both houses of Congress to ban the video-sharing application TikTok nationwide. 

Gallagher and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) penned an opinion piece for The Washington Post last month insisting Americans should not have access to the app. In a discussion with WISN CHANNEL 12 on Monday, Gallagher said he will introduce bipartisan legislation to that effect this month and he anticipates it will get a vote early next year. 

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Doctors Allege Corruption and Mismanagement of COVID Pandemic Leaving Americans at High Risk for Vaccine Injury and Death

Susan Berry, PhD

Doctors and scientists who participated in Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson’s (R) COVID-19 roundtable Wednesday shared their personal experiences of the federal government’s alleged corruption and mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic that they say have likely caused many more examples of serious vaccine injury for which Americans have no recourse.

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Wisconsin Senator Johnson and Colleagues Urge White House to Reverse Major Climate Policies

Bradley Vasoli

Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson wrote jointly with several colleagues to President Joe Biden this week urging him to reverse major elements of his anti-fossil-fuel agenda. 

The letter from the senators takes issue with several actions the White House has taken to hinder investment in and use of oil, natural gas and coal in an effort the administration insists is important to lessening global warming. 

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Wisconsin Congressman Calls on LinkedIn to Remove Job Listings for Companies That Pose Security Threats

Bradley Vasoli

U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI-8) this week urged the head of the career-networking website LinkedIn to prohibit the platform from posting job openings at companies posing security threats to America. 

Gallagher, who sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Armed Services Committee, penned a letter to LinkedIn Chief Executive Officer Ryan Roslansky, drawing particular attention to companies with ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The congressman stated that the site presently welcomes thousands of employment-opportunity notices from China-based corporations the U.S. government flags as national-security and privacy risks. 

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Wisconsin Republican Members of Congress Ask Evers to Pull Government TikTok

Bradley Vasoli

Republican members of Congress from Wisconsin this week called on Democratic Governor Tony Evers to end all state-government usage of the video-sharing application known as TikTok. 

The app, which has garnered about 80 million monthly active users since its release in 2016, is run by the Chinese technology corporation ByteDance. Recent reporting indicates the communist Chinese government is using the program to mine data from TikTok users aggressively and track some Americans’ whereabouts. 

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Legislative Audit Finds Significant Waste in Two Wisconsin Coronavirus Grant Programs

The Center Square

No one really knows just how much of Wisconsin’s nearly $600 million in small business coronavirus grant money was wasted or given to scammers.

The Legislative Audit Bureau on Tuesday released a limited review of the “We’re All In” and “Wisconsin Tomorrow” programs, and confirmed that the state handed out money to ineligible businesses.

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University of Wisconsin System Closing Richland Campus, Just 60 Students Enrolled

The Center Square

by Benjamin Yount   The University of Wisconsin is all but closing one of its smallest campuses. UW President Jay Rothman said in a letter Tuesday the UW-Platteville will end all in-person classes at its Richland campus. Rothman ordered Platteville’s chancellor to end the degree program at the Richland campus because only 60 students are taking classes there right now. “While the University of Wisconsin System remains committed to the branch campuses and to providing as broad of access for students as possible, there comes a time when financial pressure and low enrollment makes in-person degree level academic instruction no longer tenable,” Rothman wrote in his letter. Next year the 60 Richland students will be transitioned to either the Platteville or Baraboo campuses. No one is saying what will happen to the faculty and staff members teaching at the Richland campus. And Rothman isn’t saying if this will be the last or only small UW campus to close. “Each of the branch campuses have a different strategy about what it’s going to look like going forward,” Rothman said earlier in the week. “But we’ve got to address [enrollment], and we have to have the branch campuses be sustainable in the…

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Wisconsin GOP Lawmakers Boot Election Integrity Firebrand from Party Caucus

The Center Square

The Republican caucus in Wisconsin’s State Assembly has voted to ban election integrity watchdog Rep. Janel Brandtjen from attending party meetings.

The caucus sent Brandtjen a letter, dated Nov. 11 and signed chair Rep. Rob Summerfield, to explain the decision. It did not, however, specify any specific issue the caucus took with the legislator.

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Milwaukee Democrats Oppose State Plan to Widen I-94

The Center Square

There is a growing chorus of Milwaukee Democrats who say the state is missing the mark by expanding I-94 instead of focusing on buses and bicycles.

The Department of Transportation on Friday announced plans to widen I-94 between 70th Street and 16th Street in Milwaukee. That includes the lanes around American Family Field. The ultimate goal is to add new lanes, going from the current six lanes up to eight lanes.

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Tony Evers Wins Re-Election in Wisconsin Governor’s Race

Admin

Incumbent Democrat Gov. Tony Evers of Wisconsin is projected to hold onto his seat, fending off Republican challenger Tim Michels, according to both NBC and Reuters.

Evers secured 50.9% of the vote, compared to Michels’ 48%, with 88% reporting, according to multiple forecasters. The victory gives Evers his second term as Wisconsin’s governor, following a four year term where he often sparred with the GOP-controlled state legislature, according to Fox 6 Milwaukee.

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Wisconsin Voters Sue over Alleged Mishandling of Military Absentee, Mail-In Ballots

Just the News

Veterans and voters represented by the Thomas More Society, a conservative non-profit public interest law firm, filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Election Commission for allegedly mishandling military absentee ballots.

The group on Friday asked the Waukesha County Circuit Court to order state election officials to “sequester,” or set aside, all military absentee or mail-in ballots before the election.

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Firing of Milwaukee Election Official Highlights Wisconsin as Epicenter of Election Shenanigans

Just the News

The firing of a Milwaukee election official this week after she sent military ballots to a state representative highlights another election vulnerability in Wisconsin, where a rash of election administration irregularities and legal breaches have been exposed since 2020.

During a press conference on Thursday, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson announced that Kimberly Zapata, deputy director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, was fired after she requested that three absentee military ballots be sent to the home of Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen. Brandtjen turned the ballots in to the Waukesha County sheriff last Friday.

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Sen. Ron Johnson Joins Foundations of Freedom to Discuss Re-Election Run, Lawsuit Against Wisconsin Election Commission

Peter D'Abrosca

A U.S. Senator from Wisconsin joined Foundations of Freedom (FOF) to discuss his reelection campaign, and a lawsuit filed against the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC). 

“It makes no sense to me why the left is trying to fundamentally destroy this country, but they are,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI). “Quite honestly, I’m more tired of the anger and the division.”

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Socialist Students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Demand On-Campus Abortion Services

Admin

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s (UWM) Young Democratic Socialists for America (YDSA) chapter sponsored an online petition by co-chair Nathan Schilling which demands the University Health Services (UHS) provide abortion services.

The petition, which has amassed more than 300 signatures, specifically addresses Associate Vice Chancellor and Executive Director Jake Baggott, Associate Executive Director and Director of Operations Carol Griggs, and Director of Medical Services Aruna Josyula.

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Wisconsin Appeals Court Outlaws Practice of Spoiling Absentee Ballots to Vote Again

Just the News

A Wisconsin appeals court has upheld a lower court’s ruling forbidding the practice of “ballot spoiling,” requiring the state’s election commission to rescind guidance it had earlier issued on the matter.

The state’s 2nd District Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a county circuit court’s directive that ordered the Wisconsin Elections Commission to rescind its earlier instructions issued to voters who wished to void their submitted ballot and cast a new one.

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Wisconsin Judge Refuses to Allow Mail-In Ballots with Partial Addresses to Be Counted in Win for GOP

Just the News

A Wisconsin judge has rejected a request from the state’s League of Women Voters to allow election officials to count absentee ballots with incomplete witness addresses. 

Dane County Circuit Judge Nia Trammell on Wednesday said the group’s request for a temporary injunction “would upend the status quo and not preserve it” and “frustrate the electoral process by causing confusion” less than two weeks before Election Day, CBS News reported.

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Wisconsin State Senator: UW’s Response to Conservative Speaker on Madison Campus ‘Unacceptable’

The Center Square

Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin are once again questioning free speech at the University of Wisconsin after a conservative speaker at the Madison campus was met with graffiti, protests, and condemnation from university leaders.

Sen. Duey Stroebel, R-Cedarburg, on Monday said the university’s response to Matt Walsh’s visit to Madison is unacceptable.

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Judge Won’t Stop Milwaukee’s Get-Out-the-Vote Effort

The Center Square

Milwaukee’s get-out-the-vote partnership with a liberal/progressive firm is not technically against the law, so a judge is not going to stop it.

Milwaukee County Judge Gwendolyn Connolly on Friday refused to grant the Republican Party of Wisconsin a temporary restraining order against Milwaukee Votes 2022, the city-backed privately funded get-out-the-vote effort with GPS Impact.

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Reince Priebus: Wisconsin Will See $200 Million Spent for 50,000 Votes

The Center Square

Wisconsin’s race for governor is the most expensive in the country, and the race for U.S. Senate isn’t exactly cheap either. All of that money is being spent to convince less than 2% of voters in the state.

Reince Priebus, the former head of both the Wisconsin Republican Party and the Republican National Committee, said there are just a few thousand truly independent voters in Wisconsin.

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