Category: Wisconsin

Judge Rules Wisconsin School District’s Gender Affirming Policy Without Parental Consent Violates Constitutional Rights

M.D. Kittle

In a major victory for parental rights, a Waukesha County judge has ruled the Kettle Moraine School District’s policy of affirming students’ preferred gender identities without notifying guardians is a violation of basic constitutional rights.

Judge Michael P. Maxwell, in what is expected to be a nationally watched ruling, found the southeast Wisconsin school district violated parents’ constitutional rights to raise their own children by allowing minor students to change gender identity at school without parental consent, and even over their objection.

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Wisconsin League of Women Voters Weighs In on University of Wisconsin System Diversity Issue

The Center Square

The League of Women Voters in Wisconsin is taking a stand on the fight between Republican lawmakers and the University of Wisconsin over diversity, equity and inclusion money.

The League encouraged Republicans to release $32 million that’s being held in an effort to get the university to move away from diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

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Wisconsin Congressman Mike Gallagher’s DADDY Act Aims to End ‘Hunter Biden-Like Influence Peddling’

M.D. Kittle

As concerns mount about alleged Biden family pay-to-play schemes, U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher is introducing the  Deterring Attempts at Dirty Deals by Youngsters — or DADDY — Act.

The bill bans immediate family members of the president, vice president, and cabinet officials from working for certain foreign companies while their family members are in office.

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Wisconsin Pro-Life Groups Call on Liberal DAs to Enforce Abortion Law and Stop Planned Parenthood

M.D. Kittle

Pro-life groups are calling on liberal district attorneys in the Badger State’s two largest cities to enforce abortion statute as Planned Parenthood resumes performing abortions in Wisconsin.

Members of Wisconsin Right to Life, Wisconsin Family Action, and Pro-Life Wisconsin held a press conference last week at the state Capitol demanding Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne and his liberal counterpart, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm follow statute 940.04, which prohibits most abortions in the state.

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Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson Reveals 2017 National Institute of Health Records Raising Concerns About Wuhan Lab

M.D. Kittle

In 2017, a report from an official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) raised red flags about the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), according to internal records revealed this week by U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI).

“It is clear to me by talking to the technician that certainly there is a need for training support,” Dr. Ping Chen, an NIAID official, wrote in a report about the controversial laboratory suspected of unleashing COVID-19 on the world.

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Far-Left Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice’s Campaign Accused of ‘Smurfing’, or Money Laundering Donations

M.D. Kittle

The Wisconsin Ethics Commission launched an investigation into newly installed Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz’s campaign on allegations of money laundering and fraud.

The investigation, first reported by conservative talk show host Dan O’Donnell of NewsTalk 1130 WISN in Milwaukee, claims the far left justice’s campaign engaged in “smurfing,” using unwitting small-dollar donors to launder substantial cash donations.

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Commentary: Bill Will Keep Wisconsin’s Power Grid in State’s Hands and Out of the Control of Federal Regulators or Out-of-State Developers

M.D. Kittle

Today, I introduced legislation to retain Wisconsin control over the safety and reliability of our state’s power grid instead of ceding that control to federal regulators and opportunistic out-of-state developers. This bill, known as Right of First Refusal, prevents fragmentation of the state’s transmission grid and retains the regulation and operation of the grid in Wisconsin.

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Wisconsin Republican Lawmakers Propose Resolution Seeking to Impeach Fired State Elections Administrator

M.D. Kittle

Five Republican state representatives are seeking co-sponsorship on resolution to impeach embattled Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe, who was recently fired by the GOP-controlled state Senate but refuses to leave the post.

“Administrator Meagan Wolfe’s impeachment is warranted due to her maladministration during her tenure as the Administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, as evidenced by the 15 issues outlined in the attached resolution,” states the co-sponsorship memo sent to Assembly members on Thursday.

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Wisconsin Lawmakers Introduce Second Go at Constitutional Amendment to Ban Zuckerbucks in Election Administration

M.D. Kittle

Looking to get around Democrat Governor Tony Evers’ veto pen, Republican lawmakers have introduced the second consideration of a constitutional amendment to bar the use of private funds in election administration.

Passage would send the proposed amendment to referendum, letting voters — not the liberal governor — decide if controversial “Zuckerbucks”-like funding of elections is legal in Wisconsin.

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House Select Committee on China Demands FBI and DOD Briefing on Communist China Spies Infiltrating U.S. Military Bases

M.D. Kittle

U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI-o8), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, wants a briefing from top Biden administration officials on increasing incidents of CCP spies accessing sensitive military, economic, and technological secrets on U.S. soil.

Gallagher joined fellow committee member U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA-02) on Wednesday in calling on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and FBI Director Christopher Wray to explain to the committee why there’s been a surge in CCP espionage, and what they plan to do about it.

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Abortions Resume in Wisconsin

The Center Square

It remains to be seen just how quickly the return of abortion in Wisconsin will end up before a judge after Planned Parenthood on Monday started offering abortion services at its clinics in Milwaukee and Madison.

“Thank you so much for your enthusiasm that PPWI has restarted abortion services! We are as thrilled as you are! We haven’t been able to respond to all our DMs, comment on every thread about abortion, or talk to you individually about how you can help (but we’re trying),” Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said on social media Monday.

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University of Wisconsin Enrollment Up for First Time Since 2014

The Center Square

There are a couple of hundred more students at University of Wisconsin schools this fall after the university released its fall 2023 enrollment numbers.

“The estimates show an enrollment of 161,322 for fall 2023, an increase of 540 over fall 2022. For new freshman students, the estimates indicate an increase of 592 students in fall 2023 at UW System universities not including UW-Madison, which deliberately sought to reduce the number of incoming first-year students after last year’s incoming class was slightly larger than anticipated,” the university said in a statement.

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Wisconsin State Senate Votes to Sack Controversial Elections Regulator, Overrides Evers’ Tax Cut Veto

M.D. Kittle

Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled state Senate on Thursday rejected Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe’s nomination to serve another four-year term, a move that normally would end the controversial regulator’s tenure in office.

But liberals are already challenging the Senate’s overwhelming vote to fire Wolfe, and the bureaucrat has defiantly said she’s not going anywhere.

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Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher’s Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Issues Subpoena in Chinese Lab Probe

M.D. Kittle

The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party led by U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) issued its first subpoena in the committee’s ongoing investigation into the clandestine Chinese laboratory that local authorities uncovered in Reedley, California.

“It is deeply disturbing that a Chinese company set up a clandestine facility in small-town America that contained, per the CDC, ‘at least 20 potentially infectious agents’ like HIV and the deadliest known form of malaria. We are grateful to the city of Reedley for their cooperation,” Gallagher said in a statement.

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Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson Leads Efforts to Seek Records on Saudi Arabia’s Role In 9/11 Attacks

M.D. Kittle

On this 22nd anniversary of 9/11, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is demanding the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation turn over the complete, unredacted records of Saudi Arabia’s role in the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

Johnson, ranking member of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and subcommittee chairman Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), are seeking a full explanation of any ongoing need for classification of any portions of these records.

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Court Rules Wisconsin Elections Commission Illegally Used Voter Registration Form

M.D. Kittle

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has lost a lawsuit challenging its use of an unlawful voter registration form, the latest legal problem for a controversial state elections regulator with a history of bending the law.

The lawsuit, filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) on behalf of Wisconsin taxpayer and voter Richard Braun, challenged the use of the National Mail Voter Registration Form in Wisconsin.

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Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson Introduces Resolution to Overturn Biden’s Next ‘Reckless’ Student Loan Bailout

M.D. Kittle

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) joined 18 of his Republican colleagues on Tuesday in introducing a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval.

The CRA aims to end President Joe Biden’s latest end-around to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling this summer striking down the administration’s original student loan bailout.

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Wisconsin Universities Keep DEI Positions Despite GOP Gutting Budget by $32 Million

Admin

University of Wisconsin campus leaders have not cut diversity, equity and inclusion positions from their campuses despite losing $32 million in funding from the GOP-led state legislature earlier this summer in an effort to see such programs axed.

However, system leaders are in the process of requesting a partial reimbursement to the tune of $15 million from the Wisconsin State Assembly’s Joint Finance Committee to fund non-DEI, workforce development-related positions, which state lawmakers left open as an option to recoup some of the cuts.

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Wisconsin Assembly Republicans Roll Out Nearly $3 Billion Tax Cut Plan

M.D. Kittle

In the wake of Governor Tony Evers’ gutting of a historic tax cut proposal earlier this summer, Republicans are pushing another plan they said would deliver nearly $3 billion in tax relief for retirees and the middle class.

Conservative lawmakers said the plan to tap into the state’s projected $4 billion budget surplus is a “second chance” for the liberal governor to “do the right thing” and return overpaid tax dollars back to Wisconsin’s taxpayers.

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Wisconsin U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher’s Committee on China Hosts Roundtable Event on Chinese Communist Threat to U.S. Manufacturing

M.D. Kittle

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party will be in manufacturing-dependent Wisconsin Wednesday afternoon for a roundtable discussion on communist China’s “deliberate undermining of American manufacturing,” according to a press release.

Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-08) will host the roundtable beginning at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Stoughton, WI.

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‘Hostile Takeover’: Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Accuses Liberal Majority of Staging a ‘Coup’

Admin

Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Annette Ziegler accused the court’s liberal majority of staging a “coup,” according to emails obtained by The Associated Press.

After gaining a majority August 1 for the first time in 15 years, liberal justices quickly moved to fire state court director Randy Koschnick, drawing immediate backlash, and create a committee responsible for many of the tasks that the chief justice has typically handled, the AP reported. Ziegler wrote in two emails obtained by the AP that the majority’s actions were illegal and amounted to “nothing short of an unprecedented coup.”

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UW-Milwaukee Tells Students Polyamory Has Many ‘Benefits’ Like Extra Pets, or ‘Petamours’

Admin

The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee’s LGBTQ+ Resource Center recently posted an Instagram infographic regarding one of the “hidden gems” of polyamory: “petamours.”

The post defines “petamours” as “a pet you get to enjoy due to being part of a polyamorous relationship or polycule.” The term is a portmanteau of the words “metamour,” which the Polyamory Dictionary defines as “[someone] that your romantic partner is in such a relationship with, but you are not,” and pet.

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Despite Trump’s Absence, Plenty of Fireworks at First Republican Presidential Debate of the 2024 Season

M.D. Kittle

For those who thought a Trump-less GOP presidential primary debate was doomed to be a snooze fest, the two-hour political bar brawl disabused them of that notion.

The first Republican National Committee debate Wednesday night in Milwaukee proved to be a tinder box for the slate of candidates trailing former President Donald Trump by as much as 40 percentage points or more.

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University of Wisconsin President: School Must Move Forward Despite Financial Issues

The Center Square

The president at the University of Wisconsin says the challenge now is to deal with the school’s financial challenges.

UW President Jay Rothman told university regents there’s been plenty of attention paid to the university’s deficits and diversity, equity and inclusion budget cuts. Now, though, the job is to find answers.

“Our focus now has to be on how to move forward from here,” Rothman said.

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GOP Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Rallies in Milwaukee Night Before First Republican Primary Debate

M.D. Kittle

With just 24 hours to go before the first Republican presidential primary debate of the 2024 campaign, Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy spent Tuesday evening as he has spent almost every waking hour since launching his bid for the White House in February: Campaigning.

Ramaswamy held a high-energy rally at downtown Milwaukee’s beer garden, just feet away from the Fiserv Forum, home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks and site of Wednesday evening’s debate.

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