Monthly Archives: June 2011

Milwaukee journal Sentinel: Justice Prosser was asked to get help for anger, sources say

Bradley made request after clash with Prosser

-By Patrick Marley and Emma Roller

June 28, 2011- Madison - Supreme Court Justice Ann Walsh Bradley asked Justice David Prosser to seek therapy to manage his anger two days after she says he put his hands around her neck, but he declined to do so, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The request came June 15, when all the justices met with Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs to discuss the June 13 altercation between Prosser and Bradley. At least some of Prosser's fellow conservatives on the court said it would be ridiculous for him to take such courses, the sources said.

Bradley told the Journal Sentinel on Saturday that Prosser put his hands around her neck in what she called a "chokehold." Prosser has said other accounts quoting anonymous sources would be proved false, but he has not directly responded to Bradley's description of the incident.

Palm Beach Post: Rick Scott attends secret Koch brothers meeting in Colorado

-by Dara Kam

June 28, 2011- Florida Gov. Rick Scott attended a secret, invitation-only meeting outside Vail, Colo., hosted by conservative billionaire GOP donors David and Charles Koch, the governor’s staff confirmed today.

The meeting wasn’t on Scott’s official schedule and his spokesman Lane Wright initially refused to confirm or deny whether the first-term governor would make an appearance, saying he would not “speculate as to what he has done, or will do on his personal time.”

But, after The St. Petersburg Times reported Tuesday Scott did attend the meeting, Wright confirmed that the governor was there but would not say whether Scott was in Colorado on Sunday or Monday.

“I told anybody who asked me,” Scott, in Washington, D.C., told the Times, without revealing too much about what took place.

“It was very interesting,” he told the Times. “They wanted to know basically… what am I doing in Florida.”

The Energy Collective: Koch Brothers Fund Assault on Climate Legislation, Seek To Destroy RGGI

-by Adam Siegel

June 27, 2011- After DC failed to enact comprehensive climate change legislation, it was good to see states take the lead on regional cap-and-trade programs. We now have 3 regional initiatives to address greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) involving more than 30 states. That so many states are involved shows that people want to address climate change. One regional program has been operative since 2008 and the other two are scheduled to commence operations next year. The operational program has been effective in reducing GHG emissions as well as providing economic benefits and jobs from the over $861 million raised from allowance proceeds. Thus, we now have a model for federal legislation that can incorporate what is actually working and tweak any shortcomings.

AP: Candidate not allowed on recall ballot

June 27, 2011- MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Government Accountability Board won’t allow a Republican candidate on the ballot in a Senate recall race because he didn’t have enough valid signatures.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin had challenged 39 of Rep. John Nygren’s 424 signatures and the GAB found that only 398 were valid. The requirement is 400.

Nygren filed nomination papers to run in the recall election against Democratic Sen. Dave Hansen of Green Bay. The GAB did allow David VanderLeest of Green Bay on the ballot during a hearing Monday.

The two Republican candidates challenging Sen. Jim Holperin of Conover were also allowed on the ballot Monday.

The general election in the Hansen race will be held July 19. The primary in the Holperin race will be July 19, with a general election Aug. 16.

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Denver Post: Koch brothers hold secret GOP business retreat in Vail

June 27, 2011- VAIL — Republican politicians were gathering near Vail on Sunday for a semiannual retreat aimed at promoting business-friendly policy.

The meetings are organized by two of the nation's most powerful conservative political donors, Charles and David Koch of the privately held energy giant Koch Industries. Their brother, William Koch , who on Saturday paid $2 million at a Denver auction for a tintype image of Billy the Kid, also is a conservative political donor, but he does not participate in his brothers' activities.

The guest list is kept secret, and organizers won't say where the four-day retreat is being held beyond describing it as in the Vail area. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has said he will attend this year's retreat. Previous guests have included South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, conservative commentators Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck , and Denver billionaire Phil Anschutz .

Alternet: Shock Doctrine: ‘Emergency Finance Managers’ and the Right-Wing’s Power Grab

Emergency financial managers are being put in place by democratically elected governors throughout the country.

-By Sarah Jaffe

June 26, 2011- The onslaught of radical policies from the wave of Tea Party-supported right-wing state politicians swept in in the 2010 elections has been nearly overwhelming. Nearly every state that saw a Republican takeover of the statehouse or legislature has faced attacks on collective bargaining, immigration, reproductive freedoms, or health care. New power grabs have popped up constantly, and copycat bills have sprung up in their wake as if an official playbook has been passed around the country.

CNN Money: The privatization of California’s B-schools

As California slashes billions from its higher education budget, the state's premier public business schools have quietly focused its efforts on raising private dollars.

-By John A. Byrne

June 27, 2011- In the past few years, billions of dollars have been slashed from California's higher education budget. Some have warned that the cutbacks are impacting the quality of a state university system that has long been considered the crown jewel of public higher education.

What has been the impact on the state's premier public business schools?

Surprisingly, there's been little to no impact, according to the B-school deans. A year ago, faculty and staff endured a "furlough" that led to a one-time average pay cut of 8%. But the prestige and quality of the full-time MBA programs has been protected as state support of the schools has diminished.

Mother Jones: The Spam Factory’s Dirty Secret

First Hormel gutted the union. Then it sped up the line. And when the pig-brain machine made workers sick, they got canned.

— By Ted Genoways

June 27, 2011- On the cut-and-kill floor of Quality Pork Processors Inc. in Austin, Minnesota, the wind always blows. From the open doors at the docks where drivers unload massive trailers of screeching pigs, through to the "warm room" where the hogs are butchered, to the plastic-draped breezeway where the parts are handed over to Hormel for packaging, the air gusts and swirls, whistling through the plant like the current in a canyon. In the first week of December 2006, Matthew Garcia felt feverish and chilled on the blustery production floor. He fought stabbing back pains and nausea, but he figured it was just the flu—and he was determined to tough it out.

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