ICYMI--there's more to the story behind Scott Walker's "Truth-Gate" (other issues in budget)
I got this as an email so I believe it can be posted in its entirety.
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ICYMI--there's more to the story behind Scott Walker's "Truth-Gate"
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Lisa Graves editor@prwatch.org via mail.salsalabs.net
1:55 PM (39 minutes ago)
to me
The Center for Media and Democracy - Reporting on spin and disinformation since 1993
February 10, 2015
Our Scoop Dominated the Headlines but There's More to the "Politics of Deletion"
Dear Friend of CMD:
In case you missed it, news of Scott Walker's effort to delete "the search for truth" from the University of Wisconsin's budget dominated the headlines over the past several days.
On Wednesday CMD broke this story on our PRWatch.org site and pushed it to other outlets, resulting in more 8,000 news stories and more than 50,000 web pieces, according to Google. The New York Times addressed Walker's deletion, bumbling, and extremism in its lead editorial on Satursday, and MSNBC's Chris Hayes featured our work.
Not every magazine or outlet that covered Walker's deletion of the truth mentioned CMD's role in breaking this news, of course, but we wanted to make sure you know that CMD's original investigative reporting is what uncovered this story and exposed this part of Walker's pattern of deception.
But there's more.
Our ongoing examination of phase two of Walker's efforts to divide Wisconsin and position himself atop a divided America has uncovered more petty partisanship from the governor.
For example, as CMD was first to report this week, Walker is taking steps to cut the pay of the Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Shirley Abrahamson, a widely respected jurist with liberal roots. This part of his budget dovetails with efforts by his legislative allies to force her to retire from the court despite her recent re-election by the people of the state.
Walker's budget also includes an attempt to relegate the highest-ranking Democratic official in Wisconsin--the Secretary of State, Doug La Follette, part of the family of Fighting Bob La Follette--to a basement office.
It's the type of vindictive party powerplay that Newt Gingrich would pull in the dark days of the Contract on America.
It also reminds me of the lapel pins that the George W. Bush administration passed out to Senate Republican staffers when Senate Democrats dared to object to some of the extremists Bush and Dick Cheney were pushing. They read simply "100%." When I asked what that meant, the Rs said the President was entitled to 100% of what he wanted.
Really?!
Really.
This kind of shocking hubris from far right-wing politicians makes our elections seem less like the ebb and flow of the democratic process and more like a corporate takeover of our capitals, teeming with a winner-takes-all mentality.
Long gone are the days of politics as the art of compromise, at least from leading Rs while Dems are often accused of compromising too much.
Instead, Walker's governorship represents politics as a war by division.
Or, as it were, a "politics of deletion."
Delete the search for truth.
Delete--or, in other words, slash--funding for institutions that make our country stronger, like public universities.
Delete tax dollars for truly public schools.
Delete money for needed health care for the working poor.
And, perhaps predictably, delete political opponents.
Just ask Republican Mike Ellis, a long-serving conservative who was not with Walker 100% of the time who was taken out by rightwing video-splicer James O'Keefe, who received $50K from Walker confidante Eric O'Keefe, as described in another story CMD recently broke questioning who paid for that political hit. (CMD also filed a complaint with the IRS about Eric O'Keefe's Wisconsin Club for Growth based on details from the state criminal investigation, which is now headed to the state Supreme Court, where the majority of justices won their elections based in part from outside spending by groups like Wisconsin Club for Growth.)
But there's more than what's happening in Wisconsin, CMD's backyard, as a lens on what's happening nationally.
CMD launched the ground-breaking ALECexposed investigation that has helped push more than 100 corporations out of ALEC, including Google, one of the most successful corporate accountability campaigns in recent history; CMD helped stop the austerity peddlers at Fix the Debt in their tracks with help from The Nation; and CMD has been at the forefront of original reporting about the Koch Brothers since before it was vogue. CMD's legacy also includes a New York Times bestseller, "Weapons of Mass Deception," about the media's role in the rush to war in Iraq that the recent controversy over Brian Williams' mis-remembering brings to mind.
Every week on our PRWatch.org site, CMD publishes new original research that helps fuel news by other outlets and organizations.
Our transformative investigations are part of the national conversation on issues that affect people's lives, on our democracy, our environment, and our economy.
That's why, with your support, CMD has grown to nearly 20 staffers and we've recently moved to new offices with enough space for our research, writing, and admin teams to work on CMD's flagship publications: PRWatch.org, ALECexposed.org, and SourceWatch.org, along with our specialized investigative sites like KochExposed.org and PipeLIESexposed.org.
Our investigations are making a real difference, thanks to support from readers like you!
Thank you for all you do to make this work possible!
Sincerely,
Lisa Graves
Executive Director
Center for Media and Democracy
Center for Media and Democracy
PO Box 259010
Madison, WI 53725
608.260.9713
