Madison, Wis. -- Despite making millions of dollars in 2017, Senator Ron Johnson paid virtually nothing in state income taxes -- and won’t tell Wisconsintes why. See more below on how Johnson avoided paying his fair share of taxes in 2017:

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Multimillionaire U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson paid a mere $2,105 in state income taxes in 2017, despite making big bucks

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has pushed back on any suggestion that wealthy individuals, such as himself, should be paying more in income taxes.

"People should be paying their fair share," Johnson said recently on WISN-AM (1130). "But when you have the top 1% of taxpayers paying 40% of the income tax, I mean, at some point in time, you got to go, 'Well, that's got to be pretty close to their fair share, huh?'"

Good question.

But here's a better one:

How did a multimillionaire like Johnson, who makes $174,000 a year as a U.S. senator, pay only a couple of thousand dollars in state income taxes just a few years back?

To be exact, state records say Johnson, an Oshkosh Republican, paid Wisconsin a total of $2,105 in state income taxes for 2017.

For context, a married Wisconsin couple who jointly reported a taxable income of $40,000 — that is, their adjusted gross income minus all deductions and credits — would have had a 2017 state income tax bill of $2,107, two dollars more than what Johnson paid.

The state had a graduated tax rate of 4% to 7.65% in 2017.

Now consider this: In his federal financial filings, Johnson reported personal income ranging from $276,412 to $2.2 million in 2017 — on top of his Senate salary. That means he had a minimum income of $450,000 in the same year that he paid $2,105 in state income taxes.

And this: Johnson has averaged paying a little more than $60,000 a year in state income taxes to Wisconsin over the past decade — 30 times what he paid in 2017.

So why the big tax break four years ago?

A special one-year deduction? Business losses? Large charitable contributions? Or a tax break as a result of former President Donald Trump's 2017 tax bill?

Johnson's staff isn't saying.

"The senator had a smaller tax payment because he had less income to report in 2017," said Vanessa Ambrosini, a spokeswoman for Johnson.

Asked if the second-term senator would release his federal tax returns to provide some further context, Ambrosini said no.

"The senator will not be providing media with his tax returns," she said.

If Johnson decides to run for a third term, which is an open question, Ambrosini said he will provide the press with a similar level of "tax detail" as he has in the past.

It's not clear what that means. In the 2010 race, Johnson released three years of federal tax returns; he provided no returns in 2016.

"He had complied with all Senate financial disclosure requirements," Ambrosini said.

And what do those show?

His most recent report, filed in May, says Johnson had assets worth between $16.5 million and $78.1 million at the end of last year.

A big chunk of that —  between $5 million and $25 million — came from the March 2020 sale of his share of Pacur LLC, an Oshkosh-based supplier of specialty plastic packaging materials. Johnson headed the privately held company before he was elected to the Senate in 2010.

All of which is very interesting financial information on Johnson, who — you may recall — delayed and then voted against the $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill earlier this year that included $1,400 stimulus checks and monthly child tax-credit payments for many Americans.

But those Senate records do not explain why he paid such a paltry sum to Wisconsin in 2017.

"Wisconsinites deserve to know what Sen. Johnson is hiding in his financial records," said Philip Shulman, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel turned up his past tax payments by asking the state Department of Revenue for the state income taxes paid over the past 10 years by Johnson and all the major Democratic candidates in the 2022 race for Johnson's seat.

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In 2011, Johnson's plastics firm paid him $10 million in deferred compensation shortly after Johnson poured $9 million into his campaign to defeat then-U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold.

More recently, Pro Publica reported that Johnson fought to sweeten the tax break for companies known as pass-throughs  — so-called because profits are passed through to owners — in Trump's 2017 tax bill, a move that benefited some of his biggest donors. Among the beneficiaries were Dick and Liz Uihlein of Pleasant Prairie-based packaging company Uline and Diane Hendricks of ABC Supply in Beloit.

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Nicholson Is Running Campaign Ads Through His Nonprofit To Boost Political Profile

Kleefisch irritated with the response to her radical record say WisDems, and her number one talking point was debunked by Politifact.

MADISON, Wis. -- Rebecca Kleefisch’s candidacy has been off to a rocky start - she’s already irritated with the response to her radical record, and her number one talking point was debunked by Politifact.

It's not surprising that after stumbling into the race, Kleefisch's allies have already rushed to create a Super PAC to save her candidacy. But nothing will cover up the fact that Radical Rebecca’s agenda as lieutenant governor deeply hurt Wisconsin.

Read about why Rebecca Kleefisch is wrong for Wisconsin below.

Urban Milwaukee: How Kleefisch Failed On Foxconn

Rebecca Kleefisch had a hard time in the early days of Gov. Scott Walker’s administration.

Her easy win in the Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor in 2010 shocked and dismayed the leaders of Walker’s campaign for governor, who favored Kleefisch’s GOP opponent Brett Davis. Walker’s top aide Keith Gilkes had declared that “we are not touching anything to do with Kleefisch,” calling her “radioactive.”

Walker aide Kelly Rindfleisch dismissed Kleefisch as “fluff,” while another Walker staffer declared that “I cannot see how anyone can take this woman seriously.”

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In September 2015, Kleefisch and a delegation from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation went on a trade mission to Japan and Taiwan;  and in February 2017, she and representatives of the  WEDC went on a trade mission to Mexico.

It was on the first of those trade missions, Kleefisch would later claim, that she met with Foxconn officials and urged them to consider development in Wisconsin. So even the project Walker touted as his signature economic development coup was first pushed by his Lt. Governor, according to her.

There is no doubt Kleefisch was a strong proponent of the Foxconn deal, telling Channel 58 that “We are being very aggressive in our plans to assure we are putting together the very best package.” and marveling in 2018 at “how exciting the future is going to be now that Foxconn is joining Wisconsin’s economy.”

So what is the truth here? There are two ways to views Kleefisch’s eight years as Lt. Governor. The first is to take it at her word, that she was Walker’s jobs ambassador, in which case his failed promise to create 250,000 new jobs by the end of his first term falls equally on her.

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In short Kleefisch and Walker failed to protect taxpayers, while Gov. Tony Evers did, massively scaling back the contract to allow only maximum tax credits of $80 million. Kleefisch supported what stands as the most embarrassing economic development project in state history.

The other way to view Kleefisch is that she was simply exaggerating her role in Walker’s administration, that she wasn’t really his “jobs ambassador,” probably didn’t coin the central slogan of his campaign, and didn’t play a key role in the Foxconn deal. In which case, there’s little she accomplished in those eight years.

But in either version of her tenure as Lt. Governor (and she clearly prefers the first version), Kleefisch made no effort to protect taxpayers from the debacle of Foxconn.

The Cap Times: Opinion | The urgency of defeating Rebecca Kleefisch

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Kleefisch, in addition to Walker’s pro-big business, anti-worker stances, would bring right-wing extremism and intolerance to the governor’s office. One need only look at a thunderbolt comment she made on Sept. 9, shortly after announcing her run for governor. “I will sign a heartbeat bill” she told a radio show host, making clear her intent to bring Texas-style anti-abortion vigilantism to Wisconsin.

Fanaticism is nothing new for Kleefisch. Campaigning along with Walker in 2010, she publicly opposed same-sex partnership — a very limited set of rights for same-sex couples — saying: “At what point are we going to OK marrying inanimate objects? Can I marry this table or this, you know, clock? Can we marry dogs?"

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Her views on health care access are callous and cruel. The Walker-Kleefisch regime refused to accept for eight years the substantial annual federal dollars for assisted Medicaid enrollment, with Kleefisch denouncing the Affordable Care Act as an “abomination” and supporting Walker’s participation in the GOP lawsuit to overturn the ACA.

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The Cap Times: Opinion | Rebecca Kleefisch is rerunning Donald Trump’s losing campaign

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Instead of expanding her appeal, Kleefisch launched her campaign with an embarrassingly predictable rehash of the messaging Trump lost with in 2020. “One year ago, Kenosha burned while Tony Evers failed to lead,” she claims in her announcement video. “Our police deserted and disrespected. Jobs destroyed. Lives were lost and small businesses were burned because our governor sided with rioters instead of the people of this community.”

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Trump made a hyper-politicized “presidential” visit to Kenosha in the late summer, and then returned for an incendiary Election Eve rally at which he declared, “If you want your children to be safe … vote for your all-time favorite president.”

It was the wrong message at the wrong time in the wrong place, and the next day Wisconsin voters told Trump so by backing Biden.

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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kleefisch attacks Evers over Kenosha but also once said 'far too many shots' were fired in police shooting

Republican Rebecca Kleefisch in her run for governor has argued that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers abandoned cops after a police shooting in Kenosha, but in the hours after the incident she echoed Evers' sentiment by saying too many shots had been fired.

"All I know is what I saw and what I heard, which was far too many shots for a man who had his back turned," the former lieutenant governor told reporters on Aug. 24, 2020, a day after Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Jacob Blake from behind.

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Evers spokesman Sam Roecker said Kleefisch's reaction to the number of shots fired was like that of other Wisconsinites.

"But instead of working toward justice, equity, and safer communities, it’s clear that now because she’s running for governor, Rebecca Kleefisch has to resort to inventing a new narrative that fits her radical agenda instead of being honest with Wisconsin voters," Roecker said in a statement.

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Politifact: ​​No, Wis. Gov. Evers did not wait to send help to Kenosha during unrest

A year after the violent and fatal protests that took place in Kenosha, and a year before the 2022 election, political opponents are focusing on Gov. Tony Evers and his response to the crisis that left dozens of buildings burned and two dead.

The critique, in short: He did too little, too late.

Most recently, Republican Rebecca Kleefisch, the former lieutenant governor, made such a claim as she launched her bid Sept 9, 2021 to take on Evers, a first-term Democrat.

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In an ad, Empower Wisconsin said of Evers and Kenosha violence: "It took the loss of lives before help finally came."

But the timeline shows Evers had sent in 250 National Guard troops in the days before the night Rittenhouse shot and killed the two men.

We rate this claim False.

Unlike what Kleefisch and the Wisconsin GOP like to claim, Gov. Evers promptly sent the National Guard to Kenosha during protests last summer.

MADISON - Rebecca Kleefisch’s gubernatorial bid is less than a week old, and she is already being called out for lying on the campaign trail. Today, a PolitiFact fact check determined that Kleefisch’s favorite talking point about Gov. Evers’ response during the Kenosha protests is false. The fact check determined that unlike Kleefisch and the Wisconsin GOP like to claim, Gov. Evers promptly sent the National Guard to Kenosha during protests last summer.

PolitiFact rated the claim used by right-wing super PAC Empower Wisconsin and similarly echoed by Kleefisch that “it took the loss of lives before help finally came” as “False.”  Instead, a quick fact-check found that Evers deployed the National Guard less than 24 hours after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, with 250 National Guard troops sent in to Kenosha before Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed two men the next day.

Gov. Evers’ Communications Director Sam Roecker said, “The fact of the matter is, the state and Governor Evers worked closely with local leaders to provide assistance and fulfill every request they had.”

PolitiFact’s findings are bad news for Radical Rebecca, who has made similarly false accusations about Gov. Evers’ handling of Kenosha a cornerstone of her campaign. Kleefisch continues to lob baseless criticisms, “but in the hours after the incident she echoed Evers' sentiment by saying too many shots had been fired,” according to a report by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“Rebecca Kleefisch’s central line of attack against Gov. Tony Evers has been debunked in the first week of her campaign,” said DGA Senior Communications Advisor Christina Amestoy. “Kleefisch is running a campaign based on lies and unpopular policies because she knows her record is incomparable to Gov. Evers’. Wisconsin voters rejected the Walker-Kleefisch administration’s disastrous policies once before, and Gov. Evers’ strong leadership has time and time again proven they made the right choice.”

MADISON, Wis. -- Wednesday marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, a celebration of the rich and diverse Hispanic and Latin American cultures that have shaped our country and state.

In partnership with President Biden, Governor Evers, Sen. Baldwin, and Reps. Kind, Moore, and Pocan, WisDems will continue to advocate for the Build Back Better agenda which is delivering for Hispanic families across Wisconsin by providing essential pandemic relief, investing in our state’s infrastructure, and protecting the right to vote. Our Wisconsin Legislative Latino Caucus and WisDems Latino Caucus continue to inspire the next generation of Latino leaders in Wisconsin and remind us of the importance of uplifting Latino voices in Wisconsin politics.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Interim Executive Director Devin Remiker released the following statement:

“This month, and every month, we recognize the achievements and contributions of Wisconsin’s Latino and Hispanic community. We must continue to work towards a more inclusive and equitable future. Our diversity is our strength and this month is another reminder to stop and recognize the accomplishments of our Latino friends, neighbors, and community leaders.

“Members of the Wisconsin Latino and Hispanic community represent the very best of Wisconsin’s values -- from business owners to activists, doctors, servicemembers, and dedicated community members. We recognize your profound impact on our state and know your successes will continue to benefit Wisconsin."

Attorney has appeared in a conspiracy theory-fueled film, falsely claimed a million ballots were destroyed in Massachusetts and recently linked his election doubts to a science-fiction novel.

MADISON, Wis. -- In case you were wondering whether the Wisconsin GOP’s sham election review could get any more outrageous: the answer is yes, it can.

Michael Gableman, Robin Vos’s handpicked special counsel, has been consulting with election conspiracy theorist Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai. Ayyadurai is known for:

• Starring in MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s election conspiracy film;
• Helping Arizona with their Cyber Ninja election review circus;
• Claiming he was the victim of election fraud; and
• Concocting a conspiracy theory about the 2020 election related to the science fiction novel “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

It’s no wonder Gableman is seeking advice from Dr. Shiva - Gableman has already said, at a Trump rally no less, that he believes the election was rigged. Gableman also attended Mike Lindell’s QAnon bonanza and visited Arizona’s “investigation.”

While these ludicrous claims make it hard to take the Wisconsin GOP’s election sham review seriously, voter rights are at stake. Robin Vos has admitted that the real motivation is justifying radical changes to Wisconsin’s election laws. Wisconsin Republicans attempted to pass several laws earlier this year limiting absentee voting, sparking backlash from the disability community. The bills were vetoed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

Read more about the Wisconsin GOP’s ongoing circus below.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gableman talking to conspiracy theorist Shiva Ayyadurai as he reviews Wisconsin's election

The attorney heading a partisan review of Wisconsin's presidential election has been consulting with a losing U.S. Senate candidate who appeared in a conspiracy theory-fueled film, falsely claimed a million ballots were destroyed in Massachusetts and recently linked his election doubts to a science-fiction novel.

Shiva Ayyadurai since he lost a 2020 primary for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts has been spreading untrue claims about elections — suggesting last month without credible evidence that more than 4% of Donald Trump’s votes were shaved off his totals. Now, he’s talking to former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman for Gableman’s review of the presidential election.

Ayyadurai’s exact role is not clear.

"They’re indicating they’re going to bring in Dr. Shiva as well to help on the forensic audit," Reince Priebus, Trump’s first chief of staff, said last month on former Trump advisor Steve Bannon’s podcast.

Ayyadurai and Gableman "have had a lot of conversations," according to Harry Wait, president of the conservative watchdog group Honest Open Transparent Government. Wait said he speaks to Gableman frequently, including last week.

Biden beat Trump in Wisconsin by about 21,000 votes, or 0.6 percentage points. Recounts in Milwaukee and Dane counties confirmed his victory, as did a string of court decisions.

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Ayyadurai in 2018 lost to Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and in 2020 lost the Republican primary for Senate in that state. In October, he falsely tweeted "Massachusetts Destroys Over 1 MILLION Ballots in US SENATE PRIMARY RACE committing #ElectionFraud." (In that tweet he also complained of images of ballots being deleted and at other times he has focused on images of ballots, rather than the ballots themselves.)

In February, Twitter suspended him. Ayyadurai sued state election officials over the issue but dropped his lawsuit last month.

Ayyadurai, who is helping Arizona Republicans with a review of ballots in their state, this year appeared in "Absolute Proof," a film by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell that argued the 2020 election was rigged. Fact-checkers have repeatedly debunked Lindell’s claims.

In the film, Ayyadurai maintained that voting machines had been engineered to wipe out a third of his votes in the Massachusetts primary race.

"No one has rebutted my mathematical explanation showing that they multiplied my votes by .666 and the other guy's by 1.2," Ayyadurai said in the film.

Barry Burden, the director of the Election Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said Ayyadurai's claim can't be taken seriously.

"His statements about Massachusetts seem completely implausible," Burden said. "These sort of artificial multipliers and things that he latches onto seem completely detached from reality."

Ayyadurai in August appeared at an election forum Lindell hosted in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Theory based on 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'

During an appearance on Bannon’s podcast while he was there, Ayyadurai said figures cited at the forum suggested 4.2% of Trump’s votes had been stripped away. Ayyadurai said the reduced figures were either a part of a disinformation campaign to discredit Lindell or a sign that "a bunch of nerds" had subtracted votes from Trump based on "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy."

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide” is a 1979 comedic science-fiction novel by Douglas Adams that features a supercomputer that spends millions of years pondering the question of “life, the universe and everything.” It determines the answer is 42.

"Every state was subtracted by 4.2%," Ayyadurai told Bannon last month. "Forty-two. Do you remember 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'?”

Burden said Ayyadurai seemed to be taking as fact a faulty analysis by election conspiracy theorist Seth Keshel that contends Democrats should have done worse than they did in 2020 because they saw their vote margins slip in the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections.

"It's totally bananas and it ignores inconvenient facts like that the 2018 election was a midterm but very good for the Democrats," said Burden, who called Keshel an amateur who didn't understand the electorate or election administration.

Gableman, who attended Lindell’s event in South Dakota, has a taxpayer-funded budget of $676,000. He plans to spend about half that amount — $325,000 — on a contractor to perform data analysis related to voting machines.

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Madison, Wis. -- As Wisconsin hospitals face nearly full ICU wards as COVID cases surge, Ron Johnson has continued his crusade to prolong the pandemic by discouraging Wisconsinites from getting vaccinated as well as pushing dangerous and unproven treatments such as Ivermectin. Doctors and other health care professions have pleaded with Senator Johnson to stop undermining their efforts to get the pandemic under control.

• Despite unvaccinated people accounting for over 99% of COVID hospitalizations and deaths, Johnson continues to sow doubts about the effectiveness of vaccines.
• Johnson has used faulty and incomplete data to discourage vaccinations and push dangerous alternative treatments like Ivermectin, which is a dewormer medication for livestock that has put numerous people in the hospital.
• Johnson, who for months complained that the vaccine was under Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA, is still disparaging the vaccine even though the FDA has fully approved it. 
  • Johnson previously stated: “if we have an effective vaccine and a safe one, and that's the only one we'll release. But if you are out there undermining that possibility, that will cause people's deaths."
• Johnson claimed that ventilators, which keep critically ill COVID patients alive, are doing more harm than good.

WisDems launch website highlighting Kleefisch’s record that’s radically wrong for Wisconsin.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/john-macco-88-s5.pngGreen Bay area politician John Macco, who has filed paperwork to run for governor, questions the science behind vaccines, touts ivermectin, which has poisoned 17 Wisconsinites, as a potential cure.

MADISON - Wednesday, Wisconsin parents Chelsea Powell, Dr. Jennifer Milosavljevic, and Lora Zimmer demanded that Ron Johnson stop endangering the lives of Wisconsin’s children with his crusade to discourage people from getting vaccinated while spreading dangerous disinformation about ineffective alternative treatments.

You can watch the full event here and see what the speakers said, in part, below:

Chelsea Powell: “We need to get to a place where our elected officials are telling the truth about COVID, being honest about the risk of COVID and encouraging us to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities. We do not have that with Senator Johnson. So I’m here to ask that he and others do the right thing: tell the truth about why the vaccine is so important, talk about the risk that we are all facing as parents in this pandemic, and work harder to keep our kids safe.”

Dr. Jennifer Milosavljevic: “Senator Ron Johnson has undermined our pandemic response at every single step. Despite what we are seeing as cases surge in Wisconsin, Senator Johnson is still out there discouraging people from getting an FDA approved vaccine and pushing unproven treatments like Ivermectin -- it makes no sense to me as a physician. Senator Johnson has said repeatedly he’s not a doctor: so please take the medical advice from physicians. We are telling you that you need to come up with a better strategy to fight this pandemic so that our kids can stay in school. It’s just appalling, these are our children’s lives.”

Lora Zimmer: “I question what reality Senator Ron Johnson is living in when we see in our own community that ICUs are at full capacity. We’re seeing kids going on ventilators across the country, but Ron Johnson seems to think everything we’re doing to keep our kids safe is a hoax. How many kids in our community are going to have to end up in the hospital before Ron Johnson listens to the medical community and urges his constituents to listen to the medical community too? Our kids deserve better.”