Wisconsin's legislative districts have been ruled unconstitutional by a panel of federal judges, and last week Attorney General Brad Schimel appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The League of Woman Voters says fight back.

MADISON - The framers of Wisconsin's legislative districts, which have been ruled unconstitutional by a panel of federal judges, voted in secret last month to spend taxpayer dollars to have high-priced lawyers write an amicus brief in defense of the gerrymandered districts.

Attorney General Brad Schimel last week appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. All of this will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of tax dollars, and that’s on top of more than $2.1 million already spent to draw the maps in secret and defend them through two lawsuits to-date!

If you find this shocking, contact your own legislators and the legislative leadership:

• Let them know how you feel about this abuse of power and tax dollars.
• Tell them Wisconsin can save millions of dollars and create more competitive voting districts in the future by adopting nonpartisan redistricting.
• Urge them to support two bills – AB 44 and SB 13 – which would have the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau draw the maps.
• Tell Senator Fitzgerald and Rep. Vos that these bills deserve a hearing. They did not allow hearings for these proposals last session. What are they afraid of?

--To find your own legislators, click here and enter your address under Find My Legislators, next to the little green map of Wisconsin.
--Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester)
(608) 266-9171,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
--Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau)
(608) 266-5660,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Mark your calendar for the League’s state annual meeting, June 9-10 in Green Bay. Click here for information and registration.

Politicians like Trump shovel praise upon our military, but feel that they, themselves, were too good to serve. It is time they learn the lessons of history. Wars do not beget peace.

TUCSON, AZ - Americans how long will it take for us to understand we have been “had?”

It is family, school, faith and community members who help each generation learn it is better to talk to people than fight, kill and destroy. These are the great Americans.

I am repulsed by so many politicians like Mr. Trump who shovel praise upon our military but who, themselves, feel they are too good to serve our Nation.

Nearly all the wars since WWII have been illegal wars of aggression under our Constitution, United Nations Charter and treaties. Yet the military, CIA, presidents like Bush, Obama and Trump and individual Congressional members keep howling for blood.

Did the Romans stamp out Christianity by all their killing? Did the US win in Vietnam by killing a million Vietnamese? Are we winning the hearts and minds of Afghans, Iraqis, Syrians, or North Africans by killing their families, lovers, babies and friends by the hundreds of thousands?

I say no! You cannot kill ideas with a bullet. Thinking human beings know that.

When Democratic and Republican presidential candidates call out “We will hunt down and kill all Al-Qaeda, ISIS, etc. members and their families” we know our Nation is being run by idiots.

Or, is it being run by lying actors who push wars for the benefit of the military/industrial/politician complex that makes big bucks off of continuous war?

On Nov. 6, 2018 we will elect a new Congress (all the House members and 33 senators will be up for election.) Is it time to throw the bums out, keep the few good ones and start turning America into a Nation of peace builders and turn our backs on war mongering?

Take your choice on Nov. 6th. And if you choose continuous war, get ready to donate your sons and daughters to war’s meat grinding machine – the draft will return because the American volunteer military is broken.

Trump and fools in Congress can throw another $54 billion on top of the $600 billion the Pentagon already gets for more tools of war. But the military system is broken and cannot be fixed with more dollars.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/flood-wi-road-s5.jpgBridge collapse, storms and floodwaters weaken older roads, funds for local construction and maintenance that do not cover costs. Sen. Kathleen Vinehout writes about a DOT audit which highlighted these and other problems in the State Highway Program.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/wisc-capitol-dome-s5.jpgWith state revenue growth flat, Gov. Walker is trying to spend his way out of problems he created to distract voters and provide massive giveaways to the wealthy. Real state revenue growth under the Walker/Trump tandem may make this budget proposal unrealistic.

Our freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment have never been more threatened than they are today. We have to stand up for a free press, and a first step is seeing through false choices.

ALTOONA, WI - Forty-five words. That’s all it took for our nation’s founders to grant us five bedrock freedoms. In just 45 words, they gave us freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, and the right to petition our government.

These five freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment have never been more threatened than they are today. Press freedom is under assault as the president brands the news media an “enemy of the American people.” Both of the First Amendment’s religious freedom clauses are being ignored as non-Christians are subjected to increasing discrimination and even targeted for deportation. The first of the two, namely the establishment clause, is disregarded as more and more American taxpayers are being forced to fund religious schools.

Free speech has become anything but free as the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that money is speech and corporations are citizens with speech rights, thereby blessing unlimited corporate election spending. Lawmakers in states all across the country are now trying to criminalize freedom of assembly and peaceful protest.

These are dangerous and threatening times for the First Amendment. The rise of fake news is a serious threat, but not the only one or even the biggest one. It’s not just that lies are being widely and quickly spread, it’s that a highly organized effort is being made to persuade the public that no news can be trusted, that no one is telling the truth. Journalism is being delegitimized.

http://newiprogressive.com/images/stories/S5/scott_walker_voting_booths-s5.jpgRepublicans should stop playing politics with taxpayers’ money and adopt non-partisan redistricting reform says Green Bay Senator Dave Hansen.