Bill Lueders

Bruce Murphy On Prosser, Et Al

August 30, 2011 by The Political E...

In a column, Milwaukee Magazine editor-in-chief Bruce Murphy homes in on Justice David Prosser's pattern of angry outbursts - - as did I - - and I also see in the comments under Murphy's piece that Madison-based good government activist Jack Lohman focuses on it, too.

Call this a meeting of judicious minds.

In a companion posting, Murphy defends Bill Lueders, the Madison journalist who broke the Prosser-Bradley confrontation story, against a misinformed attack by a Madison blogger.

Nicely done.

Battle's just beginning over proposed open pit iron ore mine

August 27, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

Gogebic Taconite spent about $115,000 in the last six months to lobby on behalf of its proposed open pit iron ore mine on the Penokee range in Ashland and Iron Counties.

State Sen. Bob Jauch (D-Poplar), who represents the area, says it was "a complete waste of money," according to this Ashland Current article by Bill Lueders.

Jauch argues that Gogebic and its hired allies “ended up alienating the public and confusing the Legislature,” by demanding too much on too short a timeline. He believes the company has “tainted the environment” for future progress, raising the hackles even of local officials who are supportive of the mine.

That may be true --to a point. The company wanted to shorten the approval process for a mine from several years to 300 days, eliminating a lot of environmental protection and citizen input in the process. Gogebic clearly overreached.

Undisclosed Legal Contract Proves State Wasn't Broke When Walker Said It Was

July 29, 2011 by The Political E...

Scott Walker's problems with truth-telling began early, but some details are now just emerging back to the days when Walker was preparing to force budgetary and collective bargaining changes - - because the state was broke [sic].

If you're really broke, you don't have half-a-million bocks to hire a lawyer, unless, as in Walker's case, it's not your money. Reports Bill Lueders:

Gov. Scott Walker has agreed to pay a private law firm up to $500,000 for legal services regarding his controversial budget repair bill curbing public employees’ collective bargaining rights, a spokesman for the governor confirmed.

Walker signed a special counsel contract with the Madison office of Michael Best & Friedrich on Feb. 7, four days before unveiling the bill, public records show. The contract authorized payment at the rate of up to $300 an hour, to a total of $100,000.