What is this mailer all about? That’s the latest question circulating in the political hotbed of Wisconsin.

From our breaking news story at the MacIver News Service:

Over the weekend, a strange pamphlet began appearing in mailboxes across Wisconsin. It looks like a voter registration form and return label read, Government Accountability Board, but the return address included the incorrect post office box number.

The mailings also included requests for information not required to register to vote in Wisconsin, and at least one solicitation tried to register a six year old girl to vote.

The GAB confirmed to the MacIver News Service it had received calls about the mailing, but it did not send them out.  The GAB initially had no other comment other to relay that it was looking into the matter.

However, late in the day, the GAB issued a press release on the matter….

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Here is our latest spot promoting Wisconsin’s recent reforms. It features public employees and taxpayers.

Did Wisconsin’s Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs cut a secret  access deal with one of Madison’s most infamous protesters? That’s the question being asked after one of our reporters caught an interesting conversation at the Wisconsin Capitol.

[Madison, Wisc...] Big Labor supporters are marking the one-year anniversary of the 2011 occupation of the Wisconsin State Capitol with a series of events this week. On Tuesday, the union for UW teaching assistants held a parade and Capitol rally.

While the rally was in violation of the policy governing access to state facilities, it appears protesters may have established an understanding with Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs. As he was speaking to veteran protester Miles Kristan about their understanding, the chief asked our reporter to leave.

“You told me you were going to help me with this,” Tubbs is overheard saying to Kristan before the camera stopped rolling.

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Imagine the police ignoring evidence of a crime because the right person didn’t call 911. Welcome to the the latest episode of Wisconsin Recall Election Follies.

Wisconsin's Elections 'Watchdogs'

The latest:

[Madison, Wisc...] Citizens not affiliated with either the recall organizations or the office holders targeted for recall this spring have found scores of problems with the petitions, but Wisconsin’s elections watchdogs have decided they will not consider any of their evidence.

GAB Director and General Counsel Kevin Kennedy said there is no process in place for accepting information from outside groups and individuals. Governor Scott Walker and the four Republican state senators against whom recall petitions were filed last month are the only parties that can contest the validity of signatures, according to Kennedy.

The GAB will not investigate or consider independently-submitted evidence of recall petition fraud. This includes circumstances wherein individuals might notify the board that their own name and forged signature were submitted.

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It’s not quite an online database, but it’s a start.  After reneging on their promise to post pdfs of the Scott Walker recall petitions online, the misnamed Wisconsin Government Accountability Board has relented.

The signatures are now online, here.

Earlier Tuesday, before their latest change of course, I sent the GAB this letter.

January 31, 2012
Kevin Kennedy
State of Wisconsin Government Accountability
Board 212 East Washington Avenue, Third Floor
VIA EMAIL AND HAND DELIVERED Madison,
Wisconsin 53707-7984

Dear Executive Director Kennedy:

This letter is to request the following records, under the state’s Open Records Law (19.31-39, Wisconsin Statutes):

Copy of the electronic record of the scanned petitions which seek the recall of Governor Scott Walker. This electronic record has been, under information and belief, created and is in your possession. Creation of a duplicate copy of said electronic record should, therefore, be able to be produced immediately and at a minimal cost, if any.

Please be aware that the Open Records law defines “record” to include information that is maintained on paper as well as electronically, such as data files and unprinted emails. Wis. Stat. § 19.32(2).

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Here’s an idea from the misnamed Wisconsin Government Accountability Board: Let’s make the attempt to recall Governor Scott Walker even nuttier.

On Monday morning the Wisconsin ‘Elections Watchdogs’ alerted media that the Walker recall petitions would be available sometime later that day. By dinnner time, they basically said, never mind.

You can’t make this stuff up.

From our coverage:

Stunner: Walker Recall Petitions NOT Available for Online Review

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A confident, perhaps a bit defiant, Governor Scott Walker on Wednesday delivered his annual State of the State address as a threat of a recall looms.

[Madison, Wisc…] Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker delivered his annual State of the State address Wednesday night before a polarized state legislature and with a potential recall looming.

“When I addressed you in the chamber last January, Wisconsin had suffered through three years of 150,000 of our fellow citizens losing their jobs,” Walker said. “The unemployment rate was 7.5%. And after years of tax increases and budget tricks, Wisconsin faced one of the largest budget deficits in the country.”

Walker boasted about the progress made in the last year.

“Tonight I’m happy to report that after three years of losing 150,000 jobs Wisconsin actually added thousands of new jobs in 2011,” said Walker. “New business formations are up by over two percent and our unemployment rate is down from a year ago. In fact, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is much better than our neighbors to the south in Illinois.”

The governor outlined three priorities for his Administration:

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What started out as an idea on Facebook mushroomed into a full scale political rally on Saturday as more than 3,000 people braved frigid temps to attend a ‘Celebrate Walker’ rally in support of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

The event was not organized by state or local Republican Parties nor by any established Tea Party group. It began as a way to say thank you to Walker, who may be facing a recall election later this year. As more and more speakers lined up to participate, including the Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, and several declared candidates for US Senate, interest in the event grew.

Despite media reports that ‘hundreds’ attended the rally, organizers put attendance at more than 3,000.

Quite an impressive feat for an ad hoc group who quickly pulled together the event on a shoestring budget. They say in their wildest dreams they imagined a crowd perhaps a third of that size would attend.  It was the first pro-Walker political rally since recall organizers turned in petitions on Tuesday.

“A coalition of people who want more government money are going to try to drive him out,” said State Senator Glenn Grothman of Walker, who was not scheduled to attend the event.

In total, more than a dozen speakers took to the stage. Organizers held a bake sale in the back of the crowd to help defer costs. Several roamed the crowd selling pro Walker yard signs and bumper stickers.

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University of Wisconsin Professor Joel Rogers wants to build a lefty alternative to the ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. He recently hit up some of his students for help with the project, while they were waiting for their grades in his class.

This from our first article in an ongoing investigation conducted by the MacIver News Service. Future stories will focus on any official reaction we receive from the University and an indepth look at Rogers’ Center on Wisconsin Strategy.

Joel Rogers Says College Credits May Be Available to Those Who Help Build Liberal Alternative to ALEC

[Madison, Wisc…] One of the University of Wisconsin’s most renowned liberal professors attempted to recruit his students to work on an elaborate private political project while final grades in their class were pending, the MacIver News Service has learned.

At the conclusion of his end-of-the-year email to his UW Law School students, Professor Joel Rogers wrote: “I think I mentioned a little project I’m doing now — which thus far involves professors from such crummy law schools as Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Cornell, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Virgina [sic] and elsewhere, but thus far, beyond your lonesome, NOBODY from UW — to build a partial counter to ALEC. It’s going to involve a lot of law students. If you’re interested in helping out with that (no money, but possible credit), or know of somebody else who might be, please let me, or even better, “Nate Ela” <nela@cows.org>, a lawyer and now sociology grad student, know. Project description attached.“

Rogers is the Director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, educational, and charitable organization. COWS was founded in 1992 by Rogers, a professor of Law, Political Science, and Sociology at UW-Madison and a longtime commentator on economic development and democratic institutions. COWS is based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the Social Science Building.

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This Big Labor supporter had a fever and the only prescription was more cowbell.

The Appleton Post Crescent reports:

Two misdemeanor charges have been filed against an Appleton woman accused of hitting a police officer as he tried to restrain her husband after ringing a cowbell in the officer’s face.

Ashley C. Montour, 25, was charged in Winnebago County Circuit Court Tuesday with disorderly conduct and resisting/obstructing an officer, both misdemeanor offenses. If convicted, she faces one year in the county jail and $11,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint, Oshkosh police were responding to a report of a group of demonstrators outside of Robbins Restaurant, 1810 Omro Road, who were blocking the driveway and making a lot of noise.

When an officer arrived, he saw a group of six to eight people standing on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant with Recall Walker signs. Some were yelling and others were making noise with other objects such as trashcan covers or cowbells.

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Watch this brave and honest public employee at the end of this video.

The MacIver Institute and The Americans for Prosperity Foundation sponsored an It’s Working! town hall meeting on Saturday, January 7, 2012 in Southeast Wisconsin.

Participants heard from local and state lawmakers about how the recent budget reforms are saving budgets and benefiting taxpayers across Wisconsin. But one gentleman who wasn’t on the roster of speakers stole the show. During the Q and A session of the morning, this brave state employee explains how generous his benefits are, thanks taxpayers for them and thanks lawmakers for having the opportunity to have a voice in whether or not he wants to belong in a a union.

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The Big-Labor backed Walker Recall coalition says they’ve turned in a million signatures today, well in excess of the 540,000 necessary to trigger a recall later this year. Our report:

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Another tale of OPM addiction. OPM. Other People’s Money.

The problems with ‘green job’ creation and the incompetence of the federal government are both evident when analyzing how a “stimulus” program failed to produce jobs in Wisconsin.

Other than a couple government administrators and about a dozen tech college instructors, the Recovery Act’s Green Jobs Program has not created any jobs in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin received a $6 million award for its version of the green jobs program called Sector Alliance for the Green Economy (SAGE). The stated goal is the “greening” of Wisconsin’s workforce. On paper, the US Labor Department expected the money to help place 2,120 Wisconsinites into permanent jobs.

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This report by a Wisconsin Tea Party group is absolutely shocking.

MacIver News Service | January 11, 2012 | [Milwaukee, Wisc] A shocking new report by a Wisconsin Tea Party group raises serious questions about the diligence of poll workers in Milwaukee County.

The group, Wisconsin Grandsons of Liberty, found errors on more than one third of all Election Day Registration forms completed for the April 5, 2011 election in Milwaukee County.

“We discovered 3,739 forms with errors,” said Larry Gamble, the groups’ spokesperson. “That 33.7% error rate is high enough to question the entire election process and raises doubts about having the accuracy and accountability required to properly manage elections.”

The study was performed by members of the self-described  pro-Constitution group between May and December, 2011.

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Hitler and Mickey Mouse have been put on notice.

Yesterday afternoon, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker won a favorable ruling in Waukesha County Circuit Court.

Court rules that the GAB is obligated to honor the rules under statutes and presents further ruling as to the Defendants’ obligations. Court orders the Defendants’ (GAB) is obligated to take such reasonable steps to strike duplicate signatures, ineligible signers/addresses and fictitious names. Court leaves to the GAB to meet it’s obligations and properly overseeing and supervising their staff and with respect to resources they are obligated to use what they have. They are obligated to seek additional resources if needed. GAB to apply sound judgment and discretion. Court is not requiring unlimited investigation and is not preventing the GAB from setting priorities.

In December at a meeting of the GAB, Board staff made several stunning admissions. GAB representative stated, on the record, that all signatures that include a proper date and Wisconsin address are presumed valid, even those of Mickey Mouse and Adolf Hitler.

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So, it turns out Wisconsin’s election watchdogs are choosing to do the bare minimum when it comes to making it easier to detect duplicate and fraudulent signatures on the recall petitions.

Color me shocked.

GAB’s Refusal to Create Recall Database a Choice, Not Based on State Law

MADISON, WI — The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board could be doing more to make it easier to ensure the recall process is not tainted by fraud the MacIver News Service has learned.

“The statutes do not impose explicit barriers to the creation of a GAB database that contains the names and addresses of individuals who sign recall petitions or to public availability of the database,” said Katie Bender-Olson, Staff Attorney with the Wisconsin Legislative Council in a memo to Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald.

“To the contrary, the statute enumerating the powers and duties of GAB may support the agency’s authority to create a recall signature database and make it accessible to the public.”

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As seen at a busy Wisconsin intersection on December 17, 2011.

Leave your suggested caption in the comments section.

More from the Mickey Mouse Club known as the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.

[Madison, Wisc...] The same employee who admitted the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board would deem all recall signatures valid, even if they were signed Mickey Mouse or Adolf Hitler, has engaged in online activity that could lead some to question his impartiality.

David Buerger, an elections specialist with the GAB used his Twitter account to praise a blog postingwherein Republican State Senator Mary Lazich was called “Crazy Mary.”

“OMG! Headline winner…” Buerger tweeted last month, and then included a link to the blog post.

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Far be it from me to call the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board a Mickey Mouse operation.

Big Labor Gets Big Boost by Goofy Wisconsin GAB Decision

Madison, Wisc…] The Government Accountability Board needs over $600,000 to verify the anticipated 1.5 million recall petition signatures against the Governor and several State Senators.

However, the process it will be using, which was unanimously approved by the Board, will assume every signature is from a valid Wisconsin elector… even if their name is Mickey Mouse or Adolf Hitler.

Testifying at a meeting of Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board, GAB staff made several stunning admissions Tuesday. GAB representative stated, on the record, that all signatures that include a proper date and Wisconsin address are presumed valid, even those of Mickey Mouse and Adolf Hitler.

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