One Wisconsin Now Research Reveals Gov. Walker Campaign Co-Chair as Major Financier of Propaganda Ca

One Wisconsin Now Research Reveals Gov. Walker Campaign Co-Chair as Major Financier of Propaganda Campaign Paving Way for Wrong For Wisconsin Right to Work Law


http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/one-wisconsin-now-research-reveals-gov-walker-campaign-co-chair-as-major-financier-of-propaganda-cam.html

Over $8 Million to Fund Nationwide Web of Front Groups Promoting Law That Cuts Wages and Benefits, Public Education Funding, Healthcare Coverage

MADISON, Wis. — Late last week, while traveling out of state, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dropped his pre-November 2014 election charade of opposition to a right to work law that could cut the average Wisconsin family’s wages by over $5,000 per year. One Wisconsin Now’s research of the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation, headed by Gov. Walker’s campaign co-chair, reveals the stage has been set for Walker’s latest assault on Wisconsin’s middle class for his personal political benefit with a well-financed propaganda campaign utilizing a nationwide web of front groups.

“Once again we see the ‘Wisconsin Money Badger’ Michael Grebe and his Bradley Foundation paving the way for Gov. Walker’s right-wing, Tea Party agenda with a massive propaganda campaign,” said One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross. “This time it’s the wrong for Wisconsin right to work law that cuts wages and benefits not just for union members but all Wisconsin workers.”

According to One Wisconsin Now’s review of federal tax records, the Bradley Foundation doled out over $8 million in 2012 and 2013, the latest years for which information available, to support the operations of a web of nearly three dozen groups promoting right to work laws and radical privatization policies that empower the wealthy and corporate CEOs at the expense of the middle class. The Bradley Foundation, having nearly half a billion dollars in assets, regularly hands out $30-40 million a year, making it perhaps the largest right wing funding foundation in America.

Groups operating in Wisconsin, including the MacIver Institute, the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, Media Trackers and the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Foundation, took in excess of $2.9 million.

Groups operating in other Midwestern states and nationally benefitted from Grebe and the Bradley Foundation’s largesse. Right-wing policy shops, the American Legislative Exchange Council and the State Policy Network, took in over $200,000 in 2011 and 2012. Nearly $500,000 went to the virulently anti-organized labor Center for Union Facts and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Fund.

Bradley also sent $140,000 to the notorious Koch brothers aligned Americans for Prosperity Foundation that partnered with the Wisconsin MacIver Institute to run a multi-million dollar ad campaign that declared "it's working" in relation to the polices enacted by Gov. Walker resulting in Wisconsin having among the worst records in job creation and wage growth in the nation.