Free Republic

Wisconsin may become the first state in America to drug test able-bodied adults applying for food stamps, if Gov. Scott Walker gets his way. Walker moved ahead Monday with his plans, a move that has been blocked by the federal government or found unconstitutional when other states have tried. Wisconsin’s plan was approved by the Republican-controlled legislature more than two years ago, but it languished because it conflicted with federal rules prohibiting states from imposing additional eligibility criteria on food stamp recipients. Florida had a drug test requirement for food stamp recipients that a federal appeals court blocked in 2014,...

the Left engaged in gross abuses of criminal law to intimidate, harass and silence conservatives in the state. The specifics were chilling -- from pre-dawn raids on political activists' homes, to stifling gag orders preventing them from saying a peep about what was happening to them, all in pursuit of criminalizing and punishing the Badger State conservative movement. Eventually, one target violated his gag order and blew the whistle on the whole operation, eventually leading to investigations of the investigations, and multiple courts shutting down the witch hunts with extreme prejudice. ... ruthless the Left had become in its efforts...

On Wednesday, a Wisconsin judge unsealed an 88-page report on the state Department of Justice’s (WIDoJ) investigation into a leak of sealed evidence from the politically motivated “John Doe” investigation of Gov. Scott Walker, his supporters, and various conservative groups related to his recall election campaign. Despite concluding a crime was committed during the John Doe proceedings, WIDoJ recommends no criminal charges. Instead, the report recommends that former Government Accountability Board (GAB) lawyer Shane Falk be referred to the state judiciary’s Office of Lawyer Regulation for discipline and that contempt proceedings be initiated against John Doe special prosecutor Francis Schmitz and former...

In a move sure to annoy the academic left already hostile to him, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed an executive order effectively outlawing BDS in the state. "On October 30th, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed an anti-BDS measure, Executive Order 261, into law," the Louis D. Brandeis Center reports. "The Executive Order states that agencies may not 'execute a contract with a business entity if that entity is engaging in a boycott of Israel. Further, agencies shall reserve the right to terminate any contract with a business entity that engages in a boycott of Israel during the term of the...

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) slammed Hillary Clinton’s ex-spokesman and CNN political contributor Brian Fallon in a statement on Saturday after Fallon derisively claimed Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie was a white supremacist. “Brian Fallon’s attack on Ed Gillespie is shameful, disgraceful, and has no place in American politics,” said RGA Chairman Governor Scott Walker. “Ralph Northam, Hillary Clinton and CNN should immediately denounce Fallon’s blatant attempt to score political points from a tragedy, and CNN should question whether it serves the network and the viewing public well by giving a microphone to Fallon’s hateful rhetoric.” Fallon claimed that...

Wisconsin Democrats have demanded Gov. Scott Walker (R) join the U.S. Climate Alliance, a newly formed coalition of states that intends to move forward with the terms of the Paris climate accord after President Trump’s decision to pull out of the agreement. "President Trump’s rejection of fact, science and of the Paris Climate Agreement is an act that endangers every American. Gov. Walker’s silence on this issue echoes this shared anti-environment, anti-middle class agenda,” read the letter to Walker signed by 35 state representatives and 11 senators. "Given the recent reports on Wisconsin’s dismal slump in job creation, we cannot...

Now that the long Memorial Day holiday is over and legislators and the governor have returned from their road trips, we hope they have a better sense of the condition of highways around the state and a renewed sense of urgency on the need for upgrades and repairs. The first order of business, it would seem to us, is to come to some agreement on a state transportation budget for the next two years. Hopefully, hopefully, when that is done they will also take a longer-term view of Wisconsin’s highway construction needs and how best they should be met —...

He may have lost his bid for the Republican presidential nomination last year, but Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker remains the bete noire of the Left in one of its gestational cradles, particularly in the public school system. "The Occupy movement didn't start on Wall Street," Governor Walker told the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). "It started on my street." "The tipping point was when a bunch of protestors showed up dressed as zombies for a special Olympics event." Similarly, he was familiar with the type of treatment U. S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos recently received when...

<p>MADISON -- A new audit shows huge cost overruns at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, with dozens of projects costing double or triple their original estimates.</p> <p>The Legislative Audit Bureau report finds that estimated costs for 19 major projects completed between 2006 and 2016 were $1.5 billion, double the initial projection. The audit also finds that the estimated costs of 16 ongoing major highway projects have increased by $3.1 billion.</p>

In addition to the Department of Natural Resources, a second state agency has scrubbed information on global warming from its website For years, the Public Service Commission featured material devoted to climate change, including strategies designed to reduce Wisconsin's reliance on coal. Then, sometime after May 1, the agency eliminated its global warming web page. ... The PSC's former global warming web page featured, among other topics, links on the potential for development of wind turbines on the Great Lakes and exploring the potential for injecting carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants in the ground. Those topics can be still...

Walker has long supported drug testing food stamp recipients, a policy he and Republican lawmakers approved in 2015 that has since been blocked by a federal court. Federal law does not allow states to impose drug tests on recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, better known as food stamps. "We have been forced to delay our implementation and are optimistic your administration will give states like Wisconsin the flexibility to provide the accountability the taxpayers demand," Walker said in his letter.

Wisconsin Representative Sean Duffy (R-WI) went on with Tucker Carlson tonight to discuss the recount in Wisconsin. Duffy said Democrats and far left Green Party supporters are stalling the recount in Dane County Wisconsin, where Madison is located. The county is holding a hand recount. The recount will not be completed by the deadline on December 20th. Therefore, according to Rep. Duffy, the state will quite possibly be forced to forfeit their electoral votes. This was the plan all along. Democrats knew they couldn’t make up 20,000 votes. But they also knew if they stalled on the recount the state

Gov. Scott Walker is drawing sharp criticism for his plan to delay highway projects, including the Zoo Interchange in Milwaukee. In the past, the governor has hailed the interchange as key to state businesses that transport products throughout the region. Walker mentioned MillerCoors in his 2013 State of the State address. "MillerCoors is in a hyper-competitive industry. They're looking to find a competitive advantage: who can get a cold beer on a bar in Madison or Green Bay or even Chicago, the fastest. Beer trucks are tied up in the Zoo Interchange? The MillerCoors brewery here in Wisconsin is at...

After a night of rioting, things were calm Sunday morning but Gov. Scott Walker is not taking any chances. He has called out the National Guard. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Gov. Scott Walker activated the National Guard on Sunday to assist the Milwaukee Police Department upon request in the aftermath of violence in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood after a fatal police shooting.Walker said he activated the guard after a request from Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. and conferring with Mayor Tom Barrett and Ma. Gen. Donald Dunbar. Saturday night chaos erupted after dark in response to an officer involved shooting...

Story to follow! ABC News Twitter feed........ ABC News Politics ‏@ABCPolitics 8m8 minutes ago NEW: Gov. @ScottWalker activates Wisconsin National Guard to assist Milwaukee police upon request:

The Republican National Committee has released the list of people who will speak at the 2016 convention in Cleveland next week: Pastor Mark Burns                                                     Phil Ruffin                                                               Congressman Ryan Zinke                                        Pat Smith                                                                  Mark Geist                                                                John Tiegen                                                             Congressman Michael McCaul                                 Sheriff David Clarke                                                 Congressman Sean Duffy                                        Darryl Glenn                                                            Senator Tom Cotton                                                   Karen Vaughn                         Governor Mike Huckabee                                       Mayor Rudy Giuliani                                              Melania Trump                                                         Senator Joni Ernst                                               Kathryn Gates-Skipper                            Marcus Luttrell                                         Dana White             Governor Asa Hutchinson   Attorney General Leslie Rutledge    Michael Mukasey Andy Wist          Senator Jeff Sessions        Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn   Alex Smith         Speaker Paul Ryan    Congressman Kevin McCarthy Kerry Woolard .Senator Shelley Moore Capito...

Madison— Faced with delays and inflation over the past five years, four major state highway projects — including a Madison artery — have accumulated overruns in excess of $700 million. While some of these increases come from faulty cost estimates or unavoidable inflation, the new figures underline the obvious: Delays can be costly for Wisconsin taxpayers. When projects are paused because of financial challenges in the state's road fund, the price of materials, labor and real estate can rise. The numbers compiled by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel underline the urgency of a divisive issue for Wisconsin's Republican leaders: finding a...

House Speaker Paul Ryan on Thursday reacted to the Democratic sit-in on the floor of the House of Representatives over gun control by saying: “I don’t think this should be a very proud moment for democracy or the people who staged these stunts.” In his weekly press conference at the Capitol, Ryan said: “This is the people’s house. This is Congress, the House of Representatives, the oldest democracy in the world, and they’re descending it into chaos.”

If you’re wondering why Donald Trump is so popular… Republicans are sick of electing good conservatives, only to watch them cave to the bullying tactics of those so very tolerant and nice liberals. One by one, elected Republicans compromise away their principles to sit at the cool kid table. Paul Ryan used to be pretty cool. Speaker Paul Ryan is joining Apple’s Tim Cook for a fundraiser next week in California. A couple of days ago Cook said Apple will not be sending any money to the GOP convention because they do not agree with Donald Trump. I’m sure that...

Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis) has introduced legislation that would require taxpayers to pass a drug test before being allowed to itemize deductions on their 1040 tax forms. The bill is in retaliation for state laws that require welfare recipients to pass drug tests in order to receive benefits. "I am sick and tired of Republicans forcing poor people to jump through hoops to receive the money they are entitled to under the law," Moore complained. "We enacted these programs to help the unfortunate. Few members of society are as unfortunate as drug addicts. They are slaves to chemicals that their...