MacIver Institute

MacIver communications director Chris Rochester joins John Muir on WTAQ in Green Bay to talk about Tony Evers' pledge to take Wisconsin to a $15/hr minimum wage, at a "minimum." That's what he told a crowd at a Bernie Sanders rally on Monday. Such a mandated wage hike would be a job and economy killer, especially for those just climbing onto the economic ladder.  Read More On The John Muir Show: Evers’ $15 Minimum Wage Would Be A Job Killer

Special Guest Perspective by Dan O'Donnell - The jokes about Evers’ serial plagiarism write themselves, but they—along with the speed at which the media buried the story—belie a far more serious truth: That plagiarism of this magnitude reveals far more about character and fitness for public office than most might assume.  Read More Why Plagiarism Matters

With a $60 million referendum on the line, is the Cedarburg School District pro-referendum crowd stacking the deck? Documents obtained by MacIver News suggest the answer is yes. While a community survey showed 60 percent support for the spending spree, the survey appears to have been rigged to boost responses from district staff and parents, who got an email link to the survey while everyone else only got a paper version.  Read More MacIver News Minute: Was Cedarburg’s School Referendum Campaign Rigged?

Tony Evers stole Bernie Sanders' socialist spotlight in Milwaukee on Monday when he told supporters that when it comes to the minimum wage “we’re going to $15 an hour minimum. Minimum.”  Read More Evers Pledges $15 Minimum Wage, Or Higher

MacIver investigative reporter Matt Kittle joins Oliver Burrows on WXCO in Wausau to discuss the news of the week. Tony Evers has investments in the shadowy, quasi-public bond agency called the Public Finance Authority; Evers is buffeted by a plagiarism scandal; and a community "survey" done by pro-referendum pushers in Cedarburg appears to have been rigged from the get-go.  Read More News And Views: Evers’ PFA Investments, Plagiarism, And Rigged Cedarburg Referendum

By M.D. Kittle - State Sen. Duey Stroebel, a vocal critic of the rising tide of school referenda and what he asserts are the cozy relationships they have created between districts and builders, recently took aim at the Association of General Contractors' claims to the contrary.   Read More Referendum Rush Raises Concerns About Cozy Contractor, School Relationships

A new video by the Association of Independent Doctors offers a great explanation of why health care costs in the U.S. have spiral out of control. We don't necessarily endorse everything in the video, but it's an excellent reminder of the many flaws in our health care system and a glimpse into how to fix it.  Read More Why Have Health Care Costs Spiraled Out Of Control?

MacIver's Matt Kittle joins Vicki McKenna on News/Talk 1310 WIBA to discuss a MacIver Institute estimate that found a single payer health care takeover in Wisconsin would cost $30 billion in the first year alone - nearly double the entire state budget.  Read More On Vicki McKenna: The Astronomical Cost Of Single Payer Healthcare

MacIver's Matt Kittle joins John Muir on WTAQ in Green Bay to discuss school district spending requests. In particular, districts are looking to backfill spending that was made possible by the now-defunct Energy Efficiency Exemption with a spate of new spending measures on the November ballot, peddling the shopping spree essentially as "free" money. What they ignore is that property taxes could be dropping like a rock - something school districts are doing all they can to prevent from happening.  Read More On The John Muir Show: School Districts Seize The “Opportunity” To Raise Taxes

By M.D. Kittle - Tony Evers, Wisconsin’s education chief and Democratic candidate for governor, holds investments in a shadowy, quasi-public “bonding house of last resort" that has come under scrutiny from lawmakers and federal agencies, according to ethics documents.   Read More Evers Holds Investments in Shadowy Bond Issuer PFA, Documents Show

Wisconsin public employees continue to benefit handsomely from the state’s generous “sick leave conversion program.” Public sector retirees converted $171.96 million in earned sick leave credits in 2017, according to the latest data available. That’s up 3 percent from 2016, when retired employees in the Wisconsin Retirement System turned nearly $167 million into health insurance cash.  Read More MacIver News Minute: Lavish Sick Leave Benefit Cost Taxpayers $171 Million In 2017

News/Talk 1130 WISN's Mark Belling discusses MacIver's investigation into Cedarburg's $60 million referendum, focusing on evidence contained in reams of emails that a "community survey" likely was a rigged propaganda tool from the very start.  Read More Mark Belling Discusses MacIver’s Investigation Into Cedarburg’s Controversial Referendum

By Chris Rochester - Documents obtained by MacIver News Service through an open records request suggest that district officials were more concerned with tilting the results of a community survey than gauging public sentiment on the spending measure.  Read More Emails Suggest Fix Is In For Cedarburg Referendum Campaign

By Ola Lisowski - A new report shows that the average exam score fell to 20.8 out of 36 points for the class of 2017, down from 21.0 the prior year. Wisconsin students scored an average of 20.5 out of 36 points, the same as last year but now the best score of any state that tests all of its students.  Read More Data Release: Average Wisconsin Score the Best in US, National ACT Score Dips

By M.D. Kittle - They’ve been described as “Medicaid maximization schemes,” revenue manipulations, gimmicks. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson has a more pointed expression   Read More Johnson: States Committing ‘Legalized Fraud’ With Medicaid Schemes

Special Guest Perspective by Dan O'Donnell - By giving districts that financial flexibility and also pumping more state money into their coffers, while simultaneously holding the line on state taxes through what Walker calls the “prosperity dividend” of his restoration of fiscal sanity in Wisconsin, the state’s education budget is healthier than ever...and it no longer needs to rely on federal handouts.  Read More The ABCs of Governor Walker’s Education Spending

According to a new MacIver analysis, a single payer health care takeover would be a costly power grab by progressive politicians. The analysis finds that it would cost Wisconsin taxpayers at least $30 billion in the first year alone. The left is Wisconsin likes to tout bumper sticker slogans about its health care plans, but they rarely talk about the cost. Now you know what it would cost you.  Read More MacIver News Minute: Single Payer Health Care Would Cost $30 Billion In First Year Alone

By Bill Osmulski - From the tactics and literature accompanying this year’s referendums, it appears the harder the state works to provide property tax relief, the harder local school officials will work to keep local taxpayers from ever benefiting from it.  Read More School Districts Use Projected Tax Cuts To Hide Huge Referendum Tax Hikes

MacIver investigative reporter Matt Kittle joins Oliver Burrows on WXCO in Wausau for their weekly roundup. This week they talk about the price of single payer health care in Wisconsin - $30 billion in just the first year, according to a new MacIver analysis. They also discuss Veterans Electric, which recently prevailed in court over a union seeking the personal information of nonunion employees.  Read More News And Views: Cost Of Single Payer Health Care And Small Business Prevails Over Union

By M.D. Kittle - Wisconsin public employees continue to benefit handsomely from the state’s generous “sick leave conversion program.”   Read More State Government Retirees Cash Out $171.96 Million In Unused Sick Leave