Wisconsin might be setting a trend in this country when it comes to fighting back against the bully mentality of business groups and their lobbyists. For years, we’ve had to endured an endless stream of negative anti-business propaganda from Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, portraying the state as a corporate hell of high taxes and paperwork.
There is a price for supporting the states infrastructure and educated employees. It’ no secret Republicans don’t believe business should pay any taxes, its part of their approved national agenda. If you have no ties to your local or state community, you don’t have an endless list of local investments or obligations. It makes it much easier to relocate if the need arises. All that matters is the bottom line.
It’s all part of their economic plan to make you pay their taxes in the form of a sales tax, fazing out our current income tax system.
The fight against the corporate mob mindset of ordering career ending hits on Justices, our legal system and state legislators is being spearheaded by the medical software manufacturer, Epic Systems. They advocate taking the influence of politics out of our legal system. Both left and right.
Their plan is simple: Stop doing business with companies that are part of the corrupting influence of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC). They recently influenced and bought two conservative pro-business anti-consumer Supreme Court Justices. That’s different than if they had supported Justices overseeing the state Constitution and what is in the public interest. Corporate interest trumps all.
Epic Systems shows that it can be done. I’ve included a few great sources of information. Check out these links to see the seamy inside of WMC and what can be done to counter their assault on the public good.
From Waxingamerica: Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce: View from the Inside
The board meetings and the structure of the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC) is not much different from most boards, be they voluntary, corporate, labor union or nonprofit. If anything is unusual about the WMC board, it is that there is less dissent and more cohesion with a forty-five member board: About half the members fail to make all of the annual meetings. There is a core group of a half a dozen who control the meetings and the agenda, along with key staff members.
This same group controls the election of future board members and, in turn, the officers.
Most of the board members are too busy running their own businesses to carefully research WMC positions or to look for alternatives analysis or viewpoints...more here
Capital Times-Mike Ivey: A contender steps up to take on WMC
If it was coming from the usual left-wing suspects, one could dismiss the latest attack on Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. But given the criticism is coming from Wisconsin's most successful "new economy" company, it's hard to ignore. I'm talking, of course, about Epic Systems announcing last week it would avoid doing business with companies that belong to WMC, the controversial statewide business lobbying group that has made its latest splash by spending millions to successfully elect two conservative judges to the state Supreme Court.
With over 3,000 employees, the Verona-based medical software manufacturer is without peer as a homegrown tech firm and is only starting to flex its muscles. Publicly taking on WMC was a bold move by Epic founder Judy Faulkner and her management team, but not one they took lightly. The decision came only after consulting with what Epic called "a wide array of community members from different political backgrounds."
And Epic isn't just posturing. It's hitting WMC members where it matters most: the bottom line.
More here...
WMC Watch list all latest business tactics.
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