Dec. 28, 2023
Top Underreported Stories of 2024
Story selection is probably the most effective strategy that liberals in the mainstream media use to control the narrative to promote their agenda. The following stories never received their due in the mainstream media. Fortunately, MacIver was there to pick up the slack. Here are the top ten stories the mainstream media missed.
10. Top-Heavy Administration, Declining Enrollment Driving UW System’s Deficits
As the University of Wisconsin tried to convince lawmakers to increase its funding in the new state budget, the were some facts it wanted to keep quiet. Things like the number of administrators in UW System increased 47% last year alone, while enrollment declined. Or that while the numbers of administrators increased, instructional faculty and staff have decreased. The main stream media might not have been interested in exposing any of that. Fortunately, MacIver made sure it was a central theme in the budget debate. That led to a standoff between the legislature and the University of Wisconsin over its diversity, equity and inclusion offices, which eventually conservatives won.
9. Excuse Me Madison, Can I Get My Change Please?
When the State of Wisconsin found itself with a $7 billion budget surplus this year, conservatives demanded that that money be returned to the taxpayers. Afterall, a budget surplus means that the government took more money from the people than it needed to actually run the government. Giving that money back to the taxpayers was something Gov. Evers desperately wanted to avoid.
Story Link: Excuse Me Madison, Can I Get My Change Please? | MacIver Institute
8. Governor Evers Falls Out Of Love With His Own Iowa Plan
One of Gov. Evers’ top priorities in office has been to wrestle control of redistricting away from the legislature. Four years ago, he started championing the “Iowa Model,” which puts a nonpartisan commission in charge of the process. He swiftly changed his position when the Republican legislature proposed adopting that model.
Story Link: Governor Evers Falls Out Of Love With His Own Iowa Plan | MacIver Institute
7. Medicaid Unwinding: A Return To Program Integrity
During Covid, the government temporarily expanded Medicaid eligibility to address the public health emergency. When the emergency passed, eligibility requirements were put back in place. The main stream media then flooded the airwaves with tearjerking stories about people losing their coverage. MacIver pointed out that there’s nothing cruel about having to meet eligibility requirements to receive taxpayer-funded benefits.
Story Link: Medicaid Unwinding: A Return To Program Integrity | MacIver Institute
6. Deal of the Centuries
Wisconsin voters amended the State Constitution in 2008 to ban the “Frankenstein Veto,” which allowed governors to strike out individual letters to create entirely new policy in the state budget. That didn’t stop Gov. Evers from striking out individual numbers and symbols to create a 400-year annual education funding policy in the latest budget. After covering every accusation Evers hurls at Republicans for “attacking the constitution,” reporters were noticeably silent about the constitutionality of Evers’ move.
Story Link: Signed, Sealed And Delivered: Bigger Government For 4 More Centuries | MacIver Institute
5. Milwaukee Fudges its Staffing Numbers
Milwaukee’s mayor points to the city cutting 1,000 jobs over the past 20 years as evidence of financial responsibility. How many do you think it’s cut over the past 10 years? #Wiright pic.twitter.com/sJPJiCl83U
— MacIver News Service (@NewsMacIver) May 25, 2023
While trying to convince the legislature to approve massive taxpayer-funded bailout plan for the city, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson claimed the city cut 1,000 jobs over the past twenty years. He failed to mention that the city hasn’t eliminated any jobs over the past ten years. The media, naturally, let it slide.
4. Big Brother and the DMV
Electric vehicles don’t pay the gas tax, so what does that mean for the transportation fund?
.@WisconsinDOT Sec. Craig Thompson says he and @SpeakerVos have discussed introducing “vehicle miles travelled” (VMT) in Wisconsin. #WIright pic.twitter.com/o6oT1hjDp5— MacIver News Service (@NewsMacIver) May 10, 2023
At a public hearing in May, Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Craig Thompson let a big secret slip. The Evers Administration and the legislature are discussing the possibility of introducing a “vehicle miles travelled” (VMT) in Wisconsin. VMT creates privacy concerns because it can involve cellular and GPS data for data collection. Just the mention of it should have made headlines throughout the state.
3. Evers Yanks Tourism Funds Away from RNC
The legislature earmarked $10 million in 2023-24 for Visit Milwaukee through the state Department of Tourism – funds Milwaukee leaders said were needed for the city to cope with the magnitude of hosting the historic 2024 Republican National Convention. Evers slashed the earmark by 90%, limiting it to just $1 million, and eliminated the requirement that it be provided this year. The additional $9 million will stay with the state Tourism department. This placed the amount and the timing of the award to the city completely in the control of the Evers Administration.
2. A Cavalier Cash Grab
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said for months he needed more shared revenue and a new sales tax for vital city services. But Dan O’Donnell discovered that he was really angling for massive raises for himself and his cronies.
Story Link: https://www.maciverinstitute.com/2023/10/a-cavalier-cash-grab/
1. Allowing Illegal Aliens to Vote in Wisconsin Elections
Wisconsin Voices Policy Director Jamie Lynn Crofts says the state should allow illegal aliens to vote in local elections. #WIright @SenRomaineQuinn pic.twitter.com/qShkE421iZ
— MacIver News Service (@NewsMacIver) October 24, 2023
Requiring citizenship to vote seems pretty basic, but Wisconsin Republicans still thought it would be a good idea to specify that in the state constitution. They are right to be concerned. During a hearing on the amendment in October, Wisconsin Voices Policy Director Jamie Lynn Crofts came right out and said that the state should allow illegal aliens to vote in local elections. That apparently is not a fringe position on the left. Every Democrat on the Campaigns and Election Committee voted against the resolution.