Morning briefing: Ron Johnson puts Ukraine blame on Vladimir Putin
Take a look at the stories from around our area and world that are making news today.
Ron Johnson puts Ukraine blame on Vladimir Putin: Brian Bonner writes in Kyiv Post: “U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, one of eight American senators on a fact-finding mission to Kyiv this weekend, said that the United States should hold Russian President Vladimir Putin responsible for any more bloodshed in Ukraine. ‘I’ll tell you what, from my standpoint there is one person I hold accountable for this aggression and it’s Vladimir Putin. If there’s further bloodshed, there’s also one person I will hold responsible,’ Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, told a news conference in Kyiv. ‘There’s one person that can stop it, that can prevent it. That’s Vladimir Putin.'” Read more
Crimea votes on Russia referendum: Carol Morello and Pamela Constable write for The Washington Post: “Crimeans started voting on their future Sunday after a hasty and one-sided campaign featuring intimidation and heavy-handed tactics that blocked most voters from hearing a vision for any alternative other than unification with Russia. The peninsula’s two main cities, Simferopol and Sevastopol, look as if annexation had already been decided and accomplished, with Russian flags flying from government buildings, storefronts, trollies and public squares.” Read more
Wisconsin dairy farmers get boost from high milk prices: Joe Taschler of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes: “The term ‘milk money’ has taken on a whole new meaning in recent weeks. Milk prices are hovering near their highest point ever, driven by strong demand for U.S. dairy products overseas as well as worries about a drought ravaging large pieces of California’s dairy country. The situation has big implications for Wisconsin, where dairy-related businesses collectively are a $26.5 billion piece of the state’s economy. That’s nearly 10% of the state’s total output of goods and services.” Read more
Majority leader holding up cancer drug bill that senators support: Jason Stein and Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel write: “More than two-thirds of GOP senators and four-fifths of the state Senate now publicly support a bipartisan bill to help cancer patients get critical treatments, but the measure is still being blocked by the head of that house. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said Wednesday he’s going to unusual steps to block the proposal because a majority of his GOP caucus opposes it, not because his brother is lobbying on behalf of influential insurers to kill the bill. But a review by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel shows that as of Friday, at least 13 of the 18 Republicans in the state Senate and all 15 Democrats have taken a public stance in support of the legislation. In the Senate, Fitzgerald is now the main force holding back the bill, drawing on one of his body’s most arcane rules to keep the legislation trapped in the committee he chairs.” Read more
Attorney general J.B. Van Hollen defers open government complaints to local officials: Eric Litke of Gannett Wisconsin Media writes: “Wisconsin law authorizes the attorney general and local district attorneys to enforce open government laws through court action, but Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has never pursued such a case in seven years in office. The attorney general is the chief interpreter of Wisconsin’s open meetings and public records laws and maintains lengthy compliance outlines on each subject. But in response to the hundreds of Wisconsin residents who report potential open meetings and public records violations, Van Hollen and his staffers defer legal action to local prosecutors.” Read more
Scott Walker ties for third in New Hampshire straw poll: Marc Fortier of Merrimack Patch writes: “He wasn’t in attendance, but U.S. Sen. Rand Paul took first place in the straw poll conducted at this weekend’s Northeast Republican Leadership Conference in Nashua. Paul received 15 percent of the vote, followed by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at 13 percent. Conservative speaker and renowned neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker all received 11 percent in the first-ever Northeast Republican Presidential Opinion Survey.” Read more
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