Research Cited

New investigations by Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Mary Bottari of the Center for Media and Democracy analyze hacked internal documents, which reveal that much like the Koch network, the Bradley Foundation has launched a national strategy to help conservatives control the branches of state governments and alter state policy to lower taxes, shrink government and attack labor unions.

“This has been a long-term investment for the Bradley Foundation, but it paid off when Walker succeeded in dismantling public sector unions in 2011,” said Mary Bottari of the liberal Center for Media and Democracy, which appears on the Bradley Foundation’s enemies list. “Once you have gutted out the opposition, you can continue to win on issue after issue because you have made yourself the only game in town.”

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An internal Bradley document compiles a list of 17 liberal organizations that “attack groups and people helping the Foundation further its mission” — an enemies list, of sorts. Making the list were two Wisconsin groups, One Wisconsin Now and the Center for Media and Democracy, and a host of national ones, including Media Matters for America, Democracy Alliance and Open Society.

In August 2014, the board of the Milwaukee-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation asked for a list of “organizations that attack groups and people helping the Foundation further its mission” so it could determine ways “to mitigate the damage they do.” In response, a veteran staffer compiled a list of 17 liberal organizations, including two in Wisconsin — the Center for Media and Democracy and One Wisconsin Now.