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As part of the application process to land a job at the Wisconsin Reporter, applicants must answer questions like: “How do free markets help the poor?” and “do higher taxes lead to balanced budgets?”<ref>The Poytner Institute. [http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/romenesko/141113/editor-opportunistic-conservatives-are-behind-wisconsinreporter-com/ Editor: ‘Opportunistic conservatives’ are behind WisconsinReporter.com]. Organizational website. Accessed August 19, 2011.</ref>
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==An ALEC Ally==
===[http://www.sourcewatch.org/images/2/20/Assault_on_Clean_Election_Laws_final.pdf The Assault on Clean Election Laws: The Well-Funded Campaign to Legalize Coordination in Wisconsin and Nationwide]===
According to a the press release relating to a report published by the Center for Media and Democracy in January 2015:<ref>Brendan Fischer, Center for Media and Democracy, [http://www.sourcewatch.org/images/2/20/Assault_on_Clean_Election_Laws_final.pdf The Assault on Clean Election Laws: The Well-Funded Campaign to Legalize Coordination in Wisconsin and Nationwide], organizational report, January 13, 2015.</ref><ref>Center for Media and Democracy, [http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/01/12711/cmd-issues-new-report-latest-assault-clean-election-laws CMD Issues New Report on Latest Assault on Clean Election Laws], organizational press release, January 13, 2015.</ref>
A bipartisan effort to enforce Wisconsin's longstanding laws governing coordination between campaigns and independent groups has been mislabeled a "partisan witch hunt" by a well-funded legal and media campaign, with the ultimate goal of undermining what remains of limits on big money in politics, according to a new report from the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD):
CAV's lawyer, James D. Skyles, was previously General Counsel and Director of Operations at the [[Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity]], which runs Wisconsin Reporter.<ref>Andy Kroll, "[http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/wisconsin-recall-coalition-american-values-scott-walker Could this Pro-Walker Dark-Money Group Torpedo Recall Turnout?]," ''Mother Jones'', June 5, 2012.</ref>
The CAV's federal PAC has also paid money to a consulting firm run by John Connors, a leader of operations at the Franklin Center, and president of the group "[[Citizens for a Strong America]]," which was also active in the Wisconsin recall elections and kept its donors hidden, while operating out of a UPS drop box.<ref name="koch network funded"/> <ref name="graves csa">Lisa Graves, "[http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/04/10534/group-called-citizens-strong-america-operates-out-ups-mail-drop-runs-expensive-ad Group Called "Citizens for a Strong America" Operates out of a UPS Mail Drop but Runs Expensive Ads in Supreme Court Race?]," Center for Media and Democracy, ''PR Watch'', April 2, 2011.</ref>
Additionally, as the Center for Media and Democracy reported,<ref>Brendan Fischer, [http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/12/12344/why-franklin-center-wisconsin-reporter-attacking-john-doe Why Are the Franklin Center's "Wisconsin Reporter" and "Watchdog.org" Attacking the John Doe?], ''PRWatch.org'', December 19, 2013.</ref> "[t]he 'treasurer' listed on Coalition for American Values' FEC filings and the contact on its filings with Wisconsin's election board is Brent Downs. In 2008, when Connors chaired the Marquette College Republicans, Downs was his treasurer. Both were both students at Marquette University at the same time, and Downs, like Connors, also chaired the Students for Prosperity chapter of [[David Koch]]'s [[Americans for Prosperity]] at Marquette University."
