Slow news day

Had to be a slow news day. How else to account for a story on the state AP wire saying the US Chamber of Commerce is trashing Wisconsin's "business climate" because our Supreme Court thinks victims should be able to sue and perhaps collect damages.

It's a dog-bites-man story if there ever was won. The Chamber is the national version of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC), which has been lobbying hard on legal liability issues, including running radio ads in which the WMC calls itself the Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber and WMC have targeted Gov. Jim Doyle for defeat this year, and this is part of that effort. AP reports:

To highlight the study, the nation's largest business group will begin running print, radio and billboard ads in Wisconsin this week featuring the message "Wrong Way." . . .

The New York-based Center for Justice & Democracy, a national consumer group, dismissed Wisconsin's ranking as "dishonest, unfair and contrary to the evidence about the state's positive business climate." The state was recently one of seven to receive top ratings from a national economic development organization, the group noted.

"These surveys reflect nothing more than the Chamber's political agenda to limit legitimate lawsuits and accountability for corporate wrongdoers," Joanne Doroshow, executive director of the group, said in a statement.