Florida continue to push to privatize its prison system, and the entire effort is being greased by millions of dollars flowing to lobbyists and Florida legislators, not to mention the Governor. Efforts to force advocates to justify claims of savings are failing, bought off by even more money from those who profit from private prisons.

You really have to give some credit to Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. From a distance, you might expect him to be feeling a bit stressed out and sorry for himself. Not only did citizens gather 1 million signatures on petitions to force a recall election this summer, but a legal investigation into political corruption at his pre-gubernatorial stint in Milwaukee County keeps broadening, having already ensnared several former Walker aides.

The STOCK Act was a media-driven bill that politicians felt they could not resist after 60 Minutes ran a (somewhat flawed) exposé on the insider trading activities of members of Congress. Once a must-pass bill like that gets into circulation, it’s going to become an attractive target for messaging amendments where members try to hitch a ride with their pet issues. And because Congress is held in low public esteem, the best of these amendments would deal with the same kind of ethics issues.

Can you call Governor Cuomo, Mayor Brown, the Buffalo City Council and others in city government and tell them you stand with Occupy Buffalo against this heinous attempt to cover up their own corruption by suppressing free speech?

We learned yesterday that it’s very, very difficult for members of Congress to vote to effectively legalize insider trading for themselves. If it wasn’t for that meddling 60 Minutes, this wouldn’t be an issue. So difficult, in fact, that the motion to proceed on the bill stopping the practice passed 93-2 yesterday.

The John Doe investigation swirling around Scott Walker in Wisconsin has begun to become a factor in his recall election. The labor-backed progressive group We Are Wisconsin has called for the resignations of two current Walker staffers, who exhibited some of the same behavior that drew indictments for former aides.

The John Doe investigation has hung over Scott Walker and his associates for months now. Instead of just worrying whether he will get recalled, Walker has to worry about which of his aides, whether from the Governor’s office or his time as Milwaukee county executive, will get arrested for corruption. Now there are reports of further arrests of former Walker staff in the near future.

Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) has become the third House Republican discovered to have received a sweetheart loan as part of Countrywide’s “VIP” program. The program became notorious when conservatives jumped on the revelations that Democrats Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad received cheap loans through it. But it was always clear that influence peddling is a bipartisan sport in Washington, and it was inevitable that some Republicans would get found out.

Hey, you know what conservatives really really hate? Conservatives just can’t stand it when rich people and corporations use their vast wealth to game the system! Just don’t ask them to support any kind of public campaign financing or limits on corporate political spending…

Tim Russell, a longtime former aide to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, has been arrested and charged with three counts of theft. This is part of a wide-ranging “John Doe” investigation into improprieties by Walker and staff dating all the way back to his days as Milwaukee County executive and continuing through his gubernatorial tenure.