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Senator Kathleen Vinehout Plagarized Writings of Blagojevich Economic Advisor
August 10, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Senator Scott Fitzgerald, (608) 257-8035
Senator Kathleen Vinehout Guilty of Plagiarism
Vinehout passes off writings by Illinois Gov. Blagojevich’s Economic Advisor as her own
MADISON… WisPolitics and the Associated Press report that Senator Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) has been caught plagiarizing numerous publications of disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s economic advisor, Doug Kane. Vinehout passed off as her own ideas entire passages taken directly from Kane’s work that had appeared in the LaCrosse Tribune and other sources.
Kane admitted to WisPolitics that he had, in fact, written columns “on 5 or 6 occasions” that Vinehout later passed off as her own work.
The Associated Press reports that a Marquette University professor confirmed that “Vinehout clearly plagiarized [Kane’s] work.” He further states, “It would certainly strain credulity to suggest this was coincidental. On the face of it, it seems undeniable it’s plagiarism. The only remaining question was whether it was deliberate or inadvertent. It’s hard not to suspect the former.”
Vinehout wrote multiple columns from her legislative office and on her weblog that were taken nearly word-for-word from Blagojevich’s advisor’s writings. A side-by-side comparison of Vinehout’s legislative columns and Kane’s writings can be seen at www.vinehoutwatch.com.
“Taking credit for someone else’s work without citing the source is plagiarism; playing it off as something you wrote yourself is a lie,” said Senate Republican Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau). “This calls into question every Senate floor speech and every committee rant that Kathleen Vinehout has given over the past 4 years. Just how much of Vinehout’s material does Blagojevich’s advisor write?” said Fitzgerald.
Of the most egregious examples of plagiarism, Vinehout lifted nearly every word, all but 5 sentences, for a column she wrote in her official capacity as a State Senator directly from a piece of work by economist Kane. (http://www.legis.wi.gov/senate/sen31/news/Press/2008/col2008-069.asp vs. http://taxtales.blogspot.com/2007/03/does-good-business-tax-climate-make.html).
Having been a professor at the University of Illinois – Springfield, Vinehout should be well aware of what constitutes plagiarism and the stiff penalties that exist for people guilty of it. Vinehout would have violated the University’s plagiarism code by “Using someone else’s ideas without citing them as such” or “Using another person to write, re-write, or edit your work.” (http://www.uis.edu/academicintegrity/students/plagiarism.html). Plagiarism carries the penalty of expulsion from many universities.
The Tax Foundation reports that the business tax Kane and Blagojevich pushed was “one of the most economically damaging ways for states to extract revenue, and economists from all ends of the political spectrum are nearly unanimous in their opposition to them.” Kane and Blagojevich’s $7.1 billion tax on small business would have been the largest single-year tax increase this decade, and would have moved the Illinois from 22nd to the 9th highest tax state in the country. (http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/22362.html)
Vinehout’s propensity to punish businesses and crush the economy are evident not only in her efforts to bring Blagojevich taxes to Wisconsin, but she voted for a massive new tax on companies like Harley-Davidson, Briggs & Stratton, and Polaris, all of which have either announced they are moving from Wisconsin to other states or are considering moving.
“Blagojevich’s advisor and Senator Vinehout are cut from the same cloth when it comes to killing jobs and the economy with higher taxes on small businesses and more government spending,” said Fitzgerald. “Vinehout has brought to Wisconsin similar backwards big-government tax-and-spend policies that Blagojevich nearly succeeded in using to crush Illinois’ economy. Vinehout’s constituents should say ‘No’ to Blagojevich influence on Wisconsin’s economy by throwing her out of office.”
Doug Kane is an economist who was paid $125/hr by disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich to push the Gross Receipts Tax on Illinois jobs, a $7.1 billion tax so unpopular that the Democrat-controlled Illinois legislature rejected it after numerous economic experts criticized the plan as “misguided”. Kane is married to Senator Kathleen Vinehout and currently serves on the Alma School Board.
###
The three side by side comparisons can be found here:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Senator Scott Fitzgerald, (608) 257-8035
Senator Kathleen Vinehout Plagiarized Writings
of Blagojevich Economic Advisor
MADISON… Senator Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) has been caught plagiarizing
numerous publications of disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s economic
advisor, Doug Kane. Vinehout passed off as her own ideas entire passages taken directly
from Kane’s work that had appeared in the LaCrosse Tribune and other sources.
Vinehout wrote multiple columns from her legislative office and on her weblog that were
taken nearly word-for-word from Blagojevich’s economist’s writings. The following are
three examples of Vinehout plagiarizing economist Kane’s work:
Vinehout Writings Plagiarized Blagojevich Economist source
Will Low Taxes on Business Make the State’s Economy Grow?By
Senator Kathleen Vinehout : July 23, 2008
http://www.legis.wi.gov/senate/sen31/news/Press/2008/col2008-
069.asp
Does a "Good Business Tax Climate" Make the Economy Grow?
Posted by Douglas Kane : Friday, March 30, 2007
http://taxtales.blogspot.com/2007/03/does-good-business-taxclimate-
make.html
“Wait Lady! I’m Paying MORE in Taxes!”
By Senator Kathleen Vinehout : April 15, 2009
http://uppitywis.org/wait-lady-im-paying-more-taxes
There Are Still Long Term Revenue Problems to Fix
Posted by Douglas Kane : Thursday, May 17, 2007
http://taxtales.blogspot.com/2007/05/there-are-still-long-termrevenue.
html
What’s good for Business?
By Senator Kathleen Vinehout : May 24, 2010
http://www.legis.wi.gov/senate/sen31/news/Press/2010/col2010-
022.asp
Will lower taxes really bring more jobs?
By Douglas Kane / Alma : Tuesday, March 9, 2010 12:20 am
http://lacrossetribune.com/news/opinion/article_e41e1780-
2b6d-11df-b151-001cc4c03286.html
(A side-by-side comparison of Vinehout’s legislative columns and Kane’s writings can be
seen at www.wisgopsenate.com or at the end of this press release)
“Taking credit for someone else’s work without citing the source is plagiarism; playing it
off as something you wrote yourself is a lie,” said Senate Republican Leader Scott
Fitzgerald (R-Juneau). “This calls into question every Senate floor speech and every
committee rant that Kathleen Vinehout has given over the past 4 years. Does
Blagojevich’s economist write all of Vinehout’s material?” said Fitzgerald.
Of the most egregious examples of plagiarism, Vinehout lifted nearly every word, all but 5
sentences, for a column she wrote in her official capacity as a State Senator directly from a
piece of work by economist Kane.
(http://www.legis.wi.gov/senate/sen31/news/Press/2008/col2008-069.asp vs.
http://taxtales.blogspot.com/2007/03/does-good-business-tax-climate-make.html).
Having been a professor at the University of Illinois – Springfield, Vinehout should be
well aware of what constitutes plagiarism and the stiff penalties that exist for people guilty
of it. Vinehout would have violated the University’s plagiarism code by “Using someone
else’s ideas without citing them as such” or “Using another person to write, re-write, or
edit your work.” (http://www.uis.edu/academicintegrity/students/plagiarism.html).
Plagiarism carries the penalty of expulsion from many universities.
Beyond the ethical violations of plagiarism, the plagiarized subject matter is also very
troubling. Kane and Vinehout both advocate that lowering taxes on small businesses does
not grow the economy. Vinehout’s propensity to punish businesses and crush the economy
are evident in her votes to tax companies like Harley-Davidson, Briggs & Stratton, and
Polaris, all of which have either announced they are moving all their jobs from Wisconsin
to other states or are considering making the move.
“Blagojevich’s economic advisor and Senator Vinehout are cut from the same cloth when
it comes to killing jobs and the economy with higher taxes on small businesses and more
government spending,” said Fitzgerald. “Vinehout has brought to Wisconsin the same
backwards big-government tax-and-spend policies that Blagojevich nearly succeeded in
using to crush Illinois’ economy. Vinehout’s constituents should say ‘No’ to Blagojevich
influence on Wisconsin’s economy by throwing her out of office.”
Doug Kane is an economist who was paid $125/hr by disgraced Governor Rod Blagojevich
to push the Gross Receipts Tax on Illinois jobs, a nearly $8 billion tax so unpopular that
the Democrat-controlled Illinois legislature rejected it after numerous economic experts
criticized the plan as “misguided”. Kane is married to Senator Kathleen Vinehout and
currently serves on the Alma School Board.
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