Robin Vos, out of Stepp

[Updated] With his even larger Republican majority in the Wisconsin State Assembly, Speaker Robin Vos - - official bio - - says he intends to adopt changes to the state's elections and ethics oversight commission - - the Government Accountability Board (GAB) - - and also to laws governing campaign finance and John Doe prosecutorial investigations.

Regardless of the spin, Vos is out to change the rules to further empower his party and Gov. Walker's hand.

It's an obvious ploy to benefit the players in charge - - and, remember, this is on top of unprecedented new powers the GOP Legislature already gave Walker to sell state assets and approve state agency rules which, in Wisconsin, have the authority of law.

And you are right if you think you're hearing Vos support something of a double-standard.

I give you the writing and rambling of one Cathy Stepp - - 

- - former developer, GOP state senator and current Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources - - an agency which, in cahoots with Vos and Walker and other GOP leaders has relaxed all sorts of environmental protections - - on how wrong it was not so long ago to tailor government authority allegedly for the people in power:  

The most crushing/controversial rules that businesses have to follow in our state are--most times--done through the "rule making process" of our state agencies. Without bogging everyone down with some really boring procedure talk, suffice it to say that many of these great ideas (sarcasm) come from deep inside the agencies and tend to be reflections of that agency's culture.

For example, people who go to work for the DNR's land, waste, and water bureaus tend to be anti-development, anti-transportation, and pro-garter snakes, karner blue butterflies, etc...This is in their nature; their make-up and DNA. So, since they're unelected bureaucrats who have only their cubicle walls to bounce ideas off of, they tend to come up with some pretty outrageous stuff that those of us in the real world have to contend with. 

I could go on and on with examples of some of the most ridiculous stuff I've seen come down the pike, (no pun intended), but for the purposes of this post, I am going to pull out a quote from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau's summary report on the outcome of the "budget negotiations" that legislative democrats had with each other. (Note: I said with "each other." There were no republican ideas or motions accepted AT ALL during the Conference Committee process. No surprise there.)... 

Well, sometimes agencies try to use this process as an end-around the legislative process to implement Rules, which end up having the same affect as Laws. (Those of you who have piers in lakes or culverts at the end of your driveways have probaby experienced these Rules.). 

O'k, I went waaay wordier than I intended, but here's some language that was inserted into this BudgetPig that should scare everyone--regarding one of our agencies, the Department of Commerce: "it may promulgate the initial rules as emergency rules without the finding of emergency..." 

It's always the fine print in these things that have the heaviest hit. 

Just another example of the democrats game plan: Change the Rules to Fit the Players. 

Shout it with me, now: HYPOCRISY, THY NAME IS DEMOCRAT.