Add Lifting Language Wholesale To Joel Kleefisch Misdeeds

Bad enough that GOP Assembly Representative and second state spouse Joel Kleefisch quietly paid a $243 forfeiture in Waukesha County Court for a hunting violation after last year's deer season.

Now The Journal Sentinel publishes evidence of a number of instances where Kleefisch lifted language from other politicians out-of-state in support of a bill he introduced along the lines of a federal proposal. One example shows open-and-shut unattributed copying:

In a May 8 press release touting House passage of the federal proposal, there appears this quote: 

"In order to have a healthy economy, we need to remove barriers that deny parents flexibility that fosters success at home and work," said Workforce Protections Subcommittee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-Mich.). "By giving working families and employers the voluntary flexibility to rearrange work schedules, we are letting them do what is best for their family. We're giving them the freedom to take a sick child to the doctor, spend time with family, or collect overtime wages." 

Now take a look at Kleefisch's Dec. 5 email to his 131 colleagues explaining the need for his proposal, providing a Legislative Reference Bureau analysis and seeking co-sponsors: 

"In order to have a healthy economy we need to remove barriers that deny parents flexibility which fosters success at home and at work. By giving working families and employers the voluntary flexibility to rearrange work schedules, we are letting them do what is best for their family. We are giving them the freedom to take a sick child to the doctor, spend time with family or collect overtime wages." 

Exactly the same — sans attribution — give or take an Oxford comma and a contraction.

Remember - - he's the legislator caught on camera voting electronically for an absent colleague on the Assembly floor.

And though butchering the English language is hardly an excuse to crib from others - - even if your staff take the fall (again, see the current JSonline piece) - - you've got to wonder exactly what is the problem with Kleefisch the Legislator, and why can't he follow so many basic rules of conduct? 

(Disclosure: The Journal Sentinel notes that One Wisconsin Now, Madison, was instrumental in bringing the language lifting issue to light. I am on the board of One Wisconsin Now's Inon-profit Institute board, played no role in the Kleefisch language matter and didn't know about it until I read the story at Jsonline tonight).