Wisconsin GOP leaders on outrageous authoritarian run
Wisconsin Republicans like sneering at the name of the Democratic Party by re-engineering it to 'Democrat,' but now they're deconstructing basic democracy in favor of rank arrogance and self-preserving autocracy.
You have the bizarre spectacle of GOP Assembly Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald taking over the hiring and firing of staff at both the State Ethics Commission and State Elections Commission so he can install puppets instead of civil servants or the commissions' choices.
Will Fitzgerald show up at the meetings, manage the discussion, set policies, cast votes, turn out the lights and empty the trash just like every legislator who walks into an independent commission's sessions?
But leave it to super-partisan GOP Gov. Scott Walker to out-do Fitzgerald's grabs for influence and power.
Walker doesn't want any more blue waves breaking over empty legislative seats like the one that washed away his chosen GOP candidate a couple of weeks ago, so he's refusing to schedule two special elections to fill GOP vacancies.
Note that both of the vacancies - - A State Senate seat in DePere and a State Assembly seat in Lodi - - were both created by legislators leaving for jobs in Walker's administration.
How cowardly corrupt is that: promote legislators to state jobs, then disenfranchise the voters for many months by ruling out special elections which could weaken Walker's GOP majorities.
Walker's penchant for autocracy is showing, along with his nervous incumbent's flop sweat, as the blue wave and electoral reckoning gathers strength.
You have the bizarre spectacle of GOP Assembly Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald taking over the hiring and firing of staff at both the State Ethics Commission and State Elections Commission so he can install puppets instead of civil servants or the commissions' choices.
Will Fitzgerald show up at the meetings, manage the discussion, set policies, cast votes, turn out the lights and empty the trash just like every legislator who walks into an independent commission's sessions?
But leave it to super-partisan GOP Gov. Scott Walker to out-do Fitzgerald's grabs for influence and power.
Walker doesn't want any more blue waves breaking over empty legislative seats like the one that washed away his chosen GOP candidate a couple of weeks ago, so he's refusing to schedule two special elections to fill GOP vacancies.
Note that both of the vacancies - - A State Senate seat in DePere and a State Assembly seat in Lodi - - were both created by legislators leaving for jobs in Walker's administration.
How cowardly corrupt is that: promote legislators to state jobs, then disenfranchise the voters for many months by ruling out special elections which could weaken Walker's GOP majorities.
Walker's penchant for autocracy is showing, along with his nervous incumbent's flop sweat, as the blue wave and electoral reckoning gathers strength.
3 comments:
DePere is odd - seems like a safe seat -, maybe not? How long is he going to leave it open.? Thanks James- you bring this roger so well.
It's as "safe" as the seat Scachtner just won by double digits.
The bigger reason Walker doesn't want to act is because he doesn't want to drive up the vote for the Supreme Court election in April.
Dems should take this to court. Keep this in the news, and show how scared Gov UNINTIMIDATED really is
That DePere seat extends to and includes Door County and parts of Kewaunee County. I understand that even Republican business people are getting worried about the Walker administration's callous disregard for maintaining environmental protection.
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