If I lived in Wisconsin, I would start as one-man protest campaign outside of Scott Walker's residence. A lay in a good supply of rotten eggs.
3
This has been a year of honest transparency for Republicans. It began with an open admission that they passed a debt-funded tax program to please and enrich their corporate benefactors at the expense of the people who vote for legislative office. It progressed with extraordinary publicity and court battles over their reliance on voter suppression tactics. And now it comes to a close with an outrageous voter fraud case, years in the making, in North Carolina coupled with petty disempowerment of their incoming Democratic rivals in Wisconsin and Michigan. There you have it: the GOP is the party at war with democracy for the benefit of wealthy special interests.
11
Gerrymandering is the left's all purpose excuse these days. Which is astonishing. Because they just decisively won back the House and...maintained control of it from the 1950s to 1994. How was that not due to gerrymandering?
Dear soon-to-be-former Governor Walker.
When you pretend that changes made at the very end of 8 years of single-party control in your state are "necessary", people understand that you are "lying".
But regarding your big Foxconn deal, where they're investing $10 billion in a plant in return for $3 billion in subsidies - all I can say, now that they're investing $9 billion but getting over $4 billion in breaks, is that I'm glad the Illinois residents who will be taking jobs there aren't also shouldering the massive budget hit you've dropped onto the Badger State's taxpayers.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/wisconsin-taxpayers-need-to-pull-the-plug-on-this-con-of-a-foxconn-deal-2018-11-02
3
Surely, actions like this and elsewhere across the country will keep the activists motivated as we prepare for 2020. These people have no shame.
4
Walker's is not a legacy: It's a scorched earth policy.
1
This seems to suggest that now this is it until the end of time, world without end, amen. If he signed it into law, why can't be it changed again? I truly don't get it!
1
Is it just me or are theses behaviors totally anti-american?
What is next, a list of books and words made illegal by some politicians? Where is Scott Walkers sense of fair play? He calls himself an American?
Mr. Walker is just another politician who has become a self servant when he was elected as a public servant.
8
An earlier article in this paper lamented the decline of rural America. Ironically, rural America is responsible for these types of actions across the Nation, as they have a disproportionate amount of voting power thanks to the Electoral College. Again, in an earlier article in this paper, a Texas judge declared the affordable Care act unconstitutional and struck it down. I grew up in rural America. We arrived in town as outsiders and were treated as such my entire childhood. The citizens were closed minded, distrustful of outsiders, and hateful in general. I too shared this mindset until I joined the military and moved far away, seeing different ways of life. Now I live in a predominantly progressive state. Every time I read these horror stories I say the same thing,"Thank God I don't live there."
9
While laws have been signed to strip power from legislators and the people they represent, please remember that the next folks can take up those same laws for REPEAL. In an era of such corruption, this gives democracy a better chance.
1
@janeofalltrades I was thinking the same thing. Is it that simple? I hope so.
Totally insane that the outgoing bunch can diminish the powers of the newly elected.
2
It seems that people do not rally together anymore, do not physically connect in a way that would generate a unified political force, a physical presence, to be reckoned with. Can protests and marches in Wisconsin and elsewhere be effective? It could force people to see what the issues really are. Certainly better, I think, than commenting on-line to like-minded people. I just can't sit by any longer, commenting.
2
Where is the outrage from Pelosi and Schumer? This may be a state level "power grab," but Pelosi and Schumer are our national leaders in Congress. They have a platform on the national level, yet often fail to use it. Rarely are they in the media. Pelosi wants to continue to be our House Leader, but she has demonstrated complacency and weakness these past two years. We need bold, loud, strong, new leadership representing Democrats in the House and Senate.
6
You just sealed the fate of every GOP member of the legislature. When their term is up they will lose until the Dem control and change the rules.
It is strange to me how these laws in North Carolina, Michigan and Wisconsin do not violate the state’s constitutions. If in fact does not, then that needs to change. This circumvents our democracy and is fundamentally wrong.
3
Is anyone surprised that the Republicans are doing what the Democrats do and vice versa? It aint about service its about money and power and it is nothing nice
Emboldened by the demise of an opposition party in the this country, the states' rights crowd is rewriting the spirit of a constitution that was already written to give them too much power. This is outrageous. States' rights was a construct designed to protect slavery and it still functions in a similar manner, only now it is color blind. When true reform takes place in this country, the rewriters of the constitution, after first changing the mistaken name we give to the nation, will strip the rights of the states so that citizens of all regions will be entitled to equal rights.
His political career is over, but his lucrative lobbying career for moneyed, corporate and financial industry interests is just beginning. Quisling.
9
Walker is a paid operative for the 0.01% International Mafia Robber Baron/Radical religion Good Old Boys' cabal and has done what he was paid to do. The Koch brothers must be grinning like Cheshire cats. Big, fat, inherited/stolen wealth grins that reflect their moral/ethical bankruptcy, insatiable greed and lack of social conscience.
Their daddy would be proud. Fred Koch and Fred Trump started the John Birch society with the message to destroy ALL government because it gets in the way of their thievery. Their "boys" learned well.
It's up to WE THE PEOPLE - average people across OUR United States of America who value democracy - to fight with everything we have to preserve/restore true democracy, which means social and economic justice for ALL Americans, in every state, county, city and town.
NOW is the time. Do NOT let this stand, Good People of Wisconsin. Make the lives of the miserable people who call themselves republicans as miserable as they are 24/7. Harass them. Run them out of restaurants. Interrupt their exercise. They deserve no respect because they do not respect OUR U.S. Constitution and/or laws.
This is OUR country. Not theirs.
15
"When legislators declined to vote on his proposal, Mr. Walker helped negotiate $28 million in incentives funded by state taxpayers. In exchange, the company promised that the plant’s nearly 400 employees would keep their jobs."
$70K per job. It would have been a better deal to hand that money as a lump sum to each worker and let them choose to move to better opportunities (probably out of state).
10
Here in Wisconsin I kinda feel like we live in olden times. There has just been a big battle and the Democrats ( after a long war) have taken the castle . As the old guard retreats they begin to burn or strip everything from the walls and land that supports the people living there. Scorched earth, I think they call it?
21
Before I begin, we must remember that there’s no such thing as a bad person and no such thing as a good person. There are only people. Sometimes they do good things and sometimes they do bad things. This is what I tell my 12-year-old. This moment in gesture by Governor Walker is an another example of our great divide that is currently at foot. We are witnessing many very dishonorable acts by our leaders (and parents) in front of our children who are trying to learn mature adult behavior. So many divisions; young versus old, men versus women, black versus white, Democrats versus Republicans. Life has become a gigantic zero sum game. We really need to stop this and come together as a nation. Restore our principles and morals. Care for our neighbors. Stop calling people names and looking upon them as the enemy. Yikes!
3
@Ira Grid No, there really are bad people. Rotten people. A rot wing party, with a few good people who subscribe to a morally rotten ideology out of fear of "others," fear that their "traditional" way of life--built on generations of institutionalized segregation and discrimination--is under threat. This thing called "democracy" worked only when that traditional way of life was the norm and the "others" knew their place, but now democracy is no longer of use. Like those traditional Christian values they claim to espouse: a convenient tool, not something to adhere to, and certainly not something to share with the "others."
10
So much for the orderly transition of power in a society that has celebrated itself for its fealty to rule of law. We're seeing a party essentially throw tantrums every time they lose, and change the rules so they don't have to lose. Don't like the incoming administrator? Strip his powers. Don't like the vote tallies? Deprive the opposition of the right to vote. I keep waiting for members of the GOP, both elected officials and voters, to reach their limit with a group that campaigns on the principles of bigotry and selfishness and acts as though they are more interested in ruling than governing, but perhaps this is really with the rest of us awakening to the fact that American conservatives are not particularly loyal to the notion of constitutional governance and the right to dissent.
9
to Democrats, it seems there's no limit it to how low Republicans can sink. to Republicans, there's always another buck to be grabbed, just beyond reach. it's all in your point of view.
The Wisconsin charade represents the last-gasp efforts of a corrupt party in its death throes. The Republicans realize that population demographics in the US are moving against them like a glacier and yet they seem to try to do everything they can to alienate women, people of color, and educated members of the electorate. Scott Walker has demonstrated that he is little more than a water boy for the anachronistic Koch brothers. Good riddance to all of them.
15
Did the governor retain the power to veto redistricting maps? Without it, expect another decade of Republican control of the Wisconsin state legislature.
3
We are now on that slippery slope downward to one-party rule. The trouble is no one seems to care much! We all rather sit around and complain.
The citizens of Wisconsin MUST register to vote and VOTE THEM ALL OUT OF OFFICE!
5
I detest the tactics demonstrated in Wisconsin by Walker & the Republicans... but then the Dems pull their own end around in NJ … the GOP seems to have lost their soul - certainly in national politics (i.e. blindly supporting Trump) - but the Dems are losing any moral high ground
@Jimi Among Democrats here in New Jersey, there's been an uprising of opposition to these state legislative proposals. The Democratic governor himself has said they're completely unacceptable. The leader of Democratic redistricting efforts nationwide says they're unacceptable. And on the ground, Democratic party activists are mobilizing against them. Because we know the difference between right and wrong, fair and unfair.
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/2018/12/13/nj-democrats-voting-map-plan-under-fire-progressive-activists/2294392002/
Where is the equivalent groundswell among Republicans? It simply doesn't exist. Why not?
4
@Jimi, the point of the Dem gerrymander in NJ is to get it challenged legally when some republican sues them for it. Then the issue will be decided by law. Since republicans in Congress will not step up and denounce this vote rigging technique, it is probably the Supreme Court that will stop this cheating. Sad.
But how do republicans win?
They cheat. And it seems to work!
8
Republicans believe in running government like a business. what do you expect?
1
Why do the Koch Brothers dislike the "common folks" Couldn't they use their money for better pourposes? Maybe they do, but who knows?
2
As chuck Schumer said before the cavanaugh hearings, it’s settled law until it isn’t. Walker is a Republican of small dimensions. Sure he hamstrung the incoming democrat, but ultimately it shows what the republicans have been up to in Wisconsin. A subtle takeover of a bi-partisan state. It is now a partisan state. That is the legacy of the republicans. They have made our country a partisan culture of political expediency that skews to the right and rich. Eventually everything comes back around. What goes around, comes around.
15
Take it to court. It's bound to be unconstitutional. Get some private group to sue them all, make them hock their government pensions to pay legal fees. That'll get these legislators to bleat. Start working now to beat them in the next election, repeal the law, and rename the Milwaukee sewage treatment facility after Walker.
21
The Koch brothers plan in action. If you can't control everything, destroy it for everyone else!
21
Lifelong Wisconsin resident, here. Just disgusted. Charlatan’s petulant conspiratorial assault on democracy. Walker says he’s a spiritual man, obviously hypocrite worship at Our Lady of Political Ambition. Too bad that ambition did not serve him strongly enough to graduate University, having been fortunate to take that path forward. He and his cronies (Robin Vos et al) have no scruples or courage having made announcement in red-leaning Green Bay and day after trying to appear as hero by subsidizing local industry, while jobs are correspondingly lost in Arkansas.
11
Posting stuff on twitter doesn't make one's legacy. More like infamy for everyone to mock for all time.
4
The Republicans, the gift that keeps on giving: Nixon/Agnew, Bush/Cheney and their creepy cadre of war mongers and torture enthusiasts, Trump/Pence and now, unable to win elections fair and square, hobbling incoming Democrats chosen by voters.
17
Let's be clear. The will of the people is NOT reflected in actions made by Republican Govenors, legislators or other far right leaning politicians. The Wisconsin legislature, and current governor, wishes to steal from their electorate, the due process of the electorate that voted in an opposing ideology. In a Democracy, that's just the way it is. The electorate decides - not the current legislature. So, Wisconsin legislature, if you think you can strip powers from an incoming different party, with the pathetic hope that you can retain control of your electorate, and STILL call your form of government a democracy, you're CRAZY!! And at some point, you will be overthrown. The PEOPLE will defeat you.
13
Scott Walker is yet another example of the "True Face of The Republican Party" .....power, greed and their own pockets.
11
Current elected officials who call themselves Republicans are no such thing. They belong to the new American Authoritarian Party. Franklin Graham is their spiritual leader. Donald Trump is their out of control, 14 year old figure head.
Attention Richard Nixon: you're now safe. No one will ever say again that you were the worst, most dishonest President in their lifetime.
12
Even when Democrats win, they lose. They just don’t know how to play the game.
3
That's because Democrats try "to play nice" and reach across the aisle - to compromise. What did they get? A punch in the nose!
It's time to play the game by the Republicans' rules. Play hardball.
Batter up!
5
Welcome to Wisconsin, the Mississippi of the North...a place where your vote truly does not matter... a place where Republicans rule lopsidedly and in a way that is not representative of democracy...a place where Republican sycophants chant repeatedly, "we do not live in a democracy, we live in a republic"...and mean by that, if you don't agree with, they will find a way to take away your vote and your freedom.
At this point, America is better off without Republicans.
18
I have been following politics for over 30 years and the latest specimen of Republicans absolutely astound me. From their
rampant gerrymandering, to bold out in the open voter
suppression and now this latest tactic of passing laws to restrict the power of the incoming governor. The three branches of government was designed to limit the power of one over the other and act as a system of checks and balances, including overreach by the legislature.
Why is this latest act by the Wisconsin legislature not an illegal act on the powers of the governor? People on this site keep predicting the demise of the Republicans but I don't see it happening because they are willing to do anything legal or illegal (as our president) to gain and retain power. They do not fear lawsuits. They take too long to work their way through the courts.
The only thing that would stop their brazen attacks upon democracy is to be criminally charged and indicted. This fascist tactic that they have conceived to subvert the will of the people is beyond comprehension.
Of course it would help if people stopped voting for Republicans, but don't hold your breath. The financial elite and their personal party (Republican) do a superb job of sowing division between left/right, white/minorities, rich vs poor, rural vs urban. The Democrats have proven time and time again they are simply no match for Republicans who act more like street criminals than elected officials. Simply unbelievable
11
Republicans won't be happy until they've abolished every program that helps average people. The prize for them? Just like company pensions have now become 401K's, privatization of social security.
12
The Repubs should remember this: what goes round, comes around.
5
Before he did this, I thought he was a bad governor. Now I think Scott Walker is a bad person too.
How very small of you, governor. How very Trumpy.
14
I'm appalled the Scott Walker and no one on his team seems to know how to create and use a Venn Diagram.
7
Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin created a legacy and Scott Walker seems to have learned from that.
5
LAWSUIT is the only thing they understand.
Another white male in a suit and tie (the GOP uniform) that has no clue about governance or a Venn diagram, and even less ethics.
9
OK, if that's how they want to play it, fine. I will donate as much money as I can to seeing that the Wisconsin's state level gerrymandered-in Republicans are voted out in two years.
You may say, "hey that's not fair for an Oregonian to send money to influence our state elections!" And I say, "Too bad. It was the national Republican think tanks that thought these cowardly schemes up for those R-party lame-o's in Madison so turn about its fair play." That's what I say. I ain't gonna forget either!
Republicans created this divide starting with all their attacks on Bill Clinton and they are going to carry it through until they are all out of office. It's just physics - for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
9
It’s up to the voters now.
2
ZERO integrity. He might as well be a meme for the Republican party.
6
Well done (not) by the Democrats in the New Jersey legislature, making it easier for voters to shrug their shoulders at GOP actions like this and say, 'Eh, both sides do it -- whaddaya gonna do?'
Well, when you can’t win on ideas, you cheat.
Definitely not defenders of democracy
4
It's very simple: Republicans need to grow up.
2
Another nail in the coffin for democracy in the USA!
4
And soon the Republican legislators shall feel the wrath of the people who want a single person with a staff he trusts to act in an emergency ...
Or when one of their own occupies the governor’s office, but not the legislature ...
Or like Republicans in the federal Legislature did, rushing to amend the constitution to limit presidential terms to “prevent another FDR”, just in time to have to have Nixon, not Ike facing Kid Jetset from Camelot.
Rule #1 when writing legislation: Never Ever Assume One Party shall hold this seat, and the other will control others. For, in a couple of years, it may well come back and take away YOUR power. Or, as many politicians I have known would put it ‘bite you in, uh we’r off the record. Right’.
Let us add a congressional hearing to his "legacy." January 2019 here we come!.
1
So can anyone tell me why Wisconsonites voted this guy into office TWICE and gave him a pass in that recall vote?
7
The Democrats will do nothing but whine and complain.
This is a act of war. Do something besides what Democrats always do. Stand up for yourselves.
1
“'He had a backbone of steel,' said Representative Sean Duffy …"
And a heart of coal.
2
@David Segal
Not to worry. The left wants to stamp out coal.
Voted the boy most likely to be caught playing with a dead possum (opossum).
Ask yourself this: If Walker had won re-election, would these laws have been put in place?
Republicans hate democracy.
4
I see the don't teach Venn Diagrams in the schools in Wisconsin.
5
Is this legal? Can the next governor reverse it?
Does a majority of Wisconsin voters, regardless of political party affiliation, approve of these actions by the Wisconsin legislature and lame-duck Gov. Scott Walker? That's the "We The People" perspective that should matter in that state.
The GOP-led Wisconsin legislature awarding newly elected Gov. Scott Walker new powers via legislative act(s), only to later take them away after the election that deposed him, is corruption at face value regardless of explanation. It shows exclusive self-interests by one political party that has gerry-mandered voting districts so it can control elect and maintain a majority in the state legislature when a majority of total voters are not from their party.
So when you chance upon a Wisconsin Republican during the winter holidays and the conversation turns to local politics, frame the issue and ask them point blank... is this fair as seen by an outside observer. Then refill your drink and wait.
Thank goodness for the NY Times and the Fourth Estate's investigatory journalism that sheds light on this type of dark corruption.
Ask MLK Jr. noted - "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that."
2
That’s the most absurd “Venn Diagram” I’ve ever seen. He should’ve just drawn one circle.
3
Before you know it they will abolish our right free speech. One way to get rid of Facebook and Twitter.
2
Reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode, "To Serve Man." It's clear what Republicans mean by "serving" the public.
3
Since the collective of attorneys general are the plaintiffs on behalf of their states in the ACA suit, not the state legislatures, new AG Kaul should just go ahead and withdraw from it as he had planned. Then if the legislature doesn’t like it, his response should be “So sue me.” The legislature’s attempt to micromanage the legal affairs of the state is clearly a violation of the separation of powers principle and will be vacated on appeal.
Oh, and the Wisconsin legislature receives the Judge Gideon Tucker Award. Judge Tucker made the famous remark that “no man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.”
3
Thanks for nothing, Scott Walker, except for a blueprint on how to destroy a state and a country. I guess you really couldn't stand being out-crazied by Trump. The death of America and denial of the will of its people will be laid at the doorsteps of both of you and the rest of the power-hungry destroyers of America masquerading as Republican patriots. I am furious - and nauseated. There must be a way for this for this to be reversed. (PS - I live in New Jersey, and almost everyone here finds our state's attempts at "permanent gerrymandering" to be repugnant as well.)
3
Democrats: pass some laws and get the money out of politics. It’s a cancer on our democracy. It’ll hurt a little but I’d say 95% of voters would support this.
3
All I can say is the same thing I would now say about Flynn trying to get out of his lies...Lock him (them) all up. The more they cheat the more they show that they will lose in the end.
1
$70,000 per job saved. What a deal!
1
Wisconsin residents! Do something. What about that old football chant from years ago--"On Wisconsin!" Can it not apply to the citizenry of this once-proud state? This is one of the lowest and dirtiest Republican political perversions we have seen so far.
72
@dressmaker We did do something. We voted in Democrats and this GOP government denied us our vote by limiting the powers of those we voted in. We protested. We called our legislators and sent them postcards and emailed them. They didn't care. What do you recommend we do now?
12
Unbelievable. From an outsiders point of view, this isn't what democracy looks like. And the worst part? Option A or B leads to single party rule. The Republicans are orchestrating an attempt at one party rule. If they fail (which I hope they do) then the Dems take over...potentially as one party rule. Healthy democracies accept will of the people, including defeat. My American friends deserve better than this. This exposed fragility must be mended.
1
While abhoring the undemocratic behavior currently being displayed, let us not forget something we can justifiably be proud of. There are some countries where an election result like 2016 would inspire a coup. In the US, there were marches and protests, but what was foremost in the minds of the opposition, including mine, was 2018. So millions of people worked very hard for TWO YEARS to prepare for this recent election. So not only did we earn our victory, that willingness to wait and work hard demonstrated a level of mature faith in democracy and justice that is truly a light for the world. Let us make the contrast with the current power grabs loud and clear. Truth, justice, fair play and decency can have a "spine of steel, " too!
Well, they are doing it simply because they can. Image and reputation is bought, not earned. The politicians knows that now and we are selling.
There needs to be a federal law against limiting the powers of any incoming party between an election and inauguration at the state level - even all levels - because this behavior is becoming all too common. That time needs to be lame duck time for EVERYONE.
1
@Jazz one. I think President Obama warned us that our democracy is in trouble. he also said putting it right would have to come from us, the people, and people like your grandfather and grandmother.
I have been following this somewhat, for days. Bottom line is : Scott Walker does not have say over the incoming Governor. And, since Republicans gerrymandered voting districts- not for the people but for unsavory "interests", so that only Republicans can win the State Legislature.
Technically they may all be felons for tampering with checks and balances, and elections. If, as I understand it, the Supreme Court refused to take up the Wisconsin gerrymandering case to restore justice, perhaps these jurists, logically, are felonious themselves, if they are paid for by Corporate and market / investment interests and Putin; and since deciding in favor of Citizens United.
Like Putin, Scott Walker and Mitch McConnell think that Democracy is "in their way", and they prefer tribunals always ruling in their own favor.
Now that we have Russian dark money via the NRA, we see that Putin is involved.
These are the kinds of tyranny our founders intended to prevent. Emerging from the context of English parliamentary rule and revolution they knew that corporations were dangerous. They were strong about the public commons. The whole structure of the constitution allows evolution, because they intuited that expansion of liberties is necessary and requires balance to avoid tyranny.
2
There have been too many lows to count, but Walker would do well to remember he is walking into history. How, exactly, does he think historians are going to parse this?
He's made his record. It stinks to high heaven and will dog him through time.
1
Oppression by the majority gives democracy an unfavourable view. When it becomes oppression by the minority should we brand it as "American Democracy"?
There are so many things that can be done. First, this bill can be used as a model for the incoming US Congress to strip Trump of most of his powers. Pelosi needs to push this hard.
Second, Walker and his Republican associates need to be sued in Federal court. First thing is that a judge will put a stay on the execution of the law. Lawsuit should be filed in such a way that the Republicans are held personally liable for their actions.
Third, a law should be passed by the new administration and legislature that makes the leaders responsible for this action criminally liable and responsible for their actions.
1
@Scott Weil
Theres certainly an excellent chance the 53-47 Senate would back up Nancy on that one.
This just defines what republican party has brought itself too. Shameless power grab. Even if his policies were what he thinks they were, it would only be civil, moral and ethical for him to afford same powers that he had when he assumed the office. He has no right to play with the will of people and limit what next elected officials can do. This is NAKED DANCE OF ARROGANCE.
1
Between this and the judge in Texas throwing out the ACA, not sure why the GOP is insisting on making themselves instinct. Not only are they creating a brand that no one wants to be part of, they're taking their own health and safety nets away when they need them a lot more than progressives who tend to watch out for one another.
What they don't realize is the numbers don't play out. Growth and lack of replenishment with young voters will eventually play themselves out and this long national nightmare will be over.
Unfortunately, in the interim, Walker has destroyed a state I have known and loved, turning it into an industrial wasteland of servitude to the Diane Hendricks and other wealthy northlands benefactors.
Our only solace will be, eventually, when Mueller gets down the list and figures out how much money he got from Butina.
Will Scott have the courage to handover power in person on inauguration day? Or is Sir Walker the ChickenHearted going to phone that in from Door County?
Just.Disgusted.
2
It is becoming more and more obvious that our two party political system is broken when the goals of those elected are aimed at deterring the other party instead of serving the people that elected them.
2
It seems possible that this could be unconstitutional on the basis that it takes away the power to vote ... the voters elected a governor and AG with specific powers and obligations, and with the legislature taking those powers away the will of the voters has been negated ...
Well, no real surprise, here...
It was more important for Scott Walker and his ilk to be Replublicans and beat them Democrats then it was to serve Wisconsin residents.
I guess they are afraid that their voters will not support their ideas in the future...
Message to Mr. Walker:
Voters have a very long memory...and we shall remember you not for anything other than this last act....
1
This is the latest of several articles about these ex post facto power grabs by sore loser Republican governors, but this is the first to answer an obvious question;. why can't the victorious Democrats simply repeal these spiteful laws? The writers of this article finally get around to answering that question but only way down toward the end of it. Almost as an afterthought. It's because, though they won the governorships, the Dems failed - doubtless due to Republican gerrymandering - to gain control of the state legislatures. So, until they do gain control, they're stuck with these crippling laws.
The real problem here is gerrymandering and that will be hard too get rid of. Kind of a Catch 22 situation.
Republicans love Limited Government.. as long as it’s Limited only to Republicans. Republicans should now be called the Anti-Democracy party.
4
With the worst possible President appointing awful men to the Supreme Court, it's going to be a long fight to stop this evil.
But we will. One state and one election at a time, as demographics shift from older white folk clinging to power, whatever the cost to our democracy.
It's time for a new Progressive Era that will restore power to the People.
1
NYT and other publications need to wake up. This is not the Wisconsin legislature doing this. These men and women are not their own men and women. They are merely puppets of Washington, taking their orders from the RNC. And that is what has changed in state legislatures around the country.
1
Oppression by the majority gives democracy an unfavourable view. When it becomes oppression by the minority should we brand it as "American Democracy"?
Wisconsin had a chance to recall this right wing robot, and didn't.
Wisconsin deserves the abuse.
1
Thucydides described the origins of the Peloponnesian War so that if such a catastrophe approached again, people would recognize the signs. The Republican Party is performing several of the signs Thucydides named. Scott Walker here is the very epitome of my favorite sign of impending catastrophic conflict: "WORDS LOSE THEIR MEANINGS". This goes far beyond simply lying to devalue speech and reasoning.
2
When did we lose a shared belief in decency and democracy? I’m appalled, but then it’s been a long siege of corruption and greed and I fight against numb apathy.
And also, could someone please explain to Walker and his staff what a venn diagram is??
1
Why not just go to every state legislators home and make him or her pay for this coup if your
state government.
This is war people. if thos doesn't rise to the level of revolt what does?
Taxation without representation.
Well look at that - the russpublicans even made some nice little charts - that make it a different story and makes it OK then.
1
Scott Walker states he loves Democracy and America, but does everything to undermine it's principles. His Voter ID Law in Wisconsin, which makes it harder for Blacks chiefly to vote, was signed into law by him with the comment, "this one is obviously special". There is no proof of significant voter fraud in Wisconsin, despite what Scott Walker wants to regurgitate from the bowels of ALEC, and the Republican Party.
Additionally, Scott Walker loves Donald Trump, campaigned for him, and helped him get elected President as Wisconsin voted for Trump. Now look what we have - a corrupt swamp overflowing in Washington, with crony capitalism, and climate denying polluters. If Trump is "Tariff Man", now Walker and Trump are "Smog Men".
Walker and Trump help the rich get richer, and the poor poorer, thanks to their tax cuts which benefit the already wealthy.
Mr. Walker, you won't be missed.
Welcome Governor Tony Evers, you have a mess to clean up from Walker's leadership, and you will do it well, good luck!
2
The purpose of this latest power grab by Republicans was to prevent the new Democratic governor from removing Wisconsin from the lawsuit Republicans have joined to strip health care from Americans. People will die as a result; others will suffer. Keep voting till all Republicans and their attacks on heath, education, clean air and water, and voting rights on the trash heap of history.
3
Time and time again, republicans demonstrate that the LAST thing they care about is The Republic.
1
This doesn't feel/sound/smell right. If the outgoing governor does not have even a smidgeon of a guilty conscious over this, he won't feel/sound right.
The playbook is transparent: compete, and when you lose, cheat, to overturn the outcome. The only way I can understand this trend in the Republican Party is to assume they - the members of the Republican Party - believe some higher god is on their side and supersedes Democrat principles. Or they are all simply corrupt. In any case, quite disgusting.
A rhetorical question in relation to this, McConnell outrages and many other corrupt acts by the GOP: How would the Republicans respond if this was done to them? Despite the Venn diagram and rationalization, you have your answer as to whether this last act from Walker was above board or not.
3
Scott Walker/Republicans: poster boys for sore losers. (Any female Republicans left?)
17
I foresee GOP Gov. Matt Bevin of Kentucky going down this same path should he lose reelection in 2019. Remember, this is the same person that signed into law the pension "sewer" bill, in which roughly 250 pages of language cutting benefits for state teachers, police and firemen were crammed into a wastewater bill that was cobbled behind closed doors for 6 hours and presented to the govenor's desk without any house debate or chance for comment from constituents.
Luckily, it was recently struck down by the Kentucky Supreme Court, to which he responded with typical sour grapes verbage of "activist judges out for a power grab."
19
Am I missing something here? Why can't this be undone by the incoming state legislature or a later Democrat controlled state legislature? If Republicans have proven anything in the last two years, it's anything that can be done, can be undone. Surely this isn't written in stone forever.
11
@Tyler Fawkes,
One word: gerrymandering.
This can theoretically be undone, but it will be very, very difficult.
16
Scott Walker needs to move to a country where his authoritarian measures will be properly appreciated. Meanwhile, do NOT let this stand, Wisconsin!
26
Isn't this what state constitutions and supreme courts are all about? Power corrupts. Eventually each branch will overreach and seek to usurp power rightfully held by the other branches. Only the self-interested struggle in holding onto the powers established by the constitution holds tyranny and corruption in check. So struggle already!
3
Just saw that the Republican DEFEATED governor of Wisconsin has signed the most offensive, sour-grapes legislation. I am so angry at all ELECTED Republicans and the DEFEATED Walker. The worst part about all of this is that we voters have no say anymore. We elected Democratic Governor-Elect Tony Evers. We might as well be living in authoritarian-ruled North Korea where citizens have no say in their governance. History will find Walker a politician of ill-will!
22
Does Wisconsin law allow for a referendum repealing this legislation? That would give Wisconsin voters a chance to stand up for democracy and humiliate this legislature and Governor (for now) Walker.
1
Certainly, there must be some protection and job descriptions in the WI constitution. Hopefully, the state supreme court can return some sanity to state government.
6
"As employment in Wisconsin's massive manufacturing sector switched into reverse, the state continued to lag the nation in the latest quarterly census of job creation.
Wisconsin added 37,166 private-sector non-farm jobs in the 12 months from March 2015 through March 2016, a tally that includes non-manufacturing as well as manufacturing positions, amounting to a 1.58% increase that ranks the state 33rd among the 50 states in the pace of job creation during that period."
3
Trump's supporters are right about one thing;The shadow government lives.
Only problem is they forgot to look in the mirror.
"I have seen the enemy and he is us"
14
He just clearly demonstrated why he was voted out of office. He fundamentally opposes democracy and the will of his electorate.
19
Here in Michigan, we have ballot initiatives, but our Republican state government simply preempts, changes, or ignores any that they don't like. Overturning the will of the people is just another day at the office for them.
I don't know when voters are finally going to get wise to their con games. It's like having a government run by corporate lobbyists, who will do anything to enrich their donors (excuse me, "job creators") and will sell out the citizens of the state in a heartbeat. These people are NOT your friends.
11
I hope the rest of America is watching before it's too late. We're teetering very close to the edge.
16
Why do I not feel that Trump et al have not made American Great Again and the we are really going in the wrong direction.
It seems to me we are going to the dumpster very quickly. All of our institutions are being attacked and now I hear Social Security benefits will have to be reduced by 25 percent in 2935. That is not very far off.
7
It is very clear that Wisconsin needs to invest heavily in education - let’s show the U.S. that we understand Venn Diagrams! We are thrilled to have Tony Evers take the lead to move our state Forward!!
6
Since Walker & team are exiting in 2018, why can't their last minute anti-democratic legislation be set to an expiry date same as their exit?
3
Is there anyone in the U.S. government who believes that they are elected to govern, not to ensure that no one does?
Simply appalling.
13
[Michigan] “outgoing governor, Rick Snyder, on Friday signed bills scaling back a minimum-wage increase and a paid-sick-leave measure that had been slated for statewide votes until Republicans intervened.”
Ontario’s Conservative Premier (similar to a Governor) eliminated a $1.00 minimum wage increase to $15CAD ($11.20 US) and cancelled 2 paid sick days per year for full time employees during his first days in office this year.
From media comment forums, it appears that there are people earning minimum wage who have swallowed the party line that they will be better off because they will save roughly $750 in income taxes by foregoing the extra roughly $2000 in added income.
It occurred to me that society used to treat conditions like alcoholism as an evil to be punished, whereas now we treat it as an illness. Maybe we should begin treating modern “conservatism” as an illness rather than callousness or stupidity.
I don’t know anymore.
6
This is just another sign that Republicans see themselves as entitled without having to stand for anything while wielding power that is unchecked and now compromised.
6
Don't forget that Wisconsin's Paul Ryan and Scott Walker are old friends and are cut from the same cloth. Is it any wonder why the establishment republican party has been overwhelmed by an insurgent radical fringe?
4
Why can't the Dems do a McConnell? no new legislations until the new administration swears in. Elections have consequences, said the stemmed Senator.
4
Unfortunately for Walker and his self-aggrandizing pals, there’s more to life than bratwurst and beer on the terrace. It’s been incredibly hard recruiting people to Wisconsin in the past eight years. I fully expect a continued brain drain to more forward thinking places on the coasts and inter mountain west. What a legacy: cravenly subverting democracy.
4
The right move. Trust me. It’s the right move.
This is how civil wars begin and, eventually, how democracies fail.
Let’s stop RIGHT NOW.
2
The peaceful transfer of power is the hallmark of democracy.
Walker and these Republicans just assaulted democracy.
This. Cannot. Stand.
9
At the very least, the Walker presentation shows he does not understand, or is deliberately misusing, Venn diagrams.
6
What’s the point of lame duck sessions in the modern era? When the voters speak, let them be heard, and seat their choices. Nobody is traveling by covered wagon caravan out to DC over a 2 month traverse anymore.
5
There was Paul Ryan & now this (should we say crooked ?) Scott Walker ,, and we thought Wisconsin was a Cheese producer
It turns out they also produce Cheesy guys like these , who subvert democracy
Come on people ,, show up and vote ,, every vote counts , every election, primaries included
4
If these measures were good for the state, why didn't Walker implement them earlier in his administration? Obviously this is sickening and yet another reason to relegate Republicans to the political wilderness for a long, long time.
7
If the ship-of-the state of this union (not!) is to be 'righted' in the 'next wave' (as one can but hope), scott walker need pray that the minimum-wage jobs available to him 'see their minimums' increased, that food stamps be 'continued' ... and 'home relief' re-born.
(But his most exigent supplication should be that no union man or woman will be able to find him.)
1
Walker leaves office with an act that is predictably in-character. The signatures of his acts in public ‘service’ are clear: narrow minded, craven, destructive to the many, beholden to the wealthy few, and mechanistically dumbfounding. Good riddance.
3
The message Wisconsin? Next election get out every voter who will vote for a party with integrity and destroy the Republican oligarchy that has been put in place with lying deceit voter suppression and gerrymandering.
Republicans love democracy as long as it's a One-Party democracy!
5
It is out and out fraud perpetrated by the republicans. The voters have been defrauded. They voted for an empowered governor. A judge can strike all of this down.
4
Recall, let the people decide.
4
I do think there may come a day that Reps rue the day they made so many immoral and ruthless power play decisions. The word karma comes to mind.
2
Another corrupt republican. Not surprised. I'm able to remember back to around Eisenhower, when Republicans had the country's best interests in mind and not the petty and dishonest goals they strive for today. The current republican party and its president are the greatest threat to freedom and democracy the country faces today.
7
Evil is as evil does. This is to be remembered.
4
Other than the voter suppression, the main thrust of Scott Walker’s legislation is to keep the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation under the complete control of the Republican party of Wisconsin.
As governor Mr. Walker has used the WEDC to funnel money to his major donors while keeping the process opaque. The measures Mr. Walker signed into law keep Wisconsin’s WEDC Republican slush fund under the total control of the Republican party of Wisconsin while making the process even less accountable.
7
Time for another recall election.
4
I don't know if it comes under doublethink, doublespeak or what. How else could you describe it when Walker signs something to diminish the incoming governor's powers while insisting that it does nothing of the kind? If that's the case, what was the object of the exercise?
29
I have one question for Scott Walker and every single person who voted for this law: " if the governor's powers were too great, why didn't you pass and sign this bill on the first day of your governorship.?
I'm sure there will never be an answer.
57
Just curious ... doesn't the Wisconsin state Constitution detail the responsibilities (and limitations) of powers and actions allowable to the governor and secretary of state? And thus, aren't lame-duck laws that propose to amend those responsibilities easily-contested as unconstitutional, to be put on hold while the court case proceeds through the system?
12
That has been my thought all along. I read their constitution and it is just as you say. The courts needs to intervene, put a stay on the illegal changes and then rule on it. If it’s a fair court the ruling will be just. But the whole country needs to be forewarned: be vigilant for the stealing of elections and the various lame- duck, nefarious laws crafted by the National Republican Party. I think the U.N. needs to have election observers in place for the 2020 elections because the banana republic of the USA can’t be trusted to run their elections or their government fairly and honestly.
5
Sure. So what; the whole assumption on which democracy rests is that those in power believe in democracy.
Scott Walker et al do not.
3
Instead of rejoicing that Scott Walker is leaving public office, what plans are being made now to recoup the public funds and resources that Walker & Co. diverted to supporters or stole outright? One way to ensure that this type of theft is not repeated is to make sure that those who profited at public expense are thoroughly exposed and whatever profits were realized are returned to the state’s coffers. It must be a priority. Don’t let Walker (a d his supporters) get away with this.
16
Let there be no doubt, Republicans have no use for democracy and have complete contempt for the American people. They'd do anything in their power to prevent the will of the American people from being translated into actual governance.
40
@Doug K
Let's amend that statement a bit. Republicans have no use for Democrats who want to lead us all to socialism.
That, I can live with.
The principle of separation of powers, embedded in all of our constitutions, is a basic guarantor of our civil rights, and any attack on it threatens our freedoms. It also invites litigation, retaliation when the shoe is on the other foot, as it inevitably will be ( there are no permanent victories in American politics ), and, worst of all, is horribly impractical because legislators are pathetically ill-equipped to perform executive functions. I lived in Illinois in the 1960 when a conservative legislature decided that the state's social service bureaucracy was too generous in handing out what Republicans now call "free stuff ", so it passed a law putting the function of screening applicants for social services and assistance into a legislative committee. That committee was absolutely overwhelmed by the job, and the sheer number of people to be screened, and the overall result was a total disaster. Separation of powers is clearly not a doctrine to help Democrats and damage Republicans; it is eminently practical.
8
The only effective response is to boycott all dairy products that originate in Wisconsin.
16
A boycott of all Wisconsin products is an excellent recommendation. Let's go.
2
Gerrymandering isn't a sufficient way to steal away what the voters chose?
13
This is what comes from being exclusive rather than inclusive.
As the republican party becomes evermore extreme: white, Christian, male, rich (or dreaming to be so,) it necessarily shrinks its base. How do you keep expanding your base in the face of the inclusionary opposition? Cheat, lie, steal, stoke fear, and look to outside, self-dealing sources for income and donors (such as Russian, Saudi Arabia, etc.) to keep it all afloat. You can lie about elections and voter fraud. You can gerrymander and suppress voting rights. And of course, you can always find outside financial sources...for a price.
That price is the country's freedom. The price also is that of a disaffected and disbelieving citizenship. The Republicans have sold their souls trying to stop change in its tracks. But life and the life of this country depends on change and the freedom to evolve, embracing and including each and every one of us.
16
''...a final act of a tumultuous tenure that has moved the state firmly to the right.'' - NO
It is a temporary situation where the voters of the state will correct this theft of Democracy, and remove republicans from power wherever they can.
The political pendulum has gone way too far to the extreme right and shall swing back in comparison, and probably more so !!
12
So, Wisconsin Republicans think that their actions are fair and that the voters will keep them in power for the foreseeable future. The majority of future voters may have different feelings. No one appreciates a bully! Many voters do not suffer from short-term memories, and will vote to reverse injustices.
9
Watch out folks. Republicans are planning AUSTERITY for America in the form of cuts to benefits which we have earned
and/or have the right to. (Which income benefits incidentally keep our local small businesses alive.) We have all seen what such austerity cutbacks have done to England. (England calls it's homeless people "rough sleepers." In Dickens' time they were known as "street orphans." Beware of the wicked plans
of the Republican Political Machine.
15
And all of this is because the state is gerrymandered beyond the point of being ridiculous - all in favor of the Republicans.
The newly elected Democrat Governor should fight this egregious attack on democracy vigorously. He should declare a state of emergency on the grounds that Wisconsin's very democracy is at stake, disband the gerrymandered legislature, order new districts drawn by non-partisan panels who actually look at the census data to draw districts, and immediately call for new elections.
It's way past time for Americans to stand up against this assault on our democracy.
17
So republicans want to deny the ability of the AG of the state to remove itself from the Obamacare challenge? I say go ahead and let them.
When the law is overturned (and I God hope it is) millions of white people will wake up without healthcare protections they now take for granted. Then and only then will they act and vote in their best interest.
14
Maybe not even then. These are people who think Trump is smart and articulate.
Scott Walker did a lot of things in office that I approved of, and I was happy to see him beat back the recall and then get re-elected in 2014.
But this move is disgusting and hypocritical. If the Republicans in Madison really believed in curbing a governor's powers, they should have done so when they took control of the legislature in 2010. It would have been the talk of the nation (that is, reducing executive power), but in a way that would have sparked thoughtful commentary and debate. This? All it is sparking are the flames of partisan rancor. This will likely sully Walker's legacy forever.
12
What happened to the one time progressive state of Wisconsin? Paul Ryan, Scott Walker, etc.?
Herein lies an alarming tale; how could these voters be so deceived?
9
This could be a hint for Mr. Trump and his fellow Republicans. They still have a couple of weeks to strip powers from the House.
2
Just another Republican political hack putting his own interests and Party ahead of his constituents. They are the party of old white guys, but they certainly have gangsta' tendencies.
As someone who has family and friends in the State, I would really like him to explain how trashing what was a stellar education system, environment and business climate is good for the future of Wisconsinites.
Foxconn in Wisconsin is not the future, regardless of the exorbitant incentives, he clearly has never been in electronics factories in Asia.
9
Billions for those least in need, nothing for workers and a bonfire for democracy. A transparent betrayal of Badger State tradition of responsible governance.
10
I am furious. And there's nothing that can be done about it.
I don't recognize my state anymore. It's certainly not the one that my grandfather, as a young man of 13, got beaten up during for his participation in a labor organizing rally so, so many years ago (my grandfather died in his early 70s, in the early '70s.)
But he was an early labor supporter, possibly because of his father -- a great-grandfather I never knew -- and then my grandfather went on to run the Wisconsin AFL, (or was it CIO? again, the years and specific get a big hazier), and then ultimately the Wisconsin AFL-CIO for many years.
And yet, he wasn't against capitalism or free enterprise -- he ended his career as an officer and board member of a local bank.
What I see in Wisconsin now just does not compute with our state's history.
And I am furious.
215
@jazz one . "And there's nothing I can do about it." The saddest and truest words I have read.
If all we have to remind us that we live in a democracy is the fact that we have a vote, what does it mean when even our votes don't matter? What country are we living in?
43
@harvey perr increasingly, a banana republic. But the Midterms show us that the GOP has not yet wrecked that part of our democracy. If they do, it's leave the country or take up arms.
I hope it never comes to that.
7
@jazz one It is a shame that people with money like Diane Hendricks of Janesville and the Koch brothers have co-opted your government to do their bidding and no longer serve the people. Wisconsin is a microcosm of the USA. Show us how to beat it and get rid of those gerrymandered boundaries.
4
If you can’t win legitimately, cheat. The GOP of the 21st century.
36
Republican hegemony in Wisconsin is due to Koch machine money. Voters are beginning to understand that the parties are the instruments of the financial elite. Republican more overtly than Democratic but it's true of both parties. Both parties ultimately support the control of the financial elite over ordinary Americans. The Democratic party wants to be nicer about it and pretend it's not true. Until the official party platform is: we don't allow large corporate campaign donations and we represent only our constituents, the party supports the financial elite more than the average American.
I am pro-democracy far more than I'm pro any party. Gerrymandering is wrong because it is anti-democracy. Big money political spending is wrong because it is anti-democracy. Politicians accepting Big Money donations is wrong because it is anti-democracy. The republican party is a lost cause because it openly endorses the power of the financial elite over most financial aspects of average Americans' lives. The only hope of transformation is ending the "New Democrat" "Third Way Democrat" element of the party as those are the corporatist corrupters. Instead, the new wave of candidates that refuses big money donations and actually relies on actual constituents and average American donations and is thus Only beholden to voters and Not the financial elite, that wave is going to swell to huge proportions in 2020 and beyond. That will end Gerrymandering. And republicans for a generation.
35
I had the opportunity to work as a physician in rural Northern Wisconsin relatively recently. While there, I saw no indication of business or industry clamoring to come to that area whatsoever. This was old iron ore mining country, without well paying jobs, or any jobs at all for that matter, and suffering from a huge narcotic and methamphetamine epidemic. If this area is a reflection of what Scott Walker accomplished while he was in office, he cannot claim any good deeds at all. I felt sorry for everyone in this community and especially the young people growing up in this land of despair. And I am from inner city Chicago.
58
My friends from the northern Wisconsin town of Washburn, in one of the two poorest counties, are both social workers. They recently moved to Rochester, MN because they could find jobs that paid a decent living. Walker’s slashing of state support for social service agencies drove them away. Unfortunately, northern Wisconsin is also Trump country.
22
@Michael Pesch
If Federally funded Medicaid was not available in this area, most folks up there would die quickly from potentially treatable medical conditions. Medicaid keeps the local hospital open.
The Republican Party is no longer a force for democracy. It needs to be crushed by overwhelming majorities everywhere it exercises power. Perhaps some say it can revive itself, but patriotic Americans have no need of it in its current state.
33
Scott Walker is a person described as a true conservative. I wish someone who is a conservative would explain him to me. I always though a conservative worked to retain the nation as it is and not degrade it. Perhaps I was wrong. His actions, if approved by Republicans, tell me there is a greater separation in the political process than I thought. I need to hear from Republicans why Walker's actions are good for this country.
25
Can someone explain why the incoming governor and Democratic majority can’t simply undo what the Republicans have done?
17
Dems don’t control the state legislature even though they got the popular vote. If you vote republican in Wisconsin, your vote counts twice for each person voting democratic.
7
@Rupert Pupnick There is no Democratic majority in the state congress because of gerrymandering. While the total number of votes favored Democrats, the gerrymandered districts result in a Republican majority in the state congress and there are not enough Republicans willing to cross the well-funded but immoral Koch-bought-and-paid-for plans for maintaining control. Since the congress legislates, the election of Democratic governor, AG and other management cannot overrule this power grab. One can only hope the courts will reverse it, but since the local courts have been stocked with Republican believers, they may not act in accordance with the the law.
13
@Rupert Pupnick
I think because of gerrymandering the legislature will remain firmly in Republican control and they want to keep the Democratic governor from exerting a co-equal check and balance to their entrenched power.
10
If the situation was reversed, Walker would protest. Take the legislation to court. It will likely be thrown out at some point.
14
Walker's legacy will certainly not be damaged by this latest move. It fits exactly with every thing he has done for that last 8 years and was entirely predictable. And it is exactly the sort of thing that his supporters elected him to do.
6
''...a final act of a tumultuous tenure that has moved the state firmly to the right.'' - NO
It is a temporary situation where the voters of the state will correct this theft of Democracy, and remove republicans from power wherever they can.
The political pendulum has gone way too far to the extreme right and shall swing back in comparison, and probably more so.
7
Last month, Democrats won the Wisconsin State Assembly popular vote 54 percent to 46 percent, but the GOP maintained 64 percent of Assembly seats, with Democrats holding just 36 percent.
It's basic arithmetic. The Republican gerrymandering has effectively stolen 18 percent of the Wisconsin vote...
35
Wow, there’s no more direct way for Republicans to say they don’t care what the voters want.
If the Republicans don’t want representative democracy, they should say what it is they stand for.
8
The republicans actually believe they are saving the republic from the majority of the people that want an expansion of social programs like healthcare, social security, minimum wage increase etc... they are also afraid of free tuition, increase in public education funding and regulations to fight climate change. These things threaten the Republican Party.
10
Remember that Walker said he would veto anything that didn’t protect transparency. Now he signs the legislation originating from his own office that eliminates the necessity of verifying job creation by recipients of Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation money that he allowed himself to dole out at WEDC meetings closed to the public.
Scott Walker's true legacy, The Wisconsin Sore Loser Act of 2018.
12
I am curious as to the author of this bill. This is not the republican party of FDR. This is a group of elected officials out for their own gain and that of their financial donors.
1
@Patrick Um, it was never the Republican party of FDR.
1
Too bad New Jersey democrats also have decided to visit the dark side of democracy-gerrymandering to solidify their power. American politics is at a crossroad. Throughout the country we can move to a inclusive approach to our elections, or engage in actions that undermine the American premise of equality
5
This subverts the will of the voters. It has to be challenged in federal court. As Republicans are quick to say: “Elections have consequences.” And vice versa.
7
I see that there may be legal action as a result of Walker's and the Wisconsin Republicans' shameful power grab. I certainly hope there is, but it will be interesting to see how such action fares in the courts. At this point I'm afraid that all the Republicans have to do if they lose in court is keep appealing, all the way to the Supreme Court, where the seat stolen from President Obama and Merrick Garland is now safely occupied by a right-winger.
4
How does the Governor’s power compare with other state Governors? Say Texas or New York?
How are the Early voter windows indicate a Power grab?
Labor issues, yes it should be fair. But is it the worst in the nation?
1
I look forward to the new AG investigating this very obviously bought Governor. Let's find out what graft he's been engaging in that he is keen to keep from public scrutiny and the long arm of the law.
7
The incoming governor should simply ignore the new laws, and if necessary govern by fiat. Any decision favoring the Republican legislative putsch should be treated with the contempt it deserves. Andrew Jackson, when he flouted a Supreme court decision forbidding the ethnic cleansing of Native Americans east of the Mississippi famously said "Justice Marshall has made his decision, let him enforce it". The military obeyed the Commander in Chief, not the Chief Justice. I would expect the state police and national guard would do the same in Wisconsin. This is a dangerous precedent that has to be decisively defeated, and if the only way to achieve this is to do what I suggest, so be it.
5
It's not just a question of 'moving the state to the right' as much as breaking a cardinal rule: you don't do and don't defend what you wouldn't want your opponents to do.
If Obama had tried something like that in his first two years, his haters would have literally taken up arms, yet, that doesn't give them pause to see it as the same thing when Walker does it. That tells a lot about these people.
8
For years white voters have downplayed the effect of voter suppression schemes by the rightwing. Republican agents have undermined the rights of Black & Brown voters with impunity across the South and on the reservations. Now these agents of voter suppression have turned on their own kind. Clearly the chickens have come home to roost. House Democrats must make voting rights a priority. Update the Voting Rights Act to impose pre-clearance restrictions on states that offend democracy.
4
I just checked and Wisconsin gives the Governor the Line Item Veto. Unless the new law changes this power of the Governor then this is how the Governor will seek his revenge.
6
The mere fact that he needs to have a big graphic sign to excuse the power grab is evidence enough that this is a blatant partisan anti-democracy play by Republicans. Let the lawsuits start - and be sure that this is in every Democrat's fundraising emails, next election's ad cycle and is a factor in the next election's results.
4
It's nice that by the final sentence of this article the author(s) finally gets around to mentioning a power being restricted by the new law(s).
That of course is what I primarily wanted to know.
Guess I'll have to look elsewhere for the full story.
2
One reason the Republicans can flout democracy is that there is no mention of democracy as a word or as a philosophy of governance in the Constitution or in the Declaration of Independence. The framers left it for posterity to define it each election cycle.
It is time to rewrite the constitutional text for the twenty first century. The only way to do it is to call a second constitutional convention made up of a variety of people who represent diversity of opinion.
2
Writers who lean to the left continue to insist that Walker came to prominence by being "anti-labor" because he limited the ability of unions representing Wisconsin's civil service employees to use the legal status and popular approval that blue collar unions had earned in decades of fighting corporate excess. When corporations squared off against unions it was a battle between private players with competing interests. Most of the union members that pilloried Walker were state workers who enjoyed good benefits, job tenure, little competition from more efficient workers, and often less actual supervision by managers driven by a profit motif.
1
He stripped them of their collective bargaining rights. How is that not anti-labor?
Republican Governors prove again that they're not too good at math. Walker's chart shows the shared subset as "Same Powers" and the NON-SHARED subsets have lists of identical text. Hiding the difference = Misrepresentation.
Texas Governor, Greg Abbott was recently asked if he believed that Climate Change was real and he said that he wasn't a scientist. Maybe Republican leaders should find some real scientists to do their charts and talking.
5
''...a final act of a tumultuous tenure that has moved the state firmly to the right.'' - NO
It is a temporary situation where the voters of the state will correct this theft of Democracy, and remove republicans from power wherever they can.
The political pendulum has gone way too far to the extreme right and shall swing back in comparison, and probably more so !
3
Dear Wisconsin
Run on this- every day. Hold them accountable in restaurants and movie theaters and grocery stores and everywhere. Challenge every legislator who voted for this. Name them, brand them and don’t let up- every day until the next election. Every single day
16
A fitting end to a disgraceful political legacy. If what this guy Walker did isn't a crime, it should be. There's really no difference between this and Russia's intervention in our elections. Actually, it's arguably worse since is is a U.S. citizen.
5
"We Republicans in Wisconsin have been in a position to make these very necessary changes since I was elected to my first term, but we're doing them now, after my terms are done, before the next governor comes in. Very necessary, despite our not doing them in the last 8 years."
"What? The new guy's a Democrat? I hadn't even noticed. Just busy busy busy finishing up these changes we've been meaning to do, because they're so necessary, but haven't, uh, got done over the last 8 years."
"Why'd it take so long? Well, face it, we're incompetent."
10
Not mentioned is the surprise entry of the Koch brothers after Citizens United. Wisconsin Dems have been outspent and outspent a gazillion to one. Walker didn't survive a recall, the Koch brothers did!
7
“Dark Money” by Jane Mayer focuses on the Koch brothers annual retreat where close to 1 billion dollars are raised EACH year to support underground conservative initiatives, especially in Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina. Is there a relationship here?
7
This seems very wrong. But the key question is whether this violates the state constitution and the separation of powers. If it does they ought to sue immediately. If not, then so it goes.
One should note states run by democratic legislatures have done the same thing. For example the Mass Democratic legislature changed the rules on how a Senator could be appointed when a Republican governor was elected after Ted Kennedy passed away.
2
The Republican M.O.: Win by cheating and gerrymandering. If you can't win by cheating and gerrymandering, then subvert the will of the people in profoundly tyrannical and undemocratic moves like this one. We can only hope this comes back to bite them in the next election. Do they think no one has noticed that with this precedent, Democrats could do the same things to Republicans next time?
4
The new Democratic governor and attorney general ought to declare that these "sore loser" bills are null and void and that they will ignore them accordingly. Then let the Republicans do the suing, if they can find anybody with "standing." And let the Democrats use all the delaying tactics that Republicans have been using for decades to slow-walk court cases they don't like. In the meantime, the new governor can operate with all the powers that Scott Walker and the Republicans awarded themselves. It's no time to be a goody two shoes. Just ask the voters.
3
This is just one more blatant example of just how low Republicans will go to hang onto power.
Over and over again the actions of Republican officials at all levels of government demonstrate that they are willing to do anything they can to retain a short-term political advantage in ways that seriously undermine the democratic process and the rule of law.
I am very concerned that our country may not survive the Conservative onslaught aimed at our political institutions, the journalists who provide us information vital for an informed citizenry and the voting rights of Americans. How can they possibly justify to themselves the level of harm that they are doing to our fragile democracy?
It appears that there really are no limits to what Republicans will do. . . Have they no shame? Will they ever come to their senses and finally realize that winning really isn't worth the destruction of the foundations of democracy on which the United States is built?
5
I would love to know how the Republicans reconcile blatant power grabs like this with a respect for democratic ideals or do they not even bother? The cynic in me is resigned to the fact that this is how politics is played in a society that is first and foremost a capitalist society that, for reasons that are increasingly hard to fathom, has to pay lip service to democracy. Doesn't "democracy" have something to do with "one man - one vote"?
This makes a mockery of the idea of a peaceable transfer of power. The fact that this can happen at all is further evidence that the implements of power are wielded by the oligarchs. Why should the Republicans care how this looks to the average voter? I'm sure it looks great to the Koch brothers.
I guess, if anything, I'm nostalgic for the time when Republicans had to at least pretend to care about the will of the people.
3
Do many of the elected officials who rise as high in the governmental power structure of a state, as has Governor Walker, have difficulty comprehending the role a difficult-to-change CONSTITUTION plays in an orderly republican democracy?
Constitutions insure consistency in the distribution of functions and powers, for both branches of government and the various offices within those branches. This constitutional “consistency” allows for a smooth transition when partisan changes occur within the state or federal government.
In simpler, less pedantic terms:
For Mr. Walker and the Republican legislators in Wisconsin to try to change the rules, after losing statewide elected offices, is the same as stacking the deck before you deal out a hand. It’s reprehensible. It’s plain and simple cheating.
For Mr. Walker and the Republicans to openly make these crooked moves is even worse. The Wisconsin Republicans are publicly admitting that they can only win by rigging the game. This is a clear sign of true desperation on their part, which is embarrassingly pathetic.
(It is worth noting that, on the federal level, our current president has shown us, again and again,
that he hasn’t got a clue as to why a republican democracy needs a constitution.)
2
Once again Republicans reveal there is no bottom to the depths they're willing to go. This is part of the new "take their ball and go home" mandate to their followers that the rules only apply to Democrats - not Republicans. This is tantamount to a school, once run by children, serving cake for breakfast. But for fear the new incoming adult regime would change course, eliminating the cake in favor of Oatmeal, changed rules prohibiting responsible governance. To say the modern-day Republican asks like a child does a significant disservice to children.
3
Walker clearly does not understand Venn diagrams. That's along with not understanding ethics, fairness, and democracy.
3
I am certain Walker is getting high-fives from his financial backers. Walker and Republicans like him never embraced the concept of democracy. It is money and power at all costs fueled by a lack of empathy and compassion compatible with serial killers. This behavior is an obscenity. Yet the people of Wisconsin voted for, supported, and embraced Walker.
3
The people of Wisconsin brought this onto themselves. They empowered these people. THEY elected Gerrymandering. They gave their consent to this process. Elections have consequences. Don't feel sorry for them now. They gave Republicans the power to do this. Nothing here is illegal. Everything here is expected. THEY voted REPUBLICAN. Now they are sorry? TOO LATE.
2
The Rule of Law is on life support in the United States of America. The weakness of democracy is populism, which exploits mass credulity.
1
And the taxpayers will get stuck with the legal bills as it heads to court
1
Of course none of this was necessary during Walker's own term as governor.
3
Cheating is just fine as long as you gain an advantage? Wow, this moral bankruptcy will never allow America to be great again.
3
As a neighbor to Wisconsin, I shake my head is disgust. But there is a silver lining in this for all Americans hoping to see improvements in our political system. This action by Walker virtually assures we'll never see him as a president of this country.
Happy hunting, Scottie.
2
This will be struck down in court.
I hope.
Yes.
Let's hope the Wisconsin Democrats continue showing a spine and file suit seeking to have these provisions declared unconstitutional. They must violate the executive authority in several respects. Unfortunately, I think the Republicans also have a majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
3
As a Canadian, I am horrified by many of these power grabs. Seems fitting that politicians are never seen as being "honest." Why is it so hard for these people to operate in an honest and fair manner? Oh wait, the gold standard for unfairness and dishonesty is occupying the White House.
1
If he had been reelected would he have signed this into law?
2
In Australia, once an election is announced, they party in power cannot make major changes or appointments. They are in "caretaker" mode.
This could be useful for places where democracy is much weaker, such as certain of the United States.
6
Venn diagrams are supposed to show differences and commonalities. If the two sides of the diagram are the same there aren't any differences! Which I guess was his point, but if there are no differences, why go through the entire exercise in the first place?
Scott Walker needs to look up how Venn diagrams work. As a former Wisconsin resident, who was quite happy to leave the year of the Walker Nightmare, I wish my home state the best. Keep up the good fight. You'll determine the next election. Seriously, you live in a place where your vote actually matters. Knock on doors and drive people to the polls. You're our only hope. On Wisconsin. Forward.
15
I am very happy and relieved I was able to drive through Wisconsin in the early 90s when it was still a beautiful and progressive oasis in the middle of one of my cross-country road trips, that time Boston to Seattle via the northern states. I only have Alaska left now on my “All 50 States Visited” bingo card, so no need to ever set foot in Wisconsin again.
19
Teachers, those in education pensions are unusually generous in a nation where pensions for almost everyone else are virtually nonexistent. Strikes me that these pensions are unfairly burdensome unless the State wants to make provisions for some kind of pension funding for its citizens too.
1
What is the point of having a Constitution, at both the state and federal level, that specifies "separation of powers" and "checks and balances"?
While, what the GOP, in Wisconsin did is seen as "legal" by them; it flies in the face of "rule of law". Then again, the GOP put Trump in the White House, and people like Ryan and McConnell in charge of Congress.
It is incredible that this is being sold, to Wisconsin, as a means to improve government and streamline operations. What they did is strip some power from the governor. And, because they control the legislature, they can gerrymander the state, so they can hold onto power to gerrymander again, in 2021.
One has to wonder if the people of Wisconsin desire to live in a one party state? Or, the people of Michigan, or North Carolina, or, soon, Ohio? Yes, Ohio. Every high office, in the state, is now held by the GOP. The GOP also controls the Senate, House and the Governor's seat. Expect Ohio to become the next Wisconsin.
Also, expect the GOP to systematically go through each hard red leaning state to make sure these states stay that way. Their hope, to get the few more states needed for a federal Constitutional Convention. When they get that, it will be open season on the existing "rule of law".
The GOP are on a systematic national power grab that will make the US an eventually one party state in practice. Sort of when the PRI controlled Mexico fro seven decades. During that time, Mexico was also a multi-party state.
24
It's is about money and power. This legislation will result in millions of dollars of campaign contributions for those who supported the bill and in effect keeps them in power long after they depart. If you have the votes use them. The Democratic party locally and nationally is too splintered to be effective especially when faced with a singleminded opponent with strong backing from its constituents.
6
I cannot believe this would withstand a Constitutional challenge, since the clear intent is to deny representation to voters in the majority.
I am still trying just to comprehend the mindset that allows Walker et. al to do this: it's Trump like, L'etat, c'est moi. In Wisconsin? Who ARE these guys who think they are ENTITLED to rule even out of office? Very Putinesque.
41
Tony Evers and Josh Kaul both campaigned on withdrawing WI from the suit to drop ACA protections, and we elected them to do just that. I hope these last minute shenanigans don't hold up in court.
30
Did anyone actually think that Scott Walker would do the decent, democratic thing and respect the ideals of our and the state's Constitution? If they did, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you. He did to Wisconsin what Brownback did to Kansas. Completely destroyed the state to further the anti-government, anti-environment, anti-worker's rights, etc. agenda of the Koch Brothers. He is a bought and paid for Koch product and his last act to was pay them back for all the money they funneled to destroy Wisconsin. Kansas has come to its senses and Brownback is now the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom in the Trump administration. I suspect that Scott Walker will score a similar absurd position or end up at a Republican Koch "think tank" (oxymoron intended). The sooner we get rid of the Trump's, Brownback's, Walker's and McConnell's of the world, the better. Whether they want to face it or not, the tide has turned and they are dinosaurs of a failed agenda that destroyed their states and will take years to rebuild.
45
Commenters keeps saying that Walker and the Wisconsin Republicans stripped power from the incoming Democrats. That's not accurate. They stripped power from the voters. They silenced the voices of the people who voted for the changes and for the promises made by the Democrats who won.
Silencing the voices of voters, stripping their power to make change through a peaceful transition of power, smashing the intent of the American democratic experiment to give power to the people -- THAT is what Republicans in Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina are doing. What R's are doing everywhere they gerrymander and suppress voters and rush through laws behind closed doors in the dead of night.
That is not America. There are a lot of words for the type of government that is, but "democracy" isn't one of them.
69
@Lorrae
Don’t forget what they did to us here in Pennsylvania. We are traditionally a Democratic stronghold. The Republicans gerrymandered us into 13 Republican congessmen and 5 Democrats, until the PA Supreme Court found their 2011 congressional districting map to be unconstitutional.
Using the new map, approved by our SC, in November, 2018 we elected 9D-9R.
Has it been proven yet that partisan gerrymandering is the reason we now have a Repulican majority in the House of Representatives?
3
One more state to add to my ever-growing list of states with which this Californian will strive to do no more business.
42
@ Larrea
Watching these political messes from afar are why I will never leave the great *Democratic* State of California! It's good to be here in L.A.
2
A boycott of Wisconsin dairy products is in order.
1
Weasel Walker didn't even have the guts to sign the legislation in the state capitol of Madison, but slinked into Green Bay, a more Republican city, to do his dirty deed.
It epitomizes the sore loser attitude of the statewide GOP, whch is trying to subvert the will of the voters and protect the gerrymandered districts that allow GOP control of the legislature, despite losing the statewide vote tally 55-45 percent.
Evers will win the court fight, and Walker can kiss his political career goodbye.
31
Thank you Reps. and Mr. Walker for sullying the reputation of democracy, not just in WI, but in the entire Western Hemisphere!
Can you say SORE LOSER?!
This is the exact same nonsense you read about happening under despotic regimes and dictatorships in the third world, not here at home. No, the word collusion doesn’t seem apropos anymore but COMMUNISM Sure does!
And somehow Dems and Hilary are still the crooked ones. Thank you, fake news!!
17
Why didn't the legislature just formally legislate a one-party system, or legislate that the people of Wisconsin don't have voting power? If you're going to dip your toe into the sullyment of democracy, why not go all in?
16
This is one more example of how Republicans are perverting democracy, and trying to destroy it for the sake of their own power. From Trump on down to state legislatures, Republicans are destroying voter rights and democratic norms. If we care about democracy, we need to boot these thieves out of office.
32
At what point do we acknowledge that the USA is not a democracy any longer. Walker is emblematic of the hard right's total lack of respect for the will of the people and for the Constitution. We are rapidly becoming nothing more than a hyper-religious kakistocracy/theocracy.
34
All men are created equal. It's a myth that runs through American history. In every era the USA has belied this belief. -slavery, jim crow and particularly as the belief pertains to electoral voting rights in every era of American history. Some men's votes count far more than others. The electoral college, and Citizens United may be some of the most anti democratic ways where the minority can forever rule over the majority Add in gerrymandering, voter suppresion and a packed SCOTUS means America can no longer be the beacon of freedom to the rest of the world.
What is sad to see is this state of affairs seems to be okay and the way it should be with a large part of the American populace.
17
shameless....
15
If the dictator Walker attempts to run for any office again, I will donate to his Democratic opponent.
Republicans cheat. We have no need for them.
20
So do you think Wisconsin Republicans will keep this law when the next GOP governor is elected?
17
Walker’s brand of self-righteous ‘Evangelical’ conservatism (most influenced by the ashiest Ayn Rand) crippled Wisconsin (and Kansas).Compare Wisconsin with Minnesota. Minnesota rejected post 2008 austerity but instead spent and invested resulting in a robust economy. Wisconsin is still struggling.
25
This is no Governor with a spine of steel, but a well trained, mean spirited puppet of dark money, like the rest of the legislature. Of course there will be law suits and the outcome of his grand gestures will most likely tie up our court systems for a long, long time. Mr Walker's legacy will not flatter him or any of the rest of the Republicans currently in office.
18
The real danger with these actions is that they will soon become the norm for whatever party is in power. Just look at the overreach by the Dems in NJ.
5
Democrats in NJ are realizing that when they tried to play nice and reach across the aisle, Republicans met their handshake with a punch to the nose in NJ and elsewhere. Republicans brought our nation to this cliff with their antics in Wisconsin, North Carolina and elsewhere to varying degrees.
So, for Democrats, they now realize that they have play hard ball or be crushed.
Power up against this strike against democracy. The WI GOP is laughing into their sleeves. My sense, however, is that they will reap the whirlwind
9
“that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth” spoken at Gettysburg.
What a marvellous code embedded in the country, as seen by a northern neighbour....along with a host of others.
It seems to has been perverted, and now shows as being a more selfish doctrine by those who have taken an oath to serve, yet consider their personal bully-pulpit to read more like : "Despite the oath, we the former incumbents have decided to be as perverse and obstructive as possible rather than reaching out to the classic debated compromise on behalf of the people".
I wonder what it will take to get the United States back on course.
12
This crop of republicans don't believe in democracy. Rather, they believe in power, money, and some outdated, dangerous myopic view of the world that places white men at the center and everyone else on the periphery. We, on the periphery, do not accept these actions or this view. Change is happening and more change is coming.
16
This is a power play by Walker and Republicans and needs to be challenged in court.
Motive is everything. This is NOT for the benefit of Winsconsin citizens who already and clearly lent their voice with their votes.
Mr. Walker NEVER would have signed a bill that weakened his own authority as Governor had he won.
Also, DEMS need to ready legislature that nullifies as much of this partisan assault as possible.
7
If you look up "sore loser" in the dictionary, you will find a picture of Scott Walker. The voters of Wisconsin have rejected him and his policies, so now he is going to force those policies on them. I have no doubt that this will end up in court.
12
All Wisconsinites who voted for the Democrat Governor and Attorney General, effected by these legislation should boycott all Walgreens stores, Microsoft, and the other corporations who financed the Republican legislators to get tax breaks in the state, and did nothing to try to stop the legislation from being passed to limit powers of the Democrat Governor and Attorney General. Boycott them and I am sure Walgreens and the others will lose more money than they are saving from the Republican tax breaks the corporations "bought" thus leaving Wisconsin tax payers to make up for those big tac breaks.
8
NY Times , Please do a better job reporting and not falling prey to rebroadcasting Republican talking points while pretending to do balanced reporting. You are showing Walker's point of view in the graphic and your headline on the home page is about his legacy not about the stripping of powers and the purposeful crippling of the successors ability to actually govern. Your own reporting on this topic on the Daily is better than this.
8
FOX CROSSING?
Says it all.
4
I hope this power grab will make Scott Walker ineluctable in any future political race.
5
Short sighted and putting an electoral target on their backs i expect moderates
in Wisc Mi and NC to send the GOP to early retirenent in 2020
Then demonstrate good govt
In the meantime it’s time to boycott
SC Johnson and other Wisc based companies sending a message that you crooks won’t get away with this fascistic behaviour without America exacting a high price
Those who do not believe boycotts are effective have short memories :
Apartheid South Africa
I have personally boycotted Exxon since they dumped oil in Alaskan waters in 1989
4
Walker's Republican crony is quoted in this article describing Walker as having had "a backbone of steel". Right.
What Walker has is his hand in the Koch Brothers' Coffers every day he remains in office. It is not primarily Walker "balking" over these election "reversals" it is Walker's Political and Financial "Patrons" who have had such an impressive "run" in politics ever since this Nation LEGALIZED election THEFT with a bill
sardonically called "Citizens United".
Who among us can *really believe that, in a country that has
LEGALIZED election THEFT by the wealthy, that the wealthy
are "self-enforcing" honest, open, and free elections ?
Scott Walker was "friends" with the Koch Brothers even *before
he was elected Governor. Need more be said this side of a Court
of Law ??
Where is our Koch Bros. "Cohen" when we need one ?? ;-D ;-D
5
This is insane!
6
Take them straight to the Stae Supreme Court where these illegal acts will be struck down.
5
Scott Walker, just another crazy GOP cheat and liar.
6
Republicans did this before and lost, a judge overturned the law last time, I suspect it will happen again as it should.
Republicans are behaving like third world country despots
voiding elections if they do not like the results.
6
This is an attempt to subvert democracy and install seemingly democratic institutions with dictatorial powers.
If/when civil war breaks out, think of today’s actions.
6
This just proves the real enemy of the people is not the Press, but the Trump led GOP. The goal of the resistance should be to vote them all out of office and destroy the Republican Party before it destroys America.
14
Here in California our Democratic legislature is readying a tax on text messaging. This after Gov Brown passed a huge gas tax increase using nothing less than bribery to get legislators to sign on.
Good for Gov Walker.....
3
The why the cheering for one man rule Presidency?
1
If they were concerned about executive overreach, they would have done this when Walker was in office.
What an unconscionable ploy to appease a base that is sinking this nation by the day.
10
Republican Party. Another day, another dollar.
3
Can we apply the reduction of Governor's power to Walker signing this bill?
1
How long until someone challenges this in court? Outrageous.
2
$28 million from the taxpayers of Wisconsin to preserve fewer than 400 jobs. That's $70,000 per job, and roughly one year's payroll at the facility that was kept open. Walker has been a lifelong parasite on the public dime, as he's never held a real, non political job his entire life. His tenure as Governor was notable for his hostility to his fellow government employees, as he cut their legs out from under them, politically and economically.
Ironic that after all this, he will effectively make the people who work for this private company employees of the state of Wisconsin for a year. The message to other Wisconsin employers? Blackmail the governor and he will augment your profits with public money.
5
Governor Walker, his Wisconsin GOP colleagues, and the Republican Party nationwide all have this is common: they have no ideas to address the real needs of real people and, what's worse, they don't care.
In the absence of governing they simply want raw power and are willing to sacrifice democracy itself in order to have life as they want it. This is not "conservative" - not even close - it is as extreme as you can get and has nothing to do with a life in public service.
This stripping of powers of the very people the voters have chosen is so un-American, so soulless, so criminal. The state of Wisconsin Democratic Party and the National Democratic Party must join in a suit against this action and, if necessary, take it to the highest court in the land.
It is no wonder we no longer have a "United" States of America - this behavior is bullying and abusive, caring only for the pain inflicted on those who want a government that works for them.
8
Does anybody not see what the Republican Party has become?
5
Execrable behavior from Walker. The chart is even more spurious.
3
Shameful is all I can say. Hope they undo this in the courts
3
Scott Walker simply did the dirty work that mainstream politicos including Democrats wanted done. We saw this commonality of interests on display at the bizarro world Bush funeral and before that McCain's. There is a big game of bad cop good cop but in the end it all ends up the same. Tax cuts, health care, you name it. When push comes to shove the Democrats will do what needs to be done on their own. We saw this with Obama and social security cut backs, Clinton with repeal of Glass Steagaal among other things, and all the way back to Taft Hartley where the Democrats helped override Truman's veto, even. Walker just did the money Democrats a big favor.
3
Google "Beavis and Butthead." Observe the sketches of both these MTV morons. Compare Butthead's visage to that of Mr. Walker. Notice a resemblance? So, an artist, intending to express his vision of the cartoon image of a total dullard, comes up a character who looks like he could be Walker's brighter twin.
(By the way, check out Beavis, too; he looks a lot like Rand Paul.)
2
One of the great gubernatorial failures of modern times gets to cement his legacy of incompetence, autocracy, and corruption. The Koch brothers must be so proud of their boy.
3
Republican politicians fail to notice that their conservative, partisan policies that are prompting public outcry, as well as their lack of respect for that outcry, is what is getting them ousted from their positions by voters. Trump and his cohorts are going down, and so are the petty politicians who have sided with him. Retributory acts such as Walker’s are a disgrace. More proof that the Republican party is not of the people or for the people.
1
I was on State Street in Madison, WI once and I found a translucent husk of a man. It both confused and repelled me, but as I studied it from a few feet away, I realized it was Scott Walker's skin, which he'd evidently shed to enable growth.
6
$28 million in taxpayer subsidies to keep some jobs in place that a company wanted to move. As I have seen it happen in other states, the company will run through the subsidy and then move anyway . Better to have the taxpayers pay their neighbors directly - the effect is the same, holding in place versus trying to move on to another place and another job.
3
I really enjoy the patronizing Venn diagram claiming that both administrations will have the same power. If they had the same power, the circles would be right on top of each other. The GOP cant even get propaganda right...
21
Wisconsin and Michigan Republicans have certainly given Democrats a lot of powerful campaign messages for 2020. And at least in Michigan we are going to get ungerrymandered after the 2020 census---at least if Governor Snyder proves he's no Scott Walker and vetoes the bill that tries to undermine our new amendment (passed by 61% of Michigan voters).
4
If this move was good for Wisconsin, how come Walker didn't relinquish these powers when he served?
11
The bad news for Wisconsin state lawmakers is Gov. Evers can't stop armed civilians from entering the state capitol anymore. Having worked in state government, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the Wisconsin state rotunda after Scott Walker's latest actions. Walker has absolutely escalated the threat of violence. Republicans are begging for trouble.
Personally, I'd start cashing in those unused sick days while I looked for a new job. Thanks boss, I'll work from home.
10
Ban the Packers from the NFL. Maybe someone will notice.
3
Am I missing something? Where in the article is the list of specific powers that were modified? It's written like I should be upset that this happened, but how can I decide for myself without the facts? Maybe it's relying on earlier reports, but I haven't read those. There's a video linked with Walker defending what powers are still the same, but what actually changed?
5
It reminds me of the case of some third world nations where the President, upon losing the election, declares it void. This is what we have become under Republicans.
6
See trump, Donald 2020
Had a republican been voted in, none of the states that are doing this would have attempted it. That this is a partisan attempt to circumvent the constitution of each individual state is clear. That only republicans are doing this makes me ashamed to have once been a republican. Shame on all of you republicans who are allowing this or supporting it. Do you no longer value the "United" in United States? You are intentionally dividing this country along partisan lines so that any moral or ethical republican can no longer support the party. The two parties are supposed to come together to find solutions to the problems we now face. Instead the republicans appear to be attempting to "forge" a "republican government" that cannot be unseated even by a majority vote.
3
The true colors of the GOP are on display across America for all to see. Voters -- those who are not one of the 1% -- do not forget the many, many misdeeds of this reprehensible group. Vote the GOP out in 2020. Reclaim democracy.
8
One party rule in the best tradition of communist countries like Cuba, USSR, China, Albania under Enver Hoxha, and Yugoslavia under Tito.
Peaceful transfer -- but not peaceful transfer of power.
The US republicans see the merits of communism!
3
Excuse me? We have a constution. States have constitutions. Legislators, governors, and other public servants swear, on the Bible, or their chosen holy book, to UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTIONS of the country and state that they will be SERVING. That means, in a democracy, bowing to the will of the people, in fair elections. The true stupidity of such moves, is that they set precedents. This kind of disregard for democratic values can easily cause the whole thing to implode. Such moves also work the other way: whenever, anywhere, a majority vote is not allowed to stand. It means that when, not if, Democrats win any election, they can reverse the favor. Now that America has become a lawless country, and our Constitution is in tatters, as well as State constitutions, and the law of one citizen, one vote is no longer the law of the land -- where are we? Soon enough we'll be Syria's Western Province.
3
Clearly someone has no idea just what a Venn diagram is used to indicate. Or they are being intentionally misleading. I'm afraid I have to believe it's the latter.
4
Wow. $28M in tax incentives for 400 jobs. That's $70K per job – basically taken out of the pockets of Wisconsin taxpayers.
14
Does the diagram show a pair of handcuffs?
Is he saying he's going to wear it?
5
It's funny how the party who cries voter fraud is the one that commits voter fraud (North Carolina) and when losing fair and square, does everything they can to void the will of the voter (Wisconsin and Michigan). Republicans do everything they can before and after elections to ensure Democrat votes don't count. But would you expect anything else from the party of Trump?
15
I have shared this incredible story of hubris and elitist attitude. I first read about the political maneuvering last week and was gobsmacked. One of my sons lives in WI with his new little family and I want them to experience the true breadth of what freedom should mean. Not what a few self appointed guardians believe what freedom means and who should taste it. I have read former (soon) Gov. Walker’s manifesto in the past. Nasty piece of business that just leaves that awful lingering aftertaste.
9
Republicans showing their breathtaking disregard for voter's choices. It amounts to insurrection no matter how it's looked at. Can we expect the same response in DC when the GOP Senate eventually falls?
Such graceless losers - it will come back to bite them.
9
Governor Walker:
This is now your legacy.
You were offended when you were booed when lighting the State Christmas Tree. Well, now, forevermore, you have duly earned permanent scorn. Expect no welcome anywhere in the state. There will never be a day when you are a respected elder statesman. Think about that, Governor.
We, the majority of the citizens of Wisconsin, will see to it you are relegated to the dustbin of history and hopefully never heard from or seen again.
21
Why is anyone surprised by this only the latest power grab by the republicans? They apparently believe, with some justification, that they can't get elected legitimately, so they have to lie, cheat, steal, gerrymander, and lie and cheat and steal.
From local to statewide to national affairs, the GOP is always, always on the wrong side of history of morality and, frequently, the law.
If they had any shame, we could shame them. Fat chance.
They don't know the meaning of that word or any other.
2
There should be an immediate court challenge to this political coup!
7
Maybe Walker's pitiful ploy will backfire and his cronies will be run out of office along with him—as the people of Wisconsin decide to further democracy and rid themselves of pathetic politicians.
3
Walker and Trump and their ignoble philosophies were installed into the body politic with the full knowledge and encouragement of the majority of the citizens of Wisconsin and the Red States of America. God help us from our fellow Americans.
4
Downright medieval. Lose the battle then burn the village and the fields to spite the victorious opposition.
8
Good job Wisconsin republicans, that strategy worked out really great in California in the end right?
3
I derive perverse pleasure envisioning defeated Gov. Scotty Walker applying his own store- bought hair dye.
3
This needs to be taken to court immediately. And until it changes, the Democrats in the state legislature should try to hold up any and every Republican initiative.
8
why are dems so quiet - talk about the cost to the state in lawsuits, talk about the constitution, talk about gerrymandering, just get up on your hind legs and TALK, dems, I am hearing NOTHING..
5
I imagine that the discovery phase of the Wisconsin citizens' lawsuit against Walker and his Republican legislative cabal will produce numerous, very revealing emails, text messages, and other incriminating evidence establishing that this post-election maneuver was simply an unabashed power diminishing for the incoming Democratic Governor and Attorney General, enacted with "surgical precision". Better move to protect all of that information, before it disappears.
6
This is one of the ways democracy dies, remaining in name only. The options are simple, organize, vote, and if necessary move the to rural areas.
3
How do the people of Wisconsin, who voted in a Democratic governor stand for this injustice? I hope they take their anger out in any town hall meetings that Republican state representatives attend. I mean, to me, I would be participating in marches , demonstrations, confrontations and sit-ins to continually protest this appalling abuse of power. I guess it just proves that Republicans are really a sad, desperate, despicable group, no matter where they are.
5
Each person could have been paid 70k. Corruption and politics. Republicans are destroying the country.
4
A Constitution that allows this is in bad need of amendment if not a complete rewrite.
4
His facial structure is very similar to Michael Cohen's: sad, long and droopy, it does not emanate of a life well lived.
3
Why bother voting? Even when the scoundrels lose, they change the rules on their way out the door to make sure they win. This type of behavior makes a mockery of democracy. It is happening not just in Wisconsin and Michigan, but all across the country. Old Vlady Putin must be very pleased, indeed.
2
Shame...defenders of democracy they are not...they are defenders of self-interest and just plain sore losers....
3
Amazing, what a bunch of clowns! Or one could say sore losers.
1
Scott Walker shining up his resume for his consulting gigs.
3
I read the entire article and have no idea what he did. What are the "measures" he took to diminish power??
You are right. There was very little mention of specifics about the limitations enacted. To get a better idea of what the impact will be, I suggest going to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and read the front page article.
1
Democracy could result in people of color have a voice in government and that is unacceptable to a racist party like the GOP.
I wish the Times and other media would be more explicit in calling out how the absolute terror that people of color strike in the hearts of the racist rural base of the GOP informs everything the party does.
4
How is this legal?
4
"Is it legal?"
"I'll make it legal."
Although it happened a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Mr. Lucas foretold our future.
It must be permitted by the state constitution. Unless the legislature’s actions conflict with federal law or the US Constitution, state laws are the only limit. The state legislature can do whatever it wants unless it conflicts with the state constitution. (I’m just a law student but that is my thought)
What do you expect from psychopathic leaders such as Walker. Hope people will let him know their feelings if ever he crosses their path.
4
Scott Walker is a disgusting person.
8
@Mello Char
And the voters who elected him twice?
Koch Brothers who enabled him (and donate to Museums and Opera Houses)?
What adjectives do you have for them my dear?
2
Hopefully the people in Wisconsin can figure out a way to out-vote the rigged system the GOP has installed, or take action through the courts.
Sad when 'winners' have to cheat to win. Guess that makes them losers, no matter how hard they try to cast themselves otherwise.
7
Scotty Walker has proved that he has less class and honesty than his $3.00 shirts.
9
As I have said before, I will never loan my snowblower to Scott Walker. He has no moral fiiber and is a thief.
2
Have we learned nothing from history? If We The People don't stop letting this kind of thing happen, what AMERICA has always been will cease to exist. Many civilizations have fallen due to their people not stepping up, either from laziness, ignorance or the belief that it can't happen to them. WE can and must hold the people who work for us accountable. Our children's futures depend on it.
7
Walker is a man of limited integrity and political courage.
He will always choose political party and partisanship over principle, fairness and belief in democracy.
It is mind boggling to think he was considered a viable Republican candidate for Presidency. Unfortunately the entire power structure of the Republican Party is of the same sorry ilk. This bodes ominously for the future of our democracy and our Republic that should believe in the fair transfer of power after elections. It is really shameless!
9
If you just look at the diagram that Walker holding up, you can see that nothing has changed. See? It's all "hype and hysteria" as the chart shows. Right.
Just points to the low regard this man has for the intelligence of voters. It should be pointed out that making and understanding Venn diagrams is usually covered during one's senior year at Marquette University, a level Scott failed to attain.
14
Thank you for pointing that out. I zoomed in to this picture and had to laugh out loud. Perfect. A perfect allegory of the average American right-wing politicians (look at his wonderful empty face) and their shameless Mickey-Mouse-Charts communication to their voters.
This man should be sentenced to have this Venn-Diagramm included on page 1 of his CV for the next 20 years!
3
Elections have all kinds of consequences.
3
If it wasn't blatant power grab, Walker would of done it in the 1st 25 days, not the last.
6
See you in court.
11
So... Scott Walker doesn't know how Venn diagrams work? What he's holding states clearly that his administration has power that the Evers administration will not. Only a stupid person would see that and... oh right.
7
There are so many contemptible Republicans right now it's impossible to keep count. Truly, it's mind numbing.
10
Has anyone found the paper or money trail back to the Koch brothers or ALEC, yet?
8
What shines through here is the Republican hatred of democracy.
Dan Kravitz
19
Unfortunately it looks like the Democratic Party in NJ may as well (the gerrymandering news)
@NYC Law Student
Agreed. National laws are needed. They will be introduced and passed by the House during the next Congress, but will not pass the Senate; if they did they would not be signed. The time will come however when the gerrymander is illegal in this country.
Dan Kravitz
1
Wisconsin has become a banana republic. The current regime is unwilling to acknowledge the will of the voters. How pathetic.
7
THAT'S NOT HOW A VENN DIAGRAM WORKS!!!
No wonder Walker couldn't balance a budget, he's a complete moron
12
This is exactly the problem with "conservatives" --- they think having the taxpayers shell out $28 million in incentives to keep 400 jobs is responsible governing. They are all about the "market" and "market forces" until those forces negatively affect their moneyed friends in the business world -- then it's all-hands-on-deck to welfare queen the businesses up at the expense of the 99%.
13
Not surprising since it's completely characteristic of Walker and of the vast majority of today's GOP.
But I believe there will be a reckoning for this evil. It may not be as soon or as quick as we would like, but it will come. Time and demographics are not in the GOP's favor. And they have just ensured that even more of Wisconsin's voters won't be either.
6
I don't blame Walker for pushing through conservative policies through out his term as governor, but this power grab by the Republicans crosses the line.
The people of Wisconsin voted for change, but the Republicans are trying to hold onto power with both hands and so far getting away with it. This sets a very bad precedent that ignore the will of the people. The Democrats should sue and I sincerely hope that the Republicans lose.
5
What happened to the will of the people?
These are public servants who are supposed to be working for constituents, not for vested interests. Time for remedial civics lessons.
4
If there is even a shred of truth in Walker's specious justification for signing this legislation he should rescind ever decision, action, and signature that he enacted using the power he is stripping from his successor in the ultimate "Do as I say, don't as I do" exhibition. Else it is all disingenuous blather to cover a vengeful power grab.
I know this is around the 900th comment at this point but what he is saying it is OK for me to have done these things, but no one (Democrat no one) else can. If that isn't the very definition of elitist I don't know what is.
5
"The newly-signed laws will curb the authority of Mr. Evers in the rule-making process and give lawmakers, not the new governor, most appointments on an economic development board until next summer. The measures also will limit early voting, allow legislators to intervene in some lawsuits and limit the power of Josh Kaul, the incoming attorney general."
Good grief - lawmakers will have approval over the attorney general to settle certain lawsuits and lawmakers will have the majority of appointments on economic development boards? These kinds of actions are leaning more towards dictatorship than democracy. This entire scenario frightening and alarming.
On top of all that, I'm from Wisconsin yet I never heard of Fox Crossing. Where the heck is that?
5
That's not how a Venn diagram works
2
This is something to remember in 2020 and beyond... if enough Republicans are in office, they can negate elections. They're showing us they have to be voted OUT at ALL levels of government since this (and election fraud, e.g. NC) will likely get worse if they remain.
3
Not to worry...in my Dad's words, "what goes around comes around." This short sighted Banana Republic move will come back to bite them.
I'm certainly not buying another pair of Oshkosh, untill this is reversed.
It might hurt local workers, but it might help them to understand.
1
Can anyone elucidate the ways in which this could have a good chance of being wholly or partially rectified in court? The article did not provide this info.
Do republicans really think Americans are not watching and understanding exactly what they are doing?
2
I am not a Rebublican, not even American. But just for the records: I do think so. Sad.
1
One thing Walker is REALLY good at: keeping the hair dye off of the bald spot.
3
I hope there is a way to reverse these shameful measures. Republicans can’t figure out why they’re not winning anymore. I can think of several reasons. Trump, McConnell, Ryan, Walker. Wow.
1
Thanks for this coverage.
Americans have been warned about the Republican Party since the Nixon years. But not enough Americans heard the warnings and heeded them. Ralph Nader and Noam Chomsky are among the patriots that have been warning us all. See
https://www.legalreader.com/republican-racketeers-violent-policies/
When will enough of us learn to protect ourselves?
5
Clearly an attempt to overturn an election by extraordinary means.
4
Subverting the will of the people? If NY can do it so can Wisconsin.
I'm no fan of government unions but, having spent years in Minnesota, it's not hard to see two states headed in different directions. Minnesota's new governor inherited a $1.5 billion budget surplus in a state where public collective bargaining is very strong and there are few tax payer give- aways to business and industry.. The unemployment levels are well below 3% in most areas.
You look across the river to Wisconsin and seems that the conservatives have turned the state against everything that made it distinct. The Minnesota Iron Range region is a big red bastion of rural conservatism that is a minority voice in the state legislature. Wisconsin, through Gerrymandered districts, has allowed those voices to override the ones from areas where education is valued and the economy is growing. The state is suffering as a consequence.
13
History will record that the Republican Party set the wheels in motion that ended our democracy and were responsible for the immense reckless and debilitating deficits that wrecked the nation's finances by throwing taxpayer money on the wealthiest Americans and the architects of policies virtually exempting corporations from paying taxes. Their appointments of of highly partisan Republicans to the supreme court contorted the first amendment to ensure that Corporations and the wealthy elite to buy the outcome of elections (Citizens United and McCutcheon). They rigged voting districts and made voting more difficult for citizens that would vote for the Democratic party to retain power.
8
So Walkers makes tax payers cough up $28 million to pay the wages for 400 workers. That's $70,000 per worker. What employer wouldn't up at the chance to have the state pay for all labor for 1-2 years? Just the type of taxes raises Republicans always do - and then blame Democrats for big government.
9
Millions of people on both sides including myself spent their time and money to elect a Governor with the full powers of the office at the time they voted. This is undermining that and defrauding the voters of Wisconsin.
21
it's time for a lawsuit (or three). And hurray for a Federal judiciary that cannot be primaried.
6
Walker and Wisconsin Republicans have unwittingly damaged their own party. And if they think their actions won’t have consequences look at how Republicans have become obsolete in California-even in Orange County. Voters never like being taken for granted, or told what’s best for them, especially when the messenger is self-serving. Americans want fair elections, and peaceful transition from opposing party control to the new administration. It goes to the core of who we are as a nation.
12
Walker was right to restrict the incoming governor's powers. Wisconsin cannot return to its days as a welfare state for Chicago's homeless folks.
If this were true, why didn’t the Republican legislators do it eight years ago, Dorf?
3
@Rolf Right -- because being a welfare state for 1%ers and corporate interests is SO much better (and less costly).
3
But isn’t this DEMOCRACY!? If the people voted for a new administration by a majority, they deserve it. It doesn’t matter if YOU think their ideas don’t matter. Their ideas LOST. This isn’t a dictatorship.
1
As a registered Republican, i don't recognized the current Republican party at all - its principles have become obtuse, ranging from the childish to the despotic . It's a shame that it's become known for what it now does best - temper tantrums, obscurantism, and cheating.
This is the kind of behavior we've fought so hard to rid from government for the past 242 years - stacking the deck to make sure one side has an unfair advantage. it's not about earning the advantage through hard work, but about entitling an advantage through cheating.
how unAmerican. when, where, and how did we fall so far?
11
@mark harris
Change your registration.
1
"Mr. Walker has repeatedly played down the significance of the measures, describing the attention paid to them as “hype and hysteria.”
Hysteria? Either this was a blatant power grab or an insignificant change, but if insignificant, why do it?
6
Walker and those supporting his anti-democratic action should be stripped of power and sent to jail on grounds of subverting the general principles that ensure WI will have a functioning representative government that reflects the will of the voters.
If the federal courts permit this anti-democratic action to stand, such federal judges will serve only to fuel the collapse of our creed and democratic republic.
5
Does anyone else remember recently McConnel remarked, when asked why he was unwilling to work with Democrats, that if Democrats wished to govern, they needed to win elections. Well, we won, and still this is how the GOP operates. Money talks, and Mr Walker’s pockets are jammed full of Koch dollars. The American people are getting very very sick of this, destruction of our government, the dismissal of the popular vote, it will not end well.
14
This is not democracy. This is a cleptocracy where not only is the wealth of a nation being stolen by the few, the rich and the powerful but now they are stealing power that should be transferred from one administration to another by the will of the voters. I can only hope that all the people who value democracy in Wisconsin are outraged and will show it in 2020. This can not stand!
6
The list of states I'm inclined to avoid is certainly growing...
10
In addition to the blatent Wisconsin Republican power grab, Walker's Venn diagram illustration is completely wrong. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described the effort perfectly: “a poster with a Venn-like diagram.” The Washington Post says his illustration is to a Venn diagram what the Las Vegas casino Paris is to Paris — something that’s apparently supposed to be evocative of the real thing but is not. Moreover, it is not helpful in illustrating the point at hand. We get that Walker is trying to downplay the changes that were made, but, by leaving out things that separate his powers from Evers’s, he ends up making the Venn diagram format particularly useless.
6
This is the beginning of the end of democracy in Wisconsin (as well as other Republican-controlled states that are drooling to implement similar legislation). Scott Walker and Republicans in general have sold out to corporate interests and corporate welfare (see Walker's assault on unions that helped level the playing field for the middle class as well as Trump's tax cuts and associated enormous rise in the deficit). Unless and until the citizens of Wisconsin revolt and vote out this privileged class of autocrats, their lot in life will not only remain the same but also be slowly drained dry by Republicans' insistent desire to maintain class distinction. The shame belongs to voters who blindly turn their eyes from this travesty.
2
Walker wants to ensure that Koch Brothers money etc will be there when he announces another run for president or governor.
6
Scott Walker was unable to graduate from Marquette University and he doesn’t understand how a Venn diagram actually works. What a coincidence. But, he had the backing of the Koch brothers and their network of ‘freedom’ and ‘religious’ organizations to fund him keep him in power. Mission Accomplished.
4
Beware in the fall of 2020 ... GOP as dictators ...There is no rule of law. There is no democratic process that can be respected. All they do is corrupt the process to get what they want. If they are not gaining money from it, then they are doing it for spite. I am sick of Walker's sanctimonious posturing. It's a power grab, pure and simple.
4
The powers of the Governor are in the state Constitution.
One governor cannot act to limit the powers of his successor.
3
Our country is being destroyed. Our democracy is dying.
I don't blame the Republicans. I blame the people that voted for them and put them in office. After all, our president "could shoot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue and people would still vote" for him.
2
Our Governor was actually thinking about vetoing this mess, partly because he’s now found himself thinking a lot about his “legacy.” But in the end he just couldn’t break free from his evil masters. So that’s how he’ll go down in history. Kind of sad.
1
I never thought in my wildest dreams I'd consider donation to the ACLU. It is now time.
1
There will be laws against this, and soon.
Walker and his unethical brethren who are pushing this forward are going to get it back in spades, and exponentially so.
1
Time for Wisconsin voters to rid the legislature of Republicans.
4
why do wisconsinites put up with this?
2
@Soren
Put up with this? They elected him twice!
Walker is a fascist but the people who voted for him are definitely not very bright.
2
@Blunt Of course I'm talking about the democratic majority that is being cheated through gerrymandering and a neutering of the incoming governer's powers.
I hope Wisconsin revolts in 2020!! Walker is in the same mold as Trump. Very sad. I don't even trust our own Governor Baker because I believe he is a wolf in sheep's clothing and very GOP.
2
with all the disdain lavished on this despicable goopbag, am I to believe that no one saw the empty promises and pie-in-the-sky financial dealings on the horizon? Blame the gullibility of the voters--and that goes for the state of affairs that we find ourselves in on the presidential level!
1
Note to the Scott Walker and the Republican Party: That's not how Venn Diagrams work.
During the Republican primaries I woould tune into the Red State Blog form time to time as they were so passionately #NeverTrump, but they seem to love him now but Cruz was a favorite as was Walker, now I see why. How to undo this mess, the Republicans are systamatically dismanting our government and I have spent my life encouragin youg people to vote. Now we know that voting doens't always work and we have a President who preaches that elections are fradulant. I was taken by this comment from the article, "In recent days, Mr. Walker has spoken again and again of his legacy. He posted 21 tweets in 25 minutes, each starting with “OUR LEGACY." I hope Trump doesn't turn to him to help take a place in the WH, when it gets to the point Chris Christy turns you down you know anything is possible.
3
The deal to build a Foxconn facility in the State of Wisconsin comes with $436,000 in taxpayer subsidies for each job they are promising to create, according to a recent article in Bloomberg.
Shameful.
1
According to Mitch McConnell, Obama with over a year left until his term ended did not have the right to choose a Supreme Court Judge so close to leaving office.
Compare that to Scott Walker and his Republican legislature passing new laws restricting the incoming Democrat Governor & Attorney General's powers...just 2 WEEKS before their term and mandate has ended/expired.
This is such an obvious travesty of how a political party should not behave.
Not if they value the people who elect and pay their salary to best serve the state and their interests...the People, not Themselves nor their moneyed sponsors.
Throw the Bums out!
6
When Walker comes roaring back to run for president please remember these WALKER LEGACIES: reason for his recent loss (“high voter turnout”); on same sex marriage (”grave mistake, will work to ban it”); social security (“will completely reform); civil service testing (“inefficient,”; EPA (“do away completely”); access to public records (“public has no right…”); Obamacare (“will definitely overturn ACA”); expansion of medicare /medicaid in WI (no, rejected fed. money); prohibit WI abortion (yes, “in cases of rape and incest…even if mother might die”); Canadian wall (“yes, legitimate issue”); min. wage increase (no, “min. wage itself serves no purpose”); equal pay for women (no, repealed existing law); being gay a choice (“I don’t know”); food stamps (“a lame idea,” restricted access so “people with giant mansions and fancy cars don’t get welfare checks.”; school privatizing (yes, “my major success”); 48 hr. wait for handgun purchase (eliminated it so, in part, “domestic abuse victims can quickly move to protect themselves”); for 6 day workweek (no, employers can now demand 7 under his “Right to Work” law); belief in evolution (“I’m going to punt”); talking to God? (yes, but “God hasn't given me a list”); global warming (“no measurable warming in last 15-20 years”); voter rights (tight restrictions, shortened absentee balloting); collective bargaining (ended it for public workers); management style (search youtube for his “divide and conquer” strategy).
3
Changing the rules after the fact is UN-AMERICAN!
6
This happens on Airbnb. You rent your house for a week and not even the door handles are there when you return.
I'll certainly never purchase anything from Walgreens again. They own, lock, stock, and barrel, the Republican despots who run the Wisconsin legislature.
3
Disgusting people. We are at the brink of Civil War with respect to ideology and compassion
4
good! evers is a teacher and if he gets anywhere near money he'll just give it to himself and other overpaid teachers just as they always do. evers must be stopped by any means necessary.
1
A skunk can't change his odor!
4
Bottom line: sore, vindictive, losers.
4
What a surprise.
So this is where some stop being good Americans and start being spiteful, petulant babies. Shameful and it continues to drive our nation to more bad behavior. Don't be sore losers and jerks!
2
Clearly the line between Republicans and fascists is becoming thinner all the time.
5
So what?
Only the ignorant and stupid believe that America is or has ever been a democracy.
Do you remember Presidents Al Gore and Hillary Clinton?
Do you remember how many more Senators California has than Wyoming?
Do you remember how you voted for Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh?
Wisconsin gave America the white supremacist fascist autocrat bigots Joe McCarthy, Reince Priebus, Paul Ryan and Scott Walker.
No wonder Benjamin Netanyahu, Vladimir Putin and Mohammed bin Salman are.smiling and smirking.
4
Too bad Obama didn’t do the same to Trump!
3
He is a traitor to our way of life. Tell his next employer what you think. If you see him on the street tell him and his family as well.
1
Smash the Republican Party monster, destroy it wherever it is found.
3
The GOP=liars, cheats and thieves.
2
What were you doing with Maria Butina??Getting some$$ like your GOP buddies, Graham and -itch McConnell,from the NRA??.Like to have a look see at your bottom line,Scottie.
5
The only response to such an egregious retraction of democratic rights would be not merely state-wide but nation-wide ceaseless protests. What Walker and the rest of his cronies have done here is despicable and has no place in any fulsome democracy.
And I'm guessing that Trump and his cronies have degraded your democracy just enough thus far to let such an alarming move go unchecked. This is not the kind of thing that would have happened in your country before Trump. Just disgusting and entirely indefensible.
4
Apparently he doesn't know how a Venn diagram works.
4
That Walker felt it necessary to accompany the signing of this despicable power-grabbing act with a sales presentation, complete with color glossy fonts and circles and arrows says it all. He knows this whole package stinks and he knows the public, who made their preferences known in November, knows it too.
5
The Republicans are truly deplorable at every level.
From your county officials to the most deplorable one in the White House.
6
More political nonsense! Hopefully, these vindictive Republicans will pay the price in 2020.
1
At this point, the only question is why is anyone surprised by this power grab? After all, if the GOP is willing to subvert the Constitutional process for a Supreme Court Justice, they will do anything necessary to maintain power. And how many Senators spoke out against THAT power grab?
Donald Trump is truly their leader. He's not the exception.
These are truly dangerous times.
Vote the Grand Ole Powergrabbers out of office - everywhere.
Our Democracy depends on it. If you don't, then you're part of the fascist movement currently engulfing the country.
2
"It was not the allies who won the WW2. It was the fascism" (George Carlin). It proves he's point.
1
Fighting Bob LaFollette is rolling in his grave.
3
Remember during the Vietnam War protests when demonstrators would chant "Shame! Shame! Shame!"? That word should be thundering through the air right now wherever odious creatures like Scott Walker and others are seeking to dismantle democracy or tearing children from their parents and leaving them to die.
2
History will not be kind the Republicans of this era.
They will be regarded in the same way those Boll Weevil Southern Democrats are now; people who would do whatever they could to cling on to power.
3
Scott Walker is an enemy of American Democracy. After the Dems take over the house, he should be jailed for this and his egregious actions immediately undone.
3
The GOP criminal enterprise has neither shame nor class. They are autocrats of the lowest order.
3
Wisconsin: The northernmost banana republic.
4
Folks, there are some easy ways this can be beaten back (and it won't be the courts, not with Kavenaugh on Scotus to cement the fascist right majority of SCOTUS these days).
-Wherever you live, let GOP candidates at all levels know that you are disgusted with the party, disgusted with their behavior, and as much as you may like them as people, enough is enough. It eventually will get through their thick heads that they cannot afford to maintain minority control in the red states and try and get elected other places, it eventually will backfire on them.
-If you are a business owner or the government of another state and are disgusted by this (hear this, Murphy and Cuomo), stop doing business with those states. if you buy supplies from companies in Wisconsin, if you use firms located there, switch to companies in another state. Make clear to vendors that you are boycotting the state and tell them that decisions on contracts will be based in part on who the company does business with. It is how apartheid was broken in South Africa, just as effective here.
-If you are a citizen disgusted by this, don't do business with companies based in wisconsin, don't buy cheese from there, don't buy produce or products, don't go there on vacation and make clear you won't. Yes, this will hurt people who don't like this, but it also maybe sway them into fighting this, into realizing that what Walker did has cost. I am sure the white voters, especially the farmers, will feel it.
3
As has been said about the Trump GOP, at least everything is now coming out into the open without the usual veneer of lip service to democratic ideals typically smeared onto such venal acts. Walker and his henchmen (Vos, for example) make me think of someone who is fired and spends his last afternoon at the office deleting files, messing up the copier, burning out the coffee pot... what losers.
2
Having concluded a 2-year assessment of every Senate and House Republican (as well as many others on the state and local levels -- and, of course, head honcho Trump), I've come to notice that the vast majority possesses these qualities: no ethics, excessive self-interest, puerile snobbery, and irreparable stupidity.
(You reading this, Walker?)
2
Surely this will be challenged???
2
Republicans will live to regret this...
1
Walker is a sour looser. It is not just Wisconsin and Michigan, it is also the case with federal government. Now, Democrats have to win all chambers of the government to reverse the damages caused by the Republicans and send the Republicans to the dog house.
It’s despicable and, frankly, should be criminal to boot.
1
This is shameful banana republic stuff.
This is not democracy.
Scott Walker was brought up better than this. Shame on him and shame on those who aided and abetted him in this decidedly anti-American disgraceful move.
Lots of noise in the article designed to get Democrats upset.
I read about ‘limiting power’ but no specifics.
Typical.
Another example of the Republican myopia that is driving the party to the brink of extinction. While this move provides immediate gratification, it sets up a reap-what-you-sow scenario that will eventually bite them in the rear and create a perfect storm for Democrats to leverage.
"'He had a backbone of steel,'” said Representative Sean Duffy, a Republican who represents northern Wisconsin in Congress."
And the moral fiber of a stote.
One step from a banana republic. Time to sue all of them.
Gov Walker, if these laws are so great why did you not pass them eight years ago?
Forgot to stipulate earlier: Walker and friends are SWISS CHEESY. They think that they are holier than the Dems.
2
This just makes me sad.
1
It's stunning that so many on the right whine about their need to own, and in many cases stockpile, guns in order to protect themselves from tyranny...and yet they continually support tyrants.
These Republican ploys are the maneuvers of a two-bit dictatorship, and we're seeing it in multiple red states. Which leads me to believe that many of those gun fanatics are really stockpiling their weapons in order to enforce tyranny and undemocratic policies, not vice-versa. Otherwise, why aren't these "conservatives" taking to the streets to protest authoritarian tactics like this from Walker and his fellow fascists?
The truth here is apparent to any sane, rational American.
6
It is not surprising that Walker and his staff do not understand the Venn diagram.
2
“He had a backbone of steel,” said Representative Sean Duffy.
Interesting, they said the same thing about Stalin. Not sure Mr Walker would find that flattering, then again maybe he would.
1
Dear Scott,
If these laws are such a good idea why didn’t you enact them when you became governor?
6
in a sane and rational world walker, and those like him would not exist
1
People will not soon forget this assault on democracy. I have always thought of this Walker character as a joke, but the perfect Republican i.e reward the wealthy at everyone else's expense. But now I also add poor loser to his obvious lack of ethics and morals and cowardice. To his sordid cheesehead Rebulican colleagues, I say your so-called victory will be short-lived come the next election cycle.
2
Walker's Venn diagram is laughable. It's language literally states that this legislation is changing nothing, and yet legislation was penned (and signed) to make changes. So Evers powers < Walker's powers. Evers powers are not equal to Walker's powers.
He has spent his entire political career lying. It is only typical that the last thing he does is also dishonest.
4
Don't the people of Wisconsin call themselves "cheese heads'? Well this Walker guy has it right, he is the "head cheese". This guy thought he might run for president, of what the dogcatcher convention?
Don't purchase Wisconsin products. The so,-called GOP isn't so grand anymore.
2
That's not how Venn diagrams work, Scotty.
2
Democracy dies in broad daylight.
5
This should simply be declared illegal at the federal level, punished by a prison term, certainly of the governor's perpetrating such a thing, but better to jail all those voting for this manuver.
2
During the next day or two I will find out every agricultural and manufactured product made in Wisconsin.
Then I will see if any of those products are in the house. If so, I will throw them all in garbage (where Walker belongs) and they will never be replaced with anything from Wisconsin.
Let's start there.
4
During the next day or two I will find out every agricultural and manufactured product made in Wisconsin. Then I will see if any of those products are in the house. If so, I will throw them all in garbage (where Walker belongs) and they will never be replaced with anything from Wisconsin.
Let's start there.
2
@Fred
For starters,
We need a new snowblower to replace our ancient one and were considering one made in Brillion, Wisconsin.
We will now find an alternative.
1
Sleazy politicians do not change when voted out of office, they merely find new ways to debase the public trust. He's either going to a lucrative lobbying job or thinks his petulant stand will serve him well in his next run for office. He has no interest in being a good loser or even a good human being but in putting his stamp of shame on his last act in office.
2
Who is paying them off?
Question for legislators: if you continue to pervert the law, how long do you think it will take before the people stop obeying it?
2
Outrageous! I’m a Canadian with no stake in this but i’d donate to any legal fund established to fight these clearly undemocratic measures. Scott Walker’s legacy is dirt.
4
Come on, NYT, stop misrepresenting the 2018 election:
“Republicans held onto the State Legislature but lost contests for governor and attorney general.”
The GOP LOST the statewide legislature vote 46-54, but kept 63 of 99 seats because of gerrymandering.
6
Disgusting, venal and short sited are words too limited to describe this attempt to retain power against the will of the electorate. Voters who now see themselves so disrespected in this way will remember and the likes of people like Walker and state legislators will rue this day as they lose power permanently. If Wisconsoners can not see this or forget then it is on them just as it is on the American people if we ever elect the likes of Trump in any future election. But right now this must be brought to court and maybe, just maybe, some justice will be found.
2
Gosh. Scott Walker and the GOP, once again, do the un-American, anti-American thing. Who could have seen that coming?
3
Mr. Walker, please follow Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty - go away for good.
2
Are we not going to talk about that Venn diagram?
1
The story never tells us what changes were made?
1
PTL…Son of a preacher, scott walker, is a Koch-addicted puppet. He was one of their first darlings to advance their objectives so aggressively…
What Ever Happened to Wonderful Wisconsin?
(And has everyone forgotten gov. rick snyder of Michigan too? These people are compensated for damage ordered by these delightful brother. Wouldn’t you love to see walker’s and snyder’s tax returns?
I could be mistaken, but also recall FL and OH govs. were operatives too.
Greed is a great motivator. Let’s get over it and put probity before profit. When are all citizens going to stop being distracted and pay attention to their dying democracy…before it is too late?
Those of us that have been for decades are getting tired of y’all.
2
What will historians write about Scott Walker and the current Wisconsin Republicans?
Gee, if the bill didnt really change anything, why did you pass it? An abject, shameful repudiation of electoral will. But there is a silver lining. The voters should target every state representative who participated in this farce.
3
Democrats are all about fairness, democracy, and the rule of law.
You know, except when they talk about stacking the SCOTUS to get the results they want...
1
Another stark affirmation of the validity of Noam Chomsky's characterization of the Republican Party as "the most dangerous organization in history". Time to make a New Years Revolution.
4
Whether you're a Democrat or a Republic, I think we can all agree that that isn't how a venn diagram works...
6
If this Republican breaks the law - lock him up. Otherwise let him go. When dems comes just change that... happy holidays.
Truly, Walker is a creature of the Koch Bros. This policy of "lock and bolt" was designed to replace "checks and balances," and can be traced back to George Mason U and the pals of Koch who controlled the law and economics faculties there. Disenfranchisement at its most blatant. Will Gorsuch and Kavanaugh back up this medieval form of government?
2
Isn’t this how democracy ends?
5
Now we can add Venn Diagrams to the long list of items that Republicans do not understand.
7
This is a line the extension of which is to ignore election results and commence a dictatorship. Change is incremental, and you'd just rather be heading in a better direction GOP.
1
Republicans will come to regret their blatantly anti-democratic and authoritarian actions. They are a sure sign of weakness. They will keep the anti-Republican mood in the US alive and well through 2020.
4
As much as I abhor Gov Walker, he was elected twice. The people of Wisconsin deserve what they get.
No surprise there.
I do hope that Scott Walker already has his next job lined up, because I wouldn't even buy a used car from that man.
That goes for all Republicans.
Grifters.
6
@rosa
Grifters? More like wannabee dictators
2
@Martin
Just switch out what they're wearing on their lapel.
Other than that? No difference.
1
I don't condone violence, especially civil war. Violence leads to ever escalating violent retaliation without addressing the root of a problem.
THere's a big problem in Wisconsin, where a GOP-led state legislature passed an unfair, corrupt bill which a lame-duck Governor signed. Wisconsin Republicans have gerry-mandered control of the legislature so the incoming Democratic Governor might be powerless to undo that corruption.
We The People (in Wisconsin and anywhere) sometimes must loudly apply a First Amendment right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Should Republicans ignore the protests by "another angry mob" as the GOP labelled anti-Kavanaugh protests, build a huge billboard in front of the State House. Present the First Amendment language first, then below that provide an excerpt from Thomas Jefferson's letter to James Madison regarding the 1786 Shays' Rebellion ... “I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing...(i)t is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."
The entire letter should be read to fully hear Jefferson's post-rebellion opinion in context, however is seems fitting, as found at the link below
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-11-02-0095
1
You only do this type of thing if you view your opponents as illegitimate. That's where we are. Our system will break down if we don't change that.
3
During the election people across this country made choices and the republicans are undermining those choices. Seems like the republicans and their cooperate overloads don’t have a lot of faith in or respect for American citizens. They would be happier with a more authoritarian state & leader, like Russia & Putin. Well you know what they say, what goes around comes around. The republicans with their gerrymandered seats and hacked elections expect to stay in power no matter what the rest of us say. We’ll see about that!
3
The bad news is that Republicans have half-succeeded in overturning the results of the Wisconsin (and Michigan and North Carlolina) elections.
The good news is that their actions should finally, and lastingly, teach Democrats that Republicans are not their political rivals, or competitors, or adversaries. Republicans are their enemies, and must be treated only as enemies.
However they can be harmed within the law, harm them. Harm them poltically, harm them professionally, harm them personally. No mercy. None. Ever.
7
The ALEC and Republicans war on democracy may have won this battle but the true war has just begun.
4
This is like gerrymandering—
There has got to be a way to address and correct this travesty of the democratic process.
3
I do not live in Wisconsin and, politically, I am a non-practicing a progressive liberal of the center. But the chaos in the two-party alternating rule of the US makes me think that the people of the Deep North (from Wisconsin up and west) still preserve the quintessence of the US spirit.
Leftist radical Democrats of the East, please leave the Deep North alone, it will be much better to stew in its own juice that to follow all of you.
Lies and obfuscation remain lies and obfuscation, even when accompanied by pretty graphics.
3
Fascism does not let go easily. We must pry its fingers from the levers of power.
We don't need to be polite when we do this.
11
I’d say “game on”, but this isn’t a game it’s a war. Not a shooting war (yet) but we’re on a path that is dangerous and I believe ultimately disastrous. You simply cannot expect ordinary Americans to sit still and watch their votes robbed and their will denied by malevolents without escalating frustration to shock then anger to rage.
6
I am sure Mr. Evers will file suit, and the case should go to the State Supreme Court. I am interested to see how they will vote on this matter. That will disclose where they stand as non- partisans.
5
Where is the outrage in Wisconsin? Will Wisconsin ever return to its progressive days? I ask the same questions about my home state of Florida as well. This is disappointing and demoralizing for those who want to have faith in our political system.
7
Scott Walker's latest actions remind me of the fable of the frog and the scorpion. Both trying to cross a raging river. The scorpion asks the frog to carry it on it's back, promising to look out for the frog in the deep water. The frog suspects the scorpion will sting it but allows itself to be convinced by the scorpion otherwise. Half-way across the river, the scorpion stings the frog. As they are both drowning, the frog manages to ask the scorpion why it broke its promise and stung him. They scorpion relies: "Because it's in my nature."
8
I am a Democrat who used to respect the thoughtful and constructive views of many Republican legislators of the distant past.
The Republican Party of the present is a disgrace to this nation and should be thrown out of power everywhere until it can see and comprehend the considerable errors of its ways, and the deleterious effect on the country.
11
Readers of the NYT no doubt know that the "lame duck " period is mostly an American approach to governing and is a real flaw in the US governing system. The problem with a lame duck is the outgoing party is free to make decisions that exercise their standard powers with little fear of consequence, such as issuing executive orders, pardons, or other controversial edicts. When you think about it this system is a recipe for unscrupulous politicians to do what they are doing in Michigan and Wisconsin.
Unlike the United States Congress, there is no "lame duck" session of Parliament in most Commonwealth countries like Canada, Australia UK etc. between the general election and swearing in of elected officials. In almost all cases, the outgoing prime minister or premier hands over power directly to their designated successor after a leadership contest or general election. Usually, when the leader of a ruling party steps down, they also relinquish their caucus leadership role at around the same time, so there is no need for an interim caucus leader.
5
This country has always prided itself on the peaceful transfer of power. North Carolina, now Michigan and Wisconsin, demonstrate that this is no longer the case.
11
Walker says the legislation that he signed don't change the powers of the governor at all.
Begs the question, why did the Republicans pass legislation that does nothing?
Answer. Walker learned well at the feet of Donald Trump. Lie always, even when you don't have to -- just to keep in practice.
8
This must not stand.
If the courts will not overturn this, people must take matters into their own hands.
This cannot be allowed to stand.
5
What is happening in Wisconsin is not fair play and the Republicans will come to regret making these changes to curb the powers of the incoming Democrats. I believe that most voters, including most Republican voters, will not like this power grab one bit and it will cost Republicans votes in the future. In addition, the time will come when Democrats will have control of the legislature and we'll see what kind of reductions of power they will make for incoming Republicans. Follow the Golden Rule or else suffer the natural consequences. The Wisconsin Republicans have made their choice and will suffer the consequences sooner or later.
6
Weird. Walker seems fascist. The republican lawmaker who says they just want to make sure things continue the way they are, guess what - the won't, not matter how fascist you become. The newly ELECTED governor is of the other party!
7
I believe the same thing will happen in Michigan. Despite the protesting of voters. Who knows, this may happen when Trump becomes a Lame Duck President.
5
Another Mitch McConnell Mini-Me.
9
I hope Democrats bypass the garbage enacted by the Republican thugs. Let them go to Court to challenge whatever Democrats decide.
3
The rotten to the corp GOP have unhinged like their illegitimate President. They have destroyed our Democracy with the Russians assistance in the 2016 election and the Catholic Church and evangelicals are all traitors for accepting this way of governing and won't come out on a daily basis and tell these culture of corruption GOP they are all wrong. Until these religions speak out against this dictatorship bully mentality we are in serious trouble. Shame on all of the Wisconsin and American GOP you all have no morals.
4
These goons are shooting themselves in the foot. Wisconsin will go Blue and stay that way for generations.
1
The GOP is getting openly desperate. They know this 4 years of Trump is their swan song. Pack the courts, sabotage the regulatory system and international relations, leave a mess for the Demnocrats to clean up.
Pathetic and shameless.
6
So Walker's office creates a chart to claim that both the outgoing and incoming administrations have the same powers. A couple of points:
1) If the powers didn't change, why was legislation necessary?
2) That is NOT how Venn diagrams work.
6
Congratulations, Mr Walker, on your new job as leader of the Wisconsin Petty Party.
6
The worst of the sore loser's......Scott Walker is the bottom of the barrel.......right there with 45 and McConnell. A Koch brother's coffee boy all the way. I am thrilled that he lost and so are millions around the country. Wisconsin, he's destroyed your community's, destroyed education, destroyed your precious Unions that help fight against these kind of creep's who deny you equality and a fair wage.....what for?.....money for the rich, what else? That is their agenda. Over these next years you folks up north i pray will turn all blue and reclaim your humanity from these predator's.
This is a flat out power grab. They've taken away the people's will, the people's votes and the power of the people......but not for long. 2020 will be comeuppance day. Take your state and your rights back and throw the bum's out.
8
Scott Walker has put himself and party before country. Yhat is a crime of high treason. LOCK HIM UP!
2
Disgusting human. A true embarrassment to Democracy.
4
Nice ven diagram, you corrupt, miserable excuse for a human being.This is deplorable, despicable and more from the GOP to end democracy which is -itch McConnell's evil end game.
2
Wait. What goes around comes around, Republican criminals. You'll get yours.
3
The US of A is rapidly becoming a fascist state
5
wait till Trump pardons himself!
This is Russia propped GOP at its best!
1
Disappear, Walker.
1
"a backbone of steel" capped with a head of mush.
2
Voter suppression you head in the sand far right Wisconsinites...I'll be happy when they come for your guns, welfare and social security. You all deserve it. Communism and you're too daft to see it.
I'm not calling Scott Walker an idiot, but he clearly has no clue how a Venn diagram works.
2
The Republicans are hell bent on ruining our democracy. So much for their "patriotism". Stripping power from the will of the people. Facists.
3
What a sore losers!
2
Sad that Wisconsin has fallen so far. It's hard to see how they can recover from their swing to the hard right. Its like they wanted to move as far away from us "FIB's" from Illinois that some despise and yet need for a big part of their revenue. It is likely another symptom of the national rural decline and their last gasp. However they did Illinois a big favor by locating the new Foxconn plant just north of the border so they get the increased taxes, water and air pollution and sprawl and we will get most of the good paying permanent jobs.
Would Scott Walker have signed these bills if he had been re-elected, and they had been passed by a Democrat-majority legislature that owed its hegemony to gerrymandering? Only he (and absolutely everyone else, regardless of their political persuasion) knows the answer.
His unbridled contempt for lawful, transparently conducted elections and the people who participated in them - when the results were not to his liking - leaves nothing to the imagination and nowhere for him to hide.
But it likewise leaves We The People with nowhere to hide. The burning question is, what will we do next? Being from Michigan, I grasp the importance of this question only too well.
5
This should be easily crushed in court. The Repub legislature violated its constitutionally defined powers by effectively voting to make a change to the state constitution without a plebiscite. Wisconsin's constitution is like other states'; you can't just unilaterally make changes without the public approving the changes in an election, and the results aren't supposed to take effect until after the NEXT election. What the WI legislature did was extra-constitutional and violated state law.
5