Hurrah for the Fourth of July!

Wisconsin Club for Growth ^ | 7-8-15 | Editorial

[afraidfortherepublic]

Nobody should be more grateful than Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature for the recent holiday weekend, and not just because they needed a break from the stress of budget-writing—though it’s apparent they did.

Things closing last Friday for the Saturday holiday gave the other 5.7 million Wisconsinites a chance to miss the Joint Finance Committee’s extraordinarily ill-advised effort to exempt most communications involving state lawmakers from coverage by open records law. This ham-fisted insult to government transparency was walked back before the weekend was half over, in hopes of minimizing the damage.

Which is a good thing, but it leaves us to wonder, what on Earth was the GOP majority thinking, when they voted along party lines to insert the provision in the budget bill?

We were extremely disappointed to learn Tuesday that Democrats were right when they said the obviously boneheaded idea had been vetted by the governor. For their own good, Republicans need to be asked just what prompted this fiasco.

It seems hardly plausible that the collective GOP memory—elephants and all that—has a five-year expiration date. It was justified public anger in 2009-10 over government secrecy—read: ObamaCare—that planted the seeds of the present majorities. That some Republicans took office with trainloads of indignation but little memory of the Legislature’s past travails can’t excuse forgetting what brought the majority within reach.

Worst of all, Thursday night’s blunder invited an already disillusioned electorate to take the easy way out and conclude, “It makes no difference; they’re all alike.” Opportunities to prove that wrong are not infinite in number.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Thought provoking editorial from the Wisconsin Club for Growth. We all need to quiz our representatives on this.

FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“We all need to quiz our representatives on this.”

It LOOKS as if our fish is rotting from the head down, but I’m thinking that may not be the case.

Rep. Fitzgerald said that more information would be forthcoming, and that this issue WILL be taken up again.

I’m thinking it has something to do with the pre-dawn SWAT Team raids of Republican staffers we’re STILL living through. He gave the impression that this ‘open records’ stuff is going to stop the ‘Rats from scanning our e-mails, phone records, etc. while FISHING for, ‘Thought Crimes.’

That’s the impression I got, anyway. The Enemy Media is still smarting over the vast changes that have taken place in our state these past years. Of course they’re going to pick at scabs. (Yes, PUN intended, LOL!)

Odd that WI Club For Growth would take this stance, as their members were hugely targeted. Curiouser and curiouser...

Or else, as usual, we’re screwed, no matter WHO has been placed in office via Smoky Back Room deals. Grrrr!