This is what Big Government Republican Rule looks like…god help us all.
Just how chaotic is our state in right now? And how big a mess have the Republican legislature and governor made of everything attacking middle class working stiffs? You won’t believe it:
jsonline: A state appeals court refused to allow Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to withdraw an appeal over Walker's bill. Van Hollen … appealed a decision by a Dane County judge blocking Democratic Secretary of State Doug La Follette from publishing the law … the appeals panel declined to do that, saying it didn't have the authority to allow Van Hollen to withdraw it because it had certified the case to the Supreme Court.
So Van Hollen made his bed and will have to sleep in it. But Van Hollen wasn’t done. He actually tried:
…to halt a hearing in a Dane County courtroom, saying the law is now in effect and legislators are immune from civil proceedings. But Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi said the case must continue for now.
Van Hollen then went even further by intentionally representing both sides of the argument, which allowed him to sabotage the opposition:
The judge ordered the state to provide La Follette with independent attorneys because he disagrees with the Department of Justice on key issues.
"There is so great a divergence now between the position that the attorney general is taking in this court and the Court of Appeals and now the Supreme Court and the interests of the secretary of state and the office of the secretary of state that I believe Mr. La Follette is entitled to independent counsel at the expense of the state," Sumi said. "My attorney won't ask a question on my behalf," La Follette told the court … the Department of Justice attorneys disagree over the power of the secretary of state.
After all these years, thank god someone like Van Hollen is questioning the power of the secretary of state. But the one issue is still out there:
Ultimately, the court is to rule on whether the Legislature properly approved the bill … violated the state open meetings law because it didn't give enough public notice and because access to the Capitol was limited. Republicans say they did not violate the law.
Plus...
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, is asking Sumi to declare that the reference bureau's actions did not constitute publication of the law under the state constitution and that the bureau is subject to and had violated the restraining order. He further asked the judge to order the reference bureau to remove the act from the Legislature's website.
Adding to this massive chaos:
Some local governments are not implementing the new law for their employees. Officials with the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County (and Madison) said they are waiting for answers from courts before making any changes on benefits and union dues.
If you think this is bad, wait till the Walker cultists have to deal with radioactive cesium and iodine in Wisconsin milk products.
ReplyDeleteWalker is gonna need a lot more Grecian Formula after this is done.