The biggest story, completely ignored during the attorney
generals race, was Brad Schimel’s open admission he would be a
rubber stamp for the Republican legislature.
Schimel’s rubber stamp has new and bigger implications, now that's he's our next attorney general,
after seeing who Schimel put in as his top aide. There’s no
hiding what appears to be a big business takeover of our legal system. jsonline:
A lobbyist for Walmart, the state's biggest business group and more than a dozen other businesses and organizations will serve as the top aide to incoming Attorney General Brad Schimel … appointed Andrew Cook to serve as his deputy secretary.
Besides being the president of the Madison chapter of the Federalist
Society, a right wing group of activist conservative lawyers, what legislation
has Cook’s stamp of approval?
Cook represented the Wisconsin Civil Justice Council, a group that successfully pushed legislation making it harder to bring civil lawsuits.
The corporate takeover of Wisconsin is complete with this
astonishing list of clients:
Walmart; Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state's largest business lobbying group; 3M; Aggregate Producers of Wisconsin; Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers; American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity; Association of Wisconsin Surgery Centers; the holding company for Enterprise Rent-A-Car; Lockridge Grindal Nauen, a law firm with offices in Minnesota and Washington, D.C.; Manitoba Hydro; Marathon Petroleum Company; Xcel Energy; Wisconsin Civil Justice Council, a group that successfully pushed legislation making it harder to bring civil lawsuits; Wisconsin Defense Counsel; and the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association.
Here’s a sample of reader comments:
-There is not one citizen in 100 who approves of the influence of lobbyists. So what does Brad Schimel do immediately after getting elected? He appoints a full time lobbyist to serve as his deputy secretary!!
-Will the Federalist Society be moving it's headquarters to Wisconsin, too, as did the John Birch Society?
-Doesn't the attorney general also handle consumer protection issues in Wisconsin? If so, this appointment is a total disaster.
-Watch for Cook to bend empathetic ear to mining interests in the very near future. Through his work with the Great Lakes Legal Foundation, he has been a a go-to source for interests looking to "streamline" the process. BTW, Cook is seasoned ALEC adviser, and his firm is the WI lobbyist for Koch Industries. If the right wants us to quit bringing these groups up, quit making it so easy. Open For Business still sound like a good slogan?
Fascism is capitalism in decay. - Vladimir Lenin
Fascism is capitalism plus murder. - Upton Sinclair
Fascism is very much a mob movement. - P. J. O'Rourke
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