Republicans Smearing and Purging "Deep State" Political Opponents!!!

Let's get rid of the term, "creeping fascism." It's now just fascism, period.

Creeping Authoritarianism - Purging "Deep State" Opposition: The point is, Republicans are drooling over the chance to put in place a one-party authority, despite the fact that the next election could stop them cold. But it does send up a few red flags.

Federal "Deep State" Opposition Purge: Since Trump was elected, Republicans have been racing to finally delegitimize and eliminate their political opposition, what they call the "deep state," along with anyone or any entity that disagrees with them:

President Trump blasted the F.B.I. on Twitter as a biased institution whose “reputation is in Tatters - worst in History!” He is casting the men and women of the Federal Bureau of Investigation as unreliable, if not worse, just as he has previously done with C.I.A. agents, federal judges, scientists, Congressional Budget Office analysts and journalists, among others. The president wants to undercut just about anybody who is an independent source of information.

Dumb Ron Johnson's alleges Secret Society: Getting whatever mileage they can using words and phrases out of context to smear critics, Dumb Ron Johnson dumped an Alex Jones like conspiracy theory today. Hey, it's all second-hand stuff, but Johnson claims "...I have heard, from somebody who has talked to our committee..."

One cool thing about The Trump Era is people feel they can just say anything, at any time, with no evidence, even when they have an abundantly clear political motive. Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, embarked on a tale of conspiracy and woe, as he recounted how a "secret society" within the FBI and the Justice Department was meeting "off-site"—secretly—as part of a campaign to undermine President Trump.

Wisconsin "Deep State" Opposition Purge: Republicans aren't very original, so it's not surprising to see their Borg-like machine replicate the "deep state" purge at a statewide level. Walker's "legal" lackey AG Brad Schimel started the attack with a factless partisan smear campaign against the old GAB staff, accidentally and illegally releasing information about another confidential investigation. And then it snowballed from there, as planned:

(Schimel) issued a report finding the leak (to The Guardian) was a crime but that he did not have sufficient evidence to charge anyone. GOP leaders of the state Senate approved broadening an investigation into the activities of a state ethics board that they disbanded because they believed it was biased against Republicans ... Rep. Robin Vos said, “The idea that individuals who potentially are on the short list of having committed a crime are now going to be in charge of running ethics and elections seems preposterous to me.”

That led to the Wisconsin purging, a "cleaning up" based on Schimel's smear report:

Republicans in the Wisconsin state Senate have voted to fire the state's top ethics and elections administrators because of their connections to the now-defunct Government Accountability Board and its investigation of Gov. Scott Walker. "I think we have to," said Sen. Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau. "I'll never have any confidence in either one of those agencies until that's cleaned up."

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald Says Republicans Will Explore Ways To Fire Other Former Employees Of GAB. "I wish they'd all resign," said Fitzgerald.

Who else will be included GOP enemies list, besides Wisconsin protesters, DNR scientists, UW faculty, election officials, anyone from Madison and Dane County, liberals, local governments, and teachers?

Slanderous Republicans seek out Enemies...

The juvenile caucus of the Republican authority at the state Capitol are now playing "monkey-see-monkey-do." These guys are now desperately trying to investigate (just like Republicans in DC are trying to smear the special counsel and reopening the Clinton emails) the GAB for their John Doe probes. Flat out political retaliation to hopefully silence critics now and in the future! Grow the f**k up:

GOP leaders of the state Senate approved broadening an investigation into the activities of a state ethics board that they disbanded because they believed it was biased against Republicans ... authorize GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel to look into the activities of the Government Accountability Board, including wide-ranging probes it conducted with prosecutors of Gov. Scott Walker and other Republicans. Schimel has said he welcomes the opportunity to further investigate the agency and the John Doe probes of Republicans. Rep. Robin Vos said, “The idea that individuals who potentially are on the short list of having committed a crime are now going to be in charge of running ethics and elections seems preposterous to me.”

Botched Partisan, Arrogant Decision by Judge Hue: Those horses have left the barn...

A judge said Monday that he shouldn't have authorized the release of some details included in Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel's report ... Jefferson County Circuit Judge William Hue said he should have blacked out some names because prosecutors and other officials did not pursue ethics charges against aides for campaigning on state time. “I dropped the ball in telling (Schimel) he could release it,” Hue said.

State law prohibits prosecutors and investigators from releasing information from a closed ethics investigation that didn’t result in charges. Those who violate the law can be subject to up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine. Hue said if he faced charges related to the release of the ethics investigation details, “I would have to plead guilty.” It’s unclear whether the law would apply to a judge.

After all the outraged GOP whining about a few partisan FBI texts that took shots at both Trump and Clinton, why aren't Republicans here just as offended at Judge Hue, the guy Schimel chose to launch his partisan attack on former GAB members:

Last year, (Judge) Hue posted a message on Twitter in response to a Journal Sentinel story about campaigns working with outside groups.

“Both sides do it but John Doe II only went after Republicans HARD. Imagine if the investigation fairly targeted BOTH parties," he wrote.

When the state Supreme Court in December 2015 ruled the special prosecutor leading the probe of Walker's campaign had been improperly appointed, Hue tweeted, 

"This happens when 'clever' lawyers outsmart themselves. It goes boom. Just play it down the middle. Just a wasteful shame."

Time to Sue for Defamation? Ya think...Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas lets the hammer fall:

The head of the state Elections Commission is calling on Republican lawmakers to stop implying staff at the former Government Accountability Board acted criminally while carrying out a now closed John Doe investigation. In a letter to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), Elections Commission interim administrator Michael Haas argues that recent comments by both have “no factual or legal basis,” and that he believes they may be slanderous. 

“I am respectfully requesting an immediate public apology and correction. Again, there is absolutely no basis for alleging that Mr. Bell or I are potentially on any short list of having committed any crime, much less have committed any crimes ... neither the Attorney General nor any elected official has articulated either to me or in public what I supposedly did wrong as a member of the G.A.B. staff or related to its investigations.”

“Your statements implying that I have been involved in criminal activity are verifiably false, and you have not offered the least bit of evidence to support those claims. You are aware that those statements are untrue and yet you made them with the intent that they would be made public and reported by the media. In short, I am requesting that you stop trashing my name and reputation.”

Elections Ethics Commissioner Resigns over "overbearing nit-picking...(that will) erode staff morale...perhaps that is the goal."

Wisconsin's new election commission looked like it was operating well when it okay the Jill Stein recount. I was wrong. Madison Newspapers:

State ethics commissioner Robert Kinney, a state reserve judge, announced his resignation Monday from the new watchdog agency, saying it operates too secretly and that some commissioners aren't committed to aggressively enforcing ethics and campaign finance laws.

The scathing statement depicts the new commission, created by Republican lawmakers and Gov. Scott Walker last year to replace the Government Accountability Board, as riven by infighting among commissioners ... lacking commitment to its core mission: acting as the state watchdog of elected officials by enforcing ethics, campaign finance and lobbying laws.

"There exists among several of the commissioners an observable lack of commitment to the underlying purposes of the agency," Kinney said in the statement. “On top of this, staff are confronted with overbearing nit-picking at virtually every meeting. Over time (if it hasn’t already happened) this disrespectful treatment will erode staff morale and we will lose these talented people. Perhaps that is the goal."

As a new agency, we were required to articulate a mission statement. The staff of the Commission hearkened back to Wisconsin’s reputation when it proposed the following as our mission statement: 

"The mission of the Ethics Commission is to enhance representative democracy by furthering Wisconsin’s tradition of clean and open government through the administration of Wisconsin’s campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics laws, and through dissemination of information to the public.”

At the October 10, 2016 public meeting of the Commission, incredibly, three members – one-half of the Commission’s membership – voted to strike from the mission statement the aspirational language, 'furthering Wisconsin’s tradition of clean and open government.' The handwriting was on the wall. When charges of financial or ethical improprieties are leveled, or allegations of quid pro quo corruption are made, they must be thoroughly and timely investigated, and, if warranted, aggressively prosecuted. Sadly, it appears we have created a system which almost guarantees that this will not occur. It would be an enormous injustice to the People of Wisconsin and to the success of our government in serving them if this agency is relegated to shuffling papers."

Republicans return public confidence, integrity and cronyism back into our elections.

Just amazing. This by the way, this will only force Democrats to play their game of corruption. Nice:

The first announced appointee to the new state ethics commission is the secretary of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, state officials said Tuesday.

Critics said the appointment of Katie McCallum confirms their fear that the commission and its new counterpart, which will oversee elections, will be beholden to legislative leaders and partisan interests.

She was an aide to state Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, and was a staffer for two former GOP candidates, Kurt Schlicht and Terrence Wall, and worked for the U.S. Department of Education and the Republican National Committee. She also is the daughter-in-law of former Republican Gov. Scott McCallum, according to a 2011 Capital Times report.

Jay Heck, director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, described McCallum’s appointment as “exactly what we feared.” 

We found out yesterday Scott Walker is stacking the UW Board of Regents with donors:

Scott Walker names campaign donor to UW Board of Regents ... a frequent contributor to his campaign fund, donating $9,639.68 since 2010.

Exposed!!! Republicans ignore constituent feedback, big surprise.

That gut feel we had about Republicans not listening to voters...as it turns out, we were right.

We've seen it time and time again, where local and national polls tell us what Americans really want, and it doesn't look anything like the GOP agenda.  

And while most conservatives vote Republican because of one or two fabricated issues, the dramatic downside is never enough to change their vote.

All of this is explained in one of the best exposes yet, thanks to We-the-irrelevant.org's freedom of information request.



Many GOP defenders in the comments section following the story are quick to mention the “silent majority” of voters who didn’t actively call their representatives. But that's not proof is it? Great stuff. LaCrosse Tribune:

List date Jan. 21, 2016

The Wisconsin Legislature recently passed bills to allow dramatically increased campaign contributions (“campaign finance reform”) and to dismantle the Government Accountability Board in the face of overwhelming public objection.

Retiree Sheila Plotkin of McFarland, Wis., (and her ) web site we-the-irrelevant.org sent open-records requests to Republican state senators and assemblymen to tally public input that each had received prior to voting. 

In total, 817 people (99 percent of those who contacted their legislators) were opposed to campaign finance reform, while only nine (1 percent) were in favor. Republican legislators nevertheless voted overwhelmingly in favor of the bill.

With regard to dismantling the GAB, 1,501 constituents (90 percent of those commenting) urged their legislators not to dismantle the GAB, while only 173 (10 percent) were in favor. Republicans nevertheless voted to dismantle the GAB.

Who are the Republicans representing? To check the input that your legislator received and compare it with their vote, check out Plotkin’s site. 

Rep. Kathy Bernier is one big offender. Interesting to note; nowhere at her official site does she mention her party affiliation. Embarrassed?

Quick to Kill the GAB, Republicans wait till next June to roll out new elections agency.

After Republicans hastily completed their extraordinary session with rapid fire destruction of election oversight and campaign finance laws, they've oddly decided to roll out the new elections agency at the latest possible date; June 2016, 5 months before the election.

The board of former judges losing their jobs at the GAB asked Scott Walker to fire them early, so the new setup had some time to get the process right:

Tasking a new agency with elections oversight months before the 2016 election could lead to headaches for voters, according to the director of the state's elections and ethics agency -- on track to be dismantled by a bill lawmakers passed this week. 

In a newly released memo to Walker, the GAB’s Kevin Kennedy urged Walker to veto the measure. One of the reasons Kennedy gives is that, under the bill, the new elections commission would take effect June 30. The upcoming general election is Nov. 8. It is a presidential election year -- those elections typically attract the most turnout -- and likely to be the first in which the state's voter ID requirement is enforced on a mass scale.

Kennedy writes that the timing "will create significant administrative problems for the conduct of elections in the upcoming presidential election year. The effective date of this bill – roughly five months prior to a major federal/state election – is irresponsible, if not reckless, and could have major impacts on voters across the State of Wisconsin," Kennedy tells Walker in the memo.

Reminds me of the Democratic warnings about WEDC, and we know what happened there. Oh, I forgot, they were just being partisan. 

And since “irresponsible” is their middle name, and Republicans have set the bar so low, their voters won’t find the following comment remotely shocking:

"I think it's a good time to do it," the bill's Assembly sponsor, Rep. Dean Knudson, said last month. 

Of course he does.

Vos' Revenge on Democrat's recusal on Campaign Finance vote?

Revenge and raw bully power now the overriding rule in Walker's Wisconsin. An empty threat maybe?



Democrats make their move...?

Ending GAB, Republicans save us from Nazi Tactics.

With the backing and blessing of Scott Walker, Republicans are about to get rid of the Government Accountability Board, the state elections and ethics watchdog. And the reasons for doing so are baffling:

Many Republicans say the legislation is needed to ensure ethics laws are enforced fairly and people's free speech rights are protected.

Walker and the Republicans are striking out against the John Doe probes, investigations they thought victimized conservatives and were politically motivated. After stacking the courts with conservative activist judges willing to support their claims, Republicans have successfully suckered in their emotionally invested voters. And what about former Gov. Jim Doyle's travel gate fabrication, and Hillary's Benghazi and private email attacks? They're completely different, as one Walker supporter told me the other day. It's a disconnect I see a lot from the hypocritical right wing.

It's all about "liberty" and "free speech," and not about investigating what appeared to be illegal activity by Republicans during the recalls. They're essentially saying Democrats should have been investigated too, you know, just to make things equal.

NAZI TACTICS: Republicans say the John Doe probes of politicians remind them of Nazi Germany. Oddly, that same comparison doesn't apply to John Doe probes of anyone else suspected of illegal activity. WPR's Shawn Johnson noticed that, and unlike other media outlets, played the audio proof in his report:

Sanfelippo: "You're okay with the tactics employed by the SS and the Nazi's in WW2?"

Keeping these more radical statements out of the public eye and their local news reports only emboldens the Republican authoritarian takeover of our state. Like this segment from WISC, featuring Republican Dave Craig pushing bullshit like protecting our constitutional liberty's and being fair prosecuting crimes, blah, blah, blah...:



One of the few Republicans that gets it, but still votes the wrong way, Sen. Luther Olsen, highlighted the most glaring problem with the new partisan oversight board, filled with 3 Republicans and 3 Democrats. Seriously, reporters never once asked about this?

Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) said he had concerns about eliminating the judges and about putting equal numbers of appointees from both parties on the new commissions. In controversial cases, the two boards could deadlock and end up doing nothing, he said. "If it's set up so they never agree on anything, then nothing gets investigated," Olsen said.

Here's Common Cause's Jay Heck with what this all means, and a marker when voters were warned about what would happen...and it has already. From the Mitch Hank Show:

Walker's Mickey Mouse Lie only Hitler would sign onto.

Just like my conservative friend in Milwaukee who's always sending me videos and news stories form right wing sites, Scott Walker and his band of Republican pirates that have taken command of the state Capitol are shaping actual governmental policy based on the fictions and fabrications created by these propagandists. 

One of the worst, the MacIver Institute, is about to help take down the nations election oversight model, the Government Accountability Board.

PolitiFact even featured it for grins:

Never mind that the idea of something like this ever happening is crazy, Republicans and in-the-tank voters tend to believe without question the more sensational "attacks." Say it enough, and it must be true...but still isn't:

On Dec. 18, 2011, we looked at this claim from MacIver’s video: "Wisconsin election officials to accept Mickey Mouse, Hitler signatures" on recall petitions. We rated itMostly False.

The claim stems from a comment made by GAB elections specialist David Buerger during a Dec. 13, 2011 meeting of the board. Buerger was asked about Mickey Mouse and Hitler and responded: "We will flag them, but we will not strike them without challenge."

The MacIver video said the board decided to "accept" the fictitious signatures, as in counting them toward the total of about 540,000 that was required to force a recall election. That was not the case. Indeed, Buerger noted explicitly they would be "flagged" for more review, just not automatically stricken.

The final verdict?

But there’s no evidence to support that. The process would not have immediately struck them. Rather, it would have flagged them for review. And there were numerous layers of scrutiny before it would have been determined valid.

Walker took a Mostly False statement and embellished it.

We rate his claim False.

Letting "partisan behavior to run rampant," here's ALEC member and State Sen. Leah Vukmir play up this complete fiction. For anybody else, this would normally be really embarrassing stuff:

Walker, Republicans push for Partisan...NonPartisan Elections Board with oversight gridlock guaranteed.

Remember that "so called caucus scandal?"

"So called," as Sen. Scott Fitzgerald said off hand. And from that "so called scandal" legislators created the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board. 

Fitzgerald now thinks the GAB was pretty much a knee jerk reaction:

Fitzgerald: "It was thrown out because of a knee jerk reaction to the so called caucus scandals..."

From Upfront with Mike Gousha:

And because Fitzgerald and other Republicans once voted to put the GAB in place, they've have to find hot button excuses to satisfy their base, all the while not looking like hypocritical idiots. Yes, they failed miserably.

Just Making Things Up: The most outrageous example of BS spewed from the mouth of a very uncomfortable looking State Sen. Devin LeMehieu. Loaded up with ad-libbed contradictions, you can't help but feel sorry for this loser:

LeMehieu: "I think the best way to do that is with partisan appointments...almost every other state has partisans involved with their board makeup...their has been a partisan bent with this board (GAB) so by making it nonpartisan, the facade that it's nonpartisan hasn't actually proved to be effective..."

Did LeMahieu say anything that was true? Nope. Here's a clip from 92.1 FM's Devil's Advocates Show where they interviewed former Assembly Republican, Judge and GAB chairman David G. Deininger, who said the accusations were nonsense. That's followed by a similar disclaimer from GAB director Kevin Kennedy:



On WPR's morning show, Republican Rep. Dean Knutson was revved up, trashing the GAB. What did the listeners think of the Knutson's pot shots? Not much:

Republican Rep. Joe Sanfelippo's GAB mind blower: "...the nonpartisan title actually promotes covert partisanship."

Orwellian politics is here at last, thanks to Scott Walker and his one party pirates!

Now that we're an angry and divided state, Republicans can now spend their time to try to redefine the ugly sounding word “partisan,” you know, make it into something honorable.  

The Government Accountability Board, our elections watchdog, was already in trouble for having the word "accountability" in their name. But add a few investigations into Scott Walker's campaign fund raising and illegal router? That was all the Republicans could bear, especially Rep. Joe Sanfelippo:

We have to put forward a reform bill that ensures the rogue GAB can no longer operate with a hidden political bias. The GAB is statutorily required to be nonpartisan, but we have learned otherwise with the agency’s involvement in the controversial John Doe probe.

Here's where Sanfelippo starts hallucinating on the GOP Kool-aid. Demonstrating just how bad power corrupts, Sanfelippo contorts and reshapes the negative influence of partisan politics into something wonderful:

The reality is partisanship exists whether a person is elected to government, employed by government or volunteers for government. But being partisan in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. 

Here's my favorite line:

It could be argued the nonpartisan title actually promotes covert partisanship by providing cover for those who intentionally abuse their power to advance their own political ideologies. 

According to Joe Sanfelippo, we've got to stop kidding ourselves. This too will blow your mind:

That’s why we need to stop kidding ourselves and finally accept that it’s impossible for the GAB to be entirely nonpartisan in its current form and make the agency completely partisan. Because four votes would be needed to take any official action, it would be extremely difficult for one side to have a distinct advantage.

Sanfelippo could have made it a 7 member board instead of 6, with one vote as the tie breaker, but that's not the point, is it? The real question is; why make the GAB partisan when it's already partisan?  

UPDATED: Targeted for extermination by Walker, GAB audit found no problems and no reason to destroy nonpartisan election oversight.

Despite all the trouble Gov. Scott Walker had as chairman of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (he was booted for lost and forgotten money), it's now on the fast track to become less unaccountable with even less oversight.

The Government Accountability Board on the other hand, overseeing elections and investigating election wrong doing (catching a few Republicans and nearly Scott Walker), is on the chopping block and about to become a political arm of the administration. Republicans took a few audit problems and went into phony outrage mode.

In this jaw dropping WPT Here and Now interview, Republican State Sen. Devin LeMahieu thought nothing of admitting the parties bizarre and vengeful intentions. This will instill more confidence in out elections?



Common Cause wrote this:

Walker, Fitzgerald and Vos particularly despise the fact that the six retired judges that comprise the GAB voted unanimously in 2012 to authorize an investigation into possible illegal campaign coordination between Scott Walker's campaign during the recall election, with outside special interest groups (Wisconsin Club for Growth and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce) … such coordination was very clear at that time and the GAB decision was completely in accordance with established law. 

What really irks Walker, Fitzgerald and Vos is that the GAB is not controlled by them and has not done their bidding. And so now, this Fall, the Republican majority will move in September to eviscerate the independence and non-partisanship of the GAB and attempt to ram through their own legislation that will make the GAB a partisan tool firmly under their control. In doing so, the GOP will seek to dictate the outcome of Wisconsin elections, campaign finance law, ethics and lobbying law and manipulate it in such a way that they will gain permanent political power and control in the clean, honest, accountable and nationally-admired state formerly known as Wisconsin.

GAB Director Kevin Kennedy addressed many of the phony issues LeMahieu mentioned above on WKOW's Capitol City Sunday:



But that was then, this is now, and they lost their reason for change. WKOW:

An audit released Thursday looking into how Wisconsin's nonpartisan elections and ethics board, the GAB, handles complaints found no major problems, leading the panel's director to say it should put to rest concerns about its operations even as Republicans and Gov. Scott Walker plan major overhauls. The report shows that the six retired judges on the board are engaged as they review material presented by staff. Republicans who control the Legislature along with Walker, who is running for president, have said for months they plan to make significant changes to the board, including possibly doing away with it and starting over. 

Walker ready to "boldly" politicize elections. Like gerrymandering wasn't enough already?

In my post yesterday, "Scott Walker wants something better than a board of impartial judges overseeing elections," the Cap Times wrote about the latest attempt by Scott Walker and the Republican authority to remake the GAB into something more accountable to them, partisan politicians:

Gov. Scott Walker said on Monday he wants the board dismantled and replaced with something new … "something completely new that is truly accountable to the people of the state of Wisconsin," the Associated Press reported.

Jay Heck, director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, said "Walker's call for the elimination of the GAB is simply revenge and retribution for the GAB approving of an investigation of what was clearly a violation of Wisconsin campaign finance law in 2011-12. The elimination or evisceration of the GAB will only raise further questions about whether or not Walker and his campaign were involved in illegal activity. And it will be viewed by citizens as an attempt to simply eliminate any entity that puts adherence to the law above partisan fealty."

But this all started back in December of 2011, nearly one year into Walker term. Republicans were already planning the GAB's demise:

jsonline-Jason Stein: State Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald … said the state might need to replace its elections and ethics agency, saying it has strayed from its nonpartisan mission. Fitzgerald said he saw advantages to going back to the old elections and ethics board … A spokesman for the accountability board said the agency was simply applying the law during controversial political times.

Exactly one year later, in 2012, Republicans were still fine tuning the message:

jsonline-Patrick Marley: The state Senate's incoming leader said Monday he would like to take retired judges off the state's nonpartisan elections and ethics board and replace them with political appointees.Sen. Scott Fitzgerald said he believed the state Government Accountability Board has made decisions favoring Democrats and that putting political appointees on the board would "strike more of a balance." "GAB, it's not working the way it's supposed to," Fitzgerald said. 

Another year later, replacing the GAB came up again, but this time on video, compliments of the propaganda think tank MacIver Institute. Thankfully, when Republicans give interviews to like-minded media lackeys, the filter comes off and they spill their guts. They do know everybody else can see and hear this stuff, right?

This is what I wrote back in January 2, 2013:

Thanks to the farcical, and radically conservative "think tank" MacIver Institute, we have this look inside the thinking behind our winner take all party of failed ideas, from Sen. Scott Fitzgerald. I've added corrections in the video when needed:

In  2012, Rachel Maddow put together this nicely researched look back at how the GAB began in Wisconsin, and the Republicans attempts to take it all back:



Check out this fine article in the New Yorker.

Scott Walker wants something better than a board of impartial judges overseeing elections.

You can bet elections in Wisconsin will take on a new conservative glow after Scott Walker and his plundering pirates get done with it. Don’t forget, they won, so get over it.

First, the highly regarded Government Accountability Board had the kind of name only a Republican could hate. "Accountability?" Not if they can help it.

The board inflicted a lot of legal pain for Walker, and now it was their time to pay. A Walker warning shot over the bow. No one steps out of line.

Gov. Scott Walker said on Monday he wants the board dismantled and replaced with something new … "something completely new that is truly accountable to the people of the state of Wisconsin," the Associated Press reported.

Jay Heck, director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, said "Walker's call for the elimination of the GAB is simply revenge and retribution for the GAB approving of an investigation of what was clearly a violation of Wisconsin campaign finance law in 2011-12. The elimination or evisceration of the GAB will only raise further questions about whether or not Walker and his campaign were involved in illegal activity. And it will be viewed by citizens as an attempt to simply eliminate any entity that puts adherence to the law above partisan fealty."

Of course with super majorities and sure bet electoral districts, who care’s.

Guilt by association? The Republicans got a lucky break when they found out the GAB had been in contact with the IRS...gee, another government agency. It was an opportunity to make something up that appealed to the paranoids they call voters. Despite no actual documentable involvement, Republicans made it sound like the Watergate break-in:

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Rep. Dean Knudson called for "necessary reforms" after a Wall Street Journal editorial reported the agency had been in contact with the Internal Revenue Service when it investigated conservative groups.

Joint Finance Committee co-chairs Sen. Alberta Darling and Rep. John Nygren called for GAB director Kevin Kennedy's resignation, calling the GAB a "rogue agency that ignores state law and operates against its founding principles." 

Yea, they’re rotten to the core alright. Meanwhile, reality struggled to get a word in edgewise:

Kennedy issued the following statement: "I am not going to dignify the Wall Street Journal’s opinion column with any comment, except to state that it contains no facts showing that I or the Government Accountability Board did anything inappropriate or out of the ordinary given the agency’s statutory responsibilities. I think any discussion about the structure or mission of the G.A.B. should be done through the legislative process. 

The Truth, and nothing but the Truth, from Dale Schultz.

Why does it always take a Republican to come right out with the brutal truth? Ever notice how Democrats are always softening the message and try to mediate the political disagreements they know they're not going to win?

From the Devil's Advocates show, soon to be former Republican State Sen. Dale Schultz absolutely trashed Rep. Robin Vos, the defunding of the UW, letting our roads go to hell, cut taxes while public education withers away in rural areas...everything is here. It's a myth busting 9 minutes of reality...from a Republican:



The Cap Times' Steve Elbow has transcribed a number of Schultz's comments.

Partisan Republican Electoral Decisions to add extra layer of "Integrity?"

“So if we can create a system that has partisan makeup where decisions can be made, of course I'm open to that.” - Rep. Robin Vos

Is this the most amazing comment...confession? The real, authoritarian, big government Republican Party is now out there for everyone to see. Let's find out if "small government," freedom and liberty loving conservative voters will stand by their principles, or grovel at the feet of their all controlling leaders. From WPR audio:

GOP: Environmental protections saving lives takes time, but turning the GAB into partisan GOP yes men for corrupt elections, fast tracked.

Take a look at two similar stories that oddly got two different kinds of reactions from our Republican overseers. It proves we're not a "republic" after all, because Republican don't represent their voters, they represent their party. That's not how the constitution set things up?  

Talk about dragging its feet, Scott Walker's crony filled DNR has taken nearly 5 years to put newer EPA standards in place, still needing more time:

Nearly five years after the federal government set new standards designed to protect public health from short, sharp spikes in air pollution levels, Wisconsin hasn't made the rules mandatory for all polluters. “Despite finding sufficient time and resources to adopt numerous other regulations at the behest of polluters since 2011 that allow more pollution without regulations or oversight, the Department has not met its statutory obligation to promulgate standards ... consistent with the federal standard,” the Midwest Environmental Defense Center and Clean Wisconsin said in their suit.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “finding of failure” issued to the DNR in August for missing a 2012 deadline for new state rules on “incremental” increases in particles from smokestacks. Rewriting state rules ... should not have been complicated because it would require inserting new numbers into existing rules.

That's all? Sure, and that’s outrageous, right? Not to Republicans who say it's just too complicated.

But coincidentally a new audit of the GAB put Republicans in phony outrage mode over...delays, but this time prompting calls to throw the bums out. Huh?

The state’s nonpartisan elections board needs to improve its handling of campaign finance laws, complaints, lobbying and ethics laws … Staff members were late in conducting 16 reviews required by law to identify felons who may have voted illegally. Auditors said it wasn’t until summer 2014 that they had completed reviews from 16 elections between February 2010 and April 2014.

Republican leaders pounced on the news as evidence that major changes are needed. A spokeswoman for Gov. Scott Walker, for example, said the audit proves the agency is “ripe for reform.” “This audit proves what Republicans have been saying for years: The GAB isn’t doing its job,” said Sen. Alberta Darling.

In summary, cleaning up the environment to save lives and improve the health of state citizens takes lots of time, but turning the GAB into a right wing partisan rubber stamp for corrupting our elections? Fast tracked.. 

After Destroying Election Process, Republicans seek to distract with Ballot Design Lawsuit!!! Here's the Truth Behind the Lawsuit from Republicans Fitzgerald and Vos.

The ridiculous and whiny ballot lawsuit by Sen. Scott Fitzgerald and Rep. Robin Vos is meant to muddy the election waters even more, with the hopes of discouraging and frustrating voters enough so they won’t turn out.

But the comments by the snarling unlikable Vos need some clarification. He said this on WKOW:

"Now, a simple Google search, if you were to type in a person that you were giving a special contract to that's dealing with elections, would have revealed that she had a partisan leaning."

Vos is simply saying that left leaning individuals in America cannot be trusted to do anything anymore, and only conservatives have higher more principled intentions. But that supposes Dana Chisnell is left leaning. Perhaps making election ballots easier to understand and free of possible errors does smack of liberalism, because it does run counter to the maze of regulations and hoops Republicans hope to send voters through year after year.

  

You be the judge. Here’s a quick video interview with this "known" electoral saboteur:

Dana Chisnell’s the person election bureaus call to create bulletproof ballots, ones that are clear enough and understandable enough to ensure that every vote counts. 

She went on to work on the Design for Democracy project — a group dedicated to using design tools to make ballots and voting more understandable; it researched and set forth the best practices for creating printed ballots, optical scan ballots, signs and posters at polling places … created tiny field-guide booklets with easy-to-implement, actionable tips — the boiled-down essence of their research. Her slogan: Democracy is a design problem.

Perhaps Fitzgerald and Vos didn't like the liberal leaning MacArthur Foundation, which “supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world, defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society.” You know, all the things Republicans hate the most because it empowers people with actual freedom and liberty, and not that meaningless version you see on their bumper stickers.

Chisnell is no partisan "hitperson" either. She’s done work in such “leftist” states like Georgia and Ohio:

The guides are now in their third printing, with 1,500 sets being used in 43 states and in four Canadian and European provinces. Demand has exceeded supply. Georgia requested one set for every county. So did Ohio … Matt Masterson, deputy chief of staff for the Ohio secretary of state, who noted that almost all of Chisnell’s ideas involved no additional costs.  

It's hard to get anymore partisan than Ohio, who's Republican Secretary of State tried to gum up the last few elections by restricting early voting and wanted to end early voting the last 3 heaviest days of turnout.

But she's just too partisan for Wisconsin. Poor Chisnell, destroying her own business to give Democrats in Wisconsin a leg up on sure thing gerrymanders Republicans. What a waste.

For fun, check out Chisnell's latest design for online voting:

The Anywhere Ballot: What if anyone could vote on any device? What if, rather than having separate voting systems for people who did and didn’t have disabilities, voters could vote on a device they already had and knew and had customized and personalized. This is a project sponsored by the Election Assistance Commission.

Try out the Anywhere Ballot on your computer or tablet

6 Member Elections Board now filled with 5 Walker Appointees, restoring confidence the GOP will Win in November .

After the first Scott Walker John Doe investigation and recall, the Republican legislature decided they wanted to replace the Government Accountability Board with their own very partisan panel of appointees to oversee elections. They weren't happy with some of their calls against Republican candidates.

jsonline-Jason Stein: State Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald … said the state might need to replace its elections and ethics agency, saying it has strayed from its nonpartisan mission. 

jsonline-Patrick Marley: The state Senate's incoming leader said Monday he would like to take retired judges off the state's nonpartisan elections and ethics board and replace them with political appointees.Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), said he believed the state Government Accountability Board has made decisions favoring Democrats and that putting political appointees on the board would "strike more of a balance." "GAB, it's not working the way it's supposed to," Fitzgerald said.

Claiming everyone has a political point of view, it only made sense to put their majority party in charge of elections. But after a whole lot of public blowback, that didn’t happen…until now.

jsonline: Gov. Scott Walker announced Friday he had appointed former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge John Franke as a member of the state's elections and ethics board … rather than renew the appointment of board member Michael Brennan. The accountability board consists of six former … With the latest appointment, the board now includes five members appointed by Walker. The sixth member was appointed by former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat.

It appears Walker took his time with this one, so he could quietly weaken elections enough to guarantee the boards approval to cheat legally. We’ll see.  I should point out a tweet from John noted:  "one of those five Walker appointees was a reapointment of a member originally appointed by Doyle."

Big Surprise, Republican Election Suppression Tactics Backfiring on them!!

A new regulation asking for both a signature and a printed name is resulting into a whole lot of dropped names on nomination forms. Turns out, most people don’t print their names out any better than their signature. Who knew? GOP election suppression zealots, that's who.

The lawmakers responsible now want a more lax enforcement of their own rule, kind of like making up as you go. Remember how Republicans insisted on the immediate enforcement of voter suppression laws? Now that it's affecting Republicans, we're being asked to forget the letter of the law, and violate the intent for political reasons.

Chippewa: The Republican chairwoman of the Assembly Campaigns and Elections Committee, Rep. Kathleen Bernier, R-Chippewa Falls, chastised the state elections agency Tuesday for its strict application of a new law requiring printed names on candidate nomination forms. “I am disappointed as a colleague of the GAB that they would go this far. Bernier said she would ask the GAB at its next meeting to stop staff from determining what is and isn't printed and to instead determine what is readable ... Rep. Jim Ott, R-Mequon, the author of the law, said it was meant to ensure the names of people who signed those documents are legible.

That's not what the law says. And, people don’t print any better than they write.

GAB spokesman Reid Magney said “Our interpretation is that to qualify, a name must be both printed and legible. Cursive handwriting, no matter how legible, is not printed.”

Weird, but those are the rules, and Republicans are getting hit:

Barry Nelson, a Manitowoc Republican running for an open state Senate seat, initially turned in 470 signatures, but after review saw the number knocked down to 369, below the 400 minimum for state Senate candidates. A GAB staff member told him many of the names were stricken because of an illegibly printed name. “He said if they looked too squiggly that could be construed as an extra signature and not a printed name,” Nelson said. “If you can make out your name, who cares if it’s squiggly?”

Craig Krueger, a 20-year-old college senior from Hilbert, filed 237 nomination signatures Monday. But about a half-hour before the deadline, a GAB official told him that all of his signatures were invalid and he was off the fall ballot.