Ego driven Walker Republicans lose on 2 attempts to reshape the State Constitution.

1. The Walker Authority Special Session Power Grab: In a competition between Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Michigan's Gov. Rick Snyder who installed emergency managers that replaced all locally elected officials, Snyder won the "smart" award when he vetoed that states Republican legislative power grab over their incoming Democratic governor.

Walker lost hands down. That's how extreme and politically motivated career politician Scott Walker really is. It has now taken a Circuit Court Judge to call Walker's act of narcissism to keep his 8 year record in place unconstitutional.

One other thing. The state Constitution does not allow the legislature to call its own lame duck extraordinary session, and yet, Republicans insist they are the strict constructionist, defending the exact words of the Constitution. There defense? They've been doing it for years:

Dane County judge Richard Niess on Thursday issued a temporary injunction blocking a set of laws passed by Republican lawmakers late last year that stripped away some powers from Wisconsin's governor and attorney general ... the method by which the Legislature passed the bills — an extraordinary session — is unconstitutional, therefore rendering anything passed during the session invalid. "Failing to enjoin the illegal actions of the Legislature would result in substantial changes to Wisconsin government, the administration of federal benefits and programs, election administration and transportation projects — all pursuant to laws that do not exist," wrote Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess in his ruling.

Lawyers for the Republican lawmakers and argued that striking down the lame-duck laws would call into question the validity of any laws passed in a similar manner over the last 40 years.

 2. Walker violated the Separation of Powers! Yup, Power Corrupts: The Republican constitutional scholars who claim to know what the founding fathers intended, and whined for years how Obama exceeded his presidential powers, trashed any credibility they thought they had to argue their case permanently:

Rep. Robin Vos

Dane County Judge Frank Remington has ruled in favor of plaintiffs and against GOP lawmakers’ lame-duck legislative session for the second time in two weeks ... The lawsuit, which was heard in court on Monday, argued lawmakers violated the state constitution’s separation of powers guarantee by unfairly limiting the authority of the executive branch. Remington agreed on several counts, blocking some — but not all — of the laws passed during the lame-duck session. 

"Wisconsin’s constitution is like a keel on a great ship. It defines the structure of state government," Remington wrote in his decision. "In December, 2018 the Legislature and then Gov. Scott Walker upended the balance that this state has had for most all of its 171 years. The time has come to right this ship-of-state so Wisconsin can resume smooth sailing ahead."

Remington upheld lawmakers' ability to block Evers from changing require able-bodied, childless adults to work or pass drug tests in order to receive public benefits like food stamps and Medicaid, but threw out their authority to block his action regarding withdrawal from federal lawsuits.

Desperate GOP Lame Duck Laws Struck Down: Early Voting and Politician Twitter Block!!!

Wisconsin's hard core Republican extremist legislature needs a little continuing education in civics and constitutional law.

Power didn't just corrupt, it also made Republicans forget who they were elected to serve. Oh, and gerrymandering also made it impossible for Republicans to claim the voters chose them when in fact it was the other way around.

The GOP's lame duck legislation is coming apart at the seams in the courts. 

And Scott Walker's legacy? Well, he signed off on this illegal stuff, and he'll be remembered for it:  

It's a big victory for now Attorney General Josh Kaul, who at the time, represented One Wisconsin Institute and Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund. Is there any question at this point Republicans don't want people to vote, or even believe in the idea of elections themselves? 

Moving swiftly, a federal judge struck down limits on early voting that Republican lawmakers approved last month in a lame-duck session. In a five-page ruling, U.S. District Judge James Peterson concluded the new limits on early voting are invalid because they so closely mirror ones he struck down as unconstitutional in 2016. His decision also threw out parts of the lame-duck laws affecting IDs and other credentials that can be used for voting.

"This is not a close question: the three challenged provisions are clearly inconsistent with the (2016) injunctions that the court has issued in this case," Peterson wrote. Peterson also ruled that temporary voting credentials will be valid for 180 days instead of 60 days, as Republican lawmakers wanted. The credentials are given to people who have difficulty getting state ID cards because they lack birth certificates or other documents. Peterson's ruling also requires the state to allow students to use expired college IDs to vote. Republican lawmakers wanted college IDs to be accepted only if they had not expired.

No Brainer First Amendment Violation: A judge overturned a Twitter block by 3 Republicans legislators. Thanks to Trump, twitter accounts by politicians are now public and subject to the First Amendment. Irony? 

Federal District Judge William Conley ruled that three Wisconsin state legislators - Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Burlington, Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, and former Republican Rep. Jesse Kremer of Kewaskum - violated the free speech rights of a liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now, when the lawmakers blocked the group from their respective Twitter feeds.

Scot Ross, the group's executive director, called the decision a victory for "open, transparent and accountable government. Elected officials can’t exclude people from public forums just because they don’t agree with their political views or don’t want to hear what they may have to say," Ross said in an email.

Conley wrote that the case presented a "novel question of law for this court: is the interactive portion of a government official’s Twitter account a designated public forum? While there is no settled law on whether a government actor’s social media account is a designated public forum, two federal district courts have now held that government officials’ social media accounts can constitute public forums," Conley wrote, adding that the lawmakers presented no reason for blocking One Wisconsin Now, "except by vague innuendo or by claiming that they must have had a valid reason but can no longer remember why they did so."

Conley's ruling follows a decision from a federal judge in New York, who in May said President Donald Trump is not permitted under the U.S. Constitution to block people from his Twitter feed. In that case, U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald, determined that Trump's Twitter account is considered a "public forum" under the Constitution because it is an interactive space where Twitter users can dialogue directly with him and other users. She also found that by blocking people from it, Trump was discriminating against them based on their viewpoint.

The Party that warned of Single Party Rule now Looking to take Permanent Political Control of State and Federal Government. Lame Duck Big Target.

Is the "Lame Duck" nearing extinction?

It appears when Republicans win elections, their rein begins immediately. This surreal electoral power grab, recently attempted in Wisconsin, mirrored a nationwide effort by Republicans to take power once elected. Not in two months, but NOW!! Their hope; stop Democrats cold. For example:

WSJ: In a letter to Department of Administration Secretary Daniel Schooff, Walker urged the current administration to freeze implementation of the federal health care law and suspend contract negotiations with state employees. He also requested it stop making any permanent hires, transform Charter Street Power Plant into a natural gas boiler (instead of the planned biofuel boiler) and delay any new administrative rules until after he takes office on Jan. 3.

On a national level, House Republicans hope to do away with the lame duck session, a moment that saw so many fellow conservatives help pass an historical number of Democratic bills. MSNBC: