"In an interesting twist and a brilliant maneuver, each and every Democrat recused themselves ..."

[Scuba]

Wisconsin Republicans are legalizing corruption as fast as they can. Democrats can only protest in silence.



http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2015/10/wisconsin-i-hardly-recognize-you.html

The bill would allow legislative campaign committees and political parties to receive unlimited contributions, with the exception of a $12,000 per year limit on PAC contributions to those committees and parties. The legislation would allow unlimited contributions to be made to and transferred between political action committees. Recall committees and referendum committees could also receive unlimited funds, and unlimited funds could be donated to pay expenses related to a recall or recount. Candidates could also make unlimited personal contributions to their own committee.

The proposal would ban candidates from coordinating with outside groups on express advocacy — calls to vote "for or against" a candidate — but would place no restrictions on coordination on issue advocacy.

In an interesting twist and a brilliant maneuver, each and every Democrat recused themselves from the vote, pointing out that they have a conflict of interest because it would directly affect their own campaign committees. The Republicans were at a loss at having their blatant corruption and greed exposed like that, but not enough so to keep them from passing the bill anyway.

...

To deal with that, the Republicans are also set to dismantle the Government Accountability Board (GAB), a nonpartisan panel of former judges that investigate campaign finance and ethics violations. The Republicans want to replace the GAB with two partisan panels - one for campaign finance violations and one for ethics violations - each consisting of three Republicans and three Democrats. This will leave the committees at stalemates on almost every issue.

[Half-Century Man]

1. Will Wisconsin Democrats challenge every single seat in this election cycle?

Will we put in the hard work for no other reward than un-fucking our state?

[Scuba]

2. We'll soon find out if Martha Laning is a progressive Democrat or just another corporate shill.

Gawd, I hope it's the former.

[Ed Suspicious]

3. I'm guessing the latter. WI, the state I used to love

for its weirdly independant, pragmatic nature, now has me so jaded.

[stillwaiting]

4. Corporate entities pick their candidates and fund them to win the primary.

If we don't build organizations to push Democratic candidates to offer alternatives to these corporate-owned candidates, we're fucked.

These organizations can NOT be part of the Party Establishment (DNC, DSCC, DCCC, etc.).

It would require a massive effort, but it's the only way I see things changing course.

They win before the general election, and they'll continue to win until we mount an opposition.

[hue]

6. For sure the game is rigged. Wisconsin is truly a fascist oligarchy.

It's the apathy of the general Wisconsin population that is most distressing among other things.
Wisconsin is the most gerrymandered state in the US. Voting machines and ballot counting are quite suspect.
The RW party amounts to a money laundering mafia type gang.

Our environment and raw commodities are being plundered & everything is being privatized; schools, prisons, public lands etc. We essentially have no unbiased news paper--->Milw. Journal/Sentinel has been bought & sold twice.

[Myrina]

9. I don't think its apathy ...

... the majority of the rural voting bloc has likely been successfully indoctrinated by Faux to hate everyone who doesn't look, talk or worship like they do, and many of the urban folks in Milwaukee who would offset that, can't vote for various reasons (many of which you list), which leaves the historically liberal Madison area and now students can't vote using their student ID's either. Essential disenfranchisement unless you're a rich white male property owner who donated to the GOP.

I do completely agree with your second paragraph, though.

[hue]

10. Many of my co-workers have knowledge of most of the truth but just can't be bothered...

[CrispyQ]

13. Shock Doctrine, state by state. That's the plan. -nt

[raouldukelives]

12. Those who benefit from Wall St.

Are benefiting from the destruction of Main St.

It didn't have to be that way, but that is the way it is.

They have spent decades and hundreds of millions of dollars twisting and distorting our government to serve the interests of corporate shareholders above all others and, as millions of people working for a common goal generally are, have been quite successful.

They straight up ignore the toll of the privatization, the wars, outsourcing, environmental destruction and stamping out of our own as well as fledgling democracies across the globe.

The only way it changes is if people start working to make things better instead of assuredly making things worse.

But of course, that doesn't, and never has, paid as well as hurting others.

[Chathamization]

17. DFA has been (somewhat successfully) working on this; everyone should be a member. WFP too, though

I have more mixed feelings for them (but in general they're doing good stuff).

[jonestonesusa]

15. I think the new WI DEM chair gets it and will work to elect progressives.

It was a contested election for party chair, and the new chair is younger and not that closely aligned with the old guard party Establishment. I think it's important not to judge until she has an election behind her.

[Scuba]

16. I sure hope so. The last thing we need is for Laning to be another corpo-Dem.

[AllyCat]

5. Truly, how can this be legal? And of course, unions contribute largely through PACs

Which the criminal GOP saw fit to limit. I hate them.

[NonMetro]

7. Bucky Badger Is Is Reviewing The Memberships Of All Republicans In The Fan Club!

Last edited Thu Oct 22, 2015, 09:10 PM - Edit history (1)

They will be notified of Bucky's decision soon on their status - but it doesn't look good - 'cause he's really PO'd this time!

[Nitram]

8. Sounds like Daley's Chicago Machine. nt

[ieoeja]

11. The FBI's Prohibition era mob investigation in Chicago was never closed.

As a result Illinois, especially Chicago, is the only location under permanent investigation by the FBI. For the FBI to investigate corruption in any other location, there must first be probable cause.

So Illinois and Chicago break records for convictions of corrupt officials. But for the same reason, we probably have the least such corruption of any state and city in the country. Nobody else has the feds looking over their shoulders 24x7.

[Unknown Beatle]

14. Poor Wisconsin.

A once proud state fell into the wrong hands and is now being dismantled piece by piece while their citizens look on in disgust. That's what happens when state elections are stolen just like in Kansas, New jersey, Florida and Texas.

This is the truth in almost every case, if something is stolen, the thief doesn't care what happens to that something.