Still eliminating opposition by misusing the budgets
Sigh. Now that the dark money groups have
virtually killed of the current John Doe Probe with multiple aggressive lawsuits, Scott Walker is using his budget to make sure they will
never be any future investigations.
That's right, folks, he's using his budget the same way he has in the past to do non-budgetary things like union busting, changing the mission statement for the University of Wisconsin and it's connection to government, etc. This time he's using it to change the way special prosecutors are appointed. Also newly discovered, he's eliminating the public voice at the Department of Natural Resources (more on that at the end).
Claiming that local DA offices are underfunded and understaffed (yes, they are, thanks to Walkers own gutting of state shared revenue since 2011), the only way to get a special prosecutor for an investigation will be with the permission of the State Attorney General (a strident Republican Walker supporter).
Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget would add a new requirement on special prosecutor appointments even as a controversial investigation into the governor's campaign and conservative allies languishes under the leadership of its own special prosecutor.
...
The budget proposal would require a state judge or district attorney seeking a special prosecutor to ask permission from the state Department of Justice by spelling out the reason for the appointment under state law. The Department of Justice is headed by GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel.
Walker can breathe a sigh of relief. He is a firm believer in 1 Party rule. No more pesky investigations of himself or any one of his pals. I'm sure investigations involving Democrats, unions, liberal groups or anyone who isn't a Republican fan would be approved at light speed, though.
The past 2 John Doe Probes involving Scott Walker tried to include the State Department of Justice, but the Republican State Attorney General declined to join both of them. Brad Schimel, the newly elected Attorney General, is an even more strident Republican than his predecessor, JB Van Hollen.
The latest John Doe, looking into illegal coordination between Republican campaigns, including Scott Walkers, and dark money groups has been on hold because of massive numbers of lawsuits. In a ruling that had champagne corks popping around Walker, a federal judge ruled not only to stop the investigation, but, in essence, ordered the Government Accountability Board to stop enforcing campaign finance laws.
The next series of lawsuits are slated to be heard in front of the State Supreme Court where 4 of the 7 justices have been beneficiaries of the same dark money groups that are bringing those lawsuits.
The future of the investigation will move to the state Supreme Court this summer — a venue that few see as friendly to the investigation.
"I think the likelihood of success in the Supreme Court is probably not very great," said Janine Geske, a retired Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, now a Marquette University law professor.
Four of the court's seven justices have benefited as result of spending by groups that have been mentioned in the investigation. The Wisconsin Club for Growth and groups it helps fund paid millions to support the campaigns of Justices Annette Ziegler, Michael Gableman, David Prosser and Patience Roggensack, according to estimates from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a group that tracks political spending and lobbies for more campaign finance regulations.
The state Supreme Court is considering a challenge from two targets of the probe; a separate lawsuit from those two subjects and an action by special prosecutor Francis Schmitz to try to reinstate subpoenas that were quashed by the judge overseeing the investigation. Given the conservative majority on the court, observers predict the court will order an end to the Doe.
Only Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, whose son is a law partner with an attorney involved in the case, has recused herself.
(bolding is mine)
Escaping charges (I still ask "why") in the first John Doe, killing the second one where it looked like prosecutors "had the goods" on them, and preventing any further investigations, life must seem better than great for Scott Walker, particularly as he runs for the Presidency.
It won't look like this much longer without citizen oversight.
As teased in the top of the diary, Scott Walker is also using his budget the entirely non-budgetary matter of
ending citizen oversight of the Department of Natural Resources along with ending our open decision making process on environmental matters. Since taking complete power in Wisconsin and promising "transparency", Republicans have steadily done most of their business in the dark (including
gerrymandering redistricting done in a private office off-site complete with secrecy oaths for Republicans viewing and commenting on the maps in progress).
Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday sent shock waves through the Wisconsin conservation community with a proposal to end a successful tradition of citizen-involvement and open decision-making.
The surprise came in the 2015-'17 state budget. The proposal would strip power from the Natural Resources Board and make the seven-member citizen body "advisory only."
The board, which has been in place in some form since 1928, would no longer have the authority to vote on rules changes and set policy for the Department of Natural Resources.
Well, Walker donors certainly don't want a DNR that is actually concerned about protecting our environment, would they? And with the head of the DNR being a political appointee, ridding itself of citizen oversight would enable polluters to run the table in Wisconsin.
The governor's office has only offered that making the board advisory-only would "strengthen the department."
Significantly, the proposal has drawn opposition from across the political spectrum.
(bolding is mine)
And, of course, Walker is once again using his budget to ram through horrendous non-budgetary changes.
Yup, just like couponizing Medicare, privatizing Social Security, and gutting social programs would "strengthen" them. It's no wonder why they work so hard to gut education to make us stupid.
Life in Wisconsin isn't good anymore. It seems we've become Northern Mississippi.
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