The legislature itself is what I have lost confidence in. It may be because of the money or ideology. I am still not certain. If you bring these "people" together again who is to say the session will not be hijacked and we will find it more difficult to vote in the future or recall extreme politicians with hidden opportunistic ideologically driven agendas.
The legislative tactics -
- Public Hearings - rush them, hold them in inconvenient irrelevant locations, at impossible times
- Legislation - do not disclose origination anymore than you have to
- Allow the legislature to play fast and lose with it's own rules - allow majority party to change them overnight
- Do not require disclosure of Legislative agencies docket (what bills may be in draft)
- Abdicate rule making review and authority to the Governor and/or committee so that changes become even more clouded and obscure and happen out of sight
- Use "studies" and have them report at obscure times so it is easier to serve "non-public" special interests (e.g., WRS)
Well ... one more time ... and if it does not work ...
“Après moi le déluge”,
But there is one thing that Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, should be able to agree on.
The two cycles of recall elections that Wisconsin worked its way through in the summer of 2011 and again in the spring of 2012 were dominated by special-interest group spending. Gov. Scott Walker and his allies kept complaining about big money coming in from “out-of-state labor bosses.” But the even bigger money came from out-of-state — and sometimes in-state — millionaires and billionaires.
So let’s get cracking.
A special session of the Legislature this summer could and should enact policies that would bring Wisconsin closer to transparency and accountability. The groups seeking a special session propose that the Legislature:
1. Enact new disclosure laws ensuring that the public can see where every single penny spent on state elections comes from.
2. Close the loophole in Wisconsin law allowing public officials targeted for recall to engage in unlimited campaign fundraising.
3. Require corporations to notify and get permission from shareholders in order to use their money for election spending.
4. Require that television, radio and newspaper outlets keep an online public record of advertising purchased for electioneering purposes.
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