Republican state legislature in Wisconsin making a power grab

[Yojimbo]

(12-05-2018, 08:08 PM)fredtoast Wrote: So can't the new majority legislature just change the law back once they are sworn in?

See post #4 in this thread. Dems got 54% of the vote, but are only getting 36% of the seats.

[*michaelsean*]

I’m happy for all gerrymandering to be abolished, but remember when Dems controlled the House for 45 straight years and gerrymandering was cool? I wonder what changed.

[Belsnickel]

(12-05-2018, 09:42 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I’m happy for all gerrymandering to be abolished, but remember when Dems controlled the House for 45 straight years and gerrymandering was cool? I wonder what changed.

A generation that has been ****** over by the gerrymandering (and many other things) of their preceding generations are fed up with it and want an improved democracy now that they are old enough to grasp the reins of power.

[Dill]

(12-05-2018, 03:23 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: While that is something similar, it isn't the same thing. Making those last minute actions isn't as much of a slap in the face to the democratic process as working to limit the power of a co-equal branch of government because it will no longer be as friendly to your interests. I don't agree with those presidential actions, either, but it's just not on the same level.

You don't think Obama should have worked to make sure the Russian sanctions take effect because Trump signalled he wasn't behind them?

[Dill]

(12-05-2018, 03:15 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: It is not exclusive to Republicans, or state-level politics for that matter.

https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/30/politics/barack-obama-last-minute-final-actions-donald-trump/index.html  (And that's even the CNN version.)

It really seems like people on both sides get that last minute "Go F yourself" action in, do the things that would have been too controversial while they were still in office for a reasonable time period, or give a little regulatory treat to their financial/political supporters.

It happens so often there's a term for it "Midnight Regulations".

Obama did it, Geroge W before him, Clinton before him, etc.. all the way back to Jimmy Carter.

It kind of is, or has been for decades, at least.

Obama's actions are typical of an outgoing president who wants his policies to continue as long as possible. 

But Obama was not trying to limit or increase the procedural limits on a branch of government just because the other party was taking over, so that another branch (held by the president's party) could have more power. That is the critical point here, which places the Wisconsin legislature's actions in the same class as voter id laws and gerrymandering.

[Dill]

(12-05-2018, 09:42 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I’m happy for all gerrymandering to be abolished, but remember when Dems controlled the House for 45 straight years and gerrymandering was cool? I wonder what changed.

What changed is that the discrepancy between votes and representatives went from tolerable to intolerable, and became a pattern in many places.

[Belsnickel]

(12-06-2018, 12:16 AM)Dill Wrote: You don't think Obama should have worked to make sure the Russian sanctions take effect because Trump signalled he wasn't behind them?

I think he should have done it earlier, political consequences be damned. I think he should have levied the sanctions when they knew what the Russians did and called out McConnell for not agreeing to them and trying to make it a political issue rather than one protecting our democracy.

[Yojimbo]

Found this attached chart very telling. I’d bet dollars to donuts, there’s a similar chart for Wisconsin and Michigan.

[fredtoast]

(12-05-2018, 08:49 PM)Belsnickel Wrote: The legislature isn't changing hands, only the governorship.

Derp!

[GMDino]

Seems to be a thread for GOP underhandedness so I'll leave this here.

I just spit coffee all over my desk.https://t.co/KlVW3vwj8o

The Michigan state health official currently facing criminal manslaughter charges in Flint water disaster was just appointed to a new job by outgoing Republican Gov Rick Snyder. Look at this: pic.twitter.com/c0YAAb0SK4

— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) December 12, 2018

[GMDino]

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/21/us/wisconsin-lawsuit-ruling.html

Quote:Wisconsin Judge Blocks Republicans’ Move to Limit Democratic Governor’s Power


CHICAGO — A judge on Thursday blocked a set of laws pushed through late last year by Republican legislators in Wisconsin that aimed to weaken the power of the state’s newly elected Democratic governor and attorney general, setting off a bitter fight in the state.


The judge, Richard Niess of Dane County Circuit Court, issued a temporary injunction on the laws, which included curbing the authority of the incoming governor, Tony Evers, in the rule-making process and limiting the power of Josh Kaul, the new attorney general.


The judge said that the Republican lawmakers’ last-minute meeting — a December session just after the election but before the new Democrats could be sworn in — did not meet the requirements of Wisconsin law. And so the measures that emerged from it, he said, “cannot stand.” The case had been brought to court by several individuals and groups, including the League of Women Voters, Disability Rights Wisconsin and Black Leaders Organizing for Communities.

Efforts last year by lawmakers in Wisconsin and in other states, including Michigan, to weaken the power of new leaders who won elections in November set off a flurry of angry protests and, in Wisconsin, several lawsuits.

The efforts also added to a tense situation emerging in Madison, the Wisconsin state capital, where government is now split after eight years of complete Republican control under Gov. Scott Walker. Republicans still firmly dominate the State Legislature; Mr. Evers, Mr. Kaul, and other Democrats have taken top state offices.


Mr. Evers called Judge Niess’s ruling “a victory for the people of Wisconsin” and said that the Legislature had “overplayed its hand by using an unlawful process to accumulate more power for itself and override the will of the people, despite the outcome of last November’s election.”


On Thursday, Mr. Evers directed Mr. Kaul to withdraw Wisconsin from a multistate lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act — a suit that the state had joined under the previous, Republican administration. Until Thursday, Mr. Kaul had been blocked from withdrawing Wisconsin from the suit; one of the provisions of the laws passed by the Republicans in December prevented the Democrats from removing the state from the case, as they had promised to do during their campaigns. Mr. Kaul filed a motion seeking the withdrawal on Thursday, a spokeswoman for Mr. Evers said.

Quote:
[/url]WI AG Josh Kaul

@WisDOJ




Today, we are seeking to end the State of Wisconsin’s involvement in the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. https://www.doj.state.wi.us/news-releases/ag-kaul-files-motions-withdraw-wisconsin-challenge-affordable-care-act …

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2:11 PM - Mar 21, 2019
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[url=https://twitter.com/WisDOJ/status/1108793220752760832]Republican leaders in the State Legislature swiftly pledged to appeal Judge Niess’s ruling, questioning what it meant for other unusual legislative sessions that had been called in Wisconsin over the decades.



“Today’s ruling only creates chaos and will surely raise questions about items passed during previous extraordinary sessions, including stronger laws against child sexual predators and drunk drivers,” Robin Vos, the Republican speaker, and Scott Fitzgerald, the Republicans’ Senate majority leader, said in a joint statement.