December 5, 2018

"The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate has passed a sweeping measure taking power away from the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general, and reducing how long early voting can take place."

"The measure was approved on a 17-16 vote with all Democrats and one Republican voting against it. The Assembly was expected to give final approval later Wednesday morning and send the measure to Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who has signaled his support. The bill would limit the governor’s ability to put in place administrative rules that enact laws and give the Legislature the power to control appointees to the board that runs the state economic development agency until Sept. 1. The legislation would also require legislative approval to withdraw from lawsuits, taking that away from the attorney general."

AP reports.

ADDED: "Lame duck" is an insult, not a requirement. The legislature and governor who are in power now were elected to a full term, not elected with a proviso that they go "lame" once the election has happened. Who says what can happen in that last part of a term of office? Look up what the 2010 Congress did after the election and how it was talked about in the press?

Here's a dialogue from yesterday at FiveThirtyEight, "Are Lame-Duck Sessions Undemocratic?" Excerpt:
perry: I think it’s worth considering that even if there is some Democratic precedent in the past, do we think Gov. Malloy of Connecticut or Gov. Brown of California would have cut the powers of the new governor if a Republican had been elected? I really, really doubt it. For example, Maryland Democrats did not do this in 2010. I think part of the issue is right now, in the 2010s, it seems like one party is regularly pushing the envelope.

natesilver: I think the literature is pretty convincing that it’s asymmetric. Asymmetric doesn’t mean that Republicans push the boundaries 100 percent of the time and Democrats do it 0 percent of the time. Maybe it means the GOP does it 70 percent of the time and Democrats do it 30 percent. 
Maybe it means....

Here's an enthusiastic article in The Atlantic in late 2010: "The Most Productive Lame Duck Since WWII -- and Maybe Ever."
Driven by the looming Christmas holiday and the upcoming change in power in the House -- not to mention the likelihood that Democrats will not again control both Houses of Congress and the White House until 2014 at the earliest, should Obama win re-election -- Democrats were moved to push forward aggressively on controversial legislation they'd punted on all year long.
Where did this "duck" business come from?
The phrase "lame duck" was coined in the eighteenth century at the London Stock Exchange, to refer to a stockbroker who defaulted on his debts. The first known mention of the term in writing was made by Horace Walpole, from a letter in 1761 to Sir Horace Mann: "Do you know what a Bull and a Bear and Lame Duck are?" In 1791 Mary Berry wrote of the Duchess of Devonshire's loss of £50,000 in stocks, "the conversation of the town" that her name was to be "posted up as a lame duck". In the literal sense, the term refers to a duck which is unable to keep up with its flock, making it a target for predators.
AND: The GOP has will still have a solid majority in both houses of the legislature in the new session:
Republicans held their majority in the 2018 elections for Wisconsin State Assembly, winning 63 seats to Democrats' 36. All of the chamber's 99 seats were up for election. At the time of the election, Republicans held 64 seats to Democrats' 35.... The Republican Party maintained control of the state Senate and Assembly but lost its trifecta in Wisconsin in 2018 as the Democratic Party flipped the governorship.

52 comments:

rhhardin said...

They're just rules. The dems will ignore them.

Henry said...

From a governance view, this is very bad.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

The democrats cracked the cheat-to-win vote scheme in CA. It's only a matter of time before that cancer spreads to every other state.

If you disagree, you are a KKK member.

rehajm said...

Two wrongs making right.

Oso Negro said...

@DickinBimbos - yep "vote harvesting". Because you lose, suckers.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Lame.

Expat(ish) said...

In NC this was done by amending the constitution - makes it a LOT harder to reverse.

Just saying.

-XC

Temujin said...

The bill would limit early voting to no more than two weeks before an election. And Democrats are saying that's not enough?? The entire concept of early voting is crazy. The longer it goes on, the longer the manipulation can take place. Throw in extra voting, harvesting votes, barrels of suspicious mail-in votes suddenly arriving after an election, or tossed out before an election...and on and on.

We're a total mess when it comes to elections. If anything, we need to tie this thing up. Give everyone 2 days to vote. Make it all either in-person, by ballot voting, or authorized absentee ballots for properly approved citizens (that is, actual citizens of the US and/or the state they officially hold residence in). Written ballots. No more electronic BS. (too easy to manipulate).

And definitely, positively: you have to have proper ID to vote. Any argument against that is preposterous. Literally no one is without an ID, and if they are, they now have 2 years to get one (which any state will grant them for free).

So...Madisonians are about to protest something? Huh...surprising.

Ralph L said...

Lame compared to what the Repub. legislature did to the NC Gov elect (D) after 2016. They had veto proof majorities then, but I don't know about post 2018.

They took many appointment powers away from the executive. But our governorship has been weak, historically. Reelection was forbidden until the late 70's.

Wince said...

Unprecedented! ...I tell you!


Massachusetts legislature flip-flops on governor's senatorial appointment power
By Louis Jacobson on Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Massachusetts legislators this week approved a bill that allows the governor [Patrick-D] to appoint a temporary successor to Kennedy.

But that came just over five years after legislators stripped the governor's [Romney-R] longstanding power to appoint a U.S. senator to fill a vacancy. Both moves were consistent in one sense: In the strongly Democratic state, they advanced the Democratic Party's interests. But the two actions amount to a resounding flip-flop.

Tim said...

The Left isn't gonna love the New Rules.

MadisonMan said...

This calls to mind the old adage:

"If you have the law on your side, pound the law; if you have the facts on your side, pound the facts; if you have neither, pound the table."

Wisconsin Democrats are pounding the table. I think they would all agree that a weak Executive Branch is not a bad thing if the Exec is a Republican.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Early voting, absentee, and mail in voting, unless you have a VERY valid reason, is just a way to cheat.

Valid reasons. You are out of the country in the military or on business (prove it). You are completely physically incapacitated (prove it). You are out of your State or local voting area for an extended period of time like some Snowbirds, (not just taking a weekend off and prove it)

Voting should be on more than one day. Saturday and Wednesday for example. Not everyone has time off from work to spend a day waiting in line to vote.

You need to present an ID that shows you are an American Citizen and be matched to the voter rolls. Not a utility bill or just a believe me statement.

Fuck a bunch of provisional votes. Either register or you lose out.

CLEAN UP THE VOTER ROLES!!! Get rid of duplicate registrations. Dead people. This should be a nationwide mandate and not left up to the incompetent locals.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Voter fraud 101.

Do a mail in ballot. Then go to your local polling place and vote again. Then go to another polling place and do a provisional ballot.

Easy peasy!!

Mr. Majestyk said...

One day, Saturday, in person (except for valid absentee, as in days of yore), valid government-issued voter ID, paper ballots.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Then... after all of the multiple votes, you get a Broward County offical to close the door and do the counting at night. Never mind those boxes of empty ballots in the trunk of the rental car. Those are "just in case" blanks used after we know how many democrat votes are needed to "win".

gahrie said...

One day, Saturday, in person (except for valid absentee, as in days of yore), valid government-issued voter ID, paper ballots.

Add finger dip in indelible ink.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

What drives me nuts about the GOP is they never really do anything about the Democrat corruption machine when they can.

Howard said...

Steve Bannon does the demographic maths. He recommends republicans stop the vote suppression tactics if they ever want to garner racial minority conservatives who go democrat now because you people consort with racisgendered white trash supremes

Howard said...

This is all legal and shit, but going nuke has blowback.

Matt Sablan said...

I'd like to see "the literature."

gahrie said...

This is all legal and shit, but going nuke has blowback.

Tell that to Reid, Pelosi and Obama.

Some Seppo said...

In Tennessee a government ID is required to vote early and on election day. I guess if you can vote early without ID then you might be in a blue state.

Early voting here was passed to reduce absentee ballot fraud.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

"voter suppression" is a myth. Voting is the easiest thing to do on earth. Esp if you are a democrat. Vote early and often.

tim maguire said...

There is some rationale for limiting the activity of the "lame duck" session--the party in power has been rejected by the voters. The fact that they are still there is an unfortunate detail of the succession process.

But notice the implicit limiter on the term "lame duck"--losing an election is a basic requirement to being a lame duck. If the party in power holds on to power in the election, then is not a lame duck session.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

When out-going dems make use of lame duck = all cool and democratic.

When the GOP does it = Nazi.

narciso said...

btw the dems did not restore preexisting conditions, so for those who thought they would.

n.n said...

Of Duck and Dodo Dynasties.

n.n said...

Like intersectional religious/moral philosophy, or a living Constitution, or evolution of human life, or a social justice adventure, ethics is a politically congruent construct.

rcocean said...

"Early voting, absentee, and mail in voting, unless you have a VERY valid reason, is just a way to cheat."

Agree. Why did Republicans agree to this crap?

Too much fraud as it is. And too many Dumbo's voting. And if you're too lazy to register, don't vote!

rcocean said...

The Press/Democrats ALWAYS zero in the things needed to get them power

Gerrymandering and Voter ID to name two.

Also, control of the Judiciary AMD immigration (aka importing Democrats).

They fight for these things ruthlessly, and sequel like stuck pigs whenever the Republicans feebly fight back.

Lee Moore said...

EDH thanks for reminding me of the Massachusetts double backward somersault with pike on the business of Governors appointing relacement Senators. I read the 538 article and thought :

"Hey ! Aren't they missing out some D fiddles ? Some State which stripped appointment powers from the Governor when he was an R and then put em back when he was a D."

But I had misremembered it as Noo Joisey. Now I realise that Noo Joisey was a different scam - the Lautenberg switcheroo.

Yancey Ward said...

Hypocrites can't win arguments, but they can fool people.

roesch/voltaire said...

I am surprised that even one Wisconsin Republican had enough of a conscious to vote against these bills, but then he's from Green Bay where they are a bit more responsive to the voting public. Ah well money talks, while voters walk---in protest.

roesch/voltaire said...

“What they are planning for the Republican Party of Wisconsin will malign its integrity and lead to its downfall,” Lubar wrote in an email to Walker. “Worse, it will damage Wisconsin as it ignores the will of the majority of Wisconsin voters.”

Richard Dolan said...

This is the same dynamic as civility bullshit, expressed in a slightly different metaphor.

Achilles said...

Howard said...
“This is all legal and shit, but going nuke has blowback.“

Only when Republicans do it.

Gospace said...

Achilles said...
Howard said...
“This is all legal and shit, but going nuke has blowback.“

Only when Republicans do it.


Yep. Dems have done it in the past and it's never been headlined or above the fold. Look at Massachusetts. Suddenly, the governor, a Republican, can't appoint a Senator to replace a dead one. And when the new governor is a Democrat, hey- change the law again!

Curious George said...

"ignores the will of the majority of Wisconsin voters.”

What bullshit. The GOP majority in the Senate and Assembly was the will of the voters, and that's who is writing these bills. This is what democracy looks like. So suck it.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

I'm pleased my Wisconsin representatives are representing me. However, if I had the choice, I would rather they be more creative. Maybe start a multi-year secret investigation of Evers. Throw in a few pre-dawn raids on the homes of prominent Democrats to intimidate their partners and frighten their children. Yeah, I would actually pay to watch that.

Jim at said...

“Worse, it will damage Wisconsin as it ignores the will of the majority of Wisconsin voters.”

I just love how R/V and he fellow leftists act like we don't remember Act 10.

Like running away to another state and hiding was exactly what the majority of Wisconsin voters wanted.

Big Mike said...

do we think Gov. Malloy of Connecticut or Gov. Brown of California would have cut the powers of the new governor if a Republican had been elected? I really, really doubt it. For example, Maryland Democrats did not do this in 2010.

How could anyone possibly doubt that Malloy and Brown would do precisely that? As to why the Democrats didn't curtail the powers of Larry Hogan in 2014 (not 2010 -- Martin O'Malley, Democrat, was reelected that year), it's because Parris Glendenning, Democrat, had already done so when Bob Ehrich, Republican, was elected in 2002.

Politics as usual become unusual politics only when Republicans do it.

Scott M said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Scott M said...

Why didn't the Democrats just prevent quorum by fleeing to a crappy little motel on the other side of the Illinois border? There's ample historical precedent.

Michael Fitzgerald said...

Sounds like the Republicans are pre-empting more of the democrat party criminal enterprises which they employ when they get power. Too bad Walker and the Republicans did nothing about that corrupt John Doe investigation and the crooked Democrat party when they had a chance. Trump made the same mistake, so now Democrat party members will escape justice to continue their despicable crimes and lawless behavior.

Gahrie said...

Politics as usual become unusual politics only when Republicans do it.

Exactly.

Take Merrick Garland. The Left and the MSM acted as if this was some unprecedented Constitutional crisis. This is a complete lie. Out of 48 failed Supreme Court nominations in our country's history, 12 of them (including Garland) failed for exactly the same reason that Garland's did, the Senate simply did not act on them. Something that happens a fourth of the time is business as usual.


DavidD said...

It’s Walker who’s the lame duck.

If the Republican legislature wants its bill signed it has to pass it while he’s still in office.

Ipso facto.

Drago said...

Tim: "The Left isn't gonna love the New Rules."

The Left and their LLR allies aren't gonna love the New Rules.

FIFY

JML said...

Elections have consequences.

cyrus83 said...

Odd that this post doesn't have the civility bullshit tag on it. Democrats would do exactly the same thing if the roles were reversed, Republicans win nothing playing by Marquis of Queensbury rules. If the people of Wisconsin disagree, they can vote the Democrats back into control of the state legislature in 2 years and repeal the law.

Early voting is unnecessary. New York, the 4th largest state, managed to get 68% turnout in the 2016 election having the voting all take place on only election day. If the country's largest city and one of its largest states can manage to pull it off, with substantially higher turnout than the country as a whole despite only allowing a mere 15 hour window to vote, what on earth justification is there to do it anywhere else?

Psychologically, early voting likely depresses voter participation. Something that can be done for days or weeks tends to register as less important than something that must be done on a specific date. Corporate advertisers know this - that is why most sales are for a "very limited time" or "today only" as opposed to longer periods of time. Nobody is going to hurry to Wal-Mart if they announce a 20% sale from now until December 31. A 20% off sale on December 6 only from 5pm until 9pm however would pack the stores.

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