Kiss Open Government Goodbye . . .

Or do something about it, your choice! (Of course, if you don’t live in Dane County your voice is especially needed!)

I just get sick every time I have to read another one of these emails . . . but hold your nose and read on . . ..from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign . . .

Dear Friend,

I was just at a press conference in the Capitol, and Representative Gary Hebl of Sun Prairie expressed a fear a lot of us have: “This will be the week that good government died in Wisconsin.”

But you and I still have a chance to prevent this catastrophe.

There are three disastrous bills that Speaker Vos is railroading through the Assembly this week:

1. AB 388/SB 294, which smashes to bits our independent Government Accountability Board and replaces it with two partisan commissions, which is a recipe for more corruption.
2. AB 387/SB 292, which rewrites our campaign finance laws so that the wealthy and corporations can have more influence than ever. It doubles campaign contribution limits to candidates, and it allows unlimited donations to political parties and party committees. Worse still, it allows unlimited dark money donations to so-called independent groups, which can coordinate with the candidates themselves. And it gets rid of the requirement that donors to candidates have to identify their employer, further hiding the influence peddlers.
3. AB 68/SB 43, which exempts politicians, and only politicians, from secret John Doe investigations. If prosecutors hadn’t had this tool in 2001, the guilty politicians in the Caucus Scandal would have gotten off. This is a get-out-of-jail free card for our elected officials.

I URGE YOU to take a moment and drop what you’re doing and send your legislators a message that you won’t sit idly by and let Scott Walker and Speaker Vos strangle good government in Wisconsin.

Contact your State Senator & State Representative and demand they oppose these bills. (If you don’t know who your state legislators are, go here.)

          Do you live in any of the following three state senate districts key to defeating this legislation? If you do, it’s vital for you to contact them.

• Senator Cowles (Senate District 2) — Green Bay, and areas north and west of Green Bay
• Senator Olson (Senate District 14) — Waupaca, Waushara, Adams, Marquette, Dodge, or Columbia Counties, including Montello, Ripon, Waupaca, and Weyawega
• Senator Harsdorf (Senate District 10) — Burnett, Polk, St. Croix, or Pierce Counties, including River Falls, Hudson, and St. Croix Falls

And if you know anyone else who resides in one of these senate districts, please  Forward to a Friend and ask them quickly to email or call their senator to tell them to oppose these bills.

These bills are all about enshrining plutocracy, the rule of the rich. And we can’t let Scott Walker, Robin Vos, the Koch Brothers, and ALEC get away with this.

          Please contact your legislators before Noon tomorrow, Tuesday, October 20, on the John Doe bill, and by Noon on Wednesday on the campaign finance and GAB bills.

          It’s that urgent!

Thanking you in advance for your commitment to open government and democracy in Wisconsin.

Sincerely,

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director