1. Republicans Lied to the people of Wisconsin:
2/7/12 - Jeff Fitzgerald and Scott Fitzgerald:
Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, and his brother, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, told The Associated Press in an email that Republicans developed the district lines properly.
August 1, 2012 not so much:
Newly released documents show that Wisconsin legislative Republicans talked privately about using the redistricting process to keep GOP incumbents from losing elections.
2. Republicans lied to a judge and ignored a court order:
Emails showing the internal debates among Republican lawyers were released this week after Senate Democrats gained the majority and took hold of the legal file and made them available to reporters. The files take up three banker boxes and several computer discs, and Democrats are putting them online so the public can easily view them.
Some of the emails appear never to have been released before. If they were not, it could spell legal woes for Republicans because of a raft of court orders to release material earlier this year. During that earlier fight over records, a panel of federal judges fined attorneys for lawmakers about $17,500 for filing frivolous motions to block the release of records.
"I have some very serious concerns about whether the Legislature was forthcoming about the documents they produced and the representations they made to the court," said Peter Earle, an attorney for immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, which sued over the maps.
Earle and Doug Poland, an attorney for a group of Democrats who also sued over the maps, said they did not recall seeing the two email chains in which Troupis, McLeod and others discuss citizenship. Earle and Poland are checking whether they had been produced during the lawsuit.
"They appear to go right to the heart of the Voting Rights Act claims," Poland said. "It's hard to believe we would have missed something like that."
Troupis, McLeod and another attorney involved in the case did not respond to questions Thursday on whether the material had been previously released.
3. Republicans have absolutely no problem wasting taxpayers money if it helps keep them in power:
4. Then followed this all up with a massive dose of hypocrisy: Scott Fitzgerald seriously asked Mark Miller to release all of the redistricting documents??The state paid Voces $185,500 because it lost the case and is in negotiations with the group Poland represents over paying its legal fees. All told, taxpayers have paid $1.6 million so far to draw the maps and contend with litigation.
And this is just one issue! Imagine what they are doing that we do NOT know about!
Posts
People should never use "Breaking News" as a headline.
ReplyDeleteWhile I appreciate the good research that grounds this article, I'd like to respectfully suggest that it serves as a distraction from a more vital issue: Mining.
ReplyDeleteThe D-controlled Senate (aside: don't *people* control anything anymore?) is already working on a new mining bill that will make the Gogebic Taconite mine more palatable to the people--despite the dangers, despite the poisoning of the Bad River Tribe and it's water and ricing life, despite the hours of testimony against the project.
The Fitz is just a clown; the real show is the mountaintop removal and 2,000,000,000 gallons of sulfuric acid leaching into Lake Superior.
PaulS, Milwaukee
With respect to the new information about the redistricting, what are the liklihood that the somebody will be able to petition the court to re-open the case and/or get the court to throw out the decision due to the previously senate leader's ability to provide the required documentation?
ReplyDeleteI know we'd all like to think that this is a bombshell and will change the game, but is there anything here that really rises to that level? Is there even precedent for such a case to be re-opened?
While I am no lawyer, it appears that we are stuck with these lines. However what I wanted to show was just how completely dishonest the republican party is and how much disdain they have for the citizens of wi!
ReplyDeleteAnd that makes me sad. I looked at the new lines and, should The Not GOP win all toss-up, lean, and safe districts, the GOP will still be ahead in both changers by (I think) one in the senate and two in the assembly. It honestly makes we wonder if it's still worth fighting....in other countries, under such blatant abuse of the system, the other parties will often just sit out.
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to ask these guys, "Do you really believe a one party state is the best solution?" Of course, the answer is "yes". But still....
It's all pretty f'ed up.
It is very F'd up! Never give up. Vote, get your friends and family to vote. Let's hope that there are enough sane people to see how dishonest and unethical these people are and say no more!
ReplyDelete