SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Outgoing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker flipped the switch to light the state Christmas Tree in the Capitol Rotunda, Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018 at the Capitol in Madison, Wis. (Photo: Steve Apps/Wisconsin State Journal via AP)
'Democracy Dies...in the Early Morning Light' as Wisconsin GOP Rams Through 'Lame Duck Legislative Coup'
"Scott Walker may be on the way out of office for the first time in a quarter century, but his corrosive brand of politics lives on in his fellow Republicans."
Dec 04, 2018
After hours of debate and secret negotiations that dragged on into the early hours of the morning amid a backdrop of mass protests, Wisconsin's Senate on Wednesday approved a Republican plan to strip power from Democratic governor-elect Tony Evers and transfer major authority over the state's legal affairs from the incoming Democratic attorney general to the GOP-dominated legislature.
"Democracy dies in darkness... or perhaps in the early morning light," wroteThe Nation's John Nichols, a Wisconsin native, after the measure passed the state Senate and headed toward an Assembly vote, the final hurdle before the legislation reaches outgoing Republican Gov. Scott Walker's desk. The plan is expected to easily sail through the Assembly as early as Wednesday morning, and Walker has said he will sign it.
Update: The Republican plan has passed the state Assembly.
\u201cIt's official. The power-grab bill cleared the Wisconsin State Senate before sunrise. Just now, it passed the State Assembly. The only step left is Scott Walker's signature, which\u2014if he signs it\u2014will seal his legacy as an enemy as democracy and a friend only to his own power.\u201d— Ben Wikler (@Ben Wikler) 1544019869
Described by Mother Jones journalist Ari Berman as a "lame duck legislative coup," the sweeping measure would dramatically curtail Evers' power to implement new rules and require the Republican legislature--rather than the incoming Democratic attorney general--to approve any attempt to withdraw from federal lawsuits.
"This is outrageous abuse of power and should be huge national scandal."
--Ari Berman, Mother Jones
The measure also attacks voting rights by restricting early voting to no more than two weeks before an election. A similar measure passed by Wisconsin Republicans in 2016 was ruled unconstitutional on the grounds that it disproportionately harmed minority voters.
Read the full details of the GOP power grab here.
"This is outrageous abuse of power and should be huge national scandal," Berman declared.
Though Wisconsin Republicans and Walker attempted to downplay the scope and significance of their legislation, Wisconsinites saw through the GOP's rhetoric and turned out to the state capitol in force, flooding hearing rooms and rallying outside the capitol building in the freezing weather to denounce the legislation as an attempt to "undo democracy itself."
"Scott Walker may be on the way out of office for the first time in a quarter century," said One Wisconsin Now executive director Scot Ross, "but his corrosive brand of politics lives on in his fellow Republicans."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
After hours of debate and secret negotiations that dragged on into the early hours of the morning amid a backdrop of mass protests, Wisconsin's Senate on Wednesday approved a Republican plan to strip power from Democratic governor-elect Tony Evers and transfer major authority over the state's legal affairs from the incoming Democratic attorney general to the GOP-dominated legislature.
"Democracy dies in darkness... or perhaps in the early morning light," wroteThe Nation's John Nichols, a Wisconsin native, after the measure passed the state Senate and headed toward an Assembly vote, the final hurdle before the legislation reaches outgoing Republican Gov. Scott Walker's desk. The plan is expected to easily sail through the Assembly as early as Wednesday morning, and Walker has said he will sign it.
Update: The Republican plan has passed the state Assembly.
\u201cIt's official. The power-grab bill cleared the Wisconsin State Senate before sunrise. Just now, it passed the State Assembly. The only step left is Scott Walker's signature, which\u2014if he signs it\u2014will seal his legacy as an enemy as democracy and a friend only to his own power.\u201d— Ben Wikler (@Ben Wikler) 1544019869
Described by Mother Jones journalist Ari Berman as a "lame duck legislative coup," the sweeping measure would dramatically curtail Evers' power to implement new rules and require the Republican legislature--rather than the incoming Democratic attorney general--to approve any attempt to withdraw from federal lawsuits.
"This is outrageous abuse of power and should be huge national scandal."
--Ari Berman, Mother Jones
The measure also attacks voting rights by restricting early voting to no more than two weeks before an election. A similar measure passed by Wisconsin Republicans in 2016 was ruled unconstitutional on the grounds that it disproportionately harmed minority voters.
Read the full details of the GOP power grab here.
"This is outrageous abuse of power and should be huge national scandal," Berman declared.
Though Wisconsin Republicans and Walker attempted to downplay the scope and significance of their legislation, Wisconsinites saw through the GOP's rhetoric and turned out to the state capitol in force, flooding hearing rooms and rallying outside the capitol building in the freezing weather to denounce the legislation as an attempt to "undo democracy itself."
"Scott Walker may be on the way out of office for the first time in a quarter century," said One Wisconsin Now executive director Scot Ross, "but his corrosive brand of politics lives on in his fellow Republicans."
After hours of debate and secret negotiations that dragged on into the early hours of the morning amid a backdrop of mass protests, Wisconsin's Senate on Wednesday approved a Republican plan to strip power from Democratic governor-elect Tony Evers and transfer major authority over the state's legal affairs from the incoming Democratic attorney general to the GOP-dominated legislature.
"Democracy dies in darkness... or perhaps in the early morning light," wroteThe Nation's John Nichols, a Wisconsin native, after the measure passed the state Senate and headed toward an Assembly vote, the final hurdle before the legislation reaches outgoing Republican Gov. Scott Walker's desk. The plan is expected to easily sail through the Assembly as early as Wednesday morning, and Walker has said he will sign it.
Update: The Republican plan has passed the state Assembly.
\u201cIt's official. The power-grab bill cleared the Wisconsin State Senate before sunrise. Just now, it passed the State Assembly. The only step left is Scott Walker's signature, which\u2014if he signs it\u2014will seal his legacy as an enemy as democracy and a friend only to his own power.\u201d— Ben Wikler (@Ben Wikler) 1544019869
Described by Mother Jones journalist Ari Berman as a "lame duck legislative coup," the sweeping measure would dramatically curtail Evers' power to implement new rules and require the Republican legislature--rather than the incoming Democratic attorney general--to approve any attempt to withdraw from federal lawsuits.
"This is outrageous abuse of power and should be huge national scandal."
--Ari Berman, Mother Jones
The measure also attacks voting rights by restricting early voting to no more than two weeks before an election. A similar measure passed by Wisconsin Republicans in 2016 was ruled unconstitutional on the grounds that it disproportionately harmed minority voters.
Read the full details of the GOP power grab here.
"This is outrageous abuse of power and should be huge national scandal," Berman declared.
Though Wisconsin Republicans and Walker attempted to downplay the scope and significance of their legislation, Wisconsinites saw through the GOP's rhetoric and turned out to the state capitol in force, flooding hearing rooms and rallying outside the capitol building in the freezing weather to denounce the legislation as an attempt to "undo democracy itself."
"Scott Walker may be on the way out of office for the first time in a quarter century," said One Wisconsin Now executive director Scot Ross, "but his corrosive brand of politics lives on in his fellow Republicans."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.