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," wrote The 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.
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."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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," wrote The 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.
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," wrote The 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.
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.