Open records scandal keeps begging more questions

I read this comment from Joint Finance Co-Chair/ State Rep. John Nygren last week, as the Wisconsin GOP tried to back away from their attempted gutting of open records laws (a provision Nygren voted for in the Joint Finance Committee, like every other Republican). Johnny was trying to claim he wanted to hide records from the public...to protect other members of the public.

“In my view, there should be some privacy for constituents to contact my office. You guys don’t give a (expletive) about that,” Nygren said. “All you want to do is make this about, somehow, that we’re stifling transparency for the press."

Of course, this excuse doesn't explain why there was all the other crap in that 999 motion about hiding drafting records and "deliberative process" as an excuse to turn down those requests, but when Nygren and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos both tried giving the "protecting my constituents" excuse, I thought of someone other than an everyday Wisconsin citizen back in Marinette or Burlington.

Wisconsin State Journal cartoonist Phil Hands apparently was on the same wavelength as I was, and expressed it in a much better way than I could.



Trying to backdate the 999 motion to be retroactive to July 1 was another nice (and likely illegal) move, probably to protect the same "constituents" Mr. Hands drew above. This was also when final discussions on special-interest pork items took place on the budget, and the day before Scott Walker filed paperwork for his run for the presidency. Speaking of Scotty, he's now back to blaiming legislators for this fiasco after his office admitted earlier this week that the Governor's staff had input on the now-notorious 999. Check out this Palin-like word salad of weaseling given on Charlie Sykes show (where Mr. Unintimidated knew he wouldn't have his spokesman the host calling "BULLSHIT" on his response).

"I think the whole thing was a huge mistake," Walker said. "And I think it's right to send it to the Legislative Council. That was brought to us by the Legislature, and said they wanted to look at it and wanted our input. And we brought up some things that we still think are legitimate in terms of records that involve things like having our staff giving you options on briefings and things like that. Not anything that's external in that regard."

The governor added that the proposals did not belong in the budget.

"In the end, I think it was a mistake to even think about it in the budget, even though it didn't come from us," Walker said. "It's a complicated process, and it's one that I think will be best suited in a Legislative Council committee."

COME ON, MAN! We've got a Governor that's now giving Bart Simpson-level excuses for this scumbaggery?



THIS is what you get out of a guy who thinks he's ready to be the leader of the free world??? Here's a clue Scotty. A REAL leader would have taken one look at this 999 crap and said behind the scenes "NO WAY ARE YOU EVEN TRYING IT ON MY WATCH!" Or once the controversy broke into public's awareness, you forcefully go out and say "Remove this provision today" at your appearances at the 4th of July parades, instead of mealy-mouthed avoidance like "My hope is...it's out completely or there are significant changes."

The bottom line is that Scotty was totally cool with having this fascist destruction of open records law in the budget until the people got a glance at the law themselves, which gives you an idea how this guy's administration REALLY operates, and would operate in D.C., Run far, far away if you can, and I'm thinking even a sizable amount of GOP voters will feel the same way during the 2016 primaries.

It sure feels like there's a lot more to look into with this open records scandal in Wisconsin, and we need to keep pounding on the state and national media to do so. This is true when it comes to figuring out the real reasons these changes were tried, including who the WisGOPs and Governor Walker were trying to cover up for, and what favors, laws, and donations were promised in return for that cover-up.