http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/02/08/scott-walker-s-war-on-good-government.htmlScott Walkers War on Good Government
Why do the Wisconsin governor and his allies want to gut an independent anti-corruption agency?
Heres a good government rule of thumb: foxes ought not guard the henhouse. When self-interested politicians rig the rules to protect themselves against independent scrutiny, citizens have a reason to be concerned. Common sense tells us that any politician especially one with White House dreams like Wisconsins Governor Scott Walker should know that undermining an independent government agency sure makes it look like youve got something to hide.
Gov. Walker gained office and won ree******n last fall by casting himself as a conservative reformer. His zeal for cutting budgets and bashing unions has made him popular on the right. Following a reportedly strong performance at Iowas Freedom Summit, sponsored by Citizens United, the same organization that brought you unlimited and unaccountable secret money in politics through its infamous Supreme Court case, Gov. Walker filed paperwork last week to set up a 527 political organization, Our American Revival, to explore a run for President in 2016.
This first move towards a p**********l run is sure to bring Walker plenty of attention from reporters and Republican activists. Yet it seems Walkers dreams for the Oval Office might lead him, or allies helping to position him, to interfere with an independent investigation into his campaigns. Walkers loyalists are attempting to defund, undermine, and destroy WisconsinsGovernment Accountability Board (GAB), an independent investigative agency, which enforces ethics, campaign finance, and e******n laws. Its an agency that investigated alleged illegal campaign finance violations that plagued Walkers 2012 recall e******n.
Top e******n law experts around the country call Wisconsins GAB, Americas Top Model of agencies charged with administering state e******ns. Most modern democracies around the world have independent e******n overseers to avoid partisan hacks writing e******n rules to favor their party. Unfortunately, impartial e******n boards are not common in American democracy yet. Wisconsins GAB is the gold standard, and is watched closely by reformers eager to modernize our political system so that v**ers set the rules for politicians, instead of politicians writing rules for themselves.
The GAB was created in 2007 with virtually unanimous, bipartisan support in the state legislature. It replaced a collection of ineffective, partisan state e******ns and ethics boards. By law, six retired judges make up the board. They are selected in a deliberate, three-part process to ensure that theyre non-partisan and politically impartial. A key provision of the law blocks legislative appropriators from meddling in the agencys investigations.
Allies of Gov. Walker are unhappy because in 2012 the GAB v**ed unanimously to investigate possible illegal coordination between the governors recall campaign and two outside special interest groups.
Allies of Gov. Walker are unhappy because in 2012 the GAB v**ed unanimously to investigate possible illegal coordination between the governors recall campaign and two outside special interest groups, Wisconsin Club for Growth and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. Those organizations spent millions of dollars on Walkers behalf in the recall e******n. The GAB also cooperated and pooled resources with another probe, John Doe II, led by Republican and Democratic District Attorneys and a Republican Special Prosecutor.
The John Doe investigators considered potential criminal charges of illegal coordination between Wisconsin Club for Growth and other groups with the Walker campaign during the 2012 recall e******ns. The John Doe process in Wisconsin is similar to a grand jury investigation - its largely secret and permits grants of immunity from prosecution to witnesses in exchange for their testimony.
Some of Gov. Walkers political allies want to eviscerate the GAB. Others are trying to gut longstanding campaign finance protections. Wisconsin Club for Growth has filed a lawsuit against the GAB, claiming that it lacked power to investigate the possible illegal campaign coordination. Another lawsuit implies that anti-coordination rules, designed to prevent circumvention of contribution limits, impinge on free speech.
Meanwhile, the GAB also is facing legislative attacks. The legislature has cut GAB funding in the last three state budgets and launched an audit of the agency in an attempt to embarrass and undermine it. Most recentlyand alarmingly Wisconsins speaker of the assembly and the senate majority leader, both Republicans, have pledged an ill-advised effort to ram through legislation adding partisan appointments to the nonpartisan panel of retired judges, or replace it altogether with partisans.
Either move would destroy the agencys independence and ability to hold Wisconsins government accountable. To date, the ongoing John Doe investigation (now enjoined by a federal court) has not produced charges against Gov. Walker or his campaign. But if the governor allows allies in the Legislature to eviscerate an independent state agency that v**ed unanimously to investigate his past campaign, he will face plenty of questions about his role in the debacle that may turn his White House dream into a nightmare.