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Walker Dictates

Two hours ago Wisconsin's Legislative Bureau published the law stripping collective bargaining rights from most public employees in Wisconsin, a law passed in a session marked by irregularities, and now, even though the law has been placed on hold by a judge until it is reviewed, Wisconsin Republicans are claiming that it's publication means it will take affect.  Wisconsin legal procedures require new laws to be publicized in a legal ad in the newspaper by the State Secretary of State.

The Secretary of State, Doug La Follette has been ordered by Judge Maryann Sumi of Dane County Circuit Court in Madison not to publish the law until hearings on it's legality are held. the same order blocked any further implementation of the law, which by implication could be construed as blocking the publishing of it legislatively in spite of a normal ten day printing rule.

 Public employee union leader Marty Bell said of the Governor and the President of the State Senate,"They're drunk with some kind of power or misconception of reality."  The primary issue on the legality of the law is that the Wisconsin Open Meetings Law requires 24 hours notice before a vote on a bill occurs, while only ten minutes notice was given, and requires the chamber to be open to the public, while in fact the doors of the building were sealed and police kept the public out.  If Wisconsin State government goes ahead with implementing the law tomorrow the stage is set for a head on confrontation with the judicial branch of government, and for another round of protests.  The protests had already grown to over 85,000

Comments

  1. This just in: Also just 3 hours ago another chilling story out of Wisconsin has broken. The Republican Party of Wisconsin has filed an open records request in court for the private emails of a professor, William Cronon, known to highly critical of the Walker regime. These records, should they be obtained, will presumably be turned over to some sort of... well maybe not - they don't have secret police in Wisconsin yet

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  2. While we are on the topic of emails, the deputy prosecutor of Johnson County, Wisconsin, Carlos Lam, has resigned after admitting that he sent email to the Gov. suggesting faking violence that could be blamed on unions and there supporters. Kind of life burning the Riechstagg and blaming it on the anarchists.

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