Wisconsin is fucked. For now

[Cyrano]

Scott Walker signed the Republican lame duck session bill that takes power away from the incoming Democratic governor and attorney general who just won election.

So I guess the Republicans are again at the game of "If you can't win, fuck them over."

It will take a while, but this will not stand. If the courts don't/won't overturn it, the voters of Wisconsin will crush the Republican Party in 2020. And Wisconsin won't be the only place this happens.

The Republican Party is committing suicide. Fuck 'em. The quicker the better.

They'll still be around to some degree or another in much of the South and in some western states. But the desperation of what they've done in Wisconsin is their death knell. They are about to become extinct.

A new, sane opposition party must come into being as we don't want to live in a country with one party rule.

But today's Republican Party is a fascist organization that is headed for the dust heap of history.

And, oh yeah. I almost forgot. Scott Walker is a major league prick.

[Bleacher Creature]

1. But isn't the state legislature too gerrymandered to switch in 2020? NT

[Terry_M]

2. Yup

If this election they got 63% of the assembly while losing by 8% in the popular vote, what're we going to do in 2020? Beat them by 10% so they only have 60% of the assembly?

The only hope for starting to turn things in the other direction is that the governor may be able to veto the redistricting happening in 2021 until they come up with a less skewed map. I don't actually know if he even has to approve that though but if he does... Then 2022 may have a less skewed map... And then after that things can start to improve.

[catbyte]

51. What they need to to is what we did in Michigan with an Anti-Gerrymandering Proposition.

Take it directly to the people. I'll bet that the republicans lose their majorities in both Michigan houses in 2020 just becaue of that.

[James48]

61. Not in 2020.

States don’t redistribute next until after the 2020 census. Soonest new districts won’t be till election of 2022.

[old guy]

3. Correct.

The chance for change came and went with this election. Dems got more votes state wide and still lost. Won't be different in 2020.

[DavidDvorkin]

6. Maybe the best hope is now at the Federal court level.

[erronis]

18. And that's why the repugs state-wide and nationally are trying to stack the courts.

It still amazes me that Republican-appointed judges and even prosecutors can act ethically in the face of this barrage of lying and intimidation.

[onit2day]

39. I wish the dems would just ignore this legislation and stand with the people

who elected them. Claim this was like packing the courts or gerrymandering as it is unprecedented to deny the dems the same powers they enjoyed. It may have been within the law but was unethical and outside the spirit for which elections are held.

[olegramps]

62. Nothing will change until the citizens show up with pitchforks and torches.

[oasis]

4. Boomerang!

GOP is done.

[TheRealNorth]

5. So WI Supreme Court must be the next target

Now that we got the governorship, we MUST ensure we have a majority in the WI Supreme Court. OR else we might still get fucked when redistricting happens after 2020.

[elocs]

30. Well, in our state primary here in 2016 there was an important Supreme Court race on the ballot.

The Republican, or conservative candidate won.
Now that primary was easily won by Sanders, but 12% of his supporters didn't even bother to vote in the state Supreme Court race even though they had the ballot right in front of them when they voted.

[onit2day]

40. If it's like Mo ballots a name appears for SC J but no way to know if

they are conservative liberal or what. Unless we voters are informed about judges we are guessing whether to keep them or appoint them.

[elocs]

43. Considering the number of ads and attack ads run here for the SC race,

unless you were living in a cave it was pretty easy to tell who was conservative and who was Liberal. But I guess the Left has low information voters as well.

[LakeArenal]

7. I've said it before... and still saying:

I’m so tired of being on the right side of history;
While living in the wrong side of it now.

So many people have fought the Kochsuckers for walkers entire run.

It’s so exhausting.

At least, I finally Supported some folks who won. Evers,Barnes and Kaul. As hollow a victory as the Pukes could make it.

[RobertDevereaux]

8. Holder is on this....

https://www.apnews.com/a43ff27cffbd4d8480e99ec3fc0da8d5

“A group run by former Democratic U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says it plans legal action to block a limitation on early voting in Wisconsin signed into law by Gov. Scott Walker.“

[onetexan]

13. The NC case is precedence, the GOP wont get away with it

[Caliman73]

15. Not to be a downer...but the NC court is more balanced than the WI court

North Carolina's Republican excesses were struck down at the State level by NC's own state court. The problem is that Wisconsin's State court is packed with right wing ideologues who would most likely rule in favor of what the GOP there did. It could likely be appealed to the Federal courts, but the Feds would likely kick it down as they don't like to get involved in internal state politics.

[cstanleytech]

21. If they can get the court to agree would it nullify the entire piece of shit Walker signed or just

that part?

[Liberalhammer]

9. Boycott WI Republicans

boycottwirepublicans.godaddysites.com


And shame them in public!

[Augiedog]

10. One can only wonder how much the Koch's paid him to do this.

[BigmanPigman]

11. Am I surprised..Hell no!

The GOP is the party of lying, stealing, corruption and cheating.

[littlemissmartypants]

12. The ALEC playbook.

Screwing over states since the 1970's.

There is Nothing new under the sun.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Legislative_Exchange_Council

Check out the section entitled "Notable policies and model bills" and see if you find anything familiar.

[turbinetree]

14. I really do hope and and really think.....................

that with this new Congress being seated this Jan, 3, 2109.....................that something needs to be done with ALEC and the KOCH's and Citizens United...........................this is why Wisconsin and the entire country is getting fucked over................................these assholes and the Federalist Society have been getting away with this shit for to long.................

[TwistOneUp]

16. Hear here! nt

[JAD]

17. Cut up your Kohl's credit cards and send them to Walker

Walker loves Kohl's. Kohl's corporate office is in Wisconsin. Bye Kohl's!

[wellst0nev0ter]

37. Herb Kohl is a Democrat

just saying...

[JAD]

59. Kohl's has leverage

Kohl's has more leverage over Walker than I do.

[Heartstrings]

46. Better off boycotting Menard's....

John Menard has donated bigly to the Koch Bros. He's the "richest" man in Wisconsin and a huge dick!

[JAD]

60. No Menard's near me to boycott

I have never seen a Menard's let alone shopped there.

[LanternWaste]

69. No worries.

"I have never seen a Menard's let alone shopped there...


No worries. 'Menard's has more leverage over Walker than you do...'

[LBM20]

19. Yup! This is what Right Wingers are: Ultra-Corrupt SCUMBAGS! Wipe them off the map in 2020!!!

[bronxiteforever]

20. I guess he is going to work fulltime for Russia now

Oops I meant the NRA.

[Vinca]

22. I swear Dems should organize and move en masse to the gerrymandered districts for the next election.

[tinrobot]

23. Exactly. Rent some apartments and move people into the neighborhoods.

[ewagner]

24. It's bad politics...

Get this:

Walker cripples (or tries to) Evers and Kaul...

Everything the Republican controlled legislature does is designed to make Evers fail..

But everybody knows Evers has been knee-capped by Walker

If Republicans make Evers fail...

It's because of the manipulation of the Republicans...Walker, Fitzgerald and Voss and their flying monkeys in the legislature.

They have plotted their own demise.

[keithbvadu2]

25. Did Walker use those very powers that he just eliminated?

[rlegro]

38. Yes. He couldn't be more of a hypocrite

[hostalover]

26. Some place I read (don't remember where) about 3 or 4 days ago, a repub legislator

from Wisconsin was saying they are doing this for the people who don't live in Madison and Milwaukee. He said those people are the ones that matter. Thus the votes in the urban areas were not as important as those statewide. I found that to be very alarming. Other states could be similarly defrauded. It further heightens the divisions we have in this country. I do hate republicans.

[paleotn]

27. WI was fucked when they elected Scott Walker.

Worse yet, they re-fucked themselves when he won the recall vote.

[elocs]

32. In 2010, too many voters on the Left stayed home when the state was Democratically controlled

while Republicans voted like it was there duty. As a consequence, the entire state flipped from Democratic to Republican control and Feingold lost his senate seat.

The Law of Unintended Consequences bit us in the ass with the recall when after our 100,000 people demonstrations in Madison we found that Wisconsin law said a person had to be in office for a year before they could be recalled. During that year, with Koch money, Trump was able to build a strong and well funded political machine. The recall election was in June of 2012 and Walker won. Now had that recall election been held during Obama's reelection in November it would likely have been a loss for Walker.

[EffieBlack]

58. Yep. The voters were warned but this is what they voted for - several times

Elections have consequences. And one of the consequences is that, if you vote for the wrong people, the elections impact and sometimes even help to invalidate subsequent elections.

[Honeycombe8]

28. If the people don't want it, they need to vote those suckers out. For good. nt

[Garrett78]

34. It's a horrible situation where Democratic WI House candidates got 53% of the vote, but...

...will hold just 36% of the seats.

[Honeycombe8]

35. I read an article stating there's a good chance...

that there's a good chance these lame duck changes will be declared unconstitutional. They did it before...in 2016. One professor or expert said that was partly why they lost in 2018, despite heavy gerrymandering.

This has been sued over twice before, the article said, and in both cases, the change(s) were ruled unconstitutional, or at least some of them.

There is a separation of powers among the branches. One cannot require supervision over another branch, or to inject itself in litigation (which was one of the changes), or to change measures that were placed in the law by the citizens (the min. wage and sick leave laws). So there's hope.

[Garrett78]

36. There's hope in that regard, but the gerrymandering has to be done away with, as well.

When a party gets 45% of the vote but 64% of the seats, there's a very serious problem.

[Honeycombe8]

47. Absolutely. I hope the Democrats across the nation strenuously work to correct that. nt

[elocs]

29. "the voters of Wisconsin will crush the Republican Party in 2020"

Wow, really believe this is all going to happen in 2020 in the highly gerrymandered districts here? Because it's not. Oh, it could happen eventually, but it's not going to happen in 2 years.

[catbyte]

52. What they need to do is lauch a petition drive to get an anti-gerrymandering prop on the

ballot like we did in Michigan. Wisconsin is gerrymandered up the wazoo, and there will no parity until that wrong is righted. It's now up to a bipartisan commission to draw the lines, not the legislature. The gop fought it tooth and nail, all to no avail. Wisconsin, look at Michigan!

[Blue Owl]

31. Someday this will be reversed

This is an affront to democracy, and when Wisconsin's crooked crony judges are replaced this will be overturned.

And Scott Walker -- just get the fuck outta everyone's life and disappear, you weaseley, runty little scumbag...

[Still In Wisconsin]

33. We're fucked indeed- unless and until the gerrymandered district lines are thrown out and re-drawn.

Until then we are, in fact, well and truly fucked. The Republicans got around 45% of the vote in the 2018 election, yet won 66% of all State Assembly seats. They actually GAINED in the State Senate, too. THESE are the fuckers passing this lame duck bullshit.

The only saving graces are: (1) we've got a really good shot at unseating a conservative State Supreme Court judge in 2020, which would give us a liberal majority there and (2) incoming Governor Evers (D) will have veto power over all the legislative maps in 2020.

[Talitha]

41. It'll be pitch forks and torches soon - take my word for it.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

42. Just wait for the Republicans to tank the economy, as always.

Conservatives destroy. Liberals rebuild. Conservatives regain a foothold when most people are comfortable. Rinse. Repeat.

[LBM20]

44. They are NOT "conservative." Let's please KILL that fucked up term. They are RADICAL RIGHT WINGERS!!

[Hotler]

45. A perfect example of two of the building blocks of..

the republican party, selfishness and hatefulness. This is why madam speaker and the rest of our elected Dems should not and can not play nice with those on the others side of the isle.

[MadDAsHell]

48. Why do we need opposition parties at all? 1) Get power, 2) ban them all. nt

[lark]

49. Hope the new governor sues the Wi Repugs and WINS!

Of course, if the judges were picked by Scott, they will probably be scumbags anti-democratic asses too. Hopefully there's enough that actually cares about the law and fairness.

[cp]

50. While canvassing for Tony Evers, kept hearing "I'm never voting Republican for the rest of my life"

Just a small sample, but every time I heard it, I was cheered.
I'm 67 and it's going to take the rest of my life and then some to repair and rebuild our Wisconsin.

[still_one]

53. The republicans have over played hand, and they are going to rue the day they did this, and not only

in Wisconsin. Michigan, North Carolina, and the whole country especially in regard to healthcare.

[Gothmog]

54. Scott Walker Immediately Sued For Bill Stripping Democrats' Power

Link to tweet

[McCamy Taylor]

55. Prediction--state's GOP reps take bribes like bribery is going out of style

for the next two years, so they can retire for the rest of their lives. That is problem with Citizens United. The electorate never gets a chance to hold anyone accountable. Once you are in office, you accept a few million in bribes to hand out a few billion in tax dollars and you are set for life. Re-election is for chumps. The savvy GOP grifter knows to take the money and run---we will be seeing a lot of this from Trump who will talk big in order to build up his "re-election" coffer--and then flee at the last minute in order to avoid impeachment by the new Democratic super-majority. And all the dupes who will pay him all those billions to build "border walls" that will never be built will have no one but themselves to blame.

[BlueWI]

56. Wisconsin Democrats won every statewide race in 2018.

And 2020 is coming. Amped and ready!

[iluvtennis]

57. Eric Holder tweeted his org is filing a lawsuit.

[ffr]

63. Remember their vindictiveness the next time you have to speak to a republican supporter

Let the fury rage upon them for their undemocratic ways.

[Firestorm49]

64. I agree, but.....

As long as Wisconsin is gerrymandered as badly as it is, Dems will not win, as was proven in the last election. The districts are purposely set up to retain control despite the will of the people. The WI Supreme Court is by design, stacked with Republicans. Until the State Supreme Court, or Federal Supreme Court gets some balls and mandates that rules requiring gerrymandered districts be competitive (or, at the very most, does away with gerrymandering altogether) we will continue to have Republican domination and suppression of the will of the people forever. No number of votes can conquer highly partisan gerrymandering. That was their plan, and damn it, they pulled it off. We’re not dealing with kids here. We’re dealing with the demise of democracy planned and instituted by the Republican Party, and they damn well won’t go down without a fight. Repulsive evidence is now on display for our incoming Governor.

It’s kind of funny. Michael Moore, not one of my favorite Democrats, made the statement that we are given the illusion of having voting power until the second we step away from the booth. After that, it’s back to business as usual. How true.

[Access Geek]

65. Seems like the next logical step would be to...

Ban the GOP.

[Hestia]

66. Did y'all see these articles from last year about Mathematics & Gerrymandering?

It appears to be the only sane fix in all of this. Leaves politics out of it and relies on science.

https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-04-16/mathematician-who-s-using-geometry-fight-gerrymandering

https://www.chronicle.com/article/Meet-the-Math-Professor/239260

http://theconversation.com/rebooting-the-mathematics-behind-gerrymandering-73096

---

You know, I could live with one party rule for 10 years or so. We've been living under their rule since Jimmy Carter was elected. Thank goodness those who started this hate fest are in their dotage and will not be here much longer to pay for the opposition to post stupid ass shit everywhere.

Yep, 20 years sounds better. Maybe by then we can have some real civilized conversations about the direction we as people, and we as country are headed.

Democracy is not a sound-byte, in spite of what is considered the MSM tells you. They need to be swept aside also. I am not sure they understand (may be they do) the very real damage they have wrecked and are still doing. See CBS Morning. See Morning Joe. ONLY republicans are allowed to their table. Very few from the Democratic Party are allowed.

The hang-wringing and concern trolling - What are we going to do; What are Democrats going to do? - they are acting as if Democrats have never been in the majority, that the Democratic Party just popped out the aethers and are going to take down civilization as we know it.

It is already getting extremely old. That's what we need to answer on the MSM shows, but we are never given the chance. Pugs only if they win, Pugs only if they lose - only they have a voice. I guess we just need to scream louder.

[Gothmog]

67. From Marc Elias

Link to tweet

[Gothmog]

68. From Ari Berman

Link to tweet