Shine More Light on Milwaukee County Legislation
Newly elected Representative Joe Sanfelippo had barely found his new state office and he was already announcing a list of fully formed legislative proposals to turn everything upside down on his former colleagues in Milwaukee County government. Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele and his various operatives rushed as if on cue to support the new Republican state legislator. And surprising exactly no one it was quickly revealed that the elite business interests running the Greater Milwaukee Committee already had a small army of lobbyists, a front group and a spin machine in place.
Given the early and well coordinated effort it was no surprise that supporters began pushing all of the same talking points and reading from the exact same (sometimes very disingenuous) script. I don't personally have a problem with a real and actual discussion about policy in Milwaukee County but I don't like the outside meddling that seems to be built into the DNA of this latest effort.
Sorry but I'm just not a fan of the elaborate behind-the-scenes plotting and planning by big dollar benefactors and big business special interests. I'm not a fan of fully formed front groups being hatched out of nowhere and slick PR firms being retained to "educate the public" long before most of us even know exactly what is being proposed or the possible consequences.
So if we in Milwaukee County are going to be forced by Big (state) Government and others into having this discussion then it should at least be a full and an open one. We should not simply have to settle for carefully formulated talking points and the well funded efforts of a few elite special interests and individuals.
http://eye-on-wisconsin.blogspot.com/2013/03/shine-more-light-on-milwaukee-county.html