Related to the GOP frantic clutching at waning power comes this editorial from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Wisconsin citizens elected a new governor and attorney general in November.
Now, leaders of the state Senate and Assembly intend to rush through bills that would reduce the authority of the incoming elected leaders while raising taxpayer costs. They want to pass them as soon as Tuesday, in an extraordinary session, so that Gov. Scott Walker can sign the new rules into law before leaving office in January. Details just came out Friday, with the first public discussion in the Capitol on Monday and a potential vote by Tuesday. …
This is about keeping the citizens in charge of their government.
It doesn’t matter which party is coming in and going out of office — we would say the exact same thing. In fact, we would shout it — just as we are now.
Let them know who’s boss.
Tell them you are.
And this from what Steve Benen characterizes as a conservative paper.
The phrase litmus test has appeared in campaigns and debates over judge nominations over the last few decades to indicate what one side or the other side thinks is an illegitimate standard that the candidate to meet. For example, their stand on abortion is sometimes considered a litmus test in which the liberals are outraged that it’s used as a standard, while for the conservatives either you’re against abortion or you’re not worthy of the post for which you’re a nominee.
Well, I think a new litmus test is on the horizon, and I think the non-extremists will get to use this one:
Nominee, what are your views on the actions of the GOP-controlled legislatures’ lame duck sessions in Michigan and Wisconsin in 2018 with regard to their attempts to negate the power of the incoming Democratic seat-holders?
If they dissemble or endorse those activities, I’d say they failed the litmus test and should be rejected by the Independent voter as inimical to the health of the Republic.
