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n2doc

(47,953 posts)
Mon Oct 20, 2014, 12:42 PM Oct 2014

Watching Scotty Blow

By Charles P. Pierce on October 20, 2014

Out on the banks of the shining Menomonee, and elsewhere in The Good Land, it seems that Scott Walker, the goggle-eyed homunculus hired by Koch Industries to manage their midwest subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin, and the entities allied with his campaign, is sparing no effort to keep his job, and to keep the tiny flame of his national aspirations a'burning. Walker being Walker, this means cheap ploys and gamey stratagems that you can smell across the lake in Muskegon. For example, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel got interested in the circumstances by which all the lawsuits aimed at levelling the playing field keep ending up in front of Rudolph Randa, a U.S. District Judge with views on corporate influence in elections that would have caused Fighting Bob LaFollette's pompadour to ignite spontaneously. At issue are state laws forbidding coordination between outside groups and the formal campaigns of people who are running for office. This also is the very point at issue in the latest John Doe investigation into how Scott Walker conducts himself in office, which is not very well, at least if you're not Scott Walker.

The J-S found that the groups supporting Walker -- and, therefore, his campaign-- are finagling the process so that their cases end up being heard by Randa's friendly ears. The result, according to the J-S, is something out of Joseph Heller.

When a conservative group filed a lawsuit over campaign finance laws earlier this month, its lawyers filled out court paperwork in a way that all but guaranteed they got a judge who has already ruled that groups and candidates can work closely together. The plan worked. On Tuesday, two weeks after Citizens for Responsible Government Advocates filed its suit, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa issued an order limiting how campaign finance laws could be enforced, opening the door for groups and candidates to team up in the weeks before the Nov. 4 election. Critics of the ruling say an attorney for the state should immediately appeal the decision and challenge how Randa was assigned to the case. In the days since the ruling, the lawyer has not done that. He declined to say whether he would. Randa's ruling could change the way campaigns are run, but so far the candidates for major offices say they are not changing how they operate and will not work with outside groups for this election. Normally, federal judges are randomly assigned to cases. But when CRG filed its lawsuit, it said its case was related to two others that Randa already had. Doing that meant the case automatically went to Randa to determine if it should stay with him.

You read that last sentence correctly. Randa gets to decide whether or not Randa hears the case. The law is an ass, and not a particularly bright one, either. It gets better, too.

One of the cases that CRG contended was linked to its lawsuit was a challenge to an investigation of Gov. Scott Walker's campaign and groups allied with him. However, CRG filed its suit only after an appeals court had ruled that earlier case be dismissed. "This was artful to the point of manipulative," said Jeremy Levinson, a Democratic attorney who specializes in campaign finance laws. CRG attorney Andrew Grossman said in an email to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the two cases "involve some common legal issues and factual background. "We followed the court's rules in disclosing related litigation, and any objection to that is ill-informed grousing," he wrote in his email. The case is crucial because it challenges the laws at the heart of the stalled investigation into Walker and conservative groups.

Which is, of course, the point. Now, under ordinary circumstances not involving republics made of bananas, since it is public officials currently investigating Walker on these very issues that the front group is suing, the state's attorney general would take up the case for the defendants. In Wisconsin, under Scott Walker? Not so much.

GOP Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen declined to represent the officials...

Captain Louis Renaud, please call your office.

more

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/Cheesy_Schemes_In_Wisconsin
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Watching Scotty Blow (Original Post) n2doc Oct 2014 OP
Classic example of Teapublican democry. How far will it spread? nt wandy Oct 2014 #1
well.... unionthug777 Oct 2014 #2
Cronies... Blue Owl Oct 2014 #3
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