Sunday, February 8, 2015

State Senator Tom Tiffany Involved With Illegal Politicking

Wisconsin State Senator Tom Tiffany is in hot water regarding a couple of mailers involving four races for Oneida County Supervisor.  One of the mailers, which was identical in the four different races - except for the candidate's name - falsely accused the targeted incumbents of plotting to arbitrarily removing dams in the county.

According to the report by Bill Lueders of the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, Tiffany was the mastermind behind the shenanigans:
What makes this backwoods issue of larger import is that the controversial fliers are the handiwork of Wisconsin state Sen. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, a rising star within his party and chamber. He admits helping craft the wording of this and another flier, accusing the county board of being eager to sell a county building at a loss.

Tiffany was also involved in sending the fliers out. He says he acted not as a state senator but as a resident of Oneida County: “I care about my county. It’s important to be engaged.”

Tiffany defends the mailing. He says that besides Martini’s “instrumental” role on past DNR dam removal projects, he serves on the board of the River Alliance of Wisconsin, which is “associated with” the national group American Rivers, which has “a bias toward removing dams.” River Alliance officials say the two groups have no formal ties.

And Tiffany says Martini, during discussions on a county land-use plan, offered “some wording that was favorable to dam removal when possible.” Candidate Ken Dirks, who lost to VanRaalte, admits he doesn’t know the basis for the flier’s claim about Martini; he says Tiffany came to him with the fliers, and he approved their use.

According to Jensen, a draft land-use plan favored by Martini included language that was removed when some towns objected: “Support dam/drainage way repair and removal where appropriate.” This language, which Martini says he did not craft, is the basis for the flier’s feverish claim of a plan to eliminate dams.

In October, a citizens group formed in response to these mailings filed a complaint with the Oneida County district attorney, who forwarded it to the state Justice Department, which says it is under review. The complaint alleges possible violations of election law involving the fliers’ content, origin and funding.
All of this again raises the question: If the Republicans are such champions of the people and have such wonderful ideas that are working so well, why do they have to keep resorting to cheating to get elected?

11 comments:

  1. Why?

    Because the democrats let them do it!

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    1. Not just Dems, but the people of Wisconsin.

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    2. And at the top of the list, the state's major newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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    3. anon 11:31

      Wisconsin dems are so lame and dysfunctional that they just can't get people out to vote. yes, the people have ultimate responsibility -- but "vote for me or I will shoot this puppy" is not a legitimate election strategy.

      If we have to have political parties -- they have to provide some leadership.

      But what I was really referring to in the post above is that IT IS MATHEMATICALLY DEMONSTRABLE THAT ELECTION FRAUD PROPELS WALKER INTO OFFICE.

      It is more than gerrymandering and voter suppression -- secret proprietary voting systems can be demonstrated as rigged. This is not just a Wisconsin problem:

      http://voicesnewspaper.blogspot.com/2013/10/walker-recall-violates-law-law-of-large.html

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    4. Anon 1:23 - I agree with you. I thought at the time some groups did a hand count of the ballots -- what ever came of that? Also, what if anything can be done after the fact (given hardware/software components were returned to the voting machine company)? Might the Feds be investigating this?

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  2. You must have cropped that picture of tiffany to remove what was happening below his belt. Did the original uncropped picture have walker blowing him?

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  3. That Tiffany-driven flyer accusing the county board of being eager to sell a county building at a loss is quite inconsistent with efforts by Tiffany's fellow Republicans in Madison to force the Milwaukee Public Schools to surrender vacant properties owned by the school district so they can be used by other entities, including private voucher schools (whose operation the school district is already forced to subsidize). Nor is it consistent with another pending proposal that would basically seize Milwaukee public schools that are underperforming and turn them into (probably private) charter schools. Ah, I but I suppose where the GOP is concerned, consistency is a hobgoblin.

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  4. Obviously Tom Tiffany received an "F" in the ALEC course "Swindle, Cheat, Steal and Lie your way to Election Victory - and not Get Caught!". On the other hand, there are a lot Wisconsin Republicans who clearly paid attention in class.

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  5. Hey he learned from the most corrupt and devious governor this state has ever seen. We also must make it part of our mission to save the country from Walker and his band of thieves,

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  6. Here's a guy who has made a fortune, in the private sector, off of the beauty of the state's natural resources. Now, a key player in the rape of those same resources with a wink and a nod from Walker and his mining industry donors.

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    Replies
    1. Well I imagine that his little piece of Heaven will be that much more valuable after the rest of it has been pillaged and despoiled. Just good old fashioned supply-and-demand GOP economics at work -- "If you don't have any, mine is that much better!"

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