Thursday, April 10, 2014

Hey Wisconsin You Owe $15,000!

By Jeff Simpson

You can thank "fiscal conservative" Senator Leah Vukmir(R- ALEC) for your bill.   Seems she decided that Open records Laws did not apply to her so she refused to turn them over and was sued.  She lost and the bill was $15,000 with the added bonus that you and I get to pay for it


At a meeting last spring of a national group that drafts conservative legislation, Sen. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, voted on a policy allowing only lawmakers, and not lobbyists, to introduce model bills.
At the same meeting, she sponsored a model bill under the direction of a lobbying group, according to documents released Thursday following an open records lawsuit that cost state taxpayers $15,000 to settle.

I called Ms Vukmir's office to see what her plan was for paying this or if she just planned on throwing it on the back of the WI taxpayers and was promised a phone call back.  I am still waiting for the call! 

For those interested, the full set of documents are here

15 comments:

  1. Hey, Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton), it seems you owe the People of Wisconsin some money, too. State legislators cannot withhold the names and email addresses of constituents who contact them, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals decided Wednesday.

    "The appeals court ruling came in the case of Sen. Jon Erpenbach who, the court ruled, improperly withheld the identities of public employees who emailed him around the time of the massive protests at the state Capitol in 2011."

    Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/state-lawmaker-loses-latest-round-in-public-records-fight/article_c9a5f275-0a9f-576a-b735-cf6b93ffc84c.html#ixzz2yUvRriJU

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    1. While I think emails should be presumed to be entirely open records, it is also true that some people who write their legislators are discussing pretty serious personal matters, for example relating to medical issues or lawsuits. And there's one other difference: Erpenbach released the emails while only blacking out personal ID info. Vukmir simply refused to release any IDs at all. And the only reason Erpenbach has to bill taxpayers for his defense is because the (Republican) state attorney general didn't agree with his stance and wouldn't represent him. Vukmir had no such problem getting Van Hollen's help. And if that weren't bad enough, Vukmir actually argued she couldn't be forced to release any of her emails as long as she was serving in office. There may be a confluence of kind here, but there's a huge difference in degree.

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  2. According to several state contracts reviewed by Media Trackers, Wisconsin taxpayers could be liable for up to $184,500 in legal fees for the defense of prosecutors and investigators leading the John Doe probe of conservative groups. The below report explains how it came to be that the actions of these investigators led to a lawsuit and earned them state-funded legal counsel.

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    1. The difference is that the in Walkergate, the criminals are trying to prevent an investigation into their crimes.

      In the Erpenbach case, it's some brownshirts wanting to practice McCarthyism.

      The first is to keep our democracy whole, the second is to destroy it.

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  3. Sorry it took me a while to get up off the floor after laughing about media trackers. At least someone takes sikma seriously.

    So you do not think that our DA's should investigate crime? how much money do you want to save? should we close the prisons and lay off all of the guards?

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    1. How much money do YOU want to save? Erpenbach was represented by a private law firm paid by the state, which he said has racked up $170,000 in legal bills. Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, a Republican, refused to represent Erpenbach and urged him to settle the case. The state also will have to pay MacIver’s legal costs.

      Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/state-lawmaker-loses-latest-round-in-public-records-fight/article_c9a5f275-0a9f-576a-b735-cf6b93ffc84c.html#ixzz2yV0rah4q

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  4. Blaska: is being purposefully obtuse the same as being a liar?

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    1. He gets paid to do both. It's the only skill professional Troll Boy WHAAAAA-ska has

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  5. That's not an answer. It's not even a question. If Simpson is worried about $15,000, is he worried about $175,000? That is the question. What is your answer?

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    1. blaska as far as I am concerned you do not rate any answers.

      the only thing you rate is an integrity check.

      Delete
  6. Hey Blasska every time I see you leaving your messes all over I am reminded of the Frank Zappa song that I think applies to people like you. Turn it up.

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    1. Not to take anything away from the fine Zappa song you linked to, I find that this Zappa song nailed Republicans on the head. Even Republicans who sit on their head like Blaska.

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    2. Yeah that's a good one, but the subtlety of the message would lose people like Blasska.

      Delete