Apparently, Johnny Depp isn't the only public enemy to step foot in our area recently.
According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (WDC), 80th District Assemblyman Brett Davis, R-Oregon, also is a wanted man ... for "actively ... cultivating political corruption and helping special interests control state government."
So laughable. So incredibly wrong.
The WDC on Tuesday released a report ranking state legislators on political reform efforts. Based on their votes on four bills and their sponsorship status on six others, lawmakers were labeled "Democracy Defenders" (the best), a "Public Allies," "Bystanders" or "Public Enemies." Public Enemies being, of course, Republicans.
Of the 54 legislators called enemies of the public, 53 are Republicans. Democratic Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer obviously didn't get the party memo.
All nine of the "Democracy Defenders" are Democrats, including 27th District Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Waunakee. Sen. Dale Schultz of Richland Center is one of only five Republicans among the 45 "Allies," a list that includes freshman Democrat Steve Hilgenberg from the 51st District.
While the WDC claims to be nonpartisan, and has a solid reputation in reporting campaign finance information, the credibility of such a lopsided partisan report must be questioned. It's ridiculous to suggest that Democrats are allies and defenders of democracy, while Republicans are looking to destroy it or stand back and let it happen.
To be fair, Davis' record on the limited number of important bills the WDC uses for its study is not perfect. He voted along with 96 others in the Assembly to create the Government Accountability Board, but he voted against good measures that would ban campaign fundraising during the state budget process, and publicly finance Supreme Court elections. While the WDC penalizes Davis in the rankings for his opposition to a bill to publicly finance all state races, he cast the right vote.
But to say Davis "regularly stood with the special interests and worked to defeat reforms that would restore power to the general public," as the WDC has, is absurd.
The most recent example is his stand against the special interest of the state's teachers union in his successful effort to pass reasonable virtual school legislation. And during the last budget process, Davis was the first Republican in the Assembly to vote to compromise with Democrats and end the stalemate.
The WDC uses a very narrow list of criteria to make an extremely broad assessment. While the rankings are interesting and entertaining, they are meaningless.
According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (WDC), 80th District Assemblyman Brett Davis, R-Oregon, also is a wanted man ... for "actively ... cultivating political corruption and helping special interests control state government."
So laughable. So incredibly wrong.
The WDC on Tuesday released a report ranking state legislators on political reform efforts. Based on their votes on four bills and their sponsorship status on six others, lawmakers were labeled "Democracy Defenders" (the best), a "Public Allies," "Bystanders" or "Public Enemies." Public Enemies being, of course, Republicans.
Of the 54 legislators called enemies of the public, 53 are Republicans. Democratic Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer obviously didn't get the party memo.
All nine of the "Democracy Defenders" are Democrats, including 27th District Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Waunakee. Sen. Dale Schultz of Richland Center is one of only five Republicans among the 45 "Allies," a list that includes freshman Democrat Steve Hilgenberg from the 51st District.
While the WDC claims to be nonpartisan, and has a solid reputation in reporting campaign finance information, the credibility of such a lopsided partisan report must be questioned. It's ridiculous to suggest that Democrats are allies and defenders of democracy, while Republicans are looking to destroy it or stand back and let it happen.
To be fair, Davis' record on the limited number of important bills the WDC uses for its study is not perfect. He voted along with 96 others in the Assembly to create the Government Accountability Board, but he voted against good measures that would ban campaign fundraising during the state budget process, and publicly finance Supreme Court elections. While the WDC penalizes Davis in the rankings for his opposition to a bill to publicly finance all state races, he cast the right vote.
But to say Davis "regularly stood with the special interests and worked to defeat reforms that would restore power to the general public," as the WDC has, is absurd.
The most recent example is his stand against the special interest of the state's teachers union in his successful effort to pass reasonable virtual school legislation. And during the last budget process, Davis was the first Republican in the Assembly to vote to compromise with Democrats and end the stalemate.
The WDC uses a very narrow list of criteria to make an extremely broad assessment. While the rankings are interesting and entertaining, they are meaningless.
