The recent actions of our Wisconsin Legislature demonstrate the legislators’ total lack of respect for election results they don’t like, democracy and the peaceful transfer of power.
Under the guise of rebalancing, they passed laws taking away all of the extra powers they had bestowed upon their governor, Scott Walker. But they went further, giving themselves the final approval of appointments, prohibiting judges from deferring to state agency staff’s testimony of a scientific nature, shortening the time allowed for early voting and much more.
The new rulers and governor of Wisconsin are the Legislature; we are no longer a government of the people, by the people and for the people. The people resoundingly chose a change in direction when they elected the new Governor and attorney general. But the governor-elect and attorney general-elect will find their hands tied when they seek to bring about some changes they promised.
For example, Governor-elect Evers said he would immediately accept federal funds for expanding Medicaid, thereby providing health care for many uninsured in our state. Attorney General-elect Kaul will be prevented from immediately pulling the state out of a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act.
Our forefathers, knowing we are human and can be selfish, designed a government with checks and balances so that no one arm has more power than the other two. They created three arms, the executive, the legislative and the judicial with differing responsibilities that basically would protect us from allowing one faction to gain total control (as happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s).
The legislature by its actions has effectively destroyed those checks and balances in Wisconsin and given themselves power to prevent actions from the executive and judicial branch with which they disagree. This will be the beginning of the destruction of our democracy , at least in Wisconsin.
Let us hope there is some recourse to correct this attack on our great state of Wisconsin.
Carol Elvery
Waupaca