Ben WiklerCompte certifié

The #WIpowergrab is so awful that it's literally keeping me up at night. The plans have been rumored for weeks, but the WI GOP waited until Friday afternoon to unveil their stack of bills, plans ONE hearing on Monday, and votes on Tuesday. So opposition is needed *now.*

In Wisconsin, right now, the GOP has total control: the governorship, both chambers of the state legislature, and a majority on the Supreme Court. That's one big reason why Trump won WI in 2016—because they'd rigged the rules. Now they want to prevent Dems from unrigging them.

The last time Republicans tried to restrict early voting, the great activist group @onewisconsinnow sued, and a federal judge found the rules unconstitutional. But that doesn't stop the Wisconsin GOP from trying again. It's just that important to them.https://twitter.com/onewisconsinnow/status/1068686402290892800 …

Second, the Wisconsin GOP wants to prevent democracy from ending 4-3 conservative control of the state Supreme Court. One far-right Justice is up for reelection on April 7 2019—which is also Super Tuesday, the presidential primary. Uh-oh. That means high turnout. So what to do?

To prevent progressives from defeating a far-right state Supreme Court justice on April 7, the WI GOP now has a bill to reduce turnout by moving the presidential primary race a month earlier, to March. One problem with this: it's technically "impossible."https://twitter.com/news3jessica/status/1068252442733744130 …

The Wisconsin GOP's special session would allow legislators to “intervene in any litigation when a state law is challenged, and they would have the ability to appoint their own private attorneys — at taxpayer expense — to handle the case instead of the attorney general.”

What kind of case might the #GOPpowergrab affect? Try Gill v Whitford, the challege to Wisconsin's hideous legislative districts, which (long shot) could make extreme partisan gerrymandering unconstitutional nationwide. But not if GOP chooses the lawyers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gill_v._Whitford …

So far, thread has covered the GOP plan to use a last-minute special legislative session to 1) suppress votes 2) steal Supreme Court 3) shred powers of AG. Here's #4: they want to force the new governor to implement Scott Walker's vicious plan to wreck Medicaid in Wisconsin.

As @TopherSpiro or @ASlavitt or, uh, anyone who has worked on federal or state policy can tell you, there's a constant process of seeking tweaks and adjustments for state implementations of federal laws. It's how the US makes federalism work. The WI GOP wants to take it hostage.

If the WI GOP has its way, *any* adjustment to make a federal program work properly in Wisconsin becomes a hostage-taking negotiation with the hostile Republican state legislature, which will seek to extract partisan concessions. Just like how the GOP operates federally. So ugly.

The same principle applies vis-a-vis ripping powers away from the Attorney General and arrogating them to the GOP legislature. Every issue becomes an opportunity for the GOP to take hostages. It's a recipe to break governance. Intentionally. It's a punch in the gut to voters.

And the way these things work in combination is chillingly cold-blooded. They gerrymander the legislature to end majority rule. They move powers from democratically elected offices to the undem legislature. They entrench by suppressing votes & protecting partisan Sup Ct justices.

Warning to our friends across the country: what happens in Wisconsin doesn't stay in Wisconsin. The GOP (and Kochs) use the state as a petri dish for terrible hard-right ideas. This effort clearly builds on the GOP power grab attempt in NC. If this works, it'll spread elsewhere.