Randa. Picture courtesy of The Progressive.


In one of the first cases to rely on the U.S. Supreme Court's McCutcheon decision, a federal judge just tried to open the door to new levels of corruption in Wisconsin elections -- but the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals could still stop him. On May 6, federal Judge Rudolph Randa ordered a halt to Wisconsin's long-running "John Doe" criminal probe into allegedly illegal coordination between political campaigns (including Governor Scott Walker's 2012 recall campaign) and the non-profit groups like Wisconsin Club for Growth and its allies that spent millions during the state's recall elections. Randa, who was appointed to the bench by George H.W. Bush and is a board member of the Milwaukee Federalist Society, compared limits on money-in-politics to "the guillotine and the gulag."

His order was halted the following day by a Seventh Circuit panel made up of Judges Diane Wood, William Bauer and Frank Easterbrook, which ruled that he had not properly certified an earlier appeal from prosecutors as frivolous, a necessary step before he could halt the investigation. (Prosecutors had appealed Judge Randa's decision rejecting their motion to dismiss the case on grounds that they were subject to immunity.) On Thursday, Randa certified the appeal as frivolous and reinstated his order. Prosecutors will likely appeal again to the Seventh Circuit.

Judge Randa's May 6 decision halting the investigation is extraordinary. It involves a federal court injecting its own interpretation of state law into a high-profile criminal probe of political operatives of the party that appointed him to the bench, while state court proceedings are ongoing. It deploys a strained reading of U.S. Supreme Court precedent and the facts of the case, portraying the investigation -- led by a bipartisan group of District Attorneys and a Special Prosecutor who voted for Walker, and approved unanimously by the bipartisan group of retired judges on Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board -- as politically-motivated retaliation against Republicans. It green-lights electoral coordination between candidates and third-party groups, making it easy for politicians to bypass contribution and disclosure limits and solicit unlimited, secret donations for so-called "issue ads" timed to influence elections.

Randa even celebrated the intentional evasion of campaign finance rules by the players under investigation in the John Doe. He described their tactics as a means of promoting "speech." Randa wrote that Eric O'Keefe's WCFG -- which filed the federal challenge to the probe and had spent $9.1 million on undisclosed election ads during the recalls -- "found a way to circumvent campaign finance laws, and that circumvention should not and cannot be condemned or restricted. Instead, it should be recognized as promoting political speech, an activity that is ingrained in our culture."

Mitt Romney: “The GOP ought to get on board with raising the minimum wage. It doesn’t have to be a lot of money, maybe $385,000 or so.”

Scuba,

If you care about “Government for the People," please read this e-mail from my friends at CREDO and sign their petition for honest government. It's important.

Courage,

Alan Grayson



CREDO Action
Why is the White House backing Bank of America's $9 million man?

The petition reads:

"President Obama: The $9 million bonus paid by Bank of America to Stefan Selig as he left the mega-bank to enter government service might not be illegal, but it is scandalous. You have a duty to stop the corrupt revolving door between big business and government. Withdraw Mr. Selig's nomination and instead nominate someone who will give us confidence that our trade policy isn't being bought and sold."

Add your name:

Sign the petition ►

Dear Alan,

President Obama: Stop the revolving door
When former Wall Street banker Stefan Selig was nominated for a senior Commerce Department role that is central to trade negotiations, Bank of America (where he worked at the time as a top executive) paid him a special $9 million "exit" bonus.1

Even for those of us used to the obscene spectacle of corruption known as the revolving door between government and big business, this is both eye-popping and scandalous.

Let's be clear, the $9 million was not a normal yearly bonus. It was an extra bonus on top of a $5.1 million incentive bonus given to him for his job performance. And it was given to him right as he was poised to gain the power to write Bank of America's interests directly into our trade agreements.

Tell President Obama: Stop the revolving door. Withdraw the Selig nomination. Click here to sign the petition.

Even the strong appearance of corruption can damage confidence in our democracy -- it doesn't have to be proven to be a quid pro quo relationship. This nomination and Selig's "exit" bonus of $9 million clearly crosses that line.

If confirmed, Selig would play a major role negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which is already little more than a secret corporate power grab masquerading as a "trade" deal.

Senator Elizabeth Warren warned last year that trade deals like the TPP could provide an opportunity for "banks to get something done quietly out of sight that they could not accomplish in a public place with the cameras rolling and the lights on."2

Indeed, leaked chapters of the TPP included provisions that would majorly hamstring the ability of governments to stem the next banking crisis.3

Other provisions would allow multinational corporations to sue governments in foreign courts that are staffed by corporate lawyers when governmental regulations cut into corporate profit.4

It's bad enough that these anti-democratic, pro-corporate provisions are being considered behind a veil of secrecy as part of a process that has been deemed classified by our government.

Allowing Mr. Selig to play a key role in the negotiations going forward would raise a real question about whether our trade policy is being bought and paid for. President Obama has a duty to prevent this from happening.

Tell President Obama: Don't let Bank of America's $9 million man help write the TPP. Withdraw the Selig nomination. Click here to sign the petition.

President Obama can't deny the harm that comes when the American people don't have faith that our government officials are working for us -- not their future or former employer.

When he was running for president, Barack Obama highlighted the corrupt nature of the revolving door and campaigned repeatedly on the need to stop it.

But his efforts in this respect have largely focused on registered lobbyists, and even then the results have been uneven at best. And his nominations for trade-related positions have completely missed the mark.

It's bad enough that the current U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman received more than $4 million from Citigroup when he left that Wall Street bank to join the administration in 2009.5

If the White House continues pushing the nomination of Stefan Selig after this more recent revelation, it would be a clear signal that the appearance of corruption has dropped off the list of concerns for President Obama.

Tell President Obama: Withdraw the Selig nomination. Click the link below to sign the petition:

http://act.credoaction.com/sign/obama_selig

Thank you for speaking out.

Matt Lockshin, Campaign Manager
CREDO Action from Working Assets

Add your name:

Sign the petition ►

The United States does not have a law requiring the repair of used vehicles — including rental cars — that have been recalled for safety issues before they are rented or sold to the public. Used-car dealers and rental car companies are allowed to fix problems when — and if — they see fit. And they are not required by law to disclose to customers that a vehicle is the subject of a recall.

Even as Congress and law enforcement officials investigate the delayed recall of 2.6 million General Motors cars for a faulty ignition, auto dealers and many manufacturers oppose efforts to require recalled used and rental cars to be immediately repaired. These efforts include a measure recently sent to Congress and a separate Senate bill that has languished since 2011.

Dealers contend that not all recalls require immediate attention, though regulators say recalls, by definition, involve pressing safety concerns. And auto manufacturers, while not opposed in principle to mandatory repairs, want protection from rental car companies that might sue over lost business while recalled cars are out of service.

...

But without a law, safety advocates and regulators say, consumers must take the rental car company’s or dealer’s word that the repairs were made, and have limited ability to seek redress without that assurance. “It should be a slam dunk,” David J. Friedman, acting administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said of required repairs. “To me it is hard to oppose ensuring that people who buy a car, whether it is new or used, or whether you are renting a vehicle, can have the confidence that it is safe.”

...

The bill in the Senate would apply only to rental cars. Introduced in 2011, it was largely a reaction to the death of two sisters, Raechel and Jacqueline Houck, who were killed in a recalled but unrepaired rental car in 2004. It is not seen as having enough support to pass as a stand-alone bill, but it could become part of a bigger piece of legislation.

Retail giant Walmart has pleaded guilty to criminally dumping hazardous waste across California, and we don’t mean opening new stores. They pleaded guilty in San Francisco federal court to multiple misdemeanors related to dumping waste chemicals into sanitation drains as a nearly institutional practice, as reported by the AP:

Walmart Stores Inc. will pay $81 million after pleading guilty to criminal charges the company dumped hazardous waste across California, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The latest “victim” is Kathi Rose, a 62 year old pastor in Neenah. She had breast cancer 20 years ago and after that found getting health insurance an impossible task because of her pre-existing condition. Luckily, Rose quickly discovered that Wisconsin had something called the Health Insurance RiskSharing Plan (HIRSP). The state-managed HIRSP system was adopted in the early 1990s and was funded through a combination of patient premiums and a surcharge on “regular” health insurance plans in the state. HIRSP also mandated that health care providers treat HIRSP patients at discounted rates.

Generally speaking, HIRSP members loved the plan, because they were getting subsidized rates that were cheaper than what was available on the private market. This was because state statutes required that 40% of the HIRSP members’ premiums be paid by surcharges on the insurance programs of “regular” health plans, and by reduced charges from doctors. In other words, we were all paying 40% of Kathi Rose’s premiums.

...

o, it’s 2013 and everything’s going hunky-dory for Rose, until she gets a letter from the HIRSP Authority saying that, because the Affordable Care Act (ACA) puts an end to discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, HIRSP will cease to exist as of January 1, 2014. Remembering President Obama’s promise that “if you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance,” Rose becomes enraged and calls up Senator Johnson to relay her tale of woe.

Johnson jumped into action and before Obama knew what him, BAM!, another “Victim of Government” was making its debut. The only problem with this story is that Johnson failed to check one key element of this story: The reason why HIRSP was killed had nothing to do with the ACA. HIRSP was axed by Governor Scott Walker in his 2013-15 biennial budget.

The Benghazi Select Committee lineup announced: It will have 7 Republicans and 5 Democrats, as well as 8 Fox News producers.

Rep. Trey Gowdy: “I’m proud to lead the Select Committee on Benghazi, which I expect run until 2016, or possibly 2024 if Hillary wins.”

Rick Perry: “Yeah, I did overstate the number of unemployed by 900%, but, c’mon, math is just one theory that’s out there.”

Supreme Court rules that Koch brothers paying death squads to murder voters is legal as political speech under the 1st Amendment.

Bizarre factoid of the day. Most Americans probably don't know the Prime Minister of Canada. But they know the Mayor of Toronto.