For those of you who don't know, here is the story:
Mark Green (R) is running for WI governor.
He wanted to transfer some PAC funds he had saved up from previous campaigns.
The elections board, who had said similar actions were okay for Democrats like Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, said Green must give the money back.
So:
Is this just Dem's on the board playing politics with yet another issue? Yes
Has Jim Doyle brought corruption to the elections board like he has pretty much in everything he touches? Yes
Could this help Mark Green? Yes
Could this hurt Mark Green? Yes
Which way will this spin:
Green is trying to keep legal money and dirty Doyle is trying to stop him
OR
Green is just as dirty as Doyle, all politicians are, so Green looks bad like Doyle for trying to keep dirty money
Monday, September 04, 2006
Green plans court action
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6 comments:
Doyle complained when Barret tried to use the funds, too. It was a loophole that is now closed. Thats why he has to return the money.
Here's the problem, Game: The funds in question are not just any PAC donations--they are donations that would have been illegal at the time had they been made to his state campaign fund. There were warnings in 2002 that Barrett's transfer could or ought to be illegal, but the (different from today's) board members then chose not to apply the law so strictly. It's not a matter of a loophole's having been closed, as the rhyno suggests, but a lack of action on the part of the board in 2002.
Have a history lesson, if you'd like, from someone who was there at the time.
I also think you ned to look up how the elections board is selected (hint: it's not all Jim Doyle), and ask yourself: If the Thompson/McCallum-appointed board members let Barrett break the law, but the Doyle-appointed board members didn't let Green do it, where is the corruption really coming from?
very very good spin Jay...
from what I have read/heard, Green's money became illegal days AFTER he transfered it...
It is true that really any PAC money shouldn't be used ever, but you can thank Russ and John for that...
Jay, I know you have to stick up for Doyle because your a big teachers union guy and for some reason you don't see that Doyle screws public school teachers every change he gets...
I know you have to stick up for Doyle because [you're] a big teachers union guy and for some reason you don't see that Doyle screws public school teachers every change he gets...
I know that Doyle has not been the biggest friend to labor in general, and teachers in particular. (That's one reason I keep trying to convince WEAC to support campaign finance reform--all our money buys us nothing.) But Doyle is friendlier to education, and to students and school districts, than Green would be. Green wouldn't have bothered to find that $30 million for MPS in the last biennium, for example, and would have handed that money over to the road and prison builders who give him money.
In any year but this one, I'm at best lukewarm to Doyle. But Green will gut public education in this state and turn all of Milwaukee County into an unlimited voucher zone. You want that? Really?
There are also two big mistakes in your comment, Game:
from what I have read/heard, Green's money became illegal days AFTER he transfered it...
For all I know that is what you heard, but it's a lie. Indeed, there was a rule passed shortly after Green made his transfer that bars transferring any federal money to a state account. But the elections board didn't challenge the vast majority of Green's transfer because they knew it was legal when he did it.
What they did challenge was the portion of the transfer that came from PACs that were not registered in Wisconsin. It has been illegal in this state for decades for a PAC to give money to a state candidate if that PAC is not registered with the elections board. So, at the time the contributions were made, they would have been illegal if they had been made to Green's state fund. Barrett was chastised for this in 2002 and the board should have followed up and made him give back those contributions. But the board did not, allowing Barrett to skirt the rules--something Doyle's campaign complained about at the time.
It is true that really any PAC money shouldn't be used ever, but you can thank Russ and John for that...
This is also not true. There are limits to PAC contributions as well as disclosure requirements--who donated how much and when to the PAC--but PACs are neither forbidden nor inherently evil. That's why both John and Russ have PACs now.
You know, it never ceases to amaze me how much blatant disinformation is out there and then propagated by people who have access to Google to verify it. I don't know who told you these things, Game, or why you chose to believe those falsehoods. But please try to learn the facts before you spout off and make yourself look foolish.
I was reading what you said and agreeing with some of it, but then you come in with the personal attacks, so I am not going to bother responding to you
I put forth no spin. jay, I am not sure you understood what I am saying. The loophole was recently closed, last year. It was adopted because Green accepted campaign contributions from PAC's for his federal fund that did not register with the WI board. The day after he transfered that money, the loophole was closed by putting that rule, limiting transfers from Federal accounts, in place. Thats why the elections board denied use of those funds. A state court could still allow it since it may qualify as ex post facto. I dont even remember the Barrett stuff when it happened.
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