In "Animal Farm" of Wisconsin politics, GOP dark money stays secret, while opponent names, addresses

... go into black lists

http://uppitywis.org/blogarticle/animal-farm-wisconsin-politics-gop-dark-money-stays-secret-while

As physicists from the University of Wisconsin and other institutions continue to scour the universe for signs of elusive, mysterious "dark matter," Republicans in our state and nationally continue to manufacture new ways to turn campaign cash into dark money.

Meanwhile, however, the lives, identities and privacy of Wisconsin residents -- particularly those who tend to vote other than Republican -- are increasingly an open book, one that's turning rapidly into a 1950s-style political Black List.

The double-standard in Wisconsin (and national) politics was made even more evident the past couple of weeks. First, the US Supreme Court's conservative majority blessed a conservative group's argument that yet another set of limits on campaign donations are unconstitutional because those limits interfere with free speech. That extended the court's earlier Citizens United ruling, in which corporations were designated people who have free speech rights -- increasingly, even more of those rights than real people! And some of those corporations also continue to insist that their privacy cannot be transgressed by the public interest in monitoring their behavior. Corporations and third-party campaign groups thus increasingly are the equivalent of secret, anonymous, wealthy super-citizens. [Technically, the Supreme Court's decision also included in this category labor unions, which typically donate to political opponents of Republicans, however in significantly smaller amounts overall. Besides, the unions are much more open in disclosing their donations.]

While these super-persons can increasingly operate in the shadows, watch out when you show up to vote in Wisconsin this fall. Thanks to a new law signed by Scott Walker, "independent" election observers will be newly able to get so legally close to the sign-in tables they'll be able to watch you pen your name into the polling book, and maybe even breathe down your neck while you do it. Because, unlike one of those corporate super-citizens, YOU are not to be trusted.

And then there's a new ruling from a Wisconsin judge who just bought into another conservative group's argument that whenever a state citizen contacts his elected representative to register a comment or opinion, his or her personal ID must be divulged upon request. A state appeals court this week ordered State Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) to make public all names and contact information for emails his public office received in 2011 regarding what was then the Republican-proposed law virtually abolishing collective bargaining for most public employees. The appeals court cited the Wisconsin open records law and said the public has a right to know who emailed Erpenbach.