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Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Sheridan Should Seize The Moment

Mike Sheridan should seize the moment created by his hometown newspaper and use this awkward episode as exhibit A to write legislation to rid Madison of the scourge of play-for-play lobbyists once and for all. The greatest outrage from his constituents seems to revolve around the potential that he "changed his mind" about a piece of legislation because of his relationship with a lobbyist. This strikes at the heart of why lobbyists are allowed in the capital in the first place. For the most part, their only mission is to influence legislators, conflict business and "change minds."

Other PayDay Loan Lobbyists
JS Online Excerpt
Other lobbyists in the game include former Assembly Majority Leader Steven Foti (R-Oconomowoc); ex-Rep. Tim Hoven (R-Port Washington); Bill McCoshen, a former top aide to ex-Gov. Tommy G. Thompson; Scott Stenger, best known for representing the Tavern League of Wisconsin; Jim Smith, who ran the successful Democratic effort to take over the Assembly in 2008; and Jason Childress, who led the campaign for Senate Democrats.
Mister Speaker, don't let this rare groundswell of public interest die down. The legislator should even engage with the activist newspaper as a marketing partner to help keep the momentum going. They seem to be more than willing. Getting rid of this corrosive influence is half the battle to good clean government.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

They'll never allow that to happen. If Al Capone had lobbyists working in today's corrupted system of campaign/lobbyists driven government, he'd still be in business.

Lou Kaye said...

I know exactly where you're coming from, but Al Capone IS still in business. Lobbyists make sure of it. Besides, look at all the jobs corruption brings.

Anonymous said...

I agree, Mike should use it to hammer the industry into the ground.

Lou Kaye said...

Are lobbyists an industry?

Anonymous said...

I was speaking of the pay-day places not his girlfriend or their ilk. I just cannot see ever getting rid of special interests. Try as we might it will just drive them underground and off the radar, where they can do even more damage with even less accountability.

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