Say Anything
Nearly as remarkable as Jim Doyle's complete about face on the issues of off reservation gaming and legislative oversight, is that the media continues to give Doyle a pass on those subjects.
Attorney General Jim Doyle not only opposed any expansion of off reservation gaming, he strongly supported legislative oversight of gaming and encouraged the legislature to "take back that power."
In August 2000, Jim Doyle told WisPolitics:
"I'd like to see the Legislature take that power back. They conceded to the governor back in the '80s -- this power to negotiate. And I believe Wisconsin's the only state in the country where that's happened. And it's really kind of amazing to me that the Legislatures never taken this back.
This was before I was attorney general, but they thought they were sticking it to the governor back in the '80s by giving him this power. And I don't blame the governor on this one at all. ... it was the Democratic Legislature that did that. And here you see where the sticking-it-to politics can kind of come back and get you. I hope the Legislature will take this back, and they can act. There's various things the Legislature can do to require some kind of approval."
Doyle went on to say:
" If I were governor I would not be moving gambling off reservations."
But Attorney General Doyle didn't just say he thought legislative oversight of gaming was desirable from a public policy standpoint, he issued opinions stating that it was legally permissible. He even suggested that Wisconsin was the only state in which the Governor had sole authority to approve gaming compacts.
Six years older and over a million dollars richer, Doyle claims that legislative oversight is prohibited by federal law, and not a single reporter has asked the Governor how he came to that conclusion.
So late Friday afternoon, Governor Doyle vetoed AB 461, a bill that would have given the legislature the power he once urged them to take back. He did not provide a credible reason for his decision.
I guess when it comes to the press; Doyle can just say anyting, even if it totally contradicts what he said before.
7 Comments:
What a shocker! Jim Doyle's opinion toward the proposal to give more power to the Legislature changed AFTER he became Governor! Who would have thunk it!
What about all of the Republican legislators who thought this was the worst idea possible when Tommy G. Thompson and Scott McCallum sat in the East wing but now think it's the greatest idea since sliced bread? In your world do they get off Scot-free for their attitudes?
Oh, ye hypocrite, Little Debbie!
One thing I notice about lefty posts in general, how condescending they can be to women, and how quickly they revert to the personal ("oh ye hypocrite, Little Debbie").
Theodore, do you even have a clue what Above the Belt's position has been on this issue in the past, that would make her a hypocrite? I do not see in her bio that she was ever a legislator, so why cite their behavior as though she's responsible for it?
And what about her post?
The Governor, as AG, gave his considered opinion that the legislature had a legal place in the approval of compacts. Now, in a political role, he denies they do. In fact, he is in a partisan dispute much like the one he described in his 2000 Wis Politics interview Above the Belt linked to: a Dem Legislature "sticking it to the Rep. Governor by giving the Gov sole authority to negotiate."
In the same interview Mr. Doyle noted (he must have reviewed this question as part of the background of his LEGAL opinion - and why isn't the press writing about this?) that Wisconsin was perhaps the ONLY state without legislative participation in the review of compacts.
Finally, my editorial, given the hash Governor Doyle has made of these renegotiated compacts, no wonder the legislature feels compelled to reclaim its role.
The Supreme Court has overturned his product; he ceded future renegotiations by granting rights to operate gambling in perpetuity; and oddest of all, while he denies the state legislature can have a role in determining whether or not gambling can be expanded - his compacts cede to the Ho Chunks the power to determine whether or not gambling can be expanded!
This is the world Gov. Doyle moves in, utterly out of touch with the people he represents and unwilling to let their representatives have a role, all the while eager to please a sovereign nation he treats with.
You know, you've missed another reason that this may not be getting much ink. The people are most likely more concerned with Healthcare and gas prices than with the Doyle/Gard pissing contest.
Hey Teddy... Can you tell me how many of the sitting Republican legisaltors were serving when Thompson last negotiated his last short term compact?
Kudos to Theodore. This isn't a story about money but the old political axiom, "Where you stand depends on where you sit."
Or, don't pay attention to what he says, watch where his feet goes.
That applies to all you Doyle apologists too. You all say, "it's no big deal, keep moving, nothing happening here, just politics," like he was just kidding, it was a joke, anyone would've done it, don't worry....; but none of you want to talk about what he said, what he did, whether it was the right thing for Wisconsin, or not.
Between this, and standing tall for illegal immigration, and illegal voters, well, you get the picture - Jim Doyle, from planet Madison.
Jim Doyle bent over backwards???
Intertesting visual don't you think??
A good point on the left wing shock and awe policy when someone (DEB) points out the truth.
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