Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Oct. 8
Disclose the donors
Former Sen. Russ Feingold told the Editorial Board last week that Congress should require third-party groups engaged in electioneering to disclose their donors. We agree. The public needs to know who is trying to influence its government.
Feingold, a Democrat, is a candidate for Senate again. He will face Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in the November election.
In its Citizens United ruling in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld disclosure requirements by a vote of 8-1. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote at the time:
“With the advent of the Internet, prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions and supporters.”
If only Congress would pass such a law.
Lawmakers came close in 2010, when the House passed the DISCLOSE Act, which would have imposed new reporting and disclosure requirements on outside groups that make independent expenditures such as television ads during the course of an election. The Senate came within one vote of passing the bill that year. In subsequent years, efforts to open the books on such groups have died.
As enormous amounts of money flood the electoral system, it’s past time for the public to know exactly who is behind these electioneering efforts. The argument that disclosure will have a chilling effect on the First Amendment rights of the donors doesn’t wash. What about the rights of the rest of us to hold the government accountable? Donors can still “speak” through their donations, but citizens should know who is doing the speaking.
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The John Doe investigation into Wisconsin’s recall elections is finally over after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by prosecutors. But in the wake of their long investigation lies a trove of documents that should now be made public.
For months, there has been a steady drip of leaks to the media - some damaging to prosecutors, some harmful to the targets of the investigation.
Because of the mistaken release of documents on a federal court website, for example, we first learned that a mining company that wanted a change in state law had given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Wisconsin Club for Growth, which supported Gov. Scott Walker.
Thanks to a leak to the Guardian U.S., we learned that both before and after the Legislature approved laws limiting the ability to bring lawsuits by those poisoned by lead paint, the Wisconsin Club for Growth had received $750,000 in donations from the paint industry.
Prosecutors are under order to turn over copies of the documents to the state Supreme Court. At the same time, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman has ruled prosecutors could provide his court with sealed copies of the documents as part of their defense in a case brought by a former Walker aide. A fight over these two rulings is likely.
What else might these documents show? Prosecutorial misconduct? More donations by deep-pocketed donors with business before lawmakers?
Because of selective leaks, the public has seen only a small portion of the picture. The courts could perform a public service by making all the documents open to public inspection.
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The Journal Times of Racine, Oct. 9
Others should follow Mall of America’s lead
The shoppers have spoken and Mall of America has listened.
The mall in Bloomington, Minnesota, the largest in the nation, will close for Thanksgiving this year, mall officials announced last week.
“We think Thanksgiving is a day for families and for people we care about,” Jill Renslow, the mall’s senior vice president of marketing, told The Associated Press. “We want to give this day back.”
That is great news for thousands of families who will be able to spend the day together. That included the approximately 1,200 employees working directly for the mall and the other 13,000 workers employed by stores in the mall.
According to Marshal Cohen, a retail analyst with NPD Group, it turns out opening on Thanksgiving Day does not lift overall sales during the Black Friday weekend.
It just spreads out the spending over more days, the Star Tribune reported.
That makes sense; even the most die-hard shoppers have to take a break at some time.
If they shop all day Thanksgiving, it’s unlikely they will continue Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
On top of that, in the retail business December is a very hectic, busy month with long hours and lots of work.
While workers know this comes with a job, it can be exhausting. If there is little to no net profit gain, companies might as well stay closed on Thanksgiving to give employees extra time with family and as a result workers may end up with a little more holiday cheer going into the busy season.
In addition, companies could even end up saving money by not spending extra money on wages for the extra hours.
In 2012, the first big year stores decided to open for Thanksgiving, we told people if they are upset about stores being open on Thanksgiving, then they need to speak out using their loudest voice: their money.
It seems the public has spoken and over the years, there has been a widespread push back from what was becoming the “Black Friday Creep” to the good old “Black Friday.”
It was getting ridiculous for a while as the time crept from 5 a.m. Friday to midnight and then up to 10 p.m. or 8 p.m. Some stores even started as early as 8 a.m. Thursday and opted not to close at all for the holiday. At least that trend is now reversing.
Looking forward to this upcoming holiday season, we encourage retailers to follow Mall of America’s example.
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Beloit Daily News, Oct. 8
Clowning around that isn’t funny
Sometimes, stories come along in the course of a news day that would be laughable if not for the problems accompanying the foolishness.
So let’s talk about clowns.
For most Americans, we presume, clowns conjure up images of silly performers who entertain crowds for comedic effect. There are rodeo clowns and circus clowns and clowns you can hire for your 6-year-old’s birthday party.
The older among us may even remember beloved and famous clowns like Emmett Kelly and his alter ego Weary Willie, or Red Skelton’s famed TV clown Freddie the Freeloader. Clowns were good guys. People liked clowns.
Maybe author Stephen King is to blame, for making the clown the bad guy in his best-selling book “It.”
And, of course, serial killer John Wayne Gacy gave clowns the ultimate bad name.
Now, with the help of social media - which often seems to go hand-in-hand with weird behavior - evil clowns have become the fad around America threatening murder and mayhem. Beloit and other regional cities and villages have joined the clown parade, with social media driven threats frightening young children and forcing parents, police and school officials to respond.
Ignoring such foolishness would be the sane way to approach this situation. But authorities do not have that luxury. They have to take seriously any potential threat to safety, so police respond and school authorities react with caution. Meanwhile, parents have found the need to cope with young children’s fears. In the long run, will that make these little kids afraid to see a circus act? Possible.
And outrageous. Almost certainly, all across the country, this is nothing more than a few jerks getting their jollies by causing problems for other people.
It’s not funny. In fact, as police and school officials waste their time on such nonsense, there’s a cost and somebody has to pay for that waste. Taxpayers lose again.
Which brings us to this point: Somebody is responsible for this negative nonsense, wherever these make-believe threatening clowns pop up, including in Beloit or Roscoe or Rockford. And social media, like any other function, leaves a digital trail that smart technical sleuths can follow. We recommend that effort be taken seriously.
The individuals responsible need to be identified and their actions taken seriously by the criminal justice system. Make an example of them. Clamp the cuffs on them, it at all possible, for a perp-walk of shame in front of their peers. Send the message that this kind of bad behavior has consequences.
A final word: There’s another point to be made, and it’s for parents. Modern conveniences like smartphones and social media have many positive applications, but the potential for abuse is just as real. Pay attention to what your kids are doing. Odds are, you are paying for their devices so why shouldn’t you have full access to how those devices are being used? Digital access allows kids - and adults - to create their own networks and worlds that may be real or unreal. It’s mostly harmless, but don’t assume that. Be a parent. Pay attention.
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