Dear editor,
Republican State Senator Tom Tiffany is running to fill U.S. Representative Sean Duffy’s seat in Wisconsin‘s 7th Congressional District. He served in Wisconsin‘s Assembly from 2011-2013 and the Senate since 2013.
While Tiffany says he will “drain the swamp” in Washington just as he did in Madison, his actions speak louder than his words.
Tiffany represented Wisconsinites at midnight on a Friday night in November 2015 when the Republican-controlled Senate passed a bill, with no Democratic support, that doubled campaign contribution limits from $10,000 to $20,000 and allowed anonymous donors to coordinate with candidates’ campaigns, rendering campaign finance regulations meaningless.
Were Tiffany’s constituents in northern Wisconsin clamoring for legislation to increase the amount of money in politics? How many people do you know that can drop $10,000 or $20,000 into a candidate’s campaign coffers?
At 2:30 a.m. that same night, the Senate, along partisan lines, dismantled the Government Accountability Board (GAB), the nonpartisan body formed in 2007 to address ethics and elections violations. Republicans were displeased with the results of GAB involvement in two investigations into Gov. Walker’s Milwaukee County office and his recall campaign: six convictions of Walker aides and associates on embezzlement of veterans’ funds and campaign law violations. The GAB was dismantled for doing their job, enforcing laws that promote clean, transparent government.
Were Tiffany’s constituents up north inundating him with requests to make it easier for politicians and their staff to get away with illegal campaign schemes?
Tiffany ignores constituents’ preference for nonpartisan district line drawing. Despite Politifact confirming that Wisconsin is the first- or second-worst gerrymandered state, Tiffany declares our GOP-drawn maps are fair.
Do you think folks up in northern Wisconsin would like to have a nonpartisan board draw the lines for districts in a fair and open manner like our neighbors in Iowa have been doing it very successfully for many years? Or do you think folks would rather have the politicians in power draw their own really crooked lines so they can pick the voters they want in their districts, all done in secret with a team of lawyers they hired and paid for with taxpayer dollars, and then have the whole process tied up in court battles for years, costing taxpayers even more?
Polls show overwhelming bipartisan support for eliminating gerrymandering, getting money out of politics and reducing corruption. The examples listed here are just a few of many more that demonstrate how Tiffany will represent his constituents if he goes to Washington: He will follow the priorities set out by the GOP and his big donors, while ignoring the desires of the people of northern Wisconsin.
Jeanne Larson of Phillips
Editor’s note: Wausau Pilot & Review gladly accepts letters to the editor from residents, officials, and candidates for local offices. The views of our readers are not necessarily the views of Wausau Pilot & Review. To submit, send to [email protected].
