“More Nixonian than Nixon”: Scott Walker’s latest scandal lays bare his shady tactics
"When a stealth attempt by Wisconsin Republicans to gut the state’s open records law drew national criticism last weekend, Gov. Scott Walker announced he’d push the legislature to undo the sneaky changes.
“The intended policy goal of these changes was to provide a reasonable solution to protect constituents’ privacy and to encourage a deliberative process between elected officials and their staff in developing policy,” his office declared in a statement. “It was never intended to inhibit transparent government in any way.”
Now it comes out that Walker’s office was in the thick of drafting the changes. “Legislative leaders let us know that they were interested in making changes to the open records law,” his press secretary told state reporters in an email. “In response, our staff provided input regarding these proposed changes.”
If that sounds familiar, it should. Walker has used the same dodge before, backing away from a controversial idea after it triggered public outrage, and having it turn out that he was behind the move in the first place."
