The Milwaukee Post

8 • Milwaukee County Post • September 4, 2015 Here's what a stacked deck looks like. The media, which claim to be neutral, use their watchdog role only to focus on one political party. The government agency charged with serving as the watchdog agency focuses on the same party and not the other one. The party that is the target of the harassment claims foul. The media rally to the defense of the corrupt and unfair agency and say it is only "doing its job." This is precisely what is happening with the mainstream media's defense in Wisconsin of the out-of-control Government Accountability Board. Led by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the media are excoriating Republicans for planning to gut the GAB, arguing the agency is merely doing what it is supposed to do. In a way they have it right. Since both perceive their job as nailing conservatives, persecuting Republicans and electing Democrats, the GAB is probably doing what it considers its job. As I've argued before, the problem with the GAB isn't one of structure. The cancer in the agency is the ideological bias of its staff. Kevin Kennedy, the head of GAB and its predecessor agency (State Board of Elections), is using his power to target Wisconsin Republicans and conservatives. He has an ideological mission and has proven he not only is not fair but is a parti- san. Allowing Kennedy and his staff to con- tinue to oversee politics in Wisconsin is like picking the referees in the Super Bowl from one team's coaching staff. The latest proof of how rotten the GAB is at its core comes from emails obtained by the Wall Street Journal written by former GAB attorney Shane Falk. Writing to the special prosecutor who led the John Doe witch hunt of Gov. Scott Walker and state conservative groups, Shane Falk wrote: "This was a bastardization of politics and our state is being run by corporations and billionaires. That isn't democracy to say the least, but due to how they do this dark money, the populace never gets to know." Those are the words of a partisan zealot. But Falk's job is to be a neutral arbiter. The GAB is filled with leftist attack dogs like Falk. They hate conservatives. They hate Republicans. They hate Walker. They hate people like me. They hate that we are using the same rules the Democrats long took advantage of to fight for our causes and our beliefs. Furious at this, John Does are launched. Homes are raided. Lives are upended. It is not surprising that the Republican response is to do something about this biased and out-of-control regula- tory agency. Note how we learned of the Shane Falk emails. The Wall Street Journal reported on them. Not the Wisconsin State Journal or the Milwaukee Journal. The Wisconsin news media, in bed as they are with the GAB, have not provided the agency with any scrutiny. The media and the GAB perceive themselves as being on the same team. Wisconsin Republicans have finally fig- ured this out. The only question is whether they know what to do about it. The structure of the GAB isn't the problem. The people who work for GAB are the problem. The boss, Kennedy, defends Shane Falk by saying people are passionate and human and often express strong feelings. But Kennedy was Shane Falk's boss and was perfectly fine with having a top employee hellbent on cru- cifying Republicans and bringing down con- servative interest groups. This alone shows how in the bag Kennedy really is. The same Kennedy has been found on emails himself. He's a buddy of Lois Lerner, the discredited head of the IRS nonprofit wing, who used her own powers to target and harass national conservative organiza- tion. Birds of a feather do tend to flock together. CORRECTION: An earlier column of mine criticizing the GAB stated that Kennedy was behind the ruling several years ago that wrongly prevented Republican governor candidate Mark Green from using congressional campaign funds in his current race. In fact, Kennedy and staff took the opposite stand. The above paragraph is an attempt to cor- rect a mistake. But the GAB itself never cor- rects errors. The retired judges who are sleep-walking their way through overseeing the GAB staff have done nothing to clean up the dirty agency they are in charge of. If the GAB wanted to prove that the current struc- ture can work fairly for both parties, it would have long ago fired Kennedy and stopped the agency from hiring investiga- tors to target only conservatives. At least the GAB is consistent. Every sin- gle contentious issue decided by the agency goes in favor of the Democrats. The target- ing for investigation is always done to Republicans. Kennedy and his pit bulls are so brazen they don't even pretend to hide their biases. The same is true of the main- stream media. It is hardly coincidental that the partisan media are now carrying water for the partisan watchdog agency. They share the same mission. It is to ruin people like me for exercising our rights as Americans to be active in our government. (Mark Belling is the host of a daily WISN radio talk show. His column appears weekly in the Milwaukee Post. Send your personal correspondences to Mark Belling at Clear Channel Communications, c/o WISN, 12100 W. Howard Ave., Greenfield, WI 53228). MARK BELLING STANDING UP for MILWAUKEE Just who's watching the attack dog? OPINION Last week's question Why is Labor Day important to you? Labor Day is a civic holiday created to celebrate the dignity of the American worker and strides made in protecting the rights and safety of all workers. All that we have, use, eat or enjoy comes to us through many hands. Labor Day is a time to remember those who work to give us the abundance and safety that we enjoy and offer our gratitude and solidarity in return. — Sandy Sue Szanderek Bay View Aug. 21 question Where do you stand on sharing Lake Michigan water with Waukesha? Sharing Lake Michigan water with Waukesha? Is Milwaukee a monopoly? We're going to see more of this because the freshwater supply is going down in the world. We're going to see this on all the sides — in Illinois, you're going to see it in Michigan, and all the border states are going to become more and more a freshwater house. The result of this is who will have the money to pay the right politicians. That's how it's going to work. You're going to have to grease the right politi- cians and whoever greases the best will win. — Noah Borkenhagen Franklin This week's question The Packers kick off their sea- son Sept. 13 against the Bears in Chicago.What challenges might they face this season? Go ahead, predict their record and where they will finish. Editor's note: When responding to the Question of the Week, please include your full name with spelling, phone number and city where you live. Phone numbers will not be published. Anonymous responses are no longer accepted by the publication. Call 744- 6370, Ext. 15 and leave a brief answer. Readers may also send an email with a brief answer to: dmuck@conleynet.com. Question of the week Send your letters to: The Milwaukee Post, c/o Dan Muckelbauer, 3397 S. Howell Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53207, or by email to: dmuck@conleynet.com. We reserve the right to edit letters for style, length and clarity. Letters should be typewritten or printed and include full name, phone number and address. Please keep your letters to no more than 400 words. Letters policy Government Accountability Board attacks conservatives with media's blessing

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