Gov. Walker Fights to Keep Legislative Maps

Governor Scott Walker

Gov. Walker wants the state to fight to keep the legislative maps that he signed into law and that had given Republicans a reliable election edge for five years until federal judges struck them down last month. “Oh, clearly on principle alone they should fight this,” Walker said of the state Department of Justice. “I think lawmakers and governors around the country are interested in this case regardless of party… because they believe the legislative bodies should be drawing the (district) lines, not the courts.” Sachin Chheda, director of the plaintiffs’ Fair Election Project, said that what politicians in power want is beside the point. It’s citizens who matter, he said. “What citizens want is for elections to be meaningful. I don’t think there’s any evidence that citizens want politicians to draw lines to protect themselves,” Chheda said.

Source: Milwaukee-Journal Sentinel

Senator Tammy Baldwin

In a letter to Gov. Scott Walker on Dec. 20, Sen. Baldwin encouraged the Governor to act and apply for newly available federal funding to help Wisconsin combat the opioid epidemic. Baldwin led the effort to include $1 billion in investments to fight the opioid epidemic in bipartisan legislation that was signed into law this month. “This epidemic is not a partisan issue, and a strong partnership between the federal government and our state will be essential to an effective response. I led the effort calling on bipartisan leaders in Congress to include $1 billion in additional investments to address opioid abuse while the 21st Century Cures Act was being negotiated,” wrote Baldwin. “Now that Congress has finally stepped up to be a stronger partner in fighting this epidemic, Wisconsin leaders must act immediately to put these investments to work. Applying for the new state grant funding made available last week will be a significant step in advancing local prevention, treatment and recovery efforts.”

Source: Baldwin press release

Senator Ron Johnson

Sen. Johnson said this following the Obama administration’s announcement of measures against Russia: “Post-Cold War Russia has taken a dark turn under Vladimir Putin. He is emboldened by weakness and inaction. The United States must begin to deal with Russia from a position of strength, which the outgoing administration has failed to do for the past eight years. While today’s actions may be a step in the right direction, they cannot undo the harm caused by this administration’s weakness and its feckless foreign policy.”

Source: Johnson press release

President Barack Obama

President Obama struck back at Russia for its efforts to influence the 2016 election, ejecting 35 suspected Russian intelligence operatives from the United States and imposing sanctions on Russia’s two leading intelligence services. The administration also penalized four top officers of one of those services, the powerful military intelligence unit known as the G.R.U. Intelligence agencies have concluded that the G.R.U. ordered the attacks on the Democratic National Committee and other political organizations, with the approval of the Kremlin, and ultimately enabled the publication of the emails it harvested to benefit Donald J. Trump’s campaign. The expulsion of the 35 Russians, who the administration said were spies posing as diplomats and other officials, and their families was in response to the harassment of American diplomats in Russia, State Department officials said. It was unclear if they were involved in the hacking.

Source: The New York Times