Mike Ellis Was Wrong

The JSOnline makes its dutiful hit on Republicans to show that it is "fair."

The article questions the Assembly leadership's blocking of an "ethics reform" bill written by the eccentric and somewhat wacky Mike Ellis--who has the resources, like Herb Kohl, to be "nobody's senator".

Ellis' proposal would have established another layer of "elections oversight" which had powers to both investigate AND prosecute election-law violations. Sorry, Mike. That simply doesn't play. We don't need any more prosecutors than we have already.

An online-accessible, weekly, standardized-format reporting system which clearly identifies all contributors to a political campaign (and which requires identification of all officers and Directors of groups making contributions) would be a giant step.

(The "standardized format" system would eliminate another of Diamond Jim's little tricks--sending his reports in 'gibberish' format to frustrate news organizations AND opponents.)