Does Wisconsin Need the G.A.B.? (Hint: "NO")

The Seventh Circuit tells us that about 75% of the GAB staff is a waste of money and oxygen.

...The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday struck down several GAB rules meant to regulate so-called issue ads run around an election. Many of those rules weren't enforced after the agency was sued in a separate suit.

Still, the court also threw out GAB reporting requirements that those who spend as little as $300 on express advocacy must formally organize, register and report like a PAC....

...The court also ruled bans on corporate speech and limits on corporate PAC spending were unconstitutional based on the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United.

In addition, the court said the definitions of "political purposes" and "political committee" were overbroad and vague and should be narrowed to align with court precedent in defining express advocacy. The court took issue that the definitions seems to include nearly every political speaker who exercised that right close to an election, when it should only include groups advocating the support or defeat of a candidate.

The court said the state also unconstitutionally treated issue advocacy groups with "PAC" status if it mentioned a candidate within certain windows of an election. Instead, the court ruled that those standards should only apply to groups who engage mostly in express advocacy.

Just dump the whole damn thing into Lake Mendota.