The Jensen 10 plus one

A goo-goo group (you know how I love 'em) called The Rest of Us surfaced Wednesday with a call for Wisconsin Republican lawmakers who were named in Scott Jensen's trial to do something to clean up ethics in this state. It says:

Last fall, former Wisconsin Senate President plead guilty to one count of felony misconduct in office and one count of making illegal campaign contributions after it was revealed that Chvala was shaking down ("would not look favorably on") lobbyists and interest groups for campaign cash in return for not killing their bills. Chvala had been charged with 20 different felony counts.

In the March of 2006, former Assembly Majority Leader Scott Jensen was found guilty of three felony counts and one misdemeanor ethics violation for using state resources including his legislative staff to support political campaigns. Jensen's staffer, Sherry Schultz, was also found guilty by the jury. At Jensen's trial, some 41 witnesses testified as to the cesspool that Wisconsin state government has become.

The following ten Wisconsin legislators were mentioned among the more than 200 pieces of evidence considered by the Jensen trial as having benefited or known about the improprieties...

See the list.

...Even if these legislators were unaware of the illegal activities of Scott Jensen and his staff, you would think that they would be more than eager to enact sweeping ethics and campaign finance reform to help clean up the system and prevent future abuses.

While fundamental campaign finance reforms have been killed year after year, there is now a real opportunity to take an important step forward. The Wisconsin Senate has passed SB 1, a bill to beef up enforcement of ethics and campaign finance rules by establishing a new independent commission.

Unbelievably, the Assembly leadership may shield its members from having to go on record in support of or opposition to this very basic ethics enforcement proposal. Tell them the time for sweeping Wisconsin's sleaze under the carpet is over and the time has come to vote on SB1.

Missing from the list -- because he's not in the legislature any more -- is Rep. Mark Green, whose name surfaced time and again during the Jensen trial, as a beneficiary of taxpayer-paid campaign work and as the boss of his own staffers who were breaking the law.

Green says he has long supported SB-1, a bill Gov. Jim Doyle says he will sign if it is not changed beyond recognition.

Doyle has called for action in the closing days of the session, but Green's Republican party is firmly in control. If he has any claim to being a leader of his party, it's time for Green to make it the Jensen 11 and give his colleagues the kick in the rear end they need to get this done.

If everybody's for it, why can't they pass it?