On August 13, 2024 Wisconsin primary voters had the choice to either adopt or reject two constitutional amendments. Question 1 would prohibit the legislature from delegating their power of appropriating money, and question two would require approval of the legislature to spend federal funds. The legislature placed them on the ballot after large amounts of waste were found in how the pandemic relief funds from the federal government were spent.
The State of Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau issued a report in December 2022 in which they said, “Federal law provides the State with the discretion to spend $4.5 billion of the $5.7 billion in supplemental federal funds, but federal law requires that $1.1 billion be spent for specified purposes, such as on particular programs that state agencies administer…Statutes provide the Governor with the authority to decide how to spend discretionary federal funds provided to the State. As of June 30, 2022, $1.8 billion in discretionary funds were remaining. In December 2022, DOA indicated it had plans for using most of these funds. Federal law permits some supplemental federal funds to be spent through December 2026. We recommend that DOA increase the transparency and clarity of the State’s use of supplemental federal funds, including by documenting how decisions were made to use discretionary funds for particular state programs. DOA should also include on its website additional information about supplemental federal funds, including plans for spending the remaining funds and how such plans change over time. Providing clear and comprehensive information will allow legislators and the public to more readily identify how these funds are spent in the future.”
One of the groups that advocated against passage of the amendments was The Nature Conservancy, with their Protect Wisconsin’s Constitution-Vote No campaign. They sent text messages that said the following: VOTE NO to MAGA Politicians. VOTE NO on Question 1. VOTE NO ON QUESTION 2. VOTE TODAY ON THE BACK OF YOUR BALOT. Their website states the following, “TNC’s work depends on support from federal grants and partnerships. In 2023 alone, TNC partners and conservation initiatives received more than $20 million from federal sources now at risk:
$11 million in 2023 for the Pelican River Forest Project, protecting 56,911 acres of land
$11 million for National Fish and Wildlife Foundation projects in 2023.
As a science-based, community-centered and nonpartisan organization, speaking up on a statewide ballot initiative like this is somewhat rare for us. We are proud of our track record of working with leaders on both sides of the political aisle—we’ve been doing it for over 64 years—but we feel we can’t stay quiet on this issue given the potential impacts to our work and to the work of our many conservation partners across the state. There is a lot on the line on August 13th.”
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign also advocated against the passage of both questions. According to their website, their mission statement is the following:
“We are dedicated to clean and open government and a full democracy, where everyone has an equal voice. Who We Are and What We Do: We’re a nonprofit, nonpartisan watchdog that tracks and exposes money in politics in Wisconsin. We provide the premier searchable database of campaign donations in the state. We are the only group that systematically tracks election spending by outside groups. We post original stories on money and politics on our website, and work with the media to convey our information and educate the public. We advocate for transparency and for reforms that level the electoral playing field. We defend our civil rights and liberties. We offer a vision of a democracy with equal participation, racial equity, and economic justice.”
It’s funny that they claim to “advocate for transparency” and track and expose money in politics in Wisconsin, and at the same time urged people to vote no to supposedly protect separation of powers, given that they were advocating against amendments that would have required federal funds received by the state to go through the normal appropriations process, which requires a public hearing and a vote by the representatives of the people! This is likely because of the partisan makeup of the Governor’s office. If the opposite party occupied the governor’s mansion, the narrative may have been completely different!
After the election, they posted the following message on their website:
“Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is proud to join the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition in fighting back against the conservative power grab on our rights–ultimately leading our efforts to safeguard our constitution.
“On behalf of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and the Fair Maps Coalition, we extend our deepest gratitude to every voter who participated in yesterday’s critical election and especially to those who voted “No” on the proposed constitutional amendments. Your voice and your vote have helped to safeguard the principles that form the foundation of our democracy,” said Nick Ramos, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign played a pivotal role in deploying resources and executive programs to help educate voters on the constitutional amendments. Wisconsin Democracy Campaign’s Commitment to the August Vote No Effort:
Deployed a six figure text message campaign that resulted in over 1.6 million texts sent to Wisconsinites all across our state. Engaged over 200 volunteers who mailed 25,000 handwritten postcards to voters. Deployed a relational organizing program that resulted in over 2,500 engagements. Nearly 1,000 handwritten letters by volunteers. Organized educational events.
As we move forward, we remain committed to upholding the values that we believe in and ensuring that Wisconsin continues to be a place where democracy thrives. This victory is a testament to what can be achieved when we come together for a common purpose.”
Their website further states, “The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, with an annual budget of $566,000, is currently funded by grants from: The Brico Fund, The Brookby Foundation, The Brown Family Foundation, Center for Artistic Activism, The Evjue Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, The Hopewell Fund, League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, Movement Voter Project, The Proteus Fund, SEIU Wisconsin State Council, State Voices, along with tax-deductible gifts from individual donors.”
The fact that Wisconsin Democracy Campaign called the ballot questions a “conservative power grab” and claimed that they were leading an effort to “safeguard our constitution” is laughable at best! They are only undermining their own credibility by saying that it is a power grab to require the governor to get approval from the people’s representatives before money is spent! In reality they are the ones working against safeguarding our constitution because the state constitution says that the legislature appropriates money. Allowing the governor to unilaterally spend money would be allowing him to act as a king and trample upon the separation of powers! When our constitution was written, it was never assumed that the state would be receiving any money from the federal government in the first place. The reason this became such a big issue is the large amounts of federal dollars that were allocated to the states during the covid pandemic, and current Wisconsin law allows for the governor to have discretion over how federal relief funds are spent, despite our constitutional requirement that the legislature appropriate money.
In reality if the state and federal constitutions were obeyed, questions 1 and 2 would not have been necessary in the first place! If the federal government were kept within its constitutional limits of the enumerated powers delegated to it by the constitution, there would not be any federal tax dollars sent back to the states at all. On top of that, Article IV Section IV of the U.S. Constitution says, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government”. This means that all state governments must be in the form of a republic. In a republic, the chief executive may not spend money or enact any other law without approval from the people’s representatives in the legislature, as this would violate the separation of powers doctrine that is based on the Maxim of Montesquieu. In Federalist 47, James Madison said, “From these facts which Montesquieu was guided, it may clearly be inferred that, in saying, “There can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or body of magistrates…When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person or body, there can be no liberty, because the apprehensions may arise lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws to execute them in a tyrannical manner.”
While defending how the state governments were currently in the form of a republic, in Federalist 48 Madison goes on to state, “It is agreed on all sides, that the powers properly belonging to one of the departments ought not to be directly and completely administered by either of the other departments… The legislative department alone has access to the pockets of the people, and has in some constitutions full discretion, and in all a prevailing influence, over the pecuniary rewards of those who fill the other departments…”
It could be argued that congress should fulfill its Article IV duty in ensuring that the states have a republican form of government by passing a law requiring that emergency funds allocated to the states, be appropriated by the legislature and not spent through a unilateral decision made by the governor!
If liberty is to be preserved, the American people must ensure not only that our federal government remains a republic, but that our state governments do as well! In a democracy, majority rules and rights and liberties can be voted away with a 50% plus 1 vote. In Federalist No. 10 James Madison said, “democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security, or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they are violent in their deaths.” John Adams had the following to say about democracy, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”
John Birch Society founder Robert Welch wrote in his treatise Republics & Democracies that the Framers of the Constitution specifically wished to prevent democracy in America:
“The word democracy had not occurred in the Declaration of Independence, and does not appear in the constitution of a single one of our fifty states — which constitutions are derived mainly from the thinking of the Founding Fathers of the Republic — for the same reason. They knew all about democracies, and if they had wanted one for themselves and their posterity, they would have founded one. Look at all the elaborate system of checks and balances which they established; at the carefully worked-out protective clauses of the Constitution itself, and especially of the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights; at the effort, as Jefferson put it, to “bind men down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution,” and thus to solidify the rule not of men but of laws. All of these steps were taken deliberately to avoid and to prevent a democracy, or any of the worst features of a democracy, in the United States of America.”
The dangers of democracy that we face are too great to be ignored. With proper civics education, our state would not be in this situation in the first place. Every election season we hear how someone or something is a “threat to democracy”. Groups like Wisconsin Democracy Campaign advocate to make this a “place where democracy thrives” and where “everyone has an equal voice”. If we continue to let our republic fall down the path of decay, it is a sure thing that a system of majority rule manipulated and deceived by propaganda will trample upon individual rights, and our system of checks and balances along with the separation of powers will cease to exist. So, to those who called questions 1 and 2 a threat to democracy, I say good, I’m glad! Because we’re not a democracy, we’re a republic!
Brandon is a freelance journalist based in the metro-Milwaukee area. He has worked full-time in politics for five years. This includes leading successful campaigns for legislatures at the state and congressional levels, and successful deployments to get bills passed in Kentucky and Texas. He is currently working as a carpenter. On his spare time, he enjoys weightlifting, running, hiking, and listening to classic rock.
Evil BG’s is full of flatulence and fake science. His real plan; starve the masses, so he can control the globe. Luciferian worshipper.