Busy day and still not done, with some campaign reports still outstanding. But I'm opening up the line all the same. Some odds and ends:
* GET A LOAD OF THE KOCHS: "Load" is the operative word. In campaigning for an end to the minimum wage, the billionaire Koch boys say Americans already have it made. I kid you not: The Kochs say $34,000 makes you a one percenter. Read all about it.
* SECRETARY OF STATE MARK MARTIN COUGHS UP DOCUMENTS HE SAID HE DIDN'T HAVE: Matt Campbell (Blue Hog Report) sends an interim report on his Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against Secretary of State Mark Martin. Shazam! Those documents about outside attorneys Martin has hired that Martin's office said it couldn't produce? It just produced several of them. Writes Campbell:
Less than a week after I filed my lawsuit against the Secretary of State’s Office, I got a letter from Martin's newly hired attorneys, in which they provided a flash drive that disclosed five Word documents, in electronic format, without redaction, that they’d previously claimed had either been deleted or were not subject to disclosure in that format. (They continue to claim that two PDFs cannot be redacted and provided, but that argument is specious at best.) I filed an amended complaint today in the case to account for their late disclosure of the Word documents.Also, they offered to print the remaining PDFs and provide them that way. I rejected the offer and, in a letter I sent last week, offered to let the PDF issue go entirely if they would reimburse my cost of filing the lawsuit and postage in mailing the complaint/summons to Martin and have Martin sign a letter that the Word documents were not properly withheld and should have been disclosed from the outset. I pointed out that this agreement would save the state money in terms of attorney’s fees and time. I have yet to receive a response to my offer.
It will be interesting to see how much of a bill Martin runs up defending the indefensbile. Tea Party governance at work. Cheap for thee; not for me.