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Tag: Josh Kaul

Attorney General Josh Kaul’s terrible tenure

by | 1505, 21 Aug 2222 | , | 1 Comment

Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News last week.

The races for governor and U.S. Senate are sure to dominate the attention of most voters this November, and rightfully so, but there are also other important choices for the voters including that of attorney general. Josh Kaul has used the office as a platform for activism and fallen well short of his duty to Wisconsin as the state’s top law enforcement officer. Voters would do well to ensure that he is not allowed to continue his malfeasance for a second term.

 

Josh Kaul, the son of the late disgraced former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, was narrowly elected in the blue wave election of 2018. He was elected with less than 50% of the vote and defeated his Republican opponent by a scant 0.65%. Despite his narrow plurality win, Kaul has used every tool in the attorney general’s box to advocate for his leftist causes at taxpayer expense. Meanwhile, he has failed to fulfill the basic duties of the job to fight crime.

 

Let us start with some of the things that Kaul has been spending his time on instead of prosecuting criminals. In the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Kaul announced that his office — the people’s office — would not prosecute anyone who violated Wisconsin’s abortion laws. Whatever one thinks about the law, it is a constitutional law that was passed by a duly elected legislature and signed into law by a duly elected governor (a Democrat, no less). Kaul has a sworn duty to uphold the laws of the state. Kaul has gone a step further and is suing the Republican leadership in the state Senate over Wisconsin’s abortion law arguing that it is unenforceable. Instead of spending his time and the taxpayers’ resources on fighting crime, Kaul is taking it upon himself to sue to change laws with which he does not agree. Kaul is not a participant in the law-making structure of government. The attorney general is supposed to be the people’s prosecutor and enforce the people’s laws. Instead, he is trying to usurp the power of the people to pass laws with the courts.

 

This is not the only issue on which Kaul is spending his time and the people’s resources to engage in leftist activism. Kaul has been a vocal advocate for curtailing civil rights with more restrictive gun laws. He has advocated for legalizing marijuana despite the disastrous consequences we see ravaging other states that have legalized it. Kaul has used his office to defend the bureaucratic dismantling of our elections laws that leave Wisconsin open to sloppy and fraudulent elections. Kaul is a busy guy, but he is not busy doing the things that Wisconsin needs done.

 

While Kaul has been acting as the state’s top activist, he has been failing as the state’s top cop. Under his tenure, he has left dozens of state prosecutor jobs unfilled. Fewer prosecutors leads to fewer prosecutions and Kaul has been engaging in his personal “defund the police” action.

 

The State Crime Lab, which former Attorney General Brad Schimel fixed, has fallen victim to Kaul’s neglect. The turnaround time for routine lab tests has increased by over 30% since Kaul took office. His mismanagement of the State Crime Lab means that criminals are staying on the street longer as police wait anxiously for the evidence they need to arrest them.

 

The evidence of Kaul’s dereliction is in the crime data. According to FBI crime statistics, Wisconsin’s violent crime rate in 2020 was the highest it had been in 35 years. Milwaukee has already had over 500 non-fatal shootings and over 130 homicides this year. The carnage is real. While Kaul is using his office to advocate for leftist causes, his failures in running the Department of Justice are being measured in dead bodies and ruined lives.

 

Wisconsin needs an attorney general who will work tirelessly to enforce the laws of the state and put criminals in jail. Josh Kaul has proven time and time again that he will prioritize his personal political causes over that of the people of Wisconsin every time.

Attorney General Josh Kaul’s terrible tenure

by | 0613, 16 Aug 2222 | , | 3 Comments

My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a part:

Josh Kaul, the son of the late disgraced former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, was narrowly elected in the blue wave election of 2018. He was elected with less than 50% of the vote and defeated his Republican opponent by a scant 0.65%. Despite his narrow plurality win, Kaul has used every tool in the attorney general’s box to advocate for his leftist causes at taxpayer expense. Meanwhile, he has failed to fulfill the basic duties of the job to fight crime.

 

[…]

 

While Kaul has been acting as the state’s top activist, he has been failing as the state’s top cop. Under his tenure, he has left dozens of state prosecutor jobs unfilled. Fewer prosecutors leads to fewer prosecutions and Kaul has been engaging in his personal “defund the police” action.

 

The State Crime Lab, which former Attorney General Brad Schimel fixed, has fallen victim to Kaul’s neglect. The turnaround time for routine lab tests has increased by over 30% since Kaul took office. His mismanagement of the State Crime Lab means that criminals are staying on the street longer as police wait anxiously for the evidence they need to arrest them.

 

The evidence of Kaul’s dereliction is in the crime data. According to FBI crime statistics, Wisconsin’s violent crime rate in 2020 was the highest it had been in 35 years. Milwaukee has already had over 500 non-fatal shootings and over 130 homicides this year. The carnage is real. While Kaul is using his office to advocate for leftist causes, his failures in running the Department of Justice are being measured in dead bodies and ruined lives.

 

Wisconsin needs an attorney general who will work tirelessly to enforce the laws of the state and put criminals in jail. Josh Kaul has proven time and time again that he will prioritize his personal political causes over that of the people of Wisconsin every time.

 

Evers and Kaul Sue Over Wisconsin’s Abortion Law

by | 0756, 29 Jun 2222 | , | 19 Comments

Interesting.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging the state’s 173-year-old abortion ban, arguing that statutes passed in the 1980s supersede the ban and it’s so old no one can say it passed with the consent of modern generations.

To the layman (me), this seems like a legitimate question. If the state has two laws about the same thing, which one governs? I don’t think that the most recent one necessarily wins. In this case, the older law bans almost all abortions. The newer laws in which the legislature implemented regulations on abortions under the framework that the old law was invalid, but not repealed. Common sense says to me that you overlay the two sets of laws and that is the law. So, in effect, the newly valid older law essentially invalidates the new laws.

But… Rick Esenberg, esq., opined on the Jay Weber Show that the cases are invalid on procedural grounds. Normally, someone has to be impacted by a law in order to have standing to sue. So, if an abortionist did an abortion and was being prosecuted under the old law, the doctor would have standing to potentially sue on these grounds. But the governor and AG are essentially suing the legislature for a law that was passed before any of them were born.

What’s interesting is that Kaul’s and leftist DA’s refusal to prosecute anyone under the old law may mean that the law is never challenged in court at all. If the law is not being enforced, then nobody will ever be being prosecuted and have the standing to appeal over it. Kaul may need to prosecute and convict someone just to create a case to challenge the law. I still don’t think they would win, but at least they would have a case to use.

Evers Administration Sues

by | 2037, 23 Nov 2020 | , | 0 Comments

The liberals won the Supreme Court election and the election is over. Time for them to launch a barrage of lawsuits in the hope that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has shifted Left.

MADISON – Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul sued state lawmakers Monday, bringing a new challenge to a set of lame-duck laws Republicans passed two years ago to curb their powers.

The latest case focuses on a requirement that the Legislature’s budget committee sign off on some court settlements negotiated by Kaul.

Evers and Kaul argue that the policy violates the state constitution’s separation-of-powers doctrine, which spells out what authorities belong to the executive and legislative branches of government.

With the lawsuit, the state’s top two Democrats are trying to resolve an issue that has remained elusive during the first half of their terms in office.

In a ruling this summer, the state Supreme Court found the settlement provision does not violate the state constitution in all situations but left open the possibility that it might some of the time. The new, narrower lawsuit asks the high court to rule that two classes of cases should be exempt from the requirement to get approval from lawmakers.

On the merits, the law does not appear to violate the separation of powers. In fact, the law is a long-overdue legislative oversight that I hope remains in place for future Republican Attorneys General too. Some state AGs have used their power to shake down companies for settlements that can then be doled out to political favorites by the administration in power. A little oversight and discussion with the legislature is not an undue burden. It is, however, a prudent exercise of the legislative branch to oversee the collection and disbursement of settlement that often total millions of dollars.

Attorney General Kaul Calls for Repression of Civil Rights

by | 2028, 3 Mar 2020 | | 3 Comments

How would either of these have prevented the Miller Madman?

On Tuesday, Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul joined in the chorus of calls for additional gun laws.

“I do agree with Gov. (Tony) Evers and Rep. Brostoff, we should be taking steps that we know can prevent these kinds of tragedies,” Kaul told WPR’s “The Morning Show.” “There’s no silver bullet. There’s nothing that’s going to stop all mass shootings. But there are steps than can make our communities safer and reduce the likelihood that these will happen.”

Those steps, he said, are universal background checks and extreme risk protection orders, often called “red flag” laws. Last August, Evers and Democratic lawmakers unveiled a bill to expand background checks on gun sales in Wisconsin. Under the bill, which was never taken up, gun sales would have to be made through a federally licensed firearms dealer and involve a background check.

AG Kaul Praises Budget

by | 0945, 26 Jul 1919 | | 0 Comments

I guess today is going to be all about finding those rare nuggets of praise from liberals.

RHINELANDER – Wisconsin will add more than 60 assistant district attorneys and nearly double the hourly pay of public defenders from $40 an hour to $70.Attorney General Josh Kaul told Newswatch 12 during a stop in Rhinelander on Thursday he considers those changes some of the best ones made in a state budget in decades, if not ever.

Forest and Langlade Counties will directly benefit.  Each will add an assistant prosecutor.  It’s the largest increase in such jobs in Wisconsin since 2007.

Kaul thinks those steps will help lead to more of a focus on prosecuting sex crimes after he and former Attorney General Brad Schimel pushed to clear a backlog of untested rape kits.

Attorney General Asks for Input

by | 2102, 15 Jul 1919 | , | 5 Comments

While I applaud the effort at transparency, why would he need to solicit comments from the public about opinions? I thought that the AG was supposed to offer legal opinions based on the law – not public opinion.

MADISON, Wis. – Attorney General Josh Kaul today unveiled a new process and website for all Wisconsinites to provide information and perspectives on proposed Attorney General Opinion topics prior to the beginning of the Department of Justice drafting process. The new Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) webpage, doj.state.wi.us/OpinionRequests gives anyone the opportunity to weigh in on issues facing opinion review.

“With the changes announced today, we are making the AG opinion process transparent and open to input from the public,” said Attorney General Kaul.

With the new website, all commentary submitted will now be open to public review through the public records process. Public records requests can be made through the Department of Justice Office of Open Government by phone, mail or online. More information about making a public records request can be found here.

By statute, the Attorney General must, when asked, provide the legislature and designated Wisconsin state government officials with an opinion on legal questions. The Attorney General may also give formal legal opinions to district attorneys and county corporation counsel under certain circumstances. Wis. Stat. § 165.25(3) and 59.42(1)(c). Please see 77 Op. Att’y Gen. Preface (1988) for a more detailed explanation of the criteria for requesting a formal opinion.

Dane County Judge Blocks Legislation

by | 1634, 21 Mar 1919 | , | 23 Comments

If there is anything that should get conservatives off of their collective asses to vote for Hagedorn for Supreme Court, one would hope this would be it.

MADISON – A Dane County judge on Thursday blocked a series of laws that limited the powers of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul.

Within hours, Evers and Kaul used the decision to try to get Wisconsin out of a multistate lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act that their Republican predecessors joined. Until the judge’s ruling, Republican lawmakers were able to prevent them from doing that.

This ruling will be overturned… eventually. If the Appeals Court doesn’t do it, the Supreme Court will. We saw this exact pattern over and over again after Walker assumed office. Law passes. Liberals sue. Dane County judge rules against law. Appeals Court or Supreme Court overturns Dane County Judge.

That is, of course, assuming that the activist liberal judges don’t take over the Supreme Court. If that happens, then you will see a series of lawsuits where concealed carry, right to work, etc. are all thrown out by an activist Supreme Court. And if you think that Attorney General Josh Kaul will defend Wisconsin’s laws, think again. Look at what he just did. Liberals are perfectly happy ruling by judicial fiat.

Vote for Hagedorn.

Attorney General Kaul Begins Term with Partisan Attack

by | 1529, 7 Jan 1919 | | 34 Comments

Here we go. Keeping it classy.

MADISON, Wis. – New Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul is criticizing Republican lawmakers in his inauguration speech.

Kaul took the oath of office Monday along with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers during a ceremony in a packed state Capitol rotunda.

Kaul delivered a short speech, ripping Republican legislators for passing lame-duck legislation in December that weakened both his and Evers’ offices.

Kaul said such a move was unprecedented and was designed to hinder both him and Evers. He warned Republicans the state Justice Department’s priorities will still shift during his tenure with a sharper focus on environmental and consumer protection.

Democratic Candidate for Attorney General Supports Unconstitutional Obamacare

by | 1918, 6 Sep 1818 | , | 2 Comments

What a simplistic argument.

Oral arguments on a lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act took place Wednesday in Texas. The democratic candidate for Wisconsin Attorney General said the state would not be a part of it if he is elected.

Josh Kaul called the lawsuit led by current attorney general Brad Schimel wrong and not in the best interest of Wisconsinites. Obamacare prohibited insurers from denying coverage to someone with a pre-existing condition.

Kaul says over two million residents in the state has one of these conditions.

“We just shouldn’t have people who are unable to have access to health insurance coverage because of a pre-existing condition. We certainly shouldn’t have our attorney general using our tax dollars to fight to take protections away from Wisconsinites,” Kaul said.

Obamacare was SO MUCH BIGGER than just the provision regarding pre-existing conditions. But he focuses on that because that’s one of the few parts of it that was popular. And the media let’s it stand unchallenged. What does Kaul think about the other parts of Obamacare? Is he cool with the individual mandate? How about the ballooning costs? Does he like the drastically reduced options through the Obamacare exchanges – with some counties having only one option? Does Kaul love him some higher taxes? Obamacare is full of those. What about the fact that it is utterly unconstitutional (and yes, Roberts was wrong)?

I guess if you really like Obamacare that you should vote for Josh Kaul. Duly noted.

Lautenschlager’s Son Announces Bid for AG

by | 2109, 10 Apr 1717 | | 0 Comments

Well, well… Peg Lautenschlager abruptly resigned as chair of the state’s Ethics Commission and now we know why.

Madison attorney Josh Kaul, son of former state Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, announced Monday that he will run for his mother’s old job next year.

He’s the first Democrat to challenge incumbent Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel for the right to run the state Department of Justice.

Kaul accused Schimel of using the DOJ’s solicitor general’s office to challenge former President Barack Obama’s policies in court. He also ripped Schimel’s decision to spend $10,000 on DOJ coins emblazoned with “Kicking Ass Every Day” and accused of Schimel of not enforcing the state’s consumer protection and environmental laws.

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