March 9, 2004
There you go again, Governor
Ah, remember Ronald Reagan's great line hurled at Mondale? Now we have to use it on our own governor. A Democrat. A former attorney general.
In fact, Jim Doyle was once the head of the National Association of Attorneys General.
As Wisconsin's attorney general, Doyle called so-called rent-to-own operations as "unfair and abusive."
But as governor, he will sign the industry-sponsored proposal that even the Wisconsin State Journal says is awful. For a minute I thought I had picked up the Capital Times, but, no, it was a WSJ editorial that said, "Some might call this bill businesses development, but to us, it looks more like a license to steal."
Steve Meili, director of the Consumer Law Center at the UW Law school, was quoted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel saying, "It puts already vulnerable consumers in a worse financial situation." Even far-right Assembly Rep. Glenn Grothman got it right: "It's a dishonest bill."
Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager also opposes the bill, but Governor Doyle says he will sign it.
Why, Jim? This bill hurts poor people. The well off do not "rent to buy." Poor people do. You know. Democrats. Your constituents. The people who got you elected.
There you go again.
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