My column submitted to the Capital Times newspaper: Who Really Needs a Secretary of State Anyway? As far back as 1952, the elimination of the office of Secretary of State has been a topic of discussion in Wisconsin. Year after year its powers have been shifted elsewhere by the legislature, for a variety of well-justified reasons, leaving behind nothing but a ceremonial shell and a zombie title. It is time to stop wasting time, money, and scarce public attention on a Secretary of State. The duties of the Secretary of State are truly trivial. The Constitution of Wisconsin specifies two: publishing the laws, and “keeping and affixing the Great Seal.” In the 21st Century, these are not jobs for a highly-paid senior elected official. They arent even jobs that require human involvement - I’m willing to bet the office PC could do both more reliably than the incumbent. Other duties are to sit as a nominal member of a board that rubber stamps the decisions of a school fund agency once a month, to provide a little-known kind of international document notarization under a treaty from 1961, and to keep the list of state land deeds. That’s not the sort of stuff that inspires voter engagement and democratic self-government, or even serious partisan interest. The Secretary of State isnt a member of the Governor’s Cabinet, doesnt have an office in the State Capitol, wields zero policy-making authority, and currently has just four employees: less than the total number of 2014 candidates. We are, in effect, spending half a million dollars a year just so somebody can call himself “the Secretary of State.” My opponents make a lot of big promises, about what they’ll do with powers they don’t have, and never will, regardless of wins in November. The Democrat wants to be the state’s liaison to major corporations, the Republican wants to be able to run elections to his party’s benefit. The only question really worth asking is why we haven’t ended this farce yet, and joined the other states that do just fine without a Secretary of State. I am the only 2014 candidate who is posing that question. For too long the obstacle has been that Team Red and Team Blue can’t get rid of an office held by one of their own. Electing a Libertarian to be Wisconsin’s last Secretary of State would not only send a historic message of rejection to both of the failed, corrupt establishment political parties, it would also give Republicans and Democrats the necessary motivation to get rid of the job. As an independent voice for reason, freedom, and reform, I’ll work to bring attention to important issues that arent being heard in the current two-party debate. As the nominee of the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin, I’m the only candidate for Secretary of State who represents the fiscally responsible, socially tolerant, forward-focused mainstream of Wisconsin voters. Those are the values you’ll see represented for the next four years, possibly less, if you vote for Andy Craig on Nov. 4.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 01:04:42 +0000
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