Good morning.
Saturday in Whitewater will be partly sunny with a high of forty-six. Sunrise is 7:19 AM and sunset 4:21 PM, for 9h 02m 45s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 51.1% of its visible disk illuminated.
Today is the seven hundred sixty-sixth day.
On this day in 1791, the Bill of Rights is ratified, with proposed articles of amendment Three through Twelve becoming Amendments One through Ten of the Constitution.
Recommended for reading in full:
Libby Nelson writes of Gov. Walker’s approval in full of lame-duck legislation, describing it as Scott Walker’s revenge:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed bills on Friday that take power away from Wisconsin’s new governor, a Democrat, and give it to Republican lawmakers in the statehouse. Vox / Tara Golshan
The bills cut down on early voting hours and will make it harder for Gov.-elect Tony Evers to keep some of his campaign promises — including withdrawing Wisconsin from an Affordable Care Act lawsuit and eliminating work requirements for Medicaid. NBC / Dartunorro Clark
The state legislature, controlled by Republicans, passed the bills in a special lame-duck session to get the legislation through before Evers takes office in January. NYT / Mitch Smith and Monica Davey
But the bills were months in the making, plotted out so that Republicans could shore up their policy changes even if Democrats won in November. NYT / Mitch Smith, John Eligon, and Monica Davey
Progressive groups are already planning to file a lawsuit against the bills. AP
In Michigan, Republicans are trying to follow in Wisconsin’s path — but it’s not clear if Gov. Rick Snyder will go along. Detroit News / Jonathan Oosting
For scholars of democracy, these are scary developments. Democracy relies on the peaceful transition of power and elected officials’ willingness to accept the legitimacy of elections. Lame-duck power grabs challenge both. Vox / Zack Beauchamp
Jackie Speier writes Strange real estate deal raises specter of Putin buying Trump:
In July 2008, Donald Trump undertook one of his most infamous transactions. He sold a mansion in Palm Beach for $95 million to Dmitry Rybolovlev, Russian oligarch and billionaire. Trump had purchased it four years earlier for $41.35 million. The sale price was nearly $54 million more than Trump had paid for the property, even though he had made only modest improvements in it.
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Five years after the sale, when the economy had made a significant recovery, Palm Beach County appraised the house for just $59.8 million. In other words, despite an actual recorded sale of $95 million and despite the economic recovery, the county determined that it was worth $35 million less than what Rybolovlev had paid five years earlier.
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There must have been another reason — a reason to give Trump tens of millions of dollars with no expectation of a financial return. One possibility is that Russian leader Vladimir Putin saw an opportunity to exploit Trump’s financial problems to obtain his loyalty and indebtedness.