Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman on Tuesday sounded the alarm about the Republican Party's power grab in Wisconsin -- and he said it amounted to nothing less than a "coup" against incoming Democratic governor Tony Evers.
After incumbent GOP Gov. Scott Walker was defeated last month, Wisconsin Republicans started pushing through a series of bills in the lame-duck session aimed at stripping power from both Evers and incoming Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul.
Among other things, the Wisconsin Republicans want to stop Evers and Kaul from having power to block GOP gerrymandering, as well as stopping Kaul from fulfilling his campaign pledge to withdraw Wisconsin from a lawsuit aimed at overturning the Affordable Care Act's provisions protecting people with preexisting conditions.
Writing on Twitter, Krugman castigated the news media for not giving this story more attention, while outlining how the Wisconsin GOP's actions represent a threat to democracy.
"Not only are Republicans trying to emasculate a new elected Democratic governor, they're doing so to empower a legislature they will control only due to gerrymandering," Krugman writes. "Democrats got a majority of the votes at all levels; but the GOP is seeking to entrench control all the same. That's a coup, happening right in front of our eyes."
If the Wisconsin GOP is allowed to get away with this, Krugman writes, their actions could become "a model for the destruction of democracy in America."