Patrick Marley for the Journal-Sentinel:

As the committees at a joint hearing debated the bill on the accountability board, Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) asked the board’s director, Kevin Kennedy, about his professional relationship with Lois Lerner, the former IRS official who was involved in targeting tea party groups for reviews of their tax-exempt status.

“Seriously?” Kennedy responded. “Have you no decency? That is like right out the McCarthy era to ask that.”

Kennedy went on to say he had known Lerner for 20 years, going back to her time as an attorney with the Federal Election Commission.

Afterward, he told reporters the exchange showed some legislators have a “shallow, petty attitude” and are focused on “inane” issues.

“They don’t look at the substance of issues,” he said. “They want to look at the splash.”