Walker's Lie Becomes a Scandal

The global economic crisis of 2007-present is a historic scandal continuing today.

The perpetrators—corporate CEOs, billionaires, Wall Street—got off scot-free because the perps are too powerful.

Gov. Scott Walker's Big Lie Becomes Scandal

One result of the crisis is the short-fall in municipal, county, and state budgets.

In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker sees this fiscal crisis as an opportunity, in the words of Richard Nixon, to use the "available federal machinery to screw our political enemies." [Memorandum from John Dean to Lawrence Higby (August 16, 1971). Dealing with our Political Enemies.]

On the state-level, screwing political opponents seems relatively easy to accomplish as a project:

Declare a state of economic emergency, and justify everything the lock-step Republican Party does as in support of the state of emergency.

It strains credulity to believe a governor who refuses over $800 million in federal labor-intensive (jobs!) assistance to claim projected short-falls of $137 million (2011) and $3.6 billion (2011-13) can only be met by screwing political opponents—getting public unions, obstructing Democratically leaning voters, gerrymandering voting districts, targeting colleges, students, blacks and seniors—all without any consultation with stakeholders and communities of interests: Wisconsin citizens.

Gov. Walker does more than strain credulity; he stands exposed as a liar.

Here's one big lie (Pocan):

We found out [Feb. 13] after our briefing with non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB), the $3.6 billion deficit in the next budget that Governor Walker and the media has been repeating is a MANUFACTURED CRISIS. The number is based on $3.9 billion in new spending requests by agencies, a 6.2% increase. I don’t think there is a member in the legislature that would vote for that. In fact, I asked LFB Director Lang when was the last time we gave agencies exactly what they requested and was told he couldn’t think of one and he’s been here decades.

Further, the budget forecast for the next biennium projects $1.5 billion in additional revenue something we would have loved to have last session.

Every Wisconsin governor struggling with the budget has managed to balance the structural deficit without sticking it to Wisconsin political opponents.

Remember Walker's "Brown Bag" campaign gimmick ... just another, working guy?

In 2010 just over half of the half of Wisconsin citizens who turned out voted for the brown bag.

But the 2012 electorate will be very differently composed than 2010 and this scares the Republicans; hence the voter obstruction, end same-day voter registration, change the voting districts, and alter the state constitution efforts.

If you're asking what any of above has to do with the economic state of emergency and balancing the budget, the answer is nothing.

And there is the reason why Walker's lies will become a scandal.

It's just not believable that teachers, nurses, EMTs, et cetera are responsible for the budget short-falls and the crumbling infrastructure. It's not believable that agency spending requests have to be met when they never have been before.

The CEOs and billionaires who want to buy the next election are responsible and they want to keep doing what they did before, only this time effectively obstruct the political opposition from operating in Wisconsin.

Walker is covering up for these financial elite and lying about his inability to balance the budget without breaking disfavored Wisconsin families; it is a political scandal and Walker will pay the price.




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