Wisconsin Pays, Scott Walker Spends

Scott Walker on tape making pledges to billionaire, Diane Hendricks
Hendricks is Walker's largest donor, along with the Koch brothers

In March 2011, Scott Walker pushed and signed a law in which he gives himself the power to mandate Wisconsin taxpayers pay up cash for 37 new Walker political appointments. (See Stein, Marley. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, March 17, 2011; and Walker power grabs)

This was only the first in the train wrecks that do everything from paying off cronies with taxpayer money, to giving Scott Walker the power to sell off virtually any public land or facility to moneyed interests.

No consultations with the Wisconsin people, no campaigning on these radical policies; Walker is selling out Wisconsin and I would not be surprised to see Walker put the state capitol, what used to be known as the people's house, on the chopping block.

The examples of Walker's public corruption are legion.

The latest spend-thrift spree of Walker's is his tax-payer subsidy to Scott Suder, Walker's co-conspirator with ALEC and the Koch front group, Americans for Prosperity.

"In his new (Wisconsin Public Service Commission) job, Suder will earn $94,000 a year — an 88 percent increase over the $49,943 he made as a legislator. He'll be in charge of the agency divisions responsible for water compliance and consumer affairs," reports Uppity Wisconsinn.

All the while Suder and other Republicans continue to illegally ignore Open Records requests.

In the latest outrage, "Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has taken the unprecedented step of asserting that a state legislator cannot be held accountable for refusing to disclose public records in response to a lawful open records request by the Center for Media and Democracy."

It's Republican rule; and the people for whom they work are not the Wisconsin people so Republicans and Walker keep their business secret from the people.

With disdain for the Wisconsin people, in favor of a small groups of moneyed interests and cronies, is it any wonder Scott Walker has created a structural (built in) deficit and ruined the state budget by amassing a state debt that reaches record levels in the 2013-15 budget, as noted by State Senator Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma).

See also RE Sen. Vinehout's budget-deficit analysis, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel simply refuses to take "yes" for an answer.

Schools, lakes, cemeteries for military veterans, the environment and people take huge hits while Walker and Republicans pocket huge pay-outs. The list of what Scott Walker is selling out is too long to fully note here.

As for that 250,000 new jobs promise Scott Walker campaigned on, Walker now says "it's really not about jobs."

The only people making out are Walker cronies getting paid by you.