There is a scandal brewing in Wisconsin that not only typifies exactly who the Wisconsin Republican party is but what is wrong with Wisconsin the last three years.
A quick recap, Scott Suder knew he was going to be one of the first rats to jump the ship, so before he did, he wrote a specific provision into a bill that have $450,000 Wisconsin taxpayer dollars, to a group of his buddies and former staffers(called United Sportsmen), no questions asked. Not only that, it then gave them $250,000 Wisconsin taxpayer dollars in perpetuity.
It turns out that while Scott Suder was considering this, it was when he allowed a bunch of lobbyists to take him out on a free two day Lake Michigan fishing trip to seal the deal. Allowing his vote to be bought was par for the course with Suder.
This was found out by the media, and drummed up enough outrage in the state, that Governor Walker had to be drug kicking and screaming into a veto of this cash grab. Then Scott Walker decided that sending out A half million taxpayer dollars to your ex staffers was such a brilliant move he gave Scott Suder a promotion, to a government job double his salary and in charge of our clean water.
Yet the pressure proved to be too much, even for Scott Walker and Scott Suder took his baggage with him to lobby for the paper industry. With an opening in a Government job, and so many republicans so desperate to jump ship, Scott Walker then chose assemblyman Jeff Stone to be the next one to pad his taxpayer funded pension.
Our friends at One Wisconsin Now has put together a very detailed timeline of this travesty here.
What really happened with the United Sportsmen scandal, is it really opened a window into how the Wisconsin republican party operates.
I know that there is a lot of talk, with the gerrymandered districts and the democratic party not being able to offer a solid alternative to date, that we are in for more republican control. If you think that the only people who should have influence with our elected officials is people who write the biggest check, or if you think its ok that our elected officials write grants that give hundreds of thousands of dollars of Wisconsin taxpayer money to their friends, or if you think that getting caught with your hand in the Wisconsin taxpayer cookie jar is worthy of a promotion and doubling of your salary is ok…..Then continue voting Republican.
The republicans, who unfortunately are not being pushed on this issue by the media nor the democratic party, try to dismiss it as Scott Suder’s problem and it is over since he left the Government. I would remind you that Cathy Stepp, Scott Walker, Robin Vos and Scott Fitzgerald all knew the details of this dirty deal and all signed off on it!
If you are sick of our elected officials using out tax money to fill their and their friends pockets then we must demand an investigation into this incredibly arrogant fiasco.
It is the fiscally conservative thing to do!
