Walker, Scott GOV

===see walker 2 for newer

Walker, along with a couple other (midwestern) gov's have kasich?) engineered koch agenda anti-union, epa etc

just made a node for them koch alec pocalypse, 1st ALEC prez? (RR praised)

see john doe and WALKER 2, rj johnson wi cfg

=GREBE BRADLEY CREATION:
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/08/us/politics/behind-scott-walker-a-longstanding-conservative-alliance-against-unions.html
POLITICS
Behind Scott Walker, a Longstanding Conservative Alliance Against UnionsBy PATRICK HEALY and MONICA DAVEYJUNE 8, 2015
Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin greeted his cabinet in June 2012 after winning a recall election. Credit Narayan Mahon for The New York TimesMADISON, Wis. — Less than a week after he was elected governor of Wisconsin in 2010, Scott Walker went to Milwaukee at the invitation of his political patron, Michael W. Grebe.
Mr. Grebe was Mr. Walker’s campaign chairman. He was also president of the Bradley Foundation, a leading source of ideas and financing for American conservatives. And the bankers, industrialists and public intellectuals on the foundation’s board wanted to honor the state’s next governor over dinner at Bacchus, a favorite restaurant of the city’s elite.
While the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation could not endorse candidates outright, it provided more than $2 million in grants to think tanks that implicitly championed Mr. Walker’s small-government platform, and $520,000 to Americans for Prosperity Foundation, which is part of a conservative network of groups (including the better-known Americans for Prosperity) that has supported Mr. Walker’s agenda.
Addressing the assembled conservatives who had laid the groundwork for his transformation from county executive to governor, Mr. Walker did not disappoint, pledging to “go big and go bold” in office. In the months that followed, he would deliver on that promise, breaking Wisconsin’s public employee unions in a bitter battle, surviving a recall effort led by angry Democrats and making his fight the centerpiece of an as-yet-unannounced presidential campaign.
More than any of his potential rivals for the White House, Mr. Walker, 47, is a product of a loose network of conservative donors, think tanks and talk radio hosts who have spent years preparing the road for a politician who could successfully present their arguments for small government to a broader constituency.
Mr. Walker has embraced those goals in Wisconsin, and the promise of his fledgling presidential campaign is to do the same in Washington. The little-known governor-elect honored in Milwaukee has become something of a conservative hero, backed by wealthy donors like Charles G. and David H. Koch and revered as a leader brave enough to face down unions and their liberal supporters.
At his side during his rapid rise was Mr. Grebe, who provided crucial validation for Mr. Walker among Wisconsin Republicans skeptical that a college dropout turned career politician would become a successful and consequential governor.
“At the risk of being immodest, I probably lent some credibility to his campaign early on,” Mr. Grebe, 74, said in a recent interview.
VideoScott Walker’s PathHighlights of the political career of Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. By Brent McDonald and Quynhanh Do on Publish Date March 20, 2015. Photo by Jabin Botsford/The New York Times. Watch in Times Video »
Many Democrats and union leaders would call that an understatement.
“Scott Walker didn’t have the stature, influence or money to become governor on his own or to end collective bargaining on his own,” said Phil Neuenfeldt, president of the Wisconsin A.F.L.-C.I.O. “All of that flowed from Mike Grebe, the Bradley Foundation and a network of influential conservatives, including the Kochs.”
Mr. Neuenfeldt added: “He wouldn’t be running for president without these people. He would be their guy in Washington.”
But the reasons for Mr. Walker’s success are more complex. In the Wisconsin Legislature and as Milwaukee County executive, he always liked going to extremes and basking in his own brand of boldness. What he needed, as he climbed the political ladder, was the money and endorsements that Mr. Grebe and his conservative allies brought. As for the fight against the unions, it went far better than Mr. Walker, Mr. Grebe or anyone else could have expected, as weeks of huge protests drew a national news spotlight that let Mr. Walker shine.
“It made Scott Walker a national candidate,” said Tommy G. Thompson, a Republican who was governor of Wisconsin from 1987 to 2001. “It showed that he could stand up to pressure. And he didn’t back down. And people want that in a leader.”
Mr. Walker declined to comment on his conservative supporters, but Rick Wiley, executive director of Our American Revival, the governor’s political committee, cited his record of changing the state government in Wisconsin as an example of his leadership. “Tough times called for big, bold solutions, and Scott Walker thought outside the box,” Mr. Wiley said. “His reforms transformed Wisconsin for future generations, because that’s what leaders do.”
An Ally of Unions’ Foes
Unions were the bane of Wisconsin conservatives long before Mr. Walker first entered office in 1993 as a state assemblyman. After Wisconsin took the landmark step in 1959 of allowing collective bargaining for public employees, state spending grew steadily to help cover negotiated salaries and generous benefits, and so did the criticism from retailers, manufacturers and bankers.
“Businesspeople talked about trying to end collective bargaining for years, but it always seemed so uphill a battle,” said James Buchen, who oversaw government affairs for a powerful industry group, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, when Mr. Walker became governor.
Conservatives focused instead on pushing for a welfare overhaul and private school vouchers, with particular help coming from the Bradley Foundation, which spent millions of dollars on think tank reports and advocacy groups championing both policies. The foundation — named after brothers, Lynde and Harry Bradley, who were well-known Wisconsin industrialists — has more than $800 million in assets. It supports arts, education and health organizations in Wisconsin as well as, increasingly, the goals of American conservatism.
Protesters filled the Capitol in Madison, Wis., as legislators in the House passed a bill in February 2011 to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public workers. Credit Max Whittaker for The New York TimesThat focus has intensified under Mr. Grebe, a West Point graduate and Vietnam veteran who led the law firm Foley & Lardner before taking over the foundation in 2002. Mr. Grebe was always drawn to the national stage: He was general counsel of the Republican National Committee and a Wisconsin power broker for presidential candidates, including as state chairman for Ronald Reagan’s re-election campaign in 1984.
Mr. Grebe spotted Scott Walker when Mr. Walker, who considers Reagan his political role model, was a Marquette University student volunteering at events for Reagan or the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Mr. Grebe recalled no particular impressions of Mr. Walker from those encounters, but Mr. Walker got his attention years later as a candidate for Milwaukee County executive.
Mr. Grebe, who donated $1,000 to Mr. Walker’s executive campaign and became a member of his transition team, said he had come to believe that Mr. Walker was determined to bring change to the county in spite of “a highly charged partisan relationship with the Democratic-led county board.”
“If all he was was a bulwark to an entrenched Democratic majority, I don’t think he would be interested in any job,” Mr. Grebe said. “He’s really interested in change, in doing bold things.”
So were others. Americans for Prosperity, the group financed by the Kochs, started a Wisconsin chapter led by a veteran Republican operative there, Mark Block, who tapped into voters’ anger at Gov. James E. Doyle, a Democrat, and his tax and spending increases. From 2006 to 2010, the chapter grew to 100,000 members from 250 and drew huge crowds for meetings that eventually evolved into Tea Party events.
Mr. Block and his group’s national president, Tim Phillips, got to know Mr. Walker when he was county executive; he joined them during one of their “Ending Earmarks Express” bus tours, and they kept a close eye on him.
“We thought here’s this young, newer, local leader who is not nibbling around the edges but really getting serious about issues, especially trying to take on the unions on spending and pension issues,” Mr. Phillips said.
The Bradley Foundation gave to Americans for Prosperity but was more integral to financing two think tanks that railed against Mr. Doyle and generated policy ideas and talking points that were picked up by Wisconsin’s powerful bench of right-wing talk radio hosts. In 2009, the foundation gave a $1 million grant to one of the think tanks, the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, to recommend policy ideas for the next governor. It also backed the MacIver Institute, providing one-third of its budget.
 Who Is Running for President?Both think tanks proposed dozens of small-government policies, and at the top of their lists was curbing the power of the public employee unions.
“Some people in the Walker campaign were scratching their heads about how to deal with union health and pension costs, and we supplied the ideas,” said James R. Klauser, who was chairman of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute at the time. “Mike Grebe wanted to see union reform, but I don’t think he got into the details. But the issue was a good match with Walker himself: He’s very conservative, and he takes pride in trying big things.”
A Long-Shot Fight
By the time Mr. Walker ran for governor in 2010, he was clashing regularly with unions, calling for cost savings through shorter hours, layoffs, privatization, even an imagined disassembling of the very government he ran.
“Never did we ever have a civil moment with that man,” said David Eisner, a local official for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a big public workers union.
The approach played well in the state’s interwoven universe of conservative talk radio, where Mr. Walker became a favorite guest of hosts like Charlie Sykes of WTMJ in Milwaukee. Mr. Sykes, whose wife is director of community programs at the Bradley Foundation, has a daily radio show and a television program and edits Wisconsin Interest, a magazine from the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.
During the governor’s race, Mr. Walker sometimes spoke of “haves and have-nots,” referring to public-sector workers and those in private business. He did not announce specific plans to cut bargaining rights, and some, like Mr. Grebe, said they had never heard him explicitly address ending collective bargaining. Yet the two men had similar views about unions, Mr. Grebe said, and Mr. Walker was determined to get union members to pay more for their pension and health care benefits.
If Mr. Walker had not been on the Kochs’ radar before, he was now. The political action committee for their energy conglomerate, Koch Industries, donated $43,000 to Mr.Walker’s 2010 bid, while Americans for Prosperity focused on organizing for legislative races.
The result was that for the first time in about a decade, Wisconsin found itself with a Republican governor and a Republican-led Assembly and Senate.
Clockwise from top left, Michael W. Grebe, who gave Mr. Walker crucial validation in his first elections; Mr. Walker; and Charles and David Koch, who have donated to Mr. Walker’s campaigns.]Three weeks later, the MacIver Institute posted an opinion column that made the first public case for repealing collective bargaining to take back control of pay and benefits for public employees. MacIver’s leaders said they had not coordinated the idea with Mr. Walker or the Bradley Foundation — it just seemed obvious that everyone was moving toward a “big and bold” solution, as Mr. Walker kept putting it.
Still, MacIver’s leaders were not sure it would go anywhere.
“I didn’t think there would be the votes” in the Legislature, said Brett Healy, president of MacIver. “I think it’s safe to say Capitol insiders would have initially bet the house that Governor Walker would’ve had no shot at passing collective bargaining reform.”
But Mr. Walker announced a drive to do just that in February 2011, six weeks into his governorship, proposing a bill that became known as Act 10. He portrayed it as a simple antidote to a looming fiscal hole for the state, saying, “I’m just trying to balance my budget.”
Within days, the State Capitol in Madison was crammed with enraged union members and supporters. When the issue reached the Senate, the Democratic minority secretly fled the state, a gambit aimed at denying Republicans the quorum needed to call a vote on any bill involving the appropriation of funds.
As the chaos mounted, at least a few Republicans quietly urged Mr. Walker to tone down his proposal. “There were prominent people who said, ‘You need to get out of this,’ ” Mr. Sykes, the WTMJ host, recalled.
Yet an entirely different dynamic was emerging, too. With cable news satellite trucks broadcasting a constant loop of reports from Madison, the standoff captured the attention of conservatives outside Wisconsin who had never heard of Mr. Walker. The images, of Democrats who had fled town and screaming protesters camped out all over the elegant Capitol, galvanized Republicans.
On talk radio, hosts spoke of threats to Republican leaders and their families, including Mr. Walker, who could hear chants from his desk even when his office door was shut: “Come out, come out, wherever you are!”
Americans for Prosperity put up television ads supporting Act 10 and organized a “Stand With Walker” bus tour of Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Club for Growth, another conservative group, took to the airwaves with ads and raised money from Wisconsin and beyond.
Electoral Vindication
For Mr. Walker’s conservative patrons, the war against the unions showed he was willing to take huge political risks for a goal other Republicans might have regarded as too extreme.[// brownback?]
“I knew Act 10 was going to be quite divisive and controversial, but it was a very good idea, a good set of policy moves,” Mr. Grebe said.
He said all the credit should go to the man in office. “There’s this attempt to portray me as some kind of Svengali in my relationship” with Mr. Walker, he said, “and that’s simply not the case.”
After Act 10 passed, Mr. Walker’s opponents used a provision in the State Constitution to schedule a recall election. No governor in the United States had ever won a recall election, but by that point, Mr. Walker had a national network of conservative donors and groups behind him. Almost 300,000 people donated to his recall campaign, whichraised about $37 million, two-thirds of it from outside Wisconsin.
But some of his support came from familiar sources: Mr. Grebe was again the chairman of his campaign. Diane Hendricks, a Wisconsin businesswoman who is on the board of the Bradley Foundation, contributed $500,000 alone. And Americans for Prosperity spent $3.7 million on ads and mailings supporting Mr. Walker’s policies.
Mr. Walker won the recall with 53 percent of the vote. In 2014, he was elected again: his third win in four years in a state that has not voted Republican in a presidential election since 1984.
Soon, Mr. Walker began talking with Mr. Grebe and other advisers about the White House. As he started making visits over the winter to national conservative conferences, as well as early nominating states like Iowa and New Hampshire, he made Act 10 a centerpiece of his stump speech.
David Koch offered an opinion at a recent private gathering that Mr. Walker was the favorite for the Republican nomination. And Mr. Walker’s old allies are hungry once more for a leader who will go to extremes, this time as president.
Last week, Mr. Grebe and the board of the Bradley Foundation gathered again, this time at the Kennedy Center in Washington. George F. Will, the conservative columnist and a foundation board member, served as M.C., warming up the crowd by joking that, just as Republicans promised “a chicken for every pot” during Herbert Hoover’s 1928 presidential bid, Hillary Rodham Clinton would deliver a private email server to every home.
“Strong American leadership will return,” said Jack Keane, a retired general and a recipient that night of a $250,000 Bradley Prize for innovative achievement. “We are one leader away.”
General Keane did not put a name to that leader. But Mr. Grebe surely had his friend in mind; he had said by phone earlier that Mr. Walker would make “a very good president” and had a “decent chance to get the nomination.”
But in his speech, Mr. Grebe did not mention Mr. Walker, just the conservative forces that wanted big, bold change. “In recent years at the Bradley Foundation, we’ve placed even greater emphasis on collaboration with other like-minded foundations and donors,” Mr. Grebe said in a video presentation as symphonic music soared in a crescendo. “We believe that through that collaboration, together we can help change the world.”
Correction: June 17, 2015 An article on June 8 about ties between Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and conservative groups misidentified the recipient of two grants from the Bradley Foundation, whose president is close to Mr. Walker. The Bradley Foundation gave a total of $520,000 during the 2010 governor’s race to Americans for Prosperity Foundation, not to Americans for Prosperity.Follow the New York Times Politics and Washington 
A version of this article appears in print on June 8, 2015, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Conservatives and Their Cash Lined Up Early Behind Walker ====

Scott Walker Wins Koch Straw Poll, $900 Million in the Offing

The Koch brothers and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) held their annual summits in California this year. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was a featured speaker at both, capturing enthusiastic applause as he won the Koch summit straw poll reports Politico. As the Koch network of funders gets ready to unleash an unimaginable $900 million on the 2016 campaign, they are busily trying to remake their public image and spin undisclosed dark money as a plus in political campaigns.

<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/12902">http://www.prwatch.org/node/12902</a>

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~ Doe?  Scott Walker’s just-announced plan to <a href="http://electionlawblog.org/?p=74409" style="text-decoration: none; line-height: 32px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">destroy</a> Wisconsin’s election oversight board. They favor gaming the rules, doing whatever it takes to win and cashing out.

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If <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/07/13/3614885/scott-walker-wants-run-country-ran-wisconsin/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">elected president</a>, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker might make a very science-literate commander-in-chief. At least that’s if his high school science teacher’s memory is correct.

“I do recall that Scott was very accepting of everything in science class,” Ann Serpe, the chair of Walker’s high school science department, told <a href="http://time.com/3710087/scott-walker-evolution/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">TIME</a> back in February. “He had a good sense of it.”

It would certainly be refreshing if it were true. In the vast field of Republican presidential contenders, science seems low on the collective list of priorities. Almost <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/01/3664629/lindsey-graham-president-climate-change/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">every Republican candidate</a> denies that climate change exists and is caused by humans, a premise that 97 percent of climate researchers accept. Some stand by the idea that <a href="http://mashable.com/2015/02/06/republicans-vaccines-climate-evolution/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">creationism</a> should be taught in schools, and others refuse to talk about evolution at all. Nearly 100 percent of scientists accept the science of evolution.

All of which begs the question: Is Scott Walker different? Does he have a “good sense” of science?

It’s a harder question than it seems. On what are probably the two most hot-button scientific issues — climate change and evolution — Walker hasn’t actually given answers. On evolution, he has <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/02/scott_walker_refuses_to_discuss_evolution_there_is_no_good_reason_to_ask.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">refused to say whether he accepts it</a>, instead reasoning that it’s a question “a politician shouldn’t be involved in.” He also has never given his position on whether he thinks human-caused climate change is real, though he has has strongly opposed <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/climate_desk/2015/03/scott_walker_anti_environmental_positions_fracking_epa_alternative_energy.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">nearly every effort</a> to reduce the greenhouse gases that cause it.

Indeed, science just doesn’t seem to be a driving political force for Walker. Yes, he does support policies that many would consider anti-science. But the scientific justification for those policies is generally not what convinces Walker to support them. Instead, Walker seems eager to ignore science in order to make a moral or political point.

Take the 20-week abortion ban that Walker is about to sign. It is a bill based on the <a href="http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=201429" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">unscientific idea</a> that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks. But Walker does not talk about fetal pain when he expresses support for the ban. His “<a href="http://www.sba-list.org/sites/default/files/content/shared/03.03.15_walker_open_letter_on_life.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">open letter on life</a>” only cites the “sanctity of life” and his general pro-life positions. It is just the presence of the fetus — not that the fetus might feel pain — that drives his support.

The same goes for Walker’s previous support for <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/105084034.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">stopping</a> embryonic stem cell research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. While he made an off-hand <a href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2010/oct/21/scott-walker/scott-walker-says-scientists-agree-adult-stem-cell/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">incorrect claim</a> that adult stem cell research was more valuable, his main reason was moral — embryonic stem cell research results in the destruction of an embryo, he said, and therefore the destruction of a developing human being.

It’s a similar story with climate change. Walker has been called “<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/03/scott-walker-environment-climate-change-2016" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">the worst</a>” and “<a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/122286/scott-walker-most-dangerous-candidate-climate-change" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">most dangerous</a>” candidate when it comes to the climate and the environment, attacking efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at every turn. But Walker’s argument is <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/06/02/3664995/walker-climate-epa/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">always about jobs</a> and the reliability of the electricity grid. It’s never about the scientific reality of climate change.

It’s not like Walker has never made an unscientific statement. His support for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scott-walker-insists-abortion-clinics-should-provide-ultrasounds-2015-5" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">mandatory ultrasounds</a> is based on the belief that women will change their minds about ending a pregnancy when they see the images, and he has said as much. “We just knew if we signed that law … that more people if they saw that unborn child would make a decision to protect and keep the life of that unborn child,” he has said. <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/01/10/3145181/study-ultrasound-abortion/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Several</a> <a href="http://www.livescience.com/12886-abortion-sonogram-research.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">studies</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/health/complex-science-at-issue-in-politics-of-fetal-pain.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">have found</a> that this is not the case.

But based on how he’s handled most science-based policy issues, it wouldn’t be surprising if Walker’s high school science teacher was right. Maybe he does have a good sense of what the science says. Whether he actually cares, though, is another question.

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There are few people in politics who are quite as hilarious as Stephen Moore. Formerly the Heritage Foundation’s chief economist (he’s now a “Distinguished Visiting Fellow” for the group) Moore has achieved greater notoriety as <a href="http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/18/the-mystery-of-moore/" target="_blank" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">one of the worst pundits alive</a>. The man is constantly, flagrantly wrong. He’s been <a href="http://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/stephen_moore_heritage_foundation_paul_krugman_kansas_city_star.php" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">blacklisted by a major newspaper</a> for making too many embarrassing errors in his columns. He’s a climate change denier who draws his arguments against environmentalism from <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/07/22/the_rights_planet_of_the_apes_moment_new_depths_in_climate_denialism/" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">sci-fi monkey movies</a>. He’s written anti-Obamacare Op-Eds that are <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/02/obamacare-hater-cant-find-single-true-fact.html" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">literally 0 percent accurate</a>. As an economic thinker he’s been no more successful – he has a <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/01/21/3186501/heritage-moore-economist/" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">string of bad predictions</a> under his belt and a <a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/blog/jonathan-chait/93942/in-which-i-try-restrain-my-nasty-impulses-limited-success" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">tenuous grasp</a> of the field he’s supposedly an expert in.

But Moore is fortunate to work in conservative politics, where one can <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/01/the-gop-should-always-do-the-opposite-of-what-bill-kristol-says/267362/" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">make a lucrative career out of being constantly wrong</a> so long as you remain ideologically consistent. Moore is one of the high priests of supply-side economic theory and, as such, he’s in <a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/03/2016-primary-stephen-moore-gop-115983.html#.VZwklvl3kgs" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">hot demand</a> among top-flight Republican political candidates who want him to fix his seal of approval on their plans to “grow the economy” through massive tax cuts. He’s already <a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/06/19/rand_pauls_demented_promise_ill_do_to_america_what_sam_brownback_did_to_kansas/" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">helped Rand Paul</a> craft a flat-tax proposal that promises to shoot “steroids” into the economy by slashing taxes on the wealthy.

And that brings us to Scott Walker. The Republican governor of Wisconsin is (not yet officially) running for president and he’s been <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/02/18/scott-walker-to-attend-private-dinner-with-supply-siders-in-new-york/" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">cultivating a relationship</a> with Moore and his supply-side buddies for months in an effort to establish himself as the “pro-business” Republican candidate. That’s trickier than it sounds, given that business-minded establishment Republicans like Moore are generally in favor of immigration reform, while the conservative base voters that Walker must appeal to are vehemently against it.

Walker’s been <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/04/24/what-does-scott-walker-believe-on-immigration/" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">deliberately fudging his stance on immigration</a> to avoid pissing off either group, but in public he’s been moving further and further to the right to align more closely with the anti-immigrant base. That rightward shift on immigration unnerved Moore, who <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/03/us/politics/scott-walkers-hard-right-turn-in-iowa-may-hurt-him-elsewhere.html" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">told the New York Times</a> last week that he asked Walker about it over the phone, and that Walker told him, “I’m not going nativist; I’m pro-immigration.

t seemed clear from Moore’s retelling that Walker was telling two different constituencies two different things – something politicians do all the time. And it makes perfect sense that Walker would publicly shift right on immigration for the GOP primary while privately reassuring more moderate Republicans that he’ll tack back toward the middle once he secures the nomination. It’s cynical as all hell, but it makes sense. But Moore, in blabbing to the Times, ratted out Walker on his double-dealing.

And then things got weird. As the Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/07/06/forget-what-i-said-that-scott-walker-call-never-happened/" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; border-image-source: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-width: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">noted a few days later</a>, Moore (under heavy pressure from the Walker campaign) not only recanted his quotation of Walker’s secret moderation on immigration – he denied that he’d even spoken to the governor at all: “On Sunday, after three days of pressure from Mr. Walker’s aides, Mr. Moore said that he had ‘misspoken’ when recounting his call with Mr. Walker – and that the call had never actually taken place.”

Breitbart News also <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/07/03/exclusive-ny-times-hit-on-scott-walker-dead-wrong-as-walkers-donor-class-meetings-raise-questions/" style=" box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">asked Moore</a> about his quote to the Times, and he served up this explanation, which makes precisely zero sense:

i did not have a conversation with Walker. It was my mistake. I kind of miscommunicated this to this reporter. What I really meant to say is that Larry [Kudlow] did. And when Larry had the conversation, we felt that he was going to be just fine and not going to be a problem on immigration. Everybody is kind of making a mountain out of a mole hill here.

So according to Moore, when he told the Times that he recently talked to Scott Walker on the phone, what he meant was that Larry Kudlow talked to him months ago over dinner. What’s hilarious about the glaringly obvious bullshit Moore is trying to peddle here is that even if one were to grant Moore the possibility that he misremembered this badly, he’s still outing Walker as a double-dealer on immigration reform: “We felt that he was going to be just fine and not going to be a problem on immigration.” No matter which Stephen Moore story you choose to believe, Scott Walker still comes out looking bad.

And that’s why it’s so remarkable that any political candidate would choose to associate themselves with this doofus. Not only is he constantly wrong, he’s a walking embarrassment and a political liability. But I suppose the rest of us should be thankful that Walker is inviting the Stephen Moore bull to bust up his campaign china shop.

<a href="http://www.salon.com/2015/07/08/scott_walkers_double_dealing_exposed_how_one_of_the_rights_worst_talking_heads_just_embarrassed_him/">http://www.salon.com/2015/07/08/scott_walkers_double_dealing_exposed_how_one_of_the_rights_worst_talking_heads_just_embarrassed_him/</a>

</div>

==

2016 prez run walker vs cmd: foia ironic re cronon

but fighting john doe rear action,

Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) and other open records advocates worked fast and furiously to blow the whistle on a last-minute, anonymous effort to gut the Wisconsin open records law in a 2,000 page “must pass” budget bill over the 4th of July weekend.

Wisconsin’s open records law has helped set the standard for transparent and accountable government for 33 years.

No one would claim ownership of the changes called "cowardly" and "devastating" to open government. While legislative leaders dodged the press, CMD suspected that Governor Walker himself was behind the changes.

Why? One provision created a carve-out for “deliberative materials” that would permanently hide Walker's internal communications (and those of other politicians at every level of government) from public view.

The truth is that Walker already refused an open records request by CMD claiming a right to keep these "deliberative materials" secret, even though Wisconsin courts have expressly rejected such an exception.

So in May, we sued. And we were not at all surprised when Walker's spokesperson finally admitted under pressure yesterday that Walker’s office was behind the changes.

But that's not the whole story. Despite the apparent about-face, the reality is that behind-the-scenes, Walker's lawyers are still fighting to gut the open records law.

“It appears Walker is trying to create the same open records carve-out through the courts that they failed to obtain in the legislature,” said Brendan Fischer, our in-house General Counsel.

CMD's lawsuit is asking a judge to order Walker to turn over correspondence and communications about his claim that it was a “drafting error” or “mistake” that resulted in the Wisconsin Idea and the “search for truth” being struck from the University of Wisconsin’s mission statement. But, Walker has so far refused to comply with the law.

It makes you wonder what he has to hide.

The public has a right to know if powerful special interests were behind the #draftingerror fiasco, and the public has a right to know the truth behind the PR spin.

Wisconsin's open records law has been crucial to shining a light not just on this issue, but on the ALEC agenda and many other issues of national importance.

We only file open records lawsuits if the public is being wrongfully denied information it has a right to know.

==

Emails obtained by CMD under an open records request give a behind-the-scenes look at Gov. Scott Walker’s tortuous efforts to explain changes made to the mission statement of the University of Wisconsin System in his 2015-2017 Executive Budget bill. The emails reveal that controversial edits, which struck "the search for truth" and other aspects of the Wisconsin Idea from the statutes, was far from a "drafting error" or "miscommunication."

==

http://grist.org/politics/the-3-scariest-words-for-the-environment-president-scott-walker/

s <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/03/scott-walker-environment-climate-change-2016" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">story</a> is reproduced here as part of the <a href="http://climatedesk.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">Climate Desk</a> collaboration.

Scott Walker is killing it with Republicans. The Wisconsin governor is one of his party’s rising stars — thanks to his ongoing and largely successful war against his state’s labor unions, a fight that culminated Monday with the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/10/us/gov-scott-walker-of-wisconsin-signs-right-to-work-bill.html" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">signing of a controversial “right-to-work” bill</a>.

Now (for the moment, anyway), he’s a leading contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. At the Conservative Political Action Conference a couple weeks ago, he <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/115619.html" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">polled a close second</a> to three-time winner Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), beating the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush by a significant margin.

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that <a href="http://grist.org/politics/meet-the-climate-deniers-who-want-to-be-president/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">none of the prospective GOP presidential candidates</a> are exactly champions of the environment. Probably the least bad is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who at least <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55793.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">acknowledges</a> that climate change is real and caused by human activity. Walker just might be the worst. He hasn’t said much about the science of global warming. (In the video above, you can watch him tell a little kid that his solution to the problem will center on keeping campsites clean, or something.) But his track record of actively undermining pro-environment programs and policies while supporting the fossil fuel industry is arguably lengthier and more substantive than that of his likely rivals.

“He really has gone after every single piece of environmental protection: Land, air, water — he’s left no stone unturned,” said Kerry Schumann, executive director of the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters. “It’s hard to imagine anyone has done worse.”

Here’s a rundown of Walker’s inglorious history of anti-environmentalism.

Attacking Obama’s climate agenda

Walker is a key figure in the <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2015/03/mitch-mcconnell-climate-rules-obama" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">GOP’s battle against</a> President Barack Obama’s flagship climate policy — the proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules that are designed to reduce the carbon footprint of the nation’s electricity sector 30 percent by 2030. The rules will likely require states to retrofit or shutter some of their coal-fired power plants. That could be a big deal in Wisconsin, which gets <a href="http://www.eia.gov/state/?sid=WI" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">62 percent</a> of its power from coal.

In a letter to the EPA in December, Walker said the plan would be <a href="http://www.wisconsingazette.com/wisconsin-gaze/wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-epa-clean-power-plan-bad-for-business.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">“a blow to Wisconsin residents and business owners.”</a> He cited an analysis from his state’s Public Service Commission that predicted household electric bills would skyrocket.<a href="http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2015/02/will-obamas-climate-plan-cause-blackouts" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">They won’t, necessarily,</a> since the state has a lot of options — including boosting renewables and energy efficiency — that it could use to meet its EPA carbon target without jeopardizing the power grid. But rather than preparing for the new rules, Walker seems bent on stonewalling them. In January, he <a href="http://www.maciverinstitute.com/videos/2015/01/gov-scott-walker-ag-brad-schimel-ready-lawsuit-over-epa-regulations/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">announced</a> that his new attorney general was already preparing a lawsuit against the EPA, a move that was<a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/gov-scott-walker-is-right-to-sue-the-epa-b99452624z1-294458891.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">lauded</a> by the Wisconsin director of the Koch brothers-backed group Americans for Prosperity. Walker has also <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/steven_elbow/scott-walker-among-signers-of-koch-backed-no-climate-tax/article_6b078010-1304-58a9-8e80-ea384a251c33.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">signed</a> a <a href="http://americansforprosperity.org/noclimatetax/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">pledge</a>, devised by Americans for Prosperity, that he will oppose any legislation relating to climate change — presumably a cap-and-trade plan or a carbon tax — that would result in a “net increase in government revenue.”

Indeed, Walker has close ties to Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who made a fortune in fossil fuels and who for years <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/04/inside-kochs-climate-denial-machine" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">poured money into groups that cast doubt</a> on the science of climate change. They own paper factories and a network of gasoline supply terminals in Wisconsin, and they have an interest in the state’s trove of “frac sand” (more on that below). Koch Industries <a href="http://www.followthemoney.org/entity-details?eid=4656950" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">gave $43,000</a> to Walker’s 2010 election campaign, and just after he took office, the Kochs <a href="http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_7e8aa25a-3ec0-11e0-9923-001cc4c03286.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">doubled their lobbying force</a> in Madison. In 2011 and 2012, David Koch and Americans for Prosperity spent <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-record-amount-of-money-spent-on-wisconsin-recall/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">$11 million</a> backing Walker’s agenda and his successful effort to avoid being recalled.

Turning off clean energy

As much as he apparently supports fossil fuel development, Walker has taken steps to put the brakes on clean energy. Last month, he released a budget proposal that would <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/scott-walker-wants-to-end-funding-for-renewable-energy-program-b99452612z1-294532231.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">drain $8.1 million</a> from a leading renewable energy research center in the state. That same budget, however, would <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/02/06/3620223/scott-walker-wind-health/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">pump $250,000</a> into a study on the potential health impacts of wind turbines. (Wind energy opponents have long suggested that inaudible sound waves from turbines can cause insomnia, anxiety, and other disorders, although independent research has <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/11/wind-farm-study-finds-no-direct-evidence-they-affect-health" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">repeatedly</a> <a href="http://cleantechnica.com/2014/12/09/mit-study-wind-farms-harm-human-health-annoy-people/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">found</a> these claims are more connected to NIMBYism than legitimate medical concerns.) Walker’s budget would also <a href="http://www.wpr.org/local-recycling-programs-brace-cuts-under-walker-budget" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">cut $4 million in state subsidies for municipal recycling programs.</a> That, at least, is an improvement over his first budget as governor, which proposed to <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/117192813.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">eliminate recycling</a> subsidies altogether.

Budgets aren’t the only avenue for these attacks: In 2011, Walker <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/business/wind-turbine-issue-turns-slowly-132420203.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">introduced legislation</a> backed by the Wisconsin Realtors Association to restrict where wind turbines could be built. (That bill was ultimately <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/business/legislature-lets-wind-turbine-placement-rules-stand-bd4jcjl-143103316.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">killed by the legislature</a>.) And the state’s Public Service Commission — which oversees the electric grid and is comprised mainly of Walker appointees — <a href="http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2014/12/03/on-utilities-and-solar-wisconsin-goes-its-own-way/" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">recently launched a campaign</a> to redesign power companies’ rates in a way that solar companies say is meant to kneecap their competitive edge. The commission wants to impose a high fixed charge on monthly bills that homeowners would have to pay even if they purchase their own solar panels.

There is, however, one alternative energy source that Walker suddenly seems willing to support. <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/03/candidate-scott-walker-open-ethanol-governor-scott-walker-not-so-much" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">Pandering to corn farmers in Iowa</a> over the weekend, he flip-flopped his stance on biofuels — as governor, he was opposed to a federal ethanol mandate, but now, as a likely candidate, he’s in favor of it. Backing ethanol may help Walker win support from Iowa caucus-goers, but the climate benefits of biofuels are <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18784732" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">very much in doubt</a>.

Open to open-pit mining

In 2010, a mining company called Gogebic Taconite LLC began to push hard to establish a large open-pit iron ore mine in the state. Environmentalists vehemently opposed the project, warning that it could damage fragile wetlands and contaminate local air and water with toxic chemicals. But Walker <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/environment/walker-others-back-to-work-on-possible-mining-legislation/article_1eb2cbc8-b809-11e1-a975-001a4bcf887a.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">supported it</a>. (In 2012, the company <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/walker-says-he-was-unaware-of-700000-donation-from-mining-company-b99336817z1-272433211.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">gave $700,000</a> to the pro-Walker Wisconsin Club for Growth.) In 2013, Walker succeeded in pushing through <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/environment/walker-others-back-to-work-on-possible-mining-legislation/article_1eb2cbc8-b809-11e1-a975-001a4bcf887a.html" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">a bill</a> to relax environmental standards for iron mines that paved the way for the project to be approved once it was reviewed by federal regulators.

Walker also reportedly <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/gogebic-dropping-plans-for-massiive-iron-mine-b99453122z1-294440851.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">cultivated an industry-friendly atmosphere</a> at the state’s Department of Natural Resources, the agency charged with enforcing environmental standards. One Democratic state representative said Walker’s pick to head the DNR, a former Republican state senator who was a vocal critic of environmental regulations, was <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/environment/cathy-stepp-outspoken-critic-of-dnr-picked-to-head-agency/article_59520726-1440-11e0-b7f3-001cc4c03286.html" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">“like putting Lindsay Lohan in charge of a rehab center.”</a> One of the Walker DNR’s first moves was to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/04/13/158137/walker-koch-phosphorus/" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">delay phosphorus pollution standards</a> that were opposed by a Koch-owned paper factory.

In the case of the iron mine, it was all for naught: Last month, the mining company <a href="https://news.vice.com/article/wisconsin-tribes-and-environmentalists-put-a-halt-to-a-15-billion-iron-ore-mine-project" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">announced</a> it was putting the project on indefinite hold, blaming “cost-prohibitive” federal regulations.

A blind eye to fracking sand

Wisconsin doesn’t have much in the way of shale gas, but it still plays a vital role in the fracking boom. The state is home to a major supply of “frac sand,” a superhard, chemically inert type of silica that props open cracks in underground rock formations during the fracking process. Since 2010, the number of sand mines in Wisconsin has <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2014/0309/Next-fracking-controversy-In-the-Midwest-a-storm-brews-over-frac-sand-video" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">grown more than tenfold</a>, despite widespread complaints that the operations are turning idyllic rural communities into industrial wastelands and that the type of dust produced by the mines is <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/silica/" target="blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">linked to a wide range of serious respiratory health hazards</a>. Walker has been a <a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114320/frac-sand-mining-wisconsin-rides-fracking-boom" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">vocal proponent of the industry</a>, touting it as a source of jobs and investment in an otherwise lackluster economy.

Here again, Walker’s weakened DNR is an issue. In 2013, the state’s independent, nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau <a href="http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lfb/publications/budget/2013-15%20Budget/Documents/Budget%20Papers/478.pdf" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">estimated</a> that at least 10 full-time DNR employees would be necessary to ensure proper oversight of the frac sand industry. But the report noted that the agency had chosen to hire just two.

“It’s really going, to a large extent, unregulated,” said Tom Thoresen, a veteran DNR conservation officer who retired before Walker became governor but still has friends in the agency. (Thoresen currently sits on the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters board.)

Indeed, citations for various environmental infractions from the DNR fell 28 percent under Walker compared to the previous administration, <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/citations-issued-by-dnr-wardens-fall-under-scott-walker-administration-b99380301z1-280776312.html" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: inherit; background: transparent;">according to theJournal-Sentinel</a>.

“The messaging,” added Thoresen, “is to be business-friendly, don’t enforce.”

==

3/15

<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19.6px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important;">Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker meanwhile has signed a so-called right-to-work bill, striking a blow to organized labor four years after he gutted collective bargaining rights for public sector workers. Labor groups had staged mass protests against the bill, which makes Wisconsin the 25th "right-to-work" state. The bill Walker signed was taken practically verbatim from model legislation proposed by the right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council. It bars the mandatory collection of union dues, but critics say it is a wholesale attack on collective bargaining power.

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/3/10/headlines#3104

===

http://www.alternet.org/labor/whats-behind-scott-walkers-delusional-isis-unions-comparison

==

...e massive protests against Walker in 2011 began with “Act 10,” which stripped public employee unions of almost all of their rights and power. Walker loves to leave the story there and depicts ongoing opposition to him as a fight between him and the unions. It’s a narrative that sells well to his donors and to a national press eager for narrative simplicity.

But Act 10 was only a triggering event, not the sole or even primary motivation of Walker’s opponents. While much of the opposition to Walker centers around his policies, there is more to it than that. It is the way he implements these policies, the way he deals with opposition, and the way he rewards his allies that make Walker not just divisive, but frightening. Even conservatives who share Walker’s ideology should distrust him, and dread the prospect of him becoming president.

Walker is a liar.

“So what?” you say, “aren’t all politicians liars?” True, but Walker is in a league apart. He lies about so much, even inconsequential things, that it seems almost compulsive.

<a href="http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/02/06/wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-tripped-truth" style="text-decoration: none;">His recent lies</a> explaining how “searching for truth” and other aspects of the “Wisconsin Idea” came to be stricken from his rewrite of the University of Wisconsin mission statement were astounding enough to draw rebuke from the<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/opinion/gov-scott-walkers-drafting-error.html?_r=0" style="text-decoration: none;">New York Times editorial board,</a> but such lies compose a large part of almost all of Walker’s public statements.

Like most politicians, Walker lies when it is politically convenient to do so; unlike most politicians, Walker lies when the truth is already firmly established, such as when he claims that Wisconsin has a budget surplus (<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2012/02/14/will-gov-scott-walker-ever-come-clean-on-wisconsins-budget-deficit/" style="text-decoration: none;">it doesn’t</a>), or that he never considered planting agents provocateurs among the demonstrators (<a href="http://www.prisonplanet.com/governor-walker-we-thought-about-infiltrating-wisconsin-protesters-with-troublemakers.html" style="text-decoration: none;">he did</a>). For Walker, deceit is not only a tool; it is an end in itself, his default mode. Walker even lies about things that have no obvious political angle, like <a href="http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/gov-walker-offers-new-explanation-to-national-media-for-departure-from-college-without-degree.html" style="text-decoration: none;">the date of the births of his sons</a> and <a href="http://monologuesofdissent.blogspot.com/2014/10/gov-baldspot-has-blame-game-finally.html" style="text-decoration: none;">how he got his bald spot</a>.

Walker’s lies often take the form of self-aggrandizing fantasy, a large helping of which he served up in his ironically titled [for someone who almost never appears in public] ghost-written political autobiography, Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story and a Nation’s Challenge. In it, for example, Walker recounts how during the peak of the 2011 protests, a mob surrounded his car and tried to tip it over. <a href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2013/dec/23/scott-walker/gov-scott-walker-says-protesters-surrounded-his-ca/" style="text-decoration: none;">This incident never happened</a>, at least not to Walker, though Walker’s story bears a remarkable similarity to a <a href="http://youtu.be/nvigX1doz2U" style="text-decoration: none;">1958 attack on Richard Nixon’s car in Venezuela</a>.

2. Scott Walker is astoundingly corrupt, even by current political standards.

He is so corrupt the corruption itself gives him cover, because an objective description of it sounds like a hyperbolic screed, leading to an “Oh, come on, he can’t be as bad as all that” from people who don’t know his history.

He IS that bad. <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/27/walker-i-was-the-original-tea-party-in-wisconsin/" style="text-decoration: none;">Here’s his tea party brag</a> that shows he’s more extreme than conservative. During the past few years, the fact that he has not yet actually been indicted for a crime is the strongest defense of his character that his supporters have been able to mount.

Walker’s reputation for political cunning, reflected in the oft-repeated warnings to not underestimate him, derives from his lack of moral restraint and his willingness to do anything to get what he wants, rather than from any tactical brilliance or deep understanding of people. It’s “the ends justify the means” on steroids. This, combined with the ineptitude of the Wisconsin Democrats and the Wisconsin press, answers an obvious question about Walker: How could someone of such mediocre abilities be so successful?

Walker’s known political career began in 1988, when he ran for president of the Associated Students of Marquette University. He didn’t win, but he was found guilty of violating campaign rules. After trying to lie his way out of it, he was forced to admit the truth of the charges. The Marquette Tribune<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/59709395@N04/7307583332/" style="text-decoration: none;">ran an editorial</a> before the election declaring that Walker was “<a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2015/02/11/scott-walker-dropped-out-marquette-but-his-education-campus-politics-set-him-ambitious-path/m41BjqIY9xAltlCgR6z5CM/story.html" style="text-decoration: none;">unfit for presidency.</a>” Like much of Walker’s past, the details of why he left Marquette before graduating are secrets.

It may seem petty to bring up an incident from so long ago, but Walker has continued to show the pattern he revealed at Marquette in every job he has held since about which there is any public information. His lies about the “Wisconsin Idea” and getting caught in them prove he has not changed. In fact, past and ongoing criminal investigations into Walker’s administrations, both as Milwaukee County executive and as governor, have resulted in multiple felony convictions of close Walker associates, and charges ranging from <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/6692:wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-implicated-in-criminal-complaint-against-aides" style="text-decoration: none;">misuse of county resources</a> for political purposes, to <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/walker-appointee-guilty-of-embezzling-vet-funds/" style="text-decoration: none;">embezzling funds</a> raised to help wives and children of veterans, to <a href="http://wcmcoop.com/2012/02/20/scott-walkers-2-daddies-2/" style="text-decoration: none;">child enticement</a>.

Among the felons is <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/former-walker-aide-tim-russell-gets-prison-for-stealing-from/article_fbe19ae6-64b7-11e2-a1ae-0019bb2963f4.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Tim Russell,</a> Walker’s political mentor from shortly after he left Marquette, and one of the very few people who can be identified <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/exwalker-aide-was-in-inner-circle-9a3n36k-136917278.html" style="text-decoration: none;">as a personal friend of Walker</a>. Walker himself so far has escaped indictment, but public records of the investigation, some accidentally released, leave little doubt that Walker knew about and used (and perhaps continues to use) an illegal in-house email system to illegally coordinate his public offices with his political campaigns, and to evade open records laws. The latest criminal probe has identified Walker as <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/election/2014/06/19/3451197/scott-walker-illegal-coordination/" style="text-decoration: none;">part of a “criminal scheme”</a> to evade campaign finance laws by arranging to have donations to his recall election laundered through Koch-funded super PACs.

But lies and corruption are not the end of the story. They merely set the stage for what is truly frightening about a possible Walker presidency.

3. Walker does not tolerate opposition.

This applies not only to opposition from other politicians (although it certainly applies to them, too—see <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-bottari/money-trail-revealed-did_b_6560042.html" style="text-decoration: none;">the fate of Mike Ellis</a>) but to everyone. Suppression of dissent through intimidation is one of the chief features of the Walker governorship, and a main source of the fear and discord Walker has inflicted on his state.

Walker uses the power of his office to punish opponents. His administration ordered unconstitutional mass arrests of peaceful <a href="http://wcmcoop.com/2013/07/27/wi-capitol-crackdown-shameful-mass-arrests-videos1a/" style="text-decoration: none;">political dissidents</a> in the Wisconsin State Capitol. In the state legislature, which Walker controls, laws have been introduced to eliminate the ability of local governments to block industrial projects of Walker’s donors, <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/gov-scott-walker-proposes-eliminating-lawmakers-from-new-wedc-board/article_773248da-bd9d-5226-9ce8-c6882e1c344b.html" style="text-decoration: none;">to eliminate independent government oversight panels</a>, <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/scott-walker-s-budget-plan-would-gut-secretary-of-state/article_e09ae92e-beae-51ce-948f-65fa3c5de922.html" style="text-decoration: none;">to eliminate the office of Secretary of State</a> (currently held by Douglas La Follette, a staunch opponent), <a href="http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/court-measure-seen-as-targeting-abrahamson/article_c4cd9118-ab2c-5209-abc2-d7bd4cbae028.html" style="text-decoration: none;">to remove the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court</a>, who has sided against Walker in several cases.

But much of the dirty work of intimidation is carried out by a network of right-wing groups that operate with a wink and nod from the administration, allied with unscrupulous legislators, Koch-funded lobbyists, and new right-wing media outlets set up by out-of-state billionaires. The most obvious of these intimidation efforts is a digitized, <a href="http://www.iverifytherecall.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">searchable online database</a> of the one million people who signed a petition demanding Walker’s recall. The barely unstated purpose of this list is to keep petition signers from being hired by pro-Walker businesses. <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/scott-walker-withdraws-appointment-of-student-regent-who-signed-recall-b9933118z1-211395241.html" style="text-decoration: none;">Walker himself withdrew the student</a> representative nominee for the Board of Regents because his name appeared on the list.

People who do not limit their dissent to petition signing can expect harsher treatment. Opponents of Walker’s mine deregulation legislation, crafted specifically to allow Florida billionaire Chris Cline to open an iron mine in northern Wisconsin (and Walker’s one and only “jobs initiative”) have been attacked openly in right-wing outlets like the Bradley-funded “Media Trackers,” and behind the scenes by state legislators. Mine opponents have had their jobs threatened, sometimes with success. Many <a href="http://www.wkow.com/story/22844795/2013/07/15/mining-supporter" style="text-decoration: none;">have received death threats</a>.

4. Under Walker, Wisconsin literally has become a lawless state.

The state has become a playground for the Walker regime and its supporters, and a dangerous place for the rest of us. State agencies, most notably the Departments of Justice, Administration, and Natural Resources<a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/scott-walker-would-tighten-control-over-dnr-cut-science-halt/article_f083af79-ae7f-5aed-8b57-9bbf27efc5fb.html" style="text-decoration: none;">are fully under the control of Walker and his minions</a>. Scientists and professionals have been replaced by political cronies who know nothing about the jobs they are supposed to do.

Ultimately, corruption and intimidation are unchecked in Wisconsin for two reasons: the State Supreme Court and the Wisconsin press. The State Supreme Court is controlled by <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/21/a-scott-walker-friendly-chief-justice-in-wisconsin.html" style="text-decoration: none;">four ethically challenged Walker allies</a> who barely even pretend to be honest, and who Walker and his friends can count on to make problems go away.

Meanwhile, the Wisconsin press has mostly been asleep. A few articles describe each new revelation of Walker’s deceit or corruption, with follow-up articles giving Walker’s explanation, and there the matter is left. Walker is almost never asked difficult questions or pressed to explain his often incoherent answers. Thus Walker’s friends can openly violate the law with little fear of either prosecution or sustained scrutiny. When Chris Cline, in clear violation of state law, sent heavily armed and unlicensed mercenaries to his proposed mining site in the Penokee Mountains, a publicity stunt designed to raise the specter of “eco-terrorism,” <a href="http://wcmcoop.com/2013/08/07/update-bullet-proof-security-to-be-allowed-to-continue-to-break-the-law/" style="text-decoration: none;">no charges were ever filed</a> and press coverage of the story quickly vanished.

The mysterious late <a href="http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8507" style="text-decoration: none;">“discovery” of 14,000 votes</a> in Waukesha County, which swung a State Supreme Court election to Walker ally David Prosser and thereby maintained Walker’s control over the court, <a href="http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8545" style="text-decoration: none;">has never been adequately investigated</a>, despite hundreds of suspicious irregularities and serious evidence of <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2011/04/13/something-smells-in-waukesha-county-wisconsin-and-its-not-the-cheese/2/" style="text-decoration: none;">ballot tampering</a> discovered during the state-mandated recount. The Government Accountability Board, the state agency that should have investigated this evidence, did not even look at it before certifying the election results.

The press accepted the results without question and never reported on the evidence of fraud. Illegal campaign donations, physical attacks on Walker opponents circulating recall petitions, online threats by pro-Walker groups such as <a href="http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2013/05/hey-hey-were-knotsies.html" style="text-decoration: none;">“Knot my Wisconsin”</a> and “Operation Burn Notice” have all gone unpunished and largely unreported.

Scott Walker has damaged the legal and political system of Wisconsin so badly that it may never recover. His house of cards is collapsing and <a href="http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/difficult-state-budget-a-self-inflicted-wound/article_0b2c23bf-6222-52dd-ba0f-3fafd7b8eb89.html" style="text-decoration: none;">even the state GOP knows it</a>. It is only because Wisconsin is just a state within a larger country, and not an independent country on its own, that it has not descended into totalitarian dictatorship. Scott Walker does not scorn moral constraints on his actions. Rather, he seems to not comprehend such constraints. Walker’s only limit is the limit of his power, and it is this limit that Walker wants to eliminate by becoming president.

wcmcoop stands for the <a href="http://wcmcoop.com/" style="text-decoration: none;">Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative</a>.

</div>

==

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/04/walker-wind-energy-health_n_6616692.html?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003" class="external text" title="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/04/walker-wind-energy-health n 6616692.html?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003" rel="nofollow" style="margin: 0px; text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.704px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: url("http://www.ic.ucsc.edu/college8core/c8wiki/skins/monobook/external.png") 100% 50% no-repeat rgb(255, 255, 255);">Scott Walker's Budget Includes $250,000 To Study 'Wind Energy System-Related Health Issues</a><span style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.704px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); display: inline !important;"> 2/15

===

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, an <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Scott_Walker_and_ALEC" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">ALEC alumnus</a> on whom CMD has done a <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/search/node/%22Scott%20Walker%22" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">great deal of reporting</a>, won relection with <a href="http://elections.nytimes.com/2014/liveblog" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">52% of the vote</a> against challenger Trek executive Mary Burke's <a href="http://elections.nytimes.com/2014/liveblog" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">46%</a>.

Wisconsin's outspoken, gaffe-prone state Senator <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Glenn_Grothman" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Glenn Grothman</a> has been a member of ALEC's <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Education_Task_Force" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Education</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/International_Relations_Task_Force" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">International Relations</a> Task Forces, having <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wisconsin_ALEC_Politicians" target="blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">paid for</a> his ALEC membership with taxpayer money. When U.S. Rep. Tom Petri (R-6) announced that he would not run for reelection, Grothman announced his candidacy, although Petri <a href="http://www.fdlreporter.com/story/news/local/2014/10/21/petri-will-endorse-grothman/17681085/" target="_blank" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">refused to endorse him</a>. Grothman ran against Democratic Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris in a district drawn up to be "safe" for Republicans. Grothman won with 56% of the vote.

- See more at: http://www.prwatch.org/node/12654#sthash.DkN3oZ13.dpuf

==

http://www.progressive.org/news/2014/07/187777/exclusive-after-subpoenas-walker-criminal-probe-wi-gop-sought-quietly-change-law  sounds like okla 3?

==

not tracking as well as i shd:

JH:

Scott Walker can't seem to run a clean campaign.

He first won the governorship of Wisconsin in 2010 from his position as Milwaukee Country executive. But it turns out that some of his aides at the county job were doing campaign work for him on the taxpayers' dime – and three of them were convicted of crimes for that bit of shiftiness.

Now, Walker himself – along with another set of aides and a slew of corporate and right-wing front groups – is in another money mess. State prosecutors have caught Walker & Company laundering illegal corporate donations and out-of-state dark money into his desperate $45 million campaign in 2012 to survive a recall election. They conspired to take millions of dollars from such "independent" spending groups as Club for Growth and the Koch brothers' shifty outfit, Americans for Prosperity, illegally and secretly putting this gusher of cash under the control of Walker's machine.

Having been caught laundering, Walker promptly switched to the spin cycle. I'm a victim of partisan Democratic prosecutors, he wails, calling the investigation an abuse of the judicial system. Indeed, he says starchily, even a federal judge has ruled that no laws were broken, and he told prosecutors stop the investigation and destroy the evidence they've collected.

Destroy the evidence? Who is this judge? He is Rudolph T. Randa, who was a staunch Republican partisan when he was rewarded with a judgeship in 1992 by George H.W. Bush. More telling about his bias, however, is that Randa is the only federal district judge in Wisconsin who is a regular on the circuit of right-wing judicial junkets. And who pays for those junkets? The Koch brothers.

To keep up with this fast-spinning saga of Scott Walker's campaign corruption, connect to the Center for Media and Democracy:<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">www.prwatch.org</a>.

"Gov. Walker's Campaign Violations," The New York Times, June 21, 2014.

"Wisconsin Governor at Center Of a Vast Fund-Raising Case," The New York Times, June 20, 2014.

"Walker wins Wisconsin recall election flooded with outside spending,"<a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/06/05/9111/walker-wins-wisconsin-recall-election-flooded-outside-spending" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">www.publicintegrity.org</a>, June 5 2012.

"Meet The Republican Judge Fighting To Bail Scott Walker Out Of A Criminal Investigation," <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/05/11/3436347/meet-the-republican-judge-fighting-to-bail-scott-walker-out-of-a-criminal-investigation/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">www.thinkprogress.org</a>, May 11, 2014.

<h3 style=" margin: 0px 0px 0.3em; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0.17em; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 19.2000007629395px; background: none rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/12515" style="text-decoration: none; padding-right: 13px; background: url("data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAKCAYAAACNMs+9AAAAVElEQVR42n3PgQkAIAhEUXdqJ3dqJ3e6IoTPUSQcgj4EQ5IlUiLE0Jil3PECXhcHGBhZ8kg4hwxAu3MZeCGeyFnAXp4hqNQPnt7QL0nADpD6wHccLvnAKksq8iiaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC") 100% 50% no-repeat;">Bradley Foundation Bankrolled Push Back on John Doe Criminal Probe</a></h3>

===

The "charitable" wing of David Koch's Americans for Prosperity has dropped nearly $900,000 on ads to boost Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's reelection campaign, just days after polls showed Walker tied with his Democratic challenger, Mary Burke.

Incredibly, whomever provided the funding for the ads -- whether it was David Koch himself or a collection of deep-pocketed donors -- can write-off the expenses as a charitable contribution, just like a donation to a neighborhood church or the American Red Cross.

The latest ads from the 501(c)(3) Americans for Prosperity Foundation recycle the "It's Working" message that it first pushed in 2011 and 2012, when Walker faced a recall election sparked by his controversial bill to strangle public sector unions in the state. AFP spent around $2.9 million on those ads, which it aired along with another 501(c)(3), the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/MacIver_Institute" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">MacIver Institute</a>, a <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=State_Policy_Network" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">State Policy Network</a> affiliate. (AFP also used the "It's Working" messaging for five ads it ran in the 2013 <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/11/12296/koch%E2%80%99s-win-some-and-lose-some-2013-elections" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Douglas County, Colorado school board race</a>).

Overall, AFP's 501(c)(4) and 501(c)(3) wings together <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/03/politics/wisconsin-recall-bus-tour/" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">spent $10 million</a> in Wisconsin during Walker's 2012 recall election (and <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-record-amount-of-money-spent-on-wisconsin-recall/" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">sent 75 paid staffers to the state</a>), and other Koch-backed groups, like <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/01/12354/exclusive-koch-network-funded-ads-telling-voters-recall-not-wisconsin-way" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Coalition for American Values</a>and <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/11/12309/new-john-doe-investigation-probes-dark-money-wisconsin-recall-elections-club" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">Wisconsin Club for Growth</a>, spent milllions more.

Like the <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/11/11141/pro-walker-ads-courtesy-koch-industries" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">2011-2012 "It's Working" ads</a>, AFP's <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBi77ByZUeI" style=" border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">latest spots</a> don't explicitly mention Walker, but tout Walker's policies, praising the "strong leadership in Madison" and describing Walker's collective bargaining restrictions as "the right thing to do."...

<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/12490">http://www.prwatch.org/node/12490</a>

===

doe update; <a href="http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Byc1ZZ2aOyDRchAVpo6A5JWudOGjMxFq">http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Byc1ZZ2aOyDRchAVpo6A5JWudOGjMxFq</a>

===

ex health care exec took 5th on fed $

jh: Not when the "leaders" are in the pocket of corporate interests that don't like where the people are leading. Take Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, who never met a corporate pocket too grungy to climb into. The story starts in 2008, when the people of Milwaukee took the lead on the crying need for workers to receive paid sick leave. Without paid leave, employees feel compelled to go to work when ill, which spreads their illness. Seven out of 10 voters approved that measure in a citywide referendum.

Corporate interests, however, sued to stall the people's will, tying the sick leave provision up in court until 2011. By then, corporations had put up big bucks to put Walker into the governorship… and right into their pocket. Sure enough, Walker dutifully nullified the Milwaukee vote by passing a "state preemption" law, autocratically banning local governments from requiring sick leave benefits for employees.

Just three months later, Walker's preemption ploy was the star at a meeting of ALEC, the corporate front group that brings state legislators into secret sessions with CEOs and lobbyists. There, legislators are handed model laws to benefit corporations – then sent home to pass them. At a session overseen by Taco Bell, attendees got copies of Walker's no-paid-sick-leave law, along with a how-to lecture by the National Restaurant Association. "Go forth and preempt local democracy," was the message.

And, lo, they did. Bills outlawing paid-sick-leave ordinances are being considered in at least 12 states this year, and nine have already passed theirs, including Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, and Kansas.

By spreading Walker's nastiness from state to state, money-grubbing fast food chains are spreading illness all across our land.

"Forced to Work Sick? That's Fine With Disney, Red Lobster, and Their Friends at ALEC," <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/paid-sick-leave-florida-disney-alec" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">www.motherjones.com</a>, June 27, 2013.

"Efforts to Deliver "Kill Shot" to Paid Sick Leave Tied to ALEC,"<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/04/12037/efforts-deliver-kill-shot-paid-sick-leave-tied-alec" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">www.prwatch.org</a>, April 3, 2013.

"Sick? The GOP Wants You To Come To Work Anyway,"<a href="http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/gop-wants-you-work-sick" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">www.alternet.org</a>, June 26, 2013.

==

gold star award; Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker got a boost last week from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in its annual Rich States, Poor States report. Despite Bureau of Labor Statistics data putting Wisconsin in <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/wisconsin-private-sector-job-creation-ranking-declines-799bcsa-200435291.html" target="_blank">44th place </a>for private-sector job creation, ALEC placed the state as 15th in the country in its ranking of economic outlook, giving Walker -- a former ALEC member -- a boost as he lays the groundwork for a re-election campaign and a possible Presidential bid.

The ALEC report ranks the states by "economic outlook," based on factors including the existence of "right to work" anti-union laws, and the rates at which personal and corporate taxes are levied by the state. Wisconsin gains points in the ALEC assessment for having no inheritance tax, the lowest possible minimum wage, and for having a lower than average number of public employees. But ALEC also docks points because, despite Walkers' infamous attack on the right of public-sector workers to organize in Wisconsin, the state has not passed a private-sector "right to work" law.

The report effectively grades states in line with the very policy positions that ALEC promotes through its "model" legislation, including the privatization of public services, the elimination of regulations, and attacks on workers rights.

<h2>Even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Knows WI Has a Jobs Problem</h2>

Since Walker took office in 2010, job growth in Wisconsin has taken a nosedive. Wisconsin has consistently lagged behind neighboring states and the nation as a whole in terms of new job creation, a trend that was predicted by <a href="http://www.decisionsonevidence.com/2012/02/six-states-not-keeping-up-with-improving-u-s-economy/" target="_blank">Federal Reserve economists </a>shortly after reviewing Walker's 2011-2012 austerity budget. Walker's steep and controversial budget cuts abruptly moved Wisconsin from positive territory into negative territory as the graph below illustrates.

---

<h1 class="print-title">Scott Walker, GOP Slip ALEC Education Agenda Into Wisconsin Budget</h1>

<div class="meta">by <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/users/35275/brendan-fischer" title="View user profile.">Brendan Fischer</a> [1] — May 23, 2013 - 7:25am</div>

<ul>

<li class="vocabulary-2">Topics: <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/topics/democracy">Democracy</a> [2], <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/topics/education">Education</a> [3], <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/topics/politics">Politics</a> [4]</li>

</ul>

</div>

<ul>

<li class="vocabulary-9">Projects: <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/projects/alec-exposed">ALEC Exposed</a> [5], <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/projects/wisconsin-protests">Wisconsin Protests</a> [6]</li>

</ul>

</div>

<div class="content clearfix"><a class="da2a_button" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2013%2F05%2F12099%2Fscott-walker-gop-slip-alec-education-agenda-wisconsin-budget&linkname=Scott%20Walker%2C%20GOP%20Slip%20ALEC%20Education%20Agenda%20Into%20Wisconsin%20Budget" id="da2a_1"><img brain="false" src="http://www.prwatch.org/sites/all/modules/addtoany/images/share_16_16.png" alt="Share/Save" height="16" width="16" /> Share this</a> [7]

Governor Scott Walker seeks to "radically" overhaul Wisconsin's education system using several pieces of American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model legislation, and to do it through the budget process, meaning this privatization agenda could be enacted with minimal public discussion or debate.

The proposed budget provisions have the potential to "radically change public education in the State of Wisconsin," says Julie Mead, chair of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

On the campaign trail in 2010, Walker had <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20101118093945/http://www.scottwalker.org/issues/government-reform" target="_blank">pledged</a> [8] to "strip policy and pork projects from the state budget." But at least 46 non-budgetary items have been slipped into the proposed 2013-2015 budget, including ALEC-connected proposals limiting local school board oversight for charter schools, expanding "voucher" programs, and creating new teaching licenses for individuals with no education background.

"If these proposals have merit, they should be discussed in full light of day," she said. "They should not be snuck in through a budget bill."

The ALEC-inspired budget provisions include:

<h2>Limiting Local Control Through Expanding Charter Authorizers</h2>

One budget provision creates a "Charter School Oversight Board" that would approve nonprofit entities as independent charter school authorizers. It tracks the general ideas in the ALEC <a href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/5/57/2D4-Next_Generation_Charter_Schools_Act_Exposed.pdf" target="_blank">Next Generation Charter Schools Act</a> [9].

Currently, only local school boards, elected by the community, can authorize a charter school; in Milwaukee, the Common Council and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are also authorizers.

Michael Resnick of the National School Board Association says his organization supports charters -- provided that they are approved by the local school board.

"What you want is a strong level of collaboration between the charter and school district," he told the Center for Media and Democracy, ideally with both the charter and traditional schools learning from one another. "The goal is working within the community and wanting all children to succeed."

"The local school district has a vested interest in the kids enrolled in charter schools, particularly because kids will come back into the public school system if the charter is inadequate," Resnick said. If that happens, "the public school is then held accountable for [the student's] performance, regardless of what academic disturbance might have occurred in the charter."

For Mead, another issue is accountability: both local school boards and the state superintendent are elected by the community, but independent charter school authorizers have no such accountability. "This means the publicly-funded charter schools are completely shielded from voter input," she said.

A press release from Governor Walker's office <a href="http://walker.wi.gov/Default.aspx?Page=65ea2073-bf41-460b-8f8a-911f18f8c620" target="_blank">claims</a> [10] the board will "preserve local control." Mead disagrees.

"There would be no local control here," Mead says. "It would wrest control from school boards, and likewise from the community that elects those school boards."

Mead also notes that, if a charter school proposal was rejected by a community and its school board, an independent authorizer could be "a defacto appellate mechanism." A charter operator could move on to the unelected independent authorizer for approval.

A <a href="http://host.madison.com/news/local/education/republican-bill-calls-for-a-board-of-political-appointees-to/article_a685fc34-5426-11e0-bd7a-001cc4c002e0.html" target="_blank">similar proposal</a> [11] to establish a board that would directly authorize charters was introduced as a standalone bill in 2011, but failed to pass.

<h2>Expanding Taxpayer Funded Vouchers</h2>

The budget also expands the school voucher program that diverts taxpayer dollars away from public schools to subsidize private and for-profit schools, not only by increasing funding for vouchers, but also by requiring voucher programs in any district with more than two schools deemed "failing." The private school accepting the student would receive the aid for the student and the former school would lose it. This reflects the principles in the ALEC <a href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/e/e7/2E3-Education_Accountability_Act_Exposed.pdf" target="_blank">Education Accountability Act</a> [12].

The proposal would immediately affect at least nine school districts, including Madison. The Madison Metropolitan School District estimates that it could lose up to $7 million in state aid once the voucher program is fully implemented.

"If we're losing millions in state aid, we have to cut back on something," <a href="http://www.madisoncommons.org/?q=content/public-private-schools-in-madison-consider-the-impact-of-voucher-program" target="_blank">said</a> [13] Madison Board of Education member Arlene Silveira. "We'll have to reduce programming and increase class sizes," and possibly raise property taxes to help cover the loss.

Another budget provision would provide taxpayer-funded vouchers for all students with disabilities, regardless of family income. This tracks the ALEC Special Needs Scholarship Program Act; ALEC <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/ALECs_17th_Report_Card.pdf" target="_blank">has been tracking the passage</a> [14] of the bill across the country. A similar proposal was introduced as a standalone bill last session but failed to pass.

Families using a voucher might unknowingly forfeit the protections provided by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), including the right to a "free, appropriate education" and an individualized lesson plan.

According to Mead, IDEA already contains an opportunity for students to get reimbursed for private school tuition, but only if they show two things: one, that the public school was substandard, and two, that the private school met IDEA's requirements for a free and appropriate education.

Under the proposed Special Needs Scholarship Program, parents would be entitled to a voucher without such a showing. And there would be little accountability for the schools accepting students under the voucher system. The Department of Education has already <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/wisconsin-told-to-boost-oversight-of-voucher-schools-disability-rolls-7f9q8ht-205839281.html" target="_blank">raised concerns</a> [15] about the lack of oversight for Wisconsin students with disabilities attending private schools on a regular voucher.

"The idea that we want to make special education high-quality is beyond argument. We want it to be continuously improved in the same way want all education programs improved," she said. "But how does a voucher that allows parents to exit that system, and puts kids in a private setting with no oversight, accomplish that goal?"

Mead is also concerned about the broader issue of public accountability under taxpayer-funded, privately-run voucher schools. "The Supreme Court has held that students have a constitutional right to a sound, basic education," she says. With the public system, "if that is not provided, parents can press on their policymakers to make improvements and satisfy that right."

With "choice," though, Mead is concerned that the right merely becomes "a right to shop."

"Lawmakers can claim they are absolved of responsibility to improve the system, and instead just tell parents to shop around."

<h2>Teachers Who Aren't Teachers</h2>

Another budget provision would create a new teaching license for individuals with no formal education background but subject-matter experience to teach in charter schools. This reflects the ALEC <a href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/8/85/2F0-Alternative_Certification_Act_Exposed.pdf" target="_blank">Alternative Certification Act.</a> [16]

"Teaching standards have evolved the way they have because research shows a high-quality teacher not only needs a background in the subject they are teaching, but also that they are schooled in pedagogy and classroom management," Mead said. "Can we find folks who have no training that can teach? Of course. But teaching standards and training have evolved as a minimum way to guarantee to public and parents what they can expect when they enroll students."

Mead also notes what she calls an "interesting juxtaposition." The legislature recently created a new <a href="https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/115/II/415" target="_blank">educator effectiveness evaluation system</a> [17], which ratchets up state oversight over teachers by creating performance criteria based on student performance and other standards. But at the same time, with this bill, Republicans are simultaneously reducing requirements for becoming a teacher.

"They are lowering standards on one side while raising standards on the other," she said.

<h2>Wisconsin: Laboratory for Education Privatization</h2>

Wisconsin has long been a laboratory for the ideologically-driven school "choice" movement.

In 1990, Milwaukee was the first city in the nation to implement a school voucher program, under then-Governor (and ALEC alum) Tommy Thompson. ALEC, which had <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/National_Journal_1984_full_plate%20.doc" target="blank">promoted vouchers since the early 1980s</a> [18], <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/Heritage_Milwaukee_1990_ALEC.doc" target="blank">quickly embraced</a> [19] the legislation. The Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation <a href="http://cspcs.sanford.duke.edu/sites/default/files/Bradley%20Foundation%20and%20School%20Vouchers.pdf" target="blank">funded</a> [20] the groups that laid the groundwork for Milwaukee's voucher program, and when the plan was challenged in Wisconsin courts, Bradley <a href="http://cspcs.sanford.duke.edu/sites/default/files/Bradley%20Foundation%20and%20School%20Vouchers.pdf" target="blank">bankrolled</a> [20] its legal defense, which included hiring Kenneth Starr -- later known for pursuing Bill Clinton over Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky -- to represent the state.

Bradley is a top national funder of right-wing causes and organizations, including ALEC, and just over the past eleven years has spent over $31 million promoting "school choice" around the country, <a href="http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/p-is-for-payoff.pdf" target="_blank">according to</a> [21] One Wisconsin Now. The foundation has over $600 million in assets and is headed by Michael Grebe, Scott Walker's campaign co-chair.

Originally promoted as a program for Milwaukee's low-income students of color to have access to private education, the initial voucher program gained support from some African-American leaders and was co-sponsored by Rep. Polly Williams, a Milwaukee Democrat. But last session, Walker and his fellow Republicans broadened vouchers to families with higher incomes, and in the 2013-2015 budget are threatening to further expand the program. "They have hijacked the program," <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/207753841.html" target="_blank">Williams says</a> [22]. "As soon as the doors open for the low income children, they're trampled by the high income," she said. "It's as if the struggle we went through 20-some years ago -- now the upper crust have taken over."

By 2014-2015, Wisconsin taxpayers will have spent an estimated $1.8 billion sending students to private and religious schools.

School privatization interests are also major political funders in the state, spending at least $10 million in the last ten years, <a href="http://www.wisdc.org/pr040513.php" target="_blank">based on</a> [23] a review of political spending by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Walker alone received $2.35 million in contributions and outside support from pro-privatization groups.

The total spent could actually be much higher, thanks to gaps in reporting requirements. ALEC member American Federation for Children, for example, told state officials it spent only $345,000 on the 2012 elections, but <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/05/12101/issue-ad-charade-american-federation-children-uncovered-wisconsin" target="_blank">boasted to its funders</a> [24] it spent $2.4 million on Wisconsin legislative races. AFC got what it paid for: the top beneficiary of its spending, Rick Gudex, said he would vote against any budget bill that does not include an expansion of vouchers.

<h2>Will Radical Reform Happen Through the Budget Process?</h2>

The decades-long effort to reshape Wisconsin's public school system in an ideological mold might finally pay off this year -- and it could happen through the budget process, with minimal public input or debate.

"There is that saying, 'democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.' The public school system is the same way," Mead says. "It has problems, and can be better, but has served us pretty well for 150 years."

"We shouldn't be ready to seriously alter it through the budget process, without a real conversation about whether the proposed changes will result in better systems overall."

</div>

<div class="print-footer">Center for Media and Democracy • 520 University Avenue, Suite 260 • Madison, Wisconsin 53703

Phone: 608-260-9713 • Fax: 608-260-9714</div>

<div class="print-source_url">Source URL: <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/05/12099/scott-walker-gop-slip-alec-education-agenda-wisconsin-budget">http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/05/12099/scott-walker-gop-slip-alec-education-agenda-wisconsin-budget</a></div>

Links:

[1] http://www.prwatch.org/users/35275/brendan-fischer

[2] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/democracy

[3] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/education

[4] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/politics

[5] http://www.prwatch.org/projects/alec-exposed

[6] http://www.prwatch.org/projects/wisconsin-protests

[7] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prwatch.org%2Fnews%2F2013%2F05%2F12099%2Fscott-walker-gop-slip-alec-education-agenda-wisconsin-budget&linkname=Scott%20Walker%2C%20GOP%20Slip%20ALEC%20Education%20Agenda%20Into%20Wisconsin%20Budget

[8] http://web.archive.org/web/20101118093945/http://www.scottwalker.org/issues/government-reform

[9] http://alecexposed.org/w/images/5/57/2D4-Next_Generation_Charter_Schools_Act_Exposed.pdf

[10] http://walker.wi.gov/Default.aspx?Page=65ea2073-bf41-460b-8f8a-911f18f8c620

[11] http://host.madison.com/news/local/education/republican-bill-calls-for-a-board-of-political-appointees-to/article_a685fc34-5426-11e0-bd7a-001cc4c002e0.html

[12] http://alecexposed.org/w/images/e/e7/2E3-Education_Accountability_Act_Exposed.pdf

[13] http://www.madisoncommons.org/?q=content/public-private-schools-in-madison-consider-the-impact-of-voucher-program

[14] http://www.prwatch.org/files/ALECs_17th_Report_Card.pdf

[15] http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/wisconsin-told-to-boost-oversight-of-voucher-schools-disability-rolls-7f9q8ht-205839281.html

[16] http://alecexposed.org/w/images/8/85/2F0-Alternative_Certification_Act_Exposed.pdf

[17] https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/115/II/415

[18] http://www.prwatch.org/files/National_Journal_1984_full_plate .doc

[19] http://www.prwatch.org/files/Heritage_Milwaukee_1990_ALEC.doc

[20] http://cspcs.sanford.duke.edu/sites/default/files/Bradley%20Foundation%20and%20School%20Vouchers.pdf

[21] http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/p-is-for-payoff.pdf

[22] http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/207753841.html

[23] http://www.wisdc.org/pr040513.php

[24] http://www.prwatch.org/news/2013/05/12101/issue-ad-charade-american-federation-children-uncovered-wisconsin

===

Gov. Scott Walker (R) has <a href="http://www.midwestenergynews.com/2011/01/24/critics-say-realtors-behind-walkers-wind-restrictions/">pushed legislation</a> that would hamper wind developments, and some state lawmakers and local officials have also tried to throw roadblocks in front of the wind industry.

http://grist.org/news/wisconsin-left-way-way-behind-in-wind-energy-boom/

==

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker">http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker</a>

Scott Walker is the Republican Governor of Wisconsin who, in 2011, proposed sharply curtailing the bargaining rights of public employee unions as a way to achieve budget savings. His proposal gave rise to unprecedented state-wide protests in Wisconsin.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-0">[1]</a>

<h2>Contents</h2>

[<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#" class="internal" id="togglelink">hide</a>] </div>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#.22John_Doe.22_Criminal_Investigation_of_Scott_Walker.27s_Former_Staff_and_Associates">1 "John Doe" Criminal Investigation of Scott Walker's Former Staff and Associates</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Secret_Email_System">1.1 Secret Email System</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Walker_Email_.22No_Laptops.2C_No_Websites.22">1.2 Walker Email "No Laptops, No Websites"</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#FBI_Raids_Home_of_Walker.27s_Former_Top_Aide">1.3 FBI Raids Home of Walker's Former Top Aide</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Immunity_Deals">1.4 Immunity Deals</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#15_Felony_Indictments.2C_Two_Convictions">1.5 15 Felony Indictments, Two Convictions</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Scott_Walker.E2.80.99s_Criminal_Defense_Attorneys">1.6 Scott Walker’s Criminal Defense Attorneys</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#2012_Recall_Election_and_Contradictory_Statements_Made_by_Walker_about_Collective_Bargaining">2 2012 Recall Election and Contradictory Statements Made by Walker about Collective Bargaining</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-9"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Barrett_to_Face_Walker_in_Historic_Recall_Election_on_June_5.2C_2012">2.1 Barrett to Face Walker in Historic Recall Election on June 5, 2012</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Walker_Runs_For_Governor_2010.2C_Omits_Plans_To_Eliminate_Collective_Bargaining">2.2 Walker Runs For Governor 2010, Omits Plans To Eliminate Collective Bargaining</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-11"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Oshkosh_Northwestern_Editorial_Board_Meeting.2C_October_2010_Walker_Says_He_Will_Work_with_Unions">2.3 Oshkosh Northwestern Editorial Board Meeting, October 2010 Walker Says He Will Work with Unions</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-12"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Walker_Introduces_Collective_Bargaining_Bill.2C_Public_Explanation_State_is_.22Broke.22">2.4 Walker Introduces Collective Bargaining Bill, Public Explanation State is "Broke"</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-13"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Walker_Defends_Bill_in_Fireside_Chat_As_Not_.22A_Battle_With_Unions.22">2.5 Walker Defends Bill in Fireside Chat As Not "A Battle With Unions"</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-14"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Walker_Tells_Congress:_It.27s_Not_About_Defeating_Obama">2.6 Walker Tells Congress: It's Not About Defeating Obama</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-15"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Walker_Tells_Congress:It.27s_Not_About_Punishing_Unions.26_the_Democratic_Donor_Base">2.7 Walker Tells Congress: It's Not About Punishing Unions & the Democratic Donor Base</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-16"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Video_from_January_2011_Has_Walker_Privately_Telling_Campaign_Contributor_that_Collective_Bargaining_Bill_Part_of_a_Plan_to_.22Divide_And_Conquer.22_Unions">2.8 Video from January 2011 Has Walker Privately Telling Campaign Contributor that Collective Bargaining Bill Part of a Plan to "Divide And Conquer" Unions</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-17"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#2012_Recall_Campaign-Walker.27s_Theme:_.22Promises_Kept.22">2.9 2012 Recall Campaign - Walker's Theme: "Promises Kept"</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-18"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Scott_Walker.27s_Budget">2.10 Scott Walker's Budget</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-19"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Victory">2.11 Victory</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-20"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Walker_Jobs_Controversy">3 Walker Jobs Controversy</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-21"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Walker_Says_Jobs_Will_Return_After_Recall">3.1 Walker Says Jobs Will Return After Recall</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-22"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Is_.22Right_to_Work.22_Next_on_Walker.27s_Agenda.3F">3.2 Is "Right to Work" Next on Walker's Agenda?</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-23"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Billionaires_Fund_Walker.27s_Effort_to_Fight_the_Recall_with_.24250.2C000-.24500.2C000_Checks">4 Billionaires Fund Walker's Effort to Fight the Recall with $250,000-$500,000 Checks</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-24"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Walker_Raises_and_Spends_Record_Amounts">4.1 Walker Raises and Spends Record Amounts</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-25"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Koch-Funded_AFP_and_RGA_Spend_Big_for_Walker">4.2 Koch-Funded AFP and RGA Spend Big for Walker</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-26"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Scott_Walker_and_ALEC">5 Scott Walker and ALEC</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-27"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Relationship_to_Koch_Industries">6 Relationship to Koch Industries</a>

<ul>

<li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-28"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#David_Koch_Admits_to_Funding_Walker_Campaign">6.1 David Koch Admits to Funding Walker Campaign</a></li>

</ul>

</li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-29"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Prank_call_from_.22David_Koch.22">7 Prank call from "David Koch"</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-30"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Biography">8 Biography</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-31"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Wisconsin_Protests_Daily_Live_Blog">9 Wisconsin Protests Daily Live Blog</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-32"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Walker.27s_Milwaukee_County_Executive_Days">10 Walker's Milwaukee County Executive Days</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-33"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Allegations_of_political_patronage">11 Allegations of political patronage</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-34"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Broken_Promise_on_Personal_Pension_Payments">12 Broken Promise on Personal Pension Payments</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-35"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Wind_power">13 Wind power</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-36"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Sourcewatch_resources">14 Sourcewatch resources</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-37"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#External_resources">15 External resources</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-38"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#Contact">16 Contact</a></li>

<li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-39"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#References">17 References</a></li>

</ul>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2>"John Doe" Criminal Investigation of Scott Walker's Former Staff and Associates</h2>

Since September of 2010 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-1">[2]</a> has been detailing an ongoing "John Doe" criminal investigation involving Scott Walker's former staff and associates. The wide-ranging investigation has included allegations of campaign finance malfeasance, embezzlement of funds from a veteran's charity, bid-rigging and even child enticement. As of June 2012, it has netted 15 felony indictments and four people are awaiting trial. John Doe investigations are secret proceedings, before a single judge, where witnesses can be subpoenaed and compelled to testify under oath about potential criminal matters, but are prohibited from speaking publicly about the case. The scope and targets of these investigations are unclear as a result of these gag rules.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-2">[3]</a>

<h3>Secret Email System</h3>

The John Doe investigation has uncovered that Walker's former staffers set up a secret wireless network in his County Executive office, during the time Walker served as Milwaukee County Executive but was running for governor.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-3">[4]</a> The scandal broke into the open when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Darlene Wink, a low-level constituent services coordinator, was caught Facebooking nasty comments about Walker’s democratic campaign opponents while working at her county job. Journal Sentinel reporter Dan Bice, who was tipped off about the on-line activity, interviewed Wink, but wasn't sure how big of a deal it was until he was called by the Walker team a few hours later and was told she had resigned.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-4">[5]</a>

Now we know from the indictments that the activity went far beyond Facebook. Investigators found boxes for two wireless routers in an armoire in Walker’s County Executive office. Packaging labels found with the boxes bore the name "Timothy Russell," Walker's deputy chief of staff. The allegation is that Russell set up an unofficial networking system so that staffers could conduct campaign business on their personal laptops while their salaries were being paid by the taxpayers. The secret email system was available for use by certain staff for both official and unofficial business. Its existence was "never disclosed to county employees outside a closely held group within the Walker administration," says the indictments (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/doe27-6q3v4uj-138159264.html">available here</a>). On county time, the staffers allegedly communicated extensively with Walker campaign staff, organized fundraisers, made invitations, exchanged fundraising lists and sent out campaign press releases. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-5">[6]</a>

<h3>Walker Email "No Laptops, No Websites"</h3>

The indictments include dozens of telling emails and chat sessions with county and campaign staff about political activities. In a chat session with Russell, Wink explicitly inquired about how to delete and destroy documents. She asked Russell: "How do I get rid of the PDF from my IM?" "I don't want to go to jail for this, ha ha."

</div>

After the story about Wink’s activities was printed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the morning of May 14, 2010. Walker sent the email above to Russell at 8:46 a.m. telling him simply "we cannot afford another story like this one. No one can give them any reason to do another story. That means no laptops, no websites, no time away during the work day, etc." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-6">[7]</a>

<h3>FBI Raids Home of Walker's Former Top Aide</h3>

On September 14, about a dozen FBI agents and other law enforcement officers descended upon Cynthia "Cindy" Archer's Madison home at 6:45 a.m. and seized boxes of materials. At the time of the raid, Archer was a top aide to Governor Walker in the Wisconsin Department of Administration, but formerly she served as one of his top aides when he was Milwaukee County Executive. Archer's neighbor said FBI agents also confiscated a hard drive he bought from her at a garage sale a few weeks ago.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-7">[8]</a> Archer was the third Walker aide to have computers seized as part of the "John Doe" investigation led by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm. Before he was Governor, Walker was the Milwaukee County Executive, and Chisholm has apparently been investigating whether county staffers in Walker's office did unlawful campaign-related work while at their county jobs. Archer has not been charged with any crimes.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-8">[9]</a>

<h3>Immunity Deals</h3>

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on September 23, 2011 that former Appeals Court Judge Neal Nettesheim, who is overseeing the investigation, acknowledged that he had granted immunity to Walker's Press Secretary, Cullen Werwie, and a number of other individuals. Werwie joined Walker's campaign after the September 2010 primary and stayed on when Walker was sworn in as governor. Werwie had no comment when the story broke. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-9">[10]</a> Walker denied any knowledge of the investigation telling a Wisconsin news channel, "We don't know what exactly is involved there until we know any more." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-10">[11]</a> The 13th person to be granted immunity, Fran McLaughlin, was announced May 31, 2012. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-11">[12]</a> She served as Walker's spokeswoman while he was Milwaukee County executive, and as his communications director from 2007 to 2010. Others granted immunity are David Halbrooks, GOP official Rose Ann Dieck, Suzanne Immel, Timothy Karp, Dale Thomas, David Hackbarth, James Lombard, Bernard Meighan, Steven Beske, Gilbert Loberg, and Kenneth Lucht. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-12">[13]</a>

Those Granted Immunity and their Role in the Investigation

<ul>

<li>Cullen Werwie: Walker's Current Press Secretary</li>

<li>Fran McLaughlin, Walker's Former Press Secretary</li>

<li>David Halbrooks: Milwaukee attorney with Democratic ties who specializes in procurement</li>

<li>Rose Ann Dieck: a retired teacher and Milwaukee County Republican party activist</li>

<li>Suzanne Immel: Donor to scott walker: $500</li>

<li>Timothy Karp: vice president of finance for Wisconsin and Southern Railroad</li>

<li>Dale Thomas: donor to scott walker: $4,900 (Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Employee)</li>

<li>David Hackbarth: donor to scott walker: $4,900 (Wisconsin and Southern railroad employee)</li>

<li>James Lombard: Donor to scott walker: $5,000 (Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Employee)</li>

<li>Bernard Meighan: Donor to scott walker: $5,000. (Railroad Superintendent for Maintainence)</li>

<li>Steven Beske: donor to scott walker: 5,000$ (Railroad Employee)</li>

<li>Gilbert Loberg:donor to scott walker: $5,000 ( Railroad Accountant)</li>

<li>Kenneth Lucht: Donor to scott walker: $5,000 (Government Relations specialist for the Railroad)</li>

</ul>

<h3>15 Felony Indictments, Two Convictions</h3>

Timothy Russell (former top aide, holding over eight positions including deputy chief of staff, to then Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker): charged with 2 felonies, and one misdemeanor related to embezzlement of veterans funds. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://media.jsonline.com/documents/Russell_complaint2_010312.pdf">Read the criminal complaint here</a>.

Brian Pierick (boyfriend of Timothy Russell): charged with 2 felonies. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/Criminal+Complaint+Brian+Pierick.pdf">Read the criminal complaint here</a>.

Kevin Kavanaugh (appointed by Walker as county veterans official): charged with 5 felonies related to embezzlement of veterans funds. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://media.jsonline.com/documents/Kavanaugh_complaint_010312.pdf">Read the criminal complaint here</a>.

Kelly Rindfleisch (former top aide to then Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker): charged with 4 felonies relating to political fundraising while on the county payroll. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/2012-01-26+Rindfleisch+Complaint+%28File+Stamped%29.pdf">Read the criminal complaint here</a>.

Darlene Wink (former aide to then Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker): pleaded guilty to 2 unclassified misdemeanors as part of a plea deal that she made with the prosecutors related to political fundraising while on the county payroll. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://media.graytvinc.com/documents/2012-01-26+Wink+Complaint+%28File+Stamped%29.pdf">Read the complaint here</a>.

William Gardner (President and CEO of Wisconsin & Southern Railroad): pleaded guilty to 2 felony charges relating to campaign finance violations <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://media.jsonline.com/documents/railroad-exec-041111.PDF">read the criminal complaint here</a>. Gardner pled guilty to felony violations of Wisconsin campaign law in April of 2011. Gardner tried to convince prosecutors that his $60,000 in illegal contributions, which he funneled through staff and girlfriends, was an innocent mistake, except he had done the same thing the previous year.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-13">[14]</a>

<h3>Scott Walker’s Criminal Defense Attorneys</h3>

Campaign finance reports released in May 2012 disclose that Walker transferred another $100,000 into his criminal defense fund, "Scott Walker Trust" <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-14">[15]</a>, in addition to the $60,000 in his last report. Add this to the $160,000 that has already been paid to campaign attorneys <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-15">[16]</a> and it brings the total amount of legal fees disclosed so far to $320,000. Walker continues to receive donations above the $10,000 individual limit which is allowable only if he uses the funds to pay old bills <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-16">[17]</a> . However, many are speculating that Walker will use the funds to pay undisclosed legal bills. Walker is the only governor in the nation with a criminal defense fund due to a wide-ranging John Doe investigation by the Milwaukee District Attorney's office into his former staff and associates.

Walker hired two attorneys to represent him in this ongoing investigation, Michael J. Steinle, a high-profile, Milwaukee criminal defense attorney, and John N. Gallo, a former federal prosecutor from Chicago who specializes in grand jury investigations.

Michael Steinle is a criminal defense attorney at the law firm Terschan & Steinle, LTD. He has been included in the Best Lawyers in America and has been selected as one of Wisconsin’s Super Lawyers every year since 2005. He has also been recognized in Milwaukee Magazine as one of Milwaukee’s Best Criminal Lawyers. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-17">[18]</a> He has represented criminal defendants in a variety of cases including homicide, police brutality, public corruption and campaign finance fraud, and white-collar criminal cases. Some of Steinle’s cases include a former flag football coach accused of molesting several of his underage players. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-18">[19]</a> . He also represented clients in several homicide cases including the high-profile case of Richard Berhens who killed his live-in girlfriend and buried her body. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-19">[20]</a>, a road-rage killer <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-20">[21]</a> and most recently, a teenager accused of murdering his grandfather with an ax.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-21">[22]</a>

Some government officials Steinle has represented in criminal cases includes Gary Barczak, a Circuit Court clerk who was convicted of cocaine possession. There was also suspicion of theft due to shortages found in campaign finance reports. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-22">[23]</a> He also defended Milwaukee Alderperson, Rosa Cameron, on federal charges of fraud for illegally using federal grant money for her election campaign <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-23">[24]</a> and Ex-Elkhorn Mayor, Paul D. Ormson, on federal charges of campaign finance fraud <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-24">[25]</a>

John N. Gallo is a partner at Sidley Austin LLP, a large law firm in Chicago. He is a 1986 graduate of Harvard Law and a former federal prosecutor in Chicago. His practice areas include healthcare, securities, white-collar compliance, and grand jury investigations. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-25">[26]</a> He has represented a variety of corporate and government clients including, University of Chicago Hospitals, and T.D. Securities. Gallo recently represented Arlington Park horse racing track who were co-defendants with four other horse race tracks, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, and his campaign committee in an action brought by several Illinois riverboat casinos. The casinos allege that some of Governor Blagojevich’s illegal activities in office involved legislation which took money from the casinos and distributed it to the racetracks. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-26">[27]</a>

<h2>2012 Recall Election and Contradictory Statements Made by Walker about Collective Bargaining</h2>

<h3>Barrett to Face Walker in Historic Recall Election on June 5, 2012</h3>

Due to the controversy over Walker's bill to strip public workers of collective bargaining rights and controversial budget cuts to public education, the University system and health care, a recall campaign was launched against Governor Walker in 2011 and is scheduled for June 5, 2012. Wisconsin voters chose Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to run against incumbent Walker in the first gubernatorial recall election in the state's history on May 8, 2012. Barrett got 58% of the vote. He was trailed by Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk at 34%, State Senator Kathleen Vinehout at 4%, and Secretary of State Doug Lafollette at 3%. Wisconsin State Firefighters President, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Mahlon_Mitchell" title="Mahlon Mitchell">Mahlon Mitchell</a>, easily bested two unknown candidates for the right to run in the recall against Republican Lieutenant Governor <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rebecca_Kleefisch" title="Rebecca Kleefisch">Rebecca Kleefisch</a>. Walker faced a symbolic challenge from self-described (and attired) "Lincoln" Republican Arthur Kohl-Riggs, who received 3% of the vote in the Republican primary. Active campaigning by Walker and full mobilization by right-wing talk radio pumped up voter turnout in the Republican primary to unexpected levels.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-27">[28]</a>

<h3>Walker Runs For Governor 2010, Omits Plans To Eliminate Collective Bargaining</h3>

On April 28, 2009, Scott Walker <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.scottwalker.org/press-release/2009/04/scott-walker-announces-run-governor">announced his campaign</a> for Governor of Wisconsin, and described his priorities in broad strokes such as "a government that puts the needs of citizens first." "I believe in a state that places the education of its children above the needs of the special interests," said Walker.

On February 23, 2010, Walker announces to the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce Gubernatorial Candidate forum <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.scottwalker.org/press-release/2010/02/scott-walker-unveils-plan-bring-250000-jobs-and-10000-new-businesses-wisconsin">his promise to create 250,000 jobs and 10,000 new businesses</a> in Wisconsin in his first term. “If you elect me as your next Governor, I’ll get government out of the way and lower the tax burden so Wisconsin business owners and factories can create 250,000 jobs and 10,000 businesses in our state by 2015.” <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-28">[29]</a> He does not mention eliminating collective bargaining.

A February 22, 2011 PolitiFact Wisconsin <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/feb/22/scott-walker/wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-says-he-campaigned-his-/">documented</a> the fact that Walker did not campaign on his collective bargaining changes and took him to task for subsequent claims that he did. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-29">[30]</a>

<h3>Oshkosh Northwestern Editorial Board Meeting, October 2010 Walker Says He Will Work with Unions</h3>

<div class="thumbcaption">Oshkosh Northwestern Editorial Board video</div>

</div>

On October 26, 2010, Walker tells the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thenorthwestern.com/VideoNetwork/649759886001/Republican-Gov-candidate-Scott-Walker-visits-editorial-board">Oshkosh Northwestern editorial board</a> that he will negotiate with the unions to gain savings. (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://youtu.be/xfh7pDbNXb8">Video</a> released February 27, 2012.)

<h3>Walker Introduces Collective Bargaining Bill, Public Explanation State is "Broke"</h3>

<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/Default.aspx?Page=bc59a45d-15ec-4677-8e73-9ddcdf8a1b36">On February 11, 2011,</a> Walker introduces the collective bargaining bill, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://youtu.be/ftdt_Ak8HKM">saying state is "broke"</a> and we have no other choice. Critics charge that key provisions in the bill such as the ban on state collection of union dues and impossible elector hurdles for recertifying unions reveal the true union-busting nature of the bill. Unions are a key Democratic fundraiser.

<h3>Walker Defends Bill in Fireside Chat As Not "A Battle With Unions"</h3>

On February 22, 2011, Walker had his <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://youtu.be/-kVRcQNDTNI">first "fireside chat"</a> with Wisconsinites, claiming his administration is not targeting unions. "You see, despite a lot of the rhetoric we've heard the past 11 days, the bill I put forward isn't aimed at state workers, and it certainly isn't a battle with unions. If it was, we would've eliminated collective bargaining entirely, or we would've gone after the private sector unions. But we did not."

<h3>Walker Tells Congress: It's Not About Defeating Obama</h3>

<div class="thumbcaption">Scott Walker & Rep. Connolly</div>

</div>

On April 14, 2011, Walker testified before the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, asked if the collective bargaining bill is about defeating Barack Obama in 2012, Walker assures Connecticut Representative Chris Murphy, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://youtu.be/X48DGVeOjYc">"It's not about that."</a>

From the testimony:

<dl>

<dd>Rep. Chris Murphy: "It's hard to make the argument that this debate only plays out in the context of Wisconsin's budget fight. And in fact some of the key players in this drama seem to be pretty open about how this ultimately is about trying to kill a pretty important constituency for working families...</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>(Murphy quotes Wisconsin State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald on Fox News:)</dd>

<dd>If we win this battle, and the money is not there under the auspices of the unions, certainly what you're going to find is that President Obama is going to have a much more difficult time getting elected and winning the state of Wisconsin.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>And in a fundraising letter that [Fitzgerald] sent out, he was making the pitch that Republicans should be supported because they faced down big labor's bully tactics and the Democratic walk-out of the state Senate to break the power of unions of Wisconsin once and for all.</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>This sounds like a much broader political fight to defeat your opponents, to try to defeat the advocates for working families .... I'd like to know if you agree with the statements of your state Senate leader Scott Fitzgerald, and how you address the concern of many of ours that the reason that you have $2.1 million being spent on your candidate for the court, the reason you have groups like the Koch brothers pouring in thousands and thousands of dollars, because this is about a much broader effort, and it seems the key players in the fight, certainly in the state legislative level, are very open about how this is a much broader assault on unions and the allies of unions."</dd>

</dl>

<dl>

<dd>Walker responds, "....It's not about that. It's ultimately about balancing the budget now and in the future, not just through temporary, because we've had too many people temporarily trying to push our problems off to the future. This is a long-term answer, and is about long-term reform in our government, so our schools, our local governments and our states operate better. That's what it is for me."</dd>

</dl>

<h3>Walker Tells Congress: It's Not About Punishing Unions & the Democratic Donor Base</h3>

Walker was also asked by <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9uxrZXyfzc">asked by Representative Gerry Connolly of Virginia</a> if he has ever had a conversation with anyone about punishing unions and the democratic donor base:

<dl>

<dd>"Have you ever had a conversation with respect to your actions in Wisconsin and using them to punish members of the opposition party and their [union] donor base?" [asked Connolly]. "No," responded Walker. "Never had such a conversation?" continued Connolly. "No," said Walker.</dd>

</dl>

<h3>Video from January 2011 Has Walker Privately Telling Campaign Contributor that Collective Bargaining Bill Part of a Plan to "Divide And Conquer" Unions</h3>

<div class="thumbcaption">Scott Walker & Diane Hendricks</div>

</div>

In May of 2012, a video was released of a January 18, 2011 conversation with Beloit billionaire Diane Hendricks about creating a red state, wherein he states he is going to "divide and conquer" unions.

<dl>

<dd>Hendricks: "Any chance we'll ever get to be a completely red state and work on these unions and become a right-to-work? What can we do to help you?" Walker: "Well, we're going to start in a couple weeks with our budget adjustment bill. The first step is we're going to deal with collective bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use divide and conquer. . ." Hendricks: "Which state would you mirror? Is there any state that's already . . ." Walker: "Well, (Indiana Gov.) Mitch Daniels, did - now, see the beautiful thing is, he did it in Indiana, he had it by executive order that created the unions years ago, and so when he came in about a week after he eliminated through executive order. In Wisconsin, it's by the statute. So I need lawmakers to vote on it. But the key is by tying it to the budget, there's no way to unravel that..."</dd>

</dl>

<h3>2012 Recall Campaign - Walker's Theme: "Promises Kept"</h3>

Despite all these contradictions, a primary theme in Walker's campaign is <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://youtu.be/oRtyCVdKaU4">"keeping his promises."</a>

<h3>Scott Walker's Budget</h3>

An analysis by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families' <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://wccf.org/pdf/2012_policies_working_families.pdf">Wisconsin Budget Project</a> iterates the impact of the Walker Administration's budget cuts on working families.

Budget cuts are significant aspect of the drive to recall Governor Walker. More details on the budget are at the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker_Budget" title="Scott Walker Budget">Scott Walker Budget</a> page.

<h3>Victory</h3>

Scott Walker eventually defeated Barrett, becoming the first governor in United States history to successfully resist a recall. Walker won 53% of the vote compared to Barrett's 47% of the vote. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-30">[31]</a> Ultimately, about 80 million was spent on the election, most of this money was spent on behalf of Governor Walker and most of it was spent on television advertising. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-31">[32]</a>

<h2>Walker Jobs Controversy</h2>

<h3>Walker Says Jobs Will Return After Recall</h3>

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wisconsin was the only state in the country to have statistically significant job losses in the past year. Wisconsin lost 23,900 jobs between March 2011 and March 2012. The majority were government jobs, but that number included 6,100 private sector jobs, the most private sector jobs lost in any state. Scott Walker has a new theory about when the job situation will improve. He told NewsMax in an exclusive interview that job creators are waiting for him to win the recall. "I think the big thing that people are waiting for is to have the certainty of knowing that this sort of positive outlook for job creators is going to continue," Walker told NewsMax. "That's why I think that after June 5th, after these primaries are done, and when I and the lieutenant governor and these senators prevail, I think it means there will be a clear message to the job creators and the small businesses in the state that now is the time to add jobs." But economists at the Federal Reserve have a more dire view of the situation. They say, "there is little prospect that such trends will reverse. Given the contractionary policies implemented in the budget, this is no surprise."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-32">[33]</a>

In May 2012, shortly before damaging new jobs numbers for April were released by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, Walker went data shopping and produced his own jobs numbers. While the official BLS numbers showed a loss of 21,400 jobs from April 2011-2012, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-33">[34]</a> Walker's new numbers showed a job gain for the year. Politifact attempts to <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/walker-mixes-and-matches-to-create-jobs-number-fe5ht47-153791995.html">decipher the numbers here</a>. Walker cut an ad for the campaign that touts 30,000 new jobs created, his opponent accuses him of "cooking the books."

<h3>Is "Right to Work" Next on Walker's Agenda?</h3>

Governor Scott Walker has a history with this issue and with ALEC, which has promoted a "model" Right to Work bill for decades. Before becoming Governor, Walker was a state legislator from 1993-2002. As a freshman legislator in 1993, Walker joined ALEC and cosponsored Right to Work legislation in Wisconsin. If passed into law, 1993's <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/1993%20SB%20459%20Right%20to%20Work%20Walker.pdf">SB 459</a> would have applied to public sector as well as private sector workers. That bill failed to pass, but Walker kept trying, sponsoring another ALEC favorite, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/b/b8/Paycheck_Protection_Act_Exposed.pdf">"Paycheck Protection"</a> legislation (1997 <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/1997/related/proposals/ab624">AB 624</a>), which would make it tough for unions to spend money on elections. Immediately upon being elected governor in November 2010, Walker started drafting a bill to strip public workers of their collective bargaining rights, even before he was sworn in. Previously, Walker had told Congress that he decided to move on the bill only after unions attempted to rush final contracts through a lame duck session of the legislature in December 2010. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-34">[35]</a>

Over the past 18 months, Right to Work has been <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://youtu.be/dzs_ZMUvS_w">actively on the radar</a> of top legislators in <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://youtu.be/-mzItEnB-Cs">both houses</a>, discussed by Majority Leaders Scott and Jeff Fitzgerald with their caucuses. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11522/right-work-next-walkers-agenda">See more here</a>.

<h2>Billionaires Fund Walker's Effort to Fight the Recall with $250,000-$500,000 Checks</h2>

Due to a quirk in Wisconsin's campaign finance law, Governor Walker was able to raise unlimited amounts of money to fight his recall campaign for a short period of time after the recall papers were filed, but before the official election was scheduled. Numerous people handed Walker unprecedented checks for $250,000-$500,000 dollars. Previously their limit would have been $10,000 for an individual contribution. As of May 29th, 2012 the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign reports that Walker's top five campaign donors are <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Richard_DeVos" title="Richard DeVos">Richard DeVos</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Diane_Hendricks" title="Diane Hendricks">Diane Hendricks</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Bob_Perry" title="Bob Perry" class="mw-redirect">Bob Perry</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jere_Fabick" title="Jere Fabick">Jere Fabick</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=David_Humphreys&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="David Humphreys (page does not exist)">David Humphreys</a>.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-35">[36]</a>

<ul>

<li>Richard DeVos: DeVos of Holland, Michigan is the co-founder of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Amway" title="Amway" class="mw-redirect">Amway</a> Corp. and owner of the Orlando Magic, DeVos runs the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Richard_and_Helen_DeVos_Foundation" title="Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation">Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation</a>, a conservative foundation and grant making body formed in 1970. DeVos has been active in the school voucher movement, and Walker expanded Milwaukee’s voucher program and established a similar one in eastern Racine County in Wisconsin's 2011-2012 budget. DeVos donated $250,000 to Walker's campaign. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-36">[37]</a></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>Diane Hendricks: Hendricks of Beloit, Wisconsin is owner of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ABC_Supply&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="ABC Supply (page does not exist)">ABC Supply</a>, a supply company for contractors of all stripes. Hendricks garnered national attention in May 2012 after a tape was released that shows her asking Walker how he would turn Wisconsin into a "red" state and if he would implement "Right to Work" legislation. Walker responds telling her he would use "divide and conquer" as a strategy against unions, starting first with a "budget adjustment bill" applying to public workers. She gave Walker $500,000 on April 12, 2012 and $10,000 on January 31, 2011, making her his single biggest contributor. Hendricks has given money to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Paul_Ryan" title="Paul Ryan">Paul Ryan</a>, Ron Johnson, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Tommy_Thompson" title="Tommy Thompson">Tommy Thompson</a> and the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Republican_National_Committee" title="Republican National Committee">Republican National Committee</a> and is worth an estimated $2.8 billion. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-37">[38]</a></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>Bob Perry: Perry of Houston, Texas, gave Walker $250,000 on December 4, 2011. Perry's wealth comes from the homebuilding company Perry Homes, but he is most famous for bankrolling the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," which funded a blistering ad campaign against John Kerry during the 2004 presidential race. He is a big donor to Texas Governor Rick Perry (no relation), and he gave an eye-popping $7 million Karl Rove's American Crossroads group, one of the largest single campaign contributions ever. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-38">[39]</a></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>Jere Fabick: Fabrick of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is CEO of Fabco Equipment, Inc. Jere Fabick gave $250,000 to Walker in 2011 and 2012. In 2003, Fabick was fined for violations of Wisconsin's limit on political contributions for previous Republican Governor Scott McCallum. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-39">[40]</a></li>

</ul>

<ul>

<li>David Humphreys: CEO of Tamko Building Products, Missouri's David Humphreys is an out-of-state donor who gave Walker a hefty $260,000 in January 2012. A month later Humphreys gave $250,000 to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Republican_Governors_Association" title="Republican Governors Association">Republican Governors Association</a> which is running ads statewide supporting Walker and criticizing recall opponent Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-40">[41]</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-41">[42]</a></li>

</ul>

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (WDC) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that tracks money in politics. WDC's data shows that Walker's major contributors include a diversity of national and state-based firms, including <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Industries" title="Koch Industries">Koch Industries</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/AT%26T" title="AT&T">AT&T</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wal-Mart_Stores" title="Wal-Mart Stores">Wal-Mart</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/John_Deere" title="John Deere">John Deere</a> Tractor, Johnsonville Brats, Miller/Coors, Kwik Trip, Sargento Cheese, and SC Johnson & Sons (producers of Windex, Glade, Pledge etc).<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-42">[43]</a>

<h3>Walker Raises and Spends Record Amounts</h3>

Walker has spent a record $21 million as of May 2012 -- all Democrats combined barely raised $2 million in the same time period. Despite his record spending, polling shows that as many voters still dislike Walker as like him. A Marquette poll in May 2012 has Barrett beating Walker 47-46% among registered voters, putting the race in a statistical dead heat.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-43">[44]</a>

Walker spent $5 million on direct mail, rivaling the $4.5 million spent on TV. The direct mail allows him to build a national database of funders to tap for the recall.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-44">[45]</a>

Despite the anticipated union support for Barrett, he is likely to be at a financial disadvantage to Walker, who has been traveling around the country raising huge sums from out of state millionaires -- more money than any other candidate in Wisconsin history. For a period of time, he was allowed to raise unlimited amounts of money, and he did, many in $250,000 contributions. 74% of Walker's individual contributions are from out of state.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-45">[46]</a>

<h3>Koch-Funded AFP and RGA Spend Big for Walker</h3>

Walker is also backed by huge independent expenditures from the Republican Governor's Association and the Koch-funded <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a> Group. Americans For Prosperity has spent $2-3 million each on TV ads in support of Walker, while the ad spending by the Republican Governor's Association and their local PAC, Right Direction Wisconsin, has been estimated to be as high as $5 million two weeks before the recall. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-46">[47]</a> Both groups are anticipated to spend much more.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-47">[48]</a>

<h2>Scott Walker and ALEC</h2>

From The Center For Media and Democracy's report <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/c/cd/ALEC_Exposed_in_Wisconsin.pdf">ALEC Exposed In Wisconsin: The Hijacking Of A State</a>:

Before Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker ran for governor, he was a state legislator from 1993-2002, and he was an active member of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC" title="ALEC" class="mw-redirect">ALEC</a>. “Many of us, myself included, were part of ALEC,” he said in a 2002 interview. In addition to sponsoring ALEC’s Truth in Sentencing Bill (1997 AB 351), Walker attempted to privatize Wisconsin's prison system (1997 AB 634, 1999 AB 176, and AB 519), and sponsored early versions of anti-union legislation including “Right to Work” legislation (1993 SB 459) and “Paycheck Protection” (1997 AB 624). All these measures reflect long-standing ALEC bills and priorities.

After entering the governor’s office in 2011, Governor Walker called for the introduction of eight measures reflecting the ALEC agenda, listed as "by request of the Governor.” The first bill Walker called for upon taking office was Senate Bill 1 (which became Act 2), an “omnibus” bill that draws on numerous ALEC model bills to change liability rules and make it harder for Wisconsin families to hold corporations accountable when their products injure or kill.

When asked by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel if Governor Walker relied upon ALEC legislation when putting together this “tort reform” bill, Walker’s press secretary Cullen Werwie replied “absolutely not.” But as the bill was pending in the legislature, ALEC sent an email to Wisconsin members stating that ALEC “supports this legislation which includes numerous provisions that reflect ALEC's civil justice reform policy and model legislation.” After Act 2 became law, ALEC issued a press release commending Walker and the legislature “for their immediate attention to reforming the state’s legal system.” Walker promoted the bill as needed to free the private sector to create jobs. Today, Walker has the worst jobs record of any governor in the nation, with Wisconsin ranking 50 out of 50 states in job creation.

Other bills Governor Walker requested that incorporate parts of the ALEC agenda include: Act 1 (Health Savings Accounts), a tax break that shifts cost burdens to individual policy holders; Act 9 (Super Majority Act), which would allow a minority of legislators to block a majority vote to raise taxes (supported by Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, a long-time ALEC member); Act 10 (the Budget Repair Bill), which stripped most public workers of their collective bargaining rights; SB 13 (the Drug Liability Act), which would bar almost all suits by Wisconsin residents if a drug or medical device kills or injures a member of their family; Act 93 (the Trespasser Responsibility Act), which limits a property owner’s liability for injuries to another; Act 22 (Telecommunications Modernization Act), which deregulates the telecommunications industry; AB 14 (Interest Rate Judgment Act), which would have reduced the interest rate on court-ordered payments for Wisconsin families injured or killed by corporations; and Act 21 (Economic Impact Statement Act), which places hurdles on promulgating regulations, including regulations to ensure cleaner water and air for Wisconsin families.

Governor Walker has signed 19 ALEC-related bills and budget provisions into law. Many of these bills contain multiple provisions drawn from the ALEC playbook. In addition, Walker has received over $406,000 in recent years in campaign contributions from ALEC member corporations. Top ALEC corporate members that have contributed to Walker include: MillerCoors ($36,055), WellPoint ($34,200), Wisconsin Public Service Corp. ($28,364), Pfizer ($26,845), and AT&T ($22,875). <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-48">[49]</a>

About ALEC

</th></tr><tr><td style="">

<div style=" padding: 2px 5px;"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/ALEC" title="ALEC" class="mw-redirect">ALEC</a> is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alecexposed.org/">ALECexposed.org</a>, and check out breaking news on our <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.PRWatch.org">PRWatch.org site</a>.</div>

</td></tr></tbody></table>

<h2>Relationship to Koch Industries</h2>

OpenSecrets.org (the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_for_Responsive_Politics" title="Center for Responsive Politics">Center for Responsive Politics</a>) reports that <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Industries" title="Koch Industries">Koch Industries</a> donated $15,000 on July 8, 2010 and another $28,000 on September 27, 2010 to the Friends of Scott Walker political action committee, to help elect Scott Walker as Governor of Wisconsin. Koch Pipeline Company, L.P. operates a pipeline system that crosses Wisconsin, part of the nearly 4,000 miles of pipelines owned or operated by the company.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-49">[50]</a> Walker has taken more than $70,000 from gas and pipeline companies, and opposed a high speed rail project that would have reduced Wisconsin's dependence on oil. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-50">[51]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-51">[52]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-52">[53]</a>

David Koch also "personally donated $1 million to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Republican_Governors_Association" title="Republican Governors Association">Republican Governors Association</a> (RGA) in June of [2010]. This was the most he had ever personally given to that group.... The RGA in turn spent $5 million in the race, mostly on TV ads attacking Walker's political opponent, Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett.... According to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Open_Secrets" title="Open Secrets" class="mw-redirect">Open Secrets</a>, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Industries" title="Koch Industries">Koch Industries</a> was one of the top ten donors to the RGA in 2010, giving $1,050,450 to help with governors' races, like Walker's."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-53">[54]</a>

But this doesn't tell the whole story: "<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_Koch" title="David Koch" class="mw-redirect">David Koch</a> was the founder and chairman of a front group called <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Citizens_for_a_Sound_Economy" title="Citizens for a Sound Economy">Citizens for a Sound Economy</a>, which received at least $12 million from the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Family_Foundations" title="Koch Family Foundations">Koch Family Foundations</a> and which is the predecessor of the group <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a>."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-54">[55]</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a>, which is also funded by the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Kochs" title="Kochs" class="mw-redirect">Kochs</a>, funded pro-Walker protests in Madison during the battle over his controversial "Budget Reform Bill" after running "issue ads" in Wisconsin during the 2010 election cycle. AFP "featured him at its tea party rally in Wisconsin in September 2009, when he was running for the Republican nomination for governor.

"<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a> also ran millions of dollars in ads on a 'spending crisis' (a crisis it did not run ads against when Republicans were spending the multi-billion dollar budget surplus into a multi-trillion dollar deficit), and it selected Wisconsin as one of the states for those ads in the months before the election. It also funded a 'spending revolt' tour in Wisconsin last fall through its state 'chapter.'....

"What is the return desired for their investment? It looks like the first dividend Walker wants to pay, through the help of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch" title="Koch">Koch</a>-subsidized cheerleaders from <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a>, is a death knell for unions and the rights of workers to organize."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-55">[56]</a>

When Governor Walker testified in front of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Darrell_Issa" title="Darrell Issa">Darrell Issa</a> (R-California), on April 14th, 2011, Rep. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jackie_Speier" title="Jackie Speier">Jackie Speier</a> (D-California) "asked Walker how much money he had received from the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Brothers" title="Koch Brothers">Koch Brothers</a>. When Walker demurred -- 'I got contributions from 50,000 people' -- Speier asked if he returned their phone calls, too, and reminded him that <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Industries" title="Koch Industries">Koch Industries</a> contributed $43,000."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-56">[57]</a>

<h3>David Koch Admits to Funding Walker Campaign</h3>

<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_Koch" title="David Koch" class="mw-redirect">David Koch</a> admitted that he is helping fund Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign in an <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/david-koch-intends-to-cure-cancer-in-his-2185046.html?page=2">interview</a> with The Palm Beach Post. In the February 2012 interview Koch acknowledged that his group – <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a> - is hard at work in Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker is facing off with public unions and grappling with a possible recall vote.

"We're helping him, as we should. We've gotten pretty good at this over the years," he says. "We've spent a lot of money in Wisconsin. We're going to spend more," said Koch.

Funded by Koch money, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a> spent about $700,000 on an "It's working" television ad buy in the state that credits Walker's public pension and union overhaul with giving school districts the first surpluses they've seen in years.

"What Scott Walker is doing with the public unions in Wisconsin is critically important. He's an impressive guy and he's very courageous…If the unions win the recall, there will be no stopping union power," said <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_Koch" title="David Koch" class="mw-redirect">David Koch</a>. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-57">[58]</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-58">[59]</a>

<h2>Prank call from "David Koch"</h2>

On February 23, 2011, blogger Ian Murphy of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Buffalo_Beast" title="Buffalo Beast">Buffalo Beast</a> in Buffalo, New York phoned Walker posing as conservative billionaire businessman <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/David_Koch" title="David Koch" class="mw-redirect">David Koch</a>, one of Walker's major campaign contributors, and a major funder of the anti-union group <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a>. In the call, Murphy posing as Koch makes derogatory statements about unions and Democrats. When the fake Koch suggested placing "troublemakers" among the crowd of protesters who have been swarming the Wisconsin state capitol for eight consecutive days protesting Walkers' anti-union "budget repair bill," (presumably to discredit them), Walker admits, "We thought about that." Walker then says he concluded that real unrest might swing public opinion against him and that it was better to let the protests play out, saying the media would eventually lose interest. Walker never said he decided not to place troublemakers because doing so was morally or ethically wrong, or illegal. Walker drew greater scrutiny and questions from public officials over these statements, and became an object or criticism for taking the call, since at the time he had refused repeated calls from Democrats trying to reach him to discuss the legislation he was proposing. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-59">[60]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-60">[61]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-61">[62]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-62">[63]</a>

<h2>Biography</h2>

Scott Walker is the 45th Governor of Wisconsin. He was sworn in on January 3, 2011 after defeating his Democratic candidate Tom Barrett in a close race - 52 percent to 47 percent.

Soon after being elected, Walker created a political firestorm when he introduced a biennial budget that greatly defunds state programs that aid low-income families, the elderly and children. Mass protests started in February in the state's capital, Madison, when it was discovered that the budget also sought to eliminate almost all union collective bargaining rights and enforce sweeping reforms to public workers' pensions and benefits.

It was also discovered that many of Walker's campaign contributors were big corporations that benefit from changes made in his budget. Boycotts were started against companies like <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/M%26I_Bank" title="M&I Bank" class="mw-redirect">M&I Bank</a> and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Kwik_Trip" title="Kwik Trip">Kwik Trip</a> in protest. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch" title="Koch">Koch</a> Industries was Walker's biggest contributor.

The son of a preacher, Walker grew up in the small town of Delavan, Wisconsin.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-63">[64]</a> He attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI for four years without graduating. Before Walker was elected Wisconsin governor, he was the County Executive of Milwaukee County from 2002 to 2010 and a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1993 to 2002.

<h2>Wisconsin Protests Daily Live Blog</h2>

Beginning on February 14, 2011 the Center for Media and Democracy reporters provided live coverage of the historic protests in Madison, Wisconsin and related legal and political battles. The coverage focuses on the corporations and spinmeisters pulling the strings. The Center for Media and Democracy ended their daily live coverage on July 13, 2011. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-64">[65]</a>

<ul>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10081/wisconsin-protests-wednesday-february-16-2011">Wednesday, February 16, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10085/wisconsin-protests-thursday-february-17-2011">Thursday, February 17, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10090/wisconsin-protests-friday-february-18-2011">Friday, February 18, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10091/wisconsin-protests-saturday-february-19-2011">Saturday, February 19, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10092/wisconsin-protests-sunday-february-20-2011">Sunday, February 20, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10093/wisconsin-protests-monday-february-21-2011">Monday, February 21, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10100/wisconsin-protests-tuesday-february-22-2011">Tuesday, February 22, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10102/wisconsin-protests-wednesday-february-23-2011">Wednesday, February 23, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10142/wisconsin-protests-thursday-february-24-2011">Thursday, February 24, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10148/wisconsin-protests-friday-february-25-2011">Friday, February 25, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10151/wisconsin-protests-saturday-february-26-2011">Saturday, February 26, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10204/wisconsin-protests-sunday-february-27-2011">Sunday, February 27, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/10236/wisconsin-protests-monday-february-28-2011">Monday, February 28, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10250/wisconsin-protests-tuesday-march-1-2011">Tuesday, March 1, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10257/wisconsin-protests-wednesday-march-2-2011">Wednesday, March 2, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10291/wisconsin-protests-thursday-march-3-2011">Thursday, March 3, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10292/wisconsin-protests-friday-march-4-2011">Friday, March 4, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10333/wisconsin-protests-saturday-march-5-2011">Saturday, March 5, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10334/wisconsin-protests-sunday-march-6-2011">Sunday, March 6, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10335/wisconsin-protests-monday-march-7-2011">Monday, March 7, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10336/wisconsin-protests-tuesday-march-8-2011">Tuesday, March 8, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10337/wisconsin-protests-wednesday-march-9-2011">Wednesday, March 9, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10339/wisconsin-protests-thursday-march-10-2011">Thursday, March 9, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10567/wisconsin-protests-friday-march-11-sunday-march-13-2011">Friday, March 11 - Sunday, March 13, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10568/wisconsin-protests-monday-march-14-sunday-march-20-2011">Monday, March 14 - Sunday March 20, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10569/wisconsin-protests-monday-march-21-sunday-march-27-2011">Monday, March 21 - Sunday, March 27, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10570/wisconsin-protests-monday-march-28-sunday-april-3-2011">Monday March 28 - Sunday, April 3, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/05/10753/wisconsin-protests-monday-april-4-sunday-april-10-2011">Monday April 4 - Sunday, April 10, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/05/10754/wisconsin-protests-monday-april-11-sunday-april-17-2011">Monday, April 17 - Sunday, April 17, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/05/10757/wisconsin-protests-monday-april-18-sunday-april-24-2011">Monday, April 18 - Sunday, April 24, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/05/10758/wisconsin-protests-monday-april-25-sunday-may-1-2011">Monday, April 25 - Sunday, May 1, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/06/10866/wisconsin-protests-monday-may-2-sunday-may-8-2011">Monday, May 2 - Sunday, May 8, 2011</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/06/9944/live-reporting-wisconsin-protests">Monday, May 22, 2011 – Monday, July 11, 2011</a></li>

</ul>

<h2>Walker's Milwaukee County Executive Days</h2>

Walker was elected to Milwaukee County Executive in 2002 in a special election and served in that position until his gubernatorial election in 2010. As County Executive, Walker "enacted emergency budget powers"<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-65">[66]</a> by laying off 76 employees in an attempt to fix a budget deficit. Walker also started trying to restrict union bargaining rights before his Governor days.

"Walker believes that if the unionized employees take the wage and benefit reform, the budget gap would be closed. 'We're optimistic that if they came forward and accepted those changes that all the other employees have, we wouldn't have a gap.'"<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-66">[67]</a>

He also implemented a 35 hour workweek for county employees, "which was recently declared an overstep of his authority by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, have actually cost the county and state money in legal fees and corrective actions."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-67">[68]</a>

Walker was also courted by <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Americans_for_Prosperity" title="Americans for Prosperity">Americans for Prosperity</a>, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch" title="Koch">Koch</a>-funded tea party organization, during his time as County Executive. Walker was asked to "emcee" their annual Defending the American Dream Summit.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-68">[69]</a> He also spoke at a 2009 AFP rally in Milwaukee that attracted thousands.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-69">[70]</a>

In 2009, the state striped Milwaukee County of its role in administering food aid, child care and medical assistance programs that state Health Services Secretary Karen Timberlake said "was prompted by years of county mismanagement."<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-70">[71]</a> The <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/38911954.html">Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</a> said that state managers were installed to fix the following problems:

• The county's poor performance in the programs includes answering only 5% of the hundreds of thousands of phone calls to the county's public assistance call center every month.

• The county fails to process 30% of its benefit applications within the required seven days, with some families waiting weeks or months for food or health care.

• In 2007, 60% of county decisions to deny food or health care benefits were overturned within two months. That resulted in benefit delays and forced families to go through time-consuming appeals or a second round of applications.

• The county's high food assistance error rate means nearly one in five deserving applicants were cut off from the program in fiscal 2008.

The The Economic and Community Development Division was also eliminated under Walker.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-71">[72]</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wisdems.org/news/blog/view/2010-12-scott-walkers-legacy-of-ruin">The Democratic Party of Wisconsin</a> also reported that more than 30,000 jobs were lost in 2009 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Milwaukee County.

The <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wisdems.org/news/blog/view/2010-12-scott-walkers-legacy-of-ruin">WI Democratic Party</a> also released a statement stating: "After eight years of Walker’s feckless money mismanagement, Milwaukee County is on the verge of bankruptcy, according to a report by the Greater Milwaukee Committee with the structural deficit expected to climb to nearly $100 million by 2014.

<h2>Allegations of political patronage</h2>

Even though Walker has claimed Wisconsin is broke in part because public employees are overpaid, Walker's administration gave an $81,500/year job to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Brian_Deschane&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Brian Deschane (page does not exist)">Brian Deschane</a>, a man in his mid-20s, with no college degree, very little management experience, no environmental experience and two convictions for drunken driving. Deschane's father, Jerry Deschane, is executive vice president and a lobbyist for the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Wisconsin_Builders_Association&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Wisconsin Builders Association (page does not exist)">Wisconsin Builders Association</a> (WBA), whose PAC gave Walker $29,000 during the 2010 gubernatorial election. The donation made the WBA one of the top five donor PACs to Walker's campaign. In addition, members of the Wisconsin Builders Association donated over $92,000 to Walker's campaign over the last two years, for a total of $121,652. The younger Deschane held a part-time job at the Wisconsin Builder's Association prior to being awarded his job in Walker's administration. His job is in the Wisconsin Department of Examining Boards and Regulatory Authority. A Walker cabinet member hired Brian Deschane for a state job that paid $64,728/ year. Shortly after, he was moved to a position that paid $16,500 a year more, despite having only put in a few months with the state by then.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-72">[73]</a><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-73">[74]</a>

<h2>Broken Promise on Personal Pension Payments</h2>

Walker made a campaign promise to pay the full cost of his pension "immediately after taking office in January." An AP open records request sought to determine whether he was actually fulfilling that promise. However, records of Walker's Pension payments were redacted from the report released by the Governor's Office. Walker spokesmen Cullen Werwie later revealed that Walker did not start paying the full cost of his pension until August, meaning that he continued to not pay the full cost even while he sought increase pension payments and eliminate collective bargainging rights. Lt. Gov. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Rebecca_Kleefisch" title="Rebecca Kleefisch">Rebecca Kleefisch</a> made the same promises and similarly failed to start paying the full cost until August." <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-74">[75]</a>

<h2>Wind power</h2>

On January 11, 2011, Walker proposed a "regulatory reform bill" that contained a provision seeking to quadruple the distance between wind turbines and neighboring property (to 1,800 feet). A few weeks later, a joint committee of the legislature voted to suspend Wind Siting Rules that had already been developed in an open committee before Walker's bill was proposed, on the day the new rules would have taken effect. Wind proponents say that, combined, the actions have jeopardized approximately 700 megawatts of wind projects that were proposed in the state.<a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_note-75">[76]</a>

<h2>Sourcewatch resources</h2>

<ul>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/9946">Wisconsin Governor Walks on Workers</a>, Brendan Fischer, PRWatch.org, February 16, 2011</li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Koch_Industries" title="Koch Industries">Koch Industries</a></li>

</ul>

<h2>External resources</h2>

<ul>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.scottwalker.org/about/biography">Meet Scott Walker</a>, biography</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/9958">The Koch Connection in Scott Walker's War on Working People</a>, blog, PRWatch.org, February 18, 2011</li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wccf.org/">Wisconsin Council on Children and Families</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/117154428.html">Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Budget Coverage</a></li>

</ul>

<h2>Contact</h2>

<h2>References</h2>

<li id="cite_note-0"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-0">↑</a> Scott Bauer <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9LEOKOO0">Protests of anti-union bill swell to 25,000 people at Wisconsin state Capitol</a>, Canadian Business Online, February 17, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-1"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-1">↑</a> Daniel Bice, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/103836734.html">Investigations target Walker donor, aide</a>, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 27, 2010, accessed September 23, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-2"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-2">↑</a> The Center for Media and Democracy. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/09/11035/scott-walker-john-doe">Is Scott Walker John Doe?</a>. Organizational website. Accessed May 10, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-3">↑</a> Daniel Bice and Dave Umhoefer, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/doe27-6q3v4uj-138159264.html">Two ex-Walker aides charged with illegal campaigning</a>, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, January 26, 2012, accessed May 10, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-4"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-4">↑</a> Daniel Bice, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/93746099.html">Walker staffer quits after admitting she posted Web comments while at work</a>, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 14, 2010, accessed May 10, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-5"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-5">↑</a> Mary Bottari: <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/01/11264/secret-email-system-revealed-john-doe-probe-walker-staff">[1]</a> PRWatch, accessed May 10, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-6"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-6">↑</a> Mary Bottari: <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/01/11264/secret-email-system-revealed-john-doe-probe-walker-staff">[2]</a> PRWatch, accessed May 10, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-7"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-7">↑</a> Jason Stein, Patrick Marley, Steve Schultze, and Daniel Bice, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/129801878.html">FBI seizes items at home of former top aide to Gov. Walker</a>, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 14, 2011, accessed September 23, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-8"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-8">↑</a> The Center for Media and Democracy. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/09/11035/scott-walker-john-doe">Is Scott Walker John Doe?</a>. Organizational website. Accessed September 23, 2011.</li>

<li id="cite_note-9"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-9">↑</a> Mary Bottari <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/10/11064/recall-scott-walkers-campaign-coffers-open-business">Recall On: Scott Walker's Campaign Coffers "Open for Business"</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org">PRWatch</a>, October 17, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-10"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-10">↑</a> Mary Bottari <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-bottari/scott-walker-john-doe_b_978770.html">Is Scott Walker John Doe?"</a>, [http:www.huffingtonpost.com Huffington Post], September 25, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-11"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-11">↑</a> Daniel Bice <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/155988635.html#%21page=2%26pageSize=10%26sort=newestfirst">"Ex-Walker spokeswoman given immunity in John Doe probe"</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com">Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</a> May 31, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-12"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-12">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://wcca.wicourts.gov/courtRecordEvents.xsl;jsessionid=C467C039836B25DA104960D7336DA9D6.render6?caseNo=2010JD000007A&countyNo=40&cacheId=77F3F96425C6C954C0D538877480E261&recordCount=540&offset=91&linkOnlyToForm=false&sortDirection=DESC">In The Matter of John Doe</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://wcca.wicourts.gov">Wisconsin Court System Circuit Court Access</a> Milwaukee County Case Number 2010JD000007A</li>

<li id="cite_note-13"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-13">↑</a> Daniel Bice and Patrick Marley, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/119595644.html">Railroad CEO charged with campaign law violations</a>, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 11, 2011, accessed May 10, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-14"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-14">↑</a> Daniel Bice, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/155536765.html#%21page=3%26pageSize=10%26sort=newestfirst">Walker campaign sends $100,000 to John Doe legal fund</a>, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 29, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-15"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-15">↑</a> Daniel Bice, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/155536765.html#%21page=3%26pageSize=10%26sort=newestfirst">Walker campaign sends $100,000 to John Doe legal fund</a>, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 29, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-16"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-16">↑</a> Mary Bottari, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-bottari/scott-walker-john-doe_b_1241411.html">Secret Email System Revealed in "John Doe" Probe of Walker Staff</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com">Huffington Post</a>, Jan. 30, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-17"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-17">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.tsn-law.com/Bio/MichaelSteinle.asp">Attorney Profile</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.tsn-law.com">TSN Law</a>, Accessed May 30, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-18"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-18">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ULQaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BT4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6681%2C2484290">Coach Pleads Not Guilty to Molesting Player</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.google.com">Google News</a>, Oct. 3, 2001.</li>

<li id="cite_note-19"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-19">↑</a> David Doege, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ezsqAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0j4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2771%2C5233589">Trial ordered in woman’s slaying – Man accused of killing girlfriend, burying body on abandoned farm</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.google.com">Google News</a>, Dec. 27, 2001.</li>

<li id="cite_note-20"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-20">↑</a> David Doege, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.drdriving.org/news/rrnews2.htm">Road rage killing leads to 40-year prison term</a>, Organization Website, April 14, 2000.</li>

<li id="cite_note-21"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-21">↑</a> Bruce Vielmetti, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/teen-accused-in-ax-murder-changes-plea-to-guilty-7q3f3ft-135669038.html">Judge commits teen in Waukesha County ax killing</a>, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dec. 15, 2011.</li>

<li id="cite_note-22"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-22">↑</a> Jim Stingl, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=e6kaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Uy4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6124%2C3338964">Disparity Found in Barczak Fund</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://news.google.com">Google News</a>, March 14, 1998.</li>

<li id="cite_note-23"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-23">↑</a> Gina Barton and Georgia Pabst, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/765971/posts">Cameron indicted in misuse of funds She funneled grant money into her campaign U.S. attorney says</a>, Organization Website, Oct. 8, 2002.</li>

<li id="cite_note-24"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-24">↑</a> Ian Shuter, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://mortgagefraud.squarespace.com/journal/2004/12/13/former-elkhorn-mayor-charged-in-fraud-scheme.html">Former Elkhorn Mayor Charged in Fraud Scheme</a>, Organization Website, Dec. 7, 2004 (updated on May 8, 2006).</li>

<li id="cite_note-25"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-25">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sidley.com/gallo_john">Our People</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sidley.com">Sidley Austin Website</a>, Accessed May 30, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-26"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-26">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7th-circuit/1557590.html">Empress Casino Joliet Corporation v. Blagojevich</a>, Findlaw Website, Accessed May 31, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-27"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-27">↑</a> Mary Bottari <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11503/rematch-barrett-face-walker-historic-recall-election">Rematch! Barrett to Face Walker in Historic Recall Election</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org">PRWatch</a>, May 9, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-28"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-28">↑</a> Scott Walker, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.scottwalker.org/press-release/2010/02/scott-walker-unveils-plan-bring-250000-jobs-and-10000-new-businesses-wisconsin">Scott Walker Unveils Plan to Bring 250,000 Jobs and 10,000 New Businesses to Wisconsin by 2015</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.scottwalker.org">ScottWalker.org</a> February 23, 2010</li>

<li id="cite_note-29"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-29">↑</a> Dave Umhoefer <a rel="nofollow" class="external autonumber" href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/feb/22/scott-walker/wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-says-he-campaigned-his-/">[3]</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin">PolitiFact Wisconsin</a>, February 22, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-30"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-30">↑</a> Patrick Marley: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/guvrace06-ku5ld5b-157364555.html">Walker wins Recall over Barrett</a>. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Published June 6th, 2012. Accessed July 20th, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-31"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-31">↑</a> Mary Bottari: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/06/11583/framing-debate-how-walker-won-ad-war">Framing the Debate: How Walker Won the Ad War</a>. PRWatch. Posted June 14th, 2012. Accessed July 20th, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-32"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-32">↑</a> Mary Bottari <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/04/11480/walker-says-job-creators-will-be-back-after-recall">Walker Says that "Job Creators" Will Be Back After the Recall</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org">PRWatch</a>, April 25, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-33"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-33">↑</a> Bureau of Labor Statistics <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://gallery.mailchimp.com/5fdce0a26f89c28febc13998d/files/BLSApr11_Apr12.pdf">Total nonfarm employment (seasonally adjusted), April 2011-2012</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-34"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-34">↑</a> Mary Bottari <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11522/right-work-next-walkers-agenda">Is "Right to Work" Next on Walker's Agenda?</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org">P.R. Watch</a>, May 29, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-35"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-35">↑</a> Wisconsin State Journal: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://host.madison.com/data/politics/campaign-donors/">2011-12 money contributed to Wisconsin candidates, PACs and parties</a>. Compiled April 23rd, 2012, accessed May 29th, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-36"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-36">↑</a> Buying Our Future, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://buyingourfuture.com/walker-raises-big-money-from-out-of-state-billionaires/">Walker Raises Big Money From Out-Of-State Billionaires</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.buyingourfuture.com">Buying Our Future</a>, May 11, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-37"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-37">↑</a> Matthew Rothschild, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://progressive.org/walker_sugar_mommy_diane_hendricks.html">Who is Walker’s Sugar Mommy, Diane Hendricks?</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.progressive.org">The Progressive</a>, May 11, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-38"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-38">↑</a> Mary Bottari, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/01/11239/scott-walkers-texas-rangers">Scott Walker's Texas Rangers</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org">PR Watch</a>, January 13, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-39"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-39">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://pinterest.com/onewisconsinnow/who-s-buying-gov-scott-walker/">Who is Buying Governor Scott Walker</a>, [onewisconsinnow.org One Wisconsin Now], accessed May 29, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-40"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-40">↑</a> Daniel Bice, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://m.jsonline.com/more/news/watchdog/148339105.htm">Koch gives $1 million to pro-Walker GOP group</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com">JS Online</a>, April 20, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-41"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-41">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://pinterest.com/onewisconsinnow/who-s-buying-gov-scott-walker/">Who is Buying Governor Scott Walker</a>, [onewisconsinnow.org One Wisconsin Now], accessed May 29, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-42"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-42">↑</a> Mary Bottari <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/03/10341/wi-firefighters-spark-move-your-money-moment">WI Firefighters Spark "Move Your Money" Moment</a>, PRWatch.org, March 11, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-43"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-43">↑</a> Mary Bottari <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11503/rematch-barrett-face-walker-historic-recall-election">Rematch! Barrett to Face Walker in Historic Recall Election</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org">PRWatch</a>, May 9, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-44"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-44">↑</a> Mary Bottari <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11494/walker-raises-and-spends-more-money-any-candidate-wisconsin-history">Walker Raises and Spends More Money than Any Candidate in Wisconsin History</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org">PRWatch</a>, May 2, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-45"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-45">↑</a> Mary Bottari <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11494/walker-raises-and-spends-more-money-any-candidate-wisconsin-history">Walker Raises and Spends More Money than Any Candidate in Wisconsin History</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org">PRWatch</a>, May 2, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-46"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-46">↑</a> Wisconsin Democracy Campaign: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wisdc.org/index.php?module=cms&page=3413">Highjacking Recall 2012: Right Direction Wisconsin PAC</a>. Accessed May 25th, 2012.</li>

<li id="cite_note-47"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-47">↑</a> Mary Bottari <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11503/rematch-barrett-face-walker-historic-recall-election">Rematch! Barrett to Face Walker in Historic Recall Election</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org">PRWatch</a>, May 9, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-48"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-48">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/c/cd/ALEC_Exposed_in_Wisconsin.pdf">ALEC Exposed in Wisconsin: The Hijacking of a State</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.alecexposed.org">ALEC Exposed</a>, May 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-49"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-49">↑</a> Koch Industries, Inc. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.kochind.com/factsSheets/WisconsinFacts.aspx">Wisconsin Facts</a>, Koch company Web site, accessed February 18, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-50"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-50">↑</a> Center for Responsive Politics <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/expenddetail.php?cycle=2010&cmte=C00236489&name=Friends+of+Scott+Walker">Koch Industry Expenditures, 2010 Election cycle</a>, accessed February 17, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-51"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-51">↑</a> Lisa Kaiser <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/blog-5797-tea-party-backers-koch-industries-donated-$15000-to-scott-walker.html">Tea Party Backers Koch Industries Donated $15,000 to Scott Walker</a>, Express Milwaukee (blog), September 7, 2010</li>

<li id="cite_note-52"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-52">↑</a> Scot Ross <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/blog/2010/09/koch-brothers-fill-up-walkers-campaign-tank.html">Koch Brothers Fill Up Walker's Campaign Tank</a>, One Wisconsin Now, September 7, 2010</li>

<li id="cite_note-53"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-53">↑</a> Lisa Graves <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/9964/cmd-special-report-scott-walker-runs-koch-money">Scott Walker Runs on Koch Money</a>, PRWatch.org, February 19, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-56"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-56">↑</a> Mary Bottari <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/04/10601/koch-fueled-controversy-lands-washington">Koch-Fueled Controversy Lands in Washington</a>, PRWatch.org, April 14, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-57"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-57">↑</a> Stacy Singer, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/david-koch-intends-to-cure-cancer-in-his-2185046.html">David Koch intends to cure cancer in his lifetime and remake American politics</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.palmbeachpost.com">Palm Beach Post</a>, February 18, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-58"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-58">↑</a> John Nichols, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/john_nichols/john-nichols-david-koch-admits-to-helping-walker-big-time/article_55b6f370-040b-5eca-a0b7-98ad6bda6eec.html">David Koch Admits to Helping Walker Big Time</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.host.madison.com/ct">The Cap Times</a>, February 20, 2012</li>

<li id="cite_note-59"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-59">↑</a> Dan Hinkel <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/23/news/la-pn-scott-walker-prank-call-20110223">Blogger poses as David Koch in prank call to Gov. Scot Walker</a>, Los Angeles Times/Chicago Tribune, February 23, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-60"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-60">↑</a> Frank James <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/itsallpolitics/2011/02/23/133996140/wisconsins-gov-walker-takes-prank-call-from-fake-koch-brother">Wisconsin Gov. Walker Takes Prank Call form Fake "Koch" Brother</a>, National Public Radio, February 23, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-61"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-61">↑</a> Adam Weinstein <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/scott-walker-koch-brother-crank-call-wisconsin">Did Scott Walker Get Crank-Call Pwned? (AUDIO) Update: Yes</a>, Mother Jones, February 23, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-62"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-62">↑</a> Ian Murphy <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.buffalobeast.com/?p=5045">Koch Whore: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker answers his mater's call</a>, February 23, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-63"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-63">↑</a> Scott Walker <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.scottwalker.org/about/biography">Meet Scott Walker</a> About/Biography, accessed February 17, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-64"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-64">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/06/9944/live-reporting-wisconsin-protests">Live Reporting from the Wisconsin Protests</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.prwatch.com">PR Watch</a>, June 7, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-65"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-65">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-100303-county-security,0,1014174.story">Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker invokes authority to lay off workers</a>, "Fox 6 News.com. March 3, 2010."</li>

<li id="cite_note-66"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-66">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-100303-county-security,0,1014174.story">Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker invokes authority to lay off workers</a>, "Fox 6 News.com. March 3, 2010."</li>

<li id="cite_note-67"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-67">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wisdems.org/news/blog/view/2010-12-scott-walkers-legacy-of-ruin">Democratic Party of Wisconsin</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-68"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-68">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.americansforprosperity.org/milwaukee-county-executive-scott-walker-emcee-defending-american-dream-summit-award-luncheon">Americans for Prosperity</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-69"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-69">↑</a> Bill Glauber, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/59890852.html">Thousands rally at Milwaukee tea party</a>, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 19, 2009"</li>

<li id="cite_note-70"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-70">↑</a> Steve Schultze, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/38911954.html">State takes over county's public assistance programs</a>, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, February 3, 2009</li>

<li id="cite_note-71"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-71">↑</a> Steve Schultze, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/32471069.html">Walker plan shifts development efforts</a>, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Octonber 3, 2008</li>

<li id="cite_note-72"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-72">↑</a> Daniel Bice <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/119159584.html">No degree, little experience pay off big</a>, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, April 3, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-73"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-73">↑</a> Wisconsin State Legislature - Legislative Council <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://legis.wisconsin.gov/lc/publications/as/stateagencystaff.asp?AgencyID=31">State Agency Staff Members with Responsibilities to the Legislature</a>, State web site, accessed April 4, 2011</li>

<li id="cite_note-74"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-74">↑</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/apnewsbreak-walker-broke-campaign-pension-promise-14741374">Walker Broke Campaign Pension Promise, Accessed October 18, 2011</a></li>

<li id="cite_note-75"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Scott_Walker#cite_ref-75">↑</a> Louis Weisberg, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wisconsingazette.com/wisconsin-gaze/why-scott-walker-killed-wind-energy-jobs-in-wisconsin.html">"Why Scott Walker killed wind energy jobs in Wisconsin"</a> Wisconsin Gazette, Dec 14, 2011.</li>

</ol>

<div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>:

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:Politics_%28U.S.%29" title="Category:Politics (U.S.)">Politics (U.S.)</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:ALEC_Politicians" title="Category:ALEC Politicians">ALEC Politicians</a></li>

<li><a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Category:ALEC_Exposed" title="Category:ALEC Exposed">ALEC Exposed</a></li>

</ul>

</div>

==

Wisconsin Gov. <a href="http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Economy/Report-Walker-Costing-Wisconsin-More-than-18-000-Jobs-a-Year" target="_hplink">Scott Walker</a> received the National Rifle Association's "Defender of Freedom" award recently. I guess they meant Gov. Walker is defending teachers' freedom from joining with coworkers to bargain fairly about things like class size.

===

green record

<a href="http://grist.org/politics/the-dirt-on-wisconsin-governor-scott-walkers-environmental-record/">http://grist.org/politics/the-dirt-on-wisconsin-governor-scott-walkers-environmental-record/</a>

===

outspent 7:1 on recall

50 mil record?

===

from cronon:

<h2>Walker's Early ALEC Agenda</h2>

Before Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker ran for governor, he was a state legislator from 1993-2002 and a proud member of American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). At ALEC, corporate and legislative members gather behind closed doors to craft and pre-vote on legislation that is later introduced in state houses across the land with no disclosure of its ALEC roots.

In his first year in office, Walker cosponsored "Right to Work" legislation (1993 SB 459) making it harder for public and private sector unions to organize or exist. That bill failed to pass, but Walker kept trying sponsoring "Paycheck Protection" legislation (1997 AB 624), which would make it tough for unions to spend money on elections. He also worked hard to pass "Truth in Sentencing" (1997 AB 351), which would greatly increase the number of inmates in prison at the same time that he attempted to privatize Wisconsin's prison system (1997 AB 634, 1999 AB 176 and AB 519), He also co-sponsored a bill PVTIZ (1997 AB 745) which would have prohibited all state agencies, including higher education, from providing goods and services that could be procured from the private sector, with rare exceptions.

</div>

===

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) is scheduled to be the <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/06/06/495588/the-heartland-institutes-special-guest-scott-walker/heartland.org/media-library/QPR/QPR-2012-2Q-web.pdf">keynote speaker</a> for the Heartland Institute’s benefit dinner in August, 2012. Heartland has <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/05/29/491677/with-latest-corporate-defection-heartland-institute-losses-now-exceed-1-million/">lost more than $1 million</a> in expected corporate funding in the wake of public outrage over its climate denial, reducing president Joe Bast to beg for more financial support. Walker is a perfect fit for the anti-science extremists at Heartland — like them, he’s <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/wisconsin-scott-walker-koch-brothers">Koch-funded</a> global warming <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2010/10/13/174814/gop-governor-deniers-ii/#wi">conspiracy theorist</a>. Walker has attacked investment in <a href="http://www.scottwalker.org/press-release/2010/05/scott-walker-statement-high-speed-rail-announcement">high-speed rail</a>, <a href="http://scottwalkerwatch.com/2011/03/22/thanks-to-walkers-anti-wind-farm-policies-green-bay-wind-farm-project-is-cancelled-and-jobs-lost/">wind power</a>, and even <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/117192813.html">recycling</a>.

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/06/06/495588/the-heartland-institutes-special-guest-scott-walker/

==

credit card fraud

<a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/political-donations-flagged-as-potential-fraud">http://www.propublica.org/article/political-donations-flagged-as-potential-fraud</a>

unauthorized 5 buck on capital one card, generates thank you email

===

<h1 class="print-title">Walker Raises and Spends More Money than Any Candidate in Wisconsin History</h1>

<div class="meta">by <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/users/35270/mary-bottari" title="View user profile.">Mary Bottari</a> [1] — May 2, 2012 - 9:40am</div>

<ul>

<li class="vocabulary-2">Topics: <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/topics/politics">Politics</a> [2]</li>

</ul>

</div>

<ul>

<li class="vocabulary-9">Projects: <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/projects/wisconsin-protests">Wisconsin Protests</a> [3]</li>

</ul>

</div>

The headlines in Wisconsin are all about the $25 million dollar man -- Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Walker's campaign committee has raised an eye-popping $25 million for the recall, $13 million since January 2012 when close to 1 million signatures were filed with the Wisconsin elections board triggering a recall election. Walker spent a huge sum <a href="http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/walker-s-haul-includes-high-amount-of-direct-mailing-expenses/article_7342d4bc-93f6-11e1-89fc-0019bb2963f4.html" title="reference on $5 million on direct mail" target="_blank">$5 million on direct mail</a> [4], rivaling the $4.5 million spent on TV. The direct mail allows him to build a national data base of funders to tap for the recall.

In total, Walker has spent $20,854,000, more money than any candidate in any race in Wisconsin history. "Wisconsin's never seen anything like this kind of money," <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/walker-campaign-transfers-60000-for-john-doe-lawyers-r9588h6-149774595.html" title="reference on said Jay Heck," target="_blank">said Jay Heck,</a> [5] executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin. "This is all to persuade a relatively tiny universe of undecided voters. It'll be the highest cost per voter spent in the history of the nation in terms of the cost of persuading people."

Walker's opponents have barely scratched the surface. Former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk has raised $977,000; Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett has raised $831,500, Secretary of State Doug LaFollette $118,000, Wisconsin Senator Kathleen Vinehout, $44,000. Arthur Kohl-Riggs, who is running against Walker in the Republican primary, has raised little over $2,000.

Combined, the opposition candidates barely raised $2 million. Despite Walker having spent more than ten times than his opponents have raised, a <a href="http://law.marquette.edu/poll/" title="reference on poll" target="_blank">poll</a> [6] released today from Marquette Law School shows him in a dead heat with Barrett, who entered the race just one month ago.

<h2>David Koch Lends a Helping Hand</h2>

Perusing Walker's campaign reports, many wondered, where are the Kochs? David Koch recently told the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-bottari/post_3034_b_1293865.html" title="reference on Palm Beach Post" target="_blank">Palm Beach Post</a> [7] that he was going to help Walker get reelected. "We're helping him, as we should. We've gotten pretty good at this over the years," he says. "We've spent a lot of money in Wisconsin. We're going to spend more." But there are no eye-popping checks from the Koch brothers in the "Friends of Walker" report. Perhaps even the Kochs have caught on that the optics of direct donations do not look so good.

But there is no shortage of indirect aid coming in from the Koch-funded <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity" title="reference on Americans for Prosperity" target="self">Americans for Prosperity</a> [8] 501(c)3 "charitable" arm, which has been working with the right-wing <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=MacIver_Institute" title="reference on MacIver Institute" target="self">MacIver Institute</a> [9] to produce a multi-million dollar "issue ad" campaign called "It's Working!" The online, television and direct mail campaign touts the benefits of the Walker austerity budget, which sent unemployment in the state off a cliff. Sources say the groups have spent $2.9 million on TV ads to date and untold sums on staff, rallies, direct mail and internet.

The Republican Governors Association PAC, "<a href="http://www.wisdc.org/index.php?module=cms&page=3413" title="reference on Right Direction Wisconsin" target="blank">Right Direction Wisconsin</a> [10]," is also spending heavily in the state, including a $2 million dollar television ad buy, according to sources. It filed a clunky paper report with the state elections board indicating that they spent $4 million in total, but because they are running so-called "issue ads" they are not obliged to report their donors. The RGA benefited from a generous gift of <a href="http://m.jsonline.com/topstories/148339105.htm" title="reference on $1 million from David Koch" target="blank">$1 million from David Koch</a> [11] in April 2011, after Walker's collective bargaining bill sparked a mass uprising. The <a href="http://www.wisdc.org/ind12-1100007.php" title="reference on Republican State Leadership Committee" target="_blank">Republican State Leadership Committee</a> [12] is also funded by Koch Industries and is also now registered to play in the Wisconsin recall.

The Democrats also have 3rd-party supporters. "Wisconsin for Falk" is a PAC and a 527 started by state labor unions most effected by Walker's collective bargaining bill, such as AFSCME and WEAC. It has <a href="http://www.wisdc.org/ind12-1100039.php" title="reference on reportedly spent a total of $3 million" target="blank">reportedly spent a total of $3 million</a> [13] on television ads and is planning another $1 million ad buy. The <a href="http://www.wisdc.org/ind12-1100012.php" title="reference on Greater Wisconsin Committee" target="blank">Greater Wisconsin Committee</a> [14], registered as a PAC, an independent expenditure group and a 527, may also be a big spender in this election cycle. It spent $800,000 in December 2011 on television ads critical of Walker's budget cuts and has raised $3 million so far, much of it from the Democratic Governor's Association. It is now up with television ads detailing Walker's jobs record.

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's Mike McCabe <a href="http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/recall-challengers-combined-campaign-cash-pales-to-walker-s-total/article_4b416b46-93cd-11e1-8572-001a4bcf887a.html" title="reference on predicted" target="_blank">predicted</a> [15] $60 million to $80 million will be spent on the recalls by candidates and third-party groups. The recall primary is May 8, and the general election is scheduled for June 5.

<h2>63% Walker Money is From Out of State</h2>

Walker's report shows "strong grass-roots support for Governor Walker, his bold reforms, and his plans for moving Wisconsin forward," said Walker spokeswoman <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/walker-campaign-transfers-60000-for-john-doe-lawyers-r9588h6-149774595.html" title="reference on Ciara Matthews." target="_blank">Ciara Matthews.</a> [5] While Walker likes to say that 96,000 of his contributors gave $50 or less, it appears that the vast majority of his money is large checks from out-of-state donors.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

<ul>

<li>$8.37 million, or roughly 63%, of the total $13 million raised by Walker came from out-of-state;</li>

<li>74% of individual contributors were from out-of-state.</li>

</ul>

Top out-of-state contributors include noted private school voucher booster <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_DeVos" title="reference on Richard DeVos" target="_self">Richard DeVos</a> [16], founder of Amway, and failed presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's SuperPac sugar daddy, Sheldon Adelson, each contributing $250,000. A cool half million came from ABC Supply Company Co-founder Diane Hendricks from Beloit, which boosted his in-state totals substantially.

<h2>Dinning His Donors for his John Doe Criminal Defense Fund?</h2>

In all the direct mail flooding the country from the Walker campaign, you can be sure that Walker is not talking about the 15 felony indictments that have been lodged against his former staff, campaigns staff and associates for embezzlement and corruption in office <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-bottari/scott-walker-john-doe_b_1241411.html" title="reference on in a secret " target="_blank">in a secret "John Doe" probe</a> [17] being run out of the Milwaukee District Attorney's office. Nor have they heard that Walker himself now has a group of law firms representing him in the ever-widening probe and a criminal defense fund called the "Scott Walker Trust." But his campaign is all too aware of the fact that they may need to raise substantial sums if Walker is indicted.

A quirk in Wisconsin campaign finance law allowed Walker to raise unlimited amounts of money once the recall petitions were filed but before an election was actually certified, a time period from January 17, 2012 to March 30, 2012. After that point, regular campaign limits for individuals and PACs are reinstated; $10,000 for individuals, $43,000 for PACs.

But a quick look at the mega-donors in Walker's campaign receipts file reveals a lot of folks donating huge sums after the March 30 cut-off. For instance, Dian Hendricks, one of the owners of the ABC Supply Company, cut a check for a whopping $500,000. There are 10 other individuals who had amounts over $10,000 past the March 30 cut-off, for a total of $1,072,000.

What gives?

The Wisconsin elections board explains that Walker may be using these funds to pay old bills, incurred prior to March 31. Then again, many speculate that Walker is building the war chest in hopes of transferring the money into his criminal defense fund. This cannot be done with out the donor's permission, but who the donor is may never be disclosed.

Walker's latest filings reveal that he <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/149678045.html#%21page=4%26pageSize=10%26sort=newestfirst" title="reference on transferred $60,000 to his legal defense fund" target="blank">transferred $60,000 to his legal defense fund</a> [18] during the pre-primary period. The campaign has previously paid two law firms, Michael Best & Friedrich and <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patton_Boggs" title="reference on Patton Boggs" target="self">Patton Boggs</a> [19] of Washington, D.C., slightly more than $115,000 for the same type of expenses.

To date, the ongoing John Doe investigation has not been a factor in the election. Not a single TV ad has aired on the topic, leading many to speculate that Walker's opponents may be holding their fire until after the primary.

<h2>Mega-Donors on Scott Walker's List</h2>

Below CMD provides a list of the mega-donors on Walker's latest report filing, many of whom gave after the March 30 cut-off. Review receipts and expense on the candidates filings on the State Election Boards Campaign Finance Information System, <a href="http://cfis.wi.gov/" title="reference on here" target="_blank">here</a> [20].

<ul>

<li>4/13/12, Hendricks, Diane M, $500,000.00, Co-founder ABC Supply Company</li>

<li>4/23/12, Unitemized, $389,935.01</li>

<li>3/30/12, Adelson, Sheldon, $250,000.00, Las Vegas Sands</li>

<li>3/16/12, Devos, Richard M, $250,000.00, Alticor</li>

<li>3/6/12, Republican Party of Wisconsin, $218,736.95</li>

<li>3/22/12, Stephens, Warren A., $100,000.00, Stephens, Inc</li>

<li>4/23/12, Kern, Robert D., $100,000.00, Generac</li>

<li>4/23/12, Kern, Patricia E., $100,000.00</li>

<li>2/1/12, Ryan, Patrick G, $100,000.00, Ryan Specialty Group</li>

<li>4/23/12, Childs, John W, $100,000.00, JW Childs Associates</li>

<li>1/24/12, Ricketts, J. Joe, $90,000.00, Hugo Enterprises LLC</li>

<li>4/23/12, Kellner, Ted D., $90,000.00, Fiduciary Management, Inc.</li>

<li>4/4/12, Republican Party of Wisconsin, $78,195.41</li>

<li>4/4/12, Republican Party of Wisconsin, $72,584.53</li>

<li>4/3/12, Bacon, Louis M., $50,000.00, Moore Capital Management</li>

<li>4/16/12, Bacon, Louis M., $50,000.00, Moore Capital Management</li>

<li>3/15/12, Hertog, Roger, $50,000.00, Alliance Capital Management Company</li>

<li>3/6/12, People for Rebecca, $49,365.00</li>

<li>2/28/12, The Caterpillar Inc. Employee Political Action Committee, $40,000.00</li>

<li>2/13/12, Luddy, Robert L, $40,000.00, Captive Aire</li>

<li>3/26/12, Hanley, William L., $25,000.00, Lexington Mgmt Group</li>

<li>3/1/12, RPAC - Wisconsin, $25,000.0</li>

<li>3/19/12, Metro Milw Assn of Commerce, $25,000.00,</li>

<li>1/31/12, Crow, Margaret, $25,000.00, of the Trammel Crow family fortune</li>

<li>3/26/12, Wendt, Gary C, $25,000.00, Deerpath Capital Management, LP</li>

<li>3/19/12, Metro Milw Assn of Commerce, $25,000.00,</li>

<li>2/13/12, Dennis, Richard J, $25,000.00, Self Employed</li>

<li>3/22/12, Uihlein, Richard E., $25,000.00, Uline, Inc.</li>

<li>2/6/12, Fedler, Ronald G, $25,000.00, Gold Leaf Development</li>

<li>3/31/12, Dhein, Jere, $25,000.00, Tosca Ltd.</li>

<li>3/15/12, Kuester, Jonathan, $25,000.00, Self</li>

<li>3/26/12, Gallun, Edwin A., $25,000.00, Metalcraft of Mayville</li>

<li>2/10/12, Pope, James A., $25,000.00, from North Carolina, on the board of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity" title="reference on Americans for Prosperity" target="_self">Americans for Prosperity</a> [8]</li>

<li>3/26/12, Shields, J. V., $25,000.00, Wellington Shields & Co., LLC</li>

<li>3/14/12, Callan, James J, $25,000.00, James L. Callan, Inc.</li>

<li>2/21/12, Goodnight, James H., $25,000.00, SAS Institute Inc.</li>

<li>4/3/12, Marcus, Bernard, $25,000.00, co-founder of Home Depot</li>

<li>4/6/12, Druckenmiller, Stanley F., $25,000.00, Duquesne Family Office</li>

<li>3/12/12, Harris, Robert H, $25,000.00, Harris Financial Research Consultants</li>

<li>1/31/12, Crow, Margaret, $25,000.00, Trammel Crow Company family fortune</li>

<li>3/1/12, Ziegler, Stephen J., $20,000.00, InPro Corporation</li>

<li>3/1/12, Ziegler, Heather, $20,000.00 see above</li>

<li>3/14/12, Roehl, Everett G., $20,000.00, Roehl Management & Consultants</li>

<li>1/31/12, Schneider, Patricia, $15,000.00</li>

<li>1/24/12, Young, Frederick M., $13,000.00, heir to the Young Radiator Co.</li>

<li>1/24/12, Young, Sandra, $13,000.00, see above</li>

<li>4/23/12, Fieler, Sean, $12,000.00, Equinox Partners CP</li>

</ul>

This article was updated with the results of the Marquette Law School poll.

</div>

<div class="print-footer">Center for Media and Democracy • 520 University Avenue, Suite 260 • Madison, Wisconsin 53703

Phone: 608-260-9713 • Fax: 608-260-9714</div>

<div class="print-source_url">Source URL: <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11494/walker-raises-and-spends-more-money-any-candidate-wisconsin-history">http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/05/11494/walker-raises-and-spends-more-money-any-candidate-wisconsin-history</a></div>

Links:

[1] http://www.prwatch.org/users/35270/mary-bottari

[2] http://www.prwatch.org/topics/politics

[3] http://www.prwatch.org/projects/wisconsin-protests

[4] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/walker-s-haul-includes-high-amount-of-direct-mailing-expenses/article_7342d4bc-93f6-11e1-89fc-0019bb2963f4.html

[5] http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/walker-campaign-transfers-60000-for-john-doe-lawyers-r9588h6-149774595.html

[6] http://law.marquette.edu/poll/

[7] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-bottari/post_3034_b_1293865.html

[8] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity

[9] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=MacIver_Institute

[10] http://www.wisdc.org/index.php?module=cms&page=3413

[11] http://m.jsonline.com/topstories/148339105.htm

[12] http://www.wisdc.org/ind12-1100007.php

[13] http://www.wisdc.org/ind12-1100039.php

[14] http://www.wisdc.org/ind12-1100012.php

[15] http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/recall-challengers-combined-campaign-cash-pales-to-walker-s-total/article_4b416b46-93cd-11e1-8572-001a4bcf887a.html

[16] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Richard_DeVos

[17] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-bottari/scott-walker-john-doe_b_1241411.html

[18] http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/149678045.html#!page=4&pageSize=10&sort=newestfirst

[19] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Patton_Boggs

[20] http://cfis.wi.gov/

===

Under growing public pressure and the departure of multiple corporate members, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) <a href="http://www.alec.org/2012/04/alec-sharpens-focus-on-jobs-free-markets-and-growth-announces-the-end-of-the-task-force-that-dealt-with-non-economic-issues/" title="reference on has announced" target="blank">has announced</a> it is disbanding the Task Force that has been responsible for some of the organization's most controversial pieces of legislation. Wisconsin Governor <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Scott_Walker" title="reference on Scott Walker" target="self">Scott Walker</a> introduced several bills approved by that Task Force when he was a legislator in the 1990s and early 2000s.

For at least three decades, the corporations, special interest groups, and legislators on the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ALEC_Public_Safety%26_Elections_Task_Force" title="reference on ALEC Public Safety & Elections Task Force" target="self">ALEC Public Safety & Elections Task Force</a> (known as the Criminal Justice Task Force until 2009) have approved model bills that promote for-profit prisons and lengthen prison sentences, criminalize immigrants, expand the "war on drugs," thwart evidence-based pre-trial release programs in favor of for-profit bail-bonding, and many other policies.

...

CMD's Executive Director Lisa Graves <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/04/11456/grassroots-campaign-makes-alec-try-stanch-bleeding-corporate-donors-alec-companie" title="reference on said" target="_blank">said</a>:

ALEC's announcement is a partial victory for the power of grassroots citizen action, but for Americans concerned about brand-name corporations underwriting ALEC's extreme agenda to make it more difficult for American citizens to vote and to protect armed vigilantes, ALEC's PR maneuver to try to distance itself from its record of extremism is an empty gesture unless it and the corporations that have bankrolled its operations work to repeal ALEC-backed laws that have advanced the NRA's agenda and that will impede citizens from voting in the coming elections.

</blockquote>

<h2>Criminal Justice / Public Safety & Elections Task Force</h2>

As CMD has <a href="http://prwatch.org/news/2012/03/11366/alec-ratified-nra-conceived-law-may-protect-trayvon-martins-killer" title="reference on reported" target="blank">reported</a>, the NRA conceived the so-called Stand Your Ground law in Florida, <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/Retreat_from_NRA%27s_force_St.Petersburg_Time.DOC" title="reference on promoted its passage" target="blank">promoted its passage</a>, then <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/NRA_2005.pn" title="reference on brought it to the ALEC" target="blank">brought it to the ALEC</a> in 2005, where the legislators and corporate lobbyists on the Criminal Justice Task Force voted unanimously to <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/ALEC_minutes_05.png" title="reference on adopt it" target="blank">adopt it</a> as a "model bill." At the time, <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20050810000953/http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/0805/08alec.html" title="reference on Wal-Mart was the Task Force co-chair" target="blank">Wal-Mart was the Task Force co-chair</a>, and the NRA led the Task Force in subsequent years. Since becoming an ALEC model it has become law in dozens of other states, and the number of homicides classified as "justifiable" <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/stand-your-ground-laws-coincide-with-jump-in-justifiable-homicide-cases/2012/04/07/gIQAS2v51S_story.html" title="reference on has dramatically increased" target="blank">has dramatically increased</a> in many states (and jumped 300 percent in Florida). In 2009, members of the same Task Force <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/161969/rigging-elections" title="reference on approved the model " voter="" id="" target="blank">approved the model "Voter ID Act"</a>, versions of which were introduced in a majority of states in 2011.

While these bills have attracted the most attention in recent weeks, the Criminal Justice / Public Safety & Elections Task Force has been advancing a variety of other controversial policies since the late 1980s.

Members of the Task Force have included for-profit prison providers like Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which has also served as the <a href="http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/corrections/laws4.html" title="reference on co-chair" target="_blank">co-chair</a>. The ALEC Criminal Justice / Public Safety & Elections Task Force has created model bills that lengthen sentences, which have dramatically increased incarceration rates, and bills that privatize prisons, putting more of those inmates under the control of for-profit corporations, as well as many other policies.

<h2>Walker's Ties to ALEC Criminal Justice Task Force</h2>

Scott Walker was a proud ALEC member when he was in the state legislature, and introduced several ALEC bills approved by the Criminal Justice Task Force. Since becoming governor, he has continued to push these ALEC-supported "criminal justice" efforts.

In 1997, then-Representative Walker introduced (and the legislature passed) the ALEC Criminal Justice Task Force - approved <a href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/1/19/7D11-Truth_in_Sentencing_Act_Exposed.pdf" title="reference on " truth="" in="" target="_blank">"Truth in Sentencing"</a> act, which requires inmates to serve their full sentence without options for parole or supervised release. The law takes away incentives for prisoners to reduce prison time through good behavior and participation in counseling, and eliminates the ability for judges and parole boards to decide that the financial and social costs of keeping a particular person incarcerated no longer furthers public safety goals.

The state estimated that the first 21 months after the law took effect would cost taxpayers an extra $41 million, as 990 inmates would have to be incarcerated for an additional 18,384 months. Wisconsin's prison population <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/13702846" title="reference on increased 14 percent" target="blank">increased 14 percent</a> in the seven years after the law took effect, with no correlative public safety benefit or <a href="http://www3.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=277059" title="reference on additional decline in crime rates" target="blank"> additional decline in crime rates</a>. The annual budget for the state prison system <a href="http://www.ehow.com/about_5449420_truth-sentencing-laws.html#ixzz1SO3yHDM5" title="reference on jumped" target="_blank">jumped</a> from $700 million in 1999 to $1.2 billion in 2009, becoming the third-largest expenditure in the 2009-2011 state budget.

During this period of growing prison populations, then-Representative Scott Walker introduced several <a href="http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/crime_and_courts/blog/article_34fb8f50-18ff-11e0-8ee0-001cc4c03286.html" title="reference on bills" target="blank">bills</a> between 1997 and 1999 that would allow private prisons in Wisconsin, including one to privatize state prison operations (see the ALEC bill <a href="http://www.heartland.org/budgetandtax-news.org/article/6263/Private_Correctional_Facilities_Act.html" title="reference on here" target="blank">here</a>), and another allowing private corrections companies to open prisons in Wisconsin to house inmates from other states (see the ALEC bill <a href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/1/17/7N0-Housing_Out-of-State_Prisoners_in_a_Private_Prison_Act_Exposed.pdf" title="reference on here" target="blank">here</a>). Walker <a href="http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=MWSB&p_theme=mwsb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB82C2BCDFD0A5B&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM" title="reference on noted" target="blank">noted</a> in 1998 that CCA wanted to expand into Wisconsin. While those bills did not pass, some inmates were contracted-out to private prisons in other states, and CCA has registered lobbyists in the state ever since.

"Clearly ALEC had proposed model legislation," <a href="http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/corrections/laws5.html" title="reference on Walker told American Radio Works in 2002" target="_blank">Walker told American Radio Works in 2002</a> (although there was no reference to ALEC when the legislature was considering the bill). "And probably more important than just the model legislation, [ALEC] had actually put together reports and such that showed the benefits of Truth-in-Sentencing and showed the successes in other states. And those sorts of statistics were very helpful to us when we pushed it through, when we passed the final legislation," Walker said.

Those statistics, though, were critiqued by criminologists as unreliable and intended to persuade rather than educate: Walker said that he and fellow ALEC members relied on an ALEC report crediting Virginia's Truth-in-Sentencing law with a five-year drop in crime, but crime dropped in ALL states in the 1990s, regardless of whether a state passed a tough-on-crime law like Truth-in-Sentencing.

(See <a href="http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/corrections/ccagraphic/index.html" title="reference on this graphic" target="_blank">this graphic</a> from American Radio Works explaining the CCA-ALEC-Wisconsin sentencing law connection).

The Wisconsin state legislature apparently recognized the folly of Truth in Sentencing and rolled-back aspects of the law between 2001 and 2009. When Scott Walker became governor, he reversed this progress and pushed for legislation fully restoring the ALEC Truth in Sentencing, despite the costs to taxpayers and despite claiming Wisconsin was <a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2011/02/wisconsin-governor-scott-walker-were-broke-and-cant-negotiate.html" title="reference on " target="blank">"broke."</a> In early July, Governor Walker's office released a statement <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58488.html" title="reference on supporting" target="blank">supporting</a> expanded use of prison labor, another idea <a href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/4/4d/7N4-Prison_Industries_Act_Exposed.pdf" title="reference on promoted in ALEC bills" target="_blank">promoted in ALEC bills</a> approved by the ALEC Criminal Justice Task Force.

<h2>ALEC Role in Arizona's SB 1070 Anti-Immigrant Law</h2>

Another policy approved by the now-disbanded ALEC Task Force includes Arizona's controversial SB1070 immigration law, which is currently being challenged before the U.S. Supreme Court.

<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/08/10947/brownskins-and-greenbacks-alec-profit-prison-industry-and-arizona%E2%80%99s-sb-1070" title="reference on DBA Press / In These Times" target="_blank">DBA Press / In These Times</a> documented how Arizona Republican Rep. Russell Pearce collaborated with CCA and other members of the ALEC Public Safety and Elections Task Force in December 2009 to create the ALEC "model" immigration bill that became SB1070.

Before the ALEC meeting, for-profit prison operator CCA had identified immigrant detention as a profit center important for its future growth, stating it anticipated receiving "a significant portion of our revenues" from detaining immigrants. Even a hedge fund with a big stake in CCA was <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Bill-AckmanPresentation.pdf" title="reference on touting immigration detention" target="_blank">touting immigration detention</a> as proof CCA would be profitable.

An immigrant contesting their deportation can wait up to a year for a hearing, even though many of those detained have not committed a crime and have no criminal record. Immigrant detention can cost taxpayers $122 a day. Because for-profit corporations operate about half of all immigrant detention facilities, these taxpayer dollars flow into the pockets of CCA and other for-profit prison providers.

The for-profit bail bond industry's trade association, the American Bail Coalition (ABC), is an ALEC member and was also on the Task Force that passed the ALEC anti-immigrant laws. An immigrant facing removal in some cases may be released on bond, and will often pay a commercial bail bondsman for their release. Immigration bonds are usually between $5,000 and $10,000, and can be much higher, so a for-profit bail bondsman who accepts 10 percent of that bail as a nonrefundable fee can rake in significant profits for doing very little.

At the time ALEC approved the <a href="http://alecexposed.org/w/images/2/2d/7K5-No_Sanctuary_Cities_for_Illegal_Immigrants_Act_Exposed.pdf" title="reference on " no="" sanctuary="" cities="" for="" illegal="" immigrants="" target="_blank">"No Sanctuary Cities for Illegal Immigrants Act"</a>, the chairman of the ALEC corporate Private Enterprise Board was ABC general counsel Jerry Watson. Watson was very familiar with the profits that can be made by collecting bail bonds from detained immigrants. His law firm biography lists him as "specializing in the field of ... immigration bonding."

ABC has called ALEC the industry's <a href="http://pretrial.org/Perspectives/ABC%20October%202010%20Newsletter.pdf" title="reference on " life="" target="blank">"life preserver"</a>. ABC pays for ALEC membership, and a representative sits on the ALEC <a href="http://www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Private_Enterprise_Board&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=15553" title="reference on " private="" enterprise="" target="blank">"Private Enterprise Board"</a> as well as ALEC's <a href="http://www.alec.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Private_Sector_Executive_Committee2" title="reference on Executive Committee" target="blank">Executive Committee</a>. The trade group <a href="http://pretrial.org/Perspectives/ABC%20October%202010%20Newsletter.pdf" title="reference on boasts" target="blank">boasts</a> that "during its two decade involvement with ALEC, ABC has written 12 model bills fortifying the commercial bail industry" that were passed by the Criminal Justice / Public Safety & Elections Task Force.

While the Criminal Justice / Public Safety & Elections Task Force is now dissolved, ABC will continue to work with the Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development Task Force. The NRA's future relationship with ALEC is not known. It is also not known whether ALEC will disavow or repeal the bills approved by the Criminal Justice / Public Safety & Elections Task Force over the past three decades.

<h2>ALEC Scrambling for Support</h2>

ALEC has come under increased scrutiny over the past year after the Center for Media and Democracy released its ALEC Exposed Project, which revealed and analyzed more than 800 previously-secret "model" bills voted on by corporate or special interest lobbyists and politicians.

In response to the growing scrutiny in recent weeks, ALEC also <a href="http://www.alec.org/2012/04/statement-by-alec-in-response-to-the-outpouring-of-support-in-wake-of-intimidation-campaign-against-its-members/" title="reference on claimed" target="blank">claimed</a> that "America needs organizations like ALEC to foster the discussion and debate of policy differences in an open, transparent way." But <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/08/10939/journalist-kicked-out-alec-conference-threatened-arrest" title="reference on as CMD" target="blank">as CMD</a> and <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1102489--america-s-secret-political-power" title="reference on others have documented" target="blank">others have documented</a>, ALEC Task Force meetings are <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QADjOQIBUIg" title="reference on closed" target="blank">closed</a> to <a href="http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/12517/alecs_arizona_escort_service" title="reference on the press" target="blank">the press</a> and public and <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1102489--america-s-secret-political-power" title="reference on take place behind closed doors." target="blank">take place behind closed doors.</a>

As more and more light is shining on the shadowy organization, ALEC is also recruiting allies like the Koch-funded <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity" title="reference on Americans for Prosperity" target="self">Americans for Prosperity</a> to <a href="http://www.kintera.org/c.5nJAJOPvEjKWE/b.6646029/k.8C6D/Action_Center/siteapps/advocacy/ActionItem.aspx?c=5nJAJOPvEjKWE&b=6646029&aid=517593" title="reference on come to its defense" target="blank">come to its defense</a>. And as more and more corporate members announce they will stop funding the organization, ALEC is also <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/04/11444/alec-desperate-dough" title="reference on begging for money" target="_blank">begging for money</a>.

<a href="http://www.prwatch.org/node/11454">http://www.prwatch.org/node/11454</a>

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According to <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/heartland-institute-exposed-internal-documents-unmask-heart-climate-denial-machine" target="hplink">documents leaked and posted</a> to DeSmogBlog, the Heartland Institute has <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/%281-15-2012%29%202012%20Heartland%20Budget.pdf" target="hplink">budgeted $612,000</a> for a Wisconsin campaign called Operation Angry Badger. The campaign consists of an effort to inform voters of the success of Walker's budget law, passed on June 26, that included a reduction in the collective bargaining rights of workers in public employee unions. The budget sparked a labor-led protest movement that has consumed Wisconsin politics over the past year....

Americans for Prosperity, the conservative group founded by Charles and David Koch, and the Wisconsin-based MacIver Institute are now running issue ads on television in Wisconsin touting the Walker budget in what might end up being the prelude to a recall election of Walker. The two groups spent $1.1 million on issue ads in the final weeks of 2011 asking residents not to sign recall petitions for Walker or other state senators.

===

staffer

<h1 class="title">Scott Walker and the Secret "John Doe" Investigation Explained</h1>

</div>

<h3 class="dek">Everything you need to know about the scandal</h3>

</div>

http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/02/scott-walker-john-doe-investigation-explained

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recall:

As soon as April, millions of Wisconsinites will vote on whether to oust <a href="http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/wisconsin-scott-walker-koch-brothers" target="blank">Gov. Scott Walker</a>—a rising Republican star and arguably the most polarizing governor in politics today—just two years into his first term in office. <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/scott-walker-recall-united-wisconsin" target="blank">Walker's recall election</a> is a referendum on his hardline conservative agenda, including curbing collective bargaining rights for state workers and slashing education funding. For Walker himself it's a pivotal moment in his young political career.

The recall fight is also a crucial test for the tea party, the populist movement that helped elect Walker in 2010, vigorously defended him during last winter's protests over his <a href="http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/whats-happening-wisconsin-explained" target="blank">anti-union "budget repair" bill</a>, and has been organizing to prevent his ouster. The movement's support <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/30/us/politics/tea-party-support-falls-even-in-strongholds-survey-finds.html" target="blank">is flagging</a>, its clout dwindling, its buzz mostly gone. But now, tea partiers at the state and national levels are rallying around Walker's recall defense, hoping a victory could bolster the movement in a critical election year. A defeat, on the other hand, would give ammo to liberals and conservatives alike who say <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/kevinmccullough/2012/01/08/when_the_tea_party_died/page/full/" target="_blank">the tea party is all but dead</a>.

In recent months, the Tea Party Express, a national organization, and the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama, a <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/groups/campaign-defeat-barack-obama" target="blank">tea party-linked political action committee</a>, have waded into the recall fight, blasting out more than a dozen emails to supporters and launching <a href="http://paracom.paramountcommunication.com/hostedemail/email.htm?CID=10997420651&ch=B0A16E10BFFB05416CB2D5B6FB0B59A4&h=2c99830c9e0b189ea821edf33b41b189&ei=WF75Z68NA" target="blank">a $100,000 "money bomb"</a> fundraiser to help defend Walker. They argue that the outcome has national implications for the 2012 presidential election; a Tea Party Express email to supporters in January announced that Wisconsin is "Ground Zero for the Battle Against Obama's Liberal Agenda."...<a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/01/scott-walker-recall-tea-party">http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/01/scott-walker-recall-tea-party</a>

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The morning after his "State of the State" address where Governor Scott Walker reassured Wisconsin "We are turning things around. We are heading in the right direction," the Milwaukee County District Attorney <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/doe27-6q3v4uj-138159264.html" title="reference on charged two more Walker staffers" target="_blank">charged two more Walker staffers</a> with multiple felony and misdemeanor counts of misconduct in public office.

Darlene Wink and Kelly Rindfleisch were charged with conducting partisan campaign work while on the public payroll. The alleged crimes took place while Walker was Milwaukee County Executive and running to be governor. These charges are no joke in the state of Wisconsin, where in 2005, two Senate Democrats and the Republican Assembly Speaker were sentenced to jail time for similar crimes in an episode dubbed "the Caucus Scandal."

...http://www.prwatch.org/node/11264

Scott Walker’s Plutonomy: An Economy for the One Percent

Submitted by Mary Bottari on January 24, 2012 - 8:32am

While volunteer after volunteer from each of Wisconsin's 72 counties marched into the state's election board to deposit over one million signatures for the recall of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Walker was nowhere to be found.

At the hour petitions were being deposited on January 17, Mother Jones revealed that Walker was scheduled to attend a high-dollar fundraiser in the heart of the New York's financial district at 339 Park Avenue -- the towering headquarters for global financial giant CitiGroup. The $5,000 per couple fundraiser was hosted by none other than Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, former CEO of AIG.

Walker's choice to be on Wall Street the day of the recall filing is so astounding, for many it goes far beyond the notion of a tin ear. "Walker could not have sent a clearer signal to Wall Street, that he is on the side of the 1 percent ready to do their bidding and take the heat," said Scot Ross of the Wisconsin group, One Wisconsin Now. Ross points to the data his group compiled to support his claim that Walker is constructing an economy that only the 1 percent could love.

CitiGroup and AIG

CitiGroup Headquarters, NYCCitiGroup Headquarters, NYCNo two institutions are more responsible for the economic collapse of America than CitiGroup and AIG.

Citi is the original too-big-to-fail bank. Citi's merger with Travelers Group in 1998 blew apart the Glass-Steagall protections that had kept the U.S. financial system safe from major financial crises for 60 years.

Citi was a primary driver of the subprime mess. A top Citi official testified before Congress that the firm was betting that the housing market would go sour as early as 2006, yet it remained the nation's top lender of subprime mortgages and continued to underwrite billions in subprime mortgage-backed securities. It hedged risk by taking out insurance in the form of credit default swaps with firms like AIG.

Like Goldman, Citi has been caught betting against its own customers. Citi's $285 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) -- for fraudulently selling packages of mortgage-backed securities that they knew would fail -- was just tossed out by a federal judge who called it "is neither fair, nor reasonable, nor adequate, nor in the public interest."

Today, Citi is considered by many to be a zombie bank, with billions in toxic assets and growing legal liability. Yet, Citi CEO Vikram Pandit hauled in $23 million in bonus money in 2011, giving him plenty of pocket change to support pet politicians.

It was a surprise to see Hank Greenberg's name on the Walker invite (below). Greenberg was last seen fleeing down Wall Street with Elliot Spitzer hot on his heels, pursuing him for securities fraud and bid-rigging in 2005. AIG later settled federal and state charges for $1.6 billion, one of the largest fines in history. Greenberg, now the CEO of global finance firm CV Starr, and Co., settled the charges against him for $15 million.

All this took place, before that critical week in September of 2008 when the Lehman Brother's and AIG collapse triggered a global economic meltdown. AIG had issued some $500 billion worth of credit default swaps it could not pay for when mortgage-backed securities went sour. In 2008, AIG was taken over by the U.S. government and bailed out by taxpayers to the tune of $68 billion. Most of that money is still outstanding.

Right now, Walker can raise unlimited sums due to a quirk in Wisconsin's recall law. How much he raised from Wall Street on January 17 is still unknown, although in his latest report, Walker raised 60 percent of his campaign war chest from out of state according to One Wisconsin Now. This included four eye-popping $250,000 contributions.

CitiGroup's "Plutonomy" Memos

In his 2009 movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore unveiled two explosive memos written by Citi analyst in 2005 and 2006. The memos coin the term "plutonomy" and describe in glowing terms Citi's view of a U.S. economy entirely driven by the wealth and purchasing power of the 1 percent. The memos can be accessed here and offer a stunning glimpse into the cognition of Wall Street elite.

Plutocrats Drive the Economy: "The world is dividing into two blocs -- the plutonomies, where economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few, and the rest. Plutonomies have occurred before in sixteenth century Spain, in seventeenth century Holland, the Gilded Age and the Roaring Twenties in the U.S."

The Future: "We project that the plutonomies will likely see even more income inequality, disproportionately feeding off a further rise in the profit share in their economies, capitalist-friendly governments, more technology-driven productivity, and globalization." "Society and governments need to be amendable to disproportionately allow/encourage the few to retain the fatter profit share."

Forget about Main Street, Invest in the Plutocracy: "Since we think the plutonomy is here, is going to get stronger..." "It is a good time to switch out of stocks that sell to the masses and back to the plutonomy basket."

While Henry Ford believed that the economy thrived when the people who made the cars could afford to buy them, the Citi plutocrats believe that growth is powered only by the super rich and that catering to their taste for imported baubles and bags should be the goal of every investor and policymaker.

Some believe Scott Walker got the memo.

In Wisconsin, a Budget Only a Plutocrat Could Love

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<h1 class="title">Scott Walker's Texas Rangers</h1>

<div class="meta">Submitted by <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/users/35270/mary-bottari" title="View user profile.">Mary Bottari</a> on January 13, 2012 - 8:42am</div>

Scott WalkerIt has been a tough holiday season for Scott Walker. The state lost 14,600 jobs in November and a new government report indicates that Wisconsin <a href="http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/front_page/article_859381b8-3cdd-11e1-a70a-0019bb2963f4.html" title="reference on leads the nation" target="_blank">leads the nation</a> in killing public sector jobs. A November poll has support for the recall of the governor at 58 percent, up from 47 percent in the spring, and next week Wisconsin residents are preparing to file over 500,000 recall petitions to trigger a gubernatorial recall. Is it any wonder that Wisconsin's governor decided to fly to Texas to find a friendlier crowd?

<h2>Walker Addresses Koch-funded Policy Group</h2>

Walker was scheduled to address the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Texas_Public_Policy_Foundation" title="reference on Texas Public Policy Foundation" target="self">Texas Public Policy</a> <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Texas_Public_Policy_Foundation" title="reference on Texas Public Policy Foundation" target="self"> Foundation</a>(TPPF), a right-wing policy shop, <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/koch-industries/texas-public-policy-foundation/" title="reference on funded by the Koch Brothers" target="blank">funded by the Koch Brothers</a> and central to promoting the agenda of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Legislative_Exchange_Council" title="reference on American Legislative Exchange Council" target="self">American Legislative Exchange Council</a> (ALEC) in the state.

Progress Texas executive director Matt Glazer says the group is the cornerstone of ALEC in Texas, helping to shape "model legislation" in areas such as higher education, healthcare, civil and criminal justice.

"The foundation develops legislation that then goes through the ALEC process," Glazer said during a January 11 news conference to draw attention to Walker's appearance in Texas. He also said that the TPPF helps staff some ALEC task forces and helps to develop and distribute their "model legislation." Separate investigative reports have pointed out how parts of the legislative agendas of both <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/07/10880/alec-bills-wisconsin" title="reference on Walker" target="blank">Walker</a> and <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/08/04/286164/perrys-legislative-agenda-bears-strong-resemblance-to-alecs-corporate-backed-model-bills/?mobile=nc" title="reference on Texas Governor Rick Perry" target="blank">Texas Governor Rick Perry</a> closely resemble that of ALEC.

Walker's visit did not go unnoticed by working people in the state. Texas <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=AFL-CIO" title="reference on AFL-CIO" target="_self">AFL-CIO</a> President Becky Moeller and Occupy Austin organized a noon protest outside the conference. Folks in ten gallon hats held "Recall Walker" signs and chanted to be heard inside the conference. "People need to see the pattern. The assault on working families is a coordinated right-wing attack that requires a coordinated defense at every point where the issue of dignity in the workplace is engaged," said Moeller.

<h2>Raising a Fortune from Outside the State of Wisconsin</h2>

Many in Wisconsin suspect that the real reason for Walker's visit to the Lone Star State was to raise unlimited campaign funds prior to an anticipated spring recall election.

Wisconsin's campaign finance laws limited individual donations to gubernatorial candidates to $10,000 until November 4, 2011, when a loophole in the recall law kicked in and enabled Walker to raise unlimited funds from individuals from that date until the end of the election. From July 1 to December 15, 2011, Walker raised <a href="http://www.wisdc.org/email-2011-12-16.html" title="reference on $5.1 million" target="_blank">$5.1 million</a>, the most ever for a single reporting period in Wisconsin. Forty-nine percent of the money came from outside the state, an astonishing number for a candidate who traditionally raised the vast majority of his money from inside the state.

The most recent campaign finance report showed that <a href="http://www.wisdc.org/index.php?module=wisdc.websiteforms&cmd=campaigncontributions&office=G&candidate=102575&year=2012&from=2011-01-01&to=2011-12-10" title="reference on 27 people gave Walker more than $10,000" target="_blank">27 people gave Walker more than $10,000</a>. Seventeen of the 27 are from outside Wisconsin. Five of these 27 hail from the state of Texas.

<h2>Walker's Big Texas Donors</h2>

Bob PerryHere are some of Walker's deep-pocket supporters in Texas.

Bob Perry of Houston, Texas, gave Walker $250,000 on December 4, 2011. Perry's wealth comes from the homebuilding company Perry Homes, but he is most famous for bankrolling the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Swift_Boat_Veterans_for_Truth" title="reference on Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" target="self">Swift Boat Veterans for Truth</a>, which funded the steamrolling of fellow veteran John Kerry during the 2004 presidential race. Perry's $250,000 is the largest donation to a political candidate in Wisconsin history. He is a big donor to Rick Perry, and he gave an eye-popping <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/10/20/bob-perry-gives-7-million-to-american-crossroads/" title="reference on $7 million" target="blank">$7 million</a> Karl Rove's <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Crossroads" title="reference on American Crossroads" target="_self">American Crossroads</a> group, one of the largest single campaign contributions ever.

H.R. Perot, Jr. of Plano, Texas, gave $20,000. He is Ross Perot's son, and has been called the wealthiest Texan of all time. Forbes has reported his net worth as $1.5 billion. He is also a big backer of Perry and the Texas Republican establishment.

John Nau, head of Silver Eagle Distributors, gave $40,000. Silver Eagle Distributors, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is the nation's largest distributor of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Anheuser-Busch" title="reference on Anheuser-Busch" target="_self">Anheuser-Busch</a> products. He is a big backer of Perry and alcohol-related PACs in Texas.

.

Margaret Crow, a Dallas "homemaker," is the widow of Trammell Crow of Trammel Crow Co. and Crow Holdings. The Trammel Crow company is a giant real estate and investment firm in 14 U.S. cities and Canada. Mrs. Crow gave $25,000 to Walker and is one of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's biggest donors. Among other controversies, Trammel Crow was sued in 2010 by the New York Attorney General for not constructing buildings accessible to the disabled.

As Wisconsin prepares for a likely recall election, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Executive Director Mike McCabe fears that we haven't seen anything yet. The latest reports include only five weeks of unlimited fundraising and do not include anonymous independent expenditures.

"We are seeing things we've never seen before in Wisconsin. There is nothing to compare it to," McCabe said.

</div>

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The Koch-funded <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity" title="reference on Americans for Prosperity" target="self">Americans for Prosperity</a> (AFP) has teamed up with Wisconsin's right-wing John K. <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=MacIver_Institute" title="reference on MacIver Institute" target="self">MacIver Institute</a> on a website and TV ad to support Governor <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Scott_Walker" title="reference on Scott Walker" target="_self">Scott Walker</a> as he faces recall. AFP and MacIver are aiming to convince residents that Walker's fiscal policies have been good for the state.

asskicking in referedum 11/8/11 says will reinstitiute "popular" parts

punked in chicago occupy http://front.moveon.org/scott%2Dwalkers%2Dchicago%2Dspeech%2Dtaken%2Dover%2Dby%2Dthe%2D99/?rc=daily.share&id=32721-20164584-XsqRhCx

Hightower: 4/11

An ambitious but unknown county executive in Milwaukee prior to 2010, this guy <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/9964/cmd-special-report-scott-walker-runs-koch-money" target="blank">climbed into the governor's chair on a stack of Koch money</a>. The brothers' corporate PAC was Walker's single biggest donor in last year's election. Also, David himself gave $1 million to the Republican Governors Association, a donation that leveraged an RGA expenditure of more than $3.4 million in Wisconsin to help elect Walker. In addition, <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity" target="blank">Americans for Prosperity</a> (AFP)--a front group created, financed, and directed by David--put hundreds of thousands of dollars of electioneering support behind Walker's gubernatorial bid.

Then came the cashing in of those chips. The head of AFP (a former Jack Abramoff lobbying partner) says that even before Walker was sworn in, he was urging the new guv to <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Prosperity#Anti-union_advocacy" target="_blank">stage a political showdown with Wisconsin's public employees</a>. Also, to keep a tight rein on their boy, the Koch's quietly opened a seven-person lobbying shop one block from the state capital. And, as soon as the corporatized governor took office, another Koch front, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), moved in to guide his anti-labor agenda and to push for corporate tax cuts, de-funding Wisconsin's health care program, and weakening state environmental protections.

The brothers have more than a purely ideological interest in all of this. Their $100-billion-a-year conglomerate, Koch Industries, owns substantial timber, oil, coal, and pipeline facilities in Wisconsin, so it is looking for a nice return on its investment in Walker's anti-government extremism. For example, one stunning provision slipped into the bill to gut worker rights gives Governor Walker unchecked power to sell off any publicly owned utilities to private interests on a no-bid basis. Guess what corporation happens to be in the utility business? Right.

In February, public anger exploded all over Walker because of his unbridled, imperious assault on working families, the middle class, and democracy itself. Only a month and a half after taking office, his job approval numbers have tanked, and 74 percent of the state's people oppose his ploy to gut collective bargaining. Week after week, thousands of workers, farmers, students, veterans, environmentalists, and just plain folks have poured into Madison, surrounding the capitol square in furious protest. I've seen this democratic phenomenon myself--last month, I spoke at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191135844260755" target="_blank">a rousing, farmer-worker solidarity rally</a> at the capitol that drew more than 185,000 mad-as-hellers. They were a joy to behold.

But Walker does have two steadfast friends left--Charles and David. Even though they're outlanders who can't vote in Wisconsin, the Koch machine has rushed to his aid, voting with their many, many dollars. In just one ad-buy, AFP put up $342,000 to demonize the Wisconsinites protesting the power grab. AFP also put on astroturf rallies in 10 cities, bussed a contingent of Koch-funded tea party activists to Madison for a pathetically small show of support for Walker, and set up a 'standwithwalker.com' website.

<h1 class="title">A CMD Special Report: Scott Walker Runs on Koch Money</h1>

<div class="meta">Submitted by <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/user/35268" title="View user profile.">Lisa Graves</a> on February 18, 2011 - 11:45pm</div>

Madison, Wisconsin -- A new investigation by the Center for Media and Democracy <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/9958/koch-connection-scott-walkers-war-working-people" title="reference on documents" target="_blank">documents</a> the big money funneled by one of the richest men in America and one of the richest corporations in the world to put controversial Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in office.

<h2>The Republican Governors Association and the Kochs' Investment in Scott Walker</h2>

Walker was elected just over three months ago on the heels of an exceptionally expensive gubernatorial race in the Badger State, fueled by groups funded by the Koch brothers, David and Charles. David Koch, the son of a radical founding member of the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society" title="reference on John Birch Society" target="self">John Birch Society</a>, which has long been obsessed with claims about socialism and advocated the repeal of civil rights laws, personally donated $1 million to the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Republican_Governors_Association" title="reference on Republican Governors Association" target="self">Republican Governors Association</a> (RGA) in June of last year. This was the most he had ever personally given to that group. (Fellow billionaire <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rupert_Murdoch" title="reference on Rupert Murdoch" target="self">Rupert Murdoch</a> matched Koch's donation to the RGA with a $1 million donation from his company <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=News_Corporation" title="reference on News Corporation" target="self">News Corporation</a>, parent company of <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fox_News_Channel" title="reference on FOX " news="" channel="" target="_self">FOX "News" Channel</a>.)

<img src="/de8b9004-7bfa-5a34-9258-438528a59845.png"/>The RGA in turn spent $5 million in the race, mostly on TV ads attacking Walker's political opponent, Democratic Mayor Tom Barrett. As this photo shows, the RGA described itself as a "key investor" in Walker's victory. In its congratulations, the RGA notes that it "ran a comprehensive campaign including TV and internet ads and direct mail. The series of ads were devastating to Tom Barrett ... All told, RGA ran 8 TV ads and sent 8 pieces of mail for absentee, early voting, and GOTV, totaling 2.9 million pieces."

The Center for Media and Democracy reported on some of the RGA's spin-filled ads last November, including the ads against Barrett, and filed a snapshot report this week. As the RGA takes credit, its multi-million dollar negative ad campaign probably did help make the difference between the 1.1 million votes cast for Walker against Barrett's 1 million votes. According to Open Secrets, Koch Industries was one of the top ten donors to the RGA in 2010, giving $1,050,450 to help with governors' races, like Walker's.

As Mother Jones has noted, the <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Industries" title="reference on Koch Industries" target="_self">Koch Industries</a>' political action committee, KochPAC, gave Walker's campaign $43,000 directly (according to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board). It may seem like a small amount compared with the millions the Kochs are spending funding the RGA and other groups, but that donation was one of the larger individual donations to Walker not from an expressly-named partisan PAC. It is, however, a drop in the bucket compared with the impact of a million-dollar negative ad campaign, especially because the candidate promoted by the mud-slingers does not have to get his hands dirty.

<h2>The Kochs' Investment in Americans for Prosperity</h2>

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This week, Americans for Prosperity -- a right-wing political powerhouse funded by the billionaire Koch brothers -- started running anti-union TV ads in Wisconsin. The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adX6C01X9TU" target="_hplink">ads </a>allege that Wisconsin's public workers, protesting Gov. Scott Walker's attempt to dismantle their right to unionize, "walked off their jobs, abandoning our children." The ads ask, "Who decides Wisconsin's future? Voters or government unions?" Unsurprisingly, the TV spots don't go into detail about who paid for them -- viewers might be less likely to trust faux-populist rhetoric if they knew it came straight from the mouth of a corporate front group run by a pair of billionaires.

The story of the year since Citizens United v. FEC may be perfectly crystallized in the fight that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is waging against his state's public employee unions. Organizations like Americans for Prosperity <a href="https://www.pfaw.org/media-center/publications/citizens-blindsided-secret-corporate-money-the-2010-elections-and-america-" target="_hplink">spent millions of dollars</a> in 2010 running misleading ads bashing health care reform, progressives, immigrants, and American Muslims in order to elect politicians who would stand up for the interests of big business. Now those interests are working hard, and spending a little extra money, to make sure they collect on their investments.

The real story behind the protests in Wisconsin has little to do, as Gov. Walker would have you believe, with a state-level push for fiscal responsibility. It has everything to do with the changing dynamics of money and influence in national politics. Pro-corporate politicians have never liked the power wielded by unionized workers. Last year, in Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court handed them the tools do to something about it, paving the way for a wave of corporate money that helped to sweep pro-corporate politicians into power in November. Citizens United also increased the power of labor unions, but union spending was still no match for money pouring into elections from corporate interests. As Rachel Maddow has <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhZtYRiIho0" target="_hplink">pointed out</a>, of the top 10 outside spenders in the 2010 elections, 7 were right-wing groups and 3 were labor unions. Gov. Walker's attempt to obliterate Wisconsin's public employee unions, if it succeeds, could be the first of many attempts across the country to permanently wipe out what are the strongest political opponents of the newly empowered corporate force in American politics.

Citizens United alone did not win the 2010 elections for Republicans. But the money it let loose helped ensure that those swept to power by widespread voter dissatisfaction would be eager to pander to the interests of corporations and the wealthy, and to demonize those who oppose them. Instrumental in this movement were David and Charles Koch, the manufacturers behind Americans for Prosperity and central organizers in the movement to create a government more concerned with corporate profits. Americans for Prosperity, freed by the new rules governing corporate spending and unencumbered by financial disclosure requirements, spent <a href="https://www.pfaw.org/media-center/publications/citizens-blindsided-secret-corporate-money-the-2010-elections-and-america-#apapf" target="hplink">millions</a> of dollars on federal races in 2010, including <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaign/2010/spending/Americans-for-Prosperity.html" target="hplink">over $350,000</a> in Wisconsin congressional races. Koch-backed groups were even implicated <http blog.pfaw.org="" content="" surprise-surprise-wisconsin-voter-caging-stems-back-pro-corporate-koch-brothers=""> in a "voter caging" scheme to suppress the turnout of progressive voters in the state.</http>

Koch Industries, through other means, was also directly involved in the election of Walker. The company's political action committee was the fourth largest contributor to his campaign, contributing <a href="http://influenceexplorer.com/politician/scott-walker/e7ea9c83ea3d42a2b8f546d8c9e9873e" target="hplink">$43,000</a>, nearly the maximum amount allowed. It also contributed <a href="http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/wisconsin-scott-walker-koch-brothers" target="hplink">$1 million </a>to the Republican Governor's Association, which in turn spent millions on ads attacking Walker's opponent. These kinds of direct and indirect contributions to candidates were legal under Wisconsin's campaign finance rules even before Citizens United. But they illustrate the enormous stake that corporations like Koch have in who controls state governments--and the amounts they are willing to spend to elect sympathetic candidates. And, as the recent<a href="http://blog.pfaw.org/content/scott-walkers-revealing-chat-with-david-koch" target="_hplink"> prank call</a> to Walker shows, that money buys more than a sympathetic candidate. It buys the ultimate access.

What is perhaps most troubling about the post-Citizens United flood of corporate money in politics is the free rein it has given for corporations to hide behind front groups to run misleading ads without ever being held accountable for their content. Americans for Prosperity is now employing the same tactics it used to smear health care reform in key House districts in its ad campaign against Wisconsin unions. Like in its ads falsely claiming that health care reform hurt Medicare recipients, the group's ads in Wisconsin pretend to champion populist values while pushing a decidedly anti-populist agenda. The ads seek not only to misinform voters, but to blame ordinary Americans for problems they did not cause.

Wisconsin's budget shortfall was not caused by greedy government workers. It was caused by the current recession combined with Governor Walker's massive tax giveaways to corporations and the wealthy. Walker's demonization of teachers, public safety workers, and other public employees conveniently deflects attention from the people who are really benefiting from the state's current budget priorities: the corporations that are bankrolling Republican campaigns.

The Wisconsinites marching in Madison have called Gov. Walker's bluff on this blatant campaign to get rid of a political adversary, and citizens across the country are joining them. Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana decided this week that it wouldn't be so smart politically to pull a similar move in his state. Workers in Pennsylvania are preparing to fight another. The right to associate and to form a union is fundamental--and, as a recent <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-02-22-poll-public-unions-wisconsin_N.htm" target="_hplink">USA Today/Gallup poll</a> found, is recognized by a wide majority of Americans.

While most Americans support the right for workers to organize, corporate interests will continue to work -- and spend money -- to dismantle that right. We have to stop Gov. Walker from busting the unions in Wisconsin. But then we must deal with the bigger issue behind his efforts: the increasing power of corporate interests in deciding who benefits from the government, and who becomes a scapegoat.

=

grist

Can you get much more low-down than Scott Walker and his cronies? It's not enough that the Wisconsin governor stripped collective bargaining rights from unions in pretty much <a href="http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/whats-happening-wisconsin-explained">the slimiest way possible</a>, or that important people who support him have been advocating both <a href="http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/indiana-official-jeff-cox-live-ammunition-against-wisconsin-protesters">violence</a> and <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2011/03/indiana-prosecutor-floats-fake-assassination-scott-walker-resigns/36086/">fake violence</a> as a way to silence opposition. No, he also had to go and kill wind power.

Energy developer Invenergy has twigged to the fact that Walker is a scumbag in general and an anti-environment scumbag in particular, and has pulled out of its plan to build a new large-scale wind farm in Wisconsin. The farm would have had 100 turbines, 150 megawatts, and enough to power about 40,000 homes at peak output. But thanks to <a href="http://solveclimate.com/news/20110207/obama-extols-wisc-cleantech-fears-governors-anti-wind-policies-grow">Walker's bill</a> to kneecap wind energy by imposing tight restrictions on where turbine farms can be built, Invenergy now thinks Wisconsin has an "absence of legislative stability," which is corporate for "run by a dick." Another 725 megawatts of planned wind installations from other developers -- and $1.8 million in investments into the state economy -- is also at risk.

"<a href="http://solveclimate.com/news/20110323/wisconsin-wind-energy-renewable-portfolio-standard">Developer Pulls Plug on Wisconsin Wind Farm Over Policy Uncertainty</a>," Solve Climate News

"<a href="http://www.earthtechling.com/2011/03/large-wisconsin-wind-farm-killed-by-politics/">Large Wisconsin Wind Farm Killed By Politics</a>," EarthTechling

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<h1 class="title">Koch Denies Interest in No-Bid Deals; Opens New Lobby Shop</h1>

<img src="/10fdb574-cabd-5d45-b7fb-0faff5b3963c.jpg"/>Madison, Wisconsin -- The Capital Times reported on Tuesday that <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Koch_Industries" title="reference on Koch Industries" target="self">Koch Industries</a> had quietly opened a lobby shop in Madison. This news comes amid concerns about the influence of the company and the billionaire brothers who lead it, and the bankrolling of multi-million dollar ad campaigns like the one that helped sweep controversial governor <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Scott_Walker" title="reference on Scott Walker" target="self">Scott Walker</a> into office. The company's <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=political_action_committee" title="reference on political action committee" target="_self">political action committee</a> was also one of the largest PAC donors to contribute directly to Walker's election, giving his campaign $43,000, second only to the realtor PAC. Amid controversy swirling around a provision in the budget bill Walker introduced that would allow his administration to sell off state heating, cooling and power plants or their operations "for any amount" in no-bid contracts and without any external oversight, Koch Industries denied last night that it was interested purchasing power plants here to go along with its pipeline, refinery, and coal companies in the state.

According to Judy Davidoff, their operation "Koch Companies Public Sector -- Legal, Government, Public Affairs" opened steps from the Wisconsin capitol the week Walker was inaugurated as governor. The <a href="http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lobbying" title="reference on lobby firm" target="_self">lobby firm</a> moved into the seventh floor suite two weeks before the November election was held.

The Center for Media and Democracy told the Cap Times Tuesday, "It's curious that the Kochs have apparently expanded their lobbying presence just as Walker was sworn into office and immediately before a budget was unveiled that would allow the executive branch unilateral power to sell off public utilities in this state in no-bid contracts." CMD was referring to <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Wisconsin_Assembly_Bill_11,the%22Scott_Walker_Budget_Repair_Bill%22%282011%29" title="reference on Section 16.896" target="blank">Section 16.896</a> of Walker's controversial budget "repair" bill that would vest the Walker administration with unilateral authority to sell off or lease the operation of the state's power, cooling and heating plants in no-bid contracts.

<h2>A Bill for Backroom Deals "For Any Amount"</h2>

The Walker proposal, as introduced in his budget "repair" bill, expressly states that, notwithstanding some other laws, his administration:

<blockquote>may sell any state−owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state. Notwithstanding ss. 196.49 and 196.80, no approval or certification of the public service commission is necessary for a public utility to purchase, or contract for the operation of, such a plant, and any such purchase is considered to be in the public interest and to comply with the criteria for certification of a project under [previously controlling law].</blockquote>

(Emphasis added.)

The legal rules for selling the public's assets that this provision would effectively nullify appear to include those that:

<ol>

<li>require public bids;</li>

<li>reserve the right of the government to reject bids;</li>

<li>require that any property sold be subject to property taxes;</li>

<li>require that the fair market value of the property to be sold be publicly disclosed;</li>

<li>require at least 14 days for a public commission to review any proposed sale; and</li>

<li>require notification to the legislature in writing of the proposed sale.</li>

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(Section 13.48(14).) It would also wipe out the uniform procedures requiring a determination of whether a private contract can be performed "more economically or efficiently" than under state ownership (Section 16.705). It would even moot rules preventing the approval of utility operations that would increase "costs" to consumers without increasing "value" (Section 196.49 (3)).

<h2>Key Pipeline Rules Would Be Voided under Walker's Proposal</h2>

Notably, one of the provisions Walker's no-bid proposal would also void is a state law preventing a public utility furnishing gas to the public from altering the plant to connect it to a different pipeline from the previously kind of fuel, unless the public utility commission certified that doing so is necessary for the public interest and convenience (Section 196.49).

As the Center has noted, the Koch brothers' financial interests include Koch Pipeline Company, which operates a pipeline system that crosses Wisconsin, part of the nearly 4,000 miles of pipelines owned or operated by the company. It also owns Flint Hill Resources, which distributes refined fuel through pipelines and terminals in Junction City, Waupun, Madison and Milwaukee. Koch Industries also owns the "C. Reiss Coal Company," a power plant supply company located in Green Bay, Manitowoc, Ashland and Sheboygan (the company supplies coal to power plants).

It is not clear how any of the public's assets might enhance or diversify Koch's interests if the company were interested in doing so, although the breadth of the exemptions from standard operating procedure for sales might make the assets attractive as part of any number of business strategies.

<h2>Concerns Raised about Power Plant Power Grab; Koch Denies Interest in Purchase</h2>

Watchdog groups have expressed strong concerns about Walker's effort to push through his no-bid/no-rules power plant power grab. For example, the Center has raised concerns about the increased influence of corporations and their CEOs in elections and shared concerns with reporter Shawn Doherty, stating "Here you have a situation where extremely wealthy interests help propel Walker into office, and one of the first things he does is to privatize electricity in this state and to do so with the removal of public oversights and checks and no bidding." CMD added, "There should be red flags going up all over the place."

Koch Companies Public Sector president, Philip Ellender, told the Cap Times late Tuesday: "We have no interest in purchasing any of the state-owned power plants in Wisconsin and any allegations to the contrary are completely false. This is a dispute between public-sector unions and democratically elected officials over how best to serve the public interest. Unfortunately, there are those who would prefer to portray it as something else entirely. A balanced budget will benefit our company and its nearly 3,000 Wisconsin employees no more and no less than the rest of the state's private-sector workers and employers."

Walker's proposed unilateral powers would apply to both sales and contracts to operate power plants, as well as to heating and cooling plants.

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Walker, Scott GOV

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