MADISON – Whether it’s his taxpayer-funded campaign joyride, his campaigning on the public dime, his flip-flops on immigration or his donors tramping all over campaign finance rules, one thing is clear: Scott Walker had a very bad week.
At the start of last week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Walker crony Darlene Wink, his constituent services director and vice chair of the Milwaukee Republican Party, was using her work computer to post politically charged comments about Walker on various Web sites – all on taxpayers’ time. She quickly resigned after her comments, which sang Walker’s praises and attacked Tom Barrett and Mark Neumann, were made public. Scott Walker has not yet responded to calls to reimburse the taxpayers for the time Wink spent doing his political bidding..
Just as that news was breaking, Scott Walker’s position on the Arizona immigration law took us all on a rollercoaster ride. At first he was against it. But a few critical Facebook comments later led Walker to a monumental flip flop. confusing voters and erasing Walker’s credibility on the issue. In an editorial, the La Crosse Tribune charged that the flip flop amounted to “the Milwaukee County executive’s pandering to angry people looking for easy answers, ” and the Eau Claire Leader Telegram lamented the fact that Scott Walker’s political principles last only 24 hours.
Scott Walker’s abuse of taxpayer dollars continued throughout the week as he and some Republican cronies completed Walker’s disastrous taxpayer-funded joyride around the state. After first claiming no taxpayer was spent on the tour, Walker and his campaign continued to change their positions on the exact funding source. However, that didn’t stop Walker from using law enforcement officers from Waukesha County to escort him and the other riders around the state on his campaign tour – and once again, it was taxpayers who footed the bill. Walker was accompanied on his trip, for reasons still unexplained, by his Republican political coddler Tim Russell, who when he’s not campaigning for Walker on the taxpayers’ dime, is the head of Milwaukee County’s housing department.
While Walker was AWOL on his joyride, calls mounted for immediate action at the county’s Mental Health Complex. Following a scathing report on the complex by the advocacy group Disability Rights Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel urged Walker to put safety first and begin addressing the issue. Since Walker was on his taxpayer-funded joyride across the state, it’s likely he was unable to be reached for comment, since he doesn’t answer his phone.
Walker’s legal violations continued to mount, as it was reported Thursday that one of Walker’s donors used corporate cash to reimburse employees donating $43,800 to Walker’s campaign. The story of the illegal funneling of money to Scott Walker’s campaign continues to unfold.
And to top it all off, a report issued Thursday showed Milwaukee County faces a $6.6 million budget deficit for this year, thanks to Walker’s irresponsible budgeting practices and reckless management of the County.
“For a week now the Double Talker Scott Walker and his campaign have given conflicting stories about just how much taxpayers are spending for his campaign joyride around the state. He’s been AWOL while crises mount in the complex where his policies have put women at risk of sexual assault. The budget is broken, he’s flip-flopping on Arizona’s immigration law and his cronies are illegally campaigning on the public dime,,” said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate Friday. “Some homecoming.”
