Monday, October 27, 2008

Walker And Allies Waste Even More Tax Dollars

Over the past week or so, I've written on Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's hypocritical position regarding a mailer sent out by the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. The mailer in question is a simple one page flier, done in grayscale, to explain the sales tax referendum that is on the ballot.

Walker hypocritically blasts the board for spending tax dollars to mail this flier, but then repeatedly wastes tax dollars and county resources to expound on his views and advocate against the referendum.

I have recently learned that two County Supervisors, Joe Sanfelippo and Joe Rice have each used tax payers dollars to print and mail their own, individual fliers, advocating against the referendum.

I have not seen Rice's flier. (If anyone received one, let me know.) However, John McAdams has told shared that he spoke to Rice, and that Rice has a whole PowerPoint presentation on the issue, again using county property and resources, which McAdams was kind enough to put into pdf form. Rice's presentation gives a lot of talking points, but no proof for the allegations he makes. It is like he is practicing to become a radio talk show host.

I have gained a copy of Sanfelippo's mailer. It is a six-page thing done in color and printed by the inmates at the House of Correction. This came out of the money that he was allotted when from the Board's funding, using county resources, including the guards and print shop workers that oversee the inmates.

In Sanfellipo's flier, he spends a lengthy time explaining why he thinks the referendum is wrong, again using the same talking points, and ends his spiel with this:

I joined County Executive Scott Walker when he vetoed the sales tax increase referendum back in July. Since then, unfortunately, the County Board has voted to override the Executive's veto, and the referendum will be on the November 4th ballot. Between now and then, I will work to "shine the light" on the confusing language of the referendum so that voters know that voting "yes" would RAISE taxes, not lower them.
I don't know if that passes muster legally, but if it does, it sure seems like it's dancing on the edge.

Might I also point out briefly that neither Walker or his allies inform the voters of what the consequences would be to a "no" vote, including the decimation of the transit system that would keep 45% of workers who rely on the bus to get to work from getting to work. Yeah, that'll do the business a lot of good.

Walker then really puts his weaselly paw into his weaselly mouth by joining forces with the Wisconsin Club for Growth, a right wing political action committee, to put out a radio commercial against the sales tax.

In said commercial, Walker flat out lies and says that this is the board that voted to raise their pensions, and that the sales tax is to bail them out. Only five of the current nineteen board members had voted for the pension bail out. But that isn't the worst of it.

Walker has filed a lawsuit against Mercer, the actuary agency he accuses of not informing the then County Board of the true costs of the pension plan that Ament was pushing through. This lawsuit is already on weak legs as that Walker's star witness, Stuart Piltch, whom Walker paid lots and lots of tax payer money, turned out to be an unreliable witness, to say the least. After Walker pinned the pension vote on the board, does anyone really think that the attorneys representing Mercer don't have that commercial downloaded, taped, transcribed and otherwise recorded in every single way known to mankind. Whatever chance that lawsuit had had recouping some of the money is now greatly dimished.

For some guys that are supposed to be worried about the current tax situation, they are sure blowing a lot of taxpayer monies on what is nothing more than politcal grandstanding and posturing.

No comments:

Post a Comment