Monday, June 1, 2009

Walker: Incompetent And A Liar And Darn Proud Of It!

Last week, the local paper finally got around to announcing that a survey of UWM faculty and staff were less than enthused with the decision to expand the campus to a location several miles away. Said newspapers also reported that the reconstruction of the zoo interchange will be the most expensive in state history, and will involve the relocation and/or destruction of several buildings, including some owned by Milwaukee County.

Both of these stories highlight the foolishness of Walker's plan to sell the county grounds in a sweetheart deal so that some developers can build a hotel, a restaurant and a strip mall in an area no one wanted it. But even that should be beside the point, since Walker had originally promised not to allow the land to be developed for anything but a state forest.

In a move of stunning cluelessness, Walker not only ignores the fact that he broke his promise, but on Wednesday, he is going to hold a showboating photo op for the signing of the deal that he promised would never happen. To top it all off, the deal hasn't even been finalized as the Butterfly group, UWM, the county parks department and others haven't even finalized the supposed restoration for the Monarch Trail that will be, I'm afraid, be destroyed.

I always knew he wasn't one to ever be believed, but to be holding a press conference bragging about the fact that he is a liar is a new low, even for him.

But it doesn't end there. Not by a long shot.

During the last week, Governor Jim Doyle signed the bill authorizing the state's take over of Milwaukee County's aid programs. The take over was necessitated by Walker's willful failure to fill the fully funded slots in the aid program. This led to predictable poor performance of the program, and the ensuing lawsuit against the state and the county.

Unfortunately for Walker, most of the money that funds this program comes from the state, who gets it from the feds. This means that there has to be some accountability for what happens to the money. Hence, the JFC unanimously voted to ask Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen to conduct an investigation into possible administrative fraud by Walker and his administration.

Ironically, Walker tries to spin the call for an investigation as being completely political, ignoring the fact that the Republicans on the committee also voted for the probe. What makes it ironic is the fact that it is political. If Walker hadn't been so focused on trying to make himself look appealing to the right wing extremists, and had actually done his job, the county, the indigent and Walker wouldn't have a fraction of the problems it does now.

Brandon Lorenz has also written on this matter at One Wisconsin Now.

Walker also got egg all over his face with his website. Walker, who touts himself to be the answer to the exodus of businesses from Wisconsin, has hired an agency from Ohio to build his website. Michael Horne of MilwaukeeWorld broke the story, and there have been other takes on the issue by Zach Wisniewski, Dan Cody and a flagrant act of journalism by Channel 12 news.

And if that wasn't enough, Walker has been touting a summer employment program that has been closed to new applicants for weeks, leading people to false hope of finding work in these troubling economic times. Funny, Walker never explained why he continuously tries to cut this program, year after year.

In a similar story, it was also reported during the past week that Sue Black, head of the county's park department, won another prize for "best effort" regarding salvaging the park system despite Walker's best efforts. In this story, as in the other "best effort" contest, credit was given to the parks workers for making it happen. The question is: If the park workers are so good, why is Walker trying to lay them off every year?

All of this explains why Walker's supporters are being so vicious to Mark Neumann, who is expected to run against Walker for the Republication nomination for governor, but hasn't officially announced yet. It also explains why Neumann hasn't announced yet.

With this kind of track record, it is probable that Walker has already eliminated himself from being considered as a serious candidate for governor.

12 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you're back Chris. Oh, are you going to call Doyle a liar for breaking his promise not to raise our taxes? Perhaps you can fit that into your next blog post - you know, to be fair and balanced.

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  2. Two problems anonymous,

    1) The Doyle quote you reference was specific to 2003 (the fact that he gave that line in his "State of the State" address should have tipped you off.)

    2) "Fair and balanced?" What, you think I'm Faux News?

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  3. "Fair and balanced" does not mean ignoring reality.

    I missed your perspective, Caps. Welcome back from vacation.

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  4. Chris,

    Does it really matter if the promise was made in a State of the State address? He promised not to raise our taxes as governor. Do you have any idea how much he's going to raise our taxes if his proposal passes? Take a stab at it.

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  5. He did not promise that he would not raise taxes as governor. Here's his speech, so that you can see it for itself.

    But aren't you being a bit hypocritical when Walker has increased taxes, and would have increased them more if the Board hadn't stopped him? He wanted parking meters at the lakefront. He raised fees on everything, and now wants to make people pay for bus transfers. And what about the cost that county tax payers will have to endure due to Walker's refusal and/or inability to run the public aid program.

    Sorry, anony, you got nothing. Now, why are you Walker supporters so terrified of Mark Neumann?

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  6. So when the liar in chief said, in that speech, "We're spending too much" it must make perfectly clear sense to you that he propose we spend even more.

    What a tool you are. Mincing and cherry picking words so you remain loyal to a man with a track record of lying with a straight face.

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  7. Your faux outrage does not impress me. If you were upset about lies or increased taxes, you would be equally upset with Walker.

    Now, how about answering that question about Neumann?

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  8. Capper,

    Here is an excerpt from Doyle's speech:

    "Going forward, my mind will be open to every solution -- except one. We should not -- we must not -- and I will not -- raise taxes. "

    When he made this speech, he was already the governor. He said he would not raise our taxes, and his budget proposal will raise taxes by almost two billion dollars.

    Now, we can debate the merits of Walker keeping or breaking his promises, and you probably know that I would be happy to have this debate with you, but you should understand what the perception is of a blogger who continually criticizes Walker for doing something our governor is "currently" doing, and yet there is no criticism or admittance from you that it's wrong.

    Fair is fair. We are all partisans in this political game, but you ought to tip your king over when your in checkmate. Pretending that the game isn't over doesn't mean it isn't, it just means that you're being a poor sport.

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  9. (Sorry for the repeat, I accidentally hit the anonymous button)

    Capper,

    Here is an excerpt from Doyle's speech:

    "Going forward, my mind will be open to every solution -- except one. We should not -- we must not -- and I will not -- raise taxes. "

    When he made this speech, he was already the governor. He said he would not raise our taxes, and his budget proposal will raise taxes by almost two billion dollars.

    Now, we can debate the merits of Walker keeping or breaking his promises, and you probably know that I would be happy to have this debate with you, but you should understand what the perception is of a blogger who continually criticizes Walker for doing something our governor is "currently" doing, and yet there is no criticism or admittance from you that it's wrong.

    Fair is fair. We are all partisans in this political game, but you ought to tip your king over when your in checkmate. Pretending that the game isn't over doesn't mean it isn't, it just means that you're being a poor sport.

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  10. Sorry, but there is no checkmate. You have one old pawn that isn't even accurate (more like a checker piece that you use as a pawn).

    But considering that your own argument could be used against your support for Walker, i.e. he lied and has raised taxes, the best you could have hoped for was a stalemate.

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  11. Capper,

    The point, I think, is that when you whine about Walker and ignore the problem with Doyle, you become a hypocrite - not to mention, you lose credibility immediately.

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  12. Sort of like when Walker aides de camp attack Doyle and ignore Walker does the same thing? Oh, and now that Walker has yet another problem with integrity, regarding his connection with Van Hollen's use of state employees, equipment, etc., when will you admit that he has a problem.

    Not to mention that I doubt anyone worries about what a Walker aide, who can't even come up with a pseudonym, is trying to spin things.

    ReplyDelete