Sunday, September 15, 2013

Scott Walker is Flying High



By Jeff Simpson

And Very Very Expensively! The inaptly described "fiscal conservative" obviously isn't and when he speaks of Small government he apparently means small private government planes he likes to use!

According to documents provided by the state Department of Administration in response to the Shepherd’s open records requests, Walker has spent $183,839.16 on his travels from Jan. 1 to July 30, 2013.

That amount doesn’t include his state-funded travels on commercial airlines or the expenses incurred during his April trade mission trip to China. Nor does it include the expenses he and his staff are racking up during their visit to Tokyo this week.

Walker most frequently flew between Madison and Milwaukee, and occasionally between Madison and Wauwatosa, usually at the beginning or the end of a day of flights around the state. Walker has two separate residences, the official executive residence in suburban Madison and his home in Wauwatosa. Walker made the 75-mile flight 44 times between January and the end of June. Even his aides are flying between the two cities 14 times without him. In Wisconsin, staff members traveling without the governor were always expected to drive short distances such as between Madison and Milwaukee and not run up a bill for a private plane ride.
 YOUCH!  That is a lot of extra baggage charges!  

  Too bad they dont have high speed rail to make that hour trip a little easier on them. 

When asked about this exorbitant cost to fly by plane, Gov. Walker's office responded with complete silence.  Apparently the "most transparent" Governor in history has no interest in explaining his big spending ways.   

I would love to see an exact break down of how long it takes from him to get from the Capitol to the Governor's mansion by plane and compare it by car.    I am pretty sure car's would be quicker, but maybe he needs the miles!  



4 comments:

  1. I would like to see the cost of high rail trains from Madison to MKE with stops in Delafield, Wawatosa, West Allis and 35 th Street. Walker is a bitch of Koch bros.

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  2. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - what say you?

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  3. Take a peek at the comment I left at the Siren's piece on this. Info from Marty Beil, last Feb in a Sly interview.

    Driving, Walker cost the state $100K a month for the first 6 months of 2012, just for the overtime pay of his security detail of State Patrol officers. Either mode is a crime considering somebody is still heating and cooling the gov's mansion.

    "Humanitarian," Walker should be opening the Mansion to the 33 Lothlorian Coop residents displaced by that fire. Right?

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  4. Didn't the Journal Sentinel and then the Republicans go after Doyle for a handful (less than 10) flights around the state in a year?

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