Posted on 05/24/2015 11:46:40 AM PDT by Laissez-faire capitalist
During the 2010 campaign for governor, Scott Walker promised to create 250,000 jobs in his first term.
Toward this end, one of his first acts as governor was to privatize the state's economic development agency. Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) opened its doors in July 2011. After a series of damning audits, which highlighted mismanagement and incompetence, and news reports of special treatment for Walker donors, on Monday Democratic state lawmakers called for a federal investigation of the scandal-plagued entity.
Walker is the Chairman of the Board
When walker created WEDC in 2011, he named himself Chairman of the Board.
Although it was a privatized agency, WEDC was in charge of a staggering amount of taxpayer dollars: $519 million in bonds, loans, grants and tax credits in 2011-2012 alone; and the WEDC board is ultimately responsible for those dollars. While experts debate the role state government plays in job creation, one set of jobs Walker can more precisely lay claim to are those created by the economic development corporation board he governs.
In 2012, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel broke the story that WEDC had lost track of $12 million in loans because it never asked businesses to pay them back. ...
A damning 2013 audit by Wisconsin's professional, nonpartisan, state audit bureau made headlines when it documented dozens of ways in which the new agency was breaking the law. ...
WEDC promised to clean up its act and reported to the legislature and the state audit bureau in October 2013 it had addressed all the concerns raised in the May 2013 audit.
But a new May 2015 state audit [link at URL] shows the situation is even worse.
WEDC Can't Account For Jobs Created and Isn't Even Trying
...
(Excerpt) Read more at prwatch.org ...
Is this crony capitalism? Is this Adam Smith's (the founder of Free Market economics) vision of what job creation should look like?
Is this taking taxpayer dollars from one set of people and giving it to others? Does this create an unfair advantage for some business over other businesses in the same state?
Let's say that some governor in Nebraska wanted to take x amount of taxpayer dollars and these taxpayer dollars were to go to create jobs and that money came from the taxpayer dollars of other business owners who didn't get the same sort of deal would it be acceptable to support this?
What say you?
Cruz in 2016!
What say you?
Yes, No, Yes,Yes, No.
What say you?
What say you?
What say you?
With the Clinton’s we call it influence peddling. With Walker it is basically the same except he is paying for political support with tax payer dollars. Apparently he has been doing this for some time.
I kmew that he had given certain unions a Pass, for instance Public Sector Unions that supported his election, but this is really getting Clintonesque.
Thanks for bringing it to our attention and for your very thoughtful comments.
So, if a liberal calls out a supposedly “free market conservative” for not adhering to free market economic principles, it is ok to use a diversionary tactic like you are doing to draw attention away from a “]this “free market conservative” not adhering to Free Market principles?
BTW, if someone in Hillary’s camp says “that it is just another right-wing hit job against her,” would that make the info concerning her all of a sudden not relevant?
We must not have the left saying “this is just another right-wing hit job.” But posts like yours make it easier for Hillary to do just that...
Post some facts from a reputable source, then we will talk.
No problem.
Hillary will no doubt be saying “this article that such and such website put out is just another hit job against me,” and sadly some on the right use the same liberal tactic, just in reverse.
All GOP contenders should adhere to pure Free Market principles, right?
If they don’t, are they for true Free Market Capitalism?
>> dozens of ways in which the new agency was breaking the law. ...
Naturally, the govt is immune from such scrutiny and charges.
Horse Puckey. Watchdog.org is a network of American news websites that feature reporting on state and local government from a conservative perspective. It is a project of the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity.
Walker is going to have to take resposibility for this. He is the Chairman and he also did this in a previous position.
Markets don’t fail. Statists fail.
You are again using the same line that liberals do, when they say A.) that a/an article against Hillary is not from a reputable source... or is B.) just another right-wing hit job and so on.
You keep attacking the messenger (the web site), but not the message, because you can’t argue effectively against the message.
We can all see this.
People here at FR should not use liberal talking points (A and B above).
I think th3 questions may have been rhetorical....
Hmmm. Government fails as a free market impostor. Words fail me.
It is the same ol same ol.
Attack the messenger (Watchdog.org) is what you see here sometimes at FR because RINOs don’t have a problem with stuff that goes against Free Market economics.
Cruz is for pure Free Market capitalism, though.
Cruz in 2016!
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