Posted on 06/01/2015 12:16:37 PM PDT by conservativejoy
.
.
. WSJ Subscriber Services
WSJ E-edition
Archives
Obituaries
More
Join the conversation
Log In
Register
Subscribe
avatar
.
. madison.com
Advanced Search | Privacy | About Our Ads
News
Search
Home
Sites
Writers
Opinion
Data
About
Weather
Communities
Shop
CarSoup
Jobs
Homes
.
.
Trending
Two minutes with Mitch Henck
Latest state budget news
Seven Days of Summer
Judge Doyle Square
WEDC loan raises questions
.
.
Home/ Top News Summary/ Local News/ Writers/ Mike Ivey
Gov. Scott Walker taking heat from both right and left over WEDC
13
Print Email
May 22, 2015 10:30 am • By Mike Ivey | The Capital Times
Scott Walker file photo
Scott Walker file photo
Gov. Scott Walker
Enlarge Photo
Watchdog groups have long warned against WEDC practices
Quasi-private economic development agencies like WEDC in several states have attracted the attention of national groups. Read more
Hours after damning audit, Scott Walker calls off WEDC-WHEDA merger
Democrats blasted the governor's economic development agency, calling the problems at WEDC "bordering on criminal negligence." Read more
Mike Ivey
Biz Beat
Mike Ivey has been a reporter with The Capital Times for more than 25 years, covering business, the environment and politics. He was named the state's top business reporter in 2011 by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. Biz BeatBlog EmailEmail TwitterTwitter
Get the Cap Times app for your smartphone
Click here for the iPhone version
Click here for the Android version
Get news alerts delivered to your inbox. Sign up here!
Cap Times Headlines Sent each morning at 6
Cap Times Opinion Sent each morning at 11
Cap Times Recap "In Case You Missed It" Sent each afternoon at 5
Madison.com Features Sent each morning at 6
Madison.com Food & Drink Sent each Thursday morning at 11
Madison.com Movies Sent each Friday morning at 9
Email:
First Name:
Last Name:
As legislators have debated changes to the troubled Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. this week, the agency’s main architect Gov. Scott Walker is taking heat from both the right and left.
This week, the conservative website Right Wisconsin featured a column from managing editor Collin Roth calling for an end to the kind of “crony capitalism” that allegedly led to a failed $500,000 loan to a Walker campaign donor.
“Conservatives are supposed to believe in limited government and free markets,” Roth wrote. “We don't want government to pick winners and losers in the market. And we love to preach that government doesn't create jobs.”
Roth said WEDC is an example of a flawed government attempt to create jobs by doling out tax dollars to selected recipients.
“Just because it's Republicans in power and they are handing out cash in service of ‘job creation’ doesn't make it any better,” Roth wrote. “And before Democrats think I'm taking their side, the Doyle years were just as replete with bad loans and cronyism.”
Meanwhile, one of the governor’s loudest critics on the left, Scot Ross of One Wisconsin Now, is saying there will be no improvement at WEDC unless politics can be taken out of the equation.
“It’s time for Gov. Walker to come home and come clean about what’s been going on at WEDC,” Ross said in a statement. “And it’s time for the Republican majority in the state Legislature to stop covering for him as he runs for president and start demanding answers and accountability.”
In fact, Republicans on Thursday did break their silence about the questionable 2011 loan to a failing Milwaukee construction company whose owner was one of 32 individuals to make the maximum $10,000 contribution to Walker on the eve of the November 2010 election.
Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, co-chair of theJoint Finance Committee, said the most recent audit criticizing WEDC practices and the Wisconsin State Journal investigation into the loan to Building Committee Inc. and its owner William Minahan is cause for concern.
The budget committee passed a Republican motion Thursday altering some aspects of WEDC’s operations, including canceling a $55 million WEDC revolving loan fund.
In addition, legislators are also going to remove the governor from the WEDC board, something Walker himself had proposed but will keep two Republican and two Democratic legislators on it. Walker had recommended removing all elected officials from the board.
Also Thursday, Democrats formally requested U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch make a federal inquiry of the loan to see if any laws were broken. BCI, which originally sought a $4.3 million loan from the state, has been accused of falsifying its application and failing to acknowledge past legal problems. The state is now suing to try and recover its money.
“Like many taxpayers across Wisconsin, I am outraged by these explosive media reports, but as a board member I feel a responsibility to ensure we find out how this improper loan was granted and that this is not the tip of the iceberg, while also finding solutions following the recent scathing audit of Gov. Walker’s WEDC,” Rep. Peter Barca said in the letter. “Given all the turmoil and potential federal laws being broken at WEDC, a thorough federal investigation is the best way to determine whether the governor and some of his closest aides engaged in pay-to-play activities or committed other serious ethical violations.” .
Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/writers/mike_ivey/gov-scott-walker-taking-heat-from-both-right-and-left/article_51131b1a-fffd-11e4-8ad7-53b4d46799f3.html#ixzz3bq6TgO2l
No, it’s just part of the soft coup that is getting harder. See, whatever Hillary and the demand do, regardless of how egregious, is above question. But if a Republican so much as farts in the wrong direction, then it is time for jail. See, we are illegal by virtue of existing.
I don’t care who you support for the nomination. It should scare and bother all of us that our candidates are being taken out by prosecution. I mean, they indicted Rick Perry for using the veto. Come on people, be highly skeptical of anything that continues to make us illegal.
I agree that we don’t have to settle for this. And when we are done vetting Walker and putting him in jail I am sure we can move on to Cruz. Oh the fun of being a Carl Rove divide and conquer troll!!!
Yes, no blind adoration for a candidate. I mean, it’s not like that would be reflected in your signature or anything. Oh, wait. Pssst, Ted Cruz is next.
This is getting very interesting. Thanks for the Post.
If you find that Cruz paid thousands of taxpayer dollars to his campaign supporters as it appears Walker did, please post all the associated articles.
He may not. But I am not going to be divided and conquered this time. I will remain skeptical of any report that calls for prosecution of any conservative candidate, period. I will not allow prosecutors and others to select my candidate while the likes of the Clinton crime family and 90% of the GOPe walk this earth unmolested.
I also will view with skepticism any call for action from a democrat that is suddenly picked upon by a republican. It has Rove written all over it and was how he operated in 2012.
I’m sorry are you suggesting that Cruz will escape unscathed? Rove will dig the dirt. Cruz is next, well, at least when he starts to resemble a real threat to little Jebby.
Don’t expect the GOPe aka Karl Rove to be involved in attacking Walker. He is their default pick if Jeb loses.
A YouTube video didn’t help Tom DeLay or Bob McDonnel or Rick Perry or Chrispy Creme. Walker can cut whatever videos he wants and, I agree with you, he should. Then again every lawyer advises a client not to talk when under criminal investigation. That is what the dems know and count on. Once charged or under investigation Walker will have to clam up, just like when the John Doe investigations were going on. Make no mistake they will charge him and, eventually, get around to Cruz for some made up nonsense. It’s the seriousness of the charge after all.
Look, support whoever. But as conservatives we should treat with great skepticism any attempt to investigate or prosecute out candidates,
especially at these coincidental times.
Sorry, they aren’t looking for defaults. Not raising that much money they aren’t. They are going the Romney (and Rove) scorched conservative earth route again. Bank on it.
madison.com sounds like a lefty progressive website to me.
Cruz has scathing articles printed on him every single day. Many of them are posted on here for analysis.
I am more concerned with factual evidence of criminal behavior than I am opinion pieces by pundits. If they had anything like this on Cruz, they would be hammering it.
Cruz just isn’t viewed by the GOPe snobs as serious (yet). Look at last cycle, Herman Cain was a joke. The second he became not a joke? He became a womanizing rapist.
Right Wisconsin is reporting the same information as are several other sites.
This thread has been pulled. Pulled on 06/01/2015 2:20:59 PM PDT by Admin Moderator, reason: no link, title change
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.