(Governor) Doyle's (D, WI) Critics Again Question Adviser's Role

Wisconsin State Journal ^ | November 26, 2005 | Phil Brinkman

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Jim Doyle's critics are again attacking the Democratic governor's ties to a top adviser to the Forest County Potawatomi after the administration approved a gambling compact some say was a sweetheart deal for the tribe.

But Doyle said this week that former Democratic Gov. Martin Schreiber never lobbied him directly on the compact, which he said is a good deal for the state. He dismissed suggestions that his close relationship with Schreiber posed a conflict of interest.

"People negotiate things with the state who know people in public office," Doyle said.

Questions about Schreiber's influence with the governor were first raised two years ago after then-Administration Secretary Marc Marotta negotiated compacts with the state's 11 Indian tribes that never expired and expanded the types of games they could offer to include things like craps and roulette.

Previous compacts lasted five years and limited gambling options to slots and blackjack.

The state Supreme Court eventually threw out the perpetual compacts, saying the governor had exceeded his authority. Last month, Doyle announced a new compact with the Potawatomi that runs for 25 years and requires the tribe to make an initial lump-sum payment to the state of $43.6 million, followed by annual payments of 6 percent to 8 percent of the tribe's annual gross casino revenues.

Republicans cried foul two years ago, saying the governor had been bought off in the weeks before the 2002 election by the more than $700,000 the Potawatomi and two other tribes gave the national Democratic campaign committee, which then sent $1 million to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin to run pro-Doyle ads.

Doyle dismissed that allegation, noting the estimated $237 million in revenue the original compacts would have brought in over two years was almost five times what the tribes were paying the state at the time and said the money was needed to plug a gaping $3.2 billion budget hole.

In an interview at the time with the political Web site WisPolitics, Doyle was also asked to clarify Schreiber's role in the compact negotiations. A longtime friend of Doyle's, Schreiber previously served as one of his top campaign advisers and emceed his inauguration.

Doyle said then the compact was worked out entirely between Marotta and representatives of the Potawatomi and that Schreiber "was not part of these negotiations."

But in a series of stories and columns in October and earlier this month, the Lakeland Times of Minocqua quoted tribal spokesman Ken Walsh as saying Schreiber was part of the tribe's negotiating team in 2003 and again this year, which Walsh also confirmed to the State Journal.

"I don't know that he interpreted the question as, 'Who was in the room,' " Doyle spokesman Dan Leistikow said of the WisPolitics interview. "The fact remains, it was negotiated between Marc Marotta and (Potwatami Attorney General) Jeff Crawford."

The state Republican Party has seized on the apparent inconsistency and accused Doyle of a "clear conflict of interest."

Party Chairman Richard Graber said the compacts are part of a pattern of "ethical lapses" including a state travel contract the administration signed with a major Doyle contributor - now being reviewed by state and federal investigators - and a controversial fundraiser held by a deputy transportation secretary to which bidders on state contracts were invited.

Mike McCabe, executive director of the government watchdog group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said the tribes' spending in the last election and Schreiber's involvement in the compact negotiations raise questions about whether the governor got the best deal for the state.

"It's impossible for a reasonable person to look at all those facts and not suspect there's a pretty important connection there," McCabe said.

Schreiber could not be reached for comment this week. But Doyle and Walsh, who works for Schreiber's public affairs firm, bristled at the suggestion Schreiber exerted any undue influence on the administration.

"There'd be nothing inappropriate if he was" involved in negotiations, Doyle said, adding Schreiber also advised the tribe during negotiations with Doyle's Republican predecessors.

Walsh likened the negotiations to a boxing match, in which Marotta and Crawford were in the ring while Schreiber was in Crawford's corner.

"Marty never negotiated with the governor and Marty was not a negotiator," Walsh said.

He also said descriptions of the compact as a sweetheart deal were false. The tribes were seeking long-term deals that would help them finance investments, and the state was badly in debt. The compact benefited both sides, he said.

The percentage payments are more than what the tribe would be required to pay if it were subject to the state corporate income tax, Walsh said. And the terms are virtually identical to those approved or recommended for the state's other tribes.

Assembly Speaker John Gard, R-Peshtigo, has complained the payments fall far short of the 25 percent of net revenue Connecticut has worked out with two casino resorts. But Walsh said those casinos, which sit between New York and Boston, draw on a far larger market than casinos in Wisconsin.

Most other states that allow tribal casinos require payments ranging from 1 percent to 8 percent of gambling revenue, according to a national Indian gambling report.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Good Evening, Wisconsin Conservative Politics Ping List Members!

This one doesn't seem to be going away, Kids! If Green or Walker don't make hay out of this one, all is lost for our side. This should be like shooting fish in a barrel. On a Reservation. With the Native Americans and Marty Schreiber providing the ammo.

[Theodore R.]

I rarely hear about WI state government: is Doyle a shoo-in for reelection in 2006? Whatever happened to the popular Governor Lucey, who ran for v.p. with John B. Anderson in 1980?

[Theodore R.]

I just checked and found that Lucey is apparently still living at 87. I was surprised that he left the ambassadorship in Mexico City in 1980 to run with the liberal Anderson. GA Jimmy must have been royally angered.

[reformedliberal]

Doyle has the WI Donk machine, which is hard to beat fairly (not to mention the Cook County helpers who can come in and vote all along the IL-WI border).

The university system is spread out and covers most of the state, giving them fraud troops in almost every rural location. He has all the Indians, the Greens and the other usual suspects, of whom we have way too many.

I personally like Walker at this time. The fact that he is a Republican who is County Executive in Milwaukee County speaks well for his ability to fracture the vote in one of the D strongholds. He is young, attractive and a dynamic presence when I have seen him at rallies. His campaign is well-organized from what I can tell, so far.

The main problem, IMO, is just the rampant anti-Republicanism the donks have drummed up here and their ability, as incumbents, to hand out the goodies to their constituents. Even when Doyle's staff was caught on media cameras rewarding developmentally disabled people for voting D, nothing came of it.

[codercpc]

Actually, Diamond Jim Doyle has royally pi**ed off the State government workers because of bad faith union contracts (among other things), but all the conservatives in Wisconsin know that when push comes to shove, they would never back a Republican either. Basically, Doyle is not a shoo in, and if the Republican candidates (Green and Walker) pursue it there are many issues to exploit, the Indian gaming compacts being only one of them.

Wisconsin, overall, is an extremely Red State. The county I live in hasn't voted Democrat since sometime in the 1800's. It's only Madison, and inner city Milwaukee that keep us blue. Doyle has an extremely low approval rating, so we hope we will once again have a Republican in office in 2006!!! In 2002 when Doyle was elected, we had a very unpopular Governor (who took over when Tommy Thompson took a job with the Bush administration), and a very strong independent candidate (Ed Thompson, Tommy's brother) who took over 10% of the vote.

I think, with the right campaigning, that either of the Republicans can, and will win, next year. Plus it looks like we will have a Gay Marriage amendment on the ballot, which will bring out the conservatives. Right now I am leaning towards Mark Green, only because he is my US Congressman right now, and I really like him personally, but I will gladly campaign for Scott Walker if he wins the primary.

[Kuksool]

The election is going to be extremely close. The past two President elections were decided by less than 10K votes. Plus Doyle got less than 46% of the vote in 2002. (Notice the media isn't saying he has no mandate). Poll watchers are needed because WI policy of allowing election day voter registration allows fraud to occur, especially in Madison.

[codercpc]

I agree, but in my opinion, one of the main exploits the Republicans can use next year is Doyle's refusal to sign voter ID into law (even though the mass majority of voters, even Democrats, support in). I hope that because this will be a major issue in the campaigns, that maybe illegal voting will be less of a problem (ie... maybe the media will focus on the legitimacy of the election).

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

is Doyle a shoo-in for reelection in 2006?

Doyle will lose only if the state GOP unites behind Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. If they go with quasi-RINO Congressman Mark Green, then Doyle and his alcoholic AG will win easily.

[Theodore R.]

Is the liberalism practiced in WI today the same as that of the old La Follette organization?

[Watery Tart]

"I don't know that he interpreted the question as, 'Who was in the room,' " Doyle spokesman Dan Leistikow said of the WisPolitics interview. "The fact remains, it was negotiated between Marc Marotta and (Potwatami Attorney General) Jeff Crawford."

What is IS, after all? I immediately got a pic in my head of Martin Short as the nervous attorney being interviewed by TV muckrakers....