Scott Walker Creates Wealth -- For His Donors

When Koch brothers employee of the year Gov. Scott "Koch Head" Walker (R-Kochland) "privatized" the State of Wisconsin's commerce department, creating the "Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation" (WEDC) in 2011, he promised it would boost job creation in the state.  Four years later, Wisconsin has one of the worst job creation records of any state in the Midwest.  But, Walker's WEDC does like spreading taxpayer money around, mostly to donors to Walker's campaigns.  You know, to Republicans who like their government small, but their payoffs big.

Brian Murphy at TPM has a great article detailing the rot and corruption Walker has visited on this once-proud state:

WEDC didn’t seem to care whether the jobs materialized or not. One underwriter said that “it was almost like they couldn't say ‘no’ to anybody.”

All of which raises an obvious question: if this agency isn’t creating jobs, what is it actually for?

Well, the list of recipients of WEDC grants and its generous taxpayer-funded forgivable loans is populated with Walker campaign donors. Five awards worth $10.5 million went to cheese manufacturers who gave $104,000 to Walker’s campaigns. Diane Hendricks*, a billionaire involved in construction who gave $500,000 to Walker’s 2012 recall campaign, won a $2 million tax credit. Another smaller, $500,000 loan was given to different construction firm, also owned by a Walker donor, who met with Walker’s chief of staff and the man Walker eventually put in charge of WEDC, Mike Huebsch. Huebsch was pushing for a $4.3 million package for the donor, William Minahan, even though his company was on the verge of collapse. The $500,000 loan was extended instead – and without review.

These are just a few examples from a very long list.

* You may recall Diane Hendricks from this episode - a real piece of shit work. (Viewer advisory:  she's a scary-looking harridan.)

You have to read the entire article, then you may want to get in a shower, because the backscratching and cupidity of these small-bore "small government" hypocrites will make you feel, well, cheesy (Wisconsin pun intended).   But any such story wouldn't be complete without invoking the Justice Anthony Kennedy Citzens United disclaimer that  "... [I]ndependent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption."

Mmmhmm.