He's Bought and Paid for, Now That They Own Him, They Want to Show Him Around
Peter Dreier who is a Distinguished Professor of Politics, and director of the Urban & Environmental Policy program, at Occidental College, wrote an insightful piece for the Common Dreams Organization on June 6th, immediately after Scott Walker won the Wisconsin recall election. Professor Dreier knew, what all the progressives in Wisconsin know, billionaires bought themselves a State. Professor Dreier's conclusion is quoted below;
“But the real winner in Wisconsin on June 5th was not Gov. Scott Walker, but Big Money. And the real loser was not Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, but democracy.
Walker's Republican campaign outspent Barrett's Democratic campaign by $30.5 million to $4 million -- that's a 7.5 to 1 advantage. Another way of saying this is that of the $34.5 million spent on their campaigns, Walker spend 88% of the money.
Walker beat Barrett by 1,316,989 votes to 1,145,190 votes -- 53% to 46% (with 1% going to an independent candidate).
Here's another way of saying that: Walker spent $23 for each vote he received, while Barrett spent only $3.47 per vote.”
That's right, Big Money was the winner and they want to strut their trophy around. Now that they have purchased Wisconsin they want everyone to see their prize. The purchase of Wisconsin by Big Money was a twofer, they also purchased, and no extra cost, the soul of Scott Walker. Now that they own his soul, they want to show it around.
Continuing his “anywhere but Wisconsin” tour, Scott Walker spent Monday, July 9th speaking to donors at the right wing Manhattan Institute as part of a “lecture series” on “Breaking Down Barriers to Public Sector Reform” (The mission of the Manhattan Institute, according to their web site, is to develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility. )
The title of Walker's presentation was; “What Wisconsin's experience can mean for America' and it was hyped on the Manhattan Institute's web site as follows;
“After winning the historic recall election in June, Governor Scott Walker will visit the Manhattan Institute to explain his experience reforming the public sector and freeing cities and states to find their own sound fiscal footing. His leadership is a model for governors across the country and holds many lessons for policymakers and political leaders who want to bring fiscal sanity to government. Please join us for a firsthand account of what Wisconsin’s experience can mean for America’s future.”
Professor Dreier, and Wisconsin progressives know what it means for America's future, it means Democracy is dead. The billionaires know this too, and they couldn't be happier. After Walker's speech the New York Times reported that “donors urge Scott Walker to go national”. Reid Pillifant reported for the Times earlier today (July 9th)
“In an upstairs ballroom of the Harvard Club this afternoon, a number of New York's most generous conservative donors urged Wisconsin recall-election-survivor governor Scott Walker to allow America to see more of him.”
"I happen to think your victory, that election, is as important an election as we've had in this country in a long time, including the one coming up," said Ken Langone, the founder of Home Depot and a longtime contributor to Republican cause, during a question-and-answer session after Walker's speech to about 100 guests of the Manhattan Institute. "That said, you've now gone to a much higher level of standing within the nation and the party, and I guess what I'm asking you is to think about taking advantage of that platform."
Note: Langone is #331 on Forbes 400 list with a net worth of $1.5 Billion
These folks own him and want to show him around.
On anther note, how are the other Wisconsin public employees doing? You know, the ones with college educations. Are they flying off to events with billionaires? Or, more likely, they are looking around for second jobs so that they can “moon-light” to make up the difference in their lost take home pay.
