Gov. Walker on Line One: Wisconsin Gov. Phones Home From Political Junket in Washington State to Cancel Sleazy Deal

MADISON, Wis. — A $500,000 taxpayer funded state grant to United Sportsmen of Wisconsin has generated increasing controversy over the last several weeks as serious questions were raised about how the grant process was rigged to make sure it went to a politically connected GOP front group and the trustworthiness of the organization.

One Wisconsin Now uncovered a loophole inserted into the budget that could have allowed the GOP front group receiving the grant to engage in partisan political activity. Previously the group endorsed Gov. Walker in his 2012 recall election and was closely associated with other political groups like the NRA.

The following are the statements of One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross regarding news Gov. Walker has rescinded the grant:

“Gov. Walker got his hand caught in the cookie jar.

“He should have used his veto and struck the sleazy United Sportsmen grant from the budget in the first place. But instead, he and his administration tried to pull a fast one on the people of Wisconsin.

“The fact that he, belatedly, made a phone call from Washington state where he was making a speech to a right-wing think tank to cancel the deal doesn’t excuse what he had already done.

“We see that, once again, Gov. Walker is more concerned about getting caught than doing right by the people of Wisconsin in the first place.

“If in the face of falling poll numbers and a disastrous jobs record, Gov. Walker is changing course, there’s a lot more decisions of his he needs to undo — from education, to health care, to women’s rights to workers’ rights to voter rights. Then maybe, the people of Wisconsin would greet Gov. Walker at the airport on his next return from another out-of-state fundraising junket with open arms.”