Five Questions for Scott Walker on His ‘County’ Motorcycle Tour

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker is traveling across Wisconsin this week and will likely be talking with media about his priorities and the state of Wisconsin.

With Wisconsin and the nation still emerging from the devastating economic collapse and job loss directly attributable to regressive taxation, deregulation and skewed priorities, One Wisconsin Now invites the media to consider the following questions Scott Walker has so far refused to answer about a host of important issues.

1. Scott Walker has pledged to make four separate tax cuts, which according to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau would cost $1.86 billion over the biennium. These include an income tax cut only for those earning more than $225,000; reopening of the Las Vegas corporate loophole; rolling back the capital gains tax recalculation; and eliminating all taxes on any retirement income. With a projected $2 billion state budget deficit before his proposed $1.86 billion in revenue cuts, how exactly will Scott Walker pay for the four major tax cuts components of his plan, all of which would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy and big businesses, and what will he cut from state spending to offset the nearly $4-billion deficit his plan would create? [Legislative Fiscal Bureau, 2/23/09, 7/8/09, 1/25/10; “Upfront,” WISN-TV, 11/8/09; Appleton Post-Crescent, 11/25/09]

2. Scott Walker referred to BadgerCare , which provides basic health care access to hundreds of thousands of children, expectant mothers and working families ,as wasteful during an interview on the Charlie Sykes show . He has also told media he supports scaling back the successful program – a move which could cost Wisconsin hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid. Just how much does he intend to slash from the BadgerCare programs? [WISC-TV, 10/9/09; “Insight with Charlie Sykes, 3/2/10]

3. Scott Walker touts himself as a fiscal conservative, yet as a member of the state legislature, he voted for five straight budgets that increased spending 84 percent. As county executive, his proposed spending increases would have grown spending by 34 percent — a much higher rate than the state of Wisconsin budget. How can he claim to have controlled spending while supporting these dramatic increases? [Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau; Milwaukee County Division of Budget and Fiscal Affairs]

4. Scott Walker has refused to fire the administrator who oversees the Milwaukee County Mental Health Center, even after female patients were sexually assaulted by dangerous male patients after the two groups were housed together. Walker defended the practice, even though the county has spent more than $200,000 in outside legal costs due to ongoing legal action related to the mismanagement of patient safety in the center. How can Walker continue to defend the practice of placing vulnerable patients in harm’s way and refuse to hold his administrator accountable? [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5//12/10, 5/14/10]

5. Scott Walker’s tour is being financed by Air Tran Airlines. Just this week, the Walker administration’s proposal for the Mitchell International Airport’s first master lease renegotiation for airlines in 25 years was before a closed-door meeting of county supervisors. Is it appropriate for Walker to be traveling at the expense of a business in the midst of these negotiations? [Milwaukee County Committee on Transportation, Public Works and Transit agenda, 5/12/10]

Further information about the mismanagement and skewed priorities of Scott Walker, which have devastated Milwaukee County, please visit: http://scottwalkerfailurefiles.com