Tuesday, June 2, 2015

WEDC chair, founder Walker might just want to stay in Canada

A State Journal investigation last month found that top Walker aides, including Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch, pushed for the loan after meeting with the now-defunct company's owner William Minahan and high-powered lobbyist Eric Petersen about the project in 2011. Minahan had made a maximum $10,000 contribution to Walker's 2010 campaign and Petersen represents several Walker donors. 
Huebsch and Minahan had unsuccessfully pushed the agency to provide the company a total of $4.3 million...
The $500,000 loan has not been repaid and WEDC sued the company last year after writing off the lost taxpayer funds.

6 comments:

lufthase said...

And there's a WHOLE LOT more coming down the pike on WEDC. Wonder what it will take for them to call an emergency meeting?
There should be big questions about WEDC loans to both Green Box NA and North American Finishing. And there's a pattern of businesses making 4- and 5-figure contributions to Walker while their WEDC applications are under review, or within days or weeks after an award. Check out the big nasty list here:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/30/1388882/-A-few-dozen-other-WEDC-awards-worth-a-second-look

Anonymous said...

Wow.....that DailyKos list of WEDC tax credits is staggering and must add up to millions of dollars if not even a billion dollars! If these tax credits reduce companies and businesses taxes owed to the state of Wisconsin .....Wisconsin's revenues being collected from businesses and manufacturing must have taken a huge hit from Walker and WEDC. Add these tax credits to the Manufacturers and Ag-Corporation tax rate reduction to near zero and it would seem under Walker's rule only individuals are paying taxes in Wisconsin. Also it was noteworthy that nearly all of the tax credits awarded were responded to by contributions to Walker and his legislators!!!!! This is not even considering the millions in taxpayer funded loans given to many of these same businesses. Considering that only low paying jobs have resulted it appears that only Walker and his campaign have profited from WEDC.

my5cents said...

More and more WEDC looks like a totally corrupt agency. The sad thing is how blatant the corruption is.

So, when Walker comes back from his "trade" mission to Canada will he then be an expert in negotiating trade? LOL This guy is a joke.

Just like his "I am the most qualified Republican on foreign policy who might run for President because I traveled to Europe." Wow!!!

The problem is that he pushes all of his policies in his budget and he wouldn't be able to do that as President. Then how will he get his policies enacted?

A couple of days ago when it was reported that Walker had the lead in the Iowa polls, I commented that Michelle Bachmann won the straw poll and look at what happened to her. Polls mean nothing. Once Walker is forced to talk off the cuff, he will screw up so badly that he will go the way of Bachmann. So long as everything is scripted he does okay (as anyone would), but you cannot be President of this country and have absolutely everything scripted. It won't work. Neither does it work for being governor, but he forces the newspapers to only work with his bullet points. He will not personally give them details on anything no matter how hard they might push.

Anonymous said...

I have a friend who is an editor/ reporter for a Madison paper and she has expressed their frustration that Walker stalemates them by refusing to engage in any conversation of depth or detail. He gives a sentence long statement if that, and will go no further.

Anonymous said...

This and the Daily Kos piece portray WEDC and Walker as intentionally and overtly corrupt, by design. How much evidence does the opposition party, the AG, or the DOJ need? Is there not one state or federal legal mechanism seeking to hold this Tea Party cabal accountable? As far as courageous outspoken politicians go, we have C. Larson and we have B. Sanders and we have ahh, and ahh........Oh-Oh, we are in deep trouble.

Anonymous said...

Why isn't a single person asking this urgent question? When are the hardworking taxpayers going to sue Walker, WEDC backers and legislative members to re-coup our money? How is Walker ANY different than Bernie Madoff? Walker took OUR money and distributed it without flowing the law for his own benefit.
Talk is cheap - in Walker's own words - be unintimidated & take action. WE pay his salary. Demand results and return on OUR taxpayer money. Who will take on the most talked about legal battle in the nation - taxpayers vs Scott Walker??

It is NOW or never.