The Polluter-in-Chief

He said he's taking back the country

...to the 1950's. 

Because who doesn't want dirtier air from our hundreds of millions of vehicles - 

E.P.A. Takes a Major Step to Roll Back Clean Car Rules

- - blended with dirtier air from smokestack 
industries  - - 

Trump Administration Is Repealing Obama's Clean Power Plan

 - - mixed with a chaser of dirtier river water: 

EPA moves to overhaul Obama-era safeguards on coal ash waste

And let's not forget Team Trump's '50's rollback for women - -

The new Trump plan to defund Planned Parenthood, explained

And civil rights - - 

Trump administration plans to minimize civil rights efforts in agencies

And even of consensus, pre-Trump American values:

Trump Defends White-Nationalist Protesters: 'Some Very Fine People on Both Sides

Which was fine with David Duke: 

"We're going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump" and "take our country back," promised former Ku Klax Klan Grand Wizard David Duke after violence erupted in Charlottesville this past weekend. Or is it that President Trump is fulfilling his promise to deliver the America he has envisioned?

Foxconn site work could trip off major Scottholes' outbreak

1,000 dump truckloads 

of up to 73,000 pounds of gravel a day for months means boatloads more WI road repair spending on Foxconn in short supply statewide, no?

On tariffs, Trump dismisses Walker

Trump showed Walker today the realities of power and the limitations of groveling by further ignoring Walker's supplication for relief from Trump's surprise, super-protectionist moves. 

Also dismissed were Walker's ineffective calls and tweets, exposing again "the bigness gap" in Trump's favor which the Washington Post said had kicked Walker's presidential aspirations to the curb.

Walker isn't the first Badger State pol to learn that sucking up to Trump comes with risks. Google "Reince Priebus fired at airport." Or "Paul Ryan quits in frustration" for more insights.

Will Wisconsin Republicans - - from elected officials to rural voters - - ever get the message?

What Trump did today was extend steel and aluminum tariffs to our Canadian, Mexican and EU 'partner nations' he'd earlier said he might exempt from his first tariff announcement.

Because, you know, trade wars are easy to win.

Those nations will retaliate with their own punishing import duties on American products, and that's likely to damage WI farm, dairy and major manufacturers and exporters like already-troubled Harley-Davidson.

In fact, Harley-Davidson is specifically on the EU's retaliatory list.

So Walker gets no cookie for having endorsed Trump for President at the 2016 Republican National Convention, tolerated Trump's misogyny, bigotry and irrationalities, and just the other day saying that he'd be glad to campaign with Trump later this year.

While Walker will never complain out loud that his already-hefty campaign trail baggage just got heavier, there is a silver lining for Team Walker: making up a Wisconsin itinerary for a Trump visit is now a lot simpler.

His staff can rule out photo ops at dairy farms, cheese factories, ginseng growers, Harley-Davidson facilities, metal fabricators, nut processors, beer canners, berry growers, wood product shippers, and others, etc.

In other words, any place without a Foxconn sign.

Scottholes.com wants your photos

To this item about Scottholes, let me add the organization's website which is collecting your photos. 

I'd posted a few couple pothole and disintegrating photos on residential street in Milwaukee North Shore communities in 2015, but nothing that compared to this strong statement posted on STOP's Scottholes website showing a bridge permanently closed near Lake Wissota, Chippewa County, because of funding shortages.

In MO governor's scandal, a WI echo

Missouri is the "Show Me State," so, appropriately, it's demanding sunlight on allegations that dark money coordination was involved in the demise of its GOP Governor Eric Greitens: 

Gov. Eric Greitens’ political nonprofit has until Friday to turn over documents to the Missouri House committee investigating allegations of misconduct against the governor as a precursor to possible impeachment. 

Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem issued a ruling Tuesday ordering the organization, A New Missouri Inc., to turn over communications and documents showing potential coordination among the nonprofit, the governor and the governor's campaign committee, as well as expenditures related to advertising.

Reminds me here and there of this Journal Sentinel 2014 story: 

Gov. Scott Walker prodded outside groups and individuals to funnel millions of dollars into Wisconsin Club for Growth — a pro-Walker group directed by his campaign adviser — during the recall elections in 2011 and 2012, according to court documents unsealed for a short time Friday afternoon...

"The Governor is encouraging all to invest in the Wisconsin Club for Growth," said an April 28, 2011, email from Kate Doner, a Walker campaign consultant, to R.J. Johnson, an adviser to Walker's campaign and the advocacy group...

In the email, Doner wrote to Johnson that Walker wanted Wisconsin Club for Growth exclusively to coordinate campaign themes. "As the Governor discussed ... he wants all the issue advocacy efforts run thru one group to ensure correct messaging," she wrote.

But in 2015, Walker and Wisconsin moved away from the show me route:

Scott Walker signs bills dismantling GAB, overhauling campaign finance law

The campaign finance measure removes various limits on campaign contributions, some of which recently have not been in effect after being struck down in court. It lifts the ban on corporate contributions to political parties and legislative campaign committees and doubles individual contribution limits to candidates.

It makes clear that candidates may coordinate with issue advocacy groups, the type of activity that was at the center of the investigation into Walker’s campaign. Such groups seek to influence elections but don’t expressly call for the election or defeat of a particular candidate. 

Ironies aside, Walker signed the bill behind closed doors.

Scott Walker signs campaign finance, GAB bills in private ceremony

Having already tied up a loose end through a separate bill, as The New York Times noted, here.

Wisconsin Governor Signs Bill Limiting Political Corruption Inquiries

And only later was more of the story revealed by The Guardian: 

The pervasive influence of corporate cash in the democratic process, and the extraordinary lengths to which politicians, lobbyists and even judges go to solicit money, are laid bare in sealed court documents leaked to the Guardian.

The John Doe files amount to 1,500 pages of largely unseen material gathered in evidence by prosecutors investigating alleged irregularities in political fundraising. Last year the Wisconsin supreme court ordered that all the documents should be destroyed, though a set survived that has now been obtained by the news organisation.

The files open a window on a world that is very rarely glimpsed by the public, in which millions of dollars are secretly donated by major corporations and super-wealthy individuals to third-party groups in an attempt to sway elections.

The state's response to the disclosures was a probe by GOP Attorney General and Walker ally Brad Schimel into how the documents were leaked.

Under Walker, Wisconsin remains the "Show Me As Little As Possible" state. 

Testing Brad Schimel's spending priorities

The State Journal says WI GOP Attorney General Brad Schimel will spend no state dollars to reduce the backlog of untested rape evidence kits:

Schimel told reporters Tuesday he didn’t expect to spend any state money on the testing, which has so far been paid for with federal grant money.

Note that he did spend $10,000 of state dollars on 2,000 personalized "Kicking Ass Every Day" souvenir coins, the Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice had reported: 

The 1.75-inch gold-plated brass souvenirs read "Wisconsin Attorney General Brad D. Schimel" on one side and "Wisconsin Department of Justice: K.A.E.D." on the other. The state seal appears on the medallions.

Records show the state Department of Justice paid nearly $10,000 in taxpayer dollars — $4.75 each, plus other costs — to Lexington Metal Products Corp. in Lithia, Fla., for two shipments of the commemorative coins...

In '17, it was 'kill the DNR magazine.' Now, subscription discounts.

When it comes to the WI DNR magazine Wisconsin Natural Resources, what a difference a year makes.

It took a grassroots uprising in 2017 to save the century-old publication from an ideologically-inspired Team Walker budget axe.

Now the DNR is offering current subscribers two gift subs for $1 each with an annual renewal at the existing rate of $8.97.

Is this more Walker election-year moderation? Is the DNR finally embracing the publication now that firmer agency editorial controls will block more articles about climate change?

Your guess is as good as mine, but the Walker crowd won't be there forever, and when they're gone it won't be up to the real stewards of the land to start a magazine from scratch.

So I sent in my check, and there you have it.

WI activists making June 3rd an easy day to help the land

There's an inviting green line connecting Wauwatosa to Sheboygan this Sunday. Enjoy the coincidence. Bring the kids.

To a great June 3rd opportunity to meet people trying to save public land inside and a nature preserve outside Kohler Andrae State Park you can add a same-day chance to enrich the Monarch butterfly habitat on the disappearing public Milwaukee County Grounds.

These beauties were released a couple of years at the Monarch Trail.

Monarch Trail Annual Plant Sale set for June 3, 2018

Monarch butterflies, bumble bees, other native bees and even honeybees are in trouble. They need pesticide-free plots of the plants they love for sipping nectar, collecting pollen and raising their young. And surprisingly, urban and suburban areas are becoming a last refuge for some of our beloved pollinators.

Join the Friends of the Monarch Trail on the Milwaukee County Grounds from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 3, for a chance to dive in and do your part by purchasing native plants that support pollinators. The sale site is the Milwaukee County Parks Department headquarters building, 9480 W. Watertown Plank Rd., Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Enter off Discovery Parkway and watch for the signs.

The sale will feature several milkweed varieties, the only family of plants on which monarchs can rear their young, as well as wildflowers known to attract adult monarchs and bees for their nectar. You won’t find these species at other plant sales or garden centers.

As an added attraction, see live butterfly caterpillars munching their host plants and talk to an expert with 20 years of experience growing 16 different kinds of milkweed.

This plant sale also helps fund the efforts of the Friends of the Monarch Trail to preserve and enhance wildlife habitat on the Milwaukee County Grounds. Additional donations are welcome.

Once again:

What: The Monarch Trail Annual Plant Sale

Where: 9480 W. Watertown Plank Rd., Milwaukee, Wisconsin

When: Noon to 3 p.m., Sunday, June 3, 2018

Leah Vukmir, "spending hawk?" Please.

A political action committee heavily-funded by Beloit billionaire Diane Hendricks and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce - - details, here - - is funding a TV ad backing GOP State Sen. Leah Vukmir for US Senate.

The ad ties Vukmir to Gov. Walker - - whose campaigns have strong links to Hendricks and the MMAC - -  and awards her "spending hawk" status.

What kind of spending hawk would consistently back Walker's budgets and policies that regularly overspend on state road projects, roll up borrowings with their long-term debt obligation, fuel Legislative paralysis, and create persistent transportation program deficits?

All while keeping the roads we have in a persistent state of disrepair?

A separate radio ad that backs Vukmir US Senate bid also says she'll support building Trump's border wall.

There are conflicting estimates for the wall's cost. Here is one article containing projections of $8 to $67 billion.

Ask yourself when any massive project like this came in under budget, and name any advocates who took any red-ink responsibility.

And what kind of a spending hawk flatly commits to such an ill-defined, logistically-challenged, open-ended, multi-billion-dollar proposal?

Trump gets Memorial Day wrong. Again, and again.

Let's begin with no one else says "Happy Memorial Day!" And politicizes the rest to suit himself on Twitter. Before golf.

Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump

Happy Memorial Day! Those who died for our great country would be very happy and proud at how well our country is doing today. Best economy in decades, lowest unemployment numbers for Blacks and Hispanics EVER (& women in 18years), rebuilding our Military and so much more. Nice!

7:58 AM - 28 May 2018

It's been all downhill since

• 
  

In Walker's right-to-work state, good pay replaced by less

[Updated from 1:39 p.m.] I'm guessing that Walker won't be sporting a Foxconn hat at the next Harley-Davidson ride through Milwaukee.

For one reason, Harley-Davidson has cut jobs in Milwaukee, then closed its Kansas City plant, yet showered some of the Paul Ryan/Donald Trump tax cut bounty on its stockholders. 

Days after it announced the plant closure, the company announced the dividend increase that would reward shareholders and cost the company about $846,000.  

The stock buyback plan, which has the effect of boosting share prices, was another expense of $696 million at the time, both to benefit shareholders. 

That came on the heels of the company's corporate tax cut from 35% to 21% percent and its previous announcement last year that a new motorcycle assembly plant in Thailand would open later this year.

For the record, I'd noted years ago that using public offices and power to reward corporations, shareholders and top-earning managers was always the Scott Walker, 'love-big-government' plan in Wisconsin, and I noted more recently there would be the same, predictable conclusion to the Trump-Ryan tax cut, too: 

The lying about tax cuts for business that will, presto!, create jobs is getting louder in Washington.

Paul Ryan and Scott Walker keep on mouthing the old GOP bromide that tax cuts like those demanded by Donald Trump will lead suddenly-flush businesses to invest in jobs...

Because corporations will use tax savings to boost their bottom lines, increase dividends, add management bonuses, raise top salaries and directors' fees and acquire other businesses which almost inevitably leads to more layoffs, reduced competition and higher consumer and prices across wholesale and retail markets.

So, bottom line: what H-D did is no surprise.

And while union and company officials have argued about whether Kansas City plant equipment and jobs are being moved directly to the H-D operation in Thailand, there is no argument that the company continues to expand its overseas business.

Where, I imagine, some of the new bikes Scott Walker saw and touted in 2013 at a new H-D dealership in China on one of his many, self-promotional trade mission junkets will have more to do with Thai production than Milwaukee. 

TIANJIN, CHINA, April 16, 2013 – Today, Governor Scott Walker attended the opening ceremony of the Harley-Davidson dealership in Tianjin, China, as part of his trade mission to China taking place April 13-21. 

“I am glad to see Harley-Davidson is rapidly growing in China,” said Governor Walker. 

And keep in mind that investment companies and senior managers are routinely among a company's biggest shareholders, so there are multiple levels to these moves which benefit people at the top of the economic scale - - benefits not aimed at the working people losing their jobs.

Some of whom had already taken cuts through concessions spelled out in this seven-year deal with Harley workers dating to 2010. 

Harley-Davidson workers in southeastern Wisconsin approved a labor contract Monday laden with steep concessions after the company threatened to move hundreds of production jobs out of the state. 

The proposed deal freezes employees’ pay, slashes hundreds of jobs and assigns large volumes of work to part-time workers.

The Kansas City workers hit by the plant closing were enveloped in this jargon-laden sendoff in the company's 2017 annual letter to shareholders describing...

...a significant, multi-year manufacturing optimization initiative anchored by the consolidation of our final assembly plant in Kansas City into our plant in York, Pennsylvania. This decision was made after very careful consideration of our manufacturing footprint and the appropriate capacity given the current business environment; it is geared to improve our cost structure while maintaining our world-class manufacturing operations. 

Harley-Davidson’s Kansas City employees have worked hard to deliver exceptional, high-quality products to our customers and we thank them for their commitment and dedication.

Walker has always been eager to deploy company gear and well-publicized motorcycle rides to grab pretend alignment with the brand, and the culture, and, by implication, the blue-collar workers who assemble it all.

But Walker's political agendas and ideological commitments to strip workers of pay, rights and clout can get lost in the noisy rumble of motorcycle engines and his intentional campaign distraction - - so don't forget:

* His signature, big-donor-pleasing divide-and-conquer Act 10 move to blow up public sector collective bargaining.

* Followed by signing union-busting right-to-work legislation rushed through the legislature to conform to his brief, far-right run for the Presidency in 2015 though he'd distanced himself from the measure during his 2014 gubernatorial run.

*  Followed by his more recent final approval of the elimination of relatively-higher. 'prevailing wage' rates for work on public building and road projects.

Speaking of which: Foxconn.

None of those prevailing wage levels are guaranteed anymore to anyone working on new roads being rushed to completion for Foxconn projected to require $630 million taxpayer, road-building dollars.

In a state with the second-worst-repaired roads in America, leading to the assignment of nicknames ranging from "Governor Pothole" to "Scottholes" for the governor and his negligence.

And I doubt there will be a lot of Foxconn assembly work - - where workers will have to get from home to a factory being located in a Walker/GOP transit-deprived area over rutted roads - - at anywhere near what is still paid to Harley-Davidson production line workers.

I'd noted recently that some assembly work at other Foxconn outlets in the US pays at the below-livable-rate of $9-per-hour.

Though Foxconn is receiving at Walker's initiative a per-worker, big-picture-job-killing subsidy level of $200,000.

Sounds like a bad deal to me.

Made worse because the company has set a priority on introducing robots in its plants. Maybe robot assembly is where the job security is at Foxconn, rather than assembling flat screen TVs.

These days, Walker is all over Twitter and traditional media spouting his latest Foxconn talking-point and buzzword - - "supply-chain" - - shorthand for the contracting work he says the project in Racine County will provide, even out-state.

Though there is plenty of documented belief that Foxconn is just another big-dollar state investment aimed at residents of bigger cities regionally, from Chicago to Milwaukee, and businesses nearer by, than, say, Eau Claire or La Crosse or Wausau. 

Of course, Walker had no interest in the supply chain and payroll handed to Wisconsin by then-President Barack Obama and former Governor Jim Doyle through a $800 million Amtrak expansion, train-assembly and spin-off employment bonanza.

Walker derailed that expansion; Illinois just to the south is now home to massive train assembly factories, where, one presumes, a healthy supply chain fuels production and jobs which could have been Wisconsin's.

All because Walker was more committed to personal posturing and partisan politics than job creation and common sense budgeting.

Walker was dedicated to killing rail transit of any kind that he allowed the state to forfeit a fresh $10 million in cash and ownership of completed trains because Wisconsin willfully broke a contract with Talgo, an Amtrak train builder.

A business which had already opened an assembly and maintenance facility in a low-income Milwaukee neighborhood. 

That way, Walker could have his  'victory' over Obama and chalk up another defeat for transit to please his road-builder friends. 

Supply chain? Not for that train.

A full archive about Walker's rail hostility and stupidity is here.  

Ad a separate archive about Foxconn is here.

Regrettably, they're related to the actions of this political disaster, pictured below:

WI DNR says air quality in Wisconsin is "good" now. Seriously?

The DNR's air quality website says this right now:

Air quality notices No Air AlertsGood air quality for Wisconsin on Sunday, May 27, 2018 at 7:38 pm CT.

But open this DNR website, then you work your way to this link and you find the chart, below. 

I see "good" green bars in three rural counties - - Ashland, Grant and Oneida - - and in counties with bigger populations - - Milwaukee, Manitowoc, Racine, Sheboygan, Eau Claire - - unhealthy orange, and a red in Kenosha.

Now look: I know there are readings to average and double-check.

But remember, Walker's 'chamber of commerce mentality' DNR in early 2011 reduced the dirty air notifications by ending 'early-warning' air pollution buildup advisories.

And then earlier this year, Walker convinced the EPA to exempt much of SE WI from stronger air pollution standards and enforcement, so twice Walker's DNR managers have either fisted more pollution on the populace or made it harder to discover what is really in the air.

Dismissive neglect, times two.

Current Hour Air Quality Index Report Sun May 27 19:43:14 CDT 2018 Code County Category Site Pollutant Units Occured AQI 2 Ashland GOOD BAD RIVER TRIBAL SCHOOL - ODANAH OZONE PPB 06 PM 43 5 Brown MODERATE GREEN BAY - UW OZONE PPB 06 PM 100 11 Columbia MODERATE COLUMBUS OZONE PPB 06 PM 87 13 Dane MODERATE MADISON - EAST  OZONE PPB 06 PM 84 14 Dodge MODERATE HORICON WILDLIFE AREA OZONE PPB 06 PM 90 18 Eau Claire UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS EAU CLAIRE - DOT SIGN SHOP OZONE PPB 06 PM 129 20 Fond Du Lac MODERATE FOND DU LAC OZONE PPB 06 PM 90 21 Forest MODERATE POTAWATOMI OZONE PPB 06 PM 87 22 Grant GOOD POTOSI PM2.5 UG/M3 LC 06 PM 29 28 Jefferson MODERATE JEFFERSON - LAATSCH OZONE PPB 06 PM 77 30 Kenosha UNHEALTHY CHIWAUKEE PRAIRIE STATELINE OZONE PPB 06 PM 154 31 Kewaunee MODERATE KEWAUNEE OZONE PPB 06 PM 87 32 La Crosse MODERATE LA CROSSE - DOT BUILDING OZONE PPB 06 PM 84 36 Manitowoc UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS MANITOWOC - WDLND DUNES OZONE PPB 06 PM 112 37 Marathon MODERATE LAKE DUBAY OZONE PPB 06 PM 90 41 Milwaukee UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS BAYSIDE  OZONE PPB 06 PM 105 44 Oneida GOOD RHINELANDER TOWER SULFUR DIOXIDE PPB 06 PM 1 45 Outagamie MODERATE APPLETON - AAL OZONE PPB 06 PM 90 46 Ozaukee MODERATE GRAFTON OZONE PPB 06 PM 93 52 Racine UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS RACINE - PAYNE AND DOLAN OZONE PPB 06 PM 119 54 Rock MODERATE BELOIT - CONVERSE OZONE PPB 06 PM 93 57 Sauk MODERATE DEVILS LAKE PARK OZONE PPB 06 PM 84 60 Sheboygan UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS SHEBOYGAN - KOHLER ANDRAE OZONE PPB 06 PM 133 64 Vilas MODERATE TROUT LAKE OZONE PPB 06 PM 100 65 Walworth MODERATE LAKE GENEVA OZONE PPB 06 PM 90 68 Waukesha MODERATE WAUKESHA - CLEVELAND AVE. OZONE PPB 06 PM 84

Now add in Foxconn's 796-ton-DNR-permitted air pollution. Annually.

One more word about the dirty air in SE WI's Foxconn zone: this also present in Kenosha County, red-zone data are showing;

TODAY:

UNHEALTHY

Children, older adults, and those with respiratory issues should reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion.

AQI:

151

DOMINANT POLLUTANT:

OZONE

High concentrations of ozone can cause headaches and irritate the lungs and airways, aggravating conditions such as asthma and chronic bronchitis.

SE WI dirty air notices. And with Foxconn's 796-ton annual emissions...

[Updated 5/27/18] As the temperature (a record May high for Milwaukee) and humidity soar, the US EPA forecasts - - using WI DNR information - - unhealthy air quality for key groups Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha and Sheboygan counties.

Those counties are getting "orange" or "USG" Air Quality Index forecasts, meaning:

"Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" AQI is 101 to 150. Although general public is not likely to be affected at this AQI range, people with lung disease, older adults and children are at a greater risk from exposure to ozone, whereas persons with heart and lung disease, older adults and children are at greater risk from the presence of particles in the air.

I checked again Sunday morning and the readings are still in the orange zone. 

Remember: In 2011, mere weeks after Walker took over and installed his 'chamber of commerce mentality" DNR management, the agency ended its posting of dirty air "watches" as conditions built towards the unhealthy level.

I'd posted the text of that change in policy, here, and will insure it below - - so people in Wisconsin for the last seven-plus years, as they will do all Memorial weekend so far, have headed out without the best air quality information in the DNR's possession. Negligence.

As of March 15, 2011, the Wisconsin DNR will no longer issue Air Quality Watches for ozone and particle pollution due to limited staff resources and the potential increase in the number of air quality notices under proposed revisions to federal air standards.

In the past, an air quality watch was issued when conditions were favorable for pollutants to reach unhealthy levels. 

Watches are also being eliminated due to their confusion with Air Quality Advisories which are issued when pollution concentrations actually reach unhealthy levels for sensitive groups.

Air quality notices are issued as a public service by the DNR in partnership with the National Weather Service. They are not mandated by rule or law.

The DNR will continue to issue Air Quality Advisories when ozone and particle pollution levels are over or expected to reach the federal air quality standard.

More data, maps, trends, here. 

Not to mention the EPA kids’ book about what orange means for air quality. (Spoiler alert: use your inhalers, children, and don't play outside as long as you'd like.) Now run along, sort of.

So imagine adding the air pollutant increases granted by the DNR to the Racine County-based Foxconn - - estimated at an added 796 tons annually - - for an area which Trump's EPA now says does not have to meet stronger air quality conditions which Walker opposed.

Racine County - - do you and people living downwind understand that Foxconn is projected to add six percent more emissions to already-challenged air quality - - an amount spewed by a large paper mill?
 

Walker gets the blame for poorly prepping Foxconn

[Updated from 5/14/18. The company may claim to be surprised, but Walker bears the blame for the backlash which is rooted in his anti-clean water/air and land actions and decisions by his Foxconn-compliant agencies - -  all of which he knew was coming.] 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gov. Walker says Foxconn is baffled by objections to its Racine County project, but it seems to me that Walker poorly prepped the company he aggressively wooed.

“They’re just confused, as you can imagine anyone would be from outside this state..."

No doubt Walker didn't urge Foxconn to study the Wisconsin Constitution before it began excavating on wetland-rich land to understand that water rights and access are so important here that they're embedded in the state constitution, according to information posed by the Walker-run DNR.

It's called the Public Trust Doctrine. Sounds rather pivotal, no?

The public trust doctrine

 

Wisconsin's Waters Belong to Everyone

Wisconsin lakes and rivers are public resources, owned in common by all Wisconsin citizens under the state's Public Trust Doctrine. Based on the state constitution, this doctrine has been further defined by case law and statute. 

Did they miss the uproar over the state's new embrace of wetland-filling which was piled on top of special privileges for Foxconn to do the same, and more to build into lakes and re-route streams without permits on the Racine County site it plans to plow, pave and otherwise disrupt?

And did Walker suggest that Foxconn take note of the multiple references to environmental preservation and priorities in the DNR mission statement?

To protect and enhance our natural resources:our air, land and water;our wildlife, fish and forestsand the ecosystems that sustain all life. 

To provide a healthy, sustainable environmentand a full range of outdoor opportunities. 

To ensure the right of all people to use and enjoy these resourcesin their work and leisure. 

To work with people to understand each other's viewsand to carry out the public will. 

And in this partnership consider the future and generations to follow.

He probably didn't tell Foxconn that the last time Wisconsin moved to divert Great Lakes water, the process took years and a final decision came with limitations laid down by the other Great Lakes states which indicated they were keeping a close eye on Wisconsin.

So, of course that would lead to greater scrutiny of the Foxconn diversion bid which is raising concerns all its own.

And I'm sure Walker didn't tell Foxconn that Wisconsin was home to some of the country's most important and influential conservationists, including John Muir, Aldo Leopold and Gaylord Nelson, and that it's Walker who is out of step here and not those legacy leaders and his bi-partisan predecessors in office.

This is all public record, consolidated here, and consolidated in a full archive, here.

And probably didn't tell Foxconn that people statewide who are driving on some of the worst roads in the country, and who know that their tax dollars are routinely spent on projects far from their smaller cities and towns, would be somewhere between suspicious and ticked off that billions from the state treasury are ticketed for decades to assist and subsidize a single, profitable multi-national business they'd never heard about, but whose jobs in Wisconsin will be easily accessible to people in Illinois.

If Walker told Foxconn he had everything under control, locked down and guaranteed, he omitted a lot of inconvenient facts and precedents.

And that's on him:

Plus Tweets galore - - 

Verified accountMay 8More"Gov. Walker: Michels Corporation will be subcontractor for Foxconn project" 

- - that feature GOP donors can't paper over or substitute for respecting Wisconsin values and history.

And Foxconn bares some responsibility, too, for perhaps listening too closely to a politician running for re-election desperate to fix his most egregious broken promise.