Cronyism and Corruption Define Walker’s Reign
http://www.progressive.org/cronyism_corruption_define_walker_reign.html
What do Karl Rove, Oshkosh Defense Corporation, the newly installed Wisconsin capitol police chief, and a tax-credit-for-government-contract deal have in common?
The systematic, corporate takeover of public education in the state of Wisconsin.
I sat down earlier in the day to work on a story about Skyward, a company that was offered $11.7 million in state tax credits to build their corporate headquarters in Stevens Point. This offer, made by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and accepted by the company last March, was contingent upon Skyward winning a $15 million bid to build a statewide K-12 student data system for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Mainstream media outlets have been reporting on this scandal since it broke last month, but theyve been focused on the bid-rigging aspect and the circle of Scott Walker cronies who coordinated the deal. Through the Department of Administration spokesperson Jocelyn Webstera former Karl Rove operative in George Bushs infamous Office of Political Affairs who also did stints with the Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie campaigns Walker claimed that he hadnt heard of the proposed deal until after he was deemed winner of the recall election June 5. Yesterday, the AP reported that they received documents through an open records request that indicated Walkers office knew about the deal as soon as it was accepted on March 26.