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| Illustration by Adrian Palomo. |
The controversy over the proposed Jobs Now Fund is beginning to turn into high comedy. The bill is essentially a huge giveaway to certified capital companies, or CAPCOs, which go from state to state and repeatedly hire lobbyists to sell gullible legislators on a plan that creates few jobs and mostly provides handouts to CAPCOs. As a Sunday Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story noted, “it would be like having the banker keep your principal – and three quarters of the money it earns. You would receive just 25% of the profit on the money you gave away.”
You can tell the paper is outraged because the style of the most recent story was quite slashing, with little of the measured objectivity a JS news story typically features.
Back on May 10 my column noted that former Republican state senator Ted Kanavas was the one pushing this idea with Gov. Scott Walker. The Sunday JS story finally noted his involvement, telling us that Walker asked Kanavas to hold meetings with business people and legislators to determine the structure for a bill to invest in venture capital.
I see. And so these Wisconsin business people and legislators suggested a program where all the money would go to CAPCO companies from out of state? I find that a little hard to believe. Perhaps Kanavas could provide the names of these business people and legislators who suggested a CAPCO plan was the way to go.
A far more likely scenario is that Kanavas simply rolled out a slightly different version of the same CAPCO legislation he unsuccessfully promoted back in 2003.
The fact that Walker simply bought this idea from Kanavas without checking with others makes you wonder about the governor’s less-than-consultative style. This is not the first time, I suspect, where Republicans wish the governor had checked his ideas with other legislators. Increasingly, you’re seeing push back from GOP legislators against the governor’s proposals.
Meanwhile, it’s worth asking, what exactly is Kanavas getting out of promoting this sweetheart deal for CAPCOs? There’s been talk of Kanavas running for U.S. Senator, but I can’t imagine a bill like this will win him many votes. Just how close is he to these CAPCO companies?
Walker’s spokesperson Cullen Werwie has already conceded the CAPCO bill will have to be modified. But the CAPCO companies have hired five lobbyists in Wisconsin to assure that their interests are represented. In the past, CAPCO companies have been willing to make changes in the highly technical language of this legislation in other states, but inevitably the payout to them is still quite generous. Rep Bob Ziegelbauer, the independent from Manitowoc, has called the bill “the height of … crony capitalism.” When you start at such a height, you can always trim the handout a bit and still benefit handsomely.
Republican Voter Fraud
Last week brought us the court case of husband and wife Herb Gunka and Suzanne Gunka, accused of voting twice in the November 2008 election. There were some comments online suggesting they must be Democrats, but actually the situation was quite the reverse. Herb Gunka is a hunter and lifelong members of the National Rifle Association, a fan of conservative talk radio, and has an American flag displayed prominently at his home. The Gunkas got so upset by the claims of talk radio hosts that voter fraud was going on and their own vote would be canceled out that they rushed out to vote – again.
There’s little need to dwell on the irony here. The claim that there is significant voter fraud going on has never been proven, and several investigations have proven just the contrary. But when you make these overhyped and unproven claims over and over again, you can get people so upset they make foolish decisions. And so the Gunkas could have been thrown in jail for several years. Fortunately, the jury was sensible enough to let them off the hook.
Does anyone believe we should imprison people for years for mistakenly voting twice – or for a felon voting once prior to finishing their time on probation? And if not, why are we having these show trials?
Meanwhile, Gov. Walker declared that no one in the state lacks a driver’s license because there are so many more driver’s licenses in Wisconsin than registered voters. But a huge number of those licenses have been revoked or suspended. A study by the UW-Milwaukee Employment & Training Institute checked the state’s file of driver’s licenses by name against census data and found there is a high percentage of senior citizens and minorities without driver’s licenses. If the Republicans doubt the data, they could have simply asked the Legislative Audit Bureau to do its own study. But that might have made it harder for Walker to make his assertion that every registered voter must have a driver’s license.
