Scott Walker Celebrates Season of Giving … With Fundraiser for Himself

MADISON, Wis. — What’s on your Christmas wish list if you’re a governor with a taxpayer-funded mansion in which to live, a chauffeur to drive you to and from work, state planes to fly you around the state and country (or to avoid pesky I-94 traffic between Madison and Milwaukee), top-notch health care benefits for you and your family and a generous pension? If you’re Scott Walker, it’s a donation of $5,000, $2,500, $1,000 or $500 to his campaign warchest.

“There’s no more appropriate way for a career politician like Scott Walker to celebrate the ‘season of giving’ than holding a fundraiser for himself,” commented One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross. “Right before he introduces the next state budget, Scott Walker is clearly making his naughty and nice list.”

According to the political news service Wispolitics.com, Walker will be feting himself for the holidays with an event at the tony Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee tonight. Wisconsin’s wealthy elite and special interest lobbyists are invited to celebrate the holidays with Gov. Walker by writing him a check of $5,000, $2,500, $1,000 or $500 to help fatten his campaign bank account. In the spirit of the holidays, “general guests” can enjoy some holiday cheer with Gov. Walker for just $250.

Ross noted that Scrooge-like holiday antics are not new for Walker. He created controversy with his 2011 inauguration by breaking with tradition and keeping 100 percent of all contributions to his various inaugural events for either his campaign account or the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

Previously, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, who Walker oft refers to when avoiding responsibility for the failures of his tenure as governor, donated over $500,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wisconsin using proceeds raised from his 2003 and 2007 inaugural events.

Kicking off the 2013 holiday season, Walker suggested people ought to contribute to his campaign instead of purchasing gifts for their children or loved ones on Black Friday. In a fundraising solicitation he claimed that sending campaign cash to him, the governor who cut public education in Wisconsin by record amounts, would be better for children than buying them a gift.

In 2015, to commemorate his inauguration Walker required a $20 contribution to the Republican Party to ice skate with Scott Walker, $50 to listen to music with Scott Walker and up to $1,000 to dance and drink with Scott Walker at the inaugural ball. And in one of the most appalling cash grabs in recent memory, Walker hosted a “pay-to-pray” event charging $25 to attend the inaugural prayer breakfast.

He concluded, “It’s not just the holidays right around the corner, but Gov. Walker is putting together the 2017 state budget, too. And as we’ve seen in the past, Gov. Walker is always willing to deliver special presents to his campaign donors and leave lumps of coal for the families of Wisconsin.”

One Wisconsin Now is a statewide communications network specializing in effective earned media and online organizing to advance progressive leadership and values.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.