In yet another signal that Scott Walker is pursuing the Republican nomination for president in 2016, Walker today joined with fellow Tea Party extremist Bobby Jindal in calling for a federal investigation into the Internal Revenue Service, while ignoring admitted violations of state and federal law at his flagship jobs agency, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
In recent weeks, WEDC – Walker’s flagship jobs agency – has been plagued with scandal, as an audit by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau revealed that WEDC had broken at least six state and federal laws, failed to properly track millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded loans and lacked basic accountability measures.
Wisconsin Democrats have been joined by editorial boards all over the state in calling for increased accountability measures at the troubled agency, which awarded bonuses to top officials even after it was revealed that WEDC had lost track of millions in taxpayer-funded loans.
At last week’s Joint Finance Committee hearing, Scott Walker Republicans voted down a motion that would have required WEDC to comply with state law; however, they did vote to allocate millions of dollars in new spending to WEDC for a national marketing campaign that coincides with Scott Walker’s presidential campaign.
“Scott Walker can’t call for increased accountability at the federal level and then refuse it at home,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said Tuesday. “Scott Walker should call for federal investigators to examine the actual, admitted violations of law at his flagship jobs agency. Maybe they can start by taking a look into the taxpayer money being spent to whitewash Scott Walker’s complete jobs failure ahead of his inevitable campaign for president.”
