What “rugged individual” exercising their liberty and freedom
would want to run around making pledges to every right wing crazy group that
comes along? Kinda blows their cover, doesn’t it?
Here’s part of a great article by Cap Times reporter Steve Elbow:
You’ve no doubt heard about Grover Norquist’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge.” Well, there’s a new pledge in town, and several Wisconsin conservatives have signed on.
This pledge is called the “No Climate Tax Pledge,” but it might as well be called the “Koch Brothers Protection Pledge” … Signers of the pledge, now numbering 411, promise to "oppose any legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue” — in other words, no legislation on climate change without an equivalent amount of tax cuts. They include one U.S. senator from Wisconsin, three House members, four members of the state Senate, and four members of the Assembly — as well as Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch.
The Koch brothers and their oil industry bretheren have been avid Walker backers and supporters of Wisconsin tea party candidates, both for ideological reasons and because of the state's wealth of frac sand.
The little-known pledge was highlighted Monday with the release of a two-year study by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University, which documents Charles and David Koch's extensive influencing of politicians, news media, elections and academia through think tanks, lobbyists, non-profits, and oodles of cash. (Here's a good story from The New Yorker on the report.)
Wisconsin signers of the pledge, all Republicans, are U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, U.S. Reps. Jim Sensenbrenner, Sean Duffy and Reid Ribble, state Sens. Leah Vukmir, Alberta Darling, Glenn Grothman and Mary Lazich, and state Reps. Dale Kooyenga, Don Pridemore, Jim Ott and Bill Kramer.
How bad and embarrassing is our partisan “Red” state now?
Since we're all fond of comparing Wisconsin with Minnesota, a demographically similar state that outperforms Wisconsin on several economic fronts, it merits noting that the only politicians from that state to sign the pledge are retiring U.S. Rep. Michelle Bachmann and Minnesota state Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen.
Wisconsin's list of fossil fuel resources consists of, in order of extractable energy:
ReplyDelete1.
Swearing to encourage fossil fuel consumption in Wisconsin is swearing to try to export as much wealth as possible from our state so we can be royally screwed.
Traitors the lot of them.
It should be against the law for public officials to make any pledges that might conflict with their responsibility to constituents and to their oath of office.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how you can pledge to the Koch's and Norquist and still serve the public interest.
Imagine that in my lifetime there was concern about Catholic politicians being so beholden to the Pope that they wouldn't be free to serve the public. Now our elected representatives may be beholden to all sorts of corporate bosses (voters may not know) and concerns are not raised.
Exporting our wealth is another bad management idea from Walker.
ReplyDeleteAs far as making pledges to anyone but the voters illegal, what a great idea. Wouldn't it be great for the Democrats in power to make that a law?