Walker ends the long Menominee tribes journey to put a Casino in Kenosha, by not having enough time to meet with them.

Scott Walker just gave the nation another frightening look at his governing style. As reported below, Walker said they can protest all they want, but he believes in his convictions, and he thinks he's on the right side of the argument.

So much for the 1st Amendments "right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Oops, looks like Walker lined that out already, like he did with the UW's Wisconsin Idea. It's worth a try I guess.

So add killing the Menominee casino in Kenosha to the long list of bad job and revenue killing decisions by Scott Walker. It was obvious from the start, that he would play the locals for election year saps, take whatever votes he could steal, and then spectacularly blow up the deal. And we acted surprised? Unlike the 9 competing casinos in the Green Bay area, the densely populated southern corridor has only one, in Milwaukee. How fair is that?

The Menominee tribe did everything they could...and more. I've documented the 160 mile trek in freezing temperatures and failed attempt to meet with Walker below. Disgusting behavior from our smirking governor. Thanks to WISC, WKOW, and TMJ4:



TMJ 4 described Walker perfectly in the clip below; defiant! Walker's two sons, Matt and Alex, are as politically cold as their father, whining about the protests in front of their home that now houses their grandparents. I guess it never occurred to them either that protests aren't normal, and that elected officials must be doing something wrong to bring people out in the coldest of temperatures.   

WisPolitics: Hundreds of Menominee tribal members and others packed the Capitol Rotunda Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to convince Walker to reverse his decision. But a governor's spokeswoman responded by pointing to the letter Walker sent the tribe earlier this week. "We had hoped this trek would show him this is not a game for the Menominee people," Menominee Chairman Gary Besaw said.

Reportedly, Walker was there, but didn’t give them the common curtesy of a quick meeting to hear them out or explain his position privately. Listening is not a Walker talent, but dictating…of course:

Following the rally, Besaw walked to the governor's office, but was told he could not enter and that there was no one available to meet with him. 

DOA's Huebsch on tribe's "Menominee Bucks for Milwaukee Bucks" offer, 'we don't believe you!!!'

Just amazing. The Menominee tribes offer to put up the rest of the money for the Bucks arena, and to cover the Potawatomi's losses and any other costs, exposed Scott Walker's politically convenient decision as just another shrewd calculation on his way to the White House. After all, Iowa conservative warned him not to do it:

Walker isn't even considering the proposal, and no one is buying Mike Huebsch's annoying and disrespectful shrug that the offer isn't believable or that it's a media ploy. Here's WKOW's Greg Neumann's coverage:

jsonline: Just hours after the Menominee tribe floated the idea of paying $220 million to cover the taxpayers' share for a new downtown Milwaukee arena … it would post to cover any potential state losses from the Potawatomi and Ho-Chunk casinos … in exchange for approval of its proposed Kenosha casino, Gov. Scott Walker's administration quickly shot down the offer.

No dice, said Mike Huebsch, Walker's administration secretary. "We're finding out through news releases," Huebsch said in Madison. "When you get to the point that you're negotiating by news release, you realize that there isn't any validity to these offers. On looking at it, I don't believe these are genuine offers that they can fulfill."

What, no meetings, no discussions, no negotiations? So what about the jobs and taxpayer money saved? Iowa presidential primary voters said NO:

Iowa  Conservatives there had urged him to reject the project. From the Menominee point of view, the commitment includes the $220 million toward an arena, a $275 million bond to cover losses, plus the estimated $1.2 billion in Kenosha gaming proceeds the tribe has committed to the state. 

Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) said if Walker rejected the latest offer on the casino, it would be difficult for him to support Walker's proposed budget that includes bonding for the Bucks. 

Walker's Campaign Fund Raising Delay on Casino okay, Obama's XL Keystone Pipeline Delay due to Court Decision...Political?

Funny thing, Wisconsin media didn't even bring up the possibility that Scott Walker’s decision to delay the Kenosha casino until after the election was a ploy to raise campaign funds. Media bias?

Delaying a decision guarantees he doesn't blow anybody off when it comes to raking in huge amounts of tea party cash.   

The Journal Sentinel article even mentioned how the casino has been researched and talked about for the last 10 years, yet Walker said he still needed another super duper study done.

Walker’s Casino Delay vs Obama’s XL Pipeline Delay: Talk about media bias! Let’s compare coverage:

Gov. Scott Walker can wait until after the November gubernatorial election to decide whether the Menominee tribe should be allowed to open a casino in Kenosha, as the federal government Friday gave him an additional six months to decide the controversial issue. Last August, the $800 million casino complex was approved by the U.S. Department of Interior. As a result, Walker — who has unilateral authority to approve or kill the proposal. 

Originally, Walker said he would decide the issue last year but repeatedly broke his self-imposed deadlines.

Looks guilty to me. But stand with Walker voters didn't give the delay a second thought. But Obama’s decision to delay the XL Pipeline? In this case, Obama’s reason for the delay coincided with a real reason:

LA Times: Keystone Delay Caused By Nebraska Court Decision That Invalidates Pipeline Route. On April 18 the Los Angeles Times reported that, according to the State Department, a delay in the Keystone pipeline decision was "necessary" until ongoing litigation over the pipeline's route is resolved. A recent court case in Nebraska "invalidated part of the project's route"

Maybe Obama should act like a king and approve it anyway? For right wing pundits, Obama’s got no way out:

Fox Contributor Karl Rove: "Of Course It Was About Politics. It's All About Politics." During the April 21 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, contributor Karl Rove claimed that the Obama administration's decision was based on a political calculation designed to boost campaign donations for Democrats, saying "of course it was about politics. It's all about politics."

Wall Street Journal: "The Real Reason For The Delay Is Democratic Politics."

Fox's Stuart Varney: Delay On Pipeline Is "All Political And It's All About Cash."

Walker's delay gets a pass, and Obama’s delay is for political cash. Got it. 

Incidental Governor Walker Fears Voters: Won't Commit to Controversial Legislation like Fracking and Casino.

Unintimidated my ass. It's opposite day, every day in Republican world. 

It looks like Governor Scott Walker has every intention of make the Republican legislature take all blame, in their safe gerrymandered seats, for disenfranchising voters on controversial issue after issue.

This Wisconsin Public Radio report again summed it up nicely:

"Don't look at me..."

Governor Scott Walker won't say whether he supports the latest version of a Republican bill that would make it harder for local governments to regulate the frac sand industry.

He won't say, really? In that same story Walker made it very clear that it didn't matter what the local communities thought:

Walker stopped short of saying he needed local governments on board before he can support the bill … he said, “more important than what group's on or off, it ultimately depends on what's actually in the bill” … if they don't make a change ... we'll still have a vibrant frac sand industry in the state, there'll just be a few holes here and there where it's not allowed or very difficult.”

According to Walker, local opposition and control is just a nasty “hole” getting in the way of frac sand mining.

Walker wants your vote before Casino rejection: Mr. Unintimidated made it clear all Indian tribes had to be on board for the Kenosha casino deal to pass, and laughed at the idea he'd need more time. Until he needed your vote. With southeastern Wisconsin vote totals on the line, Walker wants to wait till after the election, bypassing the consequences of his eventual rejection. Even the right wing Journal Sentinel editorial staff noticed too:

Gov. Scott Walker is often touted as a decisive leader willing to make the tough decisions. So why can't he decide on whether to allow a tribal casino in Kenosha? … studies have been conducted … Walker's own criteria … that fact alone should kill the casino proposal ... Yet Walker dithers, unable to decide — at least during an election year. 

Mr. "Unintimidated" Scott Walker running from Casino decision till After Election?

Looks like the casino decision is more toxic than signing away women's health issues. Or maybe this had something to do with delaying it...this headline from the jsonline:

Potawatomi tribe pours $35,000 into GOP coffers

Remember when the big talking governor gave a hard deadline of 60 days:

Walker said he … believed fast action was important after a debate … "If it's going to happen, it should happen," Walker said. "If it's not, we should move on."

Well, nothing is more intimidating than losing tens of thousands of dollars around election time: