What Will It Take To Turn The Wisconsin State Senate Blue?

Unless you were completely out of it last week, you probably saw something about Wisconsin prosecutors accusing Gov. Scott Walker of overseeing a sweeping “criminal scheme” to illegally coordinate fundraising and campaign activity among conservative groups in a broad effort to help him-- and Republican senators-- beat back recalls in 2011 and 2012. Walker worked with the Kochs and Rove to secretly and illegally raise money and coordinate spending with a dozen right-wing groups during the recall elections.

Juxtaposed with that report was from from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that while Walker was playing politics and trying to coverup his conspiracy, Wisconsin continued underperforming the national economy.

[The] release of the latest Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data brings more disappointing economic news for Wisconsin's middle-class, as the jobs numbers show Wisconsin ranked dead last in the Midwest and 35th in the country overall in job creation since Scott Walker took office.

Wisconsin continues to underperform the national economy all around; both the national economy and Midwest neighbors like Minnesota have regained all the jobs lost in the Great Recession, while Wisconsin has failed to do so, growing jobs at just about half the national average. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported last week that Wisconsin's GDP growth over the last three years was well below the national average and second-to-last among all Midwest states.

The combination has caused Blue America to launch a new goal-- winning the 3 Wisconsin state Senate seats that will check Walker and put the state Senate back in Democratic hands. And, with the help of Democratic Minority Leader Chris Larson, we've already found 2 awesome progressive candidates, Appleton's Penny Bernard Schaber and Sheboygan's Martha Laning. You can find them both, along with Chris, on this special Wisconsin ActBlue page.

Chris told us that "if even some of the allegations by prosecutors are true in the documents out last week, it looks like the outcome of the Gubernatorial and Senate recall elections were altered by illegal corporate money and coordination." This is the message he put on Facebook:

Public integrity and anti-corruption laws have have been a key part of Wisconsin's way for over a century. Wisconsin has been known for our open and transparent government, regardless of the party in power.

Simply put: we are not a state that takes corruption lightly.

But this latest bombshell has revealed that Scott Walker and his inner circle of advisors created a complex scheme of lies, deception, and dishonesty to win at all costs. Governor Scott Walker has created a culture of corruption in Wisconsin that is unacceptable. Anti-corruption laws exist to prevent influence pedaling and preferable legislation from being bought in elections. Regardless of party, every Republican, Democrat, and Independent in our state should be outraged by what Walker and his allies have done.

Enough is enough. Scott Walker needs to come clean, stop playing games, and stop embarrassing Wisconsin.