Reply #41: The Nation: The 'Koch Caller' Exposes Scott Walker by John Nichols

[L. Coyote]

The Nation: The 'Koch Caller' Exposes Scott Walker
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/24/134022123/the-nation-the-koch-caller-exposes-scott-walker
by John Nichols


... the caller, actually a prankster pretending to be Koch, and the governor joked about the "vested interest" Koch Industries has in the bill.

The twenty-minute call, which the governor's office has confirmed Walker participated in, raises questions about collaboration between the governor and benefactors of his 2010 campaign to enact legislation that would benefit those interests.

Those questions point to a more profound question: Has Walker violated Wisconsin's strictest-in-the-nation ethics rules, which require elected officials to "maintain the faith and confidence of the people of the state" when it comes to their actions? Here's the critical exchange: ..........

... When someone who Scott Walker thought was a major donor to national groups that aided Walker's 2010 gubernatorial run — and that gave the Walker campaign $43,000 directly, via Koch Industries' KochPAC — said he had a "vested interest" in a budget plan being pushed by the governor, Walker replied, "Well, that's just it."

The conversation is so stunning in its brazenness that the Center for Media and Democracy, which had already filed freedom-of-information requests for records of contacts between the governor and his aides and representatives of Koch industries ...........