New Year, New Low?

Wisconsin Assembly Republicans’ New Year’s resolutions this year must not have included a clean and ethical government.

The most recent ethical lapse includes an Assembly Republican authoring a bill at the behest of a wealthy Republican donor just to get the donor out of fulfilling his child support responsibilities.

According to stories in the Wisconsin State Journal and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel over the weekend, Rep. Joel Kleefisch’s (R-Oconomowoc) legislative office spearheaded the drafting of a controversial bill that would allow wealthy parents to get out of paying tens of thousands of dollars in child support at the direction of Michael Eisenga, a wealthy Republican donor, who sought the law change to help his own case.

In a shocking twist, WKOW reported in 2012 that despite Eisenga's estimated net worth of $20 million, he owed over $224,000 in unpaid taxes AND enrolled his children in BadgerCare. That's right...BadgerCare.

To make matters even worse, the Wisconsin State Journal reported that “Eisenga, along with his former wife, gave at least $41,750 to Republican politicians since 2005”.

A staffer with the non-partisan Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau warned the Republican Representative that: “it’s hard to fashion a general principle that will apply to only one situation.”

These kind of blatant favors to wealthy Republican donors have no place in Wisconsin government.

We can do better. We deserve better than this Republican cronyism.

That is why the Assembly Democrats are working hard to be a voice in the legislature for all Wisconsinites, not just the wealthy.

Will you give $100, $50, $25, or whatever you can afford today to help us stop this unethical pandering to the rich?

Together, we will take our state back.

As always, thanks for all that you do.