How dumb does Scooter think we are?

Rep. Scooter Jensen, the accused (but not yet convicted) felon, complains about Gov. Jim Doyle's veto today of a Jensen-engineered budget plan to gut the Stewardship Fund, which buys and protects open space, recreation land, and wildlife habitat.

"Today, Governor Doyle vetoed the largest stewardship purchase in state history – 77,755 acres of land in 34 Wisconsin counties. An opportunity to protect environmentally sensitive lands for the enjoyment of future generations has been lost thanks to Governor Doyle’s short-sighted decision," Jensen said.

One small thing Scooter forgot to mention: The state already owns the 77,755 acres. It would be buying the land from itself, taking the money out of one pocket and putting it into another. It would take the whole budget of the Stewardship Fund, so the program would be unable to save any other lands threatened by development during the next two years. If that happened, Jensen's statement would be right on: "An opportunity to protect environmentally sensitive lands for the enjoyment of future generations" would be lost.

The land Scooter wanted the state to buy is currently owned by the state's Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, and hardly in danger.

If you want to know more about the fast one Scooter tried to pull, here is an earlier post, "Scooter puts the screws to Stewardship."