Quote, unquote
"Providing tickets to media outlets to have them visit and report on attractions is not uncommon. In fact, it is really not unlike the Green Bay Packers giving out passes to the press to cover their games. It does not guarantee good coverage, but it does ensure that they will cover the game."
-- Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, justifying giving away $19,000 in free tickets to Milwaukee tourist attractions during a statewide motorcycle trip, by equating Mexican Fiesta to a Packers game.
posted by xoff @ 7:13 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I've been thinking -- how is Scott Walker's Harley tour different than Jim Doyle traveling the state (or W. giving a "policy speech" in Appleton weeks before the election) on the taxpayer dime?
Seems to me that it's a question of purview. Doyle is the elected Governor of Wisconsin; it's part of his job to travel around the state cutting ribbons and meeting citizens. Same goes for W. being President. It's one of the advantages of incumbency.
Walker, meanwhile, is the County Executive of Milwaukee County. He hasn't been elected by the people of Green Bay or Wausau. Traveling around the state promoting Scott Walker isn't part of his job; running Milwaukee County is. Even if you buy his lame tourism-promotion excuse, the ethical thing to do would have been to keep his responses on the topic of tourism, and not bribe reporters.
It's comparable to Russ Feingold going to Alabama. The difference is that, because going to Alabama had nothing to do with his job, taxpayers didn't fork out for the trip -- his PAC did.
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