Zien to taxpayers: "Kiss my iron butt!"

The Journal Sentinel reports in a Sunday story that State Sen. Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire, gets paid twice as much in mileage money for driving his Harley around the state as a state employee would who doesn't happen to be elected.

For state workers who drive motorcycles, the rate is 16.2 cents a mile. Zien claims 32.5 cents -- and drives thousands and thousands of miles.

He's tone deaf about understanding why anyone would question that perk. How could anybody question somebody who's driving an American motorcycle made in Wisconsin, he asks, as if that has anything to do with the issue at hand.

Maybe a state employee, Larry Legro, could explain what's wrong with leggies treating themselves like they're special and more important than the people who actually do the work:

Larry Legro, a state X-ray inspector who frequently travels, said lawmakers "just don't get it" by not following the same standards as other employees.

"The guys who are making the rules are ignoring them themselves," he said.

Here's the story:

Zien's motorcycle riding pays off
Senator claims mileage at higher car rates
By PATRICK MARLEY

Madison - When Sen. Dave Zien (R-Eau Claire) hops on his Harley-Davidson for state business - as he routinely does - he bills taxpayers at twice the rate other state employees do.

Sen. David Zien, an Iron Butt Rally participant, was reimbursed $23,332 over a 2½-year period for mileage.

Mileage reimbursement records show that over a 2 ½ -year period, Zien was reimbursed about $7,500 more than a rank-and-file employee driving a motorcycle would have received.

Zien claimed about $15,000 in mileage reimbursement in the spring, summer and fall of 2003 and 2004 and April through June of 2005, the records show. Another state employee could claim only half that amount because the state reimburses motorcycle use at half the vehicle rate because motorcycles can get 45 miles to the gallon or more.

During that period, the rate was 32.5 cents for vehicles and 16.2 cents for motorcycles.

Zien consistently claims the higher rate, even when he drives a snowmobile on state business, he said. He said he saw nothing wrong with that practice.

"Who can be critical of someone driving an American motorcycle made in Wisconsin?" he said.

The whole story.