Top Donor Pleads Guilty in Money-Laundering Scheme to Aid Governor Walker http://www.thenation.com/blog/159886/scandal-fitzwalkerstan-top-donor-pleads-guilty-money-laundering-scheme-aid-governor-walk

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker claims the state is broke. That, he says, is why it is necessary to enact draconian anti-labor laws and to restructure state government to dramatically increase the governor’s power.Yet, despite the supposed financial crisis, Walker gave back $810 million in federal high-speed railroad transportation funding. The governor must really hate trains, right?Wrong.The governor, who today celebrates his 100th day in office, likes some trains. He likes some trains a lot. For instance, despite all of Walker’s claims about a fiscal crisis, the new governor’s administration has already found $14 million for the Wisconsin & Southern railroad corporation. The money, most of what was distributed from the state’s Freight Railroad Preservation Program (FRPP) grants, will be used to preserve and upgrade freight rail infrastructure.

“Despite the fact one of Walker’s first moves as governor-elect was to reject $810 million in federal funds to build a high-speed passenger rail system in the state as part of a proposed Midwestern rail initiative, the state’s relationship with Gardner has flourished,” notes a Madison newspaper account of ties between the state and Wisconsin & Southern.“According to published news accounts, the company stands to gain substantially from a possible deal with the state to buy 50 miles of track between Madison and Reedsburg, and another 20 miles of track in Madison. Under the deal, the state would take ownership of the tracks, and Wisconsin & Southern would operate them, making the company eligible for more FRPP grant money, including potentially between $35 million and $60 million to rebuild the Merrimac Rail Bridge.”