Good news!*
Scott Walker has finally, at long last, paid off his presidential campaign debt*. And it only took him sixteen months since he ended his short-lived, Quixotic bid.
Walker tried everything he could think of to raise that money. He begged for it. He sold his unwanted t-shirts and other campaign gear at bargain basement prices. He used every con he could think of. He even had other failed politicians, like Ted Cruz, begging for him.
But none of that worked. So what did Walker do to end his debt?*
He sold out his donors to the highest bidders:
In 2016, Walker brought in more than $823,000 by selling his donor list to other GOP candidates such as U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida; Ohio Gov. John Kasich; and Ben Carson, the nominee to serve as U.S. Housing and Urban Development secretary, Federal Elections Commission records show. His massive list of contributors was marketed aggressively for him by Granite Lists of Dublin, N.H.
The firm trumpeted the massive Walker list on its website as a "great test for conservative candidates, organizations, and anti-union causes" — a reference to the governor's signature law repealing most collective bargaining for most public employees in Wisconsin.
"One of the hottest donor lists to hit the market in years, the Walker for President list is made up of current Republican donors who are not content to sit on the sidelines. They are committed, generous, and sick and tired of the status quo. Actively engaged, they are motivated by the Republican principles of limited government and reform. This highly coveted list is as current as it gets," the website says.
In October alone, Walker pulled in more than $220,000 from Granite Lists' sales of his donor database. An employee of Granite Lists said the firm's founder, Stephen Meyers, was traveling and unavailable for comment.
Walker's campaign had no comment on the sales of the donor list or whether the governor had sold his list to President-elect Donald Trump. But the website Politico reported a year ago that some of these list sales were deals in which candidates using Walker's list to raise money were splitting the cash with him.
For the poor saps that gave him money, finding themselves bombarded with fundraising emails by right politicians at all levels and from all corners of the country must've been a rude awakening. No one wants an inbox full of spam.
Ah, but as the gentle reader knows, with all things Walker, there's more. There's always more.
Not only did Walker sell out his donors, he took a page from his buddy, Donald Trump, and shorted a lot of the vendors that were waiting for him to pay his bills:
In all, the 10 vendors were owed $374,100, but accepted payment of $333,500:
* Tusk Productions accepted a $3,800 cut.
* Superior Strategies accepted a $5,100 cut.
* Shirley and Banister Public Affairs accepted a $1,600 cut.
* Sharp Politics accepted a $6,000 cut.
* Prospect Strategic Communications accepted a $3,200 cut.
* Maverick Finance accepted a $1,000 cut.
* Maseng Communications accepted a $2,500 cut.
* Just Win Strategies accepted a $5,000 cut.
* Ground Game Strategies accepted a $2,500 cut.
* Drucker Lawhon accepted a $10,000 cut.
But guess what, there'e even more!
Walker also sold his endorsement for the highly unqualified Betsy DeVos to privatize the nation's schools:
Federal Election Commission records show that last year nine members of the DeVos family gave the maximum $2,700 donation apiece — more than $24,000 in all — to help pay down the campaign debt left over after Walker ended his GOP primary bid for president in September 2015.
For the DeVos family to spend that much money for an endorsement from somebody like Walker really shows how unqualified she is.
Now all Walker has to do his pay off his tens of thousands of dollars of personal debt and resolve the millions the state owes to creditors he's been stiffing.
*No, not really
