According to this recent report by the MKE Journal Sentinel, Gov. Scott Walker's hand appointed transportation czar, Mark Gottlieb, stands with the Norquist-pledged governor's position on Wisconsin's so-called transportation funding crisis.
JS Online Excerpt:
Speaking to the Assembly Transportation Committee, the state's top highway official defended Walker's plan to not raise gas taxes or vehicle fees and to instead close a two-year $1 billion shortfall through borrowing and project delays.
Why certainly he does! To believe himself, he must think that Walker's plan will lead to shiny new roads as smooth as silk and tough as granite. Right? Not quite.
JS Online Excerpt:
But he acknowledged it would lead to more and more bad roads and could delay the completion of all the state's major planned road projects by as much as decades.
"If the funding levels proposed in the department’s budget continue, I have indicated that, yes, system conditions will deteriorate," Gottlieb said of the path laid out by Walker.
But it's a path he defends. Why?
Well, it's all about "timing."
JS Online Excerpt:
"The governor has made a determination that now is not the right time to raise taxes on Wisconsin businesses and families,” the secretary said.
There we have it. Walker is in perpetual re-election mode and constantly trying to convince his billionaire masters of his ideological "conservative" bonafides. Plus, he's got Lord Norquist to answer to if he back pedals on his pledge.
This moment however becomes the perfect window of opportunity for Gottlieb to flack for Scott Walker as a champion of business and families.
It's the least he can do for Walker if he wants to keep his cushy job for the next six years.
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