Walker Collects Old Political Debt

In a ho hum statement from Team Walker, they proudly announce that Walker now has the endorsement of Rick Graber:

Scott Walker, Republican candidate for governor and Milwaukee County Executive, today announced the endorsement of former GOP Chairman Rick Graber. Graber served four terms as state party chairman and served as Ambassador to the Czech Republic in the Bush Administration. Rick Graber joins the six other former state party chairmen in supporting Scott Walker’s candidacy for Governor.

“I have been proud to watch Scott cut spending and fight for taxpayers in his county and I know he'll bring that same commonsense approach to Madison,” said Graber.

“I am very excited to welcome Ambassador Graber and each of the other former chairmen to our team,” said Walker. “Their support shows the tremendous excitement our campaign has generated and I am proud to now have the endorsement of such an accomplished and respected man as Rick Graber. These former chairmen bring unique and diverse backgrounds to the table and their voices will help drive our campaign to victory in November of next year.”

What the announcement didn't include is that Milwaukee County tax payers have already paid for that endorsement:

However, as noted in the cited section from MJS, Walker refused to go with a lawsuit against the legal firm that was supposed to be giving legal advise about the pension enhancers, Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren.

There were a couple of reasons for Walker's resistance. One reason was pointed out by Bruce Murphy:

He declined to pursue legal action against the Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren law firm for the advice it gave county officials on the pension plan. The head of the firm, back when Walker made this decision, was then state Republican chair Rick Graber, who had donated campaign money to Walker.

The other reason is covered by Gretchen Schuldt at her old Story Hill site:

A judge has rejected plaintiffs in a lawsuit related to the county pension scandal have no standing to pursue their claim that lawyers with the Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren firm have a conflict of interest in the case, according to Journal Sentinel.

Reinhart lawyers helped design the pension package and are defending the county in the lawsuit, filed on behalf of county employees who claim the enhancements were improperly enacted, among other things.

If one keeps reading, the gentle reader would see how the law firm is tied up into the whole pension scandal. Yet due to his own political aspirations, Walker refused to seek all of the potential remedies available that he could have used to help the County in desperate budgetary times.

So, Graber gives donations to Walker's failed first attempt at governor. In exchange, Walker stiffs Milwaukee County tax payers for millions of dollars by refusing to sue Graber's law firm, even though they were deeply involved with the pension scandal. Now Graber throws an endorsement Walker's way as a "thank you for not suing us" gesture.

I wonder if Walker will claim the millions of lost dollars from tax payers on his campaign report now.

Also worth a chuckle from Team Walker's statement was the endorsement of Michael Grebe. It would only be note worthy if Walker's campaign chair didn't endorse him, no?