Beginning of the End for Diamond Jim?
Written by Brian on February 24, 2007 – 11:07 am - Welcome, if you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or subscribe to our email newsletter. Thanks for visiting!
The jig is up, the news is out, they finally found me
The renegade who had it made, retrieved for a bounty
Story out of the JS today about the Federal Bureau of Investigation and trouble for one of Diamond Jim’s top fundraising cons:
Kenosha businessman Dennis Troha late Friday abruptly withdrew from the $808 million tribal casino project on which he’s invested years and millions of dollars.
The surprise move came as the FBI was investigating the thousands in campaign donations the Troha family has made to Gov. Jim Doyle.
Federal law gives Doyle veto power over any off-reservation casino in the state.
Sources said the FBI launched its probe of Troha and family members earlier this year.
And later:
Troha and 12 family members have donated $200,000 to Doyle since he first ran for governor five years ago, sometimes writing checks on the same day, campaign records show. Troha also played a role in sponsoring both of Doyle’s inauguration celebrations.
The casino deal could have earned Troha $88 million over seven years, according to records filed with the federal government as part of the Menominee tribe’s application for the casino.
Typical Diamond Jim, passing out state perks for his campaign contributers. Why would anyone expect that this would change since the election? From here, it will probably only get worse, because Diamond Jim likely won’t run for re-election again.
With the FBI on the lookout and a serious law enforcement official in the Attorney General’s office for the first time in over a decade and a half, hopefully Diamond Jim won’t be able to play games with taxpayer dollars for much longer.
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Posted in Dismal Doyle |
February 24th, 2007 at 12:00 pm
Just because the person GIVING the money violated the law doesn’t mean the person GETTING the money broke the law. I don’t have to leave Wisconsin to prove the point, and I can prove it with your Republican president.
Remember the Milwaukee lawyer who worked with the Waukesha County home builder. (I’m not naming names because the big Milwaukee law firm where the lawyer was a partner fired him. You can look it up easily.) Turns out the lawyer and homebuilder laundered a couple hundred thousand in corporate money and gave it to President Bush’s campaign committee for the 2004 campaign.
The result? The lawyer and the homebuilder are prosecuted but the President and his campaign committee go Scot free. Guess what — that’s the correct result than and it will likely be the same story here in 2007.
The folks who think Jim Doyle is a crook don’t know him or his family. He uses the TOmmy G. Thompson playbook to get elected in 2002 and to get reelected in 2006. You “born again” campaign finance reformers are flaming hypocrites!
February 24th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Wally, I think it’s completely inappropriate of you to claim that Republicans are as corrupt as Democrats. It’s only about 90% as corrupt, get it right!
I’m not familiar with the case that you cite, but I’d be really interested in checking it out. Are you sure that it was really laundered? Was anyone actually arrested and charged with violating actual campaign laws, as some of Doyle’s aids have been? I’ll have to look that up.
Nonetheless, anyone paying attention to Wisconsin politics over the past five years has to conclude that Jim Doyle’s “playbook” consists mostly of rewarding campaign contributers, be it with state contracts or monopoly rights over the distribution of some good or service (see education, casinos).
February 24th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
“Nonetheless, anyone paying attention to Wisconsin politics over the past five years has to conclude that Jim Doyle’s “playbook†consists mostly of rewarding campaign contributers, be it with state contracts or monopoly rights over the distribution of some good or service (see education, casinos).”
Earth to Brian! Earth to Brian! ALL politicians reward their campaign contributors! Show me a politician who rewards his opponent’s campaign contributors and I will show you a one-termer!
You want to talk rewarding contributors with casino monopolies? Jim Doyle hasn’t given anyone a casino yet. Every one of the casinos now open in Wisconsin –and all of the dog tracks, including the ones which flopped and closed — were given their monopoly rights by Tommy G. Thompson! How many of these casino operators do you think gave money to King Tommy? How about all of them! Look it up!
February 26th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Wally,
My goodness. You don’t expect these people to research their blather before they post, do you?
Tommy and the Repubs are the kings of rewarding their contributors. It is funny to see when the shoe is on the other foot, how quickly things seem outrageous to those who capitalized on power for so many years. Let’s see calls for bi-partisan reform when the Republicans are in power. Better yet, let’s get them out of power, and then invite true reform.
February 26th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Voice of Reason:
Thank you for a well-reasoned response.