Wisconsin Green Party
wisconsingreenparty.org
January 3, 2006
CORRECTION:
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, a Republican candidate for governor, recently returned $325 in campaign
contributions to executives of a company that won a $250,000 no-bid county
contract. The original press release mistakenly listed the
amount returned as $325,000.
Corrected release below.
Contacts:
Ruth Weill, Co-chair, Wisconsin Green Party, 414-562-6097 or 414-350-2107,
spokespersons@wisconsingreenparty.org
Bob Poeschl, Co-chair, Wisconsin Green Party, 920 312-0529, spokespersons@wisconsingreenparty.org
Jim Doyle, Scott Walker, Mark Green too Tainted to Lead to Clean Government,
say Wisconsin Greens Governor rejects special session on campaign finance reform
Jim Doyle, who has been charged with being influenced by contributions from
Indian tribes, Adelman Travel executives, and those who urged the Public
Service Commission's approval of the sale of the Kewaunee nuclear power
plant, recently decided against calling a special legislative session on
campaign finance reform.
"People want clean government," said Ruth Weill, Co-chair of the Wisconsin
Green Party. "Although our Wisconsin government is now known for its corruption, none of the current candidates, Jim Doyle, Scott Walker, nor
Mark Green, will be able to lead the way to clean government. All three
have received large donations from special interests, and all three have
been charged with allowing those donations to influence their political
decisions."
The Wisconsin Green Party advocates for public financing of campaigns, and
public airtime for candidates. Wisconsin Green Party candidates do not
accept money from PAC's.
"It is clear that money is corrupting our system. Therefore, we need to
reform our election system to eliminate corrupting influences," said
Weill.
A recent nationwide Associated Press/IPSOS poll showed that 88% of those
polled felt that political corruption is a very or somewhat serious problem.
A poll conducted by the St. Norbert College Survey Center for Wisconsin
Public Radio stated that political corruption is one of the most common
answers people gave when asked to identify the most important problem facing
the state of Wisconsin.
"It must be hard for someone like Mark Green, who rose up through the
Wisconsin legislative ranks at the same time as the caucus scandals got
their start, to show leadership in bringing clean government to our state,"
said Bob Poeschl, Co-chair of the Wisconsin Green Party.
Mark Green has taken money with connections to Tom DeLay, who was indicted
for corruption. The three Republican and Democratic candidates for governor, Scott Walker, Mark Green, and Jim Doyle, have accepted nearly
$23,000 since 2003 from Illinois contributors who have been convicted or
indicted of extortion, fraud, bribery or other crimes, or who are connected
to state and federal criminal investigations, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has found. Milwaukee County
Executive Scott Walker, a Republican candidate for governor, recently returned $325 in campaign contributions to
executives of a company that won a $250,000 no-bid county contract.
"We need a candidate for the 2006 governor's race that stands for clean
government," said Tony Palmeri, a Wisconsin Green who ran for Assembly in
2004. "So far, the field is empty."
The Wisconsin Green Party is affiliated with the Green Party of the United
States, and stands on the four pillars of Social & Economic Justice,
Grassroots Democracy, Nonviolence, and Ecological Wisdom.
For more information, visit http://www.wisconsingreenparty.org.
The Green Party of the United States' website is http://www.gp.org .
