Scott Walker’s little-known scandal: When he treated welfare recipients like dogs
When Scott Walker was county executive, how he handled programs for Milwaukees poor will shock and amaze you
JOAN WALSH
Among the racist jokes and emails found in recently released documents connected to the criminal probe of Gov. Scott Walkers 2010 campaign, one stood out: A joke about a woman trying to sign up her dogs for welfare, because my Dogs are mixed in color, unemployed, lazy, cant speak English and have no frigging clue who the r Daddys are. They expect me to feed them, provide them with housing and medical care, and feel guilty. The punchline: My Dogs get their first checks Friday.
Walkers deputy chief of staff Kelly Rindfleisch replied: That is hilarious. And so true.
The joke is bad enough on its own, but its also worth noting: back when Walker was Milwaukee county executive, and Rindfleisch was a top aide, he managed the countys welfare programs so abysmally that after lawsuits by local clients, the state was forced to take them over. They didnt just call people dogs, they treated them like dogs, one Milwaukee elected official recalled angrily.
Milwaukee County has demonstrated a sustained inability to successfully provide services to its (poor) customers, state health services director director Karen Timberlake wrote in a February 2009 letter to Walker announcing the state takeover. Milwaukee became the only one of 72 Wisconsin counties to wind up with its programs for poor people under state control.
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http://www.salon.com/2014/03/03/when_scott_walker_treated_welfare_recipients_like_dogs/