"Wisconsin is broke!" (wink, wink)

No degree, little experience pays off big
April 3, 2011 9:45 p.m.

Just in his mid-20s, Brian Deschane has no college degree, very little management experience and two drunken-driving convictions.

Yet he has landed an $81,500-per-year job in Gov. Scott Walker's administration overseeing environmental and regulatory matters and dozens of employees at the Department of Commerce. Even though Walker says the state is broke and public employees are overpaid, Deschane already has earned a promotion and a 26% pay raise in just two months with the state.

How did Deschane score his plum assignment with the Walker team?

It's all in the family.

His father is Jerry Deschane, executive vice president and longtime lobbyist for the Madison-based Wisconsin Builders Association, which bet big on Walker during last year's governor's race.

http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/119159584.html

 

Happens everywhere.

When Mitch Daniels' Superintendent of Public Instruction (a misnomer if you ever heard it -- I've never seen someone more committed to dismantling the public education system in his state than this guy) Tony Bennett took office, there was a huge purge of people in the office and a bunch of ed reformers/charter school types took their places. According to someone in the know, the Fords and Chevys in the employee parking lot were immediately replaced with Lexuses and Mercedes. And shortly thereafter, the state started crying poverty and severely cutting public education funds (and they've cut funds ever since, then when the inevitable teacher layoffs happened, used that to push through a union-busting reform package that removes any job security a teacher has, makes them fight over a dwindling pie of money for a cost-of-living raise, and diverts a lot of what little money is left to private and charter schools ... they manufactured a crisis crying poverty, so they could get the public opinion to carry out the reforms they wanted).

 

Gotta get me one of dem govment jubs.

 

This is even worse than changing all the vending machines in the state from Pepsi to Koch.

 

You could find people like this in every politician's administration.

I forget my exact salary, but I made $70,000 or $72,000 11 years ago working for the City of New York with no college degree and "little management experience".

But I didn't have any DUI's or a daddy who was a big shot in a trade association. Though, the guy who was technically my boss was an idiot who's daddy was a big shot in a union that backed the mayor and was responsible for their endorsement.

 

So it's OK.

 

Sometimes. How's he doing in the job?

The selective outrage is what I'm against. Did the Journal-Sentinel look at similar people under previous administrations?

 

That's gold.

 

Let me help you out.

Nepotism is not OK.

 

New York City was a one party town for a long time. The Democratic Party and the Unions were partners.

There was corruption in both politics and in the Unions.

During the Koch administration, several politicians went to jail (or killed themselves). This resulted in some reforms including stripping the various Borough Presidents jobs of most of their power.

But, very little attention was paid to the civil service unions.

Then, some of the unions made the mistake of breaking the partnership with the Democratic Party. They had the nerve to endorse a Republican, Rudy Giuiani for Mayor.

Suddenly, these unions found themselves the subjects of investigations by the Democratic District Attorney. Stanley Hill, who had run a union for 30 years went to jail.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/08/nyregion/08hughes.html

Stanley Hill, the head of the largest municipal union was indicted and forced to resign:

http://www.villagevoice.com/1998-12-01/news/dc-37-crashes/

Did these unions suddenly become corrupt at the same time they happened to endorse a Republican or was corruption within the unions acceptable up to and until they endorsed a Republican?

And, where was the press during all of the years that these union leaders were ripping of their members?

But, I'm sure nothing like this still happens.

 

If Jack Kennedy's former Attorney General were still alive, I'm sure he would agree with you.

 

"You're doing a heckuva job, Brownie."