Conversations at the Governor’s Club
The Governor’s Club restaurant in the Concourse Hotel is Wisconsin’s version of New York’s Algonquin Hotel circa 1940 to 1960. Journalists’ and lobbyists’ conversations spill from one table to the next, news is made and overheard, and strategies are evolved to tap and divert power, influence and public revenue streams.
Your BLog Master recently found himself at this Governor’s Club, an unsought witness to the voices churning throughout the restaurant that were wishing, cajoling and pleading for a share of the U.S. stimulus infrastructure dollars that may find their way to Wisconsin. The following fragments were overheard and speak for themselves.
(Table 3): “… have we cozied up to Oskar yet? We can’t take (previous DET administrator name deleted) for a Gulf tour in our yacht and seal the deal any more. He’s under pressure to spend IT infrastructure dollars as fast as he can though, and we should be there to help him out and get our entire share … otherwise we’ll be playing cleanup for what’s left after Cisco goes through Madison like a freight train …”
(Table 6): “… this has nothing to do with public need, or even jobs. You know and I know that nearly 50% of the new (federal) money, including funding for OJA Homeland Security projects (public safety communications), goes to expanding the bureaucracy …”
(Table 5): “… the initiative has been completely taken away from us (the private sector). They tell us how to get our energy, where to put our towers, and who to use for construction. What the hell is an “intent to negotiate”? Why did we not get an opportunity to send in a bid? Do you suppose they are using our concept design? If they spec to that, someone will get a nasty surprise when they find out the system’s real cost and capacity limitations. If DOA wants campaign contributors, we can get those. If they want particular companies as subs, we can get those. If they want obsolete technology backed by preferred vendors … that used to be called collusion … I can make one phone call and make it happen … ”
(Table 7): ” … I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop. With fees, mandates, taxes and other means … separating productive people from their rightful pay, we are slaves of the governor, required to do his will. I thought the Thirteenth Amendment made that illegal …”
And the beat goes on. Each of us may hope that only the guy in front of us in line, and the guy behind us, will have his taxes raised. We can hope that we will get a high-speed train, built with the efficiency of the Eisenhower Interstate System.
We can hope …