When I kicked off my campaign I pledged to transform the lieutenant governor's office into the leading taxpayer watchdog in the state with the chief mission of rooting out waste, fraud and abuse.  There is no greater example of wasteful spending in government today than Jim Doyle and Barack Obama trying to force a costly and unneeded Madison-Milwaukee train on the taxpayers of Wisconsin.  To help stop this boondoggle, I created www.stopthetrainwisconsin.org, which was featured on a recent TMJ4 newscast where I also spoke out against Governor Jim Doyle and the Department of Transportation’s plan to waste millions of dollars on a new train depot.

At a time when the Milwaukee Public School (MPS) District is broke, nearly 60% of 10th graders in the district can't read, and 70% can't perform math at proficient levels, the teachers union negotiated an agreement where some teachers will receive taxpayer reimbursement for spring break hotel expenses.

At a time when many Wisconsin families can’t afford a vacation, it is outrageous to think that taxpayers could be on the hook for MPS teachers’ spring break expenses.  MPS is in desperate need of reform and Wisconsin citizens simply cannot afford more irresponsible spending by the Milwaukee Public School District.

DNR Uses Taxpayer Funds to Advertise for "Animal Rights" Organization

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently spent $6,000 on radio ads for a radical left-wing special interest group, named HSUS. According to HSUS' own website the organization works "to create meaningful social change for animals."  Sportsmen and women across the state believe HSUS is a “fringe group aimed at ending hunting and trapping in Wisconsin and throughout the United States.”

Taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for the DNR to run radio ads on behalf of a group that wants to destroy Wisconsin’s hunting heritage.

I recently uncovered a series of troubling e-mails using Wisconsin's Open Records Law showing Governor Jim Doyle's Administration used taxpayer money to fly in a radical "environmental rights advocate" from California to promote a job-killing, tax-raising global warming bill.  A bill that is so extreme, that most Democrats are refusing to back it now.

It is outrageous that an environmental extremist was flown to Wisconsin, paid for by the taxpayers, to specifically refute General Motor’s effort to educate lawmakers and the public about the impact a “global warming bill” would have on our state’s manufacturing-dependent economy. This all took place before GM made the decision to shut down major Wisconsin operations.