Buzzflash: Scott Walker Even Lies About the Cost of Democracy

March 10, 2011- Democracy has its costs, but not $7.5 million in "building repairs" for peaceful demonstrations for economic justice.

That's the figure that the Scott Walker administration said was the cost to date, a few days ago, of "repairing" the state Capitol due to demonstrations that reached 70,000 to 100,000 people on some days. And the advocates weren't there in support of the man who fashions himself the "new" Ronald Reagan. In fact, one Saturday, the Koch Brothers' Americans for Prosperity tried to get some Tea Party supporters of Walker to counterprotest, but could only scramble up a few hundred. They haven't been seen since in Madison.

Once again, we refer our BuzzFlash at Truthout readers to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Political "truth-o-meter," which investigated the claim of $7.5 million in damages to the Wisconsin Capitol and found the figure such an egregious exaggeration that it gave its infamous "pants on fire" lying award to the Walker administration.

But the Walker administration, under fire for trying to turn public opinion against the protesters for a viable middle class, revised its "estimate" down to $347,500.

As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel concluded:

While urging a judge to scale back protests, a state Department of Administration official said the state Capitol sustained $7.5 million in damage. State officials could not immediately provide a basis for the number, and later backtracked from it. The new estimate: $347,500, some 20 times less than the original one. And there are indications that even that could be high.

This smells like an effort to pour gas on the anti-protester fire. The claim was ridiculously high. And that gets a Pants on Fire rating.

Indeed, the $347,500 may include costs of normal upkeep of the building.

In the battle for whether or not corporations and the wealthy will run America, Walker is employing an army of lies. 

VIEW IN ORIGINAL CONTEXT: