Wisconsin's Place in the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy | Crooks and Liars

This IS a Post that I will be following intently:

Untangling the hairball of right-wing non-profits is a job worthy of the DuPont family genealogist. First cousins, second cousins, intermarrying, charities that aren't really charitable, you name it, you'll find it in the dark recesses of the back pages of federal disclosures. But if you look long enough, and take the time to get to know the various families and their incestuous patterns, a picture emerges.

@Karoli Goes on to tell us that the Koch connection is only the tip of the Dark Iceberg Ahead:

But the Koch family is only one of several just like them...But don't assume it's the Koch family pulling the strings. They hold one. The Bradley Foundation holds two or three. There are other players too, but that's a topic for another post.

But then @Karoli Goes into the meat of the post:

How Scott Walker got elected

This post began because two questions kept sticking in my head. First, how did a preacher's kid with no college degree manage such a meteoric rise from county executive to Governor? And second, what is it about Wisconsin that has made it such a hotbed of controversy and policy fights? How is it that a state can be so deeply divided, ideologically?

It seems to me that the divide is created by systematically investing huge sums of money in policy "research", media influence, and political causes over a long period of time. This is to say that I think Wisconsin was inherently progressive-leaning and has been pushed right by the institutions funded with conservative, far-right wing money.

Look at Scott Walker. Scott Walker is a face. He's a guy carrying out the orders of his keepers. He's got the look and he's got the ambition. Scott Walker is the face of the John Birch society writ large in Wisconsin.

With Mike Grebe at the helm of Walker's campaign, $11.3 million was spent to elect him. Outside donors included the Republican Governors' Association and Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, who spent millions on independent expenditures. Here's a breakdown of individual donors by industry.

Scott Walker, like the policy institutes the Bradley Foundation funds, is another "laboratory". The formula goes like this. Get a guy with the right bio to appeal to independents. The conservative vote is a given, so it's the independent vote they're going after. Walker had the right populist blend for Wisconsin. Son of a preacher who gave up the education for "hard work", he presented himself as an 'ordinary guy' who had trouble even paying for a suit.

Put a ton of money into his campaign. Inundate the state. Get him elected. Then start putting the policy issues so heavily funded, researched and publicized into effect. Bust unions? No problem, because the WPRI laid the foundation with a series of "research papers" on union-busting. Same with tax cuts and the rest.

Now I will Definitely be Following this story as it is Untangled, Check Back for Updates!