Time to start over at WEDC

It looks like it may be time to start over. It has been a tough week, to say the least, for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. We learned that yet another audit of Wisconsin’s chief job creation agency found a trail of mismanagement, with the agency still failing to keep track of loans. And we learned that top aides to Governor Walker lobbied hard for a half-million dollar loan to a company which ended up creating no jobs and has yet to pay back the loan. And it turns out that same company was already being sued by the state for its failure to pay taxes. Oh, and the head of the company was maxing out his contributions to Walker’s re-election campaign. Clearly, things aren’t working at WEDC. Governor Walker serves as the chairman of the agency, but claims he knew nothing about the political contributions, or the pressure for the state to loan the company money. If that is true, then it would seem Walker’s role as chairman is purely ceremonial. Given the troubles this agency has clearly demonstrated, it would seem the agency needs more than a ceremonial chairman. In fact, it may be time to blow up the agency and start over. Because whatever lawmakers come up with as a way to help spur job growth in Wisconsin can’t be worse than what we have now.