Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News last week.

When President Joe Biden was advocating for his American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) early last year, he stressed the urgency of the matter. He said, “We’re in a national emergency, and we need to act like we’re in a national emergency.” Over a year and 7.9% inflation later, Governor Tony Evers is using the ARPA as a gigantic re-election slush fund as he hands out our money in dribs and drabs for maximum personal political benefit.

 

The $1.9 trillion ARPA was passed by Congress without a single Republican vote and signed by Democrat President Biden. In an economy that was already roaring back to life after the pandemic, many feared that printing another $1.9 trillion and dumping it into the economy would spark inflation that could erase all of the gains made by Americans. Those fears are being realized as I write.

 

The other fear that many Republicans has was that the ARPA was structured to be a re-election fund for Democrats. Those fears are also being realized. Among other things, the ARPA doled out $350 billion to states and local governments to be spent largely at the sole discretion of the chief executive. Wisconsin received over $2.5 billion to be spent by Gov. Tony Evers. Despite overwrought lamentations by both Biden and Evers about the pandemic emergency, Evers still has not allocated all of that money after more than a year. Far from speeding the emergency money into the pockets of Wisconsinites who were allegedly suffering from the effects of the pandemic, Evers has been hoarding billions of our dollars. Why? He was waiting for it to be closer to the election. Just since the beginning of February, Evers has announced the allocation of over $628 million from the ARPA. Reading through the governor’s press releases, one would think that he was cutting a personal check instead of allocating the taxpayers’ money.

 

In order to maximize the political benefit, Evers is taking great pains to spread our money around the state. There is $7.9 million for a dental clinic in Appleton, $6 million for a clinic in Tommy Thompson’s hometown of Elroy, a $4.3 million grant for Neenah, $2 million for low-income housing in Madison, $9 million for a Community Outreach and Engagement Center at Beloit College, $119,000 for Prairie du Chien to host a historical celebration, $250,000 for a parking lot for the Paine Art Center and Gardens, and on, and on, and on. It is Halloween and Evers is handing out the good candy that we bought.

 

Most infuriating is the $50 million that Evers allocated last week as an “investment in safer communities across Wisconsin.” After years of denigrating law enforcement and ignoring the victims of an increasing rate of violent crime — including dragging his feet to quell the violence in Kenosha — Evers is smart enough to read the writing on the wall. Crime is up. The public is angry about it. Supporting law enforcement is a winning issue this year and despite his lengthy history of supporting criminals, Evers is using our money to pretend that he supports law enforcement. It is as insincere as it is deceitful. Evers has not been willing to support policies that would reduce crime or lock up more criminals, but he is willing to throw a blizzard of our own money into our faces in an election year to distract us from his own legacy of supporting criminals.

 

Does any of this seem like it is reacting to a pandemic emergency? Establishing a pilot program to expand operations of two courtrooms to evenings for one day a week in Milwaukee? $29,640 for a chain link fence in the grandstand area of the Ozaukee County Fairgrounds? $100,000 for the village of Oregon to install public art?

 

Is this really what pandemic relief looks like? Is this not just government spending that could have been made in 2000 or 2010 or 2030? What emergency are we solving for? Why did this require an inflation-fueling emergency bailout? Or was the American Rescue Plan Act just a re-election fund for Democrats like Tony Evers to use to curry favor with voters in an election year?

 

While Evers’ actions are transparent, they are also effective. Spreading around taxpayer cash to buy loyalty and support is a time-honored tradition in American politics. It works and Republicans should not underestimate its power. Republicans have already lost once to Evers after underestimating him. They would do well to remember that lesson.