Stone Has Been Following Walker for a Long Time

Jeff Stone's reaction to a new Chris Abele ad tying him to Scott Walker is probably the most absurd thing that I have heard in a while. Jeff Stone tied himself to Scott Walker long before that ad was ever conceived. It was Jeff Stone that announced his run for Milwaukee County Executive by saying that he would follow in Scott Walker's failed footsteps. It was Jeff Stone that stood over Walker's shoulder when he announced his war on working Wisconsinites. It was Jeff Stone that tweeted his undying support for Walker's attack on 50 years of collective bargaining rights. It was Jeff Stone that repeatedly voted to remove those rights from Wisconsin workers.

It should not be surprising that Jeff Stone is following the extreme agenda of Scott Walker now, because he did that for most of the time that the two were in the state legislature together. Here is a small selection of ways that Jeff Stone has already proven himself a partisan follower of Scott Walker's extreme agenda.

• Jeff Stone joined Scott Walker in proposing legislation that would do away with a major part of the state's shared revenue program. That plan was panned across the board by Democrats, local officials and even former Tommy Thompson aides. [Wisconsin State Journal, 3/8/99, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/26/99]
• Jeff Stone joined Scott Walker during the 2000 presidential campaign at an event in Waukesha. They were busy touting George W. Bush's Social Security privatization scheme at the event. [Waukesha Freeman, 10/31/00]
• Stone joined Walker is signing a nasty letter to county officials in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington and Racine counties. The county officials were upset with cuts to state money for local governments that was contained in the state budget. [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 4/3/99]
• Stone signed on to a Walker juvenile justice and corrections bill that would have, among other things, allowed the Department of Corrections to transfer juveniles convicted as adults to adult prisons after reaching the age of 15. [AB 729, 1999] He also supported Walker efforts to move more towards private prisons. [AB 176, 3/8/99]
• Stone has repeatedly signed on to Walker's extreme legislative proposals ranging from things like limiting women's reproductive rights to disenfranchising Voter ID legislation.
• Stone signed on with Walker's controversial legislation that would have created special contract arbitration procedures for the Milwaukee Deputy Sheriff's Association just after they endorsed Walker's bid for county executive. Some observers commented that "no one who supports a proposal like that is a friend of the taxpayers." [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 3/16/02]

The simple bottom line here is this: If Jeff Stone has a problem with being linked to Scott Walker's extreme agenda, then perhaps Jeff Stone should have a long overdue conversation with himself.