Out of touch Alberta Strikes Again

Here she goes again. Alberta Darling once again showing that she is completely out of touch with most Wisconsinites. Last week she declared that a person making $250,000 a year is not rich. She is trying to perform some damage control now but the fact is that she said exactly what she meant. Darling has been unbelievably wealthy for a very long time and she has become completely detached from the real lives of most Wisconsinites.

Darling's latest Statement of Economic Interest form shows that she owns stock in nearly 200 different companies. The value of most of those individual holdings are between $5,000 and $50,000. There are also a handful of companies in which she owns more than a $50,000 interest. Her SEI also lists the longtime beach front condo in Florida that she has owned for some time. In fact, the Capital Times once ran a story about out-of-touch very wealthy legislators and in it they listed Darling and her beach front property (pictured above). [Capital Times, 6/14/94] In addition her River Hills home is assessed at approximately $800,000.

But we don't have to only rely on Alberta Darling's personal wealth and recent comment to prove that she is out of touch. We can also look at other telling comments and actions over the years. Here are only a handful in no particular order:

• When Texas Governor George W. Bush was beginning his run for president he came to a Wisconsin fundraiser. Alberta Darling was quoted at the fundraiser saying, "Hallelujah...I'm so excited" about the prospect of a Bush presidency. We all know how that turned out for most of us. [Capital Times, 7/22/99]
• Then there was the time that she failed to come back from her London vacation to vote on important legislation during a special session of the legislature. People were not amused nor were they very happy with her. [Capital Times, 6/16/94]
  
• In 1995 Alberta Darling declared, "I consider Phillip Morris a good corporate citizen." Need I say more? [Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7/15/95]
• Darling's love for powerful special interests was just as strong a number of years later when she said, "In many cases, lobbyists perform a valid role, which is to educate on issues. Many of the lobbyists are very professional about it. They give information..." [AP, "Lobbying groups spend record for six months of the year", 8/8/99]
• Then of course there is her comment earlier this year that this train wreck of a state budget was "the best budget ever!" Obviously she has no regard whatsoever for the extreme damage that it does to education, health care and the average Wisconsinite.
  

So there have been many Alberta Darling "out-of-touch moments" over the years. The most recent one is only the latest and hopefully the events of the next week will mercifully make it the last.

What is your favorite Alberta out-of-touch moment?