Scott Walker lost me today: wants taxpayer money ($250M) to build an NBA Arena.

Up until today, I had been supporting Scott Walker for president... though I'm not wild about any of these guys.

Walker is still governor of Wisconsin.  I've admired his political courage in taking on the unions infesting his state and how he fought through a recall and bogus allegations of impropriety.

I thought he'd used good judgment and was a fighter.

Until today.

Today, I stumbled on to his Governor page, where he made it clear that he believes the taxpayers of the state of Wisconsin should take the hit to pay for a new play-pen for the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team.

That's the same kind of crap local political thugs were trying when they efforted the ballpark scam.

I do not believe that anyone in government should simply ram something like this down the throats of the people they govern.

Much like I strongly opposed the ballpark and the county-wide scam that would have been used to pay for a ballpark that the vast majority of people of this county would never have set foot in... but would have had to pay for via a movie ticket, fair ticket, golf ticket tax that we would have zero say over.

Much like I strongly oppose jacking up the gas tax without asking us.

He or his social media guys have been hammering this on his FB page lately.

My problem with this is that he is a Governor, not a dictator, and this is something you ASK for, not shove down the throat of the people.

Wisconsin governor announces deal for new $500 million Milwaukee Bucks arena

This artist's rendering provided by Populous, HNTB Corporation and Eppstein Uhen Architects, shows a proposed new arena for the Milwaukee Bucks NBA basketball. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was set to announce terms of a deal to pay for a new $500 million arena to keep the Bucks in Wisconsin, with half the financing coming from taxpayers and the rest coming from current and former team owners, two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Thursday, June 4, 2015. (Populous, HNTB Corporation and Eppstein Uhen Architects via AP) (AP)

By Tribune wire reportscontact the reporter

Taxpayers would foot half the cost of a new $500 million arena for the Milwaukee Bucks under a financial deal that would rely on current and former team owners for the rest, Gov. Scott Walker said Thursday.

Walker, a likely presidential candidate, has argued for months that it will cost the state more in lost income-tax revenue if the NBA moves the team from Milwaukee than it will to pay for a new downtown arena.

Standing behind a podium with a sign that read, "Cheaper to Keep Them," he announced the long-awaited deal surrounded by Republican legislative leaders, along with the Democratic leaders of the city and Milwaukee County. "The price of no has a cost," Walker said.

Walker, team officials, state lawmakers, Milwaukee's Democratic mayor and the Milwaukee County executive have been negotiating behind closed doors for weeks.

The plan Walker spelled out includes $250 million already committed by the Bucks' current and former owners. The other half will come from taxpayers, a contribution capped at $250 million, with the team bearing any responsibility for cost overruns. It wasn't immediately clear whether taxpayers might wind up paying more due to borrowing and interest costs.

"This is a much better deal than most other projects like it around the country," state Sen. Alberta Darling, the co-chairwoman of the Legislature's budget-writing committee, said before the news conference.

Without a new stadium by 2017, the NBA has said it will buy back the team and move it. The Bucks currently play in the 27-year-old BMO Harris Bradley Center.

Republicans who control the Legislature criticized parts of the plan reported during negotiations, raising questions about whether there are enough votes to approve it. And conservatives — including Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group founded by billionaires Charles and David Koch — have said the deal is a bad for taxpayers.

A majority of Republican state senators don't want the arena financing plan to come under the two-year $70 billion state budget, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday. An alternative route could be introducing the plan as a separate bill, where Democrats would join with Republicans to get enough votes in support.

Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Wednesday that the process of passing the plan didn't matter as much as doing what's best for the state. Myranda Tanck, spokeswoman for Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, said Thursday the Bucks deal is planned to be in the budget, though introducing it as a separate bill has not been ruled out.

Current Bucks owners Marc Lasry and Wesley Edens bought the team in April 2014 from former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl for $550 million. At the time, Lasry and Edens pledged to contribute $100 million toward arena funding, but have since increased that to $150 million. Kohl also has pledged $100 million.

Associated Press

This is the variety of arrogance that far too many in government display on too many occasions when they believe they know better.

It is the kind of arrogance that shows an ability on Walker's part to self-justify any decision he makes.

And those who govern us need to remember who they work for.

Wasting $250 million taxpayer dollars for a new house for multi-millionaires without asking is inexcusable.

And I will never support any politician who takes it upon themselves to make a decision like this on any issue... without asking.

Sorry, I may be supporting someone for president, Governor... but it ain't gonna be you.