It's official. The Wisconsin Capitol building is now the state's most elegant whorehouse. From the Wisconsin State Journal in an article titled Wealthy divorced donor helped write controversial child-support bill:
A controversial bill that would allow high-income parents to avoid paying tens of thousands of dollars a year in child support was written with the help of a wealthy donor to the bill’s author, Rep. Joel Kleefisch.
The Oconomowoc Republican acknowledged Friday that Michael Eisenga, a multimillionaire business owner, and his attorney helped write the bill, which could pave the way for Eisenga to force the court to reopen his divorce settlement.
The article goes on to quote Rep. Kleefisch's claim that the bill would not be retroactive and would not benefit Mr. Eisenga. In fact, the bill as written would allow people like Mr. Eisenga to petition the court to reopen cases and "would require judges to lower child-support payments if they are 10 percent or more above the amount that would have been ordered using the new requirement."
The bill would cap the amount of annual income considered for determining payments at $150,000, and would not allow judges to consider other assets of the supporting parent when determining child support amounts.
Records show that Mr. Eisenga has given the maximum allowable campaign donations to Rep. Kleefisch over many election cycles in the past decade. He also has given $7,500 to Kleefisch's wife, who happens to be the state's Lieutenant Governor, and $15,000 to Governor Scott Walker.
Oh, but it gets worse. Mr Eisenga is no beginner when it comes to sketchy behavior. The multi-millionaire's chiseling cold-heartedness was exposed in a story in 2012 after it was discovered that he had enrolled his children in the state's medicaid-funded health insurance program:
The three children of a Columbus businessman receive their health insurance through the state's plan for low-income families, BadgerCare, despite their father's estimated worth of $20 million.
A 2011 divorce required Michael Eisenga to provide health insurance for his three young boys. The children's mother, Claire Hawthorne told 27 News Eisenga enrolled the children in BadgerCare.
And like a bad TV infomercial,
there's always more with these deadbeats and scofflaws:
A former aide and campaign worker for Governor Scott Walker who faces misconduct charges was affiliated with a business with ties to the largest alleged violator of the state's No-Call List.
Nevada state records show Kelly Rindfleisch as affiliated with National Lending Solutions, a business with a Columbus address, between December 2011 and March 2012....
The business address for National Lending Solutions is identical to the address of American Lending Solutions, formerly First American Funding Company, owned by Michael Eisenga of Columbus.
Rindfleisch later pleaded guilty to felony misconduct in office for doing campaign work while on duty at her government job as an aide to now-Governor Scott Walker while he was the Milwaukee County Executive.
And now a personal note to Rep. Kleefisch from me, Giles Goat Boy: I heard through the grapevine, Joel, that you were wondering why I hadn't written any stories about you lately. One can only write the same story so many times, I guess, and your low-level incompetence and graft is pretty common in the Assembly these days. I have more interesting things to do, like giving my dogs a bath, turning the compost pile, or writing new lyrics to old folk songs. I considered writing something after I watched from the gallery as you and and your Republican cohorts in the Legislature disrespected his holiness the Dalai Lama when he made a speech in the Assembly chambers recently, but decided against it. I have to admit, you got me on this one, though. You went all in on your greasy, low-down favor-selling, and you even kept notes. Well played. Two questions, though. In your telephone conversations with Mr. Eisenga regarding this bill, did he ever ask you what you were wearing, and did you ever utter the phrase "How can we love you more?"