October 4, 2010                                                                                                       
For Immediate Release
Contact CERS
608.257.8035                                                                                            

Sullivan Needs to Come Clean on His Budget Mess

(Madison, WI) – “If Jim Sullivan wants to talk about his budget votes, then he needs to come clean about all his budget votes”, said Senate Republican Leader Scott Fitzgerald regarding a mailer sent out by freshman Democrat Senator Jim Sullivan, which Fitzgerald says is nothing more than a desperate attempt to cover up his entire voting record on the 2009-11 state budget. 

Sullivan is currently being challenged by Republican State Representative Leah Vukmir in the hotly contested 5^th Senate District.  Sullivan's most recent campaign piece claims he voted against his Party and Governor Doyle with his final vote on the state budget.  But he conveniently omits more than two dozen votes taken before that vote, where Sullivan stepped and fetched for Democrat leaders and blocked efforts by Republicans to remove massive tax increases and costly policy changes.  Fitzgerald says this is nothing more than classic legislative trickery, where vulnerable legislators are allowed off the hook on such controversial matters.

“Sullivan is trying to fool voters that he’s some kind of maverick, when in fact, he’s nothing more than nervous first-time legislator who will do or say anything to keep his job,” Fitzgerald continued. “He had twenty-five chances to find his spine and clean up this budget mess, but instead, he knuckled under to his party leaders, and voted the wrong way on amendments to improve a budget he allegedly detests – both his memory and his mailer are a joke.”

During the budget debate, Senate Republicans offered amendment after amendment, either to eliminate hundreds of millions of tax and fee increases, or to do away with the most egregious policy changes – including an amendment to remove all policy items.  Fitzgerald knew Sullivan would be allowed to talk a good game about his supposed disdain for the budget, but when it came time to put or shut up, Sullivan would not have courage to vote against his own Party on those amendments.  Fitzgerald says voters need to know the whole truth on the whole budget.

“If Sullivan really despised this budget, he would have taken a genuine stand against his cohorts and voted with us and the people of the 5^th Senate District,” Fitzgerald concluded. “But instead, he chooses this liberal Madison two-step, where he talks like a hawk, but votes like a chicken; his Democrat leaders may have let him off the hook, but the voters in the District should not.”

# # #