The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had an article yesterday which states that the estimate of $7.5 million to clean up the Capitol after the protests was based on, well, not very much.
State officials' controversial courtroom testimony that protesters did more than $7 million in damage to the Capitol was based on a single handwritten page.
On March 3, a state Department of Administration official said in Dane County Circuit Court that costs for a full cleanup and restoration at the Capitol could reach $7.5 million.
The day after the testimony, Walker administration officials sharply backpedaled from the damages figures amid widespread questions about their validity.
So rather than saying "We just don't know at this point", which seems like it would have been honest, DOA instead threw out a big number which was, at best, a wild-ass guess. I've spoken to or read comments by 5 conservationist types, including those by a former State Capitol conservator, and they all say the same thing – the initial figure of $7.5 million was a joke. Even the revised $350,000 estimate was on the high end according to some.
Wasn't DOA secretary Mike Huebsch Walker's sixth choice for that position?
Sometimes I think that conservatives run for office just to make a mockery of government so one of their brethren can come along and justify shrinking and drowning it in a bathtub.
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