Wisconsin is doing everything but thriving under Republican Gov. Scott Walker: the economy now ranks 49th out of 50 states in the nation, while landing 44th in job creation. The Badger State is also fifth worst when it comes to good private sector wages, and those wages are dropping twice as fast as the national average.
“Remember, [Walker] was promising to create 250,000 new jobs,” Ruth Conniff of The Progressive told host Ed Schultz of msnbc’s The Ed Show. “He is on track to do less than a quarter of that.”
State Sen. Lena Taylor, a Democrat from Milwaukee, blames Walker’s devotion to austerity.
“Many of our citizens had double hits because they were either state employees or they were teachers or individuals that were hit by those particular areas that received some of the largest cuts in our state history,” Taylor said on The Ed Show.
And Walker, who is eyeing a run for the presidency, would love to bring his brand austerity to the entire country as clearly demonstrated by his tears of joy for Paul Ryan’s 2012 convention speech calling for cuts in programs for the poor and more tax breaks for the wealthy.
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But austerity is only part of the story. Radio host Mike Papantonio says Walker is also hurting Wisconsin’s economy by rejecting federal funds.
“This is a guy that passed up on $12 billion worth of Medicaid funding that he could have gotten for the state, passed up on $870 million that he could have gotten for the state, thousands of jobs for a decade, on the high-speed rail,” Papantonio said.
So what are Republicans doing to reverse the state’s disastrous economy? By ramping up the war on women, of course.
Things got ugly last week when the Republican-controlled Senate passed a bill that requires women seeking an abortion to first get a state-mandated, medically unnecessary ultrasound.
When Kathleen Vinehout, D-Alma, read letters from female constituents opposed to the legislation, Republican Senate President Mike Ellis pushed forward, calling for a vote. When Democrats demanded further debate, Ellis pounded his gavel and shouted them down.
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“Anti-women legislation has been their priority, not creating jobs,” Taylor told Schultz. ”This is no different than what I experienced when I went to Turkey and heard of what the women in the Middle East are experiencing with the Taliban trying to silence them for being at the table.”
The state House also passed the ultrasound bill and Walker says that he will sign it, declaring “I think most people think ultrasounds are just fine.”
“Any time you have a Republican governor and a Republican legislature, you’ve had, you’ve had the odd balls in control of what used to be government,” said Papantonio.
Steve Frank