Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Upon Further Review, Wisconsin Has a Replacement Governor

The Journal Sentinel keeps a tally of jobs created in Wisconsin measured against Scott Walker's core promise in his 2010 election, and repeated in the 2012 recall runoff, that he would create 250,000 new jobs during four years in office.

I posted the newspaper's most recent update and the briefest of commentary for the record, and to get a discussion going, on my blog:


The monthly survey shows 500 fewer jobs in August than when 2012 began. That puts the rough total of jobs created since Walker took office at 27,311. That leaves about 222,689 jobs to go, with a little more than two years left in his term.

Looks to me that at about the halfway point, he's got 89% of the way to go.

Let's face it: the promise was cotton candy whipped up for political purposes, period. There was no expertise, no economics behind it, regardless of how many buzz-wordy news relases that his campaigns and administration have issued about business tax breaks, new tools, more flexibility, jazzy, camera-ready cold calls to Illinois by Rebecca Kleefisch and "open for business" billboards installed at Wisconsin's borders.

Walker continued the artifice by re-creating the Department of Commerce as a public-private corporaton that was supposed to work faster and more efficiently and get more love from the private sector - - again, wuth the fresh tools and flexibilities and attitudes  - - but Paul Jadin, its first boss has already said he's leaving for a southern Wisconsin regional development agency post, and the feds are saying and documenting that his agency and Walker's coordinating Department of Administration have disregarded oversight responsibilities and squandered big money Big Government sent their way, the Wisconsin State Journal reports today.

I know that Wisconsin political observers are focused in the national and US Senate campaigns, and pro-Walker conflationists will immediately deflect any analysis of his job-creating performance with statements that begin with "But President Obama did this," or "Jim Doyle did that," or "Uncertainties continue to be a pesky problem..." but is there anyone - - especially anyone on the Right flying the Personal Responsibility flag - - who wants to argue on the substance that after nearly two years in office, Scott Walker can claim job-creating success by having hit just 11% of that 250,000-new-jobs'-pledge?
 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is no longer a 250,000 jobs pledge on www.scottwalker.org.

Anonymous said...

Barack Obama campaigned on cutting the federal deficit in half during his first term. Instead he doubled it. So are GOP officials promises the only one you liberals hold accountable? Don't see him blaming everyone else for his failures like Obama does!