Ideology, Greed Fail Walker; Wisconsin Pays The Price

So you come into office in January, 2011 with a puffed-up campaign pledge to create 250,000 new private-sector  jobs, and immediately get your feet wet in at the State Capitol killing $1.2 billion worth of wind farm projects and $800 million in railroad construction.

Goodbye to thousands of construction jobs, along with longer-term maintenance, repair, administrative and spin-off white collar work.

Then you provide tax breaks to investors, and to businesses, but also cut hundreds of millions of dollars out of the paychecks and purchasing power of middle-class school teachers, snow plow operators and other public employees - - and look what happens to the economy when the impact of your ideological project cuts and the full budget and its reductions go into effect:

Disaster.

Employment drops every month - - even as the national economy recovers.

The Wisconsin collapse is now in month six - - 3,900 more jobs lost in December.

Because there is less money circulating from public employees on their communities' main streets, through home contracting and remodeling businesses, at auto dealers, in diners, movie theaters, garden stores, and so on.

All of that in exchange for self-congratulatory Republican TV ads and a few, fractional property tax dollars saved, but escrowed and available to be spent 12 whoop-dee-do months later.

Some business model. Some savvy governance.

That is what happens when ideology trumps planning, special interests collect first and regular folks get toyed with, hammered and sucked dry.

In fairness, there was some Wisconsin job growth in the first six months of Walker's administration - - as the Doyle budget played out - - so at the full 2011 rate, Walker's 250,000 new jobs' goal will be met - - by 2029.

And will be met, at the rate since his budget went into effect - - never.

That's what's leading to your recall, Mr. Walker. Not out-of-state union bosses.

The state of the Wisconsin economy.  By your hand