Saturday, December 14, 2013

What Scott Walker Should Be Asked On "Meet The Press" Sunday

"Meet the Press" no longer presents viewers with a hard news, tough questions forum, but if moderator David Gregory and his panel wanted to talk truth to power - - or at least reportorially hold it somewhat accountable - -  they'd pose these simple questions to Sunday guest Scott Walker:

* Wisconsin is a medium-sized state. So why did your state lead the nation in new unemployment claims in the most recent official report released last week?
The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that 4,420 people in Wisconsin filed initial unemployment claims during the last week of November. That is more claims than the next two highest states combined: Ohio with 2,597 and Kentucky with 1,538.
*  Your signature campaign promise when running for Governor was creating 250,000 new private sector jobs after a four-year term, yet even with a friendly legislature, and nearly three years in office, you are just over 33% of the way there.
Is this evidence of an empty campaign promise or failed economic programs and policies, and why should the American people take your national ambitions seriously in the face of such bad numbers, as reported last month by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel?
The latest report, issued Nov. 21, 2013, indicates that Walker is a little more than a third of the way to his promise of creating 250,000 private sector jobs by the end of his four-year term.
Our latest calculations estimate the state has created about 96,482 jobs since Walker took office, leaving 153,518 to go with 14 months of his term remaining.
That means the state would have to add, on average, nearly 11,000 jobs a month before the end of 2014 to reach 250,000. 
*  Why can't you rack up ratings of "True" or "Mostly True" better than 24% of the time when PolitiFact examines the veracity of your statements
*  With the Tea Party losing credibility and impact (see Speaker Boehner, budget deal) are you still comfortable describing yourself as you did to CNN as "the original Tea Party in Wisconsin?"
I'm not expecting any such questions because "Meet the Press," like the morning network 'news' shows, has devolved to insiders' entertainment, but I will watch and remain hopeful.
Also posted at Purple Wisconsin.

4 comments:

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

but if moderator David Gregory and his panel wanted to talk truth to power

I was not aware that you had such a snarky sense of humor, JR. This gave me a long, rueful chuckle.

Jake formerly of the LP said...

Scotty spends more time hanging out with these Eastern media oligarchs than he does the regular citizens of Wisconsin. If the DPW had any guts or brains at all, they'd do a campaign pointing this out.

As you mention James. You can bet that Walker's people have ordered "Meet the Press" not to ask any real questions (not that Dancin' Dave Gregory ever would anyway). A real media would also ask:

"You seem to hire a lot of people that end up being convicted for campaign violations, or have to leave their jobs because of incompetence and racially sensitive remarks. Why is that?"

They could also ask: "You claimed uncertainty over the 2012 recall election slowed hiring, but your own numbers show job growth slowed down by 37% in the year AFTER you were retained. Why is that, and why are neighboring states like Minnesota outpacing you?"

Anonymous said...

So, according to your calculations, it would take Walker 9 years to create the 250,000 jobs he promised to create in four years?

enoughalready said...

"You can learn more of the truth about Washington and the world from one week of Amy Goodman's 'Democracy Now!' than from a month of Sunday morning talk shows. Make that a year of Sunday morning talk shows."
-- Bill Moyers