In Cross-Border Comparison, WI Has More Woe Than Lake Wobegon
Well, here we are in Election Year 2014, which means Wisconsin voters can hold Gov. Walker to his promise to create 250,000 new private sector jobs by the end of one term and demand answers to some pretty big questions.
PolitiFact has kept track of Walker's 'progress' towards the promise without buying into Walker's wordsmithing edits of "promise" into "goal" - - so thank you for that - - and the fact-checking service finds Walker "inching forward" but only 42% of the way there.
Can you run on "inching forward?"
Nor can Walker look northwest to Minnesota - - a state which used to have a lot in common with Wisconsin - - and find company for our misery or a case that proves cross-border, regional stagnation.
Because Minnesota, through taxing and spending policies diametrically opposed to what Walker installed on this side of the border. is leaving us in the dust.
A data-driven op-ed analysis in The New York Times took note of the two-state comparison and disparities and found Walker and Wisconsin on the short end of the stick - - from jobs created to the cost and availability of health insurance, to investments in education:
Three years into Mr. Walker’s term, Wisconsin lags behind Minnesota in job creation and economic growth. As a candidate, Mr. Walker promised to produce 250,000 private-sector jobs in his first term, but a year before the next election that number is less than 90,000.
Data favoring Minnesota's economy over Wisconsin's has been making Minnesota look better and better as the national recovery continued, with the 'Minnesota-winning' argument bolstered by a story in the Journal Sentinel - - so consider that loop closed.
Walker and his team have defaulted to one of more of the following distractions to rationalize - - one earlier, finger-pointing summary here - - our sputtering recovery and his unfulfilled jobs' performance:
Jim Doyle.
[Announced opponent] Mary Burke.
Recall protests.
Uncertainties.
Syria.
Obamacare.
Numbers he didn't like.
The fiscal cliff.
Maybe Walker and his defenders can add a sneer at "The New York Times" to the list (like this attack-the-Times-messenger riff), but facts are facts, and right now there's more woe over here than at Lake Wobegon.
Cross-posted at Purple Wisconsin.
11 comments:
How do you expect anyone to take anything you post here seriously.
Of course Scott Walker is trying to redirect attention away from his signature campaign promise -- 250,000 jobs and 10,000 new start-up businesses.
He is failing miserably -- but the MEDIA is creating the propaganda that enables this to happen. The MEDIA is the problem -- Scott Walker is merely saying what he is told to say.
Your Journal Communications leads the echo-chamber -- they hide the truth behind the lie of "balanced" and "down the center" reporting.
Lee Enterprises catapults it across much of the state -- Gannett and the rest of the right-wing Journal Communications empire publishes and broadcasts the lies across Wisconsin. Even Wisconsin Public Radio jumps on the bandwagon.
You comparisons with MN are largely irrelevant and do not contribute to the dialog when YOUR Journal Communications dutifully reports every pro-Walker talking point and bold-faced lie as an objective truth.
Your hands are no cleaner than the rest of the Journal Communications disinformation machine -- shameful really -- I know why they prop up scott walker.
Why do you prop up the mighty wurlitzer?
If you wanted to make a positive impact -- you would call out the MEDIA and not play into the silly game this-state-versus-that-state and you would not pretend that the media doesn't matter.
Is solar energy illegal in Wisconsin?
Massive Minnesota Solar Project Gets Major Legal Boost
"The largest-ever proposed solar project in Minnesota received a powerful legal boost Tuesday, when administrative law judge Eric Lipman recommended Geronimo Energy’s Aurora Solar Project above five other proposals that utility Xcel Energy submitted to state regulators as part of a competitive bidding process. The other projects considered were almost exclusively for new natural gas generators."
"Xcel, one of Minnesota’s biggest utilities, needs to add an additional 550 megawatts of new electricity generation by 2020 to meet predicted rising energy demands. And solar, according to Lipman, is the best deal. The Geronimo proposal is for a 100-megawatt distributed solar project, with 20-25 sites in 18 counties. Each solar park would range from 2-10 megawatts. The largest of the Geronimo solar parks would be five times bigger than the state’s largest solar array in Slayton, Minnesota."
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/01/3109691/judge-says-solar-better-deal-minnesota/
To Anon: I am posting your repetitive comment, and suggest you come clean by posting your ID and the name of your blog so readers here could react similarly to your writing.
If you want to see some Scott Walker news you won't find in the Journal Sentinel, just Google (or Yahoo! or Bing) Scott Bauer +AP +Scott Walker. I have found the Minnesota papers are a good source for these stories (for example, about Walker's WEDC).
And it is not just Minnesota that is besting the Badger State on jobs creation. Among our immediate neighbors, only Illinois has done worse. But from what I have read, Walker did surpass his goal/promise when it comes to start-up companies, with more than 13,000.
To enoughalready: About those 10,000 new businesses. Not really - - http://uppitywis.org/blogarticle/desperate-walker-claims-little-league-teams-and-girl-scout-troop
When we lead Minnesota in state and local spending and state and local debt, it's no wonder Minnesota looks more attractive on some issues than Wisconsin to potential private sector employers.
Until Milwaukee takes ownership of MPS outcomes, Wisconsin will lag behind Minnesota.
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/state_debt_rank
Gareth,
How do you generate 100 megawatts when the sun goes down, the short winter days, when the panels are covered with snow, or when the weather is rainy and the sky is overcast?
Seems to me that natural gas generators are affected by none of the above and therefore are able to meet the demand required 24/7/365.
Talk about a judge with an agenda who loves to spend the consumers paycheck.
BTW what's with the love affair with Minnesota yet bashing the concept of a higher sales tax? Minnesota is 6.875% to 7.875% depending on the city for 2014.
Thanks, James. Unfortunately, I could not access the uppitywis link, but I get what you are saying. Just incredible! Apparently, the Walker administration fooled the AP. And it is outrageous that the Journal Sentinel, which should know better by now, lets him get away with this stuff. Btw, I thought Christians -- and Eagle Scouts -- were supposed to be truthful, or at least try.
Anonymous @ 8:30 AM
You obviously haven't kept up with solar technology advance, but I can't blame you because after all you are a Republican and following the party line is your strong suit.
Do you have some problem with free enterprise business activity? Why don't you contact the company that is going to spend millions of dollars on this solar project and tell them they don't know what they are doing? I'm sure they will appreciate your deeply informed out comments. Maybe call them Communists while you are at it.
"How do you generate 100 megawatts when the sun goes down, the short winter days, when the panels are covered with snow, or when the weather is rainy and the sky is overcast?"
It gets pretty darn windy in this part of the country in the winter.
"Seems to me that natural gas generators are affected by none of the above and therefore are able to meet the demand required 24/7/365. "
Yes, but the natgas costs money. The sunlight does not.
Gareth, I'm not a Republician and I do follow solar technology. That's exactly why, practically and business wise speaking this makes no sense...unless this is Solyndra II.
To anon @9:54
"It gets pretty darn windy in this part of the country in the winter."
The post was about solar, not wind - wind is a constant mechanical nightmare. Drive by any wind farm and count the dead wind mills. Overhead repairs eats up the "free" energy source.
If it were not for government subsidizes by the Obama administration nobody would invest in solar and wind because they a really really bad investment with the exception of solar hot water.
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