Final Walker Nail In Milwaukee Train Factory, Jobs
Our fake job-creating Governor and his anti-rail ideology are literally driving jobs out of town.
When the Talgo train factory closes, and the two moth-balled train sets just like these
roll away from their intended Milwaukee-Madison market, I hope people with banners and signs assigning blame for the loss of well-paying jobs in the low-income Milwaukee neighborhood will be on the scene to memorialize Walker's hostility to both Milwaukee and transit.
Among the conventional wisdom of the day from editorial writers who backed Walker for election and re-election is that Governors really can't influence job creation:
But is it all Walker's fault that Wisconsin trails other states in economic growth? No. Wisconsin's performance is more a function of long-term trends in the state's core industries. Voters have to realize that there is only so much that any governor can do. He or she should manage state resources wisely and bring those limited dollars to bear in a cost-efficient manner. But the governor should neither take too much credit for creating jobs when times are good or get too much blame when times are not. Bigger forces are at play.That nicely lets Walker off the hook of his making when he said he'd create 250,000 new jobs, but does not account for actions like his blockade of $810 million Amtrak federal funding, his derailing of the KRM commuter train and his obstruction of Milwaukee's streetcar.
All of those projects had or have immediate and long-term job creating potential - - on and along the lines - - and Walker is responsible for the loss of those jobs.
7 comments:
Let us not forget the assault by the lock-step legislative Walker regime on renewable energy business in the state that could be adding record numbers of people to the employment roles, and the turning down of, iirc, $34M in available federal money to improve state-wide high-speed internet service.
Please remember also the federal mortgage fraud settlement money, the $35M pittance (compared to the actual fraud perpetrated) that Walker confiscated and added to the state coffers instead of letting it go to those homeowners who were fraudulently harmed by those banks, which would have poured a bit more money into the main-stream economic activity.
There is not one positive thing that Walker's idiotic pose gained the state. Lost jobs, spent more state taxpayer dollars on rail improvements, and made the state look backward and discouraged other people and businesses from locating here.
Oh, but you suburb boys shore taught Obama but a good one, dint-ja? YEE-HAW!
A sad day for Wisconsin now on the outside looking in.
But you have been GREAT for passenger rail and mass-transit in Michigan. First you declined federal dollars - and they came here. Now several trains roll through Kalamazoo every day between Chicago and Detroit or Lansing. In between they zip along new double-track at 110MPH. The Pere Marquette to Grand Rapids is very close to being revenue neutral [Yeah ... how often does that happen in the USA?]. But Amtrak's aging fleet is struggling to keep up with this level of service.... now the rumor is MI-DOT is buying those idle Talgo trains you apparently do not want and adding them to the Michigan train roster for better service, lower maintenance costs, and reduced fuel consumption.
Personally I feel the need to thank Wisconsin tax payers for their contributes to our state's infrastructure, as well as Wisconsin Tea Party people for their ideological rigor. Imagine what Michigan could do with more neighbors like Wisconsin!
Congratulatio ns Whitemice.
How many Interstate systems will Michigan be closing now that automobile ridership appears to decreasing as a result of increased ridership?
Anon@5:10 - Those interstates will be used by all the money-spending tourists drawn to MI by those fabulous Pure Michigan commercials.
I go to Michigan, Sue. Nice place to visit, but...they have the Lions, Tigers, and Detroit.
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