The owner of the Black River Falls firm spoke against the Wisconsin 'right-to-work' bill as it was being fast-tracked through the State Capitol by GOP legislators to Scott Walker's desk.
"Why are you doing this to my company?," he asked.
But Republicans lawmakers paid no real attention in the hearings, even cut a Senate listening session short, because they knew they had the votes to pass it, which they did - - and look at their victory smiles when their 'legislating' farce was over.
Yeah, let's really look at what they did - - as the Hoffman Construction company is planning an expansion right next door in labor-friendly, faster-growing, higher-wage Minnesota as a direct result of the bill you see being signed in that photo, as well as a result of additional policy dysfunction in the Walker budget and priorities:
You might as well ask your wedding baker to prepare the cake of your dreams by following a NFL training camp play book, not the bakery's recipe book.
* The ideologues put billboards at the borders and the Lt. Gov. in front of TV cameras to make cold calls in Chicago to goose along the fiction that they knew how to create jobs and stimulate the economy they were managing.
* Walker, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald - - spun out a tale of thousands of mining-related jobs to be created at an open-pit mine that was always too environmentally-destructive and too contradicted by federal treaties with the Bad River band of Ojibwe to have been built.
* They fabricated promises of sky-rocketing recoveries after Walker's 2012 recall election win.
* The repeatedly promoted Walker's failed, broken pledge to create 250,000 new private sector-jobs through tax cuts and budget legerdemain that never live up to their employment promises - - jobs added and coordinated by a new agency of Walker's creation which he also chairs, the WEDC, that after four years repeatedly cannot keep track of tens of millions of dollars it has loaned or granted, let alone keep count of the number of senior officials who have been hired, then flee, after catching a glimpse of the books and audits.
Failure after failure after failure.
And now, the state is again open for business.
That state is Minnesota.
"Why are you doing this to my company?," he asked.
But Republicans lawmakers paid no real attention in the hearings, even cut a Senate listening session short, because they knew they had the votes to pass it, which they did - - and look at their victory smiles when their 'legislating' farce was over.
Yeah, let's really look at what they did - - as the Hoffman Construction company is planning an expansion right next door in labor-friendly, faster-growing, higher-wage Minnesota as a direct result of the bill you see being signed in that photo, as well as a result of additional policy dysfunction in the Walker budget and priorities:
James Hoffman, owner of Black River Falls-based Hoffman Construction Co., which works mostly on highway construction projects, said his current plans are to more than double the size of his Lakeville office by the end of the year.
Hoffman said Monday night that the reason is twofold: he believes the right-to-work law will ultimately cost his company money, and he sees Minnesota’s proposal to increase transportation funding as offering greater business opportunities.This is what happens when you let ideologues make public policy for partisan purposes. You get news releases and ballot-box advantages, short-term, but no policy, no true payoff.
You might as well ask your wedding baker to prepare the cake of your dreams by following a NFL training camp play book, not the bakery's recipe book.
* The ideologues put billboards at the borders and the Lt. Gov. in front of TV cameras to make cold calls in Chicago to goose along the fiction that they knew how to create jobs and stimulate the economy they were managing.
* They fabricated promises of sky-rocketing recoveries after Walker's 2012 recall election win.
* The repeatedly promoted Walker's failed, broken pledge to create 250,000 new private sector-jobs through tax cuts and budget legerdemain that never live up to their employment promises - - jobs added and coordinated by a new agency of Walker's creation which he also chairs, the WEDC, that after four years repeatedly cannot keep track of tens of millions of dollars it has loaned or granted, let alone keep count of the number of senior officials who have been hired, then flee, after catching a glimpse of the books and audits.
Failure after failure after failure.
And now, the state is again open for business.
That state is Minnesota.
Does anyone ever wonder why the GOP has such a negative stance on immigration reform, yet is more than happy to outsource our jobs?
ReplyDeleteWhile working class Wisconsinites testified 70-1 against RTW, unpatriotic extortionist CEO Rich Meesun of Badger Meter threatened to move jobs to Mexico if the legislation didn'pass.
What kind of'freedom' is that?
If RTW is such a great thing why was the amendment to have a sunset on the law removed by the R's ? Is there any accountability or criteria for measuring success built in? Since success of the RTW law in other states was hotly debated, why not have an "out" built in if RTW doesn't need standards set to determine success?
ReplyDeleteAdministrators in numerous Walker appointed agencies have said they were implementing more accountability, so why not in the case of a law with such varied degrees of "success"/
Wait until they attack "prevailing wage" next. This will allow any out of state company without a skilled labor force to come in and under bid any Wisconsin company for government projects. They will complete the project and when problems arise from shoddy work and materials they will safely be across the border. Walker and gang can't understand that when you pay your in state workers a living wage they spend their earnings locally and within the borders of this state and this grows "OUR" ECONOMY WHICH GROWS JOBS WHICH INCREASES REVENUE AND SETS THE WHEELS IN MOTION FOR A ROBUST ECONOMY. Sadly I fear they will damage this state beyond repair before the people see the damage and throw them out.
ReplyDeleteNever fear, Anon 10:11 -- these guys have whole think tanks devoted to finding other things to blame for the easily-predictable failures brought on by their lousy policies. 'Cause what could be wrong with a simple-minded ideology promoted by crass plutocrats who stand to gain by the economic failure of the working class, i.e., everybody else, i.e., us? And the sad thing is the way ordinary people swallow it, hook, line and sinker. The whole state could be crashing down around their ears and they would buy into the story that it's all the fault of some undocumented illiterate landscaper in Milwaukee and his wife who cleans houses for a living and their kids who just go to school and their church that sometimes gives them something to help them get by. The people in this state are unbelievably dumb sometimes -- they'll believe anything if the right person tells it to them.
ReplyDeleteOT
ReplyDeleteWalker is tellin' more lies again. Not that Politifact is a legitimate source of news, but now we know why the went out of their way to give Walker a "TRUE" rating on a meaningless claim about Washington DC demographics last week.
Walker is out of state (on OUR dime) telling right-wing radio that he has "unsealed" his college records from Marquette. Of course this is a pants-on-fire lie which Politifact rated as FALSE.
Walker is just trying to appeal to birthers who claim that they have proof Obama is not a US citizen because he hasn't unsealed yadda yadda yadda yadda...