The New York Times publishes a piece with a Waukesha, WI dateline about the closing of a General Electric engine plant in the heart of the that city and the loss of 350 good-paying jobs.
GE has said it decided to close the plant because the GOP-controlled House of Representatives has failed to reauthorize the now-closed Export-Import Bank, a federal lending institution which for more than eight years had assisted foreign purchases of US goods.
The House of Representatives, through a rarely-used maneuver is poised to take up the issue Monday, hence the Times' piece and focus on the political and ideological cross-currents that led to the bank's closing and the unexpected announcement that the GE plant in Waukesha was closing.
But the piece does not mention that opponents of the bank's continuation included US Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, whose district includes the plant and most of Waukesha County, as well as US Rep. Paul Ryan, House Budget chairman and presumptive House Speaker, whose district also extends into southern Waukesha County.
The Journal Sentinel has reported Ryan and Sensenbrenner's opposition to the bank.
I'd noted it last month when the plant closing news broke.
So how did the Times omit from its Waukesha-based reporting such an interesting local angle?
GE has said it decided to close the plant because the GOP-controlled House of Representatives has failed to reauthorize the now-closed Export-Import Bank, a federal lending institution which for more than eight years had assisted foreign purchases of US goods.
The House of Representatives, through a rarely-used maneuver is poised to take up the issue Monday, hence the Times' piece and focus on the political and ideological cross-currents that led to the bank's closing and the unexpected announcement that the GE plant in Waukesha was closing.
But the piece does not mention that opponents of the bank's continuation included US Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner, whose district includes the plant and most of Waukesha County, as well as US Rep. Paul Ryan, House Budget chairman and presumptive House Speaker, whose district also extends into southern Waukesha County.
The Journal Sentinel has reported Ryan and Sensenbrenner's opposition to the bank.
I'd noted it last month when the plant closing news broke.
So how did the Times omit from its Waukesha-based reporting such an interesting local angle?
The NY Times must have sent a reporter, not a journalist, to cover the story. A true journalist would have known that Ryan and Sensenbrenner represent Wisconsin, and a true journalist would have dug deeper to uncover the facts, note the contradictions and ask why Ryan, Sensenbrenner (and Walker) aren't doing more to support the citizens of their state.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't it be great for Ryan and Sensenbrenner to experience an 'Eric Cantor' moment the next time they run for office? We can take back our state, one election at a time.
It will be almost impossible to take our state back. Not trying to be pessimistic, just pointing out facts. Democratic candidates already overwhelmingly receive most votes here. The state is so gerrymandered that even when the public votes largely for dems across the state, repugs win their districts.
ReplyDeleteNow throw in voter suppression and even unverifiable proprietary election tabulations and electronic voting machines. Some elections here and in other red states can be scientifically demonstrated as stolen.
To take back Wisconsin will demand historical turnouts with margins of victory the Wisconsin may not have ever seen, on the order of 60/40. This situation is much worse than many are ready to accept.
And just wait until the Packers go to the next Super Bowl. The retaliatory bomb that Scott Walker will drop on Badger State citizens will make Act 10 look like an olive branch of reconciliation. He and the Kochs see in payback mode because Scotty muffed his 2016 Presidential campaign. Doing radical extreme things is tho only way out-of-state billionaires will pay off his $1 million-plus campaign debt.
The problem with the possible "Eric Cantor moment", is that Cantor was beaten by someone even crazier.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone else noticed that since post Act 10 when the iron was hot, there has been silence on the breaking of the police and firefighter unions?
ReplyDelete