Walker and his toxic touch
[Updated from 11:50 a.m. Monday] Wisconsin Governor and early 2015/16 presidential campaign dropout Scott Walker was busy over the weekend raising money for Maryland Republicans and banking IOU's for his inevitable 2020 - - and guaranteed-to-fail - - presidential run 2.0.
The Washington Post reported that when confronted by protestors similar to those he roused by the hundreds of thousands back home when he dropped his collective bargaining ban Act 10 bomb on the state shortly after his 2011 swearing-in, Walker "brushed off the demonstrators" with a rehearsed, tinny retort:
* Cost-savings were cited as the justification for closing a youth offender facility and sending dozens of predominately minority and urban kids to a merged, out-of-sight, out-of-mind rural chamber of horrors in the northwoods continues to create negative media - - and 20 months of federal probing into a culture of assaults and other misconduct on state property.
* He's in his 24th straight year of career politician salary and benefits agglomeration. That more like a death grip on the public trough, rather than a deft touch managing it.
* Likewise when it comes to state highway programs, Walker has let Wisconsin roads and bridges decay to the fourth-worst nationally while also creating a billion-dollar transportation fund shortfall because of his politically-inspired over-commitment to road-building special interests and their major projects' fantasies.
After filling a big hole in the current budget with hundreds of millions of dollars in new borrowing, look to Walker to push the tough decisions on road repairs to local units of government - - and old, cynical Big Government trick - - and strip-mine what social service spending remains and move that money into more major project lanes, ramps - - but not into repairing or replacing what is obsolete, rusting or crumbling.
City and county governments in Milwaukee are now tens of millions of dollars short, according to a new, non-partisan policy report issued Tuesday, and no doubt every local jurisdiction in Wisconsin is feeling the same pinch.
* Despite GOP control of the Governor's office and state legislature, with new powers to craft policy rules and complete freedom to write budgets and tweak them further with a powerful, chief executive's line-item veto, Wisconsin and Walker have whiffed on his signature job-creating promise, remains in 33rd place nationally among the states in job creation - - a bottom-third ranking where Wisconsin has sat during Walker's time in office - - and the state ranks dead last for the second year running in business start-ups.
* His penchant for breaking contracts, killing jobs and signing unconstitutional laws he promoted continues to cost the public big dough, because with Walker, ideology and insider favors are more important than decent stewardship and the public interest.
* And his 'chamber of commerce mentality"-directed Department of Natural Resources continues to enable polluters and water hogging corporate users at the expense of the public's right to clean, accessible water that is theirs by virtue of the state constitution's Public Trust Doctrine.
The Washington Post reported that when confronted by protestors similar to those he roused by the hundreds of thousands back home when he dropped his collective bargaining ban Act 10 bomb on the state shortly after his 2011 swearing-in, Walker "brushed off the demonstrators" with a rehearsed, tinny retort:
“You can see why they were part of my welcoming party here today,” he said. “Obviously, that means I haven’t lost my touch — our reforms are still working.”Too bad that conned audience wasn't forewarned by media about Walker's toxic touch and how some his 'reforms' are duds:
* Cost-savings were cited as the justification for closing a youth offender facility and sending dozens of predominately minority and urban kids to a merged, out-of-sight, out-of-mind rural chamber of horrors in the northwoods continues to create negative media - - and 20 months of federal probing into a culture of assaults and other misconduct on state property.
* He's in his 24th straight year of career politician salary and benefits agglomeration. That more like a death grip on the public trough, rather than a deft touch managing it.
* Likewise when it comes to state highway programs, Walker has let Wisconsin roads and bridges decay to the fourth-worst nationally while also creating a billion-dollar transportation fund shortfall because of his politically-inspired over-commitment to road-building special interests and their major projects' fantasies.
After filling a big hole in the current budget with hundreds of millions of dollars in new borrowing, look to Walker to push the tough decisions on road repairs to local units of government - - and old, cynical Big Government trick - - and strip-mine what social service spending remains and move that money into more major project lanes, ramps - - but not into repairing or replacing what is obsolete, rusting or crumbling.
City and county governments in Milwaukee are now tens of millions of dollars short, according to a new, non-partisan policy report issued Tuesday, and no doubt every local jurisdiction in Wisconsin is feeling the same pinch.
* Despite GOP control of the Governor's office and state legislature, with new powers to craft policy rules and complete freedom to write budgets and tweak them further with a powerful, chief executive's line-item veto, Wisconsin and Walker have whiffed on his signature job-creating promise, remains in 33rd place nationally among the states in job creation - - a bottom-third ranking where Wisconsin has sat during Walker's time in office - - and the state ranks dead last for the second year running in business start-ups.
* His penchant for breaking contracts, killing jobs and signing unconstitutional laws he promoted continues to cost the public big dough, because with Walker, ideology and insider favors are more important than decent stewardship and the public interest.
* And his 'chamber of commerce mentality"-directed Department of Natural Resources continues to enable polluters and water hogging corporate users at the expense of the public's right to clean, accessible water that is theirs by virtue of the state constitution's Public Trust Doctrine.
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