Sunday, April 9, 2017

Walker invites a willing Iowa to the low-wage pits

I've written often about Wisconsin's job-growth stall under right-wing GOP Gov. and special-interest bellhop Scott Walker and the persistently low-wages in the relatively few jobs added or frozen at the minimal, poverty-enforcing $7.25 hourly rate.

Here's a deeper summary of some of the consequences of Walker's failed, ideologically-driven, so-called business-friendly, so-called philosophy:

That's some failing business you're running here, Governor
And props to Matt Rothschild at Wisconsin Democracy Campaign for reporting on Walker's role in recent moves by Iowa Republicans to follow Wisconsin in the race to the Midwest bottom:
On Feb. 13, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker spoke via Skype with Republican legislators in Iowa and urged them to crush collective bargaining rights for public employees, just as Walker did back in 2011...
Well, they took his advice. Iowa Republicans rolled back collective bargaining rights for public employees just a week later.
And on March 30, they shoved it to workers again, this time actually lowering the minimum wage in four counties that had raised it. Now no county can have a minimum wage above the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.
Things to wonder about:

*  Did these Iowans forget that Walker dropped out of the 2015 Iowa caucus competition because his final polling numbers were near 0%? You don't take advice from a politician like that; you run the other way.

*  And what is the end game is in throwing up more barriers to the middle-class?

It's not like people are beating down the doors at the Iowa border to come work there. 

Hardly densely populated, 


Iowa is struggling to attract new residents: how does pushing down take-home pay induce anyone to say, 'Iowa, here we come.'

After you've killed off the unions, and starved Democratic candidates of union-related donations and everyone is then working for burger-flipping pay, then what, Iowa?


And Wisconsin?


Who in their correct minds would choose to move to Iowa or Wisconsin, or send their kids to the great colleges there if post-graduation prospects are being savaged to keep powerful GOP financiers and their elected water-carriers in sync?


Final question: how many Midwestern economic refugees can neighboring Minnesota absorb? 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Walker never had an original idea in his life. He is following the ALEC playbook. Walker's strength is that he never gives up. He keeps at it until he convinces people to follow him - not too hard a trick in an ALEC heavy legislature.

Raven said...

Walker's "strength" is his [Koch Brothers] campaign funding.