Monday, September 24, 2018

7 Walker moves which cost, or lost, Wisconsin $2.6+ billion - - updated

A new lede for this post and a fresh bottom for Walker and his immoral administration:

[Updated from 9/24/17 - - An expert explains how Walker gave a private company the power to pad the state budget with millions of dollars in support payments seized from disabled, foster or orphaned children to which they were entitled. 
Gov. Scott Walker’s administration has been partnering with a private company to search for foster children who are disabled or have dead birth parents — in order to take their money for state revenue. The state is even confiscating veterans’ benefits from foster children whose parents died in the military. 
[Updated from 9/17/18 - - How Walker may have cost the state 80,000 jobs.
Most economists believe that governors have a limited impact on how many jobs are created in a given state. That being said, local economist Bruce Thompson believes Walker’s policies may have actually resulted in a loss of 80,000 jobs in Wisconsin. 
Thompson created an algorithm which essentially calculates how many jobs would have been created in Wisconsin, regardless of who was governor. He did this by using data from several states in the upper Midwest: Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. The data comes from labor reports from each state, collected since 1990.
At a very modest average salary of $40,000 per job, that's $3.2 billion in annual purchasing power spread through the economy. Something to think about.] 
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Here are the 7 biggest financial fails by our fake fiscally-conservative Governor:

* $11 million in forfeited Federal Medicaid fraud award eligibility.

* $20.6 million and counting for settlements and payments traced to the youth prison crisis he ignored for years at Lincoln Hills.

*  $23 million in forfeited Federal broadband expansion funding.

*  $50 million in settlement awards and equipment losses over the Amtrak train set assembly facility contract broken by Wisconsin under Walker.

*  $750 million to build an extra 19 miles of Milwaukee freeway lanes which planners had recommended against, but which Walker championed.

*  $810 million in Federal Amtrak Milwaukee-to-Madison rail construction funds Walker forfeited.

*  $1+ billion in Federal Medicaid expansion funding Walker has refused to accept through the end of the 2017-'19 state budget.

These forfeited programs or awards would have added jobs, taxable property, public revenues and spin-off development.

Who knew we had the luxury to reject all that?


6 comments:

Unknown said...

This is important. The huge amount that Walker has cost our state should be shared, but I refuse to share this post with his photo attached. Could you repost with a photo showing some of what was lost and not the loser Gov? Please.

James Rowen said...

Feel free to copy the text and distribute as you wish. Reposting simpll with a different photo is going to complete things. If I add to the text, I'll use a different photo.

Anonymous said...

Let's take another look at this one --"$750 million to build an extra 19 miles of Milwaukee freeway lanes which planners had recommended against, but which Walker championed."---
Walker changes with the political winds. Now that it is obvious that our roads are in need of fixing he says to not build any extra lanes. What do we pay planners for if the politicians are going to make these decisions. Now factor in that high speed train that Walker claimed was a waste of money. There are more people today. I expect that as Walker says they are driving less. Does Walker think they are staying home, or maybe walking everywhere? I expect they are using public transportation, stuff like that train.

Anonymous said...

So the real question is why major Wisconsin media outlets still won't lay out these plan and simple truths in a coherent manner - after all, what state news is more important than the common theme that runs through this post?

Walker wastes boatloads of money, racks up massive debts that will have to be repaid with higher borrowing costs, and the job growth we have seen has nothing to do with Walker and state republicans. It is based on the Obama recovery and even then we continue to lag behind.

MJS ignores these flip flops and lies. They even downplay and hide what real Christians should be offended over - Walker lies and claims he has a personal pipeline to god that directs him to be a political buffoon.

Chris said...

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel used to be awarded Pulitzer Prizes for its in-depth investigative reporting. Per its own masthead, the last time MJS was awarded a Pulitzer was 2011, Scott Walker's first year as governor.

A coincidence? I think not.

Anonymous said...

Chris - nice catch. Milwaukee Journal degenerated into Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and became targeted towards the WOW counties, becoming anti-Milwaukee and racist. It became the compliant stooge of the 24/7 right wing hate of WTMJ-AM, also a Journal Communicatio n propaganda tool.

Now USA Today/Gannett, the third owner in the last few years, wants us to subscribe to support their warped idea of journalism. It is still a Walker propaganda tool that promotes hate towards Milwaukee, working families, and economic justice and equity.

Advertisers, increasingly fewer, need to realize that destroying the ability of people to earn living wages means we buy less of their cheap garbage and go to fewer restaurants and events. Like mush of the media in the US, the owners have decided that the business model of ad supported content is no longer relevant. Instead these assets are propaganda tools that promote economic warfare on the majority of citizens.