Friday, August 17, 2012

Thanks, Scott! Wisconsin's economy still sucking wind

Once upon a time there was a man who said he'd create 250,000 jobs in Wisconsin if he were elected governor.

His name was Scott Walker. He got elected. Then he cut government spending on schools and health care. He said that would create jobs.

It didn't.

Yesterday,  the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wisconsin lost 6,500 jobs in July and 29,400 jobs in the last year.

So Scott Walker made up his own numbers.

He said Wisconsin created 28,100 jobs.

Peter Barca looked at those numbers and said they showed Wisconsin was the third worst state in the country for job creation.

Peter Barca said "the jobs crisis could have been avoided if Gov. Walker and legislative Republicans had spent any meaningful time focusing on jobs during the past year and a half. Instead they focused on extreme, right-wing social issues and making it harder for workers to support their families. And Republicans’ marquee jobs bills – venture capital and mining – both died because they failed to lead and refused to work with other interested parties.

“My plea is to stop the hyper-focus on numbers and come to the table and work in a bipartisan manner on creating good-paying jobs and closing the skills gap in our state. Middle-class families and small businesses have suffered far too long.”

The end.