While holding off on specifics until he delivers the address, Walker said that his speech will focus on five key areas:
- How to use tax cuts to fuel job growth.
- "Ambitious plans" to move forward on several economic development projects, a number of which he said are "shovel-ready projects that do not require money from the federal government."
- Upgrades to the transportation, particularly as it relates to the airport and the public transit system.
- The recruitment and retention of caregivers.
- Ways to continue to streamline government.
Walker said he will also discuss partnerships with the state, county board, other local governments and the private sector.
This would be hilarious, if it wasn't so darn scary. Either Walker doesn't have a clue to what's going on in his own county, or he is going to lie through his teeth.
He has been advocating job cuts ever since he tried to spin his way out of the mess he stepped in when he took his short-sighted stance against taking any of the stimulus package that will be handed out soon. Yet, even Walker lists all of the companies that are laying off people in the droves. What he doesn't mention are all the companies that have left the county already, like Miller. What people need are jobs. They are already getting the ultimate tax cut when they are losing their source of incomes.
And I would love to know what those economic plans are that he can do so cheaply without any federal assistance. Perhaps he is referring to things like the horrendous idea of moving the mental health complex to the old St. Michael's Hospital, even though that building is older than the current structure, and that the move would be more expensive than building a new structure on grounds the County already owns.
SIDENOTE: I thought Wheaton Franciscan said that they were going to tear down that building by January 1, if the deal fell through. The building is still standing. What else are they lying about?
SIDENOTE II: And as far as economic development goes, let us not forget that Walker put his cronies, like his campaign managers, in charge of that department. They were so incompetent that they only raised a quarter of million dollars instead of the over $7 million dollars promised they would. How is that going to help us?
And what will he say about upgrades to transportation? How he wants to privatize the airport, one of the most profitable parts of the county and one of the programs that keeps the rest of the transit programming funded? Or that under his leadership, the bus system will start collapsing in 11 months? Nah, he'll probably talk about the federal money, which requires both matching funds from the county and ongoing upkeep costs (which he said he was against, after he was for them), for the rapid transit buses. What he won't mention is the over $91 million dollars still sitting around because he won't work things out with Mayor Barrrett on how to use the money.
His spin on streamlining government and having working relationships with the County Board and the State is the one worth packing a lunch for. I really want to see how he spins his way out of the recent news of the State's takeover of the call center, all because Walker refused to fill all (or even a quarter) of the positions funded by the County Board.
All of this leads to another part of the WisPolitics piece, which is the first bit of publicity that the recall has gotten that wasn't utterly dismissed off hand by the media (you have to scroll down from the state of the county part).
It is true that any effort at recall is not being actively pursued at the moment. As Keith Schmitz, a friend of Cog Dis, explained, there is too much other things going on right now. Not only that, but no recall effort could even being legally mounted until one year after his last re-election, which was in April of 2008.
While it is true that Walker was able to beat Lena Taylor by a pretty comfortable margin last year, the actual number of people that voted for him dropped drastically. According to county records, he won his first attempt at re-election in 2004 with a total of 136,099 votes. In 2008, the number dropped to 98,039. That's a drop of almost 30%, and that was against an ineffective opponent. What would have happened if there had been a primary, or if he ran against someone who ran a better campaign, or had more appeal to the suburbs, that Senator Taylor?
Walker also feels secure in his decision about refusing stimulus dollars. Or does he? I wouldn't feel that assured, knowing that Obama's approval rating for how he is handling of the stimulus package is at 67%. Heck, even the Congressional Democrats are scoring by a 48% approval rating, while the Republicans, who have been trying their darn best to sabotage the package is at a lowly 31%.
It is as Keith said in the article:
But Schmitz argued that the issues haven't been resolved just because Walker's organization won the election.
"That does not mean these issues were resolved, that these issues are dead or that these issues are settled," Schmitz said.
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My goodness man! The fanaticism needs to stop. Your fetish for Walker is borderline psychosis.
ReplyDeleteYes, not to mention he routinely misrepresents Walker's position on the stimulus package over and over again.
ReplyDeleteSince when did rejecting a bailout if it has continuing operational costs for the taxpayer and strings attached mean that Walker is against all stimulus packages?
Hello Friends,
ReplyDeleteMr. Walker is having trouble. I hear that over and over. The announcement that he made concerning the stimulus was made around the 7th of January. No one really knew what was in the package and what was going on. With no real knowledge concerning the bill he said, "NO."
I have met Capper and he's as fine a man as you may ever meet, kind and generous with a heck of a sense of humor and as you see here some sarcasm. I think that his complaints concerning Scott walker are well founded in fact.
Facts on their own do not mean so much, they can be the foundation of a good argument if they are true. If and only if the premises are true and one premise follows the other logically you have a winning argument. Capper consistently takes the news matter provided all of us and puts together strong, sound arguments for the recall of Scott Walker.
You know this is only a blog and you don't have to take it so seriously that you call people names and make accusations concerning their mental health.
Chin up, Keep on the sunny side! :^)
Dave on 26th
Dave,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words, but I rarely worry about anonymous commenters throwing dispersions. It just means they know I'm correct and they don't like it.
Anony 2 is only practicing selective reading. He or she ignores that Walker had just applied for federal funding that will require a local match and ongoing operational costs. They also ignore the fact that anyone with even basic business acumen would listen to a deal, pursue negotiations, and give careful thought before dismissing a deal.
Apparently, they just want to pay for the stimulus, without receiving any benefit from it.
The problem you're having is that Walker never dismissed the deal! If you read his editorial in the Milwaukee Journal a bit more closely, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
ReplyDeleteSure, he complained about how strings are usually attached with bailout money and investing in failing projects with continuing operational costs are not smart, but this does not amount to a rejection of the stimulus package.
How about some fair reporting on this blog, not to mention a fairly obvious obsession with Walker. My goodness, in one of your posts, you were wondering where Walker was over the weekend. Give the guy a little privacy.
The editorial piece by Walker which you refer to was an effort to spin his way out of the hole he had already dug himself out of. That was not the first article published about Walker's refusal to ask for the stimulus dollars.
ReplyDeleteAs for the other post, perhaps you failed to pick up on the humor. I was referring to the bad spelling, which Walker is known for, and the high amount of coverage I give him.
But a question: If you don't like what I write, why do you keep coming back?
Chris Liebenthal:
ReplyDeleteI respectfully submit that you do not understand politics or elections.
Scott defeated his opponent 59 to 41 percent. The reason the vote total was low is clear: people did not give Lena Taylor any chance of victory. (I posted your comments below, you actually answered your own question)
I have good news for you. When Scott Walker is elected Governor, not only will you have more money in your pocket thanks to tax cuts, but also you may see increased traffic on your blog. Everyone wins.
"While it is true that Walker was able to beat Lena Taylor by a pretty comfortable margin last year, the actual number of people that voted for him dropped drastically. According to county records, he won his first attempt at re-election in 2004 with a total of 136,099 votes. In 2008, the number dropped to 98,039. That's a drop of almost 30%, and that was against an ineffective opponent. What would have happened if there had been a primary, or if he ran against someone who ran a better campaign, or had more appeal to the suburbs, that Senator Taylor?"
I raised questions that have NOT yet been answered. Your bloviating only further confirms my suspicions.
ReplyDeleteAs for Walker being governor, first he will have to make it through the primaries, which he did not do so well last time. With Neumann running, he will be sorely pressed again. But I do hope Walker does win, because he would be easier to beat than Neumann would be.
And for tax breaks, Bush promised those, and my federal taxes went up $400 per year. Walker's unintended consequences will be costing county taxpayers for literally generations.
Your taxes went up because we have a democrat congress who creates the law of the land. If you're going to aim the gun, at least point it in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteUm, Anony, they went up before the Dems got control of anything. This was all Repub. I hope you don't carry loaded weapons. You could hurt yourself.
ReplyDelete