Nothing to smile about this week.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has had a craptacular week (John Doe Probe documents, what looks like a pay to play scheme, budget deficit ...). If you haven't been following the slow motion train wreck, you might want to
start here.
Today, the jobs report came out and it was more bad news.
Wisconsin turned in another subpar job creation report Thursday with news that it gained 28,653 private-sector jobs in the 12 months from March 2013 to March 2014, according to data released late Thursday by the state Department of Workforce Development.
(bolding is mine)
Governor I'm-Going-to-Create-250,000-New-Jobs-in-my-First-Term Walker has been hoist by his own petard. 2 years ago he decided he didn't like the Bureau of Labor Statistics new jobs numbers, long the gold standard of measuring performance in new job creation. He trashed those reports and his media poodles quickly did so, too, in favor of Walkers "new jobs numbers" reflected by the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCED).
However, under a practice that began two years under the administration of Republican Gov. Scott Walker, the state releases the quarterly census data for Wisconsin several weeks ahead of the national report. That means the data appears in isolation, making it impossible to compare Wisconsin's performance with other states.
(bolding is mine)
Walker didn't want people to notice that Wisconsin's economy and new jobs were sinking in comparison to others. He just kept smiling and telling people that his policies were "working". Corporate media catapulted that meme to the public.
And those QCED numbers were also 6 months old allowing Walker to capitalize on the better economic times before his administrations budget went into effect.
And then those numbers started to stink, too. And even corporate media has started to notice.
Wisconsin added private-sector jobs last year at about half the national rate of 2.1%. Wisconsin has lagged the national rate of job creation since July 2011.
Hmmm, what happened in July, 2011???? That's when Scott Walkers budget went into effect in Wisconsin. The budget that stripped public workers of 18% of their pay, stripped more money from schools than any other state in the country, stripped state shared revenue with local governments, cut to the bones any remaining social programs, and began the quasi-private Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) that Walker appointed himself to head to replace the Department of Commerce. It should surprise no one that
60% of WEDCs largess has been doled out to Walker campaign donors.
So, what's a running-for-re-election-with-Presidential-ambitions guy gonna do when bad news rolls out day after day for a week? He going to run to his pal, Charlie Sykes, the #1 RW statewide talk show host.
Walker downplayed the scope of the disappointing tax collections in an interview Friday morning on a WTMJ-AM conservative talk radio show, saying it could be rectified by controlling expenditures and continued economic growth.
"We believe going into next year healthier things will happen in the economy and we will continue to grow," Walker said.
His "things are going to get better" meme is about as worn out and tired as blaming protesters and Democrats for Wisconsin's failing economy. But he's going to continue to distract, distort and lie.
But Walker contrasts the job growth over the past three years with a loss of 133,000 jobs during Doyle's second term. Walker also points to the state's improving unemployment rate, which at 5.8 percent is the lowest it's been since 2008
Hmmm, what happened during Jim Doyles last term as Governor that Walker uses as a comparison? Oh yeah, the financial collapse! The collapse that led to huge unemployment, financial losses, business retractions, and a depression. Sure, in comparison to THAT, Walkers numbers look not so bad. But don't hold your breath waiting for Wisconsin corporate media to point out that fact.
The bad news for Skunk Walker, which began 1 week ago today, keeps piling up. I won't be surprised if there's more bad news coming which will be held until late in the day. He loves to hold bad news until the start of a holiday weekend so it can be forgotten by the following week.
And one more piece of bad news; a new ad:
Happy Labor Day. Remember that Labor Day was established to honor workers, the people that get stuff done. The people the GOP despise. Raise the minimum wage, fully fund OSHA, and guarantee union rights to all workers.
Solidarity.
.