Blame Scott Walker for Every Last Wasted Month of Austerity.

I gave my rebuttal to the Journal Sentinel's editorial absolving Scott Walker of any blame for the states current economic slump here. This was the companion counter editorial written by Karen Royster, executive director of the Institute for Wisconsin's Future; Jack Norman is the organization's research director:

Scientists learn a great deal from unsuccessful tests. So, what knowledge can we gain from the wreckage of Gov. Scott Walker's failed experiment in Wisconsin?

In 2011, the governor promised 250,000 new private-sector jobs and bet the farm on right-wing austerity strategies: Give tax breaks to corporations and investors; Cut programs that serve groups with no clout - the poor, those with mental illness and children; Weaken unions that fight for higher wages and support political opposition; Slash spending for education and push school privatization; Centralize power in the governor's hands while limiting citizen access to the voting booth.

With a script from the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, Walker and state legislative leaders began with over $100 million in corporate tax cuts. Then they took away collective bargaining rights from most state and local governments. Their budget raised taxes on low-wage workers, cut $1 billion in aid to cities, counties, schools and colleges while reducing medical care and family support for the poor. The governor eliminated public oversight of major policy decisions, supported a secretive and dubious redistricting process and encouraged a voter ID law that would make segregationist Strom Thurmond proud.

And the economy? It sank like a rock. Six straight months of private-sector job losses in Wisconsin - dating from the implementation of Walker's state budget - contrast with growth in other states across the country. Wisconsin's jobs performance is one of the worst in the nation - worse than our Midwestern neighbors, worse than other manufacturing-heavy states.

What can we learn from the dismal results of Walker's extreme agenda?

You cannot cut your way to prosperity: If you cut aid to training programs, companies will go elsewhere for skilled workers. If you make massive cuts to public education, school quality drops and Wisconsin is a less-attractive destination. If you cut legal corners in the political process, the state will face expensive and time-consuming lawsuits. If you cut taxes on those with the most wealth, you reduce the state's capacity to invest in the public infrastructure that helps the private sector to prosper. If you reject federal funds for new technologies, you forfeit both the money and the respect of forward-looking business leaders.