Walker and Vos take pot shots at Mayor Barrett, who's now firing back.

So the state is at fault for Milwaukee’s fiscal challenges after it put in place property tax levy caps and cut state aid. Yet according to Gov. Scott Walker and Rep. Robin Vos, it’s all Mayor Barrett’s fault now.

The way Walker ran Milwaukee County into the ground, it’s not hard to look past this lie (see cartoon) jsonline.  

Both Walker and Assembly Speaker Vos have made pointed comments about the lack of leadership in Mayor Tom Barrett's administration and the need for the city to focus on economic development. On Tuesday, Barrett fired back.

"Well, it's very easy to take political shots against the city of Milwaukee," Barrett said. "It's a good way to use a divide and conquer mentality to isolate the largest city in the state."

"It's attractive for them to go after Milwaukee," Barrett said. "Is it leadership to try to tear down the largest city in the state? Obviously it's not. The time is going to have to come when they are going to have to take the time to understand the city. Well, it's certainly not a good omen when you have the top two Republicans in the state who seem to enjoy ripping into Milwaukee," Barrett said.

It’s not a they said, he said thing either. There’s proof to back up Barrett’s position:

A 2009 study of city government by the Public Policy Forum found that the city's revenue structure "presents tremendous and increasingly difficult fiscal challenges." At the same time, the study found the city was well run and "management is not the cause of its fiscal problems."

In the meantime, Rob Henken, president of the Public Policy Forum, posted on his blog an update on the 2009 report. He writes, "Milwaukee remains in a revenue straitjacket caused by strict property tax levy caps and stagnant state aid."

We’re wondering if Walker plans to do what Gov. Rick Snyder did in Michigan, put in an “emergency manager?”