Get ready for "Wisconsin's Lost Decade" thanks to Walker, Vos, and Fitzgerald: No Green New Deal, Pot, or Regional Business Corridor.

The Bad News: Scott Walker's Wisconsin will be with us for another very long 2 years, thanks to Republican control of the legislature, and their strict adherence to legacy or dying industries that depend on fossilized energy policies. We'll look back on these 10 years as "Wisconsin's lost decade."

It all came flooding back to me when I saw this headline:

The proposed law has common sense stuff in it, all things Wisconsin will miss out on for god knows how long:

Adults 21 and older to legally buy cannabis for recreational use from licensed dispensaries … possess up to about an ounce (30 grams) of marijuana ... non-residents about half an ounce (15 grams) … automatically expunge some marijuana convictions … a $20 million low-interest loan program to help defray the costs of starting a licensed cannabis business for “social equity applicants” in impacted areas with high rates of poverty, arrest and incarceration for marijuana offenses … $170 million from licensing fees ... 35% of revenue from legal cannabis would go to the state’s general operating fund, while an additional 25% would go into a new Restoring Our Communities fund.

Rep. Robin Vos, Wisconsin's self-anointed 2nd governor, does not want to join 10 other states, including Michigan and bordering country Canada. This is a new industry that would help stimulate the economy with new retail outlets and jobs.

Yes, fear mongering continues long past the laughable but apparently still relevant Reefer Madness way of thinking;

Scary stuff zombies, and we'll probably lose another 5-10 years of revenue and jobs, just like we did with hemp:

February 23, 2010 – Steps to legalize industrial hemp in Wisconsin are facing Republican opposition. All Republicans on the Assembly Agriculture Committee recently voted against a measure passed by the Democratic majority, which would allow Wisconsin farmers to apply for permits to grow hemp.

Make no mistake, Republicans didn't have any science-based reasons for their opposition...just a lot of mindless excuses like..."dilute the agriculture industry? You can't make this stuff up:

State Representative Al Ott (R-Forest Junction) says there are worries about the drug connotation of hemp, which could tarnish Wisconsin’s image. He says there’s also no infrastructure to support a market for the product. Ott says he understands farmers are struggling in the tough economy, but he doesn’t feel it’s time to dilute the agriculture industry.

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That's not all...Sen. Scott Fitzgerald and Rep Robin Vos hated green energy until....

It's Ironic? Green New Deal/AOC/Democratic Agenda good for Capitalism after all?

In a previous blog post I wrote: The State Journal's conservative Tom Still revelation that clean green energy is "A-Ok" for capitalism was a stunner...Check out this line:

The irony is that parts of AOC’s “Green New Deal” already seem A-OK with trends well underway in the nation’s capitalist markets.

What the hell? I swear Still is messing with us...and it's working, especially after this:

Renewable energy sources; conservation strategies in manufacturing, construction and other sectors; “smart” power grids and transportation hubs; and the wise use of natural resources are all part of the U.S. economy’s general movement toward sustainability. It is happening, in large part, because it makes good business sense but also because government and academic research is generating new products and processes for market adoption.

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Walker Abandoned Regional Hub...Now it's a good Idea? Just yesterday, Tom Still once again changed his mind and

joined the Democrats with this incredible revelation:

NOTE: Remember, Walker and the GOP killed the high-speed rail corridor that would have created a business hub connecting Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison and eventually the Twin Cities. NOW, it's a good idea. Throw Foxconn into the mix, and how it too could have benefited...a Walker "legacy" fail:

JS: Gov. Scott Walker's election reversed some 20 years of planning, under both Republican and Democratic administrations, to extend Amtrak's Chicago-to-Milwaukee Hiawatha line to Madison, as part of a larger network of fast, frequent trains linking Chicago to the Twin Cities and other Midwestern destinations, leading to the loss of an $810 million federal stimulus grant. More recently, the U.S. Department of Transportation rejected the state's bid for $213 million for upgrades to the existing Hiawatha line.

After 8 years Tom Still now sees thing differently, agreeing with Democrats, but this time replacing high-speed rail with interstates:

My name for the region that includes Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison and spurs north and west is the “I-Q Corridor.” The “I” stands for the interstate highways the “Q” suggests quality which aims to bring world-class digital innovation and expertise to the region. One glaring challenge is perception, which for some people is still trapped in Rust Belt imagery.

Evers' Foxconn renegotiation Destroys Credibility? Rep. Robin Vos said:

"He is not doing no harm. He is doing harm," Vos said. "Because if you are an investor that is thinking about building a hotel or bringing in a supplier to Foxconn, why would you ever consider doing it now that the governor has started saying the project is being undermined?"

Oh really, does anyone remember train manufacturer Talgo's CEO in Milwaukee said after Walker and Republicans canceled their contract...

Not only that, the track maintenance Walker and conservative media whined about...

Urban Milwaukee: $50 million could have covered more than 30 years of estimated annual operating costs to run the new trains between Milwaukee and Madison ... Plus, the trains went to Talgo as part of the settlement, so Wisconsin ended up with exactly zero new train service, zero rail line construction jobs scheduled in the thousands, zero long-term train assembly jobs, along with 50 million bucks – – Walker’s need for partisan, self-serving headlines and anti-Milwaukee suburban votes ... helped him win the 2010 gubernatorial election.

All of which looks worse, as I pointed out the other day, since the Foxconn mega-factory ... cannot offer high-tech workers lured from Madison an easy, road congestion-free ride to Racine County’s convenient Sturtevant Amtrak station. Nor can Chicago residents who might be hired at the plant ride the Metro commuter train with a transfer to Racine at the end of the existing line in Kenosha, because Walker and Assembly Leader Robin Vos also killed Wisconsin’s coordinating regional transit authorities and a commuter train from Kenosha to Racine and Milwaukee – – all in service to the the road-builder lobby and a parallel, pro-car, anti-transit ideology.

Note: About Italian train manufacturer Talgo...this is what Walker said about giving Wisconsin taxpayer money to a foreign business...an attitude that changed dramatically with Foxconn:

Walker, along with Super Steel Chairman Fred Luber, who happens to have donated $13,000 to Walker over the years, attacked Barrett, with Walker accusing Barrett of using taxpayer money to “stab Wisconsin companies in the back,” while Luber added, “Mayor Barrett and Gov. Doyle don’t understand the damage they have done to Wisconsin companies like ours. They’ve used the very same tax dollars our company and employees pay to dole out work to foreign companies.”