Candidate and Milton Friedman wannabee Jonathan Steitz pushes free market education in Wisconsin.

What the...after going through the hell of No Child Left Behind, student testing, teacher testing, privatizing schools that fail, GOP candidate Jonathan Steitz is now pushing a completely unregulated voucher school system statewide with no accountability - A Milton Friedman free market fantasy.

Get this: $12,000 savings accounts controlled by parents? What could go wrong?

Will these guys ever make up their mind? Friedman's plan left everything up to the free market; good schools, bad schools, bad students, children with needs, poverty...whatever. Try watching the YouTube Friedman debate located here (at 27:30 in). The pundits were much smarter than the smirking know-it-all free marketer.

Someone like Friedman, who has an answer for everything and is never stumped, is obviously winging it. The biggest joke? This guy won a Nobel prize for economic science for gods sake. His grand scheme never took off, did it. In Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine a few dictatorial countries tried Friedman's plan and failed miserably.

With over 20 years of what has been proven to be a failed voucher system in Milwaukee, we definitively know Friedman was wrong. But the real reason for vouchers?

Milton Friedman: “Vouchers are not an end in themselves; they are a means to make a transition from a government to a free-market system.”

Here's audio of Steitz on Upfront with Mike Gousha. He not only wants a free market educational system, but he's nearly doubling the amount of money taxpayers will contribute to each voucher. Vouchers were supposed to be a bargain that accomplished the same thing, remember? That no longer applies either:

GOP candidate Jonathan Steitz wants to dump state income tax, hike sales tax...thinks we're still spending too much?

Another Milton Friedman wannabe. Here's how Upfront with Mike Gousha promoted their interview with Jonathan Steitz: 

Republican Senate candidate Jonathan Steitz of Pleasant Prairie said he will be a more reliable conservative for the 21st Senate District. Steitz will face former Sen. Van Wanggaard in the August primary.

Who brags they'll follow leadership with a "reliable" vote if elected? Jonathan Steitz would. Steitz would also get rid of the income tax by cutting government spending (Boehner cliche) and raising the sales tax to 8 or 9 percent. Why?

Confident Bullshitter: Steitz falsely claimed the 9 states that don't have income taxes are doing much better than states that do. Wrong, unless Steitz thinks Wisconsin can become another oil producing state. But performance is everything, and Steitz is a fast talking huckster with a confident air. The truth...WSJ:

Do cuts create jobs? Mike Leachman, director of state research at the liberal-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said past studies showing states that enacted large income tax cuts in the 1990s and 2000s had a mixed record on economic growth. Several tax-cutting states performed worse than those with higher taxes, and those that performed better were oil producers … cutting income taxes doesn’t spur major economic growth because they’re usually accompanied by reductions in government services. 

Steitz is running against Van H. Wanggaard, a recall election loser given a second chance after redistricting. Just wait till you hear Steitz's plan to deregulate a statewide school vouchers plan (another post). Audio only:

Check out Jake's TA Funhouse for a detailed look at this conservative kooks plan.

What this state needs is a bigger Republican Majority voting for bigger and bigger tax cuts.

You have to wonder why the private sector scares so many Republicans into seeking a government job.

They don’t give up either, because the perks are just to tempting. Freeloading ideologues like these have nothing to offer short of a few tired clichés about cutting taxes and being even more conservative. Forget about the structural deficit, continued borrowing, and simple upkeep of our deteriorating infrastructure, what we really need is a way to make it harder to pay our bills.

So it goes with another conservative loser with no ideas.  

Caledonia Patch: After Jonathan Steitz lost the 2011 recall attempt against state Sen. Bob Wirch, he told supporters that he knew there was a reason not yet clear to him for why he lost. “I know that God has a plan for my life.” The crowd clapped, and shouted “Amen” and “We love you.”

Steitz will take on another loser in a primary, former Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, who lost to Sen. John Lehman in his recall election. Times have changed too. Republicans gerrymandered the district into a fairly safe seat this time, despite the sane leadership of Lehman.

So why Steitz, besides being a part of God’s personal plan for the district?   

Steitz told the newspaper he believes he's the more conservative candidate … "(I've been) approached about running for this because there’s leaders across the state and in this district, who feel we need a more conservative Senate,” he is quoted as saying.

Doh! So that’s why we have lagging job growth in the state. The super Republican majority is in desperate need of another yes vote.