Walker joins other "Trickle Down" states by losing jobs, ginning up Resentment!!!

In an odd twist of fate, the GOP created Great Recession actually swept Republicans into power in 2010.

Those same states are now convulsing from dramatic revenue shortfalls, debt, and deferred maintenance. Even worse, Republicans are insisting that more debt, deferred maintenance, tax cuts and spending cuts will solve their problems. All this, after already slashing education for the next generation of job seekers and insane handouts to corporate freeloaders laughing under their breaths about letting the "free market" work. Jokes on us.

Under Scott Walker, who made it much harder to get unemployment benefits so he could brag about those numbers too, the state turned away jobs they say are created by company's that commonly fit into the Democratic column. Sticking with the disappearing manufacturing base at the expense of diversification, Wisconsin has forced labor...and then businesses, to leave the state.

Wisconsin's three-month run of job growth was halted in April by the largest one-month loss in jobs in nearly seven years, 11,500. If the figures stand up to revisions, it will be the state's biggest monthly jobs drop since July 2009, during the Great Recession. In April, Wisconsin lost 4,200 manufacturing jobs, 0.9 percent of the total for the state's largest job sector, to return to a flat level of growth since last October.

And business are still fleeing (just sampling):

Old National Bancorp has notified state officials it plans to eliminate 140 full-time jobs, almost all of them in Madison ... Most of the positions will terminate in September.

Caterpillar Inc. said it is moving engineering and technology jobs from its mining equipment division in South Milwaukee to Tucson, Ariz.

But other ballyhoo'ed state templates for "trickle down prosperity" are sinking fast as well. The problem is, the national news doesn't cover the failed "comebacks," like in Indiana, which sounds a whole lot like Walker's scheme (except for evil clean energy):

Stride Rite had left Huntington for Mexico at the tail end of the recession; Breyers Ice Cream had closed its doors after 100 years.

In the weeks after each factory closing in his part of Indiana, union rep. Tom Lewandowski had listened to politicians make promises about jobs — high-tech jobs, right-to-work jobs, clean-energy jobs — but instead Indiana had lost 60,000 middle-class jobs in the past decade and replaced them with a surge of low-paying work in health care, hospitality and fast food.

Scott Walker has also taken aim at the middle class:

...with a dash of irony.

Wisconsin had a faster decline than any other state in the percentage of households in the middle class during the period 2000 to 2013.

Like Wisconsin, wages are depressed and lower: 

Wages of male high school graduates had dropped 19 percent in the past two decades, and the wealth divide between the middle class and the upper class had quadrupled. Fast-food consumption was beginning to tick up. Poverty was up.

Foreclosures were up. Meth usage up. Heroin up. Death rate up. An ideological crisis was spreading across Middle America as it continued its long fall into dependency: median wages down across the country, average income down, total wealth down in the past decade by 28 percent. 

For the first time ever, the vaunted middle class was not the country’s base but a disenfranchised minority, down from 61 percent of the population in the 1970s to just 49 percent as of last year. 

And now, desperate Republicans want plunge even deeper into trickle down, topped with more empty promises, by electing a huckster like Trump. If you hate government, thank a Republicans who made government worse. We now get to see it crash:

As a result of that decline, confusion was turning into fear. Fear was giving way to resentment. Resentment was hardening into a sense of outrage that was unhinging the country’s politics and upending a presidential election.

Moral and Ethical Choice? Kansas Republican tax cuts Cut Children’s programs, road work, education funding.

It's coming Wisconsin....

Democrats keep waiting for that tipping point, when die hard Republican voters realize supply side economics doesn’t working. Don’t hold your breath for their moral enlightenment.

Kansas Governor Sam Brownback led the way, prompting similar cuts by Scott Walker, although technically, Walker cut college funding before Brownback. Even Republican legislators in Kansas are now hoping to reverse some of the cuts, like the ones Brownback (and Walker) made for farmers and manufacturing:

Some Republicans want to reverse a key policy that exempted 330,000 farmers and business owners from personal income taxes. Republicans in some other states have watched the Kansas tax-cutting experiment closely … a way to generate business investment and economic growth. But it hasn't worked out as envisioned and the state has struggled to balance its budget ever since.  

Again, failure just results in more cuts:

Brownback prefers the borrowing backed by part of the state's tobacco revenues, which now are set aside for children's programs.

The state Department of Transportation announced it would delay 25 major highway projects set to begin before July 2018 ... carry forward $17 million in immediate cuts ordered on state university campuses last month into the next fiscal year that begins in July.

Wisconsin State Sen. Alberta Darling exposed right wing thinking when a reporter asked if tax cuts fail, producing large deficits, what next?

Darling: "Well when you see that coming then you further have to reduce spending."

It's a no fail plan for failure. There's no down side to their argument. Failure is rewarded:

It was the fourth consecutive semiannual forecast to be more pessimistic than its predecessor. Tax collections have fallen short of expectations 11 of the past 12 months.

We're getting the same results in Walker's Wisconsin. And no lesson learned. What a surprise.

GOP Budgets - "just as rough as the last time" - the result of badly written budgets, not spending.

Republicans have always had a foolproof budgeting plan that can't fail in the eyes of their low information voters: Got a budget shortfall again? It's not bad budgeting, they just have to cut spending again.

It's never due to bad decisions and supply side nonsense. Sen. Alberta Darling said exactly that when a reporter asked her what happens if revenues don't increase due to tax and spending cuts:

Darling: "...you have to further reduce the size and scope of government..."

They actually believe it's never their fault. After another bad budget with the usual predicted revenue shortfalls, clueless Republicans face another "rough" spot of their own making:

(Republican Sen. Scott) Fitzgerald told county officials he expects the next budget will be "just as rough as this past one."

Fitzgerald of course blamed the state's shortfall on a lagging national economy...Obama basically. Oddly, Minnesota has a $2 billion surplus, and no shortfall. We could blame Obama for that, right?

Also, if this were a real problem, then why aren't Republicans writing responsible budgets that account for that "lag" (because they can't budget). WPR audio:



While blaming Obama, Walker showed off his bad judgement by foolishly holding onto our fading manufacturing base. Two decades later, he's apparently still not heard that sucking sound...:

Wisconsin's large manufacturing sector is heavily influenced by national and global factors, Walker said. "But we’re still going to persevere..."

In response, as covered by Jakes TA Economic Funhouse, one of my favorite fighting Democratic legislators Gordon Hintze put out the following to the point press release. I hope we see more of this:

One final SUPPLY SIDE note: Below, I've collected a few other Republican supply side budgetary problems ignored by the press who are preoccupied with the GOP primary circus. Long story short, Republicans can't run a functioning government. It's a supply side death spiral nationwide, starting with Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback:

AP: Kansas collected $7 million less in taxes than expected in January, and a top aide to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback said that ongoing problems in key parts of the state's economy are to blame. Kansas tax collections have fallen short of expectations in 6 of the 7 months of this fiscal year … disappointing corporate income tax collections and lower-than-anticipated sales tax collections. Since the current fiscal year began in July, the state has collected$26 million less than anticipated, a shortfall of 0.8 percent … Kansas has struggled to balance its budget since the Republican-dominated Legislature slashed personal income taxes in 2012 and 2013 at Brownback's urging in an effort to stimulate the economy. GOP legislators last year increased sales and cigarette taxes to head off a deficit in the current budget. 

You've just gotta love this down-the-rabbit-hole response:

Brownback has argued that the income tax cuts have stimulated the economy to prevent larger shortfalls in tax collections

And in Oklahoma, where they sadly reelected another bad Republican supply side governor....

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin addressed the people of in her annual State of the State address saying her first priority is the state's estimated $1 billion budget shortfall … Governor Mary Fallin and Republican legislative leaders have said they intend to target "off-the-top" funding streams earmarked for things like transportation and public schools as part of an attempt to fill the roughly $1 billion budget hole. 

GOP's CBO chief says: Tax Cuts don't pay for themselves!!!

So the good news is, the national economy did even better than anyone thought it could, and we’re just talking about the second quarter:

The U.S. economy grew more in the second quarter on larger gains in consumer and business spending.

Letting those Bush tax cuts expire worked wonders, allowing the wealthy pay a little more.

It also looks like Scott Walker is again benefiting from the national economic recovery. The state ended up taking in $71 million more than expected in the last budget year:

…up 0.5% over the previous projections … extra money is enough to pay the state's expenses for a little less than two days. Corporate income taxes were particularly strong last fiscal year.

The dependable Walker lackey’s...I'm sorry..."fellows," at the MacIver Institute were quick to make is seem like Walker's tax cuts, not the spending cuts, resulted in magic revenues:

Supply Side Myth Busted: And yet, just a few days ago, Republicans were betrayed by their own handpicked director of the CBO:

Reuters: The new Republican-appointed director of the Congressional Budget Office delivered some bad news on Tuesday to the party's "Reaganomics" devotees: Tax cuts don't pay for themselves through turbocharged economic growth.

"No, the evidence is that tax cuts do not pay for themselves," Keith Hall said in response to a reporter's question. "And our models that we're doing, our macroeconomic effects, show that."

But I've only scratched the surface here. You have to check out the numbers and their deceptive manipulation by Walker to believe the unbelievable. At Jake's Economic TA Funhouse,
Sorry MacIver, Wisconsin's tax cuts did not raise revenues

"Two Face" Walker greets Obama with a smile and handshake, then Tweets Obama Slime! Chuck Todd says Dems want to face Walker.

Scott Walker seemed so...un-world leader like. It's small insecure men like Scott Walker who wait until someones back is turned before they gather up enough courage to stab a person in back with petty verbal attacks and outright lies.

Gov. Scott Walker warmly welcomed him with applause, a friendly smile and some laughing banter. Walker spent the rest of the day essentially trolling the president on social media. First, he published a column on the Web site of Real Clear Politics under this headline: "Welcome to Wisconsin, Mr. President," and then fired off a series of anti-Obama tweets.

Let's compare Walker's style now and the way he ran for student body president...he hasn't changed:

Earlier in the week, our micromanaging governor made sure he could brutally and unmercifully go after his opponents with reckless abandon. Although Walker has no "official role" with his PAC, we're not stupid. Cap Times:

Scott Walker catches criticism from conservatives for Unintimidated PAC's hire of adviser: The Unintimidated PAC, set up by former Walker campaign staffers, announced on Tuesday that Brad Dayspring would join the team as a senior adviser. Dayspring, a former communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, has ruffled the feathers of more than a few conservatives. The news of his hiring led some to openly question Walker's judgment, even though the governor has no official role with the PAC.

"Gov. Walker should have known better than to hire Brad Dayspring, the worst GOP anti-conservative hit man in Washington," said Brent Bozell, the conservative chairman of ForAmerica and president of the Media Research Center. "Brad Dayspring has a despicable record using character assassination to besmirch the reputations of conservative candidates and public policy leaders. He’s paid to do the ugly work of the Washington establishment. He is the personification of everything that’s wrong in politics today. Gov. Walker, people are policy. If you want conservatives’ support, you need to get rid of this cretin immediately."

In 2012, Politico described him as "one of the House Republican Conference’s savviest and most controversial operatives," In his role as NRSC spokesman, Dayspring drew the ire of Democrats for calling Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes "an empty dress" and comparing her to a high school freshman. Dayspring said Lundergan Grimes parroted talking points, babbled incoherently and stared blankly into the camera when asked questions.

The same year, Rep. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, broke from the NSRC to denounce comments Dayspring had made about Cotton's opponent, Sen. Mark Pryor's faith. Cotton called an email Dayspring sent ripping Pryor for statements he'd made about his faith "incredibly bizarre and offensive."

A writer for the conservative site, RedState, went after Walker for his newly established Dayspring ties.

"Scott Walker just dropped off my list of acceptable candidates," wrote RedState writer Streiff. "I like a lot about Governor Walker but people are policy. And his decision to hire Brad Dayspring, an unprincipled political operative who combines viciousness and incompetence in equal measures tells us a lot."

John Hawkins, owner of Right Wing News, tweeted, "For @ScottWalker to hire someone like Brad Dayspring is a slap in the face to grassroots conservatives. It speaks poorly of his character."

Lawrence O'Donnell and Chuck Todd took a look at Walker, with Todd making the claim Democrats would like nothing better than to run against Scott Walker. Todd also said Walker's fight with the UW is the reason he's taking a hit in the polls:

Obama trashes Walker supply side jobs & business disaster, compares Minnesota's "Middle Class Economics."

If only Obama and the Democrat Party would talk like this all the time, in every media interview.

Obama makes it official, Walker is the best example yet of failed supply side economics, comparing him with "just across the river:"

"Stand with Walker" Trolls say Higher Taxes a Job Killer!!! Wrong Again.

Even Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn’t convince his party to eliminate the states massive deficit hole. That no tax pledge wasn't just a killer, it was a reason to cut the required spending that would lead to a Democratic economic recovery. And they couldn't let that happen.

My reason for bringing this up came from this ridiculous bubble world tweet from the usual list of “stand with Walker” trolls:

Okay, let's ask California. Just call me the troll killer. And yes, I've also asked these guys to provide proof, a link, anything to back up their fictions. Nothing.

They would be shocked, knowing the truth below:

California's budget surplus soars to new heights; schools to benefit: The state's revenue has climbed as much as $8 billion in the last four months.  The surplus was originally projected to be about $2 billion. California's financial outlook couldn't be more different now than it was just a few years ago in the depths of the state's fiscal crisis -- at one point the budget deficit hit $26.6 billion.

You can thank California Republicans for holding up tax increases that created that $26.6 billion deficit. Once they lost the ability to hold up their legislature, Democrats went back to work and made up for lost time, adjusting their progressive tax brackets and sales tax.

Did higher taxes make the wealthy give up trying? Did the wealthy flee the state? Of course not.

But getting back to the trolls preposterous tweet: Did high taxes kill job creation?

According to the numbers, job growth was concentrated in places that raised taxes, such as California … where voters in 2012 elected to increase both sales and income taxes beginning in 2013. Last year California ranked third in job growth at 2.9 percent, much better than the national average of 1.8 percent. Every 13th new job in America was created in just four California counties.

Here’s how Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democrats led California down the path to recovery:

This highly concentrated growth occurred after the California tax increases, Proposition 30, took effect for all Californians, but especially the top 3 percent. The new “millionaire’s rate” is a 29-percent increase in the marginal rate compared with 2012. In dollar terms, the cost is an additional $33,000 on each million dollars for those already making $1 million or more.

What made the "Stand with Walker" troll lie about California, and "job killing" higher taxes, were the following two charts in a Daily Kos post. Supply side economics is not easy to defend, now that we're able to see the results from GOP dominated states:

Walker's Wisconsin loses 300 jobs as cookie plant closes in Ripon.

Odd thing, all the corporate tax cuts and favors don’t amount to a hill of beans when it comes to a companies own bottom line and changing market.

Scott Walker’s choice to focus all his effort on the states older and fading manufacturing economy isn't working.  His hostility toward the new economic engines; energy, technology and bio-science has made the loss of an established business that much harder:

WBAY: A ConAgra cookie plant in Ripon is closing, leaving more than 300 people without a job.Union leader Alex Gillis says the union was notified of the closing of the west plant at 8 a.m. Monday. The plant is expected to close by the end of the year, according to Gillis.

ConAgra released this statement to WBAY TV in Green Bay: "Following an extensive evaluation of our plant network, we have determined that we need to close the soft bake and enrobed cookies facility in Ripon, WI..

This is Walker's economy, what he calls a template for the rest of the nation.

Walker still using GOP Great Recession to bash Democrats and push his failing agenda!

This is getting pathetic, no really, it is.

The "Blame Bush" Hypocrites: For years Republicans have been rolling their eyes when Democrats criticize the Bush and GOP policies, ending in the "free market" deregulation catastrophe; the Great Recession. But when it comes to erroneously blaming Democrats, like former governor Jim Doyle, well, they just can't stop themselves.

The most egregious offender, Scott Walker. Walker won all three elections blaming Jim Doyle for actually causing the Great recession, and in turn, the job and business losses. He's still at it.

Here's the latest con; Doyle and the Democratic legislature had to borrow heavily at the peak of the Great Recession to stimulate job growth and development.

Yet during these times of national growth, and because Walker will never raise taxes, he's decided to "spend & borrow," and minimize the debt by comparing it to Doyle. As PolitiFact points out:

Consider that in 2009, Doyle stood where Walker stood and unveiled a two-year budget with a proposed $1.5 billion in borrowing. That’s actually a bit less than what Walker wants ($1.6 billion).

As is typical later in the budget process, the State Building Commission brought forth a capital budget to borrow for building construction on the University of Wisconsin campuses and elsewhere. It sought another $1.2 billion in new bonding above Doyle’s original proposal. Then the Legislature added in another $900 million and -- in the end -- Doyle signed off.

Walker’s comparing his early-stage proposal to a 2009 final enacted budget after lawmakers and Doyle pumped it up. 

Walker's Supply Side Failure continues; Tax Cut deficits means never-ending spending cuts!!!

My original title for this blog post was, "Walker’s tax cut revenue shortages creates false choice for more cuts, to education and Public Radio/TV funding."

Scott Walker is intent on proving supply side austerity politics is infallible. If tax cuts fail to produce revenue, then just make more spending cuts. Kind of an endless downward cycle we're supposed to believe isn't a sign of failure. 

A reporter once asked about this, what he saw as a very big flaw in GOP policy. And to this day, Republican Sen. Alberta Darling’s answer has stayed with me. Here’s the audio proof:

Take Walker's plan to end funding for public radio and TV. He either assumes we're all pretty stupid, or we haven't paid any attention for the last 30 years watching Republicans try to destroy public media, including Big Bird. If you believe Walker, that's silly...:

Scott Walker said his decision to cut funding to public broadcasting is about balancing priorities. He said the move isn't personal.

“I don’t have anything against public broadcasting, but my bottom line is if I had to choose between putting money there or keeping money in our public schools, putting money into Medicaid, for us that was a priority,” said Walker.

Odd, those are both areas he's trying desperately to cut. But we wouldn't really have to choose if tax cuts worked the way Republicans say they work; by increasing revenues. In fact both tax and spending cuts appear to have reached a saturation point, creating large projected deficits.

Cuts to WPR and WPT sound like a done deal:

Republican state Rep. Dale Kooyenga told Wisconsin Public Radio host Joy Cardin on Wednesday morning the cuts can be made up.

“I am positive that the value of your product will definitely lead to more fundraising and innovation to get to that budget gap,” said Kooyenga.

Kooyenga isn't going to lose any sleep over this one, unless...

He said if the public calls for more funding for public broadcasting, he'd consider amending the budget.

What, Walker wrong? $535 million surplus really $283 million deficit? Who knew?

I guess it's not surprising Scott Walker won his reelection, after all, it was another one of those notorious midterm elections where Republicans turn out like flies on shit.

Even Walker's confidently stated lies can't break the trust they put in their "leader."

But to portray the struggling state of our economy, hit hard by the failure of his supply side austerity agenda, as somehow moving Wisconsin forward...would that be the last straw ... Walker's last big whopper and insult to our intelligence? Nope!

It now looks like the liberal blogosphere's warnings were amazingly accurate, again:

After telling his panting followers the above complete fabrication, he gave his now classic Walker "yes" nod. He does that a lot, to "catapult the propaganda," as George W. Bush say. The truth is, he's officially $283 million short this year, and faces this projection...

jsonline: Gov. Scott Walker begins his second term … plug a $2.2 billion state budget gap.

Of course that doesn't include the $750 million transportation budget gap, which Walker now brags he's going to borrow. And don't forget he's taking out a $220 million state loan to help build the Buck's arena. He's looking out for the taxpayers?

PolitiFact:

He asked for an estimate of the budget challenge assuming that lawmakers would hold most spending at 2014-’15 levels for the two following years, and tax revenue would rise at the five-year average of 2.9 percent. That yielded an estimate of a $535 million surplus.

That rosy number flies in the face of the official estimate that uses a long-established method used by members of both parties, and the governor’s budget office.

We rate the claim False.

Walker predictions wrong, get him reelected, but never materialize thanks to Supply Side Economics.

Remember this golden oldies from the last state of the state?

The governor touted a memo from the Legislative Fiscal Bureau issued a few days before last year's speech that said the state would have $911 million more than expected as an ending balance by June 2015, creating a total surplus of just more than $1 billion.

That didn't happen. Thanks to WISC's Jessica Arp, we have this Fact Check update:

Because of the tax cuts and many other factors, by the time the Legislature adjourned in March, the surplus was down to just $165 million. Then, in November, a memo issued by the administration said it is now $132 million in the red. 

Here's Arp's report:

And without the governors leadership and focus, educational maneuvers are not working out like we were told. In fact, we're spending money without getting a return on the investment:

News 3 found $28 million awarded to all 16 tech colleges in July to open nearly 5,000 new spots. So far, 1,526 students are enrolled statewide in those spots, and 252 of them have completed training.

Don't hold your breath waiting for adjustments. But the governors favorite forward thinking occupation, welding (?), is taking off:

Madison College officials said so far, they've added spots for 425 students and have eliminated one waiting list in welding.

Walker is barely paying attention to anything now, letting things slide...:

On the high school training programs, News 3 found a grant application wasn't posted until last month, so that $3 million has not been spent.