Color me disgusted, repulsed, sickened, outraged, anything but surprised. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker (2002-2010) left Milwaukee County, and Milwaukee in particular, in an economic shambles when he ran for governor in 2010. And the assessment comes, not from a reliable-but-sure-to-be-ignored liberal analysis or activist group, but from the staunchly conservative Greater Milwaukee Committee. It issued a report in 2010 that concluded that, after eight years of Walker's "leadership:"
If we don’t make changes today, the future looks grim. Parks will close, bus routes will end and families in distress will not get the help they need. Our Milwaukee will grow smaller and smaller as people and companies leave.
So why are we just now hearing about this? No surprises there, either.
All of this was compiled by the folks at PoliticusUSA in the following article:
Secret Conservative Report Reveals Scott Walker as a Dire Fiscal Failure
The GMC report, which detailed the eight years of conservative economic policies followed by Walker and his conservative cronies in Milwaukee, and the abysmal results that inevitably followed, was issued just before the November 2010 gubernatorial elections. Of course, it was buried, and Wisconsin voters unfamiliar with Gruppenfuhrer Walker and his Götterdämmerung economic policies, went to the polls unaware of what an economic plague they were about to unleash on the state. Apparently it was buried at the behest of Michael Grebe, the chairman of the GMC as well as the chairman of the campaign for Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker. (Grebe denies suppressing it. You believe who you wish.)
The report is now coming to light, as Wisconsin as a whole goes into economic free fall, led over the cliff by Walker, the self-proclaimed "job creator" who promised to create a quarter million jobs through his "fuck the working class" economic policies and instead has lost jobs -- 2,300 in August alone. Wisconsin's median income has dropped below $50,000, and Milwaukee's has plunged to a horrific $32,911.
Citizen Sheri Hyland:
Eight to 10 years ago, you didn’t fear for your future. You didn’t fear for the stock market. There was a little talk about Social Security not being there, but you didn’t fear you might not have a house. ... Now, you're cutting coupons ... You say, maybe we won'’t drive that truck and we’ll buy a 10-year-old car because gas prices are high.
What did Walker do during his eight years of steering Milwaukee into the abyss? Same as he's trying to do as governor: slash taxes on the rich and the corporations, privatize (and gut) public services, fire public employees, and, in theory, cut overall spending. So how much county spending did Walker and his cadre cut? Not a damn dime; in fact, spending went UP 35%.
The GMC found that under County Executive Walker, the county had come to be
in such dire financial shape that state lawmakers should push through legislation that would allow it and other local governments to file for bankruptcy.
Hell, they were talking about eliminating the position of county executive altogether.
PoliticsUSA reporter Sarah Jones concludes her journalistic indictment of Walker:
Governor Scott Walker has a terrible economic record, so bad that conservatives sought to get rid of his position after he left his county in dire straights heading for bankruptcy. Governor Walker appears to be the perfect illustration of the Peter Principle, as he took his record of dire straights and economic failure straight to the Governor’s office, where he could enact his inept fiscal terrorism upon an even greater population.
So when can Wisconsin recall the son of a bitch?
Sun Sep 25, 2011 at 1:41 PM PT: Update: The PoliticusUSA server was hacked for a time today, but it's up and running again, so the link should be active.