Well, if any of us here in Wisconsin needed any more motivation on why Scott Walker must go, the preliminary November jobs numbers certainly solidify one of the many reasons why he is not fit to serve.
http://www.jsonline.com/...
You're reading that right. Another 11,700 private sector jobs were lost and nearly 3,000 public sector jobs as well in November, 14,600 to be exact. Not only was this a bad month for job losses in Wisconsin, but also for...
July
http://www.jsonline.com/...
August
http://www.jsonline.com/...
September
http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/...
October
http://www.weau.com/...
All told, that is over 35,000 private sector and nearly 9,500 public sector jobs lost in the past 5 months in Wisconsin. In that same time frame, the U.S. as a whole created 420,000 net jobs. While the U.S. job situation is far from robust it is at least going in the right direction. Wisconsin, not so much.
Compare this to back in June of this year when Wisconsin's head of Workforce Devlopment had this to say about 12,900 private sector jobs gained in Wisconsin.
In a video interview with the MacIver Institute, state Department of Workforce Development Secretary Scott Baumbach said Wisconsin has seen a major change in the past six months.
“I think if you went back to December and you asked people what the state would look like in six months that point, I think most people would have said we weren’t going to be on pace to hit the governor’s goal of 250,000 job,” Baumbach said. “The economy didn’t look like it was that great. But this governor has taken very aggressive approaches to make this state business friendly.
They were literally tripping over themselves taking credit the jobs growth. Remember also when this June report was released Repbulicans were saying more than half the job growth in the U.S. then was from Wisconsin. Of course no one said they were ever good with numbers.
http://www.politifact.com/...
Now, after 5 straight months of net job losses, the spokesman for the Department of Workforce Development was whining about the inaccuracy of the numbers.
On Thursday, Walker's Secretary of Workforce Development, Reggie Newson, called into question the credibility of the data itself. Newson released a strongly worded statement that confirmed what economists have said for years: The monthly jobs numbers amount to erratic estimates that are extrapolated from relatively small survey samples and prone to revision.
So which one is it? Are Scott Walker's policies responsible when the jobs numbers go up and inaccurate when they go down 5 months in a row or is it the other way around? Well, let's think back to those early days of summer. There were two separate yet related events that coincide with these job numbers. In late June Wisconsin Act 10, which stripped away the collective bargaining rights of public employees along with several other onerous clauses like annual votes on staying in a union, it became the law of Wisconsin. Thank our friend and judicial "choker", Justice Prosser, for that! Not only did this effect public employees but it sent a message to all businesses in Wisconsin. Don't worry about unions, contracts with employees, do whatever you want. We'll have your back. Instead of saying "Wisconsin is open for business", it should have said "Wisconsin is open for businesses to leave".
But what made Walker's policies even worse was the timing. At this same time in early summer, another factor was coming into play. The national economic stimulus was using up the last of its money at this point. That meant that many people who had jobs either saved or created by the economic stimulus package were facing possible job losses. So a potentially bad situation was getting worse by contracting the job market when it should have been helped to expand.
Additionally, while businesses may not like to pay taxes, they do like something more than that, stability. They want to know the people, the resources, etc. will be there long term and the situation this year in Wisconsin has been anything but stable. It's never good for business and job growth when a state is this polarized. And that blame is squarely on Scott Walker.
Why should Scott Walker be recalled? Let me count the ways, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and counting.