As Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker faces Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, the Democratic nominee in the June 5 recall election, his economic record is a major challenge.
Wisconsin has the worst job record in the country under Walker, having lost 8,500 jobs since December 2010—12,500 between January 2011 and January 2012. But this is Scott Walker, and he's not letting that get in the way of attacking Barrett on jobs.
Greg Sargent lays out how, in early 2011, Walker was claiming credit for job gains in Milwaukee:
“With four straight months of job growth in 2011, metro Milwaukee is reaping the economic benefits of Governor Walker’s successful efforts to improve Wisconsin’s business climate, and make job creation a top priority,” blared a Walker administration press release in May of 2011.
But now, he's
running an ad highlighting Milwaukee's poverty and unemployment rates and linking them by implication to a property tax increase in the city.
So at the very beginning of Walker's term, before his policies had been in effect long enough to affect the economy, Wisconsin—and Milwaukee—gained some jobs. Now that Walker has been governor for nearly a year and a half, and has had a real chance to affect Wisconsin's economy, the state has lost jobs, one of just five states to have done so in the same time period. But that's all Tom Barrett's fault.