For the last 20 months here in the Badger State, we have been living the Republican austerity dream under Scott Walker:
1. He promised 250,000 new jobs if elected (about a 10% increase) within his four-year term, which is roughly what was predicted to happen anyway.
2. He declared an "economic emergency" even before being elected.
3. Then he handed out tax cuts like candy that only benefitted a select few.
4. Then he dropped the bomb and demonized a section of society.
5. Then he proposed massive budget cuts to a vital program.
6. Then during a 2012 election campaign he said that just by being elected, confidence will appear and jobs along with it.
Whereas in Mitt Romney's case:
1. He promises 12,000,000 new jobs if elected (about a 10% increase) within his four-year term, which is roughly what is predicted to happen anyway.
2. He declared a "looming crisis" even before being elected.
3. Then he plans to hand out tax cuts like candy that only benefit a select few.
4. Then he's demonized a section of society.
5. Then he proposes massive budget cuts to a vital program.
6. Then during a 2012 election campaign he says that just by being elected, confidence will appear and jobs along with it.
Birds of a feather indeed, and not in a flattering way. But Romney would be walking in the footsteps of a Governor famous for the plethora of jobs his state now enjoys, having brought economic prosperity to all. Right?
Since Walker became Governor in January 2011, Wisconsin has lost 15,600 jobs. If they had instead been added at the national rate we'd be 80,000 better off than that by now. This 80,000 jobs deficit fails to make up any lost ground at all from when I last diaried this a month ago:
(Same conclusion represented as a bar chart)
The sources (listed on the image) are on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website; the National series and Wisconsin series for the total nonfarm payroll number from the Current Employment Survey.
All charts created by RandomNonviolence.
The post-recall jobs implosion
During the recall election campaign, Scott Walker re-made his 2010 promise to see Wisconsin create 250,000 jobs during his first term. Over the last four months, instead of the promised jobs explosion, Wisconsin has lost 6,900 jobs and the Walker jobs deficit for this period is 16,800.
Private sector jobs
Walker's 2010 campaign promise was that he would create 250,000 jobs. While he didn't qualify that at the time, after the November 2010 election and during his repeat of it during the recall campaign he has couched it as 250,000 private sector jobs by 2015. So granting that qualification then 5,200 net new private sector jobs are required each month, every month from January 2011 to January 2015. Let's see how he's doing:
Even worse, and the chasm only widening.
So Wisconsin has lost 10,700 private sector jobs under Walker in his first 20 months and now needs to somehow add 9,310 every month from now on to get to where he promised to take us. The tortoise is wedged under the millstone of austerity while the hare is invisible, somewhere over the horizon.
But Wisconsin at least has a budget surplus now, right?
This week Walker highlighted that following the first fiscal year of his own budget, a $108.7m deposit is to be made into the state's rainy day fund because there was $342.1m in the general fund at the end of FY12. The reason why this isn't such great news is that during 2011 the Walker administration borrowed $528,386,704 with lifetime interest payments of 28%. So that $108.7m headline for Walker is costing Wisconsinites $30.7m down the road in unnecessary interest payments we'll now have to make. It also ignores the contribution of $26m of raided mortgage settlement funds and over $1m from other raided funds.
Smoke and mirrors that we're paying for, and even more raining upon essential services.
Choose the blue line;
Image credit: badscience
Scott Walker's campaign has removed his twice-made 250,000 jobs promise from scottwalker.org, less than three months after last making it.