Dismal economic performance is a hallmark of Scott Walker’s administration. With no apparent strategy to grow jobs, Walker has overseen Wisconsin’s fall from 11th in the nation in job creation when he took office to 35th in the nation ranking, today.
In the wake of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke releasing her own “Invest for Success” plan, and the contradictory reactions from Walker and state GOP, we think Walker should answer the following five questions.
Five new questions for Scott Walker on his plan to create jobs:
1) In response to the latest and most accurate jobs data you said “we’re still doing better off than we were previously.” If that’s so and your jobs plan is working why has Wisconsin fallen from 11th to 35th in the nation in job creation?
2) You also said “Wisconsin is headed in the right direction” in response to the latest jobs data, but the facts show Wisconsin fell to 9th out of 10 Midwest states in job creation since 2011. How can you determine falling to the second worst job creator in the Midwest as moving in the right direction?
3) In response to the Burke jobs plan your spokesman said you had “already taken the lead on policies aimed at closing Wisconsin’s skills gap, lowering tuition costs, and improving the state’s business climate.” Can you really say your approach is working when Wisconsin is ranked 45th in the nation in prospective job growth through 2016 and 48th in new business start-ups?
4) In response to the Burke job creation strategy your spokesman also said that it would “stall economic recovery and take the state in the wrong direction.” Wisconsin failed to net a single new private sector job in January of this year and we currently create jobs at half national average. Given those takeaways from the most recent and most accurate jobs report aren’t we currently headed in the wrong direction and stalling out in job creation?
5) During your campaign for governor you promised to create 250,000 jobs by the end of your first term. In fact, you said that figure was your floor for job creation – not your ceiling. Then why are you running from the biggest promise of your campaign? More importantly for workers and families across the state, why aren’t you well on way to fulfilling your central campaign promise if your policies are working as well as you say they are?
