Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
The outcome of the gubernatorial contest, Walker vs. Burke, was still undecided when this article was written.
But, it’s my fervent hope that many of you went to polls and exercised your civic responsibility in voting your conscience.
Predictably, in the closing hours of campaign, the Walker camp literally flooded the airwaves with bogus, attack ads and, in typical Walker-fashion, grossly-distorted his record of achievement.
The governor has gone to great lengths to hide his apparent Achilles heel: JOBS.
Not surprisingly, there was little, to no mention, of Walker’s failure to make good on his campaign pledge to create 250,000 jobs during his first 4 years in office.
Instead, Walker and his spin doctors focused on fabricating their own set of facts.
For instance, his insistence that Wisconsin is third in the Midwest in terms of private-sector job creation, and his mantra that he is moving the state forward.
Walker’s campaign was also trance-like in its assertion that Mary Burke was responsible for the state losing 130,000 jobs when she served as the Commerce Secretary.
This charge is absolutely ludicrous and if anyone should be saddled with the blame for the state’s downturn in jobs – it’s Scott Walker.
How many jobs has Walker left on the table by his stubborn refusal to accept federal cash to expand the Medicaid program that provides health care for elderly, poor and disabled adults?
Moreover, the governor unfortunately let politics and personal ambition drive his decision to turn down federal funding (approximately $900 million) for a high-speed rail project.
This project alone would have generated a countless number of jobs and, more important, would have been a major catalyst in promoting economic and business development for the entire state.
If Walker is reelected, it will be more of the same. Tax breaks and handouts for corporate cronies and the wealthy, while paying for it on the backs of working-class and poor families.
Make no mistake about it, elections definitely have consequences. Hopefully you used your vote to make a difference, by holding Scott Walker and his band of hooligans accountable.