From the pages of In Business magazine.
The characters in AMC’s popular zombie-apocalypse series The Walking Dead know they can’t ever relax. No matter how peaceful things may seem at any moment, there’s always an undead “walker” lurking around the corner ready to turn them into brainless, shuffling automatons with a feeble and fading grasp on reality.
I know how they feel. It’s been campaign season in Wisconsin for the better part of three years now, and our own dread Walker is both frightening and brain-frying. You never know who the next victim will be.
While it’s been relatively calm in Badgerland since Gov. Walker fought off a historic statewide recall in June 2012, Wisconsinites should have no illusions about their safety and security. Campaign season has arrived, and Mr. Walker has already begun to loose the flying monkeys.
Case in point: Around the same time former Doyle administration Commerce Secretary Mary Burke announced that she would challenge Walker in the next election, he penned a risible op-ed for The Washington Post that provides a glimpse into what will surely be the centerpiece of his campaign strategy — i.e., make stuff up and see if anyone notices.
While there’s not yet a cure for whatever ails The Walking Dead’s zombies, you can still protect yourself from becoming part of Wisconsin’s undead herd. The simple rule is this: Unless he’s singing jaunty 18th century sea shanties or blowing kisses to Charles Koch, be skeptical every time Walker moves his lips. He’s probably fibbing.
Now, it’s true that every politician shades the truth from time to time. It goes with the territory. But Walker has all but blotted out the sun. If you hop over to his page on Politifact.com, you’ll see just how shady he really is. Only 23% of the Walker statements the respected fact-checking site have made a ruling on have been deemed either “true” or “mostly true.” By contrast, the Kenyan socialist usurper Barack Obama clocks in at 46%. Not great, but miles better than our little fibber. (Incidentally, a full 37% of Walker’s statements have been ruled “false” or “pants on fire,” compared to only 16% of Obama’s.)
Of course, Walker’s Washington Post op-ed (laughably titled “What Wisconsin can teach Washington”) was par for the course. Oh, it wasn’t exactly riddled with lies. Not quite. His claims in the article more or less pass the “is it strictly true?” test. But the piece is notable for what it leaves out of the conversation.
Note, for instance, this paragraph:
“At first, some legislative leaders balked at our plans. But we worked through their concerns and together we created legislation that not only passed but also produced positive results.”
Of course, he’s talking about his famous plan to dump Wall Street’s flaming bag of poo at public employees’ doorstep. You might have heard about this. It created something of a stir.
Then again, the way he puts it, you’d think state Democrats and Republicans are now holding hands on verdant hilltops, singing hosannas to the governor in thanksgiving for the endless bounty of milk and honey that streams from every river, creek, and Kohler faucet in our fair state.
Truth is, Walker’s reforms remain controversial, our state is still bitterly divided, and the “results” are less than stellar.
(Continued)
Just how poorly we’re doing (34th in the rate of private-sector job growth from March 2012-March 2013, according to the latest Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, and 42nd since Walker took office) is brought into sharp relief by the metrics Walker chooses to cite: 1) We’ve jumped from 43rd to 17th on Chief Executive Magazine’s list of best states for business and 2) our unemployment rate has dipped from 9.2% to 6.7%.
Of course, No. 2 insults the intelligence of anyone who’s unlucky enough to remember that George W. Bush was once our president, and No. 1 proves exactly nothing. It’s like noting that High Times readers would rather live in Colorado than Rebecca Kleefisch’s basement. Tell me who’s creating jobs. That’s all that matters.
Unfortunately, Walker doesn’t have much of a record to stand on when it comes to job creation. At best, he can point to below-average jobs numbers and the rejection of hundreds of millions in federal transportation and health care funds.
The latter taught Washingtonians a lesson, all right. It taught them that Wisconsin knows how to reliably suppress economic activity. And that, dear friends, will give Ms. Burke more than a little ammunition come 2014.
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