Monologues of Scott Walker: Job creation cannot be measured in "jobs"

"Job creation cannot be measured in 'jobs,' per se, but in the extent to which
one spins jobs numbers to give the illusion one has created them."
- Excerpted from the presumed inner monologue of Scott Walker

 29 Sept. 2013

 

Dear friends and other readers, including, but not limited to, the Fundraiser in Chief of Wisconsin, Scott Walker,

Welcome to a new exercise in dissent at MoD, Monologues of Scott Walker, in which we provide a summary and analysis of the presumed inner and outer monologues of one Scott Kevin Walker, who refuses still to communicate with those he governs in any coherent or meaningful way (including, but not limited to, by refusing to instruct his staff to reply to their emails or phone calls to his office; by refusing to attend events which are open to the public or invite public comment or conversation; and by refusing to attend events which are neither publicity stunts nor fundraisers).  If you happen to be the governor in question, and you're reading this, please know that the doors to alternative modes of communication remain open, and we welcome you to make use of them.  Many others in positions of power and/or publicly elected office often do, in fact, communicate with their constituents, and there are many resources at your disposal if you are uncertain as to addressing the difficulties of doing so, or scared about accidentally saying something true, or encountering people who may not give you money, at one of those events.

This inaugural monologue highlights the primary message the ever-campaigning governor would like to convey: 

Hmm.  Tone's a little off, but the truth level is spot-on.

It's not hard to read between the lines when one has a record like yours, Governor Walker, and since you refuse to communicate with us in any real way, I'm sure you'll understand the necessity of providing a more coherent summary of what your spin and your actions are saying to the people of Wisconsin.  Were it not so damaging, I'd almost admire your well-bought skills in distorting your record of failure and presenting it as a record of success, meeting every latest documentation of your dismal jobs record with a misleading press release touting the "success" of your industry-stalling, worker-stomping, economy-halting policies, in a move my dad, Rick DuBois, so beautifully sums up thus:

"The damage is done, his sheep have been fed b*llsh*t and are delighted with it."

This week has seen some especially creative spin, to accompany some especially damning evidence of your incompetence in the job creation department.

The facts:  A report from Business Journal ranked you 6th Worst Governor in the US in job creation, 40th out of 45 governors evaluated.  Sen. Dave Hanson (D-Green Bay) sums up that news aptly:

“When a publication like the Business Journal says our Governor is 6th worst in creating jobs, folks should listen to them. Even by his own standards, the Governor is not even half-way to keeping his promise of creating 250,000 jobs in his first term.”

WMC = Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce = Walker 2014
All interests, all conflicts, all the time.

Your response: put out a press release and get your cronies at the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (the unofficial propaganda arm of your campaign enterprise) to dump a staggering $800,000 into an ad campaign that willfully distorts another study, from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, to give the impression that you are actually leading the nation and the Midwest in job growth (which, of course, you aren't, as everyone who looks at the real data knows).  The Philly Fed, incidentally, immediately responded to denounce your blatant manipulation of this jobs data, discrediting the spurious "rankings" their numbers cannot be used to  suggest.  Ironically, Federal Reserve Bank data also demonstrates that Wisconsin is 49th in economic recovery, but that bit somehow missed inclusion in your ad. Your buddies at the Journal Sentinel tried to soften that blow by stressing how those rankings aren't a very clear indicator, and a more clear indicator might be to look at better data:

The most accurate reading of the state's employment trends show Wisconsin ranks at No. 44 in private-sector job creation in the most recent 12-month period. In the same time frame, also using accurate data, Wisconsin ranks as the nation's fifth worst in terms of the erosion in private-sector wages, in which the state's 2.2% decline is twice the rate of the national 1.1% average.

Know what they call that kind of picking and choosing, and blatant distortion of data?  Propaganda.  Luckily for you, propaganda is a very effective political tool.  Less luckily, we're paying attention.  And most of us aren't idiots. Sorry. Blame college. Or the recall. Or something.
 
Because the blame game you play has become a joke.  Even in the midst of trying to pretend your record is good, you constantly admit the truth by pointing the finger and blaming others for your dismal jobs record.  Which is it?  Make up your mind!  Are you going to keep claiming that contrary to well-documented study after well-documented study, your "reforms are working"™ OR are you going to keep blaming the recall, and Obamacare, and the recall, and Syria, and the recall, and Obamacare, and the recall, and the protests, and the recall, and workers, and Europe and Obama, for your failures?  Or are you too busy traveling and fundraising and eating brown bag lunches on your 44 flights (!) from Madison to Wauwatosa (to the tune of $183,839.16 in travel expenses from Jan-June in this year alone - not counting commercial flights or the trip to China) on our dime to think about that right now?

Free campaign strategy tip:  You can't both say your record is awesome AND constantly blame someone else for your horrible record. (Just kidding.  That tip wasn't free.  Please send a check for consultation services for however much you usually pay your Koch/ALEC/WMC cronies or Scott Suder or Chief Erwin or the people tending your criminal defense fund to me at the address at the end of this message.  Not sure what the going rate is but it sure seems like you can afford it!  Many thanks!  Let me know if you need my EIN or SS# for tax purposes.)


Finally, since we're talking about abuses of power and distortions of your record, I want to close by addressing the issue that's most important to me as a parent and a taxpayer: your record of abuses to public education.  I could not be more ashamed or disgusted by the revelation this week that the "Read to Lead" program was in fact, pure grandstanding.  By failing to even appoint members of the development council to get this much-photographed, much-publicized, much-spun (and totally superfluous) program off the ground, you have made clear what we already knew: the whole thing was a big publicity stunt to get us to think you cared about public education (which you have proven unequivocally that you do not). A full year and a half after the fund was established, $0 of its $400,000 have been put to use and the council has yet to be formed, proving beyond the shadow of any remaining doubt that you care absolutely none about the students in our public schools, and that you will go to any lengths in your "investments" in defunding and destroying public education in this state.  This news, coupled with your Tea Party rallying call for "public hearings" on Common Core State Standards that Wisconsin has already committed to implementing in our schools (and rejection of which would force us to give up federal funding, depriving us of access to our own tax money, like you love), makes Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, who stood by your side for "Read to Lead" photo op after photo op, look like a total tool in your ruthless manipulations, and makes us wonder why he wasted one moment of his time trying to partner with you on education initiatives when you show nothing but disrespect for him, our schools, our educators, our taxpayers, and our students.  

As a parent, and someone who cares deeply about preserving the quality and excellence of our wonderful public schools in Wisconsin, I am just disgusted by this latest evidence of your hypocrisy.  I call on everyone who cares about public education to follow closely your actions, and the actions of your legislative cronies (who care more about promoting and preserving institutional racism in our schools than the quality of education), and how they are tied to the out-of-state special interest groups using Wisconsin as their testing ground for how far privatizers can go before people unite to stand up and say ENOUGH to defunding education, demoralizing educators, and violating the public trust.  I am saying enough now.  And I welcome others to join me.  They can start by connecting dots and following the amazing work being done by the team of watchdogs at Public School Shakedown, led by Ruth Conniff.  They can start by attending school board meetings (or, better yet, joining the board or serving on committees!) and getting a better sense about how for all your lip-service to "local control," you are tying districts' hands and making real control more and more difficult at the local level.  They can start by standing up for teachers, volunteering in classrooms, showing their support and appreciation for the hard work they do, following the news of what's really going on in public education, and keeping a sharp eye on intrusions into them by unscrupulous privateers.  

I'm keeping a sharp eye, actually, on all of your unscrupulous intrusions in to our public and private lives, and looking forward, in every way, to voting for your replacement in 2014.

Sincerely,
Heather DuBois Bourenane
Unintimidated voter and public school supporter, Wisconsin



Update: 8:00pm, 9/29/2013.  This just in.  More number-crunching and calling out from the brilliant brain over at Jake's Economic TA Funhouse.