Let’s Look at the Issues

Remember Scott Walker? He’s the governor of Wisconsin who took away the union rights of state workers. The unions representing state workers are no longer allowed to bargain for wages and other items as a result of legislation passed by Walker and the Republican-controlled Wisconsin state legislature. Several courts have looked at this legislation and split on the verdict of whether it is constitutional. But for now, the law stays in effect and the public employees in Wisconsin continue to suffer.

You may also remember that Walker said these anti-union steps were necessary because the state of Wisconsin had a budget deficit. He was correct in claiming there was a budget deficit, only he neglected to mention that when he was elected governor the state had a budget surplus. The deficit he cited was caused not by state employees and their unions but by Walker’s own policies of corporate tax breaks and tax cuts for the rich.

While Walker’s policies certainly angered state workers and other union members, the polls show that he has a chance of being re-elected governor this year. Right now, surveys show him dead even with his Democratic opponent, Mary Burke. But the campaign also means that media outlets are taking a closer look at Walker’s true record as governor. The results are not good for him.

For starters, it turns out that Walker’s anti-union maneuvers, his tax cuts for the rich and his tax breaks for corporations have done absolutely nothing to help Wisconsin’s job crisis. In fact, under Walker’s leadership Wisconsin has been dead last among all Midwest states in job growth.

Yes, dead last. When he was running for governor four years ago, Walker promised the creation of 250,000 jobs. But the truth is the number of new jobs created in Wisconsin under Walker doesn’t come close to that number, a fact that has been verified by several credible sources, including John Heywood, an economist with the University of Wisconsin. Heywood said, “The low growth in jobs in Wisconsin has been matched by very low income growth and poor levels of consumer spending. The state has been slower than its peers in recovering from the recession.” Heywood wasn’t alone. The Washington Post also confirmed that Wisconsin was dead last among Midwest states in job creation in an article published on September 5.

There are other problems with Walker’s first four years in office. As an example, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia ranked Wisconsin 49th out of the 50 states in economic outlook and said it was one of only five states projected to have an economic contraction in the second half of 2013. On top of that, new estimates show the state will be facing a shortfall of close to $2 billion in the next budget cycle. Walker reached this staggering budget deficit in spite of the fact that he instituted a reduction in education spending in Wisconsin of more than $1 billion, the largest education cuts in the state’s history. As a matter of fact, Walker cut school funding more per student than any other governor in the U.S.! And yet he still has a budget deficit of close to $2 billion!

There’s more. While Walker initiated tax cuts for the wealthy and tax breaks for corporations, he failed to live up to a tax-cutting promise he made to Wisconsin’s retirees.

When he was running for governor four years ago he promised, “We will work to begin phasing out the state tax on retirement income to help keep investment capital in Wisconsin instead of watching it go to states like Florida and Arizona.”

Walker has not lived up to his promise. Instead of freeing retirees from paying state taxes, he increased the burden on many of them—those who were state employees—by removing their unions’ collective bargaining rights.

It should also be noted that Walker doesn’t attack just union workers, he also attacks non-union employees. Across the nation many progressive municipalities have enacted legislation mandating paid sick days for employees who do not have this benefit. As an example, shortly after Mayor Bill de Blasio took office, new legislation was enacted giving all employees in New York City workplaces of five or more employees five paid sick days a year (here in our Union we have eight). But when a number of municipalities in Wisconsin began looking into legislation to mandate paid sick days for workers to take care of themselves or family members, Walker signed legislation that would pre-empt local government control, preventing them from requiring paid sick days for workers, regardless of how much the community might want them!

Walker also opposed increasing the minimum wage in Wisconsin, calling the proposal “a political grandstanding stunt.”

The results of Walker’s policies are clear. Wisconsin is last in job creation, second-to-last in economic outlook, and first in cuts to education funding. That’s what union-busting does. Walker’s policies have clearly shown that union busting doesn’t just adversely impact union members, it adversely affects everyone!