Scott Walkers Austerity measures have brought job creation down to 44th in two years

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Anarchist420

Diamond Member
Feb 13, 2010
8,645
0
76
www.facebook.com
The funny thing is, Walker loves two of the biggest and costliest public-sector unions: police and firefighter unions. Those unions were not neutered like the teacher's union was. I find that immensely hypocritical on his part.
Beat me to it. By no means has Gov Walker taken an austerity path as he ran up huge deficits excessively paying cops and firefighters when he was mayor. He's still running up deficits as governor.

Republican Governors are just as fiscally liberal as Democratic Governors and really the Republicans in this thread are working to drive America into the ground quicker than the Democrats are. Republicans in this thread are going to drive America into the ground quicker because they've actually had chances to nominate libertarians, but then the Republicans do everything they can to piss the libertarians away.

Romney said he believed the Federal govt should be allowed to steal 25% of national income while Dr. Paul said no national income should be stolen. Romney won the Republican nomination though because the Republicans love stealing from the people.

Also, Republicans apparently don't trust citizens to have guns because they the former wants all of those damn police.
 
Last edited:

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com

glenn1

Lifer
Sep 6, 2000
25,383
1,013
126
Let's provide a sense of context to the message of doom from the OP, so we can see whether things really are terrible in Wisconsin or the recent figures are a reversion to mean:

wisconsin_employment_growth.preview.png



California leads nation in job creation

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57562186/california-leads-nation-in-job-creation/

"Since February California has created almost 234,000 jobs, more than Texas, Oregon and West Virginia combined."

You're mixing apples and oranges - the figure you quoted is nominal jobs created, not job creation rate which is what the OP posted. Here are the figures:

JOBS29G1.jpg
 

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,505
2
0
Just think how much money the state would be saving if police/firefighter unions had to concede what teachers did.

Police/firefighters are some 60% of city/town/county personnel costs... yet they were excluded from the union reforms.

Perhaps because those unions were huge Walker campaign contributors. :hmm:
 

cubby1223

Lifer
May 24, 2004
13,518
42
86
Just think how much money the state would be saving if police/firefighter unions had to concede what teachers did.

Police/firefighters are some 60% of city/town/county personnel costs... yet they were excluded from the union reforms.

Perhaps because those unions were huge Walker campaign contributors. :hmm:

I hope they're next. But that doesn't make me any less happy the other public sector unions got a healthy dose of reality.
 

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,505
2
0
I hope they're next. But that doesn't make me any less happy the other public sector unions got a healthy dose of reality.

It should make you less happy. The unions that got "a healthy dose of reality" are chump change compared to the ones that didn't.
 

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
Fire + Police represent a bigger slice of the budget than teachers + public works in WI?
 

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,505
2
0
Fire + Police represent a bigger slice of the budget than teachers in WI?

Yes. They're 60%+ of the personnel costs that cities/counties/towns have. Add that up across the state and you have a figure much greater than teachers.
 

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
Yes. They're 60%+ of the personnel costs that cities/counties/towns have. Add that up across the state and you have a figure much greater than teachers.

Who pays for the schools\teachers? Is it at the state level?
 

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
Two-thirds state, one-third local tax levies. You can thank Tommy Thompson for that disparity.

That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. MN plays that bullshit game with property taxes. Subsidizing local and county govt who then spend like the money will always be there. When income tax rolls fall during economic down turns. These localities whine about having to raise property taxes blah blah blah due to less state aid.

I agree with you the police + firefighters need to kick in like the rest of public employees in the state.
 

cubby1223

Lifer
May 24, 2004
13,518
42
86
I'm basically self-employed, I pay all my "pension" costs myself, all my health insurance costs, *plus* the taxes I pay contribute towards all the public sector union pension costs and health care costs. Doesn't seem fair that I don't have a union forcing other people to pay for my costs. Any reduction in public sector union benefits, helps me. Whether they are a small percentage or what-not, the large pension payouts that make the news-reels, it's out of control, and things need to be changed, even if it's little by little.
 
Last edited:

zsdersw

Lifer
Oct 29, 2003
10,505
2
0
I'm basically self-employed, I pay all my "pension" costs myself, all my health insurance costs, *plus* the taxes I pay contribute towards all the public sector union pension costs and health care costs. Doesn't seem fair that I don't have a union forcing other people to pay for my costs.

Then why are you self-employed?

I pay taxes on my income too which, though from the public sector, is not union-driven... though, like you, it goes to union workers.

I agree that any reduction in public-sector union benefits is good... but my point is that it's hypocritical to decry them yet exclude some unions from the neutering that is elimination of collective bargaining... which is what Walker and his ilk did.
 
Last edited:

WHAMPOM

Diamond Member
Feb 28, 2006
7,628
183
106
For an on topic post. I have different sources giving different numbers on Wisconsin job rates all lame compaired with Walker's claim to make WI number one. What my real quandary is what happened to Wisconsin's Billion Dollar Debt and why Walker spent $600,000.00 to shield himself from the Milwaukee John Doe Probe.
 

CycloWizard

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
12,348
1
81
Call me back in 10 years when Wisconsin is doing fine and other states are bankrupt. Indiana went through the same thing a while back and is now in far better fiscal health than its neighbors. Many state governments are acting like obese people refusing to diet or exercise to get their weight back under control: it seems like a lot of fun to sleep in and eat a carton of donuts every morning but it isn't going to end well.