Mash His Cute Little Nose
We're Looking For a Little Yellow
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Posted on 08/08/2011 9:08:09 AM PDT by Hunton Peck
When we took office on Jan. 3, our state was facing a fiscal and economic crisis. Despite a billion-dollar tax increase the year before, we inherited a $3.6 billion deficit. Meanwhile, even with more than a billion dollars in federal stimulus, Wisconsin had lost more than 150,000 jobs. We had to take immediate action to get our state on track and people back to work.
We enacted pro-job reforms and are now beginning to see results. After two years of job loss, we've seen six consecutive months of growth. During 2011, more than 39,000 private-sector jobs have been created, and we already gained back more than 25% of what we lost over the past two years.
In June alone, Wisconsin added 9,500 net new jobs. In contrast, states such as Illinois saw a net job loss of 7,200. Still, we need to continue working on ways to add more jobs in Wisconsin.
One of the reasons we've been able to outpace the nation is because job creators now have confidence that we have made the tough decisions to balance our budget and promote growth. As a result, our state jumped 17 spots in a national survey of business-friendly states. Today, 88% of our state's employers think Wisconsin is headed in the right direction (up from 10% last year).
While this paints a good broad picture of where our state is headed, it's the individual stories that matter most. Thankfully, thousands of people in Wisconsin are heading back to work, and that means creating a better life for their families.
Recently, I visited a manufacturer in Wausau who expanded his workforce by a third this year. The company president told me it was largely because of the stability in the state's finances that he could hire. His company now employs 175. That's 175 families that are better off because he had the confidence to expand.
What that company president told me mirrors what we are seeing across the state. Employers believe in Wisconsin once again, and they are showing it by creating jobs for middle-class families. Wisconsin has added more than 14,000 manufacturing jobs since January. We are adding them nearly twice as fast as the nation. That's welcome news for thousands of families.
Our budget and other reforms continued our job creation efforts, protected important services and set the stage for important education reforms. We closed a $3.6 billion deficit without raising taxes.
While balancing this massive deficit, our budget reaffirms our commitment to public education by ensuring that it is still our state's largest expenditure. Even more important, school districts now have the flexibility to make common-sense changes to improve education.
The finance director of one school district noted that, "no Wisconsin public school district has ever had the opportunity in any of our lifetimes to even think about these things." Her district is looking at performance pay to reward effective teaching.
Another school district is making changes so its teachers work eight hours a day instead of seven. The teachers can then use the additional time for collaboration. The district says the additional hour will add greatly to the amount of time teachers spend in the classroom, while reducing the amount of substitutes used.
We are working with state Superintendent Tony Evers and a diverse group to continue to improve education in Wisconsin. We are collaborating on our Read to Lead Task Force to improve our state's achievement in reading. We are also working together to develop a new teacher effectiveness measure. Most recently, we are looking at a better way to provide accountability in education. We want Wisconsin to lead the way with a comprehensive view of how our schools are doing.
We took office during an enormously challenging time for our state and nation. We made a lot of difficult decisions to balance our budget, create fiscal stability and encourage job growth. Now we are continuing to address two of our state's most important issues: jobs and education.
We will continue to work together on these important issues, so we can continue to move Wisconsin forward.
Scott Walker is governor of Wisconsin.
He would make a fine financial adviser for 0bama.
“He would make a fine financial adviser for 0bama.”
The phrase “pearls before swine” leaps to mind...
The MSM and unions have done a powerful propaganda job up there. My 92 year old uncle, who is a very conservative person, is upset at the Governor and Republican State House. God help ‘em!
mac, the crybaby liar, daddy does not need any advise, he know nothing about everything.
several articles have made the poun that this is ALl about turnout..because there are NO independents/undecided at this time..
Along the lines we were discussing.
If Walker does not get Statewide “Right to work” legislation passed (while its even possible)..
His whole tenure as Governor will be wasted..
If the Unions take back over.. what hes done can be erased.. quickly..
I hear no rumblings about that happening.. PITY..
I suggest to Walker to at least start a threat to do it.. so the conversation can be held..
So “the People” can debate being free of Union hegemony..
He could even start and/or attend a debate.. on this..
Debate the question: Who OWNS Wisconsin... the Unions OR “the People”?..
Unions have LESS than 20% membership in this State.. not all of THEM are socialists..
HIS legacy WOULD BE THE DEBATES.. not temporary legislation.. that can be reversed..
The unions WOULD hate THOSE DEBATES.. he could FORCE them to happen..
gov walker for president! all patriots to wisconsin. you are needed. now.
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