Yesterday, one of these failed conservative governors, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, promoted his failed leadership of Wisconsin as success, something it is very definitely NOT. Let's look at a few of the many ways in which Wisconsin is NOT thriving under Scott Walker or conservative policies.
Infrastructure is one of the most fundamental and essential functions of state government. Infrastructure along with the educational level of your workforce, are the two most important drivers of state-level economic development and growth. Walker's administration and the conservative dominated Wisconsin legislature, in their efforts to govern on the cheap, so as to give every possible financial advantage to the wealthiest 1%, is the 3rd worst nation for the condition and safety of their roads and bridges.
A press release from Wisconsin Congressman Pocan from July 10, 2015:
71% of the state’s roads are in need of repairThe driving force of every capitalist economy is a large, healthy middle class; demand and consumption drives our economy, including economic growth. Under conservatives led by Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin's middle class is not thriving, it is shrinking, the worst in the country, and a significant result of the war on Unions by Walker and conservatives. THIS is one of the reasons Wisconsin is one of the worst state level economies in the nation. Depending on which statistics, Wisconsin is 38th or 44th in job creation.
Washington, D.C - U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02) released a troubling Department of Transportation report detailing the urgent need to improve infrastructure in Wisconsin. A staggering 71 percent of the state’s roads are rated as being in poor or mediocre condition. This puts Wisconsin in the bottom three states for road conditions in the country. With Governor Scott Walker set to sign a budget which further reduces state investment in transportation projects, now is the time to take immediate action to ensure the current patch of Highway Trust Fund does not expire on July 31st.
“Building roads and bridges are core functions of our government,” said Rep. Mark Pocan. “Once again, Gov. Walker has failed to provide critical investment to programs that matter most to the people of Wisconsin.”
“Republicans in both Washington and Wisconsin are jeopardizing public safety and economic growth by failing to provide adequate funds for transportation needs,” continued Rep. Mark Pocan.
From the Madison Capitol Times in March 2015:
Report: Wisconsin worst in nation on shrinking middle classIf you are consistently among the worst -- and Wisconsin is among the wort by multiple metrics -- you are not as a governor, you are not as an example of conservative ideology, a success. You are a failure lying to people, misrepresenting yourself as a success.
If you feel like you’re working harder for less money, it’s not your imagination.
Wisconsin ranks worst among the 50 states in terms of a shrinking middle class, with real median household incomes here falling 14.7 percent since 2000, according to a new report.
The Pew Charitable Trust report showed Wisconsin with the largest decline in the percentage of families considered "middle class," or those earning between 67 and 200 percent of their state’s median income.
In 2000, 54.6 percent of Wisconsin families fell into the middle class category but that has fallen to 48.9 percent in 2013, according to U.S. Census figures compiled by Pew.
All other states showed some decline but none as great as Wisconsin’s 5.7 percent figure.
For contrast, the Hill announced yesterday that under the Obama administration, the national deficit is down $455 Billion-with-a-b. This is an example of a genuinely successful democratic leader, applying successful outcome based policy rather than ideology driven and schismatic policy to correct the problems created by the last Republicans when they had control at the federal level. The contrast is profound.
White House projects deficit to fall to $455B for 2015
The federal deficit is estimated to tick down to $455 billion by the end of the fiscal year in September, according to the Office of Management and Budget’s mid-session review released Tuesday.
As a share of the economy, the shortfall would equal 2.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
“Under the President’s leadership, the deficit has been cut by more than two-thirds as a share of the economy, representing the most rapid sustained deficit reduction since WorldWar II, and it continues to fall,” OMB Director Shaun Donovan wrote in a blog post.
The new projected deficit would be nearly $30 billion less than the government’s red ink in 2014 and $128 billion less than administration’s 2015 deficit prediction back in February.
OMB’s mid-session review updates the administration’s estimates for spending, revenue and the deficit over a 10-year period.
Even with the most trivial matters, Republicans are wrong, and Republicans LIE about the factual numbers, misrepresenting their success. A recent example is the clown prince of the Republican candidates, Donald Trump, the same man who paid people to show up at his announcement as a candidate while proclaiming a huge turn out of people who loved him and were excited he was running. The turnout was not large, and it was not apparently of people who in fact were actual supporters. Continuing the exaggerations (no numbers on who might have been paid to show up) in Arizona, Trump proclaimed he was drawing larger crowds than the legitimate grass roots support for lefty Bernie Sanders. The reality is that Senator Sanders has drawn crowds of 15,000 people while Trump only filled a venue that holds less than 5,000. There were no 15,000 Trump supporters.
From abc 15:
Phoenix Fire says capacity rules not broken after Trump tweets officials broke fire code
Trump tweeted Sunday morning that city officials "don't want to admit that they broke the fire code by allowing 12-15,000 people in the 4,000 code room" on Saturday.
Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump
Convention Center officials in Phoenix don't want to admit that they broke the fire code by allowing 12-15,000 people in 4,000 code room.
8:18 AM - 12 Jul 2015 614 RetweetsHe followed the statement by another tweet stating that the convention center allowed everyone to come inside so they wouldn't be left outside in the heat.
Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrumpPhoenix Convention Center officials did not want to have thousands of people standing outside in the heat, so they let them in. A GREAT day!
8:21 AM - 12 Jul 2015
Phoenix Fire Department says City of Phoenix Fire Prevention Specialists set the capacity for the room at 4,200 people.
The fire department reportedly closed the doors once they reached capacity.
"No rules or codes were broken and no one was in danger at any time," Deputy Chief Shelly Jamison says.
According to Phoenix Fire, a Fire Prevention Specialist is an expert on large events and are assigned to specifically enforce large-capacity events such as Comicon, Super Bowl Fan Fest, rallies and other.
This is an example of the skeptical 'liberal' fact driven perception of Trump in the twitter verse, and of the cultish conservatives looking at the same information. The contrast could not be sharper between liberal B. Justice and conservative Cindy Lyn below:
B. Justice @zefirotorna Jul 12
Sounds like@realDonaldTrump has a problem with numbers, just like@tedcruz. 0 retweets 0 favorites
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Cindy Lyn @CindyLyn4 Jul
8:58 PM - 12 Jul 2015 · Details " data-component-context="replies" data-user-id="552753327" data-disclosure-type="" data-has-parent-tweet="true" data-you-follow="false" data-you-block="false" class="simple-tweet tweet js-stream-tweet js-actionable-tweet js-profile-popup-actionable descendant with-non-tweet-action-follow-button "> @realDonaldTrump You don't need to justify anything to these---misfits. They are clueless, disrespectful, and hateful. The liberal credo.