We are being bombarded by TV and radio ads promoting our next governor. The profusion of ads is the result of the Citizen’s United Supreme Court ruling which allowed seemingly unlimited caps on campaign donations so today big money groups like the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Foundation and the Koch Brothers can attempt to buy elections. Walker’s campaign is using this money to flood the airwaves with negative ads against Mary Burke and half truths about himself. Too much of this money is from out of state.
Local radio ads say Walker is moving Wisconsin “Forward”. How is kicking people off of health insurance by not accepting BadgerCare funding moving Wisconsin forward? How is refusing to increase the $7.25 minimum wage so that poorer families can have a decent standard of living moving Wisconsin forward? It is the middle class that creates jobs by earning enough money to buy goods and services – demand creates jobs. How is diverting money from public education and giving it to private voucher schools moving Wisconsin forward?
Walker’s ads twist the truth. You will recall one of his first acts as governor was to take money from public schools and their employees to “balance the budget”. His move, coming after his election, was a surprise. We have to wonder what surprise he is planning to spring on Wisconsin workers if he is re-elected. We sure won’t know beforehand. His ads boast about the surplus he created when in reality we are facing a $1.8 billion structural deficit in the next budget.
You will recall Governor Walker’s solemn promise to create 250,000 jobs. Now his ads sound like the 100,000 jobs created is spectacular. Every week we read about Wisconsin companies laying workers off. In Wisconsin the bar has been lowered while our neighboring states are doing more to give its citizens good-paying jobs. He cut $1.6 million to our technical colleges then blames the unemployed for not being trained for supposedly existing jobs, calling our unemployment a “working problem” not a “jobs problem”. Keep in mind that if he is re-elected, he will spend the next two years travelling out of state, campaigning for a national position within his party, so realistically, Rebecca Kleefisch would be governing our state.
We have the opportunity to replace him now. Mary Burke will make decisions based on good business sense not divide and conquer tactics which reward friends.
Linda Strommen