Walker implies jobs pledge can be achieved ANY time in 2015, not just the end of his term

Facing insurmountable odds, Gov. Walker again changes the rules on his jobs promise from 2010

He’s dodged the question, revised it, and called it a “goal.” Now, Gov. Scott Walker is trying to change the time parameters under which his 250,000 jobs pledge can be completed by.

In comments with reporters, Walker recently said that that the goal was to reach 250,000 jobs by 2015 -- and in his words, “whether that’s the first day or not” of that year.

From JSOnline:

In his 2010 run, Walker built his campaign around a promise that the state would add 250,000 jobs if he were elected. Since he was sworn in, the state has added about 101,500 jobs.

Walker said Wednesday in Madison he would not concede that the state could not achieve his jobs promise — and raised the possibility he may have until Dec. 31, 2015, to do it.

“Our goal was to get there by 2015. I’ve said all along, whether it’s the first day or not — obviously that’s maybe debatable,” Walker said.

In a follow-up question, asked if he was saying he might have until the end of 2015, rather than the beginning of that year, to achieve that promise, he said: “I said by 2015 — not by the end of. What I said was, whether it’s Jan. 1 or some point in the future, our goal was to get there in 2015.”

Scott Walker promised 250,000
jobs by the end of his first term.
Image via Wikimedia Commons.

When he was running for governor back in 2010, Walker stated, unequivocally, that he would pledge to create 250,000 jobs. Not only that, he promised that the number would be his “base,” not the lowest point to reach.

But Walker is on path to failure, and he’s dragging Wisconsin down with him. In addition to being the second-worst state in the Midwest region since the time he took office, Wisconsin is on pace to reach around 150,000 jobs created by 2015 --- 100,00 less than Walker's pledge, and even less than what his opponent in the 2010 election had promised to create. In terms of unemployment, Wisconsin has also slipped in its national ranking since Walker became governor.

Here’s the kicker, though: even if Walker DID have until December 31, 2015, to reach his jobs pledge, at the current pace Wisconsin is going under his watch, we STILL wouldn’t reach 250,000 jobs. In fact, we would be at about three-quarters of his jobs promise, around 187,000 jobs, which would be just barely above his 2010 opponent’s pledge.

But remember: that’s assuming everything goes at the same pace it’s been going at, until December 2015. Walker still has plenty of time to keep blaming protesters from 2011, or the unrest in Syria, or Obamacare, or elections, or even the rain, for the state’s dismal job numbers.