Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Can Scott Walker's campaign actually explain how Doyle's policies lost us jobs? $100 says they can't.

To paraphrase a quote from Scott Walker's hero, Ronald Reagan: "There he goes again."

The latest ad put out by the Walker campaign repeats a favorite line of the administration -- that we lost 133,000 jobs under the previous governor, and oh by the way, Mary Burke was part of that governor’s cabinet.


Mary Burke served as Jim Doyle’s Commerce secretary. She said, “I support Gov. Doyle’s policies entirely.” And when Doyle’s term ended, Wisconsin had lost 133,000 jobs.

Then Scott Walker took over as governor, and Wisconsin gained over 100,000 jobs.
It’s a line that catches the attention of its viewers, but it also causes anyone with a critical mind to question: just how gullible, how stupid does Gov. Scott Walker think the average voter is?

We lost those 133,000 jobs during an economic recession, the worst of any kind seen in more than a couple generations. The global effects of the economic meltdown not only hit Wisconsin, but other states as well, not to mention other nations around the world also.

To pin the blame on the sitting governor of that period is foolish, and ignores the economic realities witnessed at that time. In fact, according to some experts, Wisconsin actually fared better than most other states during the recession.

The ad put out by Walker, of course, omits this relevant information, implying that the blame for job losses rests solely with Doyle, and by extension with Burke as well.

That line of thinking was debunked almost exactly one year ago by PolitiFact Wisconsin. Not one to let facts stand in their way, however, the Walker campaign erroneously and irresponsibly repeats it today, as if saying it enough times will make it true.

In February this year, I pointed out that the Republican Governors Association must think we’re stupid, too. They also ignored the realities of the economy from the recession period, pinning the blame squarely on Jim Doyle and Mary Burke for our economic troubles.

So here’s a deal: I will pledge $100 to the Walker campaign if they can convincingly state their case for why and how Doyle’s policies led to 133,000 jobs being lost. If the Walker campaign can make an argument that is sound, that lays out how Doyle's policies, and not the economic recession, were responsible for those losses, they will gain one more donor to their campaign.

Truth be told, I’m not expecting much from them. It is, after all, a flawed argument, and I’m convinced that Walker and his surrogates don’t truly believe it themselves.

Oh, and one more thing: comments on the above video have been disabled by the Walker campaign. I’m guessing they don’t want anyone saying certain things about their ad...like, you know, how absurd it really is.

3 comments:

  1. If we have to explain to you you would be too dumb to understand it anyway.

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