An open letter to Governor Walker

Dear Governor Walker,

I’ve read that you’re touring the state to hear from constituents as a way to get caught up after spending so much time out of state during your presidential campaign last year, and since I live over 250 miles north of Madison, I thought I’d address you on Blogging Blue rather than expect you to travel all the way up here.

I know that two of your biggest problems since you took office in 2011 seem to be job creation and overall business climate. Wisconsin has kind of been circling the drain on both counts for many years now, but I have some good news for you.
Minnesota, right next door, is leading the nation on both counts! Last June CNBC rated Minnesota #1 in the nation for business, and over the weekend a new report shows that the Gopher state is #1 in job creation as well.

This is great news, because not only is Minnesota very similar to Wisconsin in a number of ways, but Mark Dayton took over as Governor there the same year you did here, and with an even bigger budget deficit than you inherited!. In spite of all that, they’re now leading the nation in a pair of top economic indicators, and have a budget surplus of 2 billion dollars. That’s a lot of scratch, man!

I’m no scholar, and I can’t make an in-depth argument about how all this happened, but I can lay out some general points that I think can help you turn Wisconsin around pronto.

1. The CNBC report cites Minnesota as a ” union friendly ” state, so you might want to consider repealing Act 10 and that god-awful Right to Work bill since neither could, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered union friendly.

2. I know you went out of your way to repeal Wisconsin’s living wage law, but you should restore it immediately. Minnesota raised their minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, which isn’t nearly enough, but it’s better than the meager $7.25 workers are making over here.

3. Governor Dayton campaigned in 2010 on raising taxes on the wealthy, (something that seems to have escaped the attention of Wisconsin Democrats), and that’s just what he did, though none of the scare mongering about how everyone would leave actually came to pass. And Minnesota is #1 in business climate, job creation, AND they have a 2 billion dollar surplus! Woo Hoo!

4. Minnesota took the federal bucks to expand their Medicaid program, (Minnesota Care), since it was tax money Minnesotans had already sent to Washington DC, and they also created their own state exchange to maximize the benefits of the Affordable Care Act for their residents. I think they probably embraced the wildly experimental notion that a healthier population is happier and, as such, better able to get up and go to work in the morning. I don’t know for sure, I’m just taking a stab in the dark.

I’m sure there’s a lot more to all this than I’ve listed, and I know you have a ton of staff who could dig into it and sort it all out, but I just wanted to fill you in on some of the basics. I know how much you love Wisconsin and all of its people, but I also know what a busy guy you’ve been , what with all that presidential nonsense and the Koch brothers retreats and so forth.

So I just wanted to give you a hand. You’re welcome.

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23 thoughts on “An open letter to Governor Walker

  1. I think if you want to keep Wisconsin out of bankruptcy you might want to listen to ALL the people.

  2. I agree with this letter. Please take a look at Minnesota – they are doing well. And while you’re at it, take a look at Kansas. They went the same route that Wisconsin is on and have numerous problems now. Check with their governor, or just read the book “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”

  3. Time to do what’s right for Wisconsin and its People, not what is right for yourself!!!

  4. Unfortunately for Wisconsin citizens, Gov. Walker doesn’t give a crap for us as it doesn’t further his political agenda which is ALL he cares about. If he actually cared about the majority of Wisconsinites he would start undoing the damage he has done to the citizens of this state before it flushes further down the drain.

  5. Walker’s presidential bid was a sham. If you really think the Koch brothers have untethered Scotty, think again! He still owes them, and many other wealthy donors, BIG TIME! And he is ever so willing to continue shilling for them and promoting their (and other wealthy donors/corporations) ALEC agenda. The only way WI can even begin the long, arduous path to recovery is to vote Walker and his cronies out of office. And by the way, Scotty, traveling the state to listen to “your constituents” doesn’t fly when the sessions are “invitation only”!!

  6. Thank you for writing this letter and providing facts, as the government in Wisconsin doesn’t seem to want to look at what’s factual. If WI people aren’t over their governor yet, they better start giving serious looks as to what he’s all about. Nadda, for them.

  7. Your letter is great and spot on! How ever it’s like you are,speaking to a,drug addict. He’s so deeply entrenched in the money and the love he gets from the dark money masters and he likes being liked by somebody more powerful
    that he can’t listen or reason with the facts. Plus a psychopathic behavior probably from his family…looks like his facial features are from fetal alcohol so the whole thing makes for a dangerous package.

    1. Aw Dave, maybe it’s because we love Wisconsin and aren’t ready to give up on this state.

      I was born and raised in Wisconsin, and I’m not going to leave just because our state’s in decline under Gov. Walker. Instead, I’m going to work that much harder to be a part of turning this state around.

    2. Personally, I’ve been at my job 33 years now and cannot afford to leave. However, I plan on getting the heck out of Wisconsin when I retire in 4 years. Minnesota is looking very good. 🙂

  8. Governor Walker please pay attention to Minnesota.Do not let our great state end up like Kansas.

  9. I have a question for Governor Walker perhaps you can answer it. Where do you get your ideas for bills? For example this latest bill to allow private companies to buy utilities without a mandated referendum? Where do you get ideas like that?

  10. Please Steve, have the next Democratic gubernatorial candidate run with a platform of raising income taxes of middle class Wisconsinite from 6.27 to 7.05%. Tell them you want to increase sales taxes by 30% and you want to charge them 1.25% of the value of each vehicle in registration fees and add a surcharge to each home owners insurance policy to pay for state pension benefits. By the way, if MN has such a large surpluss, why don’t they start paying into their $18 billion dollar underfunded pension system.

    1. IOW, nobody being spoken to with these sincere sentiments will ever be listening to any of them. I agree, a complete waste of time addressing anything to Scott Clause.

      Have been pestering my Repub state Rep on another issue, to tell us immediately in the press if Vos is speaking for him by going to AG Schimel to bypass legislative and judicial procedures and to rule on high capacity well regulatory authority of the DNR. Phoned and emailed 5 nearest local news outlets suggesting the do the same.

      Chances are slim anyone will listen, but better than no chance at all.

      1. As Winston Churchill said to fellow Brits during the darkest days of WWII:

        “Never give up, never, never, never.”

  11. Please read this and consider what is, in fact, being said and not invent ways to legitimize your actions. In your time in office, you have undermined the citizens of Wisconsin and have brought shame and ridicule to our state. It is time for you to bow out and sadly leave someone else to clean up the mess.

  12. I grew up in Wisconsin as a Republican. Except for our National Disgrace, Joe McCarthy, I trusted Republicans, for they were Honest and upright. Or so I thought. Now they are lower than Pond Scum. Sorry, they are like child molesters. ICK!!! And Walker calls himself a Christian. Bounce him out of the Temple and get someone who cares. He has no shame.In fact he prides himself in Ego and Pride. FAIL!!

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