During Friday night’s gubernatorial debate between Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic challenger Mary Burke, discussion turned to the possibility of raising Wisconsin’s minimum wage, at which point Gov. Walker made it clear the issue in Wisconsin isn’t his abject failure to create jobs as he promised; it’s that Wisconsinites are simply too lazy to take the minimum wage jobs that are available. Said Gov. Walker, “We don’t have a jobs problem in this state. We have a work problem.”
Here’s video of the exchange, including Gov. Walker’s remark.
Keep in mind Gov. Walker never directly answered the question on whether he supports an increase to the state’s minimum wage, but we can only surmise he does not support an increase, if statements made by a member of his administration that $7.25 per hour is a “living wage” are any indication.
Gov. Walker’s continued opposition to an increase in the minimum wage, coupled with his stunningly ignorant statement that Wisconsin has a work problem – not a jobs problem – shows how far he’s willing to go to avoid taking any responsibility for the how he’s run Wisconsin’s economy into a ditch.
Jobs problem, work problem? Not exactly red meat.
Who won debate 1 anyway? It was a yawner.
As someone who lives in the Green Bay metro and having younger siblings who are looking for steady full time jobs instead of part time work, I really would like to see how we’re being ‘lazy’.
This isn’t new. He’s been saying in ads that there are jobs out there for anyone who ‘wants them’ for awhile now.
This tactic must be working at some level, but I don’t know how it can be viewed as anything other than an insult to Wisconsinites all over the state.