Wisconsin's anemic 0.60% growth in the last 3 months also is behind the U.S.'s 0.82% rate, and these figures look even worse if you take it back to Scott Walker's inaguration in January 2011. The Philly Fed says Wisconsin's economy has grown only 0.78%, while every other state around us HAS GROWN 4 TIMES AS FAST, as we're well behind the U.S. pace of 5.13%. Wisconsin's the red line on the bottom of this chart.
And all of that tiny bit of growth is contained to the last 4 months. Wisconsin basically flat-lined in 2011, and Uppity Wisconsin has a great link to a report from economist William Fruth, which measures the "economic strength" of all U.S metro areas. You'll see that Walker's damage hit nearly every corner of the state, as Wisconsin's cities fell significantly among the 366 metro areas measured.
When you have metro areas dropping 7-10 percentiles or more (as all metros past Janesville do on this map), you've got a major problem. And you are clearly not "Open for Business." The Philly Fed's Leading indexes are coming up next week, and don't count on much improvement on the near-term horizon.
Well, it will continue to look bad unless you change leadership at the top on June 5. And given these figures, you'd be out of your mind to keep the CEO that kept Wisconsin in the doldrums while the rest of our neighbors have been growing and eating our lunch. So don't let it happen.
It really frosts me that the national Dems are letting the WI crusade wither on the vine. I'm convinced that the polls are either way off (most of them) or actually cooked (a few of them). Nobody in DC better try taking credit when we kick Walker out.
ReplyDeleteJack- I've also mentioned that polls are clearly off, and that this thing is up for grabs (if not Barrett leading).
ReplyDeleteAs for the D.C. Dems, they're clueless in general, and much like with the Uprising, we'll get this done with or without them. And why they don't care is odd to me, because I think Walker's regressive policies are part of a bigger GOP plan to flatline the economy and hurt Obama's chances in 2012.
Barrett's funding has been pulled by numerous sources now
ReplyDeleteUniversal sign of impending defeat
I've followed politics obsessively for 43 years now and I'm telling you, Barrett is done
Walker wins by seven
If I'm wrong I'll post on here the day after and give you guys props...
MFG- Actually, the reports I've seen involve lots of money coming IN to Barrett over the last week precisely because the national groups were told by thousands of us over here what was really going on. And the release of the internal polls illustrates that as well, because Walker has no internal polls to release that say otherwise.
ReplyDeleteNice effort to try to spread the propaganda, but Tommy's in real good shape to take this thing, and I look forward to hearing from you on June 6.
Hey, MFG--
ReplyDeleteI hate to tell you, but Barrett is going to win--and not just win, but by a surprising margin. I'm not in WI myself, but I & everyone I know has sent Barrett money. We are sick & tired of being kicked around by the Republicans & ignored by the "Democrats" (so-called) who are afraid to take a bold progressive stand. The only reasons Republicans won in 2010 is that the Democrats were ran away from the Left instead of embracing us. WI will be the turning point!