Again, if Milwaukee and Wisconsin want young people, Walker/WisGOP must go

As the Wisconsin Assembly plans to vote tomorrow on giving the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) $6.8 million to start up a campaign to lure young workers to the state, the Milwaukee Business Times had an article out on Friday afternoon illustrating why WisGOPs say such a bill is needed.

When it comes to population growth of millennial residents, it’s slow going for the metro Milwaukee area, according to a new report from the Brookings Institution.

The area ranks seventh lowest in the nation for population growth among young adults, aged 18-34, from 2010 and 2015, the report said.

Drawing from U.S. Census Bureau data, the analysis examined where millennials – defined as those born between 1981 and 1997 – are settling in the U.S., as well as their educational attainment and racial diversity.

The only metro areas to see lower growth rates than Milwaukee’s 1.4 percent millennial population growth rate were Birmingham, Alabama which saw a loss of 0.6 percent; Chicago, with a 0.2 percent growth rate; Toledo, Ohio (0.5 percent); St. Louis (0.9 percent); Youngstown, Ohio (1 percent); and Jackson, Mississippi (1.2 percent)….

Zooming it out statewide, Brookings says that Wisconsin had the 10th-smallest amount of millennials out of the 50 states in the nation (22.4%), and they note that the trend in that statewide standing is even worse since Scott Walker and the GOP came to power.

Two states, West Virginia and Illinois, registered losses of young adults in 2010-2015, and seven others, mostly in the middle of the country, showed growth of less than 2 percent. These include Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Wisconsin, along with, in New England, Maine. With the young adult population growing at 4.7 percent nationally, these states are drawing fewer millennials than others.

When you’re as unattractive as Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Kentucky, you should really check yourself and realize you're on the wrong path.

In contrast, Madison had the 5th highest proportion of millennials out of the top 100 metro areas in America (26.8%). And the Business Journal notes that the young people Madison is getting are also highly educated.

Madison tied with Boston for having the highest educational attainment among older millennials. In both cities, 58 percent of 25- to 34-year-old residents have at least a college degree. Among white residents in Madison, that figure was 63.8 percent.

Sure makes you think that if we want to attract younger people to the state, then maybe we should see what Madison does and have that as a model that the rest of the state can learn from. And that maybe a change in strategy is in store to get those young people to settle in Milwaukee?

Instead, our current Governor tries to score political points by saying this.

The last thing we need is more Madison in our lives. @Paulsoglin is the latest extreme liberal who wants to take our state backward -- just like he did in Madison, where businesses have left and murders have gone up. We want to go forward.

— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) January 10, 2018

And that same Governor is supported by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. If the MMAC honestly was interested improving things in the state’s largest metro market, how could they look at the stagnation in Milwaukee’s economy and its worsening demographics over Walker’s 8 years in office, and then say “Oh yeah, we want more of that!”?

The answer to that question is obvious – the MMAC and other Wisconsin corporate oligarchs DON’T CARE if the state becomes more desirable to young people, or even if the economy grows for most Wisconsinites. They only care about their elite position and having their puppets in power at the state and local levels.

And it’s why those slimebuckets should be ignored at all levels, if not outright fought. Because as long as the MMAC, WMC, and their GOP puppets are in power in Wisconsin, this state will continue to be unattractive to young people, especially those with talent and options in life. And $6.8 million in tax dollars for marketing isn’t going to change that.

The only thing that changes it is to FIRE THE GOP in 2018, and restoring Wisconsin’s progressive heritage by reversing these regressive policies.