Wisconsin's Wasted Economic Opportunities

Over the last six years, Wisconsin has been blessed with many good opportunities for economic growth. Taking maximum advantage of these would have led to a much stronger recovery than we have actually experienced. Unfortunately, Scott Walker and his compliant GOP legislature have bungled many of the growth drivers handed to them. Let's look at a few of these economic growth opportunities.
 

1. Proximity of Wisconsin to two huge metro areas. Chicago and Twin Cities are the 3rd and 16th largest metro areas of the US. These huge nearby population centers should provide great opportunities for Wisconsin's economy. However, rather than building regional cooperation, Walker has insisted on bashing our neighboring states. He has in tried in vain to poach their companies. Where we should have strong growth through regional cooperation, we have petty and non-productive rivalries.

2. The Kenosha casino proposal. A new casino in Kenosha would have drawn high-rollers from the Chicago metro area (see #1). An estimated 10,600 direct and indirect jobs would have been created by the $800 million project. However, after being told by Iowa conservatives that casino approval would hurt his Iowa Caucus chances, Walker decided that Wisconsin does not need these jobs.

3. World class university system. Both UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee are prestigious R-1 research universities. Schools like these act as catalysts for high technology companies and are major assets for their home states. Unfortunately, instead of supporting these gems, Walker has recently declared war on them. Thanks to gross underfunding, packing the Regents with sycophants, and petty attacks on tenure, many of the best and brightest faculty are leaving for greener pastures.

4. High speed rail. Over $800 million in stimulus funds would have permitted high speed rail connections between Twin Cities and Chicago, tying us closer to those metro areas (see #1 above). Instead, Walker rejected the plan, forfeiting over 4,000 construction jobs and 50 permanent rail jobs (and 150 jobs at Talgo). Walker's partisan abandonment of the plan also unnecessarily cost us tens of millions to renege on contracts and to make needed repairs to the Hiawatha line.

5. Higher take-home pay accelerating our economy. Wage increases result in a ripple effect of high economic growth. Walker and his pet legislature have instead focused on keeping state wages down. Through Act 10, cuts to prevailing wage laws, enactment of Right-to-Freeload, and refusal to raise the state minimum wage, Wisconsin salaries have been kept woefully suppressed during the recovery. Only WMC is happy.

6. State efforts to attract and keep companies. An effective state Commerce Department should act to attract good jobs to the state through infrastructure improvements, tax incentives, and assistance. However, Walker dissolved the Commerce Dept., replacing it with the scandal-ridden WEDC. This shit-stain on clean government has lost track of loans, handed-out incentives to companies leaving the state, and acted as a taxpayer-funded hog feeding trough for Walker campaign donors.

7. Growth opportunities in renewable energy. Surrounding Midwestern states are experiencing big jumps in renewable energy capacity, along with the high-paying jobs that accompany them. But GOP regulatory uncertainty has led to no additional Wisconsin wind capacity in the last five years. While California had the Terminator, we have the Turbine-Hater. Government-approved fees on solar installations have led our state to lag all neighboring states in home solar growth. One industry analyst calls Wisconsin "an island of renewable-energy stagnation amid a sea of growth.” 
 

Wisconsin has been handed many recent opportunities for growth. However, our governor has managed to squander each of those opportunities through gross incompetence, ideological biases, and petty squabbles. This has caused Wisconsin's economy to badly lag those of our neighbors. During a 2012 CPAC speech in DC, Walker likened himself to the Chief Operating Officer of Wisconsin. An actual company COO with such a poor financial record would be swiftly fired by the Board of Directors.