Kicking us when we’re down
Friday, Apr 29, 2011 - Posted by Rich Miller
* How sweet of Wisconsin’s governor not to try and kick his neighbor while it’s attempting to deal with a devastating flood in its entire southern region…
After several quiet weeks, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Thursday fired another salvo in his border war against Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn.
Responding to a dire financial report issued earlier this week by Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, Walker’s office distributed a news release again touting Wisconsin as a more business friendly state than Illinois.
“Our state will continue to make the hard decisions to create a fiscal environment that encourages job creation,” Walker, a Republican, said in a prepared statement. “Job creators coming to Wisconsin can know that our state is open for business.”
Topinka’s report noted that Illinois is on track to end the fiscal year with $8 billion in unpaid bills. Walker said Wisconsin is trying to shrink his state’s deficit.
“Businesses make plans based not just on what’s happening today, but on what they see happening in the future. The contrast between Wisconsin’s trend line and Illinois’ could not be greater,” Walker note
Yeah. Wisconsin’s trendline is civil unrest and massive numbers of legislative recall elections. Nicely done. At least our most recent problems aren’t man-made.
- speechless - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 7:01 am:
C’mon, it’s not like Pat Quinn has been being quiet about Walker.
- Michelle Flaherty - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 7:19 am:
I thought Walker had left to go be House Speaker in Missouri
- Old Milwaukee - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 8:32 am:
We made ourselves weak and vulnerable. Now we’re crying about people trying to take advantage of us. It’s a big world out there. Let’s fix our problems so guys like Walker don’t have an argument.
- Cincinnatus - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 8:33 am:
There are so many problems in Illinois, I guess there is never a time for Walker to criticize Quinn. At least the Republicans in the GA don’t bail out of the state like the Democrats in WI…
- wordslinger - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 8:37 am:
Wisconsin’s open for business alright — Monkey business.
Check out the Milwaukee Journal on a recent Walker top hire in the state’s Commerce Department:
–Just in his mid-20s, Brian Deschane has no college degree, very little management experience and two drunken-driving convictions.
Yet he has landed an $81,500-per-year job in Gov. Scott Walker’s administration overseeing environmental and regulatory matters and dozens of employees at the Department of Commerce. Even though Walker says the state is broke and public employees are overpaid, Deschane already has earned a promotion and a 26% pay raise in just two months with the state. –
Turns out the young man’s daddy is a big-time lobster whose business group dumped $121,000 into
Walker’s campaign fund last year. He got the job over the person who’d held the post since 2003 and another applicant who had a doctorate in the field, neither of whom were given the courtesy of an interview.
What do we call that in Illinois? I guess in Wisconsin it’s conservative family values. Some families are just more valuable than others.
Even better, Walker revamped the Commerce Department, dumping a bunch of Civil Service positions so he could make appointments like this.
The kid has since resigned.
http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/noquarter/119159584.html
- Easily Entertained - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 8:44 am:
Until Illinois demonstrates fiscal responsibility, business in this State will suffer from the instability fiscal irresponsibility always fosters. Long term business investment has been leaving this state for years. Walker’s vitriol, although politically motivated, is not without reasonable basis in fact. And although his timing demonstrates a callous indifference to the people of this great state, the Governor and General Assembly should take heed. Illinois is fiscally and politically unstable. The best way to deal with Walker’s attack is for Illinois to get its house in order.
- piling on - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 8:44 am:
Cincy,
The Illinois GOP just stays, does nothing and collects a per diem. So much better and braver than the WI Dems.
- Cincinnatus - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 8:49 am:
piling on,
The Republicans were there on the recent school reform, and were active participants in the debate because the Democrats reached out to them. Have the Democrats made the same concerted efforts toward Republicans in the budget debate? When Republicans put forth a plan, Quinn’s first reaction was to blast them.
The Republicans are in Springfield willing to work with Democrats, should the Democrats reach our. But remember, the Democrats control both houses of the GA and the Governorship, so ultimately, its up do them to govern. If nothing is getting done, it’s the Democrats fault.
- Observing - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 9:07 am:
Businesses move to Wisconsin??
That state is going to have a war between labor and business for a decade. I don’t think that’s the environment businesses are looking for.
- Shore - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 9:18 am:
For republicans the Illinois bashing from other states puts the party in a very awkward position. On one hand they are bashing leaders we dont like and policies we dont agree with, on the other hand, this is still our state they are ripping and no offense, but Wisconsin, New Jersey and Texas are not states I think more highly of or are in a position to trash Illinois.
- Jimmy CrackCorn - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 9:33 am:
—At least the Republicans in the GA don’t bail out of the state like the Democrats in WI…—
For the love of God, we’ve been over this 1,437 times on this blog. Quorum rules are different here than in WI. In Illinois a simply majority consititues a quar… oh forget about it, I quit
- wordslinger - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 9:35 am:
Walker’s just using an age old tactic of distraction to try to keep folks from looking at his screwups , which are daily fodder in the Milwaukee and Madison papers.
- Ghost of John Brown - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 9:38 am:
Not sure I understand the connection between what Walker said and the flood is. I’m not trying to downplay the severity of the flood at all, but up here in the Chicago area, it has not been front and center news, so I’m not sure if it is something that they are all that focused on up above the cheddar curtain.
That said, the civil unrest up there in Wisconsin was at least partially a result of influence from outside of the state. Up in Wisconsin, they are trying to deal with long term structural deficits. Here in Illinois, there is not a lot of effort to do the same. Some, but not a lot.
- wordslinger - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 9:53 am:
–That said, the civil unrest up there in Wisconsin was at least partially a result of influence from outside of the state.–
You mean Palin, Breitbart and the Koch-funded Americans for prosperity who have been turning out dozens for pro-Walker rallies?
For the record, during the three weeks of anti-Walker protests numbering in the tens of thousands every day, there were a total of 15 arrests and no major incidents.
There’s a lot more trouble after Badger football games.
- Anonymous - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 10:11 am:
Don’t really care for walker but that 8 billion in debt the state is in is man made. The pension debacle is not an act of god. Unless you were referring to god speaking to cardinal George about removing pflegar.
- Demoralized - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 10:19 am:
==If nothing is getting done, it’s the Democrats fault.==
Not entirely true. There was and still is a plan to pay down the backlog of bills and the R’s have rejected it out of hand. They prefer to borrow from providers and vendors instead. Your party is so courageous.
- mokenavince - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 10:19 am:
If our politicans in Illinois clean up workers
Comp.. And start to pay some bills we would not have to put up with all of Walkers or Danials B.S..
- Ghost of John Brown - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 10:34 am:
Wordslinger
I think you forgot about the busloads of union members that drove to Wisconsin from Illinois, New York and other states.
Palin and Breitbart should have stayed out of it, but they came later.
- Pro-Walker Illinoisan - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 10:36 am:
Walker’s message needs to be heard loud and clear.
Illinois’ failure is that there aren’t enough Illinoisans saying it for themselves.
- wordslinger - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 10:41 am:
-Walker’s message needs to be heard loud and clear.–
Replacing expert civil servants with the unqualified progeny of your biggest campaign contributors?
- SEIU Drone - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 11:16 am:
We need public unions so we can get jobs in return for voting Democrat.
Down with nepotism!
- Shemp - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 12:06 pm:
I hope the other states and Walker continue to pile on. Maybe, just maybe our elected officials will pull their collective head out of their….
- Grandson of Man - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 12:31 pm:
The war between states was started by newly-elected Republican governors. Gov. Christie got lousy job numbers for 2010, the worst in the country, with New Jersey losing around 30,000 jobs.
Scott Walker has too many problems to focus on Illinois’ problems.
- Timmeh - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 1:49 pm:
(quoting Cinci at 8:49)
==The Republicans were there on the recent school reform, and were active participants in the debate because the Democrats reached out to them. Have the Democrats made the same concerted efforts toward Republicans in the budget debate? When Republicans put forth a plan, Quinn’s first reaction was to blast them.
The Republicans are in Springfield willing to work with Democrats, should the Democrats reach our. But remember, the Democrats control both houses of the GA and the Governorship, so ultimately, its up do them to govern. If nothing is getting done, it’s the Democrats fault.==
I was under the impression that the Governor and the Democratic legislators were not on the same page and that the Democrats were going to reach out to the Republicans on this issue.
- Flaming Liberal - Friday, Apr 29, 11 @ 2:02 pm:
Rich, don’t down play the “civil unrest”. I took years, millions of dollars, and thousand of hours of volunteer work to get people elected who would give public employees their fair share. In a matter of a few months Wisconsin is on the verge of undoing all this work. Vigorous protesting may be our last stand.