Right wing disappointed in job creation, retention
Wisconsin in 2009 created or retained around 22,100 Wisconsin jobs, including 8,284 full-time public-sector jobs, and is on course to create 50,000 more. This thanks to the policies enacted though the Americans Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). And what do you know, the right wing evidently couldn’t be more disappointed.Joint Finance co-chairs Sen. Miller and Rep. Pocan reported Tuesday that White House numbers estimate the ARRA has created or retained approximately 22,100 Wisconsin jobs including 8,284 public-sector jobs that Gov. Doyle highlighted the same day. Folks who got to keep an income thanks to the ARRA include ‘police officers, firefighters and teachers’, and employees of ‘highway projects’.
But, sort of surprisingly, Wisconsin’s right wing officials are throwing a fit. Rep. Vos and Sen. Fitzgerald are among those that issued comments that ignored the private sector job creation in order to criticize the ARRA for growing the gubmint. Vos thought the jobs created and retained for police officers, firefighters, and teachers w ‘evidence the majority of the stimulus was too focused on the public sector.’
Fitzgerald issued a release to the same effect and went a step further by including a guesstimate about Wisconsin’s tax ranking from the pro-corporate, conservative Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. (Yet another example of WISTAX fueling GOP talking points.)
Meanwhile, Scott Walker’who previously turned his back to the stimulus’issued a statement today claiming Gov. Doyle and Lt. Gov. Lawton have delivered on only 11% of the 74,000 stimulus-created jobs they promised. But his 11% firgure is based on the 8,284 public-sector jobs and ignores the 22,100 number and the 50,000 prospective jobs.
Contesting the encouraging news about job creation and retention is just further evidence that right-wing officials, right-wing squawking heads, and pro-corporate groups like Americans for Prosperity will criticize Pres. Obama’s policies’like the ARRA’at any cost and for any reason, however unfounded and incongruous with reality their accusations are.