But This Time I Really Mean It!

Scott Walker is again trying to advance his political career and as usual he is making all kinds of fanciful promises. However, to accept these election year promises, one must totally ignore his actual record. Consider the following:

Walker says that he will put the state's financial house in order, but after eight years as Milwaukee County Executive, he has produced a state of total financial crisis.

Walker says that he will save the state money by making public employees contribute toward their own pensions, but even after eight long years he has failed to bring that kind of change to Milwaukee County.

Walker says that he will save the state money by reducing overtime costs. Is he serious? As he has drastically reduced staff levels during his time in Milwaukee County, overtime costs have repeatedly hit new heights. Overtime costs at the county's neglected Mental Health Complex has risen 42% in the last four years. Prior to Walker losing control of the House of Correction, an internal audit found that overtime hours there had skyrocketed over 218% (from 2003-2007).

Walker says that part of his plan is to strengthen our state's infrastructure. He says this while sporting at least a $200 million deferred maintenance backlog for the county parks? Not to mention falling limestone from buildings and the overall deteriorated condition of county structures.

Walker says that he will create so many jobs in the state that he will essentially eliminate all unemployment. As county executive Walker is unable to show even one solid example of a job that he has created (not including the taxpayer funded ones created for his political cronies). In fact he mismanaged and then shut down the county's economic development division in the middle of the Great Recession.

He says that he is going to create a jobs "hotline" for the state, but the last "hotline" that he created was Milwaukee County's economic assistance call center and only 5% of those calls got through. His failure there actually led to a lawsuit and a state takeover which forced taxpayers all over the state to flip the bill for Walker's busy signals.

Let's face it, I could go on like this forever. Sadly Scott Walker has given us an endless flow of material. The bottom line is that, based on his actual record in Milwaukee County, Wisconsinites simply cannot trust Scott Walker to follow through on his fanciful campaign promises. Basing campaign promises on "but this time I really mean it" kind of reasoning is hardly convincing.