Why we should not elect Scott Walker

As the Wisconsin State Gubernatorial race looms near I would like to reiterate the facts of why we should not re-elect Scott Walker.
2 days after he was elected in 2010 on a promise of jobs, he renegged on Talgo Industries, who had a signed contract for a high speed rail system between Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago and Talgo had gone ahead starting the implementation of this facility. This deal would have provided almost 5,000 jobs, 40 of which had already been hired, and would have been a big boost to our local economy. Instead, the state of Wisconsin is being sued to the tune of almost $70 million and guess who'll pay for this mistake?? Not Scott Walker! The high speed rail funding has been shifted to other states that have the good sense to accept it.
Act 10 came down on the state like an ax, grinding away at incomes, benefits and health and educational programs. Walker made scapegoats of state employees, insinuating they were not the “real taxpayers”. And as much as he insisted the state was broke, he still found room for more tax cuts! Some of the results of Act 10 are as follows:

State employees took a 5.8% pay cut and now pay twice as much for their health benefits. I know several employees who took early retirement because of Act 10 and there were many more who I didn't know that decided they'd rather leave than work for the state. This caused a shortfall of tax revenues due to the decrease in employment which directly affected Walker's budget. He took $25.6 million out of $31.6 million in federal funding to plug his budget holes. This was federal funding from the nation's largest mortgage lenders that was earmarked for victims of the illegal mortgage practices!

Grants for research were slashed forcing researchers to bail from the UW for lack of funding. This threatens the UW's standing as a premiere research facility in this country.

Almost $900 million cut from education, the deepest cut in the state's history. 74% of school districts have had to lay off teachers, resulting in larger class sizes and compromises in quality of education. Many valuable school programs have been cut, such as music, reading, physical education, special education and drop-out prevention programs. I have spoken to students who were thinking about majoring in Education but changed their minds after Act 10.

$250 million in cuts to the UW system, 30% less funding for community colleges and technical colleges.

Walker tried to reduce state employee retirement packages from pensions to 401(k)'s, but fortunately it was recommended to him to leave them as they are one of the best funded pensions in the country. That, however, doesn't mean he won't try to come after them again if he is re-elected. Another group of employees he has an ax to grind with is county employees. If re-elected, he could go after them.

The final insult from Act 10 is that the Unions agreed to his demands regarding benefit concessions if he would repeal his demands to cut collective bargaining rights. He refused.

Women in Wisconsin should be aware that he repealed a 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act. Women make $.75 to every $1.00 men make in Wisconsin and directly affects what benefits they are eligible for. Walker also signed legislation mandating invasive ultrasounds, lectures and other regulations governing women's health. Abortion is a hot-button issue, but this bill also killed free breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings for women and mandated that insurance companies no longer need to cover birth control. Some of those same insurance companies, however, cover Viagra!

Walker refused to implement the Affordable Care Act on the federal level, leaving the state to implement it, which has caused higher premiums for those that need it. Using the ACA as an excuse, he cut Badger Care and refused to expand Medicaid. He refused federal funding that would have covered 84,700 residents; 33,000 of those were children. This led to a $119 million cut to his state budget.

Walker signed a bill authorizing the Department of Administration to sell state heating, cooling and power plants without the requirement to solicit bids. The Koch Brothers surely benefited from that bill.

Scott Walker raises 60-70% of his campaign funds out of state for a state election. That tells me that a lot of state's money goes elsewhere.

Walker's tab for the John Doe investigation has reached over $600,000. Guess who will be paying that tab? Not Scott Walker! Walker's top Aide was charged and sentenced for taking more than $20,000 intended for Operation Freedom. Another 2 of his officials were charged and convicted of stealing more than $60,000 from Veterans funds. The president and CEO of Wisconsin and Southern Railroad pled guilty to 2 felony charges relating to the campaign finance violations.

As Milwaukee County Executive, Walker fought against receiving $750,000 to build a residential center for homeless veterans. Fortunately he lost that one.

This is not the kind of leadership that helps Wisconsin residents. Please vote for Mary Burke!!