Since Walker took office in 2010, armed with ALEC's agenda, job-creation has plummeted in Wisconsin. The state's average wage fell 2 percent. It ranks 44th in job creation. And it has trailed the nation in job creation for 26 consecutive months, exactly the amount of time Walker has spent in office.
But ALEC ranks Wisconsin 15th for its economic outlook. ALEC, of course, is an escort service for corporations and state lawmakers. It doesn't want to create jobs, it wants to enrich CEOs and billionaires. Part of its strategy is to distort reality in ways that the mainstream media will repeat.
That's why ALEC produces the annual "Rich State, Poor State" report, a bizarre compendium of economic fantasy written by Arthur Laffer and his pals.
It would be doing Arthur Laffer a favor to call him the worst economist in America. He isn't. He's a lackey, and an especially clownish one. His "analysis" is simply pro-ALEC propaganda.
The Center for Media and Democracy details how Walker pushed ALEC's job-killing agenda in Wisconsin:
Governor Walker was an ALEC member when he was a legislator, beginning in the nineties. Since becoming Governor in 2010, he has signed into law nineteen ALEC-related bills and budget provisions. These include economic measures such as the elimination of the capital gains tax, which is similar in effect to the ALEC "model" "Capital Gains Tax Elimination Act," and Walker included a provision in his first budget to reopen the corporate tax avoidance, or so called "Las Vegas Loophole," which is related to the ALEC "Resolution in Opposition to Mandatory Unitary Combined Reporting."He also passed an austerity budget that Federal Reserve economists predicted would slow the state's job creation. And even the rabidly pro-corporate Chamber of Commerce says Walker's doing a crappy job. Writes CMD:
A recent Chamber of Commerce report placed Wisconsin 44th in the country for overall economic performance, and for short-term job growth between September 2010 and November 2012 it ranked Wisconsin 50th out of 50. The Chamber report didn't place long-term job growth much better either, ranking Wisconsin at 45th out of 50. The report ranked Wisconsin 39th for its "business climate."It's just sad to watch the mainstream media repeat ALEC's rubbish.
One can only imagine how these newspapers would have treated Joseph Goebbels' press releases.
- The Jackson Clarion Ledger reports uncritically, "Mississippi's economic outlook ranks in top 10 nationally, annual report says."
- The Desert News reports uncritically "Utah ranks No. 1 for economic outlook for sixth year in a row."
- The Pelican Post reports uncritically, "State-by-State Economic Report Shows a Lackluster Louisiana."
