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Little in the Governor’s “Jobs Package” Deals with Jobs

October 4, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

When I heard the Governor had convened a “Special Session on Jobs” I was anxious to take look at the proposals.

Business owners tell me they need access to capital, lower health insurance costs and a skilled workforce. Just last week the Eau Claire Leader Telegram headline read Employers: Jobs are there, Skills are not.

 

Being from the country, I like to kick the tires and lift up the hood before I buy anything. Was anything that small business owners needed on the list?

This weekend, I got down to the tire kicking level. Amazingly, I found something besides ‘jobs’ on the agenda.

There are a few bills that help make it easier for businesses to get loans. One bill would make credit for farmers easier to obtain by expanding state loan guarantees; another bill increases the cap on loan guarantees for small businesses. There are several bills that create tax credits for investments.

Nothing on the list deals with rising health costs. Very little addresses the lack of skilled workers.

And who would have guessed a bill to protect drug companies and medical device companies from lawsuits if their product had FDA approval would bring jobs to Wisconsin?

Big, bad sheriff huffs and puffs, but Abele's house is still standing

October 4, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

Bruce Murphy of Milwaukee Magazine on the Abele-Clarke budget battle we wrote about recently:  

 "This is a fascinating dispute pitting a champion verbal pugilist like Clarke against a political neophyte like Abele, yet Clarke is so far getting the worst of it. An unruffled Abele is simply letting the attacks roll off him citing facts and analysis, while an angry Clarke huffs and puffs away."  

Murphy's take here.

Mining, militarism, and more on agenda for Wis Network for Peace & Justice

October 4, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

From Wis. Network for Peace & Justice:

WNPJ's member assembly and awards reception  Saturday, October 8th at the Pyle Center in Madison just got more exciting!
Bad River Tribal Chair Mike Wiggins, right, will join our discussion of "Extreme Mining in Wisconsin."  The tribe strongly opposes the proposed Penokee Hills open pit mine.

Member assembly

No guns for UW-Madison employees, Faculty Senate says

October 4, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin-Madison employees would be barred from carrying concealed weapons while in the course or scope of their employment, under a policy approved Monday by the Faculty Senate, the UW News Service reports:

The policy, similar to a UW System policy now being drafted, states: “No employee shall carry or go armed with a firearm or other weapon at any time while in the course and scope of employment unless it is necessary as determined or approved by the chancellor or designees, usually the police chief.”

The policy does not apply to those employed as law enforcement officers.

Those violating the provision would be subject to employee discipline or dismissal. The policy is also expected to go before the Academic Staff Assembly, officials said.

A new law allowing concealed carry in Wisconsin takes effect on Nov. 1. In addition, the law provides the university may continue to ban  concealed weapons in its buildings, athletic events, at campus events  and where appropriate signage has been posted.

Gov. Jobs? More like governor jobbing Wisconsin

October 4, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

To boldly go....Gov. Scott Walker's job-creation fervor so far has been mostly all tax cuts for corporations ... and hot air. The state's employment shortfall actually has worsened in Walker's first year but the one thing he wants us to believe is that "job creators" -- that would be businesses which, in the main, are creating virtually no jobs while shedding scads of others -- are "uncertain" about the future and thus need more hand-holding and palm-greasing from the state Capitol.

And look at this: Walker's antics have come at the cost of the state's highest budget in history, significant cuts in wages and benefits for state employees and more spending on loyalist hacks. He's replaced scads of civil servants with political appointees answerable to him, paying some of them tens of thousands of dollars more annually than the veteran professionals they have replaced, despite their lesser experience.