Wisconsin

Scott Walker's certainly wrong about the dangers of business uncertainty

October 7, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

Risky, but goodI'm back a third time to talk about the currently fashionable Republican notion (at least, fashionable among Republicans) that reducing business uncertainty is the only real way to fix America's economic woes. Sorry if I seem tiresome and pedantic on this issue, but I really do think it's important and instructive in many ways. This time, I present yet another reason why Scott Walker is certainly wrong about uncertainty

This idea of uncertainty holding back job creatjion is, as I've noted, one that has been adopted wholesale by Walker, as when he commented on the state Department of Revenue's decision to slam small "roll your own" cigaret shops:

"What we hear from employers all the time … is they want the certainty of knowing what the law is, what the rules are, that they're applied universally and across the board."

Grown-ups, guns and just gone-crazy: In Arizona now, Wisconsin soon

October 6, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

So what's Wisconsin going to be like when the new Republican-enabled concealed-carry gun law takes hold? Well, it may be a lot like Arizona. That's a state with an insanely laissez-faire concealed-carry law. Hendrik Hertzberg, political writer for the New Yorker magazine, reported on a recent incident there where an entire military base went to Condition Red over a reported gun sighting. "The base was locked down, emergency vehicles were summoned, and automated alert messages went out, advising people to stay indoors, away from windows," Hertzberg wrote.

Walker is for certainty -- except when he isn't

October 5, 2011 by Uppity Wisconsin

Here is Scott Walker's own political version of the famous Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle in physics:

Republicans are for certainty -- except when that would benefit Democrats. Then, they're for uncertainty.

Walker, commenting on the Department of Revenue's decision to slam small "roll your own" cigaret shops:

"What we hear from employers all the time … is they want the certainty of knowing what the law is, what the rules are, that they're applied universally and across the board."

But when implementing the state's new Voter ID law, the Walker administration has told its Department of Transportation service centers that they are not to volunteer to citizens seeking the IDs the information that, under the law, they don't have to pay the usual $28 fee if they're only going to use the card to get a ballot at a polling place.

So, businesses need certainty to create jobs! But if you're an average citizen? Walker wants you to keep on guessing! Only if you're a member of the opposition, of course.