March 21st, 2011
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Author: You may remember that Scott Walker, while masquerading as a promoter of the Milwaukee region in his pre-Gubernatorial role as Milwaukee County Executive, mocked the public/private development collaborative M-7 (a reference to the seven-county Milwaukee area) in front of a mainstream, civic audience as “lipstick on a pig.”
Now the loathed are learning that the insult was more than rhetorical.
In today’s Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Larry Sandler crunches the preliminary numbers and shows that Walker’s budget cuts to the heart of public services in core M-7 counties.
Walker has moved from “lipstick on a pig” to Tea Party slash and burn, and I’m not sure killing street repairs, recycling pickups and other basic services in Republican strongholds like Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee Counties will be seen there as a just reward.
We’re told that these very areas are where the region’s job growth is occurring the fastest. Are potholes and over-flowing recycling carts the best welcoming mat Wisconsin can roll out for visiting entrepreneurs?
The cuts to Milwaukee County, where Democrats made Walker’s political life more difficult, were predictable; when he was County Executive, Walker blasted the state (read: Jim Doyle), for not funding state-mandated programs, but Walker continues mandated programs, like those in the justice system and further cuts their funding. Again, no surprise.
[A second link to information about cuts to Milwaukee County is here.]
No doubt the head-scratching and complaining will be loud today in the deeply-red suburban counties, but if you were seen from the beginning as a pig, ending up as bacon in Walker’s frying pan had a certain predictability.
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