"Celebrate good times, come on" has been played at countless sporting events and gatherings over the years and always brings smiles, joy, and weird dance moves from people. However, with Tuesday's victory by Scott Walker in the Wisconsin Recall Governor election, that line has never rang so true.
I know a lot of you are thinking "Wisconsin, who cares?", but this goes much deeper than that and hopefully serves as a blueprint and roadmap to our economy rebounding and many of us enjoying the kind of prosperity that has been missing in the past couple of years.
The Issue: Two years ago, Scott Walker (R) took over as Governor of Wisconsin, a traditionally Democratic state. He was dealt a very difficult hand. The state was essentially going bankrupt and there was no end in sight. They had a debt of $3.7 billion and unemployment was at an all time high. He immediately sat down and weighed his options. When he looked at every government program, he came to the same conclusion, that the Labor Unions of the state were milking the tax payers dry and something had to be done to reverse this course or we could not survive. Public schools were facing the possibility of layoffs, program cuts, and an increase in class sizes.
The Solution: So Walker stood up and made the tough decision to do what was best for the people of the state of Wisconsin, he stood up to the union thugs and told them that enough was enough. He took away their right to collective bargaining and he forced teachers and other union workers to contribute to their health insurance and pensions ( quick side note: The average public school teacher in Wisconsin makes a $60,000 salary and got 100% of their health insurance and pensions paid for by taxpayers prior to Walker's cuts). Walker's plan called for teachers to contribute 12% of their insurance and 12% toward their pension and froze salary increases for 2 years. Most, if not all of us contribute a much greater percentage of our health insurance and don't even have pensions.
The aftermath: After these changes were announced, you would have thought that Micheal Vick just took these peoples' family dogs and was heading towards the live wires. There were massive protests. There were organized walkouts from school (fyi- this only hurt the children). There were union leaders (who, by the way, make millions every year and live in huge mansions, while acting like they represent the "common man") busing people from other states to protest, and the Democrats in the House literally left the state and hid out in Illinois, because there is an obscure law that states that a vote couldn't be taken unless the members were within the state borders. This reaction also triggered recall proceedings, which ended up costing the tax payers over $10 million.
The results: Since Walker's measures were instituted, just in the past year, the state has been able to erase the entire $3.7 billion deficit and are now functioning at a $150 million surplus. Not a single teacher has been laid off. No extracurricular programs have been cut (as a result of this program), and class sizes have remained stable. As a further result and because tax money could be allocated to other areas, over 30,000 net jobs have been created (that is the jobs created minus the jobs lost, which is the true indicator. Obama likes to talk about jobs created in the country, but fails to mention jobs lost and unemployment claims). Unemployment has dropped dramatically and the state's overall outlook is very positive moving forward.
The impact: Because Walker actually won by a higher margin than he was elected by, it shows that most people support these tough decisons that work. At the same time, it shows that the union strongholds that cripple many other states budgets have been weakened dramatically. What you are going to see is other states following this blueprint for success and hopefully the federal government as well. We are on our way back guys. But it takes great leaders like Scott Walker to get things done. So, now is the time to celebrate.
