Wisconsin Supreme Court Recount Begins
The recount in Wisconsin's Supreme Court race begins on Wednesday, April 27. Why was the recount called, how will it be carried out, and how can individuals get involved?
The recount in Wisconsin's Supreme Court race begins on Wednesday, April 27. Why was the recount called, how will it be carried out, and how can individuals get involved?
Submitted by Jennifer Page on
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has pledged to create 250,000 new jobs in Wisconsin. He has an interesting way of going about it. Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Walker visited Curt Manufacturing near Eau Claire, Wisconsin last week to award the state manufacturing plant a $625,000 transportation grant and congratulate himself for creating 125 extra jobs as a result. "This project directly creates 125 new jobs and indirectly creates 129 jobs, resulting in $12.6 million in annual wages right here in Wisconsin," Walker said in a news release. "By providing these funds, we are bringing quality jobs to Wisconsin while improving road access to Curt Manufacturing's expanded facility." But credit for the same 125 jobs was already claimed back in December by then-Governor Jim Doyle when the Department of Commerce announced the administration was giving the same company $400,000 in tax credits and $11 million in tax-free bonds under a 2009 stimulus program. Doyle said the extra money would "create 125 extra jobs and result in $12.8 million investment to the community." Could the firm be creating 250 new jobs? Er, no says a company spokesman. Curt has committed to adding 125 positions by 2014. So Walker simply ladled out an extra $625,000 for the same 125 jobs. That amounts to a whopping $96,000 in taxpayer support per job. Let's hope they pay more than minimum wage.
If I had stayed in the insurance industry, my net worth would have spiked between 4 p.m. Wednesday and 4 p.m. Thursday last week -- and I wouldn't even have had to show up for work.
I'm betting that just about every executive of a for-profit health insurance company, whose total compensation ultimately depends on the value of their stock options, woke up on Good Friday considerably wealthier than they were 24 hours earlier. Why? Because of the spectacular profits that one of those companies reported Thursday morning.
Among those suddenly wealthier executives, by the way, are the corporate medical directors who decide whether or not patients will get coverage for treatments their doctors believe might save their lives.
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