Playing Up Unemployment Numbers in Wisconsin

Over the weekend the Wisconsin State Journal’s Matthew DeFour asked for my thoughts on how Wisconsin’s declining unemployment numbers might impact upcoming elections. Republican strategist Brian Fraley said for many voters trying to gauge how the broader economy is doing, the unemployment rate provides an easily understood statistic similar to the Dow Jones industrial average:…

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Fact: Every Wisconsin Republican Lawmaker Who Supports Infrastructure Investment Rewarded with Re-Election

So, as you know, I support efforts to invest in our transportation infrastructure. I think it is a key component in economic development efforts in Wisconsin. All the job training programs and incentive grants in the world won’t mean didily if getting raw materials and manufactured goods to and from market becomes harder and harder…

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Previewing tonight’s debate…

Earlier in the week a reporter asked me a series of questions about tonight’s GOP Debate. Here is what I sent her in response…

Trump will consume all of the oxygen in the room, and will be rewarded with a majority of the post-debate press coverage no matter what actually happens Thursday. With Trump in the debate, the regular expectations of debate decorum are out the window. That’s in part why the media loves Trump and gives him so much coverage. It will be interesting to see if any of the competitors try to mix it up with Walker, or if they ignore him. Trump has tried to say that Wisconsin is a mess, but his reliance on failed, generalized lefty talking points hasn’t hurt Walker. Perhaps Trump or others seize on specifics to which Walker would feel compelled to react. How he responds is important.

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The Wheelercast Episode #11

Action at the Capitol is picking up. Gwyn Guenther joins me to update us on efforts to lift the mining moratorium, attempts to move some state government functions out of the City of Madison, and she brings us the latest on the State Budget votes in the Joint Finance Committee.

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