Scott Walker Watch

Scott Walker is an Embarrassment

Remember when stomping on union rights, passing new corporate tax cuts, and slashing nearly a billion dollars from education lead to a fire-sale of job creation in Wisconsin?

Neither do I.

In reality, Scott Walker's administration has been a complete failure at job creation.

Wisconsin added thousands of jobs in January but Gov. Scott Walker is still far off pace for delivering on his promise to create 250,000 new private-sector positions by the end of his first term, according to state labor data released Thursday…The data shows Wisconsin added only 6,000 private sector jobs overall during the first 13 months of Walker’s administration, putting him on pace to create only 24,000 jobs by 2014. The governor issued a statement conceding there’s “a lot of work ahead of us.”

Private sector jobs! You know, the jobs that were going to rescue the state after Hurricane Koch took its toll.

And he may not even have a chance to preside over this meager amount of job creation if he's indicted for election fraud between now and the time of his recall, resignation, or next gubernatorial challenge.

Under Wisconsin law, public officials are only allowed to create a legal defense fund if they are being investigated for or charged with a violation of campaign finance laws or prohibited election practices.

A spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what justification he used for establishing the fund. He announced previously this year hiring two defense attorneys to help him deal with the probe.

The Government Accountability Board has an overview of the regulations for legal defense funds. According to the document, legal defense funds can only be used for expenditures stemming from an investigation, being charged or a conviction.

It's a tragedy that this national embarrassment was ever allowed into the Wisconsin statehouse.