Brostoff to Walker on SOS: “It’s time to have a Democrat back in the governor’s office.”
"The best ideas he's had as Governor all came in the last month and all from Democrats."
MADISON – State Representative Jonathan Brostoff (D-Milwaukee) has taken a highly skeptical position on the messages put forth by the governor in today’s State of the State address.
“Governor Walker’s State of the State address follows a year of political failures for the Repubs and a month of desperate flip-flopping attempt to regain support leading into the 2018 election,” said Brostoff. “His speech reflected this desperation as he tried to distance himself from the Trump-Walker agenda, a platform which ignored the real needs of Wisconsin families and has been rejected by Wisconsinites in the recent special elections.
“Now, Walker is stealing Democratic ideas – ideas he previously ignored but now recognizes to be popular – in order to bolster support in his bid for re-election. This includes a tepid reversal on his long campaign against President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA).
“In addition, the governor has shifted 180° with his stance on the Lincoln Hills youth correctional facility crisis. Six years of reports of sexual assaults, physical and emotional abuse, and other gross mistreatment of both the youth held at Lincoln Hills and the staff working for them were ignored by Walker. While myself and other Dem legislators visited Lincoln Hills and proposed shutting it down in favor of multiple, smaller correctional schools around the state, Walker never made a single visit. Instead, he continued to deny that there were any issues as recently as 2017. Finally, he proposed a plan identical to the Democrats’ for resolving the Lincoln Hills problem.
“Most strikingly, Walker is now backing away from his own designs for the state’s future. The Fox Con, Walker’s last ditch campaign move, was recently estimated to cost Wisconsin taxpayers $4.5 billion. This is money that could be put towards public schools, strengthening the University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin technical college systems, significant improvements to state healthcare, roadwork, and countless other projects aimed at benefiting Wisconsinites. Instead, the deal, touted under the GOP’s singular message of job creation in a state with one of the nation’s lowest unemployment rates (3.4%), will line the pockets of a Taiwanese billionaire while causing untold damage to the state’s wetlands and waterways.
“Walker’s weak ideals and lack of values have plagued our state for long enough. The best ideas he’s had as Governor all came in the last month and all from Democrats. Wouldn’t it be more effective if we just cut out the middle man?”
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
Mentioned in This Press Release
Recent Press Releases by Rep. Jonathan Brostoff
A growing number of Badgers have come to the conclusion that Walker has a foot long index finger, used for two critical purposes. 1) Determining which way the wind is blowing so he knows what public political position to take on topics A through Z, and 2) Counting the $100 bills the Koch’s bag man leaves in his office on a monthly basis.
I agree w/ Brostoff. Unfortunately there isn’t a chance in hell any of the 47 Democrats running beats Walker in November.
I agree with PMD…
…there isn’t a chance in hell any of the 47 Democrats running beats Walker in November.
Hey … Ben and PMD, so I gather you are both fortune tellers who can magically predict future events, like a Democrat winning a Senate seat in Alabama, or the winner of a recent Wisconsin State Senate would be a Democrat in a district that’s been GOP forever it seems, with a 38 point turn around. But since you’re such a great prognosticators, could you please share with readers your predictions for: a) the Super Bowl, the next $500M + winning lottery numbers, whether or not the Bucks will make it to the post-season, the winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby, and the Dow Jones a year from now? Thank you.
No need to be a jerk max. I said I agree with Brostoff. I’m a Democrat and want desperately for someone to beat Walker. I just don’t see it happening. I look at those names and I don’t see anyone who will be able to raise nearly as much money as Walker will raise, and they don’t have anywhere near his name recognition. Not to mention an incumbent has many built-in advantages. Maybe try and be civil and explain who you think can beat Walker and why you feel that way. Civility is nice.
PMD … some excerpts from the JS:
Patty Schachtner, the chief medical examiner for St. Croix County, will take the seat that had been held for 17 years by former Sen. Sheila Harsdorf (R-River Falls).
Schachtner took 55% of the vote to Jarchow’s 44% in unofficial returns.
The district has not been good to Democrats in the past. Mitt Romney won the district in 2012 even though he lost the presidential race in Wisconsin and nationally to Barack Obama. Trump crushed Hillary Clinton in the district in the 2016 presidential election and John McCain almost won the district in 2008, despite Obama’s easy statewide victory.
As a sitting lawmaker Jarchow raised money all year and his campaign brought in $271,000 in 2017 — including a $50,000 loan he made to his campaign — and had $81,000 in cash at the end of the year, according to his campaign finance report. In her short time available to raise money as a candidate, Schachtner brought in $183,000 and had $53,000 in the bank at the end of the year.
You entirely missed the point of my post …. a) if you throw in the towel 10 months before an election, I can be pretty sure you’ll lose b) politics and projecting outcomes of elections well in advance is dicey business, even for the people who closely follow and are paid to do it. I’m probably looking at the same winds, the same dynamics, the same swings as you are… voters have an uncanny knack of throwing early predictions out the window. Walker has 8 years now of baggage an opposing candidate can hang around his neck.
I read the same story. I get it. And I didn’t say anything about throwing in the towel. I explained why I don’t think any of the announced candidates can beat Walker. Thank you for being more civil. Who do you think can beat him and what makes you believe that?
PMD: Kathleen Vinehout … I’ll vote for a farmer any day before a guy like Walker who never worked a day in his life outside of politics, She has blend of basic Wisconsin traditions: family, faith, decency, conservative values (what used to be conservative values before it was win at any cost), as well strong progressive values for treating all Wisconsinites much better than have been the past 8 years. Dana Wach … once upon time, there were great opportunities for typical hard working kids of Wisconsin, to go to great schools, and develop great careers – Dana is one of those people, graduated from Marquette U (Walker either was kicked out of Marquette or dropped out) and Valparaiso Law School, and earned a solid reputation as people’s attorney. These opportunities are fast vanishing for kids, especially for those kids anywhere outside of Southest Wisconsin/Madion and Dana understands that well. Mahlon Mitchell … how can anyone not like this guy? Reminds me in some ways of my company commander in the military, the guy you want having your back when the bad guys are destroying good things. One other note about Wisconsin’s political tendencies … Lee Dreyfus, the epitome of dark horse candidates, grabbed the attention, and admiration of Wisconsinites across the political spectrum for honesty and integrity (something we haven’t seen from the current incumbant) won the GOP nomination in 1978 (although the GOP leaders didn’t want him) and then defeated Martin Schreiber, who probably would have beat any other candidate. It’s a Lee Dreyfus kind of year!
Keep the focus on Walker’s recently shifting positions, with emphasis on contrasting the damage he has done in the past with the faintness of his promises for the future, and he will be vulnerable.
Vinehout and Wach have attributes no doubt, and I’d vote for either of them in a heartbeat against Walker. But what is their statewide name recognition? Will they be able to raise the money necessary to be competitive? Recently it was reported that Walker had more money than all of the Democratic candidates combined. I find it hard to imagine either one of them defeating Walker. It’s not that he isn’t vulnerable. I just think everything has to break against him for him to lose, and the odds of that aren’t great. It’s not impossible, just not likely.
McCabe has very little money and limited recognition; nevertheless, he makes one good point when he says that Dems will not beat Walker with money. Walker will outspend Dems 5 or 10 to one. McCabe suggests that he can run a 21st century version of a Bill Proxmire campaign. I have serious doubts about that, yet I yearn for a 21st century Democratic plan with some hope of rousting the slick weasel from our governor’s mansion.
I don’t know Thomas money is pretty important.
Speaker Ryan won’t commit to running in ’18. Gov. Walker is beatable. His wild gamble on Foxconn confirms how desperate he is.