Illinois Governor and Manufacturers Group Turn Walker Around

Tweet

If other governors did what Scott Walker is doing, we would have to officially change our country's name from the U.S.A. to the D.S.A. (Divided States of America). This time he paid another visit to our neighbor to the south and essentially insulted the host. Walker didn't have to go to Illinois but you'd think if somebody visits your house, they would at least have the dignity to be respectful. Not Walker. So I have to give much credit to Gov. Pat Quinn of Illinois for his polite remarks in response to our partisan clown governor.

JS Online Excerpt:
"They have the worst job record in the whole country, dead last. And we certainly don't want to follow his prescriptions when it comes to economic growth," Quinn said. "He promised 250,000 jobs, and he's way behind. Since the recovery began, our state has created over 130,000 jobs. Our focus is not on any other state. We believe in cooperation with our midwestern neighbors. Every single one of those states we want to have good relationships with. But our focus is on Illinois."

Doug Whitley, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, said inviting Walker was designed to contrast the approaches taken by governments in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Great! A contrast between policies that resulted in Wisconsin's 12,000 job loss to Illinois 130,000 job gain! Walker said he's moving our state forward.

Chicago Tribune Excerpt:
A thoughtful analysis, however, shows that Illinois is a great place to do business because it is where the business is. This isn't an attack on Wisconsin. While Wisconsin is a great place to vacation, Illinois is where you want to locate your company.

According to a comprehensive state-by-state analysis by the 2012 Competitiveness Redbook, our state has twice the population of the Badger State and our workers earn 12 percent more than their Wisconsin counterparts — that's more consumers with more money to spend.

Our workers are more productive. Wisconsin ranks 46th nationally in worker productivity. We have twice the gross domestic product of Wisconsin and export twice as much. More businesses are started in Illinois and we rank higher in high-tech employment opportunities.

Michael Holewinski is president of Ace Industries and chairman of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association.

As Walker continues to shut down the economic engine of Wisconsin and divide the population, the state will likely lose it people-person friendly image and eventually become as crass and disrespectful as he is. Shame, shame, shame.