Wisconsin's large Counties Took a Beating Under Walker in 2011
Today's Bureau of Labor Statistics Report on the employment in the 323 largest counties in the United States shows only Dane County ranked slightly above the middle. Dane County was ranked 156 of 323, which would put it at the 51st percentile. This means that half of the large counties in the US did worse than Dane County. In other words Dane County's performance was average. The Democrats in Dane County wanted more than that and voted against Scott (250,000 jobs, trust me) Walker by a margin of 69.1% for Barrett to 30.4% for Walker. Even in the county that is the location of one of the twenty best research universities in the world, 30% of the people were OK with 'average”. Dane County got it right.
Waukesha County, on the other hand, was ranked 191 of 323, which would put it at the 41st percentile. This means that nearly 60% of the large counties in the US performed better than Waukesha County. In other words, Waukesha County's performance was below average. The Republicans in Waukesha County were OK with that and voted for Scott(I'll lie about this) Walker by a margin of 72.4% for Walker and 27% for Barrett. Seven in ten Waukeshans were pleased as punch to be below average!
The next Red County to perform poorly was Outagamie, which was ranked 205 of 323, which put it at the the 37th percentile. That's right, 63% of the counties in the US did better than Outagamie County. These Republicans are also happy with being among the bottom performing counties and voted for Scott(Recalls are not the Wisconsin Way) Walker by a margin of 61.3% for Walker and 38.1% for Barrett.
The next under-performing Red County was Brown County which was ranked 238 of 323, which put it at the 26th percentile. In Fitzwalkerstan the people of Titletown are now content with being in the bottom quarter of the counties in the US. These folks endorsed Scott (We don't want Wisconsin to be like, gasp, Milwaukee) Walker by a margin of 59.7% for Walker to 39.7% for Barrett. Why?
Next is Milwaukee County, the county that has been villianized and underfunded by the Walker regime.
Milwaukee County was ranked 288 of 323, which put it at the 11th percentile. The Milwaukee voters were appropriately upset and voted against Scott (I gave them the tools) Walker by voting 63.3% for Barrett and only 36.3% for Walker.
Speaking of not wanting to be like Milwaukee County, currently Red Winnebago County underperformed Milwaukee County and was ranked 291 of 323, which put it at the 10th percentile. These folks blindly voted for Scott (Pay no attention to the ALEC behind the curtain) Walker by a margin of 56% for Walker to 43.4% for Barrett.
Under Scott Walker Wisconsin has underperformed its past history on nearly every measure. Even Dane County, which historically has been on 10 best places lists for years, barely squeaked above the midpoint of counties in the US. The other five large counties in Wisconsin did worse than most others in the US and, with the exception of Milwaukee County, the voters endorsed Walker, the man who now has Wisconsin aspiring to be mediocre.
The BLS report also showed that Wisconsin was 40th out of 50 states in job creation, the bottom 20%. Walker says he is encouraged by these results. Encouraged to be in the bottom 20%? Mediocre may be a goal that is beyond his reach.