Shopko Receives A WEDC Endorsement

By Jeff Simpson

Shopko has been a Wisconsin fixture since 1962:

 Shopko (formerly ShopKo until May 2007) is a chain of retail stores based in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, near Green Bay. Shopko was founded in 1962 by James Ruben, and its first store opened in Green Bay. From 1991 to 2005, the company was publicly held, with stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SKO. In December 2005, the company was acquired by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners and reverted to private ownership. In 1999, Shopko purchased Pamida, a regional discount chain that operated mainly in smaller communities of 3,000 to 8,000 people. Shopko operated Pamida as a separate division until 2007, when Pamida was separated from Shopko and reestablished as a separate company. In 2012, Shopko and Pamida merged into one company. Shortly after, most Pamida stores were rebranded as Shopko Hometown.

Shopko, has over 300 stores in 20 states and employes 17,500 people.  That is unless the Spokesperson for Scott Walker's signature jobs agency, WEDC has anything to say about it!  

WEDC even handed Shopko $2,000,000 of our tax dollars to expand their corporate headquarters.  Apparently WEDC, was just buying election good will since they obviously do not believe in Shopko as a company.   I guess in Fitzwalkersta, $2 Million taxpayer dollars is well worth it to buy a few votes.

 Also no one should be surprised that righty blogger Ed Willing jumped on the rip on Wisconsin companies bandwagon(I feel for Caledonia businesses).  

Maybe Scott Walker and his team need a lesson on what "Open for Business" really means! 

Then Reality Sets In!

By Jeff Simpson

One of the loudest whistles that our republican friends, especially those who have never spent a day in the private sector, like to blow is the over regulation dog whistle. Too many regulations are killing business and jobs.  

WASHINGTON -- During the 2012 presidential campaign, Wisconsin businessman Lance Johnson said President Barack Obama's workplace safety inspectors were burdening him and killing jobs with too much red tape.
"I've never been audited by more government agencies in my life than I have under Obama," Johnson, president of Johnson Brass & Machine Foundry Inc., in Saukville, Wisconsin, told The Wall Street Journal in a Nov. 2, 2012, campaign story.

Then reality sets in:

On Monday, Johnson's foundry was the site of a horrifying industrial accident.
As reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a "catastrophic failure" of machinery sprayed molten metal on workers, injuring eight and sending four of them to the hospital. According to a statement from Johnson issued Tuesday, the molten metal hit workers on their legs and backs. None of the injuries were life-threatening.
 According to OSHA records, Johnson's company was hit with proposed penalties of $9,638 for exposing workers to apparent hazards in 2011.

Say it with me.  "But wait, there's more.":

Another of their favorite things to do is override local ordinances they feel "hinder job creation"(yes its laughable but stick with me): 

 Gov. Scott Walker has signed a bill that prohibits local governments from passing ordinances guaranteeing workers’ paid sick and family leave…Walker, a Republican, says in a statement the bill removes another barrier to creating jobs.  

"This law removes another barrier in the road to creating 250,000 private sector jobs by 2015," Walker said. "Patchwork government mandates stifle job creation and economic opportunity. This law gives employers the flexibility they need to put people back to work and that makes Wisconsin a more attractive place to do business."

Heck even the JSonline editorial board was giddy over Scott Walker overturning this law.   

Milwaukee voters placed a risky bet in 2008 when they approved an ordinance requiring businesses to provide paid sick leave. Although on its face, the measure sounded good, the unintended consequences of this ordinance would deal a blow to job growth and economic development at a time when the city can ill afford it.
The state Legislature sent a bill to Gov. Scott Walker this week to correct that error. The governor said he is likely to sign it. He should do so.
The city ordinance could harm Milwaukee's reputation as a place to do business and could hurt the very people it is intended to help. In an economy struggling to gather steam, the cost of providing paid time off would likely come from fewer hours for part-time help and fewer jobs or expansions of the workforce for full-timers.
Beyond that, the ordinance would put Milwaukee on an island, isolated from its neighbors who would be perceived as more friendly toward business. Jobs desperately needed in Milwaukee could migrate elsewhere as a result. Do Milwaukee voters really want to see that happen?
Milwaukee voters approved the ordinance as a piece of direct legislation. In that binding referendum, 69% of voters said yes to requiring paid sick leave. But the referendum didn't spell out all the consequences. 

 I do not live in Milwaukee, but I am quite certain that the referendum did not spell out all of the consequences.  I doubt Ecoli, pneumonia or hepatitis was part of the referendum.

Then reality set in:

A sick employee in a Springfield, MO Red Robin restaurant may have inadvertently exposed thousands of customers to hepatitis A. CNN reported on Thursday that diners who ate at the restaurant between May 8 and May 16 are should contact the local health department for instructions.

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department held a news conference Wednesday that an estimated 5,000 people may have been affected.

OzarksFirst.com said that health department will open public clinics to test and process the public. However, anyone who is pregnant or immune suppressed, said officials, should go straight to their doctor.

Hepatitis A is a highly contagious viral illness that inflames the liver. It is most frequently transmitted through contaminated food and water.

Nothing says "open for business" like a preventable Hepatitis outbreak. 

 It is strange that the republicans, with the help of the Journal Sentinel, were able to get this "job killing obstacle" out of the way, yet still failed miserably at creating jobs.    


              

Politifact Forgot The Rating

By Jeff Simpson

Politifact looked at Scott Walker's ridiculous claims that he created 17,000 job - producing  new businesses. However, they forget to give his statement a rating.  Let me help.  





 

The facts are, the deeper we get into Scott Walker and the republican's policies, the worse we are off. 

Seriously though, if you are the Governor of a State, where your slogan is "Open for Business" and you have delusions of grandeur of think you are qualified and popular enough to be President of the United States, would you really think you were successful because Wauwatosa started a new little league team and girl scout troop?   

I am sure his peers at the G8 summit would be very interested in hearing about his success of forming the Montello little league.   They would be longing for the good ole days of dubya.