The Nov. 4 election is less than one week away, and candidates are becoming increasingly vocal in expressing their views. Students have a very important decision to make at the polls. Before voting, it is important for students to understand how each candidate, if elected, will stand up for them.
Let’s dive into the facts. When it comes to the economy, Mary Burke is denying Wisconsin’s success and misinforming voters. Burke has spewed distorted claims all over Wisconsin. Politifact rated a recent Burke TV ad false. This ad was claiming Wisconsin has “fallen to dead last in Midwest job growth.” In reality, the job numbers tell a completely different story. Wisconsin ranked third in the Midwest for job growth from July 2013 to July 2014, adding 36,000 jobs. This statement was fact-checked by Politifact, just as Burke’s claim was, and was rated true. On top of that Wisconsin added 8,400 jobs in September alone – the best September for job growth in a decade. There are 110,000 more jobs now than there were in 2010 and there are over 25,000 new businesses. The unemployment rate has been steadily decreasing, reaching 5.5 percent in September – the lowest Wisconsin has seen in six years.
It’s eye-opening that Burke will not acknowledge Wisconsin’s economic success under Gov. Scott Walker, yet she’ll travel the state trying to persuade voters to cast their ballots for her based on her time as commerce secretary. This was marked by a time where Wisconsin workers suffered from 133,000 jobs lost and 27,000 businesses that fled the state. In addition to her poor job creation numbers, her predecessor even went as far to say she was a “disaster.” Cory Nettles made this statement in an email to another top Doyle aide in 2006, referring to her ability to bring employers into our state. This is overwhelming evidence showing Burke’s tenure as Wisconsin’s commerce secretary was riddled with mismanagement and poor leadership.
Walker froze tuition and is the only candidate that is committed to freezing it again. As for Burke, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she won’t commit to freezing tuition. Even more troubling is that University of Wisconsin tuition increased by 140 percent from the time Doyle took office in 2003 until Walker froze it in 2013. In that ten-year period, that’s a total increase of $5,389!
Specifically, the Doyle administration increased UW tuition by approximately 18 percent (the most ever in a documented cycle) from 2003 to 2004 and 15 percent (second most) from 2004 to 2005. The facts obviously show that keeping college affordable for students was not a priority for Democrats. It was exactly the opposite. While these historic increases in tuition were occurring, Commerce Secretary Burke said in 2005, “I support Gov. Doyle’s positions entirely.”
Burke will implement similar policies seen in the failed Doyle administration days, and Burke will not commit to freezing tuition. It would make perfect sense that she opposes the policy move to freeze tuition; just look at how her party views the issue. Not a single Democrat voted in favor of freezing tuition in 2013 when the $1 billion UW surplus was found. Burke is staying silent on this issue in order to avoid isolating her liberal base. The contrast is clear. A vote for Republican reforms translates to hundreds of dollars of savings guaranteed for students for the next two years. Even if you’re attending a private school, freezing UW tuition leads to an overall more competitive marketplace for tuition costs where private schools need to lower costs and give more aid to students to stay competitive. Simply put, if Democrats were in charge of this state, tuition costs would almost certainly continue to increase. Walker and the Republicans, however, are committed to freezing tuition.
Burke and the College Democrats cite that 41,000 students were denied grant money from the UW System and Wisconsin technical colleges due to Walker’s cuts in 2014. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, this figure is true, however very misleading while looking at the big picture. Just like the economic situation that Walker inherited, this grant program was troubled due to Doyle’s administration. In 2009, during Doyle’s last year in office, 80,000 students were denied grants in this same program. No longer are 80,000 students being denied grant money. Instead, under Walker, the waiting list has been cut in half. But instead of building on these successes, Burke and the College Dems frame the argument in a way that attacks Walker and distorts his image. The facts don’t lie; this is undoubtedly progress, progress that Burke refuses to see.
Let’s build on our successes. Burke is trying to convince people that Wisconsin is worse off because of Walker. A vote for Walker is a vote for a proven record that has elicited real results – real job opportunities for recent graduates, real tuition savings and real education investments. Join me in voting for Walker because Wisconsin deserves to continue the successes we have achieved under his leadership.
Ben Giles (wicrexecutivedirector
