Governor Scott Walker (R., Wis.) wasted no time in mocking President Obama’s performance with respect to the economy after the president picked a fight with him for signing a right-to-work bill into law.
“On the heels of vetoing Keystone Pipeline legislation, which would have paved the way to create thousands of quality, middle-class jobs, the President should be looking to states, like Wisconsin, as an example for how to grow our economy,” Walker said in a statement to National Review Online. “Despite a stagnant national economy and a lack of leadership in Washington, since we took office, Wisconsin’s unemployment rate is down to 5.0 percent, and more than 100,000 jobs and 30,000 businesses have been created.”
Obama said he was “deeply disappointed” in Walker’s decision to sign the legislation, which bans the mandatory collection of union dues.
“Wisconsin is a state built by labor, with a proud pro-worker past,” Obama said in a Tuesday evening statement. “So even as its governor claims victory over working Americans, I’d encourage him to try and score a victory for working Americans – by taking meaningful action to raise their wages and offer them the security of paid leave. That’s how you give hardworking middle-class families a fair shot in the new economy – not by stripping their rights in the workplace, but by offering them all the tools they need to get ahead.”
Walker said that the legislation, “along with our investments in worker training and our work to lower the tax burden, will lead to more freedom and prosperity for all of Wisconsin.”