Gov. Walker's First 100 Days

~by Sherry Nelson

As a taxpayer, lifelong Wisconsinite, policeman’s daughter, and mother of two young children, I am concerned by Mr. Danou’s and Ms. Vinehout’s constant attacks on Governor Walker. I stand proudly with Gov. Walker and applaud his efforts to make the necessary cuts to keep Wisconsin open for business.

Ms. Vinehout’s recent letter printed in the Blair Press contained several negative constituent excerpts in response to Governor Walker’s Budget. Naturally, the responses she used were largely from state and union workers or people working for small town local government. Ms. Vinehout is not accurately portraying her constituency. Not one excerpt hailed Gov. Walker’s budget, and yet there are many of her constituents who do.

Serious cuts do need to be made. However, I understand in order to fix our great state and nation, sacrifices need to be made too. Simply and practically stated, many groups need to learn to live with less. There are some wonderful programs out there, but right now Wisconsin needs to focus on repairing and growing the state economy by whatever means necessary. Gov. Walker does not make decisions lightly, nor does he make them maliciously.

Below are a few accomplishments from Scott Walker’s first 100 days taken directly from the www.Wisconsin.gov website. It is quite impressive.

• 13,000 Private Sector Jobs Created in January and February including 8,200 Manufacturing Jobs
• Executive Order: Creation of the Commission on Government Waste, Fraud, and Abuse to Help Save $300 Million
• Elimination of State Taxes on Health Savings Accounts
• Reform of Wisconsin’s Litigation Climate
• Relocation and Economic Development Tax Credit Legislation
• Tax Relief for Wisconsin’s Job Creators: Small Businesses
• Transforming the Department of Commerce into Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation
• Supermajority for Passage of Tax Increase Legislation
• Right-Sizing State Government with Modest Requests on State Pension, Health Care
• Balancing Wisconsin’s FY 2011 Budget
• Proposed Budget that Balances $3.6 Billion Deficit and Reduces the Structural Deficit to Lowest Point in Recent History
• Applied to Upgrade Hiawatha Rail Line
• Introduced Online Brownbag Lunches so Constituents Can Hear Directly from the Governor
• Introduced 3^rd Grade Reading Taskforce: “Read to Lead” to Make Sure Every Wisconsin 3^rd Grader Can Read at Grade Level

As a member of the silent majority (the Republican party), I urge fellow conservatives to become active members of the democratic process, as Mr. Danou suggested in a previous letter. Let Sen. Vinehout and Rep. Danou hear your voices too. We need to effectively communicate our support for Gov. Walker and political solidarity to our legislators to encourage equal and fair representation, not merely the one-sided bias that has been overtly portrayed in the local newspapers.