Gov. Walker Prepares for Recall Vote in Wisconsin

Recall vote on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker appears imminent

If petition signatures seeking the recall vote are valid, the election is expected to be a fact-twisting bout between the two sides and a preliminary peek into the November general election.

By Bob Secter, Chicago Tribune

January 17, 2012

Reporting from Racine, Wis. -- Opponents of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday will submit a mountain of petition signatures demanding his recall, and in anticipation the embattled Republican has flooded airwaves with ads highlighting his stewardship in creating "thousands of new jobs."

It is a claim at once correct and misleading, federal jobs data suggest, underscoring how the drive to dislodge Walker is shaping up as both a fact-challenged slugfest and a pre-presidential election proxy for competing economic visions in a sharply divided land.

Democrats have been as quick to inflate the magnitude of job stagnation as Walker has been to paint an unduly rosy portrait.

In little more than a year in office, Walker has become one of the nation's most polarizing figures. He is adored by the tea party but reviled by Democrats and unions for austere policies that he said would restore prosperity: the gutting of collective bargaining rights for public workers and spending cuts for schools and other programs, but tax breaks for business.

Central to Walker's approach was his pledge that it would lead to the creation of 250,000 jobs by the end of his four-year term. So far, however, job growth under Walker has been anemic, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Non-farm employment grew by 4,500 jobs between November 2010 and November 2011, up just 0.2% — one of the worst performances among the states.