Wisconsin Economy Growing, Union Thugs Conspicuously Silent

Well, it looks like Governor Scott Walker continues to win the battle for Wisconsin. Private sector job growth is taking place in the liberal state of Wisconsin, not because of liberal policies but because liberal policies were rejected. It didn't take long either. The biggest reason for the increase in the private sector growth had to do with - wait for it - government workers being let go who then had to find jobs elsewhere. Guess where they found them. The private sector. For the first time, many of these workers will probably feel better at the end of their work day.

Via JS Online:

Wisconsin bucked a lackluster national trend in June and added an estimated 12,900 private-sector jobs from May to June, representing the largest single-month gain of private sector jobs since September 2003.

Hailing "incredibly good news," Gov. Scott Walker took the unusual step of traveling to Milwaukee to present the state's latest monthly unemployment report in person. Some of the good news stems from the policies of his 6-month-old Republican administration, he said, but added that the overall business climate or "motivation" was also a factor that worked in the economy's favor.

Citing the latest data, which Wisconsin receives from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Walker noted that Wisconsin effectively created half of the net new jobs in the nation last month, which was an abysmal month for national job creation.

Total net new jobs in Wisconsin last month rose 9,500 because a continued decline in government employment offset some of the gains of the private-sector job creation. That compares to an equivalent national figure of 18,000, which derives from net new U.S. private-sector growth of 57,000 jobs minus the drop of 39,000 in government payrolls.

This is what we call opportunity cost. When government workers are let go, not only do expenditures go down but those workers end up actually paying taxes from their jobs in the private sector, which increase government revenues.

h/t GWP

Keith Ellison to Herman Cain: He is a 'Bigot'

Yet another example that shows ideology trumps race, which makes one wonder why we need to have a racially based caucus like the Congressional Black Caucus at all. The CBC has already come out against one of its members - Rep. Lt. Col. Allen West - for standing up to far left extremist Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Now, another one of its members, Muslim Keith Ellison, is calling Herman Cain a 'bigot.' If Cain was a member of Congress, he too would qualify to be a member of the CBC, which would mean that Ellison would have to either leave the caucus or concede to belonging to a group that allows bigots. See how this works?

Salon conducted an interview with Ellison in which the CBC member referred to Cain as a 'bigot.' Via Salon:

Over the past few months, former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain has carved out a place as the most prominent anti-Muslim figure in the GOP presidential field, and, arguably, the country.

First, earlier this year, he promised he would not hire any Muslims to be in his future cabinet, subsequently repeating various versions of that pledge. Then, on a trip to Tennessee last week, Cain came out against the construction of a mosque project there. On Fox News Sunday, he expanded that stance, endorsing the idea that any American community could bar construction of mosques.

To get a response to Cain's new comments, I spoke to Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., who is one of two Muslim members of Congress and who has emerged in recent years as a loud anti-anti-Muslim voice.

"It seems like a week doesn't go by without Cain saying something incredibly offensive, so I can only guess that he's doing it on purpose," said Ellison. "He's probably figured out that he can get headlines if he says something really ugly, so he doesn't disappoint."

Ellison said he feels moved to address these issues because when people "start whipping up hatred against a certain group over the course of years, bad things happen. History teaches us that if you continue to stir the pot, stir the cauldron, it will not be long before something awful happens."

A partial transcript of our conversation follows.

What's your reaction to Herman Cain's comments on Sunday that communities should be able to ban construction of mosques?

This is ridiculous and has no foundation in American law. In fact, the U.S. Constitution says Congress shall make no law establishing a religion and shall not abridge the exercise thereof. He runs right into the First Amendment. But the larger question is, why is he trying distinguish himself as the religious bigot of the presidential race of 2011 and 2012?

I will say it until I'm blue in the face. Sharia law is not protected by the First Amendment. It is PROHIBITED by Article VI, which says the US Constitution shall be the 'Supreme Law of the land,' something sharia law aspires to be.

Sorry, Keith. The two are not compatible.

Read entire interview.

h/t Weasel Zippers