With the economy sinking further on the news of drastically increasing unemployment, Scott Walker chose a particularly bad time to preach from the book of fiscal conservatism.  After initially indicating he wouldn’t accept any of the potential $800 billion in Federal stimulus funds because of his belief that only tax cuts are an appropriate way to rescue the national economy, Walker backpedaled after his quote appeared in the Journal Sentinel and public outcry questioned his commitment to county residents over his political aspirations.

Walker’s anti deficit-spending sentiment is all well and good in more prosperous times, but during an economic crisis such as the one we’re in, where private businesses are conserving cash due to the uncertainty of the situation, it’s more important for government to stimulate the economy in order to make up for reduced private investment.  For an immediate example of this, look no further than banks.    Even after receiving billions of dollars in TARP loans, most are hoarding that cash rather than making new loans because of the high certainty that their future losses on commercial and residential loans already made will require further write downs to their balance sheet.  In this situation, like it or not, the only remaining entity that can spend enough to attempt to keep the economy from spiraling down further is the government.

Walker backtracked on his comments later in the week in a letter to Charlie Sykes:

How many people would take a gift of $1,000 and go out and buy a $60,000 sports car? While the gift is nice, it will not make the monthly car payments that are too large for the average budget. The same is true with the (so-called) stimulus package.

Federal money nearly always comes with strings attached. In fact, most federal transportation grants require a 20% (or greater) local match. “Free money” sounds nice but what happens when state and local governments cannot afford the match? If Milwaukee County receives $50 million for infrastructure projects under this formula, taxpayers in the county would have to come up with an extra $10 million. Does anyone think we have an extra $10 million in this budget climate?

The first thing to note is that it has yet to be determined if stimulus funds will require the 20% local match.  Assuming for Walker’s sake that it will, his analogy to receiving $1,000 and spending it on a $60,000 car is wrong – it’s more like paying $10,000 for a $60,000 sports car.   More importantly, Walker’s argument insinuates that the county has no immediate infrastructure projects planned for 2009.   This is false.   From the recommended 2009 Capital Improvements Budget [PDF]:

Major Transportation and Public Works projects include WA094 – Runway Safety Area – NEPA Compliance ($13,221,000), WH086 – West Good Hope Road Rehabilitation ($8,305,400), WH083 – West Silver Spring Drive ($5,912,400) and WA044 – GMAI – In-line Baggage Screening Phase I ($2,815,000).

You can add the I-94 reconstruction and KRM commuter rail proposals to this list and get a better sense of the projects that stimulus money could fund in our area.  Or just ask anyone driving in the city of Milwaukee if we need to fix potholes or rebuild bridges and you’ll realize why refusing this money is a big mistake.

To most people, the seriousness of our county’s situation leaves no room for political posturing.  Walker’s spineless qualifying of his initial declaration only serves to undercut arguments made in his defense and show how transparent his stance was in the first place.