Here & Now

Foxconn, Governor Race, Budget: Our Panel Weighs In

Frederica Freyberg:

As the incentive package bill continues to make its way through the legislature, budget writers went back to work this week on the state spending plan. The Joint Finance Committee met this week for the first time since June. The big items of K12 spending and transportation funding are expected to be taken up in coming weeks. But Republican co-chairs assure they’ve mostly reached consensus.

John Nygren:

Things are work in progress, but there is a framework. There is an agreement in principle for the most part. There might be a few more moving parts.

Alberta Darling:

I think both sides try to find a solution. So you’ll see a little bit different.

Frederica Freyberg:

At Thursday's session the committee voted to eliminate the state portion of the property tax. It also approved the reorganization of the DNR, prompting committee member Democrat Gordon Hintz to voice concerns over the environmental impacts of Foxconn.

Frederica Freyberg:

In tonight’s capitol insight, budget progress, Foxconn fever and a statewide official throws his hat in the ring. Superintendent of schools Democrat Tony Evers made it official this week that he’s running for governor against Scott Walker. Conservative Bill McCoshen and liberal Scot Ross tonight hash through the latest. Thanks for being here.

Bill McCoshen, Scot Ross:

Thanks for having us.

Frederica Freyberg:

So how many Democrats are in the race now?

Bill McCoshen:

Three definitely in and 300 talking about it.

Frederica Freyberg:

Right. It sounds like it. Yeah. So you know, if Scott Walker lands Foxconn though, which seems likely, right. How isn’t his re-election a lock?

Scot Ross:

Well, how do you go around the state and say we’ve just given out the biggest subsidy to a foreign corporation in American history that’s down on the Illinois border. That’s not guaranteed to provide non-Illinois jobs. How do you go sell that around the state of Wisconsin? I don’t understand how you do that and say that it’s a lock. I mean listen Governor Walker back in 2009 opposed high-speed rail. He opposed the stimulus package. They both created tens of thousands of jobs. They would have created tens of thousands of jobs. And yet, he, in the midst of the recession, able to go around and do that. Foxconn doesn’t make anything a slam dunk.

Frederica Freyberg:

What do you think about that? Do you think it’s a lock for him if he lands this for sure?

Bill McCoshen:

Yeah, it helps for sure. Scot knows this very well but voters tend to vote their pocketbook first. The economy is doing pretty well here in Wisconsin. We expect it to be doing well 440 days from now when the election is held. That’s an advantage to the incumbent, in this case Scott Walker. Foxconn certainly helps. It is a big league deal. He calls it transformational but it is without a question the largest economic development deal in state history. There’s no question that’s an arrow in his quiver.

Frederica Freyberg:

What would it take for a Democrat to beat the unsinkable Governor Walker?

Scot Ross:

Well I’ll say this. Governor Walker, the fact that there are about a dozen Democrats talking about it is a good indication that he’s a weak candidate. I mean he’s not very good at his day job. He’s obviously a career politician who’s willing to say and do anything to get re-elected. He used us — tried to use us as a stepping-stone to become president of the United States. I agree with Bill, though. It’s all about economics. But what are the economics? This may be the first election in which post-baby boomers make up a majority of the electorate. So are Democrats going to continue to talk about what they’ve talked about the last 25 years, social security, Medicare, my employer-provided pension is under assault. Or are they going to talk about the economic issues facing the post-baby boomers, most assuredly the student loan debt crisis.

Bill McCoshen:

I think Democrats have sort of lost their way on economic issues. They don’t know how to talk about those anymore. They talk about far left issues that don’t really appeal to independents or centrist voters. Certainly don’t appeal to any Republican voters. That’s where Walker’s got a significant advantage heading in 2018. He’s got the economy on his side. There’s a massive investment in K12 education. There’s investment in the University of Wisconsin System in this budget. So sort of the areas where they might be able to come after him, he’s nullified those.

Frederica Freyberg:

As for a Democratic challenger, what type of candidate would be the strongest, in your mind?

Scot Ross:

Well, I mean, I think we’ve got — you got a couple out there who have the sort of strengths you need in order to get elected. Andy Gronik has created jobs. Dana Wachs stood up for consumers. Tony Evers has been a champion for public education. Those bread and butter issues for Democrats are obviously an important part of the mix. But again, I think you gotta come back and you gotta start looking at where is the electorate changing in the state of Wisconsin? How do you approach that? Saying that Scott Walker has helped public education after he made the biggest cuts to public education in our state history is not going to be a winning message for Scott Walker.

Bill McCoshen:

Of the three that are in it, Evers probably has the advantage because he’s run statewide three times. He’s raised money statewide three times. I mean that’s not a bad starting kit. But I would say they have to figure out how to talk about the economy. Even if they can figure that out, it’s going to be tough to get to the right of Scott Walker on economic issues here in the state.

Frederica Freyberg:

I would say. As for Foxconn, if clawbacks get added to this in the contract or even in the legislation, what’s left to fight about that?

Bill McCoshen:

Well, we already had bipartisan support. Three democrats voted with the Assembly majority when it went through the Assembly. I suspect that Bob Wertz from Kenosha is going to vote yes when it goes through the state Senate in mid-September. There will be bipartisan support in both houses. Clawbacks hopefully will be in the contract, not in legislation. As a former commerce secretary, it’s much easier to do in the contract than it is in statute. I think there are plenty of protections for Wisconsin taxpayers in this bill. And frankly it’s got strong bipartisan support.

Scot Ross:

Bill knows in politics if the answer is not yes, the answer is no. If it’s not guaranteed in the bill, that means it may not happen. I think beyond just the clawbacks part of it, the fact that this is going to be on the Illinois border with absolutely no guarantees that these won’t be Illinois workers who come and we subsidize their job. I think that’s a huge part of this deal. How are you going to go around that state and sell if you’re an Assemblyperson? My Assembly district’s commitment is $30 million for a place on the Illinois border that doesn’t guarantee Wisconsin jobs. How do you sell that?

Frederica Freyberg:

When he talked about it getting bipartisan support, you kind of shook your head.

Scot Ross:

Overwhelmingly there’s Democratic opposition because this bill represents the worst of economic politics, of crony capitalism that have been expressed by progressives in last 35 years. Literally handing out a $3 billion subsidy to a guy who referred to workers as animals. And actually brought in a zookeeper to train his upper management for his million employees. This ain’t a good guy and it ain’t a guy we should be giving $3 billion to.

Bill McCoshen:

Can’t deny there’s bipartisan support. To Scot’s earlier point, a UW-Madison study, the Center for Research on the economy came out this week and said there’s about 40,000 Wisconsinites that work in Illinois. Most of those will come back and keep jobs here in Wisconsin.

Scot Ross:

Gotta say on that one, that was authored by a guy who asked Scott Walker for a job for running for his president. That is the definition of junk science.

Frederica Freyberg:

What do you say because that is something that you’d been talking about on your social media feeds. Legit study?

Bill McCoshen:

I think it is legit. All of these deals take time to sort of play out. What I would caution the administration on doing is over-selling it. We don’t know if it’ll create 13,000 jobs. Maybe it’s 10. Maybe it’s 11. Maybe it’s 13. But then with the indirect jobs, this study says it could be anywhere from 33,000 to 39,000 jobs. That’s a mega deal.

Frederica Freyberg:

I guess we got to wait and see.

Scot Ross:

Yeah, wait til 2043 when we might break even with the best projections.

Frederica Freyberg:

We leave it there. Bill McCoshen, Scot Ross. Thank you.

Bill McCoshen, Scot Ross:

Thanks.