By M.D. Kittle Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON — In a rare, lengthy interview during these dog days of recall, Gov. Scott Walker opened up about Wisconsin’s revitalizing business climate, his much-praised and maligned government reform agenda and his worries about the political fate of targeted Republican senators in Tuesday’s election.

Walker spoke with the Heritage Foundation’s Rob Bluey in a podcast posted Wednesday on the conservative think tank’s website.

Jobs, jobs, jobs

In the 10-minute session, the governor touted the Badger State’s economic gains, most notably the 39,000-plus jobs added since he took office in January. Wisconsin created a net 9,500 jobs in June, or more than half of the 18,000 positions added to the anemic U.S. economy, taking into account employment surges in states like Texas and plummeting numbers in places like Illinois.

“We said Wisconsin was open for business on the night of the election, and we proved it starting Jan. 3,” Walker said in the Heritage Foundation interview.

He pointed to the big GOP wins in the fast and furious spring session — tort reform, regulatory reforms, a repeal of the tax on health savings accounts, declining property taxes and not to mention the adoption of a balanced budget with structural reforms — as critical in turning around an economy that had shed some 150,000 jobs before he began his term.

“Wisconsin is outperforming almost the entire nation. That’s not circumstantial coincidence; that’s due to leadership and policy change,” said Steve Baas, vice president for government affairs for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, the Milwaukee chamber of commerce.

Graeme Zielinski, spokesman for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, was blunt, countering that the Walker administration’s proclamation of economic victory is a “right-wing fantasy, a total lie.”

“This economic success is predicated on low wages, low benefits and a workforce that’s going to have to slither on its belly, thanks to Scott Walker,” Zielinski said.

He pointed to nearby Illinois as outpacing Wisconsin’s economy, but the Land of Lincoln added 18,900 to its unemployed rolls in June, pushing the state’s total jobless to 603,700 people.

Nationally, the edge of recession appears to be drawing closer. Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said employers announced 66,414 planned job cuts nationally in July, a 16-month high.

“July marks the third consecutive increase we have seen in monthly job cut announcements, which certainly seems to provide additional evidence that the recovery has stalled,” said John Challenger, CEO of the firm, in a statement. “What may be the most worrisome about the July surge is that the heaviest layoffs occurred in industries that, until now, have enjoyed relatively low job cut levels, including pharmaceuticals, computer and retail.”

‘Best and brightest’

Walker asserts his controversial changes in collective-bargaining — the ire of organized labor — are saving Wisconsin’s public schools money and improving classrooms. Many public employees covered under collective bargaining lost a good many of their bargaining privileges and now must pick up 5.8 percent of their retirement contributions and at least 12 percent of their health insurance costs.

It’s a change, Walker told the Heritage Foundation, that is helping turn around Wisconsin schools.

“Now they’re actually hiring more teachers, lowering classroom sizes, and ultimately setting money aside for merit pay,” Walker said. “Not only does it balance the budget, it allows us to hire and fire based on merit, to pay for performance, best of all to put our best and brightest into the classroom and into our local governments.”

Teachers’ union Wisconsin Education Association Council, tens of thousands of Wisconsin teachers and other opponents hold a decidedly different point of view, many demonizing the governor for leading a charge that cut $800 million out of Wisconsin’s public education budget.

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Walker and the GOP have countered that a number of tough choices were made to fix the state’s $3.6 billion, two-year budget hole.

The governor points to local public education systems like the Kaukauna Area School District, which has turned a projected $400,000 budget gap into a $1.5 million surplus through employee benefits savings.

Other school districts will see significant savings, but in many cases, the lower expenditures won’t offset the cuts in school aid.

Recall worries

Walker also voiced concerns about Tuesday’s recall election, in which six Republican senators are fighting for political survival in what has become big-money, nationally driven campaigns. Early indications are that campaign spending could top $25 million for the total nine recall elections in the brief but bitter cycle.

Walker pointed to millions of dollars pumped into the campaigns by special interest groups like the We Are Wisconsin Political Action Committee, backed by the muscle of some of the nation’s most powerful unions.

Of course, the Democrats point to big money coming from conservative groups, like Americans for Prosperity and the Club for Growth Wisconsin.

With so much money dumped into the Democrat’s campaigns, Walker said the race is tough for Republicans caught in the crosshairs.

“The national big-government union bosses have really made this into a national issue,” the governor told the Heritage Foundation. “My belief is if the facts get out, these six, brave senators will prevail. If they’re outnumbered two- or three-to-one, they’re going to have a difficult time.”

Republicans hold a 19-14 edge in the Senate.

The Democratic Party’s Zielinski charged that the final spending numbers will show big corporate interests far outspending Democratic backers. Ultimately, Zielinski said the voters of Wisconsin will render their verdict on the Walker agenda, and the “proof will be in the pudding.”

To view the Heritage Foundation’s interview with Walker click here.