Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett spoke about the economy at a business conference in Madison Tuesday.
The two gubernatorial candidates promoted their proposed solutions to Wisconsin's economic troubles at the Business Day in Madison 2010 conference. Although both candidates said they have the same goal of creating more jobs, they said they have different solutions to employment issues.
""I am the only candidate in this race who for the last six years has been working to create jobs in Wisconsin,"" Barrett said. He said job creation is necessary ""if we are ever going to provide the quality of life and the standard of living that we want for our children.""
Barrett, citing his approach to creating business in Milwaukee as being ""aggressive and proactive,"" promoted the ideas of government involvement, decreasing borrowing and cooperating with neighboring states on issues like the use of low-carbon fuel.
Walker said he would lower taxes, minimize the size of government and encourage the UW System ""to act more like a business.""
Additionally, he pledged to create 250,000 new jobs and 10,000 new businesses by 2015.
""These are simple, simple principles,"" Walker said of his belief in systematic deregulation. ""It would have been easier to set aside those simple principles for a more politically expedient solution, to get along with the liberals on my accounting board, to get along with the liberals on my editorial board, but I didn't do that.""
According to Walker's campaign, he is gaining the support of independents against Barrett at a rate of two to one. Recent polls from Rasmussen Reports, a conservative-leaning group, and The Mellman Group, a Democratic pollster, show the race is tightening between Walker and Barrett.
Barrett said he fully intends to reach across the aisle and set aside the ""ideological war"" to repair Wisconsin's financial situation.
""The biggest lesson I have learned as mayor is that people don't care if their garbage is picked up by a Democrat or Republican,"" Barrett said. ""They just want their garbage picked up.""
