Jeff Landin’s column in the Appleton Post-Crescent reflects many of my thoughts on what Governor Doyle and Wisconsin Democrats are doing to employers and jobs in our state. Legislation such as the budget bill’s job-killing tax increases, the minimum wage increase, and wage lien will have a negative impact on jobs that will be felt for years. As Jeff writes:

In a stagnant economy where demand for their products or services is dramatically down, businesses are looking everywhere to cut cost and stay viable. For many, it is their only chance to be open when the economy begins to recover.

Against this backdrop, it is frustrating to watch what our elected leaders are doing to “stimulate” the economy. It appears that they believe that one of the best ways to stimulate the economy is to increase taxes on business. This is the absolute worst time to increase cost on business. We need government to be a partner with business not an entity that is putting more cost pressure on operations.

Do they really believe that when we are losing jobs in droves the best way to grow our employment base is to increase taxes on business? How can you conclude that adding cost to businesses in a fragile economy is going to “stimulate” job growth. It doesn’t make any logical sense.