McIlheran Watch: Good Columnist? No, Just a Mere Propagandist

by capper

Despite having some adoring fans, Patrick McIlheran again fails to prove himself to be more of an insightful columnist as much as a propagandist hack. In his blog, he has this posting, in which he is nothing more that a mouthpiece for Scott Walker.

First, he brings out the old dog and pony show about the county pension scandal. There are two problems with this. One, the sick leave and retirement enhancers were paid out three years ago, and are no longer an effect on the budget. The pension fund itself is of concern not from just the big hit on the fund from the exodus of retirees, but from the market crash following 9/11 and Walker's short-changing it year after year. By refusing to make the appropriate payments, Walker only excasperated the problem. Side note: Walker was warned of the mass exodus, but chose not to listen to the warnings. Who does that remind you of?

Then McIlheran goes on to show that the bustling metropolis of Mequon is looking at another tax freeze and links to the U.S. Census Bureau's website regarding that fine city to show that people want to move there. That made me wonder, how did Milwaukee County size up while under Scott "I should have been governor" Walker. The results weren't as pretty, with a loss of 25,000 people. Then, I thought, "Well, surely, Mr. McIlheran can't be all wrong. The population of the tax hell we call Wisconsin must have gone down under Doyle." Good thing I didn't put any money on old Paddy. Wisconsin gained almost 200,000 people. Not bad for a state whose taxes are so high that people are moving out in droves.

I would think that someone who actually gets paid to do this would at least try to get his facts straight, or at least not make it so easy to call him out on it.