Between now and the 2018 fall elections, Lake Effect will feature interviews with candidates for Wisconsin governor and other races. First up is Mike McCabe.
Name: Mike McCabe
Party Affiliation: Democrat
Running for: Governor
Current/Past Positions: Founder, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign; Author, Blue Jeans in High Places: The Coming Makeover of American Politics
Hometown: Born in Stoughton, grew up on a farm outside Curtiss
Twitter Handle: @BlueJeansGov
Highlights from the Lake Effect interview:
On taxes: "We don't need any new taxes, but we sure as heck need to make sure that everyone pays the ones we've already got. And we can have it so that schools aren't so heavily reliant on the property tax - if we have an overall tax system that is fair for everybody, and that does expect everybody to pull their weight."
On the Foxconn deal: "For decades, Wisconsin has taken this approach of trying to feed the rich, shower tax breaks and state subsidies on a few thousand people or a few huge corporations or one global conglomerate from Taiwan, with the hopes that some of what they're given will filter down to the rest of the population. It's the wrong approach. And if we continue with this approach, there will be more Foxconns down the road, and we won't see significant job growth."
On abolishing the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC): "We should do away with it and take hundreds of millions of dollars from that use - that has put us in a position where we're dead last in the nation in new business start-ups - we've got to plow that money into things like healthcare for all, affordable debt-free education, bringing high-speed internet to places that don't have it."
Campaign promise: "If I'm elected Governor, I'm not going to live in the Governor's Mansion. If I'm elected Governor, I'm not going to take the full salary of the governor. I'm going to be paid one dollar less than the average Wisconsin worker makes."
