“Two years ago, when I first stood here as your new governor, Wisconsin was facing a $3.6-billion budget deficit, property taxes had gone up 27 percent over the previous decade, increasing every year, and the unemployment rate was 7.8 percent.”

◼ Walker hits familiar themes in State of the State - Lakeland Times

Today, he observed, Wisconsin has a $342-million budget surplus, while property taxes on a median valued home have declined in each of the last two years, and the unemployment rate has dropped to 6.7 percent....

Walker said that, unlike the message coming out of Washington, he believed in putting more money in the hands of people instead of the government, and a critical way to do that was to create jobs.

He cited an improving business climate, greater employer confidence, and recent jobs announcements by various companies. But at the top of the jobs’ list was an iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin.