President Obama’s visit to Racine Wednesday brought critics of the administration’s policies. Members of Kenosha’s UAW Local 72 came to Racine because of the pending closing of the nearby Chrysler engine plant. The plant is closing after the administration bailed out the auto company. Local 72 President Glenn Stark said their message for the president was that products that could be made in Kenosha shouldn’t be produced in other countries.
A few dozen members of the TEA Party gathered in a strategic location where they could be seen by the Presidential motorcade. Nancy Milholland said the President needs to refocus his energy away from a “job killing agenda,” which includes amnesty, cap and trade and health care reform, “Get the jobs back first and we can fix the rest.”
Another TEA party member, Laura Helberstadt, said Obama isn’t really working on economic recovery. “You can’t say you’re trying to boost the economy when you are posing things like cap and trade that would absolutely decimate the economy of Wisconsin,” she says.
State Representative Robin Vos (R-Caledonia) was welcoming of the President but was concerned a trillion dollars in federal spending and heavier regulation have not helped Racine County’s economy, a manufacturing centered area plagued with high unemployment.
Tom Karkow and Janet Hoff-WRJN