There is a breaking story that a source told The Progressive’s Nicole Desautels Schulte that the Wisconsin Secretary of Workforce Development Reggie Newson has ordered bad jobs numbers to be held until after the recall election.I asked Schulte for a little more info and she said that she will be a posting a longer story soon, but did say that the source is very credible. She also said that the source tells her that Newsom said made this order at a face-to-face meeting with the source and others. In addition, at the same meeting Newsom ordered letters informing recipients that their unemployment compensation were not being extended were to be delayed until after the election. The source says these kind of letters always go out right away and that this is the first time that the source has ever seen a delay being ordered for any reason.More importantly, says Shulte, is the stonewalling she has gotten from the usually rapidly-responding DWD communications director, John Dipco:I called John Dipko, Communications Director, several times. I finally told him I was in the lobby and wouldn’t leave until he talked with me. He brought a notepad and wrote down all my questions, but refused to answer them in any way… just said, “I’ll follow up on this and get back with you later today.” I asked, “Is is true that there are new job numbers but they’re not being released until after the election?” and “I have a source inside of the DWD who tells me that employees were instructed not to release the job numbers… is this accurate?” and on and on. He would only reply that he would “follow up” and get back to me. He never did. I called again this morning. No response.That is very, very strange. I have contacted Dipko on numerous occasions and he has gotten back to me with a response in minutes. A pro-Walker spin response, but always a quick response.Dipco’s silence speaks volumes to validate this story.It’s also very telling that another member of the DWD’s communications department, Dennis Spurling, was willing to go on the record yesterday and admit that the BLS has not confirmed Walker‘s jobs numbers, only the data collection methods used to get those numbers.Clearly alot of public servants within the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development are concerned that the agency has become nothing more than a thinly-veiled arm of Scott Walker‘s campaign and they will literally do and say anything to ensure that he survives the recall.via The Progressive’s Schulte: Source Within DWD Says Bad Job #s Being Held Until After Recall | Uppity Wisconsin.
