Just today, it was reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Mercury Marine as long standing fixture of the economy of Fond du Lac is seriously considering moving all the jobs associated with the plant to the State of Oklahoma. This means more good paying, middle class, manufacturing jobs will be going South as now the evidence is mounting that the Democrats tax policies are killing family supporting jobs.
Right now, the Stillwater, Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce and the Oklahoma State Legislature are coming up with an incentives package that would woo the company to move all of its operations to the State of Oklahoma as right now Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan (D-Central Janesville, 44th District) is stuck in a backroom determining Mercury’s fate in Fond du Lac.
If Mercury Marine leaves Wisconsin, it will put Fond du Lac along with Sheboygan, Janesville, Beloit, Racine, and Kenosha as areas with the highest unemployment in Wisconsin. This would be a major casualty under the Democrats anti-business and anti-family tax policies that would ship out more good paying jobs to a lower tax state. In looking at Oklahoma’s income tax structure, the top rate in Oklahoma is 5.5%, at all income starting at $8,700 across the board with their top rate the 29th highest personal income tax rate in the nation according to the Tax Foundation. Also, Stillwater, Oklahoma is home to Oklahoma State University where it is a well known engineering university and one of the top rated in the United States along with technology related programs as the incentives would be enticing to Mercury Marine as they can draw from a excellent talent pool in Oklahoma and nearby Texas.
This story out of Fond du Lac if it happens will serve as a real wake up call to Senator Russ Decker, Representatives Mark Pocan, and Mike Sheridan, DPW Chairman Mike Tate, and the many Democrats thought their backroom dealt state budget protects the middle class, only it makes the middle class leave Fond du Lac.
North Shore Exponent 
It’s cumulative, not a single-event…
It is a growing series of events with different employers, but if Fond du Lac loses Mercury Marine, it will show how ineffective Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan has been for creating jobs saying he created incentives in the backroom for both GM his old employer in Janesville and Mercury Marine in which even the businesses are knowing best not to take a deal created in the private rooms of the State Capitol in Madison.