Jason Stein and Patrick Marley stumbled on the obvious: Scott Walker likes to drop the bomb!
jsonline: When White House hopeful Scott Walker talks to potential
voters, he hawks himself as a leader who tells people what he will do and then
does it. Walker never told voters beforehand about what would become his
signature accomplishment — repealing most collective bargaining for most public
workers. During the uproar over that unexpected legislation known as Act 10 and
the recall and re-election campaigns that followed, Walker said he wouldn't let
legislation affecting private-sector workers reach his desk. Now he says he'll
sign it.
There is no doubt this is an intentionally deceptive style that avoids days, weeks, even months of confrontation that might sour even the most devoted supporter. "We built that" has suddenly become "let's sell that:"
During his 2014 race to secure a second term, Walker didn't campaign
on some of the most sweeping changes in his current budget proposal: freezing a
stewardship program for state lands; borrowing $1.3 billion for transportation;
and cutting state universities by $300 million in exchange for unhooking them
from many state laws.
Even a right wing hero from the past seems to have had enough:
"What does a campaign mean when almost none of the
major policy departures contained in the budget were proposed or debated during
the yearlong exchange of policy ideas by Democrat Mary Burke and Republican
Scott Walker?" business executive and former Milwaukee Sentinel business
editor John Torinus of West Bend wrote on his blog last week. "This is government by surprise ... Governor Walker's style of
governance — throwing out broad-brush policy shifts without a lot of input
beforehand — is especially relevant as he runs for president of the United
States," said Torinus.
And Rep. Peter Barca stepped out of the Democratic shadows:
Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) contended, "There's no question this is emblematic of his"
approach. It's the exact opposite of what he's
claiming.
It seems the nation is quickly waking up to our incidental
governors annoying habit of word salad non-answers.
Walker is now the nation’s most ideologically driven, yet
most uncommitted “incidental presidential candidate” ever. Major party issues that
are “not on his radar,” will definitely get his signature, but at the same time were never his focus...if things went terribly wrong.
I've even documented his “punting” abilities here, in a
Journal Sentinel interview that’ll blow your mind. If it wasn't so scary it
would be funny.
Bloomberg News picked up on Walker’s word salad non-answers
right away (suggesting it's something "new"), thanks to his out-of-the-gate, biggest campaign blunder to date, “I’m going to punt
on that one.” Finally, an honest answer:
Scott Walker is punting again. When asked whether he
agreed with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who said at a dinner the two attended on Wednesday that he
doesn't believe President Obama "loves America," Walker declined
again to get drawn into a tangle. Americans are starting to get used to evasive
answers like that from the Wisconsin governor and likely 2016 presidential
candidate…
MSNBC's Chris Hayes and Esquire Magazine's Charles Pierce expose the Walker fraud:
Bloomberg News: "I’m going to punt on that one,” he said on Feb. 11 when asked he believed in
evolution. "That’s a question a politician shouldn’t be involved in one
way or the other." BBC radio host Justin Webb—argued during the interview that the
topic was fair game, and noted that U.K. politicians are comfortable
siding purely with science. “Any British politician, right or left wing,
would laugh and say ‘Yes of course evolution’s true,’” Webb told Walker. (The
British government banned
creationism from schools in 2012.)
If evolution is not something politicians shouldn't be involved with, then why are Republican politicians trying to remove or discredit evolution in our public schools? The GOP has a history of this.
Back in January, Bloomberg reporters Michael C. Bender and
John McCormick declared that, unlike being an engaging public
speaker, "avoiding any topics that are off-message" is one of
Walker's big skills.
Asked whether he supports federal requirements to buy fuels
made from corn, soybean and other products—a significant issue just over the
border in Iowa—Walker took a pass. "That's something that should I be a
candidate in the future, I probably would have to take a stand on that,"
he said, according to WisPolitics.com. In June, Walker ducked questions about the state's ban on
same-sex marriage being overturned, saying, "Voters don't talk to me about that." In 2012, he declined to comment about a bill aimed at repealing a
pay-equity law and then quietly signed it into law.
From an Upfront with Mike Gousha interview, gubernatorial candidate and 3 term Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker provided his non-answer word salad regarding his own counties economic and jobs failure:
Mike Gousha: "There are going to be people who say
look, Milwaukee county has the highest poverty rate in the state, we're losing
jobs in the city of Milwaukee, your largest municipality at a rate almost
unmatched by any other big city. Do you share any responsibility for
that?" Walker: "Everybody does, but the state of Wisconsin has done specific
things, policy wise, that have effected jobs here...if you look at the tax
increases of $1.2 billion of new taxes..." Mike Gousha: "Do you think you bare any of the responsibility for the
numbers I just mentioned for the poverty rate, for the lack of employment right
now in this community?" Walker: "No, for us that's been an issue for years...politicians
don't create jobs or eliminate jobs...!"
Walker didn't even get a break from the Journal
Sentinel, who piled on after the disappointing "none answer" on
Fox News Sunday. Host Chris Wallace even brought up the ramifications of the John Doe convictions and private email account on Walker's possible run for president:
Host Chris Wallace pressed Walker on whether he knew there
was a private email account. Walker responded, "Again, it's one of those where I point out the district
attorney looked into every single one of those issues." Wallace interjected: "But sir, you're not answering my question." Walker said, "No, because I'm not going to get into 27,000 different
pieces of information. The bottom line is a Democrat who led the district
attorneys office, looked at all this, decided not to charge anything other than
the individuals you mentioned, who were people who had worked for the county in
the past but don't work for me today.
Remember when our incidental Gov. Scott Walker uncomfortably dodged the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel questions? I wrote this:
It was the Journal Sentinel's gift to Wisconsinites when their editorial board peppered Walker with a string of tough questions he typically steers clear of. In a surreal, almost comedic Q and A, Walker ducks away every time with his word salad non-answers. Seriously, its as slick a con as you'll ever see.
He's at it again, this time on a national stage. It was amazing.
At a foreign policy think tank, Walker avoided talking about foreign policy. As the Daily Beast wrote in an article titled "Scott Walker Goes for ‘Bland,’ Ends Up ‘Moronic’ on Evolution Softball:"
He was attempting to bolster his foreign policy credentials by saying nothing at all, and during a question and answer session at a foreign policy think tank he refused to be drawn on whether he believed in evolution. Scott Walker wanted to avoid a Christie-like mistake during
his trip to London this week. He failed.
Thankfully, WKOW's Greg Neumann gave us a chance to see the Wisconsin con man in action. The moderator to a shot our incurious governor:
Moderator: "I mean do you have a sense of the outside world, and how you would want to address it?" Walker: "It both concerns me as governor and a parent, that I think there are very real threats in this world. Not only around the world, but in our own country."
Walker was talking about threats from protesters and those who don't spew racial jokes in their emails:
The Washington Post wrote this about another Walker embarrassment:
During a Wednesday appearance at the Chatham House think
tank, he firmly declined to address a multitude of subjects:
*United Kingdom membership in the European Union.*The fight against the Islamic State.*Whether the U.S. should arm Ukraine against Russia-backed
rebels.*His general foreign policy vision.*Whether he believes in evolution.
“I’m going to punt on that one as well,” Walker said in
response to the latter, much to the incredulity of Justin Webb of BBC Radio 4. “That’s a question that a politician shouldn't be involved
in one way or another. I’m not trying to skirt your question,” Walker said at
one point, adding that “for me, commenting on foreign policy or economic policy
in a country where you’re a visitor is not the polite thing.”
Who believes that its not polite to answer foreign policy questions at a foreign policy think tank? Anyone?
Were you under the impression Scott Walker was elected to serve the people? Crazy idea. In a WISEye interview, Walker was clear;
"I don't make decisions based on polls, or based on what people are going to like or dislike...I'm gonna do what I think is the right thing to do."
A one party big government authority, and you're supposed to follow. And he won't do a thing if the Affordable Care Act is forced to drop the tax credit for those on the federal, not state, exchanges.
Gov. Scott Walker’s plan if the
Supreme Court reinterprets Obamacare to take health care away from hundreds of
thousands of his constituents is to “do nothing,” according to a local news report, even though
he and his fellow Wisconsin Republicans have the power to save these
individuals from that fate … the problem would be too big for Wisconsin or
any one state to try and fix. “It would create an urgent problem across the
country—not just in Wisconsin,” Walker said in an interview with WisconsinEye.
Yea, in 35 states. Here's the audio from Wisconsin Eye, demonstrating how our incidental governor plans to just get out of the way. What, help the people of Wisconsin?
There is a chance our crazy conservative activist Supreme Court will find a way to say the congress meant to fund the state based exchanges. Do a search, see if anyone ever brought this up. Gazette Extra:
Walker predicted that his fellow Republicans who control
Congress would “create a time frame for a transition” and authorize
“alternatives for the states” … and should be replaced with a market-driven
system where patients make their health care decisions.
Walker is deceptive and tricky too. He's right to say we were one of the best state for insurance coverage, but that's because a lot of people were on BadgerCare due to the higher percentage rate over poverty. It wasn't because people were insured privately. Walker lowered it back down to 100%.
Will Republicans take insurance away from people, just like they claimed Obama did? Sure why not:
“It's clear that's not what was intended in Wisconsin and
we'll all have to find a way to address what could be an urgent problem,” said
Eric Borgerding, president of the Wisconsin Hospital Association.Borgerding said “thousands” of Wisconsin residents could
lose health care. “One of the key reasons many Wisconsin lawmakers ultimately
rejected Medicaid expansion and reduced Medicaid eligibility down to 100
percent of the federal poverty limit is because those coming off Medicaid would
be able to obtain subsidized coverage on a federal exchange. Bob DeVita, who founded Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative said: “Uninsured rates would rapidly increase across the nation in all
states affected like Wisconsin, and the impact on individuals losing coverage
would be both immediate and significant. This sudden, immediate impact on thousands of Wisconsinites
and millions of individual American citizens would be so newsworthy it would
likely receive major news exposure—similar to the media attention which a
government shutdown gets,” DeVita added. Wisconsin should finally set up the state-based exchange
authorized by the ACA, said state Senate Democratic Leader Jennifer Shilling of
La Crosse. “Wisconsin
families and businesses can't afford to have the rug pulled out from under them
again due to the stubborn inaction of Republicans in Madison.”
I've been having fun pointing out how Scott Walker is never quite dedicated to any particular policy, but is always a reluctant supporter and signer of right wing partisan legislation. I can almost hear him saying, "Okay, I'll sign it just to get it out of the way."
Urban Milwaukee's Bruce Murphy thankfully put together a list of nuisance bills signed into law...as reported by Cap Times' Steve Elbow:
Scott Walker says Republican right-to-work legislation isn't a priority in his tax-cutting, job-creating agenda. Rather, it's a distraction. But he also said that about a bill eliminating early voting on weekends, making it harder to sue over Indian mascot names, requiring women to undergo an ultrasound before an abortion and prohibiting doctors without admitting privileges at nearby hospitals from performing abortions, all of which he signed into law. Columnist Bruce Murphy's column Tuesday documents these and other measures Walker has deemed distractions from his jobs agenda, only to give them his full support by signing them into law ... signing a right-to-work bill might be just the ticket to burnish his conservative credentials. "In reality, Walker has supported such a measure for two decades," Murphy writes. "A right-to-work bill is one more of those pesky, distracting, non-priorities that Scott Walker, with his entire heart and soul, would love to help become law."
jsonline: When White House hopeful Scott Walker talks to potential voters, he hawks himself as a leader who tells people what he will do and then does it. Walker never told voters beforehand about what would become his signature accomplishment — repealing most collective bargaining for most public workers. During the uproar over that unexpected legislation known as Act 10 and the recall and re-election campaigns that followed, Walker said he wouldn't let legislation affecting private-sector workers reach his desk. Now he says he'll sign it.
