Scott Walker

[[File:Scott_Walker_2010.jpg|thumb|165px|Scott Walker is part of the "Cheesehead Revolution."<ref name="AP-out"/>]]{{uspolitics}}{{cquote|A key to success is not how many people are dependent on the government, but rather how many people are not.|||Scott Walker<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/frankminiter/2015/09/16/gop-debate-here-are-the-most-telling-sound-bites-so-far/?sh=78bf9a37384a GOP Debate: Here Are The Most Telling Sound Bites So Far] by Frank Miniter (Sep 16, 2015,10:51am EDT) ''Forbes''.</ref>}}
'''Scott Kevin Walker''' {{lived|1967}} is a former governor of [[Wisconsin]], [[union]] buster, and a former [[2016 Republican Party presidential nomination|candidate for the 2016 presidential nomination]].<ref name="AP-out"/>

So you know exactly the kind of person he is, on the day of his announcement to run for the Presidency, Walker signed the new state budget into law on Sunday with a last-minute change that strips the words "living wage" from state laws and replaces it with "minimum wage." This eliminates all efforts for workers to appeal for a living wage, and it removes, on average, $6000 dollars from their pockets.<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/13/scott-walker-eliminates-living-wage_n_7789472.html</ref> Oh, and he's trying to drug test [[Welfare|food stamp recipients]].<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scott-walker-food-stamps_55a64d15e4b0c5f0322bc850?</ref> After dropping out of the race in September 2015, he followed up by signing bills that completely skewed election rules in favor of the Wisconsin Republicans.<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scott-walker-election-laws_5671ceb5e4b0648fe301fc9c</ref> Sure enough, in the next election, the Republicans won the state for the first time in 32 years. He was finally defeated by [[Democrat]] Tony Evers in 2018.

{{wpl|Len Blavatnik||,}} a [[Soviet Union]]-born dual national of the US and [[UK]], is financially associated with Russian oligarchs and [[Vladimir Putin]]. He donated $1.1 million to a political action committee associated with Walker.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180304051915/https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/12/15/putins-proxies-helped-funnel-millions-gop-campaigns How Putin's proxies helped funnel millions into GOP campaigns] by Ruth May (December 15, 2017) ''The Dallas Morning News'' (archived from March 4, 2018).</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190907165255/https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/03/gop-campaigns-took-7-35-million-from-oligarch-linked-to-russia/ GOP campaigns took $7.35 million from oligarch linked to Russia: Donald Trump and the political action committees for Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich and John McCain accepted $7.35 million in contributions from a Ukrainian-born oligarch who is the business partner of two of Russian president Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs and a Russian government bank.] by Ruth May (3:43 PM on Aug 3, 2017) ''Dallas News'' (archived from September 7, 2019).</ref>

==Gubernatorial elections==
Scott Walker was elected in 2010 with help from supporters of the [[Tea Party]].  Speculation over whether or not he was a [[Koch Industries|Kochsucker]] ended when a reporter from ''The Buffalo Beast'' released recordings of a prank call to Walker which involved the reporter pretending to be a Koch brother and talking about potential donations in exchange for political favors of a [[conservative]] nature.<ref>[http://buffalobeast.com/koch-whore/ Koch Whore,] ''Buffalo Beast''</ref>

Scott Walker lost his bid for a third term as Governor of Wisconsin to Democratic challenger Tony Evers, whose victory, though narrow, was above the one percentage point that justified a recount. Evers argued that more [[civility]] and less hostility are precisely what voters wanted in the age of Trump.<ref name="AP-out">[https://www.apnews.com/9b28173f43b44cfa9ba64438d002f075 Wisconsin Democrats rejoice: Scott Walker is finally gone]. Associated Press. November 7, 2018. </ref>

==2011 Wisconsin protests==
The '''2011 Wisconsin protests''' were a series of demonstrations carried out in Madison, [[Wisconsin]], against the policies of Scott Walker.

They started when Walker, as part of a program to resolve a budget crisis, proposed to remove collective bargaining rights (unions) for some of the public-sector workers of the state for everything but base wages, which would also be capped by the consumer price index. Also worth noting is that the bill, while especially devastating to teacher's unions (though they are far from perfect, this couldn't ''possibly'' be related to their consistently-Democratic leanings), just happens to leave the unions that supported Walker (police, firefighters, and state troopers) untouched.<ref>[http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/193742/ Effects of Walker's bill]</ref> That this measure would be proposed as part of a budget crisis would strongly imply that Gov. Walker intends to slash wages once the workers are stripped of their representation. Starting in April, union members will be expected to double their contributions to pension and health benefit programs.

===Anti-intellectualism===
{{main|Anti-intellectualism}}
Walker was a pioneer in attacking public universities:<ref>''Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future'' by Jason Stanley (2024) One Signal Publishers / Atria. ISBN 9781668056912.</ref>{{rp|122-123}}}}
{{cquote|Scott Walker, however, was the anti-education governor. Time and again during his two terms, the Wisconsin Republican made the state’s colleges, and those who work at them, political foils, criticizing them as wasteful and out of touch, challenging what was taught in their classrooms, and questioning their value. By the time he left office, in 2019, Walker had slashed college budgets, stripped tenure protections and university autonomy, and proposed gutting the Wisconsin Idea, enshrined in state law, that stresses higher education's importance to the state and society.|||journalist Karin Fischer<ref>[https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-playbook-for-knocking-down-higher-ed A Playbook for Knocking Down Higher Ed: A decade ago, Wisconsin's governor made college a wedge issue. Now his approach has gone national.] by Karin Fischer (October 18, 2022) ''The Chronicle of Higher Education''.</ref>}}

===Myths===
A common [[moonbat]] myth is that Walker "ginned up" the deficit crisis through a $140 million corporate [[tax cut]]. In fact, Wisconsin was set to run a deficit before this — Walker simply made the deficit even worse.<ref>[http://politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2011/feb/18/rachel-maddow/rachel-maddow-says-wisconsin-track-have-budget-sur/ Politifact on deficit]</ref>

===Koch involvement===
A considerable controversy also developed around the involvement of the [[Koch Industries|Koch brothers]] in the situation. A Koch PAC gave $43,000 to Walker's campaign, the second-largest donation to the governor. Teabagger [[astroturf]] organization [[Americans for Prosperity]], which has ties to the Kochs, organized a "counter-protest" against union demonstrations as well as setting up an online petition in support of Scott Walker calling for Walker's reforms to be implemented in all states across the US. During the protests, an employee of the [[liberal|lieberal]] rag ''The Beast'' based out of Buffalo, [[New York]], prank called Walker pretending to be David Koch. Walker spent twenty minutes debriefing the fake Koch on the situation and discussed things such as planting "troublemakers" at the union protest sites.<ref>All things Koch: [http://motherjones.com/mojo/2011/02/wisconsin-scott-walker-koch-brothers Walker's Koch money], [http://americansforprosperity.org/walker/ AFP Stand with Scott Walker petition and pictures of Teabagger counter-protests], [http://web.archive.org/web/20120112072913/http://buffalobeast.com/?p=5045 Koch prank call (by Ian Murphy, February 23, 2011, ''The Beast'', archived from January 12, 2012)]</ref>

===Procedure and counter-procedure===
There is a Republican majority in the Wisconsin Senate. To prevent its passing, the Democratic caucus in the Wisconsin Senate lit out to Illinois, fleeing the procedural rules that would compel them to be present for a vote on the bill; this prevented a quorum of senators from being present and, hence, prevented the measure from passing. However, Republicans did an end-run around them by removing portions of the bill that authorized the spending of money, thereby removing the requirement for a quorum. After that happened, they were able to pass the bill without the Democrats on March 10.<ref>http://www.npr.org/2011/03/10/134419331/protests-swell-after-wis-senate-curbs-union-rights</ref>

===Reactions===
Reactions to the protests have split along political lines.

Right-wingers have tried to portray the public-sector workers as latter-day [[welfare queen]]s, as they have been doing for some time now, and also complained that the public-sector unions need to be reined in as they constitute a [[Democratic Party|Democratic]] political machine. Some have gone so far as to call the protesters [[communist]]s, which is presumably [[Red baiting|code]] either for "person who thinks labor unions should exist" or alternatively "person who declines to toe the Tea Party line." Additionally, they have used the flight of the Democratic Senate caucus to try to paint Democrats as unresponsive to the popular will (disregarding the many times Republicans have used the same tactics).

Left-wingers and unionist groups have supported the protesters, citing the protests as an example of "real people power" in contrast to the [[astroturfing]] nature of the [[Tea Party]]. Some have [[Godwin's law|compared]] Gov. Walker to the former Libyan dictator, [[Muammar al-Gaddafi]] (the similarity cited is that they both had people rising up against them), and predicted that this is only the beginning, that Gov. Walker will also end union representation in private employment and/or outlaw unions altogether. This hasn't happened yet, but give the Koch Brothers enough time...

===Free speech?===
After the ensuing demonstrations, Walker and his administration [[PIDOOMA|claimed]] that the protesters had caused $7.5 million in damage and proposed that, in the future, Wisconsinites should pay $50 per hour per Capitol Police officer.<ref>[http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/02/walker-looks-to-charge-citizens-fee-to-protest/ The Raw Story: Walker intends to charge citizens fee to protest] December 2, 2011</ref> (After a proper estimation of the damage done, the figure came out to be below $300,000 in just wear and tear). But all is good because it's not like [[free speech]] is important or anything.

==Great ideas==

===On your own again===
In April 2012, Walker [[misogyny|signed the repeal of Wisconsin's Equal Pay Enforcement Act]], with the rationale that [[Bullshit|money is "more important" to men as breadwinners]], which may very well have been true 100 years ago. Too bad if you're a single mother or your husband can't work.<ref>[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/07/wisconsin-s-repeal-of-equal-pay-rights-adds-to-battles-for-women.html Wisconsin’s Repeal of Equal Pay Rights Adds to Battles for Women] April 7, 2012</ref>

===I don't want to hear it anymore===
In his 2015 proposed budget bill, Walker &mdash; a Marquette University drop-out<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181002063915/http://drglenbarry.blogspot.com/2012/05/wisconsin-governor-scott-walker-is.html Glen Barry: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Is Still Unfit for Office] (May 22, 2012, archived from October 2, 2018).</ref> — attempted to rewrite the University of Wisconsin's mission statement, including deletion of the phrase, "the search for truth". Oh, and for added measure, slashing $300 million in state funding.<ref>[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-bottari/governor-scott-walker-tri_b_6630944.html Governor Scott Walker Tripped Up by the Truth]</ref>

==Misconduct==
Walker's operation is clean as mud.

===Plastic palace people===
Several of Walker's staff were fired and are currently under investigation for embezzlement of a veterans' assistance fund.<ref>[http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/former-walker-aide-ordered-to-face-trial-i53tf28-137891378.html Former Walker Aide ordered to face trial,] JSOnline, Jan 23rd,2012</ref> The investigation has so far uncovered one staffer attempting to engage in sex with a 17 year old ... minor.<ref>[http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/06/investigation-of-former-scott-walker-aide-leads-to-sex-crime-charges/ The Raw Story: Investigation of former Scott Walker aide leads to sex crime charges] January 6, 2012</ref>

===Big hurt===
Allegations from campaign finance group One Wisconsin Now contend that Walker has neglected to report the names of donors in 1,115 different donations (exceeding USD$100) as required by state campaign finance law.<ref>[http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/press/walker-goes-over-500000-in-improperly-reported-contributions.html?mid=5760 OneWisconsinNow: Walker Goes Over $500,000 in Improperly-Reported Contributions]</ref>

==Recall election==
Because of the above offenses against the citizens of Wisconsin, a petition was circulated to recall Walker (that is, to "unelect" him). The group United Wisconsin<ref>[http://www.unitedwisconsin.com United Wisconsin]</ref> had until 17 January 2012 to collect enough signatures to force a recall measure on the next election ballot.

On 16 January 2012, United Wisconsin announced that they would be turning in over 720,000 signatures, 33% more than was required (540,028, or one-quarter of the votes cast in the 2010 gubernatorial election) to force a recall election.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/16/us/scott-walker-recall-drive-is-closely-watched.html?_r=1&hp</ref>  However, when the actual petition came in, they turned in over ''one million'' signatures (almost as many votes as Walker received in the 2010 election), along with signatures to recall Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and four Republican state legislators who had supported the controversial legislation (cutting collective bargaining) that prompted the recall.<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/us/organizers-say-1-million-signed-petition-to-recall-gov-walker-in-wisconsin.html?_r=2&hp</ref>

A recall election took place in Wisconsin on 8 May 2012 for Walker and Kleefisch. Walker won the election, the first incumbent in a recall to ever do so (Gavin Newsom, the Democrat governor of California, became the second in 2021). Some wonder whether this was because of robocalls being sent to [[Democratic]] voters, fraudulently telling them they could stay home if they had already signed the recall petition.<ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57447512-503544/in-wisconsin-reports-of-voter-suppression-efforts/</ref>  [[Stephen Harper|Sound familiar]]?

In typical conservative fashion these days, some of Walker's supporters celebrated by sending threatening letters to those who voted against him.<ref>http://www.scribd.com/doc/65841850/Thug-Letter</ref>

==Job creator==
During his 2010 campaign for governor, and during the first few months of his tenure, Walker had promised that the budget-cutting tactics would create [[PIDOOMA|250,000]] private-sector jobs in Wisconsin by the end of his first term.

As of March 2012, it was noted that Wisconsin had only added a net total of 6,000 private-sector jobs, a pace that suggests only 24,000 total new jobs (less than 10% of what was promised) by the end of 2014.<ref>[http://www.fdlreporter.com/article/20120309/FON0101/203090405/Walker-off-pace-jobs-pledge?odyssey=nav|head "Walker off pace on jobs pledge"], FDL Reporter</ref> One analysis of this meager growth suggests that the actions of Walker's predecessor, not Walker himself, are actually responsible for producing those jobs, and Walker's actions have actually hindered better growth.<ref>[http://political-heat.blogspot.com/2012/03/distortions-in-new-walker-ad-part-1-job.html]</ref> In addition, budget cuts have failed to produce the expected savings that they had hoped the legislation would produce, and Wisconsin school districts are facing deep cutbacks due to the lack of funding.<ref>[http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/07/22/276133/wisconsin-school-administrators-walker-wrong/]</ref>

In May 2012, a separate report indicated that Wisconsin had suffered a net loss of 6,200 jobs under Walker's tenure, placing Wisconsin dead last among all states for the same time period. Walker was quick to refute the numbers, claiming that government statistics are usually inaccurate&mdash;which raises the question as to which are numbers are more accurate, the ones created by a campaign manager/public relations contact to push forward a bill or the ones generated by government statisticians whose ''only job'' is to come up with these numbers and isn't dependent on favorable results to continue their employment?<ref>[http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/wisconsin-jousts-over-latest-survey-of-job-loss-numbers.php]</ref>

As of April 2014, Wisconsin has 110,000 more ''total'' non-farm-payroll employees than it did when his term began in January 2011, and as of March 2014, about 105,000 private-sector jobs have been created during his time in office.<ref>http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/SMS55000000500000001</ref> In order to fulfill his campaign promise, Wisconsin will have to add 140,000 more jobs in the next eight months, an average of 17,500 a month. Despite this, Walker seems to enjoy bragging about his [[Big lie|"successful"]] jobs record.<ref>Phillip Bump, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/13/scott-walkers-jobs-record-falls-short-of-most-of-other-gop-governors-running/ "Scott Walker's Jobs Record Falls Short of Other GOP Governors"], ''[[Washington Post]]''.</ref>

==Hail to the...uh...==
{{cquote|If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world.|||Walker, comparing striking workers to head-chopping fanatics.<ref>Sushanna Walsh, [http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cpac-speech-scott-walker-isis/story?id=29257020 "In CPAC Speech, Scott Walker Says He Can Take on ISIS"], ABC.</ref><ref>Jim Geraghty, [http://www.nationalreview.com/campaign-spot/414512/scott-walkers-awful-answer-isis-jim-geraghty "'Scott Walker’s Awful Answer on ISIS"], ''[[National Review]]''.</ref>}}
Walker attempted to run for the [[2016 Republican Party presidential nomination|2016 GOP nomination for President]]. This was made difficult by the fact that a very, very tiny percentage of Republicans seemed to be willing to vote for him.<ref>[http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/hes-effectively-done-scott-walker-2016-presidential-campaign-in-crisis-after-plunge-in-polls/ 'He’s effectively done': Scott Walker 2016 presidential campaign in crisis after plunge in polls,] Raw Story</ref> That fact went strongly against his opinion that 
the Koch brothers
 God <i>wanted</i> him to run for President, since you'd think The Almighty's actual support would result in a bigger bump in the polls than what he ultimately achieved.<ref>[http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/scott-walker-says-his-presidential-bid-gods-plan Scott Walker Says His Presidential Bid Is 'God's Plan'], Right Wing Watch</ref>

==See also==
*[[Willful ignorance]]
*[[Rod Blagojevich]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Scott}}
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