Posted on 02/21/2015 1:05:15 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Yes, believe it or not, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker actually spoke at some length at the dinner this past week where Rudy Giuliani charged that President Obama doesn’t love America. All the hullabaloo went to Giuliani, but in terms of the Republican presidential race, a number of Scott Walker’s pointed comments about policy and politicians are not to be missed.
First a word about the dinner itself, which was generously backed by John Catsimatidis. It was the second event sponsored by the Committee to Unleash American Prosperity, a new group founded by Arthur Laffer, Steve Moore, Steve Forbes, and myself. Just as the Committee on the Present Danger — formed by Midge Decter, Norman Podhoretz, and Irving Kristol — worried about the decline in American foreign policy in the late 1970s, we are worried about the decline in American economic growth over the past 15 years.
Our view is simple: To maximize growth, jobs, opportunity, and upward mobility, the U.S. must recapture the first principles of economic growth that were so successful in the 1960s, ’80s, and ’90s. Namely, pro-growth policies should seek a low-rate, broad-based flat tax, limited government spending, the lightest possible economic regulations, sound money, and free trade.
Since 2000, the U.S. economy has barely reached 2 percent growth per year. Over the prior 100 years, American growth averaged 3.4 percent annually. To get back to the long-run trend — which epitomizes the most powerful engine of free-market capitalist prosperity in the history of history — future growth over the next decade will have to average 4 percent annually.
To advance our policy goals, our committee (still in formation) will be interviewing all the Republican presidential candidates in the months ahead. A few weeks ago we had dinner with Texas governor Rick Perry. This week we welcomed Scott Walker.
In his opening, Governor Walker stressed growth, reform, and safety. During the question-and-answer period, he emphasized sweeping Reagan-like tax cuts. And he frequently referred to his successful efforts in Wisconsin to curb public-union power as a means of lowering tax burdens, increasing economic growth, and reducing unemployment.
Noteworthy, Walker argued that when Reagan fired the PATCO air-traffic controllers over their illegal strike, he was sending a message of toughness to Democrats and unions at home as well as our Soviet enemies abroad. Similarly, Walker believes his stance against unions in Wisconsin would be a signal of toughness to Islamic jihadists and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Walker was also highly critical of President Obama’s conduct in the war against radical Islamism, and said the U.S. must wage a stronger battle in the air and on the ground against ISIS.
He stressed the need for a positive Republican message in 2016, and bluntly criticized Mitt Romney for spending too much time on the pessimistic economic negatives emanating from Obama’s policy failures.
And in an unmistakable rip at both Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton, he called for a new generation and fresh faces to turn America back in the right direction.
More specifics: When asked about a sound-money policy, Walker said he was willing to sit down and learn. And on free trade, he needs a much clearer message. But in response to a question about solving middle-class income declines, he insisted that sweeping economic-growth policies aimed at all groups and categories, not just the so-called middle class, is the answer. He also aggressively defended his controversial University of Wisconsin budget cuts, arguing that they would slow tuition hikes and force professors to teach more.
Why did he leave Marquette before graduation? He saw a more attractive position at the Red Cross and wanted to start a political career. Yes, he nearly flunked French. But many folks think that’s a political plus. And as NR editor Rich Lowry has written, 68 percent of Americans do not have a college degree. And many of us believe the time has come for a president without Ivy League credentials.
Can Walker win? Arthur Laffer has known him for years and says he has matured enormously from his days as Milwaukee county executive. Others say he is the only Republican candidate with a record of winning many different elections, from local office, to state assemblyman, to three gubernatorial races in four years.
Walker is a superb retail politician, a trait that will serve him well in the early primaries. He has an uncanny knack of maintaining direct eye contact. At the dinner, rather than rushing out for an early-morning TV call, he insisted on talking to every person in the large crowd surrounding him.
The question now is whether he can develop from a tough state-union buster to a national politician who can modernize Reagan’s policies while maintaining the Gipper’s upbeat message of optimism and growth.
Your own link offers this damning, verbatim transcript quote from Walker:
” WALKER: If people want to come here and work hard in America, I don’t care whether they come from Mexico or Ireland or Germany or South Africa or anywhere else, I want ‘em here. To me, if people want to come and live the American dream, if they want to work hard and self-determination and have their kids have a better life, I mean that’s what — whether you’re folks like my brother’s in-laws who immigrated a generation ago from Mexico or whether it’s people like my ancestors who came from places like Ireland and Germany and other parts of the world many generations ago, there’s a similar pattern there. That is, people who came, who risk a lot, whether it’s traveling across an ocean or across a national border.
So anyway, long story short to that, not only do I think they need to fix things for people who are already here, find some way to deal with that (but also) there’s got to be a larger way to fix the system in first place. Because if it wasn’t so cumbersome, if there wasn’t such a long wait, if it wasn’t so difficult to get in, you wouldn’t have the other problems that we have with people who don’t have legal status in the first place.
That seems to be, at least to me, what I hear in the national debate, largely overlooked. It all is about the 11 million — and I don’t know how we get that exact number because people, if they’re not here legally, I don’t know exactly how you figure out when it’s 11 million, or 25 million or whatever it is, but we’ve heard enough about it that it’s a real issue. But, like I said, I don’t know why — you hear some people talk about border security and a wall and all that. To me, I don’t know that you need any of that if you had a better, saner way to let people into the country in the first place.”
You’re laughable - without credibility when you make comments like that.
Who’s your candidate?
You will win no converts with these tactics.
I put the LINK there so that others can READ it in context; ALL OF IT!
: ) You really are so transparent.
Snippet from the article:
What has not been as evident is what “he supports: legal status for millions of people here already, while making it easier for immigrants to come here through the front door”.
Walker has a great memory, tremendous capacity to learn, and a great political instinct. He’s not afraid of being surrounded by smart people. I’ll bet he could tell you names of every person he talked to that evening.
I met him at a neighborhood birthday party for a friend’s son, and many years later, he remembered meeting and talking that day. I’ve met very few people like that.
He’s real!
What context changes the man’s direct quotes? That the GOPe is pro-amnesty too? People already know that.
And my “tactics” are simply posting the transcript of Walker’s comments—from the link you posted!
“Legal status” isn’t amnesty or citizenship.
I’m going to wait to hear what he has to say, not how it’s been massaged by the Left or snippets, or truncated videos, or short questions - but fully fleshed out - current and complete.
You’re right, it isn’t, but it’s close, and will become amnesty.
I post that bit every time I read the haughty ‘Walker is for amnesty, and my candidate, Cruz, walks on water’.
What’s he done as gov?
Pretty bold statement. Back it up
Tax policy should be really simple: tax no more than 19% of GDP, spend no more than 17% of GDP. Use the difference to pay off debt.
I’ve backed it up over and over again, most recently with extended dir3ct quotes here from a link the OP provided.
The you get all the other crap with Hillary and the democrats.
I trust Walker to do the right thing.
You seem to be fixed on one issue and nothing will satisfy you.
No matter what you say - you are not going to get 100% of what you want.
If you think Hillary is better, then support her.
Did you vot in the last tqo elections?
I’m not for Hillary, I simply disputed the erroneous assertion that Walker was better than the Dems on illegal immigration. And the very amnesty and open borders that Walker wants will kill any future for conservatism in this country. It literally is the issue to end all other conservative issues.
You are just a critic stirring the pot. You are not accomplishing anything except to state your one issue.
If you think Hillary or the democrats are better on illegal immigration than Walker you are sadly misinformed. If you don’t understand that many past Congresses and Presidents did nothing to resolve the immigration problem. Because they didn’t do anything and the government, courts and schools allowed the illegals to come and stay, we can’t go back to square one. This country needs to find a solution that is fair and reasonable.
We then need to fully enforce our borders and laws.
While I favor sending the criminals and the malcontents back to their country, it is going to be very difficult if not impossible to send back the 11-20 million in today’s environment.
I would prefer that they come in legally, and it is unfair to the ones who have stood in line and did it legally. The blame goes to Congress and Presidents that didn’t update the laws and allowed the illegal immigration. (They are doing the same with social security and medicare - they are ineffective in making good decisions that would benefit us).
If you want conservatism and free enterprise system in the USA, you need to practice it and sell it to the uninformed by merit. We need to restore it as the best political system for all. You will not win all battles, you do the best you can.
Yelling “fire” about immigration doesn’t solve the problem.
I don’t think you understand how Walker works and the immigration issue has changed over the years. So a statement 10 years ago is not the same position held today.
Walker’s made his worst statements on immigration in the last two years.
And we need to enforce our laws, first and foremost. That’s not hard to figure out and that’s what is “fair”. We ought to go back to square one.
But Walker’s positions would be death to conservatism in our country and I don’t care if Walkerbots like you don’t like the truth stated.
That's... actually the definition of amnesty. Check your dictionary.
I’m always posting links.
Why don’t you track that one down and school me.
www.dictionary.com
That’s what I figured.
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