Posted on 04/20/2015 11:53:58 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Glenn Beck on Monday interviewed Wisc. Gov. Scott Walker (R), who is widely expected to be running for president in 2016. Though Beck had reservations before the interview, when it concluded, Beck said he “loved” the man.
“I loved him,” Beck said. “I was really impressed with him, really liked him. [I] thought he had great answers for everything. We didn’t push him to the wall on things, but it’s our first meeting and I thought he had really reasonable answers.”
Beck said he would like to speak with Walker more about immigration and the Middle East, but he was “very impressed” with what he heard.
The two discussed everything from Common Core — which Walker said he would “absolutely” repeal if it came to his desk — to Walker’s accomplishments as governor of a deep blue state.
“It is the home of the progressive movement,” Walker said of Wisconsin. “Collective bargaining was started there. … It was the state that had the first income tax. Who would have thought that in that city, in the state of Wisconsin, which hasn’t gone Republican for president since 1984, we would be able to take on four years ago the Public Employees Union? And not only win that battle, but win the recalls against a whole bunch of state senators? Win a recall against me and the lieutenant governor?”
“But now Wisconsin, when it comes to public employee unions … we can hire and fire based on merit,” Walker continued. “We can pay based on performance. We’re the 25th state in the nation that has a right-to-work. We have photo ID requirements for voting. We defunded Planned Parenthood. … We cut taxes by $2 billion and property taxes are lower today than they were four years ago. Who would have thought that would happen?”
Good God,” Beck remarked.
“But we said shortly after the 2010 election, we had to go big and we had to go bold,” Walker added. “It was put up or shut up time. And even in Madison, Wisconsin, we were able to get that done.”
Beck asked the governor what the secret is to making such bold changes.
“We had to win amongst independents by 11, almost 12-point margins,” Walker responded. “The interesting thing is, to win the center, you don’t have to move to the center of the issues. You have to lead. You have to clearly spell out what you’re going to do. Tell the people what you’ll do, and then do it.”
Beck said he is still a little “nervous” that Walker is an “establishment” Republican, but between Walker and the already-announced presidential candidates, there are “tremendous possibilities” for 2016.
glenn beck’s endorsement is a political “kiss of death” ... only, no one’s told glenn yet ...
I find Beck so looney that I may have to rethink Walker as a viable second choice........
:-)
Having a history of being pro-amnesty is the kiss of death also. Unfortunately for some, that applies to Governor Walker.
“Beck said he is still a little “nervous” that Walker is an “establishment” Republican”
Yes me too.
I didn’t say Walker never supported amnesty. I did say that amnesty is not necessarily a “path to citizenship” although that seems to be what many people assume it means.
As I said, you won’t find a candidate who doesn’t support some form of amnesty, including Senator Cruz. The path to citizenship is another matter, although I suspect that when you dig deeper into their positions, perhaps as yet unstated, you won’t find one who won’t grant citizenship in at least some cases as well.
But then, you’re done with me. My loss, I suppose.
I think it’s a legitimate concern. At the state level Walker tries to encourage business formation. The real question is whether, when faced with the likes of Google, GE, Exxon, etc., he favors the large over the small, i.e., that he falls into the crony capitalist mode. It’s a risk, although I think his character is such that he will treat small and large more or less the same when it comes to pushing for changes in law.
Personally I don’t think Scott Walker is a bad guy. I do think he’s too establishment to be a crusader and do the hard things that need to be done to restore the constitutional republic. This country is on the brink of Civil War. Same ole same ole ain’t gonna cut it.
I am more impressed with Cruz’ defense of the Constitution, even though he is an damned Senator.
>>Same ole same ole ain’t gonna cut it.<<
I’m pretty certain that Walker isn’t going to give us “same ole, same ole” if he’s elected. Quite the opposite, given his track record in Wisconsin. He’s certainly capable of doing the hard things and taking the resulting heat.
What I’m not as certain of is how he’ll treat big business. I hope he treats businesses of all size the same, fairly, even if that entails removing a lot of the government-provided advantages that big businesses currently enjoy.
I don’t know if he’s been asked about the Ex-Im bank yet, but if he says it should be closed down, that would be a good start. Of course, actually getting it done is another matter.
Well the first thing Walker needs to do is announce he’s running for President instead of letting Cruz, Paul and Rubio take the heat.
I think he intends to wait until the biennial budget is negotiated and passed in Wisconsin first, but I could be wrong.
The reason why this development is so significant is that the two establishment-backed candidates, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, both have an in-depth understanding of the immigration issue and come down on the side that supports special interests’ desire for a massive increase in legal immigration that hurts American workers.
Meanwhile, Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rand Paul (R-KY)—who like Walker make up the more grassroots conservative side of the field—don’t really weigh in on the legal side of the immigration issue. So as Walker continues to gain traction as a potential candidate, and readies himself for a launch, it’s quite clear he’s making a significant effort to learn what he now clearly understands is one of the most under-appreciated angles of the jagged razor-edge issue of immigration—the angle that polling shows can help him clear the GOP field and easily eliminate Rubio and Bush, whose pro-open borders positions stand against American workers....."
Yes, I think Walker has definitely found the sweet spot on the immigration debate. This is particularly true because even many Democrats have to be concerned with Obama’s open border policy, or maybe lawless border policy would be more accurate, so his position could draw not only votes of Independents, but of frustrated Democrats who are fed up with their party’s lurch to the left under Obama.
There is an element in the conservative economics thinking that relates GDP growth to population growth. That element will resist Walker’s thinking on curtailing legal immigration to protect domestic wages. I’ve always believed that element was wrong. Innovation and hard work, not population growth, are the drivers of increased GDP. Absent population growth, innovation and hard work lead to a faster increase in wages. In other words, everyone shares the wealth, but in a free market, rather than by the hand of government.
If you re-read the last line in the above paragraph, you’ll see why Walker’s stance (and Session’s) is so powerful. It gets at income inequality, but in the right way, by tilting the playing field back to the center, instead of by forcibly taking from the well off to give to the rest.
There’s also another advantage to Walker’s position on immigration. It cuts hard against any accusation that he will fall in to the crony capitalist mode if he’s elected because it’s the large companies that push hardest for increased legal immigration.
The question then gets down to whether you believe him. I, for one, do.
I’ll add one more thing to the last post. Walker is a seasoned politician, in a good way, not a cynical way. He is excellent at determining how much can be accomplished in the next move and, equally important, what needs to be set aside for later so that the current effort is accomplished. He knows that if you attempt to take on too much at once, you risk losing everything.
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