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A new poll shows Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker sitting atop a handful of 2016 GOP contenders in the early presidential state of Iowa, notching a 10-point lead over his nearest rival. Mr. Walker, who has not yet officially declared his candidacy, was the choice of 23 percent of Republicans, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida at 13 percent and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 12 percent, according to the survey released Tuesday by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling......................"

Last Monday, Scott Walker, Wisconsin's Republican governor and a presumed GOP presidential hopeful, kicked the hornets' nest that is the immigration debate. He told Glenn Beck's radio show that America needs to "make decisions about a legal immigration system that's based on, first and foremost, protecting American workers and American wages," and that this concern should be "at the forefront of our discussion going forward." Walker's comments are significant because they're something of a reversal for him, but also because they break with the "legal-immigration-good, illegal-immigration-bad" orthodoxy of the GOP establishment. Lumping both forms of immigration together as equally questionable...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker appears to have an early edge in Iowa. Craig Robinson, founder and editor of TheIowaRepublican.com, calls Walker the “clear frontrunner” following the weekend Faith and Freedom Coalition event in that state, which hosts the country’s first caucuses. A number of the potential GOP presidential candidates attended the summit and addressed an audience of Iowa voters. Sen. Marco Rubio delivered “one of the best-delivered speeches of the night,” Robinson writes. The political observer added that Sen. Rand Paul and Carly Fiorina got people talking. Fiorina “is going to be a surprise on caucus night if she keeps...

According to Gallup, only 7 percent of Americans want immigration levels to increase, while 86 percent either want them to remain at current levels (47 percent) or decrease (39 percent). With most current and prospective Republican presidential candidates tripping over each other to vie for that 7 percent, it would seem to be good politics for a candidate to break from the pack and speak for the other 86 percent essentially unopposed. That’s more of less what Scott Walker has done over the past week. Actually, Walker hasn’t even said that immigration levels should not be increased. He has merely...

The conservative movement’s leading media icons lined up to back Scott Walker after the media attempted to lynch him for talking tough on immigration.After being attacked...Walker stayed the course...“A couple years ago, when the unemployment rate was at incredibly high levels and labor participation was low, why would we want to flood the market with more workers?” he said. “So that would be a time when you would have arguably less. As the unemployment rate goes down and labor participation rates go up, the two have to go hand in hand. Then it could be conceivably more than we have...

MILWAUKEE -- New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said Saturday night Gov. Scott Walker has won elections in Wisconsin by "peddling a series of falsehoods," but has to be taken seriously in his bid for the presidency because he presents himself in a likable way. De Blasio spent a good portion of a nearly 40-minute speech at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s Founders Day Gala talking about Walker. “He told you teachers were the enemy. He told you that unions were the problem. He told you that up was down and down was up in so many ways, and in...

Urbandale, Iowa (CNN)Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker hit back Saturday at potential GOP presidential rival Marco Rubio over the Florida senator's charge that there's "no way" a governor can be ready for president when it comes to foreign policy. "I think he's questioning how Ronald Reagan was ready," the Wisconsin Republican told reporters after speaking at an event for Iowa Rep. David Young in Urbandale. Walker argued that, in his lifetime, Reagan "was the most impactful" president on foreign policy, while President Barack Obama "shows as a first-term senator, (he) isn't prepared to lead, or at least is not in the...

".....In a recent Washington Examiner interview, Cruz promoted legal immigration and criticized Walker for suggesting that he supported limiting legal immigration if it has a negative impact on the wages of American workers. "When we talk about what should be the policy on legal immigration, it should be driven by the economic impact. And number one on the list of priorities should be: What is the impact on American workers and American wages?" Walker said. "If unemployment is high and labor participation is low, why would we want to open the door and flood the market with more workers at...

"..........Mr. Walker’s apparent hardening on immigration has inspired a flood of reporting and commentary. Most recently he told the radio host Glenn Beck that he favored restricting legal immigration in tough economic times, a position to the right of most other 2016 presidential hopefuls. He repeated that view Friday after a speech in Cedar Rapids, when Eddie Failor, 24, expressed concern “as a young Republican” that the party must make inroads to new voter blocs, including by supporting a comprehensive overhaul of immigration. Mr. Walker told Mr. Failor that his top priority would be securing the border. He also said...

Back in January, President Obama was boasting that the economy had finally turned a corner. [snip] The latest income data, however, don't show anything like what Obama was describing.

Like most technology people, The Tech Guys are pro-immigration. We published several pro-growth pro-immigration op-eds during the 2012 cycle. Many Daily Caller readers don’t agree with Tech Guys on immigration policy. But the politics of not demonizing legal immigrants while running for POTUS are pretty obvious. Since Walker needs tips on the basics of a national campaign, we also recommend Walker not opine on the legitimacy of rape or compare homosexuality to bestiality. Scott Walker claimed the early lead in the “self-deportation” GOP presidential primary sweepstakes. Walker called for a reduction in legal immigration. This is bad for America, contrary...

Do Americans, excluding the Marxist in the White House, actually believe private enterprise is obligated to share or "redistribute" their profits with the general public; albeit paid employees, the unemployed or complete strangers? If I have a job and my neighbor doesn’t, or God forbid I make more money, am I obligated to give this person a percentage of my income? Is “Bob” going to give me his money if I lose my job and become homeless? Hell no! People open businesses to make money…period! It’s not rocket science or a Right-Wing conspiracy. It’s called risk, work, reward! If a...

The number of Americans seeking first-time unemployment benefits rose slightly last week, but remained consistent with an economy steadily adding jobs. Initial jobless claims, a proxy for layoffs across the U.S. economy, increased by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 295,000 in the week ended April 18, the Labor Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected 290,000 claims. Claims for the prior week were not revised. The claims reading had been volatile in recent months, but the figures are settling back near the lowest levels of the economic expansion. The four-week moving average of claims, which smooths...

There was a small political earthquake Wednesday on the right side of the political spectrum, as Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who has had some nice things said about him by some very rich people, said something on immigration that likely displeased those same people. On Glenn Beck’s radio show, Walker said the following: >>>In terms of legal immigration, how we need to approach that going forward is saying: the next president and the next Congress need to make decisions about a legal immigration system that’s based on, first and foremost, protecting American workers and American wages, because the more...

The latest Census Bureau projections show immigrants will account for 14.8 percent of the U.S. population early in the next decade, setting an all-time record and raising questions about whether the country has the ability to assimilate newcomers at such a torrid pace. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker seemed to step into that debate earlier this week when he broke with GOP orthodoxy and suggested potential limits on future legal immigration, insisting American workers’ wages should be a factor in setting U.S. policy. Combined with his earlier reversal from pro-legalization to anti-amnesty for illegal immigrants, Mr. Walker’s remarks drew a rebuke...

It's early in the Republican presidential primary process, but at this point former Florida governor Jeb Bush is a slight favorite. However, the latest CNN/ORC poll indicates that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is closing in on Bush. In a large GOP field that features archconservatives and outright crazies, Walker is the most disturbing because his stock-in-trade is mobilizing the resentment of working-class white voters. According to the CNN/ORC poll, the ranking of Republican presidential candidates is Jeb Bush (17 percent), Scott Walker (12 percent), Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (11 percent), Florida Senator Marco Rubio (11 percent), former Arkansas Governor Mike...

"...Scott Walker...delivered some definitely not-Koch-approved remarks on immigration. Given the reaction,they’re worth quoting in full:“In terms of legal immigration,how we need to approach that going forward is saying,we will make adjustments,”Walker said. “The next president and the next Congress need to make decisions about a legal immigration system that’s based on, first and foremost,on protecting American workers and American wages.“Because the more I’ve talked to folks—I’ve talked to Senator Sessions and others out there,but it is a fundamentally lost issue by many in elected positions today—is what is this doing for American workers looking for jobs,what is this doing to...

Immigration has an important place in American life, but it can never become more important than American life. It is not an unlimited good and its implementation must flow from what is best for Americans, not from warping the freedoms that we believe in until they become an abstract ideology that destroys the people who practice them.Scott Walker is not betraying free market principles when he contends that immigration should be based around the needs of Americans, he is practicing and protecting them. Immigration has become the third rail of American politics. At a time when the labor force participation...

[must read set-up SNIP]".........For a candidate trying to show his conservative bona fides to a skeptical base, Perry’s immigration stance was a godsend. Romney could tack to the right of the Texas governor, and other candidates would follow suit in a similar effort to box out a potentially serious opponent. And, with the help of Perry’s feckless campaign, he did just that, all but pushing the governor out of the race (that would take a few more months and a few more failures). Walker isn’t blessed with the same caliber of opponent. Bush might be flabby from a long break...

The National Retail Federation is warning that a possible change to overtime rules could negatively impact retailers. “This summer, the Department of Labor is expected to propose changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act that would strip retail and restaurant managers of their salaried positions in favor of hourly pay and enact a limit on how managers are able to spend their time on the job,” the NRF noted in a press release.