Posted on 07/06/2015 10:10:32 AM PDT by conservativejoy
Governor Scott Walker (R) is a Conservative hero with a record of taking progressives and unions in a state that went for Obama and beating them twice. He's cut government, taken away worker protections, supported government-mandated ultrasounds and empowered the private sector, making him the Republican insiders’ favorite for the 2016 GOP nomination.
His only problem is, his economic policies continue to fail — miserably.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has ranked the Badger State 49th in its 50-state Leading Index report for April. With an index rank of -0.74 percent, Wisconsin was one of only five states to show contraction.
Experts do not read much into one month’s data. This index — which factors in average manufacturing hours, unemployment, wage trends and building permits — often shows a wide margin of error. The state has been especially rocked by the national decline in manufacturing.
However, Walker doesn’t really have any positive economic data to point to. Since he took office, his state has fallen from 11th to 44th in job creation. Wisconsin’s wages are also declining at twice the national level.
Walker’s new budget — which reads more like a campaign document than a plan to create jobs — offers a tax cut that mostly benefits the rich and sucks public funds into private ventures, in the form of school vouchers.
The governor is also rejecting Medicaid expansion and using the Affordable Care Act exchanges to kick 87,000 Wisconsinites off his state’s Badgercare program.
Meanwhile, his promise of creating 250,000 jobs looks less and less likely to happen.
Austerity seems to work about as well in America as it does in Greece. Maybe losing the recall was the best thing that could have happened for Wisconsin’s progressive movement. Walker’s job creation record is speaking volumes about attacking the institutions that helped create America’s middle class.
Looks like you pick interesting outlets to find “news” on conservatives.
http://www.nationalmemo.com/5-reasons-donald-trump-is-the-republican-party/
You’re a busy anti-Walker poster.
Here’s Walker on jobs and immigration.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-closer-look-at-scott-walkers-record-on-jobs-1430688558
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3281558/posts
Excuse me....but I'm confused.
What exactly are you saying...?
Are you saying...I'm doing that!?!?!?
Ask yourself truthfully if you really believe Scott Walker can win a general election. I would say not in a million years. You have to have some type of charisma or generate some excitement to win. He just does not have it. Good man that he may be.
For myself I just don’t agree with most of Walkers stances. He’s an establishment candidate and I want radical change. Walker is not that guy.
Well the good news for me is that in 2011 you were pimping Rick Perry night and day. He hardly made it past the first debate so I’m counting on a repeat performance this year. :-)
Walker is the most qualified and he will win the general election.
Your wishing and wanting another candidate to rise in the polls is evident.
Why don’t you go post some good stuff about your candidate.
How’s this:
A Walker-Perry ticket.
Would you vote for them in the general election?
Unfortunately, those articles do not contain the scope of jobs issues Walker is going to be grilled on during the campaign.
From your post:
"...Taxes pay for services that businesses and families need..."
"...Any economic benefit of cutting taxes is offset by reduced spending by the state, which slows the economy..."
I am not saying you are or are not a conservative, because I believe there are some conservatives who do believe in aspects of Keynesian theories (I happen to believe that if you adhere to those principles, you are not conservative, but some may disagree with me) but they have been shown over and over again over time, spanning decades, not to work. The end result is always the same: a major economic basket case.
Most conservatives are not against spending tax money on services that the state should render to citizens (law enforcement, various infrastructures, etc) but where conservatives draw the line is where that tax money goes overall, and that currently ranges from "midnight basketball" to grants to study some obscure insect somewhere.
Cutting taxes forces the state to make decisions, and if they decide to cut teachers salaries and keep funding studies on the spotted salamander, well, the voters should be able to see the fruits of those decisions and vote accordingly, including the citizens of Wisconsin, including places like Madison.
I’m more of a Milton Friedman fan. I don’t believe that conservative economic positions are what is being followed in Wisconsin.
There is a lot of discussion going on in the economic field about what is happening in Wisconsin. It is going to be front and center in this campaign. I think that what is being discussed needs to be looked at and weighed. I don’t care whether people agree with my position or not. I just think the information needs to be looked at.
Speaking of which, in an unprecedented move, Walker added a provision in the budget deal that would have blocked open records law in Wisconsin. Public outrage and the objections of his own GOP legislators made him pull back from that when the legislators refused to sign off on the budget deal unless it was removed. Why would Walker not want open records in Wisconsin?
When debate time gets here, some are really going to be in meltdown mode. Sooner or later denial just doesn’t work.
I was more interested in why you think maintaining or increasing spending by massively bloated state and federal governments is preferable to taking that money out of their proven wasteful hands and giving it back to the citizens who earned it to spend as they see fit.
That was why I commented. I don’t know yet who I am going to vote for at a federal level, but what this country needs is someone who can slash spending by government the way Scott Walker has, and can return at least some of it to the people who earned it.
I deliberately use the term “slash”. It has to be bloody and messy, but if we don’t do it at all levels, from towns to federal, then the issues aren’t going to get fixed.
We will be “Greeced”, or “Greased”, both mean the same thing.
I don’t know much about Walker, living in a blue state myself, I have far more to worry about. I am not interested in his blockage or un-blockage of open records for whatever reason, but I saw how he handled out of control spending and funding of state unions, and we need more of that from some candidate. Not many have done it.
I’d advise you to post some good stuff about your candidate as he is the one who:
1. Is the only candidate on either side who does not have a college degree.
2. Opines that he hopes the Patriot Act comes back someday
3. Encouraged every Republican legislator to vote for TPA
4. Was for amnesty before he was agains’t it
5. Is under investigation for ethic/campaign violations
6. Has ongoing financial problems in the state he is the administrator of.
7. He’s weak on foreign policy
Walker is the GOPe default candidate for when Jebbie implodes.
I’m not too worried. Cruz and Trump will probably push him off the cliff pretty quickly along with Jeb.
You are going to have to prove that. So far it looks like the republican legislators are the ones that added it (after all, it was inserted and voted to be put in the budget last Thur), and that Walker told them to back it out. It is certainly possible that Walker was involved in putting it in, but at this point that is not an established fact.
Fair point. Walker is a bit of a gee-aw-shucks midwest guy. And folks on the coasts are not used to that. He will have to figure some way to reach the folks that vote based on the color of the hair or the clothes they wear.
I think he is going to point to his record as his selling point. He certainly has accomplished a lot more than most, and maybe all of the current crop. People point to the union thing, but those of us closer to the state see the other things, like concealed carry, voter id, etc. He needs to figure out how to communicate and sell those things.
It is funny you mention this. I feel a little like this about Cruz. He certainly seems to be on the conservative side of most issues, but it is hard for me to get past his presentation. He reminds me too much of the snobs and bullies from school. I know that isn't fair, but it is a reaction I have and struggling to get over.
You and the Author of this garbage really ought to get off of that whacky tobaccy.
IMO Cruz and Trump are the only two GOP candidates who could win a general election. And the point about Cruz being a little too conservative is valid. Trump I believe would win handily as he will steal Democrat votes get a good slice of the Indies and enough republicans will turn out even if they are grumping about it.
I don’t think Walker can turn out the base in sufficient numbers. He will not get any Dem votes and I don’t see him getting the Indies out in great numbers either. I see Mitt Romney redux.
Scott Walker And Wisconsin GOP Abandon Plan To Gut Open Records Law
ByTierney SneedPublishedJuly 6, 2015, 10:46 AM EDT
Wisconsin Republicans led by Gov. Scott Walker (R) swiftly reversed course over the holiday weekend and dropped a proposal that would have gutted Wisconsin's open records law.
Tucked into a larger budget motion, the proposal, as reported by The Capital Times on Friday, would have removed a number of legislative materials and communications from the law's auspices and would have allowed lawmakers to refuse to disclose certain documents.
As the backlash began to mount, Walker announced over the weekend that he and state lawmakers had agreed to remove the provisions changing state open record laws.
"We are steadfastly committed to open and accountable government," Walker said in a statement Saturday that was cosigned by state GOP legislative leaders. "The intended policy goal of these changes was to provide a reasonable solution to protect constituents' privacy and to encourage a deliberative process between elected officials and their staff in developing policy. It was never intended to inhibit transparent government in any way."
The changes would have affected the types of documents tracking a bill's legislative history that have been particularly useful for journalists and activists in the state. Conservatives and liberals alike decried the move as an effort to make Wisconsin less transparent and more vulnerable to corruption.
State Republicans have refused to disclose who inserted the language into the budget legislation, which was approved late Thursday evening. Before dropping the provisions entirely, the governor's office said Friday it was considering changes to the proposals concerning public records law, but would not comment as to whether Walker was involved in the proposals in the first place.
The controversy comes just days before Walker is expected to announce his candidacy for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/walker-public-record-law">LINK a href="
Funny, I think Cruz comes across as too harsh, and agree with your view that Walker comes across as too soft. Is there some way we can combine them?
I think I worry about Trump. I see him as Perot - presenting a very populous message, but no real conservative credentials. He might sneak in on his “you're fired” media popularity - winning with mostly LIVs and squishy dems, and very few conservative votes.
I didn’t say I was against tax cuts and reduced spending. For it to be successful in growing the economy, these have to be knowledgeable cuts by someone who knows what they are doing to be successful.
Clearly, what Wisconsin is doing is not growing their economy which is at about half the growth rate of the stagnant national economy.
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