# Govenor Scott Walker (R) WI **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 17, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743 "2011-02-17T20:56:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/361 "2011-02-24T19:39:54Z")
"Gov. Walker’s threatened layoff notices go out. And one of the first to get one is the wife of Walker’s top ally, the Majority Leader of the State Senate. " [http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/](http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/) "As the Associated Press reports, the wife of state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald has now received a preliminary layoff notice. Lisa Fitzgerald works as a counselor in the Hustisford school district, where the school board has sent layoff notices to all 34 members of the teaching staff." ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/362 "2011-02-24T19:51:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > But it still doesn’t answer my question – why didn’t this aspect of Walker’s past show up in _Democratic_ campaign advertising? or did it, and it was simply ignored? Any campaigning that Barrett did was drowned out by the volume and frequency of the campaigning that Walker and his supporters did. It also didn’t help that Barret is mayor of Milwaukee, and the situation in Milwaukee has been steadily worsening while he was in office, so that regardless of where the blame for that lies, he was controversial there to start with. Jim Doyle, the previous governor and a Democrat, was also unpopular because the economy sucked while he was in office, basically. So even though Barrett [saved an old lady and a baby from a man with a steel baton at the State Fair](http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/53702692.html) and ended up in the hospital for it, he had the deck stacked against him. Check out the entry on Ballotpedia for [the election](http://www.ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Wisconsin_gubernatorial_election,_2010). The Republicans poured so much money into Walker’s campaign and focused so much on meaningless conservative platitudes, that it’s really only surprising in retrospect. The shit that he’s doing now? Is not stuff that came up during the campaign. His campaign was mostly about how fiscally responsible he is – it got to the point where if I heard about his goddamn 1998 Saturn or his brown bag lunches, it was instant rage – and all the jobs he was going to create, and with the substantial support he got from pro-life groups . . . well, shit. Knife to a gun fight for the Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/363 "2011-02-24T20:10:55Z")
> [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](#): > > Check out the entry on Ballotpedia for [the election](http://www.ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Wisconsin_gubernatorial_election,_2010). The Republicans poured so much money into Walker’s campaign and focused so much on meaningless conservative platitudes, that it’s really only surprising in retrospect. . . . well, shit. Knife to a gun fight for the Democrats. Oh bollocks. The actual numbers show that while Walker spent more money total, most of it was eaten up by a competitive primary. > [@](#): > > One of Walker’s first orders will be to gear up his fund-raising machine. As of the end of August, Barrett had twice as much money as Walker - $2.6 million compared with $1.2 million - and Walker has had to spend heavily in the last week to defeat Neumann, who largely financed his own campaign. [http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/102921024.html](http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/102921024.html) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/364 "2011-02-24T20:15:46Z")
And the money spent by others on Gov. Walken’s behalf? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/365 "2011-02-24T20:18:21Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > [http://www.cato.org/pub\_display.php?pub\_id=9958](http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9958) > > So if that “big light rail and public transport” crap is your argument for the WI unions, they need to find some better supporters. :rolleyes: > > Just another big pork-sucking democrat supporter you are, bitch. :eek: The Cato Institute? Are you fucking high? The only way you could find a source more biased is if you recorded Rush Limbaugh’s flatulence and transcribed it. Also, since you _appear_ to be an expert on my state, you’re probably aware that the loss of the rail project meant the loss of thousands of potential jobs – and job building was one of the key features of Walker’s campaign. Unless, of course, you actually know nothing about Wisconsin and didn’t really give a shit until last week. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/366 "2011-02-24T20:23:41Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Oh bollocks. The actual numbers show that while Walker spent more money total, most of it was eaten up by a competitive primary. What about the millions and millions of dollars spent by groups for Walker? That’s not money that Walker spent; that’s money that other people spent. And I really don’t know why you’re suggesting that campaigning during the primary has no effect on what people think about the candidates during the actual election. ---
**Author:** ![Nadir](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nadir/32/7302_2.png) [@Nadir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadir)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/367 "2011-02-24T20:29:45Z")
> [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](#): > > The Cato Institute? Are you fucking high? Well, I have had alot of coffee today. 😃 I noticed you called it “biased,” not inaccurate. I am however personally familiar with the abysmal failure they call light rail in my metro area, which I will decline to reveal details of for personal confidentiality reasons, if you don’t mind. But the story is very similar in many other places as I CITED, per request. I thought something a little more national-level and all-encompassing would better sate your desire for actual information, as opposed to the emotional “save the workers” pleas going on here. Sorry, my bad. :o ---
**Author:** ![MilTan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@MilTan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MilTan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/368 "2011-02-24T20:33:13Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > I’m on the teachers’ side in this, but I don’t think this is accurate. I don’t think rules of order were established by the founders at all. I know the filibuster only exists because of a mistake the Senate made when it re-wrote its rules in the 19th century, and the founders had specifically discarded similar ideas when discussing the Constitution. In particular, the filibuster arose when Aaron Burr helped rewrite the Senate rules. He suggested they drop the “previous question” clause of the rules (by which debate could be cut off) because it had never been needed. So not only did Aaron Burr kill Alexander Hamilton, he gave us the filibuster. History’s greatest monster? You decide 😉 ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/369 "2011-02-24T20:50:05Z")
> [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](#): > > What about the millions and millions of dollars spent by groups for Walker? What about the millions spent by groups for Barrett? > [@](#): > > About a million dollars more was spent by outside groups on behalf of Republicans than Democrats. The groups spent about $10 million to back Republican legislative and statewide candidates compared to nearly $9 million spent to support Democratic candidates. [http://www.ashlandcurrent.com/article/11/01/04/special-interests-spent-19-million-state-elections?quicktabs\_4=0](http://www.ashlandcurrent.com/article/11/01/04/special-interests-spent-19-million-state-elections?quicktabs_4=0) > [@](#): > > And I really don’t know why you’re suggesting that campaigning during the primary has no effect on what people think about the candidates during the actual election. Sure it has some; but obviously, TV commercials run in April are less effective than ones run in October, and negative ads against your opponent are moot. And if you might want to think carefully about where “candidates who get the most money are corrupt” logic leads … In recent years, most Democrats have been better-funded. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/370 "2011-02-24T20:54:47Z")
> [@MilTan](#): > > In particular, the filibuster arose when Aaron Burr helped rewrite the Senate rules. He suggested they drop the “previous question” clause of the rules (by which debate could be cut off) because it had never been needed. > > So not only did Aaron Burr kill Alexander Hamilton, he gave us the filibuster. History’s greatest monster? You decide 😉 And you’re going to leave it up to me to add “and Tammany Hall as a major player in electoral politics.” ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/371 "2011-02-24T22:00:40Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > **Nadir** - In the long run, Conservatism always loses. That is a historical fact. Get with the program and lead the change, rather than try to hold back the ocean. :dubious: While some change is inevitable, not all change is desirable. Crap like this post is slowly pushing this moderate liberal to the center. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/372 "2011-02-24T22:08:43Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > :dubious: While some change is inevitable, not all change is desirable. You can’t deny the essential truth of it though. I can think of no area that is not more liberal than is was, say 100 years ago. Politically, culturally, economically; the inexorable arc of history is more progressive, not more conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/373 "2011-02-24T22:33:07Z")
> [@Darth\_Nader](#): > > Just to remind everyone here: I’m totally an idiot. But I’m not **Nadir**. Spartacus, is that you? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/374 "2011-02-24T22:48:12Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > True. But at the end of the day, somebody _is_ going to win and somebody _is_ going to take _something_. WI democrats just cannot seem to swallow the fact that it will not be them this time around. The GOP is in power, and they _are_ going to win this round, no mater how dastardly, evil or underhanded anyone feels it is, true or not. I suppose it sucks to be a dem or public union worker in WI right now, but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. > > Conservative tides are swelling everywhere these days, not just in the U.S., either. Traditional bastions of liberal ideology in places like France are about to crumble as well. The pendulum has swung. Get over it, do your job, buck up, work for more change, whatever. > > Be a man (or woman) and get with the program. Don’t be a whiny, whimpering little schoolboy (or girl) running away from problems and crying like nobody loves you. :smack: The thing that speaks to me most is your complete lack of attempt to explain why it’ll be better this way. You fucking know it won’t. Your response can be summed up “as eat this shit sandwich and don’t whine”. Conservatives do spread misery and oppression. Fuck those pieces of shit. You fucking morons voted for the death of thousands of Americans soldiers in your fool war of wasted trillions. Your economic polices trashed the economy. Conservatives put torturers in the White House. Conservatives fight to crush common people, and common decency. Subhuman garbage like you is why Gay marriage is oppressed. Why hundreds of thousands of Iraqi families were left grieving from an oops from one the incompetents you traitorous lying jackass put in office. You’re a fucking traitor, you evil stupid piece of shit. History will remember you with scorn . Your grave will be pissed on. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/375 "2011-02-24T22:51:09Z")
> [@furt](#): > > And if you might want to think carefully about where “candidates who get the most money are corrupt” logic leads … In recent years, most Democrats have been better-funded. Fallacious straw-man, it’s where the money comes from. If it comes from the people it’s reflective of their wishes. If it comes from a few political bosses, it’s corruption against the people. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/376 "2011-02-24T23:40:17Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > Fallacious straw-man, it’s where the money comes from. If it comes from the people it’s reflective of their wishes. If it comes from a few political bosses, it’s corruption against the people. Ah. How precisely do we determine who “the people” are? Are David Koch and George Soros “the people” or political bosses? Are the Teamsters people or political bosses? How about Goldman Sachs employees? The Insurance industry? Defense contractors? How many employees/followers/minions do I need to have before I cease to be a person and become a political boss? ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/377 "2011-02-24T23:44:03Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > The thing that speaks to me most is your complete lack of attempt to explain why it’ll be better this way. You fucking know it won’t. Your response can be summed up “as eat this shit sandwich and don’t whine”. > > Conservatives do spread misery and oppression. Fuck those pieces of shit. You fucking morons voted for the death of thousands of Americans soldiers in your fool war of wasted trillions. Your economic polices trashed the economy. Conservatives put torturers in the White House. Conservatives fight to crush common people, and common decency. > > Subhuman garbage like you is why Gay marriage is oppressed. Why hundreds of thousands of Iraqi families were left grieving from an oops from one the incompetents you traitorous lying jackass put in office. > > You’re a fucking traitor, you evil stupid piece of shit. History will remember you with scorn . Your grave will be pissed on. Got to ya, did he? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/378 "2011-02-25T00:49:17Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Got to ya, did he? No he just provided a convenient scapegoat. I have a lot of frustration about all the malicious crap conservatives do. He is not the first poster I’ve directed that type of rant at. It’s a very intense frustration I feel, and I think a lot do. If you’re American, like me, you’re part of a nation of torturers thanks to Conservatives. Your part of a nation of bigotry thanks to Conservatives, a nation that promotes death and suffering, thanks to Conservatives. A nation of religious paranoia, and fear, thanks to Conservatives. How many American families are grieving over loved ones killed by Conservative untruths? How many families having strugging to stay off the street thanks to Conservative banking deregulation? When Conservatives have power the country ends up in worse shape. As someone who still wants good things for his country this is very aggravating. > [@furt](#): > > Ah. How precisely do we determine who “the people” are? Are David Koch and George Soros “the people” or political bosses? Are the Teamsters people or political bosses? How about Goldman Sachs employees? The Insurance industry? Defense contractors? One becomes a political boss by attempting to use dollars to make the government work against it’s people. > [@](#): > > How many employees/followers/minions do I need to have before I cease to be a person and become a political boss? Please quote where I said that, or withdraw your straw man. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/379 "2011-02-25T01:26:13Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > You can’t deny the essential truth of it though. I can think of no area that is not more liberal than is was, say 100 years ago. Politically, culturally, economically; the inexorable arc of history is more progressive, not more conservative. You can’t deny the essential truth of entropy, that doesn’t make it inherently better. Progression on this board is too often confused with progress. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/380 "2011-02-25T01:27:53Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > One becomes a political boss by attempting to use dollars to make the government work against it’s people. And who gets to decide what “against it’s people” means? Don’t different people all have different ideas about what “the people” need? And don’t lots of policies help one group of people at the expense of others? > [@](#): > > Please quote where I said that, or withdraw your straw man. I didn’t say you said it. It’s a question I’m asking you. If I give fifty bucks to elect someone that favors the same policies I do, is that ok? What if I give fifty million? Do I need to be head of an organization, and if so, how big? You seem to be saying the distinction is obvious, so I repeat: which of the following are “the people,” and which are “political bosses?” David Koch George Soros The Teamsters Goldman Sachs Insurance industry lobbyists Defense contractors [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743.md?page=20)