# 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:** 20
**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 25, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/381 "2011-02-25T01:51:11Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > You can’t deny the essential truth of entropy, that doesn’t make it inherently better. That neatly encapsulates the futility of conservatism, vainly struggling against a force of nature. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/382 "2011-02-25T06:04:24Z")
It isn’t that hard to figure out folks. First they turn the part of the middle class that is not in a union against the part of the middle class that is in a union. They cut the pay of union workers, for the sake of ‘fairness’ and not in reference to what is actually a living wage. Then, when workers have been reduced to non-collective individuals negotiating with international megacorps, why then it is game over. You can’t win, you are outmanouvered at turn 1. Worker pay drops forever. If you were smart you would at least have invested since childhood so that your dividends could pay your car payment and mortgage at the least. But you morons didn’t do that, and now your children’s educations are being taken away, and you don’t even appreciate what that means. And you vote away your only defenses. What am I supposed to think? ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/383 "2011-02-25T07:34:41Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > Big transportation projects in this country have a history for abysmal failure - either outright or becoming financial black holes for the governments supporting them. You mean like the transcontinental railroad and the interstate highway system? ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/384 "2011-02-25T08:19:13Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Then, when workers have been reduced to non-collective individuals negotiating with international megacorps, why then it is game over. What international megacorps are involved in providing Wisconsin State services? ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/385 "2011-02-25T08:22:39Z")
> [@AlienVessels](#): > > You mean like the transcontinental railroad and the interstate highway system? The interstate highway system essentially subsidized over the road shipping to the point rail couldn’t compete. Why are we paying billions in America to rebuild our rail system? Because we paid, by way of the interstate highway system, to dismantle it. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/386 "2011-02-25T08:23:47Z")
> [@](#): > > What international megacorps are involved in providing Wisconsin State services? The Comintern? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/387 "2011-02-25T11:22:24Z")
> [@Hbns](#): > > The interstate highway system essentially subsidized over the road shipping to the point rail couldn’t compete. > > Why are we paying billions in America to rebuild our rail system? Because we paid, by way of the interstate highway system, to dismantle it. I’d say the rail system was heavily subsidized in the first place. They got land, and lots of it, for free. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/388 "2011-02-25T12:59:10Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > Big transportation projects in this country have a history for abysmal failure - either outright or becoming financial black holes for the governments supporting them. Damn that public highway system! ---
**Author:** ![heatmiserfl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df705f/32.png) [@heatmiserfl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heatmiserfl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/389 "2011-02-25T13:13:18Z")
Wait. I need to go back to the teacher comments. Are people actually suggesting that teachers make too much money when the mean teacher’s salary is similar to the mean of salaries in general (in the US)? Really? Teachers should make less than Joe the Plummer? Is this the ole’, “We don’t need no book larnin’” attitude or is it more like, “Edumucashuning is easy. Why, anybody kin do it!” Either way, it’s no wonder American students are consistently mediocre relative to other industrial nations. Reminds me of that stupid homeschooling thread a couple of weeks ago. On a related note, this reminds me of the news that Eric Cantor, the dumbass, actually invites people to go through agencies like the National Science Foundation and look for grants that should be defunded. Someone tell me how our ignorant, anti-book-larnin’ nation could possibly be considered a peer in a peer-reviewed system? Sorry, did I get off topic there? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/390 "2011-02-25T14:14:37Z")
> [@Hbns](#): > > What international megacorps are involved in providing Wisconsin State services? I don’t know. I am thinking of the conservative goal of reducing workplace negotiations to one guy, all by himself with no support, vs a corporation. It becomes one sided- one side gets to organize, and the other side has to jump draconian hurdles to stick together at all. Guess who loses in that arrangement? That’s what will happen if you (practically) outlaw your unions. Pay for everyone will drop. Then education will get undermined. In a few years someone will go around and say, ‘Look, all these uneducated bozos make too much money! We need to cut that.’ And you’ll be defenseless. The election results look like Wisconsonites are already mentally defenseless, which I feel bad pointing out but is at the heart of the tragedy here. ETA: Y’all elected a Koch Industries hack to run your government. Nice going. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/391 "2011-02-25T14:20:19Z")
Also- you realized attached to the union bill is a measure to allow WI to sell its power plants without a bidding process, right? I bet those generate [revenue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue) for the state, but they will be sold to… Koch industries (without a bid), and they will take those profits instead. Nice going guys. This isn’t about budget deficits. ---
**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 25, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/392 "2011-02-25T14:26:29Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Damn that public highway system! Have you seen the bill for bridge repairs, recently? :rolleyes: ---
**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 25, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/393 "2011-02-25T14:31:30Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > Have you seen the bill for bridge repairs, recently? :rolleyes: What’s your point? Privately owned bridges don’t need repairs? :dubious: ---
**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 25, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/394 "2011-02-25T14:31:59Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Also- you realized attached to the union bill is a measure to allow WI to sell its power plants without a bidding process, right? I bet those generate [revenue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue) for the state, but they will be sold to… Koch industries (without a bid), and they will take those profits instead. > > Nice going guys. This isn’t about budget deficits. You realize of course, the private sector, including places where cooperatives for this purpose are established, has ALWAYS operated far more efficiently than ANY public works ever did. The privately owned and operated generation plants provide lower rates and even customer rebates, while similar government-run utilities need taxpayer support just to stay afloat at higher rates. You do know that, right? ---
**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 25, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/395 "2011-02-25T14:33:06Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > Yuo realize of course, the private sector, including places where cooperatives for this purpose are established, has ALWAYS operated far more efficiently than ANY public works. Providing lower rates and even customer rebates, while similar government-run utilities need taxpayer support just to stay afloat at higher rates. > > You do know that, right? You are so misinformed, it isn’t worth the pixels to try to undo your malfunction. ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/396 "2011-02-25T14:43:30Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Damn that public highway system! Nope. Just, damn that Interstate highway system. Actually not even that. More like, damn, why didn’t we have the foresight to preserve the rail corridors. ---
**Author:** ![Hbns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hbns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbns)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/397 "2011-02-25T14:51:36Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Also- you realized attached to the union bill is a measure to allow WI to sell its power plants without a bidding process, right? I bet those generate [revenue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue) for the state, but they will be sold to… Koch industries (without a bid), and they will take those profits instead. > > Nice going guys. This isn’t about budget deficits. Wait a second. Are you telling me that I am paying in excess for an essential service so that the state can supplement its revenue stream with PUBLIC utility profits? Ok, OK, I know, they probably make something, at least I hope they do. And I don’t live in Wisconsin so I don’t actually pay. But ultimately, my point is that we shouldn’t be talking about HUGE profits here, and even in private hands, I assume rates will still be set by the state utilities commission (or whatever the equivalent in WI is). And upon further review, I realize that the pit isn’t any place to be rational. :smack: ---
**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 25, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/398 "2011-02-25T14:55:25Z")
> [@Hbns](#): > > And upon further review, I realize that the pit isn’t any place to be rational. :smack: Aw, c’mon - what fun would _that_ be? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/399 "2011-02-25T15:03:18Z")
while lower salaries in return for greater retirement benefits seemed like something to have in place by worker request because it has greater benefits to them in the long run, it was promoted by state governments as a budget method. they paid less money in years past to lessen their costs. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/400 "2011-02-25T15:16:29Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > You realize of course, the private sector, including places where cooperatives for this purpose are established, has ALWAYS operated far more efficiently than ANY public works ever did. The privately owned and operated generation plants provide lower rates and even customer rebates, while similar government-run utilities need taxpayer support just to stay afloat at higher rates. > > You do know that, right? Which do you feel operates more efficiently, provides better service, and can be used at a lower cost to you, the individual: the Postal service or UPS? Which do you feel operates more efficiently, provides better service, and can be used at a lower cost to you, the individual: Medicare or Blue Cross Blue Shield? Which do you feel operates more efficiently, provides better service, and can be used at a lower cost to you, the individual: the Water Department or Time Warner cable? I know #3 seems like comparing apples to oranges but there really are similarities between how the two services are set up. I think, if you’re honest, you’d choose the first option in all three cases. Or maybe you won’t and we can have a lovely ten page debate on health care. Hooray. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743.md?page=21)