# 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:** 21
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/401 "2011-02-25T15:21:26Z")
Yeah, utilities does seem like a strange bridge on which to make a stand for the efficiency of private industry. ---
**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, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/402 "2011-02-25T15:24:36Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > 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. Actually your whole spiel is apples to oranges, so what’s your point? I could go into how ridiculously inefficient and mismanaged to Postal Service is, but that would only serve to derail the topic even further. The subject at hand was a point of contention in the WI bill regarding public utilities, the complaint about which was roundly refuted from a budgetary standpoint, which is what this discussion is ultimately all about, BTW. Please proceed leaving my personal choices out of it, if you don’t mind. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/403 "2011-02-25T15:25:46Z")
> [@Hbns](#): > > What international megacorps are involved in providing Wisconsin State services? Did Wisconsin privatize its prisons? ---
**Author:** ![Oldeb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@Oldeb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oldeb)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/404 "2011-02-25T15:31:11Z")
There’s no point in trying to correct **Nadir**. He’s already expressed his total disdain for graphs, statistics, and history as so much hogwash over in the Conservative America thread. Like **Starving Artist** his personal perception trumps any sort of data you might provide. The only cite he can give you is what he feels and he isn’t going to acccept any of yours as worth reading. ---
**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, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/405 "2011-02-25T15:39:49Z")
> [@Oldeb](#): > > There’s no point in trying to correct **Nadir**. So which answer below is most correct: A) Public utilities are more efficient and less costly than privatized ones. B) Union workers on average receive lower pay and less benefits than non-union workers. C) Legislators have every right to refuse participation in the assembly and voting process. D) None of the above. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/406 "2011-02-25T15:59:09Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > 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? If you want the package to get there 99% of the time, pick UPS. 95% of the time, pick USPS. UPS is more expensive but they are reliable. Also UPS isn’t 8 BILLION in the hole. I’d rather have Blue Cross than Medicare. I don’t have any experience with public water but my service with Adelphia cable was excellent other than the expense. I don’t think corporations are intrinsically bad. Collusion between corporations and monopolies are bad. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/407 "2011-02-25T16:01:20Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > So which answer below is most correct: > > A) Public utilities are more efficient and less costly than privatized ones. > > B) Union workers on average receive lower pay and less benefits than non-union workers. > > C) Legislators have every right to refuse participation in the assembly and voting process. > > D) None of the above. E) You’re a fucking halfwit. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/408 "2011-02-25T16:02:10Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > I could go into how ridiculously inefficient and mismanaged to Postal Service is No you couldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/409 "2011-02-25T16:07:11Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > If you want the package to get there 99% of the time, pick UPS. 95% of the time, pick USPS. UPS is more expensive but they are reliable. Also UPS isn’t 8 BILLION in the hole. That’s gonna need a cite. Also, do you know why USPS is in the hole? Two real reasons. Email, and universal delivery. If UPS had to offer daily delivery to every address (mostly, some rural areas have communal dumps) in the country they would both cost more and slow down. > [@](#): > > I’d rather have Blue Cross than Medicare. Medicare has very high patient satisfaction, and is covered by the taxes you paid into it. Once you turn 65 I doubt you’ll prefer Blue Cross. > [@](#): > > I don’t have any experience with public water but my service with Adelphia cable was excellent other than the expense. I have nothing to say about this one. > [@](#): > > I don’t think corporations are intrinsically bad. Collusion between corporations and monopolies are bad. Corporations aren’t bad. But they extract profit from anything they do. Something run efficiently and not for profit is inherently going to be cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/410 "2011-02-25T16:11:11Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I have nothing to say about this one. If you’re interested, you should look at the experiences of public cable utilities. Some communities can’t find cable companies that fit their standards of price and service and so start up their own cable providers. My brother lived in a community that did so and he was happy with his $45 a month service, which doesn’t sound cheap except when you look at the alternatives. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/411 "2011-02-25T16:18:34Z")
I have not words to express how much I fucking loathe this douchebarge. He was a terrible, incompetent County Executive, and now he’s even worse as a Governor. It makes me literally (literally-literally) sick to my stomach and ashamed of my state. The best thing for us (and the country, in terms of precedent) would be for him to be run over by a truck at lunch. Ten trucks. Ugh. ---
**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, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/412 "2011-02-25T16:31:32Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I have not words to express how much I fucking loathe this douchebarge. He was a terrible, incompetent County Executive, and now he’s even worse as a Governor. It makes me literally (literally-literally) sick to my stomach and ashamed of my state. The best thing for us (and the country, in terms of precedent) would be for him to be run over by a truck at lunch. Ten trucks. Ugh. But then some poor schmuck has to scrape him off the grill and into the sewer. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/413 "2011-02-25T16:52:40Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > But then some poor schmuck has to scrape him off the grill and into the sewer. I’d pay for the privilege. ---
**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, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/414 "2011-02-25T17:36:56Z")
Ms. Rachael Maddow, she of the swan’s neck, girlish giggle and steel-trap mind, speculated and offered evidence last night that Walker was being groomed for higher office, which is why he is doing all these “Reganesque” kinds of things. So its not even about Wisconsin, so much as it is about a nationwide political stunt to put their golden boy into the spotlight. She made a pretty good case, and I think she’s on to something, there. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/415 "2011-02-25T17:40:05Z")
In California the Public electric utilities have lower rates and are more reliable than the investor-owned utilities. ---
**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, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/416 "2011-02-25T17:42:19Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > In California the Public electric utilities have lower rates and are more reliable than the investor-owned utilities. What? Enron lied to us? ---
**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, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/417 "2011-02-25T17:58:22Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > In California the Public electric utilities have lower rates and are more reliable than the investor-owned utilities. And the CA budget deficit is how many $billion? A little research on exactly how such a confluence of events might come to pass would shed some light and bring another common related term: Mismanagement. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/418 "2011-02-25T18:06:10Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Ms. Rachael Maddow, she of the swan’s neck, girlish giggle and steel-trap mind, speculated and offered evidence last night that Walker was being groomed for higher office, which is why he is doing all these “Reganesque” kinds of things. So its not even about Wisconsin, so much as it is about a nationwide political stunt to put their golden boy into the spotlight. She made a pretty good case, and I think she’s on to something, there. [http://www.getsmartaboutbanks.com/2010/11/bill-moyers-welcome-to-the-plutocracy/comment-page-1/](http://www.getsmartaboutbanks.com/2010/11/bill-moyers-welcome-to-the-plutocracy/comment-page-1/) Moyers explains the aims and what the fight is about here. We have lost. I like that some people are fighting but it is too late. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/419 "2011-02-25T18:11:40Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > And the CA budget deficit is how many $billion? > > A little research on exactly how such a confluence of events might come to pass would shed some light and bring another common related term: Mismanagement. The state does not own or run any utilities. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/420 "2011-02-25T18:19:45Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > But then some poor schmuck has to scrape him off the grill and into the sewer. Tonight on Dirty Jobs… Economic efficiency is rightly a primary objective in most endeavors and in the overall structure of an economy. It’s an excellent criterion for analyzing many public policy decisions. But it’s not the only criterion, and in some public policy areas it’s rational to choose a policy that favors the greater social good at the cost of some economic efficiency. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743.md?page=22)