# 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:** 69
**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:** [March 10, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1363 "2011-03-10T15:06:51Z")
Well. I watched the Rachel Maddow episodes people have mentioned- no, not the one with the dubious debt figures. “It’s not about the budget” from 3/8. She makes a fairly compelling case that ties these actions in with _Citizens United._ She points out that part of the justification of \*Citizens United \*was that unions can make unlimited contributions to campaigns just the same as corporations can, therefore it is oh so fair and expressive of the will of the people. Then pointed out that among the top 10 contributors to political campaigns (nationally I think), only 3 tend to support the Democratic side of the equation. And all 3 of those are public unions. And now public unions are being outlawed in states with Republican governors. If this continues, not only will the middle class get the rug pulled out from under them in the name of Profits for Billionaires, but there won’t be much to fund anything other than pubbie candidates. I haven’t verified the information yet. It was also mentioned that in Michigan, there is a proposed law in which cities which have been declared to have a “buget crisis” can have their local governments “dismissed” and replaced with a governor-appointed chief of some kind, one who has the power to disincorporate the town. No input from the citizens is necessary, or even possible. The best part is that they are manufacturing budget crises in Michigan the same way they are doing it in WI! It’ll be nice if these notions get debunked. So far it is starting to look like a kind of plutocratic revolution. Buh-bye democracy! Buh-bye government representation! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1364 "2011-03-10T15:37:30Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I’ll offer you two bets, **Jayjay**. $100 each. > > 1. The courts will ultimately not void this legislation. > 2. “Total destruction” of the GOP in Wisconsin won’t occur, as measured by the fact that the GOP will retain control of at least one legislative house. > > What do you say? I don’t gamble. Don’t even play the lottery. Sorry. I’ve said it before, **Bricker** …I’d see someone about that gambling addiction of yours… ---
**Author:** ![superslug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@superslug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superslug)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1365 "2011-03-11T01:04:32Z")
There is no need to “manufacture” a budget crisis in Michigan. Too many years of getting “blown away” by Granholm has made a budget crisis very real. The anti-business climate here makes one question the business sense of ANYONE who would consider starting a business here. One boon job here is driving empty moving vans back to the state. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1366 "2011-03-11T01:28:13Z")
> [@caper12](#): > > If the Dems didn’t run away into hiding, non of this would have happened. Are they going to run away from every vote they don’t like? Those dems are disgusting slime balls. I’m glad the bill got passed without them…serves them right. > > The squealing is going to be great fun to watch. Yay! Another stooge. ---
**Author:** ![superslug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@superslug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superslug)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1367 "2011-03-11T01:45:17Z")
> [@TravisFromOR](#): > > Yay! Another stooge. We’re all on Newt’s payroll.. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1368 "2011-03-11T01:49:02Z")
> [@superslug](#): > > We’re all on Newt’s payroll.. You’re all a pack of dumb assholes, that’s for sure. ---
**Author:** ![superslug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@superslug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superslug)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1369 "2011-03-11T01:54:05Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > You’re all a pack of dumb assholes, that’s for sure. That’s just uncalled for. Jackass. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1370 "2011-03-11T01:55:21Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I’ll offer you two bets, **Jayjay**. $100 each. > > 1. The courts will ultimately not void this legislation. > 2. “Total destruction” of the GOP in Wisconsin won’t occur, as measured by the fact that the GOP will retain control of at least one legislative house. > > What do you say? I’ll offer another bet to anyone willing to take it: if the Democrats do retake power (I think they will), they will not restore the unions to their pre-Walker collective bargaining position. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1371 "2011-03-11T01:55:40Z")
Wow. **Superslug** quoted me twice in a row. It’s almost enough to make a feller break out in song: > [@](#): > > I feel pretty > Oh so pretty > I feel pretty and witty and gay > And I pity > Any girl who isn’t me today > I feel charming > Oh so charming > It’s alarming how charming I feel > And so pretty > That I hardly can believe I’m real > See the pretty girl in that mirror there? > Who can that attractive girl be? > Such a pretty face > Such a pretty dress > Such a pretty smile > Such a pretty me! > I feel stunning > And entrancing > Feel like running > And dancing for joy > For I’m loved > By a pretty wonderful boy ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1372 "2011-03-11T01:56:25Z")
Wow, can you get a message to him? Run, Newt! Run! Please, please, please! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1373 "2011-03-11T04:58:00Z")
> [@superslug](#): > > That’s just uncalled for. Jackass. Off you go then to have a good weep. ---
**Author:** ![margin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@margin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/margin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1374 "2011-03-11T13:14:07Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Wow, can you get a message to him? Run, Newt! Run! Please, please, please! With Palin. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1375 "2011-03-11T14:41:14Z")
Now, Universe, I know I haven’t been a very good pantheist… ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1376 "2011-03-11T16:09:41Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I’ll offer you two bets, **Jayjay**. $100 each. > > 1. The courts will ultimately not void this legislation. > 2. “Total destruction” of the GOP in Wisconsin won’t occur, as measured by the fact that the GOP will retain control of at least one legislative house. > > What do you say? Bricker, do you have any legal analysis concerning proposition no. 1? Are you relying on “Bush v. Gore” type reasoning, that the 4 Republicans on the Wisconsin SC outnumber the 3 Democrats and will therefore merely vote in favor of what their own party wants? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1377 "2011-03-13T13:32:28Z")
> [@caper12](#): > > If the Dems didn’t run away into hiding, non of this would have happened. Are they going to run away from every vote they don’t like? Those dems are disgusting slime balls. I’m glad the bill got passed without them…serves them right. > > The squealing is going to be great fun to watch. It worked for the Republicans and filibuster. BTW, they’re both technically based on a loophole. The modern filibuster is actually built on two, one in the Constitution (no rules about how long you can debate), and one in the senate rules (the two-track system that allows you to go to other business once a filibuster has been insinuated.) If anything, the “leave the state” method is better, as much more of the state legislature has to be shut down for this to work, thus being a disincentive, and why this is only now being used. I doubt even the lock step Republicans would have left the country to stop health care reform. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1378 "2011-03-14T20:26:03Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > A lot of states have been in denial about their budget problems, and one of the reasons Republicans were elected to state legislatures and governorships in large numbers in the last election is because the people want the states to get serious about this stuff. That’s why this is happening. Oh look, you can spit up more propaganda! Here are some more facts for you: 1.) State employee compensation is only 8.5% of Wisconsin’s budget. 2.) State employees are, as I’ve explained to you repeatedly, undercompensated compared to their peers in the private sector. 3.) Eliminating collective bargaining rights doesn’t solve budget problems, because budget problems aren’t the result of collective bargaining. The proportion of non-collective bargaining states that have budget shortfalls of 20% or more (3/11 or 27.3%) is almost identical to their over all proportion in the country (13/50 or 26.0%). The state with the largest budget shortfall, Nevada, bans its state employees from collective bargaining. And 8 of the 13 non-bargaining states (61.5%) have larger budget shortfalls than Wisconsin currently faces. > [@](#): > > He did not strip them of their right to collective bargaining, he only stripped them of the right to use collective bargaining for benefits. they can still bargain collectively for all sorts of job issues. Oh, what a shock, you’re wrong-wrong-wrong again! The unions will only be able to bargain for wages, and they will be limited to a \*maximum \*of the rate of inflation. All they will be able to do is beg to \*please \*be paid the equivalent of what they were paid last year. > [@sinjin](#): > > Are you calling him a liar for bringing your attention to another point in Walker’s budget that you want to conveniently ignore? Tiny nitpick: I’m a her, not a him. > [@elucidator](#): > > the power plants in question are old and in need of extensive investment and upkeep, esp. as regards air quality standards. The problem is not so much potentially privatizing our utilities as it is privatizing our utilities with _no bids and no oversight_. Especially damning is that it [loops back to the infamous Koch Industries](http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/part-budget-fix-gov-walker-would-rath), who’s \*already \*hiring for powerplant managers in Wisconsin. > [@caper12](#): > > If the Dems didn’t run away into hiding, non of this would have happened. Actually, if the Democratic Senators hadn’t followed the example of Republican Abraham Lincoln and use “filibuster by flight,” the bill would have been jammed through with no time for any Wisconsinites to realize what Gov. Walker was trying to pull. Instead, we were able to examine and discuss the bill, mount protests against it, and make it clear that a \*significant majority \*of the state (60% even by conservative pollsters) does not agree with what Walker has been doing. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1379 "2011-03-14T20:39:11Z")
[Wisconsin Dems have almost half of the required signatures for recall of 8 Republican state senators](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/post/nearly-half-of-signatures-collected-to-recall-wisconsin-gop-state-senators-dems-say/2011/03/03/ABhVvQV_blog.html). They have a 60-day window to get signatures equal to 25% of votes cast in each senator’s district on election day, and they have almost half of those signatures only 11 days into that window. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1380 "2011-03-14T20:43:04Z")
So far now we’ve had multi week long, hundred thousand strong protests in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio. As Rachel Maddow has said, this is the Democratic base that’s been silent and been ignored for so long. Question for people with better google fu than me: What has been the response from President Obama, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Tim Kaine or anyone else at the national level? ---
**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:** [March 14, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1381 "2011-03-14T21:46:37Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > The problem is not so much potentially privatizing our utilities as it is privatizing our utilities with no bids and no oversight… It’s pretty common knowledge (well, at least for people who are familiar with the subject :rolleyes:) that lowest bidder government contracting has been a cost and efficiency fallacy for a long, long time. Shoddy work, defective product, inadequate staffing and other features await the owners of lowest bidder government contractors. It’s been proven time and time again over the years. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743/1382 "2011-03-14T22:15:45Z")
> [@Nadir](#): > > It’s pretty common knowledge (well, at least for people who are familiar with the subject :rolleyes:) that lowest bidder government contracting has been a cost and efficiency fallacy for a long, long time. Shoddy work, defective product, inadequate staffing and other features await the owners of lowest bidder government contractors. It’s been proven time and time again over the years. 😉 No, it hasn’t. Which study are you looking at that says that those things are inevitable? They are all possible, of course, but not inevitable and not the only result that has ever come about through lowest bidder contracting. Prove me wrong, troll. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743.md?page=68) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/govenor-scott-walker-r-wi/571743.md?page=70)