# Scott Walker is in **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 13, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052 "2015-07-13T13:52:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/21 "2015-07-13T17:41:04Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > Incidentally, the man [looks](http://occupyforaccountability.org/sites/default/files/u6/Scott_Walker_Gov_Wis_022211.jpg)a bit touched. Asymmetrical eyes. Not that it’s his fault. So the third sitting governor enters the race, and all three have negative approval ratings in their respective states. Kasich would buck that trend should he jump in. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/22 "2015-07-13T18:13:36Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Finally, a candidate for everyone who wanted a third Nixon term. Walker ain’t nearly as smart as Nixon was. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/23 "2015-07-13T18:16:21Z")
[Scott Walker Campaigns Against Unions, Wages, and Weekends.](http://www.thenation.com/article/scott-walker-campaigns-against-unions-wages-and-weekends/) > [@](#): > > Jeb Bush took a lot of hits last week for suggesting that Americans “need to work longer hours.” > > But Scott Walker has gone Bush one better. The governor of Wisconsin and Bush rival for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination just codified the concept. > > The state budget that Walker signed on Sunday as Wisconsin’s governor includes a provision that eliminates a historic guarantee that factory and retail employees “must get at least 24 consecutive hours of rest for every seven-day stretch” of work. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/24 "2015-07-13T18:29:45Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > The right thing to say is that the Mexican government is sending people over the border? that all these guys crossing the Rio Grande are doing so because the Mexican government tells them to do it? Or is the right thing saying that the Mexicans will pay for this super-dee-duper wall because… well because Trump ordained it? What’s Trump gonna do, channel Saint Reagan and bellow “President Nieto, build up this wall!”? These are the right things to say, that Mexico is no friend of the US? Trump is a buffoon, so of course his message on immigration is a bit rough. But I don’t think he’s literally saying “the Mexican government tells them to do it”. He just speaks in those sort of “us vs them” terms. I’ll also grant you that insisting that Mexico pay for a border fence is silly. But it is true that Trump is the only candidate who seems to be clear in his position on illegal immigration: He’s against it. The rest of them (and the Democrats most of the time) are an incoherent mess when they are pressed to explain their own statements about immigration. Jeb Bush’s position on the issue is a complete mess. I have no idea what he wants to do on immigration at all. Trump is a simpleton, but he’s at least right about the most important issue facing the country and has the balls to say it, even if he doesn’t say it in the most eloquent way. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/25 "2015-07-13T18:47:33Z")
Does Trump support the criminal prosecution of American business owners that illegally employ undocumented immigrants? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/26 "2015-07-13T18:52:54Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Does Trump support the criminal prosecution of American business owners that illegally employ undocumented immigrants? Absolutely (with just a little a special exemption for the hotel, hospitality and rental-property industries)! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/27 "2015-07-13T18:57:20Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Of all the Republican candidates Walker scares me the most. He’s the only Republican candidate other than Bush who I think has a chance of actually winning the presidency. Given the bad rep that unions have, and then add in a billion dollars or so of big business PAC funding directed towards making it worse, I could see him getting a majority to support his anti-union agenda. > > Once in power I could see him gutting any form of labor regulations and scoring political points by making the federal workforce’s lives as unpleasant as possible in the name of small government. I expect wages to stay flat or even fall under a Walker administration, while inequality sky rockets further. > > Jeb may be bad, but Walker is pure evil. Walker definitely has a better chance than others, but I wonder really how popular he is, or will be as the election goes on. [He does have higher numbers than other candidates, but his support is dropping](http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/iowa/release-detail?ReleaseID=2258). [His approval ratings in Wisconsin have dropped](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/16/scott-walker-approval-pol_n_7080806.html). And I know that some people hate unions (though I don’t completely understand why). But more recently he’s going after other worker protections: > [@](#): > > Jeb Bush took a lot of hits last week for suggesting that Americans “need to work longer hours.” > > But Scott Walker has gone Bush one better. The governor of Wisconsin and Bush rival for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination just codified the concept. > > The state budget that Walker signed on Sunday as Wisconsin’s governor includes a provision that eliminates a historic guarantee that factory and retail employees “must get at least 24 consecutive hours of rest for every seven-day stretch” of work. There are some candidates who I don’t like but I can at least understand why they are popular, but I honestly don’t understand what anyone sees in Walker. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/28 "2015-07-13T19:03:29Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Trump is a simpleton, but he’s at least right about the most important issue facing the country . . . When did Trump ever talk about wealth inequality? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/29 "2015-07-13T19:33:25Z")
My impression of Wisconsin is half the population is waiting for the second coming of Joe McCarthy so I’m not worried. Walkers WI numbers won’t translate across the country. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/30 "2015-07-13T20:00:10Z")
This now brings the number of [declared Republican candidates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_candidates,_2016) to 15 (counting only those featured in major polls). Still waiting to hear from Kasich and Gilmore. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/31 "2015-07-13T20:00:45Z")
It’s not the “people hate unions” it’s that **public sector** unions shouldn’t even exist. The normal back and forth at the negotiating table between management and workers doesn’t exist with public sector unions. Instead it’s an unholy alliance of workers/voters electing public officials who pay them back with salary and benefits that bankrupt the government. It’s a win-win for the public sector unions and for the politicians but it’s a bad deal for the taxpayers who have to foot the bill. The non-public sector unions aren’t “hated” by most, but they do need to be reigned in from time to time. But public sector unions are a completely different animal. As to Walker’s popularity, I’ve heard this story a few times now. He’s always very unpopular, according to Liberals. Yet, whenever there’s an election he seems to win, even the recall efforts that were attempted. ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/32 "2015-07-13T20:05:01Z")
Yes, Scott Walker is popular nationally BECAUSE he is unpopular in Wisconsin. It’s an inverse relationship. The more Wisconsin’s liberal public-sector unions whine about Scott Walker, the more popular he gets nationally. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/33 "2015-07-13T21:05:32Z")
Hmm… > [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > He’s the only Republican candidate other than Bush who I think has a chance of actually winning the presidency. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Could he win the GOP nomination? Sure. > [@Sam\_Lowry](#): > > Walker definitely has a better chance than others > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Walker has a shot. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I think Walker is one of the first-tier candidates among the Republicans running, in terms of likelihood of being nominated. Very interesting. 5 years ago when I posted in several threads that Scott Walker would be a rising presence in the Republican party, and a viable Presidential contender in the future I was strongly rebuffed. Yet here we are. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/34 "2015-07-13T21:13:44Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Hmm… > Very interesting. > > 5 years ago when I posted in several threads that Scott Walker would be a rising presence in the Republican party, and a viable Presidential contender in the future I was strongly rebuffed. > Yet here we are. If I was one of those who rebuffed you, I’ll offer a sincere congratulations on a good prediction. Was I one of those? 'Cause I honestly don’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/35 "2015-07-13T21:19:55Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > Yes, Scott Walker is popular nationally BECAUSE he is unpopular in Wisconsin. It’s an inverse relationship. The more Wisconsin’s liberal public-sector unions whine about Scott Walker, the more popular he gets nationally. But why? Just ordinary contrariness? [People aren’t whining about Walker for no reason](http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/07/13/3614885/scott-walker-wants-run-country-ran-wisconsin/): > [@](#): > > But several studies have shown that the governor’s economic agenda — slashing property and corporate taxes, restricting collective bargaining and keeping wages low — has left the state in a precarious position. Data from the Pew Charitable Trusts predicts that Wisconsin will end this fiscal year with less money in reserve than any other state in the country. Walker’s 2011 tax cuts, which largely benefited wealthy landowners and factory owners, will cost the state at least $275 million in additional lost tax revenue over the next two years — twice as much as originally predicted. > > \ > > Wisconsin currently leads the nation in unemployment for African Americans. And Walker has failed to deliver on his promise to create 250,000 private sector jobs during his first term in the state. His most recent budget eliminated hundreds of government jobs, especially targeting scientists at the Department of Natural resources. > > Amid these cuts, Governor Walker increased spending on prisons — in keeping with his decades-long record of supporting “tough on crime” policies to give offenders longer and harsher sentences. Now, the state spends more money on prisons than it does on public universities. I admit, that if I heard Republicans constantly talking about how terrible a Democratic candidate was, I might if he’s good to get them so upset. But then I’d look at his record to see if there’s anything to recommend them. And I don’t see what people would like about Walker. > [@pkbites](#): > > 5 years ago when I posted in several threads that Scott Walker would be a rising presence in the Republican party, and a viable Presidential contender in the future I was strongly rebuffed. > Yet here we are. I don’t know if I’ve posted before about Walker, but if you had asked me 5 years ago I might not have picked him as a rising star. It seems that the main thing he has going for him is being associated with the Koch Brothers, that definitely helps his trajectory as a candidate. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/36 "2015-07-13T21:24:07Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Hmm… > Very interesting. > > 5 years ago when I posted in several threads that Scott Walker would be a rising presence in the Republican party, and a viable Presidential contender in the future I was strongly rebuffed. > Yet here we are. He checks all the boxes for Republicans. Governor… hates unions… believes in trickle down economics…hates higher education… bought and sold by the Kochs… it’s like GOP Central Casting found him at a soda fountain. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/37 "2015-07-13T21:42:05Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > It’s not the “people hate unions” it’s that **public sector** unions shouldn’t even exist. The normal back and forth at the negotiating table between management and workers doesn’t exist with public sector unions. Instead it’s an unholy alliance of workers/voters electing public officials who pay them back with salary and benefits that bankrupt the government. What on Earth are you talking about?! How is the public-sector union vote any more powerful than the private-sector union vote? ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/38 "2015-07-13T21:45:23Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > It’s not the “people hate unions” it’s that **public sector** unions shouldn’t even exist. The normal back and forth at the negotiating table between management and workers doesn’t exist with public sector unions. Instead it’s an unholy alliance of workers/voters electing public officials who pay them back with salary and benefits that bankrupt the government. It’s a win-win for the public sector unions and for the politicians but it’s a bad deal for the taxpayers who have to foot the bill. Cite? I’m a Federal worker and union member (former local president) and our union has exactly the same negotiating structure and back-and-forth any union in any other sector. This sounds to me like a modified version of the “government workers are incompetent/evil/on the take” canard. We don’t have any higher of a percentage of bad employees than workers in private industry, no matter what Fox News tells you. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/39 "2015-07-13T21:51:19Z")
Let’s not forget Scotty’s vise-like grasp on foreign policy. The greatest foreign policy victory in his lifetime was Ronald Reagan firing the air traffic controllers. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052/40 "2015-07-13T22:07:53Z")
Scott Walker doesn’t hate all public-sector unions. His restrictions on unions did not apply to the police and fire-fighter unions. Is it because they were the only unions that supported him in his campaigns? Here in Minnesota we hear a lot about Walker and Wisconsin economics. During this same time we’ve had a pretty progressive Democratic governor (Dayton) who raised taxes, increased public funding for education and public works and enacted many environmental reforms. Comparing the two states will be a major point in the campaign, since Minnesota has a strong, thriving economy in spite of higher taxes; the consensus here is businesses realize how worthwhile the state spending is to attract quality workers. Wisconsin on the other hand has had a tough time recovering from the Bush recession. One counterclaim is Wisconsin has more job growth the last years, but that’s only because job growth was stagnant for so long their unemployment rate is higher than in the neighboring states. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scott-walker-is-in/725052.md?page=3)