Posted on 02/02/2015 4:46:10 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
(AUDIO-AT-LINK)
There is not a lot of love between the U.S. labor movement and those on the long list of potential 2016 Republican presidential hopefuls. But there is one name among the GOP prospects that labor truly despises — and fears. He is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who weakened unions in his own state and appears ready to make his battles with labor a centerpiece of a bid for the White House.
Walker's approach on a recent Saturday in Iowa was telling. In a downtown Des Moines theater full of conservative activists, he spoke for 22 minutes. But right off the top, and at length, he told the tale of how he took on public employee unions in Wisconsin. That effort — largely successful — triggered massive protests at the state Capitol and brought years of turmoil, including a fractious attempt to recall him from office.
"You know all about the protests," he said at that candidates forum. "At one point there were 100,000 or more protesters in and around our state Capitol. They were banging on the drums [and] they were blowing the horns. They had signs and banners."
Walker, now fresh off re-election to a second term, walked back and forth across the stage. He said what people may not know is that protesters — as many as 1,000 of them — showed up outside his home while his family was there. And, he told the Iowa crowd, there were death threats.
"Most of those death threats were ... directed at, me, but some of the worst were directed at my family. I remember one of the ones that bothered me the most was someone literally sent me a threat that said they were gonna gut my wife like a deer."
It was a line designed to shock the audience. And one that set Walker apart from the other speakers that day, including Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, Mike Huckabee and Chris Christie. Those are all GOP household names. Not so for Walker. In fact, it's likely few in the theater had ever seen him in person, even if they knew his record.
But he wrapped up his remarks to big applause and cheers.
Now for the reaction from a leading labor activist, who knows Walker's record all too well.
"Scott Walker is an extremely divisive guy. He created a war zone in Wisconsin, pitting families against families, neighbors against neighbors. That's how he won," says Steve Rosenthal, a former political director for the AFL-CIO who currently works as a Democratic strategist and organizer. His animus toward Walker — and his policies — is widely shared by labor activists all across the country.
"There were labor leaders who called him the poster child a few years ago, public enemy No. 1, who really went all out to try to beat him in Wisconsin and weren't successful," he says. "The fact that he is now potentially emerging on the national stage is really scary. And you could see a scenario where he could become the Republican nominee."
Back in Iowa, Dennis Goldford, who teaches political science at Drake University, attended the forum where Walker spoke. He notes that the Wisconsin governor portrays himself as a victim when he talks of huge protests at his home, and of death threats.
"He emphasized this sense of being under threat by opponents who oppose everything he stands for," Goldford says. "But the more important subtext was that he's tough enough to take on these elements that threaten the very way of life these conservative Republicans believe is under siege."
And Walker is staking out a lane for his expected presidential campaign. He ended his remarks in Iowa to more applause saying: "With your help I have no doubt we can move this country forward, we can have our own American revival. God bless you; thanks for letting me share with you today."
Silly question. He made his bones fighting the union, especially the teacher’s union. His willingness to fight is the very thing that makes him attractive.
He would be a fool to throw away the thing that makes him even interesting as a candidate.
The labor unions are throwing everything, including the kitchen sink and sofas, at Gov. Walker. This will be an ugly battle.
Now, only 7% of the workforce is in private sector unions--who don't have much on common with the parasites once they get into the voting booth. Not a big obstacle if Walker gets the nom.
That is exactly why we need him. The unions, particularly the public employee unions, have crippled the government.
Walker did a great job in a blue state. He is the cure for what is wrong with the country. He has been attacked for several terms and they haven't laid a glove on him.
I'm sure somebody will mention that he is not colorful enough, or goes to the wrong church. No, he is not a sexy enough. I just hope the women aren't looking for a hip bad boy type.
I used to be an AFSCME member. I always wanted to get sent to the RNC, because they’d have had to pay all my expenses. That codicil was put there to send their members to the DNC, but they didn’t specify that, so I’d have made them pay up or sued them. LOL
Why, what church does he attend?
I have a lot of problems with Scott Walker. The only things he can really be counted on are to balance the budget and fight the labor unions. That’s a plus for me. And evidently it was a plus in Wisconsin, where even the liberals got sick of the destructive behavior of the big unions.
If he got re-elected in Wisconsin with that record, and the unions going all-out against him, then likely he could do the same on a national level.
But where does he stand on immigration? The family? Right to life? Foreign policy? No one really knows. And campaign promises mean nothing without a proven track record.
Of course, none of the scummy labor leaders in the article wanted to talk about the death threats and other forms of violence directed at Walker. Or all the stinking scum who fouled the capitol building for a year protesting Walker taking away their tax-payer funded gravy train.
They don't have the sway they once had. But they will make him work for Pennsylvania and Ohio.
The unions have friends.
Then why did he take Right To Work off the table for Wisconsin workers? Did he say that was something he just really didn’t feel like dealing with right now, a ‘distraction’?
Being in a RTW state, I certainly appreciate his wounding Unions, but why won’t he go for the Kill? Especially after threatening his wife and family? Would that require too much passion and commitment?
The more the unions hate Walker the more folks like me like him. Plus, the unions will be 100% against any Republican. They just foam at the mouth more for some.
Watching a bunch of SEIU slobs marching and screaming would certainly cheer me up.
God, I hate NPR
It does not matter who gets elected if our iniquity cup runneth over.
I can already hear variations of “read my lips, no new taxes” coming out of his mouth on matters like immigration.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/scott-walker-and-right-to-work-1421107031 Jan. 12, 2015 6:57 p.m. ET
Scott Walker and Right to Work
Wisconsin’s Governor bobs and weaves on another labor reform.
Scott Walker is heading to Iowa this month as part of his consideration of a run for the White House, but in the meantime he’s starting a second term as Governor in which he presumably wants to accomplish something. So it’s unfortunate that he’s ducking a chance to make Wisconsin the country’s 25th right-to-work state.
At his second inauguration last week, Mr. Walker told voters that prosperity comes “from empowering people to control their own lives and their own destinies through the dignity born from work.” In the Badger State, he added, “we understand people create jobs, not the government.”
He’s right, which makes it that much stranger to watch Mr. Walker dodging the right-to-work challenge. In December, after Wisconsin Senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald said he was interested in taking up a right-to-work bill, the Governor called it a “distraction.”
After the fake emotional political fight with the unions Walker will win an election and be another phony conservative like George W.
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