Scott Walker will Machine Gun Federal Unions!

Scott Walker- The Real Deal Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) is proposing the elimination of federal employee unions as part of broader package of policies aimed at curbing the influence of unions across the country. Walker rocketed to national prominence on the back of his own anti-union policies back in Wisconsin, so he’s looking to elevate that push to the national level as he works to rebound from slipping poll numbers. The plan, released Monday morning, includes shuttering the National Labor Relations Board, a government agency that protects employee’s ability to join unions and rules on unfair labor allegations. Walker plans to call the NLRB a “one-sided proxy for the big union bosses — often at the expense of taxpayers and workers,” according to excerpts of a Monday afternoon speech at a Las Vegas town hall. It also calls for a federal “Right to Work” law, a measure that prohibits compelling employees to join a union. Opponents of the policy criticize it for impeding collective bargaining rights. “Any economic plan that does not bring our federal labor laws into the 21st Century is incomplete,” he will say. “To grow the economy at a higher rate, requires a comprehensive approach and reform of the labor unions is a key part of the plan.” States would be allowed to pass a law to overrule the national “Right to Work” presumption under Walker’s plan. “Many of the nation’s federal labor laws and regulations have stood as a roadblock to fairness and opportunity, and instead have created rigid, top-down workplaces that don’t really work for Americans,” he said in a statement released with the plan. “This will not be easy. Many—including the union bosses and the politicians they puppet—have long benefited from Washington rules that put the needs of special interests before those of middle-class families.” The plan would also halt the practice of automatically taking union fees out of federal workers’ paychecks, bar unions from spending fees for political purposes, repeal the Obama administration’s labor regulations, and repeal a 1930’s law that forces the government to pay federal contractors the “local prevailing wage,” as determined by the Department of Labor. The anti-union push mirrors the direction he’s taken Wisconsin, which has drawn both praise from supporters and the deep ire of critics. Walker helped shepherd a budget bill that restricted collective bargaining rights through the legislature in 2011, setting off wide-scale protests. That prompted a 2012 recall election, which Walker won, and protestors continue to target Walker while he’s out on the stump. Democratic National Committee spokesperson TJ Helmstetter panned the plan as “desperate and disgusting,” and amounts to Walker’s Wisconsin record “on steroids.” “By seeking to dismantle unions – the backbone of the middle class that gave us weekends, paid vacations, and child labor laws – Scott Walker is again placing his political ambitions and the demands of his billionaire benefactors ahead of middle class Americans,” he said in a statement. Walker has been battling slumping poll results over the past few months. He dropped from first place to tenth place in Quinnipiac University’s Iowa poll over a span of two months and now sits at seventh place nationally and in New Hampshire, according to RealClearPolitics’ average of recent polling. [The Hill] From my stand point, Walker, Perry, and Jindal  have the best walk the talk records in the race, and now Perry has dropped out.  If the GOP primary was held today, I'd have a tough time choosing between Trump and Walker, but only because Trump has the wherewithal (cash) to challenge the In-The-Tank Media. I have a man crush on Walker's  record.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Shoots Self

“ TWO THINGS 1) In their failed efforts to destroy Scott Walker, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is become a parody of  Liberalism  run amok.  Here are just two stories  I stumbled upon this morning. # Sheila Jackson Lee U.S. Representative, University of Virginia School of Law (1975), Yale University(1972), “how ... is it that we have lasted some 400 years, operating under a Constitution that clearly defines what is constitutional and what is not.” # Hank Johnson U.S. Representative, Thurgood Marshall School of Law (1979), Clark Atlanta University (1976) "My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize," # Joe Biden Vice President of the United States, Syracuse University (1968), University of Delaware (1965), “When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed ... .” Can Scott Walker be president without a college degree? Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has buzz. He has impressed conservative activists in Des Moines, and is the front-runner for likely Republican Iowa caucus-goers, according to a Bloomberg Politics-Des Moines Register poll published this past weekend. Supporters say the 47-year-old has more diverse qualifications than the other Republicans: A non-Washington Republican who has won tough contests in a blue state, taken on labor unions and has appeal to the conservative faith community and the business constituency. There is one credential that he doesn't have: a post-high school education. America hasn't elected a president without a college degree since Harry Truman. Privately, some strategists (in our cafeteria) suspect that this could increasingly become troublesome for voters, a little in the nominating process, more so in a general election, particularly in battleground upscale suburban areas. If this seems illogical — it does — try raising the issue at the next coffee klatch or cocktail party; you're likely to be surprised by the responses. 2) Once almost eradicated, whooping cough surges back What's the first thing that comes to mind?  Causation? That's right; but nowhere in this 1775 word essay does the word immigrant appear, nor "illegal," nor "Obama," nor "Impeach the M-Fkr" ”

Death Threats

Wow. @ed_kilgore & the Washington Monthly pretend that Scott Walker may not have gotten death threats.

Wisconsin Teacher Unions

Union Thugs                      Left Losing Wisconsin’s Teacher’s Unions

“ It’s getting harder and harder to find left-wing activists, even in public school unions in progressive Wisconsin. “In 2011, in the wake of the largest workers uprising in recent U. S. history, I was elected president of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association,” Bob Peterson writes in the journal Rethinking Schools. “Unfortunately, that spring uprising, although massive and inspirational, was not strong enough to stop Gov. Walker from enacting the most draconian anti-public sector labor law in the nation.” Reality check: “Only 305 Wisconsin school districts’ unions sought recertification this November, dropping from 408 that did the year before,” Diana-Ashley Krach writes in School Reform News. “Additionally, state employees voted to decertify 25 school district unions.” “Under Act 10, also known as the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, which went into effect in 2011, recertification requires a 51 percent “yes” vote from eligible union members.” “Using those criteria, Walker would never have been elected,” Peterson asserts. Actually, Governor Walker was reelected with 53 percent of the vote.  What’s really astonishing is that the unions cannot even inspire the loyalty of one of the most left-leaning voting blocs in a left-leaning state. Ironically, by Peterson’s own summary, the reforms were hardly draconian. He writes of Act 10 that “It left intact only the right to bargain base-wage increases up to the cost of living.” Most people think this is the prime purpose of a union. [The fun continues] Jeb Bush or Scott Walker.  Soooooo hard to choose.  LOL ”

The Usual Suspects

“ The Usual Suspects 2016 yawn In quick succession these stories crossed my desk yesterday; a cosmic commencement of the  media battle to have their way with us in 2016.  Bloomberg's  "Walker Surging in Iowa Poll as Bush Struggles" was quickly countered by the WaPost's "Jeb Bush has become the GOP front-runner for 2016 — so now what?" Normally it's the New York Times's job to carry the GOP establishment's water by proclaiming a front runner nobody else wants, but someone the Democrats can defeat.  I'm guessing that the Times will try still to carry on in that capacity, but it's reputation by now is that of a 70 year-old crack whore and of little use beyond the city limits.  The newly burnished WaPost is ascendant. The Liberal Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News's "Sarah Palin's scorched-earth plan for the GOP: Governor challenges party to move sharply right" is of little consequence but will be quoted loudly by American Smugs. Sarah Palin, who now says she's definitely interested in "serving" as president next year, made a speech last weekend at a gathering of Republican White House aspirants in Iowa. It was somewhat coarser, and certainly more bitter, than her usual bundle of platitudes and jingoism. At one point she shouted "Screw the left in Hollywood!" And she complained about how even some Republicans are buying into "this unhealthy new obsession … about this subjective income gap that we're supposed to be so obsessed about right now." [...] Under the headline: "Sarah Palin slips into self-parody," Charles W. Cooke called it "the foreordained culmination of a slow and unseemly descent into farce," suggesting she stay out of the race for the good of her party. Charles W. Cooke writes for National Review, one of this country's premier conservative publications. Under another withering headline, "GOP faces its Sarah Palin problem," Byron York interviewed several dismayed audience members: "It was all quite petty," he concluded. [] The Boston Globe, which never forget backed for high office two of the most incompetent twats extant in Deval Patrick and Elizabeth Warren, does it's thing with "Jeb Bush shaped by troubled Phillips Academy years;" or as Powerline puts it-"JEB BUSH, POT-SMOKING BULLY!" The Boston Globe has a long article on Jeb Bush’s high school years at Andover. The Globe piece has been picked up by many other news outlets; the Hill’s headline is typical: “Jeb Bush was a pot-smoking bully, say former classmates.” What about the claim that Jeb was a bully? It is based on precisely two incidents. In one, Bush and some friends sewed another boy’s pajama bottoms shut. In the other, Bush lifted up another boy. That’s the “bullying” tally for his four years at Andover. Pathetic. This is reminiscent, of course, of the Washington Post’s long story about Mitt Romney’s high school days, featuring a decades-ago incident where Romney and others cut another boy’s hair. It’s remarkable: just when you think investigative reporting is dead, another Republican presidential candidate comes along to get reporters’ juices flowing again. Think what doggedness it requires to go back forty-odd years to research a politician’s high school days! I'm tired. ”

Scott Walker's Roosting

Scott Walker, Presumptive 2016 Favorite

“ Forget what the polls say. Polls this far out are notoriously worthless in predicting Presidential nominees. Right now Scott Walker is sitting in the catbird’s seat for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination. Virtually everyone who is contemplating running for President in 2016 or who has ever contemplated running for President in their life went to Iowa last weekend but unless you were a regular reader of RedState you would have no idea that anyone other than Scott Walker delivered a speech. This is just one indication of how thoroughly and completely Walker has stolen the early show from the other nominees and sucked all the oxygen from the room. But Walker’s domination of the first 2016 cattle call isn’t the reason that he has to be considered the favorite right now. The simple fact is that Walker is the only candidate in the field who has already won what could be considered two national elections. Much has been made of the fact that Walker has already won essentially three tough elections. This is true, but it undersells how Walker’s electoral experience differs even from other candidates in the field who have successfully won bruising statewide elections like Chris Christie or Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)82%. Running for elective office involves successive levels of difficulty – and more importantly, scrutiny – especially in terms of the media. A hard fought state legislature race involves less media poking and prodding than a tough U.S. House race, which involves less than a Senate race, and so on. As Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich so ably demonstrated in 2012, no one who hasn’t won office at least statewide should really attempt to run for President because the increased glare of a national race tends to wilt those who are not prepared for it. Walker, on the other hand, has not just won statewide races in a blue state. He has already been through the gauntlet, at least twice, of being the number one national target of the Democrat apparatus. He has already felt the full fury of having Democrat and union operatives trail him around to every campaign stop, recording every word, and digging up every detail on his life possible. His recall election was especially impressive because he was, nationwide, the only Republican target on the ballot at the time it occurred. He has already faced bogus prosecutions by politically motivated prosecutors and every other government hack under the sun. [Full] Of course it's not a question of good versus evil, because evil in this instance believe they have a moral imperative to be evil, which in their minds make them the good.  And, of course, there are the GOP cross-dressers to contend with, but for now I'm exultant that Walker is  cock of the walk.  ”

Scott Walker v. Institutional Media Bias

Democrat Media Monkeys “ Gov. Scott Walker (R, Wisconsin) and the Washington Post’s institutional bias. You’ve no doubt already heard that Scott Walker is, yea, indeed, running for President – with a hundred ‘Throne of Skulls’ jokes already blossoming on Twitter* – but I don’t want to hit that.  I want to hit a problem that I have with the Washington Post’s reporting on the subject.  This passage, in particular: [Scott Walker's] decision to take on public employee unions in Wisconsin in early 2009 created huge protests around the state Capitol building in Madison and left the state deeply polarized around his leadership…. That anger resulted in a recall election in 2012, which Walker survived. He went on to win his reelection campaign last November by a comfortable margin, and his three victories in four years have made him a hero among many conservatives. Bolding mine.  Here’s the thing.  In the 2012 recall election, Scott Walker beat Tom Barrett, 53/46. According to the Washington Post, that’s ‘surviving.’ And in the 2014 general election Scott Walker beat Mary Burke, 52/47.  According to the, erm, Washington Post, that’s ‘comfortable.’  Presumably the Washington Post would also concede that Scott Walker’s 2010 general election 52/46 win over Barrett was also ‘comfortable?’ …The point is, strictly speaking either all three elections were won by ‘comfortable’ margins, or none of them were. Particularly since Walker did better in the recall than in the general elections, if only by a hair. And that’s media bias in action.  It might even be unconscious media bias, at that.  Here is the basic reality of the Wisconsin public union fight: from beginning to ignominious end Democratic and progressive activists conducted themselves as if they were spoiled, vicious children.  The electorate spanked them for it: there is no credible way that any anti-Walker fanatic can presume to speak for Wisconsin. Wisconsin refused to let the anti-Walker fanatics win.  It’s not that Scott Walker was the hero of that particular story (although most conservatives would happily call him one) as he was the protagonist.  Walker, from start to finish, had all the agency in that conflict. Scott Walker did not ‘survive’ his recall election. He smashed the recall movement to the floor and walked away, whistling. [full] There seems to have been no highborn political reason behind Jeff Bezo's purchase of the WaPost, but one hoped.  Getting rid of the Graham's was a nice first step, but "institutional bias" seems indeed to be the operative word.  At any rate, if Scott Walker is to become the first honest conservative person since Reagan to thwart the GOP machine, he will, like Reagan, have to undergo trial by GOP fire.  If he succeeds, we win. I think he's a 35-65 chance in that regard, which all things considered is the best chance we've had in 30 years.   (Saying Hail Mary 10 times).  ”

When Liberals Are Losing ...

a major award

“ SCOTT WALKER Wisconsin Ranger Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is a sheriff who's been called-out by the bad guys so many times it's a wonder he's still walking.  But he is, and the floor is littered with dead union thugs who tried to kill him.  What we have here then, from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,  is the familiar Liberal contrivance of offering advice to the guy who's just kicked your ass. Is Wisconsin better off with weaker unions? Some conservatives think so. Legislators will consider the question when right-to-work legislation is introduced early next year. Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said members in his house would begin debate within weeks. But I think Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican leadership should tread carefully. There is scant evidence that right-to-work laws boost job creation; there is evidence that weaker unions hurt working people. And there is no doubt whatsoever that a fight over right to work in Wisconsin will be bloody. Remember Act 10? Under right-to-work laws, workers in unionized shops cannot be required to pay dues as a condition of employment. That creates a "free rider" problem for unions as workers calculate that they can benefit from representation without paying for it. As a result, unions have a harder time organizing and less clout. Twenty-four states have some form of right to work including Michigan and Indiana. Walker says right-to-work is not a priority but he hasn't said whether he would sign a bill if one reaches his desk. If a bill gets to Walker, I don't think there is any question what he will do. He will sign it. Conservatives have long argued that workers should be free from the coercion that comes from forced union dues, and they believe that right-to-work gives workers more choices. I understand their arguments. Years ago, I was approached to organize the newsroom where I was working at the time by a rep from the typographers union. I declined. As a young reporter, I wanted the freedom to work as many hours as I needed to learn the craft and felt the union might limit my ability to do that. But that said, I don't think workplace freedom is the real objective here. This is about weakening unions. James Sherk of The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank, wrote in a 2011 paper that right to work "makes unions less aggressive and encourages business investment, creating jobs." Does it really encourage job growth?  (OMFG, YES).  (Continued) ”