Scott Walker Asks Donors for More Money, Following Appeals to God

Ready for Scott Walker? - Give Money, New Site Says
(Gold, Washington Post)

Scott Walker in January laughed off suggestions he might be running for president, saying, "We'll see about what God's calling is for the future." (Opoien, Capital Times)

Either God gave Walker the go-ahead, or the higher power intervened and directed Walker who formed a presidential exploratory committee and a new website—Ready for Walker?—asking for still more guidance in the form of money in a new email urging readers to participate in The Race to 270 [Electoral Votes]. (Gold, Washington Post)

The new Walker website cannot be entered unless the user first donates or creates an account, so it's not so user-friendly, though it does feature a silhouette of Scott Walker apparently deep in thought with his hands in his own pockets.

God may speak often with Walker, it appears money speaks louder and with greater authority. (Opoien, Capital Times)

Walker leaves behind a disaster in this northern Midwest state that Walker has been laboring to transform into a Southern state (Cognitive Dissonance), emphatically so in jobs lost, families targeted and the environment abandoned. (Jake's Econ FunHouse)

If God is really calling for Scott Walker, the Big Guy may be saying: Come home and get Wisconsin's fiscal house in order; you messed it up, clean it up. (Spicuzza, Stein, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) (Political Environment)

And quit trying to kill the University of Wisconsin, and help and commit no further harm onto Wisconsin families. God hates this, the Bible so commands.

"It is clear what we have accomplished in Wisconsin can be replicated across the country," Scott Walker's website states. (Gold, Washington Post) That's crazy talk, perhaps sent by the Devil.

"Let’s stipulate up front that Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, is an odious politician whose ascension to the Presidency would be a disaster," [the New Yorker's John Cassidy] writes in the opening paragraph of his February column in The New Yorker, "The dangerous candidacy of Scott Walker." (Slinger, The Capital Times)

Cassidy's statement is something on which most people in Wisconsin can agree, if only they would show up and vote.

Scott Walker Wrecked Wisconsin's Economy—On Purpose

The Milwaukee Shepherd-Express notes in late April that Scott Walker has degraded the Wisconsin economy.

What is not emphasized is Walker did this on purpose.

Walker targeted Dane and Milwaukee counties (the old I-94 Coalition), University towns, workers' wages, public schools, minorities, consumers' rights, the University System, voting rights, local control, clean water, the environment and anything Walker can get his hands on that doesn't vote Republican.

Dane County is too smart for Walker and without Dane County and its educated population and innovative industries, Wisconsin would be in worse shape.

But Walker still is targeting the people of a state as enemies to be conquered. This is sociopathic.

This is who Scott Walker is: A religious fanatic who hates macroeconomics, hates the people of Wisconsin, the vast majority who did not vote for Walker.

The American press has mostly missed the story that Walker cannot win a statewide election in a presidential year, and Walker refused to campaign on any major policy gift he gave to the Koch brothers and gloats about at Republican, out-of-state events.

Scott Walker's War on Young Brains, Our Future

Scott Walker's perverse ideological hostility to a world-class University System is already taking its toll.

This insane crusade by Scott Walker ought to be highlighted repeatedly.

See Simmons at the Wisconsin State Journal and Capper at Crooks and Liars.

There must be some curse word depicting the abandonment of our youth. I've yet to find it.

The plain fact is Scott Walker favors campaign money more than the welfare of the Wisconsin people, so the young are fleeing our state.

Scott Walker's Attack on Disabled Is Unconscionable

Does Scott Walker really have some need of bringing down the wrath of god onto citizens who are not GOP contributors, and are disabled and old?

Consider Walker's budget proposal to repeal the statute and cut off aid to 11,000 elderly and disabled Wisconsinites who are part of the IRIS (Include, Respect, I Self-Direct) program.

Walker wants to go after these people?

Noted here before, without politcal hyperbole, this is something wrong with Scott Walker.

A petition is making the rounds to protect IRIS:

by Melissa Prentice

I am disabled and only 33-years-old. I am a single mother of two beautiful children.

Thanks to the IRIS Program, I am in my home with my children, though I am disabled from the middle of my back to my toes. The reason for this is because IRIS allowed me to choose a caregiver (or they would have found me one), figured out a monthly amount I am allotted through the program, and is paying my caregiver to take care of me and my household.

Without this program, I would have to be in some type of nursing or rehabilitation facility for the rest of my life. I would no longer have my children. I would no longer have my life.

And that is not all IRIS does! If I were to need a new bed, or a repair on my house such as a ramp going up to my door, I would simply submit it to my IRIS case worker, who is available for me during all business hours by phone. She would submit the request, and they would allot me the extra money, as long as it is something I need due to my disability.

Since Gov. Walker took office, all he has talked about is creating jobs and supporting the people of this state. Now he is attacking the weakest and most vulnerable people, and by ending this wonderful program, he will be taking away the many, many jobs of the people who actually work for IRIS and the many wonderful caregivers who spend their time taking care of people like me.

Please help the weak and vulnerable in the state of Wisconsin and stand up to save the IRIS program:

Scott Walker: Civil Rights Activists 'Looking for ways to be upset' RE Indiana

Talking Points Memo has the story and audio via Buzzfeed.

Scott Walker of course was all for his rights, especially as paid for, into his criminal defense fund by Fat Cats. (Bice, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

A hypocrite and a pathological liar, Elect me, says Scott Walker.

Jeb Bush Tops New Post-ABC Poll

Scott Walker lacks
gravitas and public
policy stuff, but has big
and bold ideas;
just ask him.

"[Jeb] Bush — by far the best known among those running for the GOP nomination — is viewed favorably by just 33 percent of the public, while 53 percent say they view him unfavorably." (Balz and Clement, Washington Post)

Congratulations, Gov. Bush, you are at the head of the GOP class, at 20 percent.

Scott Walker comes in third at 12 percent, tied with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at 13 percent.

The national vetting has barely begun on Walker and already the direction of conventional political wisdom (among conservatives) is: Scott Walker is a lightweight.

Jeb Bush need hardly look in his rear view mirror when a glance reveals Scott Walker and Ted Cruz.

Ask around.

Hillary has double-digit leads against all Republicans.

So, frack off, Martin O'Malley.

Scott Walker on Striking the Right Balence

If Scott Walker decides to run for the GOP nomination for the presidency (and he has prayed on this), those outside Wisconsin can take delight in the next Walker non sequitur when asked simple questions in public.

Wisconsin is one of only 18 states that have not either introduced legislation or have on the books some manner of the so-called religious freedom laws. (Steinhauer, New York Times)

Indiana does have a "Religious Freedom" law.

Indiana Republicans saw an opportunity to enact the right to discriminate (Media Matters) on behalf of private, for-profit people-entities in the wake of the Supreme Court's rewriting of the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014). (People for the American Way) (A more insidious effort by Arkansas Republicans was vetoed by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) yesterday, good for WalMart.)

Walker and Balance

Putative GOP presidential candidates and governors weighed in on Indiana's absurd law with Scott Walker leading the way with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence in confused and uninformed evasion.

"Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker took a different approach, saying he doesn't intend to get involved with it or anticipate a similar bill coming to his desk. 'In our state there's a balance between wanting to make sure that there's not discrimination [and] at the same time respecting religious freedoms. ... We do that in different ways than what they've done in Indiana. Certainly that's going to be part of the debate here and across the country,' he said at a press conference." (Kelly, NPR)

What "balance" is that?

What laws is Walker talking about?

Prior to Indiana becoming the national laughingstock, Walker had never spoken publicly on the Public Accommodations clause of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as somehow in tension with First Amendment religious freedom.

Walker invoked his "healthy balance" nonsense before, in November 2013 when Walker said because Wisconsin state statute and the state Constitution banned marriage equity,  "We’ve had no problems… I should say, limited problems with that." (Kim, MSNBC)

What about the people who were banned from being married?

Walker says "balance" when Walker has no idea what his talking about, a frequent occurrence.

Scott Walker

Marriage equality became the law of the land in Wisconsin last year when Judge Richard Posner's opinion striking down Walker's "healthy balance" as "mindless tradition," "bigotry" and a violation of the "Equal Protection Clause" went into effect in Wisconsin and Indiana. (Mal Contends)

There is intelligent commentary on who is the lightest of the lightweights: The bewildered and confused Gov. Mike Pence (R-Indiana), or the big and bold, but no-questions-from-the-public Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wisconsin).

This leads one to suggest: Pence-Walker in 2016, God-sent.

Scott Walker Getting National Ridicule

"[E]very now and then, a presidential hopeful comes up with a novel claim in this area [becoming the next commander in chief] – like Governor Scott Walker, who was asked by a conservative radio host how he felt about the prospect of having to send American troops into combat in the (extremely unlikely) event that he should become president."

Mr. Walker didn’t hesitate. He was an Eagle Scout."

Continues Andrew Rosenthal in the New York Times:

'And to me, much like my thought process of being an Eagle Scout is, no, being an exceptional country means we have a higher responsibility … not just to care for ourselves and our own interests, but to lead in the world, to ensure that all freedom-loving people have the capacity, who yearn for that freedom, to have that freedom,' [Mr. Walker said.]

Got that?

It would be unfair to say Mr. Walker’s response hinged solely on his knot-tying skills. He did offer a grand vision for military strategy. He said the United States should use military force when appropriate, with 'a plan and a charge that ultimately leads to victory.'

After wrecking Wisconsin's economic recovery from the 2007-08 national recession, driving down wages, destroying institutions that took Wisconsin generations to build such as the University of Wisconsin System and public schools, Walker's undoing may not be that he is a failure as a governor or is a crook who has surrounded himself with fellow crooks.

Walker's undoing is that he is the 2016 Sarah Palin, a lightweight.

Concludes Rosenthal: "As The Cap Times said in reporting Mr. Walker’s comments, these silly remarks were actually an improvement. In February, he said his crushing of Wisconsin’s public-sector labor unions prepared him to combat terrorism. Maybe that was a joke. A very unfunny joke."

Even less funny if you live in Wisconsin. Here in Wisconsin, we can take solace in the fact that 'stupid' is no longer in political fashion.

Scott Walker Is Worried, Worried US Will Follow Wisconsin

After proposing to eviscerate Wisconsin in the state budget following the lacerations Scott Walker inflicted onto Wisconsin, Walker said he is "worried," DesmoinesDem notes at the premier political site on the eight-month run-up to the Iowa presidential caucuses.

Notes DesmoinesDem:

Jon Ward filed this report [yesterday] on a New Hampshire event featuring Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

In a recent speech here, the Wisconsin governor used the word "worry" or "worried" 12 times in the space of 15 minutes.

'As a parent today, I'm worried. I'm worried for our country,' Walker told a few hundred conservative activists in a darkened amphitheater, standing in front of a red stage curtain. 'I'm worried about my sons and your sons and daughters, my nieces and your nieces and nephews and grandsons and granddaughters, and I'm worried that we're headed down that same path that worried me years ago in my own state.' [emphasis added]

Walker's message, just a few months into his nascent (and still unofficial) presidential campaign, has been largely a negative one. There is an undertone of testiness in his stump speech, leavened with chest-swelling machismo fueled by his defeat of a recall effort in 2012 and his re-election in 2014.

Scott Walker's M.O.—scream Worried, Broke and Corrupt and then get in, screw-up and run away fast. Look for more mentions of ISIS/ISIL from Walker as well.

Retired Conservative Editor: Scott Walker Lied, Betrayed Wisconsin

"[Scott] Walker is an opportunist who is stepping on this trivial state, [Wisconsin], as he makes his way to the presidency. ... He’s betrayed you for something bigger and better and clearly planned to do so for some time."

The preceding sentence sums up the frustration and heartfelt betrayal of Pete Kennedy, former editor of the Waukesha Freeman (paid, restricted site), a rightwing paper in suburban Milwaukee.

Text of Kennedy's column is at Techno Blog.

Kennedy lets loose on Scott Walker for turning his back on Walker's stated commitment to create jobs, instead outright harming Wisconsin's economy in favor of a selfish run for president.

Kennedy's blasting of Walker comes as national conservatives are questioning Walker, and the national media reports Walker avoids town hall-style question-and-answer sessions with voters in favor of "rope lines" and "avoiding questions in public from prospective voters." (McCormick, Bloomberg).

Kennedy hits Walker not for falling asleep at the wheel on job creation, rather for making policy decisions that are killing jobs in cold-blood in a string of high-profile Walker moves Kennedy lists.

Walker is working to make his candidacy for the presidency more appealing to segments of the GOP's electorate in the Iowa presidential caucuses, and among voters in national GOP presidential primaries.

The Waukesha Freeman's editorial page is similar to the Wall Street Journal's in its hard-right political commitments. Waukesha County is the heart of Wisconsin Republicans, voting for Walker by a margin of 72 percent to 26 percent in the 2014 general election. (Politico)

As Scott Walker cross-crosses the globe, Walker's repeated stomping on job-creating opportunities has even this most-conservative of writers fed-up.

"[Walker] charges you for those 'trade missions,' too, and they can’t be cheap. How about a trade mission to Kenosha?," asks Kennedy.

American Rightwing Questioning Scott Walker

The rightwing is beginning to see Scott Walker is more craven and less principled than hoped.

Daniel Payne writing in the rightwing The Federalist calls out Scott Walker yesterday, and it has nothing to do about Walker secretly directing dark money contributions.

Payne writes about Walker's deep-sixing communications consultant Liz Mair.

"Mair’s departure, in other words, wasn’t about making 'people’s' lives better, it was more along the lines of making Scott Walker’s life better, and easier," writes Payne. "... [Walker's] response to Mair’s garden-variety opinion is disappointing and troubling, indicating that he’s less of a reformer than we thought, and less willing to take risks that might improve the country as a whole."

Eliana Johnson at the National Review Online writes, "Just a few months into the long 2016 primary campaign, the whispered doubts about whether Walker can successfully scale up are louder than ever."

Scott Walker's PAC Is Right: Iowa GOP Embarrasses

Update: Scott Walker's communications aide bowed to pressure from Iowa Republicans and "resigned late Tuesday after drawing criticism for knocking Iowa’s role in the presidential nomination process.

"Liz Mair, a veteran Republican consultant, told the Associated Press she was leaving the GOP presidential hopeful’s political team just a day after she had been hired by Walker’s Our American Revival PAC to provide advice on social media." (Camia, USA Today)

The Des Moines Register first reported Mair's critical statements regarding Iowa yesterday morning.
---
Scott Walker may be getting the message on not surrounding himself with stupid people like convicted criminals and former top aides, Tim Russell (embezzled from veterans) and Kelly M. Rindfleisch (misconduct in public office).

Walker's online communications director for his PAC, Liz Mair, tells it like it is: Iowa Republicans are not the brightest bulbs in the world.

Trip Gabriel has the story in the New York Times:

Liz Mair tweeted, “In other news, I see Iowa is once again embarrassing itself, and the GOP, this morning. Thanks, guys.”

A minute later, she wrote, “The sooner we remove Iowa’s frontrunning status, the better off American politics and policy will be.”

The Iowa GOP wants Mair gone.

Walker would do well to keep her around, maybe smarten Walker up a little.

C'mon Scott Walker, you and even God knows you're not ready. Stick to what you're good at: Hold your hands out so taxpayers and the Koch brothers give you rightwing welfare money. Could do worse.