Community | January 26, 2012 | 104 comments

Hecklers shout ‘liar’ as Wisconsin’s Walker touts job creation

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KB723
By Reuters
Thursday, January 26, 2012 5:57 EST

MADISON (Reuters) – Wisconsin’s Republican Governor Scott Walker, whose tumultuous first year in office saw partisan budget battles, massive street protests and a statewide recall effort against him, focused on job creation and ridding government of wasteful spending in a ‘state of the state’ speech on Wednesday disrupted by heckling.

During a 45-minute address to members of the state legislature and Supreme Court justices, the first-term governor touted an improved business climate he said has created “thousands of new jobs” after the state lost 150,000 jobs during the three recession-hit years before he took office.

“I believe it is the people of this state who create jobs and not the government,” he said.

The governor asked small business owners to hire one new employee this year, in an attempt to invigorate the job market even more throughout the state.

“Imagine how many more people we could get working if we all pitched in together,” the governor said.

Five protesters shouted at the governor during his speech and were escorted out of the chamber’s upper gallery.

“Liar. Recall. Liar!” one woman screamed from the top row of the gallery before being led out of the chamber by security personnel.

Walker, looking back on his first year in office, said the state is “headed in the right direction.” He took credit for a state budget that was balanced without raising taxes, a decreasing statewide unemployment rate, and a decline in school tax levies during his first year.

“We balanced it, without raising taxes, without massive layoffs and without budget tricks,” he said of the state budget approved last summer after months of contentious debate centered on Walker’s successful push to cut the power of public unions.

Walker lauded those collective bargaining rule changes along with health care reforms he contended saved school districts millions of dollars. He also mentioned creation of the state’s “Read to Lead” program, intended to improve the state’s reading scores that have slipped in recent years.

Before Walker spoke, a group of more than 100 protesters gathered outside of the Capitol building to decry the governor’s conservative agenda. Protesters were also heard chanting in the Capitol rotunda as a protester band played outside, below the Assembly chamber windows.

State Senate Democrats last winter fled the state for a time to prevent a quorum for a vote on Walker’s collective bargaining curbs. Hundreds of anti-Walker protesters occupied the Capitol for days while tens of thousands attended rallies outside.

In the end, Walker’s Republican allies in both houses of the legislature engineered passage of his reform measures. But the partisan atmosphere still dominates the state with Walker the lightning rod for Democrats and their backers.

Walker in his speech tried to stick to business. He announced a group of business leaders who will be on a Small Business Regulatory Review Board. The panel will have the authority to review and eliminate bureaucratic red tape that stifles job creation, he said.

“I will direct our agencies to work with them to remove antiquated and unnecessary regulations that pose a threat to creating new jobs,” Walker said.

He also announced creation of a taskforce charged with finding ways to eliminate wasteful or what he termed fraudulent spending on the part of state government.

“Because I respect the hard working people of Wisconsin, I will continue to be a good steward of the taxpayers’ dollar,” he said. “Eliminating waste, fraud and abuse is a top priority of my administration.”

The Waste, Fraud and Abuse Elimination Taskforce will be charged with creating policies to eliminate $400 million in wasteful spending outlined in a report recently completed by the state’s Commission on Waste, Fraud, and Abuse.

Walker’s opponents were not mollified by the proposals.

“The governor did not lay out a new course for Wisconsin tonight,” said Senator Lena Taylor, one of the Democrats who fled the state last year, after Walker’s speech.

Wisconsin has lost jobs for six straight months, according to the state’s Department of Workforce Development, she said.

“Instead, Wisconsin was fed a terrible meal of the cruel dishonesty that he has served time and time again. Talks of balanced budgets, lower taxes, job creation and a brighter future simply do not square with the facts,” she said.

Walker, elected in the national Republican sweep of 2010, faces a recall election after he forced through the legislature the measure stripping public sector unions of some powers, which set off a firestorm of criticism.

Opponents of Walker last week submitted petitions with more than 1 million signatures to force a recall vote, far more than needed. But Democrats have yet to settle on an opponent to face Walker in a recall election, and he retains a strong base.

A Marquette University Law School poll on Wednesday showed Walker leading Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, whom he beat in 2010, by 50 to 44 percent. Dane County executive Kathleen Falk, who has announced she will run for the nomination to challenge Walker, trails Walker by 49 to 42 percent.

The poll also showed Walker leading former congressman David Obey by 7 percentage points and state Senator Tim Cullen by 10 points. Cullen said last month he would run. The survey of 701 registered voters was taken by telephone from January 19 to 22.

No date as yet been set for the recall election.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/26/hecklers-shout-liar-as-wisconsins-walker-t...

"LOL, they make it sound like an Execution Date, Hmmm maybe as far as his political future!!!" =)
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104 comments // Hecklers shout ‘liar’ as Wisconsin’s Walker touts job creation

  • supermanrico
    • +1
      supermanrico  
    • Walker is just another slave of the Koch bros and the puppet of the billionaires that control the republican party. Remember the "Reagan democrats",? well, these people were from the same unions that walker is trying to wipe out. Now they're paying the price for their stupidity of believing in Reagan and the republcans. Everything started then.

    • 4 months ago
  • Paratus
    • -3
      Paratus  
    • Walker is the best thing to happen to Wisconsin in years. He is doing what was needed to be done. These "hecklers" are rude, ill mannered cretins.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
  • supermanrico
  • Incredulous
  • sugarmountian
  • budsnews
  • Vierotchka
  • KB723
  • The_Wanderer_Kansas
  • Mishima
    • -2
      Mishima  
    • Vierotchka:

      Are you aware of Nation magazine? It is the magazine of the anti-capitalist far Left. It advocates world socialist revolution and it is not only rabidly anti-capitalist, it is rabidly anti-AMERICAN.

      I can provide numerous exerpts of it since the end of WWI, when it praised the Soviet Union and advocated for its system in America, to when it had articles lamenting the end of communism in the Soviet Union in 1991. Che Guevara is one of the heroes it extols in issue after issue, and it has compared America to North Korea, and America came out the worse for it. It recently advocated its readers to review Marxism because it lends good insights into our "problems."

    • 4 months ago
  • letsliveinpeace
    • +4
      letsliveinpeace  
    • Next on the list for Scott Walker is prison....

      When Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker took a phone call that he thought was from billionaire campaign donor David Koch, he described the secret meeting of his cabinet at which he outlined the “budget repair bill” that stripped collective bargaining protections from public employees and teachers, replaced civil servants with political cronies and made it possible to sell off public utilities in no-bid deals with out-of-state corporations.

      http://www.alternet.org/news/152493/scott_walker%27s_top_anti-worker_aide_target...

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • -1
      Mishima  
    • letsliveinpeace:

      Fortunately, polls taken show that despite the radical union activism and huge funding by its thugs and lackeys, the Governor will win the election. The people know the truth about unions, it seems....

    • 4 months ago
  • chew_chew
    • +2
      chew_chew  
    • "... Governor Scott Walker, whose tumultuous first year in office saw partisan budget battles, massive street protests and a statewide recall effort against him, focused on job creation and ridding government of wasteful spending..."

      If he really wants to rid government of "wasteful spending," he should resign now. What a massive toxic waste he is.

    • 4 months ago
  • letsliveinpeace
  • Leen61
  • letsliveinpeace
  • letsliveinpeace
  • Leen61
  • Leen61
  • Mishima
    • -3
      Mishima  
    • Leen61:

      Zielinski is a Democrat Party spokesman, and the unions are putting incredible funds - at taxpayer expense - into BUYING politicians, DEMOCRAT politicians.

      And the Left-wingers complain that others used biased sources. Funny....

    • 4 months ago
  • Leen61
  • Mishima
  • Leen61
    • +2
      Leen61  
    • Mishima:

      And the ethics charges against him are just waiting to bite him in the ass. Sorry. For someone who lives "abroad" you sure worry a lot about what goes on in this little berg. Very, very interesting. You must not have much of a life. If I lived abroad I'd have a lot better things to do than worry about what goes on in one state in the US. And you seem to be on your computer all hours of the day and night. You would think that you would actually stumble across some "real" information to enlighten yourself. But, I guess not.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • -3
      Mishima  
    • Leen61:

      Living abroad made me realize - years ago, of course - how great America is.

      With you comment, it is obvious that you spent little time abroad; when one lives for a considerable period of time, the "newness" and "excitement" wears off like in any other place.

      Walker represents something now; it is bigger than Wisconsin, and that is the reason he is getting national attention. He is part of the fight for liberty and responsibility. He is part of the fight against the control of government by union socialists. The leftists are assaulting and trying to get headway into government unions, and that brave governor is standing up to them.

      Real Americans all over the country - and expats abroad - are cheering, hoping and praying for his victory and what it means. We are at a crossroads where the Left wants to take us down a road of government control and management of our lives and our economy. Governor Walker is on the vanguard of fighting for freedom, liberty, and fiscal responsibility.

      He is a very important figure in the fight against the GOVERNMENT union mentality of "workers of the world, unite!"

    • 4 months ago
  • Leen61
  • Mishima
    • -2
      Mishima  
    • Leen61:

      I did not leave, of course. If one moves permanently, that is "leaving."

      Ever heard of having an "adventurous spirit?" Ever heard of curiosity? Ever heard of wanting to see different things? Ever heard of wanting to learn? And have you ever heard of being "worldly?"

      お前は何もわからないみたい。

    • 4 months ago
  • Incredulous
    • +2
      Incredulous  
    • Mishima:

      the only thing you got right in all of what you just wrote is that there is, indeed, a fight for liberty going on...and that is what has made America great, the fact that we can and will fight for what we believe in. Real Americans? Seriously, exactly what is your litmus test for determining that?

    • 4 months ago
  • Leen61
  • Mishima
    • -1
      Mishima  
    • Incredulous:

      Yes, it may be too short of a summary, but it is fight of those who want to centralize power in the federal government and those who want to decentralize it. Between those who want to encourage self-reliance and those who would foster dependency. Between those who want America to remain an "exceptional" nation and those who would relagate it to just one more insignificant member of the United Nations, needing international approval for any actions. Between those who want a nation of moral people, and those who would throw morality and decency to the wind, insising only on gratification and indulgence.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
  • Leen61
  • Mishima
  • scooter3282
    • +5
      scooter3282  
    • Mishima:

      Do you even know how partisan the pollster who took this rather suspect poll is? Of course not. The non-partisan pollsters show a much different picture of the upcoming recall election, but if you would do a little more research you would've known that. This is a weak attempt by the Walkerites to dampen enthusiasm for the recall which is not working in the state. The only thing this crook can rely on is the Koch-backed flood of misinformation and lies to fool an equally ill-informed as you electorate. Move here and you will see the problems his agenda have already wrought.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • -5
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      That is a typical response from the Left: Deny facts. I checked the information. But if you have other information, why didn't you post it?

      I eagerly await your reply with the links. Thank you.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • -5
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      Move there? I would like to move there so my wife and I could vote for Walker in the coming election. And petition and encourage as many people as possible to vote for liberty.

    • 4 months ago
  • scooter3282
    • +2
      scooter3282  
    • Mishima:

      I wouldn't dream of wasting my time because you will more to spout that you never seem to provide the backup for either. Only difference is your "living abroad" as you claimed in a previous response to me, so you wouldn't know the real facts of what is going on here or care to hear them.

    • 4 months ago
  • scooter3282
    • +2
      scooter3282  
    • Mishima:

      Save that one for your stand up act, you're killing me. Is your "wife" the straight person or are you the patsy? Taking rights away and lowering wages for hard working people is your idea of liberty? You're pathetic if that's your 1% view of the world.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
  • Mishima
    • -1
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      Not taking away rights but supporting REAL liberty.

      I used to teach college, and I passed out "Right to Work" pamphlets to seniors and encouraged them to NOT join unions. I told them to try to resist and ignore the intimidation and bullying of union thugs and lackeys. I knew that as new employees, they would be subjected to those union tactics in order to force them to join.

      I crossed a picket line and have convinced people at several workplaces to quit the union. At one place, the union FORCED payments from workers, and both my wife and I refused to join the union, even though they CONFISCATED part of our salaries.

    • 4 months ago
  • scooter3282
    • +3
      scooter3282  
    • Mishima:

      I see you were into doing great disservice to your students. I'll bet you didn't mention while you were doing that that Right to Work states, as proven by statistics, drive down the wages of workers and that Unions help give people a more living wage and helps the non-union sector follow suit with higher wages to compete? Thought so. Have a nice right wing, hate worker day.

    • 4 months ago
  • scooter3282
    • +2
      scooter3282  
    • Mishima:

      Living abroad has obviously not taught you much about personal liberties which makes it difficult to believe that you truly do. Your rabid right wing ideology that you embrace which makes women no more than second class citizens is antithetical to most European nations and culturally, they are for complete freedom of thought, whille you support a political ideology that likes to suppress dissent and attacks anyone that dares puts forth freedom to pursue happiness if the lifestyle differs from your own world view. Enlighten yourself and embrace diversity and you may become a happier person instead of trying to convince others on a constant basis to see the world through your eyes.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • -1
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      To the contrary, it has enabled me to see that most of the world does not embrace freedom as it has been enshrined in our Constiution and Founding documents.

      "Rabid?" It then appears that you do not believe in the precepts of limited government, decenteralized power, people controlling their own fates, protection of private property and Rule of Law (as opposed to Rule by Man and "social justice).

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • -1
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      Women in our republic have had more rights and prosperity than others over the centuries. The Left-wingers like you can only point to how central powers dole out welfare and claim that is some kind of "freedom" when, in fact, it is the precise opposite.

      You cling to the distilled and reworded Marxist idea that man will be "free" when he supposedly has ECONOMIC freedom. That is what Marx claimed is needed to realize man's "true liberty."

      No, YOU are the one who wants to put down TRUE liberty and diversity. YOU and your kind want to centralize and make custom, education, laws, and regulations uniform, thus DESTROYING true diversity. If we return power to the states, it terrifies Left-wingers because each state will be able to accommodate and meet the needs of different peoples with different beliefs. One state may want to keep unions in power, while another will have RTW laws: Americans are then FREE to choose where they want to live. But you and your kind want to SUPPRESS such things.

      You and your kind want the "Fairness in Broadcasting" act renewed, shutting off dissent and ideas contrary to your ideology. You and your kind have actually implement "speech codes" in universities and colleges all across America.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • -2
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      No, I encouraged them to fight for FREEDOM, and against union thugs, lackeys and bullies.

      Workers in the right to work states have better lives, if one measures that by their lifestyles, amount of work, what they can afford, their housing, and on and on. I have data and can document that, but I will not provide it to you. That is because, based on your absolute DENIAL of any facts that I presented before, there simply is no point. You are a rabid ideologue, and one simply wastes one's time trying to provide documentation to such people. But I want you to know that I DO have the data, and it is incontrovertable.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
  • scooter3282
    • +5
      scooter3282  
    • Mishima:

      This is the equivalent of Newt Gingrich predicting he will be the nominee before the Iowa caucuses. Total prematurely delusional expectations trying to will the final results if that's what you're into. But that's not the facts on the ground, for those truly in the know, which ain't you.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • -6
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      Yes, it is early. As more information comes, it is certain that the people will see the results of union payoffs and how the unions force people to give up parts of their salaries to pay for the financing of leftist candidates for political office to promote "worker solidarity."

      Do you know that unions contribute more to political campaigns than any other entity? In other words, they buy politicians. But they couldn't buy Walker, and they are livid!

    • 4 months ago
  • scooter3282
    • +3
      scooter3282  
    • Mishima:

      "Do you know that unions contribute more to political campaigns than any other entity?" Do you ever get embarassed by saying things that are so stupid two minutes of actual research proves you wrong? Walker raised 12.1 million dollars in the last year, 61% from out of state donors while the recall organizers raised $480,000. Why don't you get your facts straight before making such a fool of yourself, time and time again?

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • -1
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      My data are accurate. Of course, you can find exceptions and you will present them as commonplace and as a general rule in order to distort truth and deny facts.

      Do you know that the BIGGEST campaign contributors are unions, by far? I mean when I looked, I was really shocked at how disproportionately they contribute.

      Take a look-see:

      http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php

      You will see that of the top 18 donors, not a SINGLE ONE donates primarily to Republicans! 4 are mixed, leaving 14 that give to Democrats. So, of the top 18 that give more to one party or the other, 100% give to Dems! ONE HUNDRED PERCENT!

      Of those 14, ELEVEN (11) are UNIONS!

      Or we could round it off to the top 20: 15 to Democrats and 12 are UNION. ONE to Republican.

    • 4 months ago
  • scooter3282
    • +2
      scooter3282  
    • Image
    • Mishima:

      I don't know where you get this crap from but it is total delusion. There are only a few strong unions left thanks to the efforts of the rabid right wing and the COC. You spout the same talking points that someone who really comes close to your ideology. But of course you're not Warren Merrill. There are two of you who were separated at birth.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • -1
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      I provided the FACTS, and it is a "non-partisan" source.

      How can you people DENY these FACTS? I documented and even posted the link to the non-partisan source, yet you claim that they are not true?

      It is absolutely incredible how much of an IDEOLOGUE you are. Over the top. The PROOF of someone being an ideologue is that they simply deny FACTS, even when the TRUTH is shown clearly.

      In-credible!

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
  • scooter3282
    • +1
      scooter3282  
    • Mishima:

      Good Lord, do you ever just give it up? Why do you continue to bang your head up against a wall trying to convince someone you know something, when that person has told you time and time again that he thinks you pull your facts out of a part of youyr anatomy? I being of sound mind know when to quit. You can spin your illigitimate facts every which way, but it doesn't make them reality. But as Einstein said about someone doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome...look it up if you don't know the reference.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • -1
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      It is always a laudable goal to disabuse people of their myths and misconceptions.

      My facts are accurate, of course, and maybe there are a few people who scan these posts. I know that I can never change the die-hard leftists, but others do read the posts. I also learn much about how the Left views the world.

      So, don't assume you know my motives. It is almost certain that you are wrong.

    • 4 months ago
  • scooter3282
    • +1
      scooter3282  
    • Mishima:

      Oh, you're such a noble sort. How on Earth did I miss that. LMFAO! You don't convert people to your way of thinking by consistently insulting their intelligence and belief systems. That's obviously something you've missed in your collection of VAST wisdom. You really make me laugh. You are good for entertainment value at times, Warren. Gotta go to work now. You're already punched in so I'll let you harass someone else now with your interminable droning on and patting yourself on the back. You're a real piece of work. Ha ha ha ha!

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • -1
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      What makes you think I am trying to convert any Left-wingers on these threads?

      You are projecting. Maybe that is what YOU do, but it does not mean that everyone does it. You are taking too much for granted.

      When I do get people to the polls, they are not the die-hard union radicals and thugs, or the Leftists, of course. Their ways are set; they have been thoroughly trained and indoctrinated. Rather, it is the unmotivated, the undecided, the fence-sitters. The people who worry about their kids' future; the people who want to have pride in their country; the people who have worked hard and resent the welfare state; the people who have seen their kids and family bombarded with revisionist history; the people who get inspired by what the educators are finally doing in Tennessee and Texas; the people who cheer when states threaten Supreme Court action against ObamaCare.

      Believe me, there are millions and millions of people who will go to the polls and vote Republican with only a bit of urging.

    • 4 months ago
  • scooter3282
    • +1
      scooter3282  
    • Mishima:

      For someone who is as worldly as you claim to be, you sure don't understand the use of facetiousness, do you. The only way you could convert any liberal would be the same way Mitt Romney converted his father-in-law to Mormonism, post mortem. Those who are forced to pay attention to you from time to time all know why you come here, and it's not to inform or debate, it is to bait. One requires real intellect and intelligence, the latter requires only childish and immature mean-spritedness which you have a boat load of on both scores. You know I think you are nothing more than a programmed right wing ideologue, who really doesn't say anything that resembles independent thought. You only spew ad nauseum the same talking points you could hear on any of the laughable excuses for right wing "news" shows. It's pointless to tell you over and over again that your "facts" are manufactured because that is not what narrow-minded conservatives want to hear, so they simply ignore it and keep on thinking the way they have been programmed to think. We all know you factual or pretend 1%ers, and I don't really care which your reality is, because your opinion never changes and might as well be placed on a continual tape loop from here to eternity. You are either paid to spew or have directly benefitted from your mean-spirited thinking, so you will never see the world from any other perspective or care how your thinking negatively impacts the vast majority of this country's population. You're selfish and self-centered and that's not me calling you names, it's what every one of your posts exudes and drips with. If you respond to future posts of mine, this will be my canned response, to go along with your canned opinions. There's no sense in trying to come up with different ways to tell you that you're full of bile and totally clueless to the realities of 99% of this country because you live in your own little bubble.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • 0
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      Why do you persist in assuming I want to convert any Left-winger?

      They are like religious fanatics. Could one convert an evangelical and fanatic born-again to something totally alien to his belief system? Leftists believe in a fantasy world; David Horowitz, an ex-communist Leftist, explains the mindset quite well: In essence, the "dream" that Leftists have is too good to give up. They compare America to an illusion, a fantasy, and actually believe that this utopian vision is reality. A reality that is denied its fulfillment because of the reactionary forces of tradition, free market capitalism and organized religion.

      No, I am not here to "convert" anyone....

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • 0
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      OK, let's start a conversation: Tell me why you trust government more than other citizens? Next, please tell me why you think life would be better if our entire society and economy are managed by the federal government.

    • 4 months ago
  • Mishima
    • 0
      Mishima  
    • scooter3282:

      OK. Let's exchange some posts.

      First, tell me why you love government and put it above trusting your fellow citizens?

      Next, why do you think that government's micromanaging every aspect of our lives and our economy will promote liberty?

    • 4 months ago
  • bike10
  • faye59
  • Plue
    • +4
      Plue  
    • I thought that the fun was in hearing someone yell "Liar!" at him but nooooo. The fun has just begun. Two more of Walker's former staff members are in trouble with the law for working on his campaign for governor while on the public payroll and on public time. The shit just keeps getting deeper.

    • 4 months ago
  • ThirdSection
  • Varex_Sythe
  • KB723
  • ThirdSection
  • gump
    • +5
      gump  
    • Thanks for the post KB. Good to see you and Leen . Library closeing in minuts. I'm out of touch lately . Police burned my house in Phx on newyears day. Been cleaning up since then . Starting to feel things will be ok eventually.

    • 4 months ago
  • KB723
  • Leen61
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
  • KB723
  • budsnews
  • KB723
  • ThirdSection
  • KB723
  • letsliveinpeace
  • dinm76
  • Leen61
  • KB723
  • Leen61
  • KB723
  • Leen61
  • KB723
  • Leen61
  • KB723
  • Leen61
  • KB723
  • Plue
  • Leen61
  • Leen61
  • KB723
  • Leen61
  • Leen61
    • +5
      Leen61  
    • I saw this on my local news last night! The anti-Walker crowd couldn't get into the main legislative chamber, but the shouting was so loud, it could be heard inside the room during his speech. Today, UWM students protested Walker as well!

    • 4 months ago
  • KB723
  • Leen61
  • KB723
  • Leen61
  • KB723
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