Difference between revisions of "Scott Walker"

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===Progress===
 
===Progress===
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When Scott Walker took office, Wisconsin had a budget deficit of more than $3 billion. Instead of raising taxes, the governor has set out on a mission to reduce costs across the board and to make Wisconsin a business-friendly state. The state's [[labor union]]s were in an uproar and protested Walker's decision to end union [[collective bargaining]] and force employees to fund part of their pensions, as well as to contribute to their own health and life insurance.
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When Scott Walker took office, Wisconsin had a budget deficit of $3.6 billion.<ref>Szafir, CJ (April 22, 2016). [http://www.nationalreview.com/article/434401/ Walker’s Union Reforms Have Helped, Not Hurt, Wisconsinites]. ''National Review''. Retrieved October 21, 2016.</ref> Instead of raising taxes, the governor has set out on a mission to reduce costs across the board and to make Wisconsin a business-friendly state. The state's [[labor union]]s were in an uproar and protested Walker's decision to end union [[collective bargaining]] and force employees to fund part of their pensions, as well as to contribute to their own health and life insurance.
  
 
Perhaps due to bad political advice, Walker first focused on union issues first and accomplished virtually nothing meaningful on the [[abortion]] issue in 2011, despite having overwhelming majorities on his side in the legislature. But in 2012 Walker began signing into law [[pro-life]] legislation, which earned him the support of many in the [[working class]], and he then swept to a massive victory in the recall election.
 
Perhaps due to bad political advice, Walker first focused on union issues first and accomplished virtually nothing meaningful on the [[abortion]] issue in 2011, despite having overwhelming majorities on his side in the legislature. But in 2012 Walker began signing into law [[pro-life]] legislation, which earned him the support of many in the [[working class]], and he then swept to a massive victory in the recall election.

Revision as of 00:24, October 22, 2016

Scott Walker
Scott walker.jpg
Governor of Wisconsin
From: January 3, 2011 - Present
Predecessor Jim Doyle
Successor Incumbent (no successor)
Information
Party Republican
Spouse(s) Tonette Walker
Religion Evangelical Christian
Scott Walker was Conservative of the Year 2014

Scott Kevin Walker (born November 2, 1967) is the current conservative Republican governor of Wisconsin and was a candidate in the 2016 presidential election. Previously he was executive of Milwaukee County and a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, and while in college he ran a student pro-life organization.

Early life

Walker was born on November 2, 1967 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[1] His father was a Baptist minister, and the Walker family moved to Plainfield, Iowa and then to the small town of Delavan, Wisconsin when Walker was nine.[1][2] Walker was active in school sports and other activities as a kid, and he was an Eagle Scout.[3] In 1985, he was one of two boys chosen to represent Wisconsin for the Boys Nation, an event in Washington D.C. sponsored by the American Legion.[1] At the event, Walker was able to meet United States President Ronald Reagan, "who he said inspired him and became his role model",[1] and he has stated that the even gave "him the political bug."[3] Walker graduated from Delavan-Darien High School in 1986.[2]

The same year he graduated high school, Walker entered Marquette University, and he would be a student there until the spring of 1990.[1] Walker was very active in student government, and he unsuccessfully ran for student president in 1988.[2] Walker earned good grades, had a clean record, and was only 34 credits away from graduating, however he voluntarily dropped out after he received a well-paying job at American Red Cross.[3][4] Liberals tried to mock him because of this in 2015, but Marquette made clear that he was "a senior in good standing when he voluntarily withdrew".[1]

Early political career

In 1990, Walker unsuccessfully ran for the Wisconsin State Assembly.[2] In 1993, he was successfully elected to the state assembly in a special election.[3] He was re-elected four times, serving until 2002.[1][2] As early as his first election campaign and his tenure as state representative, it was clear that Walker was a solid fiscal and social conservative.[1][2]

In 2002, the Democrat Milwaukee County Executive, Tom Ament, decided to retire rather than face a recall election due to a pension scandal.[2][3] Walker won the election in a historic victory, becoming "the youngest person and first Republican [ever] elected to the position"[2] in a liberal county.[3] As Milwaukee County Executive, Walker again showed his strong conservative values by shrinking the government workforce by 20 percent, by cutting over $44 million in proposed spending through his veto powers, and returning $370,000 of his government salary back to the county, among many other decisions.[3] Walker was re-elected to the position in 2004 and 2008,[1][2] and despite being in a liberal county, he ran as a conservative.[1]

Governor of Wisconsin

2010 election

Walker ran for and was elected Governor of Wisconsin, defeating Democrat Tom Barrett.[1][2] As with his previous campaigns, Walker ran on a strong conservative platform, including support for gun-rights, life, marriage between a man and a woman, among other issues.[2] Walker's victory came amid a massive series of GOP victories, as the party also took the contested U.S. Senate seat and majorities in the U.S. House delegation, State House, and State Senate.[5][6]

Stand against the unions and 2012 recall election

Scott Walker became a leader of conservatives nationwide when he supported and then signed into law a repeal of most of the collective bargaining privileges of most government workers.[1][2] Walker took this historic step to prevent the State from continuing on a path of financial ruin and overspending.[7]

Union-controlled leftist politicians went berserk at the commonsense bill to reduce union control over the state, and they blocked the bill for three weeks by fleeing to Illinois until the Senate removed "some financial elements from the bill", making it legal to pass it without the missing Democrats.[8] Leftists continued to fight the bill, but it was ultimately declared to be legal, twice, by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.[2][9]

Walker faced a liberal-promoted recall election on June 5, 2012, but won it by a landslide.[10] By late May liberals were already beginning to blame each other for Walker's lead in the polls: "Top union officials are lashing out at Washington Democrats, claiming they haven't done enough to help them unseat Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin's recall election."[11]

2014 election

Scott Walker was reelected again in 2014—his third successful gubernatorial election in four years—with over 52 percent of the vote, defeating liberal Mary Burke.[12][13]

2016 presidential campaign

Walker announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election on July 13, 2015.[14] Despite his popularity, strong position, and early lead in the polls, Walker dropped out on September 21 after the rise of Donald Trump.[15][16] Walker endorsed Texas Senator Ted Cruz for the GOP nomination,[17] but he put his full support behind Trump after he won the primary.[18][19]

Progress

When Scott Walker took office, Wisconsin had a budget deficit of $3.6 billion.[20] Instead of raising taxes, the governor has set out on a mission to reduce costs across the board and to make Wisconsin a business-friendly state. The state's labor unions were in an uproar and protested Walker's decision to end union collective bargaining and force employees to fund part of their pensions, as well as to contribute to their own health and life insurance.

Perhaps due to bad political advice, Walker first focused on union issues first and accomplished virtually nothing meaningful on the abortion issue in 2011, despite having overwhelming majorities on his side in the legislature. But in 2012 Walker began signing into law pro-life legislation, which earned him the support of many in the working class, and he then swept to a massive victory in the recall election.

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Scott Walker. Biography.com. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Stein, Kate (July 19, 2015). Timeline: The life and career of Scott Walker. Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Barbour, Clay (October 24, 2010). From preacher’s kid to front-runner: Scott Walker’s small-town roots led to reputation as fiscal hawk. Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  4. ↑ Viser, Matt (February 11, 2015). Scott Walker’s political ambitions fostered at Marquette. The Boston Globe. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  5. ↑ Wisconsin: GOP wins Senate, House, gov. seats, ousting Feingold. USA Today (from AP). Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  6. ↑ Stein, Jason & Johnson, Annysa (November 3, 2010). Republicans take over state Senate, Assembly. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  7. ↑ Lieb, David & Ramde, Dinesh (March 1, 2011). Wis. Gov. to Outline Ultimate Intentions in Budget. ABC News (from AP, archived at archive.org). Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  8. ↑ Marley, Patrick & Lee Bergquist, Lee (March 9, 2011). With Democrats absent, Republicans advance collective bargaining changes. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  9. ↑ Marley, Patrick & Lee Bergquist, Lee (June 14, 2011). Supreme Court reinstates collective bargaining law. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  10. ↑ Fox News: Wisconsin's Walker survives recall by wide margin (June 5, 2012)
  11. ↑ http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/229485-unions-angry-with-washington-democrats-over-lack-of-help-in-wisconsin
  12. ↑ Higgins, Sean (November 5 2014). Gov. Scott Walker wins re-election in Wisconsin. Washington Examiner. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  13. ↑ Rocha, Polo (November 6, 2014). How Scott Walker won his third governor’s race in four years. The Badger Herald. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  14. ↑ http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/07/13/walker-announces-2016-white-house-bid/
  15. ↑ Lowry, Rich & Johnson, Eliana (September 8, 2015). Scott Walker: What Went Wrong?. National Review. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  16. ↑ Eric Bradner, John King, Dana Bash and Jeff Zeleny (September 21, 2015). Scott Walker drops out of 2016 presidential race. CNN. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  17. ↑ Glueck, Katie & Gass, Nick (March 29, 2016). Scott Walker endorses Ted Cruz. Politico. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  18. ↑ Gass, Nick (July 20, 2016). Walker 'absolutely' endorses Trump. Politico. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  19. ↑ Gilbert, Craig (July 21, 2016). Scott Walker joins backlash over Cruz refusal to endorse Trump. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  20. ↑ Szafir, CJ (April 22, 2016). Walker’s Union Reforms Have Helped, Not Hurt, Wisconsinites. National Review. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
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