[EDITORIALS] Excerpts from recent Wisconsin editorials

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Sept. 1

Gov. Scott Walker and the walling off of reason

Walling off the U.S. from Canada is "a legitimate issue for us to look at," Gov. Scott Walker said on "Meet the Press" over the weekend.

That's right, Canada.

Why stop there?

If immigration from the north is as big of an issue as Walker claims, he should examine walling off the east and west, too — every inlet, bay and harbor, all 12,500 miles of coastline. After all, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that immigrants from China and India, many with student or work visas, have overtaken Mexicans (and even those pesky Canadians) as the largest groups coming into the U.S.

Expensive? Yes, but we've got to get tough — or show we're as tough as Donald Trump.

This is, of course, "a ridiculous notion," as Sen. Rand Paul said about the Canadian wall.

The U.S. and Canada share the longest international border in the world, at 5,525 miles, traversing forests, mountains and Great Lakes. Where are you going to plant all that chain-link and razor wire out in Lake Superior? It can't be walled off. Protecting that border hasn't been an issue since the War of 1812.

The threat of terrorists infiltrating our country from the north, though a concern, is often overblown. As the Globe and Mail of Toronto noted in its account of Walker's comments, "The most famous incident of a terrorist crossing from Canada was failed millennium bomber Ahmed Ressam, although several American political figures over the years have repeated the erroneous claim about the 9-11 hijackers coming from the north."

Canadians don't appreciate idle talk of a northern "wall." As the Globe and Mail reported, a third of Canada's Gross Domestic Product comes from trade with the U.S., and border measures that took effect after the Sept. 11 attacks "caused a ripple-effect that still hasn't completely subsided." Canadian defense minister Jason Kenney told an Ottawa news conference that, "Of course we would vigorously oppose any thickening of the border."

There are legitimate concerns with immigration policy and security at the southern border with Mexico, and there are thoughtful proposals and the need for a healthy debate to address those concerns. But a taller wall and stricter enforcement alone will not solve the nation's immigration system. Solving that will require sensible and humane policies that hold accountable the 11 million people already living in the United States illegally but also taking stock of their value to the nation.

We agree with Paul's assessment. The Kentucky Republican, who like Walker is running for president, told the Boston Herald:

"There have been a lot of dumb ideas put out. One that the Mexicans will pay for a wall, (which) was probably the dumbest of dumb ideas. ... It is sort of like everybody is now competing to say, 'Oh no, I'll put them in camps. Oh no, I'll throw them out. Oh no, I'll put everyone in jail. And I'll have an electric fence, and I'll do this.' And it's like, you know, the biggest thing we need to do is have a functioning immigration system, with a good work program."

The education of a presidential candidate continues. We hope Walker finds a higher road, of his own choosing, rather than continue trying in vain to pass Trump on the right. It would make for a more meaningful conversation about real problems that need to be addressed.

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Wisconsin State Journal, Sept. 2

GOP should drop fetal tissue bill

About $76 million in annual research dollars and 1,400 jobs are at stake as the Republican-run Legislature weighs a misguided attack on Wisconsin's high-tech economy.

That's according to the Wisconsin Technology Council, which advises the governor and lawmakers on technology and science.

The full Legislature should heed the council's warning this week and reject Rep. Andre Jacque's continuing attempt to ban lifesaving biomedical study.

"The unintended consequences of a unilateral Wisconsin restriction on research would likely be devastating ... to efforts to build a high-tech economy," a Technology Council resolution released Monday reads.

Jacque's bill would put our state — a national leader in medical research — at a competitive disadvantage. And it wouldn't do anything to reduce abortions. It would merely stop researchers in Wisconsin from using fetal tissue donated by women who have abortions.

Jacque's proposal also would chase away innovators doing ethical and tightly regulated studies targeting birth defects and diseases such as cancer, diabetes, immune disorders and deadly strains of influenza.

"Many competing institutions are attempting to recruit researchers," the Tech Council resolution reads. "If Wisconsin adopts legislation that restricts research, these researchers would likely relocate to an institution in a state or country where no such limitations exist."

So the important work would continue — just not in Wisconsin. That would be bad for our great university, for the Madison region and the entire state.

Social conservatives in the Legislature have stepped up their push to ban the sale and use of fetal tissue in Wisconsin following the release of hidden videos by anti-abortion activists. The videos show Planned Parenthood officials talking casually about recovering cells and parts from aborted fetuses.

The videos are disturbing. But they weren't filmed in Wisconsin and don't involve Planned Parenthood officials here. Moreover, federal law already bans the sale of aborted fetal tissue. So if that law was broken (which we doubt, based on the videos), that law can be enforced. What Wisconsin doesn't need is an even stricter law, shifting legitimate and ethical research to other states.

The Technology Council notes that fetal tissue has been used in research since the 1930s, with proven health benefits including the polio vaccine. The brilliant minds in Wisconsin that advance treatments and cures for human ailments such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease shouldn't be turned into criminals.

A committee vote on Jacque's bill is scheduled for Sept. 9, after which the full Assembly could take it up. Level-headed lawmakers should stop this bill for the good of Wisconsin's health and economy.

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The Journal Times of Racine, Aug. 29

Walker won't win by flip-flopping on issues

After debuting at or near the top of the polls for GOP presidential candidates, Gov. Scott Walker has been dropping steadily in the rankings.

He vowed to deliver his message with more passion in August, but instead his ad-lib responses to questions seem ill-considered and all but guaranteed to drop him further in the race unless he corrects course.

One of the latest dust-ups came on immigration in the wake of leading GOP candidate Donald Trump's call to end birthright citizenship — a practice that has been in effect since 1868 and is guaranteed by the 14th amendment to the Constitution.

Drafting in the wake of Trump's position, Walker told an NBC interviewer: "I think that's something we should, absolutely, going forward."

Asked later to clarify his stance, Walker said he was not taking a position one way or another on birthright citizenship until the border was secure.

And six days after his original comment, the governor said he would not seek to repeal the 14th amendment, which grants citizenship to those born on American soil.

That quizzical flip-flop was followed quickly this week by Walker's call for President Barack Obama to cancel an official state visit with the president of China, Xi Jinping, while campaigning in Iowa.

Saying the U.S. shouldn't be offering such an honor to a country behind cyberattacks in the U.S., Walker added, "If anything, we should be taking them to the woodshed."

But that doesn't particularly square with Walker's praise of Xi Jinping two years ago when the governor led a Wisconsin trade mission to China where he posed on an exported Harley-Davidson or the fact that China is Wisconsin's third largest export market and purchased $1.5 billion worth of state goods last year.

Walker's apparent new strategy to hew farther to the right than Trump to attract voters is a foolish tactic — no one can out-trump Trump as a demagogue.

The governor still has time to get his message out in Iowa and reassert his drive for the GOP nomination, but it won't be done by flip-flopping on issues.

Via: The Modesto Bee

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Read more here: http://www.modbee.com/news/business/article33544884.html#storylink=cpy

15 States Finally Standing Up Against Obama’s Unconstitutional Regulations

Fifteen State Attorney Generals have filed suit against Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency for their sweeping and unconstitutional carbon regulations.

The fifteen states who petitioned the court on Thursday are West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

If you are like me, you are wondering where your state is in the list.

The Blaze reports that under the unconstitutional regulations, the EPA will “regulate the electricity industry and require states and utility companies to meet goals, providing rewards and penalties.”

EPA spokeswoman Liz Purchia told Reuters, “To ensure that the Clean Power Plan’s significant health benefits and progress against climate change are delivered to all Americans, EPA and the Department of Justice will vigorously defend it in court.”

Fine, but you have no constitutional authority to do so.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said, “This rule is the most far-reaching energy regulation in the ... to transform itself from an environmental regulator to a central planning agency for states’ energy economies. The Clean Air Act was never intended to be used to create this type of regulatory regime, and it flies in the face of the powers granted to states under the U.S. Constitution.”

The attempt by the states could be more easily dismissed through nullification of EPApolicies, since they are not even law and since the EPA is an unconstitutional agency. However, something had to be done immediately.

“If we were to wait on the EPA to get this rule published, it could be well into 2016 before the States complete arguments and receive a ruling on a request to stay this rule,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “By that time, many states will already be in the middle of drafting their compliance plans ahead of the September 2016 deadline. We want to ensure that no more taxpayer money or resources are wastefully spent in an attempt to comply with this unlawful rule that we believe will ultimately be thrown out in court.”

“While this request is not typical, the EPA is playing games by putting the risk of a delay in publication entirely on the states,” Morrisey added. “We hope the court will spare our states any more unnecessary harm, and that the EPA will not needlessly delay the publication date.”

Of course, Barack Obama, being the Marxist that he is, called the unconstitutional measures “the single most important step the U.S. has ever taken to fight climate change.”

The problem is that there is no climate change. There is no global warming. All of this is false science in order to extort money from the American people, impose communism inAmerica, shutdown business and eventually control the people.

“This is one of those rare issues because of its magnitude, because of its scope, that if we don’t get it right, we may not be able to reverse it,” Obama said. “There is such a thing as being too late when it comes to climate change. That doesn’t mean it’s hopeless. We can take action.”

The problem is that men do no create the weather or change the climate. God does. He determines how far the seas go (Job 38:8-11) and how hard the winds blow (matt 4:39). Yes, even hurricanes, tempests and such are at His command. Climate change is nothing more than a ruse. It is a lie because it comes from those whose father is the father of lies (John 8:44), the devil.

It’s long past time that states began to start banding together to ignore, not go to court with, the federal government in matters like this. Furthermore, they should ignore the court’s ruling, which is just that (ie. A ruling), and begin nullifying and interposing themselves between citizens, businesses and other entities in the states and the federal government.

Better yet, why don’t we simply band together to eliminate the federal government altogether and go back to sovereign states and Articles of Confederation. That would eliminate much of the tyranny that is strangling us today.

Via: Tea Party Command Center

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Wisconsin man accused of going into home to remove Confederate flag

RACINE, Wis. (AP) – Authorities say a Racine man was arrested after forcing his way inside a home to take down a Confederate flag placed in a window.

The Journal Times of Racine (http://bit.ly/1J3lCD5 ) reports 37-year-old Tajaun Boatner has been charged on counts including criminal trespassing and misdemeanor theft.

A criminal complaint says a woman and Boatner told police he had politely asked her to remove the flag from her kitchen window Friday, and she moved it to another window.

According to the complaint, both started yelling, and the woman used a racial slur toward Boatner. Authorities say Boatner pushed the woman down and walked into the house to remove the flag. According to authorities, Boatner later argued with police and struggled to avoid being handcuffed.

A message seeking comment was sent to an attorney listed as representing Boatner.

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Information from: The Journal Times, http://www.journaltimes.com

Via: ABC2

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FROM FREE FALL TO FREE MARKETS: HOW WISCONSIN TURNED ITSELF AROUND

Just four years ago, if you asked me what word best described the economic outlook in Wisconsin, “bleak” would have been the first to come to mind. The state faced a $3.6 billion deficit, high unemployment, and a future that was far brighter for big labor and special interests than it was for Wisconsin taxpayers.

But now, Wisconsin is back on a path to prosperity. Businesses are growing, families are going back to work, and by almost every measure of success, Wisconsin’s economy is thriving.

What caused such a dramatic turnaround?

One thing: Governor Scott Walker and the state legislature embarked on an ambitious and bold agenda to bring free market reforms to every corner of the state. Together, legislators worked to reform the state’s broken tax code, free workers from union mandates, repeal the state’s outdated prevailing wage law, and make Wisconsin a better place to live, work and raise a family.

No longer will Badger State employees be compelled to join a labor union and pay dues as a condition of employment. No longer will school districts and local governments be forced to pay up to 45 percent more for labor on taxpayer-financed construction projects. And no longer will the state’s taxpayers be required to carry the burden of out-of-control government benefits.

Plain and simple, Wisconsin is finally on the right track.

New state borrowing has been reduced to the lowest levels in 20 years. Property taxes have been reduced to the lowest levels since 1946, and taxes have been cut by more than $2 billion.

Most importantly, these reforms aren’t just making a difference for lawmakers required to balance the budget. They’re also making a difference in the lives of everyday Wisconsinites and the hard-working families who, for years, had struggled to make ends meet.

Take for example our state’s unemployment rate which, at 4.6 percent, is at a six-year low and almost a full point lower than the national average. Employment is at an all-time highand Wisconsin has literally never had more jobs than it has today.

In 2014, Wisconsin businesses exported more goods than ever before — more than $23.4 billion worth, no doubt helped by the many new businesses flooding into the state.

Families are earning more too. Wisconsin’s median family income is up more than six percent since 2011 to $55,258 a year, rising almost twice as fast as the rest of the country.

The turnaround has been so great that Wisconsin is now ranked the fourth best state in the nation for finding a job — after North Dakota, Texas, and Nebraska. And, if Wisconsin, once weighed down by onerous regulations and costly mandates, can now count itself among the likes of these stunning examples of economic freedom, then clearly the state is doing something right.

Wisconsin is indeed open for business.

Via: American Spectator

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How workers are winning in Scott Walker’s Wisconsin

Hillary Rodham Clinton shed her usual sunny demeanor on Monday and snarled at Republicans in general and one presidential candidate in particular.

“Republican governors like Scott Walker have made their names stomping on workers’ rights, and practically all Republican candidates would do the same as president,” Clinton growled at Manhattan’s New School. “I will fight back against these mean-spirited, misguided attacks. Evidence shows that the decline of unions may be responsible for a third of the increase of inequality among men. So, if we want to get serious about raising income, we have to get serious about supporting union workers.”

Later that day, AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka snapped, “Scott Walker is a national disgrace.”

Liberals like Clinton and Trumka have it all wrong. Workers have been waxing, not waning, under Walker. And they can thank his free-market reforms for improving their lives.

If there’s one thing workers value, it’s work. And on this score, Wisconsin’s Republican governor has delivered.

The Badger State’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 7.4 percent in January 2011 (the month of Walker’s inauguration) to 4.6 percent in May 2015 (the latest available figure).

US joblessness dropped from 9.0 percent to 5.5 percent over that period. Wisconsin’s unemployment, thus, stands well below America’s.

May’s labor-force participation rate also was higher in Wisconsin (67.9 percent) than across America (62.9 percent). These figures are down in both places, compared to when Walker arrived.

In January 2011, 69.1 percent of working-age Wisconsinites held jobs, versus 64.2 percent of Americans. This key metric has slipped 1.7 percent in Wisconsin, but has slid 2.0 percent nationwide.

Concerning ready cash, workers are faring significantly better under Walker than Obama.

According to the latest Census statistics, Wisconsin’s inflation-adjusted, median household income grew 2.7 percent, from $53,795 in 2010 to $55,258 in 2013. During those years, America’s equivalent household income shrank 1.3 percent, from $52,646 to $51,939. Indeed, under Walker, workers’ paychecks swelled by double what they shriveled under Obama.

In terms of “workers’ rights,” Wisconsinites now enjoy the right to work. In March, Walker signed a bill passed by the Republican-led legislature.

This new law recognizes a woman’s right to choose whether or not to join a union. (This statute applies to men, too.) Wisconsinites no longer may be compelled to join unions as a condition of employment. Clinton and Trumka are anti-choice on union membership.

Wisconsin’s government also stopped forcibly withholding union dues from the wages of its public employees. Labor bosses now must ask these workers for those sums, rather than snatch them even before public servants see them in their paychecks.

Ironically, Wisconsin’s new status as a right-to-work state may benefit unions as well as workers.

“Not only are right-to-work laws associated with higher economic growth, but union membership actually has increased faster over the past decade in right-to-work states than in forced-unionization states,” explains Jared Meyer, a labor economist, a fellow with the Manhattan Institute, and a source for many of the data presented here.

“The reason for this counterintuitive result is that, for too long, union bosses increasingly have focused on playing politics rather than meeting their members’ needs. In right-to-work states, unions actually have to provide value to their members, since workers are free to leave unions, if they feel that the dues taken out of their hard-earned paychecks are being wasted.

Via: New York Post

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In Iowa, Scott Walker Refuses to Condemn Trump: ‘He Can Speak for Himself’

While most GOP presidential candidates rush to take potshots at surprise frontrunner Donald Trump, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker appears to be handling the real-estate-mogul-turned-presidential-candidate with an abundance of caution. “Donald Trump can speak for himself,” 

Walker said in Iowa today when asked to explain Trump’s meteoric rise. “I’m going to answer questions about my positions, not Donald Trump’s or Jeb Bush’s or Marco Rubio’s or anyone else’s out there.”

Ted Cruz has been the only high-profile GOP presidential contender to openly embrace Trump’s controversial entry into the race so far. Other Republican candidates have come out swinging against the celebrity businessman’s firebrand rhetoric. Former Texas governor Rick Perry called it “a toxic mix of demagoguery and nonsense.” South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham said Trump was a “wrecking ball” for the Republican Party. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush said Trump’s controversial comments on immigration were “not accurate,” and Florida senator Marco Rubio called them “offensive” and “divisive.

” But even after Trump relegated Walker to second-place in a new national Fox News poll on Thursday, the Wisconsin governor still wouldn’t budge. When asked why he wouldn’t join other candidates in condemning Trump, Walker still wouldn’t comment. “You’re going to ask me again, I’ll give you the same answer 50 more times,” he said, when asked why he wouldn’t join other candidates in condemning Trump. “So if you want to waste your time on that question, go ahead.”

Via National Review

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[VIDEO] Rush Praises ‘Remarkable’ Walker: ‘He’s The One Guy In The Race With A Conservative Track Record’

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh continued to heap praise upon Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker during his Monday broadcast, calling him “the one guy in the race with a conservative track record” ahead of his 2016 announcement.

Limbaugh, a frequent admirer of the latest 2016 entrant, said Walker has been “remarkable” during his tenure in Madison, adding further that Walker defeat the media and Democrats’ attacks on conservatives.

“One of the most qualified Republicans made it official, Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin — who, as you know, if you listen regularly to this program — we have touted Walker’s qualifications time and time and time again,” Limbaugh began. “Here is a man who is conservative. You know what he said, by the way, in his speech? Name for me any other candidate…who’s made this point.”

“Scott Walker said one of the first things he’s going to do is build on and shore up the Republican conservative base,” Limbaugh said. “That’s somewhat unique, folks, because most of the Republicans are talking about the need to go beyond the conservative base, and, at the very least, making themselves sound like they’re taking it for granted and the conservative base isn’t the key to their plans.”

“Walker believes that there are a lot of Americans who live their lives as conservatives but they don’t vote that way for the usual reasons,” Limbaugh continued. “He thinks they are what we used to call the Reagan Democrats, and he thinks that he can go get them, because he has met them. As governor of Wisconsin, he’s traveled around, and he’s campaigned.”

Previously, Limbaugh gave Walker high marks in the aftermath of Walker’s speech to the Iowa Freedom Fest, telling his listeners that his approach is “the blueprint” for conservatives if they are “serious about beating the left.” (RELATED: Limbaugh: Scott Walker ‘The Blueprint’ For GOP If They Are ‘Serious About Beating The Left’)

“Scott Walker has a track record,” Limbaugh said. “Scott Walker doesn’t have to tell you what he will do if he’s elected because all he has to do is point to what he has done.”

“He just signed into law another budget in the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is a blue state. He just signed a budget which eliminates tenure! He just signed a budget which gets closer to balancing the budget in the state of Wisconsin. He’s done remarkable,” Limbaugh said. “He has implemented a conservative agenda against everything the Democrat Party has to throw at him, and he’s beat them three different times — which we’ve heralded here quite often and talked about it quite often.”

“So he’s the one guy in the race with a conservative track record, the one guy in the race that has shown how to defeat the media and Democrat coordinated attacks on conservatives,” Limbaugh said. “He’s shown how to hang in and be tough, and so he’s the one guy that has something other than promises to make.”

Via: Daily Caller

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Midnight Raids, Secret Subpoenas: IRS' Lerner Close Friends With Leader Who Targeted Scott Walker

The official behind the IRS' conservative nonprofit targeting scandal, Lois Lerner, was friends with the Wisconsin regulator who targeted Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's conservative aides and allies.

Lerner and Kevin Kennedy, director of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, were friends for 20 years and traded emails on campaign finance, politics, and personal matters between 2011 and 2013, emails obtained by the Wall Street Journal reveal. That was the same time frame the IRS increased its harassment of conservative groups and Wisconsin prosecutors conducted a secret John Doe probe of Walker's allies, raising the troubling question of whether they coordinated their investigations.

After Walker's victory in a recall election, Lerner's long time friend Kennedy helped Milwaukee County prosecutors conduct an onerous, several-year investigation into Walker's political allies, complete with secret subpoenas for phone, text message and email records and armed, middle of the night raids on Walker associates' homes.

Under Kennedy, the Government Accountability Board hired four investigators to conduct the probe and set aside staff for the investigation, according to WSJ.

Ostensibly the purpose of the investigation was to determine whether Walker's campaign had illegally colluded with conservative groups, after Walker had busted state employee unions and Wisconsin Democrats lost the state election recall to Walker.

The investigation never uncovered any wrongdoing, and eventually federal Judge Rudolph Randa ordered it to end, ruling that the investigation had violated the First Amendment rights of Walker's associates. They were "pursuing criminal charges through a secret John Doe investigation against the plaintiffs for exercising issue advocacy [free] speech rights," Randa wrote.

The judge wrote that investigators also targeted Republican candidates for state Senate and that "all or nearly all right-of-center groups and individuals in Wisconsin who engaged in issue advocacy from 2010 to the present are targets of the investigation," a violation of the First Amendment.

Via: Washington Examiner

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[VIDEO] Scott Walker: 'I'm in'

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is running for president.

In a video shared by his campaign on Monday, Walker touted his experience as a conservative governor in a blue state against his GOP rivals in Washington, D.C.

“America needs new, fresh leadership with big, bold ideas from outside of Washington to actually get things done,” Walker says in the 89-second spot. “In Wisconsin, we didn’t nibble around the edges. We enacted big, bold reforms that took power out of the hands of the big government special interests and gave it to the hard-working taxpayers — and people’s lives are better because of it.”

Walker officially launches his campaign during a speech in Waukesha, Wisconsin, later Monday, becoming the 15th entrant into the Republican field.

“We fought and won. In the Republican field, there are some who are good fighters, but they haven’t won those battles. And there are others who’ve won elections, but haven’t consistently taken on the big fights. We showed you can do both. Now, I am running for president to fight and win for the American people. Without sacrificing our principles, we won three elections in four years in a blue state. We did it by leading. Now, we need to do the same thing for America,” Walker says in the video.

Via: Real Clear Politics

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Walker Wins: New Budget Will Repeal University Tenure Photo of Blake Neff

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is poised to win a huge victory on education as the state legislature passed a budget that repeals state tenure guarantees while also slashing the budget of the University of Wisconsin.

The victory was enunciated by the acquiescence of the university, which recognized its defeat by passing a spending plan that implements Walker’s cuts. All that remains is for Walker to consummate his victory by affixing his signature to the budget.

The two-year, $73 billion budget approved Thursday makes a host of changes Walker has sought in the realm of education. Wisconsin’s school voucher program is expanded, and $250 million in funding is taken from the University of Wisconsin. That’s down from the $300 million cut Walker originally sought, but still a substantial haircut.

Bowing to the fait accompli, later on Thursday the University of Wisconsin approved its own budget, implementing the big cuts expected of it. About 400 positions will be laid off or will go unfilled, and the university’s budgets no money for pay hikes. The school’s situation is made tougher because the legislature has also frozen in-state tuition.

While academics have accused Walker of sabotaging the school’s competitiveness, Walker has refused to yield, arguing that professors should be teaching more classes. (RELATED: Walker: University Profs Need To Work Harder)

Walker’s push to slash spending at U-Wisconsin has received the most press, but his push to alter tenure may have the biggest long-term implications. Until now, tenure for professors at the University of Wisconsin has been protected by statute (Wisconsin is the only state with such a law). Now, that protection has been eliminated, leaving it up to the school’s board of regents to decide whether professors have tenure.

Not only that, but tenure itself has been weakened so that it doesn’t offer the protections it once did. Previously, only “financial exigency” (an urgent budget shortfall) could justify the firing of a tenured professor. Now, tenured professors may also be laid off whenever it is “deemed necessary due to a budget or program decision regarding program discontinuance, curtailment, modification, or redirection.”  (RELATED: Wisconsin Might Destroy Tenure For Professors)

Via: Daily Caller

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Defiant Scott Walker rolls back handgun wait in Wisconsin in first gun-control legislation since church massacre

Gov. Scott Walker is defending the timing of a ceremony to sign two bills loosening Wisconsin's gun laws, saying they were scheduled before nine people were shot and killed last week in a South Carolina church.

Walker also said pulling back on Wednesday's ceremony at the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office 'would have given people the erroneous opinion' the measures 'had anything to do with what happened in Charleston.'

He said the event had been scheduled June 11. The shooting happened a week ago.

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Gun rights: One bill Walker signed eliminates the state's 48-hour waiting period on handgun purchases. The other allows retired officers carry guns on school property

Timing: Walker's office announced the bill signing Tuesday, but did not immediately respond to an email asking when it had been scheduled. After June 30, the measures would have become law without his signature

One bill Walker signed eliminates the state's 48-hour waiting period on handgun purchases. The other allows retired officers carry guns on school property.

Walker was joined by Republican lawmakers and families that supported the measures, which had bipartisan support in passing the Legislature earlier this month.

The timing of the bill signing comes amid a renewed debate over gun control and race relations after nine black people were shot and killed during Bible study at a Charleston, South Carolina, church. A white man faces multiple murder charges. 

Walker's office announced the bill signing Tuesday, but did not immediately respond to an email asking when it had been scheduled. After June 30, the measures would have become law without his signature.

Via: Daily Mail

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End Civil Service 'Merit' Protection

Scott Walker’s proposal to end tenure in Wisconsin state universities is a great idea.  Here is another great idea that Governor Walker or some other brave Republican governor and legislature ought to implement: end the merit protection for state government employees.  Once that is demonstrated to work, propose the same reform at the federal level.

The Merit System was one of those odious “progressive reforms.”  It was intended to prevent politicians from placing their cronies in government jobs as a reward for support during campaigns and to prevent politicians in power from forcing government employees to support them in campaigns.

Has this reform “worked”?  It has worked about as well as all those other progressive reforms, which is to say that the Merit System has been a ghastly failure.  Witness the string of news stories following the VA scandal, the IRS scandal, the Secret Service scandal, and so on, all of which end with a variation of the phrase “so far, not a single employee has been fired.”  The Merit System makes it almost impossible to ever terminate a government worker.

One consequence of this fact is that supervisors never give government workers bad employee evaluations – that would be inviting even worse behavior – and when real horror stories break, the culpable employee has a sterling record of good evaluations, regular promotions, bonuses, and so on.  It also means that many more government workers are needed to do a job than would be needed in the private sector, because there are so many government workers doing little, if any, work.

Via: American Thinker

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Scott Walker Eyes Marco Rubio as His Running Mate

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is talking positively about a Republican presidential ticket — potentially announced even before the first nomination balloting — that would include Sen. Marco Rubio as his running mate. 

In a Bloomberg Politics interview Thursday, the likely candidate also expressed agreement with President Barack Obama on the pressing issue of fast-track trade legislation.
Walker, 47, isn't expected to formally enter the race until early July, after his state has completed a two-year budget plan. Still, he's apparently given some consideration and had discussions already about a potential running mate, with the focus on Rubio.

"I've actually had quite a few people, grassroots supporters, donors, and others who have made that suggestion," he said when asked about a Walker-Rubio ticket.

"For now, you know, Marco is a quality candidate," Walker said. "He's going to be formidable in this race as things progress. And if we were to get in, we'd be as well, and we'll see where things take us."

Walker was in Utah to meet with potential financial supporters and to speak at a summit hosted by 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney that's attracted six declared and likely presidential candidates. The full interview can be seen on BloombergPolitics.com.
Walker said he and Rubio often hear the suggestion that they should combine forces, potentially even before the first nomination voting in Iowa in February 2016, as a way to stand out amid a crowded field. "We'd just probably have to arm-wrestle over who would be at the top of the ticket," he said.

Some who have talked privately to Walker about a possible pairing with Rubio say they have been surprised by how seriously the Wisconsin governor seems to be taking the prospect. At this phase of presidential campaign, the norm would be for a White House hopeful to summarily dismiss such a move, in public and in private.

Via: NewsMax

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