Fact checking Walker!

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • S.V. Airlie
    Ancient Mariner
    • Dec 2006
    • 63914

    Fact checking Walker!

    Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker became the 15th Republican to officially declare he is running for president of the United States. “I’m in,” he tweeted to his followers this morning. He is scheduled to deliver an announcement speech in his home state at the Waukesha County Exposition Center.
    Walker, who won reelection as governor in 2014, will join the race as a top contender for his party’s nomination, according to Real Clear Politics’ polling average. We fact-checked the governor during last year’s campaign and after his victory once it became clear he would run for president. Here are some of our findings.
    Education

    In January, Walker boasted that his education policies were working, citing as evidence that “ACT scores are up and Wisconsin now ranks second in the country.” But the state’s ACT college admission scores are not up, and it ranks second out of 30 states — not the entire country.
    The state’s average composite score on the 2013-14 ACT college admission exam was 22.2 — exactly what it was in the 2010-11 school year, when Walker first took office.
    As for Wisconsin’s ranking, ACT does not rank states. The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction determined the state’s ranking by comparing its composite score with 29 other states that had 50 percent or more of their students take the ACT test. While Walker said Wisconsin ranks second “in the country,” it is really only among 30 states.
    Job Creation

    In late October 2014, during his campaign for reelection as governor, Walker claimed in a TV ad that his “reforms” were helping Wisconsin create jobs, boasting that “just last month our reforms helped create 8,400 new jobs.”
    But Walker was only referring to private-sector jobs. The state’s gain in total employment for September was just 300 jobs because of steep declines in local government jobs. The preliminary jobs data for September 2014 showed a gain of 8,400 private-sector jobs, but a loss of 8,100 government jobs — for a net gain of 300 jobs. (See Table 5.)
    (Postscript: After Walker was elected, the BLS conducted its annual benchmarking correction that turned the state’s preliminary net gain of 300 total jobs in September to a net loss of 4,200. There was a downward revision in Wisconsin’s 2014 employment statistics, first reflected with the release of the January figures, to 2,851,000 in August and 2,846,800 in September – a loss of 4,200 jobs. See Table D-1. Those remain the current job figures for those months.)
    In that same ad, Walker said his state “now ranks in the top four states in the Midwest for private-sector job growth.” But the state’s job gains at the time lagged behind the national average.
    The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ total jobs data from January 2011 to September 2014 showed that Wisconsin had a job growth rate of 4.3 percent compared with a national average of 6.6 percent, ranking it ninth at the time among the 12 states that make up the “Midwest” under the U.S. Census Bureau’s
  • S.V. Airlie
    Ancient Mariner
    • Dec 2006
    • 63914

    #2
    Re: Fact checking Walker!

    We will be following Walker and all 20 of the declared candidates and any others who may join in. (Ohio Gov. John Kasich plans to make it official on July 21.) You can keep track of the candidates by going to our “Presidential Election 2016” page.

    Comment

    • Todd Bradshaw
      Sailmaker
      • Jun 2000
      • 11079

      #3
      Re: Fact checking Walker!

      Walker claims that he "fixed Wisconsin", and now he'll fix the rest of the nation. What he has done to Wisconsin and its citizens does start with an "F", but the word is certainly not "fixed".

      Comment

      • WI-Tom
        Seaside Expat
        • Jan 2009
        • 15901

        #4
        Re: Fact checking Walker!

        Originally posted by Todd Bradshaw
        Walker claims that he "fixed Wisconsin", and now he'll fix the rest of the nation. What he has done to Wisconsin and its citizens does start with an "F", but the word is certainly not "fixed".
        Amen to that! I've never seen a more ruthless and amoral politician, or one whose policies and devious backroom maneuverings have been so destructive of the common good, and damaging to democratic, open government--national voters beware of letting this guy into the White House.

        Tom
        Ponoszenie konsekwencji!

        www.tompamperin.com

        Comment

        • Sky Blue
          Banned
          • Feb 2014
          • 15090

          #5
          Re: Fact checking Walker!

          Originally posted by WI-Tom
          I've never seen a more ruthless and amoral politician, or one whose policies and devious backroom maneuverings have been so destructive of the common good, and damaging to democratic, open government...
          Who? Mr. Obama? A little late on the warning, but thanks. Or maybe you refer to Mrs. Clinton?

          Comment

          • Canoez
            Did I say that out loud?
            • Sep 2007
            • 20611

            #6
            Re: Fact checking Walker!

            Originally posted by Todd Bradshaw
            Walker claims that he "fixed Wisconsin", and now he'll fix the rest of the nation. What he has done to Wisconsin and its citizens does start with an "F", but the word is certainly not "fixed".
            A friend who lives in Middleton, WI posted the following on his Facebook page:

            Scott Walker: "Let me do to America what I've done to Wisconsin. "
            A friend of his followed up with this:

            You'd better buy some K-Y.
            The kicker?

            K-Y was eliminated in the last set of budget cuts. Plus, it is made by union workers.
            "The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails."
            -William A. Ward

            Comment

            • Todd Bradshaw
              Sailmaker
              • Jun 2000
              • 11079

              #7
              Re: Fact checking Walker!

              Who? Mr. Obama? A little late on the warning, but thanks. Or maybe you refer to Mrs. Clinton?
              You're not very bright, are you?

              Comment

              • John Smith
                Senior Member
                • Mar 2009
                • 48681

                #8
                Re: Fact checking Walker!

                Wouldn't it be nice if these people running for office telling lies were viewed as being fraudulent, rather than just exercising their right to free speech?
                "Banning books in spite of the 1st amendment, but refusing to regulate guns in spite of "well regulated militia' being in the 2nd amendment makes no sense. Can't think of anyone ever shot by a book

                Comment

                • S.V. Airlie
                  Ancient Mariner
                  • Dec 2006
                  • 63914

                  #9
                  Re: Fact checking Walker!

                  Originally posted by John Smith
                  Wouldn't it be nice if these people running for office telling lies were viewed as being fraudulent, rather than just exercising their right to free speech?
                  Yes, and people don't check the facts! Just sop it up with a sponge as quickly as it's uttered.i

                  Comment

                  • John Smith
                    Senior Member
                    • Mar 2009
                    • 48681

                    #10
                    Re: Fact checking Walker!

                    Lying for political gain is, IMO, fraud. These people and their ads should be required to get matters of fact correct. If this were the case, and the huge amounts of money couldn't be used to misinform people, the money wouldn't matter so much.
                    "Banning books in spite of the 1st amendment, but refusing to regulate guns in spite of "well regulated militia' being in the 2nd amendment makes no sense. Can't think of anyone ever shot by a book

                    Comment

                    • S.V. Airlie
                      Ancient Mariner
                      • Dec 2006
                      • 63914

                      #11
                      Re: Fact checking Walker!

                      Originally posted by John Smith
                      Lying for political gain is, IMO, fraud. These people and their ads should be required to get matters of fact correct. If this were the case, and the huge amounts of money couldn't be used to misinform people, the money wouldn't matter so much.
                      Good luck, facts bore the electorate!

                      Comment

                      • Sky Blue
                        Banned
                        • Feb 2014
                        • 15090

                        #12
                        Re: Fact checking Walker!

                        Originally posted by Todd Bradshaw
                        You're not very bright, are you?
                        Mr. Walker is the governor of a small Midwestern state of little national consequence who has been extraordinarily empowered by the feckless public employee unions and other tenured bureaucrats in that state who tried every manner of smear against Mr. Walker yet failed ever more colossally with each successive attempt thereby bringing Mr. Walker to national prominence, when before such events no one had ever heard of him. Wisconsin Democrats are "blame" for the current prominence of Mr. Walker, along with ordinary citizens in Wisconsin, who overall seem quite pleased with his efforts.

                        Mr. Obama, on the other hand, has presided over a surveillance state unprecedented in modern history, has pursued whistle blowers with abandon, and has extended executive power such that his administration has admitted assassinating American citizens with out process or audit of any kind. His ostensible replacement, Mrs. Clinton, is currently embroiled in her own secrecy scandals and is among the least trusted politicians in America.

                        That bright enough for you?

                        Comment

                        • S.V. Airlie
                          Ancient Mariner
                          • Dec 2006
                          • 63914

                          #13
                          Re: Fact checking Walker!

                          who tried every manner of smear against Mr. Walker .. OKAY, you are saying he's been smeared. Personally, not that much...Programs instituted yes or don't you think the programs he has insitituted are great for Wis.?Show me how/why you think they are great!

                          Comment

                          • Sky Blue
                            Banned
                            • Feb 2014
                            • 15090

                            #14
                            Re: Fact checking Walker!

                            show me why you think they are great!
                            There's no need. The people of the State of Wisconsin have weighed in on the matter (3 times now, iirc). They are the ones who must live with his governorship and it seems they are pleased with his performance. He's their governor, not mine, though from what I've seen and heard, I like him a great deal and would like to see the reforms he's brought to Wisconsin occur on a national level.

                            Comment

                            • S.V. Airlie
                              Ancient Mariner
                              • Dec 2006
                              • 63914

                              #15
                              Re: Fact checking Walker!

                              No one said a small majority who voted him in 3x were intelligent! Certainly those fainting in estacy at his speel are not smart enough, or unwilling to to check his facts either!

                              Comment

                              Working...