1. Leads all-out war on workers, but fails to generate jobs and higher wages.
In recent months, Walker has intensified the assault on workers, the poor and most vulnerable with punitive new laws and provisions of his new two-year $73 billion state budget. Since taking office, Walker has been staging this relentless war on worker rights and wages, despite already-declining household incomes—especially sharp in Wisconsin– and the shrinkage of union power.
2. Undermining Wisconsin’s prized public education system.
Public education in Wisconsin has ranked as among the best in nation, where it is widely viewed as a foundation of a democratic society. However, since in office, Walker has sliced funding for K-12 schools while consistently boosting funding and loosening standards for privatized voucher schools. He has also widened his attack by orchestrating a “hostile takeover” of powers held by the democratically elected Milwaukee Public School board, by usurping and transferring them to neo-liberal County Executive Chris Abele. He has also lowered the standards for teachers, with the new state budget eliminating qualification requirements for hiring teachers.
3. Less accountability and transparency.
Walker’s latest gambit to impose government secrecy has ignited a furor. Some of the most controversial features of the budget were prepared secretively and quickly rammed through by Republican allies in late-night meetings of the GOP-dominated (12-4) Joint Finance Committee. Even far-Right Republican Attorney General Brian Schimel denounced the tactic and substance, which include narrowing open record laws. He said, “Transparency is the cornerstone of democracy, and the provisions in the budget bill limiting access to public records move Wisconsin in the wrong direction.”
4. Humiliating and harming the vulnerable.
The meaning of a Walker presidency was vividly made clear by his budget and recent laws he has signed. Looking at elements section by section reveals his harsh values and the agenda he would seek to impose in the nation if elected president.