Reader sees disconnect between governor’s claims and real world
In the world as Gov. Scott Walker sees it, the purpose of government is to provide him an opportunity to climb the political career ladder by winning elections, rewarding his donors, increasing his personal power and punishing his enemies.
To accomplish his goals, Walker repeatedly misrepresents facts, denies responsibility for his decisions and flat out lies about his record, policies and the damage he has done to Wisconsin.
In a place known as Walker’s World, his cronyism, corruption and incompetence are ignored. In the Real World, they have consequences. The following are some examples of the stark contrast between the two worlds.
Walker’s World: Walker said that more people have access to health care under his tenure as governor.
Real World: While more people are now getting health care as a result of Obamacare, Wisconsin has lost over $500 million and 87,000 more people would have coverage if Walker had accepted the federal Medicaid dollars. Estimates for the latest biennial budget show Wisconsin losing almost $400 million in just the next two years due to Walker’s decision.
Walker’s World: Gov. Scott Walker tweeted “Did you know, Americans will spend more on taxes in 2015 than on food, clothing and housing combined?”
Real World: By evaluating collective tax collections rather than what Americans at different income levels pay, Walker misses the fact that many Americans, especially low- and moderate-income Americans, will pay more for food, shelter and clothing, than taxes, according to an April 23 report by Politifact.
Walker’s World: “We invested not only more money in rural health care, we put more money in to train primary care physicians and other health care assistants.”
Real Worlds: The 2015–17 budget deletes the rural physician residency assistance program, administered by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health’s Department of Family Medicine. The proposal calls for cutting a little more than $750,000 and 3.6 positions in 2016–17.
Walker’s World: During his last election, the governor repeatedly insisted that right-to-work legislation was a distraction from his agenda, that he had no interest in pursuing it and that he was allying with private-sector unions.
Real World: Walker flip-flopped, saying that he never said it was not a good idea. After it was pushed through by Republicans in the legislature, Walker signed right-to-work into law on March 9, 2015.
Hopefully for America, Walker’s World will not spread beyond Wisconsin.
George Lorenz
Waupaca