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Walker brings campaign on campus
Current Milwaukee County executive to focus on employment before all other issues
BOBBY BREITENBACH/Herald photo
Students for Walker and College Republicans host gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker at Grainger.
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Gubernatorial candidate and current Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker told a University of Wisconsin crowd Tuesday the key to rebuilding Wisconsin lies in increasing the job market and lowering unemployment, something he feels is pertinent to all students.
Brought to campus by the UW chapter of Students for Scott Walker in partnership with the College Republicans, Walker said his campaign revolves around jobs and once jobs are taken care of, other issues are easier to tackle.
Nick Novak, chair of UW Students for Scott Walker, said they asked Walker to speak prior to the Republican Party of Wisconsin’s endorsement simply to get his message out there.
“I think it’s really important to get students informed now, especially students who are graduating so they know what they’re graduating into,” Novak said.
Walker focused his speech around the basis of his campaign — jobs.
Walker added the government does not create jobs, but rather establishes an environment conducive to job growth and creation.
“I think the best way to create a positive environment to retain and grow jobs and attract more jobs in the future is to get government out of the way of the private sector,” Walker said.
Walker also said he thinks many politicians sell students short when speaking on campuses, and what he hears from students focuses on the job market and whether they will be able to find jobs in Wisconsin post-graduation.
He added the best possible way to keep students in Wisconsin are “good paying, decent, forward-thinking jobs.”
Another area concerning UW students is the diploma policy with the law schools at Marquette and UW, which allows graduates to practice law in the state without taking the state bar examination.
Despite the recent scrutiny the policy has come under, Walker believes it is part of a long-standing tradition and one more way to keep graduates in the state.
While Walker has pledged he would not increase taxes if elected governor, he did acknowledge cuts must be made in these tough economic times to compensate.
One area where Walker said he sees possibilities for reduction is wages in the public sector, which he felt are unsustainable.
“Public sector wages need to be put in check with private sector wages,” he said. “The biggest thing you can do in a government is get those under control.”
The other component to his plan would be growth, especially concerning venture capital, he said.
Walker said reforms such as eliminating the state income tax on retirement would help keep possible investors in the state from fleeing for places such as Florida and Arizona where such a tax does not exist.
Attendee UW junior Lindsay Bembenek felt the turnout for the event was great and believed that Walker will help add a positive viewpoint amid the dire topic of the economy.
Walker’s campaign, however, has encountered setbacks reflected by a recent public opinion poll released by St. Norbert College as well as a poll conducted jointly by Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and UW which both report public awareness of Walker is relatively low for a gubernatorial candidate.
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I hope Walker realizes that many public sector employees have not had a raise in years and are already paid less than their private sector counterparts.
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I attended the event last night, and I felt that Scott Walker did a great job of outlining his plan for this state. In Milwaukee county, he has proposed 8 straight budgets without a property tax levy increase, and last night he did a great job of introducing his plan for low taxes, less spending, and better innovation in the state!
Also, this article claims that Scott is not known around the state. He has been the County Executive of Milwaukee for 8 years which is the largest market in Wisconsin and he is the leading candidate for Governor. Last night, almost 100 people attended the event that was hosted by Students for Scott Walker. His public awareness can’t be that bad! I am convinced that Scott is the best choice for Governor of Wisconsin!
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Oh yeah right! That’s why all the university employees are quitting in droves and moving to the high-paying private sector jobs. When I go to the post office or DMV or library, it’s like different people working there every week, the turnover is crazy!
Oh wait, gov employees never quit because they have huge pensions, free health care, and union agreements that make it impossible to lay them off.
Right now Milwaukee County is in a budget battle. One issue is that Walker wants to layoff the janitorial staff for county buildings because the JANITORS are actual county employee with free health care and great retirement benefits. There’s not a private company in the country that doesn’t have it’s cleaning crew outsourced to save money. The county board won’t let Walker save tens of thousands of dollars because all they care about is protecting their union thug supporters. Meanwhile the taxpayers get ripped off year after year. Gov has become too big and bloated. Walker will clean it up!
IP hash: b3bf6f77
It’s a little chicken of the College Reps isn’t it? Take a stand and endorse either Neumann or Walker, don’t wait until after the primary and pretend you were with the winner all along.
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There is no pretending. Does anyone really think there is a chance it isn’t going to be Walker? There is a 0% chance that Mark Neumann could get 100 people in a room in Madison much less anywhere in the state. Walker has destroyed him in straw polls across WI.
IP hash: cd8eb17b
There is no pretending. Does anyone really think there is a chance it isn’t going to be Walker? There is a 0% chance that Mark Neumann could get 100 people in a room in Madison much less anywhere in the state. Walker has destroyed him in straw polls across WI.
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Neumann would not get 100 people in a room and that is why he is “challenging” Walker to town hall meetings across the state. He is hoping that all the supporters that come out for Walker will make him look better. Neumann should save his money and help out the party by leaving the race and supporting Walker.
IP hash: b3bf6f77
If all these things you guys said about Neumann are true, and they likely are, then why not endorse Walker?