AFL-CIO statement on the Walker announcement

[Donerail]

This is the real and total entirety of the statement.

[eric82oslo]

Agreed.

[Pyro]

Understatement

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

They sound butthurt.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Agreed. Walker has turned Wisconsin into a f-ing cesspool of failure and would do the same to this nation.

[dudeabides]

Part of the reason I am supporting Governor Bush for President is that no one else in this presidential race and frankly, few Governors in recent history, have been able to accomplish the kinds of reforms Jeb Bush fought for and enacted during his eight years as Florida's Governor.

With that being said, Scott Walker has been a good Governor, though not perfect. In Wisconsin, he protected the dignity of voting by enacting voter I.D. laws, he has reduced taxes by over $2 billion, he reformed his state's pension and health benefit system, and he has enacted merit pay for teachers in Wisconsin's schools.

No Governor is perfect, but Scott Walker has done a decent job in Wisconsin.

The national disgrace is that the AFL-CIO and their members have opposed merit pay for teachers, they've opposed protecting the pensions of their members, and they'd rather throw money at expensive failing schools that have some choice and accountability. Kids trapped in poor districts are treated as second class citizens because of the injustice of collective bargaining. It's shameful and Scott Walker deserves credit for standing up for what is right.

[Rockefeller GOP]

Agreed. Walker has turned Wisconsin into a f-ing cesspool of failure and would do the same to this nation.

You seriously cannot possibly have an ideology.

[pbrower2a]

Part of the reason I am supporting Governor Bush for President is that no one else in this presidential race and frankly, few Governors in recent history, have been able to accomplish the kinds of reforms Jeb Bush fought for and enacted during his eight years as Florida's Governor.

With that being said, Scott Walker has been a good Governor, though not perfect. In Wisconsin, he protected the dignity of voting by enacting voter I.D. laws, he has reduced taxes by over $2 billion, he reformed his state's pension and health benefit system, and he has enacted merit pay for teachers in Wisconsin's schools.

No Governor is perfect, but Scott Walker has done a decent job in Wisconsin.

The national disgrace is that the AFL-CIO and their members have opposed merit pay for teachers, they've opposed protecting the pensions of their members, and they'd rather throw money at expensive failing schools that have some choice and accountability. Kids trapped in poor districts are treated as second class citizens because of the injustice of collective bargaining. It's shameful and Scott Walker deserves credit for standing up for what is right.

Scott Walker would make America the sort of country in which a Socialist insurrection is possible.

[Pandaguineapig]

Many labor activists act as if Scott Walker stole their girlfriend

[dudeabides]

Part of the reason I am supporting Governor Bush for President is that no one else in this presidential race and frankly, few Governors in recent history, have been able to accomplish the kinds of reforms Jeb Bush fought for and enacted during his eight years as Florida's Governor.

With that being said, Scott Walker has been a good Governor, though not perfect. In Wisconsin, he protected the dignity of voting by enacting voter I.D. laws, he has reduced taxes by over $2 billion, he reformed his state's pension and health benefit system, and he has enacted merit pay for teachers in Wisconsin's schools.

No Governor is perfect, but Scott Walker has done a decent job in Wisconsin.

The national disgrace is that the AFL-CIO and their members have opposed merit pay for teachers, they've opposed protecting the pensions of their members, and they'd rather throw money at expensive failing schools that have some choice and accountability. Kids trapped in poor districts are treated as second class citizens because of the injustice of collective bargaining. It's shameful and Scott Walker deserves credit for standing up for what is right.

Scott Walker would make America the sort of country in which a Socialist insurrection is possible.

Again, I am not supporting Scott Walker. I'm supporting Jeb Bush. But if Walker wins, he will reverse Obama's failed policies and replace them with policies that will reduce our national debt and create jobs, that much I know. Walker's reforms in Wisconsin were not radical, they simply were for the purpose of protecting taxpayers today and in the future. Wisconsin is now on a far more sustainable path than before he took office fiscally.

[TJ in Oregon]

lol I get emails from the AFT Wisconsin Solidarity Center (since I am a technically Wisconsin public employee) and theirs was a tad longer but more or less the same message. I wish I were in Madison today

[RI]

I will never vote for Walker.

[CapoteMonster]

Part of the reason I am supporting Governor Bush for President is that no one else in this presidential race and frankly, few Governors in recent history, have been able to accomplish the kinds of reforms Jeb Bush fought for and enacted during his eight years as Florida's Governor.

With that being said, Scott Walker has been a good Governor, though not perfect. In Wisconsin, he protected the dignity of voting by enacting voter I.D. laws, he has reduced taxes by over $2 billion, he reformed his state's pension and health benefit system, and he has enacted merit pay for teachers in Wisconsin's schools.

No Governor is perfect, but Scott Walker has done a decent job in Wisconsin.

The national disgrace is that the AFL-CIO and their members have opposed merit pay for teachers, they've opposed protecting the pensions of their members, and they'd rather throw money at expensive failing schools that have some choice and accountability. Kids trapped in poor districts are treated as second class citizens because of the injustice of collective bargaining. It's shameful and Scott Walker deserves credit for standing up for what is right.

Like gutting the funding for one of top public colleges in America to the point where they had to drop several departments.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

Part of the reason I am supporting Governor Bush for President is that no one else in this presidential race and frankly, few Governors in recent history, have been able to accomplish the kinds of reforms Jeb Bush fought for and enacted during his eight years as Florida's Governor.

With that being said, Scott Walker has been a good Governor, though not perfect. In Wisconsin, he protected the dignity of voting by enacting voter I.D. laws, he has reduced taxes by over $2 billion, he reformed his state's pension and health benefit system, and he has enacted merit pay for teachers in Wisconsin's schools.

No Governor is perfect, but Scott Walker has done a decent job in Wisconsin.

The national disgrace is that the AFL-CIO and their members have opposed merit pay for teachers, they've opposed protecting the pensions of their members, and they'd rather throw money at expensive failing schools that have some choice and accountability. Kids trapped in poor districts are treated as second class citizens because of the injustice of collective bargaining. It's shameful and Scott Walker deserves credit for standing up for what is right.

Scott Walker would make America the sort of country in which a Socialist insurrection is possible.

Again, I am not supporting Scott Walker. I'm supporting Jeb Bush. But if Walker wins, he will reverse Obama's failed policies and replace them with policies that will reduce our national debt and create jobs, that much I know. Walker's reforms in Wisconsin were not radical, they simply were for the purpose of protecting taxpayers today and in the future. Wisconsin is now on a far more sustainable path than before he took office fiscally.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Walker's social conservatism has turned me off to him a good deal, but the one plus about his candidacy is that he is going to bring out an ugliness in the left we have never fully seen in this country. That may just win it for the GOP.

[NeverAgain]

Silly Trumka thinking so locally. Walker is a universal disgrace.

[dudeabides]

Part of the reason I am supporting Governor Bush for President is that no one else in this presidential race and frankly, few Governors in recent history, have been able to accomplish the kinds of reforms Jeb Bush fought for and enacted during his eight years as Florida's Governor.

With that being said, Scott Walker has been a good Governor, though not perfect. In Wisconsin, he protected the dignity of voting by enacting voter I.D. laws, he has reduced taxes by over $2 billion, he reformed his state's pension and health benefit system, and he has enacted merit pay for teachers in Wisconsin's schools.

No Governor is perfect, but Scott Walker has done a decent job in Wisconsin.

The national disgrace is that the AFL-CIO and their members have opposed merit pay for teachers, they've opposed protecting the pensions of their members, and they'd rather throw money at expensive failing schools that have some choice and accountability. Kids trapped in poor districts are treated as second class citizens because of the injustice of collective bargaining. It's shameful and Scott Walker deserves credit for standing up for what is right.

Like gutting the funding for one of top public colleges in America to the point where they had to drop several departments.

I was not referring to any specific school in Wisconsin. Schools in poorer cities are failing and yet, we are throwing more money at them so administrators can take home more money. That is what I'm referring to.

[pbrower2a]

I'd probably end up voting to re-elect him -- because he and the GOP would ensure that there is no viable alternative in 2020 in Soviet-style single-list elections without choice.

Unless I end up in Canada.

I just don't trust this creep with my civil liberties or human rights.

[Mehmentum]

If anything, this will help Walker in the primaries.

[Xing]

If Walker's best argument for the nomination is "the left hates me", he's clearly not thinking about the GE, and if Republicans nominate someone like him, they clearly aren't, either.

With that being said, Scott Walker has been a good Governor, though not perfect. In Wisconsin, he protected the dignity of voting by enacting voter I.D. laws, he has reduced taxes by over $2 billion, he reformed his state's pension and health benefit system, and he has enacted merit pay for teachers in Wisconsin's schools.

No Governor is perfect, but Scott Walker has done a decent job in Wisconsin.

Laws which are intended to suppress minority turnout are a sign of dignity? Good lord. Did you consider whose taxes got the biggest break? Also, if by "reformed" you mean pretty much destroyed. Do you honestly think merit pay is a good idea? Think about how administrators determine "merit." It's usually not determined by how much teachers make their students think, motivate their students to learn beyond what's taught in class. Rather, it's all about test scores. So, the teachers who do the best job of teaching to the test get rewarded, and the teachers who encourage analytical thinking are deemed "ineffective" at their job, unless their students happen to also do well on standardized tests. To say that Walker is bad for education is a massive understatement. He is toxic to education. Anyone who cares about education shouldn't even entertain the thought of voting for this slime ball.

[dudeabides]

If Walker's best argument for the nomination is "the left hates me", he's clearly not thinking about the GE, and if Republicans nominate someone like him, they clearly aren't, either.

With that being said, Scott Walker has been a good Governor, though not perfect. In Wisconsin, he protected the dignity of voting by enacting voter I.D. laws, he has reduced taxes by over $2 billion, he reformed his state's pension and health benefit system, and he has enacted merit pay for teachers in Wisconsin's schools.

No Governor is perfect, but Scott Walker has done a decent job in Wisconsin.

Laws which are intended to suppress minority turnout are a sign of dignity? Good lord. Did you consider whose taxes got the biggest break? Also, if by "reformed" you mean pretty much destroyed. Do you honestly think merit pay is a good idea? Think about how administrators determine "merit." It's usually not determined by how much teachers make their students think, motivate their students to learn beyond what's taught in class. Rather, it's all about test scores. So, the teachers who do the best job of teaching to the test get rewarded, and the teachers who encourage analytical thinking are deemed "ineffective" at their job, unless their students happen to also do well on standardized tests. To say that Walker is bad for education is a massive understatement. He is toxic to education. Anyone who cares about education shouldn't even entertain the thought of voting for this slime ball.

Voter I.D. laws are necessary to protect the dignity of voting for all citizens regardless of their backround. The debate is whether or not there is a need for such laws, there is no racial element here.

Consider this from NBC in Florida, not exactly a conservative network:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

In this country, one legal citizen gets one vote.

I strongly support school choice, merit pay for teachers, and ending social promotion. I also believe tenure should be something that is not handed out as easily as it is today, if at all. Awarding good teachers while not awarding bad ones is good for students and taxpayers. I don't support standardized testing like we have it today, I think more time should be spent teaching material that has been taught for generations, modified to fit our times, as opposed to teaching to a test. But, certainly you have to have some kind of testing at the local level to ensure students are learning and teachers are doing their jobs, but the federal government should not be involved. Also, Common Core has got to go, but that's a state issue.

The fact is, Wisconsin's high schools are ranked 19th in America under Scott Walker. High school graduation rates have increased under Scott Walker. Reading scores for third graders are up under Scott Walker.

[ElectionsGuy]

Waah, waah! Poor Trumpka, resorting to personal insults because he has nothing else.

[pbrower2a]

If Walker's best argument for the nomination is "the left hates me", he's clearly not thinking about the GE, and if Republicans nominate someone like him, they clearly aren't, either.

With that being said, Scott Walker has been a good Governor, though not perfect. In Wisconsin, he protected the dignity of voting by enacting voter I.D. laws, he has reduced taxes by over $2 billion, he reformed his state's pension and health benefit system, and he has enacted merit pay for teachers in Wisconsin's schools.

No Governor is perfect, but Scott Walker has done a decent job in Wisconsin.

Laws which are intended to suppress minority turnout are a sign of dignity? Good lord. Did you consider whose taxes got the biggest break? Also, if by "reformed" you mean pretty much destroyed. Do you honestly think merit pay is a good idea? Think about how administrators determine "merit." It's usually not determined by how much teachers make their students think, motivate their students to learn beyond what's taught in class. Rather, it's all about test scores. So, the teachers who do the best job of teaching to the test get rewarded, and the teachers who encourage analytical thinking are deemed "ineffective" at their job, unless their students happen to also do well on standardized tests. To say that Walker is bad for education is a massive understatement. He is toxic to education. Anyone who cares about education shouldn't even entertain the thought of voting for this slime ball.

One effect of merit pay based upon students' scores is that few teachers would ever take the risk of teaching in schools 'rich' in disadvantaged students. Test scores may say more about how cramped or spacious a kid's living conditions are.

Of course it is difficult to test for such concerns as critical thinking.... of course, critical thinking is the last thing many Americans want to become commonplace. Does anyone think that the Right wants people to calculate what a rip-off pay-day lending is? Or to avoid becoming a sucker for advertising pitches? Or be able to read between the lines in political discourse?

Do you really want more achievement in schools? Alleviate poverty! But the Right wants more poverty and wants poverty to sting harder as an alleged incentive for people to work harder and more dedication.

[Xing]

If Walker's best argument for the nomination is "the left hates me", he's clearly not thinking about the GE, and if Republicans nominate someone like him, they clearly aren't, either.

With that being said, Scott Walker has been a good Governor, though not perfect. In Wisconsin, he protected the dignity of voting by enacting voter I.D. laws, he has reduced taxes by over $2 billion, he reformed his state's pension and health benefit system, and he has enacted merit pay for teachers in Wisconsin's schools.

No Governor is perfect, but Scott Walker has done a decent job in Wisconsin.

Laws which are intended to suppress minority turnout are a sign of dignity? Good lord. Did you consider whose taxes got the biggest break? Also, if by "reformed" you mean pretty much destroyed. Do you honestly think merit pay is a good idea? Think about how administrators determine "merit." It's usually not determined by how much teachers make their students think, motivate their students to learn beyond what's taught in class. Rather, it's all about test scores. So, the teachers who do the best job of teaching to the test get rewarded, and the teachers who encourage analytical thinking are deemed "ineffective" at their job, unless their students happen to also do well on standardized tests. To say that Walker is bad for education is a massive understatement. He is toxic to education. Anyone who cares about education shouldn't even entertain the thought of voting for this slime ball.

Voter I.D. laws are necessary to protect the dignity of voting for all citizens regardless of their backround. The debate is whether or not there is a need for such laws, there is no racial element here.

Consider this from NBC in Florida, not exactly a conservative network:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

In this country, one legal citizen gets one vote.

I strongly support school choice, merit pay for teachers, and ending social promotion. I also believe tenure should be something that is not handed out as easily as it is today, if at all. Awarding good teachers while not awarding bad ones is good for students and taxpayers. I don't support standardized testing like we have it today, I think more time should be spent teaching material that has been taught for generations, modified to fit our times, as opposed to teaching to a test. But, certainly you have to have some kind of testing at the local level to ensure students are learning and teachers are doing their jobs, but the federal government should not be involved. Also, Common Core has got to go, but that's a state issue.

The fact is, Wisconsin's high schools are ranked 19th in America under Scott Walker. High school graduation rates have increased under Scott Walker. Reading scores for third graders are up under Scott Walker.

You can't honestly think that Republican lawmakers are pushing these laws for the "dignity of voting." I guarantee that if minorities tended to vote Republican, Republican lawmakers would avoid these laws at all costs. It's all about manipulating the turnout in a cheap effort to win more elections. I'll admit that some Democrats only oppose these laws because minorities tend to vote heavily Democratic, but the fact is, these laws are all about playing politics.

Hey, I'm all for rewarding good teachers and putting pressure on bad teachers to take their job more seriously, the problem is how a school administration determines how "good" a teacher is. The fact is, with the current standardized testing craze America is in, and the belief that to compete with China, we have to beat them at their own game, it's obvious how "success" in the classroom will be gauged by the government and by administrators. It would be nice if they realized that China's education system results in millions of students possessing "high test scores, but low ability, and that most people in China (or all of East Asia for that matter) despise their education system, and want it to be more like it is in the West. Right now, all merit pay does is reward teachers how prepare students how to effectively take standardized tests.

I have very mixed feelings about the Common Core, or national standards, for that matter. I think Finland's education system, with produces great results, but has only a few vague national standards, is a good model, though it might not be practical in a country as large as the U.S.

And what were they ranked before Walker's administration? What about colleges? I could direct you to plenty of articles detailed the damage which Walker has done to the University of Wisconsin. High school graduation rates are up? How many students are going on to college? How many finish college? How many dropped out of college before their senior year? All things to consider before using that bit of data as evidence that Walker has been successful. Reading "scores" does not mean reading "ability". Test scores have been going up across the country, but that speaks more to the emphasis of test prep, rather than nurturing students' ability.

[dudeabides]

If Walker's best argument for the nomination is "the left hates me", he's clearly not thinking about the GE, and if Republicans nominate someone like him, they clearly aren't, either.

With that being said, Scott Walker has been a good Governor, though not perfect. In Wisconsin, he protected the dignity of voting by enacting voter I.D. laws, he has reduced taxes by over $2 billion, he reformed his state's pension and health benefit system, and he has enacted merit pay for teachers in Wisconsin's schools.

No Governor is perfect, but Scott Walker has done a decent job in Wisconsin.

Laws which are intended to suppress minority turnout are a sign of dignity? Good lord. Did you consider whose taxes got the biggest break? Also, if by "reformed" you mean pretty much destroyed. Do you honestly think merit pay is a good idea? Think about how administrators determine "merit." It's usually not determined by how much teachers make their students think, motivate their students to learn beyond what's taught in class. Rather, it's all about test scores. So, the teachers who do the best job of teaching to the test get rewarded, and the teachers who encourage analytical thinking are deemed "ineffective" at their job, unless their students happen to also do well on standardized tests. To say that Walker is bad for education is a massive understatement. He is toxic to education. Anyone who cares about education shouldn't even entertain the thought of voting for this slime ball.

Voter I.D. laws are necessary to protect the dignity of voting for all citizens regardless of their backround. The debate is whether or not there is a need for such laws, there is no racial element here.

Consider this from NBC in Florida, not exactly a conservative network:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

In this country, one legal citizen gets one vote.

I strongly support school choice, merit pay for teachers, and ending social promotion. I also believe tenure should be something that is not handed out as easily as it is today, if at all. Awarding good teachers while not awarding bad ones is good for students and taxpayers. I don't support standardized testing like we have it today, I think more time should be spent teaching material that has been taught for generations, modified to fit our times, as opposed to teaching to a test. But, certainly you have to have some kind of testing at the local level to ensure students are learning and teachers are doing their jobs, but the federal government should not be involved. Also, Common Core has got to go, but that's a state issue.

The fact is, Wisconsin's high schools are ranked 19th in America under Scott Walker. High school graduation rates have increased under Scott Walker. Reading scores for third graders are up under Scott Walker.

You can't honestly think that Republican lawmakers are pushing these laws for the "dignity of voting." I guarantee that if minorities tended to vote Republican, Republican lawmakers would avoid these laws at all costs. It's all about manipulating the turnout in a cheap effort to win more elections. I'll admit that some Democrats only oppose these laws because minorities tend to vote heavily Democratic, but the fact is, these laws are all about playing politics.

Hey, I'm all for rewarding good teachers and putting pressure on bad teachers to take their job more seriously, the problem is how a school administration determines how "good" a teacher is. The fact is, with the current standardized testing craze America is in, and the belief that to compete with China, we have to beat them at their own game, it's obvious how "success" in the classroom will be gauged by the government and by administrators. It would be nice if they realized that China's education system results in millions of students possessing "high test scores, but low ability, and that most people in China (or all of East Asia for that matter) despise their education system, and want it to be more like it is in the West. Right now, all merit pay does is reward teachers how prepare students how to effectively take standardized tests.

I have very mixed feelings about the Common Core, or national standards, for that matter. I think Finland's education system, with produces great results, but has only a few vague national standards, is a good model, though it might not be practical in a country as large as the U.S.

And what were they ranked before Walker's administration? What about colleges? I could direct you to plenty of articles detailed the damage which Walker has done to the University of Wisconsin. High school graduation rates are up? How many students are going on to college? How many finish college? How many dropped out of college before their senior year? All things to consider before using that bit of data as evidence that Walker has been successful. Reading "scores" does not mean reading "ability". Test scores have been going up across the country, but that speaks more to the emphasis of test prep, rather than nurturing students' ability.

I support voter I.D. laws because I believe that every American citizen, on the condition they were not convicted of a serious crime, has the right to vote. I take that right very seriously in a world where freedom is all too rare.

We require folks to have I.D. when they purchase alcohol, go through security at the airport, or collect social security. None of those things are constitutional rights, but voting is one. The Democrats have used this issue as a wedge issue to win votes, arguing that Republicans are seeking to discriminate against minorities. There have been documented cases of voting fraud, these laws simply prevent that from occurring again.

16.4% of Americans are Hispanic/Latino. 12.2% are black. In Wisconsin, only 3% of the population is Hispanic and 6% is black. The point being, if Scott Walker were playing politics, why would he want to stop white people, who are more likely to vote Republican, from voting?

Look, I'm with you for the most part on standardized testing. I think testing should be kept to a minimum. I can't speak specifically for Wisconsin, but I can tell you in my home state, the poorest school districts receive a disproportionately high amount of state aid, and the money doesn't go to teachers or text books, it goes to administrators. So, you and I are in agreement over administrators. However, I do think there has to be some kind of objective mechanism for evaluating teachers - before common core, we had annual testing that was reasonable. Common Core has made it so teachers teach to a test, and that's wrong.

The point I am making is that Wisconsin's schools are not suffering under Scott Walker in terms of the quality of education. In fact, graduation rates have increased since he's been Governor. Reading scores have also increased. Also, your argument that test scores are increasing nationally is more proof Walker's actions have not hurt education in Wisconsin, if that were the case, Wisconsin's test scores would be reduced.

If Walker's best argument for the nomination is "the left hates me", he's clearly not thinking about the GE, and if Republicans nominate someone like him, they clearly aren't, either.

With that being said, Scott Walker has been a good Governor, though not perfect. In Wisconsin, he protected the dignity of voting by enacting voter I.D. laws, he has reduced taxes by over $2 billion, he reformed his state's pension and health benefit system, and he has enacted merit pay for teachers in Wisconsin's schools.

No Governor is perfect, but Scott Walker has done a decent job in Wisconsin.

Laws which are intended to suppress minority turnout are a sign of dignity? Good lord. Did you consider whose taxes got the biggest break? Also, if by "reformed" you mean pretty much destroyed. Do you honestly think merit pay is a good idea? Think about how administrators determine "merit." It's usually not determined by how much teachers make their students think, motivate their students to learn beyond what's taught in class. Rather, it's all about test scores. So, the teachers who do the best job of teaching to the test get rewarded, and the teachers who encourage analytical thinking are deemed "ineffective" at their job, unless their students happen to also do well on standardized tests. To say that Walker is bad for education is a massive understatement. He is toxic to education. Anyone who cares about education shouldn't even entertain the thought of voting for this slime ball.

Do you really want more achievement in schools? Alleviate poverty! But the Right wants more poverty and wants poverty to sting harder as an alleged incentive for people to work harder and more dedication.

Nice try, but let's look at the facts. 13.2% of Americans lived in poverty in 2008, last year, during this "recovery," 15% of Americans lived in poverty. In fact, under President Obama, more people have been in poverty than at anytime since the 1960s. Poverty did increase under President Bush, but not to historic levels.

Welfare rolls declined by 50% after President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich enacted welfare reform with work requirements in the 1990s.